Crypto sees fresh institutional moves and fund closure, while AI faces scrutiny over its safety, security risks, and economic reach.
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In crypto, UniCredit and Standard Chartered signalled deeper interest in digital assets, while Bitwise moved to close its Dogecoin ETF and Metaplanet slashed executive pay by 41% after backlash. Blockstream refused a ransom over US$47M in Bitcoin missing from the Liquid hack, and Bitcoin ETFs logged US$449M in three-day outflows.
In AI, OpenAI asked Congress whether rival developers could legally agree to slow development, days after confirming its own agents had attacked software repository RubyGems months before the Hugging Face hack. Apple unveiled a Gemini-powered Siri overhaul, and Fields medalist Terence Tao warned that AI is depleting mathematics’ supply of good open problems.
Get up to speed with the latest in Web3 and AI with this week’s Pasar Pulse.
Crypto and Web3
Caroline Ellison Joins Charity Manifund
Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison has taken a role developing Manifund’s funding platform after a work trial that began in July. She was released early from her two-year FTX-related sentence in January after cooperating with prosecutors.
Bitcoin Suisse Moves Jobs to Cut Costs
Bitcoin Suisse plans to shift up to 60 of its 120 Swiss positions to lower-cost hubs in Bratislava and Vietnam as part of its expansion into global wealth management. CEO Andrej Majcen said the move was not a response to crypto market weakness.
UniCredit Weighs Crypto Custody Expansion
Italy’s second-largest bank is selecting a technology provider to build infrastructure for digital asset custody, tokenised products and stablecoin exposure. UniCredit is also one of 37 lenders working on Qivalis, a planned euro-denominated stablecoin.
StanChart Predicts SKY Token Rising Fivefold
Standard Chartered initiated coverage of DeFi platform Sky, forecasting its SKY token will rise fivefold to US$0.325 by end-2028 as USDS stablecoin growth drives staking rewards and buybacks. The bank called Sky ‘DeFi’s federal bank.’
Bitwise to Close Dogecoin ETF Before Anniversary
Bitwise will liquidate its Dogecoin ETF on 14 October, less than a year after its November 2025 debut, with remaining shareholders paid out in cash by 22 October. The fund held about US$722,000 in net assets as of 8 September.
Metaplanet Cuts Executive Share Options by 41%
Metaplanet reduced potential shares tied to its Series 10 executive compensation plan from about 319.5 million to 188.2 million after shareholder backlash, wiping out over US$220M in warrant value. The company’s shares are down more than 38% year-to-date.
Blockstream Refuses Ransom for US$47M Bitcoin
Blockstream rejected a ransom demand to return 598.5 BTC still missing after a flaw let attackers mint unbacked L-BTC and drain the Liquid Network, calling the withholding ‘theft.’ Attackers had already returned 3,400 of the roughly 4,000 BTC taken.
Bitcoin ETF Outflows Hit US$449M in Three Days
US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged US$282.6M in outflows Thursday, their largest since July, led by ARK 21Shares’ US$164M withdrawal. The three-day selling streak reversed part of a US$3.8B inflow run that marked the funds’ strongest three-week stretch of 2026.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
OpenAI Asks Congress If AI Slowdown Is Legal
OpenAI asked lawmakers whether rival AI developers could legally agree to slow development without violating antitrust law, following chief scientist Jakub Pachocki’s call for voluntary restraint. Experts say competitive and financial pressure make unilateral slowdowns unlikely.
AI Agents Cut Cost of Bitcoin Quantum Attack
Participants using AI coding agents in the ECDSA.Fail challenge cut a resource benchmark for a step in a potential quantum attack on Bitcoin’s cryptography by 86%, from 10.75 billion to 1.496 billion. The tests verified circuit calculations but did not crack a private key.
BIS Warns AI Is Shrinking Bank Patch Windows
A Bank for International Settlements (BIS) paper said AI-accelerated attacks have narrowed the window between vulnerability discovery and exploitation from weeks to minutes, making routine patching schedules insufficient. Regulators in Germany and Hong Kong are pushing banks to respond faster.
Terence Tao Warns AI Is Depleting Open Problems
Fields medallist Terence Tao warned that AI labs are racing to solve hard open maths problems the moment anyone starts working on them, draining the field’s supply faster than new ones emerge. He proposed labelling some problems ‘analysis-required’ so bare AI answers count for little.
Apple Unveils Gemini-Powered Siri and a New Chip
Apple launched a redesigned Siri AI built on Google’s Gemini technology, alongside its first 2-nanometre A20 Pro chip with a doubled 32-core Neural Engine. The new Siri won’t work on iPhones or iPads in the EU at launch.
US Town Weighs Data Centres and Mining Ban
The New York town of Plattsburgh held a hearing on a proposed 12-month moratorium on high-energy computing operations, including AI data centres and crypto mining requiring 300kW or more. The council will meet again on 17 September.
OpenAI Confirms Earlier Agent Attack on RubyGems
OpenAI confirmed its AI agents uploaded hundreds of malicious packages to RubyGems in May, two months before agents hacked Hugging Face, with researchers saying the packages attempted to steal user credentials. OpenAI said the agents were carrying out what it called benign tasks.
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in July, Boosted by AI
The UK’s GDP unexpectedly rose 0.4% in July, beating forecasts of zero growth, driven by strong performance in AI-related computer programming and consulting services. The ONS said many of the largest July turnover gains came from AI and cloud computing firms.
That’s all for this week’s Pasar Pulse. Want more insights? Stay tuned to our site or subscribe via email!
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