Articles by Khal
Latest from Khal
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Robinhood slides 4% despite earnings beat as crypto revenue cools
Robinhood reported record revenue of $1.31 billion and beat earnings expectations, but shares fell 4% after-hours as crypto trading revenue declined 38% year-over-year to $100 million, though gains in options, equities and prediction markets offset the slowdown.
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Merkle Science brings confidential transfers to Sui with regulatory compliance
Merkle Science is deploying confidential transfers on Sui that keep account balances private while giving compliance teams structured access, attempting to resolve the long-standing tension between blockchain privacy and regulatory oversight.
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Fed Holds Rates at 3.50%-3.75%, Extending Pause as Markets Await Guidance
The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate unchanged Wednesday, extending its pause for a sixth consecutive meeting. Three committee members dissented in favor of a rate hike, while markets had assigned roughly 65% odds to a hold. Bitcoin and equities rallied on the decision.
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Ethereum Stalls Near $1,900 Ahead of Fed Rate Decision
Ethereum recovered from 2026 lows but faces headwinds as the Federal Reserve prepares to hold rates. Technical indicators show mixed signals, with traders on prediction markets leaning bearish on a potential drop to $1,500.
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Crypto VC Firms Plummet to 150, Lowest Since November 2020
The number of active venture firms in crypto funding has collapsed to 150 through July 28, marking the lowest count since late 2020 and representing an 87% decline from the May 2022 peak of 1,177 investors.
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CME launches sports futures tied to team and athlete performance
CME Group is launching futures and options contracts linked to professional and college sports performance through a partnership with FutureSports, converting official play-by-play statistics into tradable indexes that could begin trading this summer pending regulatory approval.
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Data center backlash halts $130B in projects, Caterpillar downgraded
Local opposition to data centers delayed or blocked 75 projects worth $130 billion in Q1 2026 alone, prompting Baird to downgrade Caterpillar and raising questions for crypto miners pivoting to AI infrastructure.
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Solflare launches Aurora Intents cross-chain deposits for Solana
Aurora Labs has integrated its intent-based cross-chain protocol with Solflare, allowing users to deposit assets from Bitcoin, Ethereum, and seven other blockchains directly into Solana wallets without bridge apps or wrapped tokens. Transfers settle in under a minute from Ethereum and about 14 minutes from Bitcoin.
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Morgan Stanley: Tokenization and 24/7 Markets End Traditional Banking Hours
Morgan Stanley executives argue that tokenization and blockchain infrastructure are reshaping finance into a 24/7 model, with banks and exchanges investing in technology to enable round-the-clock asset settlement and investor access.
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Brale launches ION Protocol to solve stablecoin fragmentation
Stablecoin infrastructure firm Brale rolled out ION Protocol, a burn-and-mint interoperability layer designed to let hundreds of branded stablecoins move across blockchains without pre-funded liquidity pools. CEO Ben Milne said liquidity fragmentation is the top barrier to scaling custom tokens.
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Strive reaches 20,000 BTC but share dilution cuts per-holder stake
Strive's Bitcoin treasury reached 20,000 BTC this week after buying 79 coins, but a concurrent 430,000-share increase left investors owning slightly less Bitcoin per share, with the company offering no explanation for the funding gap.
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Coinbase Q2 earnings: Wall Street cuts forecasts as trading volumes fall
Spot trading volumes fell sharply in the second quarter as crypto prices declined, prompting analysts at Barclays, Benchmark, Clear Street and Compass Point to cut Coinbase earnings estimates ahead of Thursday's results. The company's outlook on regulation and diversification efforts may matter more than the numbers.
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$972M Crypto Hacks Shift to Keys and Governance Over Code Bugs
Crypto has lost roughly $972 million to hacks in 2026, but most theft now flows through compromised signing keys and governance exploits rather than smart contract vulnerabilities, according to Immunefi's analysis of five years of breach data.
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RobinhoodChain hits $885.50M RWA volume in first month post-launch
RobinhoodChain, which launched in July, recorded $885.50 million in RWA transfer volume as of July 29, representing a 2,424,301% surge over 30 days. Market observers note the spike reflects the network's transition from zero activity to production use, though questions remain about sustainability and baseline comparisons.
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Robinhood developing zero-knowledge privacy protocol for anonymous swaps
Robinhood is reportedly building a zero-knowledge privacy protocol that would enable anonymous deposits, swaps, and withdrawals, marking a potential shift toward privacy-first trading on a major centralized exchange.
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Zcash Ironwood upgrade seals Orchard pool, attracts $80M in first day
Zcash activated its Ironwood network upgrade on July 28, sealing the Orchard shielded pool and introducing formally verified proof circuits. The new pool received roughly $80 million in ZEC within 24 hours, though the upgrade patches a critical four-year-old bug and requires users to manually migrate funds.
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ABA CEO endorses CLARITY Act, seeks deposit-protection amendments
Rob Nichols, CEO of the American Bankers Association, backed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on July 21 while calling for narrow amendments to shield community banks from stablecoin-driven deposit flight, as the bill advances through Congress alongside stablecoin-focused legislation.
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Cardano Foundation partners with Reef Data to monetize personal data via GDPR-compliant cooperative
The Cardano Foundation announced a partnership with Reef Data eG on July 28 to pool members' personal data, license it to businesses, and distribute royalties back to contributors. Reef's model sits at the intersection of GDPR compliance, blockchain accounting, and commercial data sales.
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Ethereum Foundation appoints pcaversaccio to board for one-year term
The Ethereum Foundation appointed security researcher pcaversaccio to its board for a one-year term as the organization reshapes its role around long-term stewardship and navigates significant leadership transitions.
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Zcash's Ironwood Pool Attracts $81M ZEC in First Day
Roughly $81 million worth of ZEC moved into Zcash's new Ironwood shielded pool within a day of the upgrade, representing about 5% of funds held in the retired Orchard pool, which can no longer accept deposits.
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Shiba Inu Exchange Reserves Hit $414M as Price Pressure Mounts
Shiba Inu's exchange reserves are nearing a $400 million threshold, driven primarily by token price depreciation rather than large withdrawals. SHIB is trading near $0.0000048, below its 100-day moving average, as recent rally momentum failed to sustain.
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Strategy Inc. CEO Simplifies mNAV Formula Amid Market Declines
Strategy Inc. CEO Phong Le announced a simplification of the mNAV formula governing share issuance, introducing a fixed 1.0x efficiency threshold as the company's stock and Bitcoin face steep year-to-date losses.
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XRP Ledger fixCleanup3_2_0 Amendment Activates with 85.71% Support
The fixCleanup3_2_0 amendment activated on the XRP Ledger mainnet on July 28 with strong validator backing, bringing precision fixes and security hardening across multiple protocols including Single Asset Vaults and the Lending Protocol.
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Perpetuals' Systemic Risk Lies in Venue Design, Not the Contract
As perpetual futures enter regulated markets, critics warn they pose systemic risk. But the danger comes from how venues are built — leverage limits, margin rules, and liquidation handling — not the derivative itself, argues Bullish Exchange's Chris Tyrer.