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XAI WORKERS BALKED OVER TRAINING REQUEST TO HELP “GIVE GROK A FACE,” DOCS SHOW

xAI employees were asked to record videos of their facial expressions to help Grok learn what a face is and interpret human emotions.

CRYPTO TREASURY FEVER SPREADS TO ETHENA AS $360M SPAC DEAL TARGETS ENA ACCUMULATION

StablecoinX is set to merge with Nasdaq-listed shell TLGY Acquisition Corp under the ticker USDE, raising $360 million from the likes of Pantera, Dragonfly, Galaxy, and Polychain, including $100 million in discounted locked ENA and $260 million in cash. The plan is to amass Ethena's governance token and kickstart a $260 million ENA buyback by the Ethena Foundation. This SPAC-driven treasury play extends Wall Street's crypto balance-sheet strategies into DeFi altcoins, fueling a ~5% intraday ENA lift and a 65% weekly surge.

POLYMARKET TO RETURN TO U.S. AFTER ACQUISITION

Polymarket is acquiring CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange QCX for $112 million, securing the regulatory approval needed to legally reopen its crypto prediction markets to US users. QCX's registration will enable Polymarket to offer fully compliant market contracts, expanding its popular events trading platform that boomed during the 2024 election. The deal comes after both the DOJ and CFTC closed investigations into Polymarket's prior US operations under a 2022 settlement. With this move, Polymarket aims to re-enter the US “in the near future,” challenging CFTC-regulated rivals like Kalshi and potentially shaking up sports betting.

BAM: THE FUTURE OF BLOCK BUILDING ON SOLANA

BAM is a high-performance block-building architecture for Solana that layers a network of TEE-backed scheduler nodes, updated validators, and a plugin marketplace to enable private, verifiable, and programmable transaction sequencing. Transactions remain encrypted until execution inside secure enclaves, with cryptographic attestations published for public audit, while Plugins let developers implement custom ordering logic for use cases like CLOBs, perpetuals, and dark pools. This design curbs harmful MEV, unlocks application-controlled execution, and creates new revenue streams through Plugin fees, all without changing Solana's core protocol. A phased rollout by Jito Labs, followed by broad operator expansion and eventual open-source governance, will decentralize and scale BAM into Solana's institutional-grade block-building standard.

COINBASE BRINGS PERPETUAL FUTURES TO THE U.S.

Coinbase has launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for U.S. traders, offering nano BTC and ETH contracts with up to 10x leverage and no monthly expirations. The product, available via Coinbase Financial Markets, marks the first time U.S. retail users can access perpetual-style crypto derivatives on a compliant platform. Contracts are long-dated (5 years), with low fees starting at 0.02%, enabling U.S. traders to tap into the most dominant trading tool in global crypto markets.

THE STABLECOIN PLAYS THAT WILL RETIRE YOUR BLOODLINE

Policy, capital, sentiment, and participation are perfectly aligned for a stablecoin breakout. Ethereum is emerging as the backbone settlement layer, igniting pent-up demand for projects at this intersection. Contrarian opportunities include f(x) Protocol's fxUSD-driven leverage model, Frax's GENIUS-compliant frxUSD ecosystem and Fraxtal chain, and Curve/Convex's battle-tested liquidity infrastructure with its new crvUSD stablecoin. Each of these undervalued tokens is poised to capitalize on regulatory clarity and a liquidity-rich macro backdrop.

3 YEARS OF WEB3 MARKETING KNOWLEDGE IN ONE ARTICLE

Web3 marketing fundamentally differs from traditional marketing by operating as "narrative warfare," where controlling the story matters more than conventional funnels, with winners capturing the majority of liquidity through compelling personal narratives rather than polished campaigns. Founders must become the face and voice of their projects through consistent content creation, building trust and authority directly rather than relying on third parties. Success requires playing the long game by resisting premature launches or panic pivots during bear markets while carefully protecting reputation by avoiding short-term monetization tactics like unsolicited token shilling that erode credibility. In 2025's Web3 landscape, founders who overcome their discomfort with video content and personal branding will dominate, while those who remain invisible behind their projects will lose market share to less talented but more courageous competitors.

$UNIT POTENTIAL GROWTH & VALUATION

Unit is rapidly becoming Hyperliquid's most dominant protocol, leading in TVL ($828M), volume ($4B), and protocol revenue. Based on current fee capture, Unit earns ~$12.8M in annualized revenue, with bullish scenarios projecting up to $340M as more Utokens launch and spot volumes grow. Valuations range from $766M to $10.8, depending on growth and trading volume assumptions, making $UNIT exposure potentially one of the most lucrative passive bets in crypto.

FAVORITE FREE CRYPTO TOOLS

DeFiMinty shares a curated list of free tools for navigating crypto, from whale tracking and mindshare analysis to DeFi interactions and on-chain data. Top picks include Token Terminal for project metrics, DefiLlama for DeFi analytics, Rabby for wallet UX, and Dune for custom dashboards. Also highlighted are newer AI-native tools like Moby Agent, Kiyotaka, and Delphi Intelligence.

ONE-SHOT CHECKOUT WITH BASE PAY

Sid Coelho-Prabhu built a full USDC checkout app in under 5 minutes using Cursor AI and Base Pay.

LET INSTITUTIONS PAY TO BORROW YOUR ETH

Lending ETH on Aave is now yielding 13.42%.

CIRCLE VS. WESTERN UNION: A VALUATION SIGNAL

Circle's $48B valuation dwarfs Western Union's $2.6B, despite Western Union moving 3x more annual volume.

SHARPLINK BUYS $259M IN ETH, NOW HOLDS OVER 360K ETH

Sharplink acquired nearly 80,000 ETH for $259 million between July 14-20, bringing its total holdings to ~360,807 ETH, the largest weekly ETH purchase ever disclosed.

FIGMA'S DYLAN FIELD WILL CASH OUT ABOUT $60M IN IPO, WITH INDEX, KLEINER, GREYLOCK, SEQUOIA ALL SELLING, TOO

Figma's IPO is unusual in that existing shareholders will sell nearly twice as many shares as the company itself. Founder Dylan Field alone is set to cash out over $62 million while still retaining 74% voting control thanks to supervoting shares. Major investors like Sequoia and Greylock are also selling significant portions, signaling strong expected demand. If the offering prices above the $25–$28 range, it could become 2025's largest IPO to date.

RADICAL NEW IPHONE 17 COLOUR COULD BE A FIRST FOR APPLE

The iPhone 17 is set to introduce Apple's most dramatic design overhaul in years, featuring a new model, the iPhone 17 Air, a redesigned camera for the Pro version, and a striking, light-reactive color inspired by iOS 26's "Liquid Glass" aesthetic. This iridescent finish marks a bold shift from Apple's traditionally conservative color choices, signaling a renewed push to "Think Different" amid recent criticisms.

GOOGLE SOLVES ITS PIXEL 10 LEAKS BY JUST SHOWING US THE PHONE

Google has revealed the official design of the Pixel 10 ahead of its August 20 launch, continuing the company's trend of previewing device designs before their full unveiling. It closely resembles the Pixel 9 but adds a notable third rear camera, likely a telephoto lens.

WE ASKED CREATIVES HOW THEY LOOK AFTER THEMSELVES. HERE'S WHAT THEY SAID

Creatives are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain well-being in the high-pressure 2020s, but many are turning to nature, movement, sleep, creative play, and intentional downtime to avoid burnout. Ahead of International Self-Care Day, artists and designers shared personal strategies—from setting boundaries to prioritizing fun and connection—reminding us that self-care isn't a luxury, but a vital part of sustaining a healthy creative life.

WHY UX DESIGNERS SHOULD CARE ABOUT MODEL CONTEXT PROTOCOL

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables AI systems to communicate with external tools and data sources, allowing users to accomplish complex tasks across multiple applications through a single conversation, rather than manually switching between isolated apps. UX designers must evolve from designing individual applications to creating intelligent workflows where AI orchestrates tasks across connected systems, requiring new design patterns like conductor interfaces and intent-based navigation. This shift represents a fundamental change in digital experience design, offering designers who understand MCP-enabled workflows significant career advantages as the industry moves toward more connected, AI-powered user experiences.

THE DEATH OF ACCOUNTABILITY: WHY NO ONE OWNS THEIR MISTAKES ANYMORE

Modern workplaces suffer from an accountability crisis where leaders and team members dodge responsibility, blame others, and prioritize self-preservation over honesty. This culture creates toxic environments where quality people clean up others' mistakes while finger-pointers get promoted, leading to decreased project quality, eroded trust, and organizational dysfunction. Building accountability requires leaders to model ownership of mistakes, establish clear responsibilities, document decisions, and reward honesty while actively discouraging blame-shifting behaviors.

DESIGN YOUR PERFECT SHADCN/UI THEME

Customize shadcn/ui themes by changing colors, typography, and layouts with a real-time preview.

SVELTEPLOT

A Svelte-native visualization framework based on the layered grammar of graphics principles.

RICELY DONE – FIRECACTUS REDESIGNS ORIENTE'S BRAND AND PACKAGING

To boost market share and reposition Oriente as a premium, globally appealing rice brand, Novarroz partnered with agency Firecactus for a bold packaging redesign featuring unified visuals, resealable color-coded tabs, and storytelling illustrations. The refreshed identity helped Oriente rise from sixth to third place in Portugal's rice market. There are plans underway to rebrand other Novarroz lines and expand internationally.

THE ARTIFACTS YOU NEED TO GET HIRED

A four-artifact system helps creative professionals get hired: a website as a digital calling card, a presentation for interviews, a PDF portfolio for follow-up sharing, and a resume as proof of work. Each artifact serves a different moment in the hiring process, working together to tell a cohesive professional story. The approach recognizes that these tools serve as conversation starters, designed to demonstrate thinking and spark interest in collaborative work.

FROM NETWORKS TO INDEPENDENCE: WHY MORE CREATIVES ARE MAKING THE LEAP

A growing number of creative professionals, driven by frustrations with bureaucracy and investor-focused priorities, are leaving traditional network agencies to establish independent studios. Former network employees describe how independence offers greater creative freedom, closer client relationships, and more meaningful work, all without the excessive layers of process. This migration reflects broader industry changes, including economic pressures, evolving client demands, and technology enabling remote collaboration, making independent studios increasingly viable alternatives to established networks.

CANVA CODE REVIEW: VIBE CODING MEETS CREATIVE USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

Canva Code excels at producing visually stunning front-end designs with polished layouts and aesthetic appeal, outperforming ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude in visual execution during testing.

DESIGNING USER-FRIENDLY VIDEO CHAT INTERFACES: TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES

Effective video chat interfaces prioritize user comfort and accessibility through minimalist layouts, intuitive controls, and inclusive features like keyboard navigation and captioning support.

Read "Pricing Is a Product" here

AI MARKET CLARITY

Elad Gil argues the fog has lifted. Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Meta, and other giants now dominate foundation models while Harvey leads legal and Cursor rules coding. Customer support converges on Decagon and Sierra and Perplexity stakes search. Capital and compute now block new LLM entrants, yet openings remain in accounting, compliance, and security. The next breakout will hinge on bold go to market, agentic workflows, and roll‑up strategies.

FIGMA'S IPO ISN'T FLASHY — BUT THAT'S THE POINT

Figma just set its IPO range at $25–$28 a share, valuing the company at around $16B—less than Adobe once offered, but above its 2024 secondary round. It's not a moonshot, but it's solid: $1B run rate, strong margins, and a clear growth story. While most coverage focuses on past performance, Figma is quietly packing AI features into its product, possibly adding upside for retail investors who still believe in narrative.

HOW CLAUDE IS BUILDING A UNIQUE GROWTH ENGINE OUT OF USER-CREATED APPS

Claude launched AI-powered apps with a clever twist - users pay with their own Claude subscription, not the creator's. A teacher can build a SAT prep tool and share it with students, but each student must sign up for Claude to use it. No API keys, no hosting costs, no authentication headaches. The constraint becomes the opportunity. Each app spawns its own growth loop as project tools drive team invites and calculators spread through forums. While Cursor and Bolt chase developers, Claude went the opposite direction - maximum constraints for minimum friction, turning every creator into a distribution channel.

THIS EMAIL STRATEGY CHANGED EVERYTHING

Citizen, a real time safety alerts app, was losing users after it muted push notifications. Julia Knight tackled the issue by hand-collecting local emergencies, dropping headlines into a Figma template, and blasting fifteen tailored emails daily. The clicks proved so strong that the team automated triggers that now send forty million incident emails each month, bringing dormant accounts back for free, cutting paid acquisition, and even lowering iterable costs through renegotiation.

ANTI-SPACE

Antispace is an AI operating system that predicts, coordinates, and executes actions across your workspace to automate repetitive tasks.

HYPERARC

HyperArc is an AI-native business intelligence platform that delivers instant, auditable insights from natural language queries.

FUNDS THAT INVEST IN FEMALE FOUNDERS (RESOURCE)

A list of funds that invest in female founders.

SIX WAVES OF SOFTWARE PRICING

In the 1950s, your software arrived in a semi‑truck bolted to its hardware. Seventy‑five years and six pricing waves later, vendors bill for shelf‑less shelfware, meter compute like electricity, and blend seats with usage in hybrid plans. This author traces the journey from boxed SKUs to SaaS, the ASP flame‑out, CFOs fighting surprise overages, and why clear value metrics will decide how we price AI next.

THE AI‑NATIVE ENTERPRISE PLAYBOOK

Now that every enterprise tool claims to be "AI-powered," what actually moves the needle? This playbook keeps it simple: pick a weird industry with painful, overlooked problems. Build for real workflows, not just demo decks. Prove your product works with clear, objective results, especially in edge cases. Let AI power more than just the product: use it across onboarding, support, sales, and GTM.

HOW CARTA'S INTERNAL AI AGENTS SAVE THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF BACK-AND-FORTH WORK

Most teams use AI to save money. Carta used it to save time where it mattered most: judgment-heavy accounting tasks that bottlenecked client service. Instead of replacing humans, it built in-house agents that could gather context, reason through complex workflows, and act autonomously. One agent now handles 25,000 monthly tasks in seconds, saving 3,500+ hours.

YOUR STARTUP WILL DRIVE ITSELF

Picture an AI growth hacker that boosts clicks in days while accidentally killing sign‑ups.

CHARTA HEALTH RAISES $22M SERIES A TO REBUILD THE BACKBONE OF HEALTHCARE OPERATIONS WITH AI

Charta Health raised $22M in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures to enhance healthcare operations with AI.

PATTERNS ACROSS 5 YEARS OF YC INVESTING

YC investments have increasingly focused on cybersecurity, industrial/manufacturing, and B2B sectors since 2020.

EXPRESSVPN BUG LEAKED USER IPS IN REMOTE DESKTOP SESSIONS

A security researcher reported a vulnerability in ExpressVPN's Windows client that caused Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) traffic to bypass the VPN, which could lead to exposing the user's IP. ExpressVPN patched the bug, confirmed that it only impacted RDP traffic, and stated that it was introduced by debug code that was accidentally included in production builds.

HONG KONG INVESTIGATES LOUIS VUITTON DATA LEAK AFFECTING 419K CUSTOMERS

Hong Kong's privacy watchdog announced that it is investigating a data leak affecting 419,000 customers of the Hong Kong branch of Louis Vuitton. The leaked data may have included names, phone numbers, passport details, addresses, email addresses, shopping history, and product preferences, but did not include payment information.

COYOTE TROJAN FIRST TO USE MICROSOFT UI AUTOMATION IN BANK ATTACKS

The Coyote banking Trojan is notable for being the first malware to utilize Microsoft's UI Automation (UIA) framework, transitioning from a proof-of-concept to actively targeting Brazilian banking and cryptocurrency users. It exploits UIA to steal credentials from browsers and can manipulate UI elements, such as address bars, to redirect victims to phishing sites, thereby complicating detection efforts. Akamai recommends monitoring for the presence of UIAutomationCore.dll in unknown processes and scanning for interactions with UIA named pipes as early indicators of infection.

THE CYBER DECEPTION MATURITY MODEL: WHERE DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION STAND?

This post divides cyber deception into 5 levels: pre-deception, where an organization does not employ cyber deception; experimental, where an organization deploys simple deception that only succeeds at catching automated scanners; operational, where an organization can catch human threats; strategic, where an organization's deception resources mimic authentic resources and mimic high-value targets; and optimized, where deception goes beyond detection and shapes adversary behavior. Each level includes key metrics to track as well as steps to advance to the next level.

CLOUD LOGGING FOR SECURITY AND BEYOND

This is a guide on cloud logging best practices for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. It emphasizes the importance of balancing security, compliance, and cost when selecting logging strategies. The guide distinguishes between control plane logging (default for management) and data plane logging (which requires manual activation for service activities), categorizing logs into audit, compute, network, secrets, storage, database, and Kubernetes types. Organizations should prioritize logging based on business, regulatory, and security needs, avoiding the costly "log everything" approach.

COMMON MISTAKES IN USING CVSS

Don't rely solely on CVSS scores for prioritizing vulnerabilities, as only 17% of critical ones are exploited, while attackers target lower scores. Organizations should implement Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (RBVM) that includes threat intelligence, asset importance, business context, and metrics like EPSS. Research shows EPSS prioritization targets 3% of vulnerabilities with 65% effectiveness, unlike CVSS, which requires 57% coverage for similar results, with only 4% effectiveness.

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