OpenSecret has joined NVIDIA Inception, a startup accelerator supporting ventures advancing AI and other transformative technologies. The company, known for its encrypted-by-default backend infrastructure and its AI-powered, privacy-first chat assistant Maple AI, gains access to NVIDIA's go-to-market support, technical mentorship, and specialized training. “NVIDIA Inception provides the mentorship, resources, and community that will help us deliver secure, encrypted services—at scale,” said Marks, OpenSecret’s co-founder and CEO. The partnership underscores a rising focus on Confidential AI, where OpenSecret uses GPU-based confidential computing to prevent data exposure, even in memory. This approach enhances data integrity and is poised to appeal to enterprises with stringent privacy demands. This collaboration is expected to accelerate OpenSecret’s roadmap and expand its reach into markets where verifiable privacy is a competitive necessity.
-EDITOR·OP_RETURN Daily SHARE TO X
In a retrospective analysis, BitMEX Research detailed historical 2015 spam attacks on Bitcoin—four coordinated rounds of network stress orchestrated by a little-known entity, CoinWallet.EU. The attacks, intended to highlight Bitcoin’s vulnerability under the 1MB block size limit, significantly disrupted payment reliability, particularly during July’s third round. Over 385,000 transactions were analyzed and classified as spam, increasing average fees by 51% and transaction delays by sevenfold. “The goal is to get the community to fix Bitcoin,” said a figure claiming to be CoinWallet’s COO. Responses varied: some miners, like Luke-Jr's Eligius, filtered spam, while others mined all valid transactions. The events catalyzed technical upgrades, including increased relay fees and mempool limits, and intensified the blocksize debate of the day. Although small blockers ultimately prevailed, the episode underscored ongoing tensions over defining and mitigating spam—a debate relived in modern discussions about OP_Return limits and high-fee NFT-style transactions.
-EDITOR·OP_RETURN Daily SHARE TO X
An American tourist alleges he lost $123,000 in crypto after being abducted and drugged by a fake Uber driver in London. Jacob Irwin-Cline, 30, a former software developer from Portland, Oregon, believes he was administered scopolamine—a rare and powerful sedative known as "Devil's Breath"—during a ride after leaving a Soho nightclub early May. The sedative left him disoriented and docile, during which time his phone was accessed and crypto assets drained. “They locked me out of all of it,” Irwin-Cline said, noting that funds were traced through wallets on MEXC and BTSE exchanges. Despite reporting the theft to the Metropolitan Police, FBI cybercrime unit, and Action Fraud, recovery appears unlikely. The incident surfaces growing concerns over targeted crypto-related crime and self custody best practices. Uber has launched an internal investigation, calling the event “totally unacceptable.”
-EDITOR·OP_RETURN Daily SHARE TO X
In a wide-ranging interview, Blockstream CEO Adam Back addressed current tensions in Bitcoin development, the relay filter debate, and the growing complexity of Bitcoin's layer 2 ecosystem. Speaking on controversies surrounding OP_Return data limits and the misuse of Taproot for embedding JPEGs, Back highlighted how miscommunication and policy ambiguity have inflamed debate. However, he affirmed, "The blockchain is for transactions... filters are just about what gets relayed," underscoring a desire to discourage non-transactional data. On infrastructure, Back revealed Blockstream Mining has formally spun out, while products like BMN continue advancing capital markets on Bitcoin. He also expressed confidence in the long-term trajectory of institutional and nation-state adoption, calling it “the arbitrage of the century” amid fiat devaluation. “Bitcoin has scaled from individuals to companies and now governments,” said Back, affirming the protocol’s growing global relevance.
-EDITOR·OP_RETURN Daily SHARE TO X
Scopolamine—a is not rare. It can be bought over the counter as a motion sickness drug. It is known as "the million dollar ride", as the user appears to be normal and raise no concern, yet happily and casually will give up bank account numbers, go to ATMs and even, it seems, relinquish crypto. It need not be ingested, it can be blown onto a victim's face. The criminal use of this drug is common in South America.