Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

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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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South Korean financial super-app Toss has signed a strategic agreement with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to test blockchain infrastructure for South Korean won-linked stablecoins through a three-month technology verification program.

Summary

Toss has partnered with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to test blockchain infrastructure for South Korean won linked stablecoins over the next three months. The companies will evaluate payment settlement, compliance requirements and privacy protection using Optimism’s OP Stack and Sunnyside Labs’ Privacy Boost technology. The project will assess whether public blockchain infrastructure can meet institutional financial standards while supporting secure and scalable digital payments. According to a press release shared with crypto.news, the financial technology company will work with Ethereum layer 2 network Optimism and privacy technology developer Sunnyside Labs to examine whether blockchain infrastructure can support institutional payment systems while meeting financial regulations in South Korea. The companies will carry out a proof-of-concept (PoC) over the next three months.

Three areas under review As part of the project, the companies will evaluate whether financial institutions can directly manage payment and settlement processes, comply with customer identification and anti-money laundering requirements, and protect sensitive transaction information while operating on a public blockchain.

Those requirements form the basis of the technical assessment, with Optimism providing blockchain infrastructure through its OP Stack technology while Sunnyside Labs, one of the network’s core developers, will integrate its Privacy Boost solution to address confidentiality concerns.

Privacy Boost is designed to solve one of the key limitations of public blockchains, where transaction details and wallet balances are generally visible to network participants. According to the companies, the technology allows sensitive financial data to remain private while still enabling regulated institutions to verify transactions and maintain existing compliance standards.

The companies also said the system is built to support high transaction volumes, making it suitable for payment services that process large numbers of users simultaneously.

Toss, which serves around 30 million users and supports more than 500,000 online and offline merchants, plans to gradually expand blockchain-based experiments across its payment and platform services. 

A Toss official said the project is intended to verify infrastructure that combines Ethereum’s security with a dedicated network built for local currency-based financial services while allowing interoperability with other blockchain ecosystems.

OP Stack selected for infrastructure testing At the center of the verification is OP Stack, Optimism’s modular blockchain framework that supports dedicated application-specific chains while relying on Ethereum for security and settlement. Layer 2 networks process transactions separately from Ethereum before finalising them on the main chain, helping reduce costs and improve transaction speeds.

According to Toss, the companies will examine whether OP Stack can support a blockchain-based financial network tailored for Korean digital payment services instead of relying on shared public infrastructure.

Optimism’s technology is already used by more than 30 blockchain networks, including projects developed by Sony, World Chain, Uniswap, OKX Layer, and Kraken. The company also offers institutional deployments designed to satisfy regulatory and security requirements, with regulated financial firms such as Europe’s Bitpanda already adopting the technology.

The collaboration comes weeks after Optimism completed a 4-week experiment on its OP mainnet that tested stake-based transaction ordering alongside its existing gas-fee system. The pilot explored whether staking incentives could improve transaction prioritisation without changing the experience for regular users, adding to the network’s ongoing work on blockchain infrastructure.

Apple and Broadcom have reached a multi-year chip agreement, with an estimated value of over $30 billion.

Apple (AAPL) has announced a new multi-year agreement with Broadcom (AVGO), valued at over $30 billion, under which more than 15 billion U.S.-manufactured chips will be produced.

25 minutes ago

A trader spent just $86 to buy 17.5 million CASHCAT tokens, delivering a staggering 19,061x return.

According to Lookonchain’s monitoring, trader 0xeee2 spent just $86 to purchase CASHCAT tokens, and has now booked a total profit of roughly $1.6 million, a return of approximately 19,061 times. The trader used the $86 to buy 17.5 million CASHCAT tokens, then sold 3.6 million of them for around $390,500. The address currently holds 13.8 million CASHCAT tokens, worth about $1.24 million. Calculated from the proceeds of the sold tokens and the value of remaining holdings, its total profit stands at roughly $1.6 million.

25 minutes ago

A SpaceX-tagged address has moved a small amount of Bitcoin (BTC) for the first time in six months, and the transfer is suspected to be a test transaction.

According to Arkham’s monitoring, an address labeled SpaceX has transferred Bitcoin for the first time in six months. Data shows that SpaceX address 15atF initiated a BTC test transaction to SpaceX address bc1q9, worth approximately $88, which is suspected to be a test transfer.

25 minutes ago

EVAA Protocol releases AI Agent teaser, community speculates it could bring a new AI-powered interactive experience to TON DeFi

TON ecosystem lending protocol EVAA Protocol has released the first teaser content for its AI Agent, announcing that the EVAA Agent is set to launch, and inviting the community to guess its core features, with correct guessers eligible for rewards. Per the official teaser video, prompts including "Connecting to TON network" and "Liquidity synced" appear in the footage, while product deployment progress is displayed via the line "Deploying EVAA_AGENT.exe", sparking community speculation that the product may center on AI-driven DeFi interactions within the Telegram ecosystem. Whether it will integrate functions such as liquidity management and lending optimization remains to be further disclosed by the project team. EVAA Protocol is one of the leading DeFi lending protocols in the TON ecosystem, dedicated to providing users with secure, efficient decentralized lending and liquidity services. As Telegram and the TON ecosystem continue to grow, EVAA is expanding the integration scenarios of AI and DeFi. The AI Agent signal from EVAA Protocol not only creates suspense for product iteration, but also fuels market anticipation for how AI will further lower DeFi’s usage threshold and reshape on-chain asset management experiences. On June 9, the Open Network (TON) community voted to rename the network’s native token from Toncoin to Gram, with the token’s code also changing from TON to GRAM.

25 minutes ago

Circle has minted another 250 million USDC on the Solana blockchain.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, Circle has minted an additional 250 million USDC on the Solana blockchain. So far in 2026, Circle has minted a total of 66.76 billion USDC on Solana.

25 minutes ago

Israel is preparing to rejoin the war against Iran.

According to Israeli media outlet Walla, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) held a meeting on Iran-related matters, with Israel preparing for a possible resumption of hostilities with Iran. (Source: Jinshi)

25 minutes ago

Privacy-focused layer-1 blockchain Secret Network is proposing to move from its longtime home on Cosmos to Ethereum layer-2 Arbitrum, citing security risks from artificial intelligence, among other reasons. 

Secret Network has been running privacy-preserving smart contracts on Cosmos since 2020, as the ecosystem had strong momentum back then, but the “environment has changed,” the team said Tuesday.  

“The security risk is the part we take most seriously,” it said. “Old code is becoming dramatically easier to analyze … With AI, the cost of attacking stale code is falling across the board.” 

The recent Axelar-Secret IBC bridge exploit highlighted growing security risk from aging, under-maintained code — a risk the team argues AI-assisted exploitation is making worse. The release of advanced AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos 5 has dramatically increased the capabilities for discovering and potentially exploiting code vulnerabilities. 

Liquidity has thinnedThe Secret team described Arbitrum as having “deep liquidity, tooling, wallet and exchange support, and thousands of builders composing with one another,” and said “liquidity has thinned” on Cosmos while builders have “drifted to other ecosystems.”

“The tooling you’d want to count on is shakier than it used to be, and a number of projects that once anchored Cosmos have migrated,” it added. 

“Attacks that used to take deep manual effort are getting cheaper as models get better at reading contracts, tracing assumptions, and turning a forgotten edge case into a working exploit.”The proposal, which requires a governance vote, follows a bridge exploit in June that resulted in the loss of $4.7 million in bridged assets but did not affect Secret’s native token, SCRT.

For SCRT to endure, it needs a new stable home, and the Ethereum ecosystem is that home, the team said. 

The team is planning a one-time snapshot of SCRT balances on Sept. 1, which will be used to issue a new ERC-20 SCRT contract on Arbitrum.

Dwindling DeFi value locked The total value locked in the Cosmos ecosystem is around $2 billion, down 88% from its peak during the 2021 bull market. Comparatively, Arbitrum is the leading layer-2 network by total value secured, which is $17.4 billion, according to L2Beat. 

Secret Network has just $1.3 million in TVL on Cosmos, according to DefiLlama. 

SCRT holders did not react well to the news, with the token tanking 24% over the past 24 hours to 4.1 cents, down more than 99% from its 2021 peak, according to CoinGecko. 

Secret is not the only network to leave Cosmos. In February, privacy-focused blockchain NilChain, built with the Cosmos SDK, left the ecosystem in a move to Ethereum. 

The Sei Network completed a full Cosmos-to-EVM transition in June, closing down its native Cosmos transaction layer entirely and becoming Ethereum-based. 

Stablecoin blockchain Noble also announced it was moving from the Cosmos ecosystem to Ethereum in January. 

Features: The biggest blockchain upgrades still to come in 2026

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

Secret Network wants to pack up and move to Arbitrum, and the reason is more unsettling than a typical chain migration story. SCRT Labs, the team behind the privacy-focused blockchain, has proposed shifting the $SCRT token from its current Cosmos-based Layer 1 to Ethereum’s Arbitrum Layer 2, warning that aging integration code is increasingly vulnerable to exploits, particularly those powered by AI tools.

“The security risk is the part we take most seriously,” the team said, pointing to outdated code and the growing threat of AI-assisted attacks as primary motivators for the move.

A bridge hack and a wake-up call The proposal didn’t materialize out of thin air. In June 2026, the Axelar-Secret IBC bridge suffered a breach that drained approximately $4.7 million through an infinite mint vulnerability. SCRT Labs has framed the Axelar incident as symptomatic of a broader problem: legacy integration code that was written for a different era and is now being probed by increasingly sophisticated tools, including AI-powered exploit finders.

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The team’s proposed solution is essentially a controlled demolition of the old chain followed by a fresh start on Arbitrum. A snapshot date of September 1, 2026 will determine eligibility for the token conversion. Only native and staked SCRT held in self-custodied wallets at the time of the snapshot will qualify for conversion to the new ERC-20 version of SCRT on Arbitrum.

Why Arbitrum, and what happens to the old chain The migration is designed to support Secret Network’s pivot toward confidential AI and verifiable compute applications. Secret Network has historically operated in the Cosmos ecosystem, which offers interoperability through IBC but lacks the deep liquidity pools, developer tooling, and wallet infrastructure that the Ethereum ecosystem provides. Arbitrum, as one of Ethereum’s leading Layer 2 rollups, gives SCRT access to all of that without the gas costs of mainnet Ethereum.

After the snapshot, SCRT Labs plans to cease all formal maintenance of the original Cosmos chain. The team will release the source code under a permissive license, which means third-party validators could theoretically keep the chain alive if enough staking power remains.

The proposal also includes a notable economic change: SCRT’s staking inflation rate would drop from 9% to 5%, reflecting a shift from incentivizing early-stage validator participation toward a more utility-driven token model.

What this means for SCRT holders and the broader market The entire proposal hinges on community governance approval. Nothing is final until token holders vote. For current SCRT holders, the September 1 snapshot creates a clear deadline. Anyone holding SCRT through custodial services, wrapped versions, or non-qualifying formats needs to move tokens to self-custodied wallets before that date or risk being excluded from the migration entirely.

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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Key Takeaways Secret Network has announced plans to migrate its SCRT token away from Cosmos to Arbitrum, an Ethereum layer-2 solution. The decision follows a devastating $4.7 million bridge hack in June that highlighted critical security vulnerabilities. Developers warn that artificial intelligence technology is accelerating the discovery and exploitation of legacy code weaknesses. Total value locked in the Cosmos ecosystem has plummeted 88% since 2021, while Arbitrum maintains $17.4 billion in secured assets. The SCRT token experienced a sharp 24% decline within 24 hours of the migration announcement, currently valued at approximately $0.041. Privacy-focused blockchain Secret Network has revealed intentions to abandon the Cosmos ecosystem in favor of Arbitrum, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution. The migration proposal, made public on July 7, emerges just weeks after hackers successfully exploited a bridge vulnerability, stealing $4.7 million in digital assets.

JUST IN: Secret Network migrates to Arbitrum, SCRT token to ERC-20 on Arbitrum; snapshot set for Sept 1, 2026. Post-migration, SCRT stays governance token with inflation cut from 9% to 5%, and SCRT Labs to wind down major maintenance. $SCRT pic.twitter.com/rxk6rL4429

— Bpay News (@bpaynews) July 8, 2026

According to the development team, security concerns represent the primary motivation behind this strategic shift. While Secret Network has called Cosmos home since 2020, the organization now believes the ecosystem’s evolving landscape and aging infrastructure pose unacceptable risks.

“The security risk is the part we take most seriously,” the team wrote. “Old code is becoming dramatically easier to analyze.”

Developers specifically highlighted artificial intelligence as an emerging vulnerability factor. Modern AI systems can efficiently analyze smart contract code, identify logical flaws, and generate functional exploit scripts at unprecedented speeds.

The bridge compromise in June, which targeted the Axelar-Secret IBC connection, resulted in $4.7 million worth of bridged tokens being stolen. While the team emphasized that the core SCRT token and underlying privacy technology remained secure, the incident demonstrated the inherent risks associated with maintaining outdated code within a shrinking ecosystem.

Declining Cosmos Ecosystem Metrics The Cosmos network has experienced significant deterioration since reaching its zenith in 2021. Current total value locked across all Cosmos-based chains stands at approximately $2 billion, representing an 88% collapse from peak levels. Secret Network itself maintains only $1.3 million in locked value, based on DefiLlama data.

Contrasting sharply, Arbitrum currently secures $17.4 billion in total value, establishing its position as the dominant Ethereum layer-2 network according to L2Beat metrics.

The development team noted that both developers and liquidity providers have steadily migrated away from Cosmos. Previously reliable infrastructure and tools have deteriorated, while several prominent projects have already departed the ecosystem.

Secret Network joins a growing exodus from Cosmos. Stablecoin infrastructure Noble revealed plans to migrate to Ethereum in January. Privacy-focused NilChain completed its Ethereum transition in February. Sei Network finalized its comprehensive Cosmos-to-Ethereum migration in June.

Technical Migration Details and Token Economics Should the governance proposal receive community approval, SCRT Labs intends to capture a snapshot of all SCRT token balances on September 1. This snapshot will determine eligibility for the new ERC-20 compatible SCRT token launching on Arbitrum.

Native SCRT holdings and staked tokens will qualify for the migration. However, bridged SCRT variants, sSCRT, contract-held balances, and IBC-based assets will be excluded. Token holders must ensure their assets are in eligible forms before the snapshot deadline.

Post-migration tokenomics will feature a reduced inflation rate, dropping from 9% annually to 5%. SCRT will maintain its role as the primary governance token on the new platform.

Official development support for the existing Cosmos-based Secret layer-1 blockchain will terminate on September 1. The legacy chain could theoretically continue operating if independent validators elect to maintain the infrastructure.

The migration proposal awaits formal community voting. Without governance approval, the transition cannot proceed.

Market reaction to the announcement proved overwhelmingly negative. SCRT’s price crashed approximately 24% in the initial 24-hour period following the revelation, settling near $0.041. This valuation represents a staggering 99%+ decline from the token’s 2021 all-time high.

As part of the transition process, Secret Network’s development team has committed to releasing the network’s complete source code under an open-source licensing framework.

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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Bitcoin miners have spent the last year trying to answer a tough question: what else can all this infrastructure do? Core Scientific’s long-term hosting agreement with CoreWeave is one of the clearest answers yet.

The headline is about AI compute, but the deeper story is about business model evolution in a post-halving environment.

For more details, visit the official Core Scientific platform.

TL;DR Core Scientific signed a 12-year AI compute hosting contract with CoreWeave.The deal highlights how mining infrastructure is being repurposed for high-performance compute demand.For listed miners, AI exposure is becoming a meaningful strategic narrative. Why The Market Cares Mining companies are capital-intensive businesses, which means investors want to see every possible path to monetizing power, facilities, and cooling capacity. AI hosting offers exactly that kind of alternative lane.

A 12-year deal also gives the market something it tends to reward: visibility. It suggests revenue streams that are not tied solely to the next move in Bitcoin or the next difficulty adjustment.

Not A Pivot Away From Bitcoin, But A Hedge That does not mean the mining story disappears. It means some miners are trying to become more than miners. The infrastructure overlap between data-heavy AI workloads and certain mining facilities creates a genuine strategic bridge.

For the sector, this is one of the more important themes to watch. The strongest public miners may end up being the ones that can monetize compute demand in more than one way.

This article is based on information from Core Scientific.

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

Microsoft Cuts AI Bill by Replacing OpenAI and Anthropic in Software Products

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Strike has launched a Bitcoin-backed loan product built to remove margin calls and price-based liquidations.

Summary

Strike says its new Bitcoin-backed loans remove price liquidations while keeping payment duties in place. Borrowers avoid margin calls, but missed payments can still lead Strike to sell collateral. The product targets Bitcoin holders who need cash but do not want forced selling. Jack Mallers, Strike’s founder and chief executive, said the new product protects borrowers from forced selling when Bitcoin falls. He described the offer as a “volatility-proof” loan that lets users borrow dollars while keeping their BTC posted as collateral.

Introducing volatility-proof loans by @Strike: bitcoin-backed loans the price can never liquidate.

No margin calls. No price liquidations. No matter how far bitcoin falls, your bitcoin doesn't move.

Volatility is inevitable. Liquidation isn't. Borrow dollars. Keep the bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/U1DtEtt6Jm

— Jack Mallers (@jackmallers) July 7, 2026 The launch follows Strike’s first Bitcoin-backed loan product, which arrived in May 2025. As previously reported, Strike issued more than $10 million in BTC-backed loans within two days of that launch.

No margin calls, but not risk-free The new product removes price-triggered actions tied to loan-to-value levels. Mallers said, “No margin calls. No price liquidations. No matter how far bitcoin falls, your bitcoin doesn’t move.”

That structure differs from many crypto lending products, where a sharp price drop can force borrowers to add collateral or face liquidation. Strike says borrowers can keep their collateral untouched if they make payments on time.

The protection has limits. If a borrower misses an interest or maturity payment, Strike gives a 10-day window to pay or contact the company. If the borrower does not respond or settle the overdue amount, Strike may sell part of the Bitcoin collateral.

Mallers also warned users about the difference between price risk and payment risk. “That’s why we call it ‘volatility-proof,’ not ‘liquidation-proof,’” he said.

Higher cost funds the protection The new loan carries a higher cost than Strike’s standard Bitcoin-backed loans. The annual percentage rate can reach 14.2%, based on a 2.95 percentage-point premium above Strike’s standard loan range.

Strike’s standard loan product has charged rates between 7.75% and 11.25%, depending on terms and payment choice. The “volatility-proof” version also uses a shorter six-month term and a maximum initial loan-to-value ratio of 45%.

In simple terms, a borrower who posts $100,000 in Bitcoin can borrow up to $45,000. The lower borrowing limit and higher rate give Strike more room to manage the risk of sharp BTC price moves.

Mallers said the added cost supports hedging. “The secret sauce is that we’re taking the extra charge that we’re giving you guys and we’re putting it on extra hedges in the market to protect all of us,” he said.

Bitcoin lending market searches for trust The launch comes while crypto lenders keep testing ways to make Bitcoin-backed credit easier to use. A Ledn research report found that 88% of surveyed crypto holders would consider a crypto-backed loan, while only 14% currently use one.

Ledn and Protocol Theory called that gap a trust problem, not only a demand problem. Market volatility, fear of liquidation, and low confidence in lenders have limited wider use.

Other firms also continue to build crypto-backed lending products. As crypto.news previously reported, Coinbase launched crypto-backed loans in the U.K. through Morpho on Base, allowing users to borrow up to $5 million in USDC against Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cbETH.

Strike’s new product tries to address one of the main fears in Bitcoin lending: forced selling during market crashes. It does not remove repayment risk. Borrowers still need to pay on time, and the higher rate makes the product costly for users who need longer-term credit.

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Whale transaction counts on Lighter and Mantle have jumped to levels not seen since early 2026, right as broader altcoin turbulence returns to the market. According to the Santiment update, LIT just recorded 86 transactions above $100,000 in a single day while MNT hit 37 large-size moves. Both figures mark the highest whale activity in six months for each network. The timing is hard to ignore. Altcoin volatility has picked up, and large wallets appear to be positioning ahead of retail that is still sorting through market noise.

The LIT spike sits at the intersection of a few narratives that have been slowly building. Lighter is a perpetual DEX, and recent chatter around buyback and burn mechanics, staking yield adjustments, and fresh partnership speculation has given whales a reason to move. Perp DEX volumes across chains have been uneven lately, but on-chain large transaction data often leads retail interest by a few days. When whales move first, the question is whether they are accumulating ahead of a catalyst or rotating out of a position that retail hasn’t yet priced in.

For Mantle, the whale signal looks tied to a different playbook. The network has been pushing deeper into real-world asset tokenization and tokenized equities. That space has seen a flurry of activity recently, with real-world asset tokenization already crossing $20 billion on-chain. Mantle’s expansion around tokenized stocks and pre-IPO vaults gives large wallets an exposure path that is still relatively undercovered. The 37 transactions over $100K suggests that serious capital is starting to treat MNT as more than just another Layer 2 token.

Why the whale timing matters now Whale activity spikes rarely happen in isolation. They often cluster around periods when altcoin volatility is rising, partly because large holders can generate more impact with less slippage during choppy conditions. Right now, broad altcoin volatility has driven sharp gains for select tokens, and that environment tends to awaken capital that had been sitting on the sidelines. Neither LIT nor MNT has seen a headline-grabbing price explosion yet, but large wallet behavior suggests that some actors are front-running the narrative rather than chasing it.

What remains uncertain The on-chain signal is strong, but it leaves several questions unresolved. High whale transaction counts do not reveal whether the flows are net buying or selling. They only confirm that large entities are active. It is possible that some whales are distributing into liquidity while new buyers step in, making the net effect opaque until price action confirms one direction. Additionally, the spike in LIT transactions could be tied to a single coordinated event—like a protocol announcement or a large liquidity provision—rather than broad accumulation. For MNT, the RWA narrative is still developing, and whale attention may be premature if tokenized equity adoption takes longer than expected. Traders watching these two assets will need to pair the Santiment whale data with exchange flow data and holder concentration trends to get a fuller picture. For now, the data shows that large wallets are paying attention. Whether that translates into sustained price moves depends on how the underlying narratives play out in the coming weeks.

AUTHOR

Max delves deep into the cryptocurrency realm, with a passion for altcoins and NFTs. Convinced of crypto's transformative potential, he envisions a decentralized financial future. Max's background in the financial sector grants him unique insights into global monetary systems. In his leisure, Max embraces the thrill of adventures and is an avid sports enthusiast, finding balance and rejuvenation away from work.

Was It a Hack or Governance? BONK’s $21M Treasury Vote Divides Crypto

Starknet is rolling out its v0.14.3 upgrade to mainnet on July 8, bringing a suite of changes designed to make the Layer 2 network cheaper, faster, and harder to break. The headline features: dynamic gas fees that adjust to STRK’s token price, a 30% cut to target gas per block, and a quiet but meaningful shift toward quantum-resistant cryptography.

For a network whose native token is currently trading around $0.03 and whose total value locked sits at roughly $204 million, this is less a victory lap and more a necessary step to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded L2 landscape.

What’s actually changing The most consequential piece of the upgrade is SNIP-35, a proposal that introduces dynamic L2 gas base fee adjustments. Instead of static minimum gas fees, the network will now automatically recalibrate fees based on two variables: the fluctuating price of the STRK token and real-time network congestion.

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The second major change involves block architecture. Starknet v0.14.3 reduces the target L2 gas per block by 30% while keeping the maximum block size unchanged. The result is smaller but more frequent blocks, which translates directly into shorter block production times and reduced transaction latency.

The upgrade also introduces Keccak support for client-side proving and transitions specific operations from Pedersen hashing to BLAKE hashing. The BLAKE switch is explicitly aimed at quantum resistance.

Breaking changes and developer migration Starknet v0.14.3 deprecates RPC v0.8, meaning any developer or application still relying on that version needs to migrate before the switch flips.

StarkWare, the primary development team behind Starknet, has been providing migration guidance ahead of the July 8 date. The testnet activation happened in June, following multiple delays from earlier targets like June 22, giving developers a window to test their applications against the new protocol.

The mainnet migration itself is expected to incur approximately 8 minutes of downtime.

What this means for investors STRK trading at around $0.03 puts it in a challenging position. The dynamic fee adjustment mechanism ties gas fees to STRK’s market price, creating a feedback loop where network revenue remains somewhat stable in dollar terms regardless of token volatility.

Watch the TVL numbers in the two weeks following July 8. If locked value climbs meaningfully from the current $204 million, it suggests the fee and latency improvements are translating into actual user behavior changes.

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

Table of contents

The speed at which Mantle is onboarding tokenized private company equities has turned from trickle to signal. The network just landed Bending Spoons (BSPx) as its third such listing in under 30 days, according to the original report. That cadence is rare for a sector still defined more by experimentation than by sustained volume. Mantle is now explicitly positioning itself as a distribution layer between traditional finance and on-chain markets, and the BSPx listing underlines the operational capacity backing that claim.

Tokenized equities remain a small fraction of the broader real‑world asset (RWA) market. Yet the RWA space itself crossed $20 billion in on‑chain value earlier this year, a milestone that recent analysis tracked alongside major institutional moves. Bending Spoons, the Italian mobile app developer behind products like Evernote and Remini, is privately held—there is no public stock. Bringing its tokenized shares on-chain lets accredited investors access exposure without the friction of traditional private markets. For Mantle, repeatedly drawing such assets suggests its infrastructure is being treated as ready for production, not just pilot phases.

Why the Listing Pace Matters Three tokenized equity launches inside a single month on one Layer 2 is atypical. Most networks handling RWAs lean heavily on tokenized government securities or stablecoin collateral. Illiquid private company shares carry different risks: settlement complexity, issuer‑side compliance demands, and thin secondary liquidity. Mantle’s quick succession of BSPx after earlier issuances signals that the technical and legal rails are holding.

Not every blockchain can reliably support tokenized equity without external trust assumptions. Mantle’s design—built as an Ethereum rollup with a native focus on institutional‑grade bridging—has been refined over quarters. The network’s modular data availability layer and its native token economics aim to keep gas costs predictable, which matters when issuers want to avoid fee spikes during distribution events. Three listings with real companies indicate that the sales pitch is landing with corporates that can choose any chain.

The Private‑Market Liquidity Gap Private company shares have long been stuck in an illiquidity trap. Employees hold options, early investors sit on paper gains, and secondary transactions are manual, slow, and opaque. Tokenization doesn’t solve legal transfer restrictions overnight, but it does make compliant fractional sales technically feasible. That’s why Mantle’s cadence—moving from concept to live listings—is being watched by market operators who see a pipeline forming.

At the same time, on‑chain orderbooks for tokenized equities are immature. The spreads on BSPx are unlikely to resemble anything seen on Nasdaq. Early adopters are effectively betting that infrastructure precedes liquidity, not the reverse. For Mantle, the play is to aggregate enough high‑quality private names that market makers and custody providers eventually consider integrating with its native asset vaults. That is a long game, but the velocity of new listings shortens the feedback loop.

Regulatory Shadows and How Mantle Fits Any securities‑adjacent token launch in 2026 operates under a regulatory framework that is still hardening. Weeks of intense lobbying in Washington recently culminated in a battle over a landmark crypto bill, as reported just days ago. The outcome will likely shape what can be tokenized without triggering legacy securities laws. Mantle’s focus on equities places it directly in the crosshairs of these debates.

The network’s disclosure has not detailed how it structured the BSPx offering under applicable exemptions, which will matter to institutional compliance desks. European private companies like Bending Spoons may lean on EU prospectus exemptions, but the token marketing likely touches investors across jurisdictions. That jurisdictional patchwork remains the largest unhedged risk for the space. Mantle’s consistent listing pace will force these questions to be answered sooner rather than later.

What The Market Is Discounting Tokenized equity is not an asset class yet—it is a product category in alpha. The market is not pricing in sudden volume or deep liquidity for BSPx. What it may be discounting, however, is how quickly a Layer 2 network can become the default conduit for private company tokens if existing financial intermediaries continue to move slowly. Institutional interest is real: recent moves such as a Nasdaq firm deepening its staking footprint on Sui show that traditional players are testing blockchain rails in earnest.

Mantle’s ability to land three name‑brand issuances in rapid succession suggests it understands that speed of execution, rather than permissionless maximalism, is what attracts equity issuers. The test for BSPx will be whether secondary market data—however modest—starts to flow on-chain, and whether that attracts a fourth issuer even faster. For now, the network is stacking proof points that a tokenized private capital market can run on its infrastructure, one listing at a time.

Each new tokenized equity on Mantle adds a data point for an industry that remains reliant on narratives. The underlying message is that private company shares are not a one‑off gimmick on the network—they are becoming the baseline, not the exception.

AUTHOR

Max delves deep into the cryptocurrency realm, with a passion for altcoins and NFTs. Convinced of crypto's transformative potential, he envisions a decentralized financial future. Max's background in the financial sector grants him unique insights into global monetary systems. In his leisure, Max embraces the thrill of adventures and is an avid sports enthusiast, finding balance and rejuvenation away from work.

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.

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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.

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Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

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Bitcoin has shed over half its value since its October 2025 peak, drifting to roughly $63,000 at press time. Presently, it has largely held a tight range between $58,000 and $63,000.

The decline stems mostly from mounting geopolitical tension that built after the peak—the U.S.-China tariff war and the unresolved West Asia conflict—which pulled capital out of Bitcoin.

Sentiment has since settled on the geopolitical front, but moves by major holders cast doubt on whether a sustainable rally is coming. Michael Saylor’s Strategy recently sold $216 million worth of Bitcoin to fund a dividend payment, sharpening that uncertainty. On-chain data offers a cleaner answer.

Bitcoin’s apparent demand signals quiet accumulation Despite the outflows, Bitcoin’s apparent demand on a 30-day basis points to a silent, growing accumulation of the asset.

Since June 3, buyers have scooped up roughly 200,000 Bitcoin, lifting apparent demand from -275,000 to -75,000 Bitcoin. The metric measures the gap between newly issued Bitcoin and the supply that has stayed inactive.

Source: CryptoQuant The rise reflects a degree of accumulation, though it stops short of confirming a bullish market.

Apparent demand still sits in negative territory on the chart. A material run looks unlikely until the metric flips positive, particularly while the upward push toward the positive end stays weak. For now, the trend warrants caution rather than a bullish read, and the market has yet to confirm otherwise.

Structure hints at limited downside Structurally, the king cryptocurrency shows signs that further downside from this level carries a lower probability.

Bitcoin has found a base at the lower band (green line) of the Bollinger Bands, a level that has often played a critical support role once price trades there for a stretch.

The Bollinger Bands have repeatedly flagged rebound points on the chart. Each of the last five instances, circled in red, typically carried price to the blue or upper red line—levels that currently sit at $69,928 and $82,544.

The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator, on the other hand, suggests a rally may not materialize soon, with Bitcoin more likely to tick slightly lower or consolidate further within its present range.

The MACD blue line crossing the orange line—while holding a narrow gap—implies Bitcoin keeps trading in the direction it currently sits, between $58,000 and $63,000, before any surge materializes. It also suggests the odds of an extreme plunge remain slim.

Bitcoin season index and exchange reserves stay calm The market has not entered a Bitcoin season, the euphoric stretch where the asset prints fresh local highs and potentially tests an all-time high.

The index tracking this currently reads 52, lending modest support to the view that select altcoins are drawing renewed capital flow.

Source: CryptoQuant Bitcoin is likely to meet lighter selling pressure as it stands, given the overall decline in supply held on exchange reserves. That availability has dropped from 2.715 million Bitcoin to roughly 2.707 million on the chart.

For now, capital movement points to settled sentiment, and Bitcoin looks set to stay calm as the gradual decline tendency holds steady.

Final Summary Bitcoin remains range-bound, with on-chain data pointing to accumulation but not a confirmed bullish reversal. Apparent demand is improving as buyers accumulate BTC, though the metric remains negative, warranting caution.

Michael Saylor spotlighted Strategy’s BTC Breakeven ARR on Tuesday, July 7. He argued Bitcoin (BTC) only needs 3.3% yearly growth to fund the firm’s preferred dividends from capital gains indefinitely.

The metric divides annual preferred dividend obligations, now roughly $1.76 billion by company figures, by the value of the corporate Bitcoin reserve. Saylor called it one of the most misunderstood numbers attached to Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy).

What BTC Breakeven ARR Means for MicroStrategyStrategy reports holding 843,775 BTC, worth roughly $53.8 billion with Bitcoin trading near $63,603, and the stack keeps growing. The company disclosed 818,334 BTC in its May earnings release, meaning it added over 25,000 coins through a drawdown.

Saylor, the company’s founder and executive chairman, made the case in a Tuesday post on X (Twitter).

“One of the most misunderstood $MSTR metrics is BTC Breakeven ARR. If BTC appreciates faster than 3.3% over time, BTC capital gains can fund $STRC dividends indefinitely.”

A companion chart from Strategy illustrates the trade-off. At zero Bitcoin growth, the reserve plus a $2.55 billion cash buffer covers about 31 years of payments, per the company’s dashboard. The buffer alone funds roughly 17 months.

BTC capital gains fund STRC credit dividends. Source: MicroStrategyThe pitch leans on a real track record. MicroStrategy has paid 23 consecutive preferred distributions totaling over $693 million since early 2025, per its Q1 release.

Critics Question the Bitcoin Dividend MathThe model assumes obligations stop compounding, and so far, they have not. Preferred dividends hit $229.5 million in the first quarter of 2026, up from $10.6 million a year earlier. Preferred equity outstanding has swelled past $13.5 billion.

Skeptics also doubt the funding side. JPMorgan recently warned that Strategy’s Bitcoin sales policy could add up to $1.25 billion in sell pressure. On-chain data already pointed to a new Bitcoin sale of 491 BTC on July 1, which was later confirmed to be 7x bigger.

Meanwhile, STRC paid an 11.5% annualized rate in May yet trades below its $100 par target. Preferred holders still price in risk despite the low breakeven hurdle.

STRC Price. Source: StrategyWhether 3.3% proves a low bar depends on Bitcoin reclaiming its long-term trend, with the price down nearly 49% from its October peak.

However, coming payments may reveal how much of the burden falls on BTC sales rather than capital gains.

Bitcoin financial services platform Strike has launched a “volatility-proof” Bitcoin-backed loan that eliminates margin calls and forced liquidations amid the depths of a bear market, but only for those who can pay on time and handle a 14% interest rate.

In an announcement on Tuesday, Strike CEO Jack Mallers said the offering came in response to broad customer feedback on Strike’s first Bitcoin loan product, which launched in May 2025 and triggered many liquidations during a timeframe in which Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 54% from peak to trough.

“No margin calls. No price liquidations. No matter how far bitcoin falls, your bitcoin doesn't move,” Strike CEO Jack Mallers said of the new Bitcoin loan product. The trade-off is an expensive interest rate, a shorter six-month loan term, and an obligation to pay on time to avoid liquidation, Mallers said.

Strike’s Jack Mallers is presenting the new Bitcoin-backed loan product. Source: Jack Mallers

The Bitcoin industry has spent the better part of a decade racing to build financial products that expand Bitcoin's use case beyond a savings technology. A report in June from crypto lending platform Ledn, however, found that while 88% of surveyed crypto investors said they would consider a crypto-backed loan, only 14% use them.

Ledn said confidence in crypto-lending products and market volatility are among the main reasons for this 6-to-1 “crypto collateral gap” that has slowed adoption.

Volatility has been one of the biggest obstacles behind that push, with Bitcoin dropping 30% or more in 10 of the past 12 years, while also experiencing a 50% or more drawdown four times since 2014, Mallers noted.

Other crypto market participants offering Bitcoin-backed loans are Binance, Coinbase, Nexo and Xapo Bank.

Strike charges double-digit interestThe maximum initial loan-to-value ratio for the volatility-proof loans is 45%, meaning that a customer who puts up $100,000 in Bitcoin as collateral can borrow up to $45,000, while the annual percentage rate (APR) is also 2.95 percentage points higher than Strike’s standard loan product.

“The secret sauce is that we’re taking the extra charge that we’re giving you guys and we’re putting it on extra hedges in the market to protect all of us.”Strike’s standard Bitcoin loans charge an annual percentage rate between 7.75% and 11.25%, meaning the volatility-proof products could carry interest between 10.7% and 14.2%. 

"If you're OK with a slightly shorter term and a little bit higher of a fee, there is no price move that can liquidate you," Mallers said.

Over the past year, Bitcoin has fallen 54% from its all-time high of $126,080 in October to $58,190 on June 25.

Bitcoin investor Fred Krueger said the loan product "could eliminate one of Bitcoin's biggest structural problems: forced selling during market crashes." 

“Instead of volatility causing automatic liquidations, defaults would be driven by borrowers' inability to service debt rather than by temporary price swings," he said.

“Great product for those who need near-term liquidity and don’t want to risk liquidation,” added Vibes Capital Management executive chairman Rob Topping, though he also acknowledged the 14% APR was expensive. 

Customers must pay up or face consequencesIf a client misses a payment, they have 10 days to make the payment or contact Strike to explain their financial situation, Mallers said.

Failing to pay after that 10-day period may mean Strike starts liquidating their Bitcoin to cover the overdue amount, Mallers warned.

“If we don’t hear from you for a few weeks, then I may have no choice but to sell off some of the Bitcoin because it seems like you’re doing a hit-and-run.”“That’s why we call it ‘volatility-proof,’ not ‘liquidation-proof,’” Mallers added.

The Bitcoin loans are offered in most US states and can be taken out in both personal and business names. They can be used for new loans, refinancing or consolidating.

While the minimum loan amount varies from state to state, the minimum loan offered through personal loans is $10,000, while businesses in certain states can access loans as low as $5,000.

Features: Bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI, so why is the hashrate near ATHs?

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

Prediction market platform Polymarket has announced support for instant, self-custodial deposits via the Bitcoin Lightning Network, with the new feature backed by the Spark Protocol. Compared to prior on-chain deposit methods that required waiting for 3 to 6 block confirmations and took 10 to 60 minutes, the new solution delivers near-instant settlement while lowering deposit barriers and transaction costs. According to details, Spark can conduct checks for double-spend risks, transaction fees, and Replace-by-Fee (RBF) at the time of transaction broadcast, enabling "zero-confirmation" posting. It also supports on-chain, Lightning Network, and stablecoin payment rails, removing the need for the platform to operate its own Lightning Network nodes. Polymarket noted that this step will further boost Bitcoin users' capital efficiency and strengthen its competitiveness against rival Kalshi.

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