Crypto Today: Bitcoin ETFs, Kalshi, Core DAO
New Jersey has asked the US Supreme Court to weigh state authority over prediction markets, while US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $3.52 billion of August inflows and Core DAO triggered an emergency fork.
Jorge Franganillo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
US crypto markets entered September with three separate developments drawing attention across regulation, ETFs and blockchain infrastructure. New Jersey moved to push its battle over prediction markets to the US Supreme Court, while spot Bitcoin funds in the US posted their strongest month of 2026. At the same time, Core DAO said it would carry out an emergency hard fork after an issue involving validator rewards.
Prediction markets face a new legal test
The New Jersey filing seeks clarity on whether states can regulate sports betting activity that takes place through prediction markets such as Kalshi. The state is asking the Supreme Court to reverse an April appeals ruling that had gone in Kalshi’s favor. The case has become part of a broader struggle over which level of government controls a fast-expanding corner of the crypto-linked market.
Kalshi and similar platforms sit in a grey area for regulators because they resemble both event contracts and betting products. That overlap has created tension between state gaming authorities and the federal framework that oversees derivatives-style markets. A Supreme Court review would raise the stakes further by moving the dispute from an appellate fight into a national legal question.
Bitcoin funds post a strong August
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds brought in $3.52 billion in August, their best monthly haul of 2026. The figure shows renewed demand for the products after a year in which flows had been more uneven. For the market, the inflows are notable because they reflect continuing institutional access to Bitcoin through regulated funds rather than direct token purchases.
Bitcoin was trading at about $77,252.82 at the time of the report, while several other major cryptocurrencies also showed gains. Ether changed hands at $2,391.77, Solana at $99.45 and XRP at $1.34. The market backdrop matters because ETF demand can reinforce broader sentiment even when individual tokens move only modestly on the day.
Core DAO said it would activate an emergency hard fork after some validators claimed more CORE rewards than the protocol intended to issue. Hard forks are disruptive by nature because they change the rules of the network and require participants to upgrade. In this case, the fork was presented as a corrective step aimed at addressing the reward mismatch rather than a routine software release.
The incident adds another example of how token economics and validator behavior can create operational risk inside blockchain systems. Even when the problem is contained, it can affect confidence in the fairness of emissions and distribution rules. For networks that rely on staking and validator incentives, precision in the protocol design is central to credibility.
This article is not investment advice and recommends no asset, level or direction; a single session's move is not evidence of a trend. For background see Crypto, Altcoin, Bitcoin, and for terms the finance glossary.
Frequently asked questions
Why did New Jersey go to the Supreme Court?
New Jersey is asking the court to decide whether states can regulate sports betting that is offered through prediction markets such as Kalshi.
How much money flowed into US spot Bitcoin ETFs in August?
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $3.52 billion in net inflows in August, their strongest month of 2026.
What happened with Core DAO?
Core DAO announced an emergency hard fork after some validators said they received more CORE rewards than the protocol meant to distribute.
Sources
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