Trump Names AI Czar as Bitcoin Eyes $600K Peak
President Donald Trump has appointed Jay Clayton, the U.S. director of national intelligence, to lead the country’s new Super Intelligence Force. The announcement was made on Truth Social, following reports of the creation of an AI Force modeled after the Space Force. Clayton, who previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission, was involved in high-profile cases against Ripple and Roman Storm, the latter for his involvement with Tornado Cash. Storm commented on the shift toward more restrictive AI policies, stating, “It doesn’t look like we’re headed toward a future that supports open-source AI.”
Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump, has rebranded SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI in honor of the president’s directive to rename ‘artificial intelligence’ to ‘superintelligence.’ Meanwhile, the NEAR Intents hack had a positive resolution after the platform’s SHIELD AI system blocked Bitget’s stolen funds. The exploit, which involved a bug in the Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure, was resolved when the general manager of NEAR Intents, Alex Shevchenko, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to return the funds or face legal consequences. The funds were eventually returned, and Shevchenko advised other exploiters to use bug bounties instead of disrupting services.
Arthur Hayes, chief investment officer at Maelstrom fund, predicted that money printing is inevitable due to the AI revolution, the U.S. debt crisis, and financial stress in France. He noted that AI companies need trillions of dollars to finance data centers, even as service prices fall, leaving them with few options other than printing money. Hayes also discussed potential monetary stimulus in China and increasing financial stress in France, including credit-default swaps tied to BNP Paribas.
Ethereum layer-2 network Blast is shutting down after its operating costs exceeded revenue. The team announced the decision on X, stating that there is no credible path to making the network economically sustainable. Blast was founded by Tieshun ‘Pacman’ Roquerre in November 2023 and attracted over $2 billion in deposits before its mainnet launch in February 2024. Its DeFi total value locked has fallen by more than 98% since its June 2024 peak.