Articles by Khal
Latest from Khal
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EthSystems Launches Privacy Layer for Ethereum Institutional Assets
The team behind the Ethereum Foundation's Institutional Privacy Task Force has launched EthSystems, a for-profit firm offering banks and asset managers privacy and compliance technology for on-chain settlement. Backed by Bitmine and Joe Lubin, the startup argues institutions won't move real capital onto Ethereum without built-in confidentiality tools.
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Australia mandates renewable offsets for AI data centers
Australia's government announced binding national standards requiring data centers to offset energy use with renewables and fund local infrastructure upgrades, building on voluntary guidelines as AI demand threatens to consume 12% of national electricity by 2050.
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Ben McKenzie Urges Senate to Reject CLARITY Act Crypto Bill
The O.C. star spent Tuesday on Capitol Hill urging U.S. senators to reject the CLARITY Act, which would establish clearer digital asset regulations. McKenzie, a longtime crypto critic, has focused his advocacy on consumer protection.
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XRP Ledger payment volume plunges 70% as network activity weakens
XRP Ledger's daily payment volume has collapsed to 312.8 million tokens from over 1 billion earlier this month, signaling mounting pressure on the network's core usage as the token struggles to stabilize above $1.10.
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Shiba Inu Hits 21,000 Burn Transactions, 410.84T SHIB Removed
Shiba Inu surpassed 21,000 total burn transactions, with 410.84 trillion SHIB tokens removed from circulation—41.08% of the initial supply. The token traded up 3.1% in 24 hours following a recent rebound.
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Circle's $1.4B Coinbase payout exposes USDC stablecoin cost pressure
Circle paid Coinbase $1.4 billion in distribution costs in 2025, up 51% from the prior year, even as USDC circulation surged 72% to $75.3 billion. The payout consumed half of Circle's total revenue, raising questions about the sustainability of its partnership model.
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Ripple's Schwartz Defends XRP Sports Ads Under First Amendment
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz invoked the First Amendment to defend the XRP logo on Kansas Jayhawks uniforms, arguing that crypto advertising bans are constitutionally impossible if the product is lawful to sell.
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ASML Raises 2026 Forecast on AI, Crypto Demand; Plans 30% Production Boost
ASML reported €9.3 billion in Q2 sales and raised its full-year revenue forecast, citing artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency as drivers of accelerating semiconductor demand. The Dutch chipmaking-equipment maker plans a 30% production boost for its advanced EUV lithography systems in 2027.
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Virtuals Protocol launches custom index creation on Robinhood Chain
Virtuals Protocol went live on Robinhood Chain around July 1, enabling users to create custom indexes of tokenized assets and earn fees. The $VIRTUAL token rallied 20% on the news, while over 2,100 AI agents have already generated $77 million in transaction volume on the chain.
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Anthropic launches AI safety hiring push to close oversight gaps
Anthropic is running one of the tech industry's most aggressive recruitment campaigns, with hundreds of open roles and new fellowship cohorts focused on scalable oversight and mechanistic interpretability—core challenges in responsible AI development.
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US uses Tether to freeze $475M in Iran-linked USDT holdings
The US Treasury has leveraged Tether's control over USDT to freeze approximately $475 million connected to Iran in under three months, demonstrating how stablecoin issuers can enforce sanctions at the protocol level, unlike decentralized cryptocurrencies.
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US Treasury Freezes $130M in Crypto Assets Linked to Iran
The US Treasury froze over $130 million in cryptocurrency assets connected to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, escalating financial pressure amid rising US-Iran tensions and military escalation in the Middle East.
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Bitcoin and Ether ETFs Post Inflows as Markets Rally Up to 5%
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $181 million on Tuesday while ether funds added $58 million, reversing outflows from the prior session as both asset classes rallied sharply.
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SBI-Solana Partnership Raises XRP Holder Concerns; Analyst Calls It Overreaction
SBI Holdings and the Solana Foundation announced a strategic partnership to build on-chain financial infrastructure from Japan, prompting XRP supporters to question what the move means for Ripple's relationship with the Japanese conglomerate.
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US airstrikes on Iran wound 260+ as Bitcoin drops 2%, triggering $350M liquidations
The collapse of a 21-day US-Iran ceasefire sparked military escalation and crypto market turmoil, with Bitcoin falling to $62K and leveraged traders facing sudden liquidations across digital assets.
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Spain defeats France in World Cup semifinal, sparks fan token interest
Spain defeated France 2-0 in a World Cup semifinal on July 14, reigniting interest in fan tokens like $SPAIN. The result raises questions about whether national team crypto assets can achieve mainstream adoption or remain niche products for crypto-native communities.
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x402 Foundation: Visa, Mastercard, Ripple back agent payments protocol
The x402 Foundation now governs a machine-to-machine payment protocol with 40 member organizations including Visa, Mastercard, Ripple, Google, and AWS. The protocol settled $24 million across 75 million transactions last month, averaging 32 cents per payment—a niche too small for traditional card networks to serve profitably.
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Bitcoin tops $64,000 as U.S. inflation cools, Fed rate-hike odds collapse
Bitcoin climbed to near $64,800 on Wednesday after June inflation fell to 3.5%, collapsing rate-hike odds from 43% to 13% and triggering a broad rally across risk assets and commodities.
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UN Security Council extends Red Sea monitoring mandate six months
The UN Security Council voted to extend monitoring of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea for an additional six months after the previous mandate expired July 15, with China and Russia abstaining from the 13-vote majority, reflecting geopolitical divisions over maritime security strategy in the region.
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JPMorgan Shifts Oil Analysis to Refining Constraints Over Geopolitical Risk
JPMorgan Chase has refocused its oil market analysis from Strait of Hormuz geopolitical tensions to refining capacity constraints and Russian crude exports, signaling a shift in how market participants assess oil price drivers amid structural supply-demand imbalances.
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San Francisco voters reject Proposition D union tax measure
San Francisco voters rejected Proposition D, a union-backed tax on high-paid executives, by 53.6% to 46.4%. The outcome reflects a political shift toward the center under Mayor Daniel Lurie, though observers debate whether a single ballot measure signals broader realignment.
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Morgan Stanley files spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs with Coinbase custody
Morgan Stanley revised its S-1 filings for proposed spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs, naming Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custodians. The filings signal growing institutional interest in crypto asset management and staking infrastructure.
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CoreWeave explores futures contracts to hedge chip price volatility
CoreWeave, the AI cloud infrastructure company, is evaluating financial derivatives to protect its multibillion-dollar hardware investments from declining chip prices, signaling the emergence of standardized computing hardware derivatives markets.
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TYLSemi Raises $43M for Modular AI Chip Components
San Jose semiconductor startup TYLSemi announced a $43 million funding round led by Matter Venture Partners to develop standardized chiplet components that reduce custom AI silicon development time and cost by up to 50 percent.