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What’s Poppin’?

by Tikta, Nelson Wang, and Sage D. Young

GOAT: How AI Agents Talking Turned Into a $268 Million Memecoin ‘Religion’

GOAT, a memecoin popularized by an artificial intelligence agent named Terminal of Truths, is a reference to a pseudo-religion sparked by a conversation between two instances of the same Anthropic AI Model.

Bitcoin Price Hits a 10-Week High as Demand Spikes: CryptoQuant Report

Increased buying by both spot bitcoin ETFs and industry whales have resulted in heightened demand, according to the onchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.

Crypto Activity and Usage Is At An All-Time High: a16z

Monthly active addresses hit a record high of 220 million, noted venture firm a16z’s crypto research team.

Radiant Capital Halts Lending Markets After $50 Million Exploit

Radiant Capital was exploited on blockchains Arbitrum and BSC after an attacker allegedly gained control of the protocol’s multisig wallet.

Earn bitcoin on Gemini here.

2 Crypto Investors on Why They Believe DeFi Is Poised for a Bull Run

DeFi tokens have lagged in this cycle. Is that trend over? Investors Arthur Cheong and Jordi Alexander say yes.

DeFi tokens have faced significant challenges in recent years. However, are we now on the verge of a new bull market?

Arthur Cheong, founder and chief investment officer of DeFiance Capital, and Jordi Alexander, founder of Selini Capital and chief alchemist at Mantle, join the show to discuss why they believe DeFi is poised for growth. They dive into how DeFi’s security and user experience have improved, the impact of layer 2 solutions on Ethereum, and whether Ethereum or Solana will drive the next bull run. Plus, they discuss whether interest in memecoins takes attention from DeFi, and why sustainable tokenomics matters when it comes to valuing coins.

Are DeFi tokens finally ready to shine again?

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Daily Bits… ✍️✍️✍

• 🕵️‍♂️ Cosmos co-founder Jae Kwon revealed that developers linked to North Korea were involved in building the staking module without proper security checks, raising concerns over potential vulnerabilities.

• 🇮🇹 Italy announced a significant hike in the capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies from 26% to 42%, aiming to capture more revenue from the growing digital asset market.

• 📊 The STKD Bitcoin & Gold ETF, which is managed by Quantity Funds, launched yesterday, offering investors exposure to both bitcoin and gold.

• 🇺🇸 A Kalshi research report indicates strong momentum for Republicans in the upcoming US elections, with Trump leading in prediction markets as Harris loses support in key demographics.

• ⚖️ Former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh's lawyers requested no jail time for his limited role in the FTX collapse, highlighting his cooperation and regret in the case.

• 🥊 In a Massachusetts Senate debate, Elizabeth Warren clashed with pro-crypto candidate John Deaton, who argued that digital assets can help marginalized communities.

Today in Crypto Adoption...

• 🌐 Siam Commercial Bank launched Thailand's first stablecoin-based cross-border payment service, improving transaction efficiency after passing regulatory testing.

The $$$ Corner…

• 🔗 Hermetica, a developer of Bitcoin-backed stablecoins, secured $1.7 million in seed funding to expand its synthetic dollar ecosystem on the Bitcoin network.

• 📈 Binance Labs invested in Lombard, the largest bitcoin liquid staking platform, boosting the company’s total funding to around $17 million.

What Do You Meme?

📈 Your Market Update 📉

• BTC is down 1.7%, trading at $66,841

• ETH is down 1%, trading at $2,599

• BTC dominance: 55.06%

• Crypto market cap: $2.41T

*All data as of today, 07:51 am ET. Source: CoinGecko

Recommended Reads

1. DL News: The Trump boys, a campaign donor, and a ‘dirtbag of the internet’ — meet the operators of World Liberty Financial

2. The Defiant: “Sinister” Operation Choke Point 2.0 Still Very Much Alive, Says Nic Carter 

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