CFA Report Pegs US Crypto Fraud Losses at $80.7B

Cboe is re-entering the prediction-market arena by reintroducing binary options on the S&P 500 index, competing with platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. The move follows the success of same-day S&P 500 options, reflecting the growing demand for fast outcome-based trades.

Nigel Farage received a £5 million ($6.7 million) gift from a billionaire Tether investor, sparking an investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. Farage defended the gift as a private matter, stating he can spend it as he pleases.

The Ethereum Foundation has undergone a reorganization resulting in a leaner structure with five clusters focusing on different domains of work. 54 colleagues, roughly 20% of the EF, will be leaving but will continue contributing to Ethereum outside the organization. "These decisions were hard, but they are necessary," the Foundation said in a blog post announcing the news.

A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that Polymarket creators were paid to film fake bets and wins on duplicate websites. A review of 1,105 videos found none of the $1.9 million wagers shown were real, including a staged $100,000 "win."

Bitcoin treasury firm has added a further 520 BTC to its holdings, bought for $35 million. The company's Chair Michael Saylor also announced that Strategy boosted its USD Reserve by $300 million to $1.4 billion to "support the credit quality of its Digital Credit securities."

Charles Schwab is preparing to enter the prediction markets industry by offering contracts via Cboe Global Markets for people to wager on the S&P 500's performance. The firm will introduce features like the "Plus Zone" and may expand offerings to other financial benchmarks in the future.

Strive CEO Matt Cole highlighted the significant drop in value of digital credit preferred share offerings from Bitcoin treasury firms due to leveraged positions causing price plunges. Despite the recovery, both SATA and STRC traded well below their par values on Thursday.

Kaspersky reported that attackers exploited Steam Workshop to distribute malicious Wallpaper Engine downloads disguised as animated wallpapers, with some containing malware like Lumma and Vidar infostealers. The malware campaign primarily targeted victims in China and Russia, but infections were also found in other countries like Singapore, Germany, and Canada.

Isiah and Raymond Garcia pleaded guilty to robbing a Minnesota family of over $8 million in cryptocurrency, holding them at gunpoint for hours. The brothers traveled from Texas to Minnesota, kidnapped the family, demanded access to crypto accounts, and forced a transfer of funds.

Franklin Templeton plans to launch two ETFs that reinvest dividends from U.S. stocks into Bitcoin. The funds will have a 5% initial Bitcoin weighting, capped at 20%, and will utilize crypto ETPs and futures for exposure. The SEC filing indicates a potential launch in early September.