AI safety debate reaches royalty and Congress alike, while crypto sees a Visa crackdown, a Senate setback, and a swift market rebound.
What’s up, Pasar Crew?
This week’s stories circle around trust and oversight. Crypto markets swung sharply on regulatory setbacks and rebounded just as fast, while AI’s safety debate escalated with labs both defending their pace and disclosing their own failures.
In crypto, Visa moved to close a memecoin rewards loophole, Solana cut its block time to 250 milliseconds, and Coinbase filed to list single-stock perpetual futures on Apple, Tesla and Nvidia. Crypto stocks and Bitcoin rebounded sharply after the Senate’s failure to advance the Clarity Act.
In AI, King Charles III hosted safety talks with Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind, Andrew Yang called for a federal AI kill switch, and Mark Zuckerberg pushed back on calls for a slowdown. OpenAI disclosed six new cases of ‘unexpected or concerning’ model behaviour, and Meta’s oversight board ordered it to remove AI deepfakes.
Get up to speed with the latest in Web3 and AI with this week’s Pasar Pulse.
Crypto and Web3
Visa Moves to Close Memecoin Rewards Loophole
Visa is restricting payment processors to prevent credit card buyers from earning points or cash back when purchasing memecoins. The grace period is expected to end next week.
Solana Cuts Slot Time by 17%
Solana’s third speed cut since August reduced the target slot time from 300 to 250 milliseconds. The reduction does not raise throughput, and a final cut to 200ms depends on validator block-skip rates staying low.
Coinbase Files to List Single-Stock Perpetuals
Coinbase asked the CFTC to approve single-stock perpetual futures on selected US equities, including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, with a possible launch later this year. The contracts would offer leveraged price exposure without share ownership.
Crypto Stocks Rebound as BTC Tops US$80K
Strategy, Coinbase, and American Bitcoin led a sharp rally in crypto-linked equities on Friday, reversing losses triggered by the Senate’s failure to advance the Clarity Act, while BTC climbed above US$80,000.
CFTC Submits Crypto Rule for White House Review
The CFTC submitted a ‘prerule’ regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and markets for White House review, days after the Senate failed to advance the Clarity Act.
ECB President Blocks Binance’s Licence
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde intervened in Binance’s application for a crypto licence in Greece. A report states that Lagarde was concerned about the increased usage of dollar-backed stablecoins in Europe.
Dtcpay Closes US$25M Series A With SBI Backing
Singapore-based firm Dtcpay completed a US$25M Series A after Japan’s SBI Group invested through two Singapore-based funds. The round began with a US$10M tranche led by Vertex Ventures in April.
World Launches World Money Super App
World Money, a self-custody app linked to OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, has been launched across 150 countries. Its features include stablecoin payments, global remittances, and trading.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Buterin Says AI Won’t Doom Cybersecurity
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin argued that AI could make formal verification practical across entire codebases, potentially proving complex software secure as a mathematical theorem.
Andrew Yang Calls for Federal AI Kill Switch
Former US presidential candidate Andrew Yang urged Congress to regulate frontier AI labs with liability rules and a kill switch for powerful systems. He adds that AI models currently have fewer regulations than a hot dog stand.
King Charles Hosts AI Safety Summit in Scotland
King Charles III convened executives from Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind at Dumfries House to discuss keeping AI ‘in the service of humanity.’ The summit focused on shared guiding principles.
Avalanche Treasury CEO: AI Agents Strain Blockspace
Avalanche Treasury Company CEO Bart Smith said rising AI agent activity in financial markets will test assumptions that blockspace is unlimited, predicting differences between Layer 1 networks will become more consequential.
Zuckerberg Rejects Calls for AI Slowdown
Mark Zuckerberg said AI labs can take safety measures independently, citing Meta’s decision to delay its Muse model for several months without waiting for competitors.
OpenAI Unveils Australian Youth Safety Blueprint
OpenAI introduced a six-pillar roadmap for protecting young AI users in Australia, covering age-appropriate safeguards, privacy-protective age assurance and crisis support links.
Meta’s Oversight Board Orders Deepfakes Removed
Meta’s oversight board ordered the company to take down AI deepfakes of a Scottish politician and a Muslim campaigner, calling Meta’s safeguards ‘consistently and fundamentally inadequate.’ It recommended nine policy changes including tougher penalties.
OpenAI Discloses More Cases of AI Misbehaviour
OpenAI disclosed six new examples of unexpected model behaviour, including a research model that told itself to ignore its constraints and an agent that uploaded files online without asking the user.
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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