Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Key Takeaways Shares of Victoria’s Secret plummeted 18% during premarket hours following a mixed Q2 earnings report that emphasized weak forward guidance. The company delivered adjusted earnings per share of $0.95, significantly surpassing the analyst forecast of $0.77, though revenue of $1.61 billion fell marginally short of the $1.62 billion target. Comparable store sales climbed 9%, exceeding projections but representing a deceleration from the 13% growth achieved in the previous quarter. Third-quarter operating income projections significantly underperformed, with a midpoint of $15 million versus Wall Street’s $24.4 million expectation. The company increased its fiscal year revenue outlook to a range of $7.1B-$7.18B, aligning closely with market expectations. Shares of Victoria’s Secret plunged 18% to $69.61 during premarket trading on Thursday following the lingerie retailer’s Q2 earnings announcement, which left investors disappointed despite robust bottom-line performance.

Victoria’s Secret & Company, VSXY

For the fiscal second quarter that concluded on August 1, the retailer reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.95, a substantial improvement from $0.33 in the year-ago period and comfortably exceeding the $0.77 analyst consensus. Total net sales climbed 10% on a year-over-year basis to $1.61 billion, narrowly missing Wall Street’s anticipated $1.62 billion.

VICTORIA'S SECRET $VSXY Q2’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS

🔹 Revenue: $1.61B (Est. $1.62B) 🔴; +10% YoY
🔹 Adj. EPS: $0.95 (Est. $0.77) 🟢; +188% YoY
🔹 Adj. Oper Income: $124M (Est. $101M) 🟢; +125% YoY
🔹 Comparable Sales: 9%

Raises FY26 Guide:
🔹 Revenue: $7.10B-$7.18B (Est. $7.2B)… pic.twitter.com/t564wmO1Ff

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) September 3, 2026

The company’s adjusted operating income reached $124 million for the quarter, representing a significant jump from the $55 million recorded during the comparable period in the prior year.

Comparable sales advanced 9% during the quarter, surpassing the consensus projection of 8.8%. However, this figure represented a notable deceleration from the 13% comparable sales expansion delivered in the first quarter, raising concerns among market participants.

Third-Quarter Profit Outlook Misses the Mark The primary concern for shareholders centered on forward-looking guidance. Victoria’s Secret projected third-quarter sales between $1.57 billion and $1.6 billion, modestly exceeding the Street’s $1.56 billion estimate.

Nevertheless, the company’s third-quarter operating income forecast substantially missed analyst expectations. Management’s guidance midpoint of $15 million fell well short of the $24.4 million Wall Street had anticipated.

Chief Executive Hillary Super explained that the conservative operating income projection reflects a strategic decision to substantially increase marketing expenditures. “We see significant opportunity ahead and are doubling down on what is working,” she stated. “We are increasing our strategic marketing investment to expand our reach, deepen customer connection, and build on the brand heat we are creating.”

Prior to the earnings release, the stock had enjoyed impressive momentum. Shares had surged 57% year-to-date through Wednesday’s close, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s transformation efforts under Super’s stewardship.

Annual Revenue Projections Increased On a more optimistic note, Victoria’s Secret elevated its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $7.1 billion to $7.18 billion, representing an increase from the prior range of $7.03 billion to $7.13 billion. This updated forecast aligned approximately with the $7.14 billion consensus estimate.

Management also enhanced its 2026 adjusted operating income guidance to $560 million to $590 million, up from the previous range of $550 million to $580 million.

Guggenheim analyst Simeon Siegel acknowledged the “strong bottom-line beat” while pointing out that implied fourth-quarter earnings appear to be running below the Street’s consensus expectations.

The stock had closed Wednesday’s regular session up 0.8% before the sharp premarket decline materialized.

Federal regulators are suing Amazon for allegedly using hidden surcharges to secretly and systematically overcharge advertisers by more than $20 billion on its platform.

The Federal Trade Commission’s complaint alleges that the e-commerce giant manipulated its pricing and auction systems after a 2019 rule change without notifying advertisers.

The lawsuit targets sponsored products ads, brands ads and display ads that appear alongside search results.

Officials allege the scheme boosted Amazon’s revenue through undisclosed fees affecting advertisers.

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and was joined by 22 states.

Says FTC chairman Andrew N. Ferguson,

“When one of the world’s largest online retailers engages in unfair and deceptive conduct, the impact can be
staggering. Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying
significantly higher prices. These higher costs were largely passed on to American consumers. The FTC under President Trump won’t allow this deception to continue.”

Amazon allegedly reaped more than $20 billion from these practices dating back to the auction rules change.

The suit focuses solely on the ad systems and does not reference other company services.

In a blog post, Amazon says the FTC’s lawsuit is “misguided” and that the complaint “fundamentally misunderstands how advertisers operate.”

“We’ve provided advertisers with guidance about our auctions and pricing in the main tools they use to manage their campaigns, and we continue to update that guidance. We look forward to making our case in court.”

Generated Image: Midjourney

Bitcoin breaks through $79,000, Ethereum surpasses $2,500.

，据 HTX 行情信息，比特币突破 79,000 美元，24 小时涨幅 1.49%；以太坊突破 2500 美元，24 小时涨幅 2.48%。

3 hours ago

Following its listing on Binance derivatives, the token "牛来" extended its strong run, with its market capitalization surging past $140 million to reach a new all-time high.

According to GMGN market data, after launching on Binance Futures in the evening, BSC-based meme coin "Niu Lai" has shown strong performance, with its market cap briefly surging past $140 million to hit an all-time high. It is now trading at $130 million, up over 159% in the past 24 hours, with a 24-hour trading volume of $63.6 million. BlockBeats reminds users that most meme coins have no real use cases, experience significant price volatility, and caution is required for investments.

3 hours ago

Serenity intensifies its bullish stance on Macronix: DDR3 price hikes have far exceeded sell-side expectations, average selling price (ASP) revised up to double sequentially, and operating leverage is fully unlocked.

Serenity published a report analyzing the sell-side research on ESMT (Jinghao Ke, stock code 3006). In March, South China Securities projected ESMT’s Q2 DDR3 4Gb contract price would rise around 50% quarter-on-quarter, while Fubon Securities forecast DRAM prices would increase 40% quarter-on-quarter. By August, South China Securities had revised ESMT’s Q2 aggregate ASP upward to a 105% to 113% quarter-on-quarter rise, explicitly stating DDR3’s price increase was “significantly better than expected”. Serenity argues that the price hike in niche memory chips is no longer just a revenue story, but a major profit amplifier, with operating leverage stretched to an extreme. Powerchip’s wafer costs may double in the second half of the year, and customers’ willingness to absorb cost pass-through has far exceeded expectations. ESMT’s single-month net profit in July was around $109 million, far exceeding earlier model assumptions. Roughly annualized, this values the stock at as low as a 1.9x P/E ratio. DDR3 is mainly used in products like IP cameras and hard drives. Memory chips account for a very small share of customers’ total bill of materials (BOM), so even a few dollars more per chip is far cheaper than the cost of redesigning and re-certifying products, making demand relatively inelastic. The consensus view is that peers are shifting production capacity to high-value products like HBM and DDR5, leading to structural tightening in DDR3 and DDR2 supply.

3 hours ago

Analysis: BTC marks the third time in history of significant underperformance relative to the Nasdaq, with both prior instances seeing strong, independent rallies.

Analyst Rekt Fencer has published a 3-day ratio chart of Bitcoin (BTC) and the Nasdaq, marking three major drawdowns: roughly -84.9% in 2018, -80.7% in 2022, and the current -54.3% in 2026. The analyst pointed out that after Bitcoin underperformed the Nasdaq by such wide margins in the prior two instances, it went on to post very strong independent rallies, with prices surging sharply thereafter. With the current ratio dropping significantly again, history may repeat for the third time: the bottom is approaching, and BTC will regain strength going forward.

3 hours ago

Perspective: On-chain retail Bitcoin (BTC) activity has hit a two-year high, and the minor pullback appears more like position rotation rather than a market top.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost stated that on-chain retail Bitcoin activity has reached a two-year high. The current slight pullback from the $80,000 level is more of a rotation than a market top, Bitcoin’s medium-term demand remains strong, and investor demand for the cryptocurrency has increased by 17.4% over the past 30 days.

3 hours ago

Trump: Will Fill U.S. National Strategic Petroleum Reserve With Venezuelan Oil

US President Trump announced that the United States will fill its national strategic reserve with Venezuelan oil, and the process to replenish the reserve to full capacity will begin soon.

3 hours ago

The Group Behind the GTA VI Leaks Has a Meme Coin, Millions in Value, and a Secret Agenda

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South Korean stocks rebound sharply by nearly 6%, with foreign investors net purchasing 1.7 trillion won in equities.

South Korea’s stock market closed nearly 6% higher on Thursday, rebounding from a sharp decline in the previous session, as chip stocks surged on the back of shareholder return measures and falling U.S. Treasury yields. Chipmaker SK Hynix rose 12.73% after announcing it would repurchase and cancel its treasury shares; peer Samsung Electronics gained 9.49%. Earlier media reports said Samsung Electronics will also unveil a new shareholder return policy by the end of this month. A total of 905 stocks changed hands on the day, with 521 advancing and 338 declining. Foreign investors net bought 1.7 trillion won (about $12.2 billion) worth of South Korean stocks. (Jinshi)

19 minutes ago

A whale has resumed live trading on Binance, setting 10 major goals first, and is currently shorting $222 million worth of BTC and ETH.

On-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa) tracked that the trader codenamed "Set 10 Big Goals" resumed live trading on Binance on July 27, after a one-month break. As of now, his total short positions in BTC and ETH contracts are valued at around $222 million, with an accumulated unrealized profit of roughly $401,000. For BTC, he holds 4x-leveraged short positions totaling 2,236.384 BTC, with a position value of approximately $156 million, an entry price of $69,826.87, and current unrealized profit of about $369,000. For ETH, he holds 6x-leveraged short positions totaling 29,316.677 ETH, with a position value of around $66.1 million, an entry price of $2,254.74, and current unrealized profit of roughly $32,000.

19 minutes ago

NeoSoul completes $11 million in Pre-A round financing, accelerating its expansion into the AI economy.

NeoSoul announces completion of $11 million Pre-A round financing. Participating institutions in this round include MH Ventures, Amber Group, ArkStream Capital, 0G Foundation, Kirin Capital, CatcherVC, and New Oak International. The capital will be used to further advance NeoSoul’s development of AI agent trading products and AI economic infrastructure. This financing round comes shortly after the launch of NeoTrade, NeoSoul’s AI agent trading workbench, which allows traders to configure their own AI trading agents, enabling these agents to make independent decisions and execute trades autonomously. AI is evolving from auxiliary analysis to independent execution; for trading, the industry’s focus is shifting to how to maintain agent autonomy while ensuring controlled fund security. This round brings together multiple investment institutions from digital assets, Web3 infrastructure, decentralized AI, Asian capital, and North American markets. Notably, Kirin Capital, a key investor in this round, has long been rooted in the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian capital markets, and its investment will further support NeoSoul’s expansion into Vietnam and Southeast Asia. NeoSoul co-founder Kaelan stated: “AI is moving from information production to autonomous economic activities, and trading is one of the earliest scenarios that can form a complete economic closed loop. NeoTrade serves as the entry point; following this financing round, NeoSoul will continue building infrastructure that supports large-scale participation of AI agents in economic activities.” NeoSoul plans to allocate the capital from this round to further develop NeoTrade, strengthen its trading infrastructure, and expand its global ecosystem. The company will continue advancing product development around the connection between autonomous AI decision-making and controlled fund execution.

19 minutes ago

Crypto options with a notional value exceeding $1.8 billion are set to expire and settle tomorrow, with BTC’s key pain point at $66,000.

According to Deribit data, crypto options with a total notional value of $1.82 billion are set to expire and settle tomorrow. Breakdown: BTC options have a notional value of $1.57 billion, with a put/call ratio of 0.65 and a max pain point of $66,000; ETH options carry a notional value of $250 million, a put/call ratio of 0.77, and a max pain point of $1,950.

19 minutes ago

The third-largest HYPE long position on Hyperliquid has an unrealized profit of $14.58 million, and has not taken any additional actions since opening a 10x long at a low level.

According to monitoring by TradingBeats (formerly Hyperinsight), address 0x6666...23f5 currently holds 450,000 HYPE long positions on Hyperliquid, with a position value of approximately $32.49 million. Its average entry price is $39.8114, and the current unrealized profit is around $14.58 million. On-chain fund flow data shows that the address’s initial funds entered HyperCore primarily via Circle CCTP-related HyperEVM CoreDepositWallet. The first deposit was made on March 18, 2026, followed by cumulative receipts of about 3.8 million USDC between March 18 and 27, all from the HyperEVM CoreDepositWallet. Subsequently, starting at 02:31 HK time on March 18, 2026, the address built a 10x leveraged HYPE long position from scratch, completed its last position addition on April 7, and has since been inactive (making it impossible to calculate its historical trade win rate). As of press time, the address has paid $950,000 in funding fees for its long positions, ranking third among all HYPE contract long addresses on Hyperliquid by position size.

19 minutes ago

Bitcoin surges past $70,000, with an 8.6% gain over the past 24 hours.

According to HTX market data, Bitcoin has broken through $70,000, posting an 8.6% gain over the past 24 hours.

19 minutes ago

Disney Stock Extends Rally as New Avengers Doomsday Trailer Drops

Citigroup: Gold and silver still have upside potential; improving geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions will revive demand for precious metals investments.

Citigroup Research stated that the uptrend in precious metals is far from over, with silver continuing to track gold’s moves and serving as a more aggressive play on upside due to its higher volatility. Should tensions in the Strait of Hormuz eventually ease, paired with a less hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve, investment demand for precious metals will continue to recover. Recent market action has already laid the groundwork for this outlook. The settlement price of COMEX August gold futures rose 0.49% to $4,383 per ounce; silver futures fell 0.5% on the day to $64.769 per ounce, ending a two-day winning streak. Citigroup noted that the short-term pullback does not alter silver’s status as a high-beta asset relative to gold, adding that if easing geopolitical risks drive capital back into precious metals, silver could rise to $95 per ounce by 2027. However, Citigroup also outlined risk scenarios, estimating there is roughly a 20% chance silver could drop to $50 per ounce, highlighting that current precious metals trading remains highly dependent on interest rate expectations, U.S. dollar movements, and geopolitical risks. For markets, gold remains a core asset for hedging and rate-cut expectations, while silver is better suited to capturing upside from a rebound in risk appetite.

18 minutes ago

South Korea plans to raise the trading threshold for single-stock leveraged ETFs in September, lifting the minimum trading unit to 20 shares.

The Korea Exchange (KRX) has drafted amendments to the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Business Regulations for the Securities Market, raising the minimum trading unit for single-stock leveraged ETFs from the current 1 share to 20 shares, and for ETNs from 1 security to 20 securities. The proposal is now open for public consultation. It is reported that South Korea’s financial regulators originally planned to roll out the measure in November, but given the rising speculative trading in single-stock leveraged products, a pre-emptive cooling is needed, so the exchange is pushing for the earliest possible implementation next month. In addition to raising the trading unit, South Korean regulators will also strengthen investor protection measures: new individual investors must complete at least 5 trading days of simulation trading (1 hour per day, totaling 5 hours) before participating in single-stock leveraged product transactions.

18 minutes ago

MetaPlanet transfers 1,473 $BTC ($93.82M), Hut 8 moves 493 $BTC ($31.36M)

MetaPlanet(@Metaplanet) transferred out 1,473 $BTC($93.82M) 1 hour ago. Hut 8(@Hut8Corp) also transferred out 493 $BTC($31.36M) 3 hours ago.

18 minutes ago

Bernstein raises Microsoft's price target to $660, with AI and cloud businesses set to continue underpinning earnings growth.

In its latest research report, Bernstein reaffirmed its bullish outlook on Microsoft, raising the 12-month target price to around $660 and maintaining an "Outperform" rating. The bank argues that market concerns over Microsoft’s AI infrastructure being "built too fast and spent too much" are overblown, noting that the company’s data center expansion remains aligned with its commercial cloud revenue growth, and AI investments will continue to support Azure, Copilot, and its enterprise software ecosystem. Microsoft’s share price has rebounded notably recently, rising roughly 30% since the release of strong earnings at the end of July, returning to positive territory for the year. Even after the rally, Microsoft’s valuation remains below its historical high range, with its AI and cloud businesses continuing to underpin earnings growth, per Bernstein. The report specifically points out that Microsoft’s long-term lease obligations total $329.1 billion, spread across fiscal years 2027 to 2033, with some contracts extending up to 20 years; hardware commitments for fiscal 2027 are approximately $169 billion, after which they will decline significantly. This means Microsoft is not locked into a single short-cycle AI hardware expenditure, and can reallocate data center resources to traditional cloud and software services in the future.

18 minutes ago

Korea Exchange activates KOSPI sidecar mechanism, suspends program buying orders.

Korea Exchange triggered the KOSPI temporary trading halt mechanism, suspending programmatic buying for 5 minutes, following a 5% rise in KOSPI 200 index futures. (Jinshi)

18 minutes ago

A $100 million BTC short position has emerged on Hyperliquid, with whale DoshiAtoll opening a 40x leveraged short.

According to monitoring by ai_9684xtpa, Hyperliquid trader DoshiAtoll opened a short position of 1,576.23 BTC at 8 AM today, valued at roughly $100 million. The short entry price was $64,039, with 40x leverage, and it currently has an unrealized profit of approximately $456,000. Following the establishment of this position, the two largest BTC holdings on the Hyperliquid platform are now both BTC short positions, drawing market attention to the bearish sentiment of large capital.

18 minutes ago

, /PRNewswire/ -- AITECH Cloud Network, formerly Solidus AI Tech, has announced a strategic partnership with Secret Network to integrate confidential computing capabilities into Agent Forge, its no-code AI agent platform developed fully by ACN's internal development team and launched in April 2025.

The collaboration will enable users of Agent Forge to build and deploy AI agents and workflows with enhanced privacy, verifiable execution, and confidential processing powered by Secret Network's confidential computing infrastructure.

The partnership represents a significant step towards addressing one of the biggest challenges facing enterprise AI adoption: how to utilise powerful AI systems while maintaining data privacy, security, and trust.

Under the agreement, Secret Network's confidential AI infrastructure will be integrated into Agent Forge's growing ecosystem, allowing developers and businesses to access secure AI models and confidential workflow execution directly from the platform. Initial integration efforts will focus on Agent Forge's light-mode chat interface, with plans to expand confidential execution capabilities across the broader workflow builder environment.

Agent Forge has rapidly expanded since private beta launch, offering users a no-code environment for building AI agents, workflow automations, and integrations through a growing library of templates and external services. The platform recently completed its migration to Ethereum, positioning it for broader institutional adoption.

The collaboration will also introduce verification tools that allow users to confirm that AI workloads are running within trusted confidential computing environments. By combining Agent Forge's agent orchestration capabilities with Secret Network's confidential infrastructure, organisations will be able to deploy AI workflows with greater confidence in data security and operational integrity.

John Mendez, Head of AI Development of AITECH Cloud Network, said:

"Agent Forge was built to make AI agent creation accessible to everyone, from first-time users to enterprise teams. As AI adoption accelerates, privacy and trust become critical requirements. Our partnership with Secret Network allows us to introduce confidential AI capabilities directly into the platform, giving users the ability to build, deploy, and verify secure AI workflows without adding complexity to the user experience."

Luke B, Chief of Operations at Secret Network Foundation, said:

"Confidential computing is becoming a foundational layer for the next generation of AI applications. By integrating Secret Network's confidential infrastructure into Agent Forge, we are enabling developers and businesses to leverage advanced AI while maintaining control over sensitive data. Together, we are helping establish a future where AI systems are both powerful and verifiable."

The companies expect the initial integration to focus on confidential model access and verification features, followed by the deployment of confidential execution environments capable of supporting fully private AI workflows. Future collaboration will include joint community initiatives, educational content, and ecosystem development activities.

The partnership reflects a broader industry shift towards confidential AI, where privacy-preserving technologies and trusted execution environments are increasingly viewed as essential components of enterprise-grade AI infrastructure.

About AITECH Cloud Network

AITECH Cloud Network, formerly Solidus AI Tech, is a provider of AI and high-performance computing infrastructure. Its ecosystem includes Agent Forge, a no-code AI agent platform developed by ACN'steam, a competitor to n8n and make.com, that enables users to build, deploy, and manage intelligent agents and workflow automations, through a conversational interface.

About Secret Network

Secret Network is a leading confidential computing platform that enables private and secure applications through trusted execution environments and privacy-preserving infrastructure. The network provides developers with tools to build confidential AI, secure data applications, and verifiable computing solutions.

SOURCE Secret Network Foundation

, /PRNewswire/ -- Morpheus, a decentralised marketplace for AI inference, has announced a partnership with Secret Network to enable private, secure execution of AI models using Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs).

The collaboration introduces a new TEE Provider developed by Morpheus, capable of running confidential AI models within Trusted Execution Environments. Through this integration, Secret Network's Confidential AI models will be accessible to Morpheus users, allowing AI inference to be performed without exposing sensitive data or model interactions.

AI inference, the stage at which trained models process new inputs to generate outputs, represents the primary point of interaction between users and AI systems. It is also where data privacy risks are most acute, particularly in decentralised environments where compute is distributed across multiple nodes. Any industry edge? No longer secret. No longer yours.

By combining Morpheus's decentralised infrastructure with Secret Network's privacy-preserving technology, the partnership aims to address this challenge directly.

"This is about making decentralised AI usable at an enterprise level," said David Johnston of Morpheus. "Inference is where real-world value happens, but it is also where trust breaks down. By enabling confidential execution through TEEs, we are ensuring that users no longer have to choose between openness and privacy."

Secret Network's technology ensures that data remains encrypted not only in storage and transit, but also during computation. Within a TEE, inputs are processed securely, with neither the node operator nor external parties able to access the underlying data or outputs.

"Privacy cannot be an afterthought in AI," said Luke B, COO at Secret Network Foundation. "As inference becomes the dominant mode of interaction with AI systems, protecting that layer is essential. This partnership brings confidential AI into a decentralised marketplace, which is a significant step forward for both adoption and trust."

The integration reflects a broader shift towards confidential computing in AI, where sensitive data can be processed securely even in distributed environments. It also signals growing demand for infrastructure that supports both scalability and privacy, particularly as AI applications expand across finance, healthcare and enterprise systems.

Through this partnership, developers and enterprises using Morpheus will be able to access Secret Network's Confidential AI models with full privacy guarantees, enabling new use cases that require secure, decentralised intelligence.

Stop theft. Stop worrying.

About Morpheus
Morpheus is a decentralised marketplace for AI inference, connecting users and developers with distributed compute resources to run AI models at scale.

About Secret Network
Secret Network is a blockchain platform focused on privacy-preserving computation, enabling confidential smart contracts and secure data processing through Trusted Execution Environments.

SOURCE Secret Network Foundation

A federal prosecutor indicted an FBI agent for the alleged theft of almost $1 million worth of cryptocurrency. The money reportedly originated from government-controlled crypto wallets. Investigators reported that he used ChatGPT to plan investments and relocate to Europe. The Department of Justice has indicted a supervisory special agent of the FBI for theft of nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency during the investigation of a crime. According to court filings, Patrick Steven Yaroch, a counterintelligence agent with a Top Secret clearance, allegedly abused his official position to move cryptocurrencies stored in the wallets being investigated by the government. In addition, it is alleged that he later used the assistance of ChatGPT to investigate investment opportunities, residency possibilities in Europe, and financial planning after having moved the money. As pointed out by the authorities, the charges against Mr. Yaroch are still pending; however, he enjoys the benefit of innocence at this point.

Alleged Thief Gained Access Internally  According to the federal affidavit presented in the Eastern District of Virginia, Patrick Steven Yaroch worked in the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division after joining the bureau in 2017. The prosecutors believe that he had access to cryptocurrency wallets associated with the adversarial nation. He learned recovery seed phrases, set up his own wallets, and moved assets in various transfers in 2024 and 2025. 

The investigators have managed to recover about $925,426 worth of the funds with ongoing efforts to trace more money. Yaroch voluntarily contacted Department of Justice officials and admitted making poor decisions involving cryptocurrency. Investigators reported that he revoked consent to recover the wallet seed phrases and requested legal counsel.

Searches for ChatGPT Conversations Extend Investigation The investigators managed to extract the ChatGPT conversations from Yaroch’s mobile in the course of their investigation. Yaroch asked questions regarding his plans to invest $1 million and move to Europe. With his discussions involving Portugal, Italy, Turkey, and Greece. In addition, the investigators uncovered travel reservations for Portugal. Along with documents empowering him to act on behalf of the Portuguese tax authorities. It is also alleged that Yaroch transferred approximately $1.02 million to Suilend, a lending protocol on the Sui blockchain. While investigators found more cryptocurrency stored in his Kraken wallet.

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In brief OpenAI published a detailed rebuttal to Apple's trade secrets lawsuit. The company says Apple misstated key facts before filing suit and released emails to support its claims. OpenAI also argues Apple employees continued seeking help from a former engineer after he joined the company. OpenAI has publicly challenged Apple's trade secrets lawsuit, publishing emails, text messages, and a point-by-point rebuttal that accuses the iPhone maker of making factual errors before filing its complaint.

In a blog post published Monday, OpenAI said Apple confused two employees with similar names, falsely claimed the company ignored its outreach, and incorrectly asserted that Apple's outside counsel had spoken with OpenAI General Counsel Che Chang before filing a lawsuit against OpenAI.

The email and text dump comes after Apple sued OpenAI in July, accusing the company, former Apple engineer Chang Liu, former Apple design executive Tang Tan, and io Products of misappropriating hardware trade secrets as OpenAI expanded its consumer hardware efforts following its acquisition of Jony Ive's startup in 2025.

“Apple is one of the greatest companies of all time, and built a reputation for obsessing over the smallest details,” OpenAI wrote. “This careless, aggressive and oddly personal lawsuit sadly doesn’t live up to that reputation.”

In its lawsuit, Apple accuses former Apple engineer Chang Liu of retaining a company laptop after leaving, exploiting an authentication bug to access Apple's internal systems, and downloading confidential engineering documents. The lawsuit also claims former Apple executive Tang Tan used confidential Apple information to benefit OpenAI's hardware efforts and that the company's recruiting process encouraged prospective hires to bring sensitive Apple materials.

OpenAI disputes those allegations, saying Apple contacted the wrong person after confusing two employees with similar surnames and incorrectly claimed its lawyers had spoken with OpenAI General Counsel Che Chang before filing suit.

To support its case, OpenAI published iMessage exchanges between Liu and Apple employees sent after he left the company in January, showing them asking for help locating files, transferring documents, and answering technical questions—conversations OpenAI says undermine Apple's claims that Liu improperly retained access to confidential information.

According to OpenAI, those exchanges show Apple employees relied on Liu's access and that any remaining access resulted from Apple's own offboarding process rather than deliberate misconduct.

As for Tan, OpenAI says the former Apple executive was repeatedly instructed not to bring or use confidential information from his previous employer. The company also argues Apple's request for a preliminary injunction, which could restrict OpenAI's activities while the case proceeds, is unnecessary.

“Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction is both based on false information and completely unnecessary because we do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets,” the company wrote. “We’re much more interested in building innovative products and technologies that push the frontier.”

Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.

Table of contents

The arrest of an FBI intelligence agent with top-secret clearance on charges of stealing cryptocurrency from wallets the bureau had been investigating raises an uncomfortable question: who guards the guardians when the asset is a bearer instrument with no reversibility?

According to the original report, the agent worked inside FBI headquarters and had access to digital wallets that were part of active criminal investigations. The theft, totaling roughly $1 million, was discovered during an internal review, leading to the agent’s arrest. The case highlights a growing vulnerability for law enforcement agencies that increasingly seize and hold cryptocurrency — often for months or years as cases grind through the courts.

A Breach from Inside the Bureau The agent’s top-secret clearance and placement at headquarters are the most jarring details. These positions come with layers of vetting, background checks, and ongoing monitoring. That an individual with that level of access could allegedly siphon funds from wallets the FBI itself had targeted suggests the controls around private key management were not airtight.

Seized crypto typically moves to a government-controlled wallet under multi-signature arrangements, though exact procedures vary by agency. The FBI has not disclosed how the theft occurred, whether it involved unauthorized transactions, compromised seed phrases, or exploitation of procedural gaps. What is clear is that the funds could be traced on-chain, which may have accelerated the internal investigation. Unlike cash, crypto ledger activity is permanent and public. That traceability likely left a digital trail even a trained intelligence agent could not completely erase.

Custody Risks for Seized Crypto The incident forces a hard look at how federal agencies handle digital assets under seizure. Unlike traditional assets that sit in evidence lockers or frozen bank accounts, cryptocurrency requires active key management, access controls, and technical safeguards that many government units are still learning to implement. The standard for most private custodians — hardware security modules, geographic distribution of keys, mandatory multi-sig execution — is not always replicated inside bureaucratic structures built for physical evidence.

Every seized wallet sitting on a government ledger is a temptation point for an insider who understands that moving coins to a mixer or an exchange can erase the trail in minutes. The FBI has recovered stolen funds in past cases only because the thief made operational mistakes. This time, that appears to have happened again. But the outcome could easily have been worse.

A Pattern of Insider Theft This is not the first time a U.S. law enforcement official has been accused of stealing crypto from evidence. In 2021, a Secret Service agent was sentenced for stealing Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. DEA agents have faced similar charges in prior years. Each case revealed the same structural weakness: the people trusted to investigate crypto crime are often the same people capable of committing it, using the same tools and knowledge they deploy against suspects.

The news arrives as lawmakers in Washington debate a sweeping crypto bill, with traditional financial heavyweights attempting to water down legislation, according to recent coverage. Incidents like the FBI arrest give critics of government crypto oversight fresh arguments: if the FBI cannot secure its own investigative wallets, what confidence should the public have in broader federal digital asset mandates?

Broader Implications for Crypto Enforcement The arrest will likely trigger a round of internal audits across multiple agencies that hold seized crypto. The Department of Justice may push for standardized key custody protocols, possibly requiring third-party qualified custodians or technology partners that already serve the private sector. That would be a significant shift from current practice, where agencies often self-custody.

For defendants in crypto-related criminal cases, the theft also creates an avenue to challenge evidence integrity. If the FBI cannot demonstrate an unbroken chain of custody for digital assets, defense attorneys may argue that funds attributed to their clients could have been manipulated or replaced. The legal precedent is thin, but the concept is straightforward. A single compromised wallet can cast doubt across an entire investigation.

The case also underscores the human perimeter problem. No amount of encryption or multi-sig eliminates the risk that an authorized signer goes rogue. The remedy lies in separation of duties, real-time monitoring of wallet activity, and penalties severe enough to deter the next insider. Right now, that deterrent is failing.

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US tech giants have cut nearly 140,000 jobs this year, with the four leading players' AI capital expenditure totaling $725 billion.

According to statistics from the Financial Times in partnership with Challenger, Gray & Christmas, U.S. tech industry layoffs since 2026 have accounted for more than one-third of all announced layoffs nationwide. Amazon, Oracle, Meta and Microsoft alone have cut nearly 50,000 jobs, roughly 6% of their total workforce. In sharp contrast, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft are projected to invest a combined $725 billion in AI infrastructure such as data centers this year. After laying off staff in March, Oracle’s total headcount dropped by 21,000 for the full year; this month, S&P downgraded its credit rating, citing weak cash flow and uncertain AI returns. Microsoft cut 4,800 jobs this month, mainly in its Xbox gaming division, essentially a full reset of its $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard three years ago. The narrative that "AI causes layoffs" is met with skepticism in academic circles. Enrico Moretti, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, notes that AI-related layoffs are more of an excuse for management to correct over-hiring during the pandemic. "Claiming AI-driven efficiency gains is easier than admitting to over-hiring back then," he said. Market pricing also contradicts this narrative: within 30 trading days of announcing layoffs, companies that attributed cuts to AI saw their stock prices underperform the Nasdaq by nearly 10%, while companies laying off for other reasons lagged by only around 4%. Amazon and Microsoft have explicitly stated that AI adoption is not a decisive factor in their layoffs. In contrast to the tech giants’ non-core business contractions, AI-native startups like Anthropic and OpenAI are still rapidly expanding their workforce, driving fast growth in AI sector employment. "What is being cut is merely all other non-core business segments."

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Layer1 project Vanar will begin migrating its infrastructure to Base next Tuesday.

Layer 1 blockchain project Vanar announced that its infrastructure migration to Base will kick off next Tuesday. Users currently staking VANRY must first unstake, wait for the cooldown period to elapse before claiming their tokens. Earlier, Vanar stated that existing VANRY token holders can complete the migration at a 1:1 ratio, with their holding amounts remaining unchanged. Additionally, VANRY’s total supply will rise from 2.4 billion to 10 billion tokens, approximately 62% of which will stay locked during the migration. Once the migration is complete, staking for Vanarchain validators will be halted.

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2035年数据中心将占美国电力消耗的约20%，成为下一个AI瓶颈

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Robinhood Chain's 24-hour network fee revenue reached $350,000, ranking fourth among all blockchains.

According to DeFiLlama data, Robinhood EVM Chain generated $350,000 in 24-hour network fee revenue, ranking fourth among all blockchains, trailing only Canton, Tron, and Solana. Launched on July 1, the Robinhood EVM Chain has seen its total value locked (TVL) quickly rise to $315 million. Though originally designed for on-chain stocks and ETFs, it has emerged as a major hub for meme coin activity.

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Citrini’s view: Korean manufacturers hold a cautious stance on the commercialization of 3D IC, while China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies is accelerating to secure niche markets via a customized approach.

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A whale holding a 40x leveraged long Bitcoin position worth nearly $40 million was stopped out after just 18 hours.

According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa), a whale that opened a 40x leveraged long BTC position worth $38.67 million starting last night cut its losses after holding the position for just 18 hours, suffering a single loss of $368,000. The whale’s entry price was $64,469, with a stop-loss set at $63,859, triggering an immediate stop-loss after BTC dropped by just 1%.

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WSJ: Treasure Global's Subsidiary Tadaa Capital Acquires Cigar Secret to Develop an AI-Power Premium Lifestyle Membership Ecosystem

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The Nasdaq 100 index extended its gain to 2%.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the Nasdaq 100 Index’s gain widened to 2%, hitting a new daily high. Its constituent stocks posted the following increases: Nebius rose 16.1%, SanDisk gained 13.2%, Teradyne climbed 13.1%, Micron advanced 13%, Western Digital increased 12.8%, Seagate Technology rose 11.5%, while Lumentum and CoreWeave each gained 9.3%.

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VARREL just punched their ticket through the upper bracket of the Esports World Cup 2026 Pacific Qualifier, taking down Team Secret 2-1 in a best-of-three series that started with a dominant 13-6 performance on Split. The Japanese Valorant squad made their map pick look like a formality before grinding through Lotus and Fracture to close out the series.

The match took place on May 12, 2026, as part of a qualifier running from May 11 through May 19. For anyone tracking the intersection of competitive gaming and digital finance, this tournament cycle is notable for what it doesn’t include: not a single crypto sponsor, token integration, or blockchain-related entity in sight.

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The match and what it tells us Split was never really a contest. VARREL came out swinging on their own map pick and closed it 13-6, the kind of scoreline that suggests Team Secret were solving a puzzle they never quite figured out. The series then moved to Lotus and Fracture, where things tightened up, but VARREL held their nerve across all three maps to take the upper final.

Team Secret, meanwhile, drops to the lower bracket. They’re not eliminated, but the path forward just got harder.

The crypto-shaped hole in esports The Esports World Cup 2026 Pacific Qualifier is running clean of any crypto-related branding or integration. No fan tokens. No NFT collectibles tied to match moments. No blockchain-based prediction markets embedded into the viewing experience.

For crypto investors and builders watching the esports space, the absence is instructive. Most crypto-esports partnerships were marketing plays dressed up as technology integrations. When the marketing budgets disappeared, there was no underlying utility to sustain the relationship.

The Pacific Qualifier continues through May 19, with VARREL now sitting in a comfortable upper bracket position.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Key Takeaways Apple initiated legal action against OpenAI in California federal court, claiming trade secret misappropriation and contractual violations Tang Yew Tan, ex-hardware executive at Apple, is accused of transferring supplier information and instructing candidates to bring confidential Apple components to job interviews Chang Liu, a former Apple engineer, allegedly retained company equipment after departure and accessed sensitive files OpenAI reportedly demonstrated Apple’s exclusive metal-finishing process to a third-party manufacturer without authorization Industry experts suggest the litigation may hinder OpenAI’s consumer device roadmap and strain its collaborative ties with Apple The Cupertino-based tech giant launched legal proceedings against OpenAI this past Friday, alleging systematic theft of confidential information and violation of existing agreements. The complaint was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

$AAPL sued OpenAI in federal court, alleging trade secret theft tied to OpenAI’s consumer hardware push.

Apple named OpenAI hardware chief Tang Tan and former Apple engineer Chang Liu in the suit, alleging confidential hardware files and unreleased product materials were taken.… pic.twitter.com/qJKR7X6vDq

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) July 11, 2026

The legal action marks a dramatic shift in relations between the two technology leaders, who established a collaborative arrangement in 2024 integrating ChatGPT functionality into iOS. This partnership has now devolved into courtroom confrontation.

The Allegations in Detail At the heart of Apple’s complaint stands Tang Yew Tan, who spent nearly a quarter-century at the iPhone maker working on design initiatives for flagship products including the iPhone and Apple Watch. Tan later established io Products, a hardware development firm that OpenAI purchased for approximately $6.5 billion last year.

According to the filing, Tan systematically transferred sensitive supplier data to his private email account during his final days at Apple. The lawsuit further claims he provided guidance to prospective OpenAI hires on circumventing Apple’s exit protocols and explicitly directed interview candidates to transport unreleased Apple components—such as battery systems, circuit boards, and integrated System-in-Package technology—to OpenAI facilities as demonstration materials.

The complaint also names Chang Liu, who served as a senior systems electrical engineer at Apple. The filing asserts Liu retained an Apple-issued computing device following his transition to OpenAI and subsequently utilized it to extract proprietary technical documentation.

A third accusation centers on manufacturing processes. Apple contends that OpenAI showcased a confidential metal surface treatment methodology to an external manufacturing collaborator while falsely implying Apple had granted permission for such disclosure.

OpenAI has categorically rejected these accusations. In an official response, the company stated: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.”

Implications for OpenAI’s Device Strategy The timing of this lawsuit is particularly significant for OpenAI’s broader ambitions. The artificial intelligence company has publicly acknowledged its intention to enter the consumer hardware market, with industry sources describing products including a screenless wearable device and an intelligent camera-enabled speaker system. Development timelines for certain products have reportedly shifted into early 2027.

The legal process will now grant Apple extensive access to OpenAI’s hardware development operations during a pivotal phase. Should Apple secure preliminary injunctive relief, it could effectively halt progress on OpenAI’s entire device initiative.

Industry analyst Paolo Pescatore commented to Reuters: “Even if the allegations are not proven, the lawsuit could delay OpenAI’s hardware ambitions and further weaken what is already becoming an increasingly fragile partnership.”

The legal battle also coincides with a major transition in Apple’s executive structure. Tim Cook is scheduled to assume the role of executive chairman on September 1, transferring CEO responsibilities to John Ternus, who currently oversees hardware engineering operations.

Apple’s legal filing requests judicial intervention to prevent OpenAI from retaining or utilizing any allegedly misappropriated materials and demands their immediate return.

Legal proceedings are anticipated to extend through multiple procedural phases in the coming months. Despite their current dispute, both organizations recognize a fundamental truth: the battle to define the next generation of consumer computing platforms is unfolding in real time.

Privacy-focused layer-1 blockchain Secret Network is proposing to move from its longtime home on Cosmos to Ethereum layer-2 Arbitrum, citing security risks from artificial intelligence, among other reasons. 

Secret Network has been running privacy-preserving smart contracts on Cosmos since 2020, as the ecosystem had strong momentum back then, but the “environment has changed,” the team said Tuesday.  

“The security risk is the part we take most seriously,” it said. “Old code is becoming dramatically easier to analyze … With AI, the cost of attacking stale code is falling across the board.” 

The recent Axelar-Secret IBC bridge exploit highlighted growing security risk from aging, under-maintained code — a risk the team argues AI-assisted exploitation is making worse. The release of advanced AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos 5 has dramatically increased the capabilities for discovering and potentially exploiting code vulnerabilities. 

Liquidity has thinnedThe Secret team described Arbitrum as having “deep liquidity, tooling, wallet and exchange support, and thousands of builders composing with one another,” and said “liquidity has thinned” on Cosmos while builders have “drifted to other ecosystems.”

“The tooling you’d want to count on is shakier than it used to be, and a number of projects that once anchored Cosmos have migrated,” it added. 

“Attacks that used to take deep manual effort are getting cheaper as models get better at reading contracts, tracing assumptions, and turning a forgotten edge case into a working exploit.”The proposal, which requires a governance vote, follows a bridge exploit in June that resulted in the loss of $4.7 million in bridged assets but did not affect Secret’s native token, SCRT.

For SCRT to endure, it needs a new stable home, and the Ethereum ecosystem is that home, the team said. 

The team is planning a one-time snapshot of SCRT balances on Sept. 1, which will be used to issue a new ERC-20 SCRT contract on Arbitrum.

Dwindling DeFi value locked The total value locked in the Cosmos ecosystem is around $2 billion, down 88% from its peak during the 2021 bull market. Comparatively, Arbitrum is the leading layer-2 network by total value secured, which is $17.4 billion, according to L2Beat. 

Secret Network has just $1.3 million in TVL on Cosmos, according to DefiLlama. 

SCRT holders did not react well to the news, with the token tanking 24% over the past 24 hours to 4.1 cents, down more than 99% from its 2021 peak, according to CoinGecko. 

Secret is not the only network to leave Cosmos. In February, privacy-focused blockchain NilChain, built with the Cosmos SDK, left the ecosystem in a move to Ethereum. 

The Sei Network completed a full Cosmos-to-EVM transition in June, closing down its native Cosmos transaction layer entirely and becoming Ethereum-based. 

Stablecoin blockchain Noble also announced it was moving from the Cosmos ecosystem to Ethereum in January. 

Features: The biggest blockchain upgrades still to come in 2026

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Secret Network wants to pack up and move to Arbitrum, and the reason is more unsettling than a typical chain migration story. SCRT Labs, the team behind the privacy-focused blockchain, has proposed shifting the $SCRT token from its current Cosmos-based Layer 1 to Ethereum’s Arbitrum Layer 2, warning that aging integration code is increasingly vulnerable to exploits, particularly those powered by AI tools.

“The security risk is the part we take most seriously,” the team said, pointing to outdated code and the growing threat of AI-assisted attacks as primary motivators for the move.

A bridge hack and a wake-up call The proposal didn’t materialize out of thin air. In June 2026, the Axelar-Secret IBC bridge suffered a breach that drained approximately $4.7 million through an infinite mint vulnerability. SCRT Labs has framed the Axelar incident as symptomatic of a broader problem: legacy integration code that was written for a different era and is now being probed by increasingly sophisticated tools, including AI-powered exploit finders.

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The team’s proposed solution is essentially a controlled demolition of the old chain followed by a fresh start on Arbitrum. A snapshot date of September 1, 2026 will determine eligibility for the token conversion. Only native and staked SCRT held in self-custodied wallets at the time of the snapshot will qualify for conversion to the new ERC-20 version of SCRT on Arbitrum.

Why Arbitrum, and what happens to the old chain The migration is designed to support Secret Network’s pivot toward confidential AI and verifiable compute applications. Secret Network has historically operated in the Cosmos ecosystem, which offers interoperability through IBC but lacks the deep liquidity pools, developer tooling, and wallet infrastructure that the Ethereum ecosystem provides. Arbitrum, as one of Ethereum’s leading Layer 2 rollups, gives SCRT access to all of that without the gas costs of mainnet Ethereum.

After the snapshot, SCRT Labs plans to cease all formal maintenance of the original Cosmos chain. The team will release the source code under a permissive license, which means third-party validators could theoretically keep the chain alive if enough staking power remains.

The proposal also includes a notable economic change: SCRT’s staking inflation rate would drop from 9% to 5%, reflecting a shift from incentivizing early-stage validator participation toward a more utility-driven token model.

What this means for SCRT holders and the broader market The entire proposal hinges on community governance approval. Nothing is final until token holders vote. For current SCRT holders, the September 1 snapshot creates a clear deadline. Anyone holding SCRT through custodial services, wrapped versions, or non-qualifying formats needs to move tokens to self-custodied wallets before that date or risk being excluded from the migration entirely.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

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Key Takeaways Secret Network has announced plans to migrate its SCRT token away from Cosmos to Arbitrum, an Ethereum layer-2 solution. The decision follows a devastating $4.7 million bridge hack in June that highlighted critical security vulnerabilities. Developers warn that artificial intelligence technology is accelerating the discovery and exploitation of legacy code weaknesses. Total value locked in the Cosmos ecosystem has plummeted 88% since 2021, while Arbitrum maintains $17.4 billion in secured assets. The SCRT token experienced a sharp 24% decline within 24 hours of the migration announcement, currently valued at approximately $0.041. Privacy-focused blockchain Secret Network has revealed intentions to abandon the Cosmos ecosystem in favor of Arbitrum, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution. The migration proposal, made public on July 7, emerges just weeks after hackers successfully exploited a bridge vulnerability, stealing $4.7 million in digital assets.

JUST IN: Secret Network migrates to Arbitrum, SCRT token to ERC-20 on Arbitrum; snapshot set for Sept 1, 2026. Post-migration, SCRT stays governance token with inflation cut from 9% to 5%, and SCRT Labs to wind down major maintenance. $SCRT pic.twitter.com/rxk6rL4429

— Bpay News (@bpaynews) July 8, 2026

According to the development team, security concerns represent the primary motivation behind this strategic shift. While Secret Network has called Cosmos home since 2020, the organization now believes the ecosystem’s evolving landscape and aging infrastructure pose unacceptable risks.

“The security risk is the part we take most seriously,” the team wrote. “Old code is becoming dramatically easier to analyze.”

Developers specifically highlighted artificial intelligence as an emerging vulnerability factor. Modern AI systems can efficiently analyze smart contract code, identify logical flaws, and generate functional exploit scripts at unprecedented speeds.

The bridge compromise in June, which targeted the Axelar-Secret IBC connection, resulted in $4.7 million worth of bridged tokens being stolen. While the team emphasized that the core SCRT token and underlying privacy technology remained secure, the incident demonstrated the inherent risks associated with maintaining outdated code within a shrinking ecosystem.

Declining Cosmos Ecosystem Metrics The Cosmos network has experienced significant deterioration since reaching its zenith in 2021. Current total value locked across all Cosmos-based chains stands at approximately $2 billion, representing an 88% collapse from peak levels. Secret Network itself maintains only $1.3 million in locked value, based on DefiLlama data.

Contrasting sharply, Arbitrum currently secures $17.4 billion in total value, establishing its position as the dominant Ethereum layer-2 network according to L2Beat metrics.

The development team noted that both developers and liquidity providers have steadily migrated away from Cosmos. Previously reliable infrastructure and tools have deteriorated, while several prominent projects have already departed the ecosystem.

Secret Network joins a growing exodus from Cosmos. Stablecoin infrastructure Noble revealed plans to migrate to Ethereum in January. Privacy-focused NilChain completed its Ethereum transition in February. Sei Network finalized its comprehensive Cosmos-to-Ethereum migration in June.

Technical Migration Details and Token Economics Should the governance proposal receive community approval, SCRT Labs intends to capture a snapshot of all SCRT token balances on September 1. This snapshot will determine eligibility for the new ERC-20 compatible SCRT token launching on Arbitrum.

Native SCRT holdings and staked tokens will qualify for the migration. However, bridged SCRT variants, sSCRT, contract-held balances, and IBC-based assets will be excluded. Token holders must ensure their assets are in eligible forms before the snapshot deadline.

Post-migration tokenomics will feature a reduced inflation rate, dropping from 9% annually to 5%. SCRT will maintain its role as the primary governance token on the new platform.

Official development support for the existing Cosmos-based Secret layer-1 blockchain will terminate on September 1. The legacy chain could theoretically continue operating if independent validators elect to maintain the infrastructure.

The migration proposal awaits formal community voting. Without governance approval, the transition cannot proceed.

Market reaction to the announcement proved overwhelmingly negative. SCRT’s price crashed approximately 24% in the initial 24-hour period following the revelation, settling near $0.041. This valuation represents a staggering 99%+ decline from the token’s 2021 all-time high.

As part of the transition process, Secret Network’s development team has committed to releasing the network’s complete source code under an open-source licensing framework.

Team Secret Whales just did something most analysts thought was deeply unlikely. The Vietnamese League of Legends squad eliminated TOP Esports, one of China’s most decorated organizations, in a best-of-five series at MSI 2026 in Daejeon, South Korea.

For context, TSW had just been swept 0-3 by Hanwha Life Esports in the upper bracket. Coming back through the lower bracket to knock out a team of TES’s caliber is the kind of narrative arc that makes esports compelling, and that makes prediction markets very interesting.

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The upset and why it matters beyond the Rift Team Secret Whales is a Vietnamese organization that was only established in December 2024. They qualified for MSI 2026 undefeated in LCP Split 2, representing the combined Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and Oceania region. Their jungler Hizto earned MVP honors for that split, and their roster of Pun, Hizto, Dire, Eddie, and Bie has quickly developed a reputation for punching above their weight class.

TOP Esports, meanwhile, carries the expectations that come with representing the LPL, China’s premier league. The MSI 2026 bracket stage runs from July 3 to 12.

Coinbase’s headline sponsorship and the prediction market angle Coinbase is the headline sponsor of MSI 2026, and the partnership includes built-in prediction markets where fans can wager on match outcomes. Polymarket has also listed prediction markets related to the tournament, giving crypto-native users another venue to put their game knowledge to work.

Neither Team Secret Whales nor TOP Esports has any direct crypto sponsorships or associated tokens. TSW’s sponsors include traditional brands like Pulsar and VTVCab ONLive.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

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Binance Hints at Possible Delisting of 4 Altcoins, Triggering a Price Bloodbath