News from "BitDegree"

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) has issued a warning about cryptocurrency projects collecting sensitive personal information, such as iris scans, through token giveaways, with a description resembling Worldcoin.

Base, Coinbase’s Layer-2 blockchain, experienced a 33-minute halt in block production due to a backup sequencer failure, but operations resumed normally after the issue was fixed.

OpenAI has launched two new AI language models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, which support long inputs up to 128,000 tokens and perform similarly to the GPT-4o model.

SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw opposes a recent SEC division statement suggesting some liquid staking may not be securities, while Commissioner Hester Peirce holds a differing view.

The SEC has issued new guidance clarifying that not all staking activities are considered securities, particularly focusing on liquid staking, which could impact the approval of Solana-based ETFs.

Brazil's House of Representatives is considering a proposal to allocate up to 5% of the country's foreign reserves to Bitcoin, with a decision expected after a meeting on August 20, 2025.

FinCEN warns about the increasing use of crypto kiosks in scams, with reported losses reaching $247 million in 2024, primarily targeting elderly individuals.

Lancashire police will receive $665,000 from Bitcoin seized in a 2017 theft case after the cryptocurrency's value rose, with the funds allocated to crime reduction projects.

David Bailey, founder of Bitcoin Magazine and BTC Inc., plans to create a Bitcoin-focused political action committee (PAC) with a fundraising goal of $100 to $200 million to support pro-Bitcoin policies and long-term progress in the Bitcoin community.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce advocates for preserving financial privacy in the digital age, drawing parallels to past encryption debates and warning against overregulation of software developers.