Vol. I · August 25, 2026 · Gotham City · Free to read
Crypto · Regulation · AI
Crypto Finance Shifts as Regulation Tightens and AI Consolidates Power
From the first US stablecoin law and BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF dominance to Nvidia’s $4 trillion milestone and OpenAI’s costly retreat from Sora, the past two years reshaped the digital asset and AI landscape.
By Vicki Vale · Gotham Gazette
The United States enacted its first comprehensive framework for payment stablecoins in July 2025 with the signing of the GENIUS Act. The law mandates that reserves be held one-to-one in US Treasuries and short-dollar assets, while explicitly banning the payment of any yield to holders.
In the exchange-traded fund market, Bitcoin ETFs became BlackRock’s single largest source of revenue in 2025. The asset manager’s fund also emerged as the largest single holder of bitcoin in the world.
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