Crypto

Exclusive: White House set to meet with banks, crypto companies to broker legislation compromise

Published

4 months ago

January 28, 2026

Exclusive: White House set to meet with banks, crypto companies to broker legislation compromise

Jan 28 (Reuters) – The White House on Monday will meet with executives from the banking and cryptocurrency industries to discuss a path forward for landmark crypto legislation which has stalled due to a clash between the two powerful sectors, said three industry sources.

The summit hosted by the White House’s crypto council ‌will include executives from several trade groups. It will focus on how the bill treats interest and other rewards crypto firms can dish out on customer holdings of dollar-pegged tokens known as stablecoins, the people said.

The White House meeting could help the industries, which have been fighting head-to-head over the bill, reach a compromise, and underscores how keen President Donald Trump’s administration is to get the legislation across the line. Trump courted crypto ‌cash on the campaign trail, promising to promote the adoption of crypto assets.

Reuters was first to report the meeting.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sources declined to be identified discussing private policy discussions.

Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association which represents crypto giants including Coinbase (COIN.O), opens new tab, Ripple and Kraken, said in a statement the group ‍is “proud to participate in next week’s meeting.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with policymakers across the aisle so Congress can advance lasting market structure legislation and ensure the United States remains the crypto capital of the world,” she said.

Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber, another major crypto trade group, credited ⁠the White House with “pulling all sides to the negotiating table.”

The Senate has for months been working on the bill, dubbed the Clarity ‍Act, which aims to create federal rules for digital assets, the culmination of years of crypto industry lobbying. Crypto companies have long argued that existing ‌rules are ‌inadequate for digital assets, and that legislation is essential for companies to continue to operate with legal certainty in the U.S.

The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill in July.

The Senate Banking Committee was scheduled earlier this month to debate and vote on the bill, but the meeting was postponed at the last minute, in part due to concerns among lawmakers and both industries over the interest ⁠issue.

There were also disagreements among Republicans ⁠about the bill’s stablecoin provisions, according to two other people with knowledge of the discussions, and senators leading the effort bill were concerned that it would not get enough votes to advance.

Crypto companies say providing rewards such as interest is crucial for recruiting new customers and that barring them from doing so would be anti-competitive. ‍Banks say the increased competition could result in insured lenders experiencing an exodus of deposits — the primary source of funding for ⁠most banks — potentially threatening ⁠financial stability.

A report from Standard Chartered on Tuesday estimated that stablecoins could pull around $500 billion in deposits out of U.S. banks by the end of 2028.

The provision at issue stems from a law passed last year which created a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, potentially paving ‍the way for greater stablecoin adoption.

That bill prohibited stablecoin issuers from paying interest ‌on ‌cryptocurrencies, but banks say it left open a loophole that would allow for third parties – such as crypto exchanges – to pay yield on tokens, creating new competition for deposits.

Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

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Crypto

Certik Unveils ‘Anti-Virus for AI Agents’ as Skill Marketplaces Face Hidden Threats

Published

12 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Certik Unveils ‘Anti-Virus for AI Agents’ as Skill Marketplaces Face Hidden Threats

Key Takeaways

The Security Challenge

Blockchain and AI security firm Certik, on May 27, unveiled a new security platform designed to evaluate risks in third-party artificial intelligence (AI) skills. Dubbed the “anti-virus for AI agents,” the release comes amid growing industry concern over the security of AI skill marketplaces.

Security researchers have warned that many of these skills are unvetted, can execute system-level actions and may contain hidden malicious behavior, creating a new software supply chain risk for the AI era. Security audits across the sector have identified risks ranging from credential harvesting and data exfiltration to fund-transfer manipulation and prompt-based override attacks.

Despite these concerns, AI skill marketplaces have expanded rapidly as agent ecosystems mature. However, unlike traditional app stores, most skills are sourced from public repositories with little or no review. Analysts say this creates opportunities for attackers to embed harmful instructions, trigger unauthorized data access or manipulate autonomous execution flows.

In a recent blog post, Certik said its skill scanner platform is designed specifically to evaluate risks that emerge during execution, including scenarios involving financial transactions or fund calls. The scanner produces a numerical score from 0 to 100, along with “pass,” “warn” or “fail” verdicts and categorized findings. According to the company, the system achieves up to 90.5% precision in identifying security risks.

“As AI agents become more deeply integrated into financial systems, enterprise workflows and everyday digital interactions, the security model around third-party skills becomes critically important,” said Ronghui Gu, Certik’s CEO and co-founder. “CertiK Skill Scanner was built to establish a standardized trust layer before execution, helping users and platforms identify hidden risks before sensitive data, assets or systems are exposed.”

Certik said AI skill marketplaces can integrate the scanner directly into publishing pipelines, automatically reviewing skills before they go live and displaying security verdicts to users. Enterprises can deploy the tool as part of internal compliance and risk-management workflows, while independent developers can use it to self-audit skills before publishing.

The company said future updates will allow everyday users to scan skills themselves before installation. The scanner has already been deployed in select Web3 AI agent infrastructure environments. Certik is also expanding integrations with additional platforms, including Finchip.ai.

“Trust is the prerequisite for any skill economy to function at scale,” said Gary Yang, incubation investor at Finchip.ai. “CertiK’s work on skill security verification is exactly what this ecosystem needs. It’s what makes Finchip’s mission of programmable skill ownership and distribution worth building.”

The launch follows Certik’s expansion into AI-focused security infrastructure. Earlier this year, the company introduced its AI Auditor initiative to address risks tied to autonomous systems and AI-driven execution environments.

“AI applications are moving toward increasingly autonomous execution, which creates a new category of security and trust challenges,” Gu said. “We believe security infrastructure for the AI era must function proactively, not reactively.”

Crypto

FBI Seizes Over $8 Billion In Cryptocurrency As Part Of The Largest Forfeiture In US Government History

Published

24 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

FBI Seizes Over Billion In Cryptocurrency As Part Of The Largest Forfeiture In US Government History

iStockphoto composite

The FBI seized over $8 billion in cryptocurrency, freed nearly 2,000 trafficked workers, and arrested nearly 300 people in a recent international operation.

As part of the operation, authorities shut down several “scam compounds” and crime organizations, including groups known as the Prince Group in Cambodia, Operation Sand Dollar in Dubai, and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army in Myanmar.

“Scam compounds are modern-day criminal enterprises built to steal from Americans, launder money, and exploit trafficked workers,” FBI director Kash Patel wrote on X announcing the results of the operation.

Fox News reports that the U.S. The Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, an armed militia named after a region in Myanmar that is allegedly connected to the Chinese mob, faces sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury. The government has classified it as a transnational criminal organization.

Images from an operation in Thailand reveal that the FBI confiscated office supplies and thousands of smartphones.

seized-devices-from-an-FBI-anti-scam-operation-in-Thailand — FBI

The FBI in Dubai will extradite six of the 275 individuals they and local police detained there to the United States to face federal charges, according to the FBI. The authorities raided nine “scam compounds” in Dubai, each allegedly generating $6 million in fraud proceeds annually.

Cryptocurrency scams in the US reached a record high in 2025

In April, an FBI report revealed that cryptocurrency scams in the U.S. reached a record high in 2025, with reported losses of almost $11.4 billion. According to the FBI, cyber-enabled crimes defrauded Americans of almost $21 billion in 2025, with the costliest complaints involving cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI).

“The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Report highlights the ever-evolving tactics of internet scammers,” the FBI’s Baltimore office wrote on X. “From fake social media profiles to voice cloning and AI-generated content, cyber criminals are evolving.”

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over one million complaints in 2025, up from 859,532 in 2024. The most common complaints were about investment schemes, extortion, and phishing/spoofing.

Crypto

US-Iran Escalation Pushes Bitcoin to $72,622 as $870M Long Bets Collapse

Published

1 day ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

US-Iran Escalation Pushes Bitcoin to ,622 as 0M Long Bets Collapse

Key Takeaways

Geopolitical Escalation Triggers Crypto Sell-off

Bitcoin plunged below $73,000 early Thursday following reports of fresh U.S. military strikes inside Iran. Market data shows bitcoin tumbled to a multi-week low of $72,622—its lowest level since April 13—before staging a modest recovery back to $73,000. This downturn continues a weekly bearish trend, contrasting sharply with broader global markets that had previously rallied on optimism for a permanent peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran.

The sharp decline pushed bitcoin’s daily losses to 3.6%, dragging its market capitalization down to $1.46 trillion and pulling the aggregate crypto market cap below the $2.6 trillion threshold. Since May 25, when bitcoin last attempted to test the $78,000 resistance level, the asset has shed over 6% of its value. Despite kicking off May on an upward trajectory, this latest price action positions the cryptocurrency to close the month in the red.

Retaliatory Strikes Threaten Peace Talks

According to reports, the latest U.S. military strikes targeted a strategic site in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. In retaliation, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly launched strikes against a U.S. military base in Kuwait, where local authorities confirmed that air defense systems engaged incoming missiles and drones.

This escalation comes just days after the U.S. military struck Iranian naval vessels and an alleged missile launch site in Bandar Abbas, citing self-defense. Iranian forces responded at the time by downing U.S. drones. Notably, these hostilities unfolded while U.S. and Iranian negotiators were actively convening in Qatar to finalize a peace agreement. While the Trump administration initially downplayed the earlier friction to keep diplomatic channels open, this latest exchange will likely torpedo the talks and embolden hardliners on both sides who oppose a negotiated settlement.

Meanwhile, the decline in bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market resulted in the liquidation of more than $930 million in leveraged positions. Coinglass data showed that liquidations on bitcoin alone topped $366 million, with wiped-out long bets accounting for $348 million of that total. Overall, the market saw $870 million in long positions wiped out over 24 hours.