Category: Business

  • Filecoin Nears End of Six-Year Vesting, Removing 68 Million FIL in Annual Releases

    Filecoin Nears End of Six-Year Vesting, Removing 68 Million FIL in Annual Releases

    The published token allocation assigns 300 million $FIL to Protocol Labs, including its team and contributors, and 100 million to the Filecoin Foundation. Their combined six-year allocation releases about 66.7 million $FIL annually. Lotus’s supply-accounting code includes another 9.8 million $FIL in the same six-year bucket, bringing the scheduled annual release to about 68.3 million.

    The code measures that schedule as six 365-day years starting at the network’s liftoff epoch. That puts completion on **Oct. 14, 2026**, based on the mainnet parameters and recorded liftoff block.

    Filfox reported about 56,449 $FIL produced over 24 hours in its snapshot at block 6,445,866. Annualized over 365 days, that is 20.6 million $FIL. Against the explorer’s reported circulating supply of 919.9 million $FIL, gross annualized additions would fall from about **9.7% to 2.2%**. The Protocol Labs and Foundation streams alone account for roughly three-quarters of the pre-completion total.

    Provider Rewards Continue

    These figures measure vesting releases plus newly mined rewards, not net circulating-supply growth or exchange selling. Filecoin’s supply accounting also reflects reserve disbursements, burns and locked collateral. Already vested balances remain available after the schedule ends.

    Block rewards have their own mechanics. Filecoin’s documentation describes a time-based minting component and another tied to network performance, so the remaining issuance rate is not fixed. Under the documented reward-vesting rules, 25% of earned block rewards are immediately accessible, while 75% vest over 180 days.

  • Arthur Hayes Sees Mega Crypto Bull Run Beyond AI Encryption Fears

    Arthur Hayes Sees Mega Crypto Bull Run Beyond AI Encryption Fears

    The forecast builds on his earlier argument that government efforts to manage borrowing costs can support digital assets. In an Aug. 24 essay, Hayes contended that expanding dollar liquidity could flow into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. His framework emphasizes financial conditions as a driver of investment demand.

    Money Printing Could Fuel Crypto’s Next Rally

    Greater availability of money and credit underpins Hayes’ expectation that policy responses to financial pressure could lift prices. Global liquidity describes those conditions across the financial system. In his scenario, capital released through government intervention could reach speculative investments, including cryptocurrencies.

    In the Aug. 24 essay, Hayes connected that reasoning with the U.S. Treasury’s expanded bond repurchases, arguing that Treasury buybacks supported a new bitcoin bull market. These debt-management operations purchase outstanding government securities. He viewed their effects on yields as favorable to risk assets while distinguishing them from Federal Reserve asset purchases.

    His AI-bust scenario anticipates a larger intervention if heavily financed infrastructure encounters financial stress. In an interview published Oct. 2, Hayes projected that an AI bust could trigger multitrillion-dollar support, potentially benefiting crypto through money creation. He placed the prospective reckoning around 2027 or 2028 as target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>disputed an imminent AI breakthrough, arguing there was no evidence of a break in established cryptographic assumptions. His objection addresses the technical premise behind the anxiety Hayes incorporated into his bullish analogy.

    Separately, AI-assisted security work has demonstrated how automated analysis can uncover weaknesses in existing crypto software. A researcher examining Zcash identified a flaw in its shielded transaction system, illustrating the role of AI-assisted vulnerability discovery in reviewing older code. That involved a software defect rather than defeating the mathematical protections underlying digital signatures. Developers patched the vulnerability within days of its discovery.

  • ‘More bullish on Bitcoin’ – Strategy leads 91% of corporate BTC buying

    ‘More bullish on Bitcoin’ – Strategy leads 91% of corporate BTC buying

    For Phong Le, Strategy CEO, however, the trend was positive and cemented their Bitcoin bet.

    The trend towards corporate, institution, bank, and nation-state adoption of Bitcoin is encouraging and makes us even more bullish on Bitcoin.

    Source: River

    Strategy and Strive both hauled in 197K $BTC. Other conventional businesses also bought over 20K $BTC in 2026. In fact, even Robinhood joined the trend with a $25 million Bitcoin purchase this week.

    Other Bitcoin treasury firms acquired 8K $BTC, but after adjusting for total business holdings, the stash fell to 193K $BTC because miners offloaded 33K $BTC as some pursue an AI pivot.

    Source: River

    Why Strategy is betting on Bitcoin’s broader adoption

    Strategy’s initial Bitcoin bet was to offer amplified exposure to clients via its stock MSTR. The stock would offer several multiples of gains and losses relative to Bitcoin swings.

    However, with preferred stocks, the firm doubled down on the ‘digital credit’ model backed by its Bitcoin holdings.

    Recently, the firm has been closely tracking a composite Bitcoin adoption index across nations, firms, and associated products tied to the asset. Worth noting that the firm initially floated the idea of becoming the first Bitcoin bank to offer more digital credit products beyond Stretch [STRC].

    Currently, the 12% yield paid to STRC and other preferred stocks is generated by diluting MSTR shareholders. In fact, some have criticized the model as a ‘Ponzi scheme’ because the yield is not coming directly from its vast $BTC holdings.

    It remains to be seen how Strategy will scale its digital credit pipeline.

    That said, despite Bitcoin treasury firms leading the demand front by $15 billion in 2026, this was still low relative to 2025.

    Source: River

    However, assuming this is an early bull market like in 2023, the current pace of inflows from Bitcoin treasuries was relatively higher and strong.

    Strategy has a cost basis of about $75K, while the U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF has an average cost basis of $82K. As such, these levels could act as crucial support if the ongoing Bitcoin pullback deepens.

    Source: Glassnode

    Final Summary

    • Strategy bought 175K $BTC of the 193K $BTC (91%) acquired by businesses in 2026
    • Strategy’s CEO said the institutional and state adoption trend has made them even more bullish on Bitcoin
  • Bitcoin Drawdown Analysis Maps a $74,500 Level if Losses Deepen

    Bitcoin Drawdown Analysis Maps a $74,500 Level if Losses Deepen

    “Applying that historical average to the recent high gives a price level of approximately $74,500, which could serve as a reference point in the event of further downside.”

    The calculation applies a reported 14.39% historical benchmark, an earlier average used for comparison, to the Oct. 5 high.

    Bitcoin bull market drawdowns across five historical cycles, showing average pullbacks ranging from 7.58% to 21.71%. Source: Cryptoquant.

    Earlier Advances Show How Corrections Differ

    Average setbacks were 18.41% in 2010-2011, 21.71% in 2011-2013, 10.93% in 2015-2017, 19.39% in 2018-2021, and 7.58% in 2022-2025. The analysis puts the overall average across the five cycles at 14.39%.

    The latest cycle’s milder setbacks accompany other observations of moderating fluctuations over time. Fidelity Digital Assets, Fidelity’s digital asset business, documented moderating volatility in May 2024. The term describes the size of movements in either direction. MAC_D’s analysis also noted that individual events produced significantly deeper corrections.

    The broader recovery had received support from Cryptoquant’s Bull Score, which rose from 30 to 80 in August. That gauge combines 10 indicators of demand, holder profitability, network activity, and liquidity, the availability of capital to support trading.

    Buying Levels Accompany Signs of Recovery

    September’s recovery also generated a signal based on acquisition costs, estimates of what investors paid for their coins. Cryptoquant contributor Darkfost identified a fifth historical bull market signal on Sept. 24. Newer holders’ cost crossed above that of longer-term holders whose coins had moved within seven years. He acknowledged a margin for error.

    Cryptoquant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju suggested on Sept. 22 that growing institutional ownership, meaning holdings by organizations such as investment funds, could produce smaller cycle gains and shallower losses.

    The asset’s investment risks include substantial fluctuations even during periods of rising adoption. The analyst proposed purchases over time around $80,000 and larger commitments between $74,000 and $75,000. The lower buying range corresponds to approximately 13.82% to 14.97% below the Oct. 5 high.

  • DWF Labs Subsidiaries Sue BitGo for $141 Million Over Early Token Sales

    DWF Labs Subsidiaries Sue BitGo for $141 Million Over Early Token Sales

    In brief

    • DWF Maas and Falcon Digital, two firms tied to market maker DWF Labs, sued custodian BitGo for $141 million in London’s High Court, alleging it sold locked-up tokens early in breach of a private OTC deal.
    • The firms say BitGo got the tokens at a discount on a pledge not to sell before vesting, then moved them to exchanges early.
    • Both parties have ties to Trump-backed World Liberty Financial.

    Two companies tied to crypto market maker DWF Labs have taken BitGo to court, alleging the custodian dumped locked-up tokens early and tanked their value, in a $141 million dispute now before London’s High Court.

    DWF Maas and Falcon Digital filed the suit, the Financial Times reported Friday, accusing BitGo of breaching the terms of a private, over-the-counter deal involving Falcon Finance (FF) and ESPORTS tokens.

    Myriad: Who wins the midterm elections? Click to make your prediction.
    Myriad: Who wins the midterm elections? Click to make your prediction.

    According to the reporting, BitGo had received the tokens at a discount in exchange for a commitment not to sell them until lock-up and vesting periods expired, but instead moved them to exchanges roughly two months before the first unlock.

    DWF argues that selling into a thin market created heavy downward pressure, eroding the value of the tokens it still held. The firms say they raised the issue with BitGo in April and May before suing when the company didn’t provide assurances.

    BitGo declined to comment, per the report, and the allegations have not been tested in court.

    The clash pits two institutional heavyweights against each other. BitGo is one of crypto’s largest custodians, with roughly $5 billion in assets under custody. The company went public on the NYSE this year at around a $2 billion valuation and recently acquired NYDIG’s institutional trading arm.

    BitcoinBTC · USD

    $83,018−2.1%

    Oct 4Oct 5Oct 7Oct 9Oct 11

    $86.7k$84.7k$82.7k$80.7k

    24h HighHigh$83,094

    24h LowLow$82,494

    VolVol$564.5M

    Market projectionsOdds by Myriad

    →

    DWF Labs, headquartered in Dubai, is a prolific market maker and investor across the token economy. A notable thread ties the warring parties together: both have links to World Liberty Financial, the Trump-family-backed crypto venture.

    DWF bought $25 million of World Liberty’s WLFI token last year, and BitGo custodies the reserves behind the project’s USD1 stablecoin, a role World Liberty is now moving to take over through its own newly approved trust bank.

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  • Horrifying simulation shows treadmill torture method that was banned from British prisons for being too brutal

    Horrifying simulation shows treadmill torture method that was banned from British prisons for being too brutal

    Ask someone what pops into their head when you mention the word ‘treadmill’ and they’ll probably think of the cardio machine in most gyms around the world.

    But did you know the treadmill actually originated as a labour device used to punish prisoners?

    Invented by Victorian engineer Sir William Cubitt in 1818, the treadmill – or everlasting staircase as it was known then – was designed as a way to punish inmates by subjecting them to hours of hard labour.

    That’s right, the exercise machine that very much feels like a torture machine during an intense workout was originally designed as a method of torture.

    The type of treadmill most of us will be familiar with (Getty Stock Images)

    The type of treadmill most of us will be familiar with (Getty Stock Images)

    What did the original treadmill look like?

    The treadmill looked a little different to the one you’re likely familiar with at the gym, as Cubitt’s design involved a large rotating wheel with steps, allowing multiple prisoners to climb the machine at the same time.

    Prisoners would often be forced to walk on the treadmills for an average of six hours a day, getting an average of 12 minutes’ rest for each hour walked.

    If you’re struggling to visualise how grim the punishment would’ve been, Zack D. Films has created a handy simulation revealing exactly what the prisoners were subjected to, which you can watch below:

    I’d argue the contraption more closely resembles a step machine than the modern treadmill but either way, you can imagine it was pretty unpleasant to spend several hours a day on there.

    According to academic Vybarr Cregan-Reid, the Victorian treadmill was the ‘perfect punishment’ of the time, with some of the devices created with the sole purpose of wearing out the prisoners rather than grinding corn or pumping water.

    “They were invented to solve a problem,” he told BBC Radio 4. “It came out of the Enlightenment… this idea that punishment should be fair and appropriate, and it should teach the criminal to behave in a certain way.

    “The idea was, they would walk, and they would do nothing and just go round and round and round… What they were doing was literally pointless.”

    An illustration depicting a penal treadmill (Getty Stock Images)

    An illustration depicting a penal treadmill (Getty Stock Images)

    The treadmill punishment was typically handed down to inmates sentenced to hard labour for their crimes, with Cregan-Reid noting that author Oscar Wilde was forced to walk on a treadmill after being sentenced to two years of hard labour in 1895.

    In Wilde’s case, two years of hard labour on the treadmill would cause irreparable damage to his health, as he died a couple of years after being released from prison.

    The penal treadmill was eventually abolished in 1902.

    One to think about next time you’re working out at the gym.

  • Andrew Cuomo Advocates for Tokenization of American Securities

    Andrew Cuomo Advocates for Tokenization of American Securities

    Andrew Cuomo advocates for the tokenization of American securities, suggesting that this could modernize market infrastructure and enhance the US’s position in global finance. His remarks, shared via a tweet from OKX, emphasize the need for trusted access to these markets, signaling a potential shift in how securities are managed. The implications could be significant, encouraging broader adoption of tokenization in financial markets.

    The Key Development

    The conversation around tokenization is gaining momentum, particularly as Andrew Cuomo, the co-chair of OKXICE and former New York Governor, highlights its potential benefits. His comments point to the idea that tokenizing American securities could streamline processes and improve access to capital markets. As the broader crypto market shows mixed signals, this advocacy for tokenization may resonate with traders and investors looking for innovative solutions to enhance liquidity and efficiency in the financial sector. The significance of these developments cannot be understated, as they may redefine how securities are issued and traded in the future.

  • Woman who spent two years behind bars for giving herself a miscarriage wins $1.6 million payout

    Woman who spent two years behind bars for giving herself a miscarriage wins $1.6 million payout

    A woman who spent two years in prison has been awarded $1.6 million after being accused of causing her own miscarriage

    Patience Rousseau, from Nevada, was struggling with drug addiction and homelessness when found out she was pregnant in 2018.

    Aged 26 and living with her two sons at the time, she was unable to travel 165 miles to Reno for an abortion.

    Instead, she looked online for ways to end the pregnancy herself and tried eating cinnamon and lifting heavy objects, believing they might cause a miscarriage.

    Two months later, she gave birth to a stillborn baby boy, whom she named Abel, and buried him in her garden.

    In 2019, she was found guilty of manslaughter under a Nevada law dating back to 1911, which made it illegal for women to deliberately end a pregnancy after 24 weeks through drug use.

    The once-homeless mum from Nevada was jailed for two years (Humboldt County Sheriff's Office)

    The once-homeless mum from Nevada was jailed for two years (Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office)

    Rousseau was the first person to be convicted under the law and was sentenced to up to eight years in prison.

    Her lawyers, however, appealed the conviction, arguing there was no evidence that her drug use had caused the miscarriage or that she had been taking drugs to end the pregnancy.

    They also said she had not known exactly how far along she was when she lost the baby.

    The conviction was overturned in 2021 after Rousseau had already spent two years in prison.

    She then sought compensation for her imprisonment, but Nevada authorities initially agreed to pay her just $100,000.

    Her lawyers continued fighting the case and eventually secured a $1.6 million settlement, of which Rousseau received $1.2 million after legal fees.

    The mum-of-three has been awarded $1.6 million (Humboldt County Sheriff's Office)

    The mum-of-three has been awarded $1.6 million (Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office)

    “They fought so much to avoid paying me,” the 34-year-old told The Nevada Independent.

    “I went through so much and so did my children, who are still facing these issues. It’s not fair.”

    Civil rights attorney Paola Armeni, who represented Rousseau in her settlement claim, said to the outlet that it was like being targeted by a lynch mob, ‘all the while under a statute that was on the books before women were even allowed to vote in Nevada.’

    “The trauma of all of it was pretty horrendous,” Armeni said.

    “I don’t ever want to come back to Nevada again, or honestly ever see any of the people in Winnemucca again,” she added.

    “They ruined it for me.”

    Rousseau plans to use the money to pay off her house in South Dakota, buy her mother a car and open a shop selling rare aquatic plants and animals.

  • Ethereum L2 Starknet Jumps 20% After Saying It Wants to Become an L1

    Ethereum L2 Starknet Jumps 20% After Saying It Wants to Become an L1

    In brief

    • Starknet is “actively considering” becoming an independent layer-1 blockchain, with 2027 as the target to become the first fully quantum-resistant network.
    • StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said an L1 would let Starknet control its own security upgrades instead of waiting for Ethereum, whose roadmap targets core post-quantum infrastructure around 2029.
    • The STRK token traded near $0.073 on Friday, up about 20% in 24 hours and more than double its roughly $0.03 price in April.

    Starknet, the Ethereum scaling network built by StarkWare, said it is weighing a move to become its own blockchain.

    “We are actively considering becoming an L1,” the project wrote on X. “This would enable Starknet to become the first fully quantum-resistant network, with 2027 as our target.”

    Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction.
    Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction.

    The STRK token traded around $0.073 on Friday, up about 20% in 24 hours. That is more than double the roughly $0.03 it fetched in April, when StarkWare cut staff to chase revenue.

    An L1, or layer 1, is a base blockchain such as Bitcoin or Ethereum that validates and secures its own transactions. Starknet is a layer 2, a network that sits on top of Ethereum, bundles transactions into batches and leans on the base chain for security.

    Starknet’s pitch centers on quantum computers, machines that could one day crack the elliptic-curve cryptography (the math behind the digital signatures that prove you own your coins) used by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Starknet’s own proofs rely on hash functions, which scramble data into fixed fingerprints and are considered quantum-resistant, though some elliptic-curve pieces remain that it said it would replace in a roadmap published June 30.

    Starknet price data. Image: Tradingview
    Starknet price data. Image: Tradingview

    StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson floated the idea in a thread on X, saying the quantum threat “may be much closer than we think” and that AI’s pace in mathematics adds a second risk that calls for “bunker mode”—a phrase recently popularized by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake in his own call to action earlier this week.

    Ben-Sasson wrote that Starknet, as an L2, relies on the security of Ethereum, which means it can only be as quantum-safe as its base layer. He said the network needs Ethereum to move “real fast,” and that becoming an L1 is among the options if it does not.

    Ethereum’s own roadmap targets core post-quantum infrastructure by around 2029, per ethereum.org, after the Ethereum Foundation formed a dedicated post-quantum team in January. Drake said at the time that “timelines are accelerating.” Bitcoin has made no such commitment, according to Ben-Sasson.

    Becoming an L1 would give Starknet control over its own security upgrades, so it would not have to wait for Ethereum or Bitcoin to move first, Ben-Sasson wrote. It would also mean Starknet secures itself instead of borrowing Ethereum’s protection, the arrangement that defines a layer 2. The statement does not say how existing apps and users would move over.

    BitcoinBTC · USD

    $83,018−2.1%

    Oct 4Oct 5Oct 7Oct 9Oct 11

    $86.7k$84.7k$82.7k$80.7k

    24h HighHigh$83,094

    24h LowLow$82,494

    VolVol$564.5M

    Market projectionsOdds by Myriad

    →

    On the other hand, it would also mean Starknet is responsible for its safety and development, which could be a hurdle considering Ethereum as a project is the second largest and most active in the crypto ecosystem after Bitcoin.

    No quantum computer can break these systems today, and experts disagree on when one might. Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor told Bloomberg last year that he does not worry about it, arguing that banks and tech giants would be hit first.

    Ben-Sasson said Starknet could reach quantum resistance by 2027, two years before the end-of-2029 date he cited for Ethereum.

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  • Papertrade Traders Lose $18.2 Million as Staking Rewards Reach $12.6 Million

    Papertrade Traders Lose $18.2 Million as Staking Rewards Reach $12.6 Million

    Papertrade offers leverage of up to 1,000 times. Its launch announcement scheduled frontend trading for 10 a.m. ET on Oct. 10, following a HyperEVM network upgrade.

    By the data snapshot, the venue reported approximately 3.17 billion PAPER issued and 3.09 billion staked. Its protocol summary, timestamped four seconds later, showed about $5.01 million in the house liquidity pool and no queued payout debt.

    Losses Fund the House—and Stakers

    Unlike an exchange that matches buyers and sellers, Papertrade settles synthetic BTC and ETH positions against a common liquidity pool. Losing trades replenish that pool; winning trades draw from it. Stakers receive fees and surplus above a $5 million pool threshold, as researcher Tempest described in a prelaunch analysis.

    That structure makes the rewards dependent on trading activity, rather than a separate source of money that erases losses. The $12.6 million is the venue’s cumulative staking-reward total, not a measurement of cash claimed by each wallet. PaperDash’s methodology, which distinguishes the venue’s trading results from staking income, likewise cautions against inferring wallet income from protocol fee totals.

    PAPER issuance also cannot be read as a fixed-dollar refund. The token starts minting from zero supply through user losses, according to Papertrade’s rollout plan. Its launch rules permit staking and unstaking but do not allow transfers between wallets; transfers are assigned to a later phase without a fixed date.