Articles by Khal
Latest from Khal
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US and Russia strip AI safeguards from UN autonomous weapons treaty
Diplomats from the US and Russia stripped human-review requirements and AI reliability provisions from a UN weapons framework in a closed session, leaving autonomous weapons development largely unregulated.
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Balancer fork seeks 6M BAL tokens, risks 8.7% holder dilution
MAXYZ, a group of former Balancer contributors, is seeking up to 6 million non-circulating BAL tokens to seed a successor protocol. If granted, the tokens would reduce per-token redemption value by roughly 8.7% for existing Balancer holders, though the fork offers a conditional allocation in return.
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Fed proposes tiered capital charges on stablecoin issuers
The Federal Reserve announced a supervisory framework in September that would impose operational-risk capital charges on stablecoin issuers, with rates declining as circulation grows. A $1 billion issuer with no non-reserve revenue would face a $20 million baseline charge.
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Elon Musk admits Grok lags Anthropic's Claude, targets 2027 parity
Elon Musk acknowledged that xAI's Grok trails Anthropic's Claude models and called Anthropic the current AI leader with no close rivals. Musk said xAI needs time to catch up, expressing optimism the company will reach frontier-level performance by 2027.
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Shiba Inu warns of 366 fake TREAT tokens on Ethereum
Shiba Inu community member Mazrael warned of over 366 fake TREAT tokens on Ethereum, urging users to verify contract addresses rather than rely on ticker symbols alone.
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Payward Builds Unified Crypto-Equities Infrastructure With $2.65B in Acquisitions
Payward, Kraken's parent company, is transforming itself into financial infrastructure through $2.65 billion in acquisitions and major investments from Nasdaq and Deutsche Börse, aiming to bridge crypto and traditional equity markets—but regulatory and integration risks remain steep.
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Ethereum Node Hardware Problem Solved by AI Boom, Vitalik Confirms
The surge in local AI hardware has unexpectedly lowered the barriers to running Ethereum nodes at home. Vitalik Buterin confirmed that high-performance workstations built for large language models already exceed blockchain infrastructure requirements, with full nodes now synchronizing in roughly 12 hours and requiring less than 0.5 TB of storage.
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6th Circuit rules against Kalshi, setting up Supreme Court case
The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Ohio and Tennessee in ruling that Kalshi failed to prove its sports-event contracts qualify as federal swaps, allowing states to regulate them under gambling law. The conflicting rulings from multiple circuits have created a path to Supreme Court review.
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Google Vids Launches Free AI Video Generation with Gemini Omni
Google announced free AI video generation for all account holders via Google Vids, powered by Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash. Early testing by Decrypt found 720p output, though Google advertises 1080p capability. The tool includes scene extension, timing controls, and SynthID watermarking.
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Sixth Circuit rules Kalshi must block users in Ohio, Tennessee after preemption loss
A federal appeals court rejected Kalshi's argument that state gambling laws conflict with its federal duties as a designated contract market, ruling geofencing can satisfy both. The decision affects Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, and Kentucky.
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UK Cash Paradox: Payments Fall to 8% While Banknotes Hit £99B
Cash made up just 8% of UK payments in 2025, yet banknotes on the Bank of England's balance sheet nearly doubled to £99 billion since 2009. The surge reflects inflation, overseas demand, and potential public preference for cash as a backup — though causation remains unclear.
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Bitcoin holds $80K support as traders hedge equity volatility
Bitcoin prediction markets price a 99% probability of the asset holding above $80,000 by September 28, even as risk-off sentiment from potential equity bear markets creates headwinds for crypto assets.
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Ripple CTO Endorses XRP Ledger Pioneer Nik Bougalis's Return
Nik Bougalis, a cryptographer who led XRP Ledger protocol development for nearly a decade, has returned to the project with plans to modernize the network's core. David Schwartz, Ripple CTO Emeritus, publicly endorsed the move.
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Solana ETF records $80M inflow in single day, driven by staking yield
US spot Solana ETFs saw record inflows of $80M to $87M on September 25, more than doubling the previous daily record. Bitwise's staking-enabled BSOL captured roughly two-thirds of the flows since launching in October 2025.
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SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Resigns, Effective October 2
Hester Peirce, the SEC commissioner known as "Crypto Mom" for her advocacy of clear crypto regulation, is stepping down on October 2 after eight years at the agency. She plans to join Regent University's law school.
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ARK and Securitize launch tokenized venture fund on Ethereum
ARK Invest and Securitize announced on September 24 that eligible investors can hold tokenized interests in the ARK Venture Fund on Ethereum, though the fund's quarterly repurchase limit and lack of a secondary market constrain exit options.
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CFTC sues Cash FX Group over $950 million forex Ponzi scheme
The CFTC filed suit Friday against Cash FX Group and three individuals, alleging they operated a multilevel marketing Ponzi scheme that solicited over $950 million while engaging in minimal actual forex trading and misappropriating most participant funds.
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Bitwise, Franklin Templeton ETF Clients Buy $23M XRP Amid Cautious Sentiment
Clients of Bitwise and Franklin Templeton purchased $22.65 million in XRP through spot ETF products, according to WhaleInsider, though prediction-market odds for a new all-time high by year-end remain cautious at 7.2%.
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Shiba Inu surges 351% in 8 hours as technical recovery unfolds
Shiba Inu's short-term activity metrics jumped 351% in eight hours following a rejection near $0.00000620, with the token now trading around $0.00000589 and surpassing its 200-day moving average for the first time in months.
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Bitget $387.5M breach: Sygnum shields institutions while retail freezes
Bitget's $387.5 million breach on September 24 triggered a withdrawal freeze, but Sygnum's Swiss bank custody service let institutional clients trade with collateral held off-exchange—a protection unavailable to retail traders.
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Trump, Johnson convene tech CEOs on AI policy at White House summit
President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are meeting with technology CEOs on September 29, 2026, to shape US artificial intelligence policy. The summit reflects competing visions: Trump favors minimal regulation to compete with China, while Johnson advocates for industry self-regulation paired with measured federal oversight.
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IBM Launches SWIFT Ledger Adapter for 17 Banks, Adds On-Premises Option
IBM announced a beta connection between Digital Asset Haven and SWIFT's shared ledger for tokenized deposits, with an ISO 20022 adapter enabling participating institutions to instruct ledger transactions. The company also released an on-premises beta to address cloud-infrastructure concerns.
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Solana, Zcash, Chainlink Test Resistance as Crypto Rally Accelerates
Solana trades near $119 after breaking above its $100 psychological level, while Zcash and Chainlink extend September rallies with rising technical patterns and higher lows signaling sustained bullish momentum across major altcoins.
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EIP-4444 slashes Ethereum node sync time to under half a day
EIP-4444, activated July 8, reduces full node storage to under 0.5 TB and enables sync in under 12 hours by pruning pre-Merge historical data, lowering barriers for node operators and strengthening network decentralization.