"Decentralized computing networks can solve GenAI's energy problem. The use of DePIN stimulates technology development, democratizes access to powerful resources and attracts more users to web3. DePIN can harness the power of nodes running on computers and laptops. Node operators can exchange their rewards for other assets, and GenAI applications can harness the energy needed. DePIN also effectively lowers the barriers to entry for web3. This is proof that DePIN is a reliable path to widespread adoption."

At the center of the US Department of Justice's case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm is the question of whether he created the software or controlled the service. Storm and his colleague Roman Semenov are accused of money laundering conspiracy and violating the international economic emergency. The defense argues that Storm simply developed software for financial transactions. The hearing continues.

Crypto platform MakerDAO has announced an open competition for investment of $1 billion in tokenized offerings of US government bonds. Contenders include BlackRock-Securitize, Ondo Finance and Superstate.

MakerDAO's plan involves a significant shakeup in reserve strategy as the protocol enters a new era under the leadership of founder Rune Christensen.

An open competition for the distribution of $1 billion was announced at the ETHCC in Brussels and in a post on public administration. Applications will begin on August 12.

The investment will be financed by reallocating $500-500 million in reserves from vaults managed by Monetalis Clydesdale and Andromeda BlockTower.

MakerDAO's investment could be a big boost for tokenized real asset protocols due to its sheer size.

"AAA" games, the largest titles from top developers, are larger than the film and music industries combined. The introduction of Web3 technology has the potential to transform the "AAA" economic model, opening up markets to a global audience of gamers. However, technical complexity and scaling issues remained a barrier to mass adoption. The solution is to implement an invisible blockchain experience. Thanks to innovations in UX-centric products, UX problems have already been solved. Scaling to serve hundreds of millions of smart contracts and daily transactions on a single blockchain is made possible by modular appchains.

Analytics company Chainalysis, in its latest report, points to the possible use of blockchain networks by traditional criminals for money laundering. It is noted that these transactions are not related to cryptocurrency fraud and hacking, which Chainalysis usually monitors. Instead, they come from wallets that are not known to be illegal but nonetheless follow strategies that would likely make banks suspicious. For example, breaking into rounded tranches that are just below the KYC reporting thresholds and then merging them later.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped a three-year investigation into Hiro Systems, a blockchain software developer (formerly known as Blockstack) that raised $70 million in token sales from 2017 to 2019, according to a statement Friday.

This is another victory for the crypto industry in its years-long battle with the regulator and follows news that the agency has dropped its investigation into stablecoin issuer Paxos.

Hiro develops tools for developers to build applications on Stacks, a layer-2 blockchain that complements Bitcoin. Stacks is the creation of crypto industry veteran Muneeb Ali, who is now the CEO of Trust Machines, another developer in the ecosystem, and a board member of Hiro.

Bitcoin was trading around $57,000 after retreating from the $60,000 resistance level, down 2.4% over the past 24 hours. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) fell 2.3%.

Iris Energy continues to focus on Bitcoin mining, despite analysts deeming its Texas site unsuitable for AI. IREN shares fell nearly 14% after the Culper Research report.

Partior, a joint venture between JPMorgan, DBS and Standard Chartered, has raised $60 million in Series B funding. Partior aims to create a unified blockchain interbank payment system for instant clearing and settlement.

CME and CF Benchmarks announced the launch of indices and benchmark rates for XRP and Internet Computer (ICP).

Exchange Rage Trade announced the release of a new RAGE token through a liquidity generation event and token sale at the Fjord Foundry on August 7th. 20 million RAGE tokens will be sold at a fixed price of $0.30 on Fjord.

The token will be created on the recently launched Hyperliquid blockchain network. Rage Trade currently aggregates GMX, Synthetix, Dydx, Aevo and Hyperliquid.

The "Rage Quit" function has been introduced, allowing private investors to receive their share early for a 60% discount. RAGE will be one of the first tokens on Hyperliquid.

Blockchain payments platform Partior, backed by banking giants JPMorgan, DBS and Standard Chartered, has raised $60 million in Series B. The investment was led by Peak XV Partners, Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group, as well as JPMorgan, Standard Chartered and existing investor Temasek. The funds will be used to expand Partior's capabilities in intraday foreign exchange (FX) and cross-currency repos.

Morgan Creek Digital plans to raise up to $500 million for a new fund focused on early-stage opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, chip and data technologies. The firm intends to expand its presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. The new fund will invest in "ABCD" Web3, companies that seek to combine the power of AI, blockchain technology and related chips to extract value from data, according to Morgan Creek Digital general partner Mark Yusko.

Bitcoin failed to clear key resistance despite positive US inflation data. This could mean further price cuts. However, the decline may be limited as recent oversupply from the German state of Saxony has been exhausted. Federal Reserve rate cuts and FTX payouts could provide support, according to the broker.

“The likelihood of Joe Biden withdrawing from the US presidential race has increased by 6 percentage points, reaching 65%, according to traders of the cryptocurrency market Polymarket forecasts.

This happened before his first press conference in months. Questions about his age and cognitive health have led to calls from leading Democrats and donors, including actor George Clooney, for the president to step aside, despite his assurances to the contrary.

Biden's chances of winning the Democratic nomination fell 16 points to 38%. The third contract, dealing with the question of who will win the presidency, now gives Biden a 10% chance of winning, while Vice President Kamala Harris has a 19% chance and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has a 61% chance at Polymarket."

A federal court judge has called on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to abandon or significantly alter its efforts to obtain the private communications of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler. Judge Katherine Polk Failla expressed surprise at Coinbase's request and pointed out its inappropriateness. However, she asked the exchange to submit a reasoned application for formal consideration of the issue. Coinbase wanted to obtain Gensler's documents prior to his appointment as chairman of the regulator.

The German state of Saxony is quickly running out of bitcoin reserves after selling another batch of confiscated assets on crypto exchanges. Wallets associated with German authorities transferred 10,567 BTC to Bitstamp, Coinbase, Kraken and other exchanges. After these transactions, only 4,925 BTC remained in the wallets. This means that the sale of bitcoins in Germany could end as soon as Friday or early next week.

"The pixel art artist has announced his collaboration with Metagood to release his latest collection on the Ordinals protocol. This will be his first collection on Bitcoin, unlike previous works mainly released on Ethereum and Tezos. Ordinals offers elegant solutions for creating generative collections of art on the Bitcoin chain, including recursion and parent-child relationships."

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw said at a Senate hearing that she does not support approval of Bitcoin-based exchange trading products due to widespread fraud in cryptocurrency markets. She stressed that approval of such products could lead to further erosion of investor protection. Crenshaw expressed concerns that these products could flood markets and end up in the retirement accounts of American households, which can least afford to lose their savings due to fraud and manipulation in Bitcoin spot markets.

Bitcoin continues to lose value, down more than 20% since hitting a record high in mid-March. Meanwhile, US stocks, represented by the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 indices, continue to rise. Both indices closed in positive territory for the seventh time in a row, reaching new all-time highs.

According to a report published in The Block, Bitcoin's correlation with these indices has fallen to its lowest level in months. However, today they are all moving in the same direction - down.

As of midday New York time, the Nasdaq was down 1.8%, the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and Bitcoin was down 0.6% at $57,500.

LMAX Group market strategist Joel Kruger warned of a possible further fall in cryptocurrencies if a bad day in the stock market turns into a broader correction.

Ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris, Michel Cadeau proposed that the Prime Minister's Office introduce blockchain tickets for all major sporting events at the Olympics. Tickets will be rotating QR codes transmitted via blockchain technology, with NFT tickets sent days before the event.

Professional athletes using NFTs can create new streams of income that continue even after their active careers end. Agencies like Young Money APAA Sports are now providing their clients with their own digital player cards, allowing athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, as well as collect royalties on any subsequent sales.

Web3 games allow fans to become general managers of their favorite teams, combining the real and virtual worlds. Games using blockchain as the core technology enable users to own, trade and manage digital assets, and use cryptocurrency to combine investment with strategy and entertainment.

Crypto exchange Coinbase is launching an application to manage all users' blockchain wallets in one place. The application will allow you to connect several wallets and purchase, exchange, send, stake or mine coins. Users will be able to interact with each other. The application will be available on desktop and mobile devices, and will also work with smart wallets. The move is part of Coinbase's strategy to become a "super app."

Since the creation of BNB Chain in 2017, approximately $1.64 billion has been lost due to hacking attacks and rug pulls.

According to bug-hunting platform Immunefi, the main target for the launch of fraudulent tokens was “rug pulls”, which accounted for $368 million.

In 2023 and 2024, losses were reduced thanks to a series of hard forks aimed at eliminating network vulnerabilities.

However, BNB Chain retains the dubious title of “preferred target for rug pulls.”

In total, the report estimates 228 rug pulls with a total value of $368 million.

Against this backdrop, Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain and the largest smart contract platform, has accumulated losses of $3.6 billion, but only 4.4% of this amount is due to rug pulls.

BNB Chain did not respond to an email seeking comment by the time of publication.