The Daily: Democrats say White House keeps stonewalling on crypto ethics, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Thursday! Bitcoin has surged past $72,000 for the first time since May, with analysts pointing to returning spot and ETF demand beyond the record short squeeze that helped ignite the rally.

In today's newsletter, Sen. Gallego says Congress can still "land this plane" on the crypto bill, Evernorth eyes XRP DeFi opportunities, industry leaders warn AI agents could make today's billion-dollar crypto hacks look like "pennies," and more.

Meanwhile, HYPE surged after President Trump said the CFTC is working to bring Hyperliquid to the U.S. in a "fully compliant fashion."

P.S. Don't forget to check out today's reader poll on Hyperliquid later in the newsletter.

Reminder: We're on the ground at SALT's Blockchain Symposium in Jackson Hole Aug. 17-20, with exclusive interviews and coverage of the biggest stories shaping crypto and global finance.

Congress can still 'land this plane' on crypto bill as ethics talks stall, says Democratic Sen. Gallego

Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, a key Clarity Act negotiator, said Congress can still "land this plane" on the crypto bill as concerns grow over an unfinished ethics deal.

• "We've been sending offers over and over again to the White House, and they've been coming back either blank, or they've come back even slightly further back, or we've heard nothing," Gallego said.
• Reaching the 60 votes needed to advance the bill will depend on reaching an ethics agreement, he said, as well as resolving other outstanding issues like stablecoin yields and illicit-finance concerns.
• Trump had agreed to a provision barring officials and their spouses from issuing digital assets in July, but its DOJ-only enforcement provision and January 2029 sunset drew Democratic criticism.
• Trump is now considering a newer proposal that would let state attorneys general enforce the ban instead.
• Gallego warned that some on both sides would rather keep the bill as a political issue, with lawmakers facing just weeks after recess before the Sept. 15 procedural vote.

Evernorth eyes DeFi opportunities as XRP Ledger weighs native lending

Evernorth, an XRP-focused treasury firm, plans to put its holdings to work across the XRP Ledger's DeFi ecosystem, Chief Business Officer Sagar Shah told The Block at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium.

• Shah is particularly excited about XLS-66, a proposal designed to bring native lending functionality to the XRPL, arguing that building it at the ledger level avoids many of the smart-contract exploit risks seen on other chains.
• Validators are currently reviewing the proposal's code and robustness, while Shah also highlighted confidential transfers and smart escrows as other features that could expand XRPL's use in real-world assets.
• Evernorth is also working toward going public, with Shah, a former Ripple executive, noting roughly $30 billion in assets are tokenized today, and the market could eventually reach the trillions.

AI agents could make today's billion-dollar crypto hacks look like 'pennies,' industry leaders warn

Industry leaders warned at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium that AI agents could supercharge crypto attacks, with Global Settlement Network CEO Ryan Kirkley saying today's billion-dollar bridge hacks would look like "pennies" by comparison.

• Kirkley said agents allow attackers to go after everyone at once, making it economical to target lower-value individuals, while the Web3 Foundation's Bill Laboon noted the lower friction cuts both ways for good and bad actors.
• The panelists were split on how much authority to hand AI agents, with Midnight Foundation's Fahmi Syed warning against providing unrestricted access to personal and financial information, and Laboon flagging metadata that could still leak from supposedly private transactions.
• Trust remains the biggest hurdle, with panelists citing LLM hallucinations, unclear legal liability when an agent breaks the law, and the pace of the tech outrunning people's ability to process it.

'Star Wars vibes:' Chainlink's McCormick sees AI agents, robots driving blockchain transactions

Chainlink Labs Head of Institutional Andrew McCormick said AI agents and robots could become a growing source of blockchain activity as autonomous systems need ways to transact, telling The Block at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium there are "a lot of Star Wars vibes, but it's happening."

• He expects a future of many chains, arguing AI will make blockchain creation cheaper and faster, which in turn raises the need for interoperability tools like Chainlink's CCIP.
• McCormick said AI agents could trade when their owners are unavailable and take advantage of tokenized markets beyond traditional market hours.
• He also sees the AI-crypto overlap extending beyond software into physical machines, picturing humanoid robots in docks and factories transacting with digital assets.

Spot bitcoin ETFs report $517 million in net inflows, largest in 3.5 months

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $517.2 million in net inflows on Wednesday to mark their biggest day since early May, led by $284.7 million into BlackRock's IBIT.

• Analysts tied the surge to a broad crypto rally after the Treasury said it would at least double its buyback operations for longer-dated debt, with bitcoin rising above $70,000 and ether back over $2,250.
• BTC Markets' Rachael Lucas said the inflows look like longer-horizon institutional positioning rather than "pure retail FOMO," though she and other analysts doubt the pace holds.

In the next 24 hours

• It's quiet on the economic calendar front.
• Coinfest Asia and LATAM Digital Assets Conf 2026 continue. Mempool Dev Day kicks off in London.

Reader poll

Trump says regulators are working to bring Hyperliquid onshore. Will it happen by year-end?

YES, IT LANDS IN THE US

NO, NOT THIS YEAR

One click records your pick. We'll share the answer in a later edition.

In last Thursday's poll, 64% of you agreed that self-custody still worth the risk despite Trezor's third-party data breach, Coldcard's exploit, and the surge in wrench attacks.

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