Cryptocurrency
Circle Secures Federal Approval for National Trust Bank
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted final approval for Circle Internet Group to establish a national trust bank, marking a significant regulatory milestone for the issuer of the USDC stablecoin as it seeks to integrate blockchain infrastructure into the traditional American financial system.
Crypto Traders Brace for Volatility as $1.75B in Options Expire
With $1.75 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum options contracts expiring on July 10, institutional investors are signaling a cautious outlook. The expiry, characterized by a heavy demand for downside protection and a $62,000 maximum pain point for Bitcoin, suggests limited confidence in a sustained rally for the digital asset market.
Federal inmate charged with laundering $290K in forfeited crypto
Rossen G. Iossifov, a Bulgarian national currently serving a federal prison sentence, stands accused of siphoning $290,000 in cryptocurrency that had already been ordered forfeited to the U.S. government. Prosecutors allege he orchestrated the illicit transfers from behind bars, utilizing complex mixing services to obscure the movement of assets.
Ethereum Foundation dissolves Protocol Support team in 20% staff cut
The Ethereum Foundation has shuttered its Protocol Support team, marking a definitive end to the group that spent five years coordinating network upgrades and developer fellowships. This move follows a broader organizational restructuring that saw the nonprofit eliminate 54 positions, roughly 20% of its total workforce.
European Parliament revives voluntary chat scanning with encryption carve-out
European lawmakers have approved a temporary framework allowing tech companies to voluntarily scan private communications for child sexual abuse material until 2028, while simultaneously securing a critical exemption for services protected by end-to-end encryption following a contentious July 9 vote.
Former SWIFT Executive Debunks XRP Integration Rumors
Tom Zschach, the former Chief Innovation Officer at SWIFT, has dismissed persistent online speculation suggesting the global financial messaging network intends to integrate the XRP token. Zschach’s intervention follows a wave of unsubstantiated social media reports claiming that SWIFT was pivoting toward the public cryptocurrency for its cross-border settlement infrastructure.
Crypto market faces longest losing streak since 2022
The cryptocurrency market has endured three consecutive quarters of negative returns, a slide not seen since the 2022 bear market. According to a Bitwise review, the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index dropped 15.4% in the second quarter of 2026, as spot Bitcoin ETFs suffered their worst outflows since inception.
HSBC Pilots Tokenized Structured Notes in Hong Kong
Institutional investors in Hong Kong have participated in the first blockchain-based issuance of a digitally native structured product by HSBC. The pilot, which utilized U.S. dollar-denominated notes, marks a shift toward leveraging distributed ledger technology to streamline the lifecycle of complex financial instruments from issuance to settlement.
Goldman Sachs Bans Employees from Trading Election and Finance Markets
Goldman Sachs has officially restricted staff from trading prediction market contracts linked to elections, macroeconomic data, and geopolitical events. The move places the investment bank at the forefront of corporate efforts to mitigate insider trading risks as regulators intensify scrutiny of platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi.
North Carolina breaks state deadlock on prediction markets
North Carolina has become the first U.S. state to explicitly validate the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s authority over prediction markets, carving out a distinct regulatory path. Under Senate Bill 257, signed by Governor Josh Stein, federally registered platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket gain legal standing to operate starting January 2027.
Robinhood Chain Hits $70M in Bridged Ether During Opening Week
Robinhood’s new Arbitrum-based layer-2 network has drawn over $70 million in bridged Ether just seven days after its July 1 launch. This rapid influx highlights the brokerage’s push to position its AI-native blockchain as a central hub for tokenized finance, leveraging Ethereum as its primary settlement and gas layer.
Zcash Sets July 28 Deadline for Ironwood Upgrade
A critical network upgrade arrives July 28 at block height 3,428,143, following a one-week delay. The Ironwood protocol change aims to force an accounting check on all funds exiting the Orchard shielded pool, effectively testing whether a previously disclosed "infinity" vulnerability resulted in the creation of counterfeit ZEC.
Malicious Injective SDK Update Exposes Private Keys
A compromised developer account allowed attackers to inject malicious code into the @injectivelabs/sdk-ts npm package, turning a standard software update into a gateway for harvesting private keys and seed phrases. Security researchers warn that the breach, which spread across 17 related packages, remains a significant threat to affected applications.
Polymarket Seeks Margin Trading Entry in U.S. via NFA Filings
Polymarket has initiated a bid to introduce margin trading for American users, submitting three registration applications to the National Futures Association on July 3. The move marks a significant push into regulated territory, even as the prediction market faces mounting legal and regulatory pressure regarding its domestic operations.
Hyperliquid and Phantom Press CFTC for DeFi Regulatory Shift
The Hyperliquid Policy Center and wallet provider Phantom are challenging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to overhaul its oversight of onchain trading. Their joint proposal argues that legacy regulations designed for centralized intermediaries—where brokers and clearinghouses hold customer assets—fail to account for the self-custody nature of decentralized financial infrastructure.
Labour MPs move to permanently ban crypto political donations
The resignation of Nigel Farage amid investigations into multimillion-pound gifts has prompted UK Labour lawmakers to seek a permanent prohibition on cryptocurrency donations to political parties. The proposed amendments aim to tighten financial safeguards following scrutiny over undisclosed support provided by figures linked to the digital asset industry.
Coinbase legal chief Paul Grewal to step down ahead of Senate vote
Paul Grewal will vacate his post as Coinbase’s chief legal officer on July 31, stepping into an advisory role just days before the U.S. Senate resumes deliberation on the CLARITY Act. His departure marks a significant leadership shift as the exchange faces a critical juncture in federal digital asset regulation.
Bitdeer stakes $36 million on Nevada mining hardware plant
A 14.1% surge in Bitdeer Technologies shares followed the announcement of a $36 million manufacturing facility in Sparks, Nevada. The project, secured with state tax incentives, marks a strategic pivot for the Singapore-based firm to bring the production of its proprietary SEALMINER rigs onto domestic soil by late 2026.
Bitcoin Surges Past $63K as Macro Pressures Ease
Bitcoin climbed above $63,000 on Thursday, marking a 2% gain as cooling oil prices and declining U.S. Treasury yields reinvigorated appetite for risk assets. The recovery follows a period of heightened geopolitical anxiety, though lingering market sentiment remains gripped by caution despite the improved technical outlook.
Ethereum Foundation: AI excels at hunting bugs but fails at triage
The Ethereum Foundation has found that the primary obstacle in AI-driven security research is not identifying potential flaws, but verifying them. Recent experiments reveal that the time required to confirm genuine vulnerabilities significantly outweighs the speed at which AI agents generate them, leaving a massive backlog of unverified reports.
Senate Scrambles to Finalize CLARITY Act Before August Recess
With the August recess looming on August 7, Senate negotiators are racing to consolidate the CLARITY Act into a single draft by next week. The bill, intended to define regulatory authority between the SEC and CFTC, currently faces a precarious path as it struggles to secure the necessary 60-vote threshold.
OpenAI Unveils GPT-5.6 Sol with Multi-Agent Reasoning
OpenAI has launched the GPT-5.6 model family, headlined by the flagship Sol, which utilizes a four-agent reasoning architecture to manage complex coding and scientific tasks. The rollout arrives as the industry prepares for a surge in competition, with Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI scheduled to debut Grok 4.5 this Thursday.
CFTC stalls CME Group’s 24/7 crude oil futures launch
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has effectively blocked CME Group’s attempt to launch 24/7 crude oil futures, citing unresolved legal and market concerns. The regulator halted the exchange's self-certified filing, demanding a deeper examination of how continuous trading fits within existing U.S. market safeguards.
XRP Bounces on SWIFT Pilot News Despite Institutional Outflows
XRP gained 1.6% following SWIFT’s announcement of a blockchain payments pilot involving 17 global institutions. While the news initially buoyed sentiment, analysts remain divided over whether the project—which centers on tokenized bank deposits rather than native assets—will drive actual demand for the Ripple-linked cryptocurrency.
Raymond James Sets $800 Price Target for SpaceX
Raymond James has initiated coverage of SpaceX with a Strong Buy rating and an $800 price target, projecting a 440% upside for the company. This aggressive valuation makes it the most optimistic forecast among major Wall Street firms, arriving just as the stock attempts to recover from a 25% recent slide.
White House Deflects Blame in SEC and CFTC Nomination Stalemate
The Trump administration is pushing back against allegations that it is stalling on Democratic appointments to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In a letter to Senate leadership, the White House claims it requested names for the vacant posts but has received no response from Democratic channels.
Kalshi pivots to gold and energy as perpetual futures race intensifies
Regulated derivatives platform Kalshi is seeking U.S. regulatory approval to launch perpetual futures tied to gold, foreign exchange, and energy. The move signals an aggressive expansion strategy, positioning the firm in direct competition with Robinhood as both companies vie for dominance in the retail and institutional trading space.
Hong Kong regulators mandate phishing-resistant security for crypto
Phishing scams siphoned $306 million from the cryptocurrency sector in the first quarter of 2026, prompting the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to overhaul account security. Licensed platforms must now abandon SMS-based authentication in favor of hardware keys and passkeys to combat increasingly sophisticated digital fraud.
Bank of Korea pushes for bank-led stablecoin control
The Bank of Korea is doubling down on its demand that won-denominated stablecoins be issued exclusively through bank-led consortiums. This stance, reaffirmed in recent documents sent to the National Assembly, highlights the deepening friction between central bank regulators and lawmakers as South Korea’s comprehensive digital asset legislation remains indefinitely stalled.
MARA Holdings pivots to Texas as AI infrastructure powers stock gains
A 1,200-acre land acquisition in Texas has sent MARA Holdings shares climbing 14.6%, signaling a aggressive shift for the Bitcoin miner. By securing up to 2 gigawatts of grid capacity, the firm is positioning its new digital infrastructure campus to serve both high-performance computing workloads and cryptocurrency operations.