Sentient open-source AI search outperforms GPT-4o and Perplexity

Sentient, an artificial intelligence development platform backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, has released an open-source AI search framework that it says outperforms leading closed-source competitors. The company announced the public release of Open Deep Search (ODS) on April 2, describing it as a high-performance, developer-friendly alternative to platforms like Perplexity AI and OpenAI’s GPT-4o. …

SMBC, Ava Labs, Fireblocks sign MoU for stablecoin framework in Japan

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC), a Japanese banking and financial services conglomerate, along with business systems firm TIS Inc, Ava Labs — the developer of the Avalanche network — and digital asset infrastructure company Fireblocks, have signed an agreement to explore a framework for commercializing stablecoins in Japan. Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the companies …

Bitcoin breaks $86K as US tariff 'Liberation Day' risks 11% BTC price dip

Bitcoin (BTC) reached new April highs at the April 2 Wall Street open as markets braced for US “Liberation Day.” BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView Bitcoin teases breakout in US tariff countdown Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed local highs of $86,444 on Bitstamp, the best performance for BTC/USD since March 28. Volatility …

Musk’s government-efficiency blockchain: What could go wrong and what could go right?

Opinion by: James Strudwick, executive director, Starknet Foundation The outlook surrounding the use of new technologies has shifted in Washington. Tesla CEO and presidential adviser Elon Musk’s proposition to incorporate blockchain technology into the US Treasury has placed blockchain and its use for state finances at the forefront of the global debate. According to Musk, …

Grayscale launches two new Bitcoin outcome-oriented products

Major cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale Investments announced two new Bitcoin outcome-oriented exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to an April 2 announcement, the new products are the Grayscale Bitcoin Covered Call ETF (BTCC) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BPI). According to an email sent to Cointelegraph, the two new Bitcoin (BTC) funds are meant to …

Coreum: How a 7,000 TPS Blockchain Is Shaping the Future of Regulated Finance

A new report by Cointelegraph Research explores Coreum’s role in institutional blockchain adoption. It analyzes the project’s technical architecture, compliance framework and its potential impact on regulated asset tokenization. The report presents insights into transaction efficiency, security mechanisms and crosschain interoperability. It also evaluates how Coreum fits into the evolving financial landscape. Blockchain evolution and …

Crypto has a regulatory capture problem in Washington — Or does it?

The crypto industry’s sway in Washington DC has made it more likely that the industry will get beneficial legislation, but it’s also creating problems.  Concerns of regulatory capture — a situation in which regulators or lawmakers are co-opted to serve the interests of a small constituency — have grown as crypto lobbying gains influence in …

Messaging apps are spying on you — Here’s how to stay safe in 2025

Social messaging apps tend to make major news headlines a few times per year for either their use in planning some sort of crime or, more routinely, for users’ privacy concerns over how companies like Meta — which owns WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger — handle user data.  In a somewhat separate event, the Trump administration …

Blockchain projects fight for 23andMe user data amid bankruptcy

DNA testing firm 23andMe is bankrupt, and now the genomic data of its 15 million users is up for sale to the highest bidder. Could that data end up on the blockchain? The company announced on March 23 that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and that its CEO, Anne Wojcicki, had stepped …

$2B lost to crypto hacks in Q1 2025, $1.63B from access control flaws

Over $2 billion was lost to cryptocurrency hacks in the first quarter of 2025. According to a report shared with Cointelegraph by crypto cybersecurity firm Hacken, in Q1 2025, nearly $1.63 billion was lost just to access control exploits. Anmol Jain, vice president of investigations at crypto forensics firm AMLBot, told Cointelegraph that the exceptionally …