Daily News 19

Author: Evan Mercer

  • Bullish Provides USD.AI With $100 Million Facility for GPU Loans

    Bullish Provides USD.AI With $100 Million Facility for GPU Loans

    Bullish has provided USD.AI with a $100 million stablecoin debt facility to finance loans secured by graphics processing units (GPUs) used in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

    Announced Friday, the facility gives USD.AI additional capital to finance operators purchasing high-performance computing equipment. The deal expands Bullish’s exposure to tokenized real-world assets and AI infrastructure.

    USD.AI expands GPU-backed lending capacity

    Developed by Permian Labs, USD.AI connects stablecoin liquidity with companies seeking funding to purchase GPUs. Rather than evaluating a borrower’s entire business, the platform issues non-recourse loans secured by the computing hardware bought with the financing.

    Bullish Head of Tokenization Thomas Cowan said the company relied on USD.AI’s onchain records when assessing the facility. Bullish had already invested in the platform before agreeing to provide the debt financing.

    “Our commitment to USD.AI reflects a conviction we’ve believed since our first investment in the protocol: that credible, well-structured real-world assets belong onchain.”

    USD.AI will use the $100 million facility to originate loans for middle-market AI infrastructure operators. The financed hardware serves as collateral, while the loans do not create claims against the operators’ other corporate assets, according to the announcement.

    This structure separates the loans from borrowers’ main balance sheets, although repayment still depends on the income and resale value of the underlying computing equipment. GPUs can lose value as newer models reach the market, making loan terms, collateral checks and repayment schedules important to the financing process.

    USD.AI has already completed major transactions involving Nvidia hardware. In June, the protocol announced a $98.1 million loan backed by 2,304 Nvidia B300 GPUs. Investors separately provided full funding for a $34 million facility secured by 768 Nvidia B200 units.

    Together, the two disclosed loans involved 3,072 GPUs and more than $132 million in financing. The Bullish facility gives USD.AI another source of stablecoin liquidity as it extends lending to operators developing data centers and AI computing clusters.

    Permian Labs CEO David Choi said demand for computing equipment has created a distinct lending category.

    “Compute is becoming a credit market in its own right,” Choi said, adding that Bullish’s facility would allow USD.AI to finance more infrastructure and develop trading markets for compute-backed debt.

    USD.AI says its financing is settled onchain, giving capital providers exposure to loans backed by income-producing computing equipment. The company describes the funding as non-dilutive because operators do not have to give up an ownership stake when borrowing.

    Bullish plans sUSDai listing and secondary market

    Alongside the lending facility, Bullish plans to list sUSDai across several trading pairs on its institutional exchange. A dedicated market-making program will provide orders for the token once trading begins, according to the companies.

    USD.AI uses sUSDai as its yield-bearing token, giving holders exposure to returns generated by the protocol’s credit operations. A listing would allow holders to trade their positions instead of relying solely on the repayment period of the underlying loans.

    Bullish expects the program to improve secondary liquidity and price discovery for GPU-backed debt. The companies did not disclose the planned trading pairs, launch date or market-making budget in Friday’s announcement.

    Bullish and USD.AI are also expanding a research project focused on financing capital spending in the AI sector. The work will combine Bullish’s experience operating institutional markets with USD.AI’s lending model, according to the announcement.

    Tokenized exposure to computing hardware has emerged elsewhere in the crypto market. In August 2025, Injective introduced an Nvidia GPU derivatives market that gave traders exposure to rental prices for Nvidia H100 processors.

    Aethir and Injective launched a tokenized GPU marketplace in December 2024, using blockchain-based products to provide access to computing capacity. Unlike those trading and rental products, USD.AI’s model centers on secured loans issued to infrastructure operators.

    Bullish deepens existing USD.AI relationship

    The $100 million facility follows Bullish Capital’s $4 million investment in USD.AI in September 2025. Cowan said onchain transparency allowed Bullish to review the protocol using the institutional underwriting standards applied elsewhere across its business.

    Bullish operates spot and derivatives markets for professional investors and supplies the liquidity supporting the new facility.

    In Europe, Bullish operates under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework as an authorized crypto asset service provider offering spot trading and custody. Its U.S. presence expanded after the company obtained a New York BitLicense in September 2025.

    The license allows Bullish to serve eligible customers in New York and came about one month after the company’s public listing. The announcement did not specify whether sUSDai would be offered to U.S. customers or describe any access restrictions.

    Bullish shares recover after post-IPO decline

    For U.S. investors, the transaction adds AI infrastructure lending to the businesses linked to NYSE-listed Bullish shares, which trade under the ticker BLSH. The financial impact will depend on the facility’s terms, loan performance and contribution to Bullish’s results, none of which the companies disclosed.

    Bullish debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2025 after pricing its shares at $37. The offering raised about $1.03 billion, while the stock opened at $90 during its first trading session.

    Earlier coverage of the public offering reported that Bullish entered the market at a valuation of about $5.4 billion after pricing above its original range. BlackRock-managed funds and accounts linked to ARK Investment Management had indicated interest in purchasing up to $200 million of stock.

    Despite its recent recovery, BLSH remains more than 60% below its $90 opening price. The shares traded around $33 on Friday after gaining approximately 45% during the preceding month.

    Other U.S.-traded crypto companies also advanced over the same period. Bitcoin treasury company Strive gained about 88%, Bitcoin miner Canaan rose roughly 55%, and USDC issuer Circle added close to 40%.

  • Lazarus Group Resurfaces With $19.4 Million Bitcoin Transfer

    Lazarus Group Resurfaces With $19.4 Million Bitcoin Transfer

    Bitcoin wallets linked to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus transferred 244.148 BTC worth approximately $19.42 million, renewing attention on the group’s ongoing cryptocurrency activity.

    Lazarus-linked wallets move 244.148 BTC

    Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported the transfer in an Aug. 28 X post, saying wallets attributed to Lazarus Group had become active and moved 244.148 BTC about an hour before the alert.

    Bitcoin was trading at roughly $79,500 when Lookonchain published its estimate, placing the transaction’s value at about $19.42 million. The analytics firm did not identify the receiving address or say whether the Bitcoin was sent to an exchange, mixer or another wallet controlled by the group.

    Without a disclosed destination, the transfer alone does not prove that Lazarus sold the Bitcoin or attempted to cash out. Public blockchain records show when funds move between addresses, but attributing those addresses to an organization generally depends on labels and analysis from investigators or blockchain intelligence firms.

    The Aug. 28 movement followed another large Bitcoin transfer attributed to Lazarus earlier in the month. On Aug. 12, Lookonchain said the group moved 262.2 BTC, then worth approximately $16.64 million, from an identified wallet to a newly created address.

    At the time, Lookonchain described that transaction as a wallet-to-wallet transfer rather than a sale. Based on the reported dollar values, the two August transactions involved more than $36 million in Bitcoin. However, no source has confirmed that the funds came from the same balance or served the same purpose.

    Earlier wallet activity highlights why the destination of the latest transfer matters. In March 2025, five unknown addresses received a combined 44.07 BTC worth approximately $3.76 million from wallets attributed to Lazarus, according to previous on-chain reporting. The transactions reduced the tracked wallet’s holdings to 13,441 BTC at the time.

    Bybit theft spread Bitcoin across thousands of addresses

    As crypto.news previously reported, Bybit sued North Korea and Lazarus Group in a Washington, D.C., federal court on Aug. 7, seeking to recover assets linked to the exchange’s $1.5 billion theft.

    The lawsuit also named North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, or RGB, which the U.S. Treasury identifies as the country’s primary intelligence agency. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking unidentified defendants from transferring, selling or disposing of certain assets connected to the case.

    Bybit filed the civil lawsuit separately from ongoing U.S. criminal investigations. A preliminary injunction preserves identified property while litigation continues and does not represent a final ruling on ownership or liability.

    The FBI attributed the February 2025 Bybit attack to North Korean actors operating under the TraderTraitor name. According to the agency, the attackers converted part of the stolen holdings into Bitcoin and other assets before distributing them across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains.

    In its public alert, the FBI said it expected the assets to be moved again and eventually exchanged for government-issued currency. The bureau asked exchanges, bridges, decentralized finance services, blockchain analytics companies and node operators to block transactions involving the addresses it identified.

    By April 2025, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said 27.6% of the stolen funds could no longer be tracked, according to an August report on North Korea’s attack methods. The report said that distributing the assets across numerous Bitcoin wallets had made blockchain tracing more difficult.

    Lookonchain has not directly connected the latest 244.148 BTC transfer to the Bybit theft. No government agency or blockchain intelligence company cited in the available reporting has publicly identified the source of the coins involved in the Aug. 28 movement.

    Lazarus-linked crypto attacks continued into 2026

    Chainalysis estimated that North Korean hackers stole at least $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025, a 51% increase from the previous year. The firm estimated North Korea’s cumulative cryptocurrency theft had reached at least $6.75 billion by the end of that period.

    According to its December 2025 report, North Korean operations accounted for 76% of the value lost through attacks on crypto services during the year. Chainalysis said the attackers carried out fewer confirmed incidents but extracted larger amounts from successful breaches.

    The firm also found that North Korean operators increasingly targeted companies through impersonation and employee-access schemes. Some actors posed as job applicants to gain entry to crypto businesses, while others pretended to recruit for established Web3 and artificial intelligence companies, according to Chainalysis.

    Activity attributed to Lazarus continued in April 2026, when attackers drained approximately 116,500 rsETH worth about $292 million from KelpDAO’s LayerZero-based bridge. LayerZero attributed the attack with preliminary confidence to the Lazarus Group’s TraderTraitor unit.

    Chainalysis later said the attackers had compromised infrastructure that supplied blockchain information to LayerZero’s verification system. By feeding false data into the system, they caused an Ethereum contract to release assets even though no corresponding token burn had occurred on the source network.

    Rapid intervention blocked a second attempted theft worth approximately $95 million, according to Chainalysis. The Arbitrum Security Council also froze more than 30,000 ETH that investigators connected to the attacker’s subsequent transactions.

    By June, the KelpDAO attacker had moved approximately $220 million in unfrozen assets through privacy services, according to subsequent tracking data. The routes included THORChain, Wasabi, Tornado Cash and Umbra, while approximately $1.7 million remained in the original wallets.

    U.S. sanctions restrict dealings with Lazarus Group

    The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Lazarus Group in September 2019 under an executive order targeting the North Korean government. OFAC identified Lazarus, Bluenoroff and Andariel as state-controlled hacking groups connected to the RGB.

    Under the designation, property belonging to Lazarus that enters the United States or comes into the possession or control of a U.S. person must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Treasury regulations also generally prohibit Americans from conducting transactions with sanctioned entities unless authorized by the agency.

    The Treasury said Lazarus had targeted governments, financial institutions, media companies, manufacturers, infrastructure operators and cryptocurrency businesses through cyber theft, espionage and malware attacks. The department linked the group to the 2014 Sony Pictures breach and the WannaCry ransomware attack, which affected computers across at least 150 countries.

    U.S. authorities have also taken action against services used to process funds linked to the group. In 2022, the Treasury sanctioned the virtual currency mixer Blender.io after saying it had processed more than $20.5 million from the roughly $620 million Ronin Network theft. The FBI later attributed the Ronin attack to Lazarus Group and APT38.

    In August 2023, the FBI separately warned cryptocurrency companies about movements involving Bitcoin stolen by North Korean TraderTraitor actors. The agency said the group could attempt to cash out more than $40 million in Bitcoin and published six wallet addresses for private companies to investigate.

  • Uniswap Sweeps Short Liquidations Near $5: What Comes Next?

    Uniswap Sweeps Short Liquidations Near $5: What Comes Next?

    Uniswap (UNI) extended its bullish performance with another break of market structure on the daily timeframe on Thursday, 27th August. The DeFi altcoin gained 6.89% during the day, rising from $4.38 to $4.68.

    However, UNI faced rejection after climbing further to $4.84 in the hours before press time. It was trading at $4.57 at the time of writing.

    Spot demand supports Uniswap’s price gains

    Coinalyze data showed that open interest had cooled slightly, while the funding rate remained close to neutral. Encouragingly, the Spot CVD had risen in recent days, highlighting strong spot demand behind the latest price gains.

    Whale accumulation and steady UNI token burns have also supported the scarcity narrative. The key question is whether spot demand and these bullish factors are strong enough to sustain Uniswap’s uptrend.

    Uniswap’s bullish market structure

    In May, UNI formed a lower high at $4.17 before a wave of selling pushed its price down to $2.31 by early June. By the end of July, the previous high had been surpassed, establishing a bullish swing structure.

    A pullback to $3.18 in mid-August was followed by another rally above the $4.57 local high, reaffirming the bullish structure.

    The On-Balance Volume (OBV) indicator has trended higher since July, reflecting steady buying pressure. Demand accelerated notably in mid-August, while the momentum shift over the past two weeks was also visible on the MACD and Awesome Oscillator.

    UNI traders eye a potential pullback

    The dense liquidity zones above $4 that had formed over the past month were swept. UNI also approached the $5 level in recent hours, taking out another cluster of short liquidations.

    A noticeable pocket of long liquidations may now be developing around $4.

    Based on the daily chart, the bullish price targets at $5.11 and $5.97 remain valid. However, UNI could enter a consolidation phase in the coming days as new liquidity pockets build for the price to target.

    Uniswap maintained a bullish structure on the daily price chart at press time. The sweep of overhead liquidity pockets, followed by rejection below $5, could lead to short-term consolidation.

    Source: cryptonews.net

  • Kalshi Faces Legal Setback as Court Ruling Upholds State Authority Over Prediction Markets

    Kalshi Faces Legal Setback as Court Ruling Upholds State Authority Over Prediction Markets

    Rather than shutting down the increasingly popular prediction markets industry, the ruling has deepened the legal uncertainty surrounding retail trading. In April, another federal court reached the opposite conclusion, ruling that New Jersey had no authority to regulate Kalshi. The conflicting decisions increase the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually address the industry’s central legal question.

    “The Ninth Circuit has now teed up a circuit split that calls out for resolution by the Supreme Court,” said CFTC spokesman Zach Fulton in an email, accusing the judges of misreading the law. “A derivative contract structured as a swap is a swap regardless of the underlying subject matter; the only exceptions in statute are onions and movie box office receipts. The Ninth Circuit erred today when it invented a new and atextual exception to the CEA.”

    Nevada calls Kalshi contracts illegal wagering

    Nevada state authorities have opposed prediction market businesses since 2025. On Friday, they reiterated that Kalshi had engaged in illegal wagering under Nevada gambling law, although the company had already withdrawn from Nevada and other jurisdictions following orders from local authorities.

    “This completely vindicates what we have been saying all along,” Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said in a statement responding to the ruling, which also referenced betting products offered by Robinhood and Crypto.com. “This is sports betting and needs to be properly regulated by the state.”

  • Metaplanet CEO Says Bitcoin’s Moment Has Arrived in the Far East

    Metaplanet CEO Says Bitcoin’s Moment Has Arrived in the Far East

    Bitcoin’s growing role in Asia is creating a major opportunity for companies and investors as Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore reshape their digital-asset regulations, according to Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich.

    Speaking Friday at the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong, Gerovich described how Metaplanet transformed from a struggling hotel and technology company into the world’s third-largest Bitcoin treasury.

    “The previous cycles belonged to the West, and the first Asian cycle has already started,” Gerovich said. “The only question left is who builds it. Will you?”

    Bitcoin Asia began Thursday, bringing major industry figures to Hong Kong to discuss Bitcoin treasury companies, digital-asset infrastructure and the development of applications from the ground up.

    Metaplanet’s Bitcoin strategy

    Often described as Asia’s answer to Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury company Strategy, Metaplanet shifted away from its core hotel and technology operations and began acquiring Bitcoin in 2024. The Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed company now holds 43,000 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $3.3 billion at current prices.

    Gerovich said Metaplanet had been small and unable to generate meaningful growth until it added Bitcoin to its balance sheet. The move gave investors a regulated way to gain exposure to the world’s largest digital asset through the company’s shares.

    He said the strategy represents a significant opportunity for Asian companies as regulatory conditions change and interest in Bitcoin continues to grow. Countries including Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore are introducing measures designed to support digital assets.

    Gerovich said Japan was particularly well positioned because its citizens hold substantial savings that could be redirected into productive investments.

    “Hoarding cash has stopped making sense, and every household in Japan can now feel it,” he said.

    “Japanese households hold roughly 14 trillion dollars in financial assets. About half of that sits in bank deposits, earning almost nothing, and that’s just Japan, add Korea, Southeast Asia, and the wealth managed out of this place, Hong Kong, and you’re looking at the deepest pools of patient savings on Earth.

    “And for the first time in a generation, these savings are looking for somewhere to go.”

    Asia’s Bitcoin infrastructure opportunity

    Gerovich urged Asian companies, institutions and savers to respond to current market conditions by building Bitcoin infrastructure for their own regions.

    “The end of the cash hoarding strategy and new rules are arriving at exactly the same time, and together, they set up what I think is the single biggest opportunity in Asian markets today,” he added.

    A post titled “Bitcoin’s Moment Has Come for the Far East, Says Metaplanet CEO” first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.

  • Upbit to End Synthetix (SNX) Trading Support on September 28

    Upbit to End Synthetix (SNX) Trading Support on September 28

    Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, will end trading support for Synthetix ($SNX) at 3:00 p.m. local time on September 28, according to an official notice published on August 28.

    The decision will remove the $SNX/BTC trading pair from Upbit, turning a weeks-old caution designation into a confirmed delisting date. The timeline gives $SNX holders a clear deadline for moving their assets off the exchange. Upbit, which dominates South Korea’s Korean won-denominated crypto trading market, has increased delisting activity this year as local regulators urge exchanges to strengthen their listing standards.

    Upbit Delisting Follows Weeks-Long Review

    Upbit added $SNX to its warning list on August 7. The exchange uses the designation to flag digital assets that could face removal. BlockchainReporter previously reported on the review when it began.

    The latest notice ends that review with a firm trading cutoff. Upbit cited unresolved concerns involving changes to the token’s supply plan, business authenticity, sustainability and project progress. The exchange presented those issues as the basis for ending support rather than reinstating the asset. The announcement did not outline an appeal process or remediation path.

    Why Upbit Is Removing the $SNX/BTC Pair

    Upbit did not identify a single technical failure as the reason for the delisting. Instead, the notice focused on broader fundamental concerns that may have changed since the token was originally listed, including potential changes to its supply plans and questions about the sustainability of the underlying business.

    The exchange has used a similar process in previous cases, placing tokens with unresolved security or governance concerns on caution lists before removing them. BlockchainReporter has tracked this pattern as South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges tighten their listing standards. Synthetix, a decentralized derivatives liquidity protocol, has also faced broader questions about its token economics as its ecosystem has developed.

    What $SNX Holders Need to Know

    Withdrawals will remain available for 30 days after the September 28 trading cutoff, leaving users with a withdrawal deadline of October 28. After that date, Upbit may no longer support the asset. The exchange has not announced a migration process or replacement listing.

    $SNX remains available on other trading platforms. Holders who prefer self-custody or another exchange should move their balances before the deadline to avoid losing access to their tokens. Upbit also advised users to complete any outstanding trades in the $SNX/BTC pair before trading ends on September 28.

  • ‘This is huge’ – Bitcoin completes first quantum-resistant transaction

    ‘This is huge’ – Bitcoin completes first quantum-resistant transaction

    Bitcoin Achieves First Quantum-Resistant Transaction via StarkWare and MARA Foundation

    The Bitcoin network advanced its quantum defense capabilities this week as StarkWare and the MARA Foundation announced the execution of the first known quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction on August 27.

    Industry Leaders React to Milestone

    Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, described the development as a pivotal moment for Bitcoin’s post-quantum future.

    This is huge! First, because the fact that we can have a quantum-safe tx on Bitcoin is a real accomplishment. Second, it shows that we can actually find and implement solutions to make Bitcoin and other chains, quantum-ready. We just need to decide that this is the path forward.

    Ben-Sasson further characterized the update as “huge” for the path forward for the post-quantum era for Bitcoin and other chains.

    Understanding Bitcoin’s Current Quantum Vulnerability

    Currently, Bitcoin held at rest behind modern wallet addresses—including Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) and Native SegWit (P2WPKH)—remains quantum resistant. These address types display only a hash, which conceals the public key on public blockchains and makes it challenging for quantum computers to crack.

    However, a critical vulnerability emerges during spending. The moment a user spends from these addresses, the actual public key is revealed to the blockchain. This exposure makes address reuse susceptible to theft if sufficiently powerful quantum computers become operational.

    Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transactions Without a Soft Fork

    In April 2024, StarkWare’s Avihu Levy proposed a scheme called quantum-safe Bitcoin (QSB) transactions designed to enhance security without requiring a soft fork. The objective is to provide quantum-resistant protection during the BTC spending process, buying the network time while it explores a protocol-level consensus change for a network-wide upgrade.

    The primary limitation of the QSB scheme is its reliance on private mempools—a waiting area before miners validate or confirm transactions. This inaugural transaction was facilitated through MARA’s private mempool, Slipstream.

    MARA Foundation Perspective on Private Mempools

    Isabela Foxen, head of the MARA Foundation, offered a measured assessment of the approach.

    While we don’t believe private mempools are an appropriate long-term solution for Bitcoin quantum resistance, we’re happy to explore ways Slipstream can support break-glass techniques while we wait for a consensus change.

    Blockstream Advances SHRINCS Proposal

    Separately, Adam Back’s Blockstream released a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) for a post-quantum signature scheme dubbed SHRINCS. The firm characterized it as a “very good trade-off” among current options for the final network-wide upgrade.

    Despite Adam Back downplaying the immediacy of quantum threats, Blockstream has been actively working behind the scenes to accelerate advancement. The BIP will require extensive discussion, criticism, and refinement before potential adoption as the definitive post-quantum upgrade.

    Prediction market data from Polymarket currently indicates the market is pricing only a 5% chance that such an upgrade could occur this year.

    Outlook: Progress Made, Path Uncertain

    Bitcoin’s first quantum-safe transaction executed without a soft fork represents a commendable and positive step forward. However, a final and lasting network-wide upgrade pathway remains uncertain as of writing.

  • THORChain Privacy Upgrade Drives RUNE 26% Higher — Can Bulls Break $0.65?

    THORChain Privacy Upgrade Drives RUNE 26% Higher — Can Bulls Break $0.65?

    THORChain ($RUNE) Surges 26% After v3.20 Upgrade Enables Privacy Coin Swaps

    $RUNE rallied more than 26% in the past 24 hours, making it the top gainer among the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. The price spike coincided with the launch of the THORChain v3.20 upgrade and a broader recovery across the crypto market. Daily trading volume tripled to exceed $20 million, though it remains modest relative to the token’s market cap.

    THORChain v3.20 Goes Live, Unlocking XMR and ZEC Swaps

    The network confirmed that the v3.20 upgrade went live on August 26. The release introduces native cross-chain swapping for Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) against Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and major stablecoins. By bridging privacy-focused assets directly into THORChain’s liquidity pools, the upgrade expands the protocol’s addressable market and brings a new cohort of privacy-conscious users into its ecosystem.

    This development arrives three months after an exploit drained over $10 million from THORChain across BTC, ETH, and BSC networks. Since then, the protocol has rebuilt confidence, with swap volume data from DeFiLlama showing consistent dominance from Bitcoin and Ethereum. The chain currently averages roughly $7 million in daily BTC swaps and $10 million in daily ETH swaps.

    Source: DeFiLlama

    Short Liquidations Amplify the Move

    The sudden influx of buying pressure triggered a cascade of short liquidations in the perpetual futures market. According to CoinGlass data, $RUNE short positions worth roughly ten times the value of long positions were wiped out during the surge, adding fuel to the upside momentum.

    Source: CoinGlass

    Technical Outlook: Can Bulls Flip $0.65 Resistance?

    On the daily timeframe, the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) signals a shift to a long-term bullish trend. However, horizontal price structure remains bearish. $RUNE is still trading below the $0.65 zone, which marks the last lower high of the prior downtrend. Bulls tested this supply zone but faced immediate rejection, leaving it unclear whether buyers have the conviction to breach resistance decisively.

    Source: $RUNE/USDT on TradingView

    On-chain and derivative metrics offer mixed signals. Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) data shows aggressive accumulation, with 1.78 million $RUNE bought on Binance as of press time. Meanwhile, a Sentiment reading of 80 indicates the crowd is convinced the rally is sustainable. Yet the move remains largely sentiment-driven, raising the risk of a short-lived spike if the market structure fails to confirm a trend change.

    Key Takeaways

    • $RUNE surged over 26% in 24 hours after the THORChain v3.20 upgrade, leading all top-200 crypto assets.
    • The upgrade enables direct swaps for Monero (XMR) and Zcash (ZEC) into BTC, ETH, and stablecoins, expanding THORChain’s user base.
    • Short liquidations were extreme, with shorts liquidated at roughly 10x the volume of longs.
    • Price remains below the critical $0.65 resistance; a successful flip to support would confirm a structural shift to bullish.
    • CVD and sentiment data show strong buying interest, but sustainability depends on whether the rally transitions from sentiment-driven to structure-confirmed.
  • Jito (JTO) Price Falls Despite $24M Spot Buying – Bears at Risk

    Jito (JTO) Price Falls Despite $24M Spot Buying – Bears at Risk

    Jito’s native token JTO is showing a notable divergence between its price action and spot market behavior, according to data from CoinGlass. While the token has declined approximately 9.69% this week, spot market data reveals consistent accumulation over the past four days, suggesting investors are treating the pullback as a buying opportunity.

    Spot Accumulation Amid Price Decline

    The spot market has recorded net inflows of $2.02 million across exchanges over the four-day period, with total buy volume reaching roughly $24.72 million. This persistent accumulation, where outflows (accumulation) exceed inflows (distribution), typically signals a bullish near-term outlook as market participants anticipate future outperformance.

    The single largest accumulation day occurred on August 25, accounting for the majority of the netflow. Notably, JTO’s price dropped 15.13% between the high and low of that day’s candle, per TradingView data. The combination of heavy buying during a sharp intraday decline indicates that investors may view the lower prices as an attractive entry point.

    On-Chain Capital Expansion

    On-chain metrics reinforce the accumulation narrative. Total Value Locked (TVL) across the Jito protocol has surged by $243.81 million since August 19, bringing the total to approximately $1.017 billion, according to DeFiLlama. TVL measures capital deposited to earn yield and is widely regarded as a gauge of confidence in a protocol’s long-term prospects.

    Protocol revenue has also climbed, with daily fees hitting roughly $504,000 — the highest level since May 11. This concurrent rise in TVL and fee generation suggests that capital commitments are being matched by genuine increases in protocol activity.

    Funding Rate Signals Growing Short Positions

    Despite the bullish spot and on-chain signals, derivatives data warrants caution. CoinGlass reports that the funding rate has fallen from 0.0143% to 0.0060%, indicating a growing dominance of short positions in the perpetual futures market. If this trend continues and the funding rate flips negative, it could exert additional downside pressure on JTO in the near term.

    For now, the market remains in a clear accumulation phase, with spot buyers absorbing supply even as leveraged traders build bearish bets.

    Key Takeaways

    • Spot investors purchased roughly $24.72 million worth of JTO over four days, driving a netflow of $2.02 million.
    • TVL has grown $243.81 million to $1.017 billion, accompanied by a multi-month high in protocol fees.
    • Funding rate decline signals rising short interest, presenting a potential headwind if the trend accelerates.

    Sources: CoinGlass, DeFiLlama, TradingView

  • Genius Group Plans $827M Bitcoin Treasury, $800M AI Treasury

    Genius Group Plans $827M Bitcoin Treasury, $800M AI Treasury

    Genius Group Proposes Perpetual Preferred Securities to Fund $2 Billion Bitcoin and AI Treasury Strategy

    Genius Group announced on August 27 its intention to raise capital through publicly registered perpetual preferred securities, targeting an $827 million Bitcoin treasury and an $800 million AI portfolio within a $2 billion total-asset goal for fiscal 2031. The NYSE American-listed company plans to utilize its $1.2 billion shelf registration, which the Securities and Exchange Commission declared effective on July 18, 2025, to issue the securities over time.

    Preferred Securities Structure and Initial Offering Details

    Under the preliminary proposal, Genius Group would seek $12.5 million in its first preferred securities offering. The company expects the instruments to be non-convertible and to carry a variable dividend paid monthly. Funds from the sale would be allocated among the Bitcoin treasury, the AI treasury, and a U.S. dollar reserve equal to approximately 18 months of preferred dividend payments. Genius Group did not disclose how much of the initial proceeds each allocation would receive.

    Discussions have begun with investment banks experienced in preferred securities and digital asset treasury financing. However, the final issue price, dividend rate, offering size, exchange listing, and sale date remain undecided. Any offering would require separate materials filed with or furnished to the SEC, and the structure will depend on board approval, applicable securities laws, regulatory requirements, and market conditions, according to the announcement.

    Shareholder Authorization and Current Financial Position

    Shareholders provided corporate authority at Genius Group’s annual meeting in July. Approximately 97.58% of votes supported giving the board authority to issue preferred shares, while 99.54% approved a mandate allowing the company to repurchase up to 20% of its ordinary shares.

    The company currently reports net assets of $106.6 million, following a 57% year-over-year increase announced on August 13. Genius Group calculated its net asset value at $0.62 per ordinary share. With GNS closing at $0.18 on August 26, the company said its stock was trading at approximately 0.29 times book value, compared with what it described as a 2.60-times average for the U.S. education sector.

    Five-Year Net Asset Value Projection

    Management has forecast that net asset value could reach between $2 and $4 per share over five years if the company executes its financing, asset-purchase, and share-buyback plans. The projection also depends on market conditions and the performance of Bitcoin and its AI investments.

    Chief executive Roger James Hamilton described perpetual preferred capital as a way to fund treasury purchases without issuing more ordinary shares.

    “Every dollar of preferred capital deployed into our Bitcoin and AI Treasury that generates returns above the preferred dividend rate flows directly to our ordinary shareholders’ net asset value.”

    Returns above the dividend cost could add to the assets attributable to ordinary investors. If the acquired assets lose value or earn less than the dividend rate, however, the preferred payment obligations would remain senior to ordinary shareholder distributions. Genius Group identified Bitcoin price volatility, changes in private technology company valuations, financing costs, and capital availability among the factors that could cause actual results to differ from its forecasts.

    Strategy’s Bitcoin Financing Program Serves as Reference Model

    For its proposed securities, Genius Group has taken Strategy’s Bitcoin financing program as its main reference. The company said Strategy has raised more than $16 billion through four perpetual preferred stock series since introducing STRK in January 2025.

    The preferred securities have no fixed maturity and do not require repayment on a set date. Their dividends and senior claims still create costs that treasury assets must cover before any excess return reaches ordinary shareholders.

    Investor demand has emerged for some of the products. In May, Strategy’s STRC security recorded $1.53 billion in daily trading volume, crypto.news reported, drawing attention to the use of dividend-paying stock to fund corporate Bitcoin holdings.

    Market prices can also depart from the issue or liquidation value. STRC fell to an intraday low of $82.50 on June 18 before closing near $88.59, well below the approximately $100 level around which the security was designed to trade.

    Strategy later used Bitcoin sales to support the preferred program. An August 10 SEC filing showed that the company sold 1,690 BTC for $108.6 million between August 3 and August 9, using the proceeds to repurchase about 1.15 million STRC shares. A subsequent filing showed Strategy spent $132.2 million on additional STRC repurchases and $52.4 million on related dividends during the following week. It also placed $149.1 million into its U.S. dollar reserve, bringing the cash pool to $4.8 billion.

    For U.S. investors, Genius Group’s final prospectus will determine the economic and legal terms of the proposed security. Until those documents are available, its dividend rate, liquidation preference, call provisions, exchange access, and possible tax treatment remain unconfirmed.

    Bitcoin Purchase Timeline and Treasury Evolution

    Before developing the dual-treasury plan, Genius Group pursued a Bitcoin-first policy under which it intended to hold at least 90% of its reserves in BTC. The company adopted the policy in November 2024 and planned an initial $120 million purchase program. By January 2025, it held 420 BTC after buying another $5 million at an average price of $95,912 per coin. Holdings later reached a peak of 440 BTC.

    A U.S. court order disrupted the program in early 2025 by restricting the company from selling shares, raising funds, or buying Bitcoin during a legal dispute tied to its asset purchase agreement with Fatbrain AI. Genius Group reduced its Bitcoin holdings while seeking relief from the restrictions.

    After the order was lifted, the company resumed purchases in June 2025 and increased its balance to 100 BTC. Management also restored a target of accumulating 1,000 BTC. Liquidity needs later forced another change. Genius Group sold its remaining Bitcoin during the first quarter of 2026 and used the funds as part of the repayment of $8.5 million in debt.

    Before the final sale, the company reported holding 84 BTC valued at approximately $5.7 million in March. Its April 1 operating update said it would rebuild the treasury when management considered market conditions more favorable. Under the latest timetable, Bitcoin purchases are expected to restart in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company has not disclosed the size or price of its first planned acquisition.

    AI Portfolio Launches with Private Company Exposure

    Genius Group established the second part of its treasury in May 2026, when the board authorized an AI portfolio with an initial investment plan of up to $100 million. The company made its first allocation in June through funds providing exposure to private companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Anduril, and Databricks.

    SpaceX held the largest look-through weighting at 13.5% of the AI portfolio, according to the company. Genius Group said its portfolio also contained exposure to xAI, Figure AI, Replit, and other companies involved in AI models, robotics, and infrastructure.