XRPL validator Hussein Zangana, better known as Vet, has urged the XRP community to stop spreading claims that SWIFT is using XRP or will adopt it soon.
According to Vet, these claims distract from the real progress happening across the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem.
His comments came after former SWIFT Chief Innovation Officer Tom Zschach publicly dismissed renewed speculation that SWIFT would integrate XRP.
Focus on Real XRPL Growth In a post on X, Vet told investors to “block” influencers who claim SWIFT is already using XRP or say with certainty that it will in the future.
He said these rumors are similar to earlier unverified claims involving the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). According to Vet, such narratives are unnecessary and hurt the community’s credibility.
Instead, he encouraged the community to focus on ongoing XRPL developments. These include security upgrades, on-chain lending, stablecoins, foreign exchange capabilities, permissioned domains for compliant trading, and privacy improvements.
Vet also said Ripple and the XRPL ecosystem are working to onboard institutions and consumers while expanding real-world adoption. He argued that building useful infrastructure is “10000x better” than relying on unfounded speculation.
XRP Doesn’t Need SWIFT Responding to Vet’s post, XRP community member CharuSan said XRP’s long-term success does not depend on SWIFT integration. He pointed to Ripple’s existing network of financial institutions as a stronger foundation. He also highlighted future developments such as AI agents on XRPL, lending protocols, and other ecosystem innovations as better reasons for optimism.
CharuSan added that XRP could eventually compete with traditional payment networks instead of operating alongside them.
Former SWIFT Executive Rejected XRP Rumors The discussion follows comments made on July 10 by former SWIFT Chief Innovation Officer Tom Zschach. He rejected viral claims that SWIFT planned to support XRP.
Responding to social media posts claiming SWIFT would adopt public digital assets like XRP instead of launching its own cryptocurrency, Zschach replied, “Not happening.”
The speculation came from posts citing an alleged SWIFT document that supposedly said the organization would support existing digital assets such as XRP. However, no official SWIFT document or announcement backed those claims.
Zschach’s response is consistent with his long-standing skepticism toward Ripple and XRP. During his time at SWIFT, he questioned XRP’s utility and decentralization. He also criticized Ripple’s technology.
If you haven’t read former SWIFT (@swiftcommunity) Chief Innovation Officer, @TomZschach latest piece on tokenized assets yet, you might want to. In addition, if you haven’t watched his recent appearance on the @CryptoAmerica_ podcast, you should. Both are excellent, and… https://t.co/CeoCmXfavM
— 🌸Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) July 10, 2026
Despite recurring speculation whenever SWIFT announces blockchain or digital asset initiatives, neither SWIFT nor Ripple has announced any partnership involving XRP. Instead, Ripple executives have said the company is building an alternative to the SWIFT system.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
Ripple has announced that onchain financial products are rapidly transforming the global finance sector, signaling a clear shift from the experimental phase of blockchain toward widespread adoption. The technology company, which specializes in digital payment protocols and the XRP Ledger, cited increasing evidence that tokenized funds, bonds, and repurchase agreements (repos) are delivering significant improvements in settlement speed, cost reduction, transparency, and round-the-clock operational efficiency when compared to traditional systems.
UK takes the lead in digital assetsThe UK government has set out a strategic plan to establish itself as a center for tokenized wholesale finance. Ripple stated that the country’s robust capital markets, strong regulatory framework, and long-standing credibility in global finance give it a competitive advantage in driving digital asset innovation.
Industry forecasts suggest tokenized wholesale markets in the UK could achieve up to £33 billion, or approximately $45 billion, in annual economic output by 2035. Advocates claim that moving conventional financial instruments onto blockchain networks could deliver notable economic benefits as well as modernize financial infrastructure.
Ripple projects that tokenized funds, bonds, and repos are already enabling faster settlements, lower operational costs, and continuous market access, supporting the case for blockchain as a core element of future financial infrastructure.
Ripple also confirmed its ongoing participation in the UK Treasury’s Wholesale Digital Markets Taskforce. The Taskforce, working with regulators and private firms, is developing policies to advance the United Kingdom’s digital markets and support the rollout of blockchain-based financial products.
The UK initiative aims to increase the tokenization of real-world assets, including government bonds, corporate debt, money market funds, and repos. These efforts are designed to modernize financial markets while enabling real-time, transparent, and resilient transactions.
Mini dictionary: Repurchase agreement (repo), a short-term loan where one party sells securities to another with an agreement to repurchase them at a set date and price. Repos are widely used in money markets to manage liquidity between financial institutions.
Ripple and institutional adoption of blockchainThe momentum in tokenization is not confined to the UK. Financial institutions around the world are increasingly recognizing the advantages of bringing capital markets onchain. JPMorgan, one of the largest global banks, has underlined the growing importance of tokenized assets and programmable money, describing them as building blocks for the financial market’s next evolution.
Country/InstitutionTokenization StrategyAnnual Output TargetUKWholesale market and real-world asset tokenization£33 billion ($45 billion) by 2035RippleXRP Ledger as core infrastructure for regulated digital marketsGlobal scale (no explicit target)JPMorganAdoption of tokenized assets and programmable moneyNo direct output target statedRipple maintains that the XRP Ledger is well positioned to meet the needs of regulated digital markets. David Schwartz, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer, has recently highlighted tokenized loans, securities, and repo markets as a significant opportunity for the network, stating that the platform could serve as an institutional backbone for bond issuance, securities processing, tokenized lending, and wholesale funding.
Ripple is working with regulators, financial institutions, and technology partners to shape frameworks that support regulated tokenization and encourage adoption of blockchain solutions in global finance.
As governments and leading institutions accelerate tokenization strategies, Ripple aims to ensure the XRP Ledger is prepared to facilitate large-scale, regulated trading of real-world assets. Observers say that the global financial system is increasingly positioning blockchain not simply as a vehicle for cryptocurrencies but as a foundational technology for markets and payments infrastructure.
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.
Today marks the three-year anniversary of what the digital asset community calls "The XRP Victory Day".
On July 13, Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York delivered a landmark summary judgment in the SEC v. Ripple Labs case, fundamentally reshaping the cryptocurrency regulatory landscape.
The historic ruling decisively declared that XRP, in and of itself, is not a security.
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The historic Torres rulingThe legal warfare initiated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2020 sought to classify all sales of XRP as unregistered investment contracts.
Judge Torres's final ruling, however, rejected this attempt by relying on the decades-old Howey Test for modern digital assets.
Judge Torres ruled that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on public digital asset exchanges did not constitute the sale of securities. She concluded that retail buyers purchasing tokens on secondary markets through blind bid-ask auctions had no way of knowing their funds were going to Ripple. Consequently, these buyers could not have had a reasonable expectation of profits derived directly from Ripple's effort (hence, it failed a core prong of the Howey Test).
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Conversely, the court sided with the SEC regarding direct institutional sales. Judge Torres ruled that Ripple’s $728 million in direct token sales to institutional players constituted unregistered securities offerings. These sophisticated parties were aware they were purchasing directly from Ripple (and their success depended on the company's efforts).
On the verge of a shutdown In the meantime, recently surfaced statements from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz confirmed that the company was seriously considering closing its doors. "We almost decided to shut down the company when the SEC sued us," Garlinghouse admitted. "We were like, you know, the government has infinite power and resources." This was due to advice from their lawyers, according to Schwartz.
XRP Ledger app activity has picked up, with tagged transactions jumping 28.6% as more applications become active on the network.
Developer-related activity on the XRP Ledger is showing renewed momentum, with new data pointing to a noticeable rise over the past week. According to an X post from XRPL dUNL validator Vet, source-tagged transactions have increased sharply as more applications and services come live on the ecosystem.
XRP Ledger Records Stronger App Activity According to the data, source-tagged transactions reached 676,800 per week, representing a 28.6% increase compared to the first week of the reporting period.
An accompanying chart shows daily source-tagged transactions trending higher after a noticeable drop in late June. Activity accelerated on the third day of July, with several sessions since then pushing above the 80,000 mark. On July 10, tagged transactions on the XRP Ledger reached 120,000 per day, one of the highest readings on the chart.
XRP Ledger App Activity Spike/Vet Network participation also ticked up during the same timeframe. Average daily active source tags rose to 176, up 13% from the beginning of the reporting period.
Notably, source tags identify the services and applications generating activity on the XRP Ledger. As such, their increase suggests that more platforms are now operating on the network.
Overall, the metric shows that developers are actively deploying newer applications on XRP Ledger. Also, those apps are generating interest, resulting in more source-tagged transactions processed on the Ledger per day.
While the overall activity grew, the data shows that new wallets per week held steady at 12,400. Vet noted that the flat new wallet count suggests that existing users are becoming more active. The current increase in app usage is from users already registered on the network, not primarily from new addresses.
Rising Developer Activity Fueled by “Make Waves?” Vet noted that one possible explanation for the higher level of activity is the ongoing “Make Waves on XRPL” initiative organized by XRPL Commons.
For the uninitiated, the three-month competition started on June 22. XRPL Commons offers 50,000 XRP in rewards to developers who launch live applications on the XRP Ledger mainnet and attract active users and measurable on-chain activity.
The hackathon bases the incentives on working products and does not accept prototypes. At the end of the program on September 21, the best projects will receive a share of the 50,000 XRP prize money.
For context, 25,000 XRP will go to the best overall project, selected by the jury. 5,000 XRP will go to the application with the highest number of users. The project with the highest on-chain volume will receive another 5,000 XRP, while 1,000 XRP will be shared among 15 projects with 300 active users.
Vet suggested that this could be the reason why both tagged transactions and active source tags have climbed together. Nonetheless, this remains unconfirmed.
XRP Whale Activity and Price Decline Despite the increase in app activity, XRP whales have slowed down transactions. Over the past week, transactions exceeding $1 million on the XRP Ledger have dropped from 70 to two, a 97% decline.
At the same time, XRP also pulled back by 6%, as bears continue to dominate market proceedings. At the time of writing, XRP trades at $1.078, continuing to defend key support areas despite weakness.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
The XRP community is marking July 13 as “XRP Victory Day,” three years after Judge Analisa Torres issued a split summary judgment in the SEC’s case against Ripple.
Summary
Ripple’s 2023 ruling protected programmatic XRP sales while leaving institutional transactions subject to securities law. The SEC case ended in 2025 with a $125 million penalty and permanent injunction intact. Ripple leaders now say the company considered closing before choosing an expensive multiyear legal defense. The 2023 order rejected the regulator’s claim that every XRP transaction followed the same legal pattern. It also gave public exchange sales a different outcome from direct institutional deals. The SEC had accused Ripple and two executives of conducting unregistered securities offerings through years of XRP sales and distributions across several channels.
The court did not issue a blanket ruling that every future XRP sale falls outside securities law. Torres wrote that XRP, as a token, was not “in and of itself” an investment contract. She then examined how Ripple offered and sold the asset in separate transaction categories under the Howey test.
Exchange and institutional sales received different outcomes Ripple’s programmatic sales on exchanges did not qualify as investment contracts, the court found. Those trades used blind bid-and-ask systems. Buyers did not know whether Ripple or another holder sold the XRP. The record therefore failed to show that those buyers reasonably expected profits from Ripple’s work.
The decision went the other way for about $728.9 million in institutional sales. Ripple sold those tokens through written agreements to sophisticated buyers. The court found that the contracts, marketing and use of proceeds created an expectation that Ripple’s work could raise XRP’s value. It ruled that those sales violated registration rules.
Ripple says the lawsuit nearly forced a shutdown Recent comments from Ripple executives have added new detail about the pressure surrounding the case. Chief executive Brad Garlinghouse said the company “almost decided to shut down” after the SEC filed its complaint in December 2020. He described the government’s resources as a major concern during internal talks.
Ripple co-founder David Schwartz said some lawyers considered the company “unsavable” and advised executives to seek personal settlements. Those comments describe private discussions and legal advice; they do not prove the SEC intended to close Ripple. As crypto.news reported, Ripple instead continued operating and spent about $150 million on its defense.
Final judgment stayed in place after appeals ended The July 2023 order did not end the lawsuit. The court later imposed a $125.04 million civil penalty and a permanent injunction tied to future unregistered institutional sales. That amount was far below the SEC’s requested remedies, but it confirmed that Ripple had violated federal securities law in one part of its XRP business.
Ripple and the SEC tried to reduce the penalty to $50 million and remove the injunction in 2025. Torres rejected their joint request, saying they had not shown grounds to change the final judgment. Both sides later dismissed their appeals, and the case formally ended in August 2025.
As previously reported, the final outcome left a transaction-based framework. Public exchange sales received more favorable treatment, while direct institutional sales remained restricted. The decision also removed the pending personal claims against Garlinghouse and executive chairman Chris Larsen after the SEC dismissed them in 2023.
Today marks the third anniversary of a pivotal moment often referred to by the digital asset community as “The XRP Victory Day.” On July 13, Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a landmark decision in the ongoing legal battle between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs.
Landmark court rulingJudge Torres’s summary judgment fundamentally altered the landscape of cryptocurrency regulation in the United States. The court concluded that XRP in itself does not qualify as a security, a determination closely watched by the wider digital asset sector.
The case began in December 2020, when the SEC launched a lawsuit claiming that Ripple Labs had conducted unregistered securities offerings by selling XRP. The core legal debate centered on whether sales of XRP represented investment contracts under federal law.
Judge Torres relied on the Howey Test, a decades-old legal framework used to determine whether certain transactions qualify as investment contracts and therefore fall under securities regulations.
Her ruling found that Ripple’s programmatic sales of XRP on public crypto exchanges did not constitute securities offerings. Retail buyers who participated in blind bid-ask auctions on secondary markets had no means of knowing the identity of the seller or if their funds were being sent to Ripple.
Judge Torres emphasized that retail buyers could not reasonably expect profits to come directly from Ripple’s efforts, a core requirement under the Howey Test.
However, the court reached a different conclusion with Ripple’s direct institutional sales of XRP. Judge Torres ruled that $728 million worth of token sales to sophisticated institutional investors did constitute unregistered securities offerings. These investors knew they were purchasing the tokens directly from Ripple and therefore had a reasonable expectation of profit from the company’s success.
Ripple Labs is a technology company focusing on developing global payment solutions using blockchain-based technology. XRP is the native cryptocurrency for the Ripple network, designed to facilitate fast and cost-effective cross-border transactions for financial institutions.
Mini dictionary: Howey Test, a legal standard from the 1946 US Supreme Court case SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., is used to determine whether certain transactions classify as investment contracts and thus securities regulated by US law.
CategoryClassificationSEC StatusXRP on public exchangesNot a securityNo violationDirect institutional salesSecurities offeringUnregistered salesRipple’s leadership: Internal impact of the lawsuitIn the aftermath of the SEC lawsuit, Ripple’s top executives revealed the intensity of the crisis the company faced. CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz, in recent comments, admitted that the company considered shutting down operations.
Brad Garlinghouse described the internal discussions at the time: “We almost decided to shut down the company when the SEC sued us. We were like, you know, the government has infinite power and resources.”
Schwartz pointed to legal advice as a major factor in this consideration, reflecting the degree of uncertainty facing Ripple’s leadership. Ultimately, the firm chose to continue operations, a decision seen as significant by many within the digital asset sector.
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.
Cover image via depositphotos.com Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
The UK Treasury has officially brought Ripple into a large-scale government reform aimed at tokenizing wholesale financial markets. The technology giant has joined a special working group of 54 participants established under the auspices of Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard and the City of London Corporation.
The initiative involves the complete replacement of traditional legacy settlement systems with blockchain platforms.
London's plans are based on pragmatic commercial calculations. The global market for tokenized real-world assets is expected to reach approximately $88 trillion by 2035, and the United Kingdom intends to secure a key share of it.
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Members of UK £33 billion wholesale tokenization programme, Source: Wholesale Digital Markets Champion First ReportAccording to official government estimates, moving wholesale markets onto on-chain rails could generate up to £33 billion in annual economic output for the country and up to £14 billion in additional tax receipts each year by 2035.
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To bridge this vast financial gap, the government needs battle-tested networks. Ripple, which will now work on the same committee as Wall Street pillars such as BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan, as well as infrastructure giants Euroclear and Bloomberg, is expected to provide the government with established international technological expertise to handle these heavy institutional volumes.
The roadmap: Digital gilts and 2027 deadlineThe working group's next 12 months are structured around strict deadlines, with an immediate focus on the fixed-income market as the most advanced sector ready for disruption. Priorities include the launch of DIGIT, the United Kingdom's sovereign digital bonds, as well as the transition of collateral markets into a digital format.
At the same time, nine dedicated action groups have been tasked with deploying end-to-end technology use cases and conducting full live testing of tokenized repo transactions by spring 2027.
Feedback from financial-sector participants on the first stage of the reform will be collected until September 4, 2026, after which the project will move directly into the practical implementation stage, permanently shifting the landscape of British capital.
Ripple (XRP) remains in a dominant bearish trend, trading at $10.08 as of Monday. This marks the third straight day the remittance token has extended its correction, with targets at the next key support levels of $0.04 and $1.00, respectively.
XRP attracts mild capital inflowsAppetite for XRP investment products has remained significantly suppressed despite marginal improvement in sentiment. According to the crypto Fear & Greed Index, sentiment analysis remains in Fear Territory at 28 on Monday, up slightly from 26 the previous day and 24 last week.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: AlternativeInflows into XRP spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) returned on Friday, totaling $107,000 following muted activity on Thursday and roughly $7 million in outflows on Wednesday. SoSoValue data shows that cumulative inflows stand at $1.48 billion despite subdued demand. Sustained demand is needed to reinforce XRP’s recovery and lower the risk of dropping below $1.00.
XRP ETF flows | Source: SoSoValueRetail demand is also on the back foot, even though perpetual futures Open Interest (OI) has increased to 2.13 billion XRP on Monday, from 2.10 billion XRP the previous day.
Nevertheless, an expanded scope shows a general narrowing of retail demand given that OI averaged 2.38 billion XRP on June 23. Hence, demand must hold steady over an extended period to affirm a strong bullish grip. Otherwise, XRP would remain at risk of dropping below the psychological $1.00 level.
XRP Futures OI | Source: CoinGlass"XRP, currently around $1.08, continues to consolidate following recent regulatory progress. The long-term outlook remains constructive as Ripple expands its payments infrastructure and cross-border use cases, but sustained upside will likely depend on broader improvements in market sentiment and stronger capital inflows into the altcoin market. Until then, range-bound trading is likely to continue," Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research said in a comment sent to FXStreet.
Ripple once weighed handing XRP to shareholdersRipple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse opened up about the difficult moments that followed the lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020, saying that he and the co-founder Chris Larsen considered winding down the company and handing over XRP to shareholders.
Garlinghouse was speaking at the University of Kansas School of Business last week, where he intimated that it would have been the easier path, as opposed to a legal battle with a government he described as having “infinite power and resources.”
“I’m glad in retrospect, but that was not obvious at the time,” Garlinghouse said regarding the hundreds of jobs that would have been lost if they had gone ahead and handed the company to shareholders on a pro rata basis, dissolving it and ultimately ending the suit.
The SEC sued Ripple alleging that it had sold XRP as unregistered securities. Garlinghouse and Larsen were named as respondents in the lawsuit. However, Ripple was granted a second chance when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP in itself was not a security. The SEC and Ripple settled the case in May 2025.
Technical outlook: XRP eyes lower levelsXRP retains a bearish near-term bias as price holds inside a downward parallel channel and below the key Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). The 50-day EMA at $1.16, the 100-day EMA at $1.26 and the 200-day EMA near $1.47 all sit overhead, suggesting rallies remain corrective within a broader downtrend.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovering around 42 hints at subdued momentum on the daily chart, reinforcing the idea that sellers still have the upper hand unless price can reclaim the overhead structure.
XRP/USDT daily chartOn the topside, initial resistance appears at the channel top around $1.12, with further barriers at the 50-day EMA near $1.16 and then the 100-day EMA at $1.26, before the longer-term 200-day EMA around $1.47 caps the broader recovery scope. Looking down, the Parabolic SAR support around $1.04 is the first level to watch. A sustained break below it would expose the lower boundary of the descending channel near $0.78, where buyers may again attempt to stabilize the pair.
(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.
The UK Treasury has selected Ripple, the US-based blockchain payments company, as a member of a major government-backed initiative designed to modernize the nation’s wholesale financial markets through tokenization.
Ripple joins top financial institutions in reform groupRipple will be part of a working group composed of 54 organizations, formed under the leadership of Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard and the City of London Corporation. Other members include prominent global financial institutions such as BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan, as well as leading market infrastructure providers Euroclear and Bloomberg.
The government aims to fully replace traditional settlement systems with blockchain technology across wholesale financial markets. This initiative reflects the UK’s ambition to capture a share of the rapidly expanding global market for tokenized real-world assets, which analysts forecast could reach $88 trillion by 2035.
The UK government estimates a transition to on-chain wholesale markets may generate £33 billion in additional annual economic output and boost tax revenues by £14 billion each year by 2035.
By moving established financial activity onto blockchain-based platforms, officials seek to streamline operations and expand the competitive position of London’s financial sector.
Mini dictionary: City of London Corporation, a municipal governing body for the historic center of London, plays a central role in promoting the city as a leading financial hub and supports initiatives aimed at financial innovation and regulation.
Action plan targets digital bonds and tokenized marketsThe group has set a 12-month timetable focused initially on the fixed-income sector, which officials identify as ready for rapid transformation. A key part of the strategy involves launching DIGIT, sovereign digital bonds issued by the UK government, and digitizing collateral markets.
Nine specialized action groups will pursue end-to-end deployment of technological solutions. Their brief also includes live testing of tokenized repurchase (repo) transactions, targeted for completion by spring 2027.
Key Reform TargetImplementation GoalFixed-income marketsImmediate digital transformationDIGIT bondsLaunch as UK sovereign digital bondsTokenized repo transactionsLive end-to-end tests by spring 2027Input from market participants will be collected through September 4, 2026. After this feedback phase, the reform program will advance into implementation, ushering in a new era for Britain’s wholesale capital markets.
Ripple is expected to contribute its global technological expertise to support high-volume institutional transactions as the UK aims for digital innovation in its financial core.
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.
Ripple announces support for the HM Treasury’s Wholesale Digital Markets taskforce and new tokenization strategy to scale tokenization in the UK. The blockchain payments firm is one of the leaders in offering tokenization services over its XRP Ledger (XRPL).
Ripple Joins Taskforce to Boost UK Treasury’s Tokenization Strategy Ripple to work with Chris Woolard, the Wholesale Digital Markets Champion at HM Treasury, to boost the UK’s tokenized financial markets. The crypto payments firm stated that traditional financial funds, bonds, and repo are already available on-chain, outperforming tradFi systems in cost, speed, and efficiency.
“They’re already happening, delivering onchain financial instruments that are cheaper, better and faster than their legacy equivalents,” Ripple stated.
The UK tokenized real-world assets market is expected to reach £33 billion in annual economic output by 2035. The country has the capital market depth and regulatory credibility to be a global leader in tokenization.
As a member of HM Treasury’s cross-industry Wholesale Digital Markets Taskforce, Ripple is contributing to building secondary markets, tokenizing collateral, and issuing the UK Digital Gilt instrument DIGIT over the next 12 months.
Other members of the Wholesale Digital Markets Taskforce include BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Coinbase, Circle, and Wintermute, among 54 firms.
TradFi and Crypto Industries Taskforce and its Strategic Impact The tokenized real-world assets market is expected to reach at $88 trillion by 2035. In addition to the benefits of tokenization, HM Treasury’s plan could generate £14 billion in annual tax revenue by 2035. Earlier this year, Ripple partnered with Aviva Investors to launch tokenized traditional fund products on the XRP Ledger.
The UK government aims to transform wholesale finance through distributed ledger technology such as Ripple’s XRP Ledger. The plan needs to ensure interoperability and replace outdated processes for broader sector-wide digitalization.
Ripple and the taskforce will also help establish the repo use case, completing tests and run a live trial by spring 2027. “We will consider the possibility of exploring additional asset classes, such as commodities, across the course of the year,” as per HM Treasury.
As CoinGape earlier reported, tokenized RWAs on the XRP Ledger grew from $150 million to $4 billion in just a year. Notably, more than 500 products now live on XRPL, with JMWH and Ondo Short-Term Government Bond Fund representing nearly $2.5 billion in value.
Market data indicates that XRP takes about 1,400 days to reach a new cycle peak.
XRP has been in a correction phase for the past 12 months since reaching its cycle high of $3.6 in July 2025. While market participants await a recovery, historical cycle data suggests the correction may not be finished.
Notably, XRP’s three completed market cycles show that the asset has taken an average of 1,414 days to move from one cycle peak to the next after declining from the previous high.
With only 360 days having passed since the July 2025 peak, the data points to a possible cycle bottom forming around Q4 2026, while a new cycle high could arrive between May and August 2029 if the historical pattern continues.
Past XRP Cycles Show a Similar Structure XRP’s first major cycle peaked on Dec. 5, 2013, when the price reached $0.0614 after rising 2,017% from the $0.0029 low recorded in August 2013. However, the rally was followed by a sharp decline, and XRP fell to about $0.0028 in July 2014, a drop of roughly 95.4%.
XRP later recovered and reached a new cycle high of $3.31 on Jan. 4, 2017. Essentially, this first peak-to-peak cycle lasted 1,125 days.
The second cycle followed a similar path but lasted longer. After peaking at $3.31 in January 2017, XRP declined for about 27 months before finding a bottom near $0.11 in March 2020 during the COVID-related market crash.
This move represented a decline of about 96.7%. XRP later recovered and reached $1.96 on April 14, 2021, completing a 1,561-day cycle.
XRP Cycle Tops Meanwhile, following the April 2021 peak of $1.96, XRP dropped to around $0.29 in June 2022, a decline of about 85.2% over roughly 14 months. The recovery that followed pushed XRP to $3.60 on July 18, 2025, exactly 1,556 days after the April 2021 peak.
Averaging all three completed cycles produces a mean cycle length of 1,414 days, which points to a potential new peak in June 2029 from the July 2025 high. This indicates that XRP could find its next cycle top between May and August 2029.
The Bottom May Not Have Formed Yet In addition, historical data provides clues about where XRP could find its next long-term bottom. Previous cycles took an average of 15 months to complete the bottoming process after each peak. If this pattern repeats, XRP could continue correcting through Q4 2026 before establishing a more durable floor.
Also, the size of past corrections supports the possibility. Specifically, XRP experienced drawdowns of 95.4%, 96.7%, and 85.2% in its three completed cycles, averaging roughly 92%.
Applying similar declines to the $3.60 peak produces several downside targets. A decline matching the deepest historical corrections would place XRP near $0.29, which is also the June 2022 cycle low.
A milder correction similar to the third cycle would point to around $0.53. In addition, the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement of the move from $0.29 to $3.60 sits at $1.00.
Based on those levels, the most likely range for a long-term bottom appears to be between $0.29 and $1.00, with the $0.53 to $0.67 zone representing a middle-ground scenario.
Key Resistance Levels Once XRP completes its correction, several resistance levels could determine the next recovery phase.
The first major level is $1.55, which aligns with the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the full move from $0.29 to $3.60. A sustained push above that level would confirm that XRP has entered a broader recovery.
Above that, the $1.95 to $1.96 area carries additional importance because it matches both the April 14, 2021 cycle peak and the 50% Fibonacci retracement level. Many previous buyers may look to exit positions around that zone.
The next major resistance stands at $3.31, the cycle high recorded in January 2017. After that, XRP would need to reclaim its $3.60 all-time high before confirming a new cycle breakout.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
Security researchers are turning artificial intelligence into a powerful new tool for protecting blockchain infrastructure.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol Security team says it’s running a fleet of coordinated AI agents against critical protocol code, reports the Ethereum Foundation.
The effort uncovered genuine vulnerabilities, including a remotely triggerable panic in the libp2p gossipsub library that underpins Ethereum’s peer-to-peer communications.
“Agents finding bugs wasn’t the surprise. The surprise was how little of the work went into finding them, and how much went into telling the real bugs from the ones that just looked real…
AI didn’t replace the security researcher. It moved the work. The time that used to go into coming up with and chasing down hypotheses now goes into judging them at scale, including building the oracle, running the triage, keeping the list of known issues, and handling disclosure.
The bottleneck didn’t go away. It moved from finding bugs to trusting the results, which is a better place for it, because that’s where human judgment actually matters. But it’s still a bottleneck, and ignoring that is how you end up shipping a wrong “it’s fine.”
That specific issue has been resolved and publicly disclosed as CVE-2026-34219.
The project revealed that the hardest part of AI-assisted security work is not finding potential bugs but rigorously triaging them to separate real issues from false positives.
Agents were organized into roles for reconnaissance, hunting, gap-filling, and independent validation, with every candidate requiring a reproducible proof against real code.
The approach demonstrates how AI can expand coverage of complex systems while human judgment remains essential for verification.
Ethereum has slipped below the key $1,800 level after renewed U.S.-Iran military escalation pushed oil prices higher and sent investors out of risk assets, although buyers continue to defend support near $1,750.
Summary
Ethereum fell below $1,800 after renewed U.S.-Iran strikes pushed oil above $74 and sparked a risk-off move. Charts still support a possible rally toward $2,140 if ETH breaks resistance near $1,825-$1,850. Holding $1,750 remains critical, while a breakdown could expose support near $1,700 and $1,505. According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum (ETH) price traded around $1,775 during Monday’s session, down roughly 3.6% from its daily high of $1,837 after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran reignited fears of a prolonged Middle East conflict.
Crude oil jumped about 4% to above $74 a barrel as Washington and Tehran exchanged missile strikes while tensions around the Strait of Hormuz intensified. The renewed geopolitical risk revived concerns that higher energy prices could keep inflation elevated, prompting traders to reduce exposure to cryptocurrencies alongside other high-beta assets.
Iran later claimed it had targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan in retaliation for American bombardment, while conflicting statements over whether the Strait of Hormuz remains open added another layer of uncertainty for financial markets.
The stronger U.S. dollar and renewed demand for defensive assets have added pressure across digital assets as investors await further geopolitical developments.
Ethereum continues to defend $1,750 despite losing key moving averages Ethereum’s technical structure has weakened after its price fell below its 20-day moving average near $1,800 on the 4-hour chart. The decline also dragged ETH beneath the psychological $1,800 level that had acted as support throughout last week. Still, the asset continues to trade above its 50-day and 100-day moving averages around $1,779 and $1,709, respectively, preserving the medium-term recovery that began in early July.
Ethereum 4-hour price chart — July 13 | Source: crypto.news The daily chart still shows a potential double-bottom formation with lows near $1,505. A confirmed breakout above resistance around $1,825 would complete that pattern and project an upside target near $2,140.
Ethereum daily price chart — July 13 | Source: crypto.news Momentum has yet to fully confirm the move, however. The MACD remains above its signal line despite a narrowing histogram, while Chaikin Money Flow stays in positive territory around 0.10, suggesting capital has not completely exited the market.
The Aroon indicator on the 4-hour timeframe also continues to favor buyers, with Aroon Up near 92.9 and Aroon Down around 85.7. Although both readings remain elevated because of recent volatility, the higher Aroon Up reading suggests bulls still retain a slight advantage if Ethereum reclaims the $1,800-$1,825 resistance zone.
Derivatives positioning presents another important technical level. CoinGlass liquidation data shows one of the largest short liquidation clusters sits between roughly $1,840 and $1,860.
Ethereum liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass A decisive move through that area could force leveraged short sellers to close positions, potentially accelerating a rally toward $1,900. Larger liquidity pockets remain above $1,900, while notable bid-side liquidity extends toward the $1,700 region.
Commenting on the setup, crypto analyst Ali Martinez wrote, “I’m going LONG on Ethereum $ETH if it breaks $1,850.” His view aligns with the heavy liquidation cluster immediately above current prices, where a breakout could trigger additional buying from short covering.
Failure to hold support could revive the bearish trend Not every analyst expects an immediate breakout. Analyst Ted Pillows noted in a July 13 X post:
“ETH is still holding above the $1,750 support zone. This is a good sign and shows that sellers are no longer dominating here. As long as Ethereum holds above $1,750, I think a rally towards $2,000 could happen.”
That support now represents the primary invalidation level for the current recovery. A sustained break below $1,750 would place the 100-day moving average near $1,709 back into focus before exposing the June support zone around $1,505, where the double-bottom structure would fail.
Macro risks continue to dominate the outlook. Further escalation between the U.S. and Iran, additional disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, or another surge in crude oil prices could strengthen inflation expectations and reinforce the Federal Reserve’s higher-for-longer interest rate outlook. Under those conditions, cryptocurrencies could remain under pressure even if Ethereum’s longer-term technical structure stays intact.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
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.
Two institutional entities pulled a combined 16,948 $ETH, worth roughly $30.27 million, from centralized exchanges in a single one-hour window on July 13, raising fresh questions about whether sophisticated players are quietly building positions in Ethereum.
The Withdrawals K3 Capital moved 10,000 $ETH (approximately $17.85 million) off @Binance, while Abraxas Capital withdrew 6,948 $ETH (approximately $12.42 million) split across @Binance and @Bitfinex. The tight timeframe of both transactions has drawn attention from on-chain observers, who note that the coordination suggests a deliberate rather than coincidental strategy.
The move is consistent with a pattern that analysts have flagged across the broader market. Large withdrawals from centralized exchanges are often interpreted as a signal of accumulation, typically suggesting that the holder intends to store assets for the long term rather than trade them in the near future. Abraxas Capital has form here too: the firm previously withdrew 33,035 $ETH worth $60 million from Binance and Kraken in a single move, flagged by on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain.
The Bigger Picture The dual withdrawal lands against a backdrop of shifting institutional sentiment toward $ETH. According to CryptoQuant and Glassnode, exchange reserves have trended downward into Q2 2026 as long-term holders and institutions accumulate supply. Staking participation continues to draw liquid supply from the market, and some analysts believe a continuing structural supply shortage could arise from sustained ETF inflows, given that over 30% of circulating $ETH is already staked.
On the ETF side, sentiment has shown early signs of stabilisation. U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $14.8 million in net inflows on July 1, ending nine consecutive trading days of withdrawals. BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) led that rebound with $36.6 million in inflows.
The net outflow of $30.27 million from K3 Capital and Abraxas Capital alone points toward a shift to self-custody or professional staking protocols, though neither firm has publicly confirmed its intentions. Exchange withdrawals of this size often indicate long-term positioning rather than short-term speculation. Whether the move signals the start of a broader institutional accumulation wave or remains an isolated event is something on-chain analysts will be watching closely in the days ahead.
Sources:
Crypto Times: Whales Pull $29M in Ethereum From Binance as Accumulation Grows
Blockchain.news: Abraxas Capital $60M Ethereum Withdrawal
Analytics Insight: Spot Ethereum ETF Outflows Reverse as Institutional Gateways Launch
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.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol Security team identified and fixed a significant security flaw in the network’s core software after deploying coordinated artificial intelligence (AI) agents to analyze the code base. Researchers confirmed the bug, now listed as CVE-2026-34219, allowed a remote actor to trigger a crash that could take a validator offline until it is manually restarted by an operator.
AI-driven security audit uncovers real and false threatsThe team, represented by researcher Nikos Baxevanis, detailed the process in field notes released on July 9. The notes described how the AI agents systematically examined the network’s code, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges in using AI for protocol security.
Baxevanis reported that the majority of the work did not center on discovering new bugs; instead, the primary challenge was distinguishing legitimate vulnerabilities from results that merely appeared credible. Unlike traditional fuzzing tools, which produce a crash and a technical trace, the AI agents produced elaborate narratives. These included call chains, severity ratings, and working code samples, regardless of whether the underlying issue actually existed.
The most labor-intensive task involved filtering genuine bugs from those that simply looked convincing, as the AI-generated findings often mixed real issues with compelling but imaginary ones.
This distinction is increasingly significant as AI systems become more prominent in threat detection and security modeling. The Foundation’s team categorized recurrent false positives, such as crashes occurring only in test environments, attacks succeeding only with manually inserted values, or formal proofs that produced technically valid but practically irrelevant results.
Another limitation was that AI agents struggled to detect vulnerabilities that emerge from a series of individually valid but collectively dangerous actions—a common tactic in recent high-value DeFi exploits. Consequently, the team now deploys AI agents to recommend which scenarios should undergo further testing, while reserving final decisions and disclosures for human experts.
Mini dictionary: Fuzzing, a software testing technique that involves automatically feeding random or unexpected data into a program to detect coding errors, security loopholes, and crashes. It typically yields raw output such as crash logs or stack traces, which help developers identify genuine faults in the system.
Shifting towards AI-assisted verificationThis experiment forms part of the Ethereum Foundation’s wider move towards leveraging AI tools in protocol security, especially following substantial staff reductions earlier in the year. The team stated its intention to rely more heavily on AI-assisted verification, while still recognizing the critical need for human oversight in assessing and disclosing discoveries.
As security research becomes increasingly AI-driven, the Protocol Security team observed that while models accelerate coverage, human judgment remains crucial in deciding which findings qualify as real vulnerabilities.
The team’s approach mirrors similar initiatives from technology firms Anthropic and Cloudflare, who have integrated AI agents to boost their security research capabilities. These organizations have also found that AI can scale bug hunting efforts, but ultimate responsibility stays with human analysts to interpret and act upon the results.
Ethereum, launched in 2015, is a global, open-source blockchain for decentralized applications. The Ethereum Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Ethereum and related technologies, prioritizing security and community-driven development.
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.
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.
Bitcoin sees its dominance challenged by Ethereum on a closely watched indicator: the ETH/BTC ratio. Rising to 0.02858 BTC, Ethereum breaks a resistance of several weeks. For Tom Lee, this movement may signal a return of altcoins. But the signal remains fragile, as bitcoin still holds the psychological advantage in the market.
In Brief Ethereum gains ground against bitcoin with an ETH/BTC ratio at 0.02858. Tom Lee sees this move as a possible signal of altcoins returning. Bitcoin still retains its central role in guiding the market. Bitcoin remains the dominant asset in the market, but Ethereum has just gained some ground. The ETH/BTC ratio has broken a resistance level established since June, a move traders often interpret as the beginning of a rotation with the fall of Bitcoin’s dominance.
The ETH/BTC ratio measures Ethereum’s performance against bitcoin. When it rises, it means ETH is advancing faster than BTC or resisting the decline better. It is not just a technical figure. It is a barometer of risk appetite.
Tom Lee, president of Bitmine and co-founder of Fundstrat, believes this breakout could signal a broader crypto market awakening. According to him, Ethereum benefits from a stronger narrative around stablecoins, tokenization, and new financial applications.
Ethereum Benefits from the Tokenization Narrative Ethereum remains at the center of several trends attracting investors. Stablecoins circulate massively on its infrastructures and related solutions. The tokenization of financial assets also strengthens the idea that Ethereum can become a settlement layer for Wall Street.
Tom Lee summarizes this thesis with a simple phrase. Ethereum could rediscover a monetary narrative. In this scenario, ETH would no longer be just the fuel of a network. It would become a strategic asset, used to capture part of the value created by on-chain markets.
This interpretation explains why altcoins closely watch the ETH/BTC ratio. Historically, a stronger Ethereum against bitcoin often precedes phases where capital shifts toward riskier tokens.
The market is not yet talking about a confirmed altseason. But it is starting to look for support. When bitcoin slows, investors look toward assets capable of catching up. But Ethereum’s rebound is still not enough to trigger a general rotation.
The ETH/BTC ratio remains below its major historical highs. It briefly touched 0.15 in 2017, a level still very far from the current market. Caution also comes from recent data. Despite this week’s rebound, the ratio is down 7.72% over three months. Ethereum is thus emerging from a long period of weakness against bitcoin.
Ethereum spot ETFs also experienced several weeks of capital outflows in June. This pressure has not entirely disappeared. It reminds us that institutional investors have not yet massively adopted the scenario of a sustained ETH comeback.
BTC Keeps the Role of Market Arbiter Even if Ethereum gains strength, bitcoin remains the center of gravity. A sharp BTC drop could still drag the entire market down. Stabilization, however, would give altcoins more room to breathe. This is where Tom Lee’s scenario becomes interesting. It does not rely solely on Ethereum. It also assumes a less hostile macro context, with falling oil prices, less inflationary pressure, and regulatory advances in the United States.
The CLARITY Act could play a role if investors see it as a lasting clarification for digital assets. Stablecoins and tokenization could then become stronger demand drivers for Ethereum and certain altcoins.
But the market has already seen false breakouts. Traders will therefore need to watch if ETH/BTC holds above its breakout zone. They will also need to verify if liquidity truly leaves bitcoin to move to other assets.
The signal is there, but it has not yet won its case. Bitcoin loses some relative dominance, Ethereum regains voice, and altcoins start moving again. To turn this tremor into a real rebound, it will take more than a promising chart. It will require a durable rotation, capable of supporting the return of altcoins beyond just a few sessions of enthusiasm.
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Evans S.
Fascinated by Bitcoin since 2017, Evariste has continuously researched the subject. While his initial interest was in trading, he now actively seeks to understand all advances centered on cryptocurrencies. As an editor, he strives to consistently deliver high-quality work that reflects the state of the sector as a whole.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
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.
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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.
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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".
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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.
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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.
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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.
For the first time since early May, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs booked a net positive week. The shift, detailed in the market update, shows $197 million in net inflows during the July 6-10 window, snapping an eight-week streak of persistent outflows. The inflow halted a period that had seen consistent weekly redemptions since mid-May, when Bitcoin’s price was grinding lower and macro headwinds curbed risk appetite.
The broader spot crypto ETF complex also showed signs of life. Spot Ethereum ETFs pulled in $84.42 million over the same period, likewise ending their own eight-week outflow run. Flows into smaller products remained fragmented: Solana ETFs collected $930,400 and HYPE ETFs took in $10.36 million, while XRP ETFs saw $7.18 million in net redemptions.
An End to the Prolonged Outflow Streak Eight consecutive weeks of outflows had drained confidence after first-quarter records. The reversal, even if modest, suggests that some investors are starting to re-engage with Bitcoin exposure at lower levels. With BTC trading well off its highs, the inflows could be early signs of bargain hunting or a rotation back into regulated vehicles ahead of potential catalysts.
The timing also aligns with a wave of institutional activity across the digital asset space. Just last week tokenized real-world assets breached the $20 billion mark on-chain, a milestone covered in the Weekly Tokenization Roundup. That broader institutional appetite may be bleeding back into ETF products after a two-month pause.
A Mixed Picture Across Crypto ETFs Not every ETF category shared the rebound equally. While Bitcoin and Ethereum products reversed their outflows convincingly, XRP ETFs continued to lose ground. The divergence may reflect different investor narratives. Ethereum continues to benefit from its dominant position in decentralized finance and developer activity — a trend highlighted in our look at the top blockchains by developer activity this week. Solana also maintained a solid developer base, which could explain its modest ETF inflows. In contrast, XRP’s regulatory overhang and the uncertainty around its legal status may be keeping sidelined capital parked elsewhere.
HYPE, a relatively small player, attracted over $10 million, suggesting that speculative appetite for niche altcoin ETFs hasn’t completely evaporated. But the aggregate numbers still lean heavily toward the two dominant assets.
What Remains Uncertain One week does not make a trend. Summer trading is notoriously thin, and ETF flows can reverse abruptly. The $197 million figure, while psychologically important for breaking the streak, is moderate by historical standards — far below the multi-hundred-million-dollar inflow days of early 2024. Whether the shift represents a genuine bottom or a temporary blip will be tested when the next weekly data arrives.
Regulatory crosswinds also add uncertainty. Days before the Senate is set to vote on the most significant crypto legislation in U.S. history, banking groups are pushing for last-minute changes — a high-stakes fight described in our coverage of the upcoming Senate vote. If the bill passes with provisions that clarify digital asset classification and ETF structural rules, it could strengthen institutional confidence. If it stalls or gets amended unfavorably, the inflow momentum might prove short-lived.
For now, the data point offers a signal that the relentless selling pressure of the past two months has at least paused. The market will watch closely to see whether the July 9-10 weekly close marks the start of a new accumulation phase or just a brief intermission.
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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.
Lee outlined the breakaway success of the Robinhood Chain L2 mainnet launch, built on Arbitrum.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the former bitcoin miner turned massive Ethereum accumulator, continues to increase its altcoin exposure by snapping another 30,567 tokens over the past week.
Its total has grown to 5.77 million coins, and the latest purchase cements its position as the world’s largest corporate holder of Ethereum.
Coming for 5% Supply The company has long stated that its mission is to accumulate and control 5% of Ethereum’s total supply. With its latest acquisition, it has further neared that goal as it now controls over 4.8% of the project’s circulating supply of 120.7 million coins.
The firm’s chairman, Tom Lee, continues to be highly bullish on ETH’s long-term future, arguing that two structural trends keep supporting the asset: the growing tokenization of traditional financial assets and increasing demand for blockchain infrastructure from AI-powered applications.
He added that regulatory developments such as the highly anticipated CLARITY Act could further accelerate institutional adoption of smart contract platforms. Moreover, he focused on Robinhood’s new mainnet launch this month, which is another Ethereum-related initiative that became an instant sensation.
“One of the biggest crypto success stories in 2026 is the breakaway success of the Robinhood Chain L2 mainnet on July 1, built on Arbitrum. Already, dollar volumes have exceeded $1 billion, and Robinhood Chain now has more trading volume than any other decentralized exchange (DEX), demonstrating the outstanding utility and product market fit for Ethereum, which is the underlying chain,” noted Lee.
He said Robinhood Chain utilizes ETH as the native gas token, and all transaction fees are denominated in the world’s largest altcoin before being settled on Ethereum. This means that Robinhood’s 27 million user base is now paying crypto fees denominated in ETH. In other words, “everyday users are starting to see ETH as money.”
Staking Business Grows Bitmine continues to deploy its ETH stash for staking as the firm has put over 4.9 million coins to work through its own institutional platform MAVAN. By becoming one of the largest Ethereum validators globally, the company projects approximately $235 million in annualized staking revenue.
You may also like: AI Found a Real Ethereum Bug – But the Bigger Story Is What Comes Next Analyst Sees Upside for ETH Ahead of Glamsterdam Upgrade ‘Summer of Ethereum Love’ Gaining Steam, Says Lubin, But When Will ETH Price Follow? It plans to stake all of its holdings, which would increase that expected amount to roughly $277 million.
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 →
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.
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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.
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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".
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) increased its ether treasury to 5.77 million ETH tokens, giving it control of 4.8% of the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, the company said Monday.
At $1,820 per ETH, the Ethereum treasury is worth roughly $10.5 billion, positioning Bitmine as the largest corporate ether holder globally and the second-largest corporate crypto treasury overall, trailing only Strategy's $54 billion bitcoin position, according to a statement.
The latest figure marks an increase of 27,801 ETH over the prior week and places Bitmine 96% of the way toward its stated "alchemy of 5%" target, representing 5% of ether's 120.7 million-token supply.
Chairman Tom Lee said the company is maintaining an elevated pace of buying, pointing to the July 1 mainnet launch of Robinhood Chain as evidence of Ethereum's utility and product-market fit.
"Robinhood's 27 million users are paying crypto fees denominated in ETH," Lee said in the statement. "In other words, everyday users are starting to see ETH as money."
Ether dipped lower on Monday, down 1.95% over the prior 24 hours to $1,766, according to The Block's ETH price page. The asset trades 64% below its all-time high of $4,946, set in August 2025.
Bitmine said 4.92 million ETH, or more than 85% of its total holdings, is currently staked. According to the company, staking operations are running at a 2.70% seven-day yield, with annualized staking revenue projected at about $242 million, rising to roughly $284 million at scale through its MAVAN validator infrastructure.
Beyond ether, Bitmine reported holdings of 206 bitcoin, a $180 million stake in Beast Industries, a $69 million stake in Eightco Holdings, and total cash and marketable securities of $482 million.
Bitmine shares closed Friday's session at $14.98, up 1.97% on the day, according to The Block's BMNR price page.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
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
Dogecoin (DOGE) price edges lower on Monday for the third straight day, inching closer toward the $0.0700 support level. Derivatives data signal easing retail demand for DOGE as the broader market risk-off sentiment remains elevated. The meme coin risks further decline below $0.0700 as momentum indicators continue to show sell-side dominance.
Market sentiment weighs on DOGE futuresDogecoin, the oldest and largest meme coin in the crypto market, with a valuation over $12 billion, is losing retail support in the near term. The broader market risk-off sentiment stays elevated as tensions between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz continue.
CoinMarketCap’s Crypto Fear and Greed Index at 29 on Monday remains in the “Fear” zone, reaffirming the broader market reduced risk appetite thesis. Meanwhile, CoinGlass data show that DOGE futures Open Interest (OI) has slipped by over 1% in the last 24 hours to $1.00 billion, indicating fewer active positions. At the same time, bullish sentiment among traders to buy the dip has faded, with the DOGE funding rate flipping negative to -.0013%, indicating buyers are willing to build short positions.
In addition, the $2.33 million in liquidations during the same period is driven by $2.17 million in long liquidations, reaffirming the sell-side dominance.
Fear and Greed Index. Source: CoinMarketCap
DOGE derivatives data. Source: CoinGlassTechnical outlook: Will DOGE hold above $0.0700?DOGE is trading in the red for the third straight day on Monday, extending a broader bearish bias as price holds beneath the 50-day Exponential Moving Ảverage (EMA) at roughly $0.0824 and well below the 200-day EMA near $0.1064.
The pair remains pressured by a descending trend line that most recently rejected advances around $0.0745, which now threatens a retest of the $0.0700 support level, last tested on June 30. A potential daily close below this level could test $0.0641, last seen in October 2023.
That said, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovers on the weak side near 33, suggesting lingering downside fatigue, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) sustains a mild recovery tone above its signal line. However, the waning positive histograms suggest a waning recovery tone, which, in the case of DOGE, indicates early signs of renewed bearish momentum.
DOGE/USDT daily price chart.On the topside, initial resistance aligns with the descending trendline near $0.0745, followed by a horizontal cap at $0.0776 and the 50-day EMA at $0.0824, reinforcing a broader supply zone ahead of the $0.1000 psychological barrier.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Cardano (ADA) extends its losses, trading below $$0.160 on Monday after falling over 14% in the previous week. Despite on-chain data showing continued accumulation by whales, the buying activity has failed to lift prices. Meanwhile, bearish derivatives metrics and a weakening technical outlook indicate further downside for ADA.
Whales buy dips but fail to stop falling pricesSantiment’s Supply Distribution data shows that large-wallet holders (whales) are buying ADA during its recent price dips, a move that supports the positive outlook for the token.
The metric indicates that whales holding between 100,000 and 1 million ADA tokens (red line), 1 million and 10 million ADA tokens (yellow line), and 10 million and 100 million ADA tokens (blue line) have accumulated a total of 320 million ADA tokens since July 7. This buy-the-dip scenario signals continued long-term interest among large-wallet holders, suggesting a bullish outlook. However, in the short term, it failed to provide support.
Cardano supply distribution chart. Source: SantimentDerivatives traders turn bearishDerivatives metrics show a bearish bias for Cardano. ADA’s futures Open Interest (OI) dips to $385 million on Monday, having fallen steadily since a mild rise in early July and now remaining in a broder downward trend. The decline in OI alongside falling prices suggests a bearish outlook.
Cardano open interest chart. Source: CoinglassIn addition, the funding rates data also supports a bearish outlook. CoinGlass’ OI-Weighted Funding Rate data for ADA flipped negative on Friday, reading -0.0028% on Monday. This negative rate indicates that shorts are paying longs and projects a bearish sentiment.
Cardano funding rates chart. Source: CoinglassCoinGlass’ long-to-short ratio for ADA reads 0.79 on Monday, nearing its lowest level in over a month. This ratio, being below one, reflects bearish sentiment in the market, as more traders are betting on the asset’s price to fall.
Cardano long-to-short ratio chart. Source: CoinglassCardano Price Forecast: ADA extends lossesCardano price trades at $0.158 on Monday after losses of over 14% in the previous week. ADA is keeping a bearish near-term bias as price holds well below the major Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). The 50-day EMA at $0.181, the 100-day EMA and the broken descending trendline break zone clustered around $0.211, and the 200-day EMA at $0.280 all sit overhead as layered dynamic resistance.
Momentum signals are subdued, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovering near 42 and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) line fading toward the zero line, which together hint that any rebound is likely to face supply rather than mark a clean trend reversal.
On the topside, initial resistance emerges at the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the latest swing near $0.173, followed by the 50-day EMA near $0.181 and the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement near $0.195. Higher up, the confluence of the 100-day EMA and the prior trendline break area near $0.211 forms a pivotal cap ahead of static hurdles at $0.236 and $0.245, while $0.280 and $0.299 define a broader medium-term ceiling.
On the downside, immediate support is seen near the recent horizontal floor at $0.150, with the Fibonacci anchor around $0.138 acting as a deeper structural base should selling pressure resume.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Cardano has always been unusually tied to personalities, process, and long-range roadmaps. That is why rumors about Charles Hoskinson’s role can travel quickly through the community. His latest response, pushing back on claims that he is stepping away, gives the market a chance to separate actual governance progress from social-media fog.
The timing matters. Cardano is still moving through a period where technical upgrades, governance changes, and scaling work are all part of the same broader story. In that environment, uncertainty around leadership can become a distraction even when the protocol itself is not dependent on one person.
For more details, visit the official Cardanofoundation platform.
TL;DR Charles Hoskinson addressed rumors about leaving the Cardano ecosystem.The update comes as Cardano continues work around governance and scaling initiatives.For ADA holders, the story is less about gossip and more about leadership continuity during a technical transition. Why The Rumor Cycle Matters Founder-driven ecosystems often have a complicated relationship with decentralization. On one hand, the point of public blockchains is to reduce reliance on any single actor. On the other, public confidence often still clusters around visible leaders. Cardano sits squarely in that tension.
Hoskinson’s comments do not settle every debate about Cardano’s future, but they do remove one immediate source of uncertainty. That can matter when a community is already watching development milestones, governance handoffs, and the path toward higher throughput.
What ADA Traders Should Actually Watch The more useful question is not whether one rumor was true. It is whether Cardano continues to ship the upgrades and governance tools it has promised. That is what will matter more for ADA over time.
If the project can keep technical progress moving while reducing dependence on founder-level drama, that would be the healthier long-term signal. For now, the message is simple: Hoskinson says he is not leaving, and the ecosystem still has work to do.
Why The Detail Matters Now The practical takeaway is that Cardano 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 Cardano 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 information from the Cardano Foundation.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Thailand’s central bank has intensified its scrutiny of stablecoin transactions as part of a broader initiative to combat money laundering and address illicit financial flows within the country.
Coordinated crackdown on gray moneyThe Bank of Thailand is collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission to audit high-value stablecoin activities. The focus includes monitoring transactions involving USDT (Tether), as well as other large cash and currency exchange operations. Authorities seek to identify and disrupt channels used by criminal organizations to transfer funds, particularly those related to the so-called “gray economy.”
Governor Vitai Ratanakorn emphasized that these measures require ongoing and coordinated efforts. In a statement highlighted by local newspaper The Nation, he explained that, “The measures we are implementing are not short-term fixes; they require the continuous deployment of multiple parallel strategies.”
Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn underscored that the current initiatives need sustained multi-faceted action, reflecting the complexity and scale of illicit flows within Thailand’s economy.
Authorities have classified the gray economy as including funds from sources such as scam call centers, which have proliferated throughout the region. In 2025, scam losses reached 115 billion THB ($3.4 billion), and officials recorded around 173 million fraudulent calls and texts during the year. However, comprehensive data on the full extent of gray money circulating in Thailand remains elusive.
Expansion of oversight and complianceStablecoins have become increasingly popular for transferring large sums internationally due to their speed and ease of settlement. In response, the new regulatory measures extend compliance requirements for commercial banks, currency exchanges, and gold traders. The central bank seeks to block regulated financial institutions from facilitating corruption or enabling shadow financial activities through these assets.
The expansion covers cash networks, currency exchange businesses, and suspicious stablecoin dealings, signaling a multi-layered approach to tighten controls across the financial system. Past efforts included similar collaborations between banks and regulators to freeze accounts associated with questionable activities.
Mini dictionary: The Bank of Thailand serves as the country’s central bank and is responsible for maintaining monetary stability, financial institution soundness, and overseeing payment systems.
Market impact and regulatory landscapeWhile Thailand is considered a welcoming environment for digital assets, stablecoin and cryptocurrency-based payments remain prohibited by the Bank of Thailand. Regulators continue to tighten oversight of crypto businesses, even as trading itself remains legal.
Bitkub, the largest digital asset exchange operating in Thailand, processes around $26 million in daily trading volume. Reports from market aggregator CoinGecko indicate that nearly 40% of this activity involves foreign exchange pairs, with USDT/THB being the leading pair among traders.
PlatformDaily Trading VolumeDominant PairForex ShareBitkub$26 millionUSDT/THB40%In 2025, Thai banks implemented sweeping measures that led to the freezing of three million bank accounts as part of efforts to clamp down on mule accounts and suspicious transactions. Although designed to curb illegal capital movement, these actions inadvertently affected thousands of legitimate businesses and individuals, drawing criticism for being overly broad.
Ongoing vigilance amid evolving threatsThai regulators remain alert to the changing tactics of financial criminals. The partnership between the Bank of Thailand and the Securities and Exchange Commission highlights ongoing vigilance and a readiness to adapt policies in response to new threats.
Authorities reaffirmed their commitment to practical, long-term strategies rather than relying on short-term solutions to tackle illicit finance and the gray money problem.
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.
China is ramping up its efforts to combat cryptocurrency-related crime, with institutions and prosecutors outlining new frameworks for prosecution and asset disposal as police continue to break up large money laundering rings.
Prosecutors seek new rules for crypto money laundering casesAn opinion article published in the Procuratorate Daily, the official newspaper of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, presents a detailed approach to tackling crypto-related money laundering in China. Authored by two district prosecutors from Hunan province and a university law professor, the article suggests that prosecutors often rely on broad “concealment” charges, as China’s existing money-laundering laws cover only seven predicate crimes, leaving crypto cases in a legal grey area.
The authors recommend adopting a “double investigation of one case” approach. This would involve screening every underlying crime for possible crypto-related laundering and mapping the flow of any digital assets involved. This proposal builds on a 2024 judicial interpretation from China’s Supreme People’s Court, which treats virtual-asset transactions used for moving criminal proceeds as a form of laundering.
To strengthen the evidentiary process, the article introduces the idea of using “blockchain data self-verification.” Under this principle, on-chain records that match public block explorer data would be regarded as legitimate unless proven otherwise. Reports from blockchain analytics companies, including fund tracing and address clustering, would serve as expert evidence. The article also supports the idea that circumstantial and fragmentary evidence can be acceptable if it presents a coherent narrative, even when not every coin is traced to its origin.
They propose that blockchain data, when verified using on-chain hash values and public explorers, should be assumed genuine unless disputed, while reports from blockchain analytics firms could serve as expert evidence in court.
Mini dictionary: Supreme People’s Procuratorate — This is China’s highest national agency responsible for legal prosecution and investigation of criminal offenses.
The article further addresses the challenge authorities face after seizing crypto assets. With China’s ban on trading, there is no legal method to convert seized tokens to fiat currency, leaving large sums effectively stranded.
Authorities push for official platform to manage seized cryptocurrenciesTo resolve the dilemma of disposing of seized digital assets, the article calls for the creation of a national platform dedicated to the custody and sale of confiscated cryptocurrencies through officially recognized channels, such as directed auctions. This system would rely on an expert committee to value assets accurately using both on-chain data and global exchange prices, and would potentially support cross-border cooperation to trace and recover assets moved abroad.
Currently, local government agencies have circumvented domestic trading bans by discreetly liquidating seized cryptocurrencies through external partners operating in overseas markets, a process previously documented by international agencies.
In 2024 alone, China’s prosecution authorities charged over 3,000 individuals with crypto-related money laundering activities, highlighting the scale of the issue and the urgency for legal reform.
China intensifies crackdown on yuan stablecoins and RWA tokenizationIn a separate move, China’s central bank and nine regulatory agencies issued a joint directive reaffirming the country’s tough stance against crypto activity. The notice, published on Friday, prohibits the creation of any yuan-linked stablecoin without regulatory approval and classifies most projects involving the tokenization of real-world assets as illegal. The statement warns that virtual currencies, stablecoins, and tokenized assets present systemic dangers to financial stability, repeating that cryptocurrencies have no status as legal tender and that trading, issuance, and brokerage activities tied to them are prohibited.
The new notice from China’s central bank, together with other regulators, explicitly bans the issuance of unapproved yuan-backed stablecoins and categorizes most real-world asset tokenization as unlawful.
Chinese police arrest group in $1.7 billion Tether laundering caseChinese law enforcement in Tonglio, a city in Inner Mongolia, announced the arrest of 63 suspects linked to a major Tether-based money laundering network. Authorities began their investigation when they detected unexplained deposits exceeding 10 million yuan at a local bank, prompting anti-money laundering procedures. Subsequent raids resulted in the seizure of 130 million yuan in cash and payment cards potentially connected to the laundering operations.
According to the official statement, the criminal group laundered around $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency, mostly using the Tether (USDT) stablecoin. Tether is a widely used US dollar-pegged digital asset, often used for cross-border transactions but also attracting scrutiny because of its utility in illicit activities.
Mini dictionary: Tether (USDT) — A leading stablecoin designed to maintain a 1-to-1 value with the US dollar, facilitating easy exchange and transfer of value across digital platforms.
Despite banning cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021, China remains a global hotspot for crypto-based money laundering. Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, estimates that Chinese-language laundering networks processed $16 billion worth of cryptocurrency in 2025 and now account for about 20% of global crypto money laundering. The company’s analysis links the continued prominence of such networks to China’s strict capital controls, as wealthy individuals looking to move assets offshore indirectly fuel laundering operations that also serve international crime syndicates.
YearEstimated Laundered Crypto AmountMajor Enforcement Action2022$1.7 billionMajor ring dismantled in China2024Over $1.7 billion63 suspects arrested, Mongolian city case2025 (projection)$16 billionChinese-language networks process 20% of global totalDisclaimer: 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.
Global Industrial Conglomerate Hyundai Completes Enterprise Treasury Pilot on Tether USD₮, Moving Corporate Funds Across Global Borders
13 July 2026 – Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry and the issuer of USD₮, announces the successful completion of the first enterprise cross-border settlement Proof of Concept (POC) between Hyundai Motor America and Hyundai Motor de México through Axiym on the Avalanche blockchain network.
The initiative demonstrated that an enterprise cross-border transfer and verification process could be completed in an average of seven minutes, compared with traditional interbank transfers that typically require three to four hours or more.
As part of the first phase of the POC, Hyundai Motor America (HMA) converted USD 20,000 into USD₮, transferred the stablecoin to Hyundai Motor Mexico (HMM), and converted it back into U.S. dollars. The full process included international transfer and verification, highlighting how stablecoins can support cross-border settlement for global businesses.
While the pilot demonstrated the speed and efficiency of stablecoin-based settlement, it also reflects a broader shift in enterprise finance. The significance extends beyond the transaction itself: one of the world’s largest industrial companies is actively evaluating blockchain-based financial infrastructure for corporate treasury operations. As stablecoins move beyond crypto-native use cases, participation from global enterprises highlights growing interest in using digital dollars to support faster cross-border payments, treasury management, and capital movement.
This achievement builds on Tether’s existing strategic investment in Axiym and reaffirms Tether’s commitment to expanding enterprise and institutional use cases for USD₮ by supporting infrastructure purpose-built to enable compliant, scalable, and efficient global payment settlements. During the POC, Axiym’s regulated settlement infrastructure enabled the near-real-time movement of USD₮, demonstrating faster, more efficient cross-border settlement at enterprise scale.
The PoC went beyond the transaction itself, with Hyundai Card leading the design of the remittance structure and overseeing regulatory review, compliance considerations, accounting requirements, and the operational framework needed to evaluate stablecoin-based settlement between overseas subsidiaries.
As businesses expand across multiple jurisdictions, the ability to move capital quickly, transparently, and efficiently has become a strategic necessity. Stablecoins provide enterprises with a new way to streamline settlement, improve treasury management, and create more efficient global payment flows without compromising existing operational, governance, or compliance standards.
“Stablecoins are becoming a critical part of the next generation of global financial infrastructure,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Hyundai’s initiative shows the growing demand for financial infrastructure that can help enterprises to move value across borders with greater speed, efficiency, and transparency. USD₮ is helping bridge traditional finance and blockchain-based infrastructure, offering companies new tools to streamline settlement and unlock new ways to manage global operations effectively.”
The next phase of the initiative will explore additional cross-border corridors and local currency settlement, further evaluating how stablecoins can support broader enterprise payment and treasury workflows.
As global financial infrastructure continues to evolve, the conversation is no longer about whether stablecoins have meaningful real-world applications; it is about how quickly they will become embedded in the systems that power international commerce. Tether remains committed to supporting the technologies, infrastructure, and innovators accelerating that transformation.
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.
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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".
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Institutions: The crypto market continued deleveraging in Q2, with spot trading volume hitting its lowest level since Q3 2023.
According to FalconX’s latest market analysis, the crypto market sustained its deleveraging trend in the second quarter of 2026. Spot trading volume on major platforms fell to $1.6 trillion, down 25% quarter-over-quarter and 42% year-over-year, hitting its lowest level since the third quarter of 2023. Futures trading volume dropped to $9 trillion, a 12% quarter-over-quarter and 31% year-over-year decline. The report shows that by the end of Q2, the total open interest (OI) of futures across the market fell to $53.2 billion, a sharp pullback from the peak of $122.2 billion in October 2025, while trading turnover ratio decreased to 1.6x, reflecting a shift in the market from high-frequency speculation to long-term holding. On the capital flow front, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $4.9 billion in Q2, expanding the year-to-date cumulative net outflow to $5.4 billion. Total stablecoin supply shrank by $7.4 billion to $313.8 billion, marking the first contraction in recent quarters. FalconX notes that the current market deleveraging process is largely complete, with open interest stabilizing and trading volume showing signs of recovery in June. Looking ahead to the third quarter, the progress of the U.S. CLARITY Act legislation and ETF capital flows will be key catalysts shaping market trends.
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.
Forbes has included XRP among its 10 best cryptocurrencies to invest in for July 2026, placing it fourth behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB.
The ranking comes from the publication’s latest review of major digital assets based on factors such as real-world use, market size, recent price performance, and trading activity.
The publication limited its selection to cryptocurrencies with market capitalizations above $5 billion, noting that larger assets tend to show greater stability and attract more institutional interest.
Besides the top four, the list also includes Solana (SOL), TRON (TRX), Hyperliquid (HYPE), Rain (RAIN), UNUS SED LEO (LEO), and Zcash (ZEC).
Why XRP Made the List According to Forbes, XRP continues to earn attention because of its focus on fast and low-cost cross-border payments. The original XRPL architects developed the cryptocurrency to help move value between different currencies quickly while keeping transaction costs low.
The report noted that XRP traded at $1.11 as of July 10, 2026. At that price, the cryptocurrency had a market capitalization of $69.21 billion, making it the fourth-largest asset in the rankings. Over the previous seven days, XRP posted a modest gain of 0.29%.
Forbes also mentioned XRP’s long-term growth. Since its launch, the asset has climbed about 18,761% to reach its current price. It also reached a 12-month high of $3.65 on July 17, 2025, before pulling back to the current level.
Forbes Weighs XRP’s Strengths Against Its Risks Forbes highlighted XRP’s role in international payments as one of its biggest strengths. The publication noted that Ripple has built partnerships with financial institutions, which give XRP a practical use case that sets it apart from many other cryptocurrencies.
At the same time, the report acknowledged concerns that some investors continue to raise. Unlike Bitcoin, which releases new coins through mining, XRP enters circulation when Ripple sells tokens from its holdings. Forbes said this has led to ongoing discussions over how much influence Ripple has on the token’s supply.
The publication also pointed out that Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen still owns a significant amount of XRP. It presented this concentration of ownership as another factor investors should consider alongside the asset’s strengths.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB Lead the Rankings Meanwhile, Bitcoin took the top spot on the list, with its $1.289 trillion market cap and position as the largest cryptocurrency. Forbes called it digital gold and a store of value, but noted that its proof-of-work network consumes large amounts of energy and processes transactions more slowly than newer blockchain networks.
Ethereum ranked second with a market cap of $216.47 billion. Forbes highlighted its role in smart contracts and decentralized applications alongside its large developer community. However, it also noted that network congestion and high gas fees remain ongoing challenges.
BNB secured third place with a market capitalization of $77.36 billion. The publication mentioned its growing use across the Binance ecosystem and the token’s regular supply burns.
However, they noted that its future remains tied to Binance’s performance and the regulatory environment surrounding the exchange.
Forbes’ Focus on Utility and Market Size Forbes said it built its rankings by looking at criteria besides price alone. Specifically, the publication focused on cryptocurrencies that boast practical use alongside a long-term investment case.
Notably, market cap played a major role in the selection process. While Bitcoin and Ethereum together account for about 68% of the total crypto market, Forbes also looked at other large-cap projects that could offer a balance between growth potential and relative stability.
Using those criteria, XRP earned the fourth spot. Forbes based that decision on the asset’s role in cross-border payments, its institutional connections, and its $69.21 billion market capitalization.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
The AI-agent narrative in crypto has gone through plenty of hype, but BNB Chain is trying to move the discussion toward tooling. Its new Agent Studio roadmap, built around developer templates and AWS-linked infrastructure, is a reminder that the AI story will not be won by slogans alone. It will be won by whoever makes these systems easier to deploy and use.
That is the useful lens here. BNB Chain is not simply saying AI matters. It is trying to offer a cleaner environment for developers who want autonomous software to interact with wallets, contracts, payments, and on-chain identities.
For more details, visit the official BNB Chain platform.
TL;DR BNB Chain outlined an H2 2026 AI Agent Studio roadmap.The project is linked to AWS infrastructure templates for developers.The move shows major chains are still competing to become the default home for crypto-native AI agents. Why Developer Tooling Is The Real Story Crypto has no shortage of AI tokens, but useful agent infrastructure is harder. Developers need predictable deployment paths, fast settlement, reliable data access, and a way to control permissions without creating obvious security holes.
If Agent Studio can make those pieces easier to assemble, BNB Chain gets a stronger claim to AI-related developer activity. That matters because infrastructure platforms compete on where builders choose to spend time.
The Next Test For BNB Chain The big question is whether these agents become useful applications or simply another round of demo products. Crypto has seen enough toolkits that generated initial noise and then faded.
For BNB Chain, the opportunity is real but execution-heavy. If developers actually use the studio to build agents that transact, monitor, route, or automate on-chain activity, the roadmap could become more than a marketing cycle.
Why The Detail Matters Now The practical takeaway is that Binance 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 Binance 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 article is based on information from BNB Chain.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a major US-based post-trade financial services company, will embed Chainlink standards into its Collateral AppChain, with a rollout slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. The integration targets pricing, valuation, margin management, collateral optimization, and streamlined settlement processes within the new blockchain-based layer.
Chainlink standards to power collateral and settlementDTCC has revealed plans to integrate Chainlink’s Runtime Environment into its Collateral AppChain, a specialized blockchain platform designed for collateral management and settlement operations. This environment supports the running of applications governed by shared business rules across interconnected financial systems.
The integration is expected to enhance functions such as real-time pricing, precision valuation, and improved margin calculations for institutional participants. Tools for collateral optimization aim to help firms more efficiently allocate and manage assets while meeting margin requirements and reducing settlement risk.
By leveraging blockchain, DTCC aims to deliver improved consistency in data usage across financial workflows, making key processes more transparent and auditable for participants and regulators.
Mini dictionary: DTCC, or Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, is a leading provider of clearing and settlement services for US equity, bond, and derivative markets.
Tokenization and Smart NAV pilot inform new integrationThe planned move builds on DTCC’s recent tokenization initiatives, where traditional financial assets are represented and settled on blockchain platforms. Tokenization facilitates improved asset tracking and workflow efficiency, aligning with broader trends in capital markets modernization.
DTCC previously launched its 2024 Smart NAV pilot, which saw collaboration with major institutions, including JPMorgan, BNY Mellon, and Franklin Templeton. The project focused on using Chainlink to distribute fund Net Asset Value (NAV) data across blockchain-based channels securely and reliably.
Chainlink standards are set to be embedded into DTCC’s Collateral AppChain, combining advanced data integrity features with existing settlement infrastructure within the platform. The upcoming Q4 2026 rollout will support essential functions such as pricing, valuation, margining, and collateral optimization, according to project statements from industry participants.
Net Asset Value, or NAV, is a crucial measure in the investment industry, referring to the total value of a fund’s assets minus its liabilities. Precise and auditable NAV figures support both investor confidence and regulatory compliance in fund management.
ProjectScopeKey PartnersYearCollateral AppChainCollateral/settlementDTCC, Chainlink2026 (planned)Smart NAV pilotNAV data distributionDTCC, Chainlink, JPMorgan, BNY Mellon, Franklin Templeton2024Market reaction and LINK holder activityFollowing DTCC’s announcement, market attention around Chainlink has intensified. Chainlink is a blockchain protocol popular for delivering secure external data to smart contracts and supporting tokenized asset solutions in finance.
Some LINK holders, referencing the asset’s growing institutional footprint, have publicly reported new investments. One investor stated that $55,000 was allocated into LINK over the past two months, describing strong confidence in its future utility, while acknowledging such views do not guarantee returns or represent broader market consensus.
One market participant shared an investment of $55,000 into LINK within two months, attributing the decision to Chainlink’s perceived importance in evolving financial infrastructure. They dismissed critics who underestimate Chainlink’s impact, though these remarks represent individual perspectives rather than assured outcomes.
Attention now shifts to the fourth-quarter 2026 launch window, as observers look to track both the technical progress of the Collateral AppChain and its broader implications for adoption of blockchain solutions in traditional finance.
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.
Tokenized finance becomes much more interesting when it stops being a concept deck and starts looking like fund plumbing. Fidelity’s FILQ integration with Chainlink fits that category. The headline is not just that a large asset manager is experimenting with blockchain. It is that valuation data, one of the basic pieces of fund infrastructure, is being pushed toward on-chain rails.
That is exactly where tokenization needs to go if it is going to matter beyond crypto-native trading circles. Real funds need reliable data, clear valuation, and infrastructure that institutions can explain to compliance teams.
For more details, visit the official Chainlink platform.
TL;DR Fidelity’s FILQ tokenized fund is using Chainlink infrastructure for NAV data.The integration is designed to publish valuation information on-chain.The development adds another institutional example to the tokenized real-world asset narrative. Why NAV Feeds Matter NAV sounds boring, but it is central to how funds are valued, reported, and traded. If tokenized funds are going to operate credibly, investors need to know how those values are being calculated and where the data is coming from.
Chainlink’s role here is to connect off-chain valuation information with on-chain environments. That makes the integration less flashy than a token launch, but arguably more important for institutional adoption.
A Stronger RWA Signal The real-world asset theme has been one of crypto’s more durable narratives because it connects directly to existing financial markets. Tokenized treasuries, funds, and credit products all depend on infrastructure that can handle real information, not just token transfers.
Fidelity’s involvement gives the story weight. The market will now watch whether this kind of oracle-backed fund data becomes a pattern rather than a one-off integration.
Why The Detail Matters Now The practical takeaway is that Chainlink 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 Chainlink 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 information from Chainlink.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Robinhood’s crypto strategy is becoming less about offering a few coins and more about owning infrastructure. Its decision to use Chainlink CCIP for its Layer-2 network adds another piece to that shift, especially as the company pushes deeper into tokenized asset rails.
This matters because tokenized equities and real-world assets need more than a clean interface. They need data, bridging, messaging, and risk controls that can stand up to institutional scrutiny.
For more details, visit the official Chainlink platform.
TL;DR Robinhood selected Chainlink CCIP for its Layer-2 network.The integration is aimed at supporting secure cross-chain connectivity and tokenized asset infrastructure.The move adds another traditional-finance-facing name to Chainlink’s institutional integration list. Why CCIP Fits The Robinhood Story Chainlink’s CCIP is designed to support secure cross-chain messaging and asset movement. For a broker-facing Layer 2, that kind of infrastructure is not optional. If real-world assets move across chains, pricing and transfer assumptions need to be reliable.
Robinhood’s choice also says something about where it wants to sit in the market. It is not positioning itself as a purely speculative crypto app. It is trying to connect brokerage distribution with on-chain settlement.
Tokenized Equities Need Trust Rails The more ambitious the asset, the more serious the infrastructure requirement. Moving a meme token is one thing. Supporting tokenized equity exposure or regulated asset flows is something else entirely.
That is why this integration matters. If Robinhood wants its Layer 2 to become a credible venue for tokenized markets, the plumbing has to look institution-ready from the start.
Why The Detail Matters Now The practical takeaway is that Chainlink 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 Chainlink 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 article is based on information from Chainlink.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
The stablecoin market experienced a sharp contraction in June, with the total supply dropping by $7.7 billion to nearly $312 billion. This marked the largest single-month decline since the collapse of TerraUSD in May 2022, erasing more than $10 billion from the record highs reached the previous month.
Stablecoin Leaders Drive OutflowsAccording to data from DeFiLlama, the combined stablecoin supply hovered at approximately $312.23 billion at the end of June. Tether’s USDT, which remains the world’s leading stablecoin by market capitalization, accounted for $184.15 billion of the total. Circle’s USDC, the second-largest, held a supply of about $73.41 billion.
In June, the circulating supply of USDT fell from roughly $190 billion in May, resulting in a decrease of about $6 billion. USDC experienced a similar shift, dropping by approximately $7 billion since its March peak of $80 billion. These two tokens continued to account for the vast majority of global stablecoin liquidity.
The combined declines in USDT and USDC made up the majority of the contraction in the stablecoin market. While smaller regulated issuers reported growth during this period, their increases were not enough to counteract the drawdowns in the two largest stablecoins.
Paul Howard, a senior director at trading firm Wincent, described this reduction as a “small retreat,” emphasizing that the industry is still viewed as a long-term growth space. He also pointed out that the market’s current shrinkage remains well below the 26% contraction seen in 2022.
The events of 2022, including the collapse of the Terra protocol and insolvency filings from major crypto lenders and FTX, had triggered a much more severe market drawdown. In contrast, the recent decline did not lead to stablecoins breaking their dollar pegs or create a wider crisis in digital asset markets.
Market Impact and Shifting Investment TrendsStablecoins serve as primary settlement and quoting assets across both centralized and decentralized exchanges, underpinning much of the crypto trading ecosystem. Analysts have suggested that declining stablecoin supply may reflect greater redemption of tokens for bank dollars or an outflow of capital from the crypto industry.
Reduced supply can also decrease the purchasing power available for dollar-denominated assets such as Bitcoin and Ether. This, in turn, may negatively affect market liquidity during periods of selling pressure. Despite this, market observers note that the fall did not disrupt stablecoin pegs or create short-term instability among major tokens.
Trading activity for crypto investment products in the United States mirrored these outflows, as US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds saw redemptions totaling more than $4 billion in June, marking their weakest monthly performance since launch.
Conversely, the market for tokenized real-world assets diverged from the general crypto trend. Blockchain-based tokenized assets recorded on-chain valuation exceeding $30 billion in 2026, spurred mainly by tokenized US Treasury products, investment funds, and private credit products.
CoinDesk Research reported that trading volumes in tokenized equities surged 145% in June, reaching a record $3.86 billion. This spike highlighted ongoing demand for blockchain-based financial products, even as traditional crypto liquidity remained subdued.
Mini dictionary: Tokenized real-world assets are digital representations of traditional financial instruments—such as bonds, equities, or real estate—issued and transacted on blockchain networks for greater accessibility and transparency.
StablecoinMay SupplyJune SupplyChangeUSDT$190 billion$184.15 billion– $6 billionUSDC$80 billion (March)$73.41 billion– $7 billionTotal stablecoinsRecord high (May 2026)$312.23 billion– $7.7 billion (June)Regulatory Landscape and OutlookRegulation of the stablecoin market is evolving alongside these shifts. The United States introduced the GENIUS Act, placing oversight of payment stablecoins at the federal level and introducing new standards related to customer identification, sanctions, and reserve requirements.
Despite the slowdown, both USDT and USDC maintained their dollar pegs, and stablecoin transaction volumes and underlying supply metrics held relatively steady compared with more volatile periods in the past.
Further reductions in stablecoin supply could signal additional liquidity leaving crypto markets in coming months. By contrast, a rebound would suggest the market is consolidating after a rapid expansion earlier in 2026. Market participants are closely watching upcoming data to determine whether capital is exiting crypto altogether or shifting among different issuers and blockchain-based products.
The current reduction, while the largest since 2022, has not resulted in a crisis or widespread loss of stablecoin pegs, suggesting relative stability even amid investor outflows.
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.
Japanese convenience-store operator Lawson plans to test yen-denominated stablecoin payments at a Tokyo location in August, examining whether stablecoin payments can work inside a standard convenience store checkout flow.
On Monday, blockchain company HashPort said it had signed an agreement with Lawson and telecom group KDDI to conduct the trial at the Lawson Takanawa Gateway City store. Participants will use HashPort's non-custodial wallet, while the store will process payments through the company's point-of-sale system without needing to open or manage crypto wallets.
The pilot aims to explore how stablecoin payments can be integrated into Japan’s existing retail infrastructure while shielding merchants from much of the operational complexity associated with accepting digital assets.
The companies plan to assess integration requirements, checkout operations, payment processing times and wallet usability before considering broader applications.
Netstars launches multi-stablecoin merchant serviceSeparately, Japanese payments company Netstars launched Stablecoin Pay on Monday, opening applications from merchants seeking to accept multiple stablecoins as payment options.
The service initially supports USDC, USDT and the yen-denominated JPYC through the Solana and Polygon networks, with MetaMask as the supported wallet. Netstars set the merchant payment fee at 0.98% and said it plans to add more wallets and blockchains.
With the service, merchants can use existing payment terminals in most cases and handle product pricing, sales records and settlement in yen, even when customers pay with dollar-denominated stablecoins. Netstars said this removes the need to hold crypto or manage exchange rates.
The commercial launch follows Netstars trials involving USDC payments at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from January to February and at a trading-card store in Himeji from April.
The move from limited pilots to a merchant-facing service comes as Japanese companies build more consumer-facing products around the country’s regulated stablecoin market. On June 1, 2023, Japan introduced a dedicated framework for stablecoins when amendments to the Payment Services Act and related laws took effect.
The rules created regulatory categories for fiat-linked stablecoins and require businesses acting as intermediaries to register with the Financial Services Agency.
The framework was followed by regulatory approval for USDC distribution in March 2025 and by JPYC’s registration as a fund transfer service provider that August, before the stablecoin was launched in October.
Magazine: Has Bitcoin bottomed for this cycle? Analysts say 'not yet'
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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.
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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".
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Institutions: The crypto market continued deleveraging in Q2, with spot trading volume hitting its lowest level since Q3 2023.
According to FalconX’s latest market analysis, the crypto market sustained its deleveraging trend in the second quarter of 2026. Spot trading volume on major platforms fell to $1.6 trillion, down 25% quarter-over-quarter and 42% year-over-year, hitting its lowest level since the third quarter of 2023. Futures trading volume dropped to $9 trillion, a 12% quarter-over-quarter and 31% year-over-year decline. The report shows that by the end of Q2, the total open interest (OI) of futures across the market fell to $53.2 billion, a sharp pullback from the peak of $122.2 billion in October 2025, while trading turnover ratio decreased to 1.6x, reflecting a shift in the market from high-frequency speculation to long-term holding. On the capital flow front, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net outflow of $4.9 billion in Q2, expanding the year-to-date cumulative net outflow to $5.4 billion. Total stablecoin supply shrank by $7.4 billion to $313.8 billion, marking the first contraction in recent quarters. FalconX notes that the current market deleveraging process is largely complete, with open interest stabilizing and trading volume showing signs of recovery in June. Looking ahead to the third quarter, the progress of the U.S. CLARITY Act legislation and ETF capital flows will be key catalysts shaping market trends.
