Author: James Wilson

Prediction markets closed out Consensus Miami 2026 as the subject of a live debate on whether they are regulated financial derivatives or gambling products operating outside state law. Summary The closing Consensus Miami 2026 session debated whether prediction markets are CFTC-regulated financial instruments or unlicensed gambling under state gaming laws. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the fight could reach the Supreme Court, as the agency has already sued five states for treating its registered exchanges as gambling platforms. Kalshi’s valuation surged from $22 million in 2024 to $22 billion by March 2026, with sports contracts now accounting for 85% to…

Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu told Consensus Miami 2026 that the metaverse is over as a consumer destination, and that 100 billion AI agents will become blockchain’s primary users. Summary Yat Siu said the pandemic-era vision of humans living in virtual worlds was wrong, and that the metaverse was a proof of concept for AI agent infrastructure rather than a consumer product. He predicted 50 to 100 billion AI agents will eventually operate on the internet, outnumbering humans and transacting autonomously on blockchain networks. Animoca announced a $10 million investment initiative for developers building AI agent applications through its Animoca…

Mason Lynaugh, executive director of Stand With Crypto, took the Consensus Miami 2026 stage on Thursday to outline how the group’s 2.7 million advocates will engage in the November midterms. Summary Stand With Crypto’s Mason Lynaugh joined Fellowship PAC’s Jesse Spiro and Sternhell Group’s Alex Sternhell at the Consensus Miami 2026 Policy Summit to discuss midterm engagement. Stand With Crypto has already endorsed six incumbents and is targeting races where its advocates can have a material impact on outcomes. The group’s polling found 59% of crypto owners do not reliably vote for one party, framing them as a decisive swing…

Bitcoin lenders at Consensus Miami 2026 said crypto lending must look and feel more like traditional banking if it wants institutional capital to keep flowing in. Summary Two Prime CEO Alexander Blume said institutional borrowers reject DeFi complexity and demand standardized contracts, transparent custody, and clear legal accountability. Ledn CEO Adam Reeds said the most important question for borrowers is where their bitcoin is stored, while Lygos CEO Jay Patel said borrowers must now underwrite the lender. The panel reflected a broader post-2022 shift following the collapse of Celsius, Voyager, and BlockFi, which exposed the risks of opaque rehypothecation and…

Core Scientific sold $208 million in bitcoin in Q1 2026 to fund its shift to AI data center operations, as colocation revenue surpassed mining for the first time. Summary Core Scientific sold 2,385 BTC for $208.3 million in Q1 to fund capital expenditure tied to its AI pivot. Colocation revenue surged to $77.5 million while mining revenue fell to $30.1 million, making AI its largest business line. The company reported a $347.2 million net loss, driven primarily by $266.5 million in non-cash impairment charges on mining assets. Core Scientific sold 2,385 bitcoin for $208.3 million in the first quarter of…

Summary Pi Network (PI) is trading around $0.18 today, with most major trackers clustering the live price near the 0.178–0.180 dollar range and 24‑hour volume around $25–35 million. The token is sitting slightly below its 200‑day moving average near $0.196–0.20 and broadly flat to down on the week, reinforcing a sideways-to-soft bias rather than a clean bullish impulse. Technical models and prediction engines mostly see PI drifting lower or chopping sideways through the rest of 2026, with end‑2026 targets clustered around $0.13–0.18. In the near term, price action is dominated by speculative trading on CEX “IOU” markets and uncertainty over Pi’s fully…

TrustedVolumes has confirmed it was hacked for roughly $6.7 million and says it is willing to negotiate a bounty and “mutually acceptable solution” with the attacker. Summary TrustedVolumes confirmed a roughly $6.7 million exploit tied to a custom RFQ swap proxy under its control, not 1inch’s standard aggregation routes. Blockaid and other security firms say about $5.87 million was drained from TrustedVolumes’ Ethereum resolver, and evidence links the exploiter to the March 2025 1inch Fusion v1 hack against the same market maker. The team is “open to constructive communication” with the attacker and hopes to turn the incident into a…

Initial US jobless claims came in at 200,000 for the week ending May 2, beating the 205,000 consensus and reinforcing a picture of a still‑resilient labor market that keeps pressure on the Federal Reserve to delay or dilute rate cuts crypto traders have been hoping for. Summary Initial jobless claims in the US fell to 200,000 for the week ending May 2, below the 205,000 consensus and just above the prior week’s revised 190,000. The print reinforces a picture of a still‑tight labor market, undermining hopes for rapid Federal Reserve rate cuts that would ease financial conditions for risk assets,…

Core Scientific reported $115.2 million in first-quarter revenue, up from $79.5 million a year earlier.  Summary Core Scientific revenue rose to $115.2 million, driven mainly by fast-growing colocation business demand. The miner posted a $347.2 million net loss due largely to non-cash impairment charges. Self-mining revenue fell sharply as Bitcoin output dropped and the firm shifted toward AI infrastructure. Gross profit also rose to $30.1 million from $8.2 million in the same period last year. The growth came mainly from colocation revenue, which reached $77.5 million. That was up from $8.6 million in Q1 2025 as the company delivered more…

Grayscale Investments completed its Q1 2026 review of the Grayscale Decentralized Finance Fund and the Grayscale Smart Contract Fund.  Summary Grayscale added ENA to its DeFi Fund after removing AERO in the latest quarterly rebalance. UNI and AAVE remain the fund’s largest holdings, while ENA entered as fourth-largest component overall. Smart Contract Fund kept ETH and SOL leading its basket, with ADA holding third place. The update changed the DeFi Fund’s holdings and adjusted the Smart Contract Fund based on its existing basket. The DeFi Fund removed Aerodrome Finance and added Ethena. Grayscale said it sold AERO and other fund…