Hacking group Dark Angels pulled off the largest crypto heist in history, after perpetrating a cyberattack against the drug distributor Cencora, Bloomberg was first to report on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania-based Cencora paid out a $75 million ransom in three bitcoin payments last March.
Dark Angels, thought to be a cybercrime syndicate based in Russia, first emerged in 2021 and has attacked companies in the healthcare, finance, government and education sectors. In August, security firm Zscaler ThreatLabz said Dark Angels was the top ransomware threat for 2024 when it disclosed a then-unnamed company paid out $75 million following a data breach.
“The Dark Angels group employs a highly targeted approach, typically attacking a single large company at a time. This is in stark contrast to most ransomware groups, which target victims indiscriminately and outsource most of the attack to affiliate networks,” Zscaler wrote in a report. In 2023, the group demanded $51 million after exploiting international conglomerate Johnson Controls, though it’s unknown whether the full amount was paid.
Cencora initially disclosed the hack in a July regulatory filing, calling it a “material cybersecurity incident” that was discovered in February. The exfiltrated data included personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information largely maintained by a “subsidiary that provides patient support services.”
“The Company believes it has contained the incident, and the Company has undertaken remediation efforts, which are ongoing,” CFO James F. Cleary wrote, adding that Cencora “does not believe the incident is reasonably likely to materially impact the Company’s financial condition.”
The initial ransom demand was $150 million, which would have been 275% higher than the $40 million previous largest ransom paid by CNA Financial Corp in 2021.
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Cencora noted it has started working with cybersecurity experts to reinforce its IT systems to “prevent unauthorized occurrences.”
Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT believes he found the on-chain payments made to Dark Angels.
“I think it’s a bad look when a large publicly traded company like Cencora does not share the BTC transactions for the $75M payment to Dark Angels ransomeware [sic] group so I will just post it for them,” he wrote on X.
It is not clear whether Dark Angels has deleted the stolen data — which includes Cencora clients’ names, addresses, dates of birth, diagnoses and prescriptions — or how many people were affected.
Ransomware is a growing problem, particularly in the crypto industry. Blockchain research firm Chainalysis estimated that over $450 million was lost to ransomware attacks in the first half of 2024, putting the world “firmly on track for the worst year on record.”
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#SEC

Fintech company Monerium has launched EURe on the Noble blockchain, marking it the first euro-backed stablecoin to launch natively in the Cosmos ecosystem.
The EURe launch takes place on Noble, a network designed explicitly for issuing and transferring stablecoins and other real-world assets across sovereign blockchains.
EURe is collateralized by euro-denominated deposits and integrated with the SEPA framework, enabling instant euro transfers between on-chain and custodial bank accounts.
Monerium, the issuer, complies with the EU’s MiCA regulations and was the first Electronic Money Institution authorized to issue e-money on blockchains starting in 2019. It issues regulated on-chain fiat currencies under MiCA authorization.
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The firm provides a unique IBAN linked to each user’s self-custodial Noble address, facilitating fast transfers between bank accounts on Noble and the broader Cosmos network.
Noble serves as the native asset issuance network for Circle’s USDC stablecoin within the Cosmos ecosystem, comprising over 90 application-specific blockchains, including Cosmos Hub, Injective, dYdX Chain, Noble, Celestia and others. These blockchains interact with each other using the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC).
Since its inception in September 2023, Noble hosts $280 million in total assets and facilitated over $3 billion in IBC transfer volume. The platform addresses liquidity fragmentation across isolated execution environments and the rollup ecosystem.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#binancepizza

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) bitcoin futures traders have ramped up short positions ahead of Wednesday's U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate announcement, signaling caution in the market, according to an analyst.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to announce its latest interest rate decision at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, with interest rate traders now predicting a 50 basis-point cut, the first reduction in the benchmark rate in four years.
K33 analyst David Zimmerman noted that CME traders have increased their short positions over the past two days. "CME active market participants have increased their exposure by 5,500 bitcoin in the past two days, while premiums hit a 9-month low, indicating a shift towards bitcoin shorts," Zimmerman explained.
The CME bitcoin futures market is signaling fears of possible heightened volatility, similar to what was observed after the recent U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) print. "Hedging FOMC risk may explain bitcoin’s downward sloping futures premiums on CME, which pushed below 5% for the first time since January 15," Zimmerman added.
The analyst observed that perpetual futures funding rates were rising while CME futures premiums were falling, describing this as "generally a negative short-term signal, and sets up the market to further amplify FOMC volatility."
Markets hold their breath ahead of FOMC meeting
Zimmerman acknowledged that while interest rate cuts have an easing effect with the potential for improved liquidity for risk assets, market participants continue to hold concerns over a potential economic slowdown. Nonetheless, the central bank may look to cut rates to get to the point where the cost of money is neither stimulative nor restrictive.
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"The size of the rate cut will be the first major signal, as 50 basis points may heighten concerns of a recession as they did in 2001 and 2007. However, real rates are currently at cycle highs. With inflation cooling and unemployment rising, the Fed may opt for swift cuts to reach a neutral rate. Currently, 125 basis points in cuts are expected by the end of the year," the K33 analyst said.
Interest rate traders have adjusted their expectations, now betting the Fed will announce a 50 basis-point cut at Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting rather than a more conservative 25 basis-point reduction. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the likelihood of a 50 basis-point cut has climbed to 65%, eclipsing the 35% probability for a 25 basis-point cut.
Scaramucci predicts bitcoin all-time high on Fed rate cut
SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci shared a more optimistic outlook for bitcoin, predicting that the combination of U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts and favorable crypto regulations could drive the digital asset to new highs. Speaking with Bloomberg, Scaramucci forecasted that the Fed will cut interest rates by at least 150 basis points over the next 18 months.
"We are going to get pro-cryptocurrency, bitcoin, and stablecoin legislation in the first part of the next congressional term in the U.S.," Scaramucci said in his Bloomberg interview on Wednesday. "At the same time, you’re intersecting with rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, that’s going to be really good for asset prices in the U.S. and globally," he said, adding his prediction that bitcoin could hit $100,000 by the end of the year.
Bitcoin BTC
+1.11%
peaked at $73,798 in March, lifted by demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds (ETFs). However, the rally was subsequently moderated as inflows into the ETFs cooled. In the past 24 hours, the bitcoin price has increased by around 1.5%, changing hands for around $59,960 at 7:54 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#ETH

"No one likes Ethereum right now," according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, with the ETH
-0.25%
/BTC ratio recently hitting its lowest level in three years below 0.04. But while there are good reasons to be concerned, it offers a potential contrarian bet coming into year-end, he said.
Despite a promising start, it has not been the best of years for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, trading up just 1% year-to-date, according to The Block’s Ether Price Page. In contrast, while the broader crypto market has suffered over the past six months, bitcoin remains 42% up in 2024, while Solana holds year-to-date gains of 27%.

“The vibes in the community are tough,” Hougan said in a memo to clients late Tuesday, outlining U.S. election risk, rising competition from Solana, challenged tokenomics and mixed spot exchange-traded fund results as key factors for Ethereum’s descent into the doldrums.
Although spot Ethereum ETFs were approved in the U.S. in July, the Securities and Exchange Commission still appears to view staked ether is a security, according to Hougan. If Kamala Harris wins the presidential election in November and continues the Biden Administration’s skeptical posture towards crypto, Ethereum could face continued regulatory challenges, he said.
The spot Ethereum ETFs themselves, including Bitwise’s ETHW, have also seen mixed results compared to their bitcoin-based counterparts, with $2.1 billion in net inflows from the newly launched funds more than offset by $2.8 billion worth of net outflows from Grayscale’s higher-fee, converted incumbent, ETHE.

Headwinds from rising competitors like Solana and others are also crowding the space in Hougan’s view. “It’s somewhat cool in crypto circles to be bullish on Solana and other new chains and bearish on Ethereum because of its older, costlier tech,” he said.
Finally, Ethereum’s focus on growing transaction volume on its Layer 2 networks has been so successful in shifting volume from the Ethereum base chain that revenues are down to a four-year low. “Many wonder if Ethereum has shot itself in the foot by scaling away from the foundational Layer 1 blockchain,” Hougan added.
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A contrarian bet
Despite the impact of these challenges on sentiment and price, they miss the broader point, according to Hougan.
While Ethereum and Solana are both trying to create a “public computer” for decentralized applications, those that have seen “breakthrough success” are almost all dominated by Ethereum, Hougan said, citing the more than half of stablecoins issued on the network, over 60% of DeFi assets locked on the chain and it being the settlement layer of choice for the increasingly popular predictions platform Polymarket.
BlackRock’s on-chain U.S. Treasurys fund, with more than $500 million in assets under management, is also tokenized on Ethereum. Nike’s NFT platform is on Ethereum. Ethereum has the most active developers, most active users, a regulated futures and multi-billion dollar ETF market and a market cap that is five times bigger than its closest competitor, Hougan noted. The list goes on.
“It’s like the Microsoft of blockchains. Everyone wants to talk about Google and Slack and Zoom, and with good reason: Each of them has brought game-changing technology to the market. But Microsoft is still larger than all of them put together,” Hougan said.
Although this doesn’t mean the Bitwise CIO is bearish on Solana or other chains, too many have looked past Ethereum’s already-established success, in Hougan’s view.
“None of Ethereum’s challenges seem existential, and its opportunities are brimming. I suspect the market may reevaluate Ethereum as we get closer to the November elections and any regulatory clarity that emerges. For now, it looks like a potential contrarian bet through the end of the year,” he concluded.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#Binance

The web3 AI wellness company CUDIS raised $5 million in funding led by Draper Associates, the early-stage venture capital firm founded by Tim Draper.
Other participants in the round were Skybridge, Penrose, SNZ, Mozaik, NGC, Foresight Ventures, OGBC, Monke Ventures, DraperDragon, Block Patch, Trinito, Rend Network's Kalin, Dimo's Andrew Chatham, Solana Foundation's Adam Jin and others, according to a release shared with The Block.
CUDIS develops a wearable ring monitoring health metrics, allowing users to access their health data via the Solana blockchain and earn passive rewards from their participation. The rings also come with an AI coach that offers tailored wellness advice to users based on their biometric data.
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CUDIS intends to use the funding to continue augmenting its AI coach and gamification features and bolster its decentralized infrastructure, the release continued.
"CUDIS is setting a new benchmark in wellness by leveraging technology to prioritize consumer needs,” Draper said in a statement. "This innovative approach could redefine how we engage with our health and wellness."
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#feedfeverchallenge

AI-focused Bitcoin BTC
+1.43%
miners such as Core Scientific, IREN and Terawulf are outperforming their “pure play” rivals in terms of stock price due to stronger conviction in the data center thesis amid choppy bitcoin price action, according to analysts at research and brokerage firm Bernstein.
AI-focused miners have outperformed through stronger investor confidence in their business model diversification, better valuation multiples, more predictable revenue streams and greater flexibility in navigating the often volatile bitcoin market, Gautam Chhugani, Mahika Sapra and Sanskar Chindalia wrote in a note to clients on Monday.
While their hash rate growth may generally be slower than that of pure-play Bitcoin miners, AI-focused operators are expanding their data center infrastructure in parallel, which provides additional opportunities in the rapidly growing AI sector, the analysts said.
However, IREN is an exception as the fastest-growing miner by hash rate with a fourfold increase year-over-year, according to Bernstein. IREN plans to double both its GPU fleet and hash rate by December, expecting AI cloud services to account for around 10% of its earnings by the end of the year.
Bitcoin miners vs. bitcoin YTD returns. Image: Bernstein.
Large public Bitcoin mining consolidators like Marathon, Riot Platforms and CleanSpark also hold substantial amounts of bitcoin on their balance sheets, selling a smaller percentage of their mined coins this year compared to 2023 and retaining 100% of their August production, the analysts noted. “This shift indicates that large miners are willing to raise capital or accept dilution to invest in capex and expand their market share in Bitcoin mining, instead of liquidating their bitcoin holdings,” Chhugani, Sapra and Chindalia said, adding, “Currently, they view AI as a distraction and are not pivoting their capacity towards the same.”
In contrast, AI data center-focused miners do not hold bitcoin on their balance sheets, often due to internal policies or debt covenants, according to Bernstein, and regularly sell 100% of their production to fund operations. “These miners are unwilling to take a price view on bitcoin, do not prefer bitcoin as a treasury asset and see themselves as data center operators,” the analysts added.
Bitcoin held by miners as a percentage of market cap. Image: Bernstein.
Bitcoin is currently trading for $59,907, according to The Block’s Bitcoin Price Page. The foremost cryptocurrency is down around 20% since hitting an all-time high of nearly $74,000 in March. However, it remains 44% up year-to-date.
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'Significant upside' potential for public Bitcoin miners
While the stock price of AI-focused firms may be currently outperforming, Bernstein expects pure-play public Bitcoin miners to bottom around current price levels and gain from an acceleration of the bitcoin cycle once U.S. election uncertainty is resolved.
“Bitcoin miners have significant upside from the power portfolios they control. They operate ~6GW of power capacity, globally. Bitcoin miners, by focusing on an active ‘power’ strategy and pushing the frontiers of power efficiency, can make a stronger case for valuation re-rating (~90% discount vs. traditional data centers),” Chhugani, Sapra and Chindalia wrote. “There is upside from investors valuing mining assets as efficient ‘power shells’ with data center capabilities, with further upside from the bitcoin price cycle.”
Bernstein rates Riot stock as outperform, with a target of $22 compared to Tuesday’s closing price of $7.10, CleanSpark as outperform with a target of $30 vs. $9.15 and Marathon as market-perform with a target of $23 vs. $15.87.In terms of AI-focused Bitcoin miners, Bernstein rates Core Scientific as outperform with a target of $17 vs. $11.48 and IREN as outperform, targeting $26 compared to yesterday’s $8.03 closing price.
Bitcoin miner ratings. Image: Bernstein.
“Bitcoin miners can make a case for better stewards of power resources, and choose to optimise yield on their power portfolio more strategically between AI and bitcoin cycles, driving valuations higher,” the analysts concluded.
Gautam Chhugani maintains long positions in various cryptocurrencies. Affiliates of Bernstein act as market makers or liquidity providers in the debt securities of Riot Platforms.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#feedfeverchallenge

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp is seeking to expand institutional businesses in Australia as it continues to grow its presence in the Asia Pacific region following Robinhood’s planned $200 million acquisition of the exchange.
In an interview with The Block in Singapore at the Token2049 conference, Bobby Zagotta, Bitstamp's global chief commercial officer, said the company sees potential in serving institutional clients in Asia.
“We see Asia as a great opportunity,” Zagotta said. “Hong Kong and Singapore [are] our primary markets… We also have a growing business in Australia. In 2024, we identified Australia as a particular geography we'd like to focus on.”
Zagotta added that local operators primarily service companies in Australia in the exchange space. “There are certain value propositions we can bring as a global exchange operator,” Zagotta said. “They don't have a lot of choices is my belief today. Binance is there. I believe Kraken is there but in limited ways.”
Zagotta, who also serves as CEO of Bitstamp US, explained that Asia currently accounts for 20% of its global business from a revenue standpoint, while Europe takes up about 65%.
Robinhood acquisition
Robinhood announced in June that it plans to acquire Bitstamp in a potential $200 million deal expected to close in the first half of 2025.
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Zagotta said that the exchange is getting approval from several regulators for the deal, “which is all in process and progressing well.”
“We're confident in that timeline,” Zagotta added. “As soon as [the regulatory approval] is completed, there'll be the change of control. So it's kind of business as usual until that.”
Robinhood could potentially bring significant retail client flows to Bitstamp after completing the deal. “What we're most excited about is that Robinhood has a very large retail crypto buying and selling base, and that flow is likely to come into our markets and make our markets very attractive.”
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#crypto2023A

U.S. spot Bitcoin BTC
+1.99%
exchange-traded funds registered net inflows of $186.8 million on Tuesday, extending their positive streak to four days, totaling more than half a billion dollars.
BlackRock’s IBIT ETF generated positive flows for the first time in three weeks on Monday but returned to zero flows yesterday as Fidelity’s FBTC dominated the net inflows, bringing in $56.6 million, according to data from CoinGlass.
Bitwise’s BITB and Ark Invest’s ARKB were second and third for the day, attracting $45.4 million and $42.2 million in net inflows, respectively. VanEck’s HODL generated $20.5 million in positive flows, while Invesco’s BTCO brought in $10.2 million, Franklin Templeton’s EZBC $8.7 million and WisdomTree’s BTCW $3.2 million, in a diverse spread of flows across the funds.
There were no net outflows from any of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs on Tuesday, with the remaining funds, including Grayscale’s higher-fee GBTC, witnessing zero flows for the day.
From Aug. 27 to Sept. 6, the spot Bitcoin ETFs had a record run of consecutive daily net outflows, totaling nearly $1.2 billion. However, they have produced $603.5 million worth of positive flows since and have generated nearly $17.5 billion in total net inflows since trading began in January, according to data compiled by The Block.

Trading volume for the spot Bitcoin ETFs also rose to $2.3 billion on Tuesday from $1.1 billion on Monday.

“Looks like ‘degen retail’ put another ~$200 million into spot Bitcoin ETFs on random Tuesday… 8 months after launch,” The ETF Store President Nate Geraci posted on X. “Fidelity Bitcoin ETF now > $10 billion AUM. iShares [BlackRock] Bitcoin ETF > $21 billion. Spot bitcoin ETFs = top 4 ETF launches of 2024. And most wirehouses still haven’t approved them.”
Bitcoin steady ahead of key FOMC decision
Bitcoin is currently trading for $60,203, according to The Block’s Bitcoin Price Page, up 2.5% over the past 24 hours and holding the $60,000 mark it broke back above after a strong trading session on Tuesday.
BTC/USD price chart. Image: The Block/TradingView.
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Eyes now turn toward the key Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday, with the U.S. Federal Reserve's highly-anticipated interest rate decision expected at 2 p.m. ET. According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders estimate the likelihood of a 50 basis-point cut at 63%, compared to a 37% probability for a 25 basis-point cut.
However, the recent uptrend for bitcoin formed over the last 11 days after recovering from a dip below $53,000, driven by optimism over the rate cut, may have already priced it in, setting the stage for a potential "sell the news" event, according to BRN analyst Valentin Fournier.
“We foresee volatility increasing post-announcement, which could drive bitcoin down to the $54,000 range, presenting a prime buying opportunity. Until then, we recommend maintaining a cautious stance,” Fournier told The Block.
Spot Ethereum ETFs register net daily outflows
Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETH
+0.36%
ETFs net outflows of $15.1 million on Tuesday, adding to the $9.4 million that exited the funds on Monday.
Grayscale’s spot Ethereum ETFs generated the only flows for the day, with $17.9 million in net outflows from its higher-fee, converted ETHE fund partially offset by $2.8 million worth of net inflows into its mini ETF product, ETH, per CoinGlass data.
Contrasting Bitcoin fund flows, spot Ethereum ETFs have generated $605.9 million worth of total net outflows since they began trading in July.

Trading volume for the spot Ethereum ETFs was up to $176 million on Tuesday from $128 million the day before, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#zachxbt

Prediction market Kalshi's move to offer contracts tied to the U.S. 2024 election will be held at a standstill, at least until after a hearing on Thursday, a judge decided on Monday.
Judge Jia M. Cobb for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered a "temporary administrative stay," according to an order released on Monday. This marks the latest in the saga between Kalshi and the U.S. Commodity and Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC said last year that Kalshi could not offer contracts related to "congressional control contracts." Kalshi then sued the agency in November 2023.
Judge Cobb ruled in favor of the predictions market last week and tossed the CFTC's order blocking Kalshi from listings its congressional contracts for trading. Soon after, the CFTC filed a motion seeking an emergency stay of the judge's decision for at least two weeks while the agency works on an appeal. Judge Cobb's order on Monday allows for a stay until the end of the hearing.
"This Order does not represent a ruling on the merits of Defendant's motion for a stay but instead grants a temporary administrative stay of three days until the conclusion of the upcoming hearing," the judge said.
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The CFTC has been honed in on event contracts over the past year. Event markets, such as Kalshi and Polymarket, allow users to bet on the outcome of future events, including on the upcoming U.S. elections or even when certain Taylor Swift albums may be released.
CFTC Chair Behnam has warned about a "significant uptick" in event contracts listed for trading on exchanges registered with the CFTC since 2021. The CFTC voted in May to propose rules banning bets on political events as those markets quickly expand ahead of November.
"Allowing these contracts would push the CFTC, a financial market regulator, into a position far beyond its Congressional mandate and expertise. To be blunt, such contracts would put the CFTC in the role of an election cop," Behnam said in May.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#crypto2023A

USDC, the USD-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle, is now available in Brazil and Mexico.
The move allows the direct conversion of Brazilian Reas and Mexican Pesos into USDC, omitting the need to convert the fiat currencies into USD. Businesses may obtain USDC from local financial institutions for their own purposes or offer the stablecoin to retail customers, Circle wrote in a release published Tuesdsay.
"Circle now supports local bank transfers via PIX and SPEI, the national real-time payment systems in Brazil and Mexico, respectively," the company wrote in the statement. "Eliminating international wires can drastically reduce the time it takes to access USDC – from days to just minutes, releasing capital trapped in the lengthy settlement processes."
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At nearly 28%, USDC holds the second-largest market share of USD-pegged Ethereum stablecoins as of September 16, according to The Block's Data Dashboard. The stablecoin is the sixth largest cryptocurrency with a $35.5 billion market capitalization.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#crypto2023A

The TON
+1.96%
Foundation has announced a partnership with Curve Finance to incubate a new TON-based stablecoin swap project.
The collaboration aims to improve user experience and make stablecoin trading on the TON blockchain more efficient. "Leveraging Curve’s constant-function market maker (CFMM) technology, the project aims to simplify stablecoin swaps, enhance user experience, and minimize price impact," a TON Community Telegram post said on Tuesday.
One TON developer said the platform will soon support more stablecoins and assets from other blockchain networks.
"You will soon see more stablecoins and assets from other chains, such as bitcoin, on TON, and we need a native CFMM for a comfortable interaction, this is mandatory for our growth and we are working with one of the industry’s leading market makers to incubate this new project was a natural choice," TON Foundation DeFi lead Vlad Degen said in a post on the network's blog.
The TON Community statement indicated that there is a rapidly growing demand for stablecoins on TON. It also said that USDt on TON had reached almost $730 million in net circulation four months after the stablecoin was launched on the network. "This new initiative will meet that demand, boost liquidity, and propel the adoption of TON’s Web3 ecosystem," the statement from TON Community said.
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Independent team to spearhead project
Both organizations said they will select an independent team to spearhead the project through a transparent process with TON community involvement. Michael Egorov, founder of Curve Finance, will advise the selected team.
The Open Network (TON) is a blockchain platform was created with the aim of integrating cryptocurrency and blockchain functionality into the popular messaging app Telegram ecosystem. Designed to be highly scalable, the TON blockchain claims to be able to process millions of transactions per second due to its unique multi-blockchain architecture that employs a sharding mechanism, splitting the blockchain into smaller, more manageable segments to improve efficiency. It was initially developed by the team behind Telegram, headed by Nikolai and Pavel Durov brothers, the latter currently out on bail and awaiting trial in France for "complicity in the spread of sexual images of children and other crimes such as drug trafficking on the messaging app."
Curve Finance, is based in Switzerland, was established in 2020 and is a decentralized exchange (DEX) designed for efficient, fully automated, and low-slippage trading of stablecoins and equal tokens.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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Vana, a web3 startup that aims to build a network of user-owned data pools, announced Wednesday that it had raised an additional $5 million, bringing its total funding to $25 million.
The startup said in a statement that Coinbase Ventures led the strategic round. Vana has also previously raised capital from the prolific crypto VC Paradigm, which led a $18 million Series A in the firm.
The startup has set out to build a network of decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, that use its blockchain technology to address a lack of training data for AI models while providing a way for internet users to earn income. Vana is one of many companies currently attempting to build a business around an intersection between blockchain and artificial intelligence.
The company’s co-founder and CEO, Anna Kazlauskas, says that any data that can nourish AI models and help them evolve has value, but private data from internet users of popular social media platforms can be exponentially valuable. DAOs part of Vana’s network will allow members to pool data accumulated from using social media platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn or X and then monetize those datasets by selling them to AI researchers.
Kazlauskas sees a lot of promise in people selling their own data because what data is available through combing the “public internet” has largely already been gobbled up and then fed into existing AI models, she said. The data created on internet platforms that require a login, like Facebook, Instagram, Gmail, etc., has considerably more value, in part because it is largely protected, she also said.
Reddit DAO launch
In April, a DAO using Vana's blockchain launched, allowing Reddit users to add their platform history to a data pool set for monetization. Kazlauskas said that Reddit users with much "karma" stood to earn as much as $300 to $BTC Start your day with the most influential events and analysis
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Although Vana plans to eventually be a network of more than a dozen data DAOs, the Reddit DAO is the only one fully operational as Vana’s mainnet has yet to go live, said Kazlauskas. Approximately 140,000 users joined the Reddit DAO, she also said.
In the big picture, Kazlauskas believes Vana's network of DAOs could allow people to become stakeholders in the future of artificial intelligence.
"It's about owning a stake in AI," she said. "What we've seen too, from a user-adoption perspective, it's much more compelling or interesting to give someone a stake in an AI model or a stake in this collective dataset versus 'Let me just give you $20 cash for your data.'"
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#Binance

According to Spot On Chain, a whale has withdrawn 3,933 BTC, worth about $234 million at an average price of $59,591, from Binance since August 29. The most recent withdrawal was only 4 hours ago. It is reported that the same whale sold 7,790 BTC, worth about $467 million at an average price of $59,953, on Binance between June 27 and July 8.
#binancepizza

WazirX announced on X that it plans to hold the second Townhall meeting at 18:00 on September 16 to discuss the proposed restructuring plan draft.
#Binance

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has warned of a potential surge in election gambling and requested that an appeals court continue to halt Kalshi's political prediction markets while the agency's appeal is ongoing. The CFTC stated that Kalshi and others have interpreted a judge's decision on September 6 as a green light for election gambling. The judge had ruled that the regulator was wrong to prevent the company from offering contracts on which party would control each house of Congress.
#binancepizza

According to official data from Grayscale, the AUM (assets under management) of their recently launched SUI Trust Fund, Grayscale Sui Trust, has surpassed $1 million and reached $1,018,249.74 as of September 13th, with a net asset value of $15.4 per share. Historical data shows that the AUM of the Grayscale SUI Trust Fund was less than $300,000 at the beginning of last month.
It is reported that the CoinDesk SUI Reference Rate provides a USD-denominated reference exchange rate for the spot price of Grayscale SUI Trust, using real-time prices from multiple constituent trading platforms to provide a representative spot price.
#binancepizza

On September 15th, according to official sources, the Bitcoin Standard Cloud Computing Power APP, StandardHash, is currently available for download on both the APP Store and Google Play (except in mainland China). StandardHash was co-founded by several senior industry experts and top executives from leading companies with over 10 years of experience in the industry, with the aim of creating a better Bitcoin mining experience and providing standardized computing power services for Bitcoin mining. During the recent APP launch, there will be a series of free computing power giveaways, and all computing power can directly participate in Fractal's joint mining. The computing power and earnings during the internal testing period will not be cleared and will remain permanently effective. In the future, computing power can also be directly traded while enjoying daily mining earnings.
#BTC

Bitcoin BTC
+5.77%
centralized exchange depositing addresses are at their lowest level since 2016 which could indicate a reduction in selling pressure.
The number of bitcoin exchange depositing addresses has dropped to 132,100, a multi-year low, according to a recent CryptoQuant research note. This metric represents the number of addresses sending inflow transactions to exchanges, and the analysis suggests that a multi-year low indicates a decrease in the number of investors selling coins on spot exchanges, potentially pointing to a reduction in selling pressure.
"In general, seeing lower deposits into exchanges could lower selling pressure as there is less bitcoin available to sell," CryptoQuant Head of Research Julio Moreno told The Block.
A fall in the number of bitcoin exchange depositing addresses could lead to a lessening of sell pressure for the digital asset. Image: CryptoQuant.
However, Moreno added that when fewer deposits are being made into exchanges, it might not just indicate that people are less interested in selling their bitcoin. It could also mean there is less demand for bitcoin overall, because fewer traders are making deposits to bet on price increases.
"Some traders deposit into derivative exchanges to open long positions, betting on higher prices, in this regard, lower deposits could also signal less demand for bitcoin," he said.
RELATED INDICES
Bitcoin exchange reserves on centralized exchanges have fallen by over 15% since the beginning of the year. Image: CryptoQuant.
Another metric has also shown a month-on-month reduction in the liquid supply of bitcoin on centralized exchanges. According to CryptoQuant data, there are around 470,000 fewer bitcoin on centralized exchanges than at the beginning of this year, a fall of around 15% from January until September.
This trend is reducing the liquid supply of bitcoin and could suggest that investors are withdrawing their coins as part of a long-term holding strategy.
The bitcoin price increased by around 5% in the past 24 hours and was changing hands for $61,019 at 11:38 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#pepe

Crypto trading platform Wintermute is building a predictions market with the U.S. election just seven weeks away. The company is tapping Chaos Labs’ Edge Proofs Oracle for the new product called OutcomeMarket, which will begin with betting markets for TRUMP and HARRIS tokens.
Wintermute plans to roll out the betting market next week across multiple networks, including base layer Ethereum ETH
+4.26%
and scaling layers Base and Arbitrum ARB
+4.94%
. Edge, an oracle solution, will provide “tamper-proof” data-feeds.
“Unlike existing prediction markets confined to a single chain, the multi-chain approach allows direct participation from users’ native blockchain ecosystems without the need for cumbersome asset bridging,” the company wrote in a statement. Wintermute also noted that there could be future DeFi integrations, such as offering users yield or leverage on their positions.
Prediction markets, long restricted to the realm of academic economic study, have been having a moment in the crypto industry. Bettors are using platforms like Polymarket to wager on future events, and the crowdfunded data is now regularly cited by mainstream media.
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“There has been significant interest from both centralized and decentralized trading venues to list such prediction market contracts, but no one had developed them in a permissionless manner and without imposing minting or transaction fees,” Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of Wintermute, said in a statement.
Wintermute is also tapping trading platforms Bebop, WOO, and Backpack as market makers for the two initial ERC-20 compatible token markets and has to expand to more. Unlike so-called PoliFi memecoins like BODEN or TREMP, Wintermute's trading pools would be backed by liquidity that would payout when one side wins.
Editor's note (Sept. 17, 2024): Updates headline to clarify TRUMP and HARRIS are tokens.
Disclaimer: Evgeny Gaevoy, the founder and CEO of Wintermute, previously sat on The Block’s board of directors from April 2023 to early November 2023 and remains a minority shareholder.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#bitcoin

U.S. lawmakers say they see potential for passing crypto-related bills after the election, but will need support from across the aisle to get them across the finish line.
House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who is retiring in January, said he believes his crypto market structure bill can gain traction at the end of the year, during a panel at Georgetown University's Financial Markets Quality Conference on Tuesday.
McHenry led efforts to pass a crypto market structure bill, dubbed FIT 21, in May that gives new jurisdiction to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over "digital commodities" and asserts the Securities and Exchange Commission would oversee digital assets offered as part of an investment contract. McHenry said he thinks his bill could gain momentum during the lame-duck session, the time period after the election in November and before a new Congress steps in in January.
"I don't know if that happens this calendar year," McHenry said. "I think there's an opportunity for it to happen in lame duck in conjunction with either an end of year spending package or NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act]."
"But if it doesn't happen this Congress, it will happen," McHenry added. "It will happen because there is momentum in both parties for clear rules of the road and keeping pace with what Europe is doing, what Japan is doing, what Singapore is doing, and other regulators around the world."
McHenry's bill also garnered support from 71 Democratic votes, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
"What we have now is a two-thirds vote of a serious piece of regulatory policy," McHenry said. "That is the biggest vote we've gotten for anything of real consequence out of the [House] Financial Services Committee or Senate Banking Committee."
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A few bills to regulate crypto are being discussed in Washington. In the Senate, lawmakers are working on bills to regulate the crypto industry. Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced a bill in April that would block algorithmic stablecoins while creating a framework for stablecoins. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., is also working on a bill to regulate crypto, which is expected to be picked back up soon. However, a top Republican of the Senate Agriculture Committee John Boozman has alluded that he may not support Stabenow's bill.
"I think there are minor tweaks that can be made to the Senate Agriculture Committee bill that could mean that it gets out of committee this year," Boozman's Republican counterpart Sen. Lummis said at the Georgetown University conference on Tuesday.
One of the challenges has been defining what a commodity and a security is, Lummis said. She also said legislation could be pushed through during the lame-duck session.
"I'm an optimist — the glass is always half full with me, it's never half empty, which is why I say I really do think we're going to get something done during the lame duck," Lummis said.
Multiple bills, including Stabenow's crypto bill and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's marijuana banking bill, could create a "bigger financial services type of bill," Lummis added.
Also this week, Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., introduced a bill to regulate nonfungible tokens, marking the first time the U.S. Congress has directly addressed NFTs. The bill includes a defining NFTs and creating protections for NFTs with a primary purpose of being a work of art, musical composition, literary work, or other intellectual property," according to a post from The Digital Chamber.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
#zachxbt