Articles by Khal
Latest from Khal
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Solana DEX volume surges past $17B weekly, outpacing major exchanges
Solana processed over $17B in weekly DEX volume in mid-September, driven by stablecoin swaps, memecoin speculation, and perpetual contracts. The network now handles more decentralized exchange volume than any other blockchain, with daily volumes regularly exceeding $3B.
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Yandex releases AliceAI-Foundation 80B model under Apache 2.0 license
Yandex released AliceAI-Foundation-80B-A3B-Base, an open-source large language model with 80 billion parameters and a 262,144-token context window, available on Hugging Face under the Apache 2.0 license for unrestricted commercial and non-commercial use.
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Kevin O'Leary: $1M Bitcoin Requires Solving Quantum Computing Threat
Venture investor Kevin O'Leary conditioned a $1 million Bitcoin price target on solving quantum computing risks, while reversing his Ethereum thesis and predicting industry-specific blockchains will dominate tokenization.
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Tech stocks hit lowest valuations since ChatGPT launch, earnings climb 19%
The S&P Global tech sector's forward P/E ratio has collapsed from 32x to 21x in under a year, erasing AI-era premiums even as earnings estimates climb 19%. Analysts debate whether the selloff signals genuine overvaluation or market overcorrection, with implications for crypto and blockchain infrastructure demand.
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Chainlink's Project Pangea enables T+0 FX settlement, eliminating business-day delays
Chainlink unveiled Project Pangea, a consortium of 50+ banks across 16 countries, to test instant T+0 settlement for cross-border foreign exchange trades using blockchain infrastructure and regulated stablecoins. The initiative targets the EUR-KRW corridor and aims to execute live transactions within 12 months.
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Ledger CTO warns of DarkSword iOS exploit stealing crypto wallet data
Ledger's Chief Technology Officer Charles Guillemet has warned cryptocurrency holders about DarkSword, an iOS exploit chain that can compromise iPhones through malicious Safari pages and steal wallet data. All known vulnerabilities were patched by iOS 26.3.
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MicroStrategy's Bitcoin Holdings Near June Record After $75.7M Buy
Strategy added 950 BTC for $75.7 million in mid-September, bringing its total to 846,000 coins—just 0.2% short of its June 22 record of 847,363 BTC.
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Strategy buys 950 Bitcoin for $76 million, holdings hit 846,000 BTC
Business intelligence company Strategy acquired 950 Bitcoin for approximately $76 million last week, pushing its total holdings to 846,000 BTC worth nearly $72 billion. The purchases reflect continued accumulation amid Bitcoin's rise to near $85,000.
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Binance Opens bStocks Collateral to Regular Users, Expanding Tokenized Equity Access
Binance expanded bStocks collateral eligibility to Regular and VIP 0-2 users on September 21, 2026, previously restricted to VIP 3 and above. The move lets millions more traders pledge tokenized US equities and ETFs in margin accounts, though borrowing bStocks remains unsupported.
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Bitcoin surges past $85,000 as $648M short liquidations fuel rally
Bitcoin broke above $85,000 on a wave of forced short-seller buybacks, with $648 million in short liquidations driving the rally. The move marks the cryptocurrency's strongest advance since January and closes a 45-week gap below its 50-week moving average.
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NEAR token surges 78% as Intents volume nears $30 billion
NEAR Protocol's native token jumped nearly 80% in a week, trading at $4.29 on Monday. The surge coincided with the launch of confidential trading features on near.com and $29.3 billion in cumulative volume on NEAR Intents, which now includes privacy-focused Zcash swaps.
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ECB Launches Pontes Platform for Digital Euro Wholesale Settlements
The European Central Bank launched Pontes on September 21, 2026, a wholesale platform connecting private blockchain networks with central bank payment rails for tokenized asset settlements in euro central bank money.
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Bitcoin hits eight-month high above $85,000 as oil prices cool
Bitcoin reached $85,000 for the first time since January, marking its highest level in nearly eight months. The rally was buoyed by cooling oil prices and strong ETF inflows, though analyst Rekt Capital warned of a bearish divergence on the RSI indicator.
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France Crypto Hostage Attack: Family Forced to Transfer €40,000
Four hooded attackers broke into a northern French home, held a couple and their two children hostage for three hours, and forced the father—an IT specialist in cryptocurrency—to transfer €40,000. The case marks a shift in France's escalating wrench-attack epidemic.
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Amazon blocks Meta's Muse AI agent from shopping over privacy concerns
Amazon began blocking Meta's Muse AI shopping assistant on September 20, citing privacy concerns and unauthorized access after Meta failed to notify the company in advance. The block cuts off a core feature of Muse just twelve days after launch.
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Pendle slashes token emissions 92%, boosts liquidity depth 40% via algorithmic incentives
Pendle Finance cut PENDLE token emissions by 92% and grew liquidity depth by 40% after deploying its Algorithmic Incentive Model in January 2026, reducing annual inflation to 0.2% while buying back tokens at ten times the minting rate.
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AI hiring surge concentrates on senior roles, widening wage gaps
Companies with heavy AI exposure are growing headcount 52% faster than peers, but hiring gains concentrate on senior positions and experienced professionals, driving wage premiums and potentially deepening economic disparities.
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Bitcoin breaks 50-week moving average for first time since November 2025
Bitcoin ended the week of September 20, 2026 above its 50-week moving average at $81,159, breaking a 45-week dry spell. Historical data from Galaxy Research suggests the move has bullish implications, though sustained momentum remains critical.
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Cardano integrates x402 SDK for ADA-based API payments
Cardano Foundation engineers merged Cardano support into the x402 protocol repository, enabling AI agents and applications to pay for API calls directly in ADA through HTTP requests without accounts or intermediaries.
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ZetaChain holders vote to shut down L1, migrate ZETA to Solana
ZetaChain tokenholders voted to wind down the project's layer-1 blockchain and migrate its ZETA token to Solana as an SPL token. The governance proposal passed with 99.4% support, reflecting a broader trend of smaller blockchain projects consolidating onto larger chains.
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Societe Generale targets €1.9B AI cost cuts by 2029
Societe Generale unveiled a strategic roadmap to cut €1.9 billion in costs by 2029, with AI initiatives expected to trim roughly €500 million from IT spending alone. The French bank aims to reduce its cost-to-income ratio below 55% while maintaining 3% annual revenue growth, backed by new partnerships with Microsoft and Anthropic.
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Bitcoin Reclaims 50-Week Moving Average for First Time in 45 Weeks
Bitcoin closed above its 50-week moving average of $78,786 for the first time in 45 weeks at $81,159, a technical milestone that historically signals the end of bear markets and the start of sustained bull runs.
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US Spot Bitcoin ETFs Record $433M Inflow as Bitcoin Tops $81,000
US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $433 million on September 18, reversing a week of outflows and lifting Bitcoin above $81,000. The inflow underscores how institutional capital flows directly impact the asset's price action and volatility.
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ZetaChain votes to shut down Layer 1, migrate ZETA to Solana
ZetaChain token holders voted overwhelmingly to shut down the project's independent blockchain and convert ZETA to a Solana SPL token, marking a strategic pivot toward AI applications after the team launched Anuma, which attracted over 300,000 users.