
Bitcoin hits $86k as Robinhood pivots toward crypto-based event contracts to avoid legal scrutiny facing sports betting.
AI-generated summary
Robinhood is expanding its event-contract business, which has seen significant revenue growth. The company is navigating legal disputes regarding sports-based prediction markets in various US states.
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Todayâs top news:
Crypto majors grind higher as BTC hits $86k
BTC ETFs see monster $999M in inflows, most since Oct 2026
Tokenized stock venues may be able to apply as soon as Q4
X shares new promo video for Cashtag Program allowing trading from the timeline
Onchain protocols see big revenue day, though onchain leaders cool off
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev told Jim Cramer on Mad Money that crypto contracts are already taking a disproportionate share of Robinhoodâs prediction markets business, and that within a few years âsports will actually be in the minority.â He called sports a wedge for bringing in liquidity and users, and said the industry is expanding far beyond it.
Robinhoodâs event-contract revenue jumped more than tenfold year over year to $156 million in the second quarter, making it the companyâs fastest-growing business line. Contracts traded 4.7 billion times in August, roughly 15 times the year-earlier volume. Over the same stretch, Robinhoodâs crypto trading revenue fell.
The business sits on three legs now. Robinhood launched on top of Kalshi, then added Rothera, its own CFTC-licensed joint venture with Susquehanna. This month it took minority stakes in Crypto.com and its prediction-market spinoff OG.com, adding a third partner to clear and settle trades.
Sports contracts are the legally contested category. The Ninth Circuit ruled last month that Nevada can regulate Kalshiâs sports contracts, splitting with the Third Circuit, and New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to settle it. States argue sports contracts are gambling by another name. Crypto contracts donât carry that fight. Shifting the mix toward crypto moves Robinhoodâs fastest-growing business onto firmer legal ground.
Tenev also picked a revealing example of the pitch. He said users with a view on the Clarity Act could trade it, because Robinhood has a market on that. The bill failed cloture last week, and the prediction markets called it before the Senate did, with Polymarket odds falling from 35% to 11% ahead of the vote.
The other factor not being talked about hereâcrypto is exciting again. The bear market was just a grind down and then this summer had no volatility. No volatility means nothing interesting to bet on. That changes in an early bull market. Users can make predictions on BTC price targets by end of year. They can predict how quickly alt coins will hit ATH. They can even hedge the election by making a directional bet on price action. Overall, excitement is back in crypto. And that means more market action, of multiple varieties.
Macro Crypto and Markets
Crypto majors are very green up 1-2%; BTC +2% at $86k; ETH +1% at $2,740; SOL +1% at $117; HYPE even at $95; ZEC -1% at $1,530
Top alt movers include PEPE (+18%), TAO (+12%), NEAR (+11%) and PUMP (+4%)
Oil -3% at $93; Gold -1% at $4,350
Stock futures are mostly flat after a green Monday; DOW +0.3%, Nasdaq +0.03%
Bitcoin hit an eight-month high near $86,000 as roughly $750 million in shorts were liquidated above $82,000, with about $2 billion in new leverage added since the breakout and analysts eyeing $90,000
The first tokenized stock venues could file their notices next quarter, SEC Crypto Task Force chief counsel Taylor Lindman told Crypto In America, with several firms already asking about the new exemption
X shared a promo video for its new cashtag program which will allow X users to trade crypto tokens and stocks directly from the home page via CEX connection
X also sued two UK men in Londonâs High Court alleging a six-account Bitcoin bot network pulled at least ÂŁ207,384, about $278,000, from its now-closed creator payout program
Fairshake will spend $30 million against Sherrod Brown in Ohioâs Senate race, days after the Clarity Act failed, having spent roughly $40 million to help unseat him in 2024
Attackers are actively exploiting the DarkSword iOS chain to steal seed phrases and private keys through malicious Safari pages, with SlowMist and Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet urging users to update to iOS 26.3 or later immediately
Coinbase opened IPO allocations to US retail customers starting with Ouraâs Nasdaq debut this week, 50 million shares at $40 to $44, with anyone who sells within 30 days barred from the next 60 days of offerings
Apple and Google posted roles seeking stablecoin and tokenized-deposit expertise, an Apple Pay strategy lead in the US and a Google Cloud Web3 architect in Hong Kong, though neither listing confirms a product
Corporate Treasuries & ETFs
The Bitcoin ETFs saw $433M in net inflows on Friday; the ETH ETFs saw $143M in inflows; and the SOL ETFs saw $48M
Strategy bought 950 BTC for $75.7 million at an average of $79,670, lifting holdings to 846,000 BTC, while spending another $174 million repurchasing STRC
Bitmine added 27,562 ETH, bringing holdings to 5.98 million, more than 4.9% of supply, with Tom Lee saying a crypto bull market is underway
Meme Coin Tracker
Meme leaders were very green up 5-18%; DOGE +5%, SHIB +4%, PEPE +18%, PENGU +9%, TRUMP -1%, SPX +2%
Robinhood chain leaders were mostly red; Pons +2% to $434M; AI -14% at $240M; Cashcat -8% at $167M; Age +420x, Delta +95%, Musebook +200% and Index +25% led top movers
Solana top movers were led by Antfun +43%, SI +22x and x7 +20x; Ansem +2% to $173M
Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Circle minted $1.5B in USDC on Solana on Monday
Hyperliquid led onchain protocols with $3.66M in revenue on Monday followed by Pump at $1.96M, Stonk at $1.37M, Collector Crypt at $829k and Pons at $540k
Trueo is moving its prediction market from Base to Ethereum mainnet, with Vitalik Buterin calling it a strong new entrant focused on decentralization and ethical design leading to the TRUE token jumping 10x
AI outlook â possibilities, not facts
Tokenized stock venues to apply for notices in Q4.
Likely ¡ Within months

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $998.95 million in net inflows on Monday, their largest single-day inflow since October 2025, driven by BlackRock's IBIT ($381.37M), Ark & 21Shares' ARKB ($289.12M), and Fidelity's FBTC ($238.84M). The surge pushed Bitcoin above the estimated ETF cost basis of $81,722, returning average fund holders to profit for the first time since January, despite trading volume remaining relatively subdued at $4.5 billion.

GameStop faces a critical test on Friday as Bitcoin trades well above the $70,000 strike price of its covered-call contracts. The company's strategy, involving 2,000 BTC, may limit further gains if the positions remain open through the September 25 expiration.

Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is launching perpetual futures for five major cryptocurrencies on September 22. The cash-settled contracts allow qualified investors to gain price exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Tron without holding the underlying assets.

Binance has acquired $100 million in Circle Class A common stock as part of a new five-year partnership to promote the USDC stablecoin. The deal includes monthly incentive fees for Binance and a two-year lockup period on the acquired shares.

Circle has raised $100 million by selling 1,237,011 Class A shares to Binance at $80.84 per share. The deal includes a five-year commercial agreement where Circle pays Binance fees for USDC distribution via its wallet infrastructure.

The European Central Bank is set to invest a portion of its own funds into tokenized public-sector securities. The transactions will be settled via the newly launched Pontes DLT system, allowing the bank to gain practical experience in the full investment lifecycle.