This week’s best, ranked.
A running preview of Sunday’s roundup. Subscribers get the final cut at 6:30 a.m. Central.
Crypto writing
Last 24h →- 1
XRP Ledger Discloses Decade-Old Bug That Could Mint Trillions
A decade-old XRP Ledger overflow bug could have minted trillions of XRP; it was fixed in xrpld 3.4.1 and no exploitation was found.
- 2
AI discovers XRP Ledger flaw that could mint 18 trillion tokens and put $94 billion market at risk
An AI tool found a serious XRP Ledger flaw that could have minted 18 trillion tokens, putting a $94B market at risk; a notable security story on AI-driven auditing.
- 3
Ledger confirms unauthorized hardware implant, says losses may exceed $86M
Ledger confirmed an unauthorized hardware implant in devices via one reseller, with losses possibly above $86M.
- 4
Wallet Linked to CryptoBilis Thefts Routes 464 ETH to Tornado Cash
Onchain tracing links a wallet tied to the CryptoBilis thefts to 464 ETH sent through Tornado Cash, with the source address still holding about 700 ETH.
- 5
XRP Ledger patched decade-old bug that could create billions of dollars in XRP from nothing
Researchers showed an XRP Ledger bug allowing spendable XRP without funding, and an emergency patch was released.
- 6
ZKCBDC Patented by Microsoft
A Microsoft patent proposes a zero-knowledge design for central bank digital currencies that aims to balance privacy, solvency verification and resilience.
- 7
Tokenized Stocks Show Real Demand But Remain Volatile and Illiquid, IMF Finds
An IMF analysis finds over half of tokenized stock trading happens outside U.S. market hours. The roughly $2.3B market shows real demand but remains more volatile and less liquid than traditional equities.
- 8
Week in review: Bitcoin falls to $80,400; possible $86M theft targeting Ledger users
Weekly roundup reporting Bitcoin's drop to $80,400 and a possible $86M theft targeting Ledger users, a security story worth knowing.
- 9
CFTC proposals aimed at separating prediction markets from casino gambling
CFTC proposals would separate prediction markets from casino gambling, setting up a likely federal-state jurisdiction fight.
- 10
Ledger Says Affected User’s Device Contained Hardware Implant
Ledger says an affected user's device had a hardware implant, and CryptoBilis has halted all hardware wallet sales pending investigation.
- 11
CFTC Draws the Line Between Prediction Markets and Gambling in New Rules
A proposed CFTC rule would fold sports, politics and weather event contracts into the swap definition, while an interim rule carves out casino-style gambling. This sets the agency's claim to exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.
- 12
U.S. CFTC moves to fold event contracts into swaps regulations as legal fight rages
The CFTC is proposing a rule to treat certain event contracts, including Kalshi's, as swaps under its oversight.
- 13
Why Constant-Time Crypto?
Technical essay on why cryptographic code must run in constant time to resist side-channel attacks; solid reference for developers.
- 14
XRP Stays Above Key Support Even as a Decade-Old Ledger Bug That Could Have Minted 18 Trillion Tokens Is Revealed
Reports a decade-old XRP Ledger bug that could have minted 18 trillion tokens, a notable security disclosure.
- 15
Clarity's failure could speed crypto innovation while shielding incumbents
Analysis of how the failure of the Clarity market-structure bill may speed tokenization and DeFi while leaving spot oversight unresolved.
- 16
Liquid Bitcoin Redemptions Remain Frozen With 85.8% Reserve Coverage
Liquid's bitcoin redemptions remain frozen at 85.8% reserve coverage, a 603 BTC gap, until full backing and security reviews are complete.
- 17
PeckShield Traces $3.89 Million in Ledger Theft Funds to Binance Deposits
PeckShield traced $3.89M in Ledger theft funds to Binance deposits on Tron, though intermediary wallets complicate attribution.
- 18
How Zcash Plans to Hide Your Keys From AI and Quantum Attacks
Zakura, a Zcash node developer, expects hash-based signatures to ship in January and is releasing a tool to rotate transparent addresses. The goal is protection against AI and quantum attacks on keys.
- 19
IMF finds demand for tokenized stocks, says the market is still volatile, illiquid
An IMF report finds demand for tokenized stocks but says liquidity, legal rules and settlement remain immature.
- 20
COLDCARD Warns of Phishing Post on Its Official X Account
COLDCARD warns of a phishing post on its X account; the fake migration site was built to harvest wallet recovery phrases.
AI agents in crypto
All agent use cases →- 1
AI Agents Process 13.5 Million Payments on XRP Ledger
Reports AI agents have processed 13.5 million payments on the XRP Ledger, a concrete on-chain usage metric.
- 2
XRP Ledger Agentic Payments Surpass 13 Million as Merchant Adoption Becomes Next Focus
XRP Ledger agentic payments have passed 13 million, with merchant adoption now the next focus for agent-driven payments.
- 3
Travala Launches Native AI Travel Agent with BNB Chain & Binance Pay
Travala shipped a native AI travel agent that takes payment via BNB Chain and Binance Pay, a concrete live agent-commerce use.
- 4
AI-driven payments on XRP Ledger jump from 1M t...
Reports AI-driven payments on the XRP Ledger passing 1M transactions, a usage milestone for agent payments; this is a duplicate of the 13M story, so the more complete version is kept.
- 5
Visa and Mastercard Help Stripe Build Payment Rails for AI Agents
Visa and Mastercard are building payment rails with Stripe for AI agents, a real payments infrastructure move with stablecoin relevance.
- 6
Card Checkout Is Dead for Agents. The Replacement Rails Have Settled 191 Million Transactions.
Argues card checkout is ill-suited for agents and cites 191 million settled transactions on replacement rails; a useful data point but framed as opinion.
- 7
HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA) Puts AI Micropayments Into Real Time Banking Test
HSBC is testing AI-agent micropayments in a real-time banking environment, a concrete pilot by a major bank.
- 8
Visa Launches AI Commerce Platform for Agentic Payments
Visa launched a commerce platform for agentic payments, a real payments product for AI agents, though it is not crypto-native.
- 9
Coinbase Tests AI Agents Modeled on Former Executives
Coinbase is testing AI agents modeled on former executives, a concrete experiment with an exchange's internal or customer-facing tooling.
- 10
Why BlackRock Thinks AI Agents Could Run On Stablecoins And Bitcoin
Explains BlackRock's view that AI agents could transact using stablecoins and Bitcoin, a commentary piece rather than a shipped system.