Crypto Today: Trump Taps Clayton for AI Force, IMF Pays El Salvador, NEAR Recovers $3.8M

President Donald Trump has named Jay Clayton, the US director of national intelligence, to head a newly created Super Intelligence Force, according to a Sunday post on Truth Social. The unit is modeled after the Space Force and is charged with coordinating federal efforts to keep the United States ahead in advanced artificial intelligence. Joining Clayton on the initiative are Federal Trade Commission chairman Andrew Ferguson, Office of Personnel Management director Scott Kupor, and Emil Michael, the Department of War's under secretary for research and engineering and chief technology officer. The appointment formalizes plans first reported in September to establish an AI-focused czar position within the federal government.

The International Monetary Fund has greenlit approximately $138 million in immediate disbursements to El Salvador under its $1.4 billion, 40-month Extended Fund Facility, completing the program's second and third reviews. Despite missed benchmarks on Bitcoin accumulation, the IMF granted waivers citing "strong corrective measures and renewed commitments" from San Salvador. The fund acknowledged progress on financial-sector reforms, fiscal oversight, AML/CFT compliance, and the transfer of majority ownership of the state-operated Chivo wallet to a private operator. Going forward, the IMF expects no further state Bitcoin purchases beyond documented donations, alongside tighter governance of public-sector crypto holdings.

NEAR Intents announced it has recovered roughly $3.8 million in assets lost during a Thursday security breach, signaling progress in its incident response. The recovery offers a rare positive outcome in a week marked by renewed scrutiny of cross-chain bridge vulnerabilities. Separately, broader crypto markets were mixed over the past 24 hours: Bitcoin slipped about 2% near $86,461 while Monero gained over 1%, BNB traded around $795, and Solana hovered near $121. The developments underscore how policy decisions in Washington, multilateral lending conditions, and protocol-level exploits continue to shape near-term sentiment across digital assets.