Author: Tristan Lodenberg

A routine bankruptcy sale by FTX has turned into one of the most striking missed opportunities in crypto history after a stake in AI startup Cursor surged in value following a major acquisition agreement. A 5% stake in Cursor, originally acquired through Alameda Research in April 2022 for $200,000, was sold by FTX’s bankruptcy estate in April 2023 for the same amount. That same stake would now be worth approximately $3 billion, after SpaceX agreed to acquire Cursor’s parent company, Anysphere, at a $60 billion valuation. SpaceX stated it holds the right to complete the acquisition later this year or…

Iran has begun collecting toll revenue from the Strait of Hormuz, according to senior parliamentary official Hamidreza Hajibabaei, who said the first payments were transferred to the Central Bank. A Pentagon assessment reported by the Washington Post estimates it could take up to six months to fully clear naval mines reportedly laid in the strait, raising the risk of prolonged disruption to global oil shipping routes. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said  on X; The U.S. Central Command stated it directed 31 vessels to turn back or reroute, most of them oil tankers, as part of ongoing maritime security operations. Tehran…

Blockchain security firm CertiK has warned that the biggest crypto security threats in 2026 will likely come from phishing attacks, deepfakes, supply chain compromises, and cross-chain vulnerabilities, driven by increasingly advanced AI tools and infrastructure weaknesses. CertiK senior investigator Natalie Newson said the industry has already lost over $600 million in 2026, mainly due to North Korea-linked incidents. These include the $293 million Kelp DAO exploit, caused by a single point-of-trust failure in LayerZero’s cross-chain messaging system, and the $280 million Drift Protocol exploit. Another DPRK-linked case involved AI-driven social engineering. Wallet provider Zerion reported that attackers used artificial intelligence…

The crypto market sentiment indicator has surged to its strongest level in more than three months as Bitcoin continues trading near the $77,000–$80,000 range. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index rose 14 points to 46 out of 100, marking its highest reading since Jan. 18 and its largest single day gain in over three months. Despite the improvement, the index remains in the “Fear” zone, where it has stayed since mid January. The latest rebound follows a nearly 6% Bitcoin rally, with Bitcoin briefly reaching around $79,400 before easing back toward $78,190, according to data. The move also lifted sentiment…

Institutional trading firm GSR has launched its first crypto ETF, the GSR Crypto Core3 ETF (BESO), offering investors exposure to three of the largest digital assets by market capitalization: Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana. The ETF began trading Wednesday and recorded nearly $5 million in volume on its first day, with 185,574 shares traded worth approximately $4.8 million, according to market data from Nasdaq. The fund closed its debut session at $26.04 per share before rising to about $33 in after-hours trading. According to company statements, the BESO fund tracks the spot prices of the three cryptocurrencies and also incorporates staking…

Prediction market platform Kalshi has fined and banned three U.S. political figures after discovering they placed bets on the outcomes of their own election races, raising concerns about insider trading risks on prediction platforms. Among those penalized was Matt Klein, a sitting member of the Minnesota State Senate who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in an August primary. Klein received a $539 fine after placing a wager on his own race. Ezekiel Enriquez, who ran for a House seat in March, was issued a $784 penalty, while Mark Moran received the largest sanction a $6,229 fine and…

Bitcoin briefly approached the $80k level before losing momentum, trading at $77,794 on Thursday morning, still up 0.4% over the past 24 hours but well below the $79,384 peak reached yesterday . The session recorded a 24-hour low of $77,464, creating a total trading range of about $1,900. Bitcoin remained the only major cryptocurrency to post gains over the past day while continuing to lead weekly performance. In contrast, major altcoins ended lower. Ether slipped 0.7% to $2,344, XRP fell 1.7% to $1.42, Solana declined 1.5% to $85.83. Narrow Bitcoin Rally and Persistent Negative Funding Rates Market positioning data showed…

Senate Probe Examines Foreign Investments and Policy Influence U.S. senators have initiated an investigation into Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, over billions of dollars raised from Middle Eastern investors while he played a central role in shaping U.S. foreign policy during the Trump administration. The probe is focused on whether financial relationships created conflicts of interest tied to his diplomatic responsibilities, particularly those involving Iran and broader regional negotiations. Lawmakers are reviewing investment flows tied to Kushner’s private equity firm, including approximately $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, along with $1.5 billion combined from investors in…

Justin Sun has filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the company illegally froze roughly four billion WLFI tokens that he values at about $1 billion. The Trump-family-backed decentralized finance project has publicly dismissed the lawsuit as a “desperate” attempt to deflect blame while accusing Sun of unspecified misconduct, though it has not provided detailed evidence supporting those claims. The dispute marks a sharp reversal in relations, as co-founder Eric Trump who had praised Sun months earlier — mocked the lawsuit on social media, comparing it to the…

Elon Musk’s Tesla reported no changes to its Bitcoin holdings during the first quarter of 2026, maintaining a total of 11,509 BTC. At Bitcoin’s current price of roughly $78,000, the company’s digital asset holdings are valued at about $880 million, according to its latest quarterly earnings report. Despite holding steady, Tesla recorded an after-tax fair value loss of $173 million on its digital assets. The loss followed a decline in Bitcoin prices, which fell from around $90,000 at the beginning of the year to approximately $68,000 by the end of March, reducing the overall valuation of Tesla’s crypto reserves. Earnings…