Articles by Khal
Latest from Khal
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Zcash NU7 upgrade could freeze legacy Sprout pool funds
Zcash's proposed NU7 upgrade would disable version 4 transactions, potentially leaving ZEC in the legacy Sprout shielded pool unspendable. The upgrade is scheduled to activate on mainnet November 5 if approved October 20.
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Bitcoin ETFs pull in $1.7B as BTC tops investor cost basis
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $1.7 billion in net inflows over two consecutive days as Bitcoin rose above the estimated average cost basis of ETF holders, marking a profitability milestone for investors.
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Solana flips Ethereum in fees, but ETH holds the burn lead
Solana generated more user fees than Ethereum on September 22 according to DefiLlama, though Ethereum burned more fees. The gap highlights how fee generation, staking receipts, and holder returns measure different aspects of network economics.
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Malicious FomoPeek iOS app linked to $580K crypto theft via kernel exploits
Blockchain security firm SlowMist identified a malicious version of the FomoPeek iOS app distributed through Apple's App Store that used kernel exploits to steal nearly $580,000 in cryptocurrency by accessing wallet data from other applications.
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Alibaba expands cloud regions to Turkey, Finland, Netherlands amid AI arms race
Alibaba announced plans to establish its first cloud regions in Turkey, Finland, and the Netherlands within 12 months as part of a broader $53 billion three-year investment in AI and cloud infrastructure, targeting a 20-gigawatt global data center network by 2032.
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Canadian Dollar Weakens as Oil Prices Drop on U.S.-Iran Diplomatic Progress
The Canadian dollar faced downward pressure as oil prices declined following hopes for U.S.-Iran diplomatic progress, with WTI crude falling to $95.78 and Brent dropping to $100.34, reflecting the loonie's vulnerability to commodity price swings.
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Circle commits $100M to Binance partnership as USDC balances surge
Circle and Binance deepened their partnership on September 22 with a five-year commercial agreement and $100 million equity investment, as USDC customer balances on the exchange nearly quintupled to $7.1 billion since their first deal.
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BlackRock: AI compute could be tokenized as digital assets
BlackRock's Digital Assets Research team published a white paper proposing that AI compute power could be priced, financed, and traded as tokenized digital assets, identifying three convergence points between AI and programmable finance.
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CFTC reviews unusual trading patterns on Kalshi Ether perpetual futures
The CFTC is scrutinizing repetitive trading activity on Kalshi's Ether perpetual contracts, which generated $5.5 billion in volume within two weeks of launch. The platform attributes the patterns to a single market maker's automated liquidity provision.
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Snorkel AI Triples Valuation to $3.5B in $350M Series E
Snorkel AI closed a $350 million Series E that values the company at $3.5 billion, nearly tripling its valuation from just over a year ago. The data infrastructure startup's annualized revenue run-rate has surged from $20 million to between $350 million and $375 million, representing over 17x growth in twelve months.
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Ancient Bitcoin Wallets Move $161M in Two Weeks
Four dormant Bitcoin wallets holding coins untouched for over a decade moved 1,971 BTC worth roughly $161 million between September 6 and 22. Three of the four carried tags linked to a New York lawsuit seeking to declare dormant addresses abandoned property.
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Manchester City draws 2-2 with Bayern Munich in Women's Champions League
Manchester City drew 2-2 against Bayern Munich on September 22 in their return to the UEFA Women's Champions League, becoming the first English team to avoid defeat at the German club in European competition despite fielding a depleted squad.
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Canada's Six Largest Banks Explore Tokenized Canadian Dollar Deposits
Canada's six largest banks are jointly exploring a tokenized deposits system for interbank payments, following regulatory clarity from OSFI that tokenized deposits are not legally distinct from traditional bank liabilities.
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Only 36 of top 100 altcoins profitable as Bitcoin dominance persists
Only 36 of the top 100 altcoins are currently profitable for holders, while Bitcoin has risen 28% over two years. The median mid-cap altcoin has declined 74%, reflecting a structural divergence between Bitcoin's recovery and the broader altcoin market.
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METR's Claude Opus 5.5 safety assessment relied on undisclosed sources
METR, an independent nonprofit evaluating whether Claude Opus 5.5 accelerates AI research dangerously, based its conclusions partly on information it cannot publicly disclose, raising transparency concerns.
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Animoca Brands suspends Currenc reverse-merger deal, pursues direct listing
Animoca Brands and Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group have suspended merger talks after failing to reach definitive terms by the exclusivity deadline. The company says it remains committed to a major-exchange listing through separate channels.
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Federal Reserve's Leverage Gauge Signals Hidden Risks in Bitcoin Rally
The Federal Reserve's Financial Vulnerability Index, a model tracking structural weaknesses that could amplify future shocks, shows elevated leverage and funding pressures even as Bitcoin rallied to $86,000. The index operates on a different time horizon than spot demand, raising questions about hidden fragility in funding markets.
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Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 5.5 at 60% Lower Cost
Anthropic released Claude Opus 5.5 on Tuesday, claiming Fable 5.1-level performance at 60% the cost. On most benchmarks Opus 5.5 leads, though GPT-6 Astra edges it on two published tests.
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Dogecoin breaks $0.10 on risk-on rotation and X trading integration
Dogecoin broke through $0.10 this week—its highest price since June—as traders rotated into meme coins and X announced new trading partnerships with major exchanges.
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Gold-backed ETFs hit 11-week inflow streak, holdings at all-time high
Global physical gold-backed ETFs recorded 27.1 tonnes of inflows in their eleventh consecutive week of gains, pushing total holdings to an all-time high of 4,189 tonnes and $615 billion in assets under management. North America and Europe are driving demand as investors seek safe-haven exposure.
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Senate rejects CLARITY Act; crypto PACs signal 2026 spending surge
The Senate rejected the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on September 15, and crypto-backed PACs are now signaling they'll increase spending to influence the 2026 midterm races where control of Congress hangs in the balance.
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ECB proposes liquidity thresholds to replace MiCA stablecoin bank-deposit rule
The European System of Central Banks called Tuesday for replacing MiCA's mandatory bank-deposit reserves with liquidity requirements, citing risks of sudden withdrawal runs on lenders. The ESCB backed thresholds for short-term liquid assets instead.
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AstroForge builds AI control system for 2027 deep-space mission
AstroForge, a commercial asteroid mining startup, is developing Autonomy-1, an onboard AI system designed to enable autonomous navigation for deep-space probes without real-time human input. The company plans a 2027 mission to test the technology on its DeepSpace-2 spacecraft.
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Bitcoin ETFs Draw $1B in Day as Average Holder Returns to Profit
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $998.95 million on Monday, the largest single-day inflow since October, lifting the average fund holder back into profit for the first time since January as Bitcoin traded near $85,900.