Articles by Khal
Latest from Khal
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Bank of England's Catherine Mann signals activist rate hike if inflation persists
Catherine Mann, an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, has signaled a willingness to push for higher interest rates if UK inflation expectations and price pressures don't improve, cementing her reputation as the committee's inflation hawk.
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Kash Patel's Undisclosed Strategy Stock Buy Down 44% Since November
FBI Director Kash Patel purchased between $100,000 and $250,000 of Strategy stock in November without disclosing it, later amending his financial filing in May. The position has lost him up to $110,000 as the Bitcoin treasury firm's stock collapsed.
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Ondo Finance launches SEC-compliant tokenized stocks on Ethereum
Ondo Finance deployed blockchain-based versions of BlackRock's S&P 500 ETF and Micron shares using an SEC-approved custodial model, with Broadridge handling proxy voting and regulatory compliance.
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Standard Chartered offers direct USDC access as first Global Systemically Important Bank
Standard Chartered launched a service allowing institutional clients to mint and redeem Circle's USDC directly through the bank, becoming the first Global Systemically Important Bank to offer this capability. The rollout begins in Dubai.
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Bitcoin's Underwater Supply Hits 54% as Long-Term Holders Accumulate
Glassnode's latest on-chain analysis shows 10.83 million BTC now trading underwater while long-term holders reverse a distribution trend and accumulate across multiple wallet cohorts, even as spot Bitcoin ETFs remain in net outflow.
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JPMorgan warns MicroStrategy bitcoin sales create two-way market risk
JPMorgan analysts said MicroStrategy's policy of selling bitcoin to fund preferred dividends introduces unnecessary volatility into crypto markets. The bank recommends equity issuance instead to build a 24-36 month cash buffer.
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U.S. Payroll Growth Collapsed in June: Only 57,000 Jobs Added
The U.S. added just 57,000 jobs in June, far below economist forecasts, prompting markets to cut rate-hike odds from 65% to 50% by September and sending Treasury yields lower.
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MiCA 2.0: Europe Overhauls Stablecoin Rules to Match U.S. Framework
Three years after MiCA took effect, Europe is reviewing its crypto-asset rules in preparation for MiCA 2.0. Policymakers are reconsidering stablecoin restrictions, particularly reserve requirements and yield rules that diverge from the U.S. approach.
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Standard Chartered becomes first G-SIB to offer USDC minting
Standard Chartered and Circle launched a system allowing institutional clients to mint and redeem USDC stablecoin directly through the bank's platform, starting in Dubai's DIFC with plans to expand globally pending regulatory approval.
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Solana Foundation Launches SGP Governance Framework for Validators
The Solana Foundation introduced Solana Governance Proposals (SGPs), a framework enabling validators with at least 100,000 delegated SOL to propose and vote on protocol decisions, with endorsements from 15% of staked tokens required for onchain votes.
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Bitcoin climbs above $61,000 as Fed signals inflation risks have eased
Bitcoin surged more than 4% to trade above $61,000, its strongest level in over a week, after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh signaled that inflation risks had come down. The move defied weakness in Asian equities, where South Korea's Kospi fell 7.9% on AI chip concerns.
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OpenAI proposes 5% equity stake for U.S. government to ease AI regulation
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly discussed offering the U.S. government a 5% equity stake in the company as part of a broader proposal to give Americans direct financial exposure to AI's growth and ease regulatory pressure on the industry.
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Bitcoin holds $60K as Binance faces $2B outflows and EU regulatory pressure
Bitcoin remains above $60,000 as Binance confronts $2 billion in net outflows over seven days and regulatory headwinds in Europe after missing the MiCA authorization deadline.
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Metaplanet acquires 2,823 Bitcoin, surpasses 43,000 BTC holdings
Metaplanet acquired 2,823 Bitcoin in Q2, bringing total holdings to over 43,000 BTC acquired for approximately $4.5 billion. The company reduced its average acquisition cost to $106,500 per coin and reported $10.95 million in revenue from its Bitcoin income generation strategy.
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Metaplanet expands bitcoin treasury to 43,000 BTC with $170.7M purchase
Japanese firm Metaplanet purchased 2,823 BTC for $170.7 million, bringing its total bitcoin holdings to 43,000 BTC ($2.6 billion) and cementing its position as the world's third largest publicly traded bitcoin holder, behind MicroStrategy and Twenty One Capital.
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Google loses €4.125B EU antitrust appeal over Android bundling
Google's challenge to a €4.125 billion European Commission fine for abusing its dominant position in mobile operating systems through bundling practices has been rejected, with the European Court of Justice upholding the penalty and establishing precedent on how tech platforms can violate antitrust law.
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Taiko restores bridge 10 days after $1.7M hack, users made whole
Taiko's layer-2 network brought its cross-chain bridge back online just 10 days after a June 22 exploit that drained $1.7 million through a compromised SGX signing key exposed on GitHub. The protocol completed a multi-stage recovery including patching, reserve replenishment, and independent security review. Every user was made whole.
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Anduril CEO warns defense tech sector faces valuation bubble risk
Anduril Industries CEO Brian Schimpf warned that defense tech firms are raising capital at unsustainable multiples, with some commanding 50 to 100 times forward revenue, threatening future public market exits and investor returns.
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US job growth slows in June as unemployment holds at 4.3%
ADP reported just 98,000 private-sector jobs added in June, falling short of economist expectations and marking a sharp drop from May's 122,000. With unemployment holding at 4.3% for a fourth consecutive month, the labor market slowdown may influence Federal Reserve policy decisions that ripple through crypto markets.
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Bitcoin long-term holders return to net accumulation
Bitcoin's price recovered above $60,000 as long-term holders (wallets holding coins for 155+ days) shifted to net accumulation, with current buying running between 50,000 to 100,000 BTC on a net basis, according to Glassnode data.
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Bitcoin spot ETFs see $296M outflow; Grayscale Mini Trust gains $36M
US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted a net outflow of $296 million on July 1, but Grayscale's lower-cost Mini Trust bucked the trend with $36.3 million in inflows, signaling investor appetite for cheaper fee structures amid market volatility.
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France launches three-part plan as crypto wrench attacks surge to 77 in H1 2026
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced a strengthened security response after 77 kidnapping and extortion incidents linked to crypto hit the country in the first six months of 2026, more than 70% higher than all of 2025.
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Tether Freezes $1.4M USDT in 131 TRON Wallets Linked to ISIS-K
Tether froze over $1.4 million in USDT across 131 TRON wallets designated by the US Treasury as linked to ISIS-K, acting within hours of the sanctions order. The action underscores stablecoin issuers' role in enforcing global financial compliance.
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US Resumes Dollar Shipments to Iraq After Nine-Day Suspension
The United States resumed physical dollar shipments to Iraq on May 1 after a nine-day suspension tied to pressure over Iran-backed militias. The cash freeze blocked roughly $500 million in deliveries, highlighting how Washington weaponizes economic leverage without formal sanctions.