News Square
Global Crypto News · Real-time Aggregation
📚 Deep Analysis
More →Arthur Hayes Plans to Build Derivatives Around AI Compute
Arthur Hayes published a new essay on October 27 outlining futures and perpetual swaps tied to Flop Network’s proposed compute market, where AI agents would pay for computing power using FLOP. The plan aims to establish a reference price for compute that traders could use to build financial contracts around the resources AI systems consume. In a post on X, Hayes called his essay “The Trifecta” and <a href="https://x.com/CryptoHayes/status/2114857087004201325?s=20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">described</a> it as a blueprint for entrepreneurs seeking to build derivatives for the AI agent economy. His central idea is that a liquid spot market for computing power could <a href="https://cryptohayes.substack.com/p/the-trifecta" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">provide</a> the pricing benchmark needed for futures and perpetual swaps. The proposed Flop Reference Compute Rate (FRCR) would be calculated hourly using a volume-weighted FLOP price per GigaFLOP of computing capacity. Quarterly futures would settle on the last Friday of March, June, September, and December, with contracts using US dollars for margin and profits. Hayes explained that the dollar-based structure would require a quanto derivative, a contract whose payout uses a different currency from its underlying asset. Because the compute market would be priced in FLOP while traders could prefer dollar-denominated returns, pricing the contract would require an adjustment for the relationship between the FRCR and the FLOP-to-dollar exchange rate. The proposed perpetual swap would use an eight-hour time-weighted average of the difference between its trading price and the FRCR to calculate funding payments. As with crypto perpetuals, traders on the expensive side of the contract would pay those on the cheaper side, depending on the premium. Market makers could recreate futures exposure by buying or supplying Flop Compute Units (FCUs), which represent reserved inference capacity for a specified AI model and delivery time. Hayes’s design also requires suppliers to post FLOP bonds, which they risk losing if they fail to deliver the promised computing work. The derivatives proposal depends on Flop Network first establishing a functioning spot market. Hayes argues that existing indexes tracking chip rental prices and individual AI token prices provide incomplete information because both are derivatives of the underlying cost of computation. Under his design, network blocks would record inference tasks, the computing work completed, and the fees paid to miners. Those receipts would help calculate the exchange rate between FLOP and computing capacity, giving buyers and suppliers a common reference. Hayes <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/arthur-hayes-called-ai-a-bubble-now-hes-launching-an-ai-project/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">introduced</a> Flop Labs in August 2026, describing its proposed native token FLOP as “food for your AI agent.” In an August 27 explanation, the project <a href="ht
Zcash Co-founder Sean Bowe Proposes Ending ZCG Funding Stream, Citing $125M Treasury
Zcash (ZEC) co-founder Sean Bowe proposed on Monday to end the 8% block reward share paid to Zcash Community Grants (ZCG), saying the program already holds over $125 million. Bowe filed the change as a draft Zcash Improvement Proposal (ZIP) that would send that reward share to the Network Sustainability Mechanism (NSM) until the stream’s scheduled end. That mechanism withholds the coins from issuance and starts paying them back out as block rewards in February 2031. Under the draft, ZCG would keep its existing treasury and could still approve grants from it. “The program was never designed to handle this amount of funding,” Bowe wrote on X. It’s time to turn off the ZCG funding stream. ZCG has over $125M in funding, and will receive millions more before the spigot is turned off. The program was never designed to handle this amount of funding. — Sean Bowe (@ebfull) <a href="https://x.com/ebfull/status/2114911107718742451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">October 27, 2026</a> Bowe’s figure comes from a dashboard linked on ZCG’s website. It listed 91,453 ZEC and $8.8 million in cash at an October 21 block. Approved grants still unpaid came to $2.4 million. Bowe valued the coins at $1,300 each to reach $125.3 million. The same dashboard counts another 110,049 ZEC due to ZCG before the stream ends on November 24, 2028. According to the draft ZIP, at the dashboard’s price of $1,241.61, those coins are worth $136.6 million, more than the program holds now; and, according to a Financial Privacy Foundation report, ZCG spent $1.53 million in the first quarter of 2026 <span>against that intake</span>. The stream adds 144 ZEC a day, which Bowe put at $68.3 million a year at the same coin price. Bowe’s draft landed alongside other proposals on the Zcash forum. For instance, Maxime Desalle’s proposal would also send ZCG’s remaining treasury to the NSM. Desalle cited a February coinholder vote in which 98.6% opposed Zcash Shielded Assets. ZCG approved another $455,000 for Shielded Assets work in June, he said. Turnout was 7.25% of circulating ZEC, per the Zcash Foundation. In June, ZCG approved $455,000 for a QEDIT test network covering Shielded Assets and other deferred features, its minutes show. Josh Swihart, founder and CEO of Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), said: “It’d be a mistake to kill only one part of the dev fund.” He added the 12% Coinholder-Controlled Fund, which accrues about 216 ZEC a day, should end too. Swihart’s company is the one former Electric Coin Company staff <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/zcash-governance-crisis-forces-full-exit-of-electric-coin-company-staff/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">formed</a> after a governance dispute. Responding to Swihart’s plan, Bowe wrote that he would also personally back a separate proposal to strip ZCG’s existing treasury. Ian Miers, one of Zcash’s founding scientists, objected to the NSM as the destination, stating that the reserve ultimately pays miners and could
Zcash co-founder calls to stop funding ‘over $125M’ grants program
Sean Bowe says ZCG has enough money to keep funding projects and wants its share of new ZEC redirected to a reserve for the network. Zcash co-founder Sean Bowe proposed ending the automatic funding stream to Zcash Community Grants (ZCG), saying its treasury was large enough to continue funding projects without further automatic payments. “ZCG has over $125M in funding, and will receive millions more before the spigot is turned off,” Bowe <a href="https://x.com/ebfull/status/2114911107718742451" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">>said</a> Tuesday on X. “The program was never designed to handle this amount of funding.” Bowe shared a draft GitHub <a href="https://github.com/zcash/zips/blob/end-zcg-stream/zips/draft-bowe-end-zcg-stream.md" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">>proposal</a> that would redirect ZCG’s 8% share of the Zcash (ZEC) block subsidy to the network’s sustainability reserve, while leaving its existing funds untouched. The allocation would flow to the Network Sustainability Mechanism until the current funding period ends in 2028. The mechanism is designed to hold ZEC out of circulation and gradually reissue it through future block rewards. In September, Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly, proposed ending the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/dragonflys-qureshi-end-zcash-dev-fund-2028" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Zcash developer fund</a> when its current funding period expires, saying that it risks being “politicized” as it approaches $100 million in value. ZCG’s dashboard <a href="https://zcashcommunitygrants.org/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">>listed</a> 91,453 ZEC and $8.8 million in cash as of Wednesday, with $2.4 million in outstanding grant commitments. The ZEC holdings alone were worth about $111 million at press time. The network’s separate development lockbox <a href="https://zecstats.org/shielded" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">>held</a> 72,351 ZEC, worth roughly $89 million, according to ZecStats. <em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/prediction-markets-17b-robinhood-exceed-crypto-revenue-2028-bernstein" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><em><strong>HOOD’s prediction markets to add $1.7B to revenue, exceed crypto by 2028: Bernstein</strong></em></a>
Market news: In the 302 polling stations where vote counting has been completed in Israel's elections, Likud is temporarily leading with 26.61% of the vote.
CoinWorld news, market news: Of the 302 polling stations where vote counting has been completed in Israel's elections, Likud is temporarily leading with 26.61% of the vote.
OpenAI plans to purchase Google AI chips to reduce its reliance on Nvidia.
According to The Information, OpenAI is reportedly planning to purchase Google's artificial intelligence chips to accelerate its efforts to reduce its dependence on Nvidia. If OpenAI decides to purchase Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), it would be a major victory for Google's chip business. The financial terms and other details of OpenAI's planned purchase of Google chips are not yet clear. OpenAI is hiring an engineer to "lead the optimization" of the company's most advanced frontier models so that they can run on TPUs. The Information reported last year that OpenAI had begun using Google TPUs, thereby reducing its reliance on Nvidia chips. The news prompted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to act quickly, and Nvidia subsequently worked with OpenAI on a new agreement. An OpenAI spokesperson said the company "has no plans to use TPUs specifically at this time."
Diamante confirms it has suffered a hack and has activated its emergency protocol.
CoinWorld news: Web3 infrastructure and payment network Diamante has officially issued a security incident announcement, confirming that its ecosystem suffered an unauthorized attack by hackers. Following the incident, the team activated emergency protocols and, together with exchange partners, market makers, and liquidity providers, suspended related deposits, withdrawals, and transfers to limit abnormal asset movements. The investigation has reportedly identified the individual identity of the attacker involved, and the team is working with law enforcement agencies and government institutions in multiple countries to pursue legal accountability and asset recovery. Diamante stated that it is assessing the specific scale of the damaged assets and has promised the community that it will ensure all affected ecosystem participants receive full compensation, with detailed investigation results to be published subsequently.
The market expects a 90% probability that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged in October.
BiJie Network data: The market estimates the probability that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged in the 3.75% to 4.00% range at the October 28 FOMC meeting at about 90%, and the probability of a rate hike in December at about 80%. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will hold a press conference at 14:30. Crude oil prices have pulled back, energy-driven inflation continues, and the gold price is currently around $4,000. The high consensus in the market for keeping rates unchanged reflects policymakers' cautious approach in seeking a balance between inflation and economic growth, and is expected to affect short-term interest rate trends.
SK Hynix announces a 100 trillion won shareholder return plan; memory shortage will persist until 2030.
According to CoinWorld news, SK Hynix announced that it will implement a shareholder return plan worth 100 trillion Korean won (approximately 75 billion US dollars), and expects the memory chip supply shortage to continue until 2030. The company reported that its operating profit for the quarter ending in September reached 83.3 trillion Korean won (expected 76.7 trillion Korean won), and revenue rose to 104.6 trillion Korean won (expected 98.3 trillion Korean won), with both indicators hitting record highs for a single quarter. Driven by tight supply, the company's operating profit margin remains at a historical high. The company's analysis believes that in the short term, enterprise and consumer adoption of artificial intelligence will drive memory demand, while in the medium to long term, physical artificial intelligence applications such as autonomous driving and robotics will become the driving force for demand growth.
OpenAI plans to acquire Google's AI chips
CoinWorld news: OpenAI plans to acquire Google's AI chips; specific details have not yet been disclosed.
BlackRock transferred 1,698 BTC to Coinbase, while a whale withdrew 11,300 Bitcoin.
CoinWorld data: According to media reports, BlackRock transferred 1,698 BTC to Coinbase Prime for sale, and a whale withdrew 11,300 bitcoins worth about $2.7 billion from Binance after five months of inactivity. In addition, the market expects the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged this week, and spot gold rose 1% intraday to $4,056.99 per ounce. The U.S. CFTC and the Department of Justice sued Utah in an effort to stop the state from cracking down on prediction markets. The Michigan retirement fund disclosed holdings of $12.8 million in bitcoin, GMO Internet was hacked with a $50 million ransom demanded, and bitcoin short positions worth $2.7 billion face liquidation risk at $84,000.