During a recent appearance on Fox Business, Cryptocurrency billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss predicted that the price of Bitcoin could potentially skyrocket to $1 million “one day.”

The Winklevii are on the same page with such names as former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Blockstream CEO Adam Back when it comes to their uber-bullish seven-figure prediction 

The billionaire twins argue that Bitcoin is “gold 2.0,” predicting that it is going to disrupt the market cap of the precious metal. 

Early crypto adopters 

Following the Facebook drama, which resulted in a multi-million-dollar settlement with founder Mark Zuckerberg, the Winklevoss twins discovered Bitcoin all the way back in 2012. Then, they used the settlement money to make a sizable investment in Bitcoin. 

After the cryptocurrency experienced a notable price surge, they were among the first public figures to become Bitcoin billionaires.

The twins claim that they purchased BTC when it was trading at roughly $10, but they argue that it is still early. 

You Might Also Like

Notably, they also made an appearance on the show back in October 2015 when Gemini was just launched, so the exchange is now also on the verge of celebrating its 10th anniversary.

Their Bitcoin success story is colloquially known as “the revenge of the Winklevii.” 

The Gemini exchange now boasts a total of $21 billion worth of assets on its platform. 

Gemini’s grand IPO debut 

The exchange secured a total of $425 million with its initial public offering (IPO), which analysts have described as another win for the cryptocurrency market. 

The shares of the cryptocurrency trading platform surged sharply higher on Thursday, showing that there is still plenty of investor demand for crypto companies. 

This comes after stablecoin issuer Circle also had an extremely successful IPO. 

Other cryptocurrency trading platforms, such as Grayscale, are also going public after the U.S. government swiftly moved to embrace the industry. 

The developers behind Samourai Wallet pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money‑transmitting business.

The plea deal secures dismissal of the parallel money laundering conspiracy charge and caps potential prison time at five years. It also includes $237 million in forfeiture and a $400,000 fine.

As journalist Matthew Russell Lee reported on July 30, sentencing is set for November 6. Additionally, the defendants agreed not to appeal if the sentence is five years or less, according to Bitcoin Policy Institute’s head of policy, Zack Shapiro.

Plea deal

Lee reported that Judge Jed Rakoff pressed Keonne Rodriguez to state his criminal conduct “in his own words.”

Rodriguez told the court that his role at the firm meant that he was aware users were using the wallet “to launder criminals’ money.” Prosecutors argued that the knowledge alone is sufficient for a 60 month sentence even if they were not involved in the laundering.

Shapiro noted that had both counts gone to verdict, combined federal guidelines would have pointed to 160 to 210 months. By pleading to the unlicensed transmission conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1960, the developers face a statutory maximum of five years rather than a potential decade-plus exposure.

Defense‑side reaction framed the outcome as a pragmatic hedge rather than a legal endorsement of the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) theory.

Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and CLO at the DeFi Education Fund argued that the DOJ “misinterprets Section 1960 whenever they accuse a non‑custodial software dev of ‘transferring funds on behalf of the public,’”

Tuminelli added that the pleas don’t change the policy fight over how the law should apply to open‑source wallet software. She said:

“Plea deals are risk calculations.”

Case background

US and international authorities shuttered Samourai on April 24, seizing its domain and web infrastructure in collaboration with the Icelandic and Portuguese police, the IRS, the FBI, and Europol.

The authorities also issued a warrant that removed the Android app from Google Play for US users.

Prosecutors alleged founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill ran a mixing service through Samourai that processed more than $2 billion in Bitcoin tied to illicit activity, including $100 million linked to dark‑web markets. 

The app, one of the best‑known privacy‑focused Bitcoin wallets, had been downloaded over 100,000 times.

Mentioned in this article

HodlX Guest Post  Submit Your Post

Discords and X threads aren’t fooling investors anymore. Web 3.0 founders must look towards AI to survive. Web 3.0 founders have to pivot.

The AI (artificial intelligence) industry has demonstrated itself to be far more apt at innovating than Web 3.0, which as an industry must accept defeat in a way and reorganize.

It would behoove AI founders to take a page out of the book of big AI companies, which have impacted lives and scooped up a big market share in short order – leaving crypto very much in the dust when it comes to the mindshare of crypto in the global consciousness versus AI.

Web 3.0 founders must ask themselves, ‘What can we learn?’

As AI becomes more powerful, and it will do so quickly, Web 3.0 will quickly become a subservient industry, dependent upon the whims of the almighty big technology corporations in control of AI technology.

Web 3.0 will likely only become lucrative and impactful by partnering with AI companies.

Web 3.0’s decentralization, which has resulted in thousands of projects promising all sorts of decentralized versions of apps that already exist, has led to the general public – including investors – not understanding which projects are for real.

Investors simply don’t know which projects can achieve results or are even offering a solution to a real problem.

DAOs, DeFi protocols and metaverse land rushes are largely a cacophony of Discord servers, Telegram groups and X threads.

For many Western investors, these business models are completely foreign. The business models of AI companies, including startups, are far more familiar.

In addition, Web 3.0 has gained a bit of a reputation for being associated with hype and scams.

The AI industry, on the other hand, has forged a clearer path towards deals that make a difference.

AI companies aren’t shilling tokens based on future promises, writing convoluted whitepapers and posting endlessly online.

They’re building groundbreaking technology from the ground up. In the AI industry, the cream has risen quickly to the top.

The world knows that it is companies like xAI, OpenAI, Google and others that dominate the marketplace.

Investors know that real innovation doesn’t come from a 10,000 NFT (non-fungible token) collection. BlackRock will tokenize bonds, not NFTs.

Partners want to make deals with the AI behemoths building out the world-changing infrastructure, such as cloud providers, chipmakers or platforms like xAI’s Grok, which has revolutionized the way in which humanity seeks out information.

Unfortunately for those of us in the Web 3.0 space – for now at least – these companies are building the future, not Web 3.0 startups.

Centralization is winning the day over decentralization. The fragmentation in Web 3.0 – the fierce competition over so little – is not nearly as appetizing to investors and strategic partners as AI monopolies.

Web 3.0 companies should start looking to partner with those companies sitting on a vast GPU supply or a proprietary data organization.

These are the companies – the ones that control algorithms – getting inventor funds.

A new way forward for crypto

Web 3.0 founders are left with no other option than to pivot. The industry has to face it and move towards a new strategy.

Big money has found it difficult to navigate the decentralized web of Web 3.0 companies.

Instead, centralized powerhouses are the ones building the future, and they could step into the crypto arena at any time and potentially outcompete crypto native incumbents.

It’s time for crypto to move on from its messaging chat and X strategy, as well as the promises of decentralization, and start working the phones to get into the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies touching technology.

It’s high time to deliver.

The idealism of Web 3.0 is proving not to mesh with reality. The quest for decentralization, ownership and democratized value creation has stalled.

In the future, Web 3.0 might further fragment.

The biggest blockchains, such as Ethereum and Solana, will begin to pin their fates on centralized solutions, increasingly looking like the tech gatekeepers they once billed themselves as disrupting.

The blockchains of tomorrow will exist as integrations into the traditional financial and technology giants, which are looking for supply chain tracking and similar solutions.

For the blockchain world, these solutions are the quickest way to real-world utility and a monopoly.

The more lofty solutions, such as decentralized data storage, are not making much progress when it comes to market share.

Memecoins, redundant DeFi protocols and incomplete metaverses are already suffering under the strain of zero sum competition between one another.

There is no crypto community. The incestuous strategic partnerships of crypto projects with each other have resulted in limited innovation.

It’s time for Web 3.0 founders to make a change. Billion-dollar partnerships are made via access to C-Suites of the world’s biggest companies – not in the world of hashtags or virtual land.

The Web 3.0 companies that don’t adapt to the fact that Web 3.0 has fallen far behind the AI industry in terms of innovation won’t be around for long.

Manouk Termaaten is the founder and CEO of Vertical Studio AI. He is a serial entrepreneur and expert in AI technologies, aiming to make AI accessible for everyone via customization tools and affordable computers.

Check Latest Headlines on HodlX

Follow Us on Twitter Facebook Telegram

Check out the Latest Industry Announcements  

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

HodlX Guest Post  Submit Your Post

Recycled buzzwords and hashtags are not enough in the modern Web 3.0 market.

If you want to break through in today’s Web 3.0 space, the only way to do that is by creating a monopoly in something consumers want. Very few times has this been done in blockchain.

Bitcoin stands as a new asset class, while Ethereum has proven viable for creating mainly NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

There is a class of blockchain firms serving traditional financial markets as well as experimenting with stablecoins, RWAs (real-world assets) and more.

And while these innovations may make a global impact, they will be dominated by a few players. That is becoming clearer, especially as Web 3.0 takes a backseat to AI.

At this point in Web 3.0’s evolution, nobody cares about your whitepaper, roadmap, tokenomics or governance model. It’s no longer 2016.

You’re not going to build the next unicorn through hashtags and recycled ideas. Your minute on-chain metrics are meaningless in the grand scheme of all things crypto.

All it shows is a lack of adoption and a lack of product market fit, or in other words, value.

As a Web 3.0 founder, your survival depends on the uniqueness of your project. You must understand and clearly explain what makes both you and your project not just special but truly one-of-a-kind.

Your individuality, as well as that of your company, is your biggest strength. Remember this important truth.

The best way to make your project unique entails carving out a monopoly in a niche that solves a big problem.

If you find yourself leaning into jargon, perhaps your idea serves no purpose. Perhaps not even you know what it is you are attempting to do. It could be merely that the timing is wrong.

Either way, your project must have tangible benefits for consumers and deliver it at least 10 times better than the next best.

Ask yourself this question: Is your company story just a rehash of the same old buzzwords Web 3.0 has been throwing around now for more than a decade?

If so, you might find resistance gaining traction as you share your story on X and LinkedIn. People have heard it all before.

Are you highlighting the correct parts of your expertise and real-world experience?

Are your product launches and milestones solving problems for consumers, or are they announcements for the sake of announcements? Avoid those.

If your consumer can’t experience an announcement for themselves, don’t bother with the public relations aspect. Save that for when you have something that can improve people’s lives.

While you are free to publish insights and case studies on your project, they should be hyper-focused on the unique aspects of your project.

Don’t write whitepapers that are not focused on your core strengths and your mission.

What does your team do better than any other team in the Web 3.0 space? All of your team’s energy should go towards this strength.

Generally speaking, avoid side quests in business. Many founders grow bored with their initial vision, start a side quest, get spread too thin and run out of business.

Stay focused on building a monopoly within Web 3.0.

Many Web 3.0 companies put too much energy into incestuous partnerships with other Web 3.0 companies, with minimal innovation.

Instead, you must look towards large corporations for partnerships that will impact your business in the way you want.

Instead of focusing on partnerships with Web 3.0 companies, focus on partnerships with companies outside the space, like from the red-hot AI industry.

These are the partnerships you should be announcing on social media, not partnerships with other early-stage Web 3.0 companies.

This doesn’t mean you should not attend hackathons and Web 3.0 conferences, but perhaps the purpose there will be to tap into consumers, not partners.

When you do speak at conferences, do you offer a unique perspective compared with the rest of the speakers and panelists, or are you repeating views of the industry that have been flogged to death already?

Again, you must consider what makes your view or work in the industry unique and lean into that and only that.

When you speak before an audience, take risks. Make your wildest claims, assuming they’re backed by logic and reason.

Instead of posting into the void on social media – or cross-promoting projects for joint marketing campaigns, AMAs (ask me anything) and more – reach out to the largest technology journals in the world, including Reuters, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, TechCrunch and others.

Reach out to the largest publications in your region. You may not hear back, but these are the publications with the readers you want to know your name.

Offer them your insights on timely technology news stories.

Don’t chase every opportunity. Focus on the big pieces of your empire – that is, big product shipments, behemoth partnerships and mainstream press.

One deal with a high-impact venture capital firm, technology company or protocol can be worth 10,000 small ones. It’s similar for constant exposure in the mainstream compared to industry publications.

Building a monopoly is not about testing pitches – it’s about providing value. If the market accepts you, the venture capitalists will surely follow.

Web 3.0 projects have to move beyond partnering with other niche Web 3.0 projects. Hype-driven companies are no longer making a splash in Web 3.0.

Founders must be unique, and so too must their projects. Crypto bubbles are not creating viable startups anymore.

The Web 3.0 projects of today are those solving real problems and showing tangible results. Most past the buzzwords and tiny wins.

Build what matters – only then will the Web 3.0 market and beyond take notice.

Archer Wolfe is the CEO and founder of 1stimpression.com, a premium personal branding agency based out of Hong Kong. He is also the co-founder of MohrWolfe, a serial entrepreneur, professional poly-athlete and international rescue operator. By age 28, he built the largest BTM company in the world and successfully exited two companies in fintech.

Check Latest Headlines on HodlX

Follow Us on Twitter Facebook Telegram

Check out the Latest Industry Announcements  

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: DALLE3

June 9th, 2025 – Singapore, Singapore

TrueNorth, led by a former chief of hybrid CeFi/DeFi exchange WOO and AI experts, raises a strategic angel round to pioneer the agentic economy.

The founders of LayerZero, SEI, Selini Capital, Virtuals, Plume, and Presto Labs have collectively backed an AI platform that uses autonomous agents and real-time data to uncover crypto opportunities. AI-focused firm TrueNorth, co-founded by former WOO COO Willy Chuang and ex-Temasek AI tech investor Alex Lee, has raised $1 million in funding to develop Crypto’s first AI-powered engine. An engine symbiotic to the users’ discovery journey from intent straight to the outcome.

TrueNorth’s agentic technology continuously scans across chains, socials, and macro and project data to surface timely, high-signal insights for every user personalized to their portfolio, trading style, and past behavior.

“We see true AI agents becoming the foundation for how people invest in crypto for the future,” said Willy Chuang and Alex Lee, co-founders of TrueNorth. “The market is only getting more complex, and our goal is to cut through the noise with a hyper-personalized engine powered by a generative user interface (known as Gen UI) that adapts to each user’s style and behavior in real-time. We’re building a system where the agnetic flow and expert distilled reinforcement learning models work quietly in the background, driving the user’s intent infinitely closer to the outcome. Willy Chuang, who previously led operations at the CeFi/DeFi exchange WOO, emphasized the real-world need for tools that reduce cognitive overload in fast-moving markets. “Having led crypto exchanges and worked closely with a broad range of traders and investors, I’ve seen how fragmented data and constant noise creates friction in decision-making,” said Chuang. “TrueNorth is built to simplify this, delivering personalized insights that evolve with each user so they can move faster with more confidence.”For his part, Alex Lee, a PhD in AI, highlighted the platform’s AI-driven approach and ongoing development phase. “AI has reached a point where it can do more than just process data; it can understand context, adapt to users, and continuously improve decision-making,” said Lee. “That’s the foundation we’re building on: agentic intelligence that works behind the scenes to surface what matters most. We’re currently in closed beta, working closely with early users to refine a system that feels intuitive but is powered by serious intelligence.”

TrueNorth’s backers, Bryan Pellegrino of LayerZero, Jeff Feng of SEI, Jordi Alexander of Selini Capital, and Yongjin of Presto Labs, as well as Will Wang of Generative Ventures, share a strong belief in AI’s transformative power in crypto trading. Their interests span key themes such as interoperability, data-driven AI models, algorithmic market strategies, and innovative infrastructure development. Together, these interests reflect not only a shared belief in AI’s potential but also the same principles driving TrueNorth’s mission to simplify and personalize decision-making in decentralized markets.

TrueNorth, a platform under Singapore-registered Advent AI, is working closely with its first 500 early users, the Truthsayers, to refine agentic workflows for AI-native investing in closed beta. In the coming weeks, the team will unveil key details of its advanced architecture and agentic frameworks as it gears up for a public launch aimed at delivering smarter, hyper-personalized crypto discovery tools to a wider audience.

To learn more about TrueNorth, users can visit https://true-north.xyz/

Contact: media@adventai.io

About TrueNorth

TrueNorth is the crypto industry’s first autonomous, AI-powered discovery engine, designed to be symbiotic with the user journey, bringing intent straight to an outcome. Combining on-chain, social, and macro data, TrueNorth uses advanced agentic infrastructure to deliver real-time, tailored insights that evolve with each user’s investment journey. Founded by DeFi/CeFi and AI experts, TrueNorth aims to democratize decentralized finance by making complex crypto information accessible and actionable for investors at all levels. TrueNorth is part of Delphi Labs’ dAGI accelerator, a protocol R&D lab focused on incubating and accelerating new Web3 primitives.

Contact

PR team
media@adventai.io