Crypto markets saw a dense mix of policy, institutional and infrastructure developments over the past 24 hours. Hyperliquid is exploring a compliant route into the U.S. perpetual futures market, according to The Information, a move that would matter because the platform does not currently serve U.S. users. At the same time, GSR markets head Spencer Hallarn said in an interview with Cryptonomist that many tokenization platforms still lack meaningful trading activity, arguing the bottleneck is platform design rather than demand for tokenized assets. Elsewhere, MARA disclosed in an SEC filing that it pledged 18,750 BTC to secure two bitcoin-backed loans totaling $750 million, with proceeds set to support general corporate purposes and its acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power. New York City Council has also opened an inquiry into advertising practices across prediction market platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi, adding another layer of scrutiny to the sector. Other major items included Fidelity’s plan to add staking and quarterly cash distributions to its spot Ether ETF, a Coreum bridge exploit that drained nearly 200,000 XRP, and data showing public bitcoin miners have sold about 28,000 BTC this year. The session also featured updates on Bitmine’s growing ETH treasury, Kalshi’s fundraising push, and a fresh warning from Australia’s ASIC over the digital asset platform Yepbit.

Bitcoin security researchers, company founders, and policy advocates are publicly warning that restrictions on leading U.S. AI systems are making legitimate defensive cybersecurity work harder, while Chinese open-source models are producing usable results. Rob Hamilton of AnchorWatch said OpenAI blocked him from analyzing a codebase he had already responsibly disclosed, even after he joined the company’s trusted cyber program and had completed KYC months earlier. He later said he was cut off again within 19 minutes after receiving access to OpenAI’s Daybreak Blue cyber model. Francis Pouliot of Bull Bitcoin said Chinese open models helped identify and patch a money-stealing exploit in a project he was auditing, while American models he pays for refused to review the same patch. Similar complaints came from Bitcoin Core contributor PortlandHODL and Galaxy research head Alex Thorn, who backed a Bitcoin Policy Institute open letter calling for trusted access to frontier AI models for qualified open-source defenders. Published on August 10 and signed by more than 70 digital-asset organizations, the letter asks AI labs for early access to cyber-capable systems, enough compute, secure code-review environments, and direct contact with lab security teams. The pressure intensified after a Coldcard firmware flaw, exploited from July 30, led to the theft of well over $100 million in bitcoin. Since then, the volunteer Bitcoin Red Team says it has scanned 501 projects and logged 7,958 findings, including 1,280 high or critical issues, with most compute spend going to Chinese open-weight models.

ChainFeeds’ Aug. 13 research roundup pulls together five separate market narratives that are shaping crypto in Asia and beyond. One report argues that Upbit’s once-powerful listing effect is losing force as the exchange accelerates token additions while trading activity keeps shrinking. Another examines Li Lin’s path from Avenir Group to UMX, framing it as a push toward unified accounts that connect crypto collateral, U.S. equities, and cross-market risk management in one system. The package also looks at South Korea’s persistent outbound crypto demand. Tiger Research says unmet domestic demand for derivatives and broader digital asset products is increasingly being served by offshore exchanges and on-chain venues such as Hyperliquid, with billions of dollars in identifiable capital flows and fee revenue moving abroad. Coin Metrics, meanwhile, breaks down the source of this year’s $41.7 trillion in adjusted stablecoin transfer volume, showing that a large share comes from liquidity provision and flash loans rather than straightforward payment activity. The final piece from Foresight Ventures questions whether perpetual DEXs can rely on token rewards indefinitely, arguing that post-TGE value distribution often shifts away from actual trading contribution toward token ownership.

Lumentum reported quarterly results above market expectations, with revenue reaching $1.01 billion, up 109% year over year, and non-GAAP EPS at $3.23 versus the consensus estimate of $2.97. The company also said adjusted gross margin rose to 50.4%, hitting its operating target earlier than planned as demand for 1.6T optical transceivers and 200G electro-absorption modulated laser chips accelerated on AI infrastructure spending. A major focus for investors was co-packaged optics, or CPO. During its earnings call, management said volume demand for ultra-high-power laser chips from a lead customer, along with procurement and delivery of the first external light source modules, is scheduled for the second half of calendar year 2027. That statement pushed back on earlier market concerns that CPO deployment had slipped. Lumentum also described a sharp supply-demand imbalance in ultra-high-power continuous-wave lasers, saying constrained capacity has strengthened its pricing power. To support output, the company is seeking more indium phosphide substrate supply, including from partners such as AXTI. The update spilled into Taiwan’s supply chain, where ABMedia said optical and epitaxy-related stocks moved higher, with HwaCom hitting limit-up and LandMark and Phion rising close to 5%.

HeyElsa token went live on Bitrue today alongside its airdrop. The price sits at ~$0.20, down 44% in 24h. Tokenomics with linear vesting and recent multi-exchange listings point to a cooling-off period rather than a structural failure.

Hey Elsa (ELSA) will list on MEXC spot on January 20, 2026 at 09:00 UTC, with Bybit expected later. Airdrop registration is live. Total supply is 1 billion tokens, 40% for community.

SelsiWorld warns all airdrop participants to complete Proof of Humanity (POH) before the deadline or lose their Selsi Coin allocation permanently. No reclamation after the cutoff.

A packed 24-hour cycle in crypto brought a mix of regulatory developments, exchange stress, security breaches and fresh ETF flow data. Coinbase said it has settled its Freedom of Information Act lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with the SEC agreeing to pay $150,000 and revise its record-retention policies after missing communications tied to former Chair Gary Gensler. In South Korea, combined daily trading volume across the country’s five largest won-based crypto exchanges fell 88% from a year earlier, while Korbit sold BTC and ETH holdings to raise cash. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce also warned that moving vaults and lending strategies on-chain does not automatically place them outside federal securities laws. On the security front, algorithmic stablecoin Balance Coin crashed more than 99% after an oracle attack, and several other incidents highlighted operational and key-management risks across the sector. Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETFs logged a sixth straight day of net inflows and spot Ether ETFs extended their inflow streak to three days, according to SoSoValue data.