Articles by Khal
Latest from Khal
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Kalshi sues Illinois over 15% sports prediction market tax
Kalshi filed a federal lawsuit against Illinois on Wednesday, challenging a new state tax on sports-related prediction markets set to launch July 1. The 15% gross-receipts tax puts the company at odds with federal regulators who oversee prediction markets.
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Nous Research Adds Animated Pets to Hermes Agent Framework
Nous Research added animated mascot sprites to its Hermes Agent that do nothing but sit in your terminal and animate based on what the AI is doing. The pets are purely cosmetic, off by default, and available from a community gallery of over 3,200 options.
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Federal Reserve stress tests: US banks absorb $550B in losses
The Federal Reserve's 2025 stress tests found that 22 large US banks would collectively absorb over $550 billion in losses during a severe recession while maintaining required capital levels, bolstering confidence in banking stability.
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Kalshi Seeks $40B Valuation, Doubling Previous Round
Kalshi is seeking to raise capital at a $40 billion valuation, nearly doubling its previous $22 billion round and expanding its gap over rival Polymarket, which was last valued at $15 billion. The federally regulated prediction market operator could close the fundraising in Q3 2026.
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Trump delays housing bill with CBDC ban, links to voting measure
President Trump postponed signing a bipartisan housing bill that bans central bank digital currencies through 2030, conditioning approval on passage of a separate voting bill. Meanwhile, Binance's Greek licensing bid stalled; the exchange now pursues authorization elsewhere in the EU before the July 1 MiCA deadline.
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Microsoft's Topological Qubit Claims Challenged in Nature Critique
A University of St Andrews researcher published a formal critique in Nature arguing Microsoft has not demonstrated the topological qubit underlying its Majorana 2 quantum chip, citing experimental noise and unpublished data concerns.
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MicroStrategy's Bitcoin Bet Backfires as STRC Hits Record Low
Microstrategy's STRC product hit a record low as dividend obligations ballooned and Bitcoin holdings turned underwater. CryptoQuant's analyst says the firm must halt Bitcoin purchases and rebuild cash reserves to restore investor confidence.
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Bitcoin crashes below $60K as exchange inflows overwhelm demand
Bitcoin traded below $60,000 on June 24 as roughly 7,600 BTC moved into Binance while spot ETF outflows signaled fading institutional demand. Liquidations accelerated the decline through a key support level.
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Binance Withdraws MiCA License Application in Greece, Shifts EU Strategy
Binance formally withdrew its MiCA license application in Greece one week after a Reuters report said it would be rejected, leaving some EU users uncertain about their access to the platform.
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Bitcoin's Four-Year Cycle Holds as BTC Dips Below $60K
21Shares acknowledged Wednesday that Bitcoin hasn't broken its historical four-year cycle in 2026, even as BTC fell below $60,000 for the second time this month and has lost 52% from its peak.
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Alistair Johnston shines for Canada at 2026 World Cup despite Northern Ireland eligibility
Celtic defender Alistair Johnston has emerged as one of Canada's standout performers at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, though his maternal lineage from Northern Ireland would have given that nation a legitimate eligibility claim under FIFA rules.
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Bitcoin slumps to $62,700, $525M buy wall emerges near $60,500
Bitcoin fell 3% in 24 hours and closed at $62,700 on Tuesday, its lowest daily candle since June 10, as traders positioned $525 million in buy bids between $60,500 and $61,500 amid rising liquidation pressure.
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Binance withdraws Greece MiCA application, shifts to another EU state
Binance withdrew its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation application with Greece just days before the July 1 deadline, signaling a shift to pursue licensing in a different EU member state as unlicensed firms face wind-down orders.
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OpenAI Unveils Jalapeño Custom AI Chip With Broadcom
OpenAI unveiled Jalapeño, a custom chip designed for large language model inference and developed with Broadcom. Early versions are already being tested in OpenAI's labs, marking the company's most significant move yet to control more of the hardware stack behind its AI models.
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Eco CEO: Banking Lobby's Stablecoin Fears Lack Evidence
Ryne Saxe, CEO of Eco, argues Congress should not restrict stablecoin growth to protect community banks from a threat without evidence, even as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act advances through the Senate.
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Falcons wins IEM Cologne Major 2026 with 3-0 sweep over FURIA
Team Falcons, a Saudi Arabian esports organization, defeated FURIA 3-0 in the grand final of the IEM Cologne Major 2026 on June 21, claiming a $500K first-place prize and the team's first major Counter-Strike 2 title in a 32-team tournament worth $1.25 million.
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Cardano launches Ouroboros Leios testnet as ADA hits 2020 lows
Cardano opened public testing for a major throughput upgrade while ADA fell to its lowest price since 2020, and a wallet provider disclosed a security breach affecting 16 million ADA tokens worth $2.4 million.
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CoinDesk 20 Index climbs 0.5% as Aave and ICP lead gainers
The CoinDesk 20 Index climbed to 1682.86, up 0.5% since Tuesday evening, with Aave gaining 5.9% and Internet Computer rising 2%. Fifteen of twenty assets traded higher, though Stellar and Cardano declined.
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CZ Says He Won't Run Binance Despite Majority Stake
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao sat for an interview in Washington, D.C. to clear up what he calls misunderstandings about himself and his company, emphasizing he doesn't want to be CEO and instead wants to help make the U.S. the capital of crypto.
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SecondFi traces Cardano exploit to address-level issue, secures 129M ADA
Cardano wallet SecondFi identified the root cause of an exploit affecting 374 addresses and 16 million ADA ($2.4 million) as an address-level issue tied to private-key generation. The platform secured approximately 129 million ADA through emergency measures.
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Cboe launches S&P 500 binary prediction market contracts
Cboe Global Markets entered the prediction markets business with Cboe Predicts, offering binary contracts on the S&P 500's daily closing price through Interactive Brokers and coming soon to Charles Schwab.
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Litecoin trades near 2022 lows ahead of July 2027 halving
Litecoin is trading near $40, close to its 2022 bear market low, as the network approaches its fourth reward halving scheduled for July 27, 2027. Historical data shows LTC tends to bottom 6–12 months before halving events, while new activity on LitVM suggests growing developer interest.
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Aave positioned for recovery as tokenized assets flow into DeFi, Standard Chartered says
Standard Chartered's digital assets research team expects Aave to recover lost deposit share as real-world tokenized assets become collateral and liquidity sources in decentralized finance, with DeFi assets potentially reaching $2.7 trillion by 2030.
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Cboe revives S&P 500 binary options, challenging Polymarket and Kalshi
Cboe, one of the largest U.S. derivatives exchanges, is reviving binary options on the S&P 500 after more than a decade away, moving into a market that Polymarket and Kalshi have turned into a fast-growing corner of finance.