The generative art project Quine by Larva Labs—the duo behind CryptoPunks, Autoglyphs, and Meebits—officially went live on October 10, 2025, as the final release in Art Blocks’ flagship Curated series marking the 500th project in their foundational on-chain collection from 2020–2025.

This conceptual piece explores “quines,” self-replicating code that outputs its own source code, blending algorithmic generation with themes of code-as-art and art-as-code. It’s a fitting capstone for Art Blocks’ curated drops, emphasizing fully on-chain, unsupervised generative outputs.

Owners of multi-iteration Quines can use Art Blocks’ “post params” to dynamically select display iterations on marketplaces—fully on-chain and changeable anytime. Early signals from institutions like the Toledo Museum of Art and Christie’s indicate strong demand, positioning this as a high-profile mint.

Community hype is building, with predictions of a 3 ETH floor post-auction due to Larva Labs’ legacy and the project’s historical significance. You can participate via the official Art Blocks page.

VIBESTR Launches and Good Vibes Club Adopts It as Ecosystem Token

In parallel NFT ecosystem news, VibeStrategy (VIBESTR)—the latest iteration of TokenWorks’ NFT Strategy protocol—launched on October 9, 2025, and was immediately adopted as the official utility token for the Good Vibes Club (GVC) NFT collection.

GVC, a 6,969-piece art-focused series from award-winning animation studio Toast in partnership with SuperRare, launched in March 2025 and has since built a vibrant community around “Vibetown,” emphasizing feel-good Web3 content and experiences.

NFT Strategy is an automated trading protocol that ties a project’s native token like $VIBESTR to its NFT collection’s performance: trading fees and volume accrue to buy back and burn NFTs, creating a “flywheel” that boosts scarcity and holder value. GVC’s adoption marks a bold step, with the team committing to a 69 ETH (~$300K) market buy of $VIBESTR for their treasury—half executed immediately—to align incentives and fund community activations, partnerships, and collector perks.

Launch performance has been explosive: 24-Hour Volume: $8.7M for $VIBESTR, outpacing peers like $APESTR, $PUDGYSTR, and $BIRBSTR. Already 390 ETH enough to acquire ~650 GVC NFTs at current floors.

Currently at ~0.72 ETH up from recent lows, with analysts forecasting a push above 1 ETH in 48 hours as the flywheel engages—potentially sweeping 200–300 NFTs in the first week alone. This positions $VIBESTR as a frontrunner among strategy tokens, especially with GVC’s intact royalties, single-collection focus, and ongoing OpenSea rewards quests.

Community sentiment is bullish, viewing it as a “no-brainer” play for GVC holders and new entrants. Trade $VIBESTR on DEXs like Uniswap, and explore GVC on OpenSea. These drops highlight the NFT space’s resilience: Larva Labs closing a chapter in generative art history, while GVC innovates ecosystem mechanics.

Roger Ver’s $48M Settlement with US DOJ And State Street Forecast on Crypto Adoption

Roger Ver, the early Bitcoin investor and advocate often dubbed “Bitcoin Jesus” for his role in promoting the cryptocurrency, has reportedly reached a tentative deferred-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve charges of tax evasion, mail fraud, and filing false tax returns.

Under the deal, Ver would pay approximately $48 million in back taxes and penalties to the IRS, rather than the $40 million figure circulating in some initial reports. If he fully complies with the terms—including the payment and other conditions—the charges would be dropped, allowing him to avoid a full criminal trial and potential extradition from Spain, where he was arrested in April 2024.

The charges stemmed from Ver’s alleged failure to report and pay taxes on capital gains from selling tens of thousands of Bitcoins in 2017, valued at around $240 million at the time. Despite renouncing his U.S. citizenship in 2014 which triggered an “exit tax” obligation on his holdings, prosecutors claimed Ver and his companies MemoryDealers and Agilestar concealed ownership of about 131,000 BTC.

This settlement reflects a pragmatic approach by the DOJ, potentially avoiding a lengthy trial that could challenge the constitutionality of crypto-related exit taxes. Ver has not publicly commented, and the DOJ has declined to confirm details.

This case highlights ongoing U.S. enforcement scrutiny on high-profile crypto figures, even as the regulatory landscape evolves under the current administration.

State Street: 60% of Institutional Investors Eyeing Crypto Growth

A new 2025 Digital Assets Outlook report from State Street, a major global asset manager overseeing over $5 trillion in assets, reveals surging institutional interest in cryptocurrencies.

Nearly 60% of surveyed institutional investors including pension funds, endowments, and family offices plan to increase their allocations to digital assets like Bitcoin and other cryptos over the next 12 months.

Current average exposure stands at 7% of portfolios, but this is projected to double to 16% within three years (by 2028), driven by tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), stablecoins, and blockchain efficiency.

Tokenization benefits cited by respondents: improved transparency (52%), faster trading/settlement (39%), and reduced compliance costs (32%), with nearly half expecting over 40% cost savings.

40% of institutions now have dedicated digital asset teams, and one-third have integrated blockchain into broader digital strategies. By 2030, over half anticipate 10-24% of investments executed via tokenized instruments, starting with private equity and fixed income.

Joerg Ambrosius, President of Investment Services at State Street, noted: “Institutional investors are moving beyond experimentation—digital assets are now a strategic lever for growth, efficiency, and innovation.”

This trend aligns with broader data, such as North America’s $2.3 trillion in institutional crypto transaction volume over the past year, signaling crypto’s maturation as a mainstream asset class.

Cryptocurrency adoption has accelerated dramatically, transitioning from niche speculation to mainstream financial integration. Global user numbers have surged past 650 million, with institutional involvement, regulatory clarity, and demographic shifts fueling this momentum.

Bitcoin and stablecoins lead the charge, while emerging trends like tokenization and AI-blockchain intersections promise further growth. This isn’t just hype—data shows crypto outpacing historical tech adoption rates, positioning it as a core layer of the global economy.

25% of North American CFOs expect digital currency use within two years, with firms like BlackRock and Fidelity adding Bitcoin to reserves. The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established March 2025 has increased non-owner confidence by 23% in the U.S. and 19-21% globally.

Volumes for euro-pegged (EURC) and regulated stablecoins (USDC, PYUSD) have exploded, enabling low-cost cross-border transfers. This outdates traditional rails, with 48% of U.S. holders prioritizing security enhancements for wider payments adoption.

Applied Digital Corp. shares surged 16 percent on Friday after the company reported a powerful first-quarter performance driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers — a trend rapidly transforming AI infrastructure into one of the most lucrative segments of the global technology industry.

The stock, which has now climbed more than 350 percent this year, reflects investor enthusiasm for smaller infrastructure firms cashing in on the capital boom behind AI development.

The North Dakota-based company posted first-quarter revenue of $64.2 million, up 84 percent year-on-year from $34.85 million, and well ahead of LSEG’s forecast of $50 million. Its net loss narrowed to $18.5 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with a loss of $4.29 million (3 cents per share) a year ago, and better than the 13-cent loss analysts expected.

Applied Digital’s strong quarter underscores how the AI infrastructure race — once dominated by tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google — is now opening vast opportunities for smaller players building data centers, power systems, and cooling facilities to host AI workloads. Industry estimates show that global hyperscalers are expected to invest around $350 billion in AI infrastructure this year alone, and demand continues to outstrip available capacity.

During the quarter, Applied Digital deepened its partnership with CoreWeave, the New Jersey-based AI cloud computing startup, by adding another 150 megawatts (MW) of capacity to their existing lease agreement announced in June. The expansion brings their total contracted capacity at the company’s Polaris Forge 1 campus in North Dakota to 400 MW, raising the total value of the lease deal from $7 billion to $11 billion.

“With hyperscalers expected to invest approximately $350 billion into AI deployment this year, we believe we are in a prime position to serve as the modern-day picks and shovels of the intelligence era,” said Wes Cummins, CEO of Applied Digital.

The new 150 MW building will join two other large data cell blocks — one of 100 MW and another of 150 MW — on the same campus. Applied Digital said construction on the new facility will begin shortly, while one of the existing buildings is nearing completion.

To meet escalating AI demand, the company has also secured funding from Macquarie Equipment Capital for a second massive campus, Polaris Forge 2, also in North Dakota. The $3 billion project will house two additional 150 MW data centers, bringing Applied Digital’s total contracted capacity to 600 MW across both campuses.

According to the company, the first 200 MW of power from Polaris Forge 2 is expected to come online in 2026, with full capacity expected by 2027.

The company’s rapid expansion mirrors a broader boom in AI-related infrastructure investment worldwide. Data centers tailored for AI training and inference, often requiring several times more power and cooling capacity than traditional cloud centers, have become the backbone of the artificial intelligence economy. With global chip shortages and soaring power demands, companies that can build and operate such specialized facilities are seeing extraordinary growth.

Applied Digital’s transformation reflects that trend. Founded as a blockchain mining infrastructure company, it has successfully repositioned itself as an AI data center operator — pivoting from the volatile cryptocurrency market to the fast-growing AI compute industry. Analysts say that the strategic shift has made Applied one of the top-performing small-cap tech stocks of 2025.

Still, the company remains in a high-spending phase, as it continues to pour capital into construction and equipment procurement. Analysts polled by LSEG expect Applied Digital to post a second-quarter loss of 15 cents per share on revenue of $76 million, reflecting continued investment before its new facilities begin contributing more meaningfully to profit.

The company’s alliance with CoreWeave — a startup backed by Nvidia and valued at over $19 billion — is a cornerstone of that future. The long-term lease commitments provide Applied Digital with a predictable revenue base stretching years ahead, a rarity among smaller infrastructure firms.

Applied Digital’s growth surge also comes as Wall Street grows increasingly bullish on companies enabling the AI supply chain — from chipmakers like Nvidia and AMD to cooling system manufacturers and hyperscale construction contractors. Many analysts now describe data center infrastructure as the “picks and shovels” of the AI revolution, echoing Cummins’ sentiment that these firms are “powering the intelligence economy from the ground up.”

With the AI arms race intensifying and demand for compute capacity continuing to accelerate, Applied Digital’s position as a specialized infrastructure provider appears to be securing it a front-row seat in one of the fastest-expanding and most profitable corners of modern technology.

Apple has quietly retired its Clips video editing app, bringing to a close one of its longest-running experiments in short-form video creation.

The app, which launched in 2017, was initially designed to help users create and share quick, expressive videos for social media — a clear nod to the rising influence of platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and later TikTok.

In a support update published this week, Apple confirmed the app’s discontinuation, stating: “The Clips app is no longer being updated, and will no longer be available for download for new users as of October 10, 2025.”

The app has also been removed from the App Store. However, users who have already downloaded it can continue using it on iOS and iPadOS devices for now.

Over its eight-year lifespan, Clips evolved from a simple, playful video tool into a surprisingly capable editor, offering text overlays, live titles, filters, soundtracks, and even AR-based effects that made use of Apple’s front-facing camera technology. The company added Memoji support, HDR recording, and improved integration with newer iPhones and iPads. But over the past two years, updates had slowed to a trickle, and users had begun to suspect that Apple was winding down support.

The confirmation has left many casual creators reconsidering their workflows. While the app remains functional for those who already have it installed, Apple is urging users to save all videos directly to their Photos library, noting that future iOS updates could eventually render the app incompatible. The support document guides users through exporting projects both with and without effects, ensuring their content isn’t lost once Clips stops working altogether.

For creators who relied on Clips for quick edits and social sharing, the end of the app represents a broader shift in Apple’s priorities. When it debuted, Clips was Apple’s answer to the fast-growing world of user-generated content — a bridge between the simplicity of iMovie and the complex editing suite of Final Cut Pro. But as social platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts built powerful native editing tools into their apps, Clips gradually lost relevance.

The move also underscores Apple’s transition toward professional-grade creative tools and system-level editing features. The company has invested heavily in expanding Final Cut Pro for iPad, improving Photos app editing capabilities, and introducing AI-assisted tools across its ecosystem. These changes suggest Apple is now focusing on empowering both professional creators and everyday users within its main apps, rather than maintaining standalone creative tools with limited appeal.

The implications for users are significant. While professionals can turn to Final Cut Pro or iMovie, Clips has filled a unique niche: a free, easy-to-use tool for quick, fun, social-ready videos. Its absence leaves casual creators — particularly younger users — with fewer Apple-native options. Many are likely to migrate to third-party alternatives like CapCut, InShot, or VN Editor, which dominate the short-form editing market and offer deep integration with platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Apple’s decision may also mark the company’s recognition that social media video editing has moved beyond its ecosystem, as most users now prefer to create and share content directly within apps that already include robust editing tools.

However, Clips will be remembered as one of Apple’s more ambitious consumer-facing experiments — an app that briefly captured the spirit of the short-video era before the market was overtaken by social giants. For those who embraced it early, the shutdown feels like the quiet retirement of a tool that made creative expression accessible to anyone with an iPhone.