Hunter Biden appears to have found a new way to turn his most infamous scandal into a business opportunity: a meme coin based on the laptop that has followed him since the 2020 presidential campaign.
The former first son announced Monday that he will launch $LAPTOP on September 9, teasing the cryptocurrency with a video compilation of media figures, politicians, and Trump administration officials discussing his notorious computer. The token is set to launch on Base, the blockchain network developed by Coinbase.
The announcement comes after weeks of Hunter Biden attempting to rehabilitate his public image through an unlikely media blitz, including podcast appearances and interviews with figures from both the Left and Right. Now, rather than simply discussing the controversies that made him famous, Biden appears ready to monetize them.
The $LAPTOP token will have a supply of one billion coins, with Biden and other founders receiving 30% of the supply. Those tokens will be locked for six months and then vest over two years, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/hunter-biden-and-his-laptop-enter-the-cryptosphere-with-new-meme-coin-4d46fc9c">according</a> to The Wall Street Journal. Another 20% will be distributed through airdrops, including to cryptocurrency users who lost money on President Donald Trump&#8217;s $TRUMP meme coin and to subscribers of <a href="https://substack.com/@hunterbiden">Biden&#8217;s Substack</a>.
The remaining supply includes allocations for liquidity and operations, charity, and a mechanism that could destroy as much as 30% of the tokens depending on certain events. Among the events tied to the potential token burn are: Bitcoin reaching another all-time high, $LAPTOP surpassing $TRUMP in market value, and a Democrat winning the 2028 presidential election. If the specified conditions are not met, the corresponding tokens would instead be donated to charity, according to the Journal.
Meme coins are generally speculative assets whose value is driven largely by attention, hype, and association with a recognizable person or cultural phenomenon rather than an underlying business or utility. Market analysts have repeatedly warned that they can experience enormous price swings and rapid collapses.
Crypto traders have <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/08/crypto-traders-turn-on-hunter-biden-s-laptop-memecoin-before-it-even-launches">publicly blasted</a> the project, with some accusing Biden of squandering the credibility he had gained through his recent appearances and commentary. The crypto exchange Kraken also deleted a promotional post for the token following backlash. Journalist Andrew Callaghan said neither he nor his Channel 5 media company —which hosted a controversial interview with Nick Fuentes and Biden— was involved with the project despite a mailing list associated with Callaghan being among the groups eligible for an airdrop.
The backlash is particularly notable because Biden has spent recent months attempting to establish himself as a serious voice on cryptocurrency. He has described decentralized digital currency as the “inevitable future” and has increasingly discussed crypto in his public appearances and writing. 
The laptop was abandoned at a Delaware repair shop in 2019, and its contents became a major political controversy during the 2020 presidential campaign. The material included evidence of Biden&#8217;s drug addiction and records relating to his foreign business dealings. Now, Biden is turning his signature debacle into a tradable asset.
The move also places him in the increasingly crowded world of celebrity and political meme coins, following similar ventures associated with Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and former New York City Mayor <a href="https://apnews.com/article/eric-adams-crypto-meme-coin-942bad447d2598b9cb7dbd6c98060a25">Eric Adams</a>. Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-begins-presidency-as-a-crypto-billionaire-with-meme-coins">$TRUMP token</a> initially soared before losing most of its value, with the token now trading far below its peak.
For a man who has spent years trying to escape the shadow of the laptop, Hunter Biden has put it right back at the center of his public identity and put a price tag on it.

Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden Blows All His Newfound Good Will By Teasing Crypto Scam

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The midterms are shaping up to be a battle of bank accounts as much as ballot boxes, and one industry in particular is putting an enormous amount of money behind its political priorities.
The cryptocurrency industry has emerged as one of the largest sources of political cash in the 2026 elections, pouring roughly $200 million into the midterm cycle as it seeks to elect a Congress willing to rewrite the rules governing digital assets.
Four major crypto interests alone — Ripple Labs and co-founder Chris Larsen, Coinbase, the Winklevoss twins, and Crypto.com — have contributed roughly $202 million during the election cycle, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/28/us/politics/billionaire-midterms-donors.html">New York Times</a> campaign-finance data published Friday. 
Ripple and Larsen have given $65.7 million, according to the Times. Coinbase has contributed $55.2 million, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have given $42.7 million, and Crypto.com has contributed another $38.6 million.
At the center of that effort is Fairshake, a crypto-focused super PAC whose affiliated groups operate on both sides of the aisle. Fairshake had raised nearly $137 million during the 2026 elections by July, according to <a href="https://perma.cc/9HD8-SKG9">FEC records</a>.
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/which-midterm-candidates-is-crypto-industry-backing-2026-08-03/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Reuters</a> reported in August that the industry has backed a bipartisan collection of candidates who have generally supported crypto-friendly candidates. Congress has already delivered one major victory on that front, with President Donald Trump signing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-sends-genius-act-to-trump-passes-two-other-crypto-bills">GENIUS Act</a> last year, establishing a federal regulatory framework for dollar-backed stablecoins. 
Now, the industry is pushing for the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/what-is-us-senates-landmark-crypto-bill-2026-07-22/">CLARITY Act</a>, which would establish broader rules for digital assets and delineate regulatory authority over the industry.
The legislation has become a major priority for crypto companies, which have spent more than $225 million on lobbying since Trump returned to the White House, according to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/352a15ac-53c4-46eb-b75e-957f0388dc79?syn-25a6b1a6=1">Financial Times</a>. 
The bill passed the House but has encountered resistance in the Senate, including from Republicans concerned about its implications for traditional financial institutions.
Not to be outdone, traditional partisan mega-donors such as Republicans Jeff Yass, Miriam Adelson, Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, Paul Singer, Ken Griffin and Democrats George and Alex Soros remain major players, pouring hundreds of millions into races across the country.
But the Times&#8217; list of the 20 largest donors shows how quickly technology and industry-specific political interests have moved into the upper echelon of campaign finance. 
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, along with their venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, lead the list with $115.3 million in contributions. Elon Musk follows with $90.5 million, while OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and his wife Anna have contributed $50 million.
Andreessen Horowitz is a major funder of Fairshake while also backing Leading the Future, a super PAC focused on electing politicians favorable to the artificial intelligence industry. 
Reuters reported that the firm has contributed more than $81 million to political action committees focused primarily on crypto and AI, while its founders have also made personal contributions.
For all the tech dollars pouring into the political arena, however, the traditional party structures remain <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-democrats-cash-crunch-and-what-it-means-for-2026-and-beyond">the sweetest plum</a>. 
Republican committees and allied congressional super PACs entered the general election with roughly $657 million in cash on hand, compared with approximately $334 million for Democratic committees and their allied organizations. President Trump&#8217;s MAGA Inc. super PAC adds another enormous reservoir of Republican-aligned money, with more than $400 million available heading into the final months of the campaign.
With the general election approaching, the cryptocurrency industry has amassed enough political firepower to make sure lawmakers in both parties are listening.

Illustration shows representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin

Crypto Industry Becomes One Of Midterms’ Biggest Political Players

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For months, Americans have watched President Donald Trump deliver on the promises that helped fuel his return to the White House. The border is more secure. Tax relief is moving forward. No taxes on tips became reality. Republicans have shown that when they are united, they can govern with speed and purpose.
The chance to shape history is rare. Right now, Congress has that chance — and the clock is ticking.
But one major promise remains unfinished: making America the crypto capital of the world.
The good news is that Congress can finish the job — and deliver the perfect birthday gift to America in the process.
When the Senate Banking Committee <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/majority/chairman-scott-senate-banking-committee-advance-clarity-act-in-historic-bipartisan-vote">advanced</a> the Clarity Act with bipartisan support, it sent a clear signal that lawmakers understand what is at stake. Even more encouraging, Senator Cynthia Lummis recently <a href="https://www.binance.com/en-TR/square/post/06-04-2026-senator-lummis-expects-clarity-act-passage-by-august-recess-330303642523329">suggested</a> the legislation could reach President Trump&#8217;s desk by July 4. The opportunity is real. The momentum is real. But momentum means nothing if Congress allows delay to become defeat.
The forces opposing this legislation understand they are losing the argument. That&#8217;s why they aren&#8217;t trying to defeat it outright. They&#8217;re trying to delay it.
Slow it down. Demand more studies. Hold more hearings. Push it past July 4. Kick it into election season.
Washington calls it &#8220;process.&#8221; The American people call it failure.
The digital asset revolution isn&#8217;t coming — it&#8217;s already here. The only question is whether America leads it or watches from the sidelines while competitors race ahead.
President Trump has made his position clear: America should be the crypto capital of the world.
He&#8217;s right.
The nations that lead digital assets, blockchain technology, and next-generation finance will enjoy a significant economic advantage for decades to come. America can either write the rules or live under someone else’s.
There is no third option.
China understands what&#8217;s at stake. Beijing is investing aggressively in the technologies that will define the next century because it wants to dominate the infrastructure of tomorrow&#8217;s global economy.
Congress should not hand China that opportunity.
For more than two centuries, America has led the world in the most important innovations—from the Industrial Revolution to the Internet Revolution. There&#8217;s no reason to surrender leadership now.
The stakes extend far beyond cryptocurrency. This is about whether the next generation of financial innovation is built in America or overseas, whether American workers benefit from that growth, and whether consumers gain access to faster, cheaper, and more efficient financial tools.
The current system rewards gatekeepers and middlemen. The American people deserve better.
Trump voters support it. Independent voters support it. Young voters support it. Entrepreneurs support it. Small-business owners support it.
Lawmakers should also recognize that not every bill moving through Washington has a clear path forward. The ROAD to Housing Act passed the House with several toxic Maxine Waters amendments that complicate its prospects for timely advancement in the Senate. Housing affordability remains an important priority, but with the housing package facing a rocky road and the Clarity Act gaining momentum by the day, the choice should be obvious for legislators looking for their next major bipartisan win.
The legislative calendar is shrinking. Campaign season is approaching. Every day without Congressional action makes success more difficult.
America&#8217;s 250th birthday should be more than a celebration of our past — it should be a declaration about our future.
Passing the Clarity Act before July 4 would do more than fulfill a campaign promise. It would demonstrate that America still has the courage to lead. Congress has a chance to send a message heard around the world: the United States is not retreating from innovation, surrendering to bureaucracy, or allowing Beijing to dictate the future.
America intends to win the race, lead the future, and remain the world&#8217;s economic powerhouse for generations to come.
With bipartisan support growing and momentum building, Congress has a rare opportunity to deliver a victory that is both symbolic and substantive.
The question is whether lawmakers will seize it — or let it slip away.
***
Ben Ferguson is a nationally syndicated talk radio host and author. He is the host of &#8220;The Ben Ferguson Podcast&#8221; and the co-host of &#8220;Verdict with Ted Cruz,&#8221; one of the top-ranked political podcasts in the country.

New virtual money concept, Gold Bitcoins ( btc ) is Digital crypto-currency use blockchain Technology

America’s Crypto Moment Is Here. Will Washington Blow It?

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The FBI recently took out a massive internet scam network, arresting over 300 people, freeing over 2,000 people from human trafficking, and seizing over $8 billion in cryptocurrency. 
The FBI said last week that it primarily focused on taking down what it <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/fbi-seizes-record-8-billion-182232782.html">calls</a> “scam compounds” in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The scam compounds are typically guarded and filled with trafficked workers who are forced to conduct romance scams and fake investment schemes that target many Americans. Over 2,000 people were freed from the compounds. 
The operation focused on Prince Holding Group, a company in Cambodia. Authorities also took out a criminal compound in Dubai, Myanmar, and Thailand. Altogether, the FBI seized over 127,000 bitcoin from the nine scam compounds, which is over $8 billion, making it the largest crypto seizure in human history.
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The United States worked with Dubai police to arrest 275 people, six of whom will be transported to the United States to face federal charges.
FBI Director Kash Patel, said the major crackdown gives a clear message to scammers across the world.
&#8220;If you target Americans, we will find you, disrupt your network, and bring every available tool of the federal government down on you,” Patel <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/fbi-seizes-record-setting-8-billion-cryptocurrency-amid-intercontinental-scam-compound-crackdown">told</a> Fox News. 

The FBI also took down the &#8220;Democratic Karen Benevolent Army,” an armed militia in Myanmar that has ties to Chinese mobsters and has been engaging in this criminal scam network..
The U.S. seized thousands of smartphones and other office equipment in Thailand, severely crippling the scam infrastructure there.
During the whole operation, the FBI <a href="https://x.com/jacobincambodia/status/2060184532104700246">worked</a> with the Royal Thai police, the Burmese army, Dubai’s police, and some Chinese investigators. The FBI also utilized Elon Musk’s Starlink to take down over 7,000 terminals in Myanmar that criminals were using to facilitate communications.
The FBI’s 2025 &#8220;Internet Crime Report&#8221; <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/cryptocurrency-and-ai-scams-bilk-americans-of-billions">states</a> that Americans have been defrauded of $21 billion in cyber-related crimes, with AI and crypto-related scams being the costliest. 
 
Apprehending these con artists and hackers is difficult as the internet allows them to be scattered across the world, seemingly untouchable by American authorities.

FBI Makes Largest Crypto Seizure Ever In Global ‘Scam Compound’ Crackdown

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A little-known government agency could soon be at the center of the Trump administration’s efforts to work with private sector leaders to unleash innovation in American tech companies.
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission on Thursday announced the creation of the Innovation Advisory Committee, The Daily Wire can first report. The committee brings together companies on the forefront of commerce, drawing leaders in cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, prediction markets, and more.
“Today marks an important and energizing moment at the CFTC as the Innovation Advisory Committee takes shape,” CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said in a statement. The committee “will help ensure the CFTC’s decisions reflect market realities so the agency can future-proof its markets and develop clear rules of the road for the Golden Age of American Financial Markets.”
A companion to the better-known Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates capital markets, the CFTC handles derivatives, a broad category encompassing all manner of financial contracts. Like the CFTC itself, the Innovation Advisory Committee will cover a large swath of the financial sector.
Prominent members include Tarek Mansour, CEO of Kalshi, a leading prediction markets platform, and Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency hub Coinbase. The presidents of FanDuel and DraftKings — two of the leading online sports betting platforms — are also on the commission, as is Vlad Tenev, CEO of the stock trading app Robinhood.
But the commission also includes representatives from more traditional financial institutions, including Nasdaq chair and CEO Adena Friedman, David Schwimmer, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group, and Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher.
&#8220;There is a strong view from the chairman that this marks a new day for the CFTC and a 180 from the prior administration to put industry engagement front of mind,&#8221; a CFTC official told The Daily Wire.
The agency’s announcement comes at a crucial time for prediction markets. Late last month, the CFTC withdrew a Biden-era rule that restricted futures contracts tied to political and athletic events. That decision opened the gates for platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow users to bet on everything from who will win the Super Bowl to who will carry the White House in 2028.
Faced with the meteoric rise of these platforms, traditional betting outfits like FanDuel, as well as crypto companies like Coinbase and stock trading apps like Robinhood, have rushed to offer their own prediction markets. That the Innovation Advisory Committee includes all of these competitors signals the growing influence of the CFTC, which under Selig is charting a course for greater relevance and impact.
“For too long, the CFTC’s existing framework has proven difficult to apply and has failed our market participants,” Selig said after announcing the rule change. “The new guidance aims to provide straightforward standards so firms know exactly what is allowed and what is not.”
The chairman echoed those sentiments Thursday, saying that the Innovation Advisory Committee will help the CFTC “modernize our rules and regulations for the innovations of today and tomorrow” while ensuring that the United States remains “home to the most transparent and well-regulated financial markets in the world.”
The CFTC’s new advisory board is just the latest instance of the Trump administration partnering with financial leaders. The president tapped Wall Street veterans for top financial posts in his administration, rather than typical Beltway insiders. Trump has also made a point of working closely with American tech companies, bringing leaders in the artificial intelligence space to the White House for a high-profile September summit.

Kalshi Billboards Ahead Of New York Mayoral Election

Trump Admin Assembles Financial Dream Team In High-Stakes America First Move

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In the hours following Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping, ransom notes were sent to multiple news outlets demanding $6 million in Bitcoin by 5 p.m. ET on Monday.
Guthrie, 84, the mother of “Today Show” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, was taken from her home nine days ago. Since her disappearance, news outlets have received messages detailing cryptocurrency payment instructions.
Criminals are increasingly turning to Bitcoin and other digital assets in ransom and extortion cases for several reasons.
Personal information is not required to access a private cryptocurrency wallet; this is one reason criminals often prefer self-custody wallets for their Bitcoin, requiring only a digital wallet and a pseudonym. Once funds are transferred to the digital wallet, the transaction cannot be reversed, unlike credit card payments or wire transfers, which can sometimes be disputed or clawed back. There is also no central authority that can freeze a Bitcoin wallet or halt a transaction.
Chainalysis&#8217;s 2024 Crypto report <a href="https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/2026-crypto-crime-report-introduction/">stated</a>, &#8220;Human trafficking operations have increasingly leveraged cryptocurrency, while there has also been a particularly disturbing rise in physical coercion attacks, in which criminals use violence to force victims to transfer assets, often timing these assaults to coincide with cryptocurrency price peaks.&#8221; Chainalysis estimated that tens of billions of dollars in cryptocurrency were linked to illicit activity in 2024.
However, Bitcoin does not provide total anonymity; it operates on a public, immutable ledger, meaning every transaction is permanently recorded and visible.
The Daily Wire spoke to Lionsgate Networks CEO Bezalel Eithan Raviv, who leads a firm that specializes in crypto security and asset recovery.
“A lot of people believe there’s no way to trace or recover crypto. This is a myth,” Raviv said.
He told The Daily Wire that using only the Bitcoin address provided in the ransom messages, the funds could indeed be tracked. “We would send a single dollar and we will trace the location of where it hits and lands. We would give that intel to law enforcement without sending $6 million in crypto. You can probe that wallet with a very small transaction.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/dwn-260204"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1039207" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Guthriebannerfinal.jpg" alt="" width="2290" height="544" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Guthriebannerfinal.jpg 2290w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Guthriebannerfinal-300x71.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Guthriebannerfinal-1024x243.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Guthriebannerfinal-768x182.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Guthriebannerfinal-1536x365.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Guthriebannerfinal-2048x487.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2290px) 100vw, 2290px" /></a>
Tracing typically identifies wallet relationships and exchange touchpoints, not precise locations.
Raviv warned that such cases are likely to increase, as he believes criminals are often more sophisticated than law enforcement.
“Unfortunately, what we have experienced with this very unfortunate story will only scale,” he said. “Cybercriminals have the leverage because they do understand the tactics and the maneuvers that law enforcement will probably take years to catch up with.”
Still, Raviv emphasized that blockchain transparency remains a powerful investigative tool. “Blockchain is a language,” Raviv said. “And if you can speak it, you can do a lot with it.”
The second deadline for Nancy Guthrie has passed. The ransom reportedly increased from $4 million to $6 million on Monday.
On Monday, Savannah Guthrie posted a video on Instagram calling on the public to pray for her mother&#8217;s safe return and contact law enforcement &#8220;if there is anything at all that seems strange.&#8221;
&#8220;We are at an hour of desperation, and we need your help,&#8221; she added.
Tuesday marks day ten of the search for Nancy Guthrie.

Bitcoin

The Nancy Guthrie Case Shows How Cryptocurrency Changed Ransom

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Bitcoin plunged on Thursday, its decline accelerating amid weakening risk sentiment driven in part by volatility in precious metals and a broad selloff in tech shares.
The world&#8217;s largest cryptocurrency fell to a low of $66,675.12, its weakest since October 2024, a month before President Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, having signaled his intention to support crypto on the campaign trail. It was last down 6.5% at $67,817.
All told, the global crypto market has lost $2 trillion in value since hitting a peak of $4.379 trillion in early October, CoinGecko data showed, with some $800 billion wiped out in the last month alone.
Bitcoin has already fallen 11% for the week, taking its losses for the year so far to 23%. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, was down more than 7% at $1,973 on Thursday. Ether has fallen nearly 14% this week, with losses of roughly 34% so far this year.
Sentiment on crypto was affected by the latest selling in metals and stocks. Gold and silver, for instance, have become more volatile as a result of leveraged buying and speculative flows. Silver, for one, fell as much as 16.6% to a low of $73.41.
In equities, the S&amp;P 500 slid to near two-week lows, and the Nasdaq sank to its lowest level in more than two months on Thursday, as the AI theme came under renewed pressure.
&#8220;It&#8217;s clear the crypto market is now in full capitulation mode,&#8221; said Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of Coin Bureau. &#8220;If previous cycles are anything to go by, this is no longer a short-term correction, but rather a transition from distribution to reset &#8211; and these typically take months, not weeks.&#8221;
The latest crypto tumble has knocked down shares of companies holding bitcoin and other digital assets, stoking worries that the market turmoil is spreading beyond token prices.
Trump&#8217;s selection of Kevin Warsh as his pick to become the next Federal Reserve chair has also affected the price of cryptocurrencies, due to expectations that he could shrink the Fed&#8217;s balance sheet.
Cryptocurrencies have widely been regarded as beneficiaries of a large balance sheet, having tended to rally while the Fed greased money markets with liquidity — a support for speculative assets.
&#8220;The market fears a hawk with him,&#8221; said Manuel Villegas Franceschi from the next generation research team at Julius Baer. &#8220;A smaller balance sheet is not going to provide any tailwinds for crypto.&#8221;
To be sure, cryptocurrencies have struggled for months since a record crash last October sent bitcoin tumbling from a peak as leveraged positions got washed out. That has left investors less keen on digital assets, and sentiment toward the industry fragile.
&#8220;We believe this broader decline is mainly driven by massive withdrawals from institutional ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These funds have seen billions of dollars flow out each month since the October 2025 downturn,&#8221; Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note to clients.
They added that U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs witnessed outflows of more than $3 billion in January, following outflows of about $2 billion and $7 billion in December and November, respectively.
&#8220;This steady selling in our view signals that traditional investors are losing interest, and overall pessimism about crypto is growing,&#8221; the analysts said.
Bitcoin&#8217;s fortunes have been tied to the broader tech sector for some time. The price tended to rise, particularly on the back of investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence.
This week&#8217;s rout in global software stocks has accelerated the slide in the value of bitcoin, ether, and other tokens.
Market watchers are starting to question if this decline marks the start of a steeper correction.
&#8220;Concerns are being raised around the crypto miners and whether we could be looking at forced liquidations if prices continue to fall, which could lead to a vicious cycle,&#8221; Jefferies strategist Mohit Kumar said in a note.
&#8220;Our view on crypto has always been that it should be never more than a very small portion of the overall portfolio. However, it is also an asset class that is heavily owned, particularly by retail investors, and hence adds to the overall market risk,&#8221; Kumar said.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York, Rae Wee in Singapore, and Amanda Cooper in London; Additional reporting by Lucy Raitano in London; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Joe Bavier, Will Dunham, and Jan Harvey)

Bitcoin Plummets, Driving $2 Trillion Slide In Crypto Market Value

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Binance Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is facing a sweeping new federal lawsuit in North Dakota, alleging that it knowingly enabled more than $1 billion in crypto transactions for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad —funds that plaintiffs say helped finance the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent assaults.
More than 300 American victims and family members of those killed, wounded, or taken hostage on October 7, 2023, brought the suit under the Anti-Terrorism Act and its Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act amendment. The 284-page complaint names Binance, its co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao, and top executive Guangying Chen as defendants, alleging they “knowingly, willfully, and systematically assisted” designated foreign terrorist organizations for years by providing a platform to transfer and launder hundreds of millions of dollars.
“From the outset, Binance boasted that it maintained no headquarters anywhere in the world. Its now-disgraced CEO and owner, Defendant Zhao, claimed the company was ‘based’ wherever he was situated at any given moment: ‘Wherever I sit is the Binance office. Wherever I meet somebody is going to be the Binance office,’” the lawsuit <a href="https://image.jewishinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/24144541/Balva-v.-Binance-Complaint-Filed-ECF.pdf?_gl=1*1e2w9w0*_gcl_au*MTg3NDcwNDMzNy4xNzYzNzM3OTQ1LjI0MjQzOTY0NC4xNzY0MDc4MjkwLjE3NjQwNzgyODk.&amp;_ga=2.108981378.1640150554.1764077904-684018400.1763737945">states</a>. “That is, Binance pitched itself to terrorist organizations, narcotics traffickers, and tax evaders as beyond the reach of any single country’s laws or regulations.”
The October 7 attack left 1,200 people in Israel dead and roughly 250 kidnapped. The plaintiffs argue that the scale and sophistication of Hamas’s assault — including weapon stockpiles and an extensive tunnel network — were made possible by covert funding streams funneled in part through Binance.
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“Binance rapidly grew to be the largest crypto trading platform globally because, as detailed below, it purposely attracted criminals including terrorist organizations like Hamas, the IRGC, Hezbollah, and PIJ to its platform and assisted them to launder money in order to maximize Binance’s trading volume and monetize criminal activities via platform fees,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit asserts that Binance intentionally built itself into a “refuge for illicit activity,” courting high-volume criminal users to boost revenues while evading United States oversight. It cites internal communications in which compliance officials remarked that customers were “here for crime” and joked about advertising Binance as a destination for laundering drug money. The complaint recounts multiple instances in which third-party compliance firms flagged Hamas-linked accounts. Yet, Binance allegedly declined to freeze or report them, instead warning certain customers to withdraw funds before scrutiny intensified.
“Binance not only knowingly provided financial services to Hamas; it actively tried to shield its Hamas customers and their funds from scrutiny by U.S. regulators or law enforcement—a practice that continues to this day,” the lawsuit states.
The filing expands on details disclosed in 2023, when Binance and Zhao pleaded guilty to violating United States anti-money-laundering laws and agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement — one of the largest in American history. Zhao resigned and served a four-month prison term before being pardoned last month by President Donald Trump. Chen was not charged. As part of its plea, Binance admitted it had failed to report suspicious Hamas-related transactions and had permitted millions of dollars in illicit transfers.
The new lawsuit goes further, alleging extensive previously undisclosed transactions involving Hamas, Hezbollah, and the IRGC, as well as a transnational gold-smuggling network in Venezuela that plaintiffs say funneled proceeds to Iran and its proxies via Binance-linked wallets. One Venezuelan woman, allegedly acting as a front for Hezbollah, received $177 million in crypto and withdrew $43 million in cash, according to the complaint.
The suit also identifies several Gaza-based exchange houses and sanctioned individuals who allegedly moved hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrencies through Binance accounts before and after October 7. Plaintiffs argue that assets flowing through these channels “could foreseeably be used to commit terrorist attacks” and that Binance’s actions “directly and materially contributed” to violence against Israelis and Americans.

In this photo illustration, a Binance logo is seen displayed

Binance Accused Of Enabling Hamas Terror Funding Ahead Of October 7 Attack

Binance

hamas

October 7

terrorism

world

A big controversy has now broken out over WNBA games — people are throwing sex toys on the court.
By any normal stretch of human behavior, this is a bad thing to do. You should not go to games and throw sex toys on the court. It&#8217;s obscene. It&#8217;s ridiculous. And no matter how much you dislike the WNBA, you probably shouldn&#8217;t go there and throw a giant sex toy on the court, right? As a respectable human being, you probably shouldn&#8217;t do it.
Is it funny? Sure. A lot of things are funny. A lot of violative and transgressive behavior is funny.
But that doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s good.
The internet culture and subculture have become so reactionary, so reactive, and so disagreeable that this pattern is now driving economic decision-making. An article in The New York Times titled, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6541093/2025/08/07/wnba-sex-toy-incidents-cryptocurrency-group-scheme/">WNBA sex toy incidents may be linked to cryptocurrency groups’ money scheme</a>” reads like a fever dream: 
<blockquote>Late in the first half of a Los Angeles Sparks-Indiana Fever game on Tuesday night, a neon green sex toy thrown from the stands landed on the floor of Crypto.com Arena, at the feet of Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham. Simultaneously, a group of people during an audio livestream on X reveled in the moment and celebrated its potential to help boost the value of a particular memecoin, a cryptocurrency deriving from an internet meme but traded through very real markets online. The coin was created July 28, the day before the first occurrence of a sex toy being thrown on a WNBA court. As of Thursday, the coin’s worth had nearly tripled in its first week.
“Someone is tweeting that there’s one at the Sparks game,” one person said on the stream. “That is literally the best case scenario that we could possibly imagine,” another replied, because the sex toy had fallen near Cunningham, who had previously posted a plea for spectators not to throw the objects onto the court, which was met with numerous replies of memes involving the phallic object.
The disruption in Los Angeles — as well as others that occurred that evening — appeared to be part of a coordinated effort, borne out of conversations held in some particularly murky, often mysterious corners of internet culture, social media and opportunistic plays in the cryptocurrency markets.</blockquote>
In the normal world, all of this would be treated as sociopathic behavior, going to games and throwing sex toys on the court.
Regardless of how much you dislike the sport, it would be considered, at the very least, bizarre and at the worst, vile.
It could be funny, and a lot of vile behavior is funny, but it is significant; a country with a robust social fabric does not have this kind of behavior, or at least it has less of this kind of behavior. That’s because you wouldn&#8217;t do this in your community, would you?
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2257-member-exclusive?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
I know I&#8217;m treating seriously what is a frivolous topic, but I think we are now entering an era with the merger of the internet and the real world, a time where there are no more frivolous topics. Every frivolous topic becomes a symptom indicative of true social ills that are dividing us from one another.
You can&#8217;t get together and say, “Yeah, we probably shouldn&#8217;t do that,” or “A Sydney Sweeney jeans ad? Who cares? That’s fine.”
What happened to normalcy? As normalcy disintegrates and as people take one side or the other on ridiculous meme sociopathy, what you end up with is a very, very polarized electorate.
And that&#8217;s particularly true as young people age into the voting population. You&#8217;re seeing it in terms of sexual polarization between men and women; women are swinging wildly to the Left. Men are moving significantly more to the Right. And in terms of political polarization, it&#8217;s more about aesthetic feel than it is even about policy for a lot of these folks.
Is it a problem?
It does say something about the continuing social polarization of our country. We are addicted to our phones, our memes, and to the LOLs, as opposed to the things that actually build a society — like spending time with other human beings in a physical setting with a common goal of making our society and country better.

Las Vegas Aces v Los Angeles Sparks

Sex Toys, Memecoins, And The Collapse Of Common Sense

Ben Shapiro

culture

Humor

opinion

U.S. Politics

wnba

A conservative policy powerhouse is calling for changes to financial rules that allow the government to pressure banks into cutting ties with groups they find ideologically objectionable.
The America First Policy Institute&#8217;s Center For American Prosperity on Wednesday <a href="https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/debanked-when-political-bias-trumps-financial-judgment">released</a> &#8220;Debanked: When Political Bias Trumps Financial Judgment.&#8221; The white paper outlines five proposals that the authors say would stop government regulators from weaponizing their influence over banks to further their political agendas.
Debanking &#8220;creates a de facto blacklist of people and organizations that have lost access to banking services and have significant difficulty regaining access to banking,&#8221; Jill Homan, Deputy Director of Trade and Economic Policy, and David Vasquez, Senior Policy Analyst for Energy &amp; Environment at AFPI, write in the report.
&#8220;Debanking creates uncertainty and hardship. In a nation governed by laws, the practice of legal coercion through regulatory discretion is antithetical to the American system of justice,&#8221; the authors add.
&#8220;Ultimately, debanking is not just an economic problem, but a constitutional one. When federal officials use unofficial “guidance” to achieve what Congress never authorized, they violate both the spirit and letter of the law. The solution is to excise power from the regulators, and that begins with narrowing their discretion.&#8221;
President Donald Trump made a similar point earlier this year.
“The regulators control the banks,&#8221; Trump said in June. &#8220;It’s not the president of the bank. The president of the bank is far less important to a bank than a regulator, and a regulator can put that bank out of business.”
Debanking reached a fever pitch in 2013, when the Obama Justice Department launched “Operation Choke Point.&#8221; Under the operation, the Justice Department targeted “companies believed to be at a high risk for fraud and money laundering.&#8221; In reality, Choke Point involved government officials pressuring banks to cut ties with firearms dealers and other businesses the Obama administration deemed intolerable. The Biden administration continued its debanking efforts with <a href="https://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409457">Operation Choke Point 2.0</a>, an effort to target the cryptocurrency industry.
In addition to the firearms and crypto industries, religious groups and conservative organizations have also been frequent targets of government-run debanking.
The authors suggest a number of policy tweaks that could prevent future debanking efforts. They urge Congress to pass the Financial Integrity and Regulation Management Act, which would “remove the subjective criteria of &#8216;reputational risk&#8217; which bank regulators use to evaluate a financial institution. … Instead, financial regulators would rely entirely on objective criteria to assess financial soundness.”
The law would also restrict the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from judging a financial institution’s trustworthiness on the “competency of bank management,” which is evaluated based on the risk regulators believe the institution is exposed to, based on the businesses it serves.
The authors also call for a uniform “Federal Fair Access” standard that would “end the need for states to develop separate debanking legislation that further complicates banking operations with a patchwork of inconsistent and conflicting state laws.”
A requirement to notify customers and explain the reasoning ahead of a decision by a financial institution to end its relationship with someone would increase transparency. Modernizing old regulations would also mitigate problems brought about by using a 1970s legal framework in the present-day financial environment.
&#8220;Whether the result of politically driven regulators abusing their authority or bad policies, this administration and Congress have an opportunity to dramatically curb the practice of government-driven debanking across the country through federal action,&#8221; the authors conclude. &#8220;Doing so involves reducing subjectivity and instituting these changes into law.&#8221;

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Conservative Group Calls For Lawmakers To Fight Government-Driven ‘Debanking’

Debanking Is A Serious Problem For Conservatives. Here Are Some Expert Suggestions To Fix It

America First

Banking

censorship

finance

Guns

Obama Administration

The GOP-led House passed a trio of bills on Thursday that are poised to have a tremendous impact on the cryptocurrency space in the United States.
Members voted <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025200" target="_blank" rel="noopener">308-122</a> in favor of the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1582/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GENIUS Act</a>, a stablecoin regulation bill that already passed through the Senate. The legislation now heads to the White House, where President Donald Trump is expected to sign it. House lawmakers also approved the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3633/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025</a>, legislation from Financial Services Chairman French Hill (R-AR) that aims to provide a &#8220;system of regulation&#8221; for digital commodity sales by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, by a <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025199" target="_blank" rel="noopener">294-134</a> vote.
&#8220;The Web 3 race is here, implementing clear regulations with CLARITY and GENIUS will protect consumers and ensure U.S. leadership in digital assets,&#8221; Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), chairman of the Crypto Subcommittee, <a href="https://x.com/RepBryanSteil/status/1945903351083716903" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X.
In addition, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5403/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act</a>, a measure that seeks to prohibit the Federal reserve banks from issuing their own digital currency or using one to implement monetary policy, prevailed in a <a href="https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025201" target="_blank" rel="noopener">219-210</a> vote. That bill is set to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2296/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NDAA</a>) as part of a <a href="https://x.com/RepAndyHarrisMD/status/1945681755559924107" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deal</a> with conservatives who held out during a procedural rule vote that <a href="https://x.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1945677323040354398" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lasted</a> a record-breaking nine hours and 45 minutes.
&#8220;Attaching our Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act to the NDAA will ensure unelected bureaucrats are NEVER allowed to trade Americans’ financial privacy for a CCP-style surveillance tool,&#8221; House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) <a href="https://x.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1945677323040354398" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. &#8220;[Trump] has made it clear: our legislation is a key piece of our America First agenda, and we will deliver.&#8221;
Many, but not all, Democrats voted against the bills. In fact, nearly half of them voted for the Genius Act. Those who opposed the proposals warned they would benefit a Trump family crypto venture and possibly cause a financial calamity.
The &#8220;GOP crypto bills don’t just fail to protect consumers, they greenlight Trump’s billion-dollar crypto grift and invite the next financial crisis,&#8221; read a <a href="https://x.com/RepMaxineWaters/status/1945151846433140920" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee.
A handful of House Republicans voted against the GENIUS Act, too, amid concerns about it allowing a <a href="https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1945880979949891750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;back door&#8221;</a> to a central bank digital currency one day that could infringe upon financial privacy — if the Senate ends up not approving the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.
For now, Trump has an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/strengthening-american-leadership-in-digital-financial-technology/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order</a> that calls for policies that prevent a CBDC in the United States.
A bipartisan group of senators united in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-vote-pushes-u-s-toward-becoming-the-global-leader-in-crypto?author=Daniel+Chaitin&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Senate+Vote+Pushes+U.S.+Toward+Becoming+%E2%80%98The+Global+Leader+In+Crypto%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">68-30 vote</a> in June to pass the GENIUS Act. It seeks to create a framework for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-gop-leaders-pledge-major-crypto-bills-in-first-100-days" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stablecoins</a>, which are significant in digital asset exchanges and pegged to stable assets such as the U.S. dollar.
“The GENIUS Act will cement U.S. dollar dominance, protect customers, drive demand for U.S. Treasuries, &amp; ensure that digital asset innovation happens in the U.S., not overseas,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), the bill&#8217;s sponsor, <a href="https://x.com/SenatorHagerty/status/1935074302396649918" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. &#8220;With this bill, we are one step closer to becoming the global leader in crypto.&#8221;
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that a signing ceremony for the GENIUS Act was being planned for Friday afternoon.
“This piece of legislation is going to make America the crypto capital of the world, and that&#8217;s what the president promised,&#8221; Leavitt <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxH7sgAzPvM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.

House Sends GENIUS Act To Trump, Passes Two Other Crypto Bills

Money

technology

U.S. House of Representatives

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