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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>
BTC perpetual contract open interest totals 15.401 billion USD
CoinWorld data: Under the statistical methodology of selected mainstream platforms, the total notional open interest of BTC USDT-margined perpetual contracts stands at 15.401 billion USD. Compared with the snapshot taken 24 hours earlier under the same methodology, it is up 2.15%; compared with the snapshot taken 7 days earlier under the same methodology, it is up 1.91%.
Dutch households hold $1.6 billion in Bitcoin through local platforms.
CoinWorld data: A report from the Dutch central bank shows that Dutch households hold $1.6 billion in Bitcoin through local platforms, an amount that accounts for only 0.6% of their total stock and bond investments, and this figure does not include ETF and on-chain holdings.
USDC on the Arc chain has surpassed $1 billion, with a high concentration of holdings.
CoinWorld data: According to The Defiant, the scale of USDC on Circle's blockchain arc has surpassed $1 billion, with the network's stablecoin market cap growing 32% within a week; currently about 73% of USDC is held by 4 addresses.
Financial Associated Press, October 28 — OpenAI is being sued over a fatal incident caused by ChatGPT medical advice regarding epilepsy.
Coin World news, according to a Caixin report on October 28, OpenAI is being sued over a fatal incident caused by ChatGPT's epilepsy medical advice.
FOMO's $500 video offer sparks controversy among crypto creators
CoinWorld news: FOMO's offer of $500 per month to produce at least 30 promotional videos has sparked controversy among crypto creators, mainly over production time and compensation. Video creator Eliza criticized the offer in an October 26 post, pointing out that it requires a commitment of 10-15 hours of work per month. The recruitment text requires creators to open accounts on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube and publish at least 30 videos. The payment summary for the offer describes the $500 retainer as a fixed monthly payment, which, calculated at 30 videos, works out to a base payment of about $16.67 per video, excluding performance bonuses or referral income. Eliza questioned the offer, arguing that FOMO is one of the highest-earning companies in the industry and that the time required to produce each video makes the proposed compensation too low. Another participant, Gujju, defended it, saying such offers are common pricing for simple Instagram and TikTok content.
Keystone recalls some devices to prevent private key theft risk.
Crypto news outlet reports that bitcoin hardware wallet manufacturer keystone has discovered that stolen private keys could be used to create counterfeit devices, and is therefore recalling the affected products.
Google launches Genie 4: an AI model that reshapes realistic environments in real time.
Benzinga reports that Google ($GOOGL) has launched Genie 4, an AI world model that allows users to explore and reshape realistic environments in real time, complete with native sound effects and interactive dialogue. The research preview is currently rolling out to trusted testers.