Getting informed

Peter Schiff believes that artificial intelligence threatens bitcoin by capturing capital, electricity, and data centers.

The Bitcoin network has just passed a new adjustment confirming the fragility of mining in 2026. At block 963,648, mining difficulty decreased by 1.31% after a slight rebound recorded two weeks earlier. Since January, miners have alternated between declines and recoveries without managing to establish lasting growth. This dynamic brings difficulty to only 0.7% above its annual low, while nearly 150 EH/s have left the network.

Paying to pollute is getting more and more expensive in Europe. As a result, according to a study by three Vietnamese researchers, Bitcoin mining would quietly migrate to Russia, where carbon costs almost nothing. Meanwhile, Moscow is preparing to launch futures crypto to turn this advantage into a financial product.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the priorities of major technology groups. In China, Alibaba is preparing a new step with a $10 billion fundraising round. This operation now takes place as technology investments are sharply reducing profits and cash flows. The group is therefore looking for new ways to support its expansion while accelerating its technological capabilities.

Justin Sun claims to have won a first round against World Liberty Financial. On August 20, a federal judge in California reportedly refused to send all of his claims to private arbitration. This decision comes just days after the conditional green light granted by the OCC to World Liberty Trust Company, which is set to resume issuing the USD1 stablecoin.

The greenback is increasingly losing ground within the BRICS alliance. Indeed, the use of local currencies in various commercial exchanges is now intensifying among the member states of the bloc. The reduction of their dependence on the dollar as well as the related costs of cross-border payments are the objectives thus set. This revolution then constitutes a new phase in the struggle for monetary sovereignty, while the US administration tries to safeguard the international power of its currency. The BRICS are gradually reshaping the global financial power relations, between dedollarization, sovereign digital currencies, and the American response.

Foreign investors sold $29 billion in short-term US Treasury bills in June. Yet they did not flee the United States: $181.4 billion moved towards US equities in the same month. For Washington, the shift matters. Stablecoins could provide a new regular demand for T-bills as some foreign investors reduce their positions.

Solana has just shortened its block creation time to 350 milliseconds, a first step towards the ultimate goal of 200 milliseconds. Faster confirmations for crypto users, a clear roadmap... And as one signal never comes alone, SOL surged beyond 94 dollars.

Donald Trump's memecoin has just gained more than 80% in a few hours. TRUMP crossed the $3 mark before settling around $2.94. The move caught short sellers off guard: over $30 million worth of positions were liquidated within 24 hours. A rumor about a new crypto project from the Trump family was enough to start the momentum.

In the last few hours, bitcoin has quickly jumped to $79,461 before stabilizing around $77,000. Indeed, this increase has raised investors' attention around the decisive question: should one take advantage of this level to buy? Grayscale clearly gives a positive answer to this question. Thus Zach Pandl, head of research at the crypto asset manager, sees in the current market structure a strategic acquisition opportunity. His argument is based on three signals: the fundamental adoption of cryptos, bitcoin's position in its market cycle, and the evolution of macroeconomic risks. These factors could therefore reshape bitcoin's outlook.

An unknown Bitcoin whale takes advantage of BTC's return to $80,000 to lighten its positions. In three days, this address reportedly sold 7,700 BTC for about $576.6 million. The last operation alone involved 2,700 bitcoins, nearly $212 million. However, the market keeps rising.

In five consecutive sessions, American spot Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated 1.92 billion dollars in inflows. These capital inflows bring their assets under management to around 100 billion dollars. At the same time, flows affect Ether, XRP, and Solana, proving that institutional interest now goes beyond bitcoin.

Mutsamudu, Comoros, August 19, 2026 – MEXC, a pioneer in 0-fee digital asset trading, announced the launch of "MEXC Win: Infinity Arena," a team-based futures trading competition. The competition offers 0-fee stock trading and a tiered prize pool of up to 10 million USDT. Early bird registration opens August 19 at 12:00 (UTC), with early participants eligible to share a 10,000 USDT futures bonus pool and additional rewards for early team formation.

Privacy is now an increasingly important area of research in modern cryptography. On Friday, Vitalik Buterin published the third part of his series dedicated to cryptographic obfuscation. This time, he studies "local mixing," a method that abandons lattices and elliptic curves. His approach is rather inspired by hash functions and symmetric cryptography. This approach hides the internal logic of a program while preserving its operation, with implications for privacy on the blockchain.

Trade talks between the United States and Canada suddenly failed this Friday, August 21. This failure has reignited tensions between the two North American countries. Given the entry into force of punitive tariffs and the announced Canadian retaliations, this conflict could therefore have repercussions on global liquidity, increase market uncertainty, and even affect risky assets. The crypto market and bitcoin would then be at the forefront of a new macroeconomic shock.

Grayscale moves closer to converting its Zcash Trust into an ETF. In its latest regulatory filings, the manager aims for a listing on NYSE Arca around August 25, under the ticker ZCSH. The announcement comes as ZEC reaches prices not seen since January 2018.

AI now goes beyond simple analysis and advisory functions. It already makes payments. Thanks to the advent and development of autonomous agents capable of conducting banking and commercial transactions, the role of the XRP Ledger will undergo an evolution. In addition to its function as a visible settlement infrastructure, the network could also serve as a secondary financial layer, directly solicited by machines. This revolution also shifts the question of adoption. Beyond the traded volumes, the value of the blockchain would now be assessed by its ability to automate various payments, organize flows, and make the network almost invisible to users.

The Canadian hardware wallet is evolving its security after a theft exceeding $114 million. Coldcard releases a new corrected firmware version after an analysis conducted with several AI models. This study was not limited to the initial random number generator. It also examined transactions, USB exchanges, and updates. Affected users must, however, renew their main keys before any fund transfers.

Solana has just risen back above $94 after briefly surpassing $100 on Friday. The SOL crypto even touched $102 before pulling back. The movement is impressive, but a good part of the activity comes from derivatives products. The open interest now reaches $5.81 billion. Many positions thus remain open.

Eric Trump has just signed a written commitment to stay away from the management of the future deposit bank of World Liberty Financial. A goodwill gesture towards regulators. Except that the project is dragging a Justin Sun lawsuit still ongoing, and a loan that strongly recalls the worst hours of FTX.

Ethereum has already won the speed battle on zkEVMs. The security one remains open. A research contest supported by the Ethereum Foundation still shows a gap of 52.14 bits between the currently proven results on a cryptographic component. The network targets a demonstrable security of 128 bits for its zkEVMs by early December. No changes threaten the current consensus for now.

The locking of the European crypto market with MiCA already shows flaws. Indeed, the Binance exchange may have found loopholes. Despite the entry into force of this new regulatory framework, it is still possible for European citizens to open functional accounts without a MiCA license thanks to the world's leading crypto exchange platform. Such a scenario would therefore become a real-world test for the credibility of this standard and the future of international exchanges on the old continent.

Bitcoin at 100,000 dollars by the end of 2026? Standard Chartered admits that this figure could be too low. Between the ETF rally, short liquidations, and records in sight, the market seems to have already decided. What if the bank underestimated the crypto craze?

Like many companies, SharpLink Gaming transforms its treasury into a yield machine. Indeed, the Nasdaq-listed firm has just injected an additional 39,319 ETH into staking, approximately 91 million dollars. This new investment thus strengthens its position as the second largest institutional holder of Ether after BitMine. Like a volatile market, the company executives have decided to make their reserves work directly on Ethereum. This maneuver explains the transformation of crypto treasuries, currently developed as productive assets likely to generate on-chain income, rather than as reserves intended to sit idle on a balance sheet.

A targeted DAO. 1.2 million dollars at stake. And a Binance security team who spotted the threat before anyone else and acted in less than 48 hours… zero dollars lost! While BonkDAO and KelpDAO were counting their losses in recent months, Binance won the race.

The cryptocurrency market regains momentum, driven by the return of buyers and the rise of Bitcoin. In this context, Pepcoin accelerates strongly in the market. Its price gains more than 20% in twenty-four hours, while volumes explode. This increase occurs as investors return to digital assets. Moreover, speculation about a possible ETF strengthens attention on the token. Large holder movements add an important element to this dynamic. Today again.

September 15 is approaching for American crypto. The Senate must decide whether to advance the CLARITY Act, a text awaited for months by the industry. It will require 60 votes. Brian Armstrong believes the threshold remains achievable. And if Congress blocks it again, the SEC and CFTC are already preparing the next steps.

Ethereum reserves are depleting on centralized exchanges at an unprecedented rate. A potential supply shock is emerging behind this contraction. This scenario is certainly fueled by the massive movement of tokens towards long-term holding as well as the return of institutional investors. Such a reduction is amplified by buybacks through ETFs and various corporate treasury strategies. However, the U.S. administration is sending new signals to the crypto market. The increase in institutional capital combined with ETH scarcity creates a situation where the balance between supply and demand could tighten.