A proposed XRPL upgrade could allow banks and fintech firms to pay XRP-related costs for customers who do not hold the token. According to NS3.AI, the Sponsor amendment would let companies cover account reserves and transaction fees while customers keep control of their accounts and private keys. XRPScan showed six validators supporting the amendment, which is still below the 29-validator threshold.

Duojia Holdings (02479) said an independent investigator has completed a forensic review of chip prepayments, cash management notes and recharge service prepayments, and found the three types of transactions had some commercial rationale and substance, according to ETNet. The company said internal control weaknesses were identified in areas including due diligence before investment, risk identification, supplier management, internal approvals, and contract and seal management. It added that with the resignation of the former management and strengthened controls, the obstacles to resuming trading have been largely removed, but its shares remain suspended. On chip prepayments, the company said it paid about HK$63.1 million to four suppliers in 2024 to buy Nvidia chips. After adjustments to its procurement plan, all chips and servers were delivered by the end of March 2025 and put to use in AI model training, fine-tuning and multimodal experiments. For the cash management notes, Duojia said it subscribed to three notes with a principal amount of $10 million, but the issuer has not repaid principal or made any distributions. The company has taken legal action and on August 23 signed a deed of assignment with former chairman and controlling shareholder Zuo Lei to sell the notes for $10 million, or about RMB67 million. It said it has received the full consideration, and the transaction still needs approval from independent shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting on the 30th of this month. The company also said it made advance payments of about RMB193 million and RMB88 million to two suppliers in 2024 for recharge services. The review found the arrangements were in line with industry practice and had commercial substance, but noted shortcomings in supplier due diligence, assessment of prepayment size and ongoing monitoring. Duojia said the former management involved in approving the matters resigned from all executive and management roles on August 30. Its audit committee and board believe the issues that led to the suspension have been largely resolved, but trading will remain halted until resumption guidance is met.

Deadstock said it has completed a $2.5 million seed funding round led by Bullish Capital, the venture arm of Bullish, with participation from a group of angel investors. According to ChainCatcher, the funding will support Deadstock’s public beta and its next stage of building infrastructure for a global liquid trading card market.

Bonk Guy said PONS fundamentals have improved during the recent consolidation period, with daily revenue staying above $1 million over the past two weeks even as interest in Robinhood Chain eased. According to Odaily, he said 80% of protocol revenue continues to be used to buy back and burn PONS, and more than 30% of the token supply has already been permanently destroyed. He added that Pons now holds about 75% to 80% of the Robinhood Chain Launchpad market. Based on current data, annualized fees and revenue are about $829 million and $159 million, respectively, while PONS has a market capitalization of about $430 million. By comparison, PUMP has annualized fees and revenue of about $1.115 billion and $460 million, with a market capitalization of about $1.75 billion. Bonk Guy said PONS has at least a chance to reach a circulating market capitalization of $5 billion in this cycle, more than 10 times its current level.

According to Axios, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Congress has a role in AI oversight and that “guardrails” make sense for frontier models, while also backing a “light touch” approach that would not stifle innovation. Thune said he sees “potential consequential risks” from AI but added that people often create worst-case scenarios, and he left open the possibility of Senate action on a House bill aimed at ensuring communities do not pay more for data centers’ power use. He said he spoke with Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Saturday night about their AI bill, which would require companies building frontier AI models to guard against catastrophic risks and submit to federal oversight, and said he has been working with Commerce Chair Ted Cruz to reintroduce it “hopefully soon.” House GOP leaders have not indicated they plan to keep the chamber in session after this week for AI legislation, while Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress may need to act but that corporate responsibility is also important.

China’s Ministry of State Security warned that some foreign crypto projects are collecting citizens’ iris data in exchange for digital tokens, raising concerns over privacy and national security. The advisory closely aligns with Worldcoin, which is under increasing global scrutiny for its biometric data practices.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has led a team of six senators to repeal Trump's decision to dissolve the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET).

Singapore is cracking down on illegal trading of Worldcoin accounts and tokens, with seven individuals under investigation and five already arrested. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has clarified that Worldcoin itself isn't regulated under their Payment Services Act, but trading activities may violate the law, leading to severe penalties.

Worldcoin faces global sanctions over privacy concerns, with bans in multiple countries including France, India, Hong Kong, and Brazil. Despite its ambition to offer universal financial access, questions remain about its approach and regulatory compliance.

Nigeria's EFCC froze over 1,100 crypto traders' accounts due to alleged currency manipulation and money laundering, intensifying concerns about crypto regulation. While the CBN denies a crypto ban, the EFCC's actions and regulatory uncertainties cast a shadow over Nigeria's crypto future.

Worldcoin faces an orb shortage as demand for its iris-scanning technology surges. Despite challenges, Worldcoin aims to revolutionise finance through biometric authentication and blockchain innovation.