How AI became crypto's favorite reason to cut staff
Coinbase, Block, and Crypto.com cite AI to justify recent layoffs totaling thousands of employees, though skeptics suspect companies use the technology as convenient cover for standard restructuring. Q1 crypto bear market pressures exchanges to cut costs and flatten organizational structures. Global tech layoffs hit 81,747 in Q1 2026, with AI listed as the primary reason for April cuts.
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Senate Banking Committee plans to hold key market structure hearing on Thursday
Senate Banking Committee scheduled markup hearing for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on May 14, moving the stalled crypto market structure bill forward. A compromise on stablecoin yield provisions, brokered by Senators Tillis and Alsobrooks, resolved key blocking issues. Banking groups expressed concerns about the compromise text. The markup represents crucial progress toward potential legislation, though Senate-Agriculture Committee merger and ethics provisions remain outstanding.
AI agents fueled a frenzy of startup building at the Consensus Miami EasyA hackathon
Nearly 1,000 developers competed at Consensus Miami's EasyA hackathon, with AI agents dominating the competition. Teams from Base, Solana, Microsoft, and Google built autonomous payment systems, consumer apps, and prediction markets. EasyA founders claim the event launches billion-dollar startups, citing a $10 billion Cognition AI alumni success story. Winners included FlyPraxis, a drone intelligence platform, and HIIE, which converts text prompts into hardware designs.
SEC chair Atkins signals new rules for onchain markets, AI-driven finance
SEC Chair Paul Atkins signaled the agency is pursuing formal rulemaking for onchain trading systems, blockchain settlement infrastructure, and AI-driven financial applications. Current securities regulations don't fit blockchain protocols combining multiple market functions into single software. Atkins advocates clarifying regulatory treatment of hybrid traditional-decentralized finance models through rulemaking rather than enforcement, marking a shift from predecessor Gary Gensler's enforcement-heavy approach under Trump's administration.