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The US military is systematically dismantling Iran’s energy supply chain, with strikes hitting Kharg Island, the country’s most critical oil export hub, and the Gorgan railway line in northern Iran.
Kharg Island handles approximately 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports.
The military campaign so far The conflict, which officially began in late February 2026, has escalated in distinct phases under the Trump administration. In March and April, US forces conducted precision strikes against over 90 military targets on Kharg Island, focusing on missile storage facilities, naval mine depots, and air defense systems.
The initial wave of strikes deliberately avoided oil export infrastructure. That restraint didn’t last forever. After Iran breached a ceasefire and attacked commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz, US operations resumed in July 2026 with a broader mandate. This time, forces struck more than 80 additional targets, expanding beyond Kharg Island to include transportation networks like the Gorgan railway line.
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US officials have indicated that while oil infrastructure on Kharg Island hasn’t been directly destroyed yet, future strikes remain on the table if Iran continues to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil markets and the price surge Brent crude has been trading near $110 per barrel. Energy stocks have reacted favorably, riding the wave of supply-side anxiety.
Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s threats of retaliatory measures against regional energy infrastructure have kept the market on edge.
Bitcoin’s geopolitical volatility play During this conflict, Bitcoin has demonstrated both sides of its safe haven and risk-asset personality. BTC rebounded above $70K during periods when positive diplomatic talks surfaced. When escalations resumed or oil prices surged, Bitcoin dipped, tracking risk sentiment rather than playing the safe haven card.
Reports suggest Iran has been leveraging Bitcoin mining and stablecoins as tools to navigate international sanctions. The country has been dabbling in crypto mining for years, using its subsidized energy to power mining operations.
What this means for investors Iran’s increasing use of crypto to circumvent sanctions is worth watching closely. If Tehran scales up its Bitcoin mining operations or increases stablecoin usage for trade settlement, it could draw more regulatory scrutiny from Washington. The US Treasury has historically responded to sanctions evasion with secondary sanctions and enforcement actions, which could have broader implications for crypto exchanges and DeFi protocols that inadvertently process these flows.
Iran has warned of retaliatory strikes against regional energy infrastructure, which could push oil prices even higher and trigger another round of risk-off sentiment across both traditional and digital asset markets.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Key Takeaways Federal Reserve policymakers identify AI infrastructure expansion as a significant contributor to inflationary pressures through elevated semiconductor, energy, and data center expenses Interest rates remained unchanged at 3.5%–3.75% during June’s policy meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh Half of the 18 voting committee members anticipate at least one rate increase by the conclusion of 2026 Market expectations show a 69.5% probability of unchanged rates at the upcoming July 29 decision, declining from 80% the previous week Prediction markets indicate a 59% likelihood of a rate adjustment this year, influenced by escalating U.S.-Iran geopolitical risks Central bank officials found themselves at odds during their June policy gathering regarding the appropriate path forward for interest rates. Documents released on Wednesday revealed that numerous policymakers highlighted robust artificial intelligence sector demand as a primary catalyst for inflationary trends.
The central bank’s apprehension focuses on what market observers have dubbed “chipflation”—the phenomenon of escalating semiconductor prices required for data center operations, which subsequently elevate costs for consumer electronics, various devices, and household electricity consumption.
A majority of meeting attendees noted that economic expansion fueled partially by substantial AI-related business capital expenditures “could lead to more entrenched inflationary dynamics.” They anticipated price pressures to remain elevated over the coming months, though some believed conditions might improve should Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions subside.
The Federal Reserve’s own economic projections underscore this unease. The institution’s year-end Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation estimate surged from 2.7% to 3.6%.
According to Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, the meeting records validate that the [[LINK_START_1]]AI infrastructure[[LINK_END_1]] expansion is “propelling elevated inflation through unprecedented demand for semiconductors, power resources, and data facilities, despite its potential for enhanced productivity in the future.”
Interest Rate Increase Remains Under Consideration The Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark rate at 3.5%–3.75% during June’s session, though the possibility of a future increase has not been dismissed. Nine committee members out of 18 anticipate at least one upward rate adjustment before 2026 concludes. Among those nine, six forecast two separate quarter-point increments.
Numerous participants indicated the proper federal funds rate would align with or fall marginally beneath the existing range by year’s conclusion. However, an equally substantial contingent argued it should exceed current levels, revealing significant internal disagreement within the committee.
Market sentiment has evolved accordingly. The probability of a rate increase at the July 29 policy meeting currently stands at 30.5% according to CME FedWatch, climbing from approximately 20% just one week earlier. Polymarket figures demonstrate a 59% probability of at least one hike occurring this year, a percentage that increased following President Trump’s announcement of potential military action against Iran this week.
Source: Polymarket Several participants during the June deliberations contended that conditions already warranted immediate rate increases, pointing to elevated inflation threats and resilient labor market conditions.
Elevated interest rates typically present challenges for cryptocurrency markets. They constrain market liquidity, increase financing expenses, and enhance the relative appeal of traditional safe-haven assets like cash and government bonds compared to riskier investments. Market observers noted this week that digital asset markets might see support if the Federal Reserve intervenes to stabilize U.S. equity markets during an economic downturn.
The Federal Reserve’s next scheduled policy meeting takes place July 29. Financial markets will closely monitor any shifts in official messaging as inflation indicators and international security concerns continue developing.
Bank of Japan. (Credit: By Wiiii-Wikimedia Commons/Modified by CoinDesk)Summary
A former Bank of Japan official warns the central bank may raise its benchmark interest rate rapidly this year, potentially to above 2%, as the yen continues to weaken.Faster BOJ tightening could support the yen, potentially weighing over risk assets. BTC and yen have developed a strong positive correlation. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) may raise its benchmark interest rate rapidly this year, as the yen slides, eventually pushing it above 2%.
That's the latest warning from a former Bank of Japan official Tsutomu Watanabe, an economics professor at the University of Tokyo who left the central bank in 1999, according to Bloomberg.
As of now, the official rate is at 1%, the result of recent hikes, and the 10-year benchmark government bond yield hovers above 2.8%, the highest in at least three decades, according to data source TradingView.
Meanwhile, the Japanese yen continues to slide despite recent hikes and hardening Japanese government bond yields. It has depreciated by 60% to 162.36 per U.S. dollar since early 2021, a major decline for one of the most traded currencies in the world. Also, it has dropped 3% so far this year.
Faster potential interest rate hikes by the BOJ may put a floor under the yen, or potentially lift it higher. The question then is whether it will help bitcoin BTC$62,890.39 or work against it.
One theory floating around in markets since long is that a sustained rally in yen could trigger an unwinding of bullish bets across advanced nation government bonds, tech stocks and even crypto that have been supposedly funded by years of cheap borrowing in yen. In such a case, risk assets, including crypto may fall.
But undercutting that theory in recent times is the strong positive correlation between the yen and BTC. Both have been falling against the dollar in lockstep.
Further, rapid rate hikes might worsen Japan's already fragile fiscal position, an argument made by several economists.
Key Takeaways Equity futures showed gains Thursday following a second wave of US military operations targeting Iran Bitcoin maintained support above $62,000, posting a 1.2% daily decline but gaining 1.6% weekly Gold continued its downward trend for the fourth consecutive session as Brent crude advanced 1% to $78.80 per barrel Rate markets adjusted Federal Reserve hike expectations, moving the timeline from December to October The Fear and Greed index for Bitcoin rose to 27, breaking a 40-day streak in extreme fear levels Equity futures climbed Thursday morning as military tensions escalated with the United States executing another wave of strikes targeting Iranian positions.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both advanced 0.1%. Nasdaq-100 futures posted a 0.3% increase.
E-Mini S&P 500 Sep 26 (ES=F) Late Wednesday, US military officials confirmed they had “initiated further strikes targeting Iran to continue degrading their capacity to threaten maritime freedom in the Strait of Hormuz.”
President Trump announced Wednesday that the ceasefire between the nations was “over.” He additionally suggested the possibility of implementing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
BREAKING: President Trump says the ceasefire with Iran is "over."
"I don't want to deal with them anymore, they are scum," Trump says. pic.twitter.com/laHQdRKZUV
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 8, 2026
Equity markets ended Wednesday’s session with mixed results after surrendering earlier advances. Crude prices surged in response to Trump’s statements.
Crude Advances, Precious Metals Retreat Brent crude rose 1% to reach $78.80 per barrel, marking its third consecutive daily gain.
Gold extended its losing streak to four sessions, hovering around $4,060 per ounce. Rising rate forecasts are pressuring the precious metal, as it becomes less attractive when interest-bearing assets offer higher returns.
Money markets recalibrated their forecast for the Federal Reserve’s next rate increase to October from the previous December estimate.
Digital Assets Demonstrate Stability Bitcoin was changing hands at $62,009, reflecting a 1.2% 24-hour decline while maintaining a 1.6% weekly gain.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Ether stood at $1,730, down 1.2% daily but posting a 5.7% gain across seven trading sessions.
Solana emerged as the session’s laggard, quoted at $77.25 with a 1.8% daily decrease and 1.7% weekly decline. XRP edged down 0.7% to $1.09.
Bitcoin’s response to geopolitical turbulence has been remarkably subdued. Historically, Strait of Hormuz-related news could trigger 5% single-day declines in Bitcoin. This week’s movement registered just 1.2%.
This behavioral shift has persisted since February. Each successive escalation has generated diminishing price reactions from Bitcoin.
Market participants are increasingly viewing these events through an interest rate lens rather than crypto-specific risk factors. Bitcoin is demonstrating stronger correlation with rate expectations than petroleum prices.
The critical support zone remains at $60,000. Bitcoin has defended this level throughout a simultaneous rate repricing, oil shock, and bond market selloff.
The Fear and Greed index advanced to 27 Thursday, concluding a 40-session stretch in extreme fear territory. The index hasn’t sustained levels above 50 since November.
Government debt instruments in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand also declined Thursday, continuing Wednesday’s worldwide selloff. Two-year Treasury yields approached their 2026 peak.
Market observers are also monitoring developments in the AI semiconductor space. SK Hynix is scheduled to launch its IPO Friday, providing fresh insights into chip demand following June’s sector correction.
Should Bitcoin preserve support above $60,000 amid continued escalations while gold extends its decline, it would reinforce the market’s treatment of cryptocurrency as a rate-sensitive instrument rather than a traditional risk hedge.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lost a net $85 million on Wednesday, ending a three-day inflow run that had pulled in roughly $509 million, per SoSoValue data. Ether ETFs took in about $70 million the same day, a fifth straight session of inflows.
The bitcoin outflow was broad. BlackRock's IBIT shed roughly $59 million, Grayscale's GBTC lost nearly $64 million, and Fidelity's FBTC gave up about $15 million.
Grayscale's mini BTC fund was the only one in the green at nearly $53 million. Total bitcoin ETF assets fell to about $75 billion.
Ether's flows came from a narrower base but kept pointing the same way. Fidelity's FETH led with roughly $69 million, with VanEck's ETHV adding just over $1 million and every other fund flat. Ether ETF assets sit at about $9 billion.
The split matches the price tape. Bitcoin traded near $62,300 and ether near $1,740, both down about 3% on the day, though ether has outperformed over the past two weeks as the Lean Ethereum roadmap and returning ETF demand gave it a story bitcoin has lacked.
AscendEX has shut down operations after citing regulatory requirements under the European Union’s MiCA framework and mounting financial difficulties, while warning that some customers may not recover their full crypto balances.
Summary
AscendEX has shut down operations, citing MiCA compliance requirements and financial difficulties. The exchange warned users that withdrawals will be reviewed manually and full account balances may not be recoverable. The closure follows weeks of withdrawal complaints after ZachXBT raised concerns about delayed withdrawals and the exchange’s visible hot wallet reserves. According to a notice published by the cryptocurrency exchange on July 6, AscendEX ceased operations on July 1 after the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation came fully into force in the European Union, where the platform does not hold the required authorization. The exchange said financial and operational pressures also contributed to the decision.
Alongside the shutdown, AscendEX said it cannot guarantee that customers will be able to withdraw all of the digital assets held in their accounts.
“We relied on an agreed strategic transaction that was to provide liquidity to grow the platform, and the counterparty did not perform,” the exchange said, adding that weak market conditions had added further strain. AscendEX said it is reviewing its financial position to determine what options, if any, remain available for account holders.
Withdrawals remain restricted For now, the platform said account access has been limited to offboarding activities. Automated withdrawals have been suspended, while all withdrawal requests are undergoing manual review, which could result in delays.
The notice also stated that the exchange cannot provide assurances on either the timing or the amount customers may ultimately recover. It added that all requests will follow the same documented review process without preferential treatment for any group of users.
The announcement follows concerns raised in recent weeks by on-chain investigator ZachXBT.
As previously reported, he said users had reported withdrawals remaining pending for days or weeks, while his review of AscendEX’s publicly identified hot wallets found little to no holdings of major assets including ETH, USDT, USDC, and SOL. He noted, however, that exchange reserves can also include cold wallets, third-party custodians or addresses that are not publicly labelled.
A few days later, ZachXBT urged affected users to report the matter to law enforcement agencies and financial regulators in their jurisdictions. He also claimed the exchange had continued accepting deposits while many withdrawal requests remained unprocessed and said one large user had allegedly received no response from AscendEX co-founder George Jing Cao.
Founded in 2018 as BitMax before rebranding to AscendEX, the exchange previously suffered a security breach in 2021 that resulted in losses of about $78 million. The attack was later linked to the Lazarus Group.
Looking ahead, AscendEX said it will provide further updates once it has more clarity on its financial position. The exchange also warned that if formal insolvency or a similar legal process begins, unresolved customer balances and claims may be handled under those proceedings.
The cryptocurrency market was showing some signs of a recovery earlier this week, with Bitcoin (BTC) briefly reclaiming the $64,000 price level on July 7. 2026. The upswing, unfortunately, was short-lived. BTC has since fallen to the $62,000 level, and is seeing more of a sideways price movement. Let’s discuss what’s going on with the cryptocurrency market dip and if additional headwinds will present bleaker conditions.
New Doubts Loom Over Cryptocurrency MarketSource: Watcher.GuruThe latest cryptocurrency market dip comes amid a re-escalation in the US-Iran conflict. A peace deal between the two countries was almost complete, but, unfortunately, did not go through. The US has restarted its military operations against Iran and the latter has struck US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. Many anticipate another energy crisis, which will likely add pressure on the already weak economy. Inflation climbed to 4.2% in May 2026, and could go higher if oil prices go up. The development could lead to an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve. Higher rates often lead to less risky investments. The cryptocurrency sector could take a big hit under such circumstances.
Another factor of concern for the cryptocurrency market is the Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI), reasserting a call for prohibition in the country. The country is worried about tax evasion and the tax department has warned that trading via offshore exchanges is hard to track. India has one of the largest number of people invested in cryptocurrencies. According to reports, the country has about 39 million cryptocurrency investors holding nearly $2 billion worth of assets.
Also Read: How Long Will Bitcoin Be Down? Bitcoin’s 50% Crash Has a Timeline
The cryptocurrency market has struggled for months and a recovery doesn’t seem to be around the corner just yet. Many experts, including prominent Chinese miner, Jiang Zhuoer, anticipates Bitcoin (BTC) to bottom out at around $42,000-$44,000 by the end of this year before making any positive price movements.
Key Takeaways A cryptocurrency wallet associated with SpaceX transferred only $88 in Bitcoin following a half-year period of no activity The aerospace company maintains ownership of 18,712 BTC valued at approximately $1.16 billion Shares of SPCX finished Tuesday’s session down 6.83%, trading beneath its initial public offering price The equity has declined over 25% from recent peaks even with Nasdaq-100 membership JPMorgan projects that approximately $4.3 billion in passive investment flows could result from the index addition A cryptocurrency wallet associated with Elon Musk’s aerospace venture SpaceX executed a Bitcoin transaction for the first time in half a year, sparking discussion among digital asset observers. Simultaneously, the company’s publicly traded shares have retreated more than 25% from their recent peak levels, despite securing a spot in the prestigious Nasdaq-100 index.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
SpaceX-Linked Wallet Executes Minimal BTC Transfer Blockchain tracking service Arkham Intelligence reported that a wallet tied to SpaceX conducted a transaction involving just $88 in Bitcoin on July 8. This marked the conclusion of a six-month period during which the wallet remained completely dormant.
SPACEX JUST MOVED BITCOIN
A tagged SpaceX address just moved Bitcoin for the first time in 6 months. SpaceX (15atF) made a test transaction of $88 of BTC to SpaceX (bc1q9).
Is SpaceX about to move more BTC? pic.twitter.com/vQITSDKtGI
— Arkham (@arkham) July 8, 2026
The modest transaction amount didn’t prevent market observers from weighing in with various theories. Historically, SpaceX’s cryptocurrency wallets have exhibited extended periods of inactivity before executing more substantial movements.
Data from Arkham indicates that SpaceX continues to maintain approximately 18,712 Bitcoin in its holdings, representing a market value of roughly $1.16 billion. The destination wallet in this transaction now contains 614 Bitcoin, worth approximately $38 million.
The previous significant movement from SpaceX wallets involved over 1,016 Bitcoin valued at close to $100 million at the time. Arkham’s analysis also revealed that outbound transfers from SpaceX to unidentified wallets rose during the cryptocurrency market downturn that occurred on October 10 of the previous year.
This activity emerges amid a broader trend of major corporate Bitcoin holders reducing positions. Strategy recently liquidated approximately $216 million in Bitcoin holdings. Additional companies including MARA Holdings, Nakamoto Holdings, and Sequans Communications have similarly announced Bitcoin disposals in recent weeks.
Bitcoin’s price stood above the $62,000 threshold on Tuesday but experienced a nearly 2% decline during the trading session. The decrease followed renewed military confrontations between the United States and Iran, with President Trump expressing skepticism regarding the durability of any potential cease-fire agreement.
SPCX Shares Slip Below Debut Price Amid Nasdaq-100 Inclusion SPCX concluded Tuesday at $149.47, representing a 6.83% decline, with the intraday bottom reaching $148.86. The stock has now surrendered over 25% of its value from the highs recorded roughly one month earlier and has fallen beneath the price level established during its initial public offering.
SpaceX secured its position in the Nasdaq-100 index prior to Monday’s opening bell on July 7. The exchange operator granted an expedited inclusion based on updated guidelines that enable recently listed companies of substantial size to achieve index eligibility more rapidly than previous protocols allowed.
Analysts at JPMorgan calculate that the index membership will compel passive investment vehicles and exchange-traded funds to acquire approximately $4.3 billion in SPCX shares as they execute portfolio adjustments to mirror the Nasdaq-100 composition.
Notwithstanding the anticipated institutional purchasing pressure, market participants have persisted in realizing gains following the equity’s dramatic appreciation after its market introduction.
Major investment banks have expressed optimistic outlooks. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup have each initiated research coverage on SpaceX with elevated price objectives. Morgan Stanley established a $300 target price, representing the most aggressive projection among the three institutions.
Pre-market activity on Wednesday indicated shares climbing 0.49%.
After weeks of massive outflows, institutional investors seem to be changing course. Crypto investment products listed on Wall Street (Bitcoin ETFs) are recording a significant slowdown in selling pressure, a signal the market was waiting for to hope to stop its correction. This reversal, still fragile, offers a glimpse into the mindset of major investors facing economic uncertainties and could mark the start of a new sequence for cryptos.
In brief Bitcoin ETFs end eight weeks of capital outflows, with $510 million in inflows rekindling hope of a market turnaround. Institutional investors remain under pressure, as the average acquisition cost of ETFs remains well above Bitcoin’s current price. Whale sales are slowing, but Fed monetary policy and geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on market outlooks. The return of capital marks an encouraging signal, though several obstacles could still hinder a lasting Bitcoin recovery. The return of capital to Wall Street after a historic disengagement Bitcoin-backed ETFs have just interrupted an unprecedented downward spiral thanks to a marked reversal in investor activity. The latest market reports reveal particularly precise numerical indicators for the recent period :
Capital injections : investment products attracted about $510 million in net inflows over three consecutive days ; The end of withdrawals : this movement ends a continuous sequence of eight weeks of outflows during which ETFs lost a total of $8 billion ; The interim annual balance : following this prolonged purge, the net outflow balance since the beginning of the year now stands at $2.8 billion. Asked about this change in trajectory, James Butterfill, research director at asset manager CoinShares, confided: “it seems that sentiment is turning”. The researcher also provided a major quantitative detail on the end of this bearish cycle by stating: “these are the largest inflows we’ve seen since the start of outflows at the beginning of May, suggesting we may have passed the worst”.
Regarding the structure of this disengagement, the analysis shows that the capital retraction proportionally represented 8% of the total assets under management of Bitcoin ETFs. This behavior faithfully mirrors capital capitulations observed at cycle lows in 2018. Although spectacular in duration, this unwinding of positions remains technically comparable to the episode in February last year, during which institutional investors withdrew a total of $5.2 billion from these same financial vehicles.
Institutional unrealized losses and the technical review of the purge Beyond recent cash flows, the financial reality of current ETF allocators reveals a critical situation. According to Glassnode calculations based on the average acquisition cost of these financial instruments, the average buyer of these products is currently in an unrealized loss position.
On-chain data indicate that investors mostly gained exposure when Bitcoin was trading around $83,800. This setup explains the current market’s great caution, while the asset is currently trading around $62,000, showing a 4% increase over a week but still affected by its correction to $58,000 at the beginning of the month and its continuous decline from the $126,000 peak set last October.
However, the intensity of this institutional capitulation deserves to be tempered compared to major crises experienced by the ecosystem in the past. Despite the severity and duration of the recent price drop, the peak net daily outflows for these funds stabilized at $733 million. This important psychological threshold did not exceed the absolute disengagement records recorded multiple times throughout last year.
This shows that while outflows set a duration record, daily panic remained relatively contained. Institutional investors thus managed their positions in a more algorithmic and orderly way than in previous cycles.
Whale movements and macroeconomic drags from the Fed The hopes for a structural recovery face underlying market forces and a particularly tight global monetary environment. Alongside ETFs, selling pressure has intensified from whales holding at least 1,000 Bitcoins. These large wallets have liquidated over $40 billion in assets since last year’s price peak.
James Butterfill notes that this major source of devaluation and specific selling pressure has just eased, offering technical relief to the market. However, the U.S. Federal Reserve continues its restrictive policy to fight inflation, while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East keep weighing on risky assets.
James Butterfill highlights the limits of short-term excessive optimism: “we are not in a situation where we can say the Fed is about to cut rates, and that would be very favorable for bitcoin”. The expert reminds the crypto’s intrinsic dependence on central bankers’ decisions concluding : “bitcoin remains very, very sensitive to inflation outlooks, and by extension, the war in Iran and Fed prospects”.
The cross-analysis of this data demands a nuanced reading of market prospects. On one side, the return of inflows at $510 million, despite eight weeks of capital outflows, shows that institutional investors perceive the current zone as a relevant entry point. On the other, the fact that the average cost base is at $83,800 creates psychological resistance, with many players simply waiting to break even in an uncertain macroeconomic context.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
According to its official page, Polymarket has launched a derivatives trading feature, currently supporting 10 assets including BTC, ETH, SOL, HYPE, gold, silver, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, WTIOIL, and SPCX, with a maximum leverage of 20x.
10 minutes ago
SMIC surpassed Kweichow Moutai in market capitalization.
According to Bitget data, SMIC’s A-share price rose nearly 15%, pushing its total market capitalization to 1.49 trillion yuan. Kweichow Moutai is currently down 1.43%, with a total market cap of 1.48 trillion yuan. (Jinshi)
10 minutes ago
US tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history, with the volatility ratio of the Nasdaq 100 to the S&P 500 hitting a 23-year high.
The Kobeissi Letter noted in a post that tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history. The ratio of the Nasdaq 100 Volatility Index (VXN) to the S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) has risen to 1.7, its highest level in 23 years. This marks the first time the ratio has topped 1.5 since 2018. By comparison, the metric peaked at around 1.6 during the 2008 financial crisis. Currently, VXN stands at 28 points, while VIX is at 16 points – the latter is 43% lower than the former. VXN has remained above the 20-point threshold for five consecutive months, the longest such stretch since the 2022 bear market. Markets are pricing in significant volatility risk for tech stocks.
10 minutes ago
A crypto whale closed a $100 million BTC short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a whale closed a $100 million Bitcoin (BTC) short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million. Wallet address 0xcf9 opened the short on June 2 at $68,859 and closed it one hour ago at $62,314, holding the position for 36 days.
10 minutes ago
Nvidia will collaborate with Hugging Face to develop open-source robotics models.
NVIDIA has announced a partnership with Hugging Face to co-develop open-source foundation models for robotics, combining its GPU ecosystem and CUDA technology, along with Hugging Face’s extensive model library and developer community, to significantly lower the barriers to AI training and deployment for robotics. (Jinshi)
10 minutes ago
A newly created wallet withdrew 500 BTC from Binance, worth $31.15 million.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet withdrew 500 BTC from Binance, valued at $31.15 million.
Bitcoin traders face a crucial test as $63,000 remains the barrier bulls must overcome before further upside.
Bitcoin stayed under pressure this week after the United States and Iran exchanged air strikes. Market sentiment worsened further after President Donald Trump said the memorandum of understanding and the ceasefire with Iran “is over.”
The uncertainty briefly pushed the world’s largest crypto asset close to $60,000 on Tuesday. By Thursday, however, it steadied at a little over $62,000.
Real Battle Is at $63K Against this fragile backdrop, crypto analyst Ali Martinez said Bitcoin is trading in what he described as “no man’s land” based on the MVRV Pricing Bands. According to Martinez, BTC is currently positioned between the -0.5 and -1.0 MVRV bands, indicating the market does not present a clear valuation advantage at current prices. He identified the -1.0 MVRV Pricing Band, now at $49,867, as the level he would consider a major buy signal and a prime accumulation zone if Bitcoin declines that far.
In a separate analysis, Martinez also pointed to $63,000 as a major resistance level that the crypto asset has yet to overcome. Around 623,000 BTC were previously traded near this price, making it one of the largest resistance clusters on the chart. Many investors who bought around $63,000 could choose to sell once they return to breakeven, and potentially end up increasing selling pressure. Heightened global uncertainty could also encourage some market participants to reduce risk.
If Bitcoin fails to reclaim $63,000 and subsequently falls below $59,000, Martinez said on-chain transaction history identifies the next major support levels at $46,000, where roughly 115,000 BTC were transacted, and subsequently $37,870, where approximately 206,000 BTC previously changed hands.
War Chatter Hits 3-Month High Online conversations within the crypto community also picked up. Discussions about war across crypto-focused social media have climbed to their highest level since April after Trump’s fresh warning, according to Santiment. Mentions of terms such as “war,” “Iran,” and “ceasefire” spiked sharply across social platforms. Santiment said that the market could witness increased market volatility until traders gain more clarity.
However, the growing skepticism toward political announcements throughout 2026 may reduce the market impact compared with similar developments earlier this year. Even so, if tensions continue to rise, Bitcoin and altcoins could face short-term pressure, while an excessive surge in fear could eventually set the stage for a sharp relief rally as headlines ease.
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XRP Ledger has announced that the number of autonomous payment transactions processed via its x402 standard has surpassed the one million mark. This milestone comes at a pivotal moment, coinciding with the launch of the XRPL AI Hub—a platform designed to bring together teams developing artificial intelligence applications, users seeking seamless payments, and blockchain-driven projects.
An AI-powered payment foundation draws attentionThis latest milestone highlights the rising demand for blockchain infrastructures capable of supporting software agents that send and receive payments without any human intervention. With its accelerated digital framework, XRP Ledger is aiming not just at cryptocurrency transactions, but at enabling machine-to-machine commerce for digital products and services worldwide.
Serving as a collaborative hub for developers, the XRPL AI Hub’s mission also includes offering businesses a knowledge base for integrating AI-driven applications and regulated assets on blockchain. Developed by Ripple, XRP Ledger is an open-source network renowned for its blazing-fast payment infrastructure.
Glossary: “Autonomous payment” refers to software initiating and collecting payments under predetermined rules, without waiting for human approval. The x402 standard is designed to streamline such transactions and standardize payment flows between different applications.
As the XRPL AI Hub is introduced as an extensive ecosystem platform for developers, users, and enthusiasts, strengthening the era of autonomous economies on the XRP Ledger is highlighted as a top priority.
Tokenization data shines light on institutional tractionCrypto Patel, a market expert from Evernorth, notes that the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) on XRP Ledger has ballooned from approximately $150 million to over $4 billion in just the past year. Over 500 tokenized products now circulate on the network, while investment-focused XRP products have witnessed inflows totaling $1.49 billion in the last eight weeks alone.
There has also been a sharp rise in the number of new wallets. However, a significant portion of tokenized value is concentrated in a single energy token. Approximately $2.2 billion is held across just 19 wallets, while the total value of directly held on-chain assets sits at $385 million. This pattern signals increased interest in tokenization but also suggests the market is still in its formative early stages.
MetricDataRWA tokenization size$150 million → over $4 billionActive tokenized products500+XRP investment product inflows$1.49 billion in 8 weeksValue held in single energy tokenApproximately $2.2 billionOn-chain direct assets$385 millionThe tokenization value of real-world assets on XRPL has climbed from $150 million to more than $4 billion in a single year, although much of this capital remains concentrated within a limited number of wallets.
Key technical resistance observed in XRP chartAnalyst Celal Kucuker points out that XRP is approaching a vital inflection point against Bitcoin. The XRP/BTC trading pair is nearing a persistent long-term downtrend line and the critical resistance of 0.00002050 BTC.
A decisive move above this level on the monthly chart would signal a clear change in market direction. Alternatively, if the pair fails to remain above resistance, XRP is likely to continue trading within its existing price range.
Main test for the network will be real world use casesOver the coming months, the ultimate test for XRP Ledger will be whether these technological innovations translate into lasting relevance for institutions. The successful implementation of network upgrades, growth in AI-powered applications, and expansion of the tokenized assets ecosystem will be central indicators to watch during this phase.
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.
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.
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XRP’s next major re-rating will not come from retail traders chasing headlines, according to blockchain researcher Edo Farina. It will come from banks quietly parking the token on their balance sheets.
In an interview with Coinpedia, Farina, founder of Alpha Lions Academy, laid out a case that XRP has already shown flashes of behaving like an institutional asset rather than a typical altcoin. The real proof point, he said, is still ahead.
The performance gap
Farina pointed to a stretch when Bitcoin traded near $50,000 and XRP sat below $0.40. Months later, Bitcoin climbed above $100,000, roughly doubling from its cycle low. XRP, over the same window, surged past $3.
“This was a small demonstration that XRP doesn’t need Bitcoin to reach extreme new highs to significantly outperform,” Farina said.
That move put XRP ahead of most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by performance. Farina said the shift is only getting started. “Tomorrow, when institutions begin holding XRP as treasury liquidity or settlement collateral, valuation models change completely,” he said.
Utility beyond the bridge-asset story
Asked for the strongest proof that XRP has real utility beyond serving as a bridge currency, Farina did not point to a single catalyst.
“For me it’s the convergence of multiple trends,” he said.
He cited Ripple’s regulatory relationships across multiple jurisdictions, the XRP Ledger’s native decentralized exchange running since 2012, its escrow and low-cost settlement functions, and the live status of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. He also noted rising bank interest in tokenized deposits and stablecoins, alongside discussions at the IMF and the Bank for International Settlements around tokenized financial markets.
“No single announcement ‘proves’ XRP wins,” Farina said. “It’s the direction of the industry that makes me bullish.”
What decoupling actually looks like
Farina drew a sharp line between short-term outperformance and genuine decoupling from Bitcoin’s cycle.
“Not simply outperforming Bitcoin for a few months,” he said. “The real signal would be XRP responding primarily to institutional adoption rather than Bitcoin cycles.”
He tied this back to XRP’s original design purpose: eliminating the need for pre-funded nostro and vostro accounts, a structure he said traps trillions of dollars in dormant liquidity worldwide.
“When institutions begin using XRP at scale for that purpose, that’s when I’d argue it has truly decoupled from Bitcoin’s cycle and become a standalone institutional asset,” Farina said.
He went a step further on where that could lead. “That’s when I’d say XRP has become its own macro asset instead of just another altcoin, and eventually becomes the number one asset in the entire crypto space.”
Story Ends Here
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Cryptocurrency punters have slightly upped the odds for a U.S. invasion of Iran amid the latest bout of hostilities between the two countries.
What Are Prediction Markets Saying?Polygon (CRYPTO: POL)-based Polymarket has priced in a 17% chance of the invasion by Dec. 31, up 3 percentage points over the last 24 hours. At its April peak, the odds climbed to 68%.
Over $40 million has been wagered on the outcome, making it one of Polymarket’s top draws. The market resolves if the U.S. initiates a military operation to establish control over any portion of Iran.
Meanwhile, the odds of the extension of the 60-day negotiation period toward a final deal tumbled from 57% to 49% over the last 24 hours
Hostilities ResumeThe developments come as the U.S. intensified its strikes against Iran in response to what it said was “unjustified aggression” against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump said earlier on Wednesday that the tentative ceasefire and memorandum of understanding with Iran is “over.”
Iran warned that its armed forces will “strike twice as many targets” in the neighboring Gulf region in response to any U.S. attacks, according to state-affiliated Mehr News Agency.
As part of the memorandum of understanding, the U.S. agreed to begin lifting its naval blockade in exchange for Iran permitting commercial vessels safe passage free of charge for a period of 60 days.
Image via Shutterstock/ Hassen Mrad
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Trading in XRP has been slowing down and becoming less volatile lately as speculation dried up after several months of high activity. The decline in activity did not indicate that investors may be losing confidence in XRP.
Instead, this decline could mean that traders are being cautious and are waiting for stronger catalysts before committing fresh capital.
In March, XRP was trading at approximately $1.13. Back then, the 30-day volume Z-score for Binance was approximately 3.00, indicating that activity exceeded the average for the same period.
Source: CryptoQuant However, since late March, there have been steady declines in participation levels and volatility as well. This level of calm typically occurs prior to large directional moves by price.
Whether XRP breaks higher or lower will likely depend on fresh liquidity returning and restoring stronger market conviction across participants.
XRP liquidity rotates across exchanges While Binance’s XRP activity has cooled down, demand has been increasingly rotating towards regional markets rather than fading altogether. too Such a shift implied that traders may be redistributing liquidity as different investors respond to changing market conditions.
At press time, the altcoin was trading at approximately 1,616 KRW on the Upbit exchange. The price had fallen from 1,673 KRW down to an intra-day low of 1,608 KRW. Simply put, sustained selling pressure was evident on the crypto’s price chart.
Source: UPbit On the contrary, 24-hour volumes stood at 71.62 million XRP or approximately $78.64 million. These figures hinted at strong levels of active participation by investors.
Therefore, if broader global demand joins this regional activity, XRP could recover strongly. Conversely, localized buying activity alone may struggle to reverse prevailing market weakness.
Institutional custody strengthens XRP adoption While regional exchanges have supported the altcoin’s trading activity, institutional infrastructure has expanded too, reinforcing the altcoin’s long-term market position.
For example – Clearstream recently announced that it will add XRP along with six other cryptocurrencies to its list of supported cryptocurrencies on its regulated custody platform based on the MiCA framework by Crypto Finance.
Source: Clearstream This update provides institutional investors compliant access via a traditional post-trade platform, as opposed to using cryptocurrency-only custodial services. As regulatory hurdles continue to decrease, so too do the operational and counterparty risks associated with investing in XRP.
All in all, if adoption across regulated custody platforms continues to accelerate, XRP could attract broader institutional capital. It will also deepen market liquidity and strengthen its role within mainstream financial markets.
Final Summary XRP’s demand has been rotating across markets as institutional infrastructure continues to strengthen long-term adoption. XRP now depends on renewed global liquidity to turn stronger institutional support into sustained price momentum.
Ripple has signed a five-year partnership with the University of Kansas, making XRP the first cryptocurrency to appear on the jerseys of a major NCAA Division I athletics program. The deal marks a new milestone for crypto’s presence in mainstream sports while carrying a personal meaning for Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Sharing the announcement on X, Garlinghouse wrote, “Rare moment where my professional and personal worlds collide: XRP is now the first crypto on the jersey of a major college athletics program, at my alma mater. XRP Family, meet the Jayhawks. Rock Chalk!”
Garlinghouse, who was born in Topeka and graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Economics, described the partnership as a special moment that connects both his career and college roots.
Rare moment where my professional and personal worlds collide: XRP is now the first crypto on the jersey of a major college athletics program, at my alma mater.
XRP Family, meet the Jayhawks. Rock Chalk! https://t.co/F6uAL0kMNS
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) July 8, 2026 Under the agreement, the XRP logo will appear on the uniforms of the Kansas Jayhawks’ football and basketball teams, along with other university athletic programs. The partnership is expected to put the XRP brand in front of millions of college sports fans over the next five years.
Kansas Athletics also welcomed the collaboration, saying, “A shared commitment to innovation and excellence. Kansas Athletics is proud to announce a new groundbreaking partnership with Ripple, bringing the XRP brand to Jayhawk uniforms.”
A shared commitment to innovation and excellence. 🤝
Kansas Athletics is proud to announce a new groundbreaking partnership with Ripple, bringing the XRP brand to Jayhawk uniforms. pic.twitter.com/ucTnIk12QG
— Kansas Jayhawks (@KUAthletics) July 8, 2026 But the deal goes beyond branding. Ripple has committed to supporting financial literacy and technology education programs for student-athletes and the wider university community.
The company says the initiative will help students build skills that will benefit them beyond their athletic careers.
However, sports deals are not new in crypto, crypto firms have a mixed history with sports sponsorships. FTX secured the naming rights to the Miami Heat’s arena in 2021 and Terra signed a major five-year deal with MLB’s Washington Nationals before collapsing, raising concerns about crypto partnerships. Recently, however, the trend has returned, with companies like Coinbase sponsoring the NBA and Ledger partnering with the San Antonio Spurs, showing renewed confidence in sports marketing.
Strengthening Ripple’s Ties With KansasThe partnership also builds on an existing relationship between Ripple and the university. The University of Kansas already operates an official XRP Ledger validator through its engineering school, making it an active participant in the XRP ecosystem.
While the announcement was widely seen as a major step for crypto adoption and brand visibility, it had little immediate impact on the token’s price. Following the news, XRP, the sixth largest cryptocurrency fell 1.55%, although futures open interest rose slightly, suggesting some increase in trading activity.
Even so, the sponsorship stands out as a landmark moment for both Ripple and college sports, showing how crypto companies are increasingly looking beyond traditional sponsorships to reach mainstream audiences.
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Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.
Investment Disclaimer:All opinions and insights shared represent the author's own views on current market conditions. Please do your own research before making investment decisions. Neither the writer nor the publication assumes responsibility for your financial choices.
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XRP is trading in a tight range around $1.09, with buyers defending the $1.00 to $1.05 support zone while sellers cap rallies below nearby resistance.Chart analysts say a long-term falling wedge and ascending channel remain intact above $1.00 to $1.05, but upside targets as high as $3.65 and beyond require a confirmed breakout that has not yet occurred.Until XRP can clear near-term resistance around $1.088 to $1.091 and then the $1.20 to $1.25 area, trading is likely to remain a support-defense setup rather than a sustained breakout.XRP is still moving sideways near $1.09, but traders are watching whether the quiet range is setting up a larger break. Buyers continue to defend the $1.00-$1.05 zone, while sellers have kept the token capped below short-term resistance. That leaves the market compressed between a support area that has held for weeks and a downtrend that still needs to be cleared.
News Background• XRP continued to trade without a clear fundamental catalyst, leaving technical levels to drive most of the session’s positioning.
• Analysts pointed to long-term falling wedge and ascending channel structures that remain intact as long as XRP holds above the $1.00-$1.05 support zone.
• Several chartists identified upside targets ranging from $2.20 to prior all-time highs near $3.65 if XRP can break its longer-term downtrend.
• More aggressive Fibonacci projections point to $4.10, $7.60 and $11.80, though those targets require a confirmed breakout that has not yet occurred.
Price Action Summary• XRP edged from $1.0890 to $1.0900 in early Tuesday trading, with price still locked inside a narrow near-term range.
• The token briefly pushed through $1.088 resistance during a 23:44 UTC breakout attempt.
• Volume during that move reached 688,000 XRP, about 120% above the session average, before momentum faded.
• Earlier selling took XRP to a session low near $1.0742 after volume rose to 80.2 million, about 83% above the 24-hour average.
Technical Analysis• The key development is that XRP continues to defend the $1.00-$1.05 support zone, which analysts say aligns with longer-term moving average and trendline support.
• The near-term chart remains weak despite the small bounce. Lower highs at $1.1133, $1.0993 and $1.0932 show sellers are still capping recovery attempts.
• XRP needs to hold above $1.088-$1.091 to build a cleaner move toward $1.093-$1.095.
• The larger setup remains a compression trade rather than a breakout. Monthly wedge and channel patterns may point to higher targets, but confirmation requires a sustained move above nearer resistance first.
• Relative weakness against bitcoin remains a risk, with the XRPBTC pair testing support near 1,700 sats.
What traders should watch• $1.00-$1.05 remains the key support zone. Losing it would put $0.90 and then $0.80 back in focus.
• $1.088-$1.091 is the immediate resistance area after capping the latest breakout attempt.
• $1.20-$1.25 is the next major zone, where candle resistance and the 100-day moving average sit.
• A move above $1.40 would be the first stronger sign that XRP is breaking out of its broader compression.
• Until XRP clears near-term resistance, the market remains a support-defense trade with long-term breakout targets still unconfirmed.
Blockchain Comes to American Product CertificationU.S. supply chain firm Made In USA Inc. has selected the $XRP Ledger as the foundation for a new product verification and certification platform, marking one of the more concrete enterprise applications to emerge on the network in recent months.
The company disclosed the transaction in a Form 8-K filing dated June 26, 2026, stating that it acquired the technology assets from its affiliate, Made in USA One LLC, in exchange for 5 million restricted shares of common stock. The transferred assets include blockchain infrastructure, artificial intelligence-based verification technology, intellectual property, digital authentication tools, proprietary domains, and supply chain software that will form the foundation of the new platform.
By combining artificial intelligence with XRPL's blockchain infrastructure, the platform will create tamper-resistant digital records that verify the origin and authenticity of American-made products, offering greater trust for manufacturers, retailers, regulators, and consumers.
Hybrid Architecture Balances Privacy and TransparencyA key feature of the platform is its hybrid blockchain architecture, which combines both public and private XRP Ledger networks. Sensitive commercial information will remain on private XRPL infrastructure, while cryptographic proof of product authenticity will be anchored to the public XRP Ledger. This approach is intended to preserve enterprise privacy while enabling independent verification of product records through a public blockchain.
The initiative reflects a broader trend in which blockchain networks are increasingly being deployed for enterprise applications extending beyond digital payments. Businesses are adopting distributed ledger technology for supply chain management, digital identity, asset tokenization, and product authentication as demand grows for transparent and secure record-keeping systems.
The acquisition also highlights the expanding role of the XRP Ledger within enterprise infrastructure. Recent industry developments have demonstrated growing adoption of XRPL for business-focused applications, including artificial intelligence integrations, digital identity solutions, tokenized assets, and commercial supply chain management.
Sources
Coinpaper: Made in USA Inc. Acquires XRP Ledger Tech Stack for Supply Chain
CoinTrust: Made in USA Inc. Expands XRPL Supply Chain Platform
XRP spot exchange-traded funds have recorded a substantial $7.29 million net outflow.
This is the most significant single-day loss that these funds have recorded since March.
The Bitwise factor
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Notably, a single fund for the unfortunate outflows. The Bitwise XRP ETF fully absorbed the $7.29 million net redemption.
However, despite bleeding capital during the mid-week trading session, the broader outlook for the Bitwise product remains rather positive.
The fund's cumulative historical net inflow still sits at an impressive $494 million.
However, it has lost only a fraction of the total capital it has attracted since its inception.
Reen volatility The July 8 outflow snapped a period of relative calm and positive momentum for XRP investment ETFs. As reported by U.Today, these products had shown impressive resilience despite all the bleeding that Bitcoin and Ethereum vehicles had suffered.
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The preceding two trading days, July 6 and July 7, saw completely flat flows with zero net movement. Before the weekend, the funds actually logged a solid $6.55 million net inflow on July 2, which itself followed a minor $1.86 million outflow on July 1.
On June 29, the funds pulled in a massive $15.34 million, building on an equally impressive $15.63 million net inflow recorded just days prior on June 26.
A drop in the bucket The recent $7.29 million dip pales in comparison to the massive capitulation event witnessed on January 29, when XRP spot ETFs lost a staggering $93 million in a single brutal trading session.
Despite the recent bumps in the road, cumulative net inflows across all approved XRP spot ETFs continue to hover around a healthy $1.40 billion mark.
Key Takeaways XRP declined 4.32% to approximately $1.07 on July 8 following Trump’s announcement ending the US-Iran ceasefire The geopolitical escalation sparked over $400 million in cryptocurrency liquidations across the market XRP experienced $8.61 million in long position liquidations — the largest since June 25 XRP spot ETFs registered no capital inflows on both July 6 and July 7 Critical support zone exists at $1.00–$1.05; breaking below could send XRP down to $0.90 XRP experienced a significant downturn on July 8 after President Donald Trump announced the termination of the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran. During remarks at the NATO Summit in Ankara, Trump referred to Iranian leadership as “scum” and stated his unwillingness to continue diplomatic negotiations.
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The United States had conducted strikes against 80 Iranian targets on July 7, in retaliation for Iranian assaults on commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz. Trump simultaneously reinstated oil sanctions against Iran, which had been suspended when a 60-day ceasefire was established on June 17.
Oil markets responded with prices rebounding to the June 24 peak of $74 per barrel. Cryptocurrency markets moved inversely as investors liquidated risk-sensitive assets.
XRP descended 4.32% during the trading session, hovering around $1.07 at press time. The selloff resulted in $8.61 million worth of long position liquidations in XRP — marking the highest liquidation volume since June 25. The broader cryptocurrency ecosystem witnessed more than $400 million in total liquidations.
XRP Price Crypto analyst ChartNerd (@ChartNerdTA) highlighted that $XRP has developed a hidden bearish divergence pattern on the daily chart, cautioning that XRP must recapture the $1.15 level promptly or face a probable retreat toward $1.00. This forecast has proven accurate thus far.
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Technical Indicators Signal Bearish Momentum XRP has dropped beneath its 20-day exponential moving average of $1.11, indicating bearish short-term momentum. The Awesome Oscillator has shifted to red bars, confirming that sellers currently dominate market sentiment.
Immediate support is located at the June 30 low of $1.03. Below that threshold lies the psychologically important $1.00 mark. For bulls to regain control, XRP would need to close above $1.11 for three straight days. Such a move could potentially enable a recovery toward the July 4 peak of $1.18.
As of early July 9, XRP is changing hands around $1.09, consolidating within a narrow trading band. Declining peaks at $1.1133, $1.0993, and $1.0932 demonstrate that sellers continue to suppress upward momentum.
Institutional Interest Remains Subdued Ripple secured regulatory approval in Luxembourg on July 5, achieving full compliance with Europe’s MiCA framework. However, this regulatory milestone has failed to stimulate institutional interest.
Spot XRP ETFs recorded zero net inflows on both July 6 and July 7. CME XRP futures activity totaled merely 635 contracts on July 7 — representing the weakest trading volume since June 12.
Source: SoSoValue The XRPBTC trading pair is also testing support around 1,700 satoshis, indicating persistent underperformance relative to Bitcoin.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Ethereum price today: $1,740Onchain activity indicates that bulls have returned to action at a modest pace.ETH ETFs posted four straight days of inflows, but volume stays weak.ETH is testing the 20-day EMA after a rejection at the 50-day EMA near $1,800.Ethereum (ETH) has slowly seen a return of bullish dominance over the past few days after a lengthy period of bearish pressure. However, buying pressure remains weak despite registering nearly a 10% gain since the beginning of the month.
The Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) metric has eased from -0.46 to -0.30, indicating that while recent price gains have reduced investors' losses, their holdings remain underwater. A larger price gain, fueled by strong buying pressure, will be needed to lift those holdings back into profit territory.
ETH NUPL. Source: CryptoQuantWhales or wallets with a balance of 10K-100K ETH saw inflows of roughly 100K ETH over the past week, but their balance remains largely unchanged on the three-week timeframe. On the other hand, retail wallets holding 100-1K and 1K-10K ETH saw negligible changes in their balances, with their holdings remaining largely unchanged over the period.
Meanwhile, US spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have posted four consecutive days of net inflows for the first time since early May, per SoSoValue data. The inflows across the four days totaled $91.5 million, not strong enough to spark a major upward price surge.
A similar move is observed in the Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the sentiment of US investors. The metric has retreated from a low of -0.169 to -0.076, indicating that while US demand has improved compared to previous weeks, it remains weak overall. Notably, the index hasn't spent more than 50 days in positive territory since the beginning of the year.
ETH Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CryptoQuantHistorically, the Coinbase Premium Index and spot ETH ETF inflows have to stay elevated to spark a major upward price move.
On the derivatives side, open interest has remained flat over the past week, indicating caution among leveraged traders, who have yet to commit capital to the market despite recent price gains.
Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH tests 20-day EMAEthereum saw $61.6 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, led by $51.5 million in long liquidations.
The move comes as ETH maintains a bearish near-term bias, holding below the 50- and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1,803 and $1,965, respectively. Price is clinging just above the 20-day EMA support at $1,714. Momentum shows easing buying pressure with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) declining toward 51 and 70, respectively.
On the downside, the 20-day EMA at $1,714 offers immediate support, ahead of more substantial floors at $1,524 and $1,404, while a deeper slide would expose the longer-term base near $1,155.
ETH/USDT daily chartOn the topside, initial resistance is the cluster formed by the 50-day EMA at $1,803 and the $1,806 horizontal line. A sustained break above this area would be needed to open the way toward $1,909 and the 100-day EMA at $1,965, with higher hurdles appearing at $2,018 and $2,107.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
According to its official page, Polymarket has launched a derivatives trading feature, currently supporting 10 assets including BTC, ETH, SOL, HYPE, gold, silver, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, WTIOIL, and SPCX, with a maximum leverage of 20x.
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SMIC surpassed Kweichow Moutai in market capitalization.
According to Bitget data, SMIC’s A-share price rose nearly 15%, pushing its total market capitalization to 1.49 trillion yuan. Kweichow Moutai is currently down 1.43%, with a total market cap of 1.48 trillion yuan. (Jinshi)
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Bitcoin breaks through $63,000
According to HTX market data, Bitcoin has broken through the $63,000 mark, with a 0.74% rise in the past 24 hours.
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US tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history, with the volatility ratio of the Nasdaq 100 to the S&P 500 hitting a 23-year high.
The Kobeissi Letter noted in a post that tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history. The ratio of the Nasdaq 100 Volatility Index (VXN) to the S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) has risen to 1.7, its highest level in 23 years. This marks the first time the ratio has topped 1.5 since 2018. By comparison, the metric peaked at around 1.6 during the 2008 financial crisis. Currently, VXN stands at 28 points, while VIX is at 16 points – the latter is 43% lower than the former. VXN has remained above the 20-point threshold for five consecutive months, the longest such stretch since the 2022 bear market. Markets are pricing in significant volatility risk for tech stocks.
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A crypto whale closed a $100 million BTC short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a whale closed a $100 million Bitcoin (BTC) short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million. Wallet address 0xcf9 opened the short on June 2 at $68,859 and closed it one hour ago at $62,314, holding the position for 36 days.
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Nvidia will collaborate with Hugging Face to develop open-source robotics models.
NVIDIA has announced a partnership with Hugging Face to co-develop open-source foundation models for robotics, combining its GPU ecosystem and CUDA technology, along with Hugging Face’s extensive model library and developer community, to significantly lower the barriers to AI training and deployment for robotics. (Jinshi)
Ethereum advocates are confident that the fundamentals are bullish, but investors in the asset remain extremely bearish.
“The Summer of Ethereum Love is gaining steam,” said co-founder Joseph Lubin on Wednesday. The Consensys exec said this was due to credibly neutral steward organizations like Ethlabs launching to accelerate ETH’s capabilities through parallel efforts beyond the embattled Ethereum Foundation.
He highlighted Ethereum’s 11-year 100% uptime, censorship resistance, permissionlessness, and global neutrality as core advantages for corporations and governments building sovereign network platforms.
“Ethereum’s and ETH’s long-term high-value proposition is powerfully coming into focus for many major financial institutions. They are building on Ethereum.”
Execs Bullish, Traders Bearish The big endorsement came in response to a post on X by Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom, who said that Ethereum is entering a new phase, with “organizations focused on infrastructure, go-to-market, and more are launching to accelerate the growth of the coming institutional supercycle.”
The Summer of Ethereum Love is gaining steam:
– New credibly neutral steward organizations to magnify capabilities and accelerate through parallel tracked activities. These will grow and others will emerge.
– Impactful reports and a new organization to help the incumbent… https://t.co/388IWUqgoc
— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) July 8, 2026
Two Ethereum-focused organizations, Ethlabs and Ethereum Institutional, have been launched recently, backed by EF developers and Ether treasury companies.
However, despite all of the bullish sentiment coming from executives, investors, and traders don’t agree or appear split on the underlying asset.
CryptoQuant analyst ‘Darkfost’ said on Thursday that there are two very different reactions behind the ETH panic. “The crypto market is currently going through a phase of total indecision.”
You may also like: Charles Hoskinson Says Ethereum Is Adopting Cardano Ideas Without Credit Bitmine Buys Another 42K ETH as 5% Supply Goal Comes Within Reach Staking Surge Tightens Supply, But Negative Sentiment Still Dominates Ethereum “Assets like ETH find themselves in a particularly fragile position,” due to swings in the US-Iran conflict and the threat of Fed rate hikes this year.
“In this climate, the slightest market fluctuation is enough to trigger panic moves, as was the case when ETH came to test the $1,500 level.”
However, the analyst also observed exchange flows that exhibit a “dual movement” which “reflects a split in how market participants are reading the situation.” Some are giving in to panic and selling, while others see it as an opportunity to increase their ETH exposure, they said.
ETH Price Weakens Panic and selling have prevailed again over the past 24 hours as the asset lost 1.8%, falling to $1,720 during the Thursday morning Asian trading session.
ETH has hit resistance at $1,800 three times this week, each time being rejected. It is now back at a weekly low and poised to drop below $1,700 unless broader market momentum returns. Zooming out, the asset is at a bear market bottom, down 65% from its peak.
“ETH has spent years below the 2021 high, failed multiple reclaim attempts, reset sentiment, and returned to the same exhaustion zone for the third time,” said analyst ‘Cryptollica.’
This is “not early distribution,” but “late compression,” they said before adding that if this zone holds, “the next move will surprise people still reading it as weakness.”
Bitcoin slipped to near $62,000 mark on Thursday as geopolitical risks weighed on market sentiment, while ETF inflows offered support. The cryptocurrency was trading at $62,038 mark.
Ethereum was down 1% to trade at $1,733 mark. Bitcoin also declined 1% in the past 24 hours. Among the major altcoins, BNB, XRP, Solana, Tron, Hyperliquid, Dogecoin, and Cardano fell up to 3%.
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Akshat Siddhant, Lead quant analyst, Mudrex said Bitcoin is trading around the $62,000 level as renewed geopolitical tensions, following President Trump’s announcement ending the ceasefire, have pushed investors toward a risk-off stance and at the same time, Japan’s 10-year government bond yield has climbed to a 30-year high, prompting a broader rotation of capital across global markets.
He further said that despite these headwinds and persistent inflation concerns, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $143 million in net inflows, providing support to prices and the $60,000 level now remains a critical support zone.
The global crypto market capitalisation edged down 1% to $2.14 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. The fear and greed index slightly drops to 25, while the market sentiments remain under fear, said CoinDCX Research Team.
In the past week, Bitcoin and Ethereum were up 2% and 6.5% respectively. Among the major altcoins, BNB, XRP, Tron, Hyperliquid, and Cardano rallied up to 8% whereas Solana and Dogecoin fell 0.9% and 0.7% respectively.
CoinSwitch Markets Desk said Bitcoin slipped to around $61.5K after Trump declared the US-Iran ceasefire "over” and the turmoil raised odds of a September Fed rate hike, adding pressure on risk assets like crypto. $61K remains a crucial level, with traders expecting a reversal once talks resume.
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What other analysts say
Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst, Delta Exchange
Crypto markets are in a macro-led risk-off phase. Bitcoin’s fall toward the $61,500–$62,000 zone reflects pressure from U.S.–Iran escalation, rising crude oil, higher bond yields, Japan bond-market stress, and Strategy-related Bitcoin sale concerns. ETF flows are supportive but limited. BTC spot ETFs saw around $21.4 million of inflows, while Ethereum ETFs saw around $26.9 million.
Nischal Shetty, founder, WazirX
Bitcoin trades near $62,014, with the daily technical outlook remaining cautious as the market consolidates. Moving averages indicate near-term weakness, while balanced momentum signals suggest traders are awaiting the next major catalyst.
Vikram Subburaj, CEO, Giottus
The broader crypto market cap stood near $2.14 trillion. Bitcoin dominance held around 58%. This indicates that traders remain defensive. They are not yet rotating aggressively into altcoins. On-chain signals remain mixed. Long-term holders appear to have resumed gradual accumulation, with net buying estimated in the 50,000-100,000 Bitcoin range.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP bounced after US President Donald Trump said that Iran had called him and wanted to make a deal. US stock futures also turned green following the completion of strikes confirmed by the US Central Command on Thursday.
President Trump Claims Iran Seeks Deal After Second Set of Strikes Stocks and crypto markets reacted positively to President Trump’s latest comments that Iran called him, saying “they want to make a deal so badly.” However, he is unsure about making a deal with Iran again amid ceasefire violations and strikes against US forces in the Middle East.
“I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal. I don’t know that they’re going to honor the deal. That’s the problem,” Trump said. The White House is preparing for a multi-day or even weeks of strikes against Iran over the Strait of Hormuz control.
Bitcoin and XRP bounced after the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said U.S. forces completed strikes on nearly 90 Iranian military targets. These included air defense systems, coastal surveillance sites, missile and drone storage areas, naval assets, and logistics infrastructure
The strikes come after previous operations targeting Iranian military capabilities following attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM says its forces remain on alert and ready to respond.
Meanwhile, sources told CoinGape that Iranian officials rejected Trump’s claim that they are “begging for a deal,” stating that the Trump administration is repeatedly asking Iran to hold back and request talks.
Iran’s IRGC even attacked and hit US military infrastructure in Kuwait’s Camp Arifjan and Ali Al-Salem base in retaliation. It also carried out strikes on the US Fifth Fleet HQ and Sheikh Isa base in Bahrain in a joint missile and drone operation, as per Tasnim.
BREAKING: Iran's IRGC announces it has attacked and hit US military infrastructure in Kuwait's Camp Arifjan and Ali Al-Salem base, along with the US Fifth Fleet HQ and Sheikh Isa base in Bahrain in a joint missile and drone operation, per Tasnim.
The IRGC calls this the "first…
— The Hormuz Letter (@HormuzLetter) July 9, 2026
Bitcon and XRP Climb Higher Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP bounced from recent lows as traders saw Trump’s remarks on Iran as signs of negotiations. BTC dipped near $61,500 earlier amid renewed US-Iran war tensions, but buy-the-dip sentiment triggered a bounce above $62,500.
XRP also recovered, holding near $1.09 after sliding from $1.16 amid US-Iran ceasefire violations. This rebound also comes amid positive developments, including Ripple signing XRP jersey patch deal with Kansas Jayhawks.
In addition, FOMC Meeting Minutes revealed that Fed officials support holding interest rates steady for longer, despite a rate hike still on the table. Bitcoin and XRP trading volumes remain in the red as traders await macro and clear technical catalysts.
Bitcoin has started July on a solid footing, consistent with its historically strong seasonal performance. Supportive comments from President Trump, including remarks that the US is “taking over crypto” and SEC pro-crypto rules changes, have helped sentiment. BIT predicted Bitcoin faces initial resistance at $65,955.
#BTC
If history repeats, things are likely going to pick up for Bitcoin and its Summer relief rally in the second half of July$BTC #Bitcoin
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) July 8, 2026
If you want to easily, efficiently, and quickly swap one crypto to another crypto, check out these 10 Best Crypto Swapping Sites.
Robinhood (@RobinhoodCrypto) Chain has rapidly established itself as a major force in decentralized finance, recording $500 million in 24-hour trading volume on Uniswap (@Uniswap) on July 8. The milestone makes it Uniswap's highest-volume deployment outside of Ethereum mainnet, just days after going live.
A Fast Start for a New Chain Robinhood Chain launched its public mainnet on July 1, 2026, built on the Arbitrum (@arbitrum) technology stack with 100-millisecond block times. The chain is designed for tokenized real-world assets and 24/7 financial services, with Stock Tokens tracking listed equities such as NVIDIA, Alphabet, and Apple available through Robinhood Wallet in more than 120 countries. The volume figure on July 8 was roughly 10 times higher than what the chain recorded the previous day, pointing to a sharp acceleration in user activity.
Trading was driven by a mix of wrapped Ethereum (WETH), memecoins, and tokenized stocks. Uniswap deployed all of its major protocol versions from day one, including v2, v3, v4, and UniswapX, establishing itself as the chain's primary automated market maker from the outset. According to the official Uniswap blog, Uniswap serves as the primary public AMM on Robinhood Chain with support across the Uniswap web app, wallet, and API from launch day.
Broader Context The launch is part of a wider push by Robinhood into on-chain financial infrastructure. Alongside Uniswap, day-one ecosystem partners include Chainlink for oracle infrastructure, as well as Alchemy and BitGo for additional DeFi services. The chain also introduced Robinhood Earn, a lending product targeting an estimated 7% APY on dollar-backed USDG, built on the Morpho protocol.
For Uniswap, the deployment adds another revenue-generating venue to its growing multi-chain footprint. The $UNI token rose between 11% and 14% around the time of the chain's launch as traders priced in higher protocol usage.
The key question going forward is whether the chain can sustain meaningful volumes beyond its launch week. The $500 million single-day figure is notable, but longer-term activity levels and total value locked will be more telling indicators of whether Robinhood Chain becomes a durable fixture in DeFi.
Sources:
Uniswap Blog: Uniswap is Live on Robinhood Chain
Robinhood Newsroom: Robinhood Chain Mainnet Launch
Crypto Briefing: Robinhood Chain Hits $500M in 24-Hour Uniswap Volume
TL;DR Bitcoin ETFs recorded $84.86 million in net outflows on July 8, signaling continued caution among institutional investors. Spot Ethereum ETFs attracted $70.48 million in net inflows, extending their positive streak to five consecutive trading days. The contrasting ETF flows suggest institutional capital is showing stronger interest in Ethereum than Bitcoin in the short term. Analysts continue to monitor ETF activity as a key indicator of institutional sentiment and broader crypto market direction. U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) returned to negative territory on July 8, recording $84.86 million in net outflows after signs of improving investor sentiment earlier in the week. The latest figures suggest institutional demand for Bitcoin remains uneven as investors continue responding to broader macroeconomic uncertainty and crypto market volatility.
While Bitcoin products lost assets, spot Ethereum ETFs attracted $70.48 million in net inflows, extending their positive run to five consecutive trading days. The sustained inflows point to renewed institutional interest in Ethereum, even as Bitcoin funds continue to experience intermittent selling pressure.
The latest ETF flow data follows a difficult period for Bitcoin investment products. Just last week, spot Bitcoin ETFs posted more than $526 million in weekly net outflows, ending one of the weakest stretches of the year before briefly recovering with several days of fresh inflows. However, Wednesday’s withdrawals indicate investors remain cautious rather than fully returning to the market.
Ethereum Continues to Outperform in Institutional Flows Ethereum has recently shown stronger momentum among institutional investors. The latest $70.48 million in inflows builds on several consecutive days of positive demand, suggesting investors are becoming increasingly comfortable with ETH exposure despite ongoing market volatility.
Market participants have pointed to Ethereum’s expanding role in tokenization, decentralized finance, and institutional blockchain infrastructure as factors supporting demand. At the same time, several asset managers continue to increase their focus on Ethereum-based investment products, helping sustain inflows even as Bitcoin funds fluctuate.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, remains sensitive to macroeconomic developments. Investors continue to monitor interest rate expectations, global geopolitical risks, and overall risk appetite, all of which have contributed to inconsistent ETF flows in recent weeks.
Ethereum and Bitcoin ETF Flows Remain a Key Market Indicator Spot ETF activity has become one of the clearest gauges of institutional sentiment toward digital assets. Strong inflows typically signal growing confidence from professional investors, while sustained outflows often reflect a more defensive approach.
Although Bitcoin ETFs experienced another day of redemptions, the relatively modest size of the withdrawals compared with previous weeks may indicate that selling pressure is beginning to stabilize rather than accelerate. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s five-day inflow streak suggests capital is selectively rotating toward assets that investors believe offer stronger near-term opportunities.
With Bitcoin trading around the $62,000 level and market conditions remaining highly sensitive to economic developments, ETF flow data is expected to remain one of the most closely watched indicators for institutional participation in the crypto market over the coming weeks.
Key Highlights Ethereum has rallied approximately 10% throughout July, yet underlying demand signals remain subdued Binance holdings expanded by 221,000 ETH from late June onward, adding to tradable inventory Large holder transaction volumes have fallen to “Whale Left” territory according to CryptoQuant metrics Spot Ethereum ETFs in the United States recorded consecutive inflows over four sessions, accumulating $91.5 million A decisive move above $1,803 resistance (the 50-day EMA) is necessary for ETH to target $2,400 Ethereum has managed to climb roughly 10% since July began, yet the upward momentum appears increasingly precarious. Evidence from various market indicators suggests buyer participation exists but lacks conviction.
Ethereum (ETH) Price The Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) indicator has improved from -0.46 to -0.30, signaling that while holders remain underwater on their positions, losses have contracted somewhat compared to previous levels.
Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds in the United States experienced their first streak of positive net flows since early May, recording four straight days of capital entry. SoSoValue data confirms these combined inflows reached $91.5 million.
While encouraging on the surface, historical patterns indicate sustained ETF capital influx over extended periods is required to catalyze significant price appreciation. Current activity falls short of that threshold.
Crypto analyst Ash Crypto noted on X that ETH has retreated 6% from recent peaks following rejection at the 50-day moving average. He highlighted critical support zones at $1,670 and $1,500, emphasizing that reclaiming the MA 50 and breaking through $1,850 are essential steps toward reaching $2,400.
$ETH down 6% from recent high after rejection from resistance and the daily MA 50.
Next Supports:
– $1,670
– Strong support at $1,500
ETH needs to jump back above the MA 50 and $1,850 for further bullish momentum toward $2,400. pic.twitter.com/eCWlrcEBhO
— Ash Crypto (@AshCrypto) July 8, 2026
Large Holder Activity Contracts Data from CryptoQuant reveals that average whale transaction size declined from approximately 1,500 ETH per trade in mid-May to roughly 1,000 ETH currently, entering territory the analytics platform designates as “Whale Left.”
This retreat by institutional and high-net-worth participants reduces the volume of substantial orders flowing through markets. The resulting environment leaves pricing more vulnerable to smaller transactions, potentially amplifying near-term price swings.
Addresses containing between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH did absorb approximately 100,000 ETH during the previous week. However, total balances in this cohort have remained essentially unchanged across the past three weeks, indicating accumulation has not intensified.
Growing Supply on Trading Platforms Binance’s Ethereum reserves expanded from 3.64 million ETH to 3.87 million ETH since late June concluded—a notable addition of 221,000 ETH representing one of the more substantial reserve buildups observed in recent months.
Source: CryptoQuant Expanding exchange inventories signal greater availability of ETH for immediate market transactions. While this doesn’t guarantee imminent selling, it introduces additional supply-side pressure into a market already demonstrating fragility.
The Coinbase Premium Index, which measures sentiment among United States-based traders, has recovered from -0.169 to -0.076. Despite improvement, the negative reading indicates American buyers continue transacting at discounts relative to international markets.
ETH currently trades in the $1,740 to $1,777 range, maintaining position above the 20-day EMA situated at $1,714. Open interest in derivatives markets has remained stagnant, suggesting leveraged participants are adopting a wait-and-see approach.
On July 8, spot Bitcoin ETF flows in the United States returned to negative territory, with ETFs seeing net outflows of 84.86 million dollars for the day. Despite some modest signs of recovery earlier in the week, the numbers revealed that institutional investors remain cautious when it comes to Bitcoin.
Divergence between Bitcoin and Ethereum funds widensOn the same day, spot Ethereum ETFs attracted 70.48 million dollars in net inflows, extending their positive streak to five consecutive trading days. Recent data indicates that, at least in the short term, institutional capital is showing greater interest in Ethereum than in Bitcoin.
Data for July 8 shows net outflows of 84.86 million dollars from spot Bitcoin ETFs, contrasted by inflows of 70.48 million dollars into spot Ethereum ETFs. Notably, Ethereum has now logged five straight days of positive inflows.
An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, allows investors to gain exposure to an asset’s price movements without holding the asset directly. Spot ETFs, as distinct from futures-based products, track the real-time market price of the underlying asset rather than derivatives contracts.
Bitcoin fund weakness persists following last week’s routThe recent trend in Bitcoin investment products has already been under considerable strain. Cumulative net outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs exceeded 526 million dollars last week. Though there were several days of inflows that briefly slowed the exodus after a historically weak period, the renewed pullback on July 8 suggests that many investors are reluctant to re-enter the market with confidence.
Volatility in Bitcoin has been fueled by ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. Shifting interest rate expectations, global geopolitical tensions, and changing risk appetites are among the key drivers of ETF flows in recent weeks.
Institutional interest in Ethereum gathers momentumEthereum has shown stronger momentum with institutional inflows over the last week. The latest 70.48 million dollar addition builds on a series of consecutive positive days, indicating that, despite market volatility, some investors are carving out larger positions in ETH.
Market participants cite Ethereum’s expanding role in tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), and institutional blockchain infrastructure as key factors fueling demand. The growing interest from asset managers in Ethereum-based products is helping to sustain inflows even as Bitcoin funds experience turbulence.
Spot ETF movements continue to be one of the most closely watched indicators for measuring institutional sentiment toward digital assets.
ETF flows offer insight into market directionSpot ETF figures have become a crucial barometer for reading how professional investors view digital assets. Robust inflows are often interpreted as a sign of growing confidence, while sustained outflows point to a defensively oriented market stance.
Though Bitcoin ETFs posted another day of net outflows, the retreat was less dramatic than in previous weeks, suggesting that selling pressure may be stabilizing rather than intensifying. In contrast, Ethereum’s five-day inflow streak reveals that capital is being selectively deployed into areas perceived to offer more compelling short-term opportunities.
With Bitcoin trading around 62,000 dollars, ETF flows are expected to remain a leading indicator of institutional participation in the ever-sensitive and rapidly shifting crypto market in the weeks ahead.
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.
A crypto user has lost nearly $1 million after approving a malicious Ethereum transaction that gave scammers access to drain almost the entire wallet balance, adding to hundreds of millions of dollars in phishing losses recorded this year.
Summary
A crypto user lost nearly $1 million after approving a malicious Ethereum transaction that allowed scammers to drain the wallet. Phishing scams caused $723 million in losses across 248 incidents in 2025 as approval based attacks continued targeting crypto users. The latest theft follows another multimillion dollar onchain loss, highlighting separate risks from phishing approvals and flawed transaction routing. According to blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer, the victim lost 999,999 Tether (USDT) in an Ethereum phishing token approval scam on Wednesday after signing a malicious approval request.
— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) July 9, 2026 On-chain data showed the attackers first attempted to withdraw a rounded $1 million through multicall transactions, but the transfer failed because the wallet held slightly less than that amount.
Seconds later, the attackers adjusted their script and successfully withdrew the wallet’s exact remaining balance.
“The script recalculated and pulled the exact remaining balance,” Scam Sniffer said.
Phishing approvals continue draining crypto wallets Security researchers say approval phishing remains one of the most common social engineering attacks in crypto because users unknowingly grant unlimited spending permissions while believing they are approving a harmless transaction.
According to blockchain security firm CertiK, phishing scams caused $723 million in losses across 248 incidents during 2025. In these attacks, victims are typically tricked into signing malicious token approvals, allowing attackers to move funds from their wallets without requiring another signature.
The latest incident follows another major wallet compromise reported earlier this month. In that case, a crypto holder lost about $1.65 million after connecting to a fake exchange and signing a malicious smart contract.
“The approval gave attackers unlimited access, enabling an automated sweeper to drain funds,” researcher Ryan Coleman said on Friday.
A wallet holder lost $1.65M after connecting to a fake exchange and signing a malicious contract. The approval gave attackers unlimited access, enabling an automated sweeper to drain funds. Always verify contracts and revoke unused token approvals. pic.twitter.com/MbwJx2CHSe
— Ryan C. Coleman (@RyanColeXBT) July 3, 2026 The latest phishing loss comes only days after another high-profile onchain incident highlighted a different risk facing crypto users. Earlier this week, a trader lost nearly $2 million after a decentralized exchange routed an Ether swap through a low-liquidity pool, allowing a same-block arbitrage trade to extract most of the transaction’s value.
According to GoPlus Security, the loss was caused by transaction routing rather than phishing, prompting researchers to urge users to review execution paths carefully before confirming onchain transactions.
Scam Sniffer advised users to carefully review every signature request, avoid rushing approvals and use scam detection tools or browser extensions before signing wallet transactions.
Leading cryptocurrencies fell alongside stocks on Wednesday as the U.S. strikes against Iran threaten peace negotiations.
Crypto Market ShakesBitcoin slipped under $61,500, then climbed back above $62,000 overnight. Ethereum oscillated within the $1,700 region, even as the 24-hour trading volume saw an uptick. XRP and Dogecoin sank lower.
Over $330 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with $261 million in bullish long positions alone wiped out, according to Coinglass data.
Nearly $400 million in Bitcoin longs risked liquidation if the apex cryptocurrency falls to $60,000.
Bitcoin’s open interest slid 1.40% over the last 24 hours. Smart money sentiment, which refers to the collective outlook and capital allocation of institutional investors, turned "extremely bearish” on Binance.
Top Gainers (24 Hours)
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.15 trillion, contracting 1.67% over the last 24 hours.
Stocks Dive As Iran Strikes IntensifyStocks slipped further on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 576.76 points, or 1.09%, to end at 52,348.39. The S&P 500 lost 0.28% to close at 7,482.71. The Nasdaq Composite was the outlier, rising 0.2% to close at 25,870.65.
President Donald Trump reposted news of strikes on Iran’s southeastern city of Chahbahar on his Truth social, saying, “This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse.”
Earlier in the day, he declared that the tentative ceasefire and memorandum of understanding with Iran is "over," sending markets reeling.
Bitcoin To Struggle In Short Term?On-chain analytics firm Santiment highlighted a sharp jump in “war-related crypto chatter,” anticipating increased volatility in the days ahead.
“If tensions keep rising, Bitcoin and altcoins may struggle short term, but if fear spikes too far too fast, it can also set up sharp relief rallies when headlines cool,” Santiment added.
Ali Martinez, a widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader, identified $63,000 as the major wall bulls need to break.
“Many holders who bought near $63,000 may use a return to their cost basis as an opportunity to exit at breakeven, adding selling pressure around this zone,” the analyst added.
Martinez also flagged downside risks, including potential declines to $46,000 or $37,870 if Bitcoin loses $59,000 as support.
Photo Courtesy: Marc Bruxelle on Shutterstock.com
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EMURGO, one of Cardano's three founding entities and the developer of the SecondFi wallet, has formally stepped down from its seat in the Pentad governance coalition. The move, announced on July 8, 2026, comes directly in the wake of a major security breach that drained around 16 million $ADA from hundreds of wallets.
What Happened at SecondFi SecondFi is the rebranded successor to Yoroi, which EMURGO has described as Cardano's largest wallet provider. The service was hit by four distinct wallet-draining events discovered on June 22, compromising 374 addresses and roughly 16 million ADA, worth about $2.4 million at the time, according to EMURGO's own June 25 incident report. The breach resulted from a vulnerability in SecondFi's wallet generation software that allowed attackers to reconstruct private keys using publicly available blockchain data, affecting individual wallet addresses rather than the Cardano network itself.
The team said it separately secured about 129 million ADA through emergency containment. EMURGO has said compromised wallets should be treated as permanently exposed at the address and private-key level, and that it has engaged multiple independent firms to review the incident and code, while submitting a patch closing the identified vulnerability.
EMURGO said SecondFi will not return to normal operations after the incident, even after audits finish. Short-term priorities include asset safeguarding, a recovery fund, wallet status checks, and safe migration routes for users who need to move away from SecondFi. Users have also been warned to follow only official channels, as scammers have been targeting affected users through false support links.
Why EMURGO Left the Pentad EMURGO said it is stepping down from its role in the blockchain's Pentad governance group to focus its attention on recovering user funds following the exploit. The Pentad, comprising Input Output, EMURGO, the Cardano Foundation, Intersect, and the Midnight Foundation, is a coalition that works as a coordinated, treasury-supported process focused on network-wide infrastructure needs, emphasizing unified decision-making while maintaining ecosystem representation.
EMURGO said stepping aside reflects the accountability it owes as a Cardano founding entity. The move makes EMURGO the first of Pentad's five members to exit the group. The reaction within the Cardano community has not been uniformly sympathetic, with criticism surfacing quickly in replies to EMURGO's announcement, with users questioning the organization's handling of the exploit and, more pointedly, its continued association with Pentad's treasury resources. Pentad's 70 million ADA treasury allocation, approved in January, sits at the center of that scrutiny, with some community members questioning whether EMURGO should retain any portion of those funds given the security failure.
Cardano's ADA plunged roughly 5% after EMURGO announced its exit from the Pentad governance body. EMURGO has said it will publish a full account of the incident once security reviews are complete, and that its remaining focus on SecondFi will be limited entirely to helping affected users recover their assets.
Sources
The Defiant: EMURGO Says Hacked Cardano Wallet SecondFi Won't Reopen
The Block: Cardano Founding Entity EMURGO Steps Down from Pentad Governance Role
Crypto.news: SecondFi Won't Reopen After Cardano Wallet Breach
The Cardano Foundation has officially launched the Ouroboros Leios public testnet, marking a significant milestone in the network’s long-term scaling strategy. While the development is being watched closely by the crypto community as a leap forward for Cardano’s technical roadmap, the price of ADA remains under pressure in the same period. Cardano, known for its academic approach to blockchain development, continues to prioritize research-driven upgrades for its network infrastructure.
Public testnet opens for developersThe Foundation announced the opening of “Musashi Dojo” and the availability of the Leios public testnet for anyone to try. This new environment allows the protocol—designed to boost transaction capacity without sacrificing security or decentralization—to be put through its paces in the field.
The Cardano Foundation confirmed that Musashi Dojo is now open and that years of peer-reviewed research aimed at scaling Cardano can finally be tested by the community.
This phase is expected to help developers detect potential bugs early and optimize the protocol before the Leios upgrade reaches the mainnet. In the broader context, the process could lay a stronger foundation for decentralized applications as the Cardano ecosystem continues to expand.
Mini glossary: Ouroboros Leios is a scaling-focused protocol design aimed at increasing Cardano’s transaction capacity. The public testnet provides an open environment for users and developers to experiment with these innovations before they are released to the main network.
ADA price faces persistent resistanceAt the time the news broke, ADA was trading around $0.1668, having slipped roughly 4.5 percent over the past 24 hours. The daily chart indicates that while the price found support near $0.1564, it continues to struggle with resistance just below $0.1775.
After a brief upward attempt by buyers, sellers regained control, dragging ADA back to the $0.1668 level. The price remains below the 20, 50, 100, and 200 day exponential moving averages, signaling a weak broader trend for the token.
IndicatorLevelSupport$0.1564Initial resistance$0.177520-day EMA$0.168750-day EMA$0.1851The 20-day EMA near $0.1687 is acting as short-term resistance, while the 50-day EMA around $0.1851 is being monitored as the next key threshold. Rising trading volumes during the recent rebound suggest increased market participation despite the ongoing price struggles.
Monitoring derivatives and on-chain dataAccording to CoinGlass, Cardano’s open interest in derivatives markets recently shot past the $500 million mark and continues to stay elevated. This signals that traders in the futures market are still willing to hold positions despite price volatility.
While the Leios testnet may bolster Cardano’s long-term outlook, in the short term, buyers must reclaim the $0.1775 resistance for the direction to turn decisively upward.
Data from DeFiLlama shows that total value locked (TVL) on the Cardano network has remained relatively stable. This suggests there’s no major deterioration in on-chain activity, and a daily close above the $0.1775 level could strengthen short-term sentiment. Conversely, if ADA falls below the $0.1564 support, downward pressure on the price could quickly intensify.
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.
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.
SMIC surpassed Kweichow Moutai in market capitalization.
According to Bitget data, SMIC’s A-share price rose nearly 15%, pushing its total market capitalization to 1.49 trillion yuan. Kweichow Moutai is currently down 1.43%, with a total market cap of 1.48 trillion yuan. (Jinshi)
35 minutes ago
Bitcoin breaks through $63,000
According to HTX market data, Bitcoin has broken through the $63,000 mark, with a 0.74% rise in the past 24 hours.
35 minutes ago
US tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history, with the volatility ratio of the Nasdaq 100 to the S&P 500 hitting a 23-year high.
The Kobeissi Letter noted in a post that tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history. The ratio of the Nasdaq 100 Volatility Index (VXN) to the S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) has risen to 1.7, its highest level in 23 years. This marks the first time the ratio has topped 1.5 since 2018. By comparison, the metric peaked at around 1.6 during the 2008 financial crisis. Currently, VXN stands at 28 points, while VIX is at 16 points – the latter is 43% lower than the former. VXN has remained above the 20-point threshold for five consecutive months, the longest such stretch since the 2022 bear market. Markets are pricing in significant volatility risk for tech stocks.
35 minutes ago
A crypto whale closed a $100 million BTC short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a whale closed a $100 million Bitcoin (BTC) short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million. Wallet address 0xcf9 opened the short on June 2 at $68,859 and closed it one hour ago at $62,314, holding the position for 36 days.
35 minutes ago
Nvidia will collaborate with Hugging Face to develop open-source robotics models.
NVIDIA has announced a partnership with Hugging Face to co-develop open-source foundation models for robotics, combining its GPU ecosystem and CUDA technology, along with Hugging Face’s extensive model library and developer community, to significantly lower the barriers to AI training and deployment for robotics. (Jinshi)
35 minutes ago
A newly created wallet withdrew 500 BTC from Binance, worth $31.15 million.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet withdrew 500 BTC from Binance, valued at $31.15 million.
SMIC surpassed Kweichow Moutai in market capitalization.
According to Bitget data, SMIC’s A-share price rose nearly 15%, pushing its total market capitalization to 1.49 trillion yuan. Kweichow Moutai is currently down 1.43%, with a total market cap of 1.48 trillion yuan. (Jinshi)
35 minutes ago
Bitcoin breaks through $63,000
According to HTX market data, Bitcoin has broken through the $63,000 mark, with a 0.74% rise in the past 24 hours.
35 minutes ago
US tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history, with the volatility ratio of the Nasdaq 100 to the S&P 500 hitting a 23-year high.
The Kobeissi Letter noted in a post that tech stocks are experiencing one of the most volatile periods in history. The ratio of the Nasdaq 100 Volatility Index (VXN) to the S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) has risen to 1.7, its highest level in 23 years. This marks the first time the ratio has topped 1.5 since 2018. By comparison, the metric peaked at around 1.6 during the 2008 financial crisis. Currently, VXN stands at 28 points, while VIX is at 16 points – the latter is 43% lower than the former. VXN has remained above the 20-point threshold for five consecutive months, the longest such stretch since the 2022 bear market. Markets are pricing in significant volatility risk for tech stocks.
35 minutes ago
A crypto whale closed a $100 million BTC short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a whale closed a $100 million Bitcoin (BTC) short position, earning a profit of $5.28 million. Wallet address 0xcf9 opened the short on June 2 at $68,859 and closed it one hour ago at $62,314, holding the position for 36 days.
35 minutes ago
Nvidia will collaborate with Hugging Face to develop open-source robotics models.
NVIDIA has announced a partnership with Hugging Face to co-develop open-source foundation models for robotics, combining its GPU ecosystem and CUDA technology, along with Hugging Face’s extensive model library and developer community, to significantly lower the barriers to AI training and deployment for robotics. (Jinshi)
35 minutes ago
A newly created wallet withdrew 500 BTC from Binance, worth $31.15 million.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet withdrew 500 BTC from Binance, valued at $31.15 million.
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BNB Chain Plans to Launch New Layer 1 Blockchain in Early 2027, Optimized for Intelligent Trading Execution
BNB Chain is developing a new Layer 1 public blockchain specifically designed for agentic trading, targeting transaction pre-confirmation in under 50 milliseconds and eliminating the public mempool to reduce front-running risks such as sandwich attacks. The chain routes transactions directly to block producers via TxStream, rotates block-producing nodes every 200 milliseconds, and reserves block space for oracles, liquidations, and cross-chain bridges through PriorityLane. By optimizing parallel execution, consensus, and storage synergy, BNB Chain aims to deliver over 100,000 transactions per second and sub-second finality. The new chain will run in parallel with the existing BNB Smart Chain, with a testnet expected by the end of 2026 and mainnet launch in early 2027.
Blue Origin Raising $10 Billion at $130 Billion Valuation, Bezos Injecting $2 Billion
The space company Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, is advancing its first external fundraising, planning to raise $10 billion at a valuation of about $130 billion (excluding new funds). Coatue Management intends to lead the round with a $4 billion investment, Bezos will personally add $2 billion, and the remaining approximately $4 billion will come from large institutional investors. Blue Origin will use the capital for projects such as New Glenn rocket launches and the TeraWave satellite communication network, competing with SpaceX in the commercial rocket and orbital infrastructure sector. Analysts previously estimated that Blue Origin’s expenditure could approach $5 billion this year, with cumulative investment reaching around $28 billion.
Justin Sun’s Lido Staking Position Exceeds 247,000 stETH, Annualized Staking Yield Reaches $9.5 Million
Justin Sun has again increased his staking position on Lido Finance, staking an additional 13,000 ETH (approximately $23.08 million) about 23 hours ago, bringing his total Lido holdings to roughly 247,436 stETH (approximately $430 million). Since February 2023, this stETH position has generated cumulative staking rewards of about 11,307 stETH (approximately $26.82 million). Based on the current annualized yield level, he can earn about $9.5 million per year.
ZachXBT: AscendEX Currently Has Almost No Liquid Assets to Process Withdrawal Requests
On-chain detective ZachXBT stated that AscendEX’s latest announcement confirmed it will cease operations, citing current market conditions and EU MiCA regulations as reasons for the shutdown. The announcement acknowledged that all withdrawals will now be manually processed and "may be delayed or not processed at all." ZachXBT noted that verified user claims amount to millions of dollars, but based on AscendEX’s publicly visible hot wallets, the platform currently has almost no available liquid assets to process these withdrawal requests. AscendEX’s official website recently announced that the platform has ceased all business operations since July 1, no longer offering account opening, deposits, trading, staking, lending, or campaign services, and retaining only limited account access for processing withdrawals, KYC updates, complaints, and exporting transaction records. The announcement stated that starting July 6, all withdrawal requests on the platform are subject to manual review and automatic withdrawals are suspended. Withdrawals will be subject to KYC/AML, sanctions and anti-fraud screening, asset and balance reconciliation, network conditions, and potential bankruptcy or legal proceedings, which may result in delays, additional documentation requirements, or failure to complete. The platform is assessing its financial condition and options for handling account funds, with a further notice to follow.
Crypto VC Giant Paradigm Raises $1.2 Billion New Fund to Bet on AI and Robotics
Crypto-focused venture capital firm Paradigm has closed a $1.2 billion new fund, which will be deployed in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. This is Paradigm’s third venture fund, increasing its assets under management beyond the approximately $11.9 billion already reached by the end of 2025. Paradigm will continue investing in crypto, having already placed bets in projects like Kalshi, Zipline, and True Anomaly, and launched an AI Agent evaluation tool with OpenAI. Co-founder Matt Huang said that blockchain infrastructure is converging with AI, especially AI agents, for use cases like autonomous online payments, and Paradigm aims to capture this new technology paradigm shift.
Volcano Engine Launches API Service for Doubao Image Creation Model Seedream 5.0 Pro
ByteDance’s Volcano Engine has launched the API service for the Doubao image creation model Seedream 5.0 Pro, targeting scenarios such as e-commerce marketing, advertising creative, educational content, film and television visual development, and overseas materials. The model supports interactive precision editing, including point selection, circle selection, sketch rendering, and layer separation, enabling pixel-level partial modifications without redrawing the entire image. It also enhances complex information visualization, displaying high-density charts and text in a single image; improves the realism of lighting and texture in portraits and materials; and natively supports input and generation in over ten languages to meet the demands of global content production and multilingual typesetting.
US Tech Giants Have Raised Approx. $182 Billion Through Bond Issuance This Year, Far Exceeding $13 Billion in the Same Period Last Year
So far this year, tech giants including Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, Meta, Oracle, and SpaceX have raised a total of about $182 billion through investment-grade bond issuances exceeding $25 billion each, far exceeding the less than $13 billion raised in the same period last year. The capital is primarily intended for infrastructure spending such as artificial intelligence and data centers. Market subscription enthusiasm for such "megadeal" bonds has cooled somewhat. Amazon's latest $25 billion bond offering was only 1.6 times subscribed, and the $25 billion bond issued by SpaceX last month has weakened relative to US Treasuries in the secondary market. Some institutions are concerned that sustained heavy bond issuance by the tech and AI sectors in the coming years will increase portfolio concentration and repricing risk.
Source: Iran Has Formally Suspended US-Iran Negotiations
A senior Iranian source said that due to US threats, Iran has formally suspended negotiations with the United States on a final solution. It was previously reported that US-Iran negotiations would take place in Pakistan on July 11, discussing sanctions, frozen Iranian funds, and nuclear issues.
World: Will Migrate from Solana to Robinhood Chain
The World team announced that the project will migrate from Solana to Robinhood Chain, the proprietary chain built by Robinhood Crypto.
Crypto Market Sees Over $387 Million in Liquidations in 24 Hours, Long Positions Account for Over 80%
According to CoinGlass data, the global crypto futures market recorded total liquidations of approximately $387 million in the past 24 hours, involving 138,904 traders, with long position liquidations amounting to about $313 million, accounting for roughly 80.71%. Binance saw the largest liquidation volume at about $189 million, followed by Hyperliquid at about $58.69 million, OKX at $46.81 million, and Bybit at $33.7 million. The largest single liquidation order occurred on Binance’s ETHUSDT contract, worth about $7.2448 million. BTC and ETH recorded liquidations of about $79.84 million and $81.26 million, respectively, over the 24 hours, primarily concentrated in long positions.
Zhipu: Plans to Place Shares at ~13% Discount to Raise Over HK$31.4 Billion
智谱(02513.HK) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it plans to place 19.78 million shares at HK$1,588 per share (a discount of about 13%) to raise approximately HK$31.41 billion.
SK Hynix Nasdaq Listing Oversubscribed by Over Seven Times, Offering Size About $24.5 Billion
South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix's Nasdaq listing was oversubscribed by more than seven times. The offering involves a total of 177.9 million American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), attracting demand from global long-only funds, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investors in the tech sector. Bloomberg calculations show the offering size is about $24.5 billion, potentially making it the second-largest foreign company listing in U.S. history, behind only Alibaba's $25 billion. The subscription will close at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, and the ADRs are expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on July 10 under the ticker SKHY.
Fed Minutes: Officials Warn Inflation Risks Could Force Rates Higher, AI Investment Becomes a New Variable
Minutes from the Fed's June meeting showed that officials did not reach a single judgment on the future policy path. If inflation remains elevated this year, rate hikes would be seen as necessary; if price pressures ease soon, rates could stay on hold. The core question determining the next move is how long the current forces pushing up prices will persist. The divergence reflected in the minutes mainly focused on how the outlook might change, not whether immediate action was required in June. Even the most hawkish officials did not push for an immediate rate hike in June. The minutes said a few participants saw a case for raising rates at that time but ultimately supported holding steady. The minutes showed that the AI investment boom, along with wars in the Middle East and tariff policy, is now seen as a factor that could keep prices elevated and prompt the Fed to raise rates. The minutes stated: “Several participants commented that price pressures have become more broad-based, with substantial increases ... across a wide range of goods and services.” More officials believe that strong business investment driven by AI infrastructure could become a new force sustaining price pressures. The upward price pressure from tariffs has also changed the backdrop for policy discussions. A year ago, the Fed could still view tariff-driven price increases as one-off factors and look past them, because the labor market was weak enough to support such patience. Now, hiring is stabilizing while new cost pressures emerge from both the energy and AI sectors. Many officials believe that continuing to wait under these circumstances entails a greater risk: above-target inflation could become entrenched.
SpaceX AI and Cursor Release 'Grok 4.5' AI Model for Legal and Financial Use Cases
SpaceXAI released a new AI model called Grok 4.5, built in collaboration with AI coding startup Cursor, aiming to narrow the gap with rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI. Grok 4.5 is designed to handle complex, long-running tasks including software engineering, legal, and financial services, with enhanced cybersecurity capabilities. The new model aims to “handle complex and time-consuming tasks”, including software engineering which many top AI developers focus on. However, unlike Cursor's previous models, Grok 4.5 aims to address a broader portfolio of work, such as legal and financial services. Grok 4.5 has enhanced cybersecurity capabilities.
OpenAI Releases GPT-Live Voice Model, Making ChatGPT More Like a Real Conversation
OpenAI officially launched its next-generation voice models GPT-Live-1 and GPT-Live-1 mini today, comprehensively upgrading ChatGPT's voice capabilities. The new models adopt a “full-duplex” architecture, capable of listening and speaking simultaneously, allowing users to interrupt at any time while the AI is responding, making the interaction closer to a real conversation. Another improvement is the separation of the voice interaction layer from the reasoning layer. When a question requires web search or more complex reasoning, GPT-Live hands off the task to the backend GPT-5.5 while keeping the conversation flowing seamlessly. Paid users can choose among three reasoning levels — “instant”, “medium”, and “high” — to balance speed and intelligence according to their needs. Additionally, GPT-Live supports real-time translation and displaying information such as weather and stocks via visual cards. OpenAI stated that GPT-Live-1 will be the default voice model for Go, Plus, and Pro paid users, while free users will use GPT-Live-1 mini. Both models will roll out gradually to users on iOS, Android, and the web globally starting today, with API access to be opened later.
EU Plans to Revise MiCA to Cover Tokenization and Non-EU Stablecoins, Consultation Until September 30
The EU is considering revising the MiCA regulation to cover emerging areas such as tokenization and non-EU stablecoin issuers, with the consultation period ending on September 30. MiCA fully took effect after the transition period ended on July 1, with only 244 firms approved as crypto-asset service providers. The revision comes against the backdrop of the rise of tokenized securities (on-chain equities have reached $2.16 billion, up nearly 45% month-on-month) and global progress in stablecoin regulation following the passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act. An EU diplomat said, “revisiting this file seems inevitable at this point.” The European Commission launched a related survey in May, saying “since MiCA was developed, digital asset markets have continued to evolve, and the global policy and regulatory landscape has also undergone significant changes,” and is assessing whether the EU framework needs updating.
Binance Wallet Integrates Plume Yield Vault nBASIS, Providing On-Chain Exposure to Bitwise and Invesco Funds
Binance Wallet has integrated Plume's flagship yield vault nBASIS, allowing users to gain exposure to tokenized funds managed by Bitwise and Invesco, including the Invesco Short Duration U.S. Government Securities Fund (AUM over $860 million) and Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund (AUM over $170 million), both tokenized by Superstate, each currently yielding around 3.5%. Binance Wallet's previous integrations primarily focused on DeFi yields and tokenized spot equities; this marks its first structured RWA yield product integration. Last month, Plume partnered with ether.fi to launch an RWA vault, with ether.fi committing $100 million, of which $25 million was allocated to nBASIS. Ryan Wen, Plume's Head of Operations and Strategy, said tokenization infrastructure is maturing, but distribution has become the key challenge, and the “distribution before assets” model will drive the next million on-chain users and trillions of dollars in assets on-chain.
DeFi Dashboard Zapper Announces Shutdown on August 3
DeFi dashboard and portfolio tracker Zapper will fully shut down on August 3, including its main website, mobile app, and API. CEO Seb Audet posted on X that after evaluating multiple options and doing their best to explore, the team realized an orderly shutdown is the best choice. Zapper was founded in 2019, starting as a DeFi portfolio tracker, reaching a peak of 2 million monthly active users and processing over $13 billion in transaction volume. It completed a $15 million Series A funding led by Framework Ventures in May 2021. Zapper launched the Zap feature to simplify complex DeFi strategy deployment, and later added DEX aggregation, NFT support, and Web3 social tools such as a Farcaster client.
Cash App Fined $45 Million for False Security Promises, Block Agrees to Settlement
Cash App parent company Block agreed to pay $45 million to settle allegations from regulators in nearly all U.S. states that it made false security promises. The New York Attorney General's office said Block marketed Cash App as offering protection comparable to a traditional bank, leading users to mistakenly believe their funds were equally safeguarded, while lacking consistent fraud detection systems and failing to provide an effective customer complaint hotline. The states accused Block of knowing fraud was rising but failing to warn users, instead ramping up marketing efforts and targeting the unbanked population. Regulators also criticized Block for encouraging users to post account identifiers during its “Cash App Friday” promotion, allowing scammers to contact users and trick them out of login credentials. Block denied wrongdoing, with a spokesperson saying the agreement mainly involves legacy issues, and that Cash App has made significant investments in consumer protection, customer service, and compliance.
Multicoin reportedly selling 167,000 HYPE via Galaxy Digital, worth about $11.2 million
A wallet likely belonging to Multicoin Capital appears to be selling HYPE through Galaxy Digital. 167,000 HYPE (approximately $11.2 million) was routed through an intermediary wallet to Galaxy Digital's OTC trading desk at around 5 o'clock.
AscendEx Announces Shutdown, User Withdrawals Face Uncertainty
Crypto exchange AscendEx announced it will cease operations effective July 1, 2026. In its July 6 announcement, AscendEx stated the shutdown was due to not obtaining an EU MiCA license, while also mentioning that "an agreed strategic deal fell through because the counterparty failed to perform." On-chain data shows AscendEx tagged addresses hold only about $13.5 million in crypto assets, of which over $12 million is in UNITE and the platform's own ASD token, with a severe shortage of major-cap token reserves. On June 20, its reserves suddenly dropped by over $240 million. ZachXBT warned users about withdrawal issues at the end of June, and on July 2 stated withdrawals were still unprocessed while deposit functions were normal, advising users to report to their local law enforcement agencies. AscendEx stated that withdrawals have been suspended, and all withdrawals will undergo manual review and may face delays or inability to process.
Strive Executive: Global Capital Is Entering the Bitcoin Market Through Three Paths
Joe Burnett, VP of Bitcoin Strategy at Strive, stated that Bitcoin's breakeven annual rate of return (ARR) is often misunderstood, and understanding this concept is crucial for comprehending the market. He categorized global capital allocation to Bitcoin into three paths: Bullish Bitcoin — believing Bitcoin will appreciate significantly, borrowing long-term funds at less than 20% cost to add positions; Neutral Bitcoin (Digital Credit) — Bitcoin only needs to grow 3.3% annually to perpetually cover dividends through capital appreciation, such buyers simply need to believe Bitcoin won't disappear and will outpace inflation, potentially already a global consensus; Bearish Bitcoin — expressing bearish views by shorting Bitcoin or leveraging short positions. Burnett pointed out that these three paths correspond to three types of Bitcoin-linked instruments, allowing major global capital allocators to find allocation methods matching their own worldviews, which is exactly how global capital exceeding a quadrillion dollars is gradually flowing into the Bitcoin market.
Ministry of Commerce and 8 Other Departments: Promote the Use of Digital Yuan in the Issuance, Settlement and Other Aspects of Consumption Vouchers
The Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments issued opinions on accelerating the innovative development of the retail industry. This includes enhancing digital intelligence capabilities. Support the digital transformation of retail business entities, achieve full-chain digitization including purchasing, sales, inventory, and logistics distribution, and connect online and offline channels, products, services, and data. Encourage platforms to provide technical empowerment to small and medium retail entities and share resources. Support third-party technology companies in developing digital management systems for small and medium retail entities, providing comprehensive solutions. Promote "AI+", and expand scenarios such as smart shopping guides, low-altitude delivery, and unmanned sales. Promote the use of digital yuan in the issuance, settlement and other aspects of consumption vouchers, and leverage digital yuan smart contracts to achieve efficient turnover and precise direct delivery of subsidy funds.
Glassnode: Bitcoin Bottoming Process Is Ongoing, but Confirmation Signals Have Not Yet Appeared
A Glassnode report pointed out that Bitcoin remains in deep value territory after five months below the True Market Mean Price and the Short-Term Holder cost basis. Long-Term Holder realized losses account for 43% of total realized value, peaking at a daily $280 million, the highest since December 2022; ETF net outflows have eased from the June peak but remain net outflows on a monthly basis, with average daily trading volumes of $650 million to $950 million, down approximately 80% from the October 2025 peak. Derivatives positioning has cautiously shifted towards longs, with put/call ratios at their lowest levels of 2026, but the options market still maintains a defensive skew, with spot prices far below the max pain point of $66,000. The report believes that bottoming conditions are in place — on-chain supply redistribution is underway, institutional outflows are slowing, and derivatives are de-risking — but confirmation signals have not yet arrived. The market still requires a further cooling of capitulation pressure, stabilization of institutional fund flows, and recapturing the True Market Mean Price to confirm a regime change.
Russia Plans Criminal Penalties for Illegal Crypto Exchange, Up to Five Years in Prison
Russia's State Duma passed in the first reading a government-proposed bill on criminal liability for "illegal organization of digital asset circulation," imposing criminal penalties for illegal cryptocurrency exchange operations without state registration and licensing. Under the bill, organizers of illegal exchanges face fines of 100,000 to 300,000 rubles or fines equivalent to one to two years' income, with courts able to impose compulsory labor or imprisonment of up to four years, along with an additional fine of up to 80,000 rubles. If committed by an organized group or involving especially large-scale income (over 3.5 million rubles), the maximum penalty is five years' imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 million rubles. The bill stipulates that penalties will take effect on July 1, 2027. Previous government crypto regulatory legislation requires all Russian crypto exchange operations to be conducted through licensed financial institutions.
An Early Diamond-Hand Whale Takes Profit Again on 7 Million Binance Life, Worth Approximately $4.95 Million
A whale who bought Binance Life early, held on, and gained approximately 5000x returns continues to take profit, selling another 7 million Binance Life ($4.95 million), of which 6.9 million ($4.88 million) was transferred to Binance, and 100,000 ($70,000) was sold on-chain for BNB. This whale bought 18.5 million tokens with 2.14 BNB ($2,480) within half an hour of Binance Life's deployment last October and held until now. Starting in June, the whale began taking profit and has sold 10.5 million tokens ($7.33 million), still holding 8 million tokens ($5.71 million) on-chain, turning $2,480 into over $13 million.
Kazakhstan President Signs Decree Proposing to Allow Enterprises and Government to Use Stablecoins for Cross-Border Payments
Kazakhstan President Tokayev signed a presidential decree on "Measures to Stimulate and Develop the Digital Asset Industry," proposing to allow enterprises and government agencies to use stablecoins for cross-border payments. The decree states that studying mechanisms for using crypto assets for payments will "open additional channels for export-import operations" for Kazakhstan. The decree also plans to exempt personal income tax for individuals conducting crypto transactions through state-regulated Kazakh infrastructure and encourages the transfer of digital assets previously held on foreign unregulated platforms to domestic service provider platforms. The decree restricts the use of associated petroleum gas for mining, stipulating that this resource may only be used for crypto asset mining when "not needed to meet national demand." The decree was jointly drafted by Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, the Central Bank, and the Astana International Financial Center.
Russia's Largest Private Bank Alfa-Bank Plans to Offer Cryptocurrency Services to Clients
Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest private bank, announced plans to become a digital custodian and provide cryptocurrency-related services, not only to its own clients but also to other legal entities. Alfa-Bank COO Dmitry Vitman stated that the bank hopes to create investment instruments based on open blockchains to attract foreign investors and develop its own products and tools capable of competing in the international market. He expects that after the government's crypto regulatory legislation takes effect, retail brokerage activities may emerge in Russia around late 2026 to early 2027, involving both Russian and foreign infrastructure, but large-scale liquidity is not expected before the end of 2027. A digital custodian is a regulated entity responsible under Russian law for monitoring all client crypto transactions and freezing transfers to addresses not approved by the state.
Abraxas Capital and a Whale Dormant for 3 Years Re-Accumulate Gold, Withdrawing a Combined 4,884 XAUT
Whales are re-accumulating gold. Abraxas Capital withdrew 3,931 XAUT ($15.97 million) from an exchange 12 hours ago. After 3 years of dormancy, whale 0xD20E has also started buying XAUT again, withdrawing 953 XAUT ($3.93 million) from Binance over the past 3 days.
Michael Saylor: Free Markets Have Resolved Bitcoin Block Space Anxiety, Transaction Fees Remain Low
Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted on X platform stating that Bitcoin, after a decade of block space concerns and non-currency use panics, still has no junk transaction problem. The current fee is 1 sat/vB, allowing anyone to instantly transfer any amount globally for roughly $0.30. Saylor said the free market has always solved Bitcoin's block space challenges.
He Yi: No Bias Against Meme, Don't Take My Interactions as a Signal
Binance co-founder He Yi posted on X platform stating, "If you support Zhao Changpeng or myself, you can buy BNB. There is no need to look for clues, and even less need to donate. My holdings are fully public on Binance. Do not take any of my online interactions as a signal. I have no bias against Meme, but I believe BNB Chain's Meme deserves better aesthetics."
CFTC Chair Calls for Passing Clarity Act Before August 7 Recess
CFTC Chair Michael Selig said in a Fox Business interview that the Clarity Act is "very close" to passage and must be enacted before Congress recesses on August 7. Selig stressed that establishing federal crypto asset standards is "critically important," noting that fragmented state laws have hurt American commerce, and the bill will provide certainty, clarity, and consumer protection. Selig criticized Democrats' insistence on ethics provisions as "a derailing distraction" that is "undermining a genuine opportunity for a bipartisan bill." The Clarity Act would divide crypto asset regulatory authority between the CFTC and SEC; the House passed it last year, but the Senate has yet to hold a full vote.
Scammers Use Deepfake Video of Cristiano Ronaldo to Promote Crypto Token USWR
Since early July, a video using a deepfake of Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has circulated widely on social media. Scammers used AI deepfake technology to create a realistic video of Ronaldo, using fake audio dubbing to have "Ronaldo" endorse a crypto token called USWR, tricking fans and investors into buying. Cases of deepfake crypto scams using celebrity likenesses are increasing, with advances in AI making fake videos much more convincing and harder for ordinary users to distinguish. Security experts warn that crypto scams are becoming a major use case for deepfake technology, and investors should be extra cautious with celebrity-endorsed crypto projects, always verifying information through official channels.
South Korea's Mirae Asset Group Approved to Acquire 92.06% of Korbit for KRW 133.4 Billion
South Korean regulators announced approval for Mirae Asset Group's subsidiary Mirae Asset Consulting to acquire a 92.06% stake in Korean crypto exchange Korbit for approximately KRW 133.4 billion (about $98 million). This marks the first acquisition of a virtual asset exchange by a traditional South Korean financial group. The Korea Fair Trade Commission also disclosed 2025 market share data for Korean crypto exchanges: Upbit ~69%, Bithumb ~28%, Coinone ~2%, Korbit ~0.5%, Gopax ~0.1%. Due to Korbit's low market share, regulators believe the deal will not restrict competition in securities or asset management, nor substantially affect competition in future markets such as digital asset ETFs.
Analysis: If the Fed Backstops US Stocks, Crypto Market May Benefit from Liquidity Injection
US stocks have grown 68% over the past five years, adding about $6 trillion in market cap this year, with 58% of Americans owning stocks. Analysts warn that if a major stock market pullback occurs, the Fed could break decades of precedent by buying stock ETFs to support the market. Bitget Wallet COO Alvin Kan noted that once the Fed intervenes (rate cuts, balance sheet expansion, or even ETF purchases), crypto markets historically tend to enter a medium- to long-term uptrend as risk appetite recovers and capital flows back into high-beta assets. HashKey senior researcher Tim Sun pointed out that crypto asset macro pricing remains linked to dollar liquidity, real rates, and equity risk sentiment; once the market believes in a policy floor, high-volatility asset risk premiums will compress, benefiting bitcoin and major crypto assets.
Robinhood Crypto's official X account announced that Robinhood Chain has now been integrated into Robinhood Wallet, allowing users to bridge, swap, and explore across multiple chains including Solana, Ethereum, and Arbitrum directly within the app.
Ripple (XRP) and Stellar (XLM) extend losses on Thursday, correcting over 6% and 10%, respectively, so far this week. XRP falls below $1.090, while XLM posts a fifth consecutive day of correction and closes below key support levels. The bearish sentiment is further strengthened by renewed tensions between the US and Iran, dampening risk appetite and heightening the risk of deeper corrections for these altcoins.
Renewed US-Iran tensions cap risk sentimentThe fragile US-Iran relationship took a new development this week, with the US military unleashing a new wave of strikes against Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran retaliated by continuously targeting US military installations and assets across Bahrain and Kuwait. Adding to this, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the ceasefire with Iran was now over.
In addition to the growing tensions, the Minutes from the June 16–17 FOMC meeting were released on Wednesday and revealed that policymakers were divided over the direction of interest rates. The minutes reflected growing concern among Fed officials over inflation just as worries about the labor market slightly receded. Following the release, swap traders are now pricing the likelihood of a rate hike at the next Fed meeting at more than 30%, up from less than 20% last Thursday, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The renewed geopolitical uncertainty and hawkish shift in rate expectations have dampened risk appetite, weighing on cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin (BTC) slipping below $62,000. At the same time, XRP and XLM continue their correction on Thursday.
Weakening institutional demandSoSoValue data shows institutional demand is cautious. Spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) recorded an outflow of $7.29 million on Wednesday after being muted in the previous two days. If this outflow trend continues and intensifies this week, XRP could see further correction.
Total XRP spot ETF net inflow daily chart. Source: SoSoValueCryptoQuant’s summary data shows cautious optimism. XRP’s spot and futures markets show large-whale orders, while other metrics remain neutral, supporting a potential recovery. However, XLM shows selling-side dominance in both markets, with mixed retail activity and large-whale orders in the futures market, hinting at cautious sentiment among traders.
XRP summary data. Source: CryptoQuant
XLM summary data. Source: CryptoQuantXRP technical outlook: Slips below key supportXRP price trades at $1.086 on Thursday, extending a bearish near-term bias as price holds well beneath the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1.173, $1.275 and $1.482.
XRP also sits inside a downward-sloping parallel channel, with the upper boundary near $1.090 acting as immediate overhead supply, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) around 42 points to subdued momentum and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator, still slightly positive but easing, hints at waning bullish attempts within a broader capped structure.
On the topside, initial resistance is aligned at the upper channel boundary around $1.090, followed by the 50-day EMA near $1.173. Above that, the 100-day EMA at $1.275 converges with horizontal resistance at $1.300, forming a thicker barrier ahead of the 200-day EMA near $1.482 and a higher structural cap at $1.900.
With no meaningful nearby support levels in the current dataset, any break above the $1.090 zone would be needed to ease immediate pressure. At the same time, a failure to reclaim the short-term averages would keep the daily bias tilted to the downside.
XLM technical outlook: Extends lossesXLM price trades at $0.180 on Thursday, keeping a bearish near-term bias as price holds below the key EMAs. The 100-day EMA at $0.186, the 50-day EMA at $0.191 and the 200-day EMA at $0.198 all sit overhead, suggesting rallies are likely to be capped while the pair trades under this cluster of dynamic resistance.
Momentum indicators reinforce the soft tone, with the RSI hovering near 42 and the MACD back in negative territory, hinting that upside attempts could fade into supply.
On the downside, immediate support is located around the recent pivot zone near $0.180, ahead of a horizontal floor at $0.177. A deeper slide would expose the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement at $0.173, while a break beneath that level could open the way toward the next structural support around $0.142.
On the topside, initial resistance is seen at the 100-day EMA at $0.186, followed by the 50-day EMA at $0.191 and the 200-day EMA at $0.198. Above there, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at $0.200 and the 50% retracement near $0.218 are subsequent barriers, with higher Fibonacci levels at $0.237 and $0.260 likely to cap any extended recovery, while the broader structure remains bearish.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
If you’ve ever placed a bet on a prediction market and then spent the next two hours refreshing your browser waiting for it to settle, Chainlink just built the fix. The oracle network’s latest infrastructure upgrades, Chainlink Data Streams and the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE), compress resolution times for many prediction markets from 1-2 hours down to under five minutes.
For a market category that’s grown from $1.2 billion in monthly volume in early 2025 to over $20 billion by January 2026, that speed difference matters a lot.
How it works and who’s using it Chainlink’s Data Streams provide timestamped, verifiable price feeds that smart contracts can read automatically. The CRE layer handles the automation logic, essentially acting as the trigger that says “conditions met, pay out.” Together, they eliminate the need for extended dispute windows on deterministic outcomes like short-term cryptocurrency price movements.
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Polymarket, the largest prediction market platform by volume, is the most prominent adopter. The platform has integrated Chainlink’s technology for its 5-minute and 15-minute crypto markets, and those markets have collectively processed over $7 billion in trading volume.
But Polymarket isn’t alone. Myriad integrated Chainlink in May 2026 to power real-time markets, while the Solana-based World project launched in July 2026 using Chainlink’s oracle stack for FIFA and crypto markets.
Why slow settlements were a bigger problem than most realized When capital is locked during a dispute period, traders can’t redeploy it. Long settlement windows also create attack surfaces. With 840,000 unique wallets participating monthly in prediction markets as of the latest figures, the scale of potential exposure was growing faster than the infrastructure could handle.
Automated, verifiable resolution removes the human judgment layer for markets where outcomes are mathematically deterministic. Did BTC close above $95,000 at 4pm UTC? A timestamped data feed can answer that without a committee.
The strategic partnership between Chainlink and Polymarket, established in September 2025, was specifically designed to address these concerns. The collaboration focused on leveraging Data Streams for accuracy and CRE for automation, creating a resolution pipeline that’s both faster and harder to game.
What this means for investors The prediction market category’s growth trajectory, from $1.2 billion to over $20 billion in monthly volume within roughly a year, is one of the more striking expansion curves in recent crypto history. Five-minute markets only make sense if the settlement infrastructure can keep pace, and with that constraint removed, platforms can offer increasingly granular, high-frequency prediction products.
The risk, as always with infrastructure plays, is that the value accrual doesn’t necessarily flow to the oracle layer itself. Chainlink could enable billions in prediction market volume while the bulk of economic value gets captured by the platforms and traders using the rails. Whether LINK token holders benefit proportionally to the infrastructure’s importance remains one of the more nuanced questions in crypto valuation.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Circle walked into arguably the most important room in global central banking and made a case that stablecoin redemption isn’t a feature. It’s a right.
At the Bank for International Settlements’ 2026 Annual General Meeting, during a Financial Stability Institute special session on stablecoins, Circle laid out its philosophical framework for USDC: issuing the token is a regulated privilege, but redeeming it at face value is a fundamental user entitlement. With USDC’s circulation sitting at approximately $75.3 billion and the token facilitating payments across more than 180 countries, the pitch carried some weight.
Privilege versus right, and why the framing matters Every USDC redemption request has historically been honored at exactly $1. That might sound obvious for something called a stablecoin, but the history of crypto is littered with supposedly stable assets that turned out to be anything but. TerraUSD’s collapse in 2022, which vaporized roughly $40 billion in value, remains the cautionary tale that haunts every stablecoin conversation.
Circle’s framework positions USDC as the anti-Terra. Full reserves, monthly attestations, and a commitment to regulatory compliance under frameworks like Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.
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Qualified institutional users access direct 1:1 minting and redemption through Circle Mint, subject to Know Your Customer protocols, established thresholds, and relevant fees. Everyone else transacts through secondary markets.
The BIS problem, and Circle’s answer The BIS has raised persistent concerns about stablecoins’ single-asset backing, their operational elasticity (or lack thereof), and the systemic risks they could pose to the broader financial system.
Circle’s presentation directly addressed several of these criticisms. The company emphasized that USDC reserves are invested in cash, Treasury bills, and regulated funds. Monthly reserve attestations provide a regular transparency checkpoint.
USDC operates across multiple blockchains. For institutional users moving large sums, the direct minting and redemption pathway through Circle Mint offers predictability. For retail users in emerging markets who might not pass institutional KYC thresholds, secondary market access still provides a gateway to dollar-denominated stability.
What this means for investors Circle’s BIS appearance comes at a pivotal moment for stablecoin regulation. The proposed GENIUS Act in the US would create a dedicated federal framework for payment stablecoins. In Europe, MiCA is already live, and Circle was among the first major issuers to secure compliance.
The $75.3 billion in circulation makes USDC the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, trailing only Tether’s USDT. Tether has faced years of questions about its reserve composition and transparency practices. Circle, by contrast, has leaned into the compliance narrative so aggressively that it’s now presenting at central banking summits.
Circle’s revenue has grown significantly alongside USDC’s circulation, but that growth depends partly on the interest earned on reserves, which fluctuates with monetary policy.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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