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SEC FILLINGS: 8-K - American Bitcoin Corp. (0001755953) (Filer)

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) advocates argue that its role in geopolitics is becoming harder to ignore, with self-custody increasingly appealing to individuals and institutions alike.

Bitcoin Is Neutral TechnologySpeaking at BTC Prague on July 6, author Natalie Brunell said Bitcoin is a neutral technology available to sovereign nations and individuals alike due to its “permissionless nature.”

Panelists discussed reports of Bitcoin use by countries such as Iran and Venezuela, arguing that such activity reflects Bitcoin’s core design rather than a reputational flaw.

Tony Yazbeck, co-founder of The Bitcoin Way, highlighted that Bitcoin changes the rules of global money by removing the ability to police transactions.

"Bitcoin was created for one purpose and one purpose only, the separation of money and state," Yazbeck added.

Rahim Taghizadegan, founder of the Scholarium, noted Bitcoin has survived previous reputational risks, including Silk Road, speculative crypto markets and usage by rogue states.

He added that Bitcoin is increasingly relevant as the world shifts from a unipolar financial order toward a multipolar one.

Institutional BTC Products Are Not BitcoinThe panelists drew a sharp distinction between owning Bitcoin directly and gaining exposure through institutional products such as spot ETFs or Bitcoin treasury companies.

Brunell said institutional adoption was inevitable and can serve as an on ramp for pension funds and traditional investors but added that it is not the same as holding Bitcoin directly.

Yazbeck was more critical, arguing that institutional BTC products are "not Bitcoin" because investors do not control the asset.

"All of these products and services are created to keep 8.3 billion people dependent on a system," he said. "The only product that’s out there as a ticket for freedom is Bitcoin in your control."

The speakers argued that Bitcoin’s strongest use case remains self-custody, especially for individuals facing inflation, capital controls or political instability.

Yazbeck, who said he lost access to funds during Lebanon’s banking crisis, warned that people should not wait for extreme financial pain before learning about Bitcoin.

"Bitcoin is money that has been an option since 2009," he concluded.

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Michael Saylor, the man who turned a mid-tier software company into the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin piggy bank, is doing something he swore he’d never do: selling Bitcoin.

But before anyone panics, here’s the thing. Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, plans to sell roughly 0.2% of its Bitcoin holdings per month while simultaneously buying back five to ten times that amount.

The tactical sell that isn’t really a sell During Strategy’s Q1 2026 earnings call on May 5, Saylor laid out the new playbook. The company, which held over 818,000 BTC at the time of the call, would begin modest monthly sales to generate cash for dividends on its STRC perpetual preferred stock.

“Even if we were to sell one Bitcoin, we’d be buying 10 to 20 more Bitcoin.”

Between May 26 and May 31, Strategy executed its first Bitcoin sale since 2022, offloading exactly 32 BTC for approximately $2.5 million at an average price of roughly $77,135 per coin. That 32 BTC represents about 0.004% of the company’s total holdings.

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By early June 2026, Strategy’s Bitcoin stash had grown to over 843,000 BTC, with later filings confirming 846,842 BTC. The company’s average cost basis sits between $75,000 and $75,700 per coin, reflecting years of aggressive accumulation dating back to 2020 when Saylor first pivoted the company’s treasury strategy toward Bitcoin.

Why sell at all? The short answer: preferred stock dividends need to be paid in dollars, not satoshis. Strategy has been raising capital through various instruments, including its STRC perpetual preferred stock, which come with cash dividend obligations requiring actual fiat currency.

Rather than focusing purely on total Bitcoin held, Saylor wants investors to evaluate how much Bitcoin each share of Strategy stock represents. If the company sells 0.2% of its Bitcoin monthly but buys back five to ten times that amount through capital-raising efforts, the Bitcoin-per-share ratio actually increases over time.

Saylor emphasized during the earnings call that Strategy plans to be a “net buyer of Bitcoin in every month and every quarter going on forever.”

What this means for investors For Bitcoin market participants, the immediate impact of Strategy’s sales is negligible. Thirty-two BTC in a market that trades billions of dollars daily is a rounding error.

Strategy isn’t reducing its position. The company added over 25,000 BTC between the May 5 earnings call and early June, pushing from 818,000 to over 843,000 BTC.

For Strategy stockholders specifically, the Bitcoin-per-share metric that Saylor keeps highlighting deserves close attention. If the company can consistently grow that number, the stock functions as a leveraged Bitcoin proxy with yield.

Strategy’s average cost basis of roughly $75,000 per BTC means the company is currently sitting on unrealized gains, but a sustained Bitcoin downturn could turn those modest monthly sales into more significant liquidations if dividend obligations remain fixed while Bitcoin’s price drops. Strategy has one asset, one thesis, and 846,842 BTC — a position worth well over $60B at current prices.

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

Adam Back Says One Bitcoin Mistake Could Cost Traders Again

Bitcoin is climbing into new territory after absorbing all the sell pressure caused after Strategy sold off 3,588 BTC for about $216 million over four days, from June 29 to July 5.

President Trump fueled the move by publicly announcing himself as a “big crypto guy” and announcing that the United States was “taking over crypto.” It’s a massive industry,’ and it’s also a possibility for Treasury accounts linked to digital assets,” he added.

Strategy’s BTC Sale Drove Bitcoin’s Price Down The details were confirmed in an SEC filing. Between June 29 and 30, Strategy sold 1,363 BTC for $80.8M and an additional 2,225 BTC for $135.2M from July 1 to 5. The company currently has 843,775 BTC on its balance sheet and reserves of $2.55 billion.

The sale is part of a larger move that was reported earlier by CoinGape. The digital credit framework that Strategy is currently working on would enable it to sell up to $1.25 billion worth of Bitcoin to buy back its digital credit instruments.

Bhutan Govt. also sold around $43M worth of Bitcoin just 2 days ago causing bearish pressure. 

BTC Technical Analysis: $65000 Acting as a Major Resistance Bitcoin’s 4-hour BTC/USDT chart shows it was consolidating around $58,500–$59,500 demand zone.. Price consolidated in that zone for a few days until it broke out and moved aggressively to the $64,000 price level.

Bitcoin’s 4-hour BTC/USDT chart shows it consolidating around the area of demand at $58,500–$59,500 The RSI (4 hours) is in the neutral zone around 67. With that, Bitcoin moves into bullish territory but hasn’t been overbought just yet. The upcoming resistance level is $65,000. The major support is just under $61,500.

A significant breakout above $65,000 implies that a move to $68,000 and up is possible. It is likely to pull back to $61500 if it consolidates here and then make another attempt to the upside.

What Comes Next for Bitcoin The crypto comments from Trump paired with huge demand under $60k absorbed all the sell pressure. The next immediate test will be the $65,000 resistance. The clean break above it, particularly while RSI remains below 70, will provide some breathing room for Bitcoin.

It’ll be intriguing to see if the rest of the selling strategy under Strategy’s digital credit plan puts more pressure on the supply in the coming weeks, but the market has demonstrated that it’s capable of absorbing that type of pressure.

If you’re looking for the best crypto analysis website, check out our coverage on crypto research tools.

Nasdaq-listed firm Empery Digital added 1,200 Bitcoin to its holdings over the past six days.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Nasdaq-listed company Empery Digital has received an additional 200 BTC, worth about $12.84 million. Over the past six days, the firm has accumulated a total of 1200 BTC in holdings, valued at roughly $72.65 million.

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Iran fired at least two missiles at vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

According to AXIOS, a U.S. official said Iran fired at least two missiles at vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Two commercial ships were hit and suffered severe damage, with no casualties.

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AI chipmaker Syntiant, backed by Intel and Microsoft, has filed for an IPO.

According to Bloomberg, Syntiant, an AI chipmaker backed by Intel and Microsoft, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO). The company produces ultra-low-power AI chips and software for on-device AI in headphones, wearables, and industrial systems. Per its filing, Syntiant’s Q1 results are as follows: revenue reached $64.5 million, down from $66.6 million in the year-ago quarter; net loss stood at $26.2 million, widening from $16.8 million in the same period last year. To date, Syntiant has raised a total of $311 million in funding, with a post-money valuation of $646.4 million following its December 2024 financing round.

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Markets brushed off Samsung's stellar earnings preview, with Samsung Electronics opening 3% lower.

According to Bitget market data, South Korea’s KOSPI index opened 96.78 points lower on Tuesday (July 7), down 1.2% to 7954.55 points. Samsung Electronics fell 3%, while SK Hynix dropped 1%. Earlier reports indicated that Samsung released its Q2 performance preview, showing its operating profit surged over 1800% year-on-year, with quarterly earnings exceeding the sum of the previous three years. Meanwhile, the company’s revenue also rose 129% year-on-year to 171 trillion won.

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ANSEM's market capitalization hits a new record high, briefly exceeding $440 million.

According to GMGN monitoring data, Solana ecosystem meme coin ANSEM has hit a new all-time high market capitalization, peaking at $449 million, currently trading at $420 million, with a 24-hour trading volume of $51.5 million. BlockBeats Note: Meme coin trading is highly volatile, largely reliant on market sentiment and concept hype, with no actual value or practical use cases. Investors should exercise caution regarding the associated risks.

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Well-known Ethereum bull James Fickel transfers 20,000 ETH.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, prominent ETH bull James Fickel transferred 20,000 ETH (valued at $36.19 million) from Coinbase Prime to a new wallet two hours ago. Earlier this June, prior reports noted, Fickel — a well-known Ethereum long bull and crypto investor — moved 10,000 ETH from a Coinbase custodial address to a deposit address, worth roughly $18.62 million at current prices, likely for subsequent trading operations.

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XRP outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum in daily trading activity on South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, highlighting its continued appeal among local traders.

Over the past 24 hours, Upbit recorded a total trading volume of $493.74 million. During this period, XRP led all assets with $52.33 million in trades, accounting for nearly 10% of total exchange activity.

By contrast, Bitcoin posted $42.14 million in volume, representing 8.54% of the total. Meanwhile, Ethereum followed with $24.3 million, or 4.92% of overall trading activity.

Notably, the data shows that XRP maintained a clear lead over the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap on the exchange during the reporting window. 

XRP Surpasses Bitcoin and Ethereum in Volume on Upbit South Korean Traders Continue to Favor XRP Beyond the latest figures, XRP’s strong performance on Upbit reflects a broader and persistent trend in South Korea’s crypto market.

Earlier this year, XRP trading activity on Upbit surged sharply, including a notable 289% spike in volume within a single hour. During the same period, Binance recorded a smaller 128% increase, underscoring the intensity of Korean market participation.

In addition, large-holder activity has reinforced this demand. In May, an unknown investor withdrew 6.3 million XRP from Upbit. Around the same time, on-chain data showed whales moving $135 million worth of XRP off exchanges within a week, a pattern often associated with long-term accumulation. 

Overall, XRP’s ability to outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum on Upbit highlights its unusually strong foothold in South Korea’s trading ecosystem.

XRP Extends Recovery After Market Sell-Off Meanwhile, XRP continues to recover from last month’s broader market downturn, which briefly pushed its price down to $1.01.

Since then, XRP has rebounded to around $1.14, marking a 12.87% gain. Despite this recovery, global trading activity has cooled, with XRP’s overall volume falling 31% over the past 24 hours to about $1.21 billion.

Nonetheless, momentum remains cautiously positive. XRP has climbed 0.23% over the past day and roughly 9.5% over the past week, as buyers gradually re-enter the market. XRP currently ranks as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency globally, with a market cap of about $70.79 billion. 

Interestingly, spot flow data from CoinGlass shows that investors are steadily withdrawing XRP from exchanges. Over the past seven days, investors have removed $30.38 million worth of XRP from trading platforms. In addition, they have pulled a total of $147.5 million over the past month, according to CoinGlass data.

These consistent outflows suggest that more investors are moving XRP into long-term holdings rather than keeping it on exchanges for trading.

DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

Optimism is surging once again for XRP, as expectations of a significant rally have started to regain traction in the crypto market. Crypto analyst Dark Defender claims that XRP has entered the long-awaited fifth wave in its Elliott Wave cycle, emphasizing that this rally is driven more by technical analysis than by regulatory developments.

A focus on technical factorsAccording to Dark Defender, XRP has completed its weekly correction, paving the way for a new upward trend. The analyst notes that this process began independently of the passage of the CLARITY Act in the United States—a proposed bill aiming to clarify the regulatory landscape for digital assets.

XRP is kickstarting its fifth wave without waiting for the CLARITY Act. The weekly correction has wrapped up. Double-digit prices could be next.

This assessment suggests that hopes for a bullish breakout in XRP are being shaped more by price action and technical signals than by pending regulatory outcomes. While some investors still see regulatory clarity as a powerful catalyst, Dark Defender believes a portion of the anticipated price movement has already been priced in by the market.

Anticipating the fifth Elliott WaveWithin the Elliott Wave theory, the fifth wave is typically the final surge in a cycle and can sometimes be the most explosive stage. In this context, Dark Defender is raising the possibility of XRP reaching double-digit prices, noting that the $10 region should be seen as a major threshold rather than the ultimate peak.

According to CoinCodex data, at the time this report was prepared, XRP was trading at $1.12. If XRP were to rally to $10 from its current price, it would represent a staggering 800 percent increase.

IndicatorLevelCurrent price$1.12First major upside target$2Key psychological threshold$10Potential move from $1.12 to $10Approx. 800%Chart patterns and market conditionsXRP continues to consolidate within a symmetrical triangle formation. In technical analysis, this setup often signals that a substantial price move is on the horizon. As the trading range narrows, the $2 mark emerges as the next significant target if buyers regain momentum.

The analyst notes that XRP’s long-term technical structure remains robust and sees potential for further gains, independent of regulatory headlines.

Nevertheless, achieving the bold $10 target will require not only sustained buying appetite but also supportive overall market sentiment, favorable liquidity conditions, and the absence of negative regulatory surprises. Given these factors, technical indicators may be positive, but the trajectory for XRP will ultimately depend on wider market dynamics.

Dark Defender’s recent evaluation has become one of the notable commentaries fueling the renewed bullish narrative around XRP. If his Elliott Wave count proves accurate, XRP could be entering the most dynamic growth phase of its current market cycle.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Ripple joins Call of Duty Endowment to support American veterans.

The United States of America celebrated its 250th Independence Day on July 4. 

“With a single sheet of parchment and 56 signatures, America began the greatest political journey in human history,” said President Donald Trump.

As the world's leading economy celebrated the Semiquincentennial, the blockchain technology and financial payments company Ripple stepped up to support American veterans.

Ripple to match donations to veterans up to $10K in XRP Ripple announced on July 4 that it is going to match donations to the Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit organization that helps unemployed veterans get high-quality jobs after their military service, up to $10,000 in XRP.

The Call of Duty Endowment claims to have supported the placement of over 165,000 veterans and aims to place 200,000 vets in jobs by 2030.

Ripple said it is supporting the organization as part of the Giving 4th campaign so that Independence Day becomes a national day of charitable giving.

The company encouraged users to donate to support the veterans with cash, stocks, XRP, or Ripple's USD-pegged stablecoin RLUSD.

In turn, Ripple said it will match the donation in XRP, up to a maximum match of $10,000.

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Ripple's Call of Duty Endowment campaign for U.S. veterans

Users thanked the Ripple team and CEO Brad Garlinghouse for supporting American veterans.

At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $814.19, and if and when the amount reaches $10,000, Ripple said it will match the amount in XRP.

At press time, XRP was trading at $1.14, down around 50% in a year.

Popular on TheStreet Roundtable:Veteran trader who called 50% gold crash makes major predictionMichael Saylor predicts Bitcoin's next decadeCathie Wood expects a volatile Bitcoin uptrendRipple becomes fully MiCA-compliantRipple made another major announcement on July 6 that it has received authorization of its Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).

The authorization confirms Ripple as fully Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)-compliant, and the firm's end-to-end regulated crypto payments product is now available to financial institutions, corporates, and businesses across all 30 countries of the European Economic Area.

Ripple said it now holds more than 75 regulatory licenses across the world.

Ripple has announced that it has obtained a CASP license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. With this authorization, the company can now provide regulated crypto services to financial institutions and businesses across the 30 countries within the European Economic Area.

One license, Europe-wide coverageRipple emphasized that the approval introduces a unified regulatory framework for blockchain-based payment and cryptocurrency services throughout Europe. Instead of acquiring separate licenses for each country, Ripple can now expand its operations with a single authorization covering the entire region.

Ripple confirmed it had received the EU’s CASP license, achieving full compliance with MiCA regulations. The company also stated that it is ready to meet rising European demand for crypto services under this framework.

The CASP license designates Ripple as a crypto asset service provider, requiring it to meet specific obligations set by the MiCA regulation. MiCA serves as the EU’s comprehensive set of rules designed to standardize oversight for the crypto asset market across all member states.

Mini glossary: CASP refers to licensed entities that provide services such as custody, trading, or transfer of crypto assets. MiCA aims to establish a consistent regulatory structure for crypto firms, enabling a harmonized single market across the European Union.

Transition timeline and license harmonizationThe company stated that the full CASP license will become effective after completion of the transition period in June 2026. Once finalized, Ripple will operate crypto services under a single license across the entire European Economic Area.

Before MiCA, crypto companies had to secure approval separately in each country where they operated, resulting in additional costs, lost time, and regulatory complications. The new system dramatically simplifies this process for authorized firms.

Focus on payments, stablecoins, and digital asset settlementRipple’s existing Electronic Money Institution license further complements its new regulatory status. With both authorizations, Ripple will provide digital payments, stablecoin solutions, and digital asset settlement services through a single, regulated platform.

The company is targeting institutions seeking secure, regulation-ready infrastructures for cross-border payments and digital asset settlement. Banks, fintechs, payment service providers, and other financial institutions are expected to benefit from more streamlined access to Ripple’s blockchain platform under this regulatory framework.

MiCA’s passporting mechanism allows Ripple to expand across Europe with a single license, bypassing the need for country-by-country approvals.

Regulatory strategy aligns with rising institutional demandRipple disclosed that it holds over 75 regulatory licenses worldwide. The company continues its approach of securing necessary permissions from financial authorities before entering new markets, underscoring its commitment to compliance.

This development coincides with the European Union’s implementation of crypto regulations amid growing institutional interest in euro-backed stablecoins, cross-border payments, and digital asset settlement solutions. Ripple aims to gain a competitive advantage in the European market with its new CASP license.

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.

Arthur Hayes called XRP “absolutely nothing” last week. Charles Hoskinson took a swipe at Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s approach to regulation. Edo Farina, an analyst and XRP supporter, addressed both in an exclusive interview with Coinpedia.

Hayes: Price Loyalty, Not Substance

Hayes framed his argument around early price gains rather than technology. “You could be like Cardano or Ripple and do absolutely nothing,” he said. “Lie to your people that you’re going to do something about it. However, people got this thing really, really cheap. You allowed them to get rich with you.” The suggestion is that communities built on early wealth creation remain loyal regardless of what a project actually delivers.

Farina acknowledged Hayes’s credentials but questioned the premise. “Arthur Hayes is one of the smartest macro traders in crypto, but trading and building financial infrastructure are two completely different things,” he said. “His portfolio decisions are based on market cycles and liquidity, not necessarily on which technology will underpin the next financial system.”

“If XRP were nothing, we wouldn’t see regulated stablecoins like RLUSD, tokenization initiatives, institutional custody, and major financial players building around the XRPL ecosystem,” Farina said. “Dismissing years of enterprise adoption ignores a lot of evidence.”

Hoskinson vs Garlinghouse

Hoskinson criticised Garlinghouse for accepting imperfect legislation in the name of progress, specifically around the CLARITY Act, paraphrasing his position as wanting to simply get something done. His broader concern is that XRP creates no organic buy demand for holders, making the token dependent on Ripple’s institutional relationships rather than network activity.

Farina attributed the friction to competition. “Cardano, Ripple, Ethereum, Solana, everyone is competing for institutional adoption,” he said. “Brad has taken a very regulatory-first approach, which is not popular with everyone in crypto. Some people believe crypto should remain completely outside the traditional financial system.”

“I don’t see regulation as the enemy,” Farina said. “Institutions won’t move trillions of dollars through anonymous protocols with no legal clarity.”

The Underlying Divide

The criticism from both men reflects a wider disagreement about what crypto is for. Ripple’s approach is to work within existing financial infrastructure rather than replace it, which appeals to banks and asset managers but frustrates those who entered crypto for different reasons.

“That is less exciting for crypto purists but much more attractive for banks, governments and asset managers. Institutional capital generally follows legal certainty,” Farina said.

Story Ends Here

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XRP Binance Scarcity Index Hits 2-Year High: What Does It Mean for Price?

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has detailed plans for a sweeping, multi-year transformation of the blockchain and smart contract focused protocol that he describes as the network’s third major evolutionary phase. In a July 4, 2026 post on X, Buterin characterized the effort—internally referred to as “Lean Ethereum”—as comparable in scope and significance to the 2022 Merge, which transitioned Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.

Unlike that single, high-profile ETH blockchain upgrade, however, the new initiative will roll out gradually through a series of coordinated improvements spanning roughly three to four years.

The announcement follows recent in-person gatherings of Ethereum researchers in Berlin, building on earlier discussions held in Svalbard earlier in the year.

Two weeks ago, Ethereum researchers met in Berlin to continue charting the protocol's long-term trajectory, following along discussions with client teams in Svalbard in April.

The updated strawmap is at https://t.co/HZEerH1xxI, and I attached a picture of it to this post.

My… pic.twitter.com/KPGayHSySf

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 4, 2026

Buterin shared an updated high-level roadmap (a “strawmap”) and outlined how the changes will touch nearly every core layer of the protocol while prioritizing simplification, long-term security, and minimal disruption for existing applications and users.

Central to the vision is a shift in how the network verifies transactions.

Rather than relying primarily on direct re-execution by every node, verification will increasingly leverage recursive STARK proofs as a first-class, enshrined component of the protocol.

This architectural change is expected to improve efficiency and scalability. At the same time, the entire cryptographic stack will be upgraded to quantum-resistant alternatives to future-proof the system against potential advances in quantum computing.

Consensus-layer improvements are also planned.

The design envisions a decoupled structure separating data availability from finality, with one- or two-round finality mechanisms that aim to deliver both stronger theoretical security properties and faster confirmation times than today’s setup.

Additional technical upgrades include multidimensional gas pricing, evolution of the state model beyond traditional tree structures to accommodate new state types, and refinements to client architecture.

Privacy is being elevated from an optional feature to a core design requirement.

When planning updates to components such as the mempool, state tree, and related infrastructure, developers are explicitly considering how quantum-safe, intermediary-free private transactions will operate with acceptable overhead.

Formal verification of protocol components is another emphasized priority to enhance overall security and reduce implementation risks.

One of the most consequential areas of change involves Ethereum’s handling of state data. Current “dynamic” state will largely remain in place and receive only moderate scaling.

Alongside it, new categories of state optimized for scalability—though more restrictive in how they can be used—will be introduced.

These new state designs are expected to work particularly well for common use cases such as ERC-20 tokens, NFTs, and many decentralized finance applications.

Buterin noted that while no existing applications will be forced to rewrite their code, developers who migrate to the new state formats could see transaction fees drop by more than an order of magnitude.

As a rough illustration of the end state, Buterin suggested that by around 2030 Ethereum might maintain roughly 2 terabytes of traditional dynamic state while supporting up to 100 terabytes of the newer, more efficient state types.

Research is underway on incentive mechanisms to ensure nodes are properly motivated to store and serve this expanded dataset.The timeline includes a series of hard forks.

The upcoming H-star fork (also referred to as Hegota) is viewed as the last major upgrade with a predominantly pre-Lean character.

Subsequent forks, beginning with I-star, are expected to carry a strong Lean emphasis.

Incremental improvements to gas limits, blob data availability, and slot times will continue over the next five years, with a substantial gas-limit increase planned for the Glasterdam hard fork.

Throughout the process, the guiding principles remain simplification, cleanup of legacy elements, and future-proofing—approaches that proved successful during the Merge.

Buterin expressed confidence that the Ethereum ecosystem can execute another major reinvention while keeping the experience seamless for builders and users.

The “Lean Ethereum” effort signals a continued commitment to evolving the protocol in response to scaling demands, emerging security threats, and the desire for greater efficiency and privacy. As development progresses, further details and community feedback on new state designs and other components are expected.

Buterin's new proposal would shrink Ethereum's validator state sharply using daily ZK proofs, part of the multi-year "Lean Ethereum" redesign.

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Vitalik Buterin published a technical proposal to radically shrink Ethereum’s consensus layer, as part of the long-term “Lean Ethereum” overhaul aimed at making Ethereum more scalable, private, and quantum-resistant.

What's the Scoop?The Proposal: In a forum post titled “The Extremely Lean Chain,” Buterin outlined a two-phase plan to make Ethereum store far less validator data directly onchain. Rather than the network carrying every validator’s full state record, validators would keep more of their own records and use ZK to prove to the chain that those records are correct. The goal is to shrink validator state to roughly 6 bytes while preserving Ethereum’s security guarantees.How It Works: Phase 1 removes most validator data from the chain and replaces frequent balance accounting with ZK proofs that show a validator’s rewards, penalties, and participation history are accurate. Phase 2 adds privacy by giving validators fresh anonymous identities each day, making it harder to track the same validator over time.The Scale Argument: The basic idea behind the change is to is to make nodes easier to run by reducing the amount of validator-specific data every node must store and process, with the end goal of having Ethereum run more validators.
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Written by David Christopher

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David is a writer/analyst at Bankless. Prior to joining Bankless, he worked for a series of early-stage crypto startups and on grants from the Ethereum, Solana, and Urbit Foundations. He graduated from Skidmore College in New York. He currently lives in the Midwest and enjoys NFTs, but no longer participates in them.

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Ethereum [ETH] has rallied 11.7% over the past week, but it is possible that short-term holders were preparing to exit the market.

Source: Glassnode The exchange net position change had been negative since mid-May, but posted a positive bar on its histogram on Sunday, July 5.

Negative net position change implies a net outflow of assets from exchange-affiliated addresses. A shift toward positive indicates that net inflows were greater in volume.

This inflow can be interpreted as readiness for selling from holders, though it need not provide an immediate bearish price reaction.

Recently, AMBCrypto pointed to a discrepancy between trader and developer activity. Alongside the monthly TD Sequential buy signal, bulls had hopes of a move toward $2,000.

That optimism faded as Bitcoin [BTC] faced rejection from the $63k area, unable to assail the $64k local supply zone in earnest. This rejection has caused an Ethereum price slide below $1,800.

Ethereum bullish hopes misplaced? Source: CryptoQuant Crypto analyst Darkfost drew attention to the severe decline in Open Interest. From a record high of $33.9 billion in October 2025, to just $11.2 billion, the corrective leg of the cycle has shaken market conviction.

Examining the liquidation volume bubble map showed a high volume of long liquidations towards the end of June, rivaling the size of the October long liquidations.

Source: CryptoQuant The Coinbase Premium Index has been negative since late April, another sign of bearish market sentiment. U.S.-based investors have not been taken in by the recent price bounce toward $1.8k.

The large volume of short liquidations showed that many traders had been positioned for further downside before the recent rally forced them to exit. A small corrective bounce amid a wider downtrend has caused $314.5 million in short liquidations so far in July.

Source: Glassnode The Ethereum holder accumulation ratio tracks the proportion of active users who are increasing their holdings, compared to those who are decreasing. Lower ratios indicate bearish momentum, and tend to mark periods of distribution and profit-taking.

The drop in the holder accumulation ratio since May suggested the current distribution has not ended.

Final Summary Ethereum was up by 11% over the past week of trading, triggering over $300 million in liquidations within a week. Other onchain metrics showed that the current distribution trends were likely to cause a deeper ETH price slide.

Vitalik Buterin AI Challenge Solved in 2 Hours: Can Developers Stay Anonymous?

MSTR, COIN, and HOOD are among the US stocks to watch this week as crypto momentum returns. The action came after new digital asset gains amid the support of crypto and Bitcoin by President Donald Trump. 

The total crypto market rose 1.38% to $2.2 trillion in 24 hours. Bitcoin price surged higher to over $64,000, with Ethereum trading over $1,800. Dogecoin price soared near $0.08, with XRP, SOL, and ADA seeing a slight recovery

Trump Endorses Crypto and Bitcoin, Saying He Is a Big Crypto Guy Trump made the remarks on July 6 while answering questions from the media. He was asked whether Bitcoin could be added to Trump Accounts, a savings program for children. 

Trump replied, “I’ve become a big crypto guy…I’m a fan.” His remarks assisted in overturning previous pressure on Bitcoin and turning it sharply upwards in the session.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ASKED IF $BTC WILL BE INCLUDED IN TRUMP ACCOUNTS

Trump didn’t directly confirm it, but doubled down on crypto:

“I’ve become a big crypto guy… if we don’t have it, China’s going to have it.”

He says that Bitcoin has “a lot of life,” framing crypto… pic.twitter.com/SwZnY1EC0u

— CryptosRus (@CryptosR_Us) July 6, 2026

The recovery brought crypto-related stocks back into the spotlight. Strategy is still pegged to Bitcoin mood, and Coinbase could benefit as more people trade. Robinhood also stands to benefit if retail crypto demand improves this week.

Strategy (MSTR) Strategy (MSTR) traded at $100.77 at Monday’s close. The US stocks to watch bounced back after an intra-day decline to around the $95 mark, with buyers defending the lower price. 

Strategy also traded 3588 Bitcoin worth around $216 million, raising cash amid new market volatility. The sale came as Bitcoin sentiment strengthened short-term following Trump renewing his crypto support. Investors however were still under pressure of preferred-stock commitments and losses in digital assets. 

MSTR stock In terms of technicality, MSTR should have more than $100 to maintain momentum. A break above $102 could target $105, while weakness below $100 may expose $97.50 and $95 again.

Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN) ended at 168.87, gaining 2.05% as Us stocks equities attracted renewed interest. Hours later, the COIN stock was up by a little to 169.27 with a gain of 0.24% as buyers kept the stock close to the session highs. 

The intraday COIN stock depicted initial weakness, as it fell to the $160 support zone, but then it recovered with a bang. 

COIN stock The momentum later improved in the afternoon, driving the price above the $167.50 and close to the $170 resistance zone. An obvious stop above $170 would open up to $172.50 and 175 this week. However, failure to hold $167.50 may expose $165.48, followed by $162.50 support. 

Robinhood Markets (HOOD) Robinhood Markets (HOOD) closed at $117.55 on July 6, gaining 4.28% during regular trading. The US stock is resistant to around $117.49, where the buyers could not resist the late-session strength. Any recovery of that level would open a move to $120 in the ensuing sessions. 

HOOD stock Meanwhile, $112.73 remains the first support area after the pullback. If selling continues below $109.82, HOOD could retest the $105 zone. Traders may watch the Us stock sentiment after Trump’s fresh pro-Bitcoin comments boosted market attention this week.

Strategy sells 3,588 Bitcoin for $216M to fund dividendsMichael Saylor's Strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin (BTC) to fund preferred stock dividend payments and replenish its cash reserves.

Strategy sold the Bitcoin for $216 million, reducing its total holdings to 843,775 Bitcoin, according to a Monday 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

This included 1,363 Bitcoin sold at an average price of $59,256 between last Monday and Tuesday, and 2,225 Bitcoin sold at an average price of $60,773 between Wednesday and Sunday.

Strategy disclosed the sale of 32 Bitcoin in early June, as its first reported Bitcoin sale since the 2022 tax-loss transaction.

Before Strategy disclosed its latest Bitcoin sale, Bernstein said the company was unlikely to be forced to sell its holdings, citing its liquidity position and cash reserve coverage.

Bernstein's report said Strategy had 17 months of cash to cover dividend obligations and interest payments. It added that the company remained a net buyer of Bitcoin and served as a strong "balancing force" in a market where leading US Bitcoin miners are net sellers due to their pivot to AI.

Donald Trump says ‘nothing wrong’ with $1.4B crypto windfall while in officeUS President Donald Trump has responded to criticism of his 2025 financial disclosures, showing that he earned $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures while in office.

In a Thursday interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen, Trump said that there was “nothing illegal” and “nothing wrong” with profiting from his crypto investments as president. He claimed that other people were responsible for his investments and he didn’t “even know who they are,” not directly answering questions about perceived conflicts of interest as president.

Trump’s comments followed the release of his 2025 financial disclosure report by the US Office of Government Ethics, showing that he took in more than $2 billion from his businesses and investments, about $1.4 billion of which was connected to crypto projects like his memecoin and family’s platform World Liberty Financial. Many advocacy organizations have characterized the investments as a “grift” allowing the president to influence related legislation like the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act.

Trump disclosed that his memecoin generated about $636 million, World Liberty sales about $588 million and $197 million from equity in a stablecoin venture.

TrumpUS senator calls for ban on elected officials issuing memecoinsSenator Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the US lawmakers behind negotiations for a digital asset market structure bill in Congress, has proposed barring elected officials and the president from issuing or sponsoring their own tokens, citing President Donald Trump’s and First Lady Melania Trump’s memecoins.

In a Friday notice, Gillibrand said that Congress should support measures barring elected officials and their spouses from “issuing or sponsoring their own digital assets.” The New York lawmaker said that the proposed restriction would include any US president and their spouse, but did not specifically mention extending the provision to the office of the vice president or other members of their families. 

“This is a commonsense requirement that should get broad bipartisan support – public officials and their spouses should not be issuing memecoins,” said Gillibrand. “We cannot let self-dealing destroy an opportunity to strengthen consumer protections, crack down on illicit finance, and expand economic opportunity for the millions of Americans our financial system has left behind.”

GellibrandVitalik Buterin shares top priorities for new 'Lean Ethereum' strawmap Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has named quantum resistance, scalability and privacy as three of Ethereum's top priorities under a new "Lean Ethereum" strawmap, which lays out the network's technical direction for the remainder of the decade. 

In a post to X on Saturday, Buterin said the collection of upgrades will roll out over the next three to four years, touching nearly every layer of Ethereum in a transformation he compared in scale to the September 2022 Merge, which shifted the network away from energy-intensive mining. 

“Quantum safety has shifted up a LOT in priority,” he said, adding that finalizing a quantum-safe solution for blobs has “become urgent.” Enhancing privacy is another priority, Buterin said, stating that it has become a “first class goal.”

Dankrad Feist, a former Ethereum Foundation researcher behind the payments-focused layer-1 Tempo blockchain, praised the new plan but argued the 3-4 year timeline is too slow, stating that AI could help developers ship the upgrades within a year. 

Financial companies join forces for US dollar stablecoin, keeping reserve earningsMore than 140 companies have reportedly signed onto a US dollar-pegged stablecoin project that allows them to “receive all of the earnings” from its reserves.

In a Tuesday notice, Open Standard said it was launching the Open USD (OUSD) stablecoin, a US dollar-pegged coin supported by financial companies including Visa and Mastercard, as well as crypto companies Coinbase, Ripple, OKX and Bybit. The project will allow businesses to mint OUSD “at no cost and with no artificial limits on volume,” and keep earnings from the coin’s reserves.

“When Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, Coinbase and Google coordinate on a new stablecoin, the signal is unmistakable,” said Rhino.fi co-founder and CEO Will Harborne. “Open USD is the first launch with a real chance to win share from USDT and USDC, because reserve revenue flows back to everyone who holds it. But that same incentive is what drives fragmentation at scale.”

As the week continued, some of the signatories denied making any firm commitments to the consortium.

OUSDWinners and losersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $64,039, Ether (ETH) at $1798, and XRP (XRP) is at $1.14. The total market cap is at $2.12 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are MemeCore (M) at 105%, Lighter (LIT) at 39%, and ether.fi (ETHFI) at 29%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Venice Token (VVV) at -13%, Stable (STABLE) at -10% and Audiera (BEAT) at -5%.

Top Prediction of the WeekBollinger Bands creator eyes Bitcoin bear-market end, 'W'-shaped reversalJohn Bollinger, creator of the Bollinger Bands volatility indicator, believes he has spied a “W”-shaped double bottom on BTC/USD on the charts.

“$BTC has seen a series of bullish patterns broken, evidence of the power of the downtrend,” he commented in X posts on Friday.

 "Will this 'W' be the one that breaks the trend?"

“W”-shaped reversals involve two swing lows with a rejected rebound in between, with price ultimately breaking through that rejection level to form a new uptrend.

Bollinger has been bullish on BTC for some time. In early May, he revealed a new long position via his Bitcoin investment vehicle.

As Cointelegraph reported, an increasing number of price indicators are flashing signals not seen since the last bear market in 2022. Despite this, market participants broadly believe that the next macro bottom is still to come and is due in Q3 or later.

Top FUD of the weekTim Draper says Arkham got Bitcoin wallet attribution ‘wrong’Billionaire investor and longtime Bitcoin bull Tim Draper said blockchain analytics company Arkham incorrectly linked him to a wallet involved in a large Bitcoin transfer to Coinbase Prime.

“It just wasn’t me. I haven’t touched it. Arkham has it wrong,” Draper told Cointelegraph, adding that he still expects Bitcoin to reach $250,000 within one year.

The statement came after blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported Friday that a wallet “possibly linked” to Draper had transferred 1,000 Bitcoin worth about $62 million to Coinbase Prime, citing data from Arkham.

Draper is best known in the crypto community as one of Bitcoin’s earliest high-profile investors, having won a US Marshals Service auction for nearly 30,000 Bitcoin seized by US authorities from Silk Road-related holdings in 2014. The holdings are now worth $1.9 billion, meaning Draper selling could have a big impact on Bitcoin's.

Bitcoin profit and loss ratio falls to 43-month lowBitcoin’s realized profit and loss ratio has fallen to a 43-month low of -0.35, a figure that signals extreme market-wide loss conditions but has historically coincided with market bottoms, blockchain analytics platform CryptoQuant said.

The Bitcoin realized P&L ratio — which measures the net percentage of Bitcoin (BTC) in profit or loss relative to total supply — hasn’t fallen this low since December 2022, shortly after FTX shockingly collapsed and sent Bitcoin below $16,000.

“Historically the indicator has marked BTC bottoms with extreme precision,” CryptoQuant said on Thursday. In 2015 and 2019, the Bitcoin realized P&L ratio also fell below -0.35 before price rallies followed. 

The data could lift market sentiment, which has repeatedly fallen to near-record lows during the course of Bitcoin’s latest 50% drawdown from $126,080, set in October. Market sentiment has risen cautiously over the last 10 days, with Bitcoin up more than 7% since tanking to a near two-year low of $58,190 on June 25.

Upbit says it only expressed interest in future OUSD participationSouth Korean crypto exchange Upbit said it is not participating in the issuance of Open USD, after its operator Dunamu was named among more than 140 businesses involved in the new stablecoin initiative. 

“Upbit has only indicated our potential willingness to consider taking part in the future expansion of the OpenStandard ecosystem,” an Upbit spokesperson told Cointelegraph. 

The clarification follows similar pushback from Samsung Electronics and other South Korean companies listed by Open Standard. 

According to a Friday report by ChosunBiz, Samsung said it had not held formal discussions with the project and did not know what role it was expected to perform. Meanwhile, Shinhan Financial Group and KBank reportedly said they had only indicated that they would consider the initiative. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Open Standard for comments but did not receive a response before publication. 

Top Cointelegraph Features of the Week
The biggest blockchain upgrades still to come in 2026From Ethereum’s Glamsterdam and Solana’s Alpenglow, to proposed post quantum security changes for Bitcoin, 2026’s key crypto upgrades are some of the most significant in years.

Has Strategy’s capital overhaul put an end to ‘death spiral’ fears?Has Strategy’s new capital overhaul defused the fears swirling around STRC, or has it simply bought more time before the next bout of stress?

From Bitcoin critics to blockchain believers: The 5 biggest crypto backflipsFrom crypto hater Nouriel Roubini launching the Technodollar to Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff putting out tokenized gold, meet the skeptics who are now cashing in on crypto.

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.

Ethereum developers have finalized the roadmap for the much-anticipated Glamsterdam hard fork, scheduled for launch in the second half of 2026. Positioned as one of the most significant changes to the network’s core layer since The Merge, this major update aims to boost Ethereum’s Layer 1 capacity and make the network more efficient for validators, developers, and decentralized applications.

Focus shifts to block validationAccording to the Ethereum Foundation, what sets Glamsterdam apart from earlier upgrades is its strong emphasis on overhauling the block validation process. This round of technical preparations brings substantial modifications to both the execution and consensus layers. Prominent crypto analyst Crypto With Gopal also highlights that the network is moving rapidly toward its next phase of scalability.

Among the headline features are EIP 7732, dubbed “Enshrined Proposer Builder Separation,” and EIP 7928, which introduces block-level access lists as central components of the fork.

Glossary: A hard fork refers to a broad protocol change in a blockchain that is not backward-compatible. EIP stands for Ethereum Improvement Proposal, the standard format for discussing suggested technical updates on the network.

Key proposals: EIP 7732 and EIP 7928EIP 7732 seeks to separate block production from block validation, giving validators a more active protocol-level role in producing blocks. This change is expected to improve network efficiency and reduce reliance on third-party block builders.

EIP 7928, on the other hand, aims to make access lists mandatory at the block level. By doing so, it could accelerate the parallel processing of transactions and potentially drive down gas fees. In essence, gas fees represent the base transaction cost for executing actions or smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

According to the Ethereum Foundation, Glamsterdam is designed to expand Layer 1 capacity and create a more favorable environment for validators, developers, and decentralized applications on the network.

A new batch of EIPs readies for devnet testingDevelopers are planning to include ten new EIPs in the next devnet release. Among the approved proposals are EIP 7708, which introduces a new structure for ETH transfer logs, and EIP 7954, expanding the smart contract size limit from 24 KiB to 64 KiB.

Additional improvements in the pipeline involve enhancements to gas measurement, call data management, opcode sets, and state control mechanisms. Meanwhile, another fifteen EIPs focusing on gas fees, validator architecture, network communication, and staking are still under evaluation. It appears EIP 7904 is unlikely to be accepted.

TitleStatusKey ImpactEIP 7732PlannedSeparation of block production and validationEIP 7928PlannedFaster processing and lower costsEIP 7708ApprovedDefines ETH transfer record structureEIP 7954ApprovedRaises smart contract size limit to 64 KiBPotential impact on developers, validators, and usersThe updated roadmap reveals Ethereum’s ongoing adaptation to its accelerating pace of use and application development. For developers, the proposed changes could simplify the deployment process and trim costs. Validators may benefit from faster block production, while end-users could enjoy a more balanced and predictable fee structure as a direct consequence of the upgrade.

While Glamsterdam signals Ethereum’s commitment to a post-Merge future, it also underlines the network’s goal of achieving higher efficiency and broader scalability across its foundational infrastructure.

With more than a year to go until the full deployment of the upgrade, the current roadmap demonstrates which technical priorities Ethereum is set to tackle next. Notably, proposed changes to block validation sit at the very heart of the network’s long-term roadmap for scaling up its capabilities.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Dogecoin price traded near $0.077 on Monday as the meme coin held its recent rebound. The token stayed in a tight weekend range after gaining more than 5% over the past week. The crypto market sentiment also improved, with the total market cap rising 1.04% to $2.19 trillion in 24 hours.

Trump Says He Is a Big Crypto Guy The wider crypto market turned higher after President Donald Trump repeated his support for digital assets. Speaking at a news conference,

Trump said, “I’ve become a big crypto guy, I’m a fan.” He made the comment when asked whether Bitcoin could enter Trump Accounts.

The crypto is very powerful, and the industry is huge, Trump also said. He concluded that Bitcoin is being used by many even though its full capacity is yet to be felt. His comments provided traders with a new boost following a poor opening of the session on Monday.

Donald Trump on Bitcoin:

“I’ve become a big crypto guy, I’m a fan.” 👀

Whether you like him or not.

Bitcoin is now impossible for politicians to ignore.

That’s a very different world to the one we were living in just a few years ago.

This says a lot about the direction… pic.twitter.com/mWEFVBgG3u

— That Martini Guy ₿ (@MartiniGuyYT) July 6, 2026

Bitcoin price had earlier dropped more than 2% after Strategy released a new regulatory filing. The disclosure indicated that the Bitcoin treasury company had disposed of an approximate of 216 million BTC. This sale strained the market feeling since Strategy has always been regarded as a large corporate Bitcoin holder.

Nonetheless, Bitcoin price has since recorded an upward trend following the remarks made by Trump to boost market sentiment. The asset rose 1.66% to $63,716 over 24 hours. Ethereum, XRP, and Solana price also gained minimally as traders reverted to first-mover crypto.

The improved tone also favored Dogecoin price but was in a small price band. The meme coin remained near the level of $0.0770, indicating that buyers were defending the new recovery.

Dogecoin Price Eyes Recovery as Whale Holdings Rise to 73.85B DOGE Dogecoin derivatives were trading with mixed conditions with the volume increasing by 31% to $1.26 billion. Nevertheless, the open interest decreased by 0.32% to $1.04 billion with little new leverage. The balances that increased to 73.85 billion tokens were in large wallets of over 1 billion DOGE. 

Source: Coinglass Yet whale activity cooled, with transactions falling to 12 on Sunday. In the meantime, profitable supply increased to 38.51, and active addresses approached 50,000, which is a positive sign of a network recovery following a period of weakness.

Will DOGE Price Recover After Trump’s Crypto Comments Lift Sentiment? The DOGE price surged to $0.07648 on the four-hour, gaining 0.30% during the latest session. The relocation was in response to the recent market pressure as buyers defended the $0.075 support area. 

A fall below that level might subject DOGE to the $0.070 support area.

In the meantime, the RSI was close to 51.52, which indicated a neutral momentum following the recent rebound.

The Chaikin Money Flow remained positive at 0.08, indicating small capital flows into DOGE. 

Nevertheless, the present arrangement continues to support a recovery attempt in case buyers have this base.  

Source: Tradingview The initial upside target is close to $0.08, and here DOGE had met resistance before. A clear move above that level could target at $0.085. A stronger breakout could push long-term DOGE projection toward $0.09 in the coming sessions, after Trump’s Crypto comments lifted sentiment.

Cardano (ADA) added 14,783 new non-empty ADA wallets in the days following its June 23 price bottom, according to on-chain data firm Santiment. ADA has since gained +24% in seven days, touching $0.199 on July 5 before settling near $0.181, the first time the token has traded at these levels since 2020.

The wallet growth is the clearest on-chain signal yet that retail buyers stepped back in once prices stabilized. The harder question is whether June’s selloff was genuine capitulation, the kind of fear-flush that marks a durable floor, or simply a pause before the next leg down.

At the time of writing, ADA is trading at $0.181, down -4.5% over the past 24 hours, with a daily trading volume of $441.5M, suggesting a slight retrace that hasn’t been accompanied by a surge in volume. As long as $0.18 holds, Cardano will likely continue its recent bullish price action.

Cardano Surges as Retail Demand Shows Signs Of Strength

Cardano'a $ADA rose for four straight days with gains topping 30% over the last seven days. Most top 20 tokens saw weekly gains between just 1 and 18 percent.

Cardano also gained 14,783 new non empty wallets since July 23… pic.twitter.com/NkHgWKqzPq

— BSCN (@BSCNews) July 6, 2026

Cardano News: What the On-Chain Data Actually Shows Santiment linked the wallet uptick to a broader mood shift inside the Cardano community, flagging it as a sentiment inflection point rather than just routine account creation.

The June 23 bottom also coincided with the launch of the Leios Musashi Dojo testnet, with Leios being the scalability upgrade Hoskinson has described as targeting a roughly 60× increase in throughput, positioning the network closer to XRP Ledger transaction speeds ahead of a planned mainnet push later in 2026.

Whale accumulation data adds a sharper edge to that picture. BeInCrypto reported that the 10M–100M ADA wallet cohort raised their share of circulating supply from 37.66% on June 25 to 38.13%, with large-output transactions spiking on June 21 and June 24.

The count of distinct large wallets hit a 45-day high – all while daily active addresses fell to a four-month low. That divergence is the classic smart-money signal: large holders accumulating into retail fatigue, positioning ahead of an expected catalyst.

Post-capitulation bounces tend to look exactly like this on-chain. Dormant wallets move large balances, transferring coins from weaker hands to stronger ones, before price recovers. Santiment’s Age Consumed metric recorded one of its largest spikes since April during this period, consistent with that redistribution pattern.

After months inside a descending channel, $ADA has finally broken out, reclaiming the 200 EMA while a textbook bullish RSI divergence signaled seller exhaustion before the move

Momentum has shifted back to the bulls, with the 200 EMA now acting as dynamic support. As long as ADA… pic.twitter.com/aOSGN4qIAm

— BATMAN ⚡ (@CryptosBatman) July 5, 2026

DISCOVER: Best Meme Coin ICOs to Invest in 2026

Governance Friction Keeps the Recovery Fragile The ADA price recovery has not resolved the Cardano internal tensions. The sell-off had two drivers: a broad crypto market risk-off environment and Cardano-specific pressure stemming from failed treasury funding votes, a canceled 2026 summit, and founder Charles Hoskinson’s public warnings that more ecosystem projects could fail.

Hoskinson has since opened a governance-overhaul review, auditing thousands of decentralized DAOs tied to Cardano’s funding system. That review is still active, which means the next round of treasury votes carries real binary risk: a clean resolution strengthens the bull case, while another failed vote reopens the governance discount.

ADA sits roughly 87% below its cycle peak of $1.20 and still faces immediate resistance near $0.195 on the four-hour chart. The 14,783 new wallets and whale accumulation are constructive data points, but sustained recovery requires active addresses and transaction volumes to follow.

These metrics have not yet confirmed the move. The Leios roadmap and governance resolution are the two variables that matter most in the second half of 2026.

EXPLORE: Best Crypto Presales With Asymmetric Upside in the Current Market

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As Ethereum and Cardano face steep declines, investors are increasingly exploring AI-focused blockchain projects such as Stargate LLM.

Summary

Ethereum and Cardano remain under pressure as Stargate LLM promotes its AI-focused crypto presale to investors. Stargate LLM highlights its AI token presale as Ethereum and Cardano continue searching for market support. AThe project is gaining attention amid prolonged weakness in Ethereum and Cardano prices. Ethereum spent 2025 in the room with the majors, trading near $5,000 and trading places with Bitcoin as the asset every altcoin measured itself against. It’s now sitting at $1,700, down 66% in less than a year, still searching for a floor. 

Cardano’s story is quieter but just as brutal: a 40% drop in June alone dragged it to territory it hasn’t traded at since 2020, even as whales keep buying the exact dip that’s scaring everyone else out. Neither of these declines happened because the technology broke. They happened because capital moved somewhere else, and it’s worth asking where.

The honest answer this year is AI, a sector on track to more than double into a $1.2 trillion market by 2030, pulling in investment on a scale crypto’s current downturn simply isn’t matching. Stargate LLM is where that rotation is actually landing: a presale still in its early batches, priced at $0.0005 against a $0.025 launch target, a 50X gap that ETH and ADA buyers would need years of recovery to even approach.

Stargate LLM: Positioned for the AI capital rotation While ADA and ETH search for support levels, Stargate LLM is running a presale built around the opposite dynamic: escalating price batches designed to reward early entry rather than punish it. The presale runs across ten batches, starting at $0.0005 and climbing through $0.0015, $0.002, $0.0025, $0.003, $0.003, $0.0035, $0.0045, and $0.007, before reaching $0.0125 in the final batch, building toward a $0.025 launch price target. That structure puts Batch 1 participants at a 50x price ratio to the launch target, a stark contrast to buying ETH or ADA today and hoping for a bounce back toward levels they’ve already visited before.

This is why Stargate keeps surfacing on lists of the best crypto to buy now: it isn’t asking investors to bet on a recovery. It’s offering ground-floor pricing into a sector, AI, that’s growing independently of the broader crypto market’s current weakness. Of the fixed 150 billion coin supply, 96% is allocated to community, ecosystem, and presale participants, with staking rewards, governance votes, and Proof of Usage rewards built into the coin’s utility from day one.

For anyone scanning the market for the best crypto to buy now while ETH and ADA remain stuck in drawdowns, Stargate’s presale batches represent a structurally different kind of entry point, priced for early participation rather than recovery speculation. 

Ethereum price: Stuck below $1,900 support The Ethereum Price picture through early July remains bearish across nearly every timeframe. ETH is trading near $1,700, roughly 66% below its August 2025 all-time high of $4,951.66, and sits below its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day exponential moving averages, a technical setup showing sustained weakness rather than a temporary dip. The 14-day RSI near 29 places Ethereum close to oversold territory, and while some analysts point to ETH spot ETF inflows and continued protocol development as longer-term positives, near-term price action tells a story of consolidation, not recovery. Vitalik Buterin’s own sale of ETH holdings earlier in 2026 added further pressure during the slide. Ethereum’s fundamentals as a smart contract platform remain intact, but the immediate technical structure offers little for investors looking for near-term upside.

Cardano News: Whale buying meets falling activity The biggest Cardano News this week is a split between accumulation and decline. ADA closed June at $0.1453, down nearly 40% for the month, even as wallets holding 10 million to 100 million ADA grew their share of supply from 37.66% to 38.13%, signaling whale conviction despite the drop. But on-chain activity tells a weaker story: daily transactions fell to around 17,400, a 45-day low, and smart contract transactions dropped sharply from a June 5 peak near 26,000. 

A separate exploit drained roughly $2.4 million in ADA from 374 addresses in late June, though EMURGO has confirmed a recovery path for affected wallets. Support sits near $0.1435, with resistance at $0.1596, leaving ADA in a fragile technical position heading into July.

The bottom line Ethereum and Cardano will likely recover eventually; they usually do. But “eventually” isn’t a strategy, and right now both are stuck defending support levels with no clear catalyst in sight, while an entirely different sector is pulling in capital at a pace neither can currently match. That’s the actual choice in front of anyone deciding where to put money this month: wait for two established assets to rebuild what they’ve lost, or get positioned early in a category still building its floor upward instead of downward. Stargate LLM’s presale, running Batch 1 at 50X below its launch target, is built specifically for that second option. ADA and ETH aren’t going anywhere. The question is whether the next twelve months belong to them catching back up, or to whoever got into AI before the rotation finished.

For more information, visit the official website, buy Stargare, X, and Telegram.

Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.

Top 3 Crypto to Watch in the Second Week of July 2026

Raphael Zagury, Tether’s former chief investment officer, is looking to sell his stake in the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin. The move would mark a rare liquidity event for an insider at one of crypto’s most profitable and opaque enterprises.

The planned sale arrives at an interesting moment. Tether has reportedly been exploring capital raises in the range of $15 billion to $20 billion, with potential valuations stretching as high as $500 billion.

A quiet exit from a loud company Zagury’s departure from Tether’s C-suite preceded this planned stake sale. After serving as CIO, he pivoted to leading Bitcoin mining initiatives through Elektron Energy, a venture that aligns with Tether’s own expanding footprint in mining operations.

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The specifics of the sale, including the size of the stake, potential buyers, and timeline, remain unclear.

When a former top executive at a company sitting on more than $187 billion in reported assets decides to sell, the market pays attention. Tether doesn’t trade on public markets. It doesn’t file quarterly earnings with the SEC. The only real window into its financials comes from periodic attestation reports and the occasional headline. A stake sale, even a private one, forces some level of price discovery.

The Tether empire keeps expanding Under CEO Paolo Ardoino, who took the top job in late 2023 after serving as CTO, Tether has been on an aggressive expansion tear. The company’s reserve assets are primarily held in US Treasuries.

Tether has made equity investments in firms like Rumble, the video platform, and Bit2Me, a European crypto exchange. It has pushed deeper into Bitcoin mining. And it has explored potential mergers tied to treasury operations and mining infrastructure.

Tether’s parent company, iFinex, retains considerable voting power in affiliated entities. That governance structure means even as individual stakeholders like Zagury look to cash out, operational control likely stays concentrated among a small group of decision-makers.

What this means for investors A $500 billion valuation would make Tether more valuable than all but a handful of US banks. Whether the market ultimately supports that number depends heavily on regulatory outcomes. US stablecoin legislation has been working its way through Congress, and the final shape of those rules will determine whether Tether can continue operating with its current level of autonomy or faces new compliance burdens that crimp margins.

The broader stablecoin competitive landscape is heating up. Circle, the issuer of USDC, has been pursuing its own public listing. PayPal already launched PYUSD. Every new entrant chips away at the argument that Tether’s dominance is permanent, even if USD₮ currently commands the lion’s share of stablecoin market capitalization.

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Former Tether chief investment officer Richard Heathcote is seeking to sell part of his 1.26% stake in the stablecoin issuer, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter.

Heathcote stepped down as Tether's chief investment officer in March to take an advisory role after overseeing the stablecoin issuer's investment portfolio. Bloomberg reported the planned sale involves only part of his 1.26% ownership stake.

Tether issues USDt (USDT), the world's largest stablecoin by market capitalization. With a circulating supply of roughly $184 billion, USDT accounts for roughly 59% of the stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama data.

The planned sale could offer a rare look at ownership in Tether, which remains privately held despite becoming one of the crypto industry's most profitable companies.

The sale also comes as Tether navigates regulatory pressure in Europe. USDT has been delisted by a growing number of MiCA-authorized platforms after Tether opted not to comply with the European Union's crypto framework, with Revolut announcing this month that it will remove the stablecoin from its platform.

Crypto companies weigh IPOs While Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has said outright that the stablecoin issuer does not need to go public, several other crypto companies are reportedly mulling initial public offerings (IPOs).

Kraken has taken several steps toward a public listing. Fortune reported in September 2025 that the crypto exchange had raised $500 million at a $15 billion valuation, fueling expectations that the exchange was preparing for an IPO.

Source: Paolo Ardoino

The company also announced it had confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering in November 2025. However, Bloomberg later reported that the IPO plans could be pushed back until 2027 following layoffs tied to the company's expanding use of artificial intelligence.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb also announced in April that it is delaying its IPO until after 2028 as it works to strengthen its accounting policies and internal controls following earlier regulatory setbacks.

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