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The launch of Robinhood Chain on an Ethereum layer-2 network is bullish for long-term value and network effects, argue analysts. 

Robinhood Chain has generated $816,000 in gross revenue since launching on July 1, with 89% captured by Robinhood, 10% by Arbitrum as middleware, and only 0.15%, or $1,538, paid to Ethereum for settlement, which doesn’t sound great.

Robinhood Chain is an EVM-compatible Arbitrum-based layer-2 network that uses ETH as its native gas token, but Ethereum is not seeing any revenue benefits yet.

Bullish or Bearish for Ethereum? Lorenzo Valente, director of research at Ark Invest, said, “If your thesis is ‘ETH is money,’ Robinhood building here is ultra bullish.” “More activity, more ETH collateral, more lindyness,” he added.

However, for those who believe ETH is a revenue-generating asset, “this is the ultra-bear case.” He added that Robinhood was never going to build on Solana, Sui, or any “monolithic layer-1” because it wants stack customization.

“They want to be landlords, not renters. Ethereum won this deal on merit. It’s just not pricing it right … Ethereum sells the most valuable settlement layer in crypto at marginal cost.”

Valente said that a healthier split would be 75% to Robinhood, 10% to Arbitrum, and 15% to Ethereum.

The Robinhood Chain is the cleanest case study of what happened to ETH’s economics over time.

Since inception, @RobinhoodApp Chain has grossed ~$816K in revenue.@Arbitrum, the middleware provider, takes 10%: ~$80K.

Arbitrum then pays Ethereum for settlement: $1,538.

The… pic.twitter.com/Jc8k4yi60M

— Lorenzo Valente (@LorenzoARK) July 13, 2026

Responding to the post, Consensys founder Joe Lubin said Ethereum layer-1 revenue fees should stay low to foster growth.

You may also like: Expert: Bitcoin Faces $8B Attack Risk, Ethereum More Secure Bitmine Snaps Up Over 30,500 ETH as Tom Lee Focuses on Crypto’s New Success Story AI Found a Real Ethereum Bug – But the Bigger Story Is What Comes Next “Tens of thousands of companies will set up shop over the next 2-3 years on some mix of Ethereum L1, L2s, and private permissioned EVMs.”

“Monetary premium will grow very large, fee revenue to L1 from so much activity,” he added before concluding that staking and other locking away of ETH will reduce supply, and “net burning of ETH under ultrasound conditions will further grow the value of ETH.”

Since its launch a fortnight ago, 82,895 ETH worth around $147.5 million has been bridged to Robinhood Chain, according to Defillama. Analysts say this has become another demand sink, along with staking, which has 33% of the supply locked, treasury companies, and ETFs.

No Love For ETH Prices Despite this bullish narrative, Ether prices remain at multi-year bear market lows with low volume and negative sentiment. ETH is trading flat on the day at around $1,780 following a dip to $1,750 during early Tuesday trading in Asia.

It has moved off its cycle low of just over $1,500 in late June, but has hit resistance at $1,800 six times over the past ten days. This remains the barrier to break for ETH to continue its slow climb higher.

The major catalysts for Ether are macro and likely to be inflation coming down and lower chances of a Fed rate hike.

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President Donald Trump on Monday said the United States is “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz and countries “must pay” the US for defending. As a result, Brent crude oil prices extend gains above $79 per barrel, causing the crypto market and Bitcoin price to crash lower.

US Will Defend Strait of Hormuz, Expects Payment in Return: Trump President Donald Trump said the U.S. will guard the Strait of Hormuz and expects countries to pay them. It sent Brent crude oil above $79 per barrel, triggering further selloffs across stock and crypto markets on July 13.

“We’re taking over the Strait. They have nothing… yesterday, they had an 11-hour meeting… and everything was agreed to yesterday, and they leave the room, and they call back and they say, ‘we had to make a couple of change,” said President Trump.

Trump also issued a sharp warning to Iran following the collapse of the ceasefire. He added that U.S. forces carried out major strikes overnight that destroyed key Iranian military equipment.

Oil prices climbed nearly 4% on Monday as the US and Iran continued to exchange strikes amid ongoing tensions over the Strait of Hormuz’s control. Iran also declared the strait closed, but it was rejected by the US Central Command.

As geopolitical tensions escalate and major economic decisions loom, trading volumes are surging on the best crypto prediction markets as participants bet on real-world outcomes.

Bitcoin Price and Broader Crypto Market Crash Bitcoin price extended losses, tanking more than 3% over the past few hours. The price is currently trading at $62,389. The 24-hour low and high are $62,120 and $64,340, respectively.

Crypto market crashes further after Trump’s comments to take over the Strait of Hormuz, wiping out $20 billion from the market. Top altcoins Ethereum, XRP, BNB, Solana, Hyperliquid, Zcash and Cardano recorded 2-6% fall during the crypto market crash.

According to Coinglass data, the crypto market crash saw nearly $40 million in liquidations across Bitcoin, ETH, SPCX, SOL, SNDK, HYPE, MU, and XRP. Notably, 73k traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours. The largest single liquidation order of XYZ:SKHX valued at $4.86 million happened on Hyperliquid.

Traders are now awaiting the US CPI inflation data and Fed Chair Warsh’s testimony due Tuesday for clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.

Crypto Market Liquidations. Source: Coinglass

ETH looks "pretty attractive" in the short term, said one popular analyst.

The second-largest cryptocurrency has staged a minor resurgence over the past week, while numerous analysts believe a much more substantial pump could be on the way.

Certain technical indicators support the bullish outlook and may indeed set the stage for a more meaningful recovery.

Is ETH Ready to March? After the devastating June lows, the bulls clawed back some of the losses and even briefly pushed the price above $1,800 over the weekend. However, the bears offered strong resistance, and ETH currently trades at around $1,750 (per CoinGecko), representing a 1% increase for the past week.

According to X user Ted, such a level can be considered a good sign and shows that sellers no longer dominate. He believes that holding above the $1,750 support zone is crucial and could open the door to a rally towards $2,000.

Michael van de Poppe was even more optimistic, expecting the next breakout to push ETH to $2,500. For their part, AlΞx Wacy claimed that the asset needs to break above a certain descending trendline that has historically fueled 250% pumps in weeks. The analyst pointed out that this critical threshold sits at around $1,880.

Altcoin Sherpa gave their two cents, too. While noting ETH’s price decline over the last several months, the analyst described it as “pretty attractive” in the short term with potential to climb to around $2,500.

Ali Martinez also chipped in, vowing to open a long position in ETH if its price surpasses $1,850. It is important to note that his previous take on the asset was rather bearish, outlining that its TD Sequential indicator flashed a sell signal and that could be followed by a plunge to as low as $1,700.

You may also like: Analyst Sees Upside for ETH Ahead of Glamsterdam Upgrade ‘Summer of Ethereum Love’ Gaining Steam, Says Lubin, But When Will ETH Price Follow?  Bitmine Buys Another 42K ETH as 5% Supply Goal Comes Within Reach The Bullish Metrics ETH’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) reinforces the predominant optimism shared by the aforementioned analysts. The technical analysis tool, whose ratio runs from 0 to 100, has fallen to around 30, indicating that the asset has entered oversold territory and could be on the verge of a rally. Conversely, readings above 70 are interpreted as pre-pullback signals.

ETH RSI, Source: RSI Hunter Next on the list is the declining amount of ETH stored on exchanges. Today (July 13), the figure dropped to a nearly ten-year low of around 15.3 million units. Fewer coins on centralized platforms usually result in reduced immediate selling pressure.

ETH Supply on Exchanges, Source: CryptoQuant Tags:

WTI and Brent crude oil both rose more than 6% intraday, as Houthi militants in Yemen attacked a Saudi airport.

According to Bitget market data, both WTI and Brent crude oil prices rose more than 6% intraday. Reports say Yemen’s Houthi forces attacked a Saudi airport.

6 hours ago

The three major U.S. stock indexes fell across the board, with the Nasdaq Composite once dropping more than 1.3% and SanDisk’s stock plummeting over 12%.

According to Bit.com market data, U.S. stock markets continue to slump, with all three major indexes falling. The Nasdaq once dropped over 1.3%, led by tech stocks: SanDisk fell 12.28%, Western Digital and Seagate Technology both dropped more than 6%, Micron fell 5.53%, SK Hynix fell 7.6%, Intel fell over 6%, and SpaceX fell 4.36%. On the news front, Trump said he would immediately reimpose a blockade on Iran and impose a 20% fee on cargo shipments. Later, Federal Reserve Governor Waller stated that if the core inflation data released this week remains high, the Federal Reserve will need to consider raising interest rates in the near term. Waller noted that the recent rise in core inflation is a cause for concern, with tariffs, rising energy prices, and demand for AI investment being the main factors driving up inflation.

6 hours ago

Waller sets tone on Tuesday's CPI: Hot inflation will support near-term interest rate hikes.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Monday that the U.S. Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates in the near term if future data shows inflation remains well above the 2% target, describing current monetary policy as being at a crossroads. Waller noted that the path forward will be determined by new data such as the CPI report to be released Tuesday, adding that if data trends turn unfavorable, the Fed is currently in a phase where it should not slack off. Waller stated: "At the current policy level, inflation still has a chance to gradually fall back to the 2% target. But I am equally concerned about the opposite scenario: data in the coming weeks will show inflation remaining at high levels or even continuing to rise, which would require tighter monetary policy in the near term." He specifically noted that he is concerned recent inflation reports show price pressures appear to be broadening across the economy, beyond the impacts of last year’s import tariff hikes or recent energy cost increases, which may reflect broader systemic inflation and would require tighter monetary policy. Waller added: "If this week’s core inflation rate comes in hot again, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will have to consider tightening monetary policy in the near term. It will take months of sustained lower inflation data to confirm that inflation is moving in the right direction." (Jinshi)

6 hours ago

Mizuho: Circle’s Approval by U.S. National Trust Bank Fails to Alter Its Fundamentals, USDC Still Faces Growth and Competitive Pressures

Japanese investment bank Mizuho stated that Circle’s final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish the First National Digital Currency Bank is a positive development, but it does not address the firm’s core current challenges. Mizuho maintains a "neutral" rating on Circle, warning that the market’s reaction to this positive news may be overly optimistic. The firm notes that since March this year, USDC’s circulating market capitalization has fallen by roughly $70 billion to around $740 billion, a sign of slowing growth momentum that could weigh on Circle’s transaction revenue and reserve earnings. Additionally, Mizuho highlights that Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin complying with the GENIUS Act and launched by over 140 financial and tech firms including Mastercard, Stripe, and Coinbase, is intensifying market competition. As more consortium-based stablecoins emerge, the stablecoin sector may become more homogeneous, making it increasingly difficult for Circle to retain its competitive advantage.

6 hours ago

Brent crude oil breaks through $80 per barrel, rising 5.35% on the day.

According to Bitget market data, Brent crude oil has broken through $80 per barrel, rising 5.35% intraday; WTI crude oil is up more than 5.7% on the day, currently trading at $75.45.

6 hours ago

Waller: If the AI bubble bursts or sees a sharp correction, financial conditions will undergo significant changes.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said that if an AI-related asset bubble bursts or the market experiences a sharp correction, financial conditions will undergo "considerable changes." Waller noted he does not want the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates prematurely to avoid triggering a recession, but also emphasized that the Fed must not repeat the mistake of being slow to respond to inflation in 2021. He believes the current labor market remains stable, and there are "credible reasons" to expect inflation to continue falling without further policy tightening. However, Waller warned that relying solely on market expectations of inflation declining is insufficient to justify the Fed holding pat. If the Fed waits until market confidence fades to act, it may have to raise interest rates more aggressively to catch up with inflation. "We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to inflation until it is completely gone," he said.

6 hours ago

Table of contents

Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a company rarely in the crypto spotlight, now claims to hold 5.77 million ETH—representing 4.8% of the total circulating supply of 120.7 million ether. According to the company’s announcement, those ETH holdings are part of a broader crypto and cash treasury totaling $11.3 billion.

The announcement frames the accumulation as 96% of the way to what it calls the “Alchemy of 5%”—a milestone of owning 5% of all ether in existence, achieved in just twelve months. If accurate, the holding would rank Bitmine among the largest known ether whales, dwarfing the Ethereum Foundation’s publicly known position and rivaling some of the largest staking entities. Miners and infrastructure firms rarely accumulate ether on this scale, making Bitmine’s approach a departure from the typical model of selling into strength to fund operations. The firm’s treasury now rivals that of some of the largest exchange wallets tracked by on-chain analytics.

Ethereum remains the most active blockchain by developer activity, as highlighted in a recent Top 10 Blockchains by Developer Activity This Week report. That level of protocol usage makes such concentration a real governance concern: a single entity approaching 5% of supply could influence staking rewards, validator sets, and even protocol upgrade votes if the tokens are actively staked. It also raises questions about the dispersion of ether’s supply, which has long been a point of debate among Ethereum’s core developers.

The numbers and the missing proof What’s striking about the release is the absence of any on-chain verification. Bitmine’s announcement, distributed via PRNewswire, provides no public wallet address, no auditor’s attestation, and no snapshot of a custody arrangement. For a holding worth upwards of $10 billion—assuming a rough ETH price of $1,800—the lack of verifiable proof will immediately draw skepticism from market participants accustomed to tracking large wallets like those of exchanges or protocol treasuries.

The company itself is not a household name. Bitmine specializes in immersion cooling technology for cryptocurrency mining, and its stock trades under the ticker BMNR. A pivot to amassing such a large liquid treasury would mark a dramatic expansion of its treasury function, far beyond what most mining or infrastructure firms attempt.

Institutional appetite meets opacity Corporate crypto treasuries have become a fixture of the market narrative. Yet the typical pattern—from MicroStrategy’s bitcoin acquisitions to Tether’s USDT attestations—includes a layer of disclosure that Bitmine has not yet offered. The institutional trend is real: tokenized real-world assets have crossed $20 billion on-chain, as detailed in a recent Weekly Tokenization Roundup. But transparency remains the price of credibility in that shift.

Without visibility, the market cannot price in the risk of a potential sell-off by such a concentrated holder. If a 5.77 million ETH position were to be unwound, even partially, it could create liquidity shocks across centralized and decentralized venues. That’s a tail risk that traders will watch closely if the claim gains any traction.

Regulatory and governance implications At the same time, U.S. lawmakers are debating the contours of a major crypto bill, with banking interests attempting to weaken it just days before a Senate vote. An opaque, multi-billion-dollar ETH position controlled by a single issuer could become a flashpoint for regulators already uneasy about market influence and investor protection. If Bitmine’s claims hold true, they may attract attention not only from the SEC but also from the Ethereum community itself, which relies on a distributed validator set to maintain network security.

Bitmine says it’s 96% of the way to its 5% target. Whether the crypto world will treat that figure as fact remains an open question until the company provides independently verifiable evidence—or the public blockchain either confirms or contradicts the tally. For now, the announcement stands as a bold claim in a market where words carry weight only when matched by code.

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Farhan Karim is a technology writer and content strategist with 15+ years of experience writing thousands of articles, blogs, whitepapers, and ebooks on Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and other tech niches. His expertise in content strategy, SEO, and a keen eye on the ever-evolving tech space have led him to work with companies like Pepsi, Huawei, Arab News, and now Blockchain Reporter.

The token-streaming protocol's smart contracts, used by over 345,000 Ethereum addresses, will keep running onchain even as the company behind them steps back.

Sablier Labs, the token-streaming and vesting infrastructure company, has stopped active product development and entered maintenance mode until June 2028, co-founder and CEO Paul Berg announced Monday.

Existing streams, vesting plans and airdrops are unaffected, Berg said, because "the Sablier smart contracts are onchain and permissionless" and don't depend on the company staying in business. Starting July 13, 2026, the official interface stopped accepting new vesting streams and airdrops with end dates beyond June 2028, and blocked open-ended payment streams entirely, according to Berg's post.

Berg attributed the decision to a sharp Q1 2026 decline in usage and revenue, even as the company shipped its most features ever that quarter. He pointed to two causes: customers postponing token launches as crypto markets deteriorated, and AI-assisted coding making it cheaper for competitors to replicate Sablier's products.

"There isn't a venture-scale business in onchain token distribution/money streaming," Berg wrote, adding the market isn't large enough to justify continuing.

Open-Sourcing the CodeSablier also accelerated the license conversion on its primary EVM smart contracts, moving the switch from Business Source License 1.1 to the fully open GPL license from July 1, 2029 to July 13, 2026, immediately. The company said this lets the community fork, modify and deploy the contracts without restriction.

Sablier reported more than 345,000 Ethereum addresses have interacted with its protocol across over 837,000 transactions and 547,000-plus vesting plans, airdrop claims and payment streams, deployed to more than 30 EVM chains plus Solana. Berg said the protocol recorded zero security incidents across its history holding user funds.

Berg said he plans to take a short break before returning to build in crypto.

Some observers argue that the biggest concern may not be profit, but whether a state-backed attacker would accept losses to damage Bitcoin.

A Duke University finance professor, Campbell Harvey, has said that a 51% attack on Bitcoin, long dismissed as a theoretical exercise that would only destroy value for whoever tried it, has quietly become something an attacker could profit from because of today’s derivatives markets.

However, many BTC supporters dismissed the claim made during the July 12 episode of Scott Melker’s Wolf of All Streets podcast, arguing that it ignores the practical economic barriers that would likely stop such an attack.

Derivatives Have Changed Bitcoin’s Risk Profile According to Harvey, a 51% attack, where a single entity gains the majority control of the Bitcoin network’s hash power, has always been technically possible but made little economic sense. This is because an attacker would need to spend billions of dollars on mining hardware but would only end up destroying the value of the asset they had just compromised.

“Why would you spend billions investing in mining equipment, take over the network, but the price of Bitcoin collapses to zero?” Harvey posited. “So you spend all that money and get nothing?”

But now, he believes that equation has changed, given that derivative markets carry enough liquidity for an attacker to short BTC before launching an attack and profit as the price falls.

“The difference today is the derivatives markets,” he told Melker. “What you want to do is simultaneously during the attack take a short position on Bitcoin, and with a short the ideal outcome is if the asset goes to zero.”

The professor did point out that the trade would have to take place on offshore derivatives platforms since it amounted to blatant market manipulation. In his research paper titled “Gold and Bitcoin,” he estimated that such an operation would cost about $8 billion, which is roughly 50 basis points of BTC’s total market value, although he framed the scenario as a risk management exercise and not a prediction, arguing that investors should consider every credible threat instead of dismissing uncomfortable possibilities.

When asked the same question, Grok estimated that anyone looking to carry out such an attack would need to spend more than $10 billion on mining machines and about $1.3 million in electricity costs every hour. It also noted that any attempt would most likely be detected immediately.

Interestingly, Harvey does not think the same scenario can work on Ethereum. According to him, since Ethereum switched to proof-of-stake, an attacker has to acquire more than half of the liquid ETH supply to control one-third of all staked Ether, which would rapidly drive prices higher during the attempt and eliminate the short-selling opportunity he described for Bitcoin.

You may also like: Bitmine Snaps Up Over 30,500 ETH as Tom Lee Focuses on Crypto’s New Success Story Michael Saylor Hints at Another Bitcoin Move for Strategy: Buy or Sell? AI Found a Real Ethereum Bug – But the Bigger Story Is What Comes Next The educator’s criticism of Bitcoin went beyond its network security, as he argued that the OG cryptocurrency is too volatile to qualify as a safe haven asset or reliable store of value. He said that price swings have stayed high even after years of market growth and deeper liquidity. At the time of writing, BTC was trading near $62,000 after slipping to near $61,000 last week following the renewal of hostilities between the US and Iran.

Bitcoin Community Pushes Back The response on X to Harvey’s interview was mostly dismissive, with market watcher David Levenson calling the professor’s take “a fundamental misunderstanding of how derivatives work.” Another listener, PrivateCoSaylor, argued that Bitcoin’s social consensus could reject blocks produced by an attacker, making the strategy economically self-defeating.

However, there were those who aired different concerns, including pseudonymous trader Toni, who noted that while the whole argument rested on profit being the motive, the same wouldn’t hold if a nation-state or short seller simply wanted Bitcoin to fail regardless of any losses they incurred.

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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has called time on Base’s content coin era, telling critics the experiments did not work and that the network pivoted away from them earlier this year.

Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network Coinbase launched in 2023, spent much of the past year chasing onchain trends. The bets pulled users in, then left many holding losses. Four stand out.

Four Onchain Bets That MissedZora: Base championed the content-coin app for more than a year, letting users mint social posts as tradable tokens. Activity spiked during Zora’s coin-minting boom, yet critics say it never built a durable base of users.

Creator coins: The network let fans buy tokens tied to individual creators, and even urged funds to back creator coin indexes. Critics say some creators carried weak track records, and users took the hit when prices faded.

Team-backed tokens: Coins linked to former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan and Base creator Jesse Pollak drew crowds, then losses. One critic argued that the same users kept eating the downside on team-promoted tokens.

that’s exactly why the last year has been kinda hard to make sense of

base spent 1+ year pushing zora. did it build a real user moat? not really

base gave more shine to ex-coinbase projects than the wider ecosystem. was it worth it? not really

creator coins got pushed even… https://t.co/YOOxRm5VWx

— XD (@smileyXBT) July 13, 2026 The social-first Base App: Coinbase pitched the revamped app as a do-everything hub, but builders said it shipped features users never asked for. Armstrong recast it as a trading-focused, self-custodial version of Coinbase that made every Base token tradable.

Armstrong Calls Time on Base’s Content CoinsArmstrong answered the criticism directly, agreeing that content coins had run their course.

“Agree with the first part and your point on content coins. They didn’t work and we pivoted early this year. We messed up, time to turn the page,” he wrote in a Monday post.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens

The retreat tracked a sharp pullback in activity. Base’s total value locked slid from about $5.3 billion in January to roughly $3.9 billion by mid-February. That $1.4 billion drop landed during a wider rift over Base’s strategy. As of this writing, Base TVL stood at $4.37 billion.

Base TVL. Source: DefiLlamaHe says most resources now go to trading, ahead of payments and agents. He also rejects the idea that Base is chasing AI agents. That focus has not spared the core business. Coinbase revenue fell 31% to $1.41 billion last quarter as spot trading dropped 37%.

Whether a trading-first Base can win back users burned by the earlier bets is the open question. Armstrong offered to hear critics out directly.

Bitcoin is trading around $62,000 on Monday as escalating U.S.-Iran military strikes triggered a broad risk-off move across global markets, pushing crypto sentiment deeper into the fear zone.

Notable Statistics:

Coinglass data shows 81,200 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $326.94 million.        SoSoValue data shows net inflows of $90.4 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Friday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $18.4 million. In the past 24 hours, top losers include DeXe, Pi and Lighter. Notable Developments:

Trader Notes:

Trader KillaXBT’s best strategy is to wait for the short-term supply indicator to flip bullish rather than trading through the current sideways market.

Trader Jelle revealed that he is buying another batch of Bitcoin to increase long-term exposure in a “different week” but with “same plan.”

He plans to use the summer consolidation period to build position, anticipating the next bull run could drive BTC toward the $200,000 level.

Ted Pillows noted Bitcoin is targeting downside liquidity, with a key liquidity cluster around $62,000 that could be swept next.

If that level is cleared, attention could shift to upside liquidity between $65,000 and $66,000, making it the next potential target for a rebound.

Crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez says Bitcoin has been rejected from the upper end of its trading channel.

After losing the $63,000 mid-range support, BTC could decline toward the lower channel boundary near $61,700, where buyers may step in and provide support.

Image: Shutterstock

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@chainlink has crossed 900,000 non-empty $LINK wallets on Ethereum, an all-time high, with roughly 20,000 new addresses added in the past month alone. The milestone lands while the token trades near local lows in the $7.80 range, a gap that on-chain analytics firm @SantimentData describes as quiet accumulation: holders building exposure while the price stays flat and broader market attention sits elsewhere.

Wallets Rising, Price Not Following The divergence is not new to Chainlink watchers. Santiment data shows $LINK added more than 8,000 non-empty wallets in just five days earlier this month, pushing the total holder count toward 900,000. That kind of wallet growth at a price near local lows typically signals accumulation rather than speculation. The broader trend also extends to larger holders. The number of Chainlink wallets holding at least 100,000 $LINK climbed to a fresh all-time high earlier in 2026, with 805 such addresses on record. Over a seven-week stretch, that cohort expanded by 8.2%, marking the fastest pace of accumulation since the metric was tracked.

Santiment classifies these as whale-tier addresses, typically associated with institutions, high-net-worth individuals, and long-term strategic holders. The growth in this bracket does not come from short-term speculation. A wallet holding nearly $1 million in a single altcoin is likely structured around a multi-month or multi-year thesis.

Adoption Running Ahead of the Chart The on-chain activity sits against a backdrop of expanding real-world integrations. Robinhood activated its Ethereum-based layer 2 blockchain mainnet on July 1, 2026, and selected Chainlink to provide data feeds, data streams, and its cross-chain interoperability protocol from the initial block, powering tokenized stock tokens and on-chain products for millions of users. The DTCC also selected Chainlink's technology in May 2026 to power a new collateral system targeted for the fourth quarter, while more than fifty banks across sixteen countries joined Chainlink's Project Pangea in June 2026 to build faster foreign exchange settlement.

Chainlink has had one of its biggest institutional stretches of the year, and the price has barely noticed. The broader pattern is clear: $LINK has fallen around 20% over the past three months despite positive ecosystem announcements, showing that the market has been discounting good news and focusing more on macro and technical pressure than on long-term adoption headlines. Whether the steady build in holder counts eventually translates into price momentum remains the central question for Chainlink in the months ahead.

Sources:
Blockchain Reporter: Chainlink Whale Wallets Hit All-Time High, Signaling Solid Accumulation
Crypto Briefing: Chainlink Posts Two Highest Network Growth Days of 2026
MEXC: Chainlink LINK Price Prediction July 2026

Crypto Bear Market? These Reports Say the Industry Has Never Been Stronger

Robinhood Chain (@RobinhoodCrypto) is barely two weeks old and it is already out-trading Ethereum by daily decentralized exchange volume. According to @DefiLlama data, the chain cleared $808 million in 24-hour DEX volume, placing it third across every blockchain, behind only Solana and BNB Chain.

A record debut for a brand-new chain Since launching its mainnet on July 1, Robinhood Chain has generated $3.1 billion in decentralized exchange trading volume over its first week, making it a top-five chain by DEX activity. On some days, it ranked third in 24-hour DEX volume across all chains, behind only Solana and BNB Chain. The network achieved all of this against a comparatively thin base: just $145 million in total value locked and around 36 protocols at the time of the milestone.

Robinhood launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain on July 1, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain built on Arbitrum that is designed for tokenized real-world assets and decentralized finance. Day-one partners included Uniswap, deploying a dedicated AMM as the primary public liquidity protocol, alongside deep integrations from Alchemy, BitGo, and Chainlink, with fast block times and out-of-the-box lending and borrowing.

Built for stocks, filled with memecoins While the network was introduced as an Ethereum layer-2 focused on tokenized stocks and real-world assets, early on-chain activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in a handful of newly launched memecoins. A significant chunk of that activity came from an unlikely source: a memecoin called Cash Cat, which alone drove roughly $98 million in 24-hour trading volume on July 8. Robinhood Chain memecoins carried a combined market capitalization of about $254 million and generated more than $658 million in 24-hour trading volume.

Per @DefiLlama, real-world assets account for roughly 4% of the chain's activity. Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani noted that about 65,000 users now hold $13 million in tokenized stocks and $300 million in stablecoins on the chain. While early trading has been driven by memecoins, Bernstein expects Robinhood to increasingly focus on tokenized real-world assets, including stocks and commodities, alongside perpetual futures.

Despite the impressive start, questions remain over the network's long-term sustainability. Critics have raised concerns about the chain's centralized architecture, including reliance on a single sequencer, as well as transaction failures during periods of heavy demand. Others argue that sustained success will depend on whether Robinhood can transition from memecoin-driven speculation to deeper liquidity for tokenized stocks and other real-world assets.

Sources:
The Block: Robinhood Chain draws over $3 billion in weekly DEX volume, Bernstein
CoinDesk: Robinhood Chain scores strong debut, Bernstein says
Robinhood Newsroom: Robinhood Chain Public Mainnet announcement

Binance Founder Moves Millions in Meme Coins to a Burn Address

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Ahmed Balaha is a journalist and copywriter based in Georgia with a growing focus on blockchain technology, DeFi, AI, privacy, digital assets, and fintech innovation.

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The stablecoin market has lost more than $10 billion since May, but it might not be a warning sign. Instead, money is flowing into memecoins as investors chase higher returns on Robinhood chain. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the CLARITY Act are now driving price sentiment, with lawmakers expected to unveil an updated version of the bill next week.

Japan added to the optimism during WebX 2026. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged stronger backing for Web3 through funding and friendlier policies. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee also grabbed headlines after calling Ethereum the settlement layer for the AI economy, a view that continues attracting institutional attention.

🇯🇵 HUGE: JAPAN PM SANAE TAKAICHI REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR STARTUPS AND WEB3 AT WEBX 2026

In a video address at WebX 2026, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged to strengthen support for Web3 startups through increased funding from government-backed institutions and further… pic.twitter.com/N9vMDTUKK2

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) July 13, 2026 Don’t Miss Out on Our $1,000 USDT Airdrop on ByBit

CLARITY Act Progress Lifts Bitcoin Price SentimentThe CLARITY Act could reach Congress as early as July 17, giving the crypto industry one of its biggest regulatory moments in years. Supporters believe the proposal will finally define which digital assets fall under securities laws and which qualify as commodities. If passed, the CLARITY Act could remove one of the biggest crypto obstacles.

Nevertheless, the Bitcoin price slipped below $63,000 over the weekend amid geopolitical tensions that rattled markets. The drop triggered more than $14 million in long liquidations, yet buyers quickly stepped in before losses snowballed. By Sunday, Bitcoin had settled back into the $63,000 to $64,000 range.

Fresh demand is also showing up elsewhere, with the Coinbase Premium Index climbing back toward neutral after spending 55 straight days in negative territory, showing U.S. buyers are becoming more active again. Not just that, spot Bitcoin ETFs also recorded net inflows after nine weeks of withdrawals, giving bulls another reason for confidence.

As of today, however, Fidelity’s Jurrien Timmer still expects one more shakeout before the next rally, with $60K acts as the bottom. Michael Saylor also fueled speculation of another purchase after sharing his latest Bitcoin tracker update. Another orange dot from him might come soon, as usual.

As for Bitcoin, it too may be in an accumulation zone (in my view). At $60k it’s getting ever closer to its power law support line. pic.twitter.com/M3T3rDGFMx

— Jurrien Timmer (@TimmerFidelity) July 10, 2026 Another talking point is BIP 110, a proposal that would limit arbitrary data stored in Bitcoin transactions. Critics, including Adam Back and Michael Saylor, argue the change could split the community without solving a meaningful problem. So far, traders have shown little concern as attention stays fixed on the CLARITY Act.

Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio

Ethereum Price Draws Institutional AttentionEthereum price has been moving in a tight range around $1,800 despite a quieter weekend across the crypto market. Price action has slowed, but institutional interest has not.

Speaking at WebX 2026, Tom Lee described Ethereum as the foundation for the coming AI economy. He pointed to growing adoption from financial firms, the Robinhood Chain launch, and improving macro conditions as reasons that Ethereum price may be entering a new cycle.

Bitmine, ArkhamNot just the talk, Tom Lee’s firm, Bitmine, now holds 5.74 million ETH, or about 4.8% of the total supply, and plans to increase that stake. Agreeing with Lee,Ethereum whales also bought another $20.6 million worth of ETH even after several days of exchange outflows.

But that’s not all, ETH network development has also stayed active. The Ethereum Foundation confirmed one of its AI agents detected a validator crashing bug before human researchers verified the issue. A separate Cambridge study found Ethereum’s shift to Proof of Stake reduced electricity consumption by more than 99.9%, strengthening its case among institutions focused on sustainability.

So, with all that news, what should we be expecting this week?

The next few days could prove important for the market. We are watching the CLARITY Act for signs of regulatory progress while tracking institutional buying across both major coins. If those trends continue, Bitcoin and Ethereum price could build on their recent resilience. For now, the move out of stablecoins looks less like an exit from crypto and more like traders rotating into assets with higher upside, while the Ethereum price keeps finding support from long-term buyers.

Discover: The Best Token Presales

Don’t Miss Out on Our $1,000 USDT Airdrop on ByBit

A hacker rug pulled a token called SCATMAN after reportedly seizing control of the SpaceXAI and Starlink accounts on X, walking away with roughly $125,000 in Ethereum (ETH).

On-chain tracker Lookonchain traced the stolen funds across two wallets. The scheme mirrors a run of high-profile account takeovers aimed at promoting fraudulent tokens.

Inside the SCATMAN Rug PullAccording to Lookonchain, the attacker promoted the SCATMAN meme coin after allegedly compromising the SpaceXAI and Starlink X accounts. Screenshots widely shared on social media appeared to show both accounts reposting content from the SCATMAN account.

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Lookonchain said the attacker minted 10 trillion SCATMAN. They then sold the entire supply for 59 ETH, worth about $108,000.

The analytics platform also identified a second wallet linked to the same attacker that sold an additional 59.28 million SCATMAN tokens for 14.7 ETH, worth approximately $27,000.

In total, the two wallets generated nearly $125,000 in ETH. Lookonchain identified the following addresses as belonging to the attacker:

0xfee50d4ce48f2d05f520ce04c875647e4870a8ba 0xdd9f6d3e16ebda7f35cb694ceadb50af3eebba89 As of press time, the reposts were no longer visible on the SpaceXAI and Starlink accounts, and BeInCrypto could not independently verify the claims. BeInCrypto has reached out to SpaceX for comment and will update this story if it receives a response.

Account Hacks Fuel a String of Rug PullsHijacked social media accounts have become a common vehicle for rug pulls. Scammers borrow the credibility of trusted brands to lure buyers.

In February 2025, hackers seized Pump.fun’s X account to push a fake PUMP token. One wallet earned over $135,000 within a minute.

Political figures have faced the same tactic. Attackers hijacked former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s account to promote a token, stealing $1.7 million.

Myanmar’s junta leader and World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff faced similar breaches earlier that year.

Victims range from crypto platforms to heads of state. The common thread is a trusted account weaponized for a single, fast payout.

Each case follows the same pattern. A breach, a fast token launch, and a quick sell-off before the platform regains control.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights

3 Token Unlocks to Watch in the Third Week of July 2026

Table of contents

At a market cap hovering near $300 billion, Ethereum is not just cheap—it is structurally mispriced for what comes next. That is the core argument Fundstrat’s Tom Lee laid out in a July 7 interview on the New Era Finance Podcast, a portion of which was highlighted by WuBlockchain. Lee’s range is direct: a $1 trillion network base case, stretching to $5 trillion as stocks, real estate, and other traditional assets get composable, monetized, and digitized on blockchains—chiefly Ethereum.

The logic behind the number is not a momentum call. It rests on a single metaphor that institutional investors tend to trust: land. Lee compared Ethereum to the land of the digital economy. If every asset class eventually records ownership, collateral movement, and settlement on-chain, then the protocol securing that ledger becomes a fixed-supply scarce good that appreciates as usage grows. It is a thesis that has been whispered in venture rounds for years, but rarely articulated this bluntly by a strategist with Lee’s mainstream reach.

The Digital Land Thesis Meets Real-World Assets The metaphor sharpens when you look at what is already happening in tokenization. Less than a year ago, tokenized real-world assets on public blockchains were a niche experiment. Now, the sum of on-chain RWA has crossed $20 billion, driven by U.S. Treasury tokenization, private credit, and a wave of institutional infrastructure deals. Bullish’s $4.2 billion acquisition of Equiniti and the first live JPMorgan-Ondo Treasury settlement are not just headlines—they are proof points that the composability Lee describes is already being priced into market structure.

If that trend continues, Ethereum’s value capture becomes less about DeFi speculation and more about being the settlement layer for assets that currently sit in TradFi rails. That shift is what could re-rate the network from a $300 billion protocol to something in the range of a large prime brokerage or even a national exchange group. A $5 trillion network value would put Ethereum in the territory of a scaled global settlement utility, not merely a smart contract platform.

Developer Activity and Network Effects Network valuations do not rise on narrative alone; they require sustained builder activity. On that count, Ethereum still holds the pole position, though newer chains are closing the gap. A recent snapshot of developer activity across blockchains shows Ethereum leading alongside BNB Chain and Polygon, with Solana and others following. The raw count of active developers is a lagging indicator, but it points to a pipeline of tooling, security audits, and protocol upgrades that make the land analogy credible: you cannot simply replicate a decade of accumulated developer knowledge and mainnet uptime on a new chain overnight.

Still, that lead is not permanent. Alternative Layer-1 networks are now receiving institutional staking interest and major fintech integrations, pressuring Ethereum to deliver on its rollup-centric roadmap without fragmenting liquidity across Layer-2s. The “land” must remain a coherent, secure foundation, not a scattered archipelago, if Lee’s trillion-dollar range is to become consensus.

Regulatory Drag and the Wider Adoption Timeline Even if the economic logic is clean, the timeline faces real political friction. While asset managers are racing to tokenize, congressional dynamics in Washington remain messy. A landmark crypto market structure bill that seemed poised for a Senate vote now faces a last-minute pushback from banking interests—days before the vote that could define how digital assets are classified and custodied. If that bill stalls or gets rewritten to favor incumbents, the migration of traditional assets onto Ethereum may be slower and more fragmented than Lee’s timeline suggests.

That regulatory uncertainty is the silent variable in every $5 trillion thesis. It does not invalidate the direction, but it controls the pace. Lee’s “next few years” is a period in which U.S. policymakers will decide whether the friction to on-chain settlement is a toll or a wall. For now, the market is pricing Ethereum like a premium tech stock, not like a global digitization substrate. When that gap begins to close, the move will not be quiet.

AUTHOR

Farhan Karim is a technology writer and content strategist with 15+ years of experience writing thousands of articles, blogs, whitepapers, and ebooks on Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and other tech niches. His expertise in content strategy, SEO, and a keen eye on the ever-evolving tech space have led him to work with companies like Pepsi, Huawei, Arab News, and now Blockchain Reporter.

The Foundation's security team used coordinated AI agents to uncover a remotely triggerable crash, then spent most of its effort weeding out convincing false positives.

Posted July 13, 2026 at 6:19 am EST.

The Ethereum Foundation pointed a fleet of coordinated AI agents at the software that runs the network and came away with a genuine security flaw: a remotely triggerable crash that could take a validator offline until an operator restarts it. The bug was fixed and disclosed as CVE-2026-34219.

In field notes published July 9, the Foundation’s Protocol Security team, writing through researcher Nikos Baxevanis, walked through how it ran the agents and vetted their output.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

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The more striking finding was about the work itself. Baxevanis wrote that little effort went into finding bugs and most went into separating the real ones from findings that only looked real. Unlike a fuzzer, which returns a crash and a stack trace, an AI agent returns a persuasive narrative, complete with a call chain, a severity rating, and working code, and it reads the same whether the bug is genuine or invented.

That gap has practical stakes as AI reshapes the security threat model. The team catalogued recurring false positives: crashes that only occur in test builds, attacks that work only if a value is planted by hand, and formal proofs that pass without proving anything useful. Agents also struggle with exploits that unfold across a sequence of individually valid steps, the pattern behind several of this year’s costly DeFi attacks, so the Foundation now uses agents to suggest which sequences to test rather than to render a verdict.

The experiment fits a broader shift at the Foundation, which has said it will lean more on AI-assisted verification after deep staff cuts. Its conclusion echoes work by Anthropic and Cloudflare on agent-driven security research: the models can cover far more ground than humans alone, but a person still has to decide what counts as a real bug and what gets disclosed.

Related Listen: Ex-Ethereum Foundation Researchers Launched Their Own Lab: Uneasy Money

AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.

Ethereum [ETH] failed to hold the $1.8k level and dropped to a low of $1,773 before making slight gains. As of this writing, Ethereum was trading around $1,780 after dropping 1.26% on the daily chart. 

Amid this market volatility, traders on both sides are staging a fierce battle seeking to retake the market. 

Ethereum: Bears and bulls fight for market control As Ethereum failed to maintain its upside momentum, with $1.8k turning into stubborn resistance, traders have taken notice. As a result, high-net-worth investors have deployed significant capital to open both short and long positions. 

According to Lookonchain, a trader opened a 20x short on 30,000 ETH worth $53.49 million. With ETH showing some strength, the trader is already up $846.4k on this position. 

Historically, this trader has a strong winning record, having previously made over $444k on trading other coins. This short position showcased the whale’s bearish expectations. 

Source: Lookonchain The second trader opened a 10x long on 30,000 ETH worth $53.49 million. So far, the whale is down $823.1k as ETH continues to drop. 

This trader has a strong winning record, too, and previously closed eight trades, winning six and totaling $3.1 million in profit. The whale’s decision to open longs suggested they were bullish and expected ETH to rebound.

Derivatives traders remain bearish Although the above two traders showed interest, overall market participants remained bearish and were aggressively selling at press time.

Notably, the Derivatives Taker Buy Sell Ratio fell back below 1. Currently, it is around 0.946, levels last witnessed two weeks ago.

Source: CryptoQuant When this metric sits below 1, it suggests that more sell-side trades were executed in the derivatives market. A look at the Futures Netflow metric confirms this view.

Over the past 12 hours, for instance, $5.94 billion flowed out of the Futures position. The altcoin’s Futures Netflow dropped to -$88 million.

Source: CoinGlass The outflows are even more extreme in the 8- and 4-hour time frames, periods during which Netflow fell toward -$200 million.

What’s next for ETH? Although sellers dominate derivatives, Ethereum’s overall directional momentum shows some stability. Thus, capital flowing into both longs and shorts is boosting momentum.

When we look at the ADX with the SMA indicator, the positive index is significantly above the negative index. At the same time, SMA and ADX are also below the +DI, suggesting that upside momentum is currently stronger.

Source: TradingView When this indicator is set in this manner, it often signals a likelihood of upside recovery. If the battle between bulls and bears persists, capital flows could help ETH reclaim $1.8k, setting it up for another upside move.

However, if the downtrend continues and liquidates bulls, we could see another slip below $1.7k.

Final Summary The battle between bulls and bears in Ethereum heats up: a trader opened a $53.49 million short position, while another opened a $53.49 million long position.  ETH failed to hold $1.8k and dropped to a low of $1,773, but directional momentum remains stable. 

U.S. Senate enters critical window for Clarity Act; next four weeks could decide the bill’s fate this year.

After the U.S. Congress reconvened, the Clarity Act (Crypto Market Structure Act) has entered a critical legislative window. Industry insiders say the next four weeks will determine whether the bill can complete Senate review before Congress adjourns in August and be formally enacted this year. According to reports, the Senate is expected to release this week the latest version of the bill, which integrates texts from the Senate Banking Committee and Agriculture Committee. Currently, the bill faces two core sticking points: one is the final language of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act concerning regulatory liability for non-custodial software developers; the other is ethical provisions on conflicts of interest among government officials, particularly those related to Trump’s crypto business. Sources familiar with the matter noted that the White House and Congress have yet to reach an agreement on the ethical provisions, a key factor in the bill’s effort to hit the 60-vote threshold. Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said the next four weeks could be the Clarity Act’s last chance to pass in the current congressional session; if the bill fails to become law, the U.S. may further lag behind overseas markets in the race for digital asset innovation.

10 minutes ago

US pre-market news roundup: Intel plans to invest €5 billion to expand its Irish factory; storage and semiconductor equipment sectors fall across the board in pre-market trading.

Key pre-market news for U.S. stocks is as follows: 1. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs will kick off Q2 earnings reports on Tuesday, while Morgan Stanley will release its results on Wednesday. Markets expect U.S. large banks’ investment banking and trading revenues to surge, driven by SpaceX’s IPO, rising M&A activity, and market volatility sparked by the Iran situation; 2. Trump claimed Iran always breaks agreements, so the U.S. will strike hard at Iran, take control of the strait, and likely dominate it in the future; 3. SK Hynix’s U.S. ADR trades at a 23.4% premium to its South Korean shares; 4. Semiconductor equipment and storage sectors fell across the board pre-market, with KLAC down 3.7%, SanDisk and Western Digital both dropping over 5%; 5. Spot gold and silver fell broadly, with gold down 1.32% and silver down 2.23%; 6. Crude oil markets fell broadly, with U.S. crude up 3.35% and Brent crude up 3.53%; 7. Strategy did not add to its Bitcoin holdings last week, selling 4.82 million units to raise $467 million; 8. Bitmine added 27,801 ETH to its holdings last week, bringing its total staked ETH to 4.917 million, with an estimated annual staking income of $242 million.

10 minutes ago

South Korean stock market faces a margin trading crisis, with forced liquidations totaling 344.2 billion won in July.

According to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, the recent sharp decline in South Korea's stock market has triggered accelerated deleveraging of margin trading positions. The total forced liquidation volume in July has reached 344.2 billion won, with the single-day forced liquidation amount on July 9 hitting 142.2 billion won. As forced liquidation data lags by two trading days, the clearing pressure from the nearly 9% plunge in the KOSPI on July 13 has not yet been fully reflected, and the market expects subsequent liquidation volumes to rise further. On July 13, South Korea's KOSPI index closed down 8.95%, triggering the Sidecar (seller order suspension mechanism) and Level 1 Circuit Breaker during intraday trading. The semiconductor sector plummeted, with SK Hynix falling 15.37%—its largest single-day drop in history—and Samsung Electronics down 10.7%. Meanwhile, South Korean retail investors' margin sizes, margin loan balances, and investor deposits have all continued to decline, with the market trapped in a deleveraging cycle of "stock price drop—forced liquidation—further decline".

10 minutes ago

Trump and Iran deliver tough, tit-for-tat statements, with both sides refusing to back down on the Strait of Hormuz issue.

US President Donald Trump and an advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader have successively made tough remarks on the Strait of Hormuz. Trump stated that the US will become the "guardian" and "guardian angel" of the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that the US has guarded the strait for free in the past and will recover its operational costs and compensate for the risks it has taken to maintain the strait’s security in the future. He also said that the US will control the Strait of Hormuz and "is very likely to dominate the strait" in the future, adding that every time Iran deploys drones, the US will strike back fiercely. In addition, Trump revealed that the US and Iran held 11-hour talks yesterday. The advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader responded that no Iranian believes Iran should give up the Strait of Hormuz. Iran defends the Strait of Hormuz to avoid being forced to pay "ransom" for the passage of its own ships in the future. He emphasized that the strategic, security and economic status of the Strait of Hormuz is irreplaceable, and Iran will never back down on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz.

10 minutes ago

HSK Chain launches Phase 3 of its HSK Staking campaign, upgrading the ecosystem's long-term incentive mechanism.

According to official announcements, HSK Chain’s Phase 3 staking campaign officially launched on July 13. This phase sets a maximum total staking cap and adopts a diversified incentive model, with participants eligible for corresponding expected ecosystem incentives per on-chain rules. Additionally, users who took part in previous staking phases and consistently supported ecosystem development will receive extra ecosystem subsidies based on their historical locked contributions, comprehensively enhancing on-chain participation benefits. It is understood that this staking campaign, while rewarding HSK holders and past participants, will further drive the long-term steady growth of the HSK Chain ecosystem. As on-chain developers, high-quality projects, and institutional-grade assets continue to onboard, this upgrade to the long-term incentive mechanism will serve as a core initiative for the ecosystem’s long-term development.

10 minutes ago

BBC investigation finds Instagram still hosts ads for child sexual abuse content, Meta’s AI moderation mechanism faces renewed scrutiny

Despite Meta’s ongoing heavy investment in AI infrastructure, a new BBC investigation has found that Instagram is still serving users in India with advertisements containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and some of these ads are still deemed by the platform’s moderation system as “not violating community guidelines” even after being reported. The report states that a test account created by the BBC received around 30 CSAM-related ads within a week, without any prior searches for such content, and these ads directed users to Telegram channels to purchase the illegal material. The Indian government has ordered Meta to remove the relevant ads and explain within seven days why its moderation mechanism failed. The report notes that Meta’s 2025 ad revenue reached $201 billion, accounting for approximately 97% of its total revenue, while its AI infrastructure investment in the same period hit $72.2 billion. The company plans to raise its capital expenditure to between $125 billion and $145 billion in 2026. The article points out that Meta’s current controversies stem more from platform governance and commercial incentives rather than a lack of AI technical capabilities.

10 minutes ago

The cryptocurrency market broadly corrects on Monday, as risk-averse sentiment persists amid fresh military attacks between the United States (US) and Iran in the Middle East. Bitcoin (BTC) hovers above $63,000, reinforcing a weak technical structure while Ethereum (ETH) trades below $1,800 with the next key support near $1,700. Meanwhile, Ripple (XRP) wobbles around the immediate $1.08 support after correcting for the third consecutive day.

Fresh US-Iran attacks weigh on the crypto marketThe United States (US) Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed a second consecutive day of airstrikes targeting dozens of Iranian military positions on Sunday, seeking to further diminish Iran’s capability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. A CNN report states that US strikes have expanded beyond coastal areas bordering the vital shipping channel.

In a swift response, Iran reported strikes against US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan. The escalation has further threatened the fragile ceasefire between the two countries.

Moreover, heightened geopolitical tensions have fueled a surge in Crude Oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trading around $74 per barrel at the time of writing.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: AlternativeSentiment in the crypto market remains rather low, despite marginal improvements in the Fear & Greed Index. The sentiment index is embedded in the Fear Territory at 28 on Monday, up slightly from 26 the day before and 24 last week. This shows that risk-averse sentiment continues to dominate the crypto market, as investors assess the impact of fresh attacks between the US and Iran.

WTI price chartPrice analysis: Bitcoin wobbles near support as headwinds escalateBitcoin retains a bearish near-term tone as it holds below the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) clustered from roughly $65,200 to $74,600. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has slipped back toward the high-40s on the daily chart, suggesting fading bullish momentum after a recent recovery, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram softens but remains slightly positive, implying that upside attempts are struggling to extend against the prevailing overhead supply.

BTC/USDT daily chartOn the topside, immediate resistance emerges at the 50-day EMA near $65,200, and a break above this barrier would expose the 100-day EMA around $68,680, with the 200-day EMA near $74,650 acting as a more distant cap within the dominant downtrend. Looking down, initial support is seen at the reclaimed descending trendline around $62,170, followed by the Parabolic SAR zone near $61,230. A daily close back below these levels would reopen the path toward lower lows and reinforce the broader bearish bias.

Altcoins outlook: Ethereum and XRP retain technical weaknessEthereum maintains a capped tone as it holds below the 50-day EMA at roughly $1,800 and well under the 100-day and 200-day EMAs near $1,947 and $2,225, respectively. Momentum, however, remains mildly constructive, with the RSI hovering around 55 on the daily chart and the MACD still positive, suggesting that downside pressure is moderating even as the broader downtrend defined by the descending trendline resistance continues to weigh.

ETH/USDT daily chartImmediate resistance sits at the 50-day EMA around $1,800, followed by the 100-day EMA near $1,947 and then the more distant 200-day EMA close to $2,225, while the broader descending trend line reinforces this overhead supply zone. On the downside, initial support is offered by the latest Parabolic SAR print near $1,705, where a break would reopen the path toward lower levels within the prevailing medium-term bearish structure.

XRP, on the other hand, trades at $1.08, keeping a bearish bias as price holds well below the 50-day, the 100-day and the 200-day EMAs, which fan out above the market and suggest a capped medium-term structure. The RSI hovering near 42 on the daily chart, hints at subdued buying power despite a marginally positive MACD histogram, which only modestly tempers downside pressure.

XRP/USDT daily chartInitial resistance is seen at the channel top around $1.12, followed by the 50-day EMA near $1.16, with the 100-day EMA at $1.26 reinforcing a broader supply band ahead of the prior channel starting high around $1.41 and the 200-day EMA at $1.47. Looking down, immediate support aligns with the Parabolic SAR at $1.04, and a decisive break lower would expose the channel bottom near $0.78 as the next major demand zone.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)

Bitcoin, altcoins, stablecoins FAQs Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, a virtual currency designed to serve as money. This form of payment cannot be controlled by any one person, group, or entity, which eliminates the need for third-party participation during financial transactions.

Altcoins are any cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin, but some also regard Ethereum as a non-altcoin because it is from these two cryptocurrencies that forking happens. If this is true, then Litecoin is the first altcoin, forked from the Bitcoin protocol and, therefore, an “improved” version of it.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to have a stable price, with their value backed by a reserve of the asset it represents. To achieve this, the value of any one stablecoin is pegged to a commodity or financial instrument, such as the US Dollar (USD), with its supply regulated by an algorithm or demand. The main goal of stablecoins is to provide an on/off-ramp for investors willing to trade and invest in cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins also allow investors to store value since cryptocurrencies, in general, are subject to volatility.

Bitcoin dominance is the ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined. It provides a clear picture of Bitcoin’s interest among investors. A high BTC dominance typically happens before and during a bull run, in which investors resort to investing in relatively stable and high market capitalization cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. A drop in BTC dominance usually means that investors are moving their capital and/or profits to altcoins in a quest for higher returns, which usually triggers an explosion of altcoin rallies.

https://wallpapers.com/ethereum-pictures

BitMine has expanded its Ethereum holdings to 5.77 million ETH, representing approximately 4.8% of the total supply, following the acquisition of 27,801 tokens over the past week. With this purchase, BitMine’s combined crypto, cash, and other investments are valued at around $11.3 billion, with Ethereum alone accounting for approximately $10.5 billion at the current price of $1,820 per ETH. The company also has 4.92 million ETH staked, yielding an estimated $242 million annually. BitMine’s activities are supported by major institutional investors, including ARK, Pantera, and Founders Fund.

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Market participants appear to view BitMine’s significant ETH acquisition as a strong indicator of institutional interest in Ethereum. This development coincides with BitMine’s inclusion in the Russell 1000 index and a reported average daily volume of $475 million, which could further influence Ethereum’s market dynamics. The acquisition may also bolster narratives surrounding the strategic use of Ethereum as a treasury asset, although execution risks remain a consideration.

Key Takeaways BitMine’s recent acquisition of 27,801 ETH suggests increased institutional interest and potential positive pressure on Ethereum prices. The addition of BitMine to the Russell 1000 index, alongside strong daily volume, indicates robust institutional flows. Market pricing implies a potential increase in the likelihood of Ethereum reaching $1,900 in July, reflecting optimism among market participants. What to Watch Market observers will be closely monitoring Ethereum’s price movements in response to BitMine’s accumulation. The role of institutional investors and their influence on Ethereum’s valuation will be key indicators. Developments such as additional institutional investments or regulatory changes could further impact Ethereum’s price trajectory. The market will also be attentive to any announcements from key players like the U.S. SEC or major financial institutions regarding Ethereum-related financial products.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 47.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 3.6% — — View market → August 1 2026 23.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 7.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.8% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 10% — — View market → August 1 2026 16.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.7% — — View market → August 1 2026 2.6% — — View market → August 1 2026 2.9% — — View market → August 1 2026 4.9% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.7% — — View market → August 1 2026 71% — — View market →

ETF flows are back in the green, and that gives crypto traders a cleaner demand signal after weeks of nervous positioning. Bitcoin and Ethereum funds recording $282 million in net inflows does not erase the previous selling pressure, but it does show institutions have not stepped away from the market entirely.

That matters because ETF flows have become one of the easiest ways to see whether traditional capital is leaning in or pulling back. Spot prices can move for many reasons. Fund flows are a more direct read on allocator behaviour.

For more details, visit the official Farside platform.

TL;DR Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded $282 million in net inflows, according to the source pack.The move snapped an outflow streak and suggests allocators are returning after recent volatility.Flows remain important because ETF demand has become one of the clearest institutional signals for crypto markets. Why The Reversal Matters Outflow streaks can create their own narrative. When redemptions keep appearing, traders start to assume institutions are losing interest or reducing risk. A return to inflows pushes against that story.

The significance is especially clear because Bitcoin and Ethereum are both involved. A broader inflow profile suggests the recovery is not limited to one asset or one fund sponsor.

What To Watch Next One strong inflow period does not guarantee a sustained trend. The real test is whether the data continues to improve across several sessions and whether large funds such as BlackRock and Fidelity keep attracting capital.

For now, the flows offer the market a better signal than sentiment alone. After a difficult stretch, buyers are showing up again through regulated products.

Why The Detail Matters Now The practical takeaway is that ETF stories now have to be read through both market structure and product execution. A headline can create attention, but the more durable signal is whether the underlying source points to real activity, a real filing, a real integration, or a measurable change in how users and institutions behave.

That is why this development is worth separating from ordinary market noise. It gives readers a specific point to track over the next few sessions rather than a vague reason to be bullish or bearish. If follow-up data confirms the direction, the story can build. If not, it still gives the market a clearer snapshot of where attention is concentrating today.

The Market Read The cleaner way to read this story is not to force it into a simple bullish or bearish box. For ETF readers, the useful part is the change in context. A new filing, integration, market signal, or regulatory step can alter how traders think about the next few sessions even when it does not instantly change price.

That is especially true after the last few volatile weeks, when crypto has been dealing with a mix of ETF flows, legal updates, exchange listings, protocol upgrades, and shifting liquidity. The market is no longer reacting to one dominant theme. It is weighing several smaller signals at once, and that makes source-backed developments more important than ordinary chatter.

Why Readers Should Keep This On The Radar For NewsBTC readers, the important question is what this changes from here. If follow-up data, filings, governance updates, or wallet movement confirm the direction, the story can develop into a larger market theme. If the next update is weak, delayed, or contradicted by new data, the market may quickly move on.

That is why the scope matters. This article is not treating the development as a guaranteed price trigger. It is treating it as a fresh signal inside a market that is trying to sort durable activity from short-term noise. The distinction is important because crypto narratives can move faster than the facts behind them.

The next thing to watch is whether this becomes part of a wider pattern. In some cases that means more institutional flows. In others it means stronger developer adoption, cleaner regulatory access, deeper exchange liquidity, or a clearer technical roadmap. Either way, the story is strongest if it is followed by measurable execution rather than another round of speculative headlines.

This report is based on ETF flow data from Farside Investors.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine has purchased more ETH over the past week, pushing its holdings above 5.77 million ETH. The BMNR stock has fallen amid the announcement of this latest purchase, while Tom Lee cited the Robinhood Chain as a new bullish catalyst for Ethereum.

Bitmine Acquires 27,801 ETH as Holdings Climb Above 5.77 Million ETH In a press release, the Ethereum treasury firm announced that it acquired 27,801 ETH over the past week. The company’s Chairman, Tom Lee, reiterated that they expect to reach their goal of holdig 5% of the total ETH supply sometime this year.

Bitmine notably holds 5,770,038 ETH, which represets 4.8% of the total ETH supply of 120.7 million. The firm has also staked 4,917,189 out of its holdings, with its annualized staking revenues now projected at $242 million.

It is worth noting that the Ethereum treasury firm has maintained weekly ETH purchases since the start of the year. As CoinGape reported last week, Bitmine purchased 42,197 ETH between June 29 and July 3, around the time the Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy sold over $200 million worth of Bitcoin.

The Ethereum treasury firm continues to double down on its ETH accumulation despite sitting on an unrealized loss of around $9.2 billion, according to DropsTab data. The company has an average purchase price of $3,374 o its Ethereum holdings.

Robinhood Chain As A Catalyst For ETH Tom Lee highlighted the successful launch of the Robinhood Chain as a bullish catalyst for Ethereum. “Robinhood Chain uses ETH as the native gas token. And transaction fees are denominated in ETH, and the finality is settled on Ethereum. Robinhood’s 27 million users are paying crypto fees denominated in ETH. In other words, everyday users are starting to see ETH as money,” he said.

The Bitmine Chairman also noted that the Robinhood Chain’s dollar volume has exceeded $1 billion and that it has more trading volume than any other decentralized exchange (DEX), which he said demonstrates its outstanding utility and product-market fit for Ethereum. CoinGape recently reported that the Robinhood Chain hit 7.6 million daily transactions as it closed o the Base network.

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that the BMNR stock is down amid Bitmine’s announcement of its latest Ethereum purchase. The stock is currently trading at around $14.72, down almost 2%, according to TradingView data.

Source: TradingView; BMNR daily chart Please check out our page on Best Platforms to Trade Tokenized Stocks

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