Automation has been a fixture of Web3 long before AI agents became a mainstream

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite President Donald Trump’s claim of a settlement, keeping pressure on oil and a bitcoin price that has swung with every twist of the conflict.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Mike Selig said crypto markets have “for too long” operated under uncertainty, vowing clear rules over enforcement even as he becomes the agency’s only sitting commissioner.

Strategy founder Michael Saylor told the BTC Prague conference he “never said the company could not sell bitcoin,” clarifying the firm may sell BTC when necessary after its first-ever sale rattled holders.

XRP’s weighted sentiment has fallen to its lowest level since October 2025, crypto analytics firm Santiment said, as the token’s slide toward $1.10 drained the last of its bullish chatter.

Crypto casino Rainbet has become the first official sponsor of Kick’s Slots category, planting a rival brand’s flag on a platform founded and owned by Stake’s co-founders, and reversing the usual direction of gambling money on a streaming site.

Figure has agreed to acquire Kiavi’s technology and operating platform in a $717 million transaction. The deal is expected to bring more than $7 billion in annual first-lien loan volume onto Figure’s blockchain-based marketplace.

Binance has introduced a new line of fully backed tokenized securities representing select U.S. stocks.

Bill 2,946/2026, introduced by Federal Deputy Jonas Donizette, enshrines the VASP rules adopted by the Central Bank of Brazil in Resolution 519 and other resolutions as law, bringing stability and certainty to the Brazilian cryptocurrency market and its users.

Coinbase and MassPay are connecting USDC settlement to a payout network spanning 180 countries, giving enterprises a simpler path for global disbursements. The integration supports dollar funding, USDC conversion, digital asset payouts, and local currency delivery through existing MassPay workflows.

XRP is being positioned for AI-driven commerce as Ripple launches a developer toolkit that enables autonomous software to transact on the XRP Ledger. The XRPL AI Starter Kit adds support for XRP and RLUSD payments, while Ripple executives argue agent-to-agent transactions could eventually move billions in value.

A federal fraud case led to major crypto seizures after prosecutors said nearly $100 million moved through bank accounts and exchanges. Authorities seized some $7.1 million from digital wallets tied to the scheme, while prosecutors separately seek $24,707,031 in restitution.

XRP is trying to regain momentum toward $2 as Binance inflow data shows no fresh spike in large-holder deposits. Cryptoquant analysis found whale-sized transfers have eased after a 2025 peak, suggesting recent weakness may be tied more to liquidations and broader market pressure.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior exchange-traded fund (ETF) analyst Eric Balchunas said on Thursday that Blackrock’s Ishares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF could be live on Nasdaq within a week after the firm filed a Form 8-A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The CFTC has proposed its first written framework for sports event contracts, formally defining sports markets as “gaming” – then writing definitions under which virtually everything currently traded on Kalshi and its rivals stays legal.