Flash News

TREE NEWS update: German theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder said a lobbying group offered to pay her to front the claim that AI will destroy humanity, with a pre-written script, in a video published September 5, 2026. She declined. She said both doom and optimism narratives are funded, and that most such deals are never disclosed. Separately, the Future Life Institute launched Protect What’s Human on February 9, 2026, with a budget of up to $8 million.

TREE NEWS update: A House committee released a sweeping cryptocurrency tax bill ahead of a Wednesday markup. Among its provisions is a $10 exception for certain fees paid in crypto, along with measures covering stablecoins, mining and staking. The bill is scheduled for markup on Wednesday.

TREE NEWS update: CoinEx is shutting down after nine years of operation and has given users until December 22 to withdraw their funds. The exchange said its reserves exceed 100% and that it will buy back its CET token at its 0.005 USDT listing price. The closure adds to a growing wave of exchange shutdowns across the industry.

TREE NEWS update: DeFi Development Corp bought another 55,491 SOL and opened a $300 million at-the-market program for its preferred stock, dubbed CHAD, to fund further SOL purchases. The move extends a three-week run of capital markets activity by the Solana treasury firm.

TREE NEWS reports: Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 builder-deployed perpetual markets accounted for 25.8% of perp volume over the 30 days to Sept. 13, down from 57.1% the prior month. Leader Trade[XYZ] traded $64.60B, down 44.2% month on month, with its 7-day average falling from $5.36B to $2.01B. Of ten registered HIP-3 venues, four trade, five halted and one never launched; all non-USDC-settled venues have stopped trading.

TREE NEWS update: Kuaishou E-commerce’s channel business center said it has authorized no institution or individual to hold product-selection or merchant-recruitment events under the name ‘Kuaishou E-commerce Supply Market.’ The platform said some parties have been using that name to host unauthorized events and charge merchants 20,000 to 40,000 yuan in recruitment fees, based on merchant reports and its own checks.

TREE NEWS update: China’s Administrative Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products take effect at the end of this month, with some platforms already conducting compliance sweeps. Tencent has removed 53 illegal financial ads, reinstated 6 after rectification, and banned 3 accounts lacking financial qualifications. Douyin now requires financial marketers to hold legal qualifications and complete platform certification, prohibiting operations beyond approved scope.

TREE NEWS update: Multiple bank customers in Hong Kong reported their credit cards were fraudulently used to place orders for Apple iPhones, prompting a response from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. An HKMA spokesperson said card transactions require effective security measures, and that where individual merchants opt out of or suspend extra authentication such as in-app verification or one-time passwords for operational reasons, those merchants must bear the liability and financial loss from unauthorized transactions.

TREE NEWS update: A 114-page crypto tax package in the US House would change the tax treatment of crypto fees, stablecoins and lending, while leaving existing rules on the timing of mining and staking reward taxation unchanged. The bill does not include a deferral for mining and staking rewards.

TREE NEWS reports: Ethereum and Base are pursuing different account abstraction designs after talks between the two camps failed, Ethlabs researcher Derek Chiang said. The breakdown means the two ecosystems will follow separate technical paths on wallet standards rather than a single shared approach.

TREE NEWS update: Tonkeeper has rebranded as Keeper, with the wallet now supporting seven blockchain networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. The change expands the wallet beyond its original TON focus to a multi-chain offering covering seven networks in total.

TREE NEWS reports: A whale staked another 184,500 SOL, worth about $18.94 million, roughly 16 hours ago. Over the past two months the wallet has withdrawn a cumulative 453,700 SOL from Coinbase, valued at about $46.6 million, and staked all of it.

TREE NEWS reports: Ark Invest sold about $14 million worth of Circle shares and trimmed its Coinbase position as crypto-related stocks rallied, the Cathie Wood-led firm’s latest portfolio adjustment. Ark routinely adds to and cuts its crypto stock holdings throughout the year. The moves were disclosed alongside the rally in crypto equities.

TREE NEWS reports: Bitcoin short-term holders have spent close to a full month holding coins in partial profit, CryptoQuant data shows, a streak that analysis links to improving odds of a lasting bullish BTC price reversal. The metric tracks coins moved within the last 155 days. Sustained partial profitability among this cohort has historically accompanied firmer price trends.

TREE NEWS update: Binance Wallet said on September 15 that it will support Circle’s Arc Layer-1 blockchain from the first day of mainnet launch, becoming one of the first wallets to do so. The wallet will also launch an Arc Hub, a dedicated in-app portal for funding, discovering assets, finding DeFi yield opportunities and tracking ecosystem activity on Arc, a chain focused on stablecoin-driven financial applications.

TREE NEWS reports: Multicoin Capital transferred 441,000 HYPE tokens, worth about $35.31 million, to Coinbase Prime through four wallets over the past six hours, on-chain tracker Onchain Lens shows. The move is suspected to be for selling purposes.

TREE NEWS update: Binance will update collateral ratios for cross margin borrowing, transfers, and Unified Account tiers on September 18, 2026 at 06:00 UTC. ARB, TAO and WLD collateral ratios rise to 60% from 50%, while AUCTION, BLUR, GALA, HYPER, S and SYRUP are cut to 10% from 30%. WLFI’s tiered collateral ratio in Unified Account Pro is also adjusted.

TREE NEWS update: Strive purchased $36.6 million worth of bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 25,000 BTC. The asset manager funded the entire purchase through preferred stock, pushing the notional value of its SATA preferred shares past $1 billion for the first time.