Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Jul 12, 2026, 5:49 a.m.

3 min read

Summary

A controversial proposal known as BIP-110, which would temporarily restrict non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain, faces an early August deadline with miner support still below 1%.The measure would tighten limits on OP_RETURN and other data-carrying methods for one year, a move backers say would refocus Bitcoin on payments but critics argue improperly censors valid, fee-paying transactions.With major figures like Michael Saylor and Adam Back opposing the plan and both miner and node adoption stuck in the low single digits, BIP-110 appears likely to create only a small minority chain rather than a network-wide change.An infamous proposal to purge non-financial data from the Bitcoin blockchain is heading toward a hard deadline in early August, and the initial support it has gathered from miners is less than 1% so far - a signal of outsized opposition despite the immense social chatter around the topic.

BIP-110, formally titled the Reduced Data Temporary Soft Fork, is basically a fight over what Bitcoin block space is for.

Bitcoin transactions can carry money and extra data. An OP_RETURN section is the obvious “note field” for small bits of data within transactions, and data pushes are another route - where users can place larger chunks of raw data inside Bitcoin script or witness data. Ordinals, inscriptions and some token schemes use those paths to put images, text or token metadata onchain.

BIP-110 would temporarily tighten those paths for one year. It would cap OP_RETURN at the old small size, block most arbitrary data chunks above 256 bytes, and restrict some script formats used mainly for data storage.

Supporters say this keeps Bitcoin focused on payments and lowers node burden, but critics think it turns a policy fight into a consensus rule and tells users which transactions are “acceptable.”

Two of Bitcoin's most influential figures came out against it on Saturday. Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted that "there are 110 things more dangerous to Bitcoin than spam," arguing the proposal "turns a spam dispute into a consensus change that would invalidate some currently valid, fee-paying transactions." The precedent, he wrote, is the real danger.

There are 110 things more dangerous to Bitcoin than spam.

BIP 110 turns a spam dispute into a consensus change that would invalidate some currently valid, fee-paying transactions.

That precedent is the danger. We should save our energy for threats that really matter. $BTC https://t.co/LoSkl9XSo1

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) July 11, 2026 Adam Back, the Blockstream co-founder whose hashcash design is cited in the bitcoin white paper, made a similar case at greater length, addressed to the newcomers backing the proposal.

"Bitcoin respectfully says no to what you want," he said, adding that their real recourse, if unconvinced, is to group together and fork away, but that "bitcoin won't be joining it."

The support data shows what the broader market really thinks. BIP 110 does not rely on the usual path of overwhelming miner approval, but uses a user-activated soft fork, a mechanism in which nodes enforce a rule whether or not miners agree, set to a 55% miner-signaling threshold rather than the traditional 95%.

Backing is absent even at that significantly lower bar.

Miner signaling has never risen above about 1% in any period and stands at zero in the current one, with no major mining pool behind it, according to the BIP 110 signaling monitor.

Among the nodes that store and relay the chain, adoption sits in the low single digits, carried almost entirely by Bitcoin Knots, an alternative to the dominant Bitcoin Core software.

The deadline arrives regardless. The current signaling period runs from block 957,600 to 959,615, and a voluntary lock-in deadline falls at block 961,542 in the following period, expected in early August.

Nodes running BIP 110 software would then begin rejecting any block that does not signal support, with activation projected near September. In practice, a rule enforced by a few percent of nodes and almost no miners does not change Bitcoin for everyone but would split off a minority chain.

As such, Bitcoin's resistance to change is not written down anywhere, but is the product of thousands of independent operators who each have to opt in as a means of consensus.

The underlying spam concern is real. Blocks have carried more non-financial data since the October change, and reasonable people see that as a drift from Bitcoin as money toward Bitcoin as a database. But Bitcoin changes only when the network agrees to run the change, and on the evidence so far, it will not run this one.

12345678910

Digital Assets: Quarterly Review and Outlook Q2

Digital Assets: Quarterly Review and Outlook Q2

Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch. Our report examines what drove the divergence, where structural adoption continued regardless, and what Q3 signals to watch.

Jul 10, 2026

Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch. Our report examines what drove the divergence, where structural adoption continued regardless, and what Q3 signals to watch.

Why it matters:

Digital assets posted a third consecutive quarter of losses in Q2 2026, the longest losing streak since the 2022 bear market, as institutional capital rotated into AI equities and Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest quarterly outflow since launch. Our report examines what drove the divergence, where structural adoption continued regardless, and what Q3 signals to watch.

Bitcoin just posted its first bullish RSI divergence since the end of last year, according to veteran macro investor Jordi Visser, who said the signal is shifting how he views the coming months.

Visser said he spotted the divergence using a 4 hour RSI chart. Price made a new low when Bitcoin broke through $60,000 recently, but the RSI reading stayed higher than it was at the previous low. “As a trader, I go, well, now I can buy something when we get back above 60, and I’ll just stop myself back out below the lows,” he said.

Visser, who also follows Elliott wave theory, believes Bitcoin is near the bottom of its range for the year ahead. He does not rule out a drop to $50,000 or even $45,000. “Do I think we’ll be over 100 a year from now? Yeah,” he said. “So what do I care whether I buy something at 60 or whatever.”

Where the money actually went

Visser said he underestimated how much capital would get pulled toward AI stocks instead of crypto. He pointed to Micron, which he said rose twenty times in value. “You don’t get that in big companies, and this is a big company,” he said, adding that startups without an AI angle struggled to attract investor interest over the past year.

That shift, he said, coincided with the October release of Opus 4.5 and a fading expectation of further rate cuts. The market had priced in 150 basis points of cuts as of late September, before that outlook reversed toward the possibility of another hike.

The Fed’s next move

The Fed could hike rates July 29, with the odds sitting at 35 to 40 percent now, according to Visser. He does not think policymakers actually want to raise rates, citing recent comments from a Fed official suggesting AI could bring a short inflationary bump followed by a longer deflationary trend. If the Fed holds steady, Visser expects Bitcoin to trade above $70,000, as markets begin pricing out any hike before the midterm elections.

He also pointed to a recent speech by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, arguing that digital assets and stablecoins are becoming central to how the administration wants to reshape the country’s role in global finance.

Story Ends Here

Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.

Investment Disclaimer:All opinions and insights shared represent the author's own views on current market conditions. Please do your own research before making investment decisions. Neither the writer nor the publication assumes responsibility for your financial choices.

Sponsored and Advertisements:Sponsored content and affiliate links may appear on our site. Advertisements are marked clearly, and our editorial content remains entirely independent from our ad partners.

Read the Next News

3 hours ago

Bitcoin’s BIP-110 proposal is approaching its early August deadline, yet miner support for the measure remains below 1%, signaling significant resistance to the initiative. Officially titled “Temporary Soft Fork for Reducing Data”, BIP-110’s core controversy centers on restricting non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain. The proposal aims to cap OP_RETURN data capacity within a year, ban most arbitrary data exceeding 256 bytes from being written to the chain, and limit certain script formats primarily used for data storage. Supporters argue the plan would refocus the Bitcoin network on its payment function and reduce node operational burdens; opponents counter that it would escalate policy disputes over block space usage into consensus rule changes, effectively determining which transactions qualify as “acceptable”. Strategy founder Michael Saylor and Blockstream co-founder Adam Back have both publicly opposed BIP-110. Saylor remarked, “There are 110 things more dangerous than junk data”, adding that the proposal would “turn the junk data debate into a consensus change, invalidating some currently valid transactions that pay fees”. Back stated that if supporters cannot accept the status quo, they may choose to fork, but “Bitcoin will not join”. Data shows BIP-110 uses a user-activated soft fork mechanism with a 55% miner signaling threshold, though miner signaling rates have never topped roughly 1% to date, with the current cycle sitting at 0 and no major mining pools backing the measure. The share of nodes running BIP-110 software also remains in the single digits, primarily from Bitcoin Knots users. The proposal’s current signaling cycle will end around block height 959,615, with a voluntary lock-in period expected in early August and activation targeted for around September. If broad support is still absent by then, the initiative could result in a minority of nodes forming a separate chain.

Relevant content

WSJ Survey: U.S. Recession Probability Drops to 25%, Down From 33% in April

According to survey data from The Wall Street Journal, the probability of a U.S. economic recession has dropped to 25%, down from 33% in April.

6 minutes ago

Commercial shipping traffic through the Hormuz Strait has dropped significantly.

According to reports from China Central Television (CCTV), commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply following Iran’s announcement of the reclosure of the strait. Citing commercial shipping tracking data, Iran stated that only 11 commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, including 8 oil tankers and 3 cargo ships.

6 minutes ago

Two hackers today spent a total of 11.71 million DAI to buy ETH.

According to Yu Jian Monitoring, two hackers purchased Ethereum today. The first hacker, who stole funds from Coinbase users, spent 7.378 million DAI to acquire 4,049.7 ETH in the early hours of today, at an average price of $1,822. The second is an address that received ETH from Tornado Cash last November; it spent 4.34 million DAI to repurchase 2,405 ETH two hours ago, at an average price of $1,804.

6 minutes ago

Polymarket's weekly revenue topped $11 million this week, hitting an all-time high.

According to Defillama data, Polymarket's weekly revenue exceeded $11 million this week, hitting an all-time high, while the protocol's cumulative revenue has surpassed $97 million.

6 minutes ago

Robinhood Chain’s DEX trading volume exceeded $877 million over the past 24 hours, ranking second among all blockchains.

According to DefiLlama data, Robinhood Chain’s 24-hour DEX trading volume hit $877.6 million, ranking second among all blockchains—only trailing Solana’s $1.133 billion, while Ethereum’s mainnet came in third with $778 million in trading volume.

6 minutes ago

The volume of ETH bridged from Ethereum Mainnet to Robinhood Chain has surged roughly tenfold in a week, surpassing $100 million.

According to Token Terminal data, over the past week, the volume of ETH bridged from Ethereum mainnet (L1) to Robinhood Chain (L2) has surged roughly 10-fold, surpassing $100 million. Robinhood Chain uses ETH as its native gas token, as noted. Token Terminal stated that if adoption of the chain continues to grow, it could become a new, significant source of demand for ETH.

6 minutes ago

Hot feeds

Hot Articles

Follow us

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.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.

Both Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy, and Adam Back, co-founder of Blockstream and inventor of Hashcash, have opposed the implementation of the extremely controversial Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP 110). 

They believe that the measure threatens the foundational principles of the network.

"110 things more dangerous than spam"BIP 110 seeks to implement protocol-level filters to reject transactions deemed as "spam" (arbitrary data, such as digital artifacts or tokens, into the blockchain). 

HOT Stories

Saylor, whose corporate treasury holds over 843,000 Bitcoin, recently took to X's social media network to oppose the proposal. "There are 110 things more dangerous to Bitcoin than spam," Saylor stated on X.

You Might Also Like

As noted by Saylor, the controversial proposal turns a spam dispute into a consensus change that would invalidate some currently valid, fee-paying transactions," Saylor explained.

For Saylor, the mechanism proposed to implement it is the real danger. "That precedent is the danger," he warned. "We should save our energy for threats that really matter."

"Policing" transactionsBack, a veteran cryptographer who was cited in the original Bitcoin whitepaper, warned that the approach BIP 110 supports is actually at odds with the ethos of permissionless money.

"The decentralization needed to create cypherpunk money has implications," Back wrote in a lengthy post. "A side effect of decentralization is that you can't impose your views on others. The very decentralization mechanism that helps that is working against what BIP 110 wants, which at its most basic is a quest to police other people."

Back claims that hates spam "with a passion," but attempting to mandate behavior at the protocol level is a mistake. "You can modify your software, but not anyone else's," he noted. "Bitcoin can't have people who don't understand technology basics insist on eroding security, decentralization robustness and core properties."

Pushing BIP 110 forward without consensus will inevitably result in a network split, according to Back. "If you won't listen to reason, educate yourself, learn, the same radical freedom applies to you: your permissionless recourse is to club together and create a fork," Back stated bluntly. "But Bitcoin won't be joining it."

Back also pushed back against community claims that the Bitcoin Core developer team is being manipulated by outside funding. "Funders of not-for-profits are 'no strings', not even taking part in the grant decisions," Back clarified. He noted that donors often don't even review the annual summaries of what developers worked on. "They just want to help BTC stay robust."

Blockstream co-founder Adam Back and Strategy founder Michael Saylor have publicly opposed BIP 110, a proposed temporary soft fork for Bitcoin. A Wu Blockchain post summarized their comments on July 12. Back said the plan attempts to police transactions that other users choose to send. He argued that this approach conflicts with Bitcoin’s decentralized and permissionless design.

Summary

Adam Back and Michael Saylor reject BIP 110, citing censorship concerns and potential fork risks. BIP 110 would temporarily restrict large data fields while preserving outputs created before network activation. Miner signaling remains near zero, far below the proposal’s required 55 percent activation threshold today. Adam Back and Michael Saylor Oppose BIP 110 on Bitcoin

Blockstream co-founder and Hashcash inventor Adam Back and Strategy founder Michael Saylor both opposed implementing BIP 110 on the Bitcoin network. Back said BIP 110 attempts to police other people’s transactions and… pic.twitter.com/XLGZqYvyRw

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 12, 2026 Back also warned that supporters could create a separate chain if they enforce rules without broad agreement. Saylor made a similar case in his public statement. He said, “BIP 110 turns a spam dispute into a consensus change” that would reject some transactions that Bitcoin currently accepts. Saylor called that precedent “extremely dangerous” and said developers should focus on larger threats.

What BIP 110 would change The official BIP 110 specification calls it the Reduced Data Temporary Softfork. It would apply extra consensus rules for about one year. These rules would restrict large data fields, some Taproot features, and several methods used to place images or other files inside transactions. The proposal keeps OP_RETURN outputs within an 83-byte limit and restricts several payloads to 256 bytes.

The proposal says these limits would reduce data storage on Bitcoin and keep the network focused on money. It exempts UTXOs created before activation, so existing outputs remain spendable under the old rules. Supporters say the measure would reduce storage demands on node operators. Critics say fee-paying users should decide how they use block space.

Luke Dashjr keeps backing the proposal Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr continues to support BIP 110. A July 6 crypto.news report said he rejected calls to withdraw it and stated, “It’s too late to cancel BIP110.” He argues that Ordinals, Runes, and similar uses place non-financial data on Bitcoin and raise the long-term cost of storing and serving the blockchain.

Earlier crypto.news report covered Back’s earlier response to supporters who claimed discussion channels had blocked the proposal. Back rejected that claim and said many participants had already reviewed the plan. The report found low node support and no clear backing from a major mining pool at that stage.

Miner support remains far below the threshold BIP 110 uses a modified activation process. Miners can lock it in by signaling support in 1,109 of 2,016 blocks, equal to 55%. The specification sets mandatory signaling before block 963,648 and activation at block 965,664, expected around September 1, 2026. The temporary rules would then remain active for about one year.

Current support remains far below that level. Reporting published July 12 said miner signaling stood at zero in the active period and had never exceeded about 1% in earlier periods. No major mining pool had supported the proposal. Without broad adoption, nodes enforcing BIP 110 could follow a minority chain while other nodes continue accepting existing transaction rules.

Exchanges, wallets, miners, and node operators now face an August planning window. They must decide which software and rules they will support before the mandatory signaling period. Market participants can track centralized exchange reserves through DeFiLlama’s CEX dashboard, though those figures do not measure Bitcoin consensus support. The BIP 110 outcome will depend on software adoption, miner signaling, and user decisions across Bitcoin.

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.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.

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.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.

Somewhere out there, a hobbyist plugged a device roughly the size of a coffee mug into their wall, connected it to the internet, and won the Bitcoin mining equivalent of Powerball. Using a Bitaxe ASIC miner that retails for around $250, a solo miner successfully found a complete Bitcoin block around July 12, 2026, earning the full 3.125 BTC subsidy plus transaction fees.

The expected wait time for a device like this to mine a block? Approximately 18,000 years.

The math that makes this absurd The Bitaxe is a compact, open-source ASIC miner that hums along at roughly 1 to 1.2 terahashes per second. It draws between 15 and 25 watts of power, which is less than a light bulb.

To put the odds in sharper relief: a similar setup running at 6 TH/s, which is already several times more powerful than the winning device, would have daily odds of approximately 1 in 180 million. The miner that actually hit the block was working with even less firepower.

Advertisement

The block reward of 3.125 BTC translates to somewhere between $200K and $270K depending on the price of Bitcoin at the time.

How solo mining actually works at this scale Solo mining doesn’t mean a miner is completely alone in the wilderness. Hobbyists typically connect to solo mining pools like CKPool or Braiins Solo, which handle the infrastructure of submitting valid blocks to the network. The critical difference from traditional mining pools is that the miner who finds the block keeps the entire reward, rather than splitting it proportionally across all participants.

Multiple solo mining successes by hobbyists running sub-10 TH/s miners have been reported between 2025 and early 2026.

Why the big miners aren’t worried Large-scale mining operations dominate Bitcoin’s total network hashrate by an overwhelming margin. Industrial facilities running thousands of next-generation ASICs are the ones securing the network and collecting the vast majority of block rewards.

Bitcoin’s price didn’t move because of this event. No mining company’s stock reacted. The network kept producing blocks every ten minutes on average, as it always does.

What the event does illustrate is something more fundamental about Bitcoin’s design. The protocol is genuinely permissionless. A $250 device has the same theoretical chance per hash as a $250 million mining facility. The facility just gets astronomically more hashes per second.

What this means for the curious and the cautious Running a Bitaxe costs almost nothing in electricity. At 15-25 watts, you’re looking at maybe a few dollars per month depending on your local power rates. The device itself is a one-time $250 expense.

The real takeaway for anyone considering this path: treat it like entertainment spending, not an investment thesis. At 1 TH/s against the current network difficulty, the expected wait time to mine a block is approximately 18,000 years. But as this hobbyist just demonstrated, statistics describe populations, not individual outcomes.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

From SBI's expanding Ripple partnership to potential crypto ETF reforms, Japan's role is growing.

Even in times when XRP and the company behind it were not in good shape in their home country, Japan has long stood out as a major ally. However, the most recent regulatory and institutional developments suggest that the country could play an even bigger role in their future.

Over the past several months, Japan has accelerated efforts to modernize its digital asset framework and has proposed legal reforms to classify many cryptocurrencies as financial instruments, paving the way for spot ETFs. It also introduced a more investor-friendly tax regime.

Although the legislation still needs to complete the entire process before such financial vehicles are allowed to launch, the direction has become increasingly clearer. This could be significantly beneficial for XRP.

XRP, Ripple, and Japan For starters, SBI continues with its pro-Ripple initiatives. Both parties have been tangled for years through SBI Ripple Asia to expand cross-border payments across the region. Meanwhile, SBI VC Trade remains one of Japan’s largest XRP-friendly exchanges.

Most recently, Ripple and SBI announced that the former’s stablecoin, RLUSD, has launched in the country after receiving approval from the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA), which expanded their partnership into the regulated stablecoin market.

SBI has also filed for a product that could eventually become the first Japan-based XRP ETF. Instead of pairing the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, the proposed products went for BTC and XRP, highlighting the firm’s conviction that Ripple’s token could become a core institutional asset in the country.

Institutional Demand Given the relatively short history of the cryptocurrency industry and the lack of regulation in most jurisdictions, proper regulatory frameworks can open the door for additional investments from larger players and institutions. Japan has been at the forefront of crypto regulation, and XRP has generally benefited from this.

You may also like: Circle Receives Final Green Light to Establish National Trust Bank Ripple Rolls Out New XRPL Upgrade, but Less Than Half of Nodes Have Upgraded Ripple Lands Major XRP Partnership as Garlinghouse Shares Rare Personal Moment Unlike the prolonged legal battle Ripple endured in the US against the SEC, Japanese regulators have long treated its token as a crypto asset rather than a security. Combined with SBI’s banking relationships and Ripple’s growing enterprise presence, that regulatory certainty has helped create one of XRP’s strongest international footholds.

If Japan indeed approves spot crypto ETFs, XRP could be among the earliest beneficiaries, thanks to its history and the infrastructure already in place there.

Tags:

'Unsavable': Lawyers Told Ripple Execs to Abandon Company

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Garlinghouse

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, disclosed that the company considered shutting down in 2020 and distributing its XRP holdings to shareholders. This revelation highlights the strategic decisions Ripple faced during its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At the time, Ripple owned a significant portion of XRP’s supply, which could have been transferred to equity holders if the company had dissolved. The decision to persist instead of dissolving reflects a deliberate choice to maintain the separation between XRP as a digital asset and Ripple’s corporate equity, amid regulatory challenges.

Advertisement

Key Takeaways The disclosure by Ripple’s CEO suggests that the company once contemplated a significant strategic shift in response to regulatory pressure. Ripple’s decision to continue operating indicates a strategic choice to separate XRP’s digital asset status from corporate equity. Current market pricing suggests reduced confidence in XRP reaching the $3.00 mark in July, reflecting a potential impact from this revelation. What to Watch Market participants will likely monitor Ripple’s ongoing legal developments with the SEC and any strategic shifts by the company. Changes in regulatory clarity or major announcements from Ripple could affect market confidence in XRP’s price trajectory. Observers may also watch for any further comments from Ripple’s leadership that could influence perceptions of the company’s stability and the asset’s future.

Get live prediction-market analysis, powered by Vera. Sign up for Vera.

Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 3.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.7% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.3% — — View market → August 1 2026 8.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 4.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market →

Ripple Lawyers Once Told Executives to Walk Away From the Company

Ripple’s journey from a small blockchain startup to a major player in digital payments narrowly avoided an early end, according to recent remarks from co-founder Chris Larsen. During a recent interview, Larsen revealed that several lawyers had once advised Ripple’s leadership to abandon the company, arguing it was “unsavable” due to steep legal and regulatory barriers.

Ripple’s early struggles and legal risksFounded in 2012, Ripple developed blockchain-based infrastructure aimed at transforming global payments. At the time, the company faced significant skepticism from banks, regulators, and industry insiders about the viability of cryptocurrency solutions for cross-border financial transfers.

Larsen explained that some external legal teams concluded that Ripple’s business faced challenges too severe to overcome. These advisers reportedly urged company executives to withdraw rather than risk further difficulties.

Instead, Ripple’s leadership chose to continue building its payment infrastructure and pursued strategic partnerships worldwide. Over the years, Ripple formed relationships with banks and financial institutions across different continents, steadily growing its presence in the financial sector.

This resilience was later put to the test when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple in late 2020. The SEC alleged that the company had conducted unregistered securities offerings through the sale of XRP, Ripple’s native digital asset. The legal proceedings produced a period of uncertainty for both Ripple and the broader XRP ecosystem.

Rather than close the business, Ripple’s founders continued expanding global payment services and investing in blockchain-based settlement solutions, even as regulatory concerns and court actions mounted over the years.

Despite these challenges, Ripple pressed on, maintaining operations internationally and contesting the SEC’s charges in court. Several decisions in the case have since influenced regulatory discussions across the digital asset industry in the United States.

Diversification and a focus on transparencyToday, Ripple has diversified its business beyond cross-border payments. The company recently introduced RLUSD, a USD-backed stablecoin, and continues to support development on the XRP Ledger for various tokenization projects.

Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse stated that Ripple remains committed to reinforcing XRP’s role in the ecosystem while also creating complementary financial products. He said Ripple’s substantial XRP holdings ensure that its long-term success remains tightly connected to the future of the asset and its network.

Ripple’s leadership has also addressed ongoing speculation. Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz has dismissed unfounded rumors of secret government partnerships or undisclosed catalysts, emphasizing that the company operates transparently and that its escrow system and commercial activities are publicly accessible.

Routine treasury activities, such as XRP escrow releases and internal wallet transfers, continue to attract attention but represent standard practices within Ripple’s operational strategy.

As one of the sector’s most prominent firms, Ripple now serves institutional clients worldwide and invests in a range of blockchain solutions, from payments to tokenization and stablecoins.

The company’s transformation from a startup that some advisers deemed “beyond saving” to a recognized global firm highlights the lasting impact of perseverance in the fast-evolving cryptocurrency industry.

Mini dictionary: Ripple, a US-based fintech company founded in 2012, develops blockchain-based solutions for real-time cross-border payments. Its native asset, XRP, serves as a bridge currency for international transactions on the XRP Ledger.

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.

LendProtocol is a fixed-rate lending platform built on the XRP Ledger that allows XRP and RLUSD holders to earn 12% APR with daily interest payouts. Unlike variable-rate DeFi protocols, LendProtocol offers a predictable, fixed return with no lock-up periods and no exposure to lending risk for depositors.

Table of Contents

What Is LendProtocol?Why Does XRP Need a Lending Platform?How Does LendProtocol Work?Key Features at a GlanceWho Are the Borrowers?Is LendProtocol the Same as Ripple’s XLS-66 Protocol?How Is LendProtocol Secured?Bottom LineFrequently Asked Questions LendProtocol is a CeFi (centralized finance) platform for XRP lending and RLUSD lending, connecting depositors with overcollateralized borrowers. Depositors earn a fixed 12% APR, paid daily, while borrowers post 120% collateral to access XRP or RLUSD liquidity. LendProtocol sits in between as the risk-bearer: if a borrower defaults, the platform absorbs the loss, not the lender.

That last point is the product’s core differentiator. Most DeFi lending platforms distribute default risk across all depositors. LendProtocol does not.

Why Does XRP Need a Lending Platform? XRP cannot be staked. The XRP Ledger runs on Federated Byzantine Agreement (fBFT) consensus — not Proof-of-Stake — so there is no protocol-level reward for holding XRP. Ethereum holders stake for yield. Solana holders stake for yield. XRP holders, before LendProtocol, were left with centralized exchange savings products or simply holding idle capital.

LendProtocol fills that gap with a fixed-rate, collateral-backed lending product. No bridging to other networks, no variable rates, no lock-up.

How Does LendProtocol Work? The mechanics are straightforward:

A lender deposits XRP or RLUSD into LendProtocol. The platform matches those funds with a borrower. The borrower posts overcollateralized collateral — 120% of the loan value — in accepted assets (BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, RLUSD, or USDT). The loan is issued at 12.7% APR; the lender earns 12% APR. The 0.7% spread is platform revenue. Interest accrues daily and compounds — a stated 12% APR becomes approximately 12.75% effective annual yield through daily compounding (where each day’s interest is added to the principal before the next day’s interest is calculated). If the borrower repays: principal and interest go back to the lender. If the borrower defaults: LendProtocol absorbs the loss. The lender’s principal is not at risk from borrower defaults. That is the explicit platform guarantee.

Key Features at a Glance Fixed 12% APR on XRP and RLUSD deposits Daily compounding — ~12.75% effective annual yield No lock-up — withdraw at any time Platform assumes all lending risk — depositors are not exposed to defaults Overcollateralized loans — borrowers post 120% collateral Cold storage for the majority of deposited assets AES-256 GCM encryption for data at rest 2FA required on all accounts RLUSD support — earn 12% APR on Ripple’s USD stablecoin 13,713+ active lenders on the platform 743 million XRP lent to date Who Are the Borrowers? Borrowers on LendProtocol are individuals and institutions who want liquidity without selling their crypto holdings. A trader holding BTC, for example, can post it as collateral and borrow RLUSD for operational expenses — keeping their BTC position intact.

Borrowers pay 12.7% APR on the loan and must post collateral worth at least 120% of the borrowed amount. Accepted collateral: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, RLUSD, and USDT. Collateral is returned in full upon repayment.

The 0.7% spread between the borrower rate (12.7%) and the lender rate (12%) is LendProtocol’s operating revenue, used to cover risk management, infrastructure, and platform operations.

Is LendProtocol the Same as Ripple’s XLS-66 Protocol? No. This is worth stating clearly.

LendProtocol is a consumer CeFi product built on the XRP Ledger. It is not an implementation of XLS-66, the native lending standard developed by Ripple and the XRPL community. The two share the same underlying blockchain, but they are separate products with different risk models, borrower types, and rate structures.

LendProtocol XRPL Native Lending (XLS-66) Type Consumer CeFi platform Open blockchain protocol Developer LendProtocol team Ripple / XRPL community Collateral model 120% overcollateralized Uncollateralized (off-chain underwriting) Rates Fixed 12% / 12.7% Negotiated per vault Website lendprotocol.io xrpl.org LendProtocol uses the XRP Ledger as its settlement and custody layer. It is built on top of it, not as part of it.

How Is LendProtocol Secured? Cold storage: The majority of deposited assets are held offline, keeping them inaccessible to remote attacks. Only the liquidity needed for operational withdrawals is held in hot wallets.

AES-256 GCM encryption: All data at rest is encrypted with AES-256 GCM, the same standard used by banks and government institutions.

Two-Factor Authentication: 2FA is required on all accounts without exception.

Bottom Line For XRP holders, the core problem is simple: XRP produces no yield on its own. LendProtocol offers the most direct solution currently available on the XRP Ledger — a fixed 12% APR, paid daily, with no lock-up and no depositor exposure to default risk. RLUSD holders get the same rate without XRP price exposure, which makes it an option for more conservative investors and treasury operations.

The trade-off is centralization. LendProtocol is a CeFi platform. Users trust the operator’s risk management and security infrastructure rather than an open smart contract. For some investors, that is a feature; for others, it is a limitation. The product numbers — 13,713+ lenders, 743 million XRP lent — suggest meaningful traction either way.

Learn more or start earning at lendprotocol.io.

Frequently Asked Questions What is LendProtocol?
LendProtocol is a fixed-rate CeFi lending platform built on the XRP Ledger, offering 12% APR on XRP and RLUSD deposits with daily payouts, no lock-up, and platform-guaranteed protection of depositor capital. As of 2026, LendProtocol has 13,713+ active lenders and 743 million XRP lent on the platform.

Is LendProtocol safe?
LendProtocol uses cold storage for the majority of assets, AES-256 GCM encryption, and mandatory 2FA on all accounts. Crucially, LendProtocol assumes all default risk — if a borrower fails to repay, the platform absorbs the loss rather than distributing it to depositors. That said, LendProtocol is a CeFi platform, meaning users trust a centralized operator rather than an autonomous smart contract. Prospective depositors should weigh that structure against their own risk tolerance.

How does LendProtocol generate 12% APR?
LendProtocol lends depositor funds to overcollateralized borrowers at 12.7% APR. Lenders receive 12% of that rate as yield; the remaining 0.7% covers platform operations. Borrowers must post 120% of the loan value in accepted collateral (BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, RLUSD, or USDT), which provides a buffer against price volatility and supports the platform’s ability to cover losses in the event of default.

Is LendProtocol the same as Ripple’s Lending Protocol?
No. LendProtocol is a separate, independent consumer product that happens to be built on the XRP Ledger. Ripple’s XLS-66 is a native lending standard at the blockchain-protocol level — designed for institutional, credentialed borrowers with uncollateralized loans and negotiated rates. LendProtocol operates as a CeFi platform above that layer, targeting retail and institutional depositors with fixed rates and overcollateralized lending.

Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.

Cover image via U.Today 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.

Markus Infanger, an executive at Ripple, will speak at a major XRP event.

Infanger, who is RippleX's senior vice president (SVP), is expected to participate in XRP Seoul 2026, an event hosted by XRP Ledger Korea scheduled for October 3 during KBW (Korea Blockchain Week). This event connects XRP holders, builders, and ecosystem projects worldwide.

The official XRP Seoul 2026 X account announced that Infanger will be among the featured speakers at the event. This follows an earlier announcement in June that Ripple president Monica Long would be among the key speakers at the event.

HOT Stories

We're honored to welcome @markusinfanger, SVP of @RippleXDev

Markus oversees Ripple's contributions to XRPL, from product development to partnerships and developer ecosystem growth.

Want to take the stage with the leaders shaping XRPL's future? Join XRP Seoul 2026 as a speaker… pic.twitter.com/x3STtZeVwc

— XRP Seoul 2026 🇰🇷 (@XRPSEOUL) July 12, 2026 In making the announcement, the XRP Seoul 2026 team stated it was "honored to welcome" Infanger, highlighting his leadership role in Ripple's contributions to the XRP Ledger.

You Might Also Like

As SVP of RippleX, Infanger oversees Ripple's work on the XRP Ledger, including product development, partnerships, and growing the developer ecosystem. He is therefore well-positioned to discuss upcoming product developments, including collaborations and advancements in the developer ecosystem.

Korea has long been one of XRP's most active speculative markets, with expectations rising in the XRP community ahead of the event. Currently, XRP is the second most traded asset by volume on Upbit Korea, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of both trading volume and customer base.

Momentum buildsRipple and the XRP Ledger are seeing increased momentum, which is why the timing of the upcoming event matters.

You Might Also Like

Ripple recently received authorization of its Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from Luxembourg's Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). The authorization confirms Ripple as fully MiCA-compliant, with its solutions underpinned by XRP and RLUSD made available to financial institutions, corporates, and businesses across all 30 countries of the European Economic Area.

The XRP Ledger surpassed 1,000,000 agentic payments via x402 in the past week. The XRPL AI Hub represents a comprehensive new ecosystem platform for builders, users, and enthusiasts, providing a boost for the agentic economy.

WSJ Survey: U.S. Recession Probability Drops to 25%, Down From 33% in April

According to survey data from The Wall Street Journal, the probability of a U.S. economic recession has dropped to 25%, down from 33% in April.

6 minutes ago

Commercial shipping traffic through the Hormuz Strait has dropped significantly.

According to reports from China Central Television (CCTV), commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply following Iran’s announcement of the reclosure of the strait. Citing commercial shipping tracking data, Iran stated that only 11 commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, including 8 oil tankers and 3 cargo ships.

6 minutes ago

Two hackers today spent a total of 11.71 million DAI to buy ETH.

According to Yu Jian Monitoring, two hackers purchased Ethereum today. The first hacker, who stole funds from Coinbase users, spent 7.378 million DAI to acquire 4,049.7 ETH in the early hours of today, at an average price of $1,822. The second is an address that received ETH from Tornado Cash last November; it spent 4.34 million DAI to repurchase 2,405 ETH two hours ago, at an average price of $1,804.

6 minutes ago

Polymarket's weekly revenue topped $11 million this week, hitting an all-time high.

According to Defillama data, Polymarket's weekly revenue exceeded $11 million this week, hitting an all-time high, while the protocol's cumulative revenue has surpassed $97 million.

6 minutes ago

Robinhood Chain’s DEX trading volume exceeded $877 million over the past 24 hours, ranking second among all blockchains.

According to DefiLlama data, Robinhood Chain’s 24-hour DEX trading volume hit $877.6 million, ranking second among all blockchains—only trailing Solana’s $1.133 billion, while Ethereum’s mainnet came in third with $778 million in trading volume.

6 minutes ago

The volume of ETH bridged from Ethereum Mainnet to Robinhood Chain has surged roughly tenfold in a week, surpassing $100 million.

According to Token Terminal data, over the past week, the volume of ETH bridged from Ethereum mainnet (L1) to Robinhood Chain (L2) has surged roughly 10-fold, surpassing $100 million. Robinhood Chain uses ETH as its native gas token, as noted. Token Terminal stated that if adoption of the chain continues to grow, it could become a new, significant source of demand for ETH.

6 minutes ago

A growing disparity between institutional and retail investors could set the tone for Ethereum [ETH] heading into the new week. At press time, the asset climbed just 1.1% over the past day and posted impressive double-digit gains across the past thirty days.

That sentiment may be turning, though, as rising tension in the perpetual futures market hints that retail investors are shifting bearish and selling into the weekend.

Institutional flows turn bullish Ethereum has held fairly steady around $1,800 over the past day, with institutional investor flows serving as one major contributor.

At the close of Friday’s trading session, SoSoValue reported that these investors recorded a weekly netflow of $84.4 million in net buying. That marked the first weekly net buy across the past nine weeks of trading.

Source: SosoValue During the week, only one day saw net sales, the 9th of July, when investors offloaded $52.08 million as Ethereum fell to $1,748.

Therefore, a turnaround of this kind, after such a long stretch of selling, often signals that institutional investors are recalibrating their outlook and may look to add capital to spot U.S. Ethereum ETFs. That fresh demand could help push the asset’s price higher in the near term.

Retail investors shift the other way Retail investors, meanwhile, have continued to move in the opposite direction, opposing the bullish outlook that institutions have leaned into.

Over the past 24 hours, selling volume has risen across the Ethereum perpetual market. At the time of writing, the Long/Short Ratio that tracks this had fallen to 0.946.

Source: CoinGlass Whenever the ratio drops below 1, as it has here, it points to a growing base of sellers in the market. The bigger concern, though, remains the mounting pressure building on key venues OKX and Bybit.

According to CoinGlass, whales, the high-liquidity players across these exchanges, carried an “extremely bearish” tag. For context, the two exchanges control $4.10 billion and $1.19 billion in total perpetual trading volume, respectively.

Moreover, a bearish stance from these players adds further weight to ETH and could drag the asset lower on the chart.

Short sellers step into ETH Some retail investors are already positioning bearishly, and data shows one trader has opened a massive short worth $12.43 million on ETH ahead of further losses.

For now, though, overall liquidation data suggests those short sellers could still be at risk. The market’s total liquidations continue to work against short traders, who lost $11.49 million over the period compared with $8.30 million on the long side.

If anything, the data shows the market still leans more bearish than bullish. And while retail traders are attempting to set the tone for a decline, they could just as easily bear the brunt of it.

Final Summary Institutional investors bought Ethereum for the first time in nine weeks, a sign that big money may be warming back up to the asset. Retail traders moved the opposite way, selling into the weekend and setting up a tug-of-war that could decide ETH’s next move.

The Ethereum Foundation said it used AI agents to uncover a real vulnerability, which could be the new way of improving blockchain security.

The organization behind the second-largest blockchain network revealed it had employed a coordinated army of AI agents to identify vulnerabilities in Ethereum’s critical infrastructure.

The team said one major bug was successfully discovered and patched before it could become a larger problem. But that could be just the start of this major story.

AI and Ethereum The blog post published by the Ethereum Foundation reveals that the Protocol Security team disclosed that AI-powered agents found a remotely triggerable vulnerability in libp2p’s Gossipsub networking layer. This is a core component used by the blockchain’s consensus clients to communicate with each other.

The AI agents were deployed against the protocol code, cryptographic software, and smart contracts that underpin the network. The most significant issue the team faced was not finding the bug itself, but filtering genuine issues from the overwhelming number of false positives generated by the agents.

The team published its findings only after fixing the issue, but researchers said the bigger breakthrough lies in the process of finding it rather than the bug itself. AI has become highly effective at identifying potential weaknesses, but without a human touch, the process is still far from being good enough for such major tasks.

The Foundation compared AI agents to modern fuzzing tools. They won’t replace human auditors, but can dramatically expand the search process by generating proof-of-concept exploits, tracing attack paths, and testing assumptions at a scale that would be challenging to achieve manually.

Is This the Future? The cryptocurrency community has wondered for a few years how and why the cryptocurrency industry can be linked to artificial intelligence. The EF said that one of the most important connections between the two is now through AI-assisted auditing, which can fundamentally change how blockchain security operates.

You may also like: Analyst Sees Upside for ETH Ahead of Glamsterdam Upgrade ‘Summer of Ethereum Love’ Gaining Steam, Says Lubin, But When Will ETH Price Follow?  Charles Hoskinson Says Ethereum Is Adopting Cardano Ideas Without Credit Development teams may deploy more and more AI agents to continuously probe protocol code for vulnerabilities before malicious actors discover them. This could be the opposite of numerous examples in which bad actors employed such agents to hack different blockchains.

Nevertheless, the Foundation cautioned that today’s systems remain far from autonomous as they still generate reports that are duplicates, contain false alarms, or describe attack paths that cannot actually be exploited. The team doubled down that every serious finding still requires careful human review before developers can act on it.

Tags:

WSJ Survey: U.S. Recession Probability Drops to 25%, Down From 33% in April

According to survey data from The Wall Street Journal, the probability of a U.S. economic recession has dropped to 25%, down from 33% in April.

6 minutes ago

Commercial shipping traffic through the Hormuz Strait has dropped significantly.

According to reports from China Central Television (CCTV), commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply following Iran’s announcement of the reclosure of the strait. Citing commercial shipping tracking data, Iran stated that only 11 commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, including 8 oil tankers and 3 cargo ships.

6 minutes ago

Polymarket's weekly revenue topped $11 million this week, hitting an all-time high.

According to Defillama data, Polymarket's weekly revenue exceeded $11 million this week, hitting an all-time high, while the protocol's cumulative revenue has surpassed $97 million.

6 minutes ago

Robinhood Chain’s DEX trading volume exceeded $877 million over the past 24 hours, ranking second among all blockchains.

According to DefiLlama data, Robinhood Chain’s 24-hour DEX trading volume hit $877.6 million, ranking second among all blockchains—only trailing Solana’s $1.133 billion, while Ethereum’s mainnet came in third with $778 million in trading volume.

6 minutes ago

The volume of ETH bridged from Ethereum Mainnet to Robinhood Chain has surged roughly tenfold in a week, surpassing $100 million.

According to Token Terminal data, over the past week, the volume of ETH bridged from Ethereum mainnet (L1) to Robinhood Chain (L2) has surged roughly 10-fold, surpassing $100 million. Robinhood Chain uses ETH as its native gas token, as noted. Token Terminal stated that if adoption of the chain continues to grow, it could become a new, significant source of demand for ETH.

6 minutes ago

Binance Wallet has integrated Robinhood Chain.

According to official announcements, Binance Wallet has integrated Robinhood Chain. Users can directly access and trade tokens on Robinhood Chain via the Binance Wallet App and browser extension, delivering a more convenient multi-chain operation experience.

6 minutes ago

A new Cambridge study placed Ethereum near the lower end of energy intensity among major proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, although the network still used more electricity overall than most of the PoS networks studied.

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance estimated that Ethereum consumes about 7.87 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually. When adjusted for market value, the network used roughly 33 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per $1 million, the second-lowest figure among the proof-of-stake networks assessed, behind BNB Chain.

Solana used the most electricity among the PoS networks studied, at about 13.48 GWh per year. Its energy intensity was roughly 283 kWh per $1 million of market value, around 8.5 times Ethereum’s, while the networks in the comparison consumed about 38 GWh combined.

The report provides one of the most detailed assessments yet of Ethereum’s post-Merge footprint, giving policymakers and investors a more current basis for comparing blockchain sustainability.

Illustration of post-Merge Ethereum consumption. Source: Cambridge

New estimates map Ethereum’s energy useCambridge measured how much electricity Ethereum nodes used at the wall across 20 combinations of the network’s main software clients. It found that a typical home setup used about 18 watts, while a more powerful workstation used roughly 153 watts.

Using Ethereum’s mix of residential and professionally hosted nodes, the researchers estimated an average power draw of about 105 watts per node. Cambridge counted around 8,522 discoverable full nodes, with 64% running in cloud or enterprise facilities and 36% on residential connections.

Cambridge said Ethereum’s remaining emissions are now driven mainly by the electricity grids supplying its nodes. The study estimated that about 56.4% of the network’s electricity mix came from renewable and nuclear sources, compared with 43.6% from fossil fuels.

Ethereum moved from proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake validation through the Merge in September 2022. The Merge replaced miners competing with one another using energy-intensive computing equipment with validators who secure the network by staking Ether.

After the Merge, energy estimates showed that the upgrade had reduced the network’s electricity use by more than 99.9%, as the mining process used to secure the blockchain was removed. 

Magazine: Bitcoin nearing late stages of bear market: Jamie Coutts, Real Vision

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

BNB Chain has maintained its dominant position in the stablecoin sector, recording approximately 15 million active stablecoin addresses per month. Data compiled by Binance Research and Dune indicate that this network consistently outpaces all other blockchains in terms of active stablecoin users.

BNB Chain’s expanding user baseThe percentage of active stablecoin users on BNB Chain was significantly lower in 2021. Since then, the network has experienced robust growth in its user base, reinforcing its standing as the primary blockchain for stablecoin transactions. Competing networks, including Ethereum and Solana, have also seen their user numbers climb, but none currently match the address activity registered on BNB Chain.

Stablecoins are widely used on blockchain platforms for trading, payments, transfers, and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, serving as a critical foundation for on-chain activity. Analysts generally interpret a growing stablecoin user base as a sign of higher liquidity and stronger ecosystem participation. However, user activity tells only part of the story.

Address activity vs. capital flowsHigh address activity does not always translate into greater capital concentration. While BNB Chain leads in active users, it does not hold the largest stablecoin market capitalization or transaction value, nor does it attract the same level of institutional adoption observed on other networks.

The chain’s accessibility and low transaction costs have encouraged many users to conduct smaller-value transfers. In contrast, blockchains like Ethereum attract fewer active addresses but record substantially higher capital flows and more institutional-grade transactions.

From a market perspective, this distinction is significant. Although strong address activity points to heightened retail involvement and network utility, it should not be assumed that every user contributes equally to total economic value.

BNB price action under pressureRecent movements in the price of BNB reflect this complex situation. Data show that BNB, the native cryptocurrency of BNB Chain, is currently trading near $573 after a prolonged period of declining highs and lows. The price remains below its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages, signaling that the broader downward trend is still in effect.

Although the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has rebounded toward the neutral 50 mark—suggesting that selling pressure is easing—buyers have not yet provided sufficient momentum for a meaningful breakout. Immediate resistance for BNB hovers at the 50-day EMA, close to $579, with stronger barriers marked by the 100-day and 200-day averages.

Despite these technical headwinds, BNB Chain’s network continues to demonstrate leadership in user activity within the stablecoin market.

Mini dictionary: BNB Chain is a decentralized, public blockchain platform developed by Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The network supports high-throughput applications and is widely used for trading, DeFi, and digital asset transfers, with a focus on low fees and scalability.

BlockchainMonthly Active Stablecoin AddressesMain AdvantagesBNB Chain15 millionLow fees, high retail activityEthereumLower than BNB ChainHigh capital flows, institutional adoptionSolanaLower than BNB ChainFast transactions, growing user baseWhile BNB Chain maintains its lead in user activity, transaction values and institutional involvement often favor other networks like Ethereum. This nuanced dynamic influences both ecosystem participation and cryptocurrency price behavior.

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.

Dogecoin (DOGE) is drawing renewed attention as it approaches a significant technical level that some analysts identify as a potential catalyst for a breakout. While current trading patterns indicate a stabilization of bearish momentum, broader market sentiment continues to play a critical role in DOGE’s near-term trajectory.

Technical signals and current DOGE priceDogecoin is currently trading at $0.07306, reflecting a 1.42% loss over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency’s 24-hour trading volume stands at $423.83 million and its market capitalization totals $11.31 billion. Despite recent downward price action, technical analysts note a gradual decrease in selling pressure, which suggests the possibility of a bullish reversal.

Javon Marks, a digital asset analyst, emphasized that DOGE has consistently exhibited a technical price pattern throughout previous market cycles. Marks and other commentators have pointed to repeated formations that historically preceded significant upward rallies for the coin.

Recent analysis of DOGE charts indicates a potential breakout phase, which, if buying momentum builds, could propel the token into a parabolic rally. Analysts have outlined possible upside targets at $0.6533, $1.20, and $2.80. Reaching these levels would represent an 8 to over 10 times increase compared to the current price.

However, several analysts have cautioned that these targets remain speculative and are closely tied to the direction of the broader crypto market, particularly Bitcoin. The future of DOGE is likely to remain tied to overall market sentiment and the trajectory of leading cryptocurrencies.

Recent price history and market structureAccording to technical data from TradingView, Dogecoin transitioned from a strong spring rally, which lifted the price above $0.1150 in mid-May, to a summer period dominated by bearish sentiment. June’s selling pressure pushed DOGE down to the $0.0700 region, and it is now trading 1.15% below the $0.07320 level.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for DOGE currently sits near 35.95. This lower reading typically suggests the asset is oversold, signaling weakening selling pressure, but also highlights that the downward trend has remained in place since May. Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator, though still in negative territory, shows a narrowing histogram, reinforcing signs that bearish momentum is fading.

Mini dictionary: MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence), a momentum indicator used in technical analysis, helps reveal changes in the strength, direction, momentum, and duration of a price trend in an asset’s chart.

PeriodDOGE Price HighDOGE Price LowMid-May 2024Above $0.1150$0.0900June 2024–$0.0700Market outlook and investor cautionWhile technical signals are increasingly supportive of a turnaround, analysts urge caution. Expectations of a recovery for DOGE rely heavily on buyers holding existing support levels and reclaiming key resistance. A breakout accompanied by rising trading volume could attract new investors and reinforce the bullish scenario.

Analysts have stated that, with upside targets between $0.6533 and $2.80, DOGE could post substantial gains if a breakout occurs, but stressed that Dogecoin’s next moves remain largely dependent on overall crypto market conditions and Bitcoin’s price stability.

Continued sideways movement or renewed declines in Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies could prolong the current stagnation in the Dogecoin market. Observers are monitoring Bitcoin’s recent steadiness as a potential signal for improvements across the wider crypto sector.

Dogecoin, originally created as a meme-based cryptocurrency in 2013, now ranks among the largest cryptocurrencies by market value and is closely watched for large price swings often fueled by social media discussions and retail enthusiasm.

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.

Cardano, one of the major smart contract blockchains, is drawing increased attention from traders as it approaches a significant market capitalization support level near $6.83 billion. Market observers see this threshold as a pivotal point for the cryptocurrency’s future trend, with recent activity suggesting heightened buyer interest around this zone.

Key market structure and ADA’s potential reversalTechnical analyst Vuori Trading identified the $6.83 billion mark as a strong support area where past cycles have attracted considerable buyer momentum. The analyst noted that maintaining this level is essential for preserving a positive market outlook, while a drop below it could indicate a shift towards weakness for Cardano’s ADA token.

Cardano has experienced an extended period of ranging price action following its previous highs. ADA has remained above its key support, with traders watching closely for signs of a reversal or further decline.

A separate assessment by trader Jesse Olson emphasized Cardano’s ability to achieve two upside targets before retracing toward critical support levels mapped out by trend indicators. Olson pointed out that this retracement could help ADA form a higher low—an encouraging signal by bullish standards, especially compared to similar patterns observed in Ethereum.

Cardano has broken above its descending daily trendline, advancing to the $0.19–$0.20 area and remaining above previous resistance. The main support area now stands at $0.168–$0.172, and holding above this zone could enable a further push to $0.22 and eventually to $0.235–$0.24.

Support/Resistance LevelSignificance$0.168–$0.172Key support area; holding above could signal strength$0.19–$0.20Recent breakout area$0.22, $0.235–$0.24Upside targets if support holdsTechnical indicators, including the Relative Strength Index (RSI), signal low momentum levels for ADA. Historically, such readings have preceded price rebounds and potential trend reversals.

Mini dictionary: Relative Strength Index (RSI), a popular technical analysis tool used to measure the speed and change of price movements, indicating whether an asset is overbought or oversold.

Fibonacci projections suggest massive upsideAccording to the analysis by Vuori Trading, Fibonacci extension methods indicate that ADA’s next key target would be a market cap of $37 billion, with a longer-term projection at $569.5 billion, should a major market rally occur. In an optimistic scenario, ADA’s price could multiply by up to 80 times during a strong crypto bull run.

Analysts view the combination of deeply oversold technical indicators, key support retention, and high upside projections as a possible setup for a significant ADA rally, contingent on broader crypto market dynamics.

Cardano founder’s confident outlookCharles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, remains confident about the network’s trajectory, describing 2026 as a year in which Cardano will be in stronger shape. Hoskinson anticipates that Cardano will secure its place among the top ten digital assets by market capitalization.

He attributed ongoing growth prospects to development initiatives such as the Midnight side chain and broader ecosystem expansion, emphasizing technological and infrastructure progress over short-term price movements.

Hoskinson’s optimism reflects the sentiment among a segment of the Cardano community who expect further development and adoption, potentially supporting future price action.

Mini dictionary: Charles Hoskinson is a blockchain developer and entrepreneur, best known as the founder of Cardano and a co-founder of Ethereum.

Hoskinson has stressed that Cardano’s long-term growth will be driven by its infrastructure and application ecosystem, not just its market price.

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.

BNB Agent Studio launched on July 1, 2026, on BNB Smart Chain, integrating Amazon Bedrock’s AgentCore as its managed cloud runtime. The result is autonomous AI agents that stay live around the clock, billed only when active, and completely independent of whatever machine a developer happens to be running.

Here’s the core pitch: a developer writes a single prompt inside familiar tools like Cursor or Claude Code, and a fully operational on-chain AI agent is live in under 15 minutes. Deploying autonomous agents on blockchain infrastructure historically involved days of configuration work, sometimes weeks, covering identity management, payment rails, task interfaces, and compute provisioning separately.

Advertisement

Nina Rong, Executive Director of Growth at BNB Chain, framed it directly: with BNB Agent Studio, developers can dedicate their creativity and focus toward agent logic as the platform streamlines the underlying infrastructure requirements.

In practice, three open standards are doing the heavy lifting underneath. ERC-8004 handles on-chain identity, giving each agent a permanent, ownable digital presence on BNB Smart Chain. ERC-8183 defines the task interface, standardizing how agents receive and execute instructions. The x402 protocol manages self-funded payments, meaning agents can pay for their own operations without a developer manually topping up wallets.

The AWS Bedrock AgentCore integration is what makes the persistence story credible. Rather than running on a developer’s local machine or a self-managed server, agents execute inside isolated cloud environments managed by Amazon’s infrastructure. BNB Chain uses microVM technology for agent isolation, meaning each agent runs in its own sandboxed environment. The billing model follows a pay-per-use structure, with agents only charged for compute when they’re actually doing something.

AWS joins Trust Wallet and PieVerse as the platform’s anchor partners. Trust Wallet handles wallet integration, giving agents a native interface with the BNB Chain ecosystem. PieVerse provides payment infrastructure, sitting alongside the x402 protocol to support the agent economy.

Over 120,000 AI agents have already been created on BNB Smart Chain using the platform. A follow-up update on July 7, 2026, added real-time CoinMarketCap data access through Binance Pay’s B402 integration, meaning agents can now query live market data natively as part of their decision logic without developers building separate data pipeline connections.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.