Raw News Items
75 itemsAugust 20, 2026
- The Block
CME CEO Terrence Duffy trades barbs with CFTC’s Selig and Kalshi’s COO over prediction market oversight
A CFTC ommittee meeting exposed a sharp divide between the worlds of traditional finance and prediction market platforms.
- CryptoSlate
Datavault wants to buy a bank and fund it with $35 million after reporting $1.4 million cash
Datavault AI has agreed to acquire BankWyse, a Wyoming banking institution, while promising funding substantially larger than the cash it reported at the end of June. The mismatch leaves a central question for the proposed deal: How can Datavault finance the purchase and capitalize the bank without ...
- CointelegraphScore: 90
Crypto short liquidations pass $3B mark as Bitcoin price nears $72K
Bitcoin approached $72,000 in a second day of upside as crypto short liquidations passed $3.1 billion.
- DecryptScore: 90
Bitcoin Hits Highest Price Since June as $3 Billion in Shorts Liquidated
Bitcoin punched above $72,000 Thursday, extending a two-day squeeze that's wiped out the most short positions on record and mounted the first real challenge to a bearish chart that's held since November.
- CoinDeskScore: 88
Bitcoin breaks out of six-week range, tops $71,000 as $3 billion in shorts get wiped out
Six weeks of compression ended in the largest short liquidation since at least 2021, with $3 billion of bearish bets forced to buy back into thin supply.
- CoinDeskScore: 85
Ether jumps 18% to $2,250 as bitcoin tops $69,000 in broad crypto rally
Every major except tron posted double-digit weekly gains, with nearly $1.4 billion of short positions wiped out after the Treasury doubled its bond buybacks.
- The BlockScore: 85
Spot bitcoin ETFs report $517 million in net inflows, largest in 3.5 months
Analysts attributed the inflows to the surprise crypto market rally driven by US Treasury Department's buyback expansion announcement.
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
Bitcoin grabs 77% of $1.3 billion crypto fund surge as BlackRock leads the rebound
Bitcoin accounted for 77.4% of the $1.297 billion in inflows recorded across US Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana crypto ETPs from Aug. 17 through Aug. 19, making the rebound heavily Bitcoin-weighted in dollar terms. Farside Investors' Bitcoin table shows $297.5 million of net inflows on Aug. 17, $189.3...
- CointelegraphScore: 85
Bitcoin ETFs draw $517M in largest one-day inflow since early May
Investors have poured more than $1 billion into US spot Bitcoin ETFs this week as BTC neared $72,000 and Ether climbed 19% to about $2,286 on Thursday.
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
Bitcoin blasts past $72,000 as Trump, Treasury buybacks wipe out $3.1B in shorts
Bitcoin surged above $70,000 for the first time since June as falling Treasury yields and Washington’s crypto push crushed bearish bets. Data from CryptoSlate shows that BTC extended its breakout above $72,000 on Thursday, taking its gain since Monday to roughly 15%. It has climbed to $72,207 as of ...
- CointelegraphScore: 85
Bitcoin price reaches $72.5K as US issues ‘Economic D-Day’ threat to Iran
Bitcoin saw new multimonth highs above $72,500 even as US stocks cooled amid US threats of “economic warfare” with Iran.
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
FBI gets alleged $165 million crypto Ponzi scheme mastermind back after year-long Fiji escape
Edward Zimbardi has been returned to the US after being deported from Fiji, putting the alleged mastermind of a $165 million crypto investment scheme back within reach of federal prosecutors. A federal grand jury in Georgia indicted Zimbardi on July 8 on 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money l...
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
SEC faces Aug. 20 deadline to unlock $123 million recovery fund for Terra investors
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) faces an Aug. 20 deadline to submit a plan for distributing a $123.1 million fund paid by Jump Crypto subsidiary Tai Mo Shan to investors harmed by Terra's 2022 collapse. The proposal is expected to determine who qualifies for compensation, how losses ...
- The BlockScore: 85
Bitcoin’s rally pushes past $72,000 as analysts see demand beyond historic short squeeze
Analysts say the move is supported by spot and ETF demand, though BTC will need to hold above $70k to show the rally can outlast the squeeze.
- CointelegraphScore: 85
CFTC chair says agency will move forward on crypto regulation if CLARITY fails
Michael Selig said at a meeting of the Innovation Advisory Committee that he had directed CFTC staff to explore developer protections and other crypto-related policies.
- CoinDeskScore: 80
Bearish crypto bets lose record $2.7 billion as bitcoin surges toward $70,000
Traders betting against crypto lost $2.74 billion in a day, more than the short side of the October 2025 crash that remains the biggest liquidation event in the market's history.
- CoinDeskScore: 80
Live updates: Bitcoin ETFs draw $517 million, ether pulls $189 million in biggest inflows in months
Spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $517 million and ether funds $189 million on Aug. 19, the strongest daily hauls in months, as a broad rally torched $2.7 billion in bearish bets.
- CoinDeskScore: 80
Bitcoin approaches $72,000 as Strategy and Coinbase continue rally
Bitcoin has gained 15% since monday, reclaiming several key technical and on-chain levels as bullish momentum builds.
- DecryptScore: 80
Nearly 2,000 Hacked WordPress Sites Turned Into Criminal Infrastructure
The StopAndProtect operation used compromised WordPress websites to spread malware, steal crypto wallet files, and deploy ransomware.
- DecryptScore: 80
CFTC Chair Readies Crypto Rules If Congress Fails to Pass Clarity Act
The CFTC chair said staff is already exploring a crypto market structure framework and could move quickly to propose rules if Congress fails to act.
- CoinDeskScore: 80
U.S. CFTC chief puts staff on notice to create crypto regulations if Clarity Act fails
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig told the inaugural gathering of the Innovation Advisory Committee that his agency won't sit idle.
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
MAYAChain’s $1.36 million exploit spiraled into nearly $11 million of pool damage
MAYAChain's attacker moved about $1.36 million in hard assets to external chains, while the estimated impact across the network's liquidity pools approached $11 million. The $1.36 million figure tracks assets that left the system, including roughly 20.83 BTC. The larger estimate captures a cascade i...
- CoinDeskScore: 75
Trader who made $49 million shorting crypto lost $24 million on ether in 12 seconds
The Hyperliquid wallet known as pension-usdt.eth was forced out of a 50,000 ETH short as ether surged, with five liquidation orders helping push the price higher during the unwind.
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
Bitcoin flashes 8 capitulation signals, but traders just spent $552 million protecting against another crash
Bitcoin is showing some of the strongest capitulation signals of the current downturn, suggesting the selloff may be entering a later stage even as the market offers little evidence of an imminent rebound. Eight of the 12 indicators tracked by VanEck are currently flashing capitulation, while all 12...
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
A crypto network just voted to abandon its standalone blockchain and unlock 27% of its token supply
GnosisDAO has approved a plan to retire Gnosis Chain’s standalone Layer 1, a shift that will unlock roughly 350,000 staked GNO. Under GIP-153, Gnosis Chain will become a zero-knowledge-proven Ethereum Economic Zone rollup that settles directly to Ethereum every block. The network will eventually ret...
- DecryptScore: 75
Banking Regulator Races to Finalize GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules
OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould told the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium the agency is moving at a rapid pace to beat a January statutory deadline, after already missing an earlier July target.
- The BlockScore: 75
Securitize’s Redfearn says SEC held back crypto innovation exemption over Clarity Act politics
Securitize says the SEC delayed its crypto trading exemption to avoid complicating Senate votes on the Clarity Act.
- CointelegraphScore: 75
Cybersecurity firm unveils crypto phishing campaign targeting 885,000 phone numbers
Rapid7 unveiled a new cryptocurrency phishing campaign targeting 885,000 phone numbers, aiming to steal investors’ holdings by redirecting them to fake wallet provider websites.
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
Nearly 1 in 5 crypto spot trades now happen on DEXs as centralized exchange volume collapses
Centralized crypto exchanges lost 31.2% of their spot crypto trading volume in July, falling to $727 billion and marking the lowest monthly total since October 2023. Decentralized exchanges also lost volume, but only 9.82%, settling at $176 billion. That gap pushed DEXs to a record 19.5% share of co...
- CoinDeskScore: 75
Bitcoin's jump above $71,000 sets up bullish golden cross pattern
Bitcoin’s improving momentum could produce a golden cross, but the rally still faces an important test.
- DecryptScore: 75
Iranian Hackers Tied to $6 Million Bitcoin Extortion Charged in Massive Cyber Campaign
Seventeen alleged members of Iran-based Mabna Institute were charged over hacks targeting hundreds of universities, companies, and government agencies.
- The BlockScore: 75
Inside the Oval Office meeting: Trump appears ‘bullish’ on Clarity Act as he solicits feedback from crypto, finance CEOs
During a private Oval Office meeting, President Trump appeared “bullish” on passing the Clarity Act, one source said.
- CointelegraphScore: 75
Bitcoin breaks above 200-day moving average for first time since November
The BTC price reclaimed its 200-day moving average for the first time in nine months as its rally gained momentum after the US Treasury expanded its bond buybacks.
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
This Bitcoin miner just signed a $350 million AI deal, but it needs $185 million to make it work
HIVE Digital Technologies’ $350 million AI cloud contract depends on a $185 million GPU buildout that must be completed in the fourth quarter before most of the revenue can begin. The five-year agreement, signed by HIVE’s BUZZ High Performance Computing unit with an unnamed investment-grade enterpri...
- CointelegraphScore: 70
HYPE jumps 20% as Trump signals legal US path for Hyperliquid
HYPE reached $72 after Trump said the CFTC was pursuing compliant US access for Hyperliquid, though no formal regulatory plan has been released.
- CryptoSlateScore: 70
Trump wants the US to become a Bitcoin whale, but Congress controls the wallet
President Donald Trump said on Aug. 20 that the US is considering accumulating sizable amounts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Current law gives his administration several ways to increase federal crypto holdings, though no public authority gives Treasury a funded program for multibillion-dol...
- CoinDeskScore: 70
Bitcoin rally sparks debate whether Clarity Act is already priced in
Erald Ghoos, OKX Europe CEO, says U.S. crypto rules could blow new life into the market amid a rotation of capital from AI back to bitcoin.
- DecryptScore: 70
Fake Crypto AML Checkers Are Trying to Drain Users' Wallets
Scammers are impersonating crypto compliance services to trick users into approving transactions that could put their assets at risk.
- CointelegraphScore: 70
Optimism moves 546.9M OP from future airdrops to ecosystem growth fund
The governance vote redirects tokens previously reserved for user airdrops toward partnerships, incentives and Optimism’s growing institutional push.
- CointelegraphScore: 70
Bitcoin miners pour billions into AI as capex outpaces revenue 15-to-1
Nine public miners generated $341 million from AI and HPC operations in the first half of 2026 after spending more than $5 billion on capital assets.
- CointelegraphScore: 70
Binance opens crypto trading to AI agents with user-set controls
Binance’s Agent OS lets AI agents access market data, execute trades and make payments while giving users control over permissions and account access.
- CryptoSlateScore: 65
Bitcoin treasury Hyperscale sells 686 BTC to clear loans but says cash won’t cover next 12 months
In August 2026, Hyperscale Data sold approximately 686 Bitcoin for about $43.4 million, then used part of the proceeds to repay all of its Bitcoin-backed loans on Morpho, a decentralized lending protocol, according to its quarterly filing. The repayment released the pledged collateral and left the c...
- The BlockScore: 65
AI agents could make today’s billion-dollar crypto hacks look like ‘pennies,’ industry leaders warn
Crypto leaders see trust, hallucinations and unclear legal liability as the biggest hurdles to agentic adoption.
- CoinDeskScore: 65
BitGo secures South Korea virtual asset license, says it's the first global crypto company to do so
Backed by Hana Financial Group and SK Telecom, BitGo Korea built a locally registered entity from scratch to serve institutional and enterprise clients, rather than taking the acquisition route.
- CointelegraphScore: 65
MiCA cracks down on USDT in Europe... but no one else cares
USDT is disappearing from regulated European platforms, but there is little sign that it has resulted in weakening global demand for Tether.
- CryptoSlateScore: 65
Tether-backed Antalpha’s loan TVL declined $696 million as its gold bet returned a $22 million loss
Antalpha’s facilitated loan book shrank by $696 million in the second quarter as losses on tokenized gold holdings at its subsidiary, Aurelion, pushed the digital asset financing group into the red. According to the firm's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), its total loan b...
- CryptoSlateScore: 60
Bitcoin miner Ionic gets 90% of revenue from AI lease as BTC drives $35M loss
Ionic Digital, a Bitcoin miner repositioning its power sites for AI infrastructure, generated 90% of its second-quarter revenue from leasing. Its Q2 accounts show an uneven transition: operating revenue has shifted away from mining faster than reported earnings have shifted away from Bitcoin. The Wa...
- CointelegraphScore: 60
BitGo Korea secures VASP registration for institutional crypto custody
Regulators reportedly accepted BitGo Korea’s registration on Tuesday, two days before stricter VASP entry requirements took effect.
- CointelegraphScore: 60
GnosisDAO approves Gnosis Chain for Ethereum Economic Zone
Gnosis Chain was approved to transition to an EEZ rollup, enabling it to settle directly to Ethereum rather than continue with an independent validator set.
- The BlockScore: 60
GSR’s Baehr says tokenized fixed income could play key role in institutional collateral
The idea of mass tokenization of equities is "exciting," said Andy Baehr, managing director of asset management at GSR.
- CoinDeskScore: 60
Ripple-linked XRP jumps 15% as data shows 'banker hours' onchain pattern
Three hours spanning the London afternoon and New York morning account for about 23% of XRP moving onchain, up from roughly 14% a year ago.
- CoinDeskScore: 60
Optimism-funded team's deciding vote shifts $49 million in OP tokens away from users
The approved plan reallocates 546.9 million OP from user airdrops to a Foundation-controlled Strategic Ecosystem Fund.
- CointelegraphScore: 60
Bitdeer signs $400M AI cloud computing deal for Malaysia facility
Bitdeer expects revenue from the five-year agreement to begin in early 2027 as it builds toward 350 megawatts of AI cloud capacity by 2028.
- CoinDeskScore: 60
Treasury buybacks could set up Bitcoin’s next move toward $180,000, says strategist
Longtime bond market investor Mark Connors sees routine government bond buybacks improving liquidity and bringing bitcoin’s next rally closer.
- CointelegraphScore: 60
US debt tops $40T stoking debate on what it means for Bitcoin
Analysts say the $40 trillion debt milestone could bolster Bitcoin’s long-term case, even as Treasury yields, dollar strength and liquidity remain key near-term drivers.
- The BlockScore: 60
Ondo executive says tokenization is following the same path as early ETFs
The firm hopes that passage of the Clarity Act will help open the door for it to offer tokenized products in the U.S.
- DecryptScore: 60
Bitcoin Is Pumping But Prediction Market Traders Aren't Convinced
Bitcoin's sharpest rally in five months flipped prediction-market odds from bearish to a coin flip—but the longer-term bets still price in a crash.
- The BlockScore: 60
Kraken parent Payward explores becoming a ‘full bank’ outside the US
Payward is expanding across banking, lending and asset management, with mortgages a future possibility.
- CryptoSlateScore: 60
Solana’s 50,000 SOL security contest did not cover a clock attack disclosed months earlier
At USENIX Security on Aug. 12, researchers presented a Solana Proof-of-History clock attack they had disclosed privately to Solana developers in December 2025. Anza's 50,000 SOL Alpenglow competition closed seven days later, and its rules appear to place the attack outside the scope. The paper descr...
- DecryptScore: 60
Tensions Flare as CME, Kalshi Execs Clash Over Prediction Markets in DC
CME Group Chairman Terry Duffy and Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara traded barbs during a CFTC meeting over prediction markets, manipulation, and regulatory standards.
- CryptoSlateScore: 55
Nasdaq-listed company warned it may not survive 12 months after its crypto treasury crashed 46%
Cosmos Health’s crypto treasury was down about 46% at the end of June as the Nasdaq-listed company warned that recurring losses and reliance on outside financing raised substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern over the next 12 months. The company held 474.85 ETH and 15.66 B...
- CoinDeskScore: 55
Elon Musk's X is exploring stablecoins to pay influencers and content providers
Conversations with X are ongoing, according to a person who also works with other social media platforms testing stablecoins to pay influencers.
- DecryptScore: 55
XRP Notches Best Week Since 2024 Election Pump on Bitcoin Short Squeeze
The token's steepest daily and weekly gains in months rode Bitcoin's record liquidation wave—though ETF flows and futures data hint the move is running on borrowed momentum.
- The BlockScore: 50
Evernorth eyes DeFi opportunities as XRP Ledger weighs native lending
The XRP-focused digital asset treasury firm plans to put its holdings to work as it also moves through the process of going public.
- The BlockScore: 50
‘Star Wars vibes:’ Chainlink’s McCormick sees AI agents, robots driving blockchain transactions
McCormick expects a multi-chain future as AI lowers the cost of creating new blockchain networks, increasing the need for interoperability.
- DecryptScore: 50
What's Next for Bitcoin After Historic Rally? Experts Weigh In
Bitcoin's surge above $72,000 wiped out billions in bearish bets, but analysts say fresh buying will be needed to keep the rally going.
- DecryptScore: 40
Morning Minute: Hyperliquid Is Coming to the US
At least, if Trump and the CFTC have their way. And the market really, really liked the news.
- The BlockScore: 40
OpenLedger’s Ram Kumar sees agentic payments as crypto’s first AI ‘killer app’
OpenLedger core contributor Ram Kumar sees agentic payments as a major crypto use case as AI agents lack traditional banking access.
- CoinDeskScore: 40
Crypto for Advisors: What are tokenized deposits?
Banks are moving deposits on-chain using permissioned systems, not open ones. See why privacy and compliance dictate this path in this week's newsletter.
- CointelegraphScore: 30
Rushed CLARITY Act vote could set legislation back, Gallego warns
Gallego said the White House has not provided point-by-point feedback on a bipartisan ethics proposal as a September vote approaches.
- CointelegraphScore: 30
Crypto generated about 1% of Webull’s record $198M Q2 revenue
While Webull reported a record $198 million in second-quarter revenue, cryptocurrency trading only generated about $2.25 million of the quarter’s revenue stream.
- CointelegraphScore: 30
Most Americans say the Trump family’s crypto investments are not ‘appropriate’: Poll
A new poll showed 64% of 1,166 Americans varied sharply along partisan lines, with a majority of Republicans saying it was appropriate for Trump and his family to invest in crypto.
- DecryptScore: 30
Alibaba's Revenue Jumps 9% as AI Cloud Growth Hits 45%—But a Profit Plunge Sends Shares Lower
Cloud and AI product revenue accelerated in the June quarter, but a 75% drop in net income extended Alibaba's run of profit misses to a fifth straight quarter.
- DecryptScore: 20
Flock's New AI Police Tool Can Track Drivers Without a Name or License Plate
The underlying code for "OS Investigate" has 69 preloaded AI prompts that turn Flock cameras into a super-charged surveillance system that identifies people by how they move.
- CoinDeskScore: 10
Fed liquidity promises, dollar weakness could determine bitcoin's next move
Your day-ahead look for Aug. 20, 2026