The South Korean government has used its regulatory authority to discriminate against U.S. companies and has waged an unprecedented campaign against online retailer Coupang, according to a House Judiciary Committee report released Wednesday.
The report is the result of an investigation opened by the committee in February. It highlights the treatment of Coupang, which is based in the U.S. but is known as the "Amazon of Asia," and other U.S. companies going back decades.
"South Korea's conduct is part of a broader attempt by foreign governments to weaponize their laws and regulations in an effort to harm American companies and limit their ability to compete in the global economy," the committee, which is chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, reported.
The South Korean embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The committee said in the report that Coupang has been the target of discriminatory pressure from the South Korean government that intensified in 2025 after a data breach perpetrated by a disgruntled former employee.
The company apologized for the breach and its CEO, Park Dae-jun, resigned as a result of the incident.
But according to testimony given to the committee by Coupang's acting CEO Harold Rogers — who took over in December after Park resigned — South Korean officials were informed by the company that same month that the scale of the breach was smaller than initially expected and "that the leak was limited in nature," according to the House Judiciary report.
Despite that information, the committee found that the South Korean government launched a campaign against Coupang that included dozens of investigations, thousands of document requests, excessive fines and threats of criminal charges against Rogers, who is a U.S. citizen.
According to the committee, the South Korean National Intelligence Service compelled Coupang to send divers on a covert mission to retrieve a laptop used by the disgruntled former employee and that had been discarded in a river in Shanghai, then lied to the public about its involvement in the recovery operation.
"We regret the circumstances that led to the House Judiciary Committee's investigation and we remain committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries," the company said in a statement.
The result of South Korea's campaign against Coupang has been a more than 40% drop in Coupang's market capitalization, according to the committee, and could have a negative effect on its investors.
"South Korean regulators have consistently targeted Coupang and subjected the company to hostile regulatory treatment, unfair enforcement practices, and disproportionately large penalties not faced by their Korean competitors," the Judiciary report states.
The U.S. and South Korea have had a free trade agreement since 2012. South Korea has been a crucial trade partner for the U.S. in Asia, according to Demetrios Marantis, former acting U.S. trade representative under President Barack Obama, told CNBC.
But the relationship has at times been strained, and other digital companies based in the U.S. — like Google and Netflix — have also at times struggled with South Korean regulators, according to Marantis.
"Korea has had a long history of discriminating against foreign companies, just generally, and being protectionist, and a little bit inward looking," he said. "But the situation with Coupang — I have never seen anything this intense. This much of a whole-of-government assault on one company."
The U.S.-South Korea trade deal was renegotiated in 2025 as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs. South Korea negotiated a lower tariff rate with Trump in exchange for investments in U.S. shipbuilding and national security, as well as regulatory rollbacks for American companies.
In its report, the House Judiciary Committee argued South Korea's actions against Coupang violate the deal.
"South Korea's discriminatory treatment of American-owned businesses directly violates its recent trade agreement with the United States," the report states.
Coupang, Inc. (CPNG - Free Report) has been one of the most searched-for stocks on Zacks.com lately. So, you might want to look at some of the facts that could shape the stock's performance in the near term.
Over the past month, shares of this company have returned +3.8%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -1.8% change. During this period, the Zacks Internet - Commerce industry, which Coupang falls in, has lost 11.1%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?
Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.
Earnings Estimate RevisionsHere at Zacks, we prioritize appraising the change in the projection of a company's future earnings over anything else. That's because we believe the present value of its future stream of earnings is what determines the fair value for its stock.
We essentially look at how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to reflect the impact of the latest business trends. And if earnings estimates go up for a company, the fair value for its stock goes up. A higher fair value than the current market price drives investors' interest in buying the stock, leading to its price moving higher. This is why empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.
Coupang is expected to post a loss of $0.14 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -800%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged.
The consensus earnings estimate of -$0.25 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of -308.3%. This estimate has changed -45.1% over the last 30 days.
For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $0.4 indicates a change of +259.7% from what Coupang is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has remained unchanged.
With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool -- the Zacks Rank -- is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Coupang.
The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:
12 Month EPS
Projected Revenue GrowthWhile earnings growth is arguably the most superior indicator of a company's financial health, nothing happens as such if a business isn't able to grow its revenues. After all, it's nearly impossible for a company to increase its earnings for an extended period without increasing its revenues. So, it's important to know a company's potential revenue growth.
For Coupang, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $8.93 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +4.8%. For the current and next fiscal years, $37.75 billion and $42.7 billion estimates indicate +9.3% and +13.1% changes, respectively.
Last Reported Results and Surprise HistoryCoupang reported revenues of $8.5 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +7.5%. EPS of -$0.15 for the same period compares with $0.06 a year ago.
Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.57 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of -0.72%. The EPS surprise was +74.58%.
Over the last four quarters, Coupang surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times. The company topped consensus revenue estimates two times over this period.
ValuationNo investment decision can be efficient without considering a stock's valuation. Whether a stock's current price rightly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects is an essential determinant of its future price performance.
While comparing the current values of a company's valuation multiples, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), with its own historical values helps determine whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of the reasonability of the stock's price.
As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.
Coupang is graded C on this front, indicating that it is trading at par with its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.
Bottom LineThe facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Coupang. However, its Zacks Rank #3 does suggest that it may perform in line with the broader market in the near term.
Brownsville, Texas, again ranks as the safest city, with Boston as the most collision-prone
Key takeaways:
For the second straight year, Brownsville, Texas, ranks as the safest city, with drivers going nearly 15 years between collisions. Boston remains the most collision-prone at just 3.76 years. Drivers in the safest cities are nearly four times less likely to experience a crash. Waco, Texas, made the largest improvement year over year (+40 spots), while Detroit saw the steepest decline (-38 spots). About one-third of cities moved 10 spots or more and three new cities entered the top or bottom 10, showing how changing traffic patterns and behavior impact risk. New insights from Drivewise®, available in the Allstate mobile app, show how habits like speeding, hard braking, phone use and nighttime driving influence risk across the country. These are behaviors drivers can control to lower their chances of a crash and help avoid the out-of-pocket and insurance costs that often follow. , /PRNewswire/ -- Drivers in the safest U.S. cities can go years longer between collisions, reducing risk and helping keep insurance costs more manageable, according to Allstate's 2026 America's Best Drivers Report. The report highlights how location and everyday driving habits influence both safety and, in turn, the costs drivers may ultimately face.
Texas again has multiple cities among the safest drivers in the nation, while Massachusetts cities including Boston, Worcester and Springfield rank highest for crash risk. The report answers a key question for drivers: How likely am I to experience a crash where I live, and how can I reduce my risk?
Now in its 18th year, the report ranks the 200 largest U.S. cities based on auto insurance claims data and includes insights from Drivewise, available in the Allstate mobile app. Drivewise provides feedback on behaviors such as speeding, braking and phone use to help drivers improve how they drive.
Together, the data shows how often crashes occur and highlights behaviors that increase risk, giving drivers actionable ways to stay safer, avoid the costs associated with collisions and help lower their insurance costs over time.
Laura Hoffman, vice president of auto design and telematics at Allstate:
"Where you drive plays a role in your risk, but how and when you drive matters just as much. By pairing claims data with driving insights such as speeding, hard braking and phone use from Allstate's Drivewise, we're helping drivers take simple steps to prevent crashes and keep insurance costs down."
Top 10 safest cities for drivers
Ranked by Allstate claims data and the highest average years between collisions
Ranking
City
Average
years
between
collisions
Relative collision
likelihood (to
national average)*
Change in
ranking
(2025-2026)
1
Brownsville, TX
14.99
-27.5 %
0
2
Fort Collins, CO
14.96
-27.4 %
1
3
Boise, ID
14.07
-22.8 %
-1
4
Laredo, TX
13.82
-21.4 %
1
5
Cary, NC
12.82
-15.2 %
-1
6
Madison, WI
12.81
-15.2 %
3
7
McAllen, TX (New to top 10)
12.76
-14.9 %
4
8
Colorado Springs, CO (New to top 10)
12.68
-14.4 %
15
9
Eugene, OR
12.68
-14.3 %
1
10
Olathe, KS
12.51
-13.1 %
-4
Top 10 riskiest cities for drivers
Ranked by Allstate claims data and the lowest average years between collisions
Ranking
City
Average
years
between
collisions
Relative collision
likelihood (to
national average)*
Change in
ranking
(2025-2026)
200
Boston, MA
3.76
+188.7 %
0
199
Washington, DC
4.24
+156.3 %
0
198
Baltimore, MD
4.49
+142.1 %
0
197
Worcester, MA
5.14
+111.2 %
0
196
Springfield, MA
5.18
+109.6 %
0
195
Glendale, CA
5.53
+96.5 %
0
194
Providence, RI
5.87
+85.1 %
-2
193
Sunrise Manor, NV (New to top 10)
5.95
+82.6 %
-3
192
Los Angeles, CA
5.99
+81.5 %
2
191
Philadelphia, PA
6.12
+77.6 %
0
*Values represent variance from the U.S. average (0); negative values indicate lower likelihood, positive
values indicate higher likelihood.
Driving by the numbers: Where are the safest and most collision-prone cities?
For the second straight year, Brownsville, Texas, ranks as the safest city, with drivers going nearly 15 years between collisions, while Boston remains the most collision-prone, with drivers averaging 3.76 years between collisions. Boston drivers are 189% more likely to experience a collision than the national average, which can lead to higher costs, including repairs and insurance prices.
Texas and Colorado cities lead the best drivers list, with McAllen, Texas, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, entering the top 10. The Northeast is home to seven of the 10 riskiest cities, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, with Sunrise Manor, Nevada, joining this year.
Big swings in rankings show how quickly positions can change. Waco, Texas, climbed 40 spots year over year, the biggest improvement. Other cities making big gains include Savannah, Georgia (+30), New Orleans, Louisiana (+29), and Kansas City, Kansas (+29).Detroit, Michigan, saw the biggest slide, dropping 38 spots. Rockford, Illinois (-34), Arlington, Virginia (-20), Tampa, Florida (-19), and Anchorage, Alaska (-18) also fell, showing how changes in traffic patterns and driving conditions can influence rankings over time.
Regional patterns continue to shape the rankings. Georgia cities were among the most improved, with Savannah, Macon and Columbus climbing 20 spots or more. The Midwest saw some of the biggest drops in the rankings, including Omaha (-16), Milwaukee (-15), Chicago (-13) and Indianapolis (-11). Driving by the numbers: What does Drivewise data reveal about driver behavior?
New insights from Drivewise, available in the Allstate mobile app, show how habits like speeding, hard braking, phone use and nighttime driving influence driving risk across the country. Drivewise helps drivers understand these patterns in real time to help lower their chances of a collision and save money.
Nighttime driving is highest in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and New York City. Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, including Alexandria and Arlington, and the Las Vegas Valley are among the highest for nighttime driving. Nighttime driving can increase risk due to reduced visibility and a higher likelihood of fatigue or impaired driving. Phone use is elevated in major metros. Cities like Miami, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Boston are among the highest for phone use while driving, showing how distraction is more prevalent in dense, urban environments. Speeding varies by market. Bridgeport, Connecticut, has the highest levels of speeding, followed by Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Chicago and three Alabama cities — Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville. Speeding can reduce driver reaction time and make collisions more severe. Hard braking is most elevated in Arizona and North Carolina. The highest rates of hard braking are in North Carolina and Arizona, with Raleigh, Fayetteville and Durham, North Carolina, and Chandler, Glendale, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona, all among the highest. Hard braking can signal stop-and-go driving or close following, which may increase collision risk. Helping drivers stay safer: What tools and protections can help?
No matter where you live, small changes behind the wheel can reduce crash risk, and Allstate offers tools designed to help drivers understand and improve their driving before a collision happens.
"You don't have to overhaul your driving habits to make a difference," said Hoffman. "Simple steps like slowing down, staying focused and giving yourself space can go a long way in helping reduce risk."
Tools that help drivers stay safer on the road
Allstate's Drivewise gives drivers visibility into their driving behavior and helps them improve over time and recover from a collision by offering:
Driving scores in the Allstate mobile app on speed, braking and phone use, with insights after each trip to help drivers identify risky habits and make safer choices on their next drive. Progress tracking that shows trends in driving behavior and helps reinforce safer habits to reduce crash risk, out-of-pocket costs and insurance prices. Crash detection features that can quickly connect drivers to help after a collision, reducing stress and helping speed recovery. Protections that help reduce the financial impact of a crash
Allstate also offers optional features that can help drivers recover more quickly after a crash and reduce the financial strain that can follow. These are part of a broader set of options that give customers more ways to stay protected before and after an incident, including:
Accident Forgiveness helps prevent a driver's car insurance rate from increasing just because of an accident. This helps reduce the long-term financial impact of a mistake. Transportation Expense Coverage provides a set amount of money after a covered crash that drivers can use for a rental car, rideshare or other transportation while their vehicle is being repaired. Find more safety tips, the full list of cities and additional insights from the report at www.allstate.com/best-drivers, or visit www.allstate.com to learn more.
Drivers can also download the Allstate mobile app to access Drivewise and better understand their behavior behind the wheel.
What is the Allstate America's Best Drivers Report?
Allstate America's Best Drivers Report is an annual study that sheds light on driving safety trends across the country to help educate drivers, encourage safer habits and support a broader conversation about road safety. By analyzing auto claims data from the 200 most populous U.S. cities, the report identifies where drivers are more and less likely to experience a collision compared with the national average. This year marks the 18th edition of the report.
How does Allstate rank cities?
Cities are ranked using Allstate auto claims data to compare collision trends across the 200 most populous U.S. cities. Rankings are based on property damage claim frequency, reflecting how often drivers cause damage to others. Results are expressed as average years between collisions and likelihood compared with the U.S. average.
A collision is defined as any auto crash resulting in a property damage or collision claim.
What data is used in the report?
The rankings are based on property damage claim frequency from claims reported over a two-year period from January 2023 through December 2024, reflecting how often drivers cause damage to others. Allstate policies represent approximately 10% of all U.S. auto policies, making the report a broad snapshot of driving trends across the country.
Overall claims data is also used to inform national benchmarks, such as the average years between collisions, providing a more complete picture of crash frequency and helping put city-level rankings in a broader national context.
What's new in 2026?
The 2026 report continues to use claims data as the foundation for the rankings. This year, it also includes Drivewise behavioral insights, including speeding, hard braking, phone use and nighttime driving, to provide additional context behind the results. These insights, based on aggregated and anonymized Drivewise data collected from January 2025 through December 2025, help illustrate how driving habits can vary across cities but are not used to determine rankings.
What is Drivewise, and how is it used in this report?
Drivewise, available in the Allstate mobile app, helps drivers better understand their driving habits and supports a more personalized auto insurance rate. It provides behavior-based insights on drivers' phone use, speeding, braking and nighttime driving. In this report, those insights are used to help explain patterns in the rankings, not as a separate scoring or ranking system.
Does Allstate use this report to set auto insurance rates?
No. The report and its rankings are not used to set auto insurance rates. It is designed to provide insight into driving trends and encourage safer driving behaviors. Rates are based on a range of factors, which may include underlying claim trends and driving-related data, among other considerations used to assess risk.
Methodology
The 2026 Allstate America's Best Drivers Report analyzes Allstate auto claims data to compare collision trends across the 200 most populous U.S. cities. Rankings are based on property damage claim frequency, reflecting how often drivers cause damage to others. Results are expressed as average years between collisions and likelihood compared with the U.S. average. Likelihood values use a U.S. baseline of 0, where negative values indicate lower-than-average likelihood and positive values indicate higher-than-average likelihood.
Allstate analyzed property damage claims reported during the two-year period from January 2023 through December 2024 to rank cities. The company also reviews overall claims data, including both property damage and collision claims, to inform national benchmarks, such as the average years between collisions. A collision is defined as any auto crash resulting in a property damage or collision claim. U.S. Census Bureau data was used to identify the 200 largest U.S. cities. According to Allstate claims data, the average U.S. driver experiences a collision once every 10.86 years. Allstate's auto policies represent approximately 10% of all U.S. auto policies, making the report a realistic snapshot of driving trends across the country.
Drivewise behavioral metrics, including phone use, speeding, hard braking and nighttime driving, are included as aggregated context to help explain patterns observed in the claims data. These insights are based on aggregated and anonymized Drivewise data collected from January 2025 through December 2025, providing a more recent view of driving behaviors. They are used to illustrate how driving habits vary across cities, rather than to rank them. Drivewise behavioral metrics are expressed as indices benchmarked to a U.S. average of 100, using a trip-distance-weighted average across cities, where values above 100 indicate higher rates of the behavior and values below 100 indicate lower rates. Speeding reflects the share of miles driven 15 mph or more over the posted speed limit, hard braking captures sudden braking events per 100 miles driven, phone use reflects phone unlock events while driving, and nighttime driving represents the share of miles driven during overnight or low-light hours.
In Michigan, where a no-fault insurance system changes how certain claims are recorded, results are included but may not be directly comparable to other states.
The Allstate America's Best Drivers Report is produced to support a broader conversation about safe driving and to increase awareness of the importance of attentive driving habits. The report is not used to determine auto insurance rates.
About Allstate
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) protects people from life's uncertainties with affordable, simple and connected protection for autos, homes, electronic devices and identities. Products are available through a broad distribution network including Allstate agents, independent agents, major retailers, online and at the workplace. Allstate has more than 212 million policies in force and is widely known for the slogan "You're in Good Hands with Allstate." For more information, visit www.allstate.com.
TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Align Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGN) a leading global medical device company that designs, manufactures, and sells the Invisalign® System of clear aligners, iTero™ intraoral scanners, and exocad™ CAD/CAM software for digital orthodontics and restorative dentistry, today announced that it will report second quarter 2026 financial results on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, after the close of market. Financial results will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. PT) and wil.
Resources Investor Relations Journalists Agencies Client Login Send a Release News Products Contact , /PRNewswire/ -- The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE: SHW) will issue a press release announcing its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, prior to market open on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. At that time, a copy of the press release and information regarding Sherwin-Williams' financial condition, reportable segment results and other information will be available by clicking on this link Sherwin-Williams Press Releases, then clicking on the reference to the July 28 release.
The Company will host a conference call to discuss its financial results for the second quarter, and its outlook for the third quarter and full year 2026, at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Participating on the call will be Sherwin-Williams' Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer, Heidi Petz, along with other senior executives.
The conference call will be webcast simultaneously in listen only mode. To listen to the webcast on the Sherwin-Williams website, click on this link Sherwin-Williams Quarterly Results, then click on the webcast icon following the reference to the Q2 Webcast. An archived replay of the webcast will be available at the same link beginning approximately two hours after the call ends.
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A home comes together one decision at a time, from the everyday essentials people rely on to the larger purchases that make a space more comfortable, functional, and personal. Now, eligible customers shopping across Bed Bath & Beyond brands – including Overstock, Bed Bath & Beyond, and buybuy BABY – can choose Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM) at online checkout and pay over time in biweekly or monthly payments with no hidden fees, late fees, or compounding interest. Just total clarity every step of the way.
“Bed Bath & Beyond is where customers come for everything home, from the everyday essentials, to the perfect seasonal touches, to the projects that transform a room,” said Lisa Foley, Chief Operating Officer, Bed Bath & Beyond. “Affirm gives them the flexibility to pay their way and to bring their vision to life on a timeline that works for them.”
“Homes change as life changes,” said Pat Suh, SVP of Revenue at Affirm. “Whether someone is moving into their first apartment, preparing for a new baby, or creating space for a growing family, Affirm gives customers a clear, transparent way to pay over time and choose a payment plan that fits their budget.”
Bed Bath & Beyond joins Affirm’s global network of nearly 515,000 merchant partners, including leading brands like Amazon, Costco, StubHub, REVOLVE, Net-a-Porter, StockX, and many more.
About Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond (NYSE: BBBY) is building a connected home ecosystem designed to make shopping for, managing and caring for a home simpler and more affordable. Through a portfolio of trusted brands including Bed Bath & Beyond, buybuy BABY, Overstock, Kirkland’s and, upon completion of the merger, The Container Store, the Company serves customers through an integrated omnichannel experience spanning retail, home products, services, financing, protection and installation solutions.
The Company’s technology and data platform helps create more personalized experiences for customers across every stage of home ownership, while its expanding ecosystem of brands and services is designed to deliver greater convenience, accessibility and value.
About Affirm
Affirm's mission is to deliver honest financial products that improve lives. By building a new kind of payment network – one based on trust, transparency, and putting people first – we empower millions of consumers to spend and save responsibly and give thousands of businesses the tools to fuel growth. Unlike most credit cards and other pay-over-time options, we never charge any late or hidden fees. Follow Affirm on social media: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X.
AFRM-PA
Payment options through Affirm are subject to an eligibility check and are provided by these lending partners: affirm.com/lenders. Options depend on your purchase amount, and a down payment may be required. CA residents: Loans by Affirm Loan Services, LLC are made or arranged pursuant to a California Financing Law license. For licenses and disclosures, see affirm.com/licenses. Affirm Loan Services, LLC, NMLS ID 1479506
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, announced today new classifications, enhanced analytics, and industry-defining commercial partnerships that bring together site owners and transparent AI companies so that the agentic Internet can flourish. Cloudflare's new tools and integrations help site owners and AI companies optimize for discoverability, efficiency, and monetization. By establishing these new rails, Cloudflare is helping p.
CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) stock is down 11% to $88.63 in early trading Wednesday, extending a stretch of heavy volatility for the AI cloud provider. The slide comes without a clean, single catalyst dated today, though there is one possible price-move driver. Still, overall it looks like a continuation of a broader downtrend for one of the market’s most debt-heavy, richly valued names.
The move stands out against calmer action in other cloud stocks. Cloudflare (NYSE:NET | NET Price Prediction) stock is flat at $245.40, while Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) stock is down 1% to $145.61. All three carry the “cloud” label, yet their business models, profitability, and risk profiles look nothing alike.
CoreWeave stock was already down 9% over the past month, prior to today’s price drop. Trading action has been unusually noisy for the AI GPU rental specialist.
Overhangs, Not a Single Headline, Weigh on CRWV The bear case for CoreWeave has been building for weeks. A securities class-action lawsuit filed around June 29 alleges the company overstated its ability to meet customer demand and understated risks tied to reliance on a single third-party data center supplier. These remain unproven allegations at this stage.
Persistent insider activity is another factor the market is watching. CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator sold $32.87 million in shares on June 23, part of a pattern of executive sales this month, much of it via 10b5-1 plans. The cadence of executive sales this month is heavy.
The fundamentals cut both ways for CoreWeave. Q1 2026 revenue jumped 112% year over year (YoY) to $2.08 billion, while the net loss widened to $740 million and total liabilities have swelled to $50.8 billion.
On June 23, Backblaze (NASDAQ:BLZE) entered a $335 million, five-year agreement to provide cloud storage for CoreWeave’s AI infrastructure, a mildly positive item unrelated to today’s slide.
One Possible Price Driver for CRWV Stock There may be a fresher catalyst behind CoreWeave stock’s sudden drop than the broader overhangs. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is building a cloud business to sell its excess AI computing capacity, and that one option under consideration is renting out raw compute as a neocloud, an approach the report explicitly likened to CoreWeave.
Meta Platforms shares jumped 8% on the news as the market reframed the company’s heavy AI spending as a potential revenue stream. For CoreWeave, though, the read-through cuts the other way: a hyperscaler with Meta Platforms’ balance sheet entering the compute-rental market would be a formidable new rival for the exact customers CoreWeave is chasing, raising the specter of added capacity and pricing pressure.
Nothing is confirmed, and Meta Platforms hasn’t committed to the plan. Still, the timing of the report and CoreWeave’s drop on the same day suggests that competitive anxiety is a likely contributor to the move.
Three Very Different Flavors of “Cloud” CoreWeave is a “neocloud” renting NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) GPU compute for AI training and inference. Growth is explosive, but the model is capital-intensive, unprofitable, and highly leveraged. The CRWV analyst target sits at $143.41, well above the current print, with 19 Buy and 3 Strong Buy ratings against a handful of Holds and Sells.
Cloudflare is a different animal, running an edge network, CDN, and security stack, with Q1 2026 revenue of $639.75 million (+34% YoY) and positive free cash flow. Cloudflare stock trades near $243.65 consensus and holds a 24% YTD gain. The valuation is rich, but the business generates cash.
Oracle is the mature contrast, with its Q4 FY2026 report showing Cloud Infrastructure revenue up 93% YoY to $5.79 billion and remaining performance obligations of $638 billion. Oracle stock, however, is down 35% over the past month, as investors grapple with the capital intensity of Oracle’s AI cloud pivot and its plan to raise $40 billion in FY2027.
What to Watch Community sentiment on CoreWeave stock is split. Some traders are watching for a potential short squeeze given the beaten-down price and bullish analyst targets, while skeptics point to CoreWeave’s underperformance relative to AI-infrastructure peers and the broader cloud group.
The composite sentiment score for CRWV sits at 57.45, neutral with medium confidence, while Cloudflare reads 51.79, neutral. The takeaway: lumping these three under a single “cloud” label obscures the real differences. CoreWeave is the most speculative and volatile of the trio.
Investors can watch for whether CoreWeave stock stabilizes above its $63.80 52-week low or continues drifting toward its 200-day moving average of $100.55. Given the volatility, investors should consider keeping their CRWV position sizes modest until the price volatility settles.
On January 1, 2026, we published The 3 Best Dividend Aristocrats to Buy in 2026, naming Aflac (NYSE: AFL | AFL Price Prediction), Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), and Nordson (NASDAQ: NDSN) as the three most compelling names on the Aristocrat roster. Six months later, the scorecard shows two winners and one clear laggard. The S&P 500 has returned 9.5% year to date, providing a firm benchmark. One pick has crushed it, one has kept pace on total return, and one has pulled back hard. The Aristocrat thesis, however, holds across all three: each has raised its payout again in 2026, proving that the income compounding continues even when price action does not.
Here are the halftime scores, counting down from poorest performer to best.
3. Lowe’s Lowe’s earned the original nod on the strength of its home-improvement scale, its Total Home strategy, and a more than 60-year streak of dividend raises that qualifies it as a Dividend King. That thesis has run into a wall of housing softness. Shares closed at $220.49 on June 30, 2026, down 8.6% year to date. The dividend, however, keeps climbing. Lowe’s raised the quarterly payout from $1.20 to $1.25 with the July 22, 2026, ex-date, pushing the run rate to $4.80 per share annually for a 2.3% yield.
Operationally, the business has executed. Lowe’s beat consensus estimates in each of the past six quarters, including adjusted EPS of $3.03 versus a $2.97 estimate for the quarter reported May 20, 2026, on revenue of $23.08 billion, up 10.3% year over year. Comps have now been positive for four consecutive quarters. The stock is being punished by macro concerns, not on execution, and analysts have a $263.73 average price target. Lowe’s earns its spot from here as a rate-sensitive rebound candidate whose dividend keeps compounding while investors wait.
2. Aflac Aflac was the income anchor of the original three: steady supplemental-insurance cash flows in Japan and the United States, a fortress balance sheet, and 43 consecutive years of dividend increases. That anchor has held. Shares closed most recently at $117.25, up 6.3% since the start of the year, not far off the benchmark. Late last year, the board raised the quarterly payout 5.2% to $0.61, delivering a 2.1% current yield.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Lowe's didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
The earnings scorecard is mixed. Q1 2026 adjusted EPS came in at $1.75, missing the $1.80 estimate, though revenue of $4.35 billion beat and rose 25.9% year over year. Yen weakness cost $0.02 of EPS at a 156.87 average rate, but Japan pretax margin expanded to 35.0% from 31.8% and buybacks retired 5.9% of the share count. At a 14x forward multiple with a 0.61 beta, Aflac remains a low-volatility income holding. It keeps its spot.
1. Nordson Nordson was the clear growth leader among the three picks, chosen for its precision-dispensing niche, the Ascend Strategy, and semiconductor exposure. It has delivered. Shares closed at $301.69 on June 30, up 25.5% year to date, more than doubling the S&P 500 return. The quarterly dividend was raised to $0.82 from $0.78, extending a 25-plus-year Aristocrat streak.
The Q2 fiscal 2026 report, delivered May 20, was a record: adjusted EPS of $2.86 on revenue of $740.85M, up 8.5% year over year, with 7% organic growth across all three segments and backlog up 18%. Advanced Technology Solutions grew 10.1%, aided by the semiconductor inflection and electronics dispense demand. Management raised full-year guidance to $2.93 billion to $3.01 billion in sales and $11.30 to $11.80 in adjusted EPS. CEO Sundaram Nagarajan called it “a strong first half of fiscal 2026, highlighted by record performance and ongoing momentum across our end markets.” At 26x forward earnings, the multiple has expanded, but with analysts targeting $319.12 and free cash flow conversion at 119%, Nordson still earns the top spot into the back half of the year.
The Halftime Verdict The January call landed. Nordson is the clear winner, more than doubling the S&P 500’s advance on record operating results and raised guidance. Aflac kept pace and kept raising. Lowe’s is the one to defend, but its earnings still beat, its comps went positive for a fourth straight quarter, and its dividend just went up again. That is the Aristocrat promise in action: the income compounds through the cycle, and Nordson’s precision-dispensing story remains the sharpest offensive weapon in this three-stock portfolio heading into the second half.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Lowe's didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Earnings are arguably the most important single number on a company's quarterly financial report. Wall Street clearly dives into all of the other metrics and management's input, but the EPS figure helps cut through all the noise.
The earnings figure itself is key, of course, but a beat or miss on the bottom line can sometimes be just as, if not more, important. Therefore, investors should consider paying close attention to these earnings surprises, as a big beat can help a stock climb and vice versa.
Now that we know how important earnings and earnings surprises are, it's time to show investors how to take advantage of these events to boost their returns by utilizing the Zacks Earnings ESP filter.
The Zacks Earnings ESP, ExplainedThe Zacks Earnings ESP, or Expected Surprise Prediction, aims to find earnings surprises by focusing on the most recent analyst revisions. The basic premise is that if an analyst reevaluates their earnings estimate ahead of an earnings release, it means they likely have new information that could possibly be more accurate.
Now that we understand the basic idea, let's look at how the Expected Surprise Prediction works. The ESP is calculated by comparing the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate, with the percentage difference between the two giving us the Zacks ESP figure.
When we join a positive earnings ESP with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or stronger, stocks posted a positive bottom-line surprise 70% of the time. Plus, this system saw investors produce roughly 28% annual returns on average, according to our 10 year backtest.
Stocks with a ranking of #3 (Hold), or 60% of all stocks covered by the Zacks Rank, are expected to perform in-line with the broader market. Stocks with rankings of #2 (Buy) and #1 (Strong Buy), or the top 15% and top 5% of stocks, respectively, should outperform the market; Strong Buy stocks should outperform more than any other rank.
Should You Consider Cintas?Now that we understand what the ESP is and how beneficial it can be, let's dive into a stock that currently fits the bill. Cintas (CTAS - Free Report) earns a #3 (Hold) right now and its Most Accurate Estimate sits at $1.25 a share, just 15 days from its upcoming earnings release on July 16, 2026.
CTAS has an Earnings ESP figure of +0.58%, which, as explained above, is calculated by taking the percentage difference between the $1.25 Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.24. Cintas is one of a large database of stocks with positive ESPs. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.
CTAS is just one of a large group of Consumer Discretionary stocks with a positive ESP figure. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD - Free Report) is another qualifying stock you may want to consider.
Warner Bros. Discovery, which is readying to report earnings on August 6, 2026, sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) right now. Its Most Accurate Estimate is currently -$0.11 a share, and WBD is 36 days out from its next earnings report.
For Warner Bros. Discovery, the percentage difference between its Most Accurate Estimate and its Zacks Consensus Estimate of -$0.12 is +6.10%.
CTAS and WBD's positive ESP figures tell us that both stocks have a good chance at beating analyst expectations in their next earnings report.
Find Stocks to Buy or Sell Before They're ReportedUse the Zacks Earnings ESP Filter to turn up stocks with the highest probability of positively, or negatively, surprising to buy or sell before they're reported for profitable earnings season trading. Check it out here >>
New season, "AI at Work: From Promise to Impact," examines where artificial intelligence may create lasting value, where expectations may be too high, and what investors should watch as adoption moves into the real economy
, /PRNewswire/ -- The newest season of "The Angle from T. Rowe Price" podcast debuts today, where the global investment management firm and a leader in retirement convenes some of its leading investment professionals to help listeners separate myth from reality about the burgeoning artificial intelligence sector.
Jennifer Martin, Host & Global Equity Portfolio Specialist, T. Rowe Price Titled "AI at Work: From Promise to Impact," the new season looks beyond the hype to examine how artificial intelligence is moving from promise to practical impact, where durable value may be created, where market expectations may be currently unrealistic, and how AI is reshaping companies, industries, and the global economy.
The series is hosted by T. Rowe Price global equity portfolio specialist Jennifer Martin. She is joined by equity portfolio managers Dave Eiswert, Tony Wang, Lee Sandquist, Dom Rizzo, Shaun Currie, Jon Friar; equity investment analyst Frank Shi; head of global fixed income Arif Husain; and chief U.S. economist Blerina Uruci. Episodes will be released throughout July and August and include:
AI and the great transformation: A global investor's view
Dave Eiswert sets the stage for the season by assessing how AI is changing the competitive landscape, where infrastructure constraints could shape the pace of adoption, and why investors may need to look beyond the most visible technology companies to understand the broader opportunity set. Physical AI: A deep dive into autonomous vehicles and robotics
Tony Wang and Lee Sandquist examine how AI is beginning to move from software into the physical world, with potential implications for transportation, robotics, defense, and industrial automation—areas where commercialization timelines and investment outcomes may vary widely. Change Agents: What agentic AI means for hardware and software
Dom Rizzo and Frank Shi break down the rise of agentic AI and what it could mean for the technology stack, from chips and memory to networking and enterprise software, as companies weigh the capital spending required to support more autonomous AI systems. AI and the global economy: Productivity, jobs, and inflation
Arif Husain and Blerina Uruci discuss the macro questions AI is raising for markets and policymakers, including whether the technology can lift productivity, how it may affect labor demand and wage dynamics, and what those shifts could mean for inflation and interest rates. AI Sleepers: The winners hiding in plain sight
Shaun Currie and Jon Friar look at where AI-driven value creation could emerge outside the technology sector, highlighting how health care, industrials, financials, and consumer companies may benefit as adoption becomes more embedded in day-to-day operations. "What makes this season timely is the number of unanswered questions investors are facing," said Martin. "The conversations are intended to bring a research-driven lens to those questions; from how companies are funding AI ambitions to which industries may see meaningful change first and to help listeners separate near-term excitement from longer-term investment implications."
The new season brings together multiple perspectives from across T. Rowe Price's global investment organization, highlighting how fundamental research and active management can help investors assess both the opportunities and risks emerging as AI moves more deeply into the real economy.
Episodes of "The Angle" are available across multiple platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Future episodes will be announced as they are produced. For more information on the podcast please click here.
ABOUT "THE ANGLE"
"The Angle" podcast brings listeners dynamic insights on the forces shaping financial markets, featuring the T. Rowe Price global investing team and special guests. Through engaging conversations, "The Angle" aims to foster curiosity by asking better questions and delivering better insights, allowing investors to gain a deeper understanding of today's evolving market themes.
Launched in 2024, "The Angle" has explored a range of investment-themed topics, including the blue economy, artificial intelligence, the 2024 U.S. presidential election, energy, forward-looking expectations for global markets, and key market drivers from the perspectives of some of the world's leading CEOs.
"The Angle" is T. Rowe Price's second podcast series. "CONFIDENT CONVERSATIONS® on Retirement," which features T. Rowe Price experts sharing their perspectives on retirement-related topics, is in its fourth season.
ABOUT T. ROWE PRICE
Founded in 1937, T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) helps people around the world achieve their long-term investment goals. As a large global asset management company known for investment excellence, retirement leadership, and independent proprietary research, the firm is built on a culture of integrity that puts client interests first. Investors rely on the award-winning firm for its retirement expertise and active management approach of equity, fixed income, alternatives, and multi-asset investment capabilities. T. Rowe Price manages USD $1.89 trillion in assets under management as of May 31, 2026, and serves millions of clients globally. News and other updates can be found on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and troweprice.com/newsroom.
July 01, 2026 08:00 ET | Source: Roper Technologies, Inc.
SARASOTA, Fla., July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Roper Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROP) announced that its financial results for the second quarter of 2026, ended June 30, 2026, will be released before the market opens on Thursday, July 23, 2026. A conference call to discuss these results has been scheduled for 8:00 AM ET on Thursday, July 23, 2026. The call can be accessed via webcast or by dialing +1 800-836-8184 (US/Canada) or +1 646-357-8785, using conference call ID 70538. Webcast information and conference call materials will be made available in the Investors section of Roper’s website prior to the start of the call.
About Roper Technologies
Roper Technologies is a constituent of the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Fortune 500. Roper has a proven, long-term track record of compounding cash flow and shareholder value. The Company operates market leading businesses that design and develop vertical software and technology enabled products for a variety of defensible niche markets. Roper utilizes a disciplined, analytical, and process-driven approach to redeploy its excess capital toward high-quality acquisitions. Additional information about Roper is available on the Company’s website at www.ropertech.com.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions, today announced it has completed the sale of its Riello business to Ariston Group for gross proceeds of approximately $440 million.
"The sale of Riello reflects Carrier's disciplined portfolio management as we continue to focus our resources on delivering differentiated climate and energy solutions. Sale proceeds enhance our ability to invest in our core businesses, innovation and value creation for our customers and shareowners," said David Gitlin, Chairman & CEO of Carrier. "We are grateful to the Riello team for their many contributions to Carrier and are confident that Ariston Group is well-positioned to drive the business's next phase of growth."
BofA Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to Carrier, and Linklaters LLP acted as external legal counsel in connection with the transaction.
About Carrier
Carrier Global Corporation, global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions, is committed to creating innovations that bring comfort, safety and sustainability to life. Through cutting-edge advancements in climate solutions such as temperature control, air quality and transportation, we improve lives, empower critical industries and ensure the safe transport of food, life-saving medicines and more. Since inventing modern air conditioning in 1902, we lead with purpose: enhancing the lives we live and the world we share. We continue to lead because of our world-class, inclusive workforce that puts the customer at the center of everything we do. For more information, visit www.carrier.com or follow Carrier on social media at @Carrier.
Carrier. For the World We Share.
Cautionary Statement
This communication contains statements which, to the extent they are not statements of historical or present fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" under the securities laws. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide management's current expectations or plans for Carrier's future operating and financial performance, based on assumptions currently believed to be valid. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "expectations," "plans," "strategy," "prospects," "estimate," "project," "target," "anticipate," "will," "should," "see," "guidance," "outlook," "confident," "scenario" and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. Forward-looking statements may include, among other things, statements relating to the sale of Carrier's Riello business, expected uses of the net proceeds therefrom, strategies or transactions of Carrier, Carrier's plans with respect to its indebtedness and other statements that are not historical facts. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. For additional information on identifying factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from those stated in forward-looking statements, see Carrier's reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and Carrier assumes no obligation to update or revise such statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
NEW YORK, July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, reminds Lucid Group, Inc. (“Lucid” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: LCID) investors of the July 28, 2026 deadline involving a securities fraud class action lawsuit commenced against the Company.
Should You Join The Lucid Class Action Lawsuit:
Do you, or did you, own shares of Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID)?Did you sell your shares between February 25, 2026 and April 13, 2026, inclusive?Did you lose money in your investment in Lucid Group, Inc.?
Investors are encouraged to act promptly and submit a form at Lucid Group, Inc. Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Investor Relations Manager Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or [email protected].
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff for the Class, you must file papers by July 28, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on other class members’ behalf in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn’t require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.
All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses.
About The Lawsuit:
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors (the “Class”) who purchased or acquired the securities of Lucid between February 25, 2026 and April 13, 2026, inclusive, alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its senior officers.
The lawsuit alleges that defendants made materially false and misleading statements and omissions regarding the Company’s business operations, growth prospects, and financial stability. As a result of these alleged misrepresentations, Lucid securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period. When the truth was disclosed, investors allegedly suffered significant losses.
About Bernstein Liebhard:
Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal’s “Plaintiffs’ Hot List” thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for sixteen consecutive years.
NEW YORK, July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, reminds ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (“ZoomInfo” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GTM) investors of the August 24, 2026 deadline involving a securities fraud class action lawsuit commenced against the Company.
Should You Join The ZoomInfo Class Action Lawsuit:
Do you, or did you, own shares of ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTM)?
Did you sell your shares between November 3, 2025 and May 11, 2026, inclusive?
Did you lose money in your investment in ZoomInfo Technologies Inc.?
Investors are encouraged to act promptly and submit a form at ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Investor Relations Manager Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or [email protected].
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff for the Class, you must file papers by August 24, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on other class members’ behalf in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn’t require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.
All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses.
About The Lawsuit:
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors (the “Class”) who purchased or acquired the securities of ZoomInfo between November 3, 2025 and May 11, 2026, inclusive, alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its senior officers.
The lawsuit alleges that defendants made materially false and misleading statements and omissions regarding the Company’s business operations, growth prospects, and financial stability. As a result of these alleged misrepresentations, ZoomInfo securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period. When the truth was disclosed, investors allegedly suffered significant losses.
About Bernstein Liebhard:
Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal’s “Plaintiffs’ Hot List” thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for sixteen consecutive years.
FuelCell stock is challenging resistance. Why are FCEL shares at highs? The Fit Energy DealThe deal represents a major step in FuelCell’s pivot toward the AI data center power market, a segment where the company says more than 80% of its 1.5-gigawatt proposal pipeline is now concentrated.
The EXIM FinancingCritically, the financing is structured as a loan guarantee through EXIM’s program, making it non-dilutive—providing capital without a share sale, which had been a persistent concern among investors.
Analyst Consensus & Recent ActionsThe stock carries a Hold rating with an average price target of $22.00. Recent analyst moves include:
B. Riley Securities: Upgraded to Buy (Raises Target to $32.00) (June 29) UBS: Neutral (Raises Target to $22.00) (June 26) Jefferies: Upgraded to Buy (Raises Target to $24.00) (June 26) FuelCell Shares Shoot HigherFCEL Price Action: At the time of publication, FuelCell shares are trading 3.42% higher at $37.24, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Shutterstock
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
I recommend a buy rating for FuelCell Energy (FCEL) due to its emerging data-center power demand and standardized product offering. FCEL's 12.5 MW standardized Energy Block targets rapid, repeatable deployments, with a proposal pipeline exceeding 5 GW—90% tied to data centers. The Fit Energy agreement secures an initial 30 MW tranche, validating FCEL's data-center strategy and supporting a 380 MW framework.
New program introduces AI-enabled capabilities to personalize support, streamline prescription processing, and help patients start and stay on therapy with greater ease and confidence
, /PRNewswire/ -- As specialty care becomes more complex, patients need faster, more connected, and personalized support. To help meet that need, Evernorth, the health services division of The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI), today unveiled Pharmacy Forward, a new AI-powered program designed to improve how patients access and experience specialty care. Launching first with Accredo Specialty Pharmacy – which serves patients with chronic and complex specialty conditions through condition-specific Therapeutic Resource Centers (TRCs) – the program is supported by a $100 million investment through 2028. This investment enables care teams to focus more on clinical care and patient outcomes while reducing prescription processing timelines and improving service responsiveness.
"Patients navigating complex health conditions need comprehensive, expert support, often during some of the most difficult moments in their lives," said Matt Perlberg, President of the Evernorth Health Services pharmacy and care delivery businesses, including Accredo, and Executive Vice President of Customer Innovation for The Cigna Group. "Pharmacy Forward reflects our commitment to meet patients where they are —delivering an even faster, more seamless experience while ensuring they receive the personalized support and clinical care they deserve."
A Smarter, Faster, More Personalized Specialty Pharmacy Experience
Pharmacy Forward applies AI across four core areas: clinical care, prescription intake, administration, and medication fulfillment:
Care Enablement — Supporting More Coordinated, Insight-Driven Care: Pharmacy Forward is expected to improve medication adherence beyond the industry standard of 80%, helping patients stay on therapy and achieve optimal health outcomes. By integrating clinical data and insights, AI-generated summaries, and predictive analytics, care teams can deliver more connected, informed support. This enables clinicians to proactively identify patients at risk of falling off therapy or experiencing adverse events, empowering earlier intervention, stronger coordination, and an improved patient experience. The program uses AI to free up more time for clinicians to focus on patient care and is expected to reduce clinician documentation time by up to 50%. Experience Accelerators – Improving the Patient Journey in Real Time: Pharmacy Forward uses AI-enabled tools to reach patients earlier in their care journey and deliver more proactive, personalized support. For example, Accredo has implemented AI-enabled scheduling so outreach occurs during patients' preferred call windows. Additionally, Accredo anticipates a 25% increase in use of personalized patient digital pathways, enabling more patients to complete routine steps on their own terms — getting answers faster, starting prescriptions through the app or website, and scheduling therapy more easily. Rx Readiness — Accelerating Time to Therapy: Pharmacy Forward is cutting the time it takes for patients to receive their medication after Accredo receives a prescription in half — helping patients start treatment sooner. By using AI to improve the completeness of prior authorization submissions, identify copay assistance eligibility, and ensure prescriptions are ready earlier in the process, the program is designed to streamline the time it takes to process a prescription and reduce delays in care. One Fulfillment Network — Delivering Medications Faster and More Reliably: Pharmacy Forward will enhance Accredo's ability to ship complex specialty medications from sites as close to a patient's home as possible, ensuring that 90% of patients are within a 1-day or same day ground shipping radius. To enable this, Accredo is expanding capacity, staffing, and capabilities at many of its nearly 40 care facilities to reduce the need for longer ground or air shipments, which are more susceptible to delays from adverse events such as weather. The enhancements will be supported by AI technology, for example, to continuously analyze factors such as patient location, delivery timing, and medication handling requirements to determine the most effective dispensing location. Together, these capabilities represent the next evolution of specialty pharmacy — combining AI, clinical expertise, and operational scale to create a more connected and responsive care experience. The program is expected to generate approximately $400 million in value by the end of 2028, helping make care more coordinated and personalized for the more than one million patients Accredo serves each year. Evernorth expects to extend many of these capabilities to its other pharmacies' operations in the coming years.
"AI is enabling us to fundamentally reimagine how we support each patient's journey," said Katya Andresen, Chief Data, Digital and AI Officer, The Cigna Group. "By responsibly combining real-time data, advanced analytics and deep clinical expertise, we can deliver more personalized, proactive support — helping people access the care they need faster and achieve better health outcomes."
About Evernorth Health Services
Evernorth Health Services is the pharmacy, care, and benefits solutions division of The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI). We create and deliver innovative, flexible, and people-first solutions that solve the most complex health care challenges. Evernorth is home to pioneering brands including Express Scripts, Express Scripts Pharmacy, Accredo, eviCore, and MD Live. We have more than 40,000 employees who work to make health care more affordable, predictable, and simple for the 190 million people we serve. Learn more at evernorth.com.
Media Contact
Justine Sessions
[email protected]
860-810-6523
NEW YORK, July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, reminds Zoetis Inc. (“Zoetis” or the “Company”) (NYSE: ZTS) investors of the July 27, 2026 deadline involving a securities fraud class action lawsuit commenced against the Company.
Should You Join The Zoetis Class Action Lawsuit:
Do you, or did you, own shares of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS)?
Did you sell your shares between January 14, 2025 and May 6, 2026, inclusive?
Did you lose money in your investment in Zoetis Inc.?
Investors are encouraged to act promptly and submit a form at Zoetis Inc. Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Investor Relations Manager Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or [email protected].
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff for the Class, you must file papers by July 27, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on other class members’ behalf in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn’t require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.
All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses.
About The Lawsuit:
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors (the “Class”) who purchased or acquired the securities of Zoetis between January 14, 2025 and May 6, 2026, inclusive, alleging violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its senior officers.
The lawsuit alleges that defendants made materially false and misleading statements and omissions regarding the Company’s business operations, growth prospects, and financial stability. As a result of these alleged misrepresentations, Zoetis securities traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period. When the truth was disclosed, investors allegedly suffered significant losses.
About Bernstein Liebhard:
Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal’s “Plaintiffs’ Hot List” thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for sixteen consecutive years.
Opportunity to bid on Toblerone Crystal Bar crafted by Swarovski – a hand-made crystal replica of the iconic triangular chocolate bar, individually numbered and certifiedGlobal charity auction across nine major international airports and online, with 100% of proceeds donated to local charity partnersLimited-edition Ultimate Gift Box adorned with Swarovski Crystals available in World Travel Retail locations worldwideCampaign deepens Toblerone’s premium positioning, reinforcing Mondelēz International’s strategy to lead in premium chocolate CHICAGO, July 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) today announced The Ultimate Gift by its iconic triangular Toblerone brand - featuring the Toblerone Crystal Bar, an exclusive series crafted by Swarovski, renowned for creating the world's finest crystals. The campaign brings to life a limited series of hand-crafted crystal replicas of the original Toblerone chocolate bar. This marks a new milestone in the chocolate brand’s premium evolution and commitment to innovation.
As premium chocolate continues to grow faster than many other confectionery segments, the Toblerone Crystal Bar crafted by Swarovski elevates the brand into the realm of luxury collectibles and experiential gifting. It’s a natural extension for a brand long synonymous with travel, quality, and art of giving.
At the heart of the campaign is the Toblerone Crystal Bar crafted by Swarovski: a rare series of hand-made crystal replicas of the original Toblerone chocolate bar. Each piece is individually numbered, certified, and crafted by Swarovski.
From July 1-31, travelers passing through nine major international airports – Athens, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Madrid, New York JFK, Singapore, and Zurich – will encounter immersive pop-up experiences celebrating both brands. Travelers will also have the opportunity to bid in person on the Toblerone Crystal Bar crafted by Swarovski.
Each auction is linked to the airport’s own established charity partner, and 100% of the winning bids will be donated to the designated charity at each location. The auction is also open globally online, ensuring participation is not limited to people who are traveling.
“Toblerone has always been more than a chocolate bar – it’s an icon, a symbol of travel, and one of the world’s most recognized gifts,” said Iain Livingston, President, Toblerone & World Travel Retail, Mondelēz International. “The Toblerone Crystal Bar crafted by Swarovski is a natural expression of our commitment to premiumization and reflects our dedication to craft and quality, brought to life through Swarovski's crystal expertise, creating something truly extraordinary while raising funds for brilliant causes around the world.”
For those interested in taking part of the campaign home immediately, Toblerone is also launching a limited-edition Ultimate Gift Box adorned with Swarovski Crystals, available exclusively at World Travel Retail sites across airports globally from July through September.
About Mondelēz International
Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world. With 2025 net revenues of approximately $38.5 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, Ritz, LU, CLIF Bar and Tate's Bake Shop biscuits and baked snacks, as well as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Dow Jones Best-in-Class North America and World Indices, formerly Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow the company on X at x.com/MDLZ.
ABOUT TOBLERONE
In 1908, Theodor Tobler and Emil Baumann invented a unique chocolate: Toblerone. "Toblerone" is a portmanteau of "Tobler" and "Torrone," the Italian term for honey-almond nougat. Its distinctive triangular shape has been recognised around the world ever since. Today, production remains based in Bern Brünnen, where employees work with great passion every day — producing up to 4 million Toblerone products daily, with around 90 percent of all Toblerone sold worldwide manufactured right there in Bern.
Toblerone has never been square. Not in shape. Not in spirit. And not in ambition. Never Square is the belief that the best things in life refuse to conform — and that the most interesting gifts are rarely the obvious ones.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact are “forward-looking statements” for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including, but not limited to, any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management; any statements regarding our sustainability strategies, goals, and initiatives; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; any statements of belief or expectation; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing or other future events. Forward-looking statements may include, among others, the words, and variations of words, “will,” “may,” “expect,” “would,” “could,” “might,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “likely,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “objective,” “predict,” “project,” “drive,” “seek,” “aim,” “target,” “potential,” “commitment,” “outlook,” “continue,” or any other similar words. These forward-looking statements are subject to change and to inherent risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Mondelēz International’s control, which could cause Mondelēz International’s actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those projected or assumed in these forward-looking statements. Please also see Mondelēz International’s risk factors, as they may be amended from time to time, set forth in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. There may be other factors not presently known to Mondelēz International or which it currently considers to be immaterial that could cause Mondelēz International’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements it makes. Mondelēz International disclaims and does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement in this press release, except as required by applicable law or regulation.
Contacts: Desiree BattagliaVicky KummerShep Dunlap (Mondelēz Media)(Toblerone Media)(Investors) 1-847-943-4772+41 79 563 36 631-847-943-5454 [email protected]@mdlz.com [email protected] Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
Bid on the Ultimate Gift People can bid on the Toblerone Crystal Bar, an exclusive series crafted by Swarovski, from July 1-3... Limited-Edition Ultimate Gift Box Adorned with Swarovski Crystals Toblerone is launching a limited-edition Ultimate Gift Box adorned with Swarovski Crystals, availabl...
TRON’s native asset, TRX, has recently attracted renewed attention amid short-term expectations of a potential rebound. Improved market sentiment alongside ongoing institutional purchases are among the key factors supporting a positive near-term outlook for the cryptocurrency.
Price outlook and current situationAt the time of reporting, TRX was trading at $0.3143, with a 24-hour trading volume of $617.99 million and a market capitalization of $29.82 billion. Although the price dipped by 1.62% over the past day, analysts noted that when considering the current structure together with institutional accumulation, an upward reversal remains a possibility.
According to data from CoinCodex, TRX is projected to reach $0.3420 within the next month, representing an 8.58% increase from current levels. This forecast suggests that TRX could maintain its positive short-term trend and continue the momentum seen in recent weeks.
CoinCodex data indicate that TRX could climb to $0.3420 within the next month, reflecting an 8.58% rise over the current price.
However, it’s important to note that these algorithmically generated price predictions are based primarily on technical indicators and historical data. As such, actual price movements may differ from expectations due to broader market risk appetite, Bitcoin’s trajectory, and sudden news developments.
Tron Inc expands holdingsOn the institutional side, Tron Inc has continued to expand its portfolio. The firm recently purchased 152,867 TRX at an average price of $0.3271 per token. With this latest transaction, Tron Inc’s total TRX holdings have exceeded 702.9 million.
Tron Inc pursues a treasury management approach focused on the TRON ecosystem, allocating digital assets as part of its capital deployment strategy. Reports also indicate that the company plans to further increase its share within the Tron DAT structure.
Mini glossary: DAT here refers to the treasury and allocation structure used by the company to gradually increase its TRX holdings. The strategy is based on steadily expanding direct TRX acquisitions over time.
Following the latest purchase, Tron Inc’s TRX holdings have surpassed 702.9 million, while the company intends to keep increasing its allocation within the Tron DAT framework.
The company’s strategy of enlarging its digital asset reserves is seen as a demonstration of both its long-term return ambitions for shareholders and its confidence in the TRON blockchain and broader crypto asset market.
Market conditions remain decisiveDespite a positive price outlook and continued institutional accumulation, TRX has not completely diverged from the cautious trends seen across the broader cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin’s sideways movement continues to weigh on altcoins, and TRX is similarly impacted by this environment.
In this context, both the technical setup for TRX and the general direction of the market will play key roles in the weeks ahead. Observers are closely watching whether ongoing institutional accumulation will help propel TRX toward the projected price levels.
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.
Quantum computers can’t break blockchain cryptography today. But “today” has an expiration date, and TRON is apparently not waiting around to find out when it arrives.
On June 30, the TRON Nile Testnet deployed GreatVoyage-v4.8.2-PQ1-build1, an upgrade that introduces end-to-end support for post-quantum digital signatures. The build integrates two NIST-standardized signature schemes into the network’s core functions: transactions, block signing, peer-to-peer handshakes, and smart contract verification through new TVM precompiles.
Two signature schemes, two very different tradeoffs The upgrade introduces FN-DSA-512, based on the Falcon-512 standard, and ML-DSA-44, based on Dilithium-2. Both are algorithms that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has formally standardized for post-quantum use.
The two schemes differ meaningfully in their technical profiles. FN-DSA-512 produces variable-length signatures capped at 667 bytes. ML-DSA-44 outputs fixed signatures at 2,420 bytes. That size difference matters more than it sounds like it should.
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Current ECDSA signatures used by most blockchains, TRON included, run about 64-72 bytes. A jump to 667 bytes is notable. A jump to 2,420 bytes is a different conversation entirely, one that involves bandwidth costs, storage requirements, and downstream effects on every wallet, explorer, and dApp that touches the chain.
Both schemes are activated through separate on-chain committee proposals, meaning the TRON community gets to vote on each one independently after a hard-fork gate.
Why post-quantum matters now Justin Sun announced TRON’s formal post-quantum initiative on April 14, and the Nile Testnet deployment followed roughly eleven weeks later.
The upgrade builds on earlier Nile Testnet iterations. Version 4.8.0 landed in Q1 2025, and v4.8.1 followed in late 2025, both focused on network performance improvements and better alignment with Ethereum Virtual Machine standards. The post-quantum build represents a sharper pivot toward security hardening rather than feature parity.
The infrastructure headache hiding in larger signatures When signature sizes balloon from 72 bytes to potentially 2,420 bytes, every piece of infrastructure downstream needs to accommodate the change. Wallets need to handle larger transaction payloads. Block explorers need to parse and display new signature types. Exchanges that support TRON deposits and withdrawals need to update their signing and verification logic. dApps that verify signatures on-chain need to integrate with the new TVM precompiles.
If post-quantum signatures increase per-transaction data by 10x to 30x compared to current ECDSA signatures, the aggregate bandwidth impact could be material, particularly for super representatives and full nodes.
What this means for investors TRON is positioning itself ahead of most major Layer 1 chains on quantum resistance. Bitcoin and Ethereum have both seen community discussions about post-quantum upgrades, but neither has deployed NIST-standardized PQ signatures on a testnet, let alone a mainnet.
The key metric to watch is whether TRON’s ecosystem of wallets, dApps, and infrastructure providers actually builds out PQ support during the testnet phase. The real test is whether TronLink, major exchanges, and high-volume dApps integrate the new signature types before any mainnet proposal goes to vote.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
TRON’s on-chain activity reached a new milestone after daily active accounts climbed to 26.97 million, while daily transactions surged to 385.77 million.
The figures reflect sustained user participation across the network rather than a brief spike in activity.
Growing transaction throughput also suggested that decentralized applications and stablecoin transfers continued attracting consistent engagement.
Unlike previous growth phases, both active addresses and transaction volume reached fresh all-time highs together, highlighting broader ecosystem expansion.
However, the record network usage failed to trigger an immediate bullish response from traders. Market participants continued approaching TRX cautiously despite the stronger blockchain fundamentals.
Why were Binance traders still leaning bearish on TRON? Despite the surge in network adoption, Binance’s top traders continued favoring short positions.
The latest Long/Short Ratio stood at 0.66, showing that only 39.77% of positions remained long while 60.23% favored shorts. Those figures indicated that professional traders had not yet aligned with the improving on-chain metrics.
Instead, they maintained a defensive stance even after TRON recorded record activity.
However, the ratio also remained above the month’s lowest readings, suggesting bearish conviction had eased slightly compared with earlier sessions. Despite that, sellers still controlled positioning across the exchange.
Until long exposure increases meaningfully, derivatives sentiment would likely continue limiting bullish conviction despite the stronger network fundamentals supporting TRX.
Source: CoinGlass TRX support holds, but can buyers regain control? At the time of writing, TRX traded near an important support area around $0.314, while immediate resistance remained close to $0.332 and stronger overhead resistance sat near $0.376.
Price had previously rejected the higher resistance before retracing toward support, showing that buyers lost strength after the rally.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) also weakened to 38.70, falling below the neutral 50 level and reflecting fading buying pressure.
In addition, the Parabolic SAR continued printing dots above price, confirming that sellers retained short-term control throughout the recent decline.
However, TRX still defended the lower support instead of breaking beneath it.
If buyers continue protecting this zone, the token could attempt another move toward the $0.332 resistance before challenging higher levels.
Source: TradingView To sum up, record network growth strengthened TRON’s fundamental outlook, but derivatives traders remained unconvinced.
Price continued holding a critical support zone despite weakening technical indicators and negative funding.
If buyers maintain support and sentiment gradually improves, TRX could challenge the $0.332 resistance. However, bearish derivatives positioning would need to weaken before a sustained recovery toward higher resistance became more likely.
Final Summary TRON recorded historic network activity while derivatives traders continued favoring bearish positioning across Binance. TRX defended key support, although weak RSI and negative funding reflected cautious market sentiment.
Changpeng Zhao failed to reserve his preferred username during WhatsApp’s global rollout this week. The mishap shows how easily scammers could exploit recognizable names as the app drops phone numbers as its main identifier.
CZ, Binance’s former chief executive, ranks among crypto’s most recognized public figures. His failed claim illustrates a broader risk facing WhatsApp’s new system.
WhatsApp’s Username Debut Draws Scam WarningsWhatsApp began letting users reserve custom usernames this week, replacing phone numbers as the main way to connect.
WhatsApp said creators, small businesses, and organizations can claim their existing Instagram or Facebook username on the app. An optional username key adds protection, but WhatsApp’s first-come first-served rollout means unclaimed handles remain open to whoever registers first.
WhatsApp also plans to rate-limit new contacts and block repeated attempts to guess a username’s key. The measures target the exact abuse patterns Telegram struggled to contain.
Scammers can also exploit lookalike characters, swapping a capital I for a lowercase l. The trick is nearly impossible to spot without comparing handles side by side.
WhatsApp Users Chase Premium Usernames for Future ProfitA growing number of users are trying to reserve sought-after WhatsApp usernames early. The behavior mirrors the hype already seen on Telegram, where early adopters fetched seven-figure sums for prominent handles.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov said in July 2025 that an early “@crypto” handle drew a $25 million offer. 2025 data shows “@news” sold for $5.8 million. Some users now hope that famous brands, celebrities, and crypto terms reserved early on WhatsApp could carry similar value.
WhatsApp usernames are free to reserve directly in the app. Meta has not built a marketplace for buying or selling them. That gap, unlike Telegram’s tokenized Fragment platform, could limit how much resale value ever materializes.
What Users Can Do to Protect ThemselvesCZ’s experience highlights what is at stake as impersonation scams change. One recent impersonation-based staking scam already resulted in a criminal sentence, showing regulators are paying attention.
Security researchers recommend enabling WhatsApp’s optional username key manually, since Meta leaves it off by default. Without it, anyone who learns a username can message that person on the first attempt.
Enabling the key requires a four-digit code before a stranger can reach out. Experts also recommend watching for lookalike characters, since a reserved username alone does not confirm authenticity.
The safest approach is to confirm any high-profile contact through its official, verified account before trusting a message.
What Happens Next for WhatsApp UsersCrypto users already face elevated fraud risks this year. June’s hack losses show attackers continue to target both platforms and individuals. This impersonation risk echoes a broader industry debate, including the long-running quantum risk debate over emerging threats to digital trust.
WhatsApp’s wider username rollout is still weeks away, giving Meta time to add safeguards. Whether those measures arrive before scammers adapt remains the key question for the platform’s three billion users.
TL;DRBNB Agent Studio is live on BNB Smart Chain. Builders describe an AI agent in one prompt inside platforms like Cursor, Claude Code and other platforms, and it ships to the chain.Agents pay their own LLM bills from a wallet you fund. They top up automatically via the x402 protocol, so the agent keeps running between your wallet refills.Each agent gets an onchain identity via ERC-8004 and a task interface via ERC-8183. Other agents can find it and call it.Open standards across the stack: x402, ERC-8004, ERC-8183. Nothing about the agent is locked into a single vendor.If you want to ship a useful AI agent on chain today, you have to assemble at least five things separately:
A walletAn identityA payment railA hosting environmentAccess to a Large Language Model. Each one is a different vendor, a different SDK, a different login. Every seam in that stack is a place something can break, and every dependency is a future migration headache waiting to happen.
Even when that stack is wired up correctly, the agent often doesn't last long. The moment its language model credits run out, it stops. It has no way to refill its own balance. The result is an agent that looks autonomous until it isn't, and you end up checking on it the way someone checks on a houseplant.
BNB Agent Studio is a developer product that takes those pieces and puts them inside one workflow. You describe the agent in one prompt inside Cursor or your favourite vibecoding platform, and the product handles the rest. Your agent comes out of deployment already paying its own bills and already addressable on BNB Smart Chain.
Inside BNB Agent StudioThe whole flow lives inside an AI IDE. Install the bnb CLI, describe what you want the agent to do, and BNB Agent Studio scaffolds the code, sets up the wallet, registers the agent's onchain identity, and deploys it to a managed runtime.
The pieces underneath:
bnb CLI - A single-line install. Detects supported AI IDEs (Cursor, Claude Code) and registers Studio's MCP server with them automatically.Studio MCP server - Exposes Studio's tools to the IDE, so the AI assistant can scaffold and deploy agents on your behalf.BNB Chain SDK - Runtime layer with primitives for identity, payments, and language model calls. Available in Python today, with additional languages coming.AWS Bedrock AgentCore - Where your deployed agent runs. Agents live on production-grade infrastructure rather than your laptop.x402 payment protocol - The payment rail an agent uses to top up its own balance.ERC-8004 - Agent identity standard. Each deployed agent gets its own onchain identity.ERC-8183 - Agent task interface standard. Other agents can discover and call the one you've built.From One Prompt to a Live AgentThe developer experience is meant to look like a normal coding session.
Local testing happens in the same environment. Once you're satisfied, deployment is a single instruction. Behind that, Studio compiles the agent, pushes it to AWS Bedrock AgentCore, registers an ERC-8004 identity for it, binds its wallet to that identity, registers the ERC-8183 task interface, and turns on the self-funding loop.
Self-funding is the part that does the heavy lifting once your agent is live. Your agent watches its own language model balance. When the balance falls below a threshold, the SDK initiates a payment over x402, drawing from the wallet you funded at deployment and settled in $U on BNB Smart Chain. Your agent stays online during the top-up. When the underlying wallet runs low, you refill it.
Less Plumbing, More AgentWhat changes for you is mostly what you no longer have to build. Wallets, identity, payments, and hosting are part of the product. The SDK ships in Python today, with more languages coming. The CLI works in any MCP-compatible AI IDE, which means your existing Cursor and Claude Code workflows pick up Studio without any extra setup.
Three things to know about how this actually works:
Your agent handles its own credit top-ups, drawing from the wallet you fund. That changes the operational model. An agent you deploy today keeps running without you intervening between tasks. You only step in when the underlying wallet runs low.Open standards are the default. ERC-8004, ERC-8183, and x402 are all open. Nothing about your agent's identity, payments, or task interface is locked to BNB Chain or to Studio.Studio doesn't get in the way of how you build. The user flow above is a reference shape, not a contract. The SDK and CLI work fine if you want to wire things up differently.To get started, read the quickstart in the docs.
Live Today on BNB ChainBNB Agent Studio is live on BNB Smart Chain mainnet. The CLI is publicly available, the SDK installs via pip, and the supported AI IDEs at launch are Cursor and Claude Code, with additional MCP-compatible environments coming through MCP itself.
AWS Free Tier: A Limited-Time Free ExperienceTo support developers, the BNB Agent Studio AWS Free Tier offers a no-cost way to try the full cloud agent deployment pipeline using only a GitHub login with no AWS account or credit card required.
From there you get access to agent creation, cloud deployment, onchain registration via ERC-8004, and ERC-8183 / x402 onchain interactions, all without setting up your own infrastructure first.
This is a limited-time campaign with a capped budget, so access closes once it's gone. Here's everything you need to know about how it works.
Eligibility Dimension
Rule
GitHub account
Must be registered for at least 30 days.
Participation limit
Each GitHub account may participate once only. No re-enrollment.
Network
bsc-testnet only. Mainnet is not supported.
Total campaign budget
Limited on a first come, first served basis. Campaign ends automatically once the budget is exhausted.
Timing Dimension
Rule
Timer start
First successful bag deploy (not at login).
Trial duration
48 hours.
Expiry reminders
CLI reminders at 12 hours and 1 hour before expiry.
On expiry
All cloud resources automatically and permanently deleted. Cannot be recovered.
Login without deploying
Does not count toward the 48 hours. No resources consumed.
Usage limits Limit
Default Value
Invocation rate
60 requests / minute
Concurrent invocations
Max 2
Max single session duration
5 minutes (forcibly terminated on timeout)
Idle auto-reclaim
Reclaimed after 1 minute of inactivity
Max agents per user
10
Deployments per hour
Max 10
Concurrent in-flight deployments
Max 3
Zip package size
≤250 MB
Container image size
≤2 GB
Single request size
Max 10 MB
Campaign End MechanismWhen total campaign spend reaches the budget threshold ($3,000 × 80% ≈ $2,400), campaign end is automatically triggered:
New user entry is immediately closed: Deploy and invoke requests return "Campaign has ended."Users already inside their 48-hour window are unaffected and continue running until their individual expiry.Note: AWS billing has a delay of roughly 24 hours, so the actual trigger point is based on estimated spend reaching the threshold (subject to adjustment). Final spend is determined by actual AWS billing.
Data After ExpiryWhen the 48-hour trial ends, all cloud resources are immediately and permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. Onchain identity and transaction records are permanently retained and unaffected.
Content
Status After 48 Hours
Local code files (main.py, etc.)
Fully retained (stored locally on user's machine)
Onchain identity (ERC-8004)
Permanently retained (on BSC)
Onchain transaction records
Permanently retained (on BSC)
Local wallet files
Retained (stored locally on user's machine)
Cloud AgentCore runtime instance
Permanently deleted
CloudWatch runtime logs
Permanently deleted
ECR images (runtime + user-uploaded)
Permanently deleted
Secrets (wallet keys, etc.)
Immediately and permanently deleted. No recovery window.
S3 code bundle
Permanently deleted
Important:
Always use a testnet-dedicated wallet. Never use a mainnet wallet holding real assets.The system sends CLI reminders before expiry. Back up your local code in time.What’s Next?The current shape of the product is the developer surface for shipping individual agents. Further work covers ecosystem features and additional wallet and language model integrations. None of that is required for you to start building today.
Here’s what’s to come:
Late June 2026 - more options at every step:
TWAK wallet integration as an additional wallet option.BinancePay B402 merchants integration, so agents can purchase CMC data through x402.Microsoft Azure as a cloud runtime option alongside AWS.Free AWS runtime for up to 48 hours.Mid July 2026 - more choice and control:
Developer dashboard to view, pause, and restart agents without touching the CLI.Enterprise-grade security model for agent wallet private keys.Additional wallets to pick from and more data services your agent can pay to use.The roadmap updates regularly as we ship. For the latest, see the BNB Agent Studio page:
bnbchain.org/en/bnb-agent-studio
BNB Chain has been pointing toward a chain where autonomous software does real work for some time. BNB Agent Studio is the developer surface that makes that workable. The product is built for you if you want to ship agents that actually do the work, not chatbots that need supervision.
Let me tell you about a regulatory tug-of-war happening right now that most crypto headlines are ignoring, but that matters a lot for the fourth-largest cryptocurrency. While everyone obsesses over Bitcoin’s slide, two of the world’s biggest financial jurisdictions, the UK and the EU, are quietly pulling in opposite directions on stablecoin rules, and the outcome has real stakes for Binance and its token, BNB. Let me walk you through it.
First, the price. BNB is trading at $546.54, down about 1.3% on the day and 5.7% on the week, holding up roughly in line with the broader market through a rough stretch (live BNB price on CoinGecko). It has been more resilient than many altcoins over the longer run, and there is a structural reason for that, which we will get to. But right now, the interesting story is regulatory.
The tug-of-war: UK versus EU Here is what is happening. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority just proposed lowering the capital buffers, essentially the financial cushions, that firms must hold against stablecoins. This follows the Bank of England backtracking on limits to how much stablecoin value an individual could hold. The clear direction: the UK is moving to make itself more welcoming to stablecoin businesses.
At the same time, this move directly undercuts the EU’s MiCA framework, which imposes stricter requirements. So you have got two major jurisdictions competing, the UK loosening up to attract crypto business, the EU holding a tighter line. For a global company, that competition creates both opportunity and complication: friendlier rules somewhere, tighter rules elsewhere, and the constant challenge of navigating both.
Why this matters for BNB specifically Now here is the connection to BNB, and it is a direct one. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, BNB’s fortunes are tied tightly to Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, because BNB is the native token of the Binance ecosystem. So anything that affects Binance’s regulatory standing affects BNB more directly than regulatory news affects, say, a decentralized coin.
And Binance has a specific, live regulatory situation in Europe: it is facing a looming rejection of its MiCA license application in the EU, though it has said it is seeking alternative ways to maintain its European presence. So this UK-versus-EU stablecoin tug-of-war is not abstract for BNB holders. A more welcoming UK could offer Binance an alternative path in a key market, while the tighter EU stance is exactly the kind of pressure that has complicated its European operations. The regulatory chessboard genuinely matters here.
The structural strength underneath Let me balance the regulatory uncertainty with what is actually working for BNB, because it is real. BNB is not a purely speculative token. It has genuine utility: people use it to pay trading fees at a discount on Binance, and to power activity on BNB Chain. On top of that, Binance regularly burns BNB, permanently removing coins from supply, a deflationary mechanism that supports the price over time.
That combination, real utility plus shrinking supply, is why BNB tends to hold up better than many altcoins in downturns, and it is doing exactly that this week. The recent Maxwell upgrade to BNB Chain also improved the network’s performance, and integrations like Tether Gold keep expanding what people can do on it. These are the quiet, steady strengths that sit beneath the regulatory noise.
So how do you read BNB right now? This is the balance. On one side, BNB has real utility, deflationary burns, an improving network, and better resilience than most altcoins. On the other, it carries a concentrated risk tied to Binance’s regulatory standing, and right now that standing sits in the middle of a genuine UK-versus-EU regulatory divergence with real consequences.
That makes BNB a fundamentally different kind of hold than something like Bitcoin. When you own BNB, you are partly betting on Binance successfully navigating a complex, shifting global regulatory landscape, with all the upside if it does and the specific risk if it stumbles. Both sides deserve your attention.
The levels worth watching On the downside, the $540 area is immediate support, with $520 below it as the level that has held through recent pressure. Holding $520 keeps the structure intact. On the upside, BNB needs to reclaim $560 to ease the pressure, then the $580 to $600 zone to signal a stronger recovery is taking shape.
Where this leaves us BNB at $546 is holding up reasonably through a rough week, supported by its real utility and deflationary burns, with the Maxwell upgrade strengthening the network underneath. But it sits in the middle of a genuine regulatory tug-of-war: the UK loosening stablecoin rules to attract business while the EU holds its tighter MiCA line, with Binance’s European future caught in between.
So watch both sides. The $520 support and the $560 reclaim are the levels to track on the chart. And keep an eye on the UK-versus-EU regulatory story, because for BNB more than almost any other major coin, the fate of the exchange and the token are bound together. That is what makes BNB both more resilient and more regulatory-sensitive than it looks.
FAQ What is the BNB price today?
BNB is trading at $546.54 on July 1, 2026, down about 1.3% on the day and 5.7% on the week, holding up roughly in line with the broader market. It remains the fourth-largest cryptocurrency.
What is the UK stablecoin news?
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority proposed lowering the capital buffers firms must hold against stablecoins, following the Bank of England backtracking on stablecoin holding limits. This moves the UK toward friendlier stablecoin rules, undercutting the EU’s stricter MiCA framework.
Why does the UK-EU regulatory divergence matter for BNB?
BNB is tied closely to Binance, so regulatory shifts affecting the exchange affect BNB directly. A friendlier UK could offer Binance an alternative path, while the tighter EU stance, including a looming MiCA license rejection, complicates its European operations.
Why does BNB hold up better than other altcoins?
BNB has real utility (fee discounts and BNB Chain activity) plus regular token burns that shrink supply. This combination of genuine demand and deflationary supply tends to make it more resilient than purely speculative coins in downturns.
What are the key BNB levels to watch? I
mmediate support is $540, with $520 below it. Holding $520 keeps the structure intact. On the upside, BNB needs to reclaim $560, then the $580 to $600 zone to signal a stronger recovery.
This is not investment advice. Cryptocurrency is highly volatile. Always do your own research.
BNB Chain has unveiled BNB Agent Studio, a new platform that enables developers to build autonomous AI agents capable of surviving infrastructure failures, accepting crypto payments and being owned or transferred as digital assets.
Smart money used to mean knowing the right people, being in the right rooms.
Now it means having the right agents.
For years, building one took five tools, four logins, and a painful month of work. Today, it takes just a single prompt.
BNB Agent Studio is live on BNB Smart… pic.twitter.com/Ksdmz84ZgA
— BNB Chain (@BNBCHAIN) July 1, 2026
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Built in collaboration with the AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, the platform allows agents to be created in around 15 minutes from a text prompt using Claude Code, Cursor or other MCP-compatible development environments.
BNB Agent Studio automatically generates the infrastructure required to deploy agents on Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, while integrating identity, payments, hosting and AI capabilities into a single workflow.
BNB Chain said the integrated solution removes the need to separately configure wallets, identity systems, payment rails, AI models and hosting infrastructure.
“Building an autonomous AI agent has typically meant assembling a fragile stack of four or more separate vendor integrations: a wallet, an identity layer, payments, an AI model, and hosting,” Nina Rong, Executive Director of Growth at BNB Chain, stated. “We’re talking days and weeks of integration work. BNB Agent Studio replaces all of that with a single install, designed as one product from the ground up.”
According to the team, agents built on the platform can generate revenue by charging for services, use those earnings to cover operating expenses and retain their intelligence across environments through a combination of AWS runtime and onchain persistence. Each agent receives an ERC-8004 digital identity controlled by the owner’s private keys.
“With Amazon Bedrock AgentCore as the runtime, BNB Chain will unlock an entirely new category: AI agents as owned, tradeable, persistent digital entities. This vision will enable agents to be paused, resumed, migrated, recovered, and transferred, including through tokenisation,” Rong added.
The launch extends the capabilities introduced through the BNB Agent SDK. BNB Chain said it intends to release new platform features every two weeks to support developers building applications for the agentic economy.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
One Prompt, One Agent@BNBChain has activated BNB Agent Studio, a developer suite designed to cut the time it takes to ship autonomous on-chain AI agents from weeks to minutes. Developers describe what they want in plain language, and the platform handles everything else. As the official BNB Chain documentation puts it, the tool brings "a wallet, an LLM, on-chain agent identity (ERC-8004), a task interface (ERC-8183), and a cloud runtime together in one toolkit."
The setup works through a single command-line install. Once in place, the CLI auto-detects @Cursor_ai and Claude Code and registers BNB Agent Studio's MCP server directly inside those coding environments, so builders can create and deploy $BNB-native agents using natural language without leaving their editor. Each agent receives its own on-chain identity under the ERC-8004 standard, a dedicated wallet, and autonomous payment capabilities via the x402 protocol, meaning the agent can pay for its own LLM calls and operational costs without manual top-ups.
AWS Infrastructure and a Growing On-Chain Agent EconomyOn the infrastructure side, BNB Agent Studio routes deployments through @AWScloud's Bedrock AgentCore, packaging agents and registering them on BNB Smart Chain in a single command. Amazon Bedrock AgentCore is a fully managed platform that enables agents to take actions across tools and data "with the right permissions and governance, all without any infrastructure management," according to AWS documentation. That 24/7 managed runtime is what allows agents deployed through Studio to execute tasks such as market rebalancing and yield optimization continuously, without human intervention.
The launch comes against a backdrop of rapid growth in on-chain AI activity on BNB Chain. The network surpassed 150,000 on-chain AI agent deployments as of April 2026, a 43,750% increase since January of the same year, positioning it as one of the most active chains for autonomous agent infrastructure. BNB Agent Studio is designed to accelerate that trajectory by removing the month-long setup cycles that previously made agentic infrastructure prohibitive for most builders.
Sources
BNB Agent Studio, official BNB Chain product page
Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, AWS product page
BNB Chain leads all blockchains with 150,000 on-chain AI agents, CryptoNews
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.
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.
Stellar (XLM) is hovering at $0.17. The trading volume has skyrocketed by 124%. With the market in extreme fear, all the major crypto assets are charted in red. Among them, Stellar (XLM) is attempting to move upward to hit its recent highs. With a modest 3% gain in value, its current price is hovering within the $0.1775 range.
In the early hours, the asset traded at a bottom range of $0.172, and after testing and breaking through the levels between $0.1727 and $0.1865, XLM has climbed to a high of $0.1869. Moreover, the daily trading volume has skyrocketed by over 124% to $277.61 million.
The four-hour price chart of the XLM/USDT trading pair shows that the price might move in both up and down directions. If its recent gain has acquired more traction, the price would climb toward the resistance at the $0.18 range. With the prolonged correction on the upside, the bulls could break higher and hit higher targets.
On the flip side, with a bearish shift in the Stellar market, the price trend might trigger it to shed its gains. This could immediately initiate a drop below the support at around $0.16. A steady push on the downside with the emergence of the death cross would send the asset’s price even lower.
What’s the Next Move for Stellar? When Stellar’s Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) line is above the signal line, but both remain below the zero line, it suggests that bullish momentum is starting to build within a broader bearish trend.
The bullish crossover hints that buying pressure is improving, but the overall trend has not yet turned positive. Also, this signals an early recovery, though confirmation is needed before a stronger uptrend can be expected.
Additionally, the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) staying at 46.35 indicates neutral to slightly bearish momentum in the XLM market. Technically, the value is below the neutral level, exhibiting that the sellers have a small edge, but momentum remains fairly balanced.
The reading is above the oversold zone, so selling pressure is not strong enough. This points to a market in consolidation, where neither buyers nor sellers have clear control.
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Stellar Signs On as Open USD Launch PartnerStellar's native token $XLM climbed roughly 10% over 24 hours after the Stellar Development Foundation joined the launch of Open USD as both a launch partner and Open Standard participant. The move ties one of crypto's most established payments-focused blockchains to what is shaping up to be the most broadly backed stablecoin debut in the industry's history.
More than 140 companies, including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock and Coinbase, have joined Open Standard to launch Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin that shares most of the earnings from its reserves. The project is led by founding CEO Zach Abrams, co-founder of Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure startup acquired by Stripe for $1.1 billion in 2024.
The coin is designed to address longstanding complaints about the stablecoin industry: high fees for minting and redeeming tokens at scale, issuers that keep the interest earned on reserves, and a lack of input from the businesses actually using the coins. Open Standard said businesses will be able to mint and redeem Open USD without fees or volume limits, while most of the income generated by its reserves will be distributed to participating businesses after a small management fee.
A Broad Coalition, and What It Means for $XLMThe 140-plus partners span four main categories: payment networks and processors such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, and Western Union; financial institutions including BlackRock, BNY, Standard Chartered, DBS, and U.S. Bank; technology and commerce firms such as Google, Samsung Electronics, IBM, Shopify, and DoorDash; and crypto ecosystem players including Coinbase and Solana.
Open USD will be managed by an independent organization with governance shared among partner companies, rather than a single controlling issuer. The announcement had an immediate ripple effect across markets, with Circle shares falling sharply on the day as traders priced in OUSD as a direct competitor to USDC.
For Stellar, the partnership reinforces the network's positioning as institutional payments infrastructure. Stellar's speed, low fees, compliance tools, and anchor network provide financial institutions the infrastructure needed to tokenize assets while maintaining regulatory compliance. The Open USD partnership adds to a string of recent institutional milestones for the network. In May 2026, the DTCC announced plans to connect its tokenized securities platform to Stellar, with XLM designated as the settlement token and live assets targeted for the first half of 2027, covering Russell 1000 equities and U.S. Treasury bonds.
Open USD is expected to go live later in 2026, with issuance planned across Solana, Stellar, Base, and Polygon.
Sources:
The Block: Visa, Stripe, Coinbase and more join Open USD stablecoin
CoinDesk: DTCC taps Stellar for tokenized securities network
Crypto Briefing: Dozens of major companies join Open USD as launch partners
Paramount has offered concessions in a bid to smooth over European Commission concerns about its $111B deal for Warner Bros Discovery.
The European Commission confirmed a filing in which Paramount made its pledges, which the Ellison-family owned company believes will lead to approval and remove one of the final hurdles in the way of the mega-mergher.
Furthermore, a “new provisional deadline” a decision has been set for July 22, extended from the previous July 7. The EC doesn’t outline the specifics of such pledges, per its policies.
Last week, reports emerged that Paramount believed exiting the UIP pact would be enough to gain favor from the European Commission, with theater operators concerned over the resulting concentration of power.
Paramount didn’t specify its concessions today, but said in a statement it was “confident that this remedy directly and comprehensively addresses any concerns expressed in the European Commission’s preliminary assessment and support the path for timely clearance.”
The news comes after UK Culture Minister Louise Nandy said she was minded to intervene” in Paramount‘s takeover of WBD.
She has said that she wishes to assess whether the deal is in the best interests of UK audiences on plurality grounds, and has written to Paramount and WBD to outline her position. The country’s Competition and Markets Authority is separately continuing its investigation into the deal, with its findings feeding into Nandy’s work.
The Department of Justice has greenlit the deal, but state attorneys general in California, New York and several other states are contemplating an antitrust suit to stop Paramount and WBD unifying.
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Carvana (NYSE: CVNA), the industry pioneer for buying and selling cars online, today announced it will report its second quarter 2026 financial results for the period ended June 30, 2026, after the market closes on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. On that day, management will hold a conference call and webcast at 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT) to review and discuss the company's business and results. The live webcast will be accessible from the Investor Relations section of the c.
GURUGRAM, India & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)---- $YTRA #CapitalMarket--Yatra Online, Inc. announced that on June 25, 2026, the Company received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq Stock Market.
, /PRNewswire/ -- Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, today announced that it will release its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, on Thursday, July 30, 2026, before the U.S. financial markets open. Management will host a video conference call with the investment community at 8:30 AM EST/5:30 AM PST on July 30, 2026. A live video webcast of the call will be hosted on the company's website at http://www.checkpoint.com/ir.
To follow this and other Check Point news visit:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/check-point-software-technologies YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/CPGlobal Blog: http://blog.checkpoint.com/ X (Formerly known as Twitter): http://www.twitter.com/checkpointsw About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a global cyber security leader protecting more than 100,000 organizations worldwide. Its mission is to secure enterprises' AI transformation. With a prevention-first approach and an open ecosystem architecture, Check Point helps organizations block advanced threats, prioritize exposures, and automate security operations across complex digital environments. The unified architecture simplifies protection across hybrid networks, multi-cloud environments, digital workspaces, and AI systems. Structured around four strategic pillars, Hybrid Mesh Network Security, Workspace Security, Exposure Management, and AI Security, Check Point delivers consistent protection and visibility across multivendor environments, enabling organizations to reduce risk, improve efficiency, and accelerate innovation without increasing complexity.
Arc Plugs Into Chainlink's Enterprise Oracle StackArc, the Layer-1 blockchain backed by Circle, has joined the Chainlink Scale program, opening up a suite of enterprise-grade oracle and interoperability services to developers building on the network.
Through the partnership, builders on Arc can now tap CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol), Data Streams, Data Feeds, and Proof of Reserve. Chainlink CCIP is a blockchain interoperability protocol that enables developers to build secure applications that can transfer tokens, messages, or both across chains. Data Streams, meanwhile, provides pull-based oracles with sub-second latency, enabling DeFi applications to access high-quality financial market data.
The Scale program, which stands for Sustainable Chainlink Access for Layer 1 and 2 Enablement, is centered around accelerating the growth of blockchain and layer-2 ecosystems. It allows blockchains and layer-2 networks to fast-track smart contract innovation by covering the operating costs of Chainlink oracle networks for a period of time. In doing so, developers get access to a variety of important oracle services, including configurations specific to their ecosystem needs, such as Data Feeds with higher update frequencies to enable more advanced and low-latency smart contract applications.
What Arc Brings to the Table Arc features predictable dollar-based fees using stablecoins as gas, opt-in configurable privacy that supports compliance obligations, and direct integration with Circle's full-stack platform, making it uniquely suited for use cases like lending, capital markets, FX, and payments.
Chainlink has been selected as a core ecosystem partner of Arc, the newly launched layer-1 blockchain by Circle. The Chainlink Scale membership now formalises and expands that relationship, putting the full oracle toolkit directly in the hands of Arc's developer community.
Arc is currently in public testnet, with strong developer adoption and sustained network activity ahead of mainnet launch. Launch partners include BlackRock, Visa, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Standard Chartered, Amazon Web Services, and Coinbase, representing diverse segments of the financial ecosystem from asset managers to payment processors to infrastructure providers. The addition of Chainlink Scale infrastructure is likely to deepen that institutional appeal as Arc prepares for its mainnet debut.
Arc official website | Chainlink Scale program overview, Chainlink Blog | Arc on Chainlink Ecosystem
Chainlink (LINK) recovers modestly, trading above $7.30 on Wednesday after weeks of heavy selling pressure. The recovery could strengthen as Arc joined the Chainlink Scale program on Tuesday, boosting ecosystem growth and adoption. However, traders should remain cautious, as mixed on-chain and derivatives data continues to cap LINK’s upside.
Growing partnership boosts LINK’s ecosystem growthChainlink's official X account announced on Tuesday that Arc, Circle's stablecoin-native Layer-1 blockchain, has joined the Chainlink Scale program. It aims to provide developers with secure access to premium enterprise-grade infrastructure.
On the same day, Theo announced that it had invested $20 million in Fidelity International's FILQ tokenized USD liquidity fund via Sygnum. The investment leverages Chainlink's Runtime Environment to deliver on-chain Net Asset Value (NAV), pricing data from JPMorgan, and fund distribution metrics.
These partnerships and ecosystem developments signal a bullish long-term outlook for Chainlink and its native token, LINK, boosting ecosystem growth and bolstering investor confidence.
However, in the short term, it failed to lift LINK prices, as the price consolidated after the previous week's correction.
Mixed on-chain and derivatives caps recoveryCryptoQuant’s summary data shows mixed sentiment. Chainlink’s spot and futures markets show large whales' orders, suggesting a positive outlook, while the futures market shows sell-side dominance, suggesting a negative bias. This mixed bias suggests cautious sentiment among traders and is capping any potential recovery.
Chainlink summary data chart. Source: CryptoQuantOn the derivative side, sentiment also remains mixed. Chainlink’s funding rates turned positive on Thursday, reading 0.0060% on Wednesday, indicating that longs are paying the shorts and suggesting a bullish bias.
However, Coinglass long-to-short ratio for LINK read 0.84 on Wednesday, nearing its lowest levels in over a month. This ratio, being below 1, reflects bearish sentiment in the market, as more traders are betting the asset’s price will fall.
Chainlink funding rates chart. Source: Coinglass
Chainlink long-to-short ratio chart. Source: CoinglassChainlink Price Forecast: Fading bearish momentum could lift pricesChainlink trades at $7.31 on Wednesday, maintaining a bearish bias as the price remains well below the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), clustered between roughly $8.23 and $10.26.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) at about 37 remains in weak territory, while the slightly negative Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) hints at fading downside momentum rather than a decisive turn, suggesting any recovery attempts are likely to face overhead supply.
On the topside, initial resistance emerges at the 50-day EMA near $8.22, followed by the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement at $8.74 and the 100-day EMA around $8.84. Above there, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement at $9.82 and the horizontal cap near $9.93 precede the heavier band formed by the 200-day EMA at $10.26.
On the downside, immediate support is seen near the recent anchor around $6.99; a break below this zone would reopen the path to fresh lows in the broader corrective phase.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
World is a new onchain prediction market on Solana that allows users to trade event contracts like crypto prices and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.The platform is now live within the Phantom wallet and at world.xyz, utilizing Chainlink as its primary oracle infrastructure for market data.World enables users to trade directly from their Solana wallets, with positions, settlement, and redemptions occurring fully onchain using CASH stablecoin.World, the mysterious Solana project that garnered millions of views on X with little more than a glowing globe, cryptic posts and the tagline “Trade Everything,” is now live as a fully onchain prediction market inside Phantom.
The platform is online at world.xyz and in the Phantom wallet on iOS, Android and desktop, with Chainlink serving as its primary oracle infrastructure for its data.
Users can trade event contracts tied to crypto prices and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with additional markets on sports, geopolitics, and macroeconomics planned for the near future, according to an announcement shared with CoinDesk.
World’s world_xyz account has built attention throughsocial media posts offering scant product details, fueling speculation that the project could be a meme coin, trading app or broader Solana infrastructure play. Copycat WORLD-themed tokens have appeared on token launchpads, though those tokens are not official World assets.
The platform's identity stayed hidden until late June, when a legal disclosure on Phantom's site surfaced on X.
World is instead a non-custodial prediction market, with users being able to trade directly from their Solana wallets and funds moving only when they enter a market. Positions, settlement and redemptions happen onchain.
World uses Phantom’s CASH stablecoin as its settlement asset, allowing winning positions to be redeemed automatically inside the wallet. Phantom gives World immediate distribution through one of Solana’s largest consumer apps and follows Phantom’s broader push into in-app markets, including Kalshi prediction markets and regulated derivatives.
“Prediction markets are one of the most powerful applications you can build on a high-performance blockchain,” Pedro Miranda, head of consumer at the Solana Foundation, in Wednesday's announcement. “World is designed to show what Solana makes possible: real-time markets, onchain settlement, and a user experience that meets people where they are.”
Chainlink will provide World with market data and resolution infrastructure through Chainlink Data Streams and the Chainlink Runtime Environment.
The setup is meant to reduce reliance on human-led resolution, a longstanding friction point in prediction markets. Other event-contract platforms have also moved toward oracle-based settlement, including Polymarket for some price-based markets.
World is not the only Solana-native prediction market. Jupiter unveiled its Forecast beta on June 29, offering 15-minute bitcoin price markets.
The Phantom debut is the first of several frontend distribution partnerships World plans to activate across traditional fintech and crypto platforms in July.
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Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Jun 30, 2026
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Why it matters:
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
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.
World XYZ, a prominent prediction market on the Solana blockchain, has announced its adoption of Chainlink as its primary oracle infrastructure. This integration aims to enhance the speed and accuracy of market resolutions, particularly in categories such as cryptocurrency, sports, elections, and macroeconomic events. Chainlink serves as a critical link, connecting Solana’s smart contracts to real-world data through verified data aggregation from independent node operators. This move is expected to provide immediate resolution and payout capabilities, bypassing traditional banking delays through stablecoin rails.
The integration of Chainlink is seen as a significant enhancement for World XYZ, addressing the “oracle problem” by ensuring data accuracy and reliability. With Chainlink’s established network, which has facilitated over $6.9 trillion in transaction value since 2022, the partnership is anticipated to bolster confidence in prediction markets on Solana. Market participants may interpret this development as supportive of higher trust and efficiency, potentially influencing market dynamics across various sectors.
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Market reactions have been observed in related prediction markets, specifically in the pricing of Bitcoin. Current data suggests a notable increase in confidence for Bitcoin to reach certain price ranges by July 1, with an 84% likelihood of Bitcoin being priced between $58,000 and $60,000, up from 38% just 24 hours ago. This shift appears consistent with enhanced market confidence stemming from World XYZ’s integration of Chainlink.
Key Takeaways World XYZ’s integration of Chainlink appears consistent with efforts to enhance prediction market efficiency and reliability. Market pricing suggests increased confidence in Bitcoin price predictions, with significant movements in sub-market odds. Chainlink’s established infrastructure is expected to provide immediate payout capabilities, enhancing user experience on World XYZ. What to Watch Market participants may look for further developments in World XYZ’s performance metrics following the integration. Any additional partnerships or technological advancements could further influence market dynamics. The impact on Bitcoin’s market pricing will be crucial to observe, especially as additional data from Chainlink is utilized. Watch for statements from key financial regulators or announcements from World XYZ that could further shape market perceptions.
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Bitcoin Price On July 1 2026
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h July 1 0.5% — — View market → July 1 9% — — View market → July 1 3.6% — — View market → July 1 0.1% — — View market → July 1 87.5% — — View market → July 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → July 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → What Price Will Hyperliquid Hit Before 2027
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 35% — — View market → January 1 2027 5.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 4.6% — — View market → January 1 2027 63.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 11.1% — — View market → January 1 2027 5.5% — — View market →
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.
Economist Gita Gopinath said on Tuesday that cryptocurrency legislation, including the GENIUS Act, will have limited success reducing illicit finance due to the large number of anonymous stablecoin holdings.
Stablecoins In Self-Custody: A Dark Spot?Gopinath, at a lecture on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting of the Bank for International Settlements, pointed out that stablecoins are primarily held in their most anonymous form, a stark contrast to the preference for less anonymity in traditional money transactions.
The research found that the fewest stablecoins are held on U.S.-based centralised exchanges, including Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN), considered “least anonymous” and “analogous to bank deposits.”
Holdings in non-U.S. exchanges, such as Binance (CRYPTO: BNB), were placed between self-custody and U.S. exchanges on the anonymity spectrum.
Loopholes In US Stablecoin Act?Gopinath, former Chief Economist at the IMF, stated that the GENIUS Act, which regulates stablecoin issuers and centralized exchanges, does not cover self-custody wallets, peer-to-peer transfers, and offshore issuers and exchanges.
She added that while the European framework, i.e, Markets in Crypto-Assets, is more restrictive, it still excludes a large share of transactions.
“Consequently, GENIUS & MICA regulatory frameworks will likely have only a modest effect in preventing illicit activity,” Gopinath said.
Notably, New York’s leading prosecutors raised concerns earlier this year about the new stablecoin legislation, citing weaker safeguards for fraud victims
Stablecoin Role In Facilitating Illicit VolumeGopinath pointed to the Chainalysis cryptocurrency crime report, showing that stablecoins accounted for 84% of the illicit cryptocurrency transaction volume in 2025.
“Stablecoins are a genuine innovation, but they are held and used in their most anonymous form. The task for policymakers is to manage the resulting trade-off,” the Harvard Professor said during the lecture.
A report by CertiK, a Web3 cybersecurity firm, highlighted the emergence of several major exploit trends in stablecoin infrastructure over the past 18–24 months.
Photo Courtesy: ddRender on Shutterstock.com
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New York Life Investment Management has partnered with Centrifuge to launch its first tokenized fund, bringing a U.S. high-yield corporate bond strategy onchain.
Summary
NYLIM launched its first tokenized offering through Centrifuge, starting with a high-yield bond strategy. The HYB product gives eligible investors onchain access to NYLIM’s fixed-income investment process. Subscriptions and redemptions will settle in USDC while NYLIM keeps portfolio management unchanged. New York Life Investment Management, known as NYLIM, partnered with Centrifuge to launch the NYLIM Anemoy U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Segregated Portfolio. The product will trade under the ticker HYB and marks NYLIM’s first tokenized offering.
NYLIM has about $807 billion in assets under management, according to the announcement. The asset manager said the launch gives eligible investors access to its high-yield corporate bond strategy through digital infrastructure.
High-yield bond strategy moves onchain The HYB product brings NYLIM’s U.S. High Yield Corporate Bond Strategy to Centrifuge’s platform. The companies said the underlying portfolio, investment process and risk management approach will remain with NYLIM and will not change because of the tokenized structure.
The fund will use Centrifuge’s institutional fund infrastructure. Subscriptions and redemptions will settle in USDC, according to the Centrifuge announcement. The offering is aimed at eligible investors, rather than broad retail access.
New York Life Investment Management (@NYLIManagement), one of the largest active asset managers globally with ~$807B in AUM, has partnered with Centrifuge to bring its fixed income capabilities onchain.
The collaboration begins with $HYB, one of the first high yield bond… pic.twitter.com/oA5qyOpvUj
— Centrifuge (@centrifuge) June 30, 2026 NYLIM sees demand for tokenized access “Tokenization represents a compelling evolution in how investment solutions can be accessed, managed and distributed across both public and private markets,” Thomas Sy, Head of Multi-Asset Solutions at NYLIM, said.
“As investor demand continues to grow around transparency, efficiency and broader market participation, we are exploring opportunities where blockchain-enabled infrastructure can complement our existing platform and deepen the value we deliver to clients,” Sy said.
The launch places NYLIM among large asset managers testing tokenized versions of traditional investment products. The product also expands tokenized credit beyond U.S. Treasuries and money market funds, which have formed a large share of real-world asset activity.
Centrifuge expands RWA fund infrastructure “We’re proud to work with NYLIM and we’re starting with a fund that fills a gap for onchain investors that existing infrastructure cannot address,” Anil Sood, CSO and co-founder of Centrifuge Labs, said.
“But this is bigger than a single product: It is about moving funds onto infrastructure that is more transparent, more efficient, and more composable,” Sood said. He added that NYLIM is a partner for Centrifuge as it works to bring more established funds onchain.
Meanwhile, Centrifuge launched decentralized RWA tokens on Aerodrome in 2025, making tokenized assets tradable and usable as collateral across EVM platforms. That launch included deJAAA, a tokenized version of the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO Fund.
As reported earlier by crypto.news, Ethena also selected Centrifuge as a tokenization partner in June, alongside a deal with Janus Henderson. The recent NYLIM launch adds another fixed-income strategy to Centrifuge’s growing list of institutional tokenization projects.
Previously, crypto.news reported that tokenized real-world assets had crossed $29 billion by April 2026, while tokenized U.S. Treasuries had reached $13.4 billion. The HYB launch shows how tokenization is moving into corporate credit products as asset managers test blockchain-based distribution and settlement.
Circle shares fell sharply after CRCL was removed from several Russell Growth indexes and a new stablecoin rival entered the market.
Summary
Circle left multiple Russell Growth indexes, raising questions about passive ownership and near-term CRCL liquidity. CRCL fell 17.5% as Open USD introduced fresh competition for USDC’s stablecoin model this week. Allaire defended USDC’s market position, while Tether’s Ardoino welcomed another stablecoin rival entering the field. Simply Wall St reported that Circle Internet Group was removed from multiple Russell Growth benchmarks during the latest annual reconstitution. The changes included the Russell 1000 Growth Index, Russell 3000 Growth Index and Russell Midcap Growth Index.
The report said index-linked funds and institutional mandates that track these benchmarks may adjust their exposure to CRCL. Such changes can affect passive ownership and trading activity around rebalancing dates, especially for stocks with recent market volatility.
CRCL price falls after rebalancing According to Google finance data, CRCL traded at $62.63, down about 17.5%, after touching an intraday low of $62.00. The stock opened at $72.68 before extending losses during the session.
Source: Google finance The latest fall followed a wider 30-day decline. CRCL had dropped 40% over the past month, a move it said may reflect selling pressure tied to index removal.
The Russell changes came during a broader reconstitution of U.S. equity benchmarks. FTSE Russell said its June 2026 process included changes across growth, value and size-based indexes as market leadership shifted.
Open USD adds new USDC rival Circle also faced fresh pressure after the launch of Open Standard, a new stablecoin network backed by more than 140 businesses. Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase were among the companies tied to the initiative, which plans to issue a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin called Open USD.
“Existing stablecoins have great strengths, but to use them at scale, businesses need something that’s open, low-cost, high-throughput, broadly accessible, and aligned to their interests,” Open Standard founding CEO Zach Abrams said.
As reported by crypto.news, Open USD will offer free minting and redemption while sharing reserve earnings with ecosystem participants after a management fee. That model differs from Circle’s USDC business, where reserve income remains central to the company’s revenue base.
Circle and Tether chiefs respond “USDC remains the most trusted, widely adopted, institutional-ready stablecoin in the world,” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a post on X. He said Circle would keep investing across banks, payment companies, capital markets firms and enterprise use cases.
Stablecoins represent one of the largest market opportunities in the world as the internet transforms the infrastructure for storing and moving money. We deeply believe in this, and it’s why we both founded Circle and why we’ve invested to build the largest regulated stablecoin…
— Jeremy Allaire – jerallaire.arc (@jerallaire) June 30, 2026 “Welcome OUSD. Player 2 has entered the game,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a post on X. His comment came as Open USD added another large-name rival to a market led by USDT and USDC.
Previously, crypto.news reported that Circle’s NYSE listing under CRCL had turned USDC into one of Wall Street’s most closely watched stablecoin plays. The stock’s latest move shows how index changes and stablecoin competition are now both shaping investor views on Circle.
Key Takeaways Shares of Circle plummeted over 16% following the announcement of Open USD, a stablecoin initiative supported by Stripe, Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock Open USD differentiates itself by planning to distribute reserve interest earnings among consortium partners instead of retaining profits William Blair analysts described the market reaction as excessive and maintained their Outperform stance on Circle The Paxos Global Dollar, another consortium-based stablecoin, has achieved just $3 billion in circulation compared to USDC’s $73 billion market cap Critical operational details about Open USD—including blockchain deployment and revenue distribution—have yet to be disclosed Shares of Circle experienced a sharp decline exceeding 16% on Tuesday following the public debut of Open Standard, a newly formed consortium introducing the Open USD stablecoin initiative.
Circle Internet Group, CRCL
The coalition boasts more than 140 corporate participants, featuring industry heavyweights such as Stripe, Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock.
The fundamental value proposition of Open USD is clear-cut. Rather than the stablecoin provider retaining interest income generated from reserve assets, Open Standard intends to share this revenue stream with member organizations.
This model presents a direct challenge to how Circle generates revenue. The company’s profitability relies heavily on capturing interest earned from the assets supporting USDC.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire addressed the development via social media, characterizing USDC as “the most trusted, widely adopted, institutional-ready stablecoin in the world.” He emphasized the company’s commitment to continued innovation while acknowledging the competitive landscape.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino also joined the conversation, stating: “Welcome OUSD. Player 2 has entered the game.”
Market Analysts View Stock Decline as Excessive Not all market observers interpret the competitive threat as severely as Tuesday’s price action might indicate.
William Blair analysts maintained their Outperform rating on Circle stock and suggested investors view the session’s decline as an attractive entry point.
They characterized competitive worries as “overblown,” highlighting USDC’s approximately $74 billion market capitalization and Circle’s established payment infrastructure network.
The research team also drew parallels to previous payment consortiums such as MCX and Paze, which struggled to achieve meaningful adoption against incumbent platforms.
Owen Lau, managing director at Clear Street, echoed this sentiment. “I think it is an overreaction,” he shared with CoinDesk.
Rob Hadick from venture capital firm Dragonfly acknowledged that the partner roster represents a legitimate competitive concern but cautioned that consortium structures face inherent challenges. “Incentives are broad and often misaligned,” he noted.
Critical Information Still Missing Market analysts also highlighted that Open Standard’s announcement omitted essential operational details.
The consortium failed to specify which blockchain networks will host Open USD, how interest revenue will be allocated among partners, or what governance framework will guide the organization.
Columbia Business School professor Omid Malekan described it as the “logo spray and pray” phase. “Putting your name on a list is easy,” he observed. “Actually changing corporate behavior is hard.”
As a reference point, Paxos introduced its consortium-supported stablecoin in late 2024. It has achieved $3 billion in circulation—significantly trailing USDC’s $73 billion and Tether’s $145 billion.
The announcement also drew attention to Circle’s current partnership agreement with Coinbase, which reportedly faces renewal discussions in August.
Open USD is scheduled to launch in late 2026. Until that time arrives, its actual influence on USDC’s market position remains speculative.
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A Regulatory Line in the SandJuly 1, 2026 is the hard deadline for the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, and for Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, it marks an effective exit from Europe's regulated markets. Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto(.)com EU have already restricted $USDT ahead of the deadline, with full removal from regulated platforms expected today.
Tether has not applied for MiCA authorization, a decision that reflects its broader focus on markets outside Europe. Under MiCA, stablecoin issuers must obtain e-money token (EMT) authorization to legally operate within the European Economic Area. Without it, exchanges cannot offer the token to EEA clients.
The key sticking point is MiCA's reserve requirement. As Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated in April 2026, the rule mandating that 60% of reserves be held in European bank deposits is fundamentally incompatible with how the company manages its backing. Tether has also discontinued its euro-denominated stablecoin, EURT, walking away from the European market entirely.
It is worth noting that MiCA does not ban individuals from holding USDT. The restriction applies to regulated exchanges and service providers, meaning European retail users can still technically access the token through non-custodial wallets or decentralized platforms, though the loss of regulated on-ramps and off-ramps makes it significantly less practical.
Circle's $USDC Steps Into the GapWith USDT sidelined on regulated EU venues, Circle's $USDC is the primary beneficiary. Of the top ten stablecoins by market capitalization, $USDC is the only one that is MiCA-compliant. Circle secured an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license through the French regulator ACPR, making $USDC and its euro-denominated counterpart EURC fully authorized for EU retail distribution.
Institutional players and regulated funds operating within the EEA now have little choice but to route demand through $USDC, as it is the only compliant option in that segment of the market. EU-resident retail traders have been moving balances into USDC and EURC ahead of the deadline.
For the broader stablecoin market, as Phemex Academy notes, this is "the largest forced reshuffle the stablecoin market has faced," splitting the two biggest issuers along a clean regulatory line. Whether other jurisdictions follow Europe's lead with similarly strict reserve frameworks will determine how much further Tether's global position is tested.
Sources:
Crypto Briefing: Tether's USDT faces removal from EU platforms
Circle Press Release: Circle is First Global Stablecoin Issuer to Comply with MiCA
Phemex Academy: Why EU Exchanges Are Delisting Tether Before the July 1 MiCA Deadline
Europe’s ambitious new regulatory framework for crypto assets, the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, took effect on July 1, marking a new era for digital finance across the European Union. The implementation has already brought dramatic changes, as regulated crypto exchanges quickly began delisting Tether’s USDT stablecoin from their platforms. Amid this shakeup, Circle has emerged as a standout player, swiftly filling the gap with its own compliant stablecoin offerings.
Circle adapts, Tether retreatsAnticipating MiCA’s requirements, Circle proactively aligned its dollar-pegged USDC and euro-backed EURC stablecoins to meet the regulation’s new standards. Among the world’s ten largest stablecoins, Circle became the only issuer able to fully comply with MiCA’s conditions. Headquartered in the United States, Circle remains a heavyweight in the stablecoin market, with USDC ranking among the largest by market value.
In stark contrast, Tether chose not to apply for the electronic money issuance license mandated under MiCA. The consequence: roughly $185 billion worth of USDT is now inaccessible on licensed European trading venues, forcing a radical overhaul of liquidity structures across the region’s regulated crypto platforms.
Tether’s management has voiced strong objections to MiCA’s requirement that 60% of stablecoin reserves be held in European banks, highlighting what they see as additional risks. As a result, Tether is shifting its strategic focus away from Europe to markets outside the EU.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino publicly defended the company’s decision, warning that altering their reserve model to match European standards would introduce new risks. Rather than overhauling its structure, Tether has opted to double down on its established approach in non-European markets, stepping back from the bloc for now.
Institutional backing gives Circle momentumCircle’s position received a major boost in timing and legitimacy. On the very eve of MiCA’s rollout, banking giant BNY Mellon announced support for USDC. This move enables institutional clients to store, transfer, issue, and burn USDC through BNY Mellon’s network—an endorsement carrying significant weight from one of the world’s largest custodians.
Glossary: CASP refers to the “Crypto Asset Service Provider” license under MiCA. This license authorizes regulated custody, trading, and transfer services for crypto assets throughout the EU.
BNY Mellon’s timely move, coinciding with changes on European exchanges, has bolstered Circle’s position on both the regulatory and institutional fronts. This shift is not only about stablecoin rivalry but also about which issuers will shape the European market in the long term.
MiCA reshapes more than just stablecoinsThe MiCA regulation has brought sweeping consequences beyond just USDT and USDC. Out of nearly 1,200 crypto companies previously registered at the national level, only about 210 have managed to secure full-scope CASP authorization under the new law—a success rate of approximately 17%.
CategoryStatusNumber of firms registered before MiCAApproximately 1,200Companies awarded full CASP licenseApproximately 210Percentage17%With USDT liquidity now unavailable at regulated European platforms, Circle’s long-standing regulatory strategy positions it to capture market share rapidly.
This landscape demonstrates that the ripple effects go beyond regulatory compliance. While Circle invested years in preparation, Tether has essentially ceded the European field for now. Although Tether may yet seek EU licensing in the future, there is no clear indication of such plans at present.
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.
