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AI Agents Could Close the Wealth Gap in Emerging Markets – Or Widen It
Crypto promised to democratise finance in Southeast Asia. The results were mixed. AI agents could be a second chance, but only if the infrastructure is built for everyone, not just those who can already afford a seat at the table, argues Morph CEO Colin Goltra.
Blockcast 86 | Licensed to Shill: Designing Decentralization: Governance, Power, and the Validator Problem
This episode digs into what actually happens after a protocol says it’s “decentralized.” Not the whitepaper version. The operational version.
Blockcast 85 | Licensed to Shill: How Energy & Geopolitics Are Building a Bitcoin-Driven World, ft. Bitcoin Arabia's Lara Eggimann & Jeff Gorman
The panel is joined by Bitcoin Arabia's co-founders to discuss Bitcoin's role in the Middle East.
Blockcast 84 | Licensed to Shill: What's in Store for 2026 – Stablecoins, the Future of DeFi.. and a Return of NFTs?
Licensed to Shill opens 2026 with a forward-looking conversation on the forces shaping the next phase of digital assets.
Blockcast 83 | Jito Foundation's Marc Liew on Why Institutions Are Turning to Solana
Key topics include the role of stablecoins, the challenges of cross-border payments, and the future of decentralized finance.
Ethereum's Busiest Quarter Hasn't Moved Its Price – That Gap is the Story
Ethereum just had its busiest quarter ever, yet ETH sits at roughly $2,328, down over 50% from its August 2025 high near $5,000. The divergence between record onchain usage and flat price action is the most significant fundamental signal in the ETH market right now.
IMF's Probable Recession Warning Triggers Downside Crypto Bets
Liquidity is already tightening -rates remain high, debt has surged, and financial markets show rising fragility across funds, sovereign bonds, and capital flows. Bitcoin’s recent rebound to the low-$70,000s sits uneasily against that backdrop.
Markets Rally as Iran Deal Optimism Wipes Out War Losses
The S&P 500 has recovered all losses incurred since the US-Iran conflict began. Crypto followed, but the rebound is narrow — BTC sitting near two-month highs while altcoins lag.
Bitcoin Bounces From Weekend Low as Geopolitical Risk Eases
Crypto markets recovered Monday as Iran nuclear talks progress and the Strait of Hormuz blockade remains without escalation. BTC approaches $74,000, but elevated equity correlation and fragile technicals keep the risk-reward unclear.
AI Agents Could Close the Wealth Gap in Emerging Markets – Or Widen It
Crypto promised to democratise finance in Southeast Asia. The results were mixed. AI agents could be a second chance, but only if the infrastructure is built for everyone, not just those who can already afford a seat at the table, argues Morph CEO Colin Goltra.
The Retail vs. Institutional Divide: How Trading Patterns Reveal Two Completely Different Markets
As ETFs, corporate treasuries, and tokenized real-world assets absorb supply, the old four-year retail cycle is giving way to a macro-driven, institution-led regime where liquidity concentrates, volatility compresses, and value accrues to utility over hype.
Industry Inflection Point: How 2026 Will Define Enterprise Adoption of Crypto’s Fastest-Growing Asset Class
Bhau Kotecha, co-founder and head of Paxos Labs, explains why programmable stablecoins are becoming core financial infrastructure—and how institutions can capture value beyond payments.
Crypto Wasn’t on the Ballot in Japan, But the Mandate Will Shape It
Sota Watanabe, CEO of Startale Group and founder of Astar Foundation, discusses how Japan's snap election could affect crypto tax and regulatory reforms.
Japanese Institutional Investors Are Warming to Crypto – and the Barriers Are Starting to Look Familiar
A new Nomura and Laser Digital survey of 518 investment professionals finds improving sentiment, growing allocation intent, and a shift in concerns from "should we?" to "how do we?"
SEC Clarity: Other Laws Do Not Concern Us
SEC guidance on token classification leans heavily on intent and user agreements, sketching a path where custodial, intermediary-heavy models sidestep oversight, while raising the risk of regulatory gaps, legal contradictions, and abuse far outside securities law.
Circle's 20% Collapse: Three Shocks in One Session Expose Stablecoin Regulation Risk
The $2 billion market cap erasure highlights the gap between booming USDC usage and investor concerns over regulatory uncertainty and centralization risks.
The CLARITY Act Was Stuck – One Bipartisan Deal Just Changed Everything
After two months of stalemate, senators broke the stablecoin yield dispute that blocked CLARITY. Here's what the compromise means for institutional adoption, and which players benefit most
Cango Sells Bitcoin to Cut Debt, Fund AI Pivot as Miners Move Away From HODL
Cango is shedding Bitcoin to pay down debt and fund an AI pivot, cutting mining costs while shrinking its treasury amid tighter financing conditions. Capital is rotating toward higher-margin AI infrastructure even as players like Strategy double down on accumulation.
Stablecoins Processed More Money Than Visa Last Year; AI Agents the Next Big Driver
A new Morph report documents a market that has grown 60-fold in five years and identifies the region's payment corridors and autonomous AI systems as the next major demand drivers.
Crypto-Native Rails Becoming Top Infra for AI Commerce
AI agents are moving from recommendation to execution, turning commerce into a stream of autonomous transactions—and pushing payments infrastructure away from cards toward crypto-native rails built for speed, scale, and machine-driven demand.
OpenAI's $122 Billion Raise Validates the Decentralized AI Case
As frontier AI consolidates around massive capital requirements, the economic argument for distributed compute networks grows sharper. The question is no longer whether alternatives exist, but whether they can scale before the winners are decided.
Singapore's Sandwich Class is Crypto's Most Disciplined Investor Cohort
While Gen Z churns out of the market at a 50% attrition rate, middle-income Singaporeans aged 35 to 54 are quietly accumulating, dollar-cost averaging, and holding for years.
KBank Brings Blockchain-Settled Payments to Singapore, Letting Thai Travellers Tap GrabPay QR
The Thai lender's Q Wallet now settles cross-border transactions via StraitsX's XSGD stablecoin, cutting out cash and currency exchange for travellers.
Ripple Joins MAS's BLOOM Initiative to Pilot Stablecoin Settlement in Trade Finance
The XRP Ledger and RLUSD stablecoin will be used to test conditional payment release tied to shipment verification
Libeara Secures Singapore Dealer Licence, Clearing Path to Distribute Tokenised Assets Directly
The MAS Capital Markets Services licence transforms Libeara from infrastructure provider to regulated market participant, enabling it to deal in tokenised securities and fund units for institutional clients
Editors' Picks
Prediction Markets Are No Longer a One-Cycle Story
The $6.5 billion weekly volume record is the data point. The real story is what's changed about who's using these platforms, and why the infrastructure may finally match the demand.
Hong Kong's Stablecoin Revolution Will Be Whitelisted
The HKMA handed its first approvals to the banks that already print the Hong Kong dollar. That tells you everything about what these tokens are meant to be.
MEV: Not Suitable for Financial Markets
DRW founder Don Wilson's blunt critique of MEV cuts to a deeper flaw: blockchain market design has drifted into engineering complexity that extracts value without improving price discovery or capital allocation.
Dubai's Crypto Moment is Over – For Now
Binance is relocating staff from the UAE as the Iran war upends one of the industry's most important hubs. The question is where the talent goes next.
SEC Clarity: Other Laws Do Not Concern Us
SEC guidance on token classification leans heavily on intent and user agreements, sketching a path where custodial, intermediary-heavy models sidestep oversight, while raising the risk of regulatory gaps, legal contradictions, and abuse far outside securities law.
Gambling: I Know It When I See It
Stop trying to define “gambling.” A cleaner lens is whether markets permit real information discovery – and whether states treat the underlying activity as a tradable commodity or a tightly controlled wager.