ETH falls below $2,700, with an intra-day decline of 1.14%

According to TradingBeats' monitoring, LayerZero purchased an additional 162,000 ZRO tokens (valued at roughly $347,000) 40 minutes ago, bringing its total repurchase volume to 2.538 million ZRO, worth approximately $5.4 million.

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm posted that the U.S. Treasury recently acknowledged in a document that prior rules targeting the crypto mixer had flaws, noting they could create a "chilling effect" on legitimate activities. Storm stated that while relevant U.S. Treasury departments now recognize the policy is problematic, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) still maintains in its case that even legitimate transactions conducted via Tornado Cash are illegal, as they could be used for money laundering, sanctions evasion and other criminal acts. He pointed out that non-criminal U.S. government agencies consider the policies improper, while the criminal justice department deems all related transactions criminal. Storm argued that the "war" on the crypto industry is ongoing and could set a dangerous legal precedent for the U.S. regarding developers and open-source software. He added that he has been detained and prosecuted for over 1,139 days, noting his case originates from developing open-source code. Storm revealed that a new filing was submitted today by the Southern District of New York (SDNY) federal court, with the DOJ still pushing for his conviction.

According to HTX market data, SOL has broken through $120, currently trading at $120.03, with its 24-hour decline narrowed to 0.24%.

AI crypto investment application Virtuals Protocol announced in a post that its Virtuals App has entered closed beta testing. The official noted that the app is equipped with personal AI, a built-in wallet, and market integration, enabling users to discuss investment ideas, research assets, and execute trades within group chats. The Virtuals App is currently limited to iOS closed beta, requiring an invitation code to access.

Flash News from Insight: Beating AI. According to a Semafor report, Meta is laying off a group of employees it hired in June this year from AI security startup Virtue AI, with their collaboration lasting just around four months. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told Semafor that the staff were let go due to "work style misalignment", noting the partnership did not develop as expected. In June, Dawn Song, UC Berkeley computer professor and founder of Virtue AI, announced she would join Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, alongside Virtue AI co-founders Bo Li, Sanmi Koyejo, and other team members. The recruitment was framed as Meta bringing in an independent team, not acquiring the entire Virtue AI. Virtue AI specializes in AI security testing, red teaming, vulnerability discovery, as well as model runtime protection and governance. Meta’s earlier onboarding of the team was viewed as aligned with its push for AI agent and superintelligence strategies, as well as strengthening AI security and frontier risk governance. Semafor reports that Meta stated the Superintelligence Labs will continue to focus on AI security, alignment, and frontier risks. However, Meta did not disclose specific disagreements between the two parties, nor has it confirmed whether core Virtue AI members like Dawn Song have all left Meta. As of the report’s publication, Virtue AI had not yet responded. The report adds that the rapid shift in this partnership has once again sparked external discussion on the "organizational mismatch" issue when top research teams join large tech firms—referring to potential conflicts between the autonomy, flexibility, and high decision-making efficiency startup teams are accustomed to, and the organizational processes and corporate culture of big tech companies.

Market news: Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, said the U.S. debt crisis could erupt within three years.