Stellar [XLM] has been among the top chains when it comes to tokenization. However, it trails behind Securitize, Ondo Finance [ONDO], and Centrifuge [CFG], among others. They occupy the top three positions in terms of tokenized market cap.
Despite being among the trendy tokens, the price of XLM crypto is down about 2.60% in the past 24 hours, trading at around $0.1830. Interestingly, its chain activity remains sizeable.
XLM’s tokenization influence on its chain activity The tokenization narrative is making XLM crypto one of the trendiest chains. The good news is that its fault tolerance and institutional trust have been improved. This is because MoneyGram, Figure, and Range became XLM’s tier 1 validators.
On top of that, Stellar has partnered with DTCC to tokenize more than $114 trillion in securities by 2027. Moreover, Tradable would make a transfer of $1 billion in private credit through Stellar.
Both moves bridge traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), enhancing blockchain infrastructure in financial markets.
As such, it is expected to grow the market cap of tokenized securities on XLM even further. At press time, this cap had already exceeded $2.90 billion.
Source: rwa.xyz The tokenized stablecoin market cap on Stellar was above $689 million at press time. This showed a big chunk of capital was moving through the chain. This resulted in high network activity.
In fact, the number of transactions on XLM was averaging 5.5 million per day. In total, more than 37.9 million transactions were processed this week, reinforcing the chain’s usage for tokenization.
Source: Token Terminal XLM price prediction – Should traders buy? Despite the high network usage and a roadmap to tokenize $114 trillion in securities, the price of XLM is still lagging.
The altcoin has been consolidating in a symmetrical triangle pattern since late May. However, it’s nearing a breakout as it trades at the apex of the pattern. The breakout is anticipated because contraction is usually followed by expansion.
The lag is as a result of capital outflow, as the Money Flow Index (MFI) is declining but above the neutral level. Moreover, the MACD shows bears are in control, though their strength is minimal.
Source: XLM/USDT on TradingView A breakout and hold above the pattern would suggest prices are likely to go up. On the other hand, a breakdown would extend the bearish market structure that has been in place since last August.
Final Summary XLM crypto partners with DTCC to tokenize $114 trillion, as tokenization on the chain continues to grow and fuel network activity. XLM price action is trading inside a massive triangle pattern where a breakout on either side would determine the altcoin’s next trajectory.
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the non-profit organization backing the Stellar blockchain network, has announced exclusive integrations. In this respect, the Stellar network is adding MoneyGram, Range, and Figure Markets as Tier 1 validator platforms. As Stellar disclosed in its official press release, the development is set to fortify its decentralization, operational security, and resilience. Additionally, the move also expands the diversity of entities focused on validating transfers.
Stellar Network Expands Tier 1 Validator Network to Bolster Decentralization The integration of MoneyGram, Range, and Figure Markets into the Stellar network reflects the growing institutional focus on blockchain infrastructure developed for compliant financial services. These validators are anticipated to become completely integrated into the quorum configuration of Stellar by mid-August. Particularly, Tier 1 validators are crucial to maintaining the Stellar network. These platforms run diverse geographically disseminated validator nodes responsible for taking part in the Stellar Consensus Protocol. They enable the blockchain to effectively reach a consensus on its ledger’s state.
Unlike proof-of-stake or proof-of-work systems, the consensus model of Stellar permits validators to autonomously determine which members they trust, arranging quorum sets to collectively protect the network. Specifically, Tier 1 operators emerge as publicly detectable entities that maintain peak uptime levels while also contributing to the broader network reliability instead of earning straightforward financial rewards.
As SDF revealed, broadening the Tier 1 validator group notably enhances the fault tolerance of the blockchain. The move also assists in guaranteeing uninterrupted ecosystem activities even if diverse validator activities undergo outages simultaneously. It also enhances geographic, infrastructure, and industrial diversity, making the procedure of consensus more robust against operational hazards. While reflecting on this, Stellar Development Foundation’s Chief Growth Officer, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, mentioned that the protocol-level support for compliant financial controls, such as freezing, revoking, and approving assets, makes the ecosystem specifically adequate for institutional-level finance.
Advancing Compliant Finance with Stringent Tier 1 Validator Benchmarks According to the Stellar network, to be eligible as a Tier 1 validator, a company must run 3 geographically disseminated complete validators. Additionally, that organization needs to accomplish SEP-20 and SEP-1 self-verification benchmarks, actively collaborate with other Tier 1 platforms, and maintain a minimum of 99.9% uptime. Overall, the inclusion of the above-mentioned institutional participants highlights Stellar’s consistent focus on the development of enterprise-scale, transparent, and secure blockchain infrastructure for compliant finance.
AUTHOR
Umair Younas is a cryptocurrency-related content writer linked with this work since 2019. Here, at Blockchainreporter, he serves as a news and article writer. He is a crypto, blockchain, NFTs, DeFi, and FinTech enthusiast. He has strong command over writing authentic reviews about brokers and exchanges and he has collaborated with our education team to write educational content as well. He has a dream to raise awareness among people about digital currencies. His works are well-researched and brimmed with information hence they provide fresh insights. Stay tuned to his posts if you want to stay up-to-date with the crypto-verse.
Sovereign debt just showed up onchain. BitGo announced custody and off-exchange settlement services for USDM1, a USD-denominated bond issued by the Republic of the Marshall Islands and structured as the first natively issued onchain sovereign bond in history.
This is not a tokenized version of an existing bond. USDM1 was born onchain, designed from the ground up to live on Stellar, Ethereum, and Solana simultaneously.
What USDM1 actually is USDM1 is fully collateralized, structured under New York law, and backed 1:1 by short-duration U.S. Treasuries held in a bankruptcy-remote structure. Every USDM1 token has a real Treasury bill sitting behind it in a legally isolated account. If the issuer goes under, the collateral does not go with it.
The bond accrues value daily and comes with enforceable par redemption, meaning holders can redeem at face value under defined conditions. That feature alone separates it from most yield-bearing stablecoins, which offer similar economic exposure without the legal enforcement mechanisms.
Advertisement
USDM1 has potential compatibility with Level 1 High-Quality Liquid Asset treatment, subject to regulatory determinations. That is the same classification U.S. government bonds currently hold under Basel III liquidity rules. If regulators eventually agree, institutions could use USDM1 to satisfy liquidity buffer requirements.
What BitGo brings to the table BitGo’s role here is custody and settlement infrastructure. Institutional clients can hold USDM1 in segregated, regulated cold storage with offline key management.
BitGo enables T+0 off-exchange settlement around the clock. Traditional sovereign bond markets typically settle on a T+1 or T+2 basis. T+0 means settlement happens the same session, without requiring assets to move onto an exchange first. It reduces counterparty exposure during the settlement window and opens the door to using USDM1 in margin trading and treasury workflows.
BitGo also confirmed the arrangement includes industry-standard legal documentation, which matters for institutional prime brokers and custodians that have strict requirements around documentation before they will accept an asset as eligible collateral.
The Marshall Islands and a genuinely unusual use case The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a small Pacific island nation spread across more than 1,200 islands. The RMI embedded USDM1 directly into its 20-year nationwide Universal Basic Income program. The bond is actively being used to distribute government payments to citizens across islands that, in some cases, have limited access to conventional banking.
That dual function—yield-bearing institutional asset and government disbursement rail—is genuinely novel. It demonstrates that a sovereign government can issue debt natively on public blockchains, use that debt to fund domestic programs, and simultaneously offer it to institutional investors through regulated custody channels.
What this means for institutional crypto and sovereign finance Rather than tokenizing an instrument that already exists in traditional markets, the RMI issued the bond directly onchain from day one. A natively onchain sovereign bond does not require a bridge between legacy settlement systems and blockchain rails. The asset starts onchain, settles onchain, and accrues yield onchain.
The multi-chain deployment across Stellar, Ethereum, and Solana is a deliberate choice. Stellar has deep roots in cross-border payment corridors. Ethereum remains the dominant layer for institutional DeFi and tokenized assets. Solana offers throughput and low transaction costs that make it viable for high-frequency settlement operations.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Chainlink is holding near a key support area while the market continues to judge whether its cross-chain infrastructure story can turn into durable demand for LINK.
The token has been trading around levels that matter to short-term traders, but the larger Chainlink conversation is not only about price. It is about whether CCIP, data feeds, and institutional integrations can keep moving from announcements into real usage.
That distinction matters. Chainlink has one of the clearest infrastructure narratives in crypto, especially around oracles, tokenization, and cross-chain communication. But infrastructure narratives take time to prove themselves. The market wants adoption, volume, and recurring demand — not just another list of integrations.
For LINK holders, the current support test is therefore about more than the chart.
TL;DR Chainlink is holding near a key support zone as traders watch LINK’s next move. CCIP adoption remains central to the longer-term Chainlink story. The market wants evidence that integrations are translating into sustained usage and demand. Chainlink’s Story Is Bigger Than One Price Level Chainlink is not a typical altcoin story.
The project sits underneath a large part of the crypto infrastructure stack through oracle services, data feeds, automation, proof-of-reserve tools, and cross-chain messaging. That makes it important even when LINK price action is quiet.
The problem for traders is that infrastructure value does not always translate cleanly into token momentum. A new integration can be useful. A major institution can test Chainlink tools. CCIP can expand across ecosystems. But the market still has to decide how much of that activity should be reflected in LINK’s price.
That is why support levels matter in the short term, but they do not tell the whole story.
If LINK holds support while adoption keeps growing, bulls can argue that the market is gradually pricing in Chainlink’s role as cross-chain infrastructure. If support fails despite continued announcements, traders may question whether the token is capturing enough of the network’s relevance.
The current setup sits between those two readings.
CCIP Is The Part Traders Keep Coming Back To Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol has become one of the most important parts of its market narrative.
CCIP is designed to help move data and value across blockchains in a more secure and standardised way. That matters because crypto remains fragmented. Liquidity, assets, applications, and users are spread across many networks, and institutions are unlikely to tolerate messy bridging risk at scale.
If CCIP becomes a widely used standard, Chainlink’s position in the market strengthens.
CCIP activity and integrations are the key areas to watch in the current Chainlink setup. That is the right area to watch. The market does not need another vague infrastructure claim. It needs evidence that real projects, institutions, or networks are using Chainlink tools in ways that create recurring demand.
That evidence can come through transaction volume, value transferred, integrations moving into production, and institutional use cases that go beyond pilot programmes.
Until then, CCIP remains a strong narrative with a live adoption test.
LINK Needs Usage To Beat The Altcoin Cycle Like other major altcoins, LINK still trades inside the broader crypto liquidity cycle.
When risk appetite is strong, infrastructure tokens can rally as investors look for high-quality altcoin exposure. When the market weakens, even strong projects can fall if capital rotates back to Bitcoin, stablecoins, or cash.
That is why Chainlink’s support area matters now. It shows whether buyers are willing to defend LINK during a less forgiving market.
The stronger case for LINK is that Chainlink has a clearer utility story than many altcoins. Its tools are used across DeFi, data, and cross-chain environments. It is also one of the few crypto projects that regularly appears in conversations about institutional infrastructure.
The weaker case is that token demand remains hard to model. Traders may believe Chainlink is important while still questioning whether LINK captures enough of that importance during quieter market periods.
That tension is not new, but it is becoming more important as the market matures.
If CCIP usage continues expanding and LINK holds support, the token could regain attention as an infrastructure play rather than a short-term altcoin trade. If usage data remains unclear and support breaks, traders may wait for a better entry or stronger confirmation.
For now, Chainlink’s story remains intact, but the market wants more proof. The next phase depends on whether adoption becomes visible enough to support the price narrative.
This article is based on information from Chainlink.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Andrew McCormick, Chainlink Labs’ Head of Institutional and Market Development, isn’t being subtle about how he sees the CLARITY Act. During a livestream on June 26, he called it “the biggest imaginable unlock for institutions to allocate at scale.”
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, formally known as H.R. 3633, has been slowly grinding through the legislative machinery since it passed the House last year. It hit a notable milestone in May 2026 when the Senate Banking Committee advanced a substitute version with a 15-9 vote.
Why 90-year-old laws are the real problem McCormick identified three primary blockers preventing wider adoption of tokenized assets. First, regulatory clarity, which is exactly what the CLARITY Act aims to provide. Second, trust and confidence, meaning institutions need to believe the infrastructure won’t collapse under them. Third, education, because a surprising number of decision-makers at major financial firms still don’t fully understand how tokenization works or why it matters.
Advertisement
The CLARITY Act tackles the first blocker head-on by drawing clear jurisdictional lines. Digital commodities would fall primarily under CFTC oversight, while the SEC would retain limited jurisdiction over specific primary-market transactions. Right now, the ambiguity over which agency has authority over what has kept compliance departments at major banks in a permanent state of paralysis.
What this means for tokenized real-world assets McCormick specifically highlighted tokenized equities as a category that could see significant activity once regulatory clarity arrives. Multiple major financial institutions have been running pilot programs and proof-of-concept projects in this space, but actual scaled deployment has been limited precisely because of the legal fog.
Chainlink executives have framed the CLARITY Act as a once-in-a-decade legislative opportunity.
The broader legislative picture The CLARITY Act doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The GENIUS Act, focused on stablecoins, represents another piece of the puzzle. Together, these bills signal that Congress is moving toward a comprehensive approach rather than piecemeal rulemaking.
McCormick was appointed to his role at Chainlink Labs on June 4, 2026, making his public advocacy for the CLARITY Act one of his early priorities in the position.
What investors should be watching If the CLARITY Act becomes law, the immediate beneficiaries would be firms providing the infrastructure that makes institutional onchain finance possible. Oracle networks and cross-chain services, which are Chainlink’s core business, would see increased demand as more traditional financial activity moves onchain.
There’s also a competitive dimension. Jurisdictions like the EU, with its MiCA framework already in effect, Singapore, and the UAE have been actively courting the same institutional capital that the CLARITY Act is designed to attract.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Chainlink (LINK), a decentralized oracle network focused on providing secure data feeds to blockchains, is drawing renewed attention as it deepens its integration in the evolving tokenized asset sector. With financial institutions seeking greater exposure to blockchain-based finance, Chainlink has emphasized its expanding role in accelerating tokenization trends.
Spotlight on tokenization initiativesChainlink recently highlighted its position as a central force in the “multi-trillion-dollar tokenization megatrend,” naming ecosystem participants such as Ondo, Robinhood, Maple, Centrifuge, OpenEden, and Securitize who are collaborating on tokenized finance solutions. This initiative underscores the network’s focus on supporting tokenized stocks, funds, and other real-world assets, underscoring Chainlink’s growing influence among institutions exploring blockchain finance.
Chainlink described itself as “the center of the multi-trillion-dollar tokenization megatrend” as it showcased partners participating in the project, including both DeFi-native companies and regulated financial firms.
The protocol’s infrastructure connects various blockchains and traditional systems, enabling interoperability that is essential for the evolving tokenization landscape. As institutions aim to bridge legacy assets to blockchain networks, Chainlink’s suite of oracle services and cross-chain tools continue to see increased adoption.
Mini dictionary: Tokenization is the process of converting real-world assets such as stocks, bonds, or property into digital tokens that can be traded and managed on blockchains. It enables increased liquidity, faster settlements, and wider access to financial instruments.
Price action finds support amid technical signalsLINK is trading at $8.16, reflecting a decline of 2.16% over the past 24 hours. The price remains below the immediate resistance at $8.58, which coincides with the upper Bollinger Band and acts as a ceiling for further gains in the near term. However, LINK has recovered above the middle Bollinger Band, suggesting a moderation in recent selling pressure.
Technical data from TradingView points to a stable On-Balance Volume (OBV) near 895 million, indicating buyers are maintaining positions rather than exiting, despite the recent price drop. Analysts note that a close above $8.58 could reinforce a bullish trend, potentially targeting higher resistance levels. Conversely, a close below $7.98 could put the next key support at $7.48 in focus.
Price LevelTypeSignificance$8.58ResistanceUpper Bollinger Band$8.16Current priceSpot rate$7.98SupportPotential breakdown point$7.48SupportNext lower supportDerivatives market signals rising interestCoinGlass data shows LINK’s open interest has grown to roughly $450 million—one of its highest recent readings. This surge in open interest comes as LINK’s price consolidates, often interpreted by traders as an influx of new capital readying the token for a significant move. While increased open interest is not a definitive indicator of future direction, it often points to heightened market engagement.
Rising open interest alongside stable prices suggests traders are positioning for potential volatility, indicating that LINK may soon break above or below its established range.
Investors continue to watch whether Chainlink’s strategic position in tokenized finance, supported by growing institutional adoption, can help the asset gain momentum above key resistance levels. Recent developments position the protocol as a key enabler for the broader adoption of blockchain technology by established financial entities.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 network just made its clearest play yet for mainstream adoption. Base launched the Base Account on July 16, 2025, a new smart wallet infrastructure layer that automatically creates a self-custodial account the moment someone signs up for the Base app.
The feature is called “Sign in with Base,” and it works across apps and chains.
What Base Account actually does When a user signs up for the Base app, a self-custodial smart account is automatically generated. The feature set includes cross-app compatibility, meaning one account works across multiple applications built on Base and other chains. There’s also Base Pay, which enables one-tap USDC payments. Sponsored gas fees are baked in as well, meaning users don’t need to hold ETH to transact. Transaction batching is another inclusion, allowing multiple operations to be bundled into a single action.
Advertisement
The Sub Accounts feature, which hit mainnet in Q2 2025 after a successful testnet rollout, laid the groundwork for this broader account infrastructure. Sub Accounts let applications create isolated account contexts within a user’s main wallet, useful for separating funds across different dApps without managing multiple wallets.
The 2026 roadmap: Beryl and Cobalt First up is Beryl, targeted for June 25, 2026. This upgrade introduces B20, a new native token standard designed to facilitate further abstraction improvements.
Then comes Cobalt in September 2026. Cobalt will establish native account abstraction at the protocol level, meaning gas sponsorship and transaction batching won’t be features bolted on top of the network — they’ll be built into the foundation. Every account on Base would essentially be a smart account with built-in capabilities that currently require third-party infrastructure.
The AI angle Base has been increasingly explicit about building “agent-native infrastructure,” and the smart account improvements feed directly into that strategy. Traditional externally owned accounts, controlled by private keys, require a single signer and lack programmable logic. Smart accounts with features like transaction batching and gas sponsorship are better suited for autonomous agents that need to execute complex multi-step operations. The combination of Base Account’s current features and the Cobalt upgrade’s native account abstraction creates an environment where AI agents could operate with the same ease as human users.
What this means for investors The introduction of these features has not yet triggered significant market price changes or expert commentary directly linked to the smart accounts announcement.
For the broader Ethereum ecosystem, Base’s roadmap creates competitive dynamics against other Layer 2 networks including Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync. Base has a specific advantage in Coinbase’s existing verified user base. “Sign in with Base” could become a path from centralized exchange user to on-chain participant.
Investors watching Base should track three things over the next twelve months: daily active smart accounts post-launch, developer adoption of Sub Accounts and Base Pay integrations, and whether the Beryl timeline holds.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Binance will open spot trading for Aerodrome Finance’s AERO token at 19:00 UTC+8 on July 17, pairing the asset with USDT, USDC, and the Turkish lira. The exchange is applying its Seed Tag to AERO from the outset, the original report from WuBlockchain confirmed, marking the world’s largest crypto venue’s first direct listing of a Base-native decentralized exchange token.
The listing comes while deposits will only open an hour after trading begins, and withdrawals are scheduled for 19:00 UTC+8 on July 18. That sequencing tends to create a period where early price action relies on existing off-exchange supply, often triggering volatility before the full market can rebalance. For AERO, that could mean a sharp initial move before selling pressure from depositors kicks in.
Why Aerodrome Matters for Base Aerodrome is the central liquidity engine on Base, the Layer 2 network incubated by Coinbase. The protocol uses AERO to reward liquidity providers and to operate its vote-lock governance model, giving users a direct stake in directing emissions. In practice, it functions as a DeFi hub where trading, incentives, and protocol control are tightly bundled, making it critical infrastructure for Base’s on-chain economy.
Binance’s decision to list a token so closely tied to a single L2 says more about Base’s institutional profile than about Aerodrome alone. Base has quietly accumulated over $1 billion in total value locked, and Aerodrome captures the bulk of that decentralized trading volume. Giving AERO a direct USDT, USDC, and fiat on-ramp could funnel retail and even some institutional flow into the ecosystem, something that previously required bridging and swapping via other assets. It’s a liquidity upgrade, not just a token listing.
The Seed Tag Warning Binance applies its Seed Tag to tokens considered high-risk, often because of low liquidity, short track records, or early-stage project volatility. Traders are required to pass periodic quizzes to maintain access to these assets, and the exchange reserves the right to delist without the usual notice period. In AERO’s case, the tag arrives simultaneously with the listing, a signal that while the token is welcome on the platform, Binance is not endorsing it as a stable holding.
What this means for market structure is a split between speculative access and formal hedging. Institutional desks that operate on Binance may treat a Seed Tag token as uninvestable until it matures into a regular listing, limiting order book depth from larger players. Meanwhile, retail traders in Turkey—where the TRY pair opens direct lira access—could face the double edge of high volatility and a fiat on-ramp that doesn’t require stablecoins. That combination has sometimes accelerated local flows in past emerging-market pair launches.
Liquidity, Risk, and What Comes Next Exchange listings remain a powerful short-term catalyst in crypto, but the post-listing trajectory depends heavily on whether new capital enters the protocol. AERO’s price will be tested against the reality that liquidity providers can sell rewards, and governance stakers may unlock large positions. If the listing brings sustained volume to Aerodrome’s pools, the protocol and the token could reinforce each other. If not, the Seed Tag may quickly become a secondary concern next to price action.
The broader picture includes a DeFi environment where real-world asset tokenization on-chain has crossed $20 billion, as recent on-chain data suggests, and where specific tokens have surged on institutional staking narratives after exchange support—a pattern visible in the SUI price run earlier this year. AERO sits inside that same macro current, but with a much sharper risk profile given its single-chain dependency and the Seed Tag’s cautionary framing.
What remains uncertain is whether Binance will eventually remove the tag if Aerodrome proves resilient, and whether other major exchanges follow with their own AERO pairs. For now, the listing gives the Base DeFi scene its most direct bridge to centralized exchange liquidity, but leaves traders to decide how much weight to give the warning label hanging over the trade.
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.
OKX Europe has launched a one-way conversion feature allowing customers to deposit USDT and convert it into USDC, offering a regulated migration path as the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules limit support for the world’s largest stablecoin.
According to a company announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the feature lets customers deposit Tether’s USDt (USDT) into their OKX Europe account and convert the tokens into USDC (USDC), one of the largest stablecoins available under the European Union’s MiCA framework.
Tether has not obtained authorization to issue USDT under MiCA, prompting many European platforms to restrict deposits, delist trading pairs or convert customer balances into compliant alternatives as the European Union completed the framework’s rollout on July 1.
OKX Europe said the feature is designed for customers whose existing platforms no longer accept USDT or plan to migrate their balances automatically. The exchange said conversions can be completed at the customer’s discretion rather than through a platform-imposed deadline.
The move comes even as USDT remains the dominant stablecoin globally. According to DefiLlama, Tether accounts for about 59% of the nearly $310 billion stablecoin market, with a market capitalization of roughly $184 billion, compared with about $73 billion for Circle’s USDC.
OKX Europe serves customers across 30 EU and European Economic Area countries under its MiCA license.
Source: DefiLlama
Why did Tether reject MiCA?Tether has defended its decision not to seek MiCA authorization for USDT, even as the move prompted many European crypto platforms to delist or restrict the stablecoin. Since the EU’s regulatory framework began taking effect in late 2024, exchanges across the region have been shifting users toward MiCA-compliant alternatives.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has repeatedly criticized MiCA, arguing its reserve requirements create unnecessary risks for stablecoin issuers by requiring a portion of reserves to be held with European credit institutions.
In a May 2025 interview with Cointelegraph, Ardoino described the framework as “very dangerous when it comes to stablecoins,” saying Tether chose not to pursue authorization despite the likelihood that USDT would lose support on European exchanges.
The company has shown little sign of changing course. In a July 2025 post on X, Ardoino said Tether would reconsider seeking MiCA authorization only “when MiCA becomes safer for consumers and stablecoin issuers.”
Source: Paolo Ardoino
Recently, digital banking platform Revolut said it will stop supporting USDT for customers in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, giving users until Aug. 31 to sell or withdraw their holdings before automatically converting any remaining balances into their base currency.
Magazine: The British Virgin Islands are a top crypto hub no one ever talks about: Here’s why
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.
OKX Europe has launched a one-way conversion feature allowing customers to deposit USDT and convert it into USDC, offering a regulated migration path as the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules limit support for the world’s largest stablecoin.
According to a company announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the feature lets customers deposit Tether’s USDt (USDT) into their OKX Europe account and convert the tokens into USDC (USDC), one of the largest stablecoins available under the European Union’s MiCA framework.
Tether has not obtained authorization to issue USDT under MiCA, prompting many European platforms to restrict deposits, delist trading pairs or convert customer balances into compliant alternatives as the European Union completed the framework’s rollout on July 1.
OKX Europe said the feature is designed for customers whose existing platforms no longer accept USDT or plan to migrate their balances automatically. The exchange said conversions can be completed at the customer’s discretion rather than through a platform-imposed deadline.
The move comes even as USDT remains the dominant stablecoin globally. According to DefiLlama, Tether accounts for about 59% of the nearly $310 billion stablecoin market, with a market capitalization of roughly $184 billion, compared with about $73 billion for Circle’s USDC.
OKX Europe serves customers across 30 EU and European Economic Area countries under its MiCA license.
Source: DefiLlama
Why did Tether reject MiCA?Tether has defended its decision not to seek MiCA authorization for USDT, even as the move prompted many European crypto platforms to delist or restrict the stablecoin. Since the EU’s regulatory framework began taking effect in late 2024, exchanges across the region have been shifting users toward MiCA-compliant alternatives.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has repeatedly criticized MiCA, arguing its reserve requirements create unnecessary risks for stablecoin issuers by requiring a portion of reserves to be held with European credit institutions.
In a May 2025 interview with Cointelegraph, Ardoino described the framework as “very dangerous when it comes to stablecoins,” saying Tether chose not to pursue authorization despite the likelihood that USDT would lose support on European exchanges.
The company has shown little sign of changing course. In a July 2025 post on X, Ardoino said Tether would reconsider seeking MiCA authorization only “when MiCA becomes safer for consumers and stablecoin issuers.”
Source: Paolo Ardoino
Recently, digital banking platform Revolut said it will stop supporting USDT for customers in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, giving users until Aug. 31 to sell or withdraw their holdings before automatically converting any remaining balances into their base currency.
Magazine: The British Virgin Islands are a top crypto hub no one ever talks about: Here’s why
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.
OKX Europe is now letting users in the European Economic Area swap their USDT holdings into MiCA-compliant stablecoins like USDC and USDG.
The move comes ahead of the July 1, 2026 deadline, when licensed platforms in the EU will no longer be permitted to offer non-compliant stablecoins to European users. Tether, the issuer behind USDT and its roughly $175 billion to $186 billion market cap, has not pursued MiCA authorization and has shown no signs of changing course.
What’s actually happening OKX Europe, which secured its MiCA Crypto-Asset Services Provider license on January 27, 2025, now fully supports USDC (issued by Circle) and USDG (issued by Paxos) for deposits, trading, and related services including the OKX Card. The conversion feature gives European customers a voluntary path to move their USDT into these compliant alternatives.
Once July 1, 2026 arrives, any exchange operating under MiCA rules will be required to stop offering non-compliant tokens to EEA users entirely.
Advertisement
To sweeten the transition, OKX is offering up to an 8% deposit bonus for assets moved from non-MiCA platforms starting from the enforcement of the new regulations.
OKX has partnered with Circle to enable global 1:1 USD-to-USDC conversions, reinforcing the liquidity infrastructure needed to make USDC a credible USDT replacement on its platform.
The great European USDT exodus USDT trading volumes on EU platforms have already dropped significantly, with some exchanges reporting declines exceeding 70%.
Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken have all either delisted or restricted USDT trading for European users in response to MiCA requirements.
Background: MiCA and the stablecoin shakeup MiCA is the EU’s attempt to create a unified regulatory framework for crypto across all member states. For stablecoins specifically, the regulation requires issuers to obtain authorization as electronic money institutions, maintain adequate reserves, and meet transparency requirements.
Circle, the company behind USDC, obtained its MiCA license relatively early, positioning itself as the natural beneficiary of any USDT restrictions in Europe. Paxos, which issues USDG, took a similar compliance-first approach.
What this means for investors For European crypto users holding USDT, the practical question isn’t whether to convert, but when. Waiting until the last moment before the July 2026 deadline risks running into congestion, potential slippage, or reduced conversion options as platforms finalize their compliance postures.
The broader implication is a fragmentation of stablecoin liquidity along regulatory lines. European markets are increasingly denominated in USDC and USDG, while USDT continues to dominate in Asia and other regions with less prescriptive stablecoin rules.
The competitive landscape between USDC and USDG in Europe is also worth monitoring. Circle has a significant head start in brand recognition and institutional partnerships, but Paxos has its own regulatory credentials and backing.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Venice AI updates its token economics: introduces a buyback mechanism and raises the supply cap for DIEM.
Venice AI has issued an announcement updating its token economics, with two primary changes: First, a new programmed burn mechanism: For every $100 worth of API credits purchased, $5 will be allocated to buy VVV on the open market and permanently burn the tokens. Second, DIEM’s supply target has been raised for the first time, from 38,000 to 40,000 (an increase of 2,000 units). The adjustment will be rolled out in phases, with the full target expected to be achieved by September 14.
2 hours ago
Trump Media Company prices exclusive early access to Trump’s posts at $100,000 per month.
According to the Financial Times, Trump Media & Technology Group is pitching a $100,000 monthly service to clients that delivers fast access to former President Donald Trump’s posts. Earlier reports noted that Trump Media would sell premium, faster access to posts on its Truth Social platform; the new service allows traders and investors to pay for real-time pushes of Truth Social content. This data feed service will launch next month for institutional clients, including high-frequency algorithmic trading firms.
2 hours ago
Cardano will hand over control of its core software to an external team starting in August.
Cardano developer Input Output will transfer control of key blockchain components—including Haskell nodes, the Plutus platform, and the Daedalus wallet—to external professional teams starting in August, as part of its multi-year decentralization initiative. Independent firms such as Se7en Labs and Teragone will oversee portions of the core infrastructure. At least three Cardano implementations will be maintained in Haskell, Rust, and Go, under community oversight and formal specification management. Cardano is currently grappling with weak network activity and a sharp drop in the ADA token’s price. Founder Charles Hoskinson framed the restructuring and ecosystem-related setbacks as necessary "growing pains" on the path to full decentralization.
2 hours ago
France blocks prediction market Polymarket.
French gambling regulator ANJ announced on July 17 that Polymarket’s website will be blocked in France, following its November 2024 ban on financial transactions with the platform. The ANJ stated that the site’s ongoing operation—with real-time updated odds for various events—qualifies as advertising. Even after banning French accounts from conducting trades on Polymarket, accesses to the platform from French internet addresses have continued to rise, reaching 578,751 visits in June.
2 hours ago
Meta is in talks with Anthropic over a computing power leasing agreement, with the potential deal valued at up to $10 billion.
According to The New York Times, Meta Platforms is in talks with Anthropic over a computing power leasing agreement, with the potential deal size reaching up to $10 billion for a two-year term. The negotiations remain in the early stages. Additionally, market data from BIT (bit.com) shows Meta's share decline has narrowed to 3%.
2 hours ago
Serenity: Its investment portfolio has posted a nearly 50% drawdown this month, and it firmly believes that the current round of adjustment is merely leverage-driven volatility, with its growth logic remaining intact.
Serenity posted a statement noting that their portfolio suffered a 49.4% drawdown this month, with main holdings concentrated in AI bottleneck sectors including memory, photonics, robotics, and upstream semiconductors. Serenity acknowledged pressure from the short-term market crash, but maintained that the volatility stems from liquidity and leverage rather than a breakdown in the structural growth logic of these fields.
Dash, a digital payments-focused cryptocurrency launched in 2014, has rolled out a new privacy system called Orchard designed to strengthen user anonymity and transaction confidentiality. The system leverages Zcash’s zero-knowledge proof technology, enabling users to send Dash while shielding the sender, recipient, and amount from public view.
Mainnet launch and transaction improvementsThe Dash Core team announced on X that Orchard pools were activated immediately, emphasizing faster confirmation speeds. According to the developers, transactions on Orchard can be confirmed in approximately one second, while wallet synchronization now takes roughly 20 seconds.
Previously, Dash depended on its PrivateSend feature, which mixed user coins through CoinJoin to obscure transaction trails. PrivateSend provided a degree of fungibility, but required pooling multiple user transactions to make tracing more difficult.
With Orchard, Dash transitions to a cryptographically advanced approach. The system implements zero-knowledge proofs, allowing the network to confirm transaction validity without revealing any participant details or transaction amounts. This represents a significant privacy upgrade compared to the older, mixing-based model.
Dash’s mainnet activation marks the beginning of a new era for privacy on its network, with the team reporting that users can now send funds with the details fully hidden from the public ledger.
Samuel Westrich, chief technology officer of Dash Core Group, described Orchard’s open-source code as mature and relatively straightforward to integrate. The upgrade has been deployed on Dash Evolution, the project’s updated chain introduced in 2024 to deliver faster transaction times and support for token-based applications.
Currently, Orchard covers standard Dash transfers. The team has announced plans to extend privacy features to stablecoins and other digital assets in the future.
Mini dictionary: Zero-knowledge proof — A cryptographic method allowing one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. This is often used in privacy coins to keep sensitive transaction data confidential.
Zcash bug and market responseOrchard’s implementation on Dash arrives at a turbulent time for Zcash, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency that originally developed the Orchard system. On May 29, 2026, security researcher Taylor Hornby discovered a flaw in Zcash’s Orchard circuit. The bug had existed since Orchard’s activation in May 2022, raising concerns about Zcash’s total supply integrity.
This vulnerability could have allowed the creation of counterfeit Zcash tokens in complete secrecy due to Orchard’s privacy features. Following disclosure on June 4, Zcash (ZEC) experienced a steep price decline, falling from about $602 to around $299, marking a drop of more than 50%.
Zcash developers rapidly addressed the bug through an emergency update and have stated they found no evidence of the flaw being exploited.
The upcoming Ironwood update, scheduled for July 28 at block height 3,428,143, introduces a “turnstile” accounting system to cap total supply and enable verification in case counterfeit coins were created.
Dash’s new privacy system uses Orchard technology but operates independently from Zcash’s network. Despite technical similarities, no part of the bug discovered in Zcash affects Dash directly. However, the timing of Dash’s adoption of Orchard comes only weeks after Zcash’s critical incident.
CoinOrchard ActivationRecent Security BugMarket ImpactDashJune 2026No+0.2% daily increaseZcashMay 2022Yes, May 2026-50% after bug disclosureThe Dash market showed little reaction to the Orchard integration. On the day of the announcement, Dash edged up by just 0.2%, maintaining a market capitalization near $431 million and ranking 84th among cryptocurrencies by market value.
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.
PANews July 18 news, according to FinanceFeeds reports, security researchers have discovered an information-stealing malware targeting macOS devices that is attacking crypto users. By hijacking Telegram Desktop sessions, stealing passwords and wallet databases, it can further take over user accounts and steal digital assets. Currently affected wallets and applications include software wallets such as Exodus, Atomic, Electrum, Wasabi, and Monero. This malware can extract sensitive information from the macOS Keychain, Safari Cookies, Apple Notes, Telegram Desktop, and databases related to multiple crypto wallets, including login credentials, authenticated session files, wallet data, and browser extension information.
Security analysis points out that the dangerous nature of this attack chain lies in the fact that it does not rely on a single wallet vulnerability. Instead, it collects multiple types of data from the device, stringing together device intrusion, account takeover, wallet cracking, and seed phrase theft. Among these, Telegram Desktop sessions have become a primary target. Attackers can copy authenticated Telegram local session data and restore the login on another Mac device without needing to enter a phone number, verification code, or Telegram two-factor authentication password. This means that Telegram 2FA cannot provide complete protection in this attack scenario, because the attacker is not performing a new login but exploiting an already trusted local session.
For crypto users, the risk is further amplified. Since Telegram is widely used for exchange customer service, project communities, OTC trading, and wallet communication, once an attacker gains user session permissions, they may impersonate the victim’s identity, read private chats, locate asset information, and even spread malicious links to contacts.
The US government has moved millions in Ethereum from seized crypto wallets tied to a major exchange collapse straight into a leading institutional trading platform.
Officials transferred roughly 4,820 ETH worth about $9.29 million at time of publishing, from FTX and Alameda Research-linked addresses to Coinbase Prime.
The blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence first spotted the transaction.
“ALERT: The US Government has just moved another $9M ETH seized from FTX/Alameda.
The US Government just deposited $9.29M ETH to Coinbase Prime. Will they be selling this, or returning it to creditors?”
The deposit adds to previous government sales of confiscated digital assets recovered from the failed exchange amid the continued liquidation of assets seized from FTX bankruptcy proceedings.
FTX will begin distributing roughly $900 million to creditors on July 31 as the collapsed crypto exchange continues repayments under its Chapter 11 reorganization plan.
The payment will mark FTX’s fifth distribution since creditor repayments began in 2025. The bankruptcy estate distributed $2.2 billion in March and has now returned nearly $10 billion to creditors and other claimants.
The latest distribution covers holders of allowed claims in the Convenience and Non Convenience Classes who completed the required steps by the June 16 record date.
Eligible creditors are expected to receive funds through BitGo, Kraken or Payoneer within one to three business days after the distribution begins.
Advertisement
Allowed Class 5A Dotcom Customer Entitlement Claims will receive an additional 9%, bringing cumulative distributions to 105%.
Allowed Class 5B US Customer Entitlement Claims will receive an additional 5%, also bringing cumulative distributions to 105%.
General Unsecured Claims and Digital Asset Loan Claims will each receive another 3%, raising their cumulative distributions to 103%. Convenience Claims will reach a cumulative recovery of 120%.
The Convenience Class generally covers retail customers and smaller creditors, while the Non Convenience Classes include larger or more complex claims.
FTX has sought to provide retail creditor recoveries above the dollar value of their approved claims. However, the process has faced criticism because customer claims were valued based on cryptocurrency prices at the time of the exchange’s collapse in 2022 rather than repaid using the original digital assets.
Customers who selected a distribution provider have directed FTX to send their payments directly to that provider. Creditors seeking to qualify for future distributions must complete identity verification, submit tax forms and onboard with BitGo, Kraken or Payoneer.
FTX will also distribute $18 million to eligible preferred equity holders on July 31, bringing total payments from the Preferred Shareholder Remission Fund Trust to $95 million.
The estate has continued pursuing settlements connected to the exchange’s collapse. In May, law firm Fenwick & West agreed to pay $54 million to resolve claims that it helped enable misconduct at FTX before the company filed for bankruptcy.
FTX warned creditors to remain alert for phishing emails and fraudulent websites impersonating its claims portal, noting that it will never ask customers to connect a crypto wallet.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Curve DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization known for its automated market maker optimizing stablecoin trading, may be positioned for a trend change as CRV’s selling pressure shows signs of exhaustion and market participants start to return to the buying side. Recent stability in CRV price action and notable growth within the Curve protocol ecosystem have sparked renewed optimism among traders and analysts.
CRV market structure signals potential reversalCRV is currently priced at $0.2142, exhibiting a 24-hour trading volume of $40.96 million and a total market capitalization of $329.78 million. Although overall market conditions for altcoins remain subdued, technical patterns are generating hopes for an imminent bullish reversal.
Crypto With Gopal, a digital asset analyst who focuses on DeFi trends, has observed that the CRV price is moving inside a falling wedge pattern, commonly considered a precursor to a breakout. After undergoing an extended price correction, the narrowing band implies that downward momentum is waning and that bullish interest is gradually returning.
Analysts have highlighted that if CRV can maintain support at lower wedge levels and resist further downside movement, this would strengthen the potential for an upside breakout. Should the price move decisively above wedge resistance with accompanying high volume, it could open the door for a rally towards the $0.23 resistance.
Sustaining current support zones remains critical for bullish sentiment. Unless CRV closes above its descending trendline, a broader upward move may remain delayed.
LlamaLend V2 brings new lending features to Curve ecosystemCurve Finance reported that its decentralized lending protocol, LlamaLend V2, is approaching launch on the Ethereum blockchain. The protocol is expected to introduce risk-isolated lending markets, flexible asset pairing, and integration with the Curve liquidity network.
A key update includes the ability to use Curve LP tokens as collateral, allowing liquidity providers to unlock value from their deposits without needing to exit their positions.
Mini dictionary: LlamaLend is a decentralized lending platform developed by Curve Finance, enabling users to borrow against liquidity pool tokens while minimizing protocol-wide risks.
LlamaLend V2’s rollout will be governed by Curve’s decision-making process, emphasizing a gradual and coordinated launch of venues and features.
FeatureLlamaLend V1LlamaLend V2Collateral optionsLimitedExpanded, including Curve LP tokensLending marketsMainly pooledRisk-isolated, customizableIntegrationStandaloneTighter Curve ecosystem integrationRolloutSingle releaseGradual, governance-ledBroader market pressure and outlookDespite Curve’s positive developments and analysts’ bullish forecasts, the CRV price continues to track broader negative sentiment in the digital asset market, closely mirroring price declines in leading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
If CRV breaks out from its falling wedge and overcomes key resistance levels, a rapid surge in buying activity may follow. Such a move could amplify the impact of upcoming protocol upgrades and provide renewed momentum for Curve DAO’s market presence.
LlamaLend V2’s introduction is anticipated to improve lending efficiency and expand collateral use cases across the DeFi ecosystem, potentially strengthening user engagement and liquidity on Curve.
Market observers believe the next decisive price movement in CRV will hinge both on overcoming technical resistance and the successful rollout of LlamaLend V2, which could reshape lending within the platform.
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.
TL;DR. One command spins up a working Hedera dapp with Next.js, a choice of Hardhat or Foundry, and AI agent context already wired in. Eight built-in templates at launch with more shipping through the year, plus a flagship cross-chain index strategy that takes ETH on Base and ends up holding native HBAR and an HTS token on Hedera. Built in the open with Buidler Labs.
npm create scaffold-hbar@latest Why scaffold-hbar Exists Bootstrapping a dapp typically means picking an SDK, hunting through examples, and stitching config together before the first transaction lands on testnet. scaffold-hbar collapses that into a single command, so prototypes ship in seconds rather than days. The templates ship with the patterns Hedera builders ask for most often, so projects start from best-practice foundations rather than a blank file.
New to Hedera? It’s the fastest way in. Already building? It’s a modern monorepo template built around Next.js, RainbowKit, and the scaffold-ui component library.
Three principles define scaffold-hbar:
Multichain-first — Hedera as part of a multichain stack, not isolated. AI-native — AI coding agents are first-class users of the toolchain. Pick your tools — developer ergonomics over forced migration. Multichain-First, Not Hedera-Only Many Hedera builders ship across multiple chains. scaffold-hbar treats that as the default, with bridge primitives wired in from the start, so multichain projects start from a working baseline rather than a blank Solidity file.
The bridge template ships with LayerZero, Chainlink CCIP, and Axelar wired in. The wiring is a solid starting point for production work. Going to production from there is the developer’s call, with the modifications, integration testing, and security audits any cross-chain deployment warrants.
The flagship community template goes further. It is a cross-chain index strategy. A user deposits on Base in ETH, LayerZero carries the message to Hedera, and on arrival the strategy contract splits funds 50/50 across two on-chain positions: native HBAR and HUSTLER, a custom HTS token created inside the template. The HUSTLER token and liquidity pool is created on first deploy; the template doubles as a working walkthrough of HTS token creation, SaucerSwap integration, and LayerZero composition in a single project.
Eight built-in templates are available at launch, with more shipping throughout the year:
Blank Template. Minimal scaffold. Pick your own primitives. Bridge. Cross-chain bridging through LayerZero, CCIP, or Axelar. Cross Chain DCA. Schedule smart contracts on other chains with Hedera as the hub. Hedera Native. HTS, HCS, and Schedule Service in a cohesive template. Oracles. Consume real time data with Chainlink datafeeds, Pyth, or Supra. Onchain Cron Job. Recurring on-chain payments via HIP-1215 Generalized Scheduled Contract Calls. Tokenize Subscriptions. Allow subscriptions / contracts to be sold and rented using a smart contract powered marketplace. x402 Pay Per Use. Use native online payments to buy and sell data stored in S3 buckets. And the flagship cross-chain index, opted into with the community org/repo form:
npm create scaffold-hbar@latest --template hedera-dev/template-hedera-lz-app Every template is testnet-ready out of the box, with deploy scripts and detailed READMEs that match.
AI-Native Foundations, Not Bolted-On AI coding agents are doing a growing share of the typing. Their fluency depends on the context they have access to and the languages they have seen the most. Hedera’s native SDKs are available in Python, JavaScript, and Go: the languages AI agents write best. Generated code drops straight into a Hedera project without translation, so building velocity stays high whether the developer or the agent is writing.
AI agents also work from inferred user intent and prior patterns. A generic prompt for “mint a token” might generate ERC-20 logic by default, even when the project needs an HTS token created through the Hedera system contract. The remedy is targeted context.
scaffold-hbar handles this during scaffolding. The CLI installs Hedera Skills by default: a package that loads Hedera context straight into the agent in your editor, covering system contracts, native services, the Hedera Agent Kit, and the day-to-day dev workflow tools. With Hedera Skills installed, Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex generate code that aligns with Hedera’s actual primitives from the first prompt onwards.
AI coding agents are treated as first-class users of the toolchain.
Pick Your Tools Developer ergonomics matter. Forcing a switch in package manager, Solidity framework, or component library is friction that kills projects before they start. scaffold-hbar meets developers where they already are.
Each scaffolded project is a monorepo with:
A Next.js (App Router) frontend with RainbowKit, wagmi, viem, Tailwind, and DaisyUI The scaffold-ui component library for Hedera-aware web3 UI (address inputs, balance displays, transaction signers) A choice of Hardhat or Foundry for contracts, where the template supports both Hedera testnet, mainnet, or local forked networks pre-wired with Hashio RPC and Mirror Node endpoints Built-in deployment scripts for supported templates, on both Hardhat and Foundry One-command verification on HashScan Yarn workspaces by default, with npm and pnpm supported alongside Frontend-only or contracts-only scaffolds for projects that need just one half of the stack Built in the Open scaffold-hbar is OSS, with Buidler Labs as the technical partner on the CLI and template architecture.
BuidlerLabs built the scaffold-hbar libraries, CLI, and templates to bring a familiar developer experience to Hedera, helping builders move faster from exploration to working applications. Drawing on its history of MIT-licensed open-source developer tools for Hedera, BuidlerLabs focused on practical, real-world examples that reduce onboarding friction, showcase the network’s capabilities, and support broader ecosystem adoption.
In August 2026, a $5k HBAR bounty opens for community templates worth shipping in the CLI. Five winners receive $1k HBAR each. The winning templates merge into the CLI’s built-in list. The rubric publishes the day the bounty opens.
If you have a template you wish existed when you started your Hedera project, this is the moment to ship it.
Try It Now Pick a template, run the deploy command, and a working dapp is on Hedera testnet in under a minute.
Robinhood Chain Emerges as a Top Liquidity Destination@RobinhoodCrypto Chain has quickly established itself as one of the most active networks in decentralized finance. The chain processed over $5.2B in transaction volume in a single week, a remarkable figure for a network that only went live on July 1, 2026.
The broader growth story is well-documented. Robinhood Chain crossed $500 million in 24-hour decentralized exchange volume on July 8, barely seven days after its public mainnet went live. The chain is a permissionless Ethereum Layer 2 built on the Arbitrum Orbit stack, designed from day one around tokenized real-world assets. Notably, daily active users climbed from 33,000 at launch to 194,000 within seven days, while daily transactions climbed from 680,000 to 7 million.
Pons Drives Much of the On-Chain ActivityA significant share of this volume is being generated by @ponsdotfamily, a new token launchpad operating natively on the chain. According to @BSCNews, Pons facilitated more than $162M in trading volume within its first 96 hours of operation. Pons is a non-custodial launchpad on Robinhood Chain that enables users to launch and discover fixed-supply tokens. The platform channels all WETH fees collected from token launches into $PONS buybacks, while $PONS transaction fees are fully burned, creating a deflationary loop driven by launchpad activity.
The momentum behind Pons has been notable even in a crowded launchpad landscape. Pons-generated assets recorded more than $82 million in daily trading volume, with Pons Family and Flap each reportedly processing more than 10,000 deployments.
Underpinning this activity is a strategic integration with @Uniswap. The bulk of DEX activity on Robinhood Chain came from Uniswap's WETH trading pairs. Rather than building its own trading infrastructure from scratch, Robinhood opted to partner with battle-tested projects like Uniswap and Chainlink, giving launchpad tokens like those on Pons immediate access to deep, reliable liquidity from day one. The most popular exchange to buy and trade Pons is Uniswap V4 (Robinhood), where the most active trading pair PONS/USDG recorded significant recent volume.
The key question now is whether the surge reflects durable demand or an early speculative wave. The chain's future hinges on whether speculative memecoin traders convert into users of its tokenized equity and real-world asset offerings.
Sources:
Crypto Briefing: Robinhood Chain DEX volume exceeds $500M in 24 hours
CoinDesk: Robinhood's blockchain finds early success, thanks to memecoins
U.Today: Robinhood Chain's New ATH and Pons launchpad activity
Every World Cup produces a moment nobody saw coming. This year, WEEX, a world leading crypto exchange, gave its community three ways to get ahead of it: a live prediction data report with Foregate, a $1,000,000 Dice Rush campaign, and an interview with football legend Michael Owen that ended up predicting the tournament’s biggest upset before it happened.
The Guide That Reads the Tournament Like a Market WEEX teamed up with ForeGate, the Solana-based on-chain prediction market, to publish the ForeGate 2026 World Cup Winning Guide — a living report tracking advancement odds, likely matchups, and title paths as the tournament unfolds.
The idea was simple: treat football like a market, not a guessing game.
Where most World Cup content freezes on kickoff day, this one kept moving — updated as results came in, odds shifted, and underdogs made their case. While the tournament kept changing, WEEX made sure the data changed with it.
WEEX Cup: Where Every Roll Could Be Worth $1,000,000 Alongside the data, WEEX built something louder: WEEX Cup – Dice Rush, a World Cup-themed event backed by a $1,000,000 USDT prize pool, plus trial fund, token rewards and more!
The mechanics are built for momentum, not complexity:
Earn dice — complete tasks like deposits, trading, or inviting friends Roll to win — move across the board, unlock BTC, ETH, USDT, coupons, and more Stack points — unlock milestone rewards and enter WEEX Cup match predictions Back a champion — use points to support the team you believe will lift the trophy, then share the prize pool with everyone who called it right Users who picked less-favored outcomes were positioned for bigger rewards — a mechanic that turned out to be more prophetic than anyone expected.
The numbers tell the story. Over 100,000 users have joined the event so far. More than $1,000,000 in rewards has already been distributed, with top winners claiming over $2,000 each.
One line sums up the design philosophy: the crowd isn’t always right, and the ones who bet against it get paid more for being early.
When WEEX and Michael Owen Predicted the Upset Before It Happened Weeks before Cape Verde became the story of the tournament, WEEX COO Andrew Weiner sat down with football legend Michael Owen to talk about what makes this World Cup different.
One line from that conversation stands out now:
“When you’re in the minority of opinion, you have the biggest chance for the biggest value.”
Owen went further, pointing to the tournament’s expansion to 48 teams as fertile ground for exactly this kind of surprise:
“There’s possible value in certain situations — it’s down to people to try to find it.”
Then Cape Verde happened.
A nation of 546,000 people, ranked outside the world’s top 70, playing in its first-ever World Cup — and it didn’t just show up. It drew Spain 0-0. It drew Uruguay 2-2. It drew Saudi Arabia 0-0, advancing out of the group stage without winning a single match, one of only five teams in World Cup history to do so.
Then, in the round of 16, Cape Verde held reigning champions Argentina to a 1-1 draw through regulation time — before finally falling 3-2 in extra time.
Four matches. Three former World Cup champions faced. Zero regulation-time losses.
It was, by every measure, the value Owen had described weeks earlier — found by a team nobody was pricing in.
A football legend called it before the tournament even started. That’s the kind of insight WEEX brought to its community.
WEEX’s World Cup Journey: Three Moves, One Idea Report, game, and conversation weren’t three separate campaigns. They were one belief, expressed three ways:
The best value in football — and in markets — is rarely where everyone’s already looking.
WEEX didn’t just watch the World Cup happen. It built tools to help its community read it, play it, and occasionally, predict it before the world caught on.
Disclaimer: This information does not hold any official affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement with FIFA or any official international football governing body.
About WEEX Founded in 2018, WEEX has developed into a global crypto exchange with over 6.2 million users across more than 150 countries. The platform emphasizes security, liquidity, and usability, providing over 1,200 spot trading pairs and offering up to 400x leverage in crypto futures trading. In addition to the traditional spot and derivatives markets, WEEX is expanding rapidly in the AI era delivering real time AI news, empowering users with AI trading tools, and exploring innovative trade to earn models that make intelligent trading more accessible to everyone. Its 1,000 BTC Protection Fund further strengthens asset safety and transparency, while features such as copy trading and advanced trading tools allow users to follow professional traders and experience a more efficient, intelligent trading journey.
Eligible E*TRADE clients can now buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through Zero Hash at a 0.5% fee.
Original image credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com
Posted July 17, 2026 at 6:32 am EST.
Original image credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com
Morgan Stanley has completed the rollout of spot crypto trading on E*TRADE, giving eligible clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana directly on the retail brokerage. The bank announced the launch Thursday, partnering with digital-asset infrastructure provider Zero Hash.
Trades execute through a linked Zero Hash account, which also custodies the assets, at a fee of 0.5%. Clients can view their crypto holdings alongside stocks and other investments, and Morgan Stanley said transfer functionality would arrive later this year. Digital-asset services are set to move to the bank’s own trust entity, Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, once it is operational.
This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.
Subscribe here to get these updates in your email for free
Morgan Stanley is betting that trust and integration matter more to its users than novelty, citing a survey by its wealth management arm that found the top factor investors cited when choosing a crypto platform was an established company they can trust. The crypto rollout arrived alongside new retirement-planning tools, fractional-share trading, and an updated IPO center.
The launch caps a year of steady crypto expansion at Morgan Stanley. The firm filed for spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs at market-low fees, introduced a money market fund for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, and has received conditional approval for a national trust bank charter to custody digital assets. Morgan Stanley first disclosed plans to bring crypto to E*TRADE in September 2025, naming Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana as the initial assets.
Related Listen: Why You No Longer Have to Choose Between TradFi and Crypto
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
Solana has maintained short-term support after breaking out of a falling wedge pattern, which keeps the pathway open toward the $79 to $81 range. This recent technical movement has prompted renewed optimism among traders, as buyers have managed to defend a critical support area following previous failures to sustain upward momentum.
Solana’s rebound raises exit rally considerationsAnalyst Killa argued that while Solana’s recovery may open the door to the $120 to $170 price region, the longer-term chart still points to potential weakness beyond that zone. The analyst warned that an increase in token supply and the concentration of SOL holdings among large investors could cap the cryptocurrency’s upward potential, limiting its ability to revisit earlier highs.
At current levels near $75, the price is viewed more as an accumulation area for medium-term traders than as the foundation of a lasting bull market. The analyst suggested that any significant advance would first need to reclaim $100 before approaching the $120 to $170 resistance, where major selling pressure is likely to return.
Concerns about future token supply and the behavior of large holders remain central to the bearish case. However, these point to the need for more detailed on-chain data to verify if insiders or foundation-linked entities are actively influencing price trends. The technical chart alone, according to Killa, does not provide enough evidence regarding the actual distribution or sale of tokens.
For Solana’s current rebound to gain traction, the cryptocurrency must maintain its upward momentum and create a pattern of higher lows, especially in the $60 to $70 region. A loss of this support could trigger further losses, with lower price targets of $40 and possibly $20 to $30 coming into play if the weakness intensifies.
A more definitive shift in sentiment could occur if Solana manages to break above $170 and then secure that level as a new support base. Until such a breakout is confirmed, analysts see any large upward move as an opportunity for early investors to exit rather than a sign of a sustained return to all-time highs.
Mini dictionary: Falling wedge — A falling wedge is a bullish chart pattern formed when an asset’s price moves between two converging downward sloping trendlines. The breakout above the upper trendline often indicates a reversal or continuation to the upside.
Key LevelSignificance$79-$81First upside target after wedge breakout$120-$170Upper resistance; potential area for sellers$60-$70Critical support zone for bullish scenario$40 / $20-$30Downside targets if support is lost$170+Potential trigger for sustained uptrend The current area near $75 is seen as a potential accumulation zone for medium-term trades rather than the beginning of a lasting bull cycle, with the $120 to $170 region likely to attract renewed selling activity.
Technical breakout shifts short-term outlookSolana has moved above a falling wedge pattern after successfully retesting previous resistance at $74 to $76, strengthening the bullish short-term outlook. The transition of this region from resistance to support marks a critical support-resistance flip, suggesting buyers are now in control of the immediate trend.
This key price zone had rejected multiple recovery attempts in the past, but maintaining a position above it now helps sustain upward pressure and reduces the risk of a quick reversal. The breakout from the falling wedge indicates that the recent correction phase, which produced a series of lower highs and lows from the $83 level, may have ended or is at least on hold.
Looking ahead, holding above the broken trendline and the $74 to $76 support area remains essential. Any return below this level could see the trend invalidated and shift focus back to lower support levels near $72 to $73. Sustained strength above current prices would validate $79 to $81 as the next targets for SOL bulls.
Breaking above the upper trendline of the falling wedge pattern implies weakening selling pressure and brings the $79 to $81 region into focus as Solana’s immediate upside target.
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.
Solana [SOL] has given back its gains made earlier in the week as Bitcoin slipped below $63K on Friday, the 17th of July.
As of writing, SOL was valued at $74.8, down 6% from this week’s high of $79. But the pullback retested a crucial short-term support at the 50-day Moving Average (MA, white).
This dynamic support has stopped the dumps in July. If the trend repeats, relief demand could be possible at the 50-day MA or the $74 level.
Source: SOL/USDT, TradingView If so, the next upside targets would be $80, $84, or the mid-range level at $88. That would be 8%-18% in upside potential.
But the price reversal projection would be invalidated if bears decisively push Solana [SOL] below the 50-day MA. In such a scenario, another dip below $70 couldn’t be overruled.
Will Morgan Stanley’s move boost Solana crypto? This raises the most crucial question: what are the potential catalysts that could shape SOL’s price direction in the next few days?
First, on Thursday, Morgan Stanley activated spot trading for Solana [SOL], Bitcoin and Ethereum through its E*TRADE platform. Commenting on the same, Chad Turner, Head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Platforms, said,
With the rollout of crypto trading on E*TRADE, we’re advancing our digital assets strategy and bringing new capabilities to clients in an integrated way.
Worth pointing out that more banks and brokerage firms are now supporting spot crypto trading, including Charles Schwab and Fidelity. However, only Morgan Stanley has expanded support for SOL, as the other top-tier banks only support BTC and ETH for now.
It remains to be seen whether this will boost demand for SOL.
Secondly, U.S. spot ETFs saw a positive daily net inflow of $1.66M on Thursday, breaking the trend of zero or negative outflows seen throughout the week. If inflows remain sustainable, SOL price could defend $74 and attempt a recovery.
Source: X In fact, the overall spot SOL accumulation has been strong in the first half of July and in the past 30-days.
However, if macro and geopolitical jitters worsen in the next few days, the potential de-risking could drag SOL lower.
Final Summary Morgan Stanley rolled out support for spot SOL trading via its E*TRADE platform. SOL’s short-term recovery could be determined if bulls hold above $74.
TLDR: Argentine Judge Martínez de Giorgi froze 25 crypto accounts tied to the $LIBRA investigation. Six exchanges, including Binance and Bybit, must submit full customer KYC and transaction records. Police traced fund flows from “Team Libra Wallets” through Solana and Tron blockchain networks. The $LIBRA token collapse reportedly cost more than 40,000 investors nearly $100 million in losses. An Argentine judge froze 25 crypto accounts connected to the $LIBRA token investigation on Friday. Federal Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi ordered six exchanges, including Binance, Bybit and Bitfinex, to identify account holders.
The order followed a police report tracing fund flows from wallets linked to the token promoted by President Javier Milei in February 2025. The ruling seeks to prevent further asset movement during the ongoing probe.
Judge Orders Exchanges to Reveal Account Holders Judge Martínez de Giorgi issued the resolution at the request of prosecutor Eduardo Taiano. The order relied on a technical report from the Cybercrime Department of the Argentine Federal Police.
Six platforms were named in the ruling: Binance, Bybit, OKX, CoinEx, FixedFloat and Bitfinex. Ten addresses were tied to Binance, eight to Bybit, and smaller numbers to the remaining exchanges.
Each exchange must now hand over complete KYC files for the affected accounts. This includes account opening documents, internal memos and IP connection records.
Linked bank account information and full transaction histories were also demanded. The Cybercrime Department will compile the official documentation for the case file.
The judge pointed to Argentina’s regulatory gap, noting there is no “governing body in matters of cryptocurrencies.”
Argentine Judge Freezes 25 Crypto Accounts, Orders Six Exchanges to Identify Account Holders
Argentine federal judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi ordered 25 crypto accounts linked to the LIBRA investigation frozen and directed Binance, Bybit, OKX, CoinEx, FixedFloat and Bitfinex… pic.twitter.com/rvTmh8eFFv
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 17, 2026
He explained the freeze was needed to “avoid damage that is impossible to repair later.” Preventing further transfers of potential criminal proceeds was described as necessary to the case. The order also seeks to stop related offenses from continuing during the legal process.
The resolution further stated the measure was “indispensable” to secure eventual asset recovery. Judicial authorities want to block any handling or disposal of funds tied to the alleged crime.
This step aims to preserve evidence while the broader investigation proceeds. Prosecutors say the frozen accounts remain central to tracing the token’s collapse.
Investigators Trace Fund Movements Across Networks The police report used backward tracing and open-source intelligence to reconstruct the fund flow. Investigators found that funds departed from wallets identified as “Team Libra Wallets.”
Millions of tokens moved toward the Meteora liquidity protocol between February 14 and 15, 2025. The balances later converged into a single intermediary wallet identified by investigators.
From that wallet, funds moved on November 25, 2025, to an address linked to a Solana-based vault. Arkham Intelligence had previously flagged this address in connection with the $LIBRA token.
A larger transfer occurred on May 10, 2026, involving nearly 500,000 USDT moved to the Tron network. The transaction was completed in 16 seconds using automated liquidity solvers.
No traditional exchange handled that specific transfer, according to the police findings. Once funds reached Tron, investigators say a smurfing pattern began.
Fragmented amounts were distributed daily across multiple wallets to complicate tracing efforts. Seventeen separate bridges moving USDC or USDT from Solana to Tron were identified in total.
Case Origins Trace Back to Presidential Post The $LIBRA case began after Milei promoted the token on X on February 14, 2025. The token’s price surged from roughly $0.01 to near $5 within hours.
It then collapsed following sell-offs attributed to the token’s creators and early holders. More than 40,000 people reportedly suffered losses in the crash.
Total withdrawals from the token are estimated at approximately $100 million. Kip Network, led by Julian Peh, and Kelsier Ventures, owned by Hayden Davis, face scrutiny.
Both firms are named as participants in the token’s creation and launch. Lobbyist Mauricio Novelli and his associate Manuel Terrones Godoy are also accused.
The judge recently removed plaintiffs who had claimed status as injured investors. That decision has been appealed before Chamber I of the Buenos Aires Federal Court. The investigation into the $LIBRA token collapse continues under prosecutor Taiano’s direction.
A startup most people hadn’t heard of a week ago just vaporized $589 billion from a single company’s market cap. DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab based in Hangzhou, released its R1 and V3 reasoning models on January 27, 2025, and the shockwave rippled through global markets.
Nvidia bore the brunt of the carnage, suffering what appears to be one of the largest single-day market cap losses in the history of publicly traded companies. The logic was brutal and simple: if a Chinese startup can build AI models that rival OpenAI’s GPT-4o using a fraction of the hardware, maybe the world doesn’t need quite as many $40,000 GPUs as everyone assumed.
Advertisement
The hardware math that broke Wall Street DeepSeek’s V3 model was trained using just over 2,000 Nvidia H800 GPUs. For context, leading Western AI labs typically throw tens of thousands of cutting-edge chips at training runs of comparable scale. The H800 itself is a downgraded chip that Nvidia specifically designed to comply with US export controls on advanced semiconductors to China.
DeepSeek claims its models match the capabilities of systems built by companies with access to the most advanced chips money can buy. Futures tumbled. Chip stocks across the board sold off. The entire thesis underpinning semiconductor valuations, that AI development requires ever-larger capital expenditures on the most advanced silicon, suddenly looked a lot less certain.
What this means for the AI investment thesis DeepSeek’s valuation has reportedly climbed above $50 billion, underscoring the market’s recognition that Chinese AI development has reached a competitive inflection point. This is happening despite, or perhaps partly because of, US export restrictions that were designed to slow China’s AI progress.
Crypto’s predictable response: scam tokens everywhere Within hours of DeepSeek making headlines, a swarm of tokens branded as “DeepSeek AI” appeared on Solana and Ethereum. None of them have any affiliation with the actual company. DeepSeek has no official crypto product, no token, no blockchain integration. Every “DeepSeek” token trading right now is, to put it plainly, a scam.
The pattern isn’t new. We saw it with ChatGPT-themed tokens in early 2023. The playbook works because it exploits a narrow window where excitement outpaces due diligence. By the time most buyers realize the token has no connection to the company, the deployers have already cashed out.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Robinhood Chain has been live for exactly one week, and aggregators are already racing to plug into it. Velvet Capital’s trading terminal, VelvetX, announced support for Robinhood Chain on July 7, enabling single-transaction cross-chain swaps from networks like Solana, Base, BNB Chain, and Ethereum, no manual bridging required.
For anyone who’s ever watched their tokens disappear into a bridge for 20 anxiety-filled minutes, that last part matters. The integration means traders can move assets directly onto Robinhood’s Arbitrum-based Layer 2 through VelvetX without the usual multi-step headache that makes cross-chain activity feel like filing taxes.
Advertisement
What VelvetX actually does here VelvetX is Velvet Capital’s AI-driven trading terminal. It handles spot trading, perpetuals, and yield strategies across multiple chains, essentially trying to be a one-stop shop for DeFi traders who don’t want twelve browser tabs open at once.
The cross-chain routing is powered by the 0x protocol, which was selected as the swap and liquidity infrastructure provider for Robinhood Chain itself. In English: 0x acts as the plumbing that finds the best prices and routes trades across different blockchains, so users don’t have to manually hop between networks.
Velvet Capital is backed by notable investors including YZi Labs and DWF Labs. The project has a native token, VELVET, with a circulating supply of roughly 421 million tokens against a maximum supply of 1 billion.
Robinhood Chain’s first week Robinhood Chain launched its public mainnet on July 1, built on the Arbitrum technology stack. The chain’s pitch goes well beyond simple token swaps. Robinhood is using it to offer stock tokens accessible across 120 countries. The chain also supports DeFi applications, including lending solutions powered by Morpho.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Cover image via youtu.be Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
As the tokenization boom and a fundamental reassessment of the role of public blockchains go on, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley shared his "hot take" on the utility of Ethereum and Solana. Despite skepticism toward cryptocurrencies in the summer of 2026, the fund's chief mounted a forceful defense of the leading networks, calling doubts about the value of their native tokens a repetition of Wall Street's biggest historical mistakes.
The head of one of the largest crypto funds directly stated that the attempt to separate RWA infrastructure from the economic value of base-layer coins is simply the "2026 version of the 'blockchain, not Bitcoin' thesis".
Bitwise CEO calls out the market's biggest mistakeThe industry has irreversibly entered an "on-chain versus off-chain" phase, and attempting to develop tokenized assets while denying the value of native tokens is an old mental error of the market, Horsley contends.
HOT Stories
2026 version of "blockchain not bitcoin":
I like tokenization and stablecoins, but I still don't see how Ethereum, Solana, etc are useful.
— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) July 17, 2026 Fresh data from analytics platform RWA.xyz clearly supports this position. The leading networks now effectively host nearly the entire global real-world asset infrastructure:
Ethereum is the absolute leader, with $15.5 billion in distributed value across 915 projects.Solana ranks third, with $3.0 billion and already 707 active products.Any transactions, dividend distributions, or transfers of tokenized shares within these massive ecosystems are technically impossible without the use of ETH and SOL. The coins are spent on gas and secure the networks through staking, meaning their value is directly tied to the growth of the tokenization sector.
Top-10 blockchain networks in total value of tokenized real-world assets, Source: rwa.xyzHowever, behind this public defense of the giants lies a pragmatic commercial interest and a bet on alternative infrastructure. Bitwise has its own favorite in this race — Hyperliquid.
You Might Also Like
While traditional on-chain tokenization remains stalled by compliance requirements, decentralized trading platform Hyperliquid, in whose development the fund has a direct interest, is demonstrating explosive expansion.
According to the platform's latest reports, open interest in RWA derivatives on Hyperliquid has reached a record $3.6 billion. By this metric, the specialized blockchain alone has surpassed the entire spot RWA market on Solana, valued at $3.0 billion, while the exchange's total open interest has reached an all-time high of $11 billion.
By defending the economics of ETH and SOL against superficial interpretations, Bitwise is skillfully directing investor attention toward more flexible infrastructure solutions, and the fund's capital structure shows that Hyperliquid is becoming their primary instrument for extracting maximum value from the changing structure of the crypto market.
Solana price has fallen nearly 4% to about $74 after a rejection near $77, as a global technology sell-off and leveraged long liquidations have pushed traders toward caution.
Summary
Solana price tests $74 support after losing its rising trendline and facing weak four-hour momentum. A recovery above $76.50 could trigger short liquidations and drive SOL toward $78–$80. Losing $74 would expose the daily Supertrend support at $69.60 and deepen downside risks. According to data from crypto.news, Solana (SOL) price extended its decline on July 17 after failing to hold above the $76.50–$77 resistance area. Selling accelerated as semiconductor shares led losses across global markets, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 1.8%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 off 4%, and Taiwan’s benchmark plunging more than 6%.
The drop can partly be attributed to the rout due to doubts over stretched artificial intelligence valuations and leveraged retail positions.
Strong U.S. data added pressure on speculative assets. Initial unemployment claims fell to 208,000 from 216,000, while June retail sales rose 0.2%. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed toward 4.60%, and the dollar strengthened, raising the cost of holding high-beta assets such as Solana.
Institutional demand has provided only limited relief. U.S. spot Solana exchange-traded funds attracted $8.36 million on July 6, their strongest daily intake in almost two months, per data from SoSoValue. However, the inflow was not enough to prevent SOL from retreating from its early-July high near $83.
Solana price can rebound if bulls reclaim $76.50 On the 4-hour chart, SOL trades near $74.87 and has reached the lower Bollinger Band at $74.33. The middle band at $76.51 now serves as immediate resistance, while the upper band sits at $78.69. A 4-hour close above the midpoint would give buyers another chance to test the $78–$80 region.
Solana price 4-hour chart — July 17 | Source: crypto.news Momentum remains weak but is approaching levels where relief rallies can develop. The 4-hour relative strength index has dropped to 36.58, below its signal average of 45.48 but still above the oversold threshold of 30. Price has also formed a sequence of lower highs since its July 4 peak near $83.
According to crypto analyst SatoshiOwl, SOL has reached a support area after breaking beneath an ascending trendline.
“Hold here and we could see a relief bounce back toward $78–$80. Lose it, and a deeper flush becomes much more likely.”
Ali Charts offered a longer-term counterpoint, noting that the TD Sequential indicator has produced a buy setup on Solana’s monthly chart. The analyst described it as a potential early warning of a macro trend change, although the monthly setup requires confirmation from shorter time frames.
The daily chart remains constructive above the Supertrend support at $69.62. Chaikin Money Flow stands at 0.03, which shows that capital flow is still marginally positive despite the latest sell-off. SOL must first recover the former horizontal support at $76.64 before the daily structure can improve.
Solana daily price chart — July 17 | Source: crypto.news CoinGlass’ three-day liquidation heatmap places the nearest large pools of leveraged positions above the market. Dense clusters sit near $76.50–$76.70, $78, and $78.70, making those levels possible price magnets if SOL rebounds. A move through $76.70 could liquidate short positions and accelerate a recovery toward $78.
A break below $74 would expose the $69.60 support zone Downside risk will rise if SOL closes decisively below the $74–$74.30 area. The heatmap shows less concentrated liquidity immediately beneath the current price, leaving room for a quicker decline toward $72 before the daily Supertrend level near $69.62 comes into play.
Solana liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass A loss of $69.62 would invalidate the remaining bullish daily setup and expose the June recovery base between $64 and $66. Macroeconomic pressure could deepen that move if Treasury yields continue higher, technology shares extend their decline, or renewed U.S.-Iran tensions lift oil prices and reduce demand for risk assets.
For now, SOL remains caught between weak four-hour momentum and positive daily capital flow. Bulls need $76.50 back to target the liquidity stacked near $78–$80, while a failure to protect $74 would place the $69.60 trend support at risk.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
ETRADE, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, has enabled the purchase of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana for its users, routing these activities through ZeroHash infrastructure at a 0.5% fee. This new service allows ETRADE clients to engage with cryptocurrencies directly within their brokerage accounts without the need for separate wallets or third-party exchanges. While the service does not yet support external transfers and lacks FDIC/SIPC protections, Morgan Stanley plans to expand these capabilities by the end of 2026. This initiative represents a significant move by a traditional finance institution into the crypto market, potentially increasing accessibility and demand for these digital assets.
Advertisement
Key Takeaways Market data suggests that the integration of Solana on E*TRADE appears to support an increased demand scenario, potentially impacting its price positively. The new service is consistent with expanding traditional financial channels into the crypto space, leveraging Morgan Stanley’s investment in ZeroHash. Current constraints like lack of external transfer capability and custody limitations indicate potential areas for future service enhancements. What to Watch The market will be observing Morgan Stanley’s further developments regarding external transfer capabilities and full service rollout to its 8.6 million E*TRADE users. The impact on Solana’s price will be closely monitored, especially considering its inclusion alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum. Additionally, market participants may look for regulatory updates or strategic moves by Solana Labs and other key actors that could influence Solana’s adoption and valuation. The evolution of crypto offerings by traditional financial institutions remains a key indicator of broader market trends.
Get live prediction-market analysis, powered by Vera. Sign up for Vera.
Term Structure
Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 7.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.8% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.8% — — View market → August 1 2026 2.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 8.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 55.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.2% — — View market →
Ondo Extends Always-On Access to 16 Tokenized Assets@OndoFinance has activated 24/7 minting and redemption for 10 additional tokenized stocks, including $AMD, $INTC, and $SPCX. The move brings its total lineup to 16 institutional-grade assets available for real-time settlement across @Solana, @BNBChain, and @Ethereum.
The expansion builds on a push that began in late June 2026, when Ondo became what it described as the first platform to offer true around-the-clock minting and redemption for tokenized U.S. equities. Until that point, minting and redemption had paused over weekends in line with traditional U.S. equity markets. The latest rollout eliminates one of the last restrictions linking tokenized assets to conventional trading schedules.
Ondo Stocks lists more than 430 tokenized stocks and ETFs across Solana, Ethereum, and BNB Chain, and is the first platform in the category to surpass $1 billion in total value locked.
Primary Issuance, Not Just Secondary TransfersA key distinction in Ondo's model is how liquidity is sourced. Ondo has argued that many platforms advertising 24/7 tokenized stock trading primarily enable transfers between users rather than continuous access to underlying liquidity. Its architecture enables primary issuance around the clock, effectively bypassing traditional banking and stock exchange downtime.
Ondo's tokenized stocks draw liquidity directly from public markets, where trading depth is substantial. Other platforms rely on onchain liquidity pools, which are limited in depth by design, meaning larger trades, especially over weekends when markets are thinner, can move prices significantly and cost traders far more.
Ondo's tokenized securities can also be used as collateral across platforms, including Ondo Perps, Morpho, Euler, and other DeFi ecosystems. The announcements follow Ondo surpassing 180,000 on-chain asset holders, indicating increasing demand for access to traditional financial products through blockchain solutions.
Tokenized stock transfers have surged roughly 105 percent month over month to approximately $8.4 billion in value, with Ondo leading the space at around $846 million in distributed value, ahead of other platforms like xStocks and Securitize.
Sources
TheStreet Crypto: Ondo Launches True 24/7 Minting and Redemption for Tokenized Stocks
Crypto Briefing: Ondo Introduces 24/7 Minting and Redemption for Tokenized Stocks and ETFs
The Defiant: Ondo Finance Launches 24/7 Minting and Redemption for Tokenized US Stocks and ETFs
Morgan Stanley has completed the rollout of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana trading on E*TRADE, charging eligible clients a 0.50% fee on each transaction.
Summary
E*TRADE now allows eligible clients to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana for a 0.50% fee. Morgan Stanley plans crypto transfers and a move to its Digital Trust bank later this year. The rollout complements Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin holdings, crypto ETFs and Galaxy Digital lending arrangement. E*TRADE announced in a press release that supported customers can now buy, sell and hold the three digital assets directly through its brokerage platform. Zerohash provides the underlying crypto infrastructure and holds the assets in linked customer accounts.
Each transaction carries a 50-basis-point fee, according to E*TRADE. While the current service covers trading and custody, the brokerage expects to introduce crypto transfers later this year, allowing clients to move supported assets into and out of their accounts.
Following a pilot launched in May, the completed rollout makes the service available to all eligible E*TRADE customers. Morgan Stanley had first disclosed plans to add direct spot crypto trading in 2025.
Morgan Stanley is expanding several crypto services at once E*TRADE’s launch comes as Morgan Stanley prepares to add two exchange-traded funds tied to Ethereum and Solana. As previously reported by crypto.news, amended S-1 filings for both products indicated that their launches were approaching, although the filings did not provide a confirmed trading date.
Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley also launched a spot Bitcoin ETF, becoming the first bank to offer such a product, according to the original report. SoSoValue data showed that the fund had accumulated $384 million in net assets at the time of reporting.
Direct trading gives E*TRADE customers another route to crypto exposure alongside Morgan Stanley’s investment funds. Unlike ETF shares, the new service allows eligible users to hold the underlying Bitcoin, Ether and Solana through Zerohash, while the planned transfer feature would give customers more control over moving those assets.
Morgan Stanley had also increased its tracked Bitcoin balance by nearly 1,000 BTC over the two weeks preceding July 11, according to a crypto.news report published that day. The purchases lifted its reported holdings above 5,700 BTC at the time.
Digital Trust is set to take over the crypto service Later this year, E*TRADE expects to move the crypto offering from Zerohash to Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, the group’s planned national trust bank. The brokerage linked that transition to the introduction of transfer services but did not provide a specific launch date.
Morgan Stanley applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency earlier this year for a crypto-focused national trust bank charter. Its application placed the firm alongside Coinbase, Crypto.com and Ripple, while the OCC has already granted Ripple conditional approval.
Circle has also received OCC approval to establish a national trust bank focused on digital assets. The USDC issuer had secured conditional approval in 2025 alongside BitGo, Fidelity and Paxos.
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management added another crypto route in June through a referral agreement with Galaxy Digital. Under the arrangement, eligible high-net-worth clients can lend Bitcoin, Ether and Solana to Galaxy and receive shares in spot crypto investment products, including the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust.
Taken together, the ETRADE rollout, pending ETF launches and Digital Trust application place trading, investment products, lending referrals and custody infrastructure within Morgan Stanley’s disclosed crypto plans. Each service remains subject to separate eligibility rules, fees and regulatory arrangements set by the companies involved.
The U.S. cryptocurrency industry is entering what one of its leading lobbyists describes as a decisive moment.
During her Friday appearance on Fox Business, Kristin Smith, president of Solana Policy Institute, said the coming days could determine whether the industry finally secures a comprehensive federal regulatory framework after years of uncertainty.
"We've come so far with this legislation since the House passed the Clarity Act a year ago," Smith said. "There has been a lot of bipartisan input into this bill, and it is the best, most comprehensive language we've seen."
HOT Stories
However, despite her optimism, betting markets have become increasingly skeptical that the legislation will cross the finish line this year.
Ethics negotiations become central obstacleEthics negotiations have stalled the passage of the much-talked-about bill, and Smith claims that the crypto industry itself cannot dictate the outcome.
"It is absolutely essential," she said. "It's one of those tricky issues where it's not the crypto industry's place to decide what the deal is."
According to Smith, discussions with Democratic lawmakers have made it clear that they will insist on the addition of "ethics language."
You Might Also Like
"I have met with members of Congress, especially Democrats. They need to have some sort of ethics language to be able to vote for it," she said.
The proposed provisions would establish conflict-of-interest rules governing elected officials' involvement with crypto businesses.
Smith believes a compromise remains achievable. "This is a president who knows the art of the deal. If we get the president and the Democrats to agree on this issue, that will break the logjam, and we will be able to get the votes needed to get this through the Senate sometime next week or the following," she added.
The most significant crypto legislation Smith described the legislation as the most significant crypto reform effort to date. If enacted, Smith argues, the legislation would dramatically improve investor protections while accelerating institutional adoption.
"Once we get this passed, we are going to see an unleashing of economic activity around the crypto space," she said.
She predicted the bill would lead to an upgrade to the financial services system, more traditional institutions adopting crypto technology and integrating it into their services.
Betting markets turn increasingly pessimisticDespite the industry's public optimism, prediction markets have actually become more pessimistic.
According to Kalshi, the probability that U.S. crypto market structure legislation becomes law before Jan. 1, 2027, has fallen to roughly 36%.
There is still some hope. The House Financial Services Committee will hold an informational field hearing in New York examining how the Clarity Act could foster innovation. Updated legislative text remains rather elusive so far, according to recent reports.
Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal have done something nobody else at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has managed. They’ve each completed more than 20 successful dribbles in the tournament, a feat that has captivated soccer fans and, somewhat predictably, spawned a wave of unofficial fan tokens on the Solana blockchain.
Messi, who turned 39 and is widely assumed to be playing in his final World Cup, has recorded 25 successful dribbles. Yamal, his 19-year-old Spanish counterpart, sits at 22. No other player in the tournament has cracked the 20 mark. The 20-year age gap between them makes the stat line read like a passing-of-the-torch moment scripted by Hollywood, except it’s actually happening on pitches across North America.
Where soccer meets speculation Yamal’s electric performances have triggered the creation of multiple unofficial fan tokens trading under variants of the $YAMAL ticker on Solana. These aren’t sanctioned by the player, his club, or FIFA. Multiple tokens, multiple tickers, zero official backing.
Advertisement
Yamal leads the tournament in successful dribbles per 90 minutes, with estimates ranging from approximately 3.45 to 5.8 depending on the data source, comfortably ahead of Messi’s average of about 2.59.
Messi’s own crypto history Messi himself is no stranger to the intersection of sports and digital assets. Back in 2022, he signed a promotional deal with Socios.com valued at over $20 million. That partnership was part of a broader wave of fan token deals that saw major sports organizations, from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, launch tokens on the Chiliz blockchain through the Socios platform.
Socios tokens gave holders voting rights on minor club decisions like jersey designs. What’s happening with $YAMAL tokens on Solana is a different animal entirely. There’s no utility, no governance rights, no club partnership. Unofficial tokens carry all the risks of memecoins: rug pulls, liquidity evaporation, and the near-certainty that most of them will trend toward zero once the tournament ends.
Argentina and Spain are set to meet in the World Cup final, meaning Messi and Yamal will share the pitch in what could be the most-watched sporting event of 2026.
What this means for investors Unofficial fan tokens are unregulated, often anonymous in their creation, and subject to the kind of price swings that can wipe out positions in minutes. Messi’s $20 million-plus endorsement deal with Socios.com reflected a moment when sports-crypto partnerships were commanding serious capital. Whether that model still holds in a world where anyone can spin up a competing token on Solana for nearly nothing is an open question.
FIFA and national football associations have historically taken a dim view of unauthorized commercial activity tied to their events. If $YAMAL tokens gain enough visibility, they could attract cease-and-desist actions or broader scrutiny of sports-themed token creation on permissionless blockchains.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
BitGo Adds Qualified Custody and Off-Exchange Settlement for USDM1@BitGo has launched institutional-grade qualified custody and off-exchange settlement for USDM1, described as the world's first natively issued onchain secured sovereign bond. The deployment spans @StellarOrg, @Ethereum, and @Solana, giving professional firms a regulated path to hold dollar-denominated sovereign debt with 24/7 liquidity and near-instant finality.
USDM1 is issued by the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is backed 1:1 by short-duration U.S. Treasury instruments held in bankruptcy-remote custody. Structured in the style of a fully collateralized Brady bond under New York law and advised by Cleary Gottlieb, the instrument gives holders a perfected first-priority security interest in the underlying collateral under the UCC. It is regulated and supervised by the Marshall Islands Monetary Authority.
Unlike tokenized or wrapped instruments, USDM1 is issued directly on public blockchains against segregated Treasury reserves, with minting and burning corresponding to bond issuance and redemption. The instrument pays a sovereign coupon and is compatible with standard derivatives, repo, and securities lending frameworks, making it viable as institutional collateral alongside existing legal netting structures.
Go Network Integration Targets Real-Time Collateral and SettlementBitGo's move integrates USDM1 into the Go Network to support real-time collateralization and settlement. The architecture is designed to cut the multi-day settlement cycles typical of traditional fixed-income markets, replacing them with T+0 finality and programmable transfer across three major public blockchains.
The institutional case for USDM1 has been building for some time. M1X Global, the sovereign financial infrastructure company behind USDM1's development, closed an oversubscribed seed round led by Paradigm in July 2026, bringing total funding to $8.5 million. Paradigm partner Arjun Balaji noted that "24/7 markets require collateral that can move 24/7," citing USDM1 as a reference model for natively issued sovereign debt.
Beyond institutional markets, USDM1 also serves as the disbursement rail for the Marshall Islands' ENRA universal basic income program, described as the world's first nationwide on-chain UBI initiative, launched in November 2025.
Sources:
USDM1 Official Site: Sovereign USD-Denominated Financial Instrument
PR Newswire: USDM1 Now Available on Anchorage Digital
PR Newswire: M1X Global Announces Further Funding Led by Paradigm
Mohamed Salah, one of the most decorated forwards of his generation, has reportedly reached a verbal agreement to join Turkish Super Lig club Beşiktaş on a one-year free agent deal worth approximately €10 million in annual salary. And the crypto market noticed before the ink was even dry.
The 34-year-old Egyptian star left Liverpool after a nine-year stint that cemented his legacy at Anfield. Now, as negotiations with Beşiktaş progress, a Solana-based memecoin bearing his name has become one of the more interesting side plots in what is otherwise a straightforward football transfer story.
Advertisement
The deal taking shape in Istanbul Beşiktaş submitted an opening contract proposal, and Salah reportedly adjusted his salary expectations downward from an initial ask of €15 million to somewhere in the €10 to €12 million range annually. The proposed structure is a one-year contract with optional extensions tied to match appearances. Salah’s lawyer has traveled to Istanbul to negotiate the finer details of the agreement. No official confirmation has come from either party as of July 17, 2026.
The $SALAH memecoin and fan token dynamics The $SALAH memecoin, built on Solana, has experienced a marked surge in trading volume directly correlated with the transfer rumors gaining traction. Meanwhile, Beşiktaş’s official fan token, BJK, has seen comparatively muted activity. The club-branded token exists on Socios’ platform and theoretically gives holders voting rights on minor club decisions and access to exclusive content. Yet it’s the entirely unofficial memecoin that’s capturing trader attention.
That disparity tells you something important about how crypto markets currently work. Traders are gravitating toward the higher-volatility, higher-risk asset rather than the one with an actual institutional connection to the club. Memecoins offer bigger potential percentage moves in shorter timeframes, and for speculative traders riding a news cycle, that’s the whole point.
What this means for investors The core risk here is timing. Transfer sagas can drag on for weeks, and sentiment can flip on a single tweet from a journalist or club official. If Salah’s deal falls through or negotiations stall, the same speculative energy that pushed the token up will work in reverse.
For the BJK fan token, a confirmed Salah signing could drive sustained interest in the token as new fans engage with the club’s digital ecosystem. Salah’s fanbase, particularly across the Middle East and North Africa, is enormous, and that kind of geographic reach could translate into meaningful new demand for BJK.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Solana is back near an important support zone as risk-off pressure spreads through the crypto market and traders reassess exposure to high-beta layer-1 assets.
The token has been holding around the $77 region, a level that now matters because it sits at the intersection of market sentiment and ecosystem confidence. Solana still has one of the strongest activity stories in crypto, but that does not make it immune to broad selling when investors cut risk.
That is the key point in the current setup. Solana can be a strong network and still trade weakly when the wider market is pulling liquidity out of altcoins.
For traders, the question is whether $77 becomes a base or a warning sign.
TL;DR Solana is testing support near the $77 region as broader risk appetite weakens. The move reflects pressure across layer-1 tokens, not just a Solana-specific problem. Traders are watching whether on-chain activity and ecosystem confidence can keep buyers engaged. Solana’s Activity Story Is Still There Solana’s market position has changed dramatically from the darkest days of the previous cycle.
The network has rebuilt credibility through activity, developer interest, low-cost transactions, consumer-facing apps, DeFi usage, meme-token trading, and a growing ecosystem that often looks faster and more retail-friendly than rival chains. That activity has helped Solana regain a place near the front of the layer-1 conversation.
But price does not always move with network activity in a straight line.
When traders reduce risk, high-beta assets usually feel it first. Solana often trades like one of the market’s more aggressive major tokens. That can be a strength in bullish conditions, because SOL can outperform quickly when capital rotates into altcoins. It can also be a weakness in risk-off periods, because the same traders may reduce Solana exposure faster than they reduce Bitcoin exposure.
That is what makes the $77 support area important. It is not just a technical line. It is a test of whether buyers still see Solana as an asset worth accumulating during broader market weakness.
Network Fees And Usage Give Traders Context Transaction fee declines and ecosystem data are part of the current Solana picture. That matters because network activity can help explain whether the price move reflects a deeper slowdown or mostly a market-wide reset.
Lower transaction fees can mean different things depending on the context. They may reflect improved efficiency, lower congestion, reduced speculative activity, or simply a quieter period for on-chain trading. The interpretation depends on whether user activity, transaction count, and application demand are also holding up.
For Solana, that distinction is important. The network’s strongest market argument has been that people actually use it. If activity remains healthy while price pulls back, bulls can argue that the market is overreacting to macro pressure. If activity cools alongside price, the support test becomes more fragile.
That is why traders are likely watching more than the SOL chart. They are watching DEX volume, wallet activity, fee generation, network reliability, and whether developers continue building through weaker price action.
A layer-1 token needs more than narrative. It needs evidence that the chain remains useful when speculation cools.
Layer-1 Competition Has Not Gone Away Solana’s support test also comes in a market where layer-1 competition remains intense.
Ethereum still dominates many institutional and DeFi conversations. Bitcoin has absorbed a larger share of macro attention through ETFs. Other chains continue to fight for developer interest, liquidity incentives, and user adoption. In that environment, Solana has to keep proving that its speed and cost advantages translate into durable usage.
That is why support around $77 is psychologically useful. If buyers defend it, the market can treat the pullback as a reset inside a broader recovery. If the level breaks cleanly, traders may start questioning whether the next phase of altcoin rotation is being delayed.
The best case for Solana bulls is not simply that price bounces. It is that price bounces while network usage remains credible. That combination would make the move easier to trust.
The weaker case is a bounce driven only by short-term speculation, with no improvement in activity or liquidity behind it. Those moves often fade quickly.
For now, Solana remains one of the major assets that traders watch when they want to measure appetite for risk beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Its weakness says something about the market’s current mood. Its ability to hold support will say something about whether that mood is starting to stabilise.
The $77 region is therefore more than a chart level. It is a live test of Solana’s place in the current cycle.
This article is based on information from Solana Foundation ecosystem materials.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Cardone Capital has added another 10.5 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to its treasury using rental income from its real estate portfolio.
Dollar-Cost Average ApproachIn an X post on July 16, Grant Cardone said the company remains committed to converting a portion of its free cash flow into Bitcoin through a dollar-cost averaging strategy.
The latest purchase comes just a week after the firm announced it had acquired 107 BTC.
“Despite the fact BTC has not performed well this year, it is just a matter of time," Cardone wrote.
Over the past year, BTC prices dropped 47% as it plunged from its peak levels touched in October 2025.
Cardone Capital has accumulated more than 2,700 BTC across its real estate-Bitcoin hybrid investment strategy. At current prices, the holdings are worth around $170 million.
Analysts Praise The StrategyTechnical analyst Crypto Patel said the firm’s disciplined approach could outperform discretionary investment decisions over the long run.
"A rules-based capital allocation framework often outperforms discretionary decisions over the long term. Converting excess cash flow into Bitcoin on a recurring basis reflects that philosophy well," Patel said.
Bitcoin author Adam Livingston also praised the latest purchase, calling it a capital allocation decision that "is going to pay off extremely well."
Plan AheadCardone has outlined an ambitious roadmap for expanding the firm’s Bitcoin treasury.
The company is targeting 3,000 BTC by the end of this year and 10,000 BTC over the longer term, Bitcoin News reported. It has also said it plans to acquire an additional 1,000 BTC after receiving a planned $600 million institutional investment.
If completed, that purchase would significantly boost Cardone Capital’s standing among corporate Bitcoin holders while reinforcing its strategy of pairing income-producing real estate with recurring Bitcoin accumulation.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Shiba Inu has missed out on what could have been its first appearance in a U.S.-listed spot crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF).
This comes after T. Rowe Price launched its long-awaited Active Crypto ETF without including the meme coin among the supported assets. For months, the Shiba Inu community anticipated SHIB’s inclusion in the fund.
During the ETF’s initial filing in October 2025, the $1.89 trillion asset manager revealed plans to hold between five and 15 digital assets. At the time, SHIB appeared on the list of cryptocurrencies that met the fund’s eligibility standards, fueling optimism that it would become one of the first meme coins to gain exposure through a U.S.-listed spot crypto ETF.
However, that expectation did not materialize when the fund officially launched.
T. Rowe Price Debuts TKNZ on NYSE Arca Following approval from the U.S. SEC, T. Rowe Price launched the Active Crypto ETF yesterday under the ticker TKNZ on NYSE Arca.
The actively managed fund debuted with $15 million in assets under management (AUM) and carries an expense ratio of 0.75%. Rather than including SHIB, the ETF launched with exposure to the following digital assets:
Bitcoin (BTC) – 40.75% Ethereum (ETH) – 18.42% Binance Coin (BNB) – 11.01% Solana (SOL) – 9.44% XRP (XRP) – 9.37% Hyperliquid (HYPE) – 6.45% Stellar (XLM) – 3.00% Dogecoin (DOGE) – 1.28% USD Coin (USDC) – 0.16% Cash equivalents – 0.11% While Dogecoin secured a place in the portfolio, Shiba Inu was absent despite previously being identified as an eligible asset.
Why Was Shiba Inu Excluded? T. Rowe Price did not provide an official explanation for SHIB’s exclusion. Nevertheless, several developments since the ETF’s initial filing may have influenced the final portfolio selection.
When the filing was submitted in October 2025, Shiba Inu ranked among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Since then, the token has experienced a significant decline in market value and has slipped out of the top 30.
At press time, SHIB ranks as the 33rd-largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $2.43 billion and a trading price of $0.000004132.
Beyond its declining market position, the project’s public presence has also weakened. Several prominent members of the Shiba Inu ecosystem have become less active on social media. Meanwhile, the Shibtoken X account—once widely viewed as the project’s primary social media presence—has increasingly promoted other meme coin projects, raising concerns among some community members about the ecosystem’s current direction.
Active Management Leaves the Door Open Although SHIB was excluded from the ETF’s initial holdings, its chances of joining the fund in the future have not been completely ruled out.
Unlike passive index-tracking ETFs, the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF actively adjusts its portfolio based on changing market conditions and investment opportunities. As a result, the fund manager can modify asset allocations or introduce new cryptocurrencies over time.
If Shiba Inu regains market momentum, improves its ranking, or demonstrates stronger ecosystem growth, it could potentially qualify for inclusion during a future portfolio rebalance.
For now, SHIB also lacks a standalone spot ETF application in the United States. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and several other major cryptocurrencies that have attracted ETF proposals, no asset manager has filed for a dedicated Shiba Inu ETF.
Until such a filing emerges, or SHIB is added to an actively managed crypto fund like TKNZ, the timeline for the token’s first U.S. spot ETF exposure remains uncertain.
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.
Shiba Inu has seen its exchange activity slow significantly as investors appear to be taking caution again amid the broader crypto market downturn.
While the market has suddenly flipped negative, data provided by crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant shows a decline in the SHIB exchange netflow over the last day.
Shiba Inu enters bear zoneThe data shows that the Shiba Inu exchange netflow has declined modestly by about 3% over the last day, sitting at 38,631,500,000 SHIB as of the time of writing.
HOT Stories
This suggests a rise in selling pressure as the current exchange netflow metric shows that traders have dumped more SHIB tokens on exchanges to sell than they have bought over the period.
You Might Also Like
Notably, the metric provides a bearish signal for SHIB as such declines in exchange netflow often signal weakening investor interest, possibly influenced by the broader crypto market trend.
Shiba Inu still up for a positive July closeIt is important to note that the decline in the SHIB netflow has come when Shiba Inu is trading in the red, alongside other major crypto assets including Bitcoin and XRP.
Amid the sudden shift in investors' sentiment, Shiba Inu has dropped from a high of $0.000004234 to a low of $0.000004083 within just 24 hours.
The negative SHIB exchange netflow coinciding with a sharp price drop provides a bearish outlook for SHIB, positioning the asset for further downside movement in the short term.
While it remains uncertain whether momentum will be restored in the near term, it appears that the strong optimism for a notable July return is gradually fading.
Cover image via U.Today Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
Brokerage platform Robinhood remains atop Shiba Inu's holder list with more than 39.27 trillion SHIB currently held in a wallet related to the trading platform.
According to Etherscan data, 39,273,242,865,360.9000 SHIB currently sits in a Robinhood-named wallet, or 3.9274% of Shiba Inu's supply, currently worth $161,805,760.61.
While this figure seems significant, Robinhood isn't the biggest holder of SHIB. Another wallet contains a far larger SHIB balance, accounting for 41.0441% of its supply.
HOT Stories
Shiba Inu's burn address surprisingly holds the largest amount of SHIB, with Etherscan giving this quantity as 410,433,377,893,806 SHIB worth $1,695,089,850. A burn address is a wallet address with no known private key and is neither owned by nor accessible to anyone. Tokens in the burn address can't be used or retrieved, effectively reducing supply.
You Might Also Like
Contributing to the burn address total is Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin's massive SHIB burn in May 2021. Buterin sent a trove of more than 410 trillion tokens to Shiba Inu's dead wallet address, taking them out of circulation. This was worth $6.7 billion at the time. Shiba Inu continues its deflationary momentum, with 3.43 million SHIB burned in the last 24 hours.
The remaining 58.06% of the supply is shared mostly among exchanges, which hold larger amounts on behalf of holders, and individual wallets, with whales making up 0.04% of holders.
SHIB newsIn a fresh positive development for Shiba Inu, T. Rowe Price has launched what it says is the industry's first actively managed multi-token spot crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the market.
You Might Also Like
The T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF (TKNZ) began trading on Thursday, giving investors exposure to a portfolio of crypto assets including Shiba Inu.
At the time of writing, Shiba Inu was down 0.71% in the last 24 hours to $0.00000413 as a selloff in Asian semiconductor shares dragged every major cryptocurrency lower. The broader crypto market is currently consolidating as onchain metrics have yet to confirm a reversal, and the Fear and Greed Index stands at 31, remaining in fear territory.
Robinhood, a leading US-based brokerage platform known for offering commission-free trading of both stocks and cryptocurrencies, currently holds more than 39.27 trillion Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens in a wallet associated with the company.
Major SHIB holdings revealedData from Etherscan confirms that as of now, a wallet labeled as Robinhood holds exactly 39,273,242,865,360.9000 SHIB. This amount accounts for 3.9274% of the total Shiba Inu supply and is valued at approximately $161.8 million. Despite the scale of Robinhood’s SHIB reserves, it is not the largest holder of the token.
A separate wallet, described as Shiba Inu’s burn address, now holds the overwhelming majority of SHIB in existence. The balance of this inaccessible wallet stands at 410,433,377,893,806 SHIB, representing 41.0441% of the supply and an estimated $1.69 billion in value.
Mini dictionary: Burn address, a cryptocurrency wallet with an unknown or irretrievable private key, making any tokens sent to it permanently inaccessible and thus effectively removed from circulation.
The burn address not only represents the largest single wallet, but also plays a central role in SHIB’s deflationary policy, turning vast amounts of tokens permanently inaccessible.
This burn address received a massive deposit from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in May 2021. At that time, Buterin transferred over 410 trillion SHIB—worth $6.7 billion when sent—to the dead wallet, permanently removing these tokens from the market. Shiba Inu’s deflationary momentum continues, with 3.43 million SHIB destroyed over the last 24 hours.
Distribution and whale activityAside from these two holding concentrations, 58.06% of Shiba Inu’s circulating supply is spread among exchanges and private wallets. The bulk of these tokens are held by large registered exchanges on behalf of users, while individual investors own the remainder. Whale wallets account for just 0.04% of SHIB addresses.
Wallet/Holder TypeSHIB Held% of Total SupplyApproximate ValueBurn Address410,433,377,893,80641.04%$1.69 billionRobinhood39,273,242,865,360.93.93%$161.8 millionAll Other Holders/ExchangesRemaining supply58.06%VariesETF launch and price actionIn a further development for the Shiba Inu ecosystem, T. Rowe Price, a global asset management firm established in 1937, has introduced what it describes as the industry’s first actively managed multi-token spot crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Known as the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF (TKNZ), the vehicle started trading on Thursday. It offers investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of digital assets, including Shiba Inu among the holdings.
Mini dictionary: Exchange-traded fund (ETF), an investment fund that trades on stock exchanges, typically tracking a basket of assets; in the crypto context, an ETF allows investors to gain exposure to various cryptocurrencies through traditional brokerage accounts.
The T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF (TKNZ) now provides access to a basket of leading digital assets, marking another step in mainstream crypto adoption.
At the latest reading, Shiba Inu traded at $0.00000413, reflecting a 0.71% drop over the last 24 hours. This decrease coincided with a wider crypto market pullback as a decline in Asian semiconductor stocks affected major digital assets. The overall cryptocurrency market remains in a consolidation phase, while the Fear and Greed Index sits at 31 points, lingering in what analysts consider fear territory.
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.
Shiba Inu has come under renewed selling pressure after billions of SHIB tokens moved to cryptocurrency exchanges over the past 24 hours.
According to data from CryptoQuant, investors transferred 352.53 billion Shiba Inu to exchanges during the period, while only 317.44 billion SHIB left trading platforms. As a result, SHIB recorded a positive exchange netflow of 35.08 billion tokens.
Exchange netflow measures the difference between tokens entering and leaving cryptocurrency exchanges. A positive reading indicates that more assets are flowing into exchanges than out, a trend that often points to increasing selling pressure because traders typically deposit tokens before selling them.
Although exchange inflows do not automatically lead to immediate selling, sustained positive netflows often suggest that investors are positioning themselves to trade or liquidate their holdings.
SHIB Exchange Reserves Continue to Increase Meanwhile, SHIB’s exchange reserves also edged higher. Following the latest transfers, the total amount of SHIB held across exchanges climbed to 86.497 trillion tokens, representing a 0.04% increase over the previous 24 hours.
Growing exchange reserves generally indicate that more tokens are readily available for trading. Consequently, if investors decide to sell, the additional supply could weigh further on SHIB’s price. The latest on-chain data, therefore, adds to concerns about the meme coin’s short-term outlook as it continues to struggle amid broader market weakness.
SHIB Exchange Flows Recent Inflows Reverse Earlier Bullish Trend The latest exchange activity marks a clear reversal from the bullish trend observed only days ago. Earlier reports showed that investors withdrew more than 1.4 trillion SHIB from centralized exchanges in 10 days.
Large exchange outflows are typically viewed as bullish because they suggest holders are moving assets into private wallets for long-term storage instead of preparing to sell.
However, the latest positive netflow indicates that market sentiment may have shifted, with more SHIB now returning to exchanges.
SHIB Extends Decline in Crypto Rankings The bearish on-chain metrics have also coincided with Shiba Inu’s continued decline among the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. After recently falling out of the top 30, SHIB has now slipped to 33rd place. At $0.000004091, SHIB carries a market cap of $2.41 billion.
Currently, Shiba Inu is down 3.2% over the past 24 hours, 5.65% over the last seven days, and 16.81% over the past month. The decline comes as SHIB misses a potential institutional exposure boost after T. Rowe Price’s Active Crypto ETF launched without including the meme coin among its selected assets.
Japan Gives Shiba Inu a Major Visibility Boost Despite the bearish on-chain signals, Shiba Inu recently received a significant boost in Japan through one of the country’s largest fintech companies.
Japanese cryptocurrency platform Rakuten Wallet introduced the first physical Shiba Inu commemorative coin as part of its “Real Coin” collectible series. Unlike previous Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP editions, the SHIB version features a premium sandblasted matte finish that reportedly earned unanimous approval during internal testing.
Although the commemorative coin does not include blockchain functionality, Rakuten Wallet plans to display it at live events and promotional campaigns throughout its retail ecosystem, which reaches roughly 44 million users.
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.
Cover image via depositphotos.com Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings has officially completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Singapore-based crypto exchange Coinhako through its subsidiary SBI Ventures Asset. The transaction received full approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and has now been formally closed.
In their official statements, the management teams of both companies emphasize institutional infrastructure, including the creation of cross-border B2B corridors between Japan and Singapore, the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), and the launch of the regulated yen-denominated stablecoin JPYSC.
However, on-chain data from the Arkham platform reveals an important structural detail of the acquisition. Along with the licensed platform, the Japanese banking group is gaining control over a significant pool of retail liquidity in Southeast Asia, including more than 1.11 trillion Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens.
HOT Stories
Inside Coinhako's wallet: Breaking down SBI's new 1.11 trillion SHIB positionThis detail is notable against the broader development trend among major fintech platforms in the Asian market, where SBI will now further strengthen its position. Japan's domestic market has recently demonstrated the systematic integration of meme tokens into traditional commercial services.
In particular, Rakuten Wallet added direct support for SHIB trading pairs against the yen for its multimillion-user customer base and even released a unique physical meme token, while marketplace operator Mercari, through its Mercoin subsidiary, allowed customers to convert account balances and rewards into SHIB and DOGE.
Coinhako's cryptocurrency portfolio based on on-chain data by Arkham, Source: Arkham IntelligenceAccording to Coinhako's publicly identified on-chain addresses on Arkham, the total value of net assets held by the exchange exceeds $164.96 million. Its Shiba Inu position, which SBI will now inherit, ranks sixth in the platform's overall portfolio and consists of exactly 1.111 trillion tokens, worth approximately $4.52 million.
The key value of these reserves for the new parent structure is that Coinhako operates as an officially regulated fiat gateway, providing direct SHIB trading against the Singapore dollar (SGD) and the US dollar (USD). For SBI Holdings, which is developing its own retail platform, SBI VC Trade, this represents a ready-made instrument for serving the mass market across the Asia-Pacific region.
You Might Also Like
For Coinhako, as CEO Yusho Liu stresses, joining SBI Holdings provides access to international banking infrastructure and the resources required to scale its products.
The transaction clearly demonstrates how institutional capital, when acquiring crypto infrastructure companies, inevitably integrates their retail component as well. Alongside major projects involving the launch of stablecoins, SBI is gaining control of a diversified portfolio in which popular retail assets such as SHIB and PEPE hold a significant share.
Check out the latest and most important developments surrounding Shiba Inu's ecosystem.
The second-largest meme coin boosted its worldwide popularity thanks to a major initiative from Japan. However, the SHIB Army was left disappointed after previously expecting a global money manager would launch a SHIB exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The token’s price has been sliding sharply over the past several months, and certain factors suggest that the sell-off may intensify in the near future.
The Latest Developments Earlier this week, Rakuten Wallet (a crypto exchange run by the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Group) officially added a physical SHIB coin to its “Real Coin” series. Shiba Inu’s official X account celebrated the effort, saying:
“The fifth release in the collection and the first to feature a premium blast finish.”
Nonetheless, that’s about it with the good news surrounding the meme coin. T. Rowe Price’s crypto ETF has just gone live, yet despite expectations that SHIB would be among the underlying assets, the meme coin was ultimately excluded.
Another development comes from the United States. Arkham revealed that the American government recently transferred $250,000 worth of Shiba Inu seized from FTX and Alameda Research.
“This SHIB will be held by the US government and presumably used to repay creditos in the FTX case,” the post reads.
Total Ecosystem Setback Shiba Inu has been going through a rough period lately; interest from traders and investors has dropped significantly, while overall ecosystem activity is barely visible.
The layer-2 scaling solution Shibarium, for instance, which once processed millions of daily transactions, is now in a much weaker condition. The figure has dropped to the mere hundreds, reflecting waning activity and interest among users.
Shibarium Transactions, Source: shibariumscan.io Shiba Inu’s burning program is another worrying factor, with the rate down 54% over the past week, signaling a notable decline in network participation.
SHIB Price Outlook As of press time, SHIB is worth roughly $0.000004078 (per CoinGecko), a 17% decline on a monthly scale and a colossal 95% collapse from the all-time high registered in late 2021.
The token’s market capitalization has slipped below $2.5 billion, and at one point this year Shiba Inu even fell to the third-biggest meme coin, overtaken by MemeCore (M). Shortly after, it reclaimed the second position, but only thanks to the double-digit collapse that MemeCore (M) experienced.
Despite the negative environment and multiple bearish factors, the community continues to grow. As CryptoPotato reported, the total number of SHIB wallets recently surged to a fresh peak of nearly 1.7 million after an explosive one-day influx of around 75,000 new holders.
Venice AI updates its token economics: introduces a buyback mechanism and raises the supply cap for DIEM.
Venice AI has issued an announcement updating its token economics, with two primary changes: First, a new programmed burn mechanism: For every $100 worth of API credits purchased, $5 will be allocated to buy VVV on the open market and permanently burn the tokens. Second, DIEM’s supply target has been raised for the first time, from 38,000 to 40,000 (an increase of 2,000 units). The adjustment will be rolled out in phases, with the full target expected to be achieved by September 14.
40 minutes ago
Trump Media Company prices exclusive early access to Trump’s posts at $100,000 per month.
According to the Financial Times, Trump Media & Technology Group is pitching a $100,000 monthly service to clients that delivers fast access to former President Donald Trump’s posts. Earlier reports noted that Trump Media would sell premium, faster access to posts on its Truth Social platform; the new service allows traders and investors to pay for real-time pushes of Truth Social content. This data feed service will launch next month for institutional clients, including high-frequency algorithmic trading firms.
40 minutes ago
Cardano will hand over control of its core software to an external team starting in August.
Cardano developer Input Output will transfer control of key blockchain components—including Haskell nodes, the Plutus platform, and the Daedalus wallet—to external professional teams starting in August, as part of its multi-year decentralization initiative. Independent firms such as Se7en Labs and Teragone will oversee portions of the core infrastructure. At least three Cardano implementations will be maintained in Haskell, Rust, and Go, under community oversight and formal specification management. Cardano is currently grappling with weak network activity and a sharp drop in the ADA token’s price. Founder Charles Hoskinson framed the restructuring and ecosystem-related setbacks as necessary "growing pains" on the path to full decentralization.
40 minutes ago
France blocks prediction market Polymarket.
French gambling regulator ANJ announced on July 17 that Polymarket’s website will be blocked in France, following its November 2024 ban on financial transactions with the platform. The ANJ stated that the site’s ongoing operation—with real-time updated odds for various events—qualifies as advertising. Even after banning French accounts from conducting trades on Polymarket, accesses to the platform from French internet addresses have continued to rise, reaching 578,751 visits in June.
40 minutes ago
Meta is in talks with Anthropic over a computing power leasing agreement, with the potential deal valued at up to $10 billion.
According to The New York Times, Meta Platforms is in talks with Anthropic over a computing power leasing agreement, with the potential deal size reaching up to $10 billion for a two-year term. The negotiations remain in the early stages. Additionally, market data from BIT (bit.com) shows Meta's share decline has narrowed to 3%.
40 minutes ago
Serenity: Its investment portfolio has posted a nearly 50% drawdown this month, and it firmly believes that the current round of adjustment is merely leverage-driven volatility, with its growth logic remaining intact.
Serenity posted a statement noting that their portfolio suffered a 49.4% drawdown this month, with main holdings concentrated in AI bottleneck sectors including memory, photonics, robotics, and upstream semiconductors. Serenity acknowledged pressure from the short-term market crash, but maintained that the volatility stems from liquidity and leverage rather than a breakdown in the structural growth logic of these fields.
Venice AI updates its token economics: introduces a buyback mechanism and raises the supply cap for DIEM.
Venice AI has issued an announcement updating its token economics, with two primary changes: First, a new programmed burn mechanism: For every $100 worth of API credits purchased, $5 will be allocated to buy VVV on the open market and permanently burn the tokens. Second, DIEM’s supply target has been raised for the first time, from 38,000 to 40,000 (an increase of 2,000 units). The adjustment will be rolled out in phases, with the full target expected to be achieved by September 14.
40 minutes ago
Trump Media Company prices exclusive early access to Trump’s posts at $100,000 per month.
According to the Financial Times, Trump Media & Technology Group is pitching a $100,000 monthly service to clients that delivers fast access to former President Donald Trump’s posts. Earlier reports noted that Trump Media would sell premium, faster access to posts on its Truth Social platform; the new service allows traders and investors to pay for real-time pushes of Truth Social content. This data feed service will launch next month for institutional clients, including high-frequency algorithmic trading firms.
40 minutes ago
Cardano will hand over control of its core software to an external team starting in August.
Cardano developer Input Output will transfer control of key blockchain components—including Haskell nodes, the Plutus platform, and the Daedalus wallet—to external professional teams starting in August, as part of its multi-year decentralization initiative. Independent firms such as Se7en Labs and Teragone will oversee portions of the core infrastructure. At least three Cardano implementations will be maintained in Haskell, Rust, and Go, under community oversight and formal specification management. Cardano is currently grappling with weak network activity and a sharp drop in the ADA token’s price. Founder Charles Hoskinson framed the restructuring and ecosystem-related setbacks as necessary "growing pains" on the path to full decentralization.
40 minutes ago
France blocks prediction market Polymarket.
French gambling regulator ANJ announced on July 17 that Polymarket’s website will be blocked in France, following its November 2024 ban on financial transactions with the platform. The ANJ stated that the site’s ongoing operation—with real-time updated odds for various events—qualifies as advertising. Even after banning French accounts from conducting trades on Polymarket, accesses to the platform from French internet addresses have continued to rise, reaching 578,751 visits in June.
40 minutes ago
Meta is in talks with Anthropic over a computing power leasing agreement, with the potential deal valued at up to $10 billion.
According to The New York Times, Meta Platforms is in talks with Anthropic over a computing power leasing agreement, with the potential deal size reaching up to $10 billion for a two-year term. The negotiations remain in the early stages. Additionally, market data from BIT (bit.com) shows Meta's share decline has narrowed to 3%.
40 minutes ago
Serenity: Its investment portfolio has posted a nearly 50% drawdown this month, and it firmly believes that the current round of adjustment is merely leverage-driven volatility, with its growth logic remaining intact.
Serenity posted a statement noting that their portfolio suffered a 49.4% drawdown this month, with main holdings concentrated in AI bottleneck sectors including memory, photonics, robotics, and upstream semiconductors. Serenity acknowledged pressure from the short-term market crash, but maintained that the volatility stems from liquidity and leverage rather than a breakdown in the structural growth logic of these fields.
Apple briefly overtook Nvidia as the world’s most valuable company on Friday, touching $4.92 trillion against Nvidia’s $4.86 trillion in early trading. Nvidia later reclaimed the top spot, but the gap between the two has narrowed sharply.
Apple (AAPL) climbed 1.76% to a record $333.26, while Nvidia (NVDA) fell 2.40% to $207.40. The race for the market’s crown now looks closer than at any point this year.
Apple Gains While the AI Trade Sells OffMarket tracker Barchart flagged the brief flip during Friday’s early hours session.
By regular trading, Nvidia had recovered the lead with a $5.02 trillion market cap against Apple’s $4.89 trillion. That leaves roughly $130 billion between them, a thin margin at this scale.
The momentum, however, points in opposite directions. AAPL has gained more than 7% over the past week, while NVDA has dropped nearly 4% over the past month on sustained profit-taking.
Friday’s Nasdaq 100 heat map makes the divergence visible. Apple stands out as one of the few green mega caps, while the chip complex bleeds. Alphabet lost 4.44%, Broadcom slid 5.03%, and AMD sank 5.33%, extending the AI compute stock selloff that began in early July.
Nasdaq 100 heat map / Source: TradingviewThe two giants also lean on different engines. Apple rides extraordinary iPhone 17 demand and a Services unit that reached an all-time high of $30.98 billion last quarter. The stock already set an Apple stock record earlier this month as the AI memory crunch pushed buyers upmarket.
Nvidia, in contrast, keeps posting hypergrowth. Its latest quarterly revenue hit $81.6 billion, up 85.2% year over year, according to a Yahoo Finance report. Data center networking alone grew 199% as hyperscalers race to build AI capacity.
Nothing in the fundamentals suggests that demand has cracked. The Blackwell 300 platform is still ramping, and TSMC’s raised guidance points to firm AI chip orders. Investors are simply taking profits after a historic run, compressing NVDA even as its business accelerates.
July 30 Earnings Could Decide the Most Valuable Company RaceThe next catalyst belongs to Apple. The company reports earnings on July 30, while Nvidia stays silent until August 26. That leaves a month-long window where Apple controls the narrative, and Nvidia remains exposed to sentiment swings.
Analysts will watch Services growth, Greater China revenue, and any early iPhone 18 signals. Greater China surged to $25.53 billion last quarter, and Polymarket traders currently price 96% odds of an iPhone 18 launch this year.
Valuation frames the choice for investors. Nvidia trades near 22x forward earnings with a PEG ratio of 0.6 while guiding to $91 billion in quarterly revenue. Its gross margins sit near 75%, far above Apple’s roughly 49%.
Apple commands a forward multiple closer to 32x. The premium rests on eight straight EPS beats, a fresh $100 billion buyback, and a $30 billion Broadcom deal that deepens its silicon roadmap.
The leaderboard below Apple and Nvidia keeps shifting too, as Micron’s market cap climb showed in June. Still, the top two remain more than half a trillion dollars clear of third-placed Alphabet.
TOP 10 companies by market cap / Source: companiesmarketcapAAPL Price Analysis Shows Strength Above the $315 BreakoutThe daily chart shows AAPL setting fresh all-time highs on Thursday and Friday, with the latest peak at $334.68. The price has advanced in a nearly unbroken run since late June.
On Thursday, AAPL cleared the important resistance at $315. That level capped the price through May and again in mid-July, and it may now act as support on any pullback.
The breakout follows a bounce off the $275 to $280 zone on June 26. That area had served as resistance since February, and its successful retest gave bulls the base for the current rally.
AAPL daily chart / Source: TradingviewMomentum supports the move. The daily RSI has pushed back above 70, signaling strong bullish pressure, although readings this elevated can also precede short-term cooling.
Whether Apple can hold the crown may come down to the July 30 print. A strong Services and China showing could cement the flip, while any wobble would hand Nvidia room to stretch its lead again before its own August report.
