US military strikes on Bandar Abbas, Iran’s strategically critical southern port city, killed two people and wounded eight others. The attacks, which began around July 12, mark a significant escalation in hostilities that has already started rattling crypto markets.
Bitcoin briefly traded below $73,000 as news of the strikes filtered through markets.
What happened in Bandar Abbas The strikes targeted key Iranian naval facilities in and around Bandar Abbas, a port city that sits at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through that narrow waterway every single day.
Reports from Iranian state media described explosions near bridges and infrastructure west of the city. The two fatalities and eight injuries came from these blasts, though the full extent of damage to military installations remains unclear.
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Bandar Abbas wasn’t the only target. The strikes were part of a broader, coordinated US military campaign hitting facilities across multiple Iranian port cities, including Bushehr and Chabahar. US forces reportedly deployed sea drones to strike maintenance facilities used for submarines and ships, aiming to degrade Iran’s naval capabilities across its entire southern coastline.
Multiple rounds of strikes occurred across early to mid-July, suggesting this isn’t a one-off retaliation but a sustained campaign.
The crypto market reaction Bitcoin’s dip below $73,000 triggered liquidations of leveraged positions and stop-losses across major exchanges. Volatility spiked sharply in the hours following initial reports, with trading volumes surging as both panic sellers and opportunistic dip-buyers flooded order books.
The US has been actively freezing Iranian-linked digital assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars, running parallel to the kinetic military operations. That campaign puts direct pressure on the intersection of state actors and decentralized finance.
Why this matters beyond the headlines Previous flare-ups around the Strait, including the 2019 tanker seizures and the January 2020 Soleimani strike, produced similar patterns in crypto markets. The 2020 episode saw Bitcoin drop roughly 5% before recovering within a week.
Privacy-focused tokens saw modest upticks during the initial chaos, consistent with increased demand for financial tools that operate outside government oversight.
Traders running leveraged positions should be especially cautious given the combination of military escalation, active sanctions enforcement against Iranian-linked wallets, and uncertain energy market dynamics.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
TLDR: The Bitcoin outlook shows encouraging signs as institutional futures demand improves while Strategy increases its cash holdings to $3 billion. Strategy’s larger dollar reserve covers about 20 months of preferred dividend payments, lowering near-term concerns over forced Bitcoin sales. CME Bitcoin futures and perpetual contracts record positive flows despite inconsistent demand across U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Strategy holds 843,775 BTC and plans to use future capital raises for additional Bitcoin purchases and further reserve expansion. JPMorgan sees an improving Bitcoin outlook as Strategy expands its dollar reserve and institutional demand returns to derivatives markets. The bank’s analysts point to two shifts beneath Bitcoin’s uneven spot performance.
Strategy now holds $3 billion in cash, easing concerns that dividend obligations could force large Bitcoin sales. Meanwhile, positive flows have appeared in CME Bitcoin futures and perpetual contracts, even as spot exchange-traded fund activity stays volatile.
Bitcoin trades near $64,125, down about 1% over the past day. The mixed market picture suggests futures positioning and corporate liquidity now offer stronger support than headline ETF flows alone.
Bitcoin Outlook Improves as Futures Demand Rebuilds Spot Bitcoin ETF flows have moved sharply between inflows and redemptions during recent weeks. JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou say the futures market presents a steadier picture.
Positive flow momentum appeared in CME Bitcoin futures and perpetual futures this week. These products often attract institutions and professional trading firms rather than only short-term retail buyers.
That distinction matters for the Bitcoin outlook. Futures demand can show how larger traders position through volatility without requiring direct spot purchases.
The latest pattern suggests some institutions are rebuilding exposure despite weak and inconsistent ETF demand. JPMorgan views the divergence as an encouraging market signal.
Flows into leveraged ETFs linked to Strategy have also stayed positive for seven weeks. JPMorgan attributes much of that buying to retail investors.
The demand has likely supported Strategy shares and helped keep the stock above the net asset value of its Bitcoin holdings. A sustained premium gives Strategy more flexibility to raise money through equity sales.
The company can then meet corporate obligations without relying on Bitcoin disposals. That funding route reduces a risk that has weighed on market sentiment during Bitcoin’s decline.
Strategy Cash Reserve Eases Bitcoin Selling Concerns Strategy raised its U.S. dollar reserve by $450 million to $3 billion on July 12. The company generated $466.7 million through the sale of about 4.82 million common shares during the week.
The expanded Strategy cash reserve covers roughly 20 months of preferred dividend payments. JPMorgan previously said reserves covering two to three years would offer greater protection against forced Bitcoin sales.
Although the latest figure falls below that range, analysts still call the increase encouraging. The reserve gives Strategy more time to manage dividends, interest costs, and market volatility without immediately tapping its digital asset holdings.
Strategy ended the period with 843,775 BTC and made no Bitcoin purchase or sale during the week. Its holdings carry an aggregate purchase cost of about $63.69 billion, according to the company’s filing.
Chief Executive Phong Le says Strategy plans to remain a major long-term Bitcoin buyer. He also describes the balance sheet as secure and says debt pressure would become a concern only if Bitcoin fell toward $8,000 to $10,000.
The company may issue additional STRC preferred shares once they return to their $100 par value. Proceeds could support new Bitcoin purchases and add more dollars to the reserve.
JPMorgan says it cannot isolate how much the cash buildup has changed Bitcoin sentiment. Still, stronger Bitcoin futures demand and a larger liquidity cushion reduce two immediate pressure points.
Spot ETF demand remains unstable, but the derivatives market and Strategy cash reserve now provide more constructive signals for the Bitcoin outlook.
JPMorgan analysts report improved prospects for Bitcoin as financial services company Strategy has expanded its dollar reserves and institutional demand strengthens in futures markets. The analysts point to these developments as key factors shaping recent shifts in the cryptocurrency’s environment.
Institutional futures demand strengthensFutures and perpetual contract flows have turned positive at the CME, signaling renewed interest from institutional and professional traders. This uptick contrasts with the volatility seen in US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, where inflows and redemptions have marked recent weeks.
JPMorgan, a global banking giant, notes that institutional positioning through derivatives often provides a more stable outlook for Bitcoin, even when direct spot purchases fluctuate. This trend suggests that some large market participants are gradually increasing their exposure in spite of inconsistent demand from spot Bitcoin ETF investors.
Flows into leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to Strategy have also remained positive over the past seven weeks, with retail investors believed to be major contributors. As a result, Strategy’s stock continues to trade at a premium compared with the underlying value of its Bitcoin holdings.
Flows into CME Bitcoin futures and perpetual contracts have turned positive, indicating that some institutions are rebuilding their Bitcoin exposure despite weak and uneven interest on spot ETFs, according to JPMorgan’s analysis.
This premium allows Strategy more flexibility in raising new capital through equity sales, reducing pressure to sell Bitcoin and thereby providing an extra buffer against market downturns.
Strategy’s cash reserve expansionStrategy announced a $450 million increase in its US dollar reserve, raising the total to $3 billion as of July 12. This influx was accomplished by selling approximately 4.82 million common shares in just one week, generating $466.7 million in proceeds.
The company, which is publicly listed and known for its extensive Bitcoin treasury strategy, now holds enough cash to cover about 20 months of preferred dividend payments. While JPMorgan’s analysts maintain that reserves covering two to three years would deliver more robust protection, they recognize the current increase as a positive measure for short-term obligations.
With these additional reserves in place, Strategy may avoid selling digital assets to meet commitments, instead managing dividends and interest expenses during periods of price volatility.
At the end of the latest reporting period, Strategy maintained its Bitcoin holdings at 843,775 BTC, representing a total purchase cost of approximately $63.69 billion. The company made neither additional Bitcoin purchases nor sales during the reported week.
Chief Executive Phong Le emphasizes that Strategy intends to continue as a significant long-term Bitcoin acquirer, describing the company’s balance sheet as secure. He further states that debt-related pressure would only become problematic if Bitcoin’s price fell sharply to the $8,000 to $10,000 range.
The company has also indicated that it may issue more preferred shares if their value returns to target levels, using the proceeds to purchase additional Bitcoin or to further grow its dollar reserves.
JPMorgan analysts say that, although it is difficult to determine how the recent reserve increase has impacted overall Bitcoin sentiment, these moves have alleviated immediate concerns about forced Bitcoin sales. For now, the derivatives market and robust cash holdings provide more supportive signals for Bitcoin compared to spot ETF flows.
Mini dictionary: Strategy refers to a company publicly known for holding significant amounts of Bitcoin on its balance sheet as part of its treasury strategy, often issuing new shares to raise capital for further Bitcoin purchases.
MetricPrevious LevelCurrent LevelStrategy cash reserve$2.55 billion$3 billionStrategy BTC holdings843,775 BTC843,775 BTCAggregate BTC purchase cost–$63.69 billionDisclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Iran’s Army launched Arash explosive drones at the US Al-Sakhir base in Bahrain on Friday, marking one of the most direct military confrontations between Tehran and Washington in years. The base hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, making this far more than a symbolic gesture.
Bahraini and US defense forces reportedly intercepted the drones, with only minor damage to a nearby residential structure and no confirmed military casualties.
What happened and why it matters The strike was part of what Iranian state media dubbed “Operation Lightning,” framed as retaliation for previous US airstrikes on Iranian missile and drone installations. The tit-for-tat escalation has been building since late June, with both sides ratcheting up military actions across the Gulf region throughout early July 2026.
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The crypto angle runs deeper than volatility Bitcoin experienced short-term volatility during earlier phases of this escalation, dipping to around $63,000 during February and March 2026 as geopolitical tensions in the region first started heating up.
Analysis from 2025 and 2026 has shown Iran’s increasing reliance on cryptocurrency for sanctions evasion and military procurement. Tehran has reportedly advertised military goods via crypto channels, using digital assets to circumvent the traditional financial system that Western sanctions have largely locked them out of.
Iran has been mining Bitcoin and using digital currencies to work around sanctions for years, and on-chain analyses have indicated Iran utilizes digital assets for financing procurement networks that support its military activities and proxy forces in the region.
What investors should actually watch If the US responds with expanded sanctions that specifically target crypto infrastructure tied to Iranian military financing, the ripple effects could be substantial, including potential new compliance requirements for exchanges, enhanced KYC protocols for transactions originating from or routed through sanctioned jurisdictions, and possibly new designations of specific wallet addresses or networks. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has already been expanding its crypto sanctions toolkit.
Ethereum and other major altcoins typically amplify whatever Bitcoin does during geopolitical shocks. If Bitcoin drops 5%, expect ETH to drop 7-10%.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones toward US-linked targets in Kuwait over a multi-day window in mid-July, marking one of the most significant escalations in the Gulf since the 2026 Iran war began in late February. Bitcoin responded the way Bitcoin tends to respond when things get scary: it sold off, briefly sliding below the $100K mark before bouncing back.
The attacks, which took place around July 13-16, involved approximately 32 drones and additional missiles directed at locations associated with American military interests in Kuwait. Kuwaiti forces intercepted many of the incoming projectiles. The strikes caused material damage to infrastructure, though confirmed casualties remained limited.
What happened on the ground This wasn’t the first time Kuwait found itself in the crosshairs. Back in June, Iranian drone strikes hit Kuwait’s international airport, killing one person and injuring dozens more. That attack alone reshaped the security calculus for the entire Gulf region.
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The latest wave of strikes represents a continuation of hostilities that kicked off on February 28, 2026, and have steadily escalated throughout the year. Iran has characterized its actions as retaliatory, fitting them into the broader framework of an ongoing conflict with the United States and its regional partners.
How crypto markets reacted Bitcoin dipped to around $99,500 as the strikes unfolded, briefly breaching the psychologically significant $100K level. It recovered to approximately $102,000 shortly after, but the volatility told its own story.
The Iran crypto connection that regulators are watching There’s another dimension to this story that doesn’t get enough attention. Iran’s domestic digital asset ecosystem was valued at over $7.8 billion as of 2025, and a noteworthy portion of that activity has been linked to addresses associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The IRGC is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Any crypto flows tied to its operations put exchanges, OTC desks, and DeFi protocols in potential legal jeopardy under US sanctions law. As the conflict escalates, regulatory scrutiny on these connections is almost certain to intensify.
For exchanges operating globally, this means enhanced compliance costs and potential delisting of addresses or tokens that touch Iranian-linked wallets. For DeFi protocols with no KYC mechanisms, it means renewed political pressure from lawmakers who already view the space with suspicion.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
SEC Chair advocates for new electronic delivery rules: In the era of AI and blockchain, paper-based delivery should become a relic of the past.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has formally proposed the new "Regulation E-Delivery", significantly expanding the authority of entities including issuers, broker-dealers, and investment advisers to deliver information electronically. The rule aims to meet disclosure and delivery requirements under federal securities laws, and promote electronic delivery as a more mainstream, flexible option to replace traditional paper-based delivery. SEC Chair Paul Atkins noted that this is another step toward building a modern-era regulatory framework and a key pillar of his agenda since taking office. "In the age of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, default paper delivery should be a historical relic, not the standard." Earlier, Atkins launched "Project Crypto" to modernize on-chain markets, and the electronic delivery rule aligns with his broader regulatory modernization agenda. The proposal will subsequently enter a public comment period.
4 minutes ago
BONK treasury attacker transfers approximately $4.11 million worth of tokens to Binance.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, the address that drained the BONK treasury via a governance attack transferred 1.186 trillion BONK tokens (valued at approximately $4.11 million) to Binance three hours ago. This address spent roughly $4.4 million to acquire enough BONK tokens 10 days ago to meet the governance vote approval threshold, then submitted a governance proposal that was forcibly passed, siphoning 4.426 trillion BONK from the BONK treasury, worth around $21.2 million. On the day of the incident, it had already transferred 40 billion BONK (about $190,000) to OKX, with the remaining tokens held on-chain. As of press time, approximately 3.2 trillion BONK (valued at roughly $10.98 million) still remains from the amount drained from the treasury. The incident has caused BONK’s price to drop by a cumulative 28% since the event.
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Japanese storage firm Kioxia saw intraday limit-down, while US-listed storage stocks SanDisk, Western Digital, and Micron extended their losses in after-hours trading.
According to Bitget market data, Japanese storage stock Kioxia hit its daily limit during intraday trading, currently down 15.55%, with its market capitalization halved from the June peak. The Nikkei 225 index extended its intraday decline to over 4%. Per BIT (bit.com) market data, US storage-related stocks SanDisk and Western Digital extended losses by over 4% in after-hours trading, while Micron Technology fell nearly 4%.
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Japan launches domestic AI project "Noetra": NVIDIA will supply 27,500 Rubin GPUs, with 44 corporate groups including Sony and SoftBank participating.
The Japanese domestic multimodal foundation model development project "Noetra" officially launched on July 16. Core enterprises include Sony Group, SoftBank, NEC, and Honda, with a total of 44 companies and groups contributing to the initiative, covering a wide range of industries such as manufacturing, finance, logistics, and communications. Engineers from institutions including the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Preferred Networks will also join the R&D. This project is part of the "Multimodal Foundation Model Development Project for AI Robots and Physical AI" promoted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), officially named the FRONTia Project by NVIDIA. Its goal is to build a Japanese domestic foundation model for physical AI scenarios like manufacturing sites and robots, rather than just a Japanese-language conversational AI. At the hardware level, Noetra will collaborate with NVIDIA to build a computing platform equipped with approximately 27,500 latest Rubin GPUs and 13,750 Vera CPUs, adopting NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 racks and DSX platform architecture, with a designed power capacity of 140 megawatts. Construction is scheduled to start in April 2027 and operations to launch in June 2028, when it will become Japan’s largest AI computing infrastructure. The R&D roadmap is divided into three phases: starting from fiscal 2026, developing an inference foundation model centered on AI agents and natural language processing; achieving a full multimodal foundation model that seamlessly integrates text, images, video, and audio in fiscal 2028; and realizing real-world native AI that understands spatial and physical attributes in fiscal 2030, with final applications spanning manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and communications.
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Predict.fun launches Up/Down markets with maker rebates, offering higher rebate rates than Polymarket and real-time payouts.
Prediction market platform Predict.fun has announced that all its Up/Down markets are now live with a Maker order rebate mechanism. Users who complete trades via limit orders will receive a 25% rebate on Maker fees. Compared to Polymarket, Predict.fun’s latest Maker rebate offers two core, more straightforward advantages: a higher rebate rate, and real-time rebate disbursement immediately after trade execution, with no need to wait for market settlement. For high-frequency traders, professional market makers, and users who regularly use limit orders, real-time rebates enable faster capital release, reducing the ongoing erosion of trading profits by fees; the higher rebate rate also means that as trading frequency and volume grow, the actual cost savings will become more pronounced. This mechanism currently covers all of Predict.fun’s Up/Down markets. Users do not need to register or submit additional applications—rebates will be automatically credited to their accounts once eligible limit orders are filled.
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Apple closed up 1.76% to hit another all-time high, with positive momentum from Apple Intelligence's China localization continuing to build.
According to market data from BIT (bit.com), Apple closed 1.76% higher in U.S. stock trading, hitting a record high of $333.26 per share, and rose an additional 0.47% in after-hours trading. On the news front, on July 15, Apple Intelligence completed its first domestic generative AI filing in China. Alibaba’s Qianwen AI will be integrated into Apple Intelligence as its AI capability, providing Chinese users of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS with services including text and image understanding, content generation, and more—allowing users to experience these features directly without switching between apps. In addition to Alibaba’s Qianwen AI, Baidu’s AI capabilities will also be integrated into Apple Intelligence, marking the official implementation of Apple’s localized AI strategy in the Chinese market.
Increased activity across Bitcoin’s (BTC) futures markets is playing the dominant role in its short-term price action, which keeps tracing back to where leveraged positions are stacked. Prices tend to gravitate toward where liquidity is most concentrated, and as Bitcoin battles to hold above $64,000, reviewing current liquidation scenarios may provide insight into BTC’s next move.
Liquidation heatmap data shows a cluster of short positions concentrated between $65,500 and $66,000, roughly 3% away from current market pricing. A push through $65,600 may put that shelf in play and could accelerate a larger rally toward $67,000.
Below market pricing, support is layered in the $63,500 to $63,750 range, with the closest cluster 1% away, and larger liquidity pools are found at $63,000-$63,250 (about 1.5% down) and $62,500-$62,750 (about 2.3% down).
Combined, long-side liquidity across the tracked window outweighs short-side liquidity by nearly two to one, potentially signaling that the bulk of a leverage built up over the past month hasn’t fully closed out.
In the most bearish scenario, a wide liquidation band near $55,000 (which has built up over the full month lookback) is visible and stands out more than almost anything else on the chart. This magnet could exert its pull on price if support in the $62,500 to $63,750 were to give way.
The last few weeks of price action suggest that Bitcoin may remain rangebound between $60,000 and $67,000, and BTC’s aggregate open interest and funding rate back this view.
BTC spot and cumulative volume flows. Source: Hyblock
While OI has come down more than 3% from Tuesday’s peak, BTC price has barely moved, and as funding cooled toward neutral, spot and futures flows have favored the buy side over the past week.
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.
US airstrikes targeting Iranian civilian infrastructure in mid-July 2026 have knocked out power across parts of the country and sent shockwaves through crypto markets. Bitcoin dropped over 2% to approximately $62,000 as traders scrambled to de-risk, with roughly $350 million in liquidations hitting the market in short order.
The strikes hit the Bandar Abbas-Khorstan-Lar bridge and surrounding facilities, causing localized power outages in Kahorstan. Iran’s response was blunt: the Strait of Hormuz will not return to its pre-war status, with warnings of retaliation if further attacks occur.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most consequential chokepoints in global energy. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through it on any given day.
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Trading activity around gold-backed tokens and oil derivatives on decentralized platforms surged in the wake of the strikes.
Iran’s crypto entanglement runs deeper than most realize Iran has been collecting transit tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, USDT, and yuan.
That dynamic became even more pronounced in June 2026, when the US Treasury sanctioned Nobitex, Iran’s largest digital asset exchange. The rationale: ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and facilitation of sanctions evasion. Nobitex had functioned as a critical on-ramp for Iranians accessing digital assets, and its sanctioning effectively put Washington on record saying that crypto infrastructure serving hostile state actors is a legitimate target for financial warfare.
What this means for investors The $350 million liquidation event wasn’t catastrophic by crypto standards, but it was a reminder that geopolitical risk doesn’t politely wait for the market to be ready. Leveraged traders got caught leaning the wrong direction, and the cascade was swift.
Iran’s declaration that the Strait of Hormuz won’t return to pre-war conditions suggests this isn’t a short-term disruption.
The Nobitex sanctions were a warning shot. If Iran continues using crypto to collect tolls and circumvent financial restrictions, expect the Treasury to expand its targeting of exchanges, wallets, and protocols that facilitate those flows. That creates compliance risk for any platform that touches Iranian-linked transactions, even inadvertently.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
SEC Chair advocates for new electronic delivery rules: In the era of AI and blockchain, paper-based delivery should become a relic of the past.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has formally proposed the new "Regulation E-Delivery", significantly expanding the authority of entities including issuers, broker-dealers, and investment advisers to deliver information electronically. The rule aims to meet disclosure and delivery requirements under federal securities laws, and promote electronic delivery as a more mainstream, flexible option to replace traditional paper-based delivery. SEC Chair Paul Atkins noted that this is another step toward building a modern-era regulatory framework and a key pillar of his agenda since taking office. "In the age of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, default paper delivery should be a historical relic, not the standard." Earlier, Atkins launched "Project Crypto" to modernize on-chain markets, and the electronic delivery rule aligns with his broader regulatory modernization agenda. The proposal will subsequently enter a public comment period.
4 minutes ago
BONK treasury attacker transfers approximately $4.11 million worth of tokens to Binance.
According to EmberCN’s monitoring, the address that drained the BONK treasury via a governance attack transferred 1.186 trillion BONK tokens (valued at approximately $4.11 million) to Binance three hours ago. This address spent roughly $4.4 million to acquire enough BONK tokens 10 days ago to meet the governance vote approval threshold, then submitted a governance proposal that was forcibly passed, siphoning 4.426 trillion BONK from the BONK treasury, worth around $21.2 million. On the day of the incident, it had already transferred 40 billion BONK (about $190,000) to OKX, with the remaining tokens held on-chain. As of press time, approximately 3.2 trillion BONK (valued at roughly $10.98 million) still remains from the amount drained from the treasury. The incident has caused BONK’s price to drop by a cumulative 28% since the event.
4 minutes ago
Japanese storage firm Kioxia saw intraday limit-down, while US-listed storage stocks SanDisk, Western Digital, and Micron extended their losses in after-hours trading.
According to Bitget market data, Japanese storage stock Kioxia hit its daily limit during intraday trading, currently down 15.55%, with its market capitalization halved from the June peak. The Nikkei 225 index extended its intraday decline to over 4%. Per BIT (bit.com) market data, US storage-related stocks SanDisk and Western Digital extended losses by over 4% in after-hours trading, while Micron Technology fell nearly 4%.
4 minutes ago
Japan launches domestic AI project "Noetra": NVIDIA will supply 27,500 Rubin GPUs, with 44 corporate groups including Sony and SoftBank participating.
The Japanese domestic multimodal foundation model development project "Noetra" officially launched on July 16. Core enterprises include Sony Group, SoftBank, NEC, and Honda, with a total of 44 companies and groups contributing to the initiative, covering a wide range of industries such as manufacturing, finance, logistics, and communications. Engineers from institutions including the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Preferred Networks will also join the R&D. This project is part of the "Multimodal Foundation Model Development Project for AI Robots and Physical AI" promoted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), officially named the FRONTia Project by NVIDIA. Its goal is to build a Japanese domestic foundation model for physical AI scenarios like manufacturing sites and robots, rather than just a Japanese-language conversational AI. At the hardware level, Noetra will collaborate with NVIDIA to build a computing platform equipped with approximately 27,500 latest Rubin GPUs and 13,750 Vera CPUs, adopting NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 racks and DSX platform architecture, with a designed power capacity of 140 megawatts. Construction is scheduled to start in April 2027 and operations to launch in June 2028, when it will become Japan’s largest AI computing infrastructure. The R&D roadmap is divided into three phases: starting from fiscal 2026, developing an inference foundation model centered on AI agents and natural language processing; achieving a full multimodal foundation model that seamlessly integrates text, images, video, and audio in fiscal 2028; and realizing real-world native AI that understands spatial and physical attributes in fiscal 2030, with final applications spanning manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and communications.
4 minutes ago
Predict.fun launches Up/Down markets with maker rebates, offering higher rebate rates than Polymarket and real-time payouts.
Prediction market platform Predict.fun has announced that all its Up/Down markets are now live with a Maker order rebate mechanism. Users who complete trades via limit orders will receive a 25% rebate on Maker fees. Compared to Polymarket, Predict.fun’s latest Maker rebate offers two core, more straightforward advantages: a higher rebate rate, and real-time rebate disbursement immediately after trade execution, with no need to wait for market settlement. For high-frequency traders, professional market makers, and users who regularly use limit orders, real-time rebates enable faster capital release, reducing the ongoing erosion of trading profits by fees; the higher rebate rate also means that as trading frequency and volume grow, the actual cost savings will become more pronounced. This mechanism currently covers all of Predict.fun’s Up/Down markets. Users do not need to register or submit additional applications—rebates will be automatically credited to their accounts once eligible limit orders are filled.
4 minutes ago
Apple closed up 1.76% to hit another all-time high, with positive momentum from Apple Intelligence's China localization continuing to build.
According to market data from BIT (bit.com), Apple closed 1.76% higher in U.S. stock trading, hitting a record high of $333.26 per share, and rose an additional 0.47% in after-hours trading. On the news front, on July 15, Apple Intelligence completed its first domestic generative AI filing in China. Alibaba’s Qianwen AI will be integrated into Apple Intelligence as its AI capability, providing Chinese users of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS with services including text and image understanding, content generation, and more—allowing users to experience these features directly without switching between apps. In addition to Alibaba’s Qianwen AI, Baidu’s AI capabilities will also be integrated into Apple Intelligence, marking the official implementation of Apple’s localized AI strategy in the Chinese market.
Bitcoin‘s short-term price action is closely tied to growing activity in its futures markets, where traders are positioning around key liquidity zones. At present, the market is observing how leveraged positions might influence BTC’s next significant move, especially as the price attempts to hold above $64,000.
Key liquidity zones around current BTC priceAnalysis of the current liquidation heatmap reveals a large group of short positions concentrated between $65,500 and $66,000, representing an area roughly 3% higher than current BTC trading levels. A surge above $65,600 could activate these positions, potentially triggering an accelerated rally toward the $67,000 level as stop-loss orders get triggered and shorts are forced to close.
To the downside, significant support clusters are established between $63,500 and $63,750, which is just 1% below the market price. Further layers of liquidity and support are visible in the $63,000 to $63,250 and $62,500 to $62,750 ranges, approximately 1.5% and 2.3% lower, respectively. These areas could act as buffers in the event of selling pressure.
Main LevelDirectionDistance from Current PricePotential Impact$65,500–$66,000Short liquidation+3%Possible rally if breached$63,500–$63,750Long support-1%Potential bounce zone$62,500–$62,750Long support-2.3%Stronger support layer$55,000Bears target-14%Major risk zone if support failsData indicates that the liquidity on the long side outweighs the short side by nearly two to one within the main trading window. This suggests that much of the leverage accumulated over the previous month is still in play and has not yet been unwound.
Bigger picture and risk factorsThe most pronounced bearish risk appears in the form of a broad liquidation zone near $55,000, which has emerged over the last month. Should BTC break down below the $62,500 to $63,750 range, this lower band could come into focus as a potential target for liquidations, particularly if current supports fail.
Recent price movement indicates that Bitcoin remains largely rangebound between $60,000 and $67,000. This sideways trend is further supported by aggregate open interest (OI) and the prevailing funding rate, both of which align with the view of a consolidation phase.
Open interest has dropped by more than 3% since Tuesday’s peak, yet Bitcoin’s spot price has shown little change. At the same time, funding rates have cooled toward neutral, and both spot and futures volume flows have favored buying over the past week.
Market analysts note that, with liquidity heavily clustered above and below the current range, Bitcoin traders are closely watching support and resistance levels to anticipate a breakout or further consolidation.
Current market dynamics suggest that leveraged trading and concentration around liquidation levels are likely to remain key determinants of Bitcoin’s short-term direction.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
In brief Bitcoin cleared $65K and Ethereum surged nearly 6% this week on softer inflation data. Thursday's pullback is orderly—most top 50 coins are off less than 3%, with Ondo the sole standout at +14%. XRP is trading at $1.10, down 0.54%, with an overall indicator score of -42% and a confirmed death cross on the daily chart. XRP's biggest near-term catalyst—a Senate floor vote on the Clarity Act—has slipped past July 4 and now looks likely to land in late July or August at the earliest. Markets are taking a breath Thursday after one of the cleaner macro-driven crypto pumps of 2026. The June Consumer Price Index fell 0.4%—the steepest single-month drop since April 2020—collapsing Fed rate hike odds for July from 31% to single digits, lifting equities, and giving crypto a reason to run.
Wall Street delivered too: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citi all posted Q2 earnings that beat expectations. As Decrypt covered Tuesday, Bitcoin broke the $64K resistance that had capped it for weeks. Ethereum went further—nearly 6% in a single day, touching $1,900.
Today's dip, with most top 50 coins off less than 3%, is consolidation. Ondo is the one exception, up over 14% and leading the entire top 100 by market capitalization on tokenization momentum.
But not everyone is breathing hopium: XRP's version of the rally was underwhelming. The coin created by Ripple co-founders opened Thursday at $1.11257, touched a high of $1.11722, and is now at $1.10650—down 0.54%. It didn't crash. But it didn't run either, not during the good days and not even now when the comparison is flattered by a market that's already pulling back.
Overall, XRP failed to break the price resistance set by the Crypto Winter (the dotted line) when it was time. Now that markets are slowing down, the XRP Army doesn’t look as optimistic as other altcoins.
XRP price data. Image: TradingviewWhy? When money cautiously re-enters crypto after a risk-off period, it doesn't spread evenly. Bitcoin absorbs it first. Ethereum goes next—and ETH historically leads broader crypto recoveries, which is exactly what happened this week.
Overall, Ethereum looks more bullish than Bitcoin in the short term. It suffered a more painful crash, which explains why the recovery may have stronger momentum.
XRP price data. Image: TradingviewThe Altcoin Season Index at 45 (below 50 signals BTC/ETH dominance) confirms capital hasn't rotated down the risk curve to altcoins yet. That dynamic was visible in early July too: When a $602 million short liquidation event sent Bitcoin back toward $62K, XRP managed just 3% while Ethereum and Solana nearly doubled that move.
The other missing piece is XRP's own. The Clarity Act—U.S. legislation that could classify XRP as a commodity and unlock institutional ETF demand—missed its expected July 4 Senate floor vote. Without a date on the calendar, XRP is trading on macro sentiment alone—and losing that fight to Ethereum.
XRP price: Running out of Fibonacci roomXRP opened today’s candlestick at $1.11 and is currently trading hands at $1.10, with a market cap of roughly $69 billion, for a small dip of half a percent. Ripple’s token is currently testing a weak support zone of its most recent bearish leg—a move that ran from $1.18 down to $1.05.
That puts price at a decision point: hold here and push for $1.13, or lose the $1.08 level and reopen the path toward $1.06 and the critical $1.02 floor.
XRP price data. Image: TradingviewThe ADX—Average Directional Index—reads 13.3, well below the 25 threshold that confirms a real trend is in place. ADX measures trend strength on a 0–100 scale, direction agnostic. Think of a car running in neutral: The engine's on but going nowhere. Below 20 is the range traders associate with choppy, directionless markets where false breakouts are common. There is one mildly hopeful read: The directional indicator is shifting from DI- (bearish dominance) toward DI+ (bullish dominance). At ADX 13.3, though, "shifting" is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
The Exponential Moving Averages—or EMAs, which give traders a view of price trends over time—tell the clearest story. The average price of the last 50 days is trading well below the average price of the last 200 days in a formation called the death cross.
A death cross is the most widely recognized bearish trend signal in crypto, and XRP has been stuck in it since its slide from the $3.65 all-time high set in July 2025. As Decrypt reported on Tuesday, Bitcoin is fighting its own death cross right now. For XRP, there's no sign yet of the two averages beginning to converge.
The RSI—Relative Strength Index, a 0–100 momentum gauge where above 70 is overbought and below 30 is oversold—sits at 48.5. Right in the middle, no pressure in either direction. The Squeeze Momentum indicator is “off” with a momentum reading of 0.81v: slightly positive but weak—enough to say energy is building, not enough to say where it's going. Looking at the charts, it seems XRP may soon flash signals of price compression. Whether it breaks up or down will likely depend on Bitcoin holding $64K and news out of the Senate on the Clarity Act schedule.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
In brief Bitcoin cleared $65K and Ethereum surged nearly 6% this week on softer inflation data. Thursday's pullback is orderly—most top 50 coins are off less than 3%, with Ondo the sole standout at +14%. XRP is trading at $1.10, down 0.54%, with an overall indicator score of -42% and a confirmed death cross on the daily chart. XRP's biggest near-term catalyst—a Senate floor vote on the Clarity Act—has slipped past July 4 and now looks likely to land in late July or August at the earliest. Markets are taking a breath Thursday after one of the cleaner macro-driven crypto pumps of 2026. The June Consumer Price Index fell 0.4%—the steepest single-month drop since April 2020—collapsing Fed rate hike odds for July from 31% to single digits, lifting equities, and giving crypto a reason to run.
Wall Street delivered too: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citi all posted Q2 earnings that beat expectations. As Decrypt covered Tuesday, Bitcoin broke the $64K resistance that had capped it for weeks. Ethereum went further—nearly 6% in a single day, touching $1,900.
Today's dip, with most top 50 coins off less than 3%, is consolidation. Ondo is the one exception, up over 14% and leading the entire top 100 by market capitalization on tokenization momentum.
But not everyone is breathing hopium: XRP's version of the rally was underwhelming. The coin created by Ripple co-founders opened Thursday at $1.11257, touched a high of $1.11722, and is now at $1.10650—down 0.54%. It didn't crash. But it didn't run either, not during the good days and not even now when the comparison is flattered by a market that's already pulling back.
Overall, XRP failed to break the price resistance set by the Crypto Winter (the dotted line) when it was time. Now that markets are slowing down, the XRP Army doesn’t look as optimistic as other altcoins.
XRP price data. Image: TradingviewWhy? When money cautiously re-enters crypto after a risk-off period, it doesn't spread evenly. Bitcoin absorbs it first. Ethereum goes next—and ETH historically leads broader crypto recoveries, which is exactly what happened this week.
Overall, Ethereum looks more bullish than Bitcoin in the short term. It suffered a more painful crash, which explains why the recovery may have stronger momentum.
XRP price data. Image: TradingviewThe Altcoin Season Index at 45 (below 50 signals BTC/ETH dominance) confirms capital hasn't rotated down the risk curve to altcoins yet. That dynamic was visible in early July too: When a $602 million short liquidation event sent Bitcoin back toward $62K, XRP managed just 3% while Ethereum and Solana nearly doubled that move.
The other missing piece is XRP's own. The Clarity Act—U.S. legislation that could classify XRP as a commodity and unlock institutional ETF demand—missed its expected July 4 Senate floor vote. Without a date on the calendar, XRP is trading on macro sentiment alone—and losing that fight to Ethereum.
XRP price: Running out of Fibonacci roomXRP opened today’s candlestick at $1.11 and is currently trading hands at $1.10, with a market cap of roughly $69 billion, for a small dip of half a percent. Ripple’s token is currently testing a weak support zone of its most recent bearish leg—a move that ran from $1.18 down to $1.05.
That puts price at a decision point: hold here and push for $1.13, or lose the $1.08 level and reopen the path toward $1.06 and the critical $1.02 floor.
XRP price data. Image: TradingviewThe ADX—Average Directional Index—reads 13.3, well below the 25 threshold that confirms a real trend is in place. ADX measures trend strength on a 0–100 scale, direction agnostic. Think of a car running in neutral: The engine's on but going nowhere. Below 20 is the range traders associate with choppy, directionless markets where false breakouts are common. There is one mildly hopeful read: The directional indicator is shifting from DI- (bearish dominance) toward DI+ (bullish dominance). At ADX 13.3, though, "shifting" is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
The Exponential Moving Averages—or EMAs, which give traders a view of price trends over time—tell the clearest story. The average price of the last 50 days is trading well below the average price of the last 200 days in a formation called the death cross.
A death cross is the most widely recognized bearish trend signal in crypto, and XRP has been stuck in it since its slide from the $3.65 all-time high set in July 2025. As Decrypt reported on Tuesday, Bitcoin is fighting its own death cross right now. For XRP, there's no sign yet of the two averages beginning to converge.
The RSI—Relative Strength Index, a 0–100 momentum gauge where above 70 is overbought and below 30 is oversold—sits at 48.5. Right in the middle, no pressure in either direction. The Squeeze Momentum indicator is “off” with a momentum reading of 0.81v: slightly positive but weak—enough to say energy is building, not enough to say where it's going. Looking at the charts, it seems XRP may soon flash signals of price compression. Whether it breaks up or down will likely depend on Bitcoin holding $64K and news out of the Senate on the Clarity Act schedule.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Bitcoin and XRP Price movements remained cautious as traders awaited signals from Washington about the CLARITY Act. The broader crypto market fell 1.35% over 24 hours, reducing its value to about $2.2 trillion. Bitcoin hovered near $64,000, while XRP traded above $1.10 and eyed further recovery.
Trump To Attend Key Meeting For Clarity Act President Donald Trump will meet Republican senators and senior advisers on Thursday to discuss the crypto market structure bill. The meeting will focus on unresolved ethics concerns and progress surrounding the CLARITY Act.
Expected attendees include Senators Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis, alongside White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt.
Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith are expected to attend. The negotiations coincide with the resistance amplified by Senate Democrats after Trump has been found to have cryptocurrency earnings and financial interests.
HUGE: 🇺🇸 President Trump is set to meet with U.S. senators today to discuss the crypto market structure bill, better known as the CLARITY Act. https://t.co/SxeSNkMYzZ pic.twitter.com/P7cewbrVdn
— Crypto Rover (@cryptorover) July 16, 2026
Critics are demanding greater protection against federal officials who are enriching themselves with digital assets and are controlling industry regulation.
The current prediction markets have an estimated 41% probability that the law will be presented into law by 2026. These odds have decreased by nearly 25% points due to political differences and congressional time issues.
Bitcoin and XRP Price Prediction: Key Levels To Watch Bitcoin and XRP Price trends remain cautious as traders await fresh developments surrounding upcoming CLARITY Act discussions in Washington.
The Bitcoin remains trading close to the important support of $64,100 as larger weakness strained major cryptocurrencies in the most recent market session.
Source: Tradingview Holding this level could allow BTC to stabilize before challenging resistance around $65,500. The recovery can continue to reach $66,000 in the near term due to sustained buying momentum as per the full Bitcoin forecast report.
Nonetheless, a daily close of less than $64,000 may result in losses to the support zone of $61,800 to $62,000.
Over 24 hours, the XRP price fell 1.37% to $1.10 as the market declined. Defending 1.10 may help in a recovery to 1.15. Stronger demand may push XRP above $1.20. A failure at less than $1.10 would reveal the support at about 1.06 during the ensuing sessions.
Bitcoin ETFs Attract $108M While XRP Funds Record No Inflows U.S. spot XRP ETFs had no net inflows as of July 15, with cumulative inflows of $1.48 billion. XRP funds headed by Bitwise had assets amounting to $312.85 million. Canary and Franklin were the next to follow Bitwise, but all the listed XRP funds were closed lower.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net inflows of USD 108 million on July 15, with BlackRock’s IBIT posting the largest single-day inflow at USD 80.82 million.
According to SoSoValue data, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net inflows of USD 108 million on July 15, with BlackRock’s IBIT posting the largest single-day inflow at USD 80.82 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs drew USD 53.83 million, led by BlackRock’s ETHA with USD 45.29… pic.twitter.com/4YrMd19EDs
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 16, 2026
Spot Ethereum ETFs drew USD 53.83 million, led by BlackRock’s ETHA with USD 45.29 million in net inflows. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager and operates the largest U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF by assets.
Ethereum [ETH] is showing early signs that investor appetite is rotating in its favor, with capital flowing toward the asset and away from rivals, most notably Bitcoin [BTC].
At press time, ETH was now closing in on the $2,000 mark, having climbed 2.32% over the past 24 hours as steady capital inflows continue to push its price higher.
ETH/BTC ratio breaks a 301-day resistance line Notably, the ETH/BTC ratio has breached a descending resistance line that had capped it for 301 days. The ETH/BTC ratio measures the flow of capital between Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, and Bitcoin.
When the ratio climbs, it typically signals that investors are rotating capital into Ethereum, preferring Bitcoin. This marked a shift in relative demand between the two assets.
Source: TradingView A closer look at the chart shows the breakout has been building for roughly twenty days.
Over that stretch, sixteen bullish candles have formed against just four sessions that closed below their opening price, a spread that leans heavily toward buyers.
That balance points to sustained momentum rather than a single, one-off move, and it suggests the rally has room to extend further. Should the surge hold its current path, the ratio still needs to clear a resistance hurdle at the 0.032 level before it can press on.
What’s driving Ethereum’s surge The clearest driver traces back to spot U.S. Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have now recorded two consecutive trading days of net inflows.
SoSoValue data shows that between the 14th and 15th of July, these funds pulled in a combined $112 million, split across $58.34 million and $53.83 million, respectively.
Source: CoinGlass The inflows follow a softer-than-expected Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading of 3.5%, below the projected 3.8%, a cooler print that has encouraged capital back into risk assets such as Ethereum. Away from the ETFs, on-chain accumulation has been quietly building on a broader scale.
Ethereum Exchange Reserves, which track how much of the asset sits in exchange wallets and is readily available to sell, have fallen by roughly 225,000 ETH over the twelve days since the 4th of July. It slid from a high of 15.565 million ETH to 15.340 million at press time.
In dollars, investors have moved roughly $428.85 million off exchanges and into private wallets, a shift that reflects the depth of the accumulation.
Is altcoin season setting in? The larger question is whether the market is now edging into an altcoin phase, the stretch in which altcoins begin recording outsized gains against the majors.
That question matters because the ETH/BTC chart often doubles as a proxy for altcoin momentum, and a sharp climb in the ratio has historically tended to precede a broader altcoin run.
Source: CoinGlass For now, CoinGlass’s Altcoin Season Index suggests the market has yet to enter that phase. A reading of 52 points to moderate flows and offers no firm confirmation of a major altcoin rally.
Final Summary Money is quietly moving into Ethereum ahead of rivals, pushing its price back toward $2,000. There are signs that investors are positioning for further gains rather than looking to sell.
Wall Street heavyweight T. Rowe Price, which boasts a staggering$7 trillion in assets under management, has entered the cryptocurrency ETF market with the launch of its first actively managed multi-token fund.
The much-anticipated product provides exposure to Bitcoin as well as to altcoins such as Ethereum and XRP.
The new ETF began trading on Thursday under the TKNZ ticker, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
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The launch is particularly noteworthy given T. Rowe Price's long history as an active stock manager dating back to before World War II.
The fund debuted with approximately $15 million in assets with a 0.75% management fee.
Balchunas opined earlier this week that T. Rowe Price appeared to be waiting until the recent crypto market selloff had subsided before bringing the product to market.
Yet another giant embracing crypto T. Rowe Price is one of the world's largest asset managers, which makes the recent launch particularly significant. The Baltimore-based financial institution oversees retirement savings, pension assets, mutual funds, and institutional portfolios for millions of investors around the globe.
The financial titan has spent decades building its stellar reputation, so its entry into the crypto space is yet another sign of crypto reaching broad mainstream acceptance.
The firm's arrival also follows similar moves by other Wall Street firms, such as BlackRock and Fidelity.
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Long before launching a crypto ETF, T. Rowe Price was investing indirectly in the sector through private markets.
The firm participated in funding rounds for major crypto companies, including Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, and Bullish, the digital asset exchange backed by Block.one. It also held stakes in Coinbase around the time of the exchange's public listing through various growth-oriented funds.
Solana and XRP are among the fund's top holdings Bitcoin remains the largest holding with a 40.75% weighting. Ethereum accounts for 18.42%, followed by BNB at 11.01%.
Solana represents 9.44% of assets, narrowly ahead of XRP, which makes up 9.37% of the portfolio.
The remaining allocations include Hyperliquid (HYPE) with 6.45%, Stellar (XLM) with 3.00%, Dogecoin (DOGE) with 1.28%, and USD Coin (USDC) with 0.16%.
Balchunas noted that the ETF is "underweight Bitcoin and overweight most of the rest, especially HYPE."
Bitcoin retreated from a three-week high as escalating U.S.-Iran geopolitical tensions weighed on risk sentiment.
Notable Statistics:
Coinglass data shows 65,125 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $223.54 million. SoSoValue data shows net inflows of $107.8 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $53.8 million. In the past 24 hours, top gainers include Ondo, Lido DAO and Pyth Network. Notable Developments:
Trader Notes:
Macro economist Seth argues that selling BTC in the $60,000–$64,000 range is a mistake, contending that retail investors are avoiding the asset despite strong institutional conviction.
He pointed to Wall Street spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively holding about 1.21 million BTC as evidence of sustained institutional accumulation.
Trader KillaXBT says Bitcoin has continued to follow a recurring mid-month seasonal pattern, declining about 2% since the 14th.
Historically, BTC has posted a roughly 5% pullback after the 14th in 11 of the past 12 instances, suggesting that if the pattern repeats, Bitcoin could revisit the $60,000–$62,000 range later this month.
Crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez noted that Bitcoin whales used the recent rally from $62,000 to $65,600 to take profits, selling an estimated 12,555 BTC during the rebound. The activity suggests large holders capitalized on higher prices rather than adding to their positions.
Image: Shutterstock
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Apple closed up 1.76% to hit another all-time high, with positive momentum from Apple Intelligence's China localization continuing to build.
According to market data from BIT (bit.com), Apple closed 1.76% higher in U.S. stock trading, hitting a record high of $333.26 per share, and rose an additional 0.47% in after-hours trading. On the news front, on July 15, Apple Intelligence completed its first domestic generative AI filing in China. Alibaba’s Qianwen AI will be integrated into Apple Intelligence as its AI capability, providing Chinese users of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS with services including text and image understanding, content generation, and more—allowing users to experience these features directly without switching between apps. In addition to Alibaba’s Qianwen AI, Baidu’s AI capabilities will also be integrated into Apple Intelligence, marking the official implementation of Apple’s localized AI strategy in the Chinese market.
5 minutes ago
Japanese storage chip firm Kioxia dropped over 10% intraday, with its market capitalization now halved from its June peak.
According to Bitget market data, Japanese storage stock Kioxia plunged more than 10% intraday, its market capitalization has halved from the June peak, and the Nikkei 225 index is currently down 2.18% intraday.
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The first Federal Reserve official to call for interest rate hikes since Powell took office has emerged, with Lorie Logan backing rate increases to combat high inflation.
The first Federal Reserve official to call for a rate hike since Walsh assumed office has emerged. Earlier today, Fed official Logan said the central bank should raise interest rates to tackle high inflation – a remark signaling she may be prepared to vote against keeping rates unchanged later this month. Logan added that June inflation data released Tuesday shows price growth is moderating, but not enough to convince her inflation has returned to the Fed’s 2% target trajectory.
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Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase will provide $50 billion in acquisition financing and serve as advisors for the PayPal acquisition deal.
Sources say JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley will provide $50 billion in acquisition financing and act as advisors for the PayPal (PYPL.O) takeover. Fifteen days prior, Stripe — the world’s largest private payments company — and U.S. private equity firm Advent International jointly proposed to acquire the long-standing online payments giant PayPal at $60.5 per share, valuing the company at over $530 billion total, a roughly 28% premium over PayPal’s Tuesday closing price, backed by approximately $50 billion in financing commitments from multiple banks. Under the deal terms, Stripe and Advent will each hold a 50% stake in PayPal.
5 minutes ago
JPMorgan: Strategy’s increased cash reserves send a positive signal, and demand for Bitcoin futures has also improved.
JPMorgan analysts noted in a recent report that Strategy has recently increased its U.S. dollar reserves from $2.55 billion to $3 billion, enough to cover roughly 20 months of preferred stock dividend payments, an encouraging sign for Bitcoin’s outlook. If Strategy can rebuild its U.S. dollar reserves to a level covering two to three years of dividends, it will ease market concerns that the company may be forced to sell Bitcoin in the future to cover preferred stock dividend payments. Meanwhile, despite sharp recent volatility in spot Bitcoin ETF flows, both Bitcoin futures and perpetual contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) recorded net inflows this week—flows typically driven by institutional investors rather than retail, in contrast to the outflows seen in spot ETFs. Additionally, leveraged ETFs linked to Strategy have seen relatively stable, positive net flows over the past seven weeks, driven mainly by retail buying, which has supported Strategy’s common stock price and prevented it from falling below the net asset value of its Bitcoin holdings. Strategy President and CEO Phong Le stated earlier this week that the company’s balance sheet is very secure; it will only begin to worry about debt-related risks if Bitcoin falls to roughly the $8,000–$10,000 range, and plans to issue more shares after STRC preferred stock returns to its $100 par value to further accumulate Bitcoin and expand its U.S. dollar reserves. JPMorgan also reiterated that Strategy is not a major structural threat to Bitcoin; a larger risk lies in the promotion of blockchain technology through permissioned systems, which does not benefit public blockchains or their tokens.
5 minutes ago
The Nikkei 225 index opened sharply down 3.00%.
According to Bitget market data, the Nikkei 225 index plunged 3.00% at opening and is currently trading at 64,828.46 points. South Korean stock markets are closed today for Constitution Day.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
According to the analyst, waiting for universal confirmation of a market bottom could mean missing the strongest early opportunities.
Crypto trader Axel Bitblaze has laid out a fresh market thesis built on a video from analyst Taiki Maeda, arguing that assets like Hyperliquid (HYPE), Lighter (LIT), and Zcash (ZEC) are already trading like winners of the next cycle while most investors are waiting for a fourth-quarter bottom.
He says that markets tend to move before the crowd agrees a bottom has formed, so the better window to position could be mid-to-late Q3 and not whenever things look safe.
The Case for HYPE, LIT, and ZEC On July 15, Maeda shared a video on his X account in which he said that crypto was bottoming and that he would be longing HYPE, LIT, and ZEC.
His take was expanded on by Bitblaze in a July 16 post, who noted that Hyperliquid has bought back about 3.4% of the circulating HYPE supply this year, allowing the token to perform well even as sector mainstays such as Bitcoin (BTC) struggled.
“If BTC volatility causes another $HYPE dip without changing its fundamentals… that could be an accumulation opportunity,” wrote the analyst.
Lighter’s LIT token was presented as a higher-risk alternative, with Bitblaze crediting its reported partnership with Robinhood for giving the decentralized perpetual exchange access to a much wider audience. He also noted that buybacks have removed more than 6% of LIT’s circulating supply, helping to push it to an all-time high on the second-to-last day of 2025, when many altcoins were losing ground.
Meanwhile, ZEC carries the most caution. In his market update video, Maeda said he sold the privacy coin after the discovery of a vulnerability in its Orchard shielded pool that could have allowed bad actors to create unlimited amounts of fake ZEC, triggering a 60% collapse. He did, however, buy most of the ZEC back after reassessing the project’s outlook, with the Ironwood upgrade set for July 28 expected to introduce stronger quantum resistance and use formal verification to reduce the risk of hidden bugs.
That update, according to Bitblaze, could help push up the asset’s price. Recall that last week, Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox said that they were close to producing a mathematical proof that Ironwood’s new shielded pools have no undetectable counterfeiting bugs, taking ZEC’s price past $500.
You may also like: Bitwise Report: Crypto Fundamentals Are Getting Stronger Despite Third Straight Negative Quarter ZEC Briefly Tops $500 After Founder Says Formal Proof Is Nearly Ready Analyst Predicts 2-3 Years of Crypto Gains as Risk-On Environment Emerges The token is trading at about 0.8% of Bitcoin’s market cap, and per Maeda’s model, it could go anywhere between $650 and $700 if that ratio climbs back to 1%.
Traders Urged Not to Wait for Bitcoin Bitblaze said that crypto has been in a bear market since the euphoria experienced in mid-2025 when ETH was closing in on $5,000. Now, people are waiting for the bottom, which, according to him, has been penciled in for Q4 2026.
But he believes the market has a tendency to “front-run what everyone expects,” meaning it is better for traders to start positioning themselves between August and September “before the recovery becomes obvious.”
“Don’t wait for Bitcoin and the entire market to look perfect,” the analyst advised. “The next winner usually starts separating from the market before everyone accepts that the bottom is forming.”
Morgan Stanley on Thursday announced the expansion of E*TRADE’s digital asset offerings with the rollout of spot crypto trading for eligible clients, supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana through infrastructure provided by Zerohash.
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The launch enables investors to hold and trade cryptocurrencies alongside traditional investments on the E*TRADE platform, with crypto transfers expected to be introduced later this year. The move represents another important step in Morgan Stanley’s strategy to integrate digital assets into its broader wealth management ecosystem.
The company also unveiled several platform enhancements, including new retirement planning tools, expanded fractional share trading, a redesigned IPO Center and upgrades to the Power E*TRADE Pro desktop platform. Morgan Stanley said the updates are designed to meet growing demand for an all-in-one investing platform spanning traditional and digital assets.
This is a developing story.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE platform has launched spot cryptocurrency trading, allowing eligible clients to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ether and Solana through a partnership with crypto infrastructure provider Zero Hash.
Clients can view their crypto holdings alongside stocks and other traditional investments on the E*TRADE platform, while transfer functionality for moving digital assets on and off the platform is expected later this year.
The self-directed channel served 8.6 million households and held about $1.56 trillion in client assets as of March 31, according to Morgan Stanley’s latest financial supplement.
According to Thursday’s announcement, trades carry a 50-basis-point fee, while custody and transaction services are handled through separate Zero Hash accounts that are not covered by FDIC or SIPC protections. Morgan Stanley said it expects to transition the digital asset services to Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, its national trust bank currently in organization.
Morgan Stanley also introduced several non-crypto updates across the customer platform, including fractional share trading, a revamped retirement planning tool and new features for its Power E*TRADE Pro desktop platform.
The rollout follows a pilot launched in May, when the company began testing the service with a limited group of users before expanding access to eligible E*TRADE clients.
Morgan Stanley broadens crypto strategyBeyond retail spot trading, Morgan Stanley has expanded its digital asset business into stablecoin reserve services and crypto exchange-traded funds this year.
In April, the Wall Street giant launched a stablecoin reserve offering that allows issuers to hold the assets backing their tokens in one of the firm’s money market funds while earning interest.
The same month, the company launched its spot Bitcoin ETF with a 0.14% management fee, making it the lowest-cost Bitcoin ETF on the US market at the time. The fund debuted on NYSE Arca as the first spot Bitcoin ETF launched by a major US commercial bank.
During its first six trading days, the ETF attracted more than $100 million in net inflows, surpassing the cumulative inflows of WisdomTree’s spot Bitcoin ETF, which launched in January 2024. At the time of writing, the fund has attracted about $385 million in cumulative net inflows, according to SoSoValue data.
In June, Morgan Stanley amended its proposed spot Ether and Solana ETF filings to set management fees at 0.14% after first applying to list the funds in January.
Top 10 Bitcoin ETFs. Source: SoSoValue
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PANews July 17 news, according to Businesswire, Morgan Stanley's online investment platform E*TRADE announced the launch of cryptocurrency spot trading functionality. Eligible clients can now directly buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) through the E*TRADE platform. It is reported that the current trading fee for crypto spot is priced at 50 basis points (50 bps), and asset transfer functionality is expected to be launched later this year.
Previously, ETRADE has been continuously upgrading its investment service system, including launching retirement planning tools, fractional share trading, IPO center upgrades, and optimization of Power ETRADE Pro features for active traders. E*TRADE head Matt Jones said that investor demands are constantly changing, and users want to be able to complete investing, trading, asset management, and future planning on the same platform, "Whether it's buying a first stock, exploring crypto assets, or participating in IPOs and retirement planning, the platform needs to provide trustworthy services".
@TRowePrice, the $1.8 trillion asset manager, has listed the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF under the ticker $TKNZ on NYSE Arca, marking what the firm describes as the first actively managed multi-token spot crypto ETF to reach the market.
How the Fund Works Unlike passive index-tracking products, $TKNZ can hold between 5 and 15 digital assets from an eligible universe of 15 tokens, with portfolio managers rotating among them based on fundamentals, valuations, and momentum. The eligible universe includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance, XRP, Solana, Hyperliquid, and others.
Blue Macellari leads the ETF alongside four co-portfolio managers, leveraging T. Rowe Price's research-driven active investment strategy. She is joined by Stefan Hubrich (21 years of experience), David Kroger (9 years), Sean McWilliams (17 years), and Dante Pearson (13 years).
The ETF carries a 0.75% management fee, with a fee waiver in place through May 31, 2027. That puts it at a clear premium over passive single-coin Bitcoin funds, though the active mandate is the explicit justification for the higher cost.
Why It Matters It marks the first time a traditional asset manager of T. Rowe Price's scale, a firm that oversees approximately $1.9 trillion in assets predominantly for pension funds, retirement savers, and institutional clients, has received regulatory clearance to offer a regulated crypto product to its distribution network.
The active management structure differentiates $TKNZ from existing passive products, allowing the portfolio team to reduce exposure during downturns and increase it during periods of structural support, a feature that could appeal to institutional risk managers who have flagged volatility as the primary barrier to allocation.
For U.S. retail investors accustomed to accessing markets through mutual funds and ETFs, the product offers a way to gain diversified crypto exposure without opening a dedicated crypto exchange account. Single-coin ETFs opened the door for institutional participation in digital assets. With $TKNZ, the stock pickers are now inside.
Sources:
T. Rowe Price official press release: Active Crypto ETF launch
SEC filing: T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF (TKNZ) Form FWP
Crypto Times: T. Rowe Price Debuts Active Crypto ETF TKNZ
Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE has launched crypto spot trading, the firm announced. Eligible clients can directly buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana via accounts linked to digital asset infrastructure provider Zerohash. Transactions carry a 50 basis point (0.5%) fee. Clients can view both crypto and traditional investment portfolios on the E*TRADE platform, while digital asset transfer functionality is slated to roll out later this year. E*TRADE also simultaneously launched fractional share trading, retirement planning tools and a new IPO hub, and upgraded Power E*TRADE Pro for active traders. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management noted the launch is part of its strategy to expand digital asset services.
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16 July 2026 | 20:23 E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley completed the rollout of spot cryptocurrency trading on July 16, allowing eligible US clients to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through its website and mobile application.
Key Takeaways E*TRADE has completed the rollout of spot trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Trades carry a flat 0.50% commission with no additional spread fee or markup from E*TRADE. Crypto is currently held in a separate Zero Hash account and cannot yet be transferred to an external wallet. Solana gains access to a large brokerage audience, but that does not immediately translate into activity on the Solana network. According to the official information from the company, clients do not need to fund a separate crypto balance manually. Cash in the linked brokerage account provides the buying power, with funds moving between the accounts when a trade settles.
Morgan Stanley reported 8.7 million self-directed households as of June 30, 2026. That figure describes the service’s potential distribution network rather than the number of immediate crypto users. Clients must still qualify for and open a separate non-brokerage account provided by Zero Hash.
The Distribution Is More Important Than the Asset List Bitcoin and Ethereum are increasingly standard additions to institutional crypto products. Solana’s inclusion is more notable because E*TRADE launched with only three supported assets, placing SOL beside the two largest cryptocurrencies rather than introducing it through a broader catalogue.
The immediate advantage is reduced friction. An investor who already holds cash or securities at E*TRADE can add direct crypto exposure without opening and funding an account at a dedicated exchange. Crypto positions can also be viewed alongside the rest of the investor’s portfolio.
That convenience could expand demand for all three assets, but the size of E*TRADE’s customer base should not be treated as expected trading volume. Morgan Stanley has not disclosed how many households have opened crypto accounts, how much volume the service has processed, or how activity is divided between BTC, ETH, and SOL.
What the 0.50% Fee Costs Against Rivals According to E*TRADE’s official crypto pricing, every transaction carries a commission equal to 0.50% of its notional value. E*TRADE says there is no additional spread fee or markup.
$100 trade: $0.50 commission $1,000 trade: $5 commission $10,000 trade: $50 commission The comparison with other platforms is less straightforward. Coinbase Advanced varies its maker and taker fees according to order type and 30-day trading volume, so some users may pay less than 0.50% and others more.
Robinhood does not charge a separately stated commission under its default market-maker routing, but the execution spread still creates a cost. In Robinhood’s own example, a $100 purchase with a 0.96% buy spread carries $0.96 in spread cost. Applied to a $1,000 order, the same illustrative spread would equal $9.60, although the actual spread changes with the asset and market conditions.
For an occasional investor, E*TRADE’s advantage is predictability: a $1,000 order costs $5 before any later sale. Frequent traders should calculate both sides of the transaction, because buying and later selling $1,000 of crypto would produce approximately $10 in commissions if the value remained unchanged.
What Customers Can and Cannot Do The service is currently available through the main E*TRADE website and mobile application. Support for Power E*TRADE is still listed as coming soon.
According to E*TRADE’s crypto account documentation, the main trading conditions are:
Platform Specifications Assets
BTC, ETH, SOL
Trading Hours
24/7 Always Open
Order Types
Market & Limit
Order Size
$10 – $500k
Precision
8 Decimal Places
Transfers
Not Available
Who Is E*TRADE Crypto Actually For? The service is most useful for investors who already manage stocks, funds, and cash through E*TRADE and want a small allocation to BTC, ETH, or SOL without opening and funding a separate crypto exchange account.
It May Be a Good Fit For: Existing E*TRADE clients who want crypto displayed beside their traditional portfolio. Occasional buyers who prefer a fixed and visible commission over a variable fee structure. Investors seeking price exposure without managing wallet addresses, private keys, or blockchain transactions. Users focused only on BTC, ETH, and SOL rather than a broad selection of smaller assets. It Is a Weaker Fit For: Active traders whose cumulative 0.50% commissions could become expensive. Self-custody users who want to control their own private keys. Onchain participants who intend to stake SOL, use Ethereum applications, access DeFi, or send crypto to another person. Altcoin investors who need access beyond the three supported assets. The product is therefore closer to an integrated brokerage service than a full crypto platform. Its strongest feature is convenience, while its main limitation is the lack of control and utility available through a self-custodied wallet.
How Existing E*TRADE Clients Activate Crypto Trading E*TRADE clients do not receive crypto trading automatically. They must open a separate Zero Hash account and link it to an eligible individual brokerage account.
According to E*TRADE’s official account and trading walkthrough, an existing client follows this route:
1
Navigate to Profile
Log in to etrade.com and head straight to your Profile section.
2
Access Trading Features
Go to “Account Preferences,” then select “Additional Trading Features.”
3
Select Crypto Option
Choose “Crypto powered by Zero Hash” from the list.
4
Link Your Account
Pick the brokerage account you want to connect to the crypto portal.
5
Accept & Confirm
Review the agreements and wait for your application approval.
On the web platform, users open Trading and select Crypto. In the mobile application, they tap Trade, select Crypto under Security Type, and choose BTC/USD, ETH/USD, or SOL/USD.
The order ticket supports market and limit orders. Before submission, the preview screen displays the estimated commission, total cost, selected quantity, and available purchasing power.
Crypto Taxes Are Easier to Track, but Not Automatic Trading through a traditional brokerage interface does not place crypto outside US tax rules. Selling BTC, ETH, or SOL for dollars generally creates a reportable capital gain or loss based on the difference between the sale proceeds and the investor’s adjusted cost basis.
E*TRADE states that Zero Hash will furnish Form 1099-DA and make it available through the E*TRADE Tax Center. The form reports proceeds from digital-asset dispositions and may also include cost-basis information where applicable.
That should make record collection easier than trading across several exchanges and wallets, but it does not calculate the investor’s final tax liability. The IRS requires taxpayers to report their digital-asset income, gains, and losses even when a form is missing or does not contain all the necessary basis information.
For a simple buy-and-hold investor, the process may remain relatively manageable. Frequent buying and selling can produce many separate taxable disposals, making the transaction history, acquisition dates, commissions, and cost basis important at tax time.
The 0.50% trading fee also affects the calculation. Transaction costs may be included when determining the acquisition basis or the amount realized on a sale, depending on the transaction. Investors with substantial activity should confirm the treatment with a qualified US tax professional.
No Withdrawals Means No Onchain Control E*TRADE clients can buy, sell, and hold the three supported assets, but they cannot currently transfer them to an external wallet. In plain English, customers receive economic exposure to the assets without direct control over their private keys.
That Creates Practical Limitations: ETH bought through E*TRADE cannot be used to pay Ethereum network fees. SOL cannot be moved into a personal wallet for staking or use across Solana applications. BTC cannot be transferred to a hardware wallet for self-custody. None of the supported assets can currently be sent to another person or deposited into a DeFi protocol. Solana’s inclusion is still notable because E*TRADE launched with only three assets, placing SOL beside Bitcoin and Ethereum. For now, however, that creates brokerage demand rather than direct activity across Solana applications, staking protocols, decentralized exchanges, or payment services.
The assets are held in the customer’s separate Zero Hash account rather than being custodied by Morgan Stanley. They are not covered by FDIC insurance or SIPC protection.
Morgan Stanley expects transfer functionality to launch later in 2026, but final details such as withdrawal limits, supported wallet types, transfer fees, and eligibility requirements have not yet been published.
Until transfers become available, the service is best understood as a convenient way to trade crypto prices inside E*TRADE, not as a replacement for a wallet or a full crypto exchange.
Morgan Stanley Is Building More Than a Trading Feature The E*TRADE rollout is one part of a broader digital-asset strategy.
In April, Morgan Stanley Investment Management launched the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust with a 0.14% sponsor fee. Later that month, it introduced a Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio designed for regulated issuers that need eligible reserve assets.
Strategic Business Pillars
Direct Retail Trading:
Empowering individual investors through seamless integration with E*TRADE.
Regulated Investment:
Providing structured Bitcoin exposure via the MSBT investment vehicle.
Reserve Management:
Specialized cash management services tailored for stablecoin issuers.
Digital Custody:
Future-proofing asset security via Morgan Stanley Digital Trust.
Morgan Stanley’s announcement states that the E*TRADE digital-asset service is eventually expected to transition from Zero Hash to Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association, which remains in organization. Until that transition takes place, Zero Hash continues to provide the crypto account, execution infrastructure, and custody.
What Would Make the Rollout Material The launch expands access, but access alone does not establish adoption. The next evidence should come from disclosed account openings, trading volume, client assets, and the share of activity generated by each supported cryptocurrency.
Three developments would make the rollout more consequential:
A meaningful number of E*TRADE households activating linked crypto accounts. The launch of external transfers, especially for ETH and SOL users seeking onchain access. An expansion beyond the initial three assets or the addition of services such as staking. The rollout’s importance will ultimately be measured by activated accounts, trading volume, client assets, and whether Morgan Stanley expands the service beyond basic buying and selling. E*TRADE has opened a large distribution channel for crypto, but the size of its customer base alone does not establish adoption.
The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice.
Author
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
T. Rowe Price, a major US asset manager with $1.89 trillion under management, has launched its first cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund, providing investors with access to Bitcoin and other leading digital assets through a single product.
Active Crypto ETF and Portfolio CompositionThe new ETF, known as the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF, is listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker TKNZ. It is currently the first actively managed multi-token spot ETF available to investors, according to statements from the firm.
TKNZ primarily allocates its portfolio to Bitcoin and Ethereum, which account for 40.75% and 18.42% of its holdings, respectively. Additional assets in the portfolio include Solana, XRP, Hyperliquid, Dogecoin, and BNB, giving investors diversified exposure to the broader crypto market.
T. Rowe Price initially filed for SEC approval of this product in October 2025. The ETF targets individuals seeking regulated access to multiple cryptocurrencies through a managed structure, removing barriers associated with direct digital asset custody.
Through the launch of the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF, investors can gain access to a thoughtfully curated, professionally managed multi-coin portfolio that helps eliminate the guesswork of building a crypto allocation on their own, stated Blue Macellari, head of digital assets at T. Rowe Price.
Company representatives described this fund as the “first of the firm’s lineup” in the digital asset sector, indicating potential for additional crypto-related investment vehicles in the future.
Mini dictionary: T. Rowe Price is a prominent US-based investment management firm offering a broad range of mutual funds, retirement solutions, and institutional management services.
AssetPortfolio Weight (%)Bitcoin40.75Ethereum18.42Other (Solana, XRP, Hyperliquid, Dogecoin, BNB)RemainderCrypto ETF Industry DevelopmentsThe SEC approved Bitcoin ETFs from leading firms such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale in January 2024, marking a major turning point for the industry after years of rejections. These funds set new records for launch success and now manage billions of dollars in assets.
Following Bitcoin ETFs, spot Ethereum ETFs and additional altcoin products entered the market for both US and European investors. These developments have broadened the appeal of cryptocurrencies, allowing more traditional investors and Wall Street institutions to gain exposure without directly handling digital assets.
Investing in cryptocurrencies through regulated ETFs simplifies issues such as private key management and coin storage, easing previous concerns among institutional and retail players.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart commented that the launch of TKNZ during a market downturn shows that legacy asset managers continue to build in the crypto sector despite declining prices, adding that the product was years in development.
Regulatory Landscape and Market IntegrationPresident Donald Trump’s administration has taken a more permissive approach to digital asset regulation, leading to the dismissal of several SEC lawsuits and investigations previously focused on crypto firms. This shift has made it easier for financial institutions to integrate crypto solutions with traditional products, such as borrowing or collateralizing mainstream assets with Bitcoin ETFs.
As a result, more investors can now access crypto markets through standard share trading on established exchanges, positioning digital assets more firmly within the broader financial system.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
In brief Eligible E*Trade customers can now trade spot Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Crypto trades are executed through Zero Hash, which also provides custody. The launch follows Morgan Stanley's ETF filings, tokenization plans, and stablecoin initiatives announced earlier this year. Morgan Stanley has launched spot cryptocurrency trading on its E*TRADE platform, allowing eligible customers to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through a partnership with digital asset infrastructure provider Zero Hash.
In a post on Thursday, Morgan Stanley said the new offering lets investors view their cryptocurrency holdings alongside stocks and other investments in E*TRADE. Digital assets are held in linked Zero Hash accounts rather than by Morgan Stanley. The company said trades will carry a 50-basis-point fee, while crypto transfer functionality is expected later this year.
“Our clients’ needs are evolving, and they want to invest, trade, bank, and plan for the future all in one place,” Matt Jones, Head of E*TRADE, said in a statement. “Whether they’re buying their first share, exploring crypto, participating in an IPO, or planning for retirement, our job is to meet them where they are – with the confidence and trust that comes from being part of Morgan Stanley.”
The rollout coincides with a broader platform update that includes retirement planning tools, fractional share trading, an updated IPO Center, and new features for active traders.
"With the rollout of crypto trading on E*TRADE we're advancing our digital assets strategy and bringing new capabilities to clients in an integrated way," Chad Turner, head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Platforms, said in a statement.
The launch follows several crypto-related initiatives by Morgan Stanley this year.
In January, the firm filed registration statements with the SEC for spot Bitcoin and Solana exchange-traded funds, marking its move toward offering branded crypto investment products. In April, Morgan Stanley said it was exploring tokenization, tokenized money market funds, and tax-management tools for digital assets. Later that month, the bank introduced a money market fund designed for stablecoin issuers to manage reserves under the GENIUS Act.
Morgan Stanley first disclosed plans to bring crypto trading to E*TRADE in September 2025, saying it would initially support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through Zero Hash. The rollout completes that plan, adding direct spot crypto trading to the firm's brokerage platform as it continues to expand its digital asset offerings.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
In brief Eligible E*Trade customers can now trade spot Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Crypto trades are executed through Zero Hash, which also provides custody. The launch follows Morgan Stanley's ETF filings, tokenization plans, and stablecoin initiatives announced earlier this year. Morgan Stanley has launched spot cryptocurrency trading on its E*TRADE platform, allowing eligible customers to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through a partnership with digital asset infrastructure provider Zero Hash.
In a post on Thursday, Morgan Stanley said the new offering lets investors view their cryptocurrency holdings alongside stocks and other investments in E*TRADE. Digital assets are held in linked Zero Hash accounts rather than by Morgan Stanley. The company said trades will carry a 50-basis-point fee, while crypto transfer functionality is expected later this year.
“Our clients’ needs are evolving, and they want to invest, trade, bank, and plan for the future all in one place,” Matt Jones, Head of E*TRADE, said in a statement. “Whether they’re buying their first share, exploring crypto, participating in an IPO, or planning for retirement, our job is to meet them where they are – with the confidence and trust that comes from being part of Morgan Stanley.”
The rollout coincides with a broader platform update that includes retirement planning tools, fractional share trading, an updated IPO Center, and new features for active traders.
"With the rollout of crypto trading on E*TRADE we're advancing our digital assets strategy and bringing new capabilities to clients in an integrated way," Chad Turner, head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Platforms, said in a statement.
The launch follows several crypto-related initiatives by Morgan Stanley this year.
In January, the firm filed registration statements with the SEC for spot Bitcoin and Solana exchange-traded funds, marking its move toward offering branded crypto investment products. In April, Morgan Stanley said it was exploring tokenization, tokenized money market funds, and tax-management tools for digital assets. Later that month, the bank introduced a money market fund designed for stablecoin issuers to manage reserves under the GENIUS Act.
Morgan Stanley first disclosed plans to bring crypto trading to E*TRADE in September 2025, saying it would initially support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through Zero Hash. The rollout completes that plan, adding direct spot crypto trading to the firm's brokerage platform as it continues to expand its digital asset offerings.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Morgan Stanley’s brokerage firm, E*TRADE, has completed the rollout of its spot crypto trading offering following an initial pilot earlier this year. This comes as the Wall Street giant continues to deepen its push into the crypto space, with the imminent launch of two new crypto ETFs.
Morgan Stanley Completes Rollout of Spot BTC, ETH, SOL Trading In a press release, E*TRADE announced that it had completed the rollout of spot trading in digital assets. Its eligible clients will now be able to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana directly on its platform through its partnership with Zerohash.
The Morgan Stanley brokerage firm will charge a fee of 50 bps on each trade as its clients buy, sell, and hold crypto in a linked Zerohash account. The firm added that it expects to launch transfer functionality later this year.
The full rollout of spot crypto trading on the E*TRADE platform follows the initial pilot program in May. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that the firm had first announced plans to offer spot crypto trading last year.
This move deepens Morgan Stanley’s push into the crypto space. As CoinGape reported, Morgan Stanley Ethereum and Solana ETFs are nearing launch after the bank filed amended S-1 filings. The bank became the first to offer a crypto ETF after it launched its Bitcoin ETF earlier this year. The BTC Fund currently boasts net assets of $384 million, according to SoSoValue data.
Plans For The National Trust Bank E*TRADE stated that its crypto services will transition to Morgan Stanley’s national trust bank, Morgan Stanley Digital Trust. The firm made this note in relation to launching the transfer functionality later this year.
Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley applied for a crypto-focused national trust bank with the OCC, joining crypto firms such as Ripple, Crypto.com, and Coinbase that have also applied for trust charters. However, it is worth noting that firms such as Ripple have already received conditional approvals.
Meanwhile, USDC issuer Circle recently received approval from the OCC to launch its national crypto bank. Like Ripple, the stablecoin issuer had received conditional approval last year, alongside BitGo, Fidelity, and Paxos.
Please check out our page on Best Regulated Crypto Exchanges in the USA
Wall Street’s slow walk into crypto just became a full sprint. Morgan Stanley has launched direct spot trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana on its E*TRADE platform, giving eligible U.S. clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold digital assets inside the same interface they use to trade stocks and ETFs.
This is not a crypto ETF wrapper or a futures product. Clients are getting actual spot exposure, with 24/7 trading available through E*TRADE’s web and mobile apps, and automatic fund transfers between their brokerage and crypto accounts.
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How the plumbing works The infrastructure behind the service is Zero Hash, a B2B crypto platform that handles liquidity, execution, custody, and settlement. The partnership was first announced in September 2025, with a pilot launched around May 2026 and full availability rolled out by mid-July 2026. Morgan Stanley also participated in Zero Hash’s $104 million Series D-2 funding round, which valued the company at $1 billion.
The fee structure is straightforward: a 0.50% commission on notional value, with no spreads or markups layered on top. The full rollout targets E*TRADE’s entire eligible client base of approximately 8.6 million users.
Why this matters beyond the headline Morgan Stanley is not offering this through a separate app or a cordoned-off crypto subsidiary. The integration sits inside E*TRADE’s standard brokerage workflow. The choice of Solana alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum is also notable — including it at launch signals that Morgan Stanley views the top tier of the crypto market as a legitimate asset class rather than a reluctant concession to client demand for Bitcoin.
What investors should watch For the broader crypto market, 8.6 million newly enabled potential buyers represents a meaningful supply of latent demand. A 0.50% flat commission with no spread markups, offered inside a trusted brokerage account, is a direct competitive pitch against Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood’s crypto arm.
Morgan Stanley’s broader digital asset ambitions extend beyond this launch. The firm has been building out Bitcoin ETF access for wealth management clients and has signaled interest in ether and Solana-related financial products. The Zero Hash investment and the E*TRADE integration together suggest a coordinated strategy rather than a one-off product launch.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Ethereum price today: $1,870Ethereum has outperformed crypto majors Bitcoin, XRP, SOL and HYPE following a market boost from cooling inflation reports.The Robinhood Chain launch, ETH ETF inflows, BitMine's accumulation and Clarity Act discussions are spurring the outperformance.ETH saw a rejection at the 100-day EMA after rising 10% over the past week.Ethereum (ETH) has outperformed the top 10 cryptocurrencies since the crypto market began a recovery last week. On a weekly timeframe, the top altcoin is seeing an 8% gain, compared to 2.4%, 1.4%, 1.6%, -1.8% and -3.5% for Bitcoin (BTC), BNB, XRP, Solana (SOL) and Hyperliquid (HYPE).
While cooling inflation reports and declining energy prices were primarily responsible for the recent broad rally across the crypto market, ETH's outperformance stems from several other key factors.
ETH vs Top Cryptos. Source: CoinGeckoWhy Ethereum is outperforming other top cryptosThe Robinhood Chain, launched on July 1 as an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2), has been spurring demand for native ETH. The amount of ETH bridged from the L1 to the L2 chain has surpassed $164 million, a 10x increase in the past week, according to onchain analytics platform Token Terminal.
"If adoption continues, the chain could become a meaningful new source of demand for Ethereum," the platform stated in a Thursday X post.
The chain has seen strong demand over the past week, attracting token launchpads and memecoin activity. In 2024, Solana saw a similar upsurge in memecoin activity before going on a run that outperformed major cryptocurrencies.
Beyond that, Ethereum is also attracting institutional capital again, with $96 million in net inflows over the past three days. Last week, US spot ETH ETFs ended an eight-week outflow streak after recording $84.4 million in net inflows, per SoSoValue data. Since the beginning of the month, the products have only seen two outflow days, while XRP and Solana products are struggling to attract capital.
Similarly, US spot BTC ETFs have posted four outflow days so far in July and are on track to end the week on negative flows.
In addition, Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion has remained a consistent source of demand for the top altcoin, accumulating roughly 70,000 ETH in the past two weeks.
Strategy, on the other hand, which has been a major demand driver for Bitcoin, flipped to distribution over the past two weeks after it sold $216 million worth of BTC. The firm also failed to log any buying activity last week.
Increased discussion and positive sentiment around the Clarity Act are also filtering into Ethereum, as it hosts the majority of onchain activity. The L1 is the largest chain by total value locked (TVL) and tokenized assets, with $40.9 billion and $14.8 billion, respectively, according to DefiLlama data.
Despite several positive developments surrounding ETH currently, the broader crypto market recovery remains fragile amid resumed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Bitfinex analysts also noted that ETH ETF inflows are not yet strong enough to drive prices.
"The $96 million total sits against a market capitalization above $220 billion, which makes it a rounding error even allowing for the illiquid spot market. A bid concentrated in one issuer remains too narrow to call a regime," the analyst wrote in a Thursday market commentary.
"Whether Ether ETFs continue to draw buyer interest remains to be seen; they have struggled to do so across nearly two years since launch."
Bitfinex added that sustained improvements in onchain activity are a "stronger catalyst" for an L1 like Ethereum.
Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH fails to reclaim 100-day EMA despite 10% jumpOn the daily chart, ETH/USDT trades at $1,874, maintaining a constructive bullish bias as price remains above the 20- and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1,780 and $1,810, respectively. The altcoin remains capped by the longer-term 100-day EMA at $1,948 after a 10% rise over the past week, suggesting room for further upside only if this barrier is reclaimed.
Momentum stays supportive, with the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) around 60 and the Stochastic hovering in the low 70s, hinting at a cooldown after a strong rally.
On the topside, immediate resistance is located at the horizontal level of $1,909, followed by $2,018 and $2,107, where prior supply converges. Above these, additional resistance is seen at $2,211 and then $2,388.
ETH/USDT daily chartOn the downside, initial support emerges at $1,806, ahead of the nearby dynamic floors offered by the 50- and 20-day EMAs. Below these, more substantial demand is seen at $1,741, with deeper supports at $1,524, $1,404 and $1,155 in the event of a broader corrective slide.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Ondo (ONDO) climbed to a one-month high after a sharp rally driven by the debut of the first tokenized stocks backed by DTC Tokenized Entitlements.
The altcoin surged as much as 17% over the past 24 hours to an intraday high of $0.37. This marked its strongest level since June 18.
The rally also propelled ONDO to the top of CoinGecko’s list of the day’s biggest cryptocurrency gainers. The surge stood out against a flat market, with Bitcoin (BTC) little changed over the same period.
Ondo (ONDO) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsFollow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
Ondo Debuts First DTC-Backed Tokenized StocksOndo’s tokenized stocks are backed by DTC Tokenized Entitlements to securities held at The Depository Trust Company (DTC). The design ties on-chain tokens directly to shares inside Wall Street’s core custody system.
The company called it a first for tokenized equities. The tokens represent Circle (CRCL) stock and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) on-chain. Ondo issues them as CRCLon and SPYon, each fully backed by the underlying security.
“Under this model, DTC tokenized entitlements to DTC-held securities are generated through the DTCC Tokenization Service, and the DTC Tokenized Entitlements associated with CRCL and SPY serve as digital twins of the securities underlying existing CRCLon and SPYon tokens (Ondo’s tokenized versions of the stocks),” the team explained.
Ondo is connected to the DTC participant network through Alpaca Markets. The underlying shares stay within DTC custody throughout the process, according to the firm.
“Ondo joins more than a dozen leading TradFi and DeFi firms — including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq, and NYSE — participating in DTCC’s largest tokenization initiative to date, representing an important step toward the broader adoption of tokenized securities,” the blog read.
How Ondo’s Tokenized Stocks Work. Source: OndoDTCC’s Tokenization Push Gains TractionThe launch comes as the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) completed the tokenization of assets held at The Depository Trust Company. More than 30 firms participated in the initiative.
The transactions covered collateral pledges, securities lending, and equity settlements. DTCC ran them across its private HyperLedger Besu network and the public Canton network.
The platform plans to launch its full tokenization service in October 2026. That milestone arrived seven months after the SEC granted DTC a No-Action Letter to tokenize custodied assets.
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A prominent whale has reportedly increased their short exposure on Bitcoin via the decentralized perpetual futures platform Hyperliquid, achieving a gain of $131,000 with a 26.7% return over the past 30 days. The move is consistent with activity from large-scale participants on the platform pricing supportive of NO outcomes on near-term Bitcoin upside. This development comes as Bitcoin trades in the range of $65,000 to $65,400, reflecting continued downward sentiment among institutional or high-net-worth individuals. The increase in short exposure by significant market actors may indicate expectations of downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price, which is currently monitored closely due to potential liquidation risks if prices rally to certain resistance levels.
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Key Takeaways The increase in Bitcoin short exposure by a T1 whale appears consistent with a downward outlook on the cryptocurrency. Market pricing suggests a decrease in the likelihood of Bitcoin reaching $82,500 in July. Recent whale activity on Hyperliquid indicates that large investors may expect further declines in Bitcoin prices. What to Watch Market participants will be observing Bitcoin’s price movement closely, particularly the potential for a rally towards key resistance levels that could trigger liquidations. The changes in short exposure by large actors like whales are significant indicators of market sentiment. Additionally, developments such as ETF inflows or regulatory announcements could further influence Bitcoin’s price trajectory. As the month progresses, any significant deviations in Bitcoin’s price could impact the current assessments of market direction.
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Term Structure
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 43.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 19.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 14.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 2.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 7.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 2.8% — — View market → August 1 2026 5.8% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.7% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market →
@BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has accumulated 734,762 $BTC valued at approximately $47.1 billion, as institutional appetite for regulated Bitcoin exposure continues to drive inflows into the fund.
A Dominant Force in Spot Bitcoin ETFs IBIT has established a commanding lead over rival spot Bitcoin ETF products since launching in January 2024. BlackRock's fund commands roughly 49% of total US spot Bitcoin ETF assets, placing it well ahead of competitors including Fidelity's FBTC and Grayscale's GBTC. IBIT's cumulative inflows since its January 2024 launch stand at approximately $62 billion, underscoring the scale of institutional commitment to the product over its relatively short life.
BlackRock's Bitcoin position, held primarily through IBIT, represents one of the largest institutional Bitcoin treasuries globally. The ETF structure means BlackRock does not technically own these bitcoins outright. They are held in custody for IBIT shareholders. The shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol IBIT, with Coinbase Custody Trust Company serving as custodian for the fund's Bitcoin holdings.
Institutional Demand and a Volatile 2026 The road to $47 billion has not been without turbulence. US spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $1.97 billion in April 2026, the best month of the year, with BlackRock's IBIT leading institutional demand. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust accounted for the bulk of April flows, attracting roughly $2 billion in net subscriptions. However, sentiment shifted sharply in the weeks that followed. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $4.06 billion in net outflows during June 2026, the largest monthly redemption since the products launched in January 2024, with BlackRock's IBIT accounting for roughly $3.3 billion, or approximately 75% of the monthly total.
Despite those outflows, the fund's total Bitcoin treasury has held at a historically significant level, reflecting the ongoing structural demand from institutional allocators seeking regulated exposure to $BTC. Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have become one of the most important signals for institutional Bitcoin demand in 2026, making IBIT's accumulation figures a closely watched metric across traditional finance and crypto markets alike.
Sources:
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Holdings Hit Record 806,700 BTC Worth $63.7 Billion, Yahoo Finance
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Pull $1.97 Billion in Biggest Monthly Surge Since November, Yahoo Finance
BlackRock's IBIT Led $4.06B June Exodus After BTC ETF News, ICObench
Bitcoin traders got caught on both sides of the same trap this week, according to one chart analyst tracking the recent price swing, and the fallout is exposing exactly which level really matters right now. Bitcoin had been consolidating inside a triangle pattern for days. When price finally broke toward the upside, traders piled into long positions expecting a clean continuation higher.
It didn’t hold. Bitcoin’s triangle breakout was actually a fakeout that liquidated many traders, according to the analyst, who says he avoided the trade entirely because he doesn’t trust breakout setups. His rule instead: enter only at support, ideally right after a liquidity grab, not on a breakout chase.
One Level That Actually Matters
Using a volume profile across Bitcoin’s recent price action, the analyst identified a single price zone that keeps reappearing as the point of control, the area with the heaviest trading volume on the entire chart.
The single biggest support on Bitcoin’s entire chart sits near $62,500, he says. That level lines up with three separate technical tools: the volume profile’s point of control, an anchored VWAP drawn from a recent swing low, and a rising trend line connecting Bitcoin’s recent higher lows.
Reading the Current Pullback as a Wave Count
The analyst frames Bitcoin’s broader move as an ABC correction, with the current leg representing what he calls the “C wave,” itself expected to unfold in five smaller waves. He believes wave one of that structure just completed, and Bitcoin is now working through wave two, the current pullback.
Fibonacci retracement levels give him two targets for where that pullback could end: a shallower target near $63,600, and a deeper one closer to $62,500, which aligns with the volume-based support already identified. A confirmed break below $61,700 would invalidate the current bullish wave count, he said, marking the line where his entire bullish thesis falls apart.
Resistance Levels Standing in the Way
Above current prices, the analyst is watching resistance near $65,700, a zone he says carries extra weight because two separate liquidity pools stack at that same level, alongside the top of a descending channel.
If Bitcoin can push through that resistance while forming a third wave higher, he expects the move to continue toward $68,000, an area that lines up with both an anchored VWAP resistance zone on the daily chart and a Fibonacci extension target. The analyst’s next major upside target for Bitcoin sits near $68,000 to $69,000.
Where This Leaves Traders
The analyst says he remains long on both Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with an existing long position on Hyperliquid, and continues to view pullbacks toward support as buying opportunities rather than reasons to turn bearish, as long as Bitcoin holds above its most recent low.
Story Ends Here
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Following weaker-than-expected US CPI and PPI data, Bitcoin rose above $64,000. However, this rise was limited due to selling pressure.
While the market closely watches whether Bitcoin’s rise will continue, a notable shift has been observed in investors’ price expectations in the Bitcoin options market.
Bitcoin Expectations Revised! This shift is seen as a significant positional change that could slow BTC’s rise above $70,000, while the most popular call option strike price in the BTC options market dropped from $80,000 to $70,000.
According to open interest data, call options with a strike price of $70,000 are currently the most popular contract, with $1.63 billion in open interest.
Thus, call options, which had been the most popular call option for the past six months at $80,000, dropped to $70,000. This $10,000 decrease indicates that investors have revised downwards the price level they expect Bitcoin to reach in the near term.
Data also shows that put options with a strike price of $60,000 are the most actively traded bearish contracts. According to analysts, this indicates that investors are considering the $60,000-$70,000 range as a baseline price for Bitcoin in the short term.
Speaking to Coindesk, Imran Lakha, founder of Options Insights, analyzed that market makers are highly likely to hedge against selling risk above the $70,000 level to maintain their neutral positions.
“This hedging acts as a brake, limiting how quickly Bitcoin’s price can rise after it climbs,” said Lakha, noting that this could trigger hedging sales during price increases and limit the speed of BTC’s rise after it surpasses $70,000.
Expectations of Bitcoin Reaching $70,000 are Increasing! In addition, Greeks.live analyst Adam stated that there was a sharp increase in bulk call option trading in Bitcoin today, with a total of 25,766 BTC call options traded, with a nominal value of approximately $1.65 billion.
He stated that the most preferred of these call options were those with strike prices of $70,000/$72,000 that expire at the end of the month.
The analyst noted that these transactions, occurring approximately two weeks before expiry, reflect the market’s positive outlook for Bitcoin’s short-term performance. However, the analyst also pointed out that investors are opting for low-cost bullish spread strategies rather than directly taking high-risk long positions. This indicates that while bullish expectations remain, investors are adopting a more controlled and cautious approach.
Consequently, movements in the options market are closely monitored as a key indicator of the short-term direction of the Bitcoin price, with the $70,000-$72,000 region standing out as a critical level for investors.
*This is not investment advice.
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Cloudflare recently announced the launch of its monetization program via the Coinbase-led x402 machine payments standard. x402, which lets AI agents pay for data online with crypto, has been gaining steam among the AI-pilled, as it unlocks more capable agent interactions with the open web.
Cloudflare, founded in 2009, has grown from a DDoS mitigation and content delivery network (CDN) provider into one of the internet’s foundational infrastructure companies.
The company, which launched publicly in 2010, had the mission to make web performance and security accessible to everyone, not just large enterprises. Today, Cloudflare powers approximately 20-23% of all websites globally, handles tens of millions of HTTP requests per second across 330+ cities in over 100 countries, touching a significant portion of global internet traffic.
As a result of their adoption and security offering to large portions of the open web, CloudFlare’s integration of x402 is a major development for the structure of the internet. Websites that are increasingly inaccessible to the massive data demands from AI can now sell that data to AI agents for crypto. CloudFlare’s implementation only mentions Stablecoins such as USDC, the Open USD standard, but the protocol supports Bitcoin on-chain and is actively exploring integration of the Lightning network.
The Web is Broken Kevin Leffew, co-author of the x402 protocol and AI GTM at Coinbase, told Bitcoin Magazine there’s a major user experience issue in the way AI currently interacts with the open web and x402 — which is now under the control of the Linux Foundation — is trying to solve it. “Every api call requires an api key, which in turn requires a human, and adds unnecessary friction,” Leffew explained, adding, “our goal is to kill the api key”.
Popular AI agents such as OpenClaw often require API access keys to special paid web search services, to let the AI agents access the web easily, with the mobility that a human user would enjoy. Services of this sort are offered by popular browsers and search engines such as Brave.com and Perplexity. But who out there wants to be paying a subscription service on top of computer hardware and internet access, plus AI token costs to search the web? These services also require a human to sign up with a credit card for a monthly subscription, paying for access that might be blocked by the websites holding valuable data anyway via non-standard methods. A better solution is needed.
AI agents need to be able to think about money and resource costs, and need to have a computer-friendly way to make payments for novel data. An example of this use case was recently demonstrated by an X account called “Lightning Mode AI,” which built a wrapper over ESPN FIFA data and had an AI agent pay for it in Bitcoin. The Agent was then able to quickly place bets on outcomes on markets like Polymarket, which could potentially let agent owners earn their money, during the soccer World Cup.
This example by Lightning Mode AI used an older implementation of the idea behind x402 called L402, a protocol developed by Lightning Labs to specifically enable bitcoin payments for data on third-party websites.
Denial of service attacks (DOS) are also potentially solved by a machine native monetary system for the internet. The fundamental vulnerability exploited by these DOS attacks revolves around the bandwidth and computing costs to answer a question or query from an internet user. The user sends a request to view a website, the site’s server must compute, resolve and serve the website data back to the user; this has material costs at scale. DOS attacks send massive amounts of requests, often from malware-infected networks of machines (DDOS), targeting the server resources of their victims. This kind of attack can, in theory, be stopped by simply asking for payment from the user before spending the resources to respond to the user’s query. But the payments must be cost-effective and fast enough for the user experience demands of the digital age.
Protocols like x402 and L402 enable websites to paywall access to their valuable data, while teaching AI agents how to pay for access. No credit cards needed, no user data explicitly shared with payment networks, no ‘are you a bot’ captchas, no annoying account registrations you never use again, no subscription service for web search api key. Just pay for the data you consume.
The Economics of Micro Transactions This micro-transaction market between machines is not a new idea. It has been theorized by luminaries of the cypherpunk age like Nick Szabo and others, though it has, up until now, been found lacking. Szabo argued that the biggest problem with micro transactions was not just payment technology, but the cognitive transaction costs involved.
Every time a user makes a payment, their brain needs to calculate whether it is worth it; this also has a cost on users, which can probably be measured in calories, and sometimes deciding to pay a couple of pennies for data is not worth the effort. But AI agents change this equation, in theory.
If AI becomes a new way for users to interact with the open way, then the cognitive costs involved in calculating the merit of spending pennies and even sub-penny values for data might be effectively abstracted away.
Users can simply give their bot a budget with spending policies and let it do its best to use that money wisely. Whether AI agents can be responsible enough to safeguard user funds remains to be seen, but some experiments demonstrate that AI agents can be reasonably resilient at the job. Take Freysa AI, for example, a 2024 era AI agent that held up against 48,000 prompt engineering attempts. Users paid to try to convince the bot to release funds in a smart contract treasury to them; if the bot refused, the bot kept the user’s money, adding it to the treasury. Eventually, someone managed to fool the bot, but not after $50,000 worth of attempts had been made. With hard-coded spending limits, the risk of prompt engineering an AI into giving way its web search lunch money is probably manageable.
The scalability of privacy-preserving digital payments in decentralized, censorship-resistant ways is also effectively already solved. According to Leffew, blockchains like Solana can do payments for a thousandth of a cent and settle it in milliseconds. Bitcoin’s Lightning network can also compete at the micro-transaction scale, and other Bitcoin protocols like the e-cash variants can be as fast as any internet packet, likely beating a highly centralized blockchain system like Solana.
Viktor Ihnatiuk, co-founder of UTEXO, told Bitcoin Magazine that they are actively working with the x402 developer community to integrate Bitcoin’s layer two protocols via RGB as a payment option. RGB integration would unlock layer two-style Bitcoin payments as well as USDT on Bitcoin settlements. The x402 standard, according to Leffew, is designed to be fundamentally neutral to the payment rails involved, even extensible to fiat rails, though likely will be dominated by cryptocurrencies and, for the foreseeable future, stablecoins.
Why CloudFlare Should Accept Bitcoin CloudFlare’s x402 pilot program is a great step towards this vision of a cryptographic money actively used as the native currency of the internet. Its focus on stablecoins to start is also understandable, given the powerful brand and adoption of the dollar, which keeps accounting simple. However, there are a lot of underlying risks involved in how stablecoins are used today that Bitcoin solves.
For starters, most of the stablecoin volume moves on top of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) style blockchains, which use an account model of public addresses; these are actively reused, creating long, detailed, public histories of financial engagement for each user. This is abysmal for user privacy, and tooling to obfuscate user flows on EVM blockchains, such as VPNs for crypto payments, are not common.
As a result, AI agents and their users are actively leaking data that might expose them to targeted attacks from organized cybercrime, among other risks.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, uses a UTXO model, where best practices lead people to create a new address for every payment received, resulting in payment trails that can be more difficult to track. Furthermore, Bitcoin’s fast payment protocols like Lightning, Ark or e-cash often deliver much greater privacy benefits to users by moving value off-chain via various smart contract-related technologies.
Last but not least, stablecoins are fundamentally anchored to the U.S. dollar and its foreign policy. If CloudFlare wants to be a viable option for the multipolar world, it will want to start taking a neutral stance on money. The dollar, while still the most valued currency in the world, is starting to lose ground to rising powers in the east, while alternative, geopolitically neutral currencies like Bitcoin continue to rise. Bitcoin might help CloudFlare maintain or even grow its position as critical internet infrastructure in the multi-polar world.
On the flip side, BTC managed to reclaim a key support level, which should provide more upside momentum.
The US CPI data for June brought a much-needed relief rally in the cryptocurrency markets, pushing the largest of the bunch to a new three-week peak at $65,500.
However, after gaining about $4,000 in just a day, the asset was rejected and driven south by $1,500. According to popular crypto analysts, this was not an isolated or accidental rejection, as history might map out the path forward.
Why Was BTC Stopped? Crypto Rover noted that BTC has faced the same scenario after every relief rally during this bear cycle. It surges to the Short-Term Holder Realized Price, and then the bears step up and halt its progress. He believes this is because it’s the average cost basis of recent buyers.
“As soon as they get back to break-even, many sell to exit their positions.”
This pattern first played out in November last year, after the notorious October crash, which wiped out over $19 billion in leveraged positions. BTC was stopped at $115,000 at the time, before similar occurrences took place during January’s rally to $95,000, and the mid-May surge to $83,000.
Merlijn The Trader shared a similar opinion, claiming he envisioned this bull-trap rally to $65,500. He believes another leg down is in the making and predicted a “flush toward the $58.5K-$60K order block.”
He outlined the significance of the $63,000 support. If held, BTC could still see some upward momentum, especially if it reclaims the aforementioned $65,500 resistance. However, a breakdown below $63,000 is likely to result in another sub-$60,000 dip.
On The Flip Side… Another popular analyst, Jelle, outlined a rather contrasting scenario. He indicated that BTC’s recent move represented a “big win for the bulls,” as the asset has “reclaimed the previous range lows.” He warned that bitcoin tends to move slowly during the summer and investors should be cautious about becoming too bullish during such not-ideal market conditions.
You may also like: Don’t Obsess Over Bitcoin’s Bottom as $38K Low Comes Into Focus: Analyst Crypto Social Activity Just Hit a Multi-Month Low: Why That Could Be Bullish for Bitcoin Peter Schiff: Bitcoin Holders Will Soon Regret Not Selling at Current Levels Nevertheless, Jelle added that this is a “good start” for bitcoin, but a more profound move north would require breaking many key levels before “things really change for the better.”
Big win for the bulls, $BTC has reclaimed the previous range lows!
Good start, but still loads of levels to break before things really change for the better.
It’s still summer; tends to be slow – and I’ll treat the market accordingly. DCA, nothing more. pic.twitter.com/XrpNvb3uoE
Bitcoin (BTC) may be entering a period of early recovery following several months of weakness, according to analytics firm Glassnode’s latest Week On-Chain report. After prolonged selling pressure from long-term holders throughout 2026, Glassnode observes that this source of market stress has started to ease.
Market sentiment turns on softer US inflation dataUS inflation cooled in the latest reading, with annual price growth coming in at 3.5% rather than the expected 4.2%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Falling energy costs contributed to the softer figures, which helped bolster risk appetite across various asset classes.
Bitcoin reacted more positively to the inflation news than major equities, suggesting that investors increasingly see BTC as distinct from traditional risk assets. Over recent months, the relationship between Bitcoin and stock indices has continued to weaken.
At the same time, Bitcoin’s inverse correlation with the US dollar has intensified, signaling that broader liquidity trends now play a greater role in the cryptocurrency’s price movements than equity market sentiment.
Glassnode highlights, “Bitcoin trades less like a stock proxy and more like an asset that firms when the dollar weakens.”
Mini dictionary: Glassnode is an on-chain analytics company that tracks and interprets blockchain data for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, providing insights for both retail and institutional investors.
ETF outflows slow but new inflows elusiveSpot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US have seen a sharp slowdown in redemptions since the June peak, suggesting the wave of investor withdrawals is losing steam. However, sustained net inflows to these funds have yet to reappear, keeping overall sentiment cautious among institutional participants.
On the derivatives front, Glassnode points out that the options put/call ratio has reached its lowest level of 2026. This shift implies that traders are allowing downside protection to lapse, indicating reduced demand for bearish positions. At the same time, perpetual funding rates show a neutral stance, reinforcing the cautious mood.
Key $69,000 level in focus for Bitcoin’s recoveryDespite signs of stabilization, Glassnode maintains that Bitcoin remains stuck in a “deep value” phase, not yet confirming a clear uptrend. According to the report, Bitcoin is trading above its historical bear-market floor, referred to as the Realized Price, but has yet to break through the next major resistance, the Short-Term Holder Cost Basis, which stands near $69,000. This price marks the average purchase cost for recent investors and is considered a key threshold for a sustained bullish reversal.
Currently, Bitcoin is testing its $66,000 “max pain” options strike, a level that has anchored the spot price for much of the year. Breaking above the $69,000 mark would signal shifting momentum, while a failure to regain this level could confirm continued investor caution.
Key LevelRole in BTC Price ActionRealized PriceHistorical bear-market floorShort-Term Holder Cost Basis ($69,000)Major resistance, break-even for recent buyers“Max Pain” Options Strike ($66,000)Price attracting spot and options activityWhile long-term holder selling pressure is easing, and ETF redemptions have slowed, the market’s recovery is described as tentative. Glassnode reports that a stronger wave of spot buying is required for a sustained uptrend to take hold.
Despite improving fundamental signals, Glassnode suggests the market needs to reclaim and hold above $69,000 to confirm a definitive bullish shift.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
English日本語한국어繁體中文ไทยPortuguêsItalianoDeutschFrançaisEspañol A Bitcoin wallet dormant since December 2017 transferred 5,908 BTC worth roughly $383 million to a fresh address at 7:15 p.m. ET on July 15, according to blockchain intelligence platform Lookonchain. The coins moved from legacy address “138EM…ReyiT” to a newer SegWit wallet, extending a run of long-idle holdings coming back to life this week.
The 2017-Era Wallet Holds a 284% Paper Gain Arkham data showed the wallet acquired the coins when Bitcoin traded near $16,800, giving the stack a cost basis close to $99.6 million. At current prices, the balance is worth about $383 million, a $283 million paper gain over roughly eight years. 7=
The stash peaked near $726 million during Bitcoin’s October 2025 record above $122,000, according to crypto.news reporting on cycle price data. The holder rode through the 2018 drawdown of nearly 80%, the 2021 rally to $69,000, and the late-2022 slump to about $15,500.
The recipient wallet has not sent funds onward, and no known exchange deposit address received the transfer, on-chain records confirmed.
Analysts Flag Whale Ratio Near Historic Highs Lookonchain wrote in the July 16 post that “the OG received 5,908 $BTC 8 years ago when $BTC was trading at $16,865 and had held it ever since,” noting the position was up 284%. CryptoQuant separately reported that its exchange whale ratio recently stood at 0.99, meaning the ten largest transfers made up nearly all Bitcoin deposited to exchanges.
The firm said elevated readings have historically preceded stronger selling pressure because sizeable deposits are more likely to precede sizeable disposals. Neither the July 15 move nor the earlier 2,931 BTC transfer flagged by Arkham has surfaced on-chain evidence of sales, blockchain researchers told crypto.news.
Why the Wallet Rotation Matters The transfer does not read as a straight exit, and CoinDesk noted that large holders often reshuffle assets to upgrade wallet formats, rotate private keys, prepare estate transfers, or arrange over-the-counter deals that never touch public exchanges.
The switch from a legacy “1” address to a newer “bc1q” SegWit format matches that pattern closely. That distinction matters for market impact, because OTC settlement absorbs supply privately while exchange deposits telegraph potential sell pressure.
Traders watching the whale ratio at 0.99 have a cleaner tape when dormant coins move sideways rather than into centralised order books.
Related Dormant Whale Activity Keeps Stacking This is the second seven-figure dormant transfer flagged this week. A separate wallet moved 2,931 BTC worth about $188 million after seven years of silence, when Bitcoin traded near $6,500. Arkham confirmed that the transfer went to a fresh, unlabelled address, matching the pattern seen this week.
Neither cohort has surfaced through known exchange deposit clusters, keeping selling assumptions inconclusive for now. The recipient address remains passive as of July 16, and the funds have not touched a labelled venue.
Bitcoin traded near $64,000 at publication time, down about 47% from October 2025 highs. Traders will watch whether the whale ratio holds above 0.9 and whether the recipient wallet shifts coins toward centralized exchanges in the coming sessions.
In brief U.S. consumer prices fell 0.4% in June, denting rate hike expectations and marking the largest monthly decline since April 2020. Bitcoin and Ethereum trended higher, keeping one analyst’s $100,000 quarter-end price target within reach. Despite the positive inflation report, escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz continues to shadow the market. Bitcoin ticked above $64,000 Tuesday morning, after a widely watched inflation gauge showed consumer prices cooling more than expected in June—bolstering expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates untouched at the conclusion of its next policy meeting.
The Consumer Price Index fell 0.4% month-over-month in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Tuesday. Economists expected the index, which tracks price changes across a broad range of goods and services, to post a 0.1% decline for the period.
Following the report’s release, Bitcoin steadied around $64,300, up 2.3% on the day, according to CoinGecko data. Bitcoin’s price surge nevertheless lagged behind Ethereum, which posted a 5.4% increase to around $1,890 during the same timeframe.
The largest one-month decrease in consumer prices since April 2020 was prompted by falling energy costs, the inflation snapshot indicated, offsetting a rise in food and shelter costs. On an annual basis, inflation slowed to 3.5%, decreasing for the first time in five months.
Fabian Dori, CIO at crypto bank Sygnum, told Decrypt that the government’s latest inflation numbers marked a hopeful sign for crypto, representing “the first real indication that the energy-driven impulse from the spring is fading rather than broadening.”
Cooler than expected
As conflict in the Middle East squeezed global energy supplies, investors braced for tighter monetary conditions, expecting the U.S. central bank to raise interest rates in an attempt to prevent associated price pressures from spreading to the broader economy.
So-called core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, clocked in at 2.6% in the 12 months through June, down from 2.9% the previous month. Earlier this year, the annual core measure had dipped to 2.5% in February before ticking back up in the spring.
Higher interest rates typically weigh on risk assets like stocks and crypto as the risk-free payouts on government bonds become relatively attractive. Conversely, expectations of accommodative monetary policy tend to buoy digital assets.
On Tuesday, traders grew more confident that the Fed would leave interest rates unchanged later this month at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%, per CME FedWatch. Still, they expected the U.S. central bank to deliver a 25-basis-point hike in September.
As the war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran has clouded the Fed’s path to reining in inflation to its 2% goal, analysts—including Matt Mena, senior crypto research strategist at exchange-traded fund issuer 21Shares—have said that the conflict could shape crypto prices.
“As long as tensions with Iran don't worsen, fundamentals and catalysts are starting to align for a $100k push by quarter-end,” he told Decrypt.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military said that it was preparing to reimpose its blockade on Iranian ports at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, per AP News. The development followed days of retaliatory strikes between the countries centered on control of the vital Strait of Hormuz.
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While Bitcoin was busy losing more than 20% of its value in June, a corner of crypto you probably haven’t been watching was having its best month ever. Onchain gacha, the blockchain-native version of randomized trading card packs, pulled in a record $324.6 million in spending.
That’s the fourth consecutive monthly record for the category. And it happened while Bitcoin slid to an intraday low of $58,131 on June 25, a price not seen since September 2024.
What exactly is onchain gacha, and why is it eating this much capital Think of those Pokémon booster packs you ripped open as a kid, except the cards are tokenized, vaulted in physical storage, and tradable on decentralized exchanges. The “gacha” mechanic, borrowed from Japanese capsule toy machines, gives buyers a randomized assortment of cards per pack.
Collector Crypt is the dominant player here, processing over $209 million in June alone. That’s roughly 64% of the entire onchain gacha market. The overall category has doubled since March 2026.
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The collectibles in question are tokenized versions of real, physical trading cards, primarily Pokémon and One Piece. Each card sits in a vault somewhere in the physical world while its digital twin lives onchain, able to be traded, sold, or held.
The ecosystem is expanding fast Jupiter, the largest decentralized exchange on Solana, recently partnered with Collector Crypt to launch “Jupiter Gacha.” The platform lets users buy packs of tokenized and vaulted cards directly through Jupiter’s interface.
Rarible has also entered the space, launching its own gacha station in collaboration with Collector Crypt.
The CARDS token, Collector Crypt’s native utility token, serves as the operational backbone of much of this activity, functioning as the connective tissue between pack purchases, marketplace trading, and platform governance.
Why this matters when Bitcoin is tanking Crypto markets tend to move in lockstep. When Bitcoin drops 20%, altcoins usually drop 30-40%, NFT volumes crater, and DeFi activity slows to a crawl. June’s gacha numbers broke that pattern entirely.
A $324.6 million spending month during a brutal Bitcoin drawdown suggests this consumer category is driven by something other than speculative crypto euphoria. The buyers aren’t flipping tokens for quick gains in a bull market. They’re collectors with genuine demand for the underlying product, people who would be buying Pokémon cards regardless of whether Bitcoin is at $58K or $108K.
The risk is concentration. With Collector Crypt commanding 64% market share, the entire category’s health is heavily dependent on one platform’s execution, security, and vault custody practices.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Breez has partnered with Turnkey to let developers add non-custodial bitcoin to applications that run wallets from their own servers, the companies announced.
The partnership addresses a structural problem. Many mainstream apps operate from the backend, with a single service handling millions of users. Adding bitcoin under that design has meant holding user keys on company servers.
Holding keys makes a company a custodian, a status that carries licensing requirements, legal liability, and the security burden of a large store of user funds. The alternative has been to build a separate device-based wallet, a change that breaks the architecture these apps use to reach scale.
Under the new model, each user receives a wallet whose keys are created and stored inside Turnkey’s secure enclaves. According to the companies, those keys stay out of reach of the app’s servers, Breez, and Turnkey. The company’s backend holds a credential that defines what actions it can take, while authority to move funds rests with the user.
In other words, this partnership positions some of the world’s largest consumer apps to add non-custodial bitcoin without rebuilding their backend architecture or taking custody of user funds.
Turnkey supports Spark, the network the Breez SDK is built on. Paired with Breez’s server mode, a single backend can manage wallets for millions of users without storing keys.
Registered passkeys enable bitcoin self-custody apps The approval flow works as follows. The user holds a credential, such as a passkey registered with Turnkey at signup. The server prepares a transaction and displays the amount, the fee, and the destination.
The user approves the transaction, and it completes. The server cannot spend funds without that approval. For the user, the app’s existing flow does not change, and there is no seed phrase to record.
Turnkey provides embedded wallet infrastructure used by a range of consumer apps and holds a SOC 2 audit. In a note to Bitcoin Magazine, Breez positioned the release as a way for exchanges, fintechs, and neobanks to offer bitcoin and stablecoin services to large user bases without taking custody of funds.
Exchanges can automate payouts under rules their security teams define, and fintechs can add a non-custodial bitcoin service inside their existing interface.
The partnership extends a series of Breez SDK features aimed at lowering barriers to bitcoin integration. Passkey Login replaced the seed phrase, Stable Balance addressed price volatility, and a separate feature added support for sending the stablecoins USDT and USDC. The companies say the combined tools let backend-run products offer bitcoin and stablecoins to users while custody of the assets stays with those users.
Micah Zimmerman
Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.
X updates its creator revenue sharing program; inducement of interactive behaviors such as "replying to follow each other" may result in account suspension.
X Product Lead Nikita Bier announced that the platform has updated its creator revenue sharing program. Accounts that induce engagement three or more times via tactics such as "reply to follow back" will be removed from the program and referred to the policy team for evaluation on whether to suspend the account. Grok is now capable of identifying such behavior; nearly 4,000 accounts were removed from the program on the same day. The new model launched by X detects duplicate content three times more efficiently than its predecessor. Even if reposters add watermarks, intros, or other modifications, monetization exposure for such content will belong to the original uploader—a rule that also applies to copied popular text posts. Bier added that the platform detected 1.5 million stolen posts during this cycle. Accounts engaging in repeated infringement or intentionally evading detection will be removed from the creator revenue sharing program. These adjustments will result in over $1 million in revenue being redistributed to original content creators.
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Bankless Co-founder: Bitcoin may have entered a sideways consolidation phase, with the bottom largely in place.
Bankless co-founder David Hoffman published an article stating that Bitcoin’s current trend faces two possible paths: sideways consolidation to bottom out, or one final round of panic selling. He opines that Bitcoin is more likely to enter a sideways grinding phase, with its bottom already largely formed.
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SpaceX’s short interest ratio rose to 29% of its outstanding shares, with short positions totaling $25 billion.
As SpaceX’s share price has fallen back to near its IPO price, short sellers are rapidly increasing their bearish positions on the company. Data from S3 Partners shows that roughly 185 million SpaceX shares are currently sold short, accounting for about 29% of its publicly traded float, equivalent to around $25 billion in short positions. Three weeks ago, the estimated number of SpaceX shares sold short was just 40 million, making up 5% to 7% of its float. The stock has dropped roughly 20% cumulatively since July, and on Wednesday it briefly fell below its $135 IPO price for the first time. KeyBanc Capital Markets noted that when SpaceX went public, its publicly traded shares made up only 5% of its total share count of around 13 billion. The first batch of large-scale restricted shares is expected to unlock around the release of its second-quarter financial results, at which point roughly 11% of the total share base will become eligible for sale; multiple subsequent batches of restricted shares, each accounting for about 4% of total shares, will also be unlocked starting about 70 days after the IPO. Elon Musk’s roughly 42% stake in SpaceX remains locked until June 2027. The company’s 13th Starship test flight is scheduled for Thursday, which could impact market sentiment toward the stock.
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Keyrock acquires BlockFills' institutional trading and brokerage business for $3.25 million
Keyrock has completed the acquisition of BlockFills' institutional trading and brokerage business, with the deal covering its trading technology, institutional client relationships, and derivatives trading team. The acquisition will also expand Keyrock's regulatory scope, including an entity registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and another UK entity seeking authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Keyrock did not disclose the transaction price in its announcement. Per prior court documents and disclosures from company representatives, the total acquisition value is $3.25 million, payable in two installments, with certain arrangements subject to regulatory approval. BlockFills suffered major losses during the February 2026 crypto market crash, after which it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Keyrock was ultimately selected as the buyer in the firm's bankruptcy proceedings.
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Serenity: Declines in storage and AI-related crypto assets likely stem from deleveraging and cascading margin liquidations.
Serenity noted that Micron Technology announced today it has signed a long-term memory agreement with Qualcomm, but Micron’s stock price still fell by 5.37% following the announcement. He believes that, with multiple structural agreements continuing to take effect, the current decline does not appear to stem from issues with storage or AI stocks themselves. The related drop is more likely due to the winding down of deleveraging and margin call liquidation chains.
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1inch co-founder Anton Bukov stated he was fired at the end of November 2025 and announced the launch of a new project, Second Tier.
1inch co-founder Anton Bukov published a statement saying he was fired at the end of November 2025. While he remains a co-founder of the decentralized exchange aggregator and holds a 50% stake, he is no longer involved in the company’s operations, product architecture, security design, or related oversight duties. Since co-founding 1inch in May 2019, Bukov led work on protocol architecture, security, and economic model design, and contributed to launching key products including the 1inch Router, 1inch Fusion, cross-chain atomic swaps, and shared liquidity automated market makers (AMMs). Bukov noted that feedback from users and team members over the past year led him to realize he could not stay on the sidelines of the company’s management and operations. He subsequently spent months learning leadership and communication skills and driving internal changes, before being dismissed in late November 2025. He also announced the launch of a new project called Second Tier, with plans to collaborate with like-minded teams to build secure, efficient systems that bridge the gap between economic intent and real-world execution.
