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Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY +3.98%) belongs to an elite group. Only two other large-cap healthcare stocks offer higher dividend yields. Bristol Myers Squibb's juicy yield of 4.3% is absolutely grabbing the attention of many income investors.

The drugmaker has paid a dividend for an impressive 94 consecutive years. Bristol Myers Squibb has increased its dividend for 17 straight years. But is its dividend safe now? Here's what investors need to know.

Image source: Getty Images.

The coverage, the cliff, and the catalysts Let's start with some good news. Bristol Myers Squibb's dividend payout ratio currently stands at 70%. While a lower ratio is preferable, the pharma giant's earnings are more than sufficient to cover its dividend right now.

Sure, Bristol Myers Squibb didn't generate enough free cash flow in the first quarter of 2026 to fund its dividend program. However, this reflected the negative impact of lower Eliquis pricing that should be largely offset later this year by lower rebate payments.

The bad news for Bristol Myers Squibb's dividend, though, is the company's looming patent cliff. Blockbuster drugs Eliquis and Opdivo lose patent exclusivity in 2028. These two products generated roughly half of Bristol Myers Squibb's total revenue last year.

However, the patent cliff is only part of the story. Bristol Myers Squibb's growth portfolio now represents the majority of the company's total revenue. Sales for newer products, including cancer immunotherapies Breyanzi and Opdualag, autoimmune disease drug Sotyktu, and schizophrenia therapy Cobenfy, are growing rapidly. The drugmaker's pipeline also features around 50 programs in development, several of which hold the potential to be growth catalysts.

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The verdict My take is that Bristol Myers Squibb's 4.3% dividend yield is safe, at least for the next couple of years. What about beyond that point? I'm cautiously optimistic.

I expect that Bristol Myers Squibb's growth portfolio will generate enough revenue that the company will be able to avoid cutting its dividend later this decade. It wouldn't surprise me, though, if the streak of dividend increases comes to a screeching halt.

That said, it's still possible that the patent cliff could hurt Bristol Myers Squibb worse than I'm anticipating. The drugmaker's debt also totaled $44.5 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. That's manageable but coud become problematic if the growth portfolio and pipeline don't deliver as I think they will.

I wouldn't completely rule out a dividend cut in the future. However, I still view this pharma stock as a good pick for income investors over the near term (and potentially over the long term, too).

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CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers (“RSUM”), the underwriting management division of Ryan Specialty (NYSE: RYAN), is pleased to announce the completion of a series of Lloyd’s of London consortium stamps that will attach to its global syndicated P&C delegated underwriting portfolio. The consortium stamps are supported by six leading Lloyd’s syndicates and will take a combined 15% share on all classes, lines and geographies (except for a partial share of Velocity Risk Underwriters, RSUM’s critical CAT managing general underwriter). The consortium stamps will begin joining facilities at their natural renewals starting August 1st.

Miles Wuller, CEO of RSUM, commented, “We are proud of both the continued interest in our portfolio and our ability to transform our diverse, highly curated, well-performing family of businesses into an accessible specialty insurance asset. Moreover, we are pleased to contribute broad-based data and structural efficiency to the specialty marketplace.

“I would like to highlight the forward-looking investment Ardonagh has made in Axiiem, its technology-enabled digital exchange, which will serve as the facilitation agent for the structure,” Miles added. “We appreciate Lloyd’s constructive support throughout the process, helping bring together market-leading expertise and capacity. Additionally, we would like to thank Markel for their cornerstone support, and all the new and existing syndicate stakeholders that brought this transaction to life.”

About Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers

Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers is an industry leader in delegated authority underwriting services. Our family of managing general underwriters and national programs have the expertise and authority to design, underwrite, bind, and administer a diverse portfolio of risks. Our value proposition originates with our 1500+ industry professionals who are empowered by centralized technical support and policy lifecycle administration, coupled with a broad distribution network of retail and wholesale brokers. We have been diligently servicing our valued clients and trading partners since our establishment in 2010 and now have operations in North America, the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. To learn more, please visit rsum.com.

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Český zbrojař Michal Strnad vyjednává o koupi 14procentního podílu v italském výrobci pneumatik Pirelli od jeho největšího akcionáře čínské státní firmy Sinochem. S odkazem na své zdroje o tom informuje agentura Bloomberg a další média. Italský deník Corriere della Sera v pátek přinesl s odkazem na zdroje zprávu, že odkoupit část podílu v Pirelli se spolu se Strnadem chystá i podnikatel Pavel Tykač.

Koupí menšinového podílu v Pirelli by Strnad expandoval mimo svou hlavní oblast podnikání. Případná úspěšná transakce by zásadně změnila rozložení sil v Miláně, uvádí web Börse Global.

Hodnota případné transakce by výrazně přesáhla miliardu eur (24 miliard Kč). Po takovém obchodu by Sinochem ve společnosti Pirelli držel již jen zhruba 20 procent.

Řím přísně omezuje vliv společnosti Sinochem na správní radu. Příchod Strnada by dále posílil evropskou vlastnickou strukturu společnosti Pirelli, zdůrazňuje agentura. Tykač, který byl do vyjednávání zapojen na začátku, už z nich odstoupil, uvádějí zdroje Bloombergu.

Podle informovaných zdrojů již byly dohodnuty základní podrobnosti týkající se kupní ceny. K uzavření obchodu by podle nich mohlo dojít již koncem července. Transakci musí schválit čínští regulátoři.

Finanční trhy na plány reagují citlivě. Akcie společnosti Pirelli v Miláně krátkodobě vzrostly o více než čtyři procenta. Akcie Strnadovy Czechoslovak Group (CSG) uzavřely páteční obchodování na hodnotě 14,59 eura, což představuje týdenní nárůst o více než jedenáct procent. Akcie této zbrojařské společnosti nicméně zůstávají pod tlakem. Jejich cena se pohybuje téměř 60 procent pod rekordním maximem z ledna.

Úspěšné uzavření transakce by výrazně diverzifikovalo Strnadovo investiční portfolio. Společnost CSG zároveň dále rozšiřuje aktivity v oblasti obranného průmyslu ve Spojených státech a v Evropě. V roce 2022 získala 70procentní podíl v italské společnosti Fiocchi Munizioni a v loňském roce odkoupila i zbytek tohoto výrobce munice.

The Indian government has warned of action against two of Meta's three major platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram, within a week, underscoring the growing regulatory risks the U.S. social media giant faces in a key market.

On Saturday, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a "stern notice to Meta over the presence of Child Sexual Exploitative & Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram," according to a report by Indian state broadcaster DD News.

The government has directed Instagram to "immediately disable all advertisements and content that promote" child abuse and has sought a detailed explanation from Meta within seven days, the report said.

The regulatory warning to Meta came after an investigation by the BBC revealed on Friday that Instagram was running paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material in India.

Meta has a "Zero tolerance policy" for child abuse-related content, a spokesperson for Meta told CNBC in an email. The company is using "AI technology to proactively detect violating content and individuals, but we are in a constant battle with criminals who hide among our 3.5 billion users and try to evade our detection," it added.

Earlier this year, the European Commission found that the social media giant was violating EU law by failing to prevent children below 13 from accessing its platforms. Though Meta had disagreed with the preliminary findings, it could face fines of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover if the findings are confirmed.

The U.S. company is not facing an immediate risk of a fine in India, but has come under sharp regulatory scrutiny in its biggest market. The country has the largest audience base for Instagram, with more than 480 million users, more than double the U.S. as of 2025, as per data from Statista. It also has more than 400 million Facebook users, the most globally.

Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, said this was a "wake-up call for Meta to tighten its compliance and control for its platforms" as the Indian government is keen "to tighten the leash over these massive digital platforms."

Last week, Meta's messaging app, WhatsApp, which has over half a million users in India, was also issued a warning over the roll-out of its username feature. The government claimed the feature could increase cybercrime incidents and has directed the platform to pause its plans.

Meta defended the introduction of usernames, calling it a "major privacy feature" designed to help people stay connected without giving away phone numbers.

"I would describe India as a more demanding regulatory market rather than a hostile one," Reema Bhattacharya, head of Asia research at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC. Given India's importance as a key digital market, she added that companies should expect regulators to engage more actively on "issues ranging from online safety to data governance."

Aave [AAVE] V4 has reached an important adoption milestone, highlighting continued demand despite a challenging DeFi environment. The protocol has now surpassed $250 million in deposits, reflecting strong early traction for its upgraded lending infrastructure.

This growth was driven by improvements in capital efficiency, enhanced risk parameters, and expanded lending options to attract additional liquidity. As well as growing the amount of deposits, it is also essential that the quality of these deposits remain high.

Source: Aave on X Some portion of the deposits to V4 were due to users moving their previous positions from V3. Yet, they did not all represent new capital entering the Aave ecosystem.

Despite this, there have been positive signs indicating that new deposits continue to flow into the platform. This is in addition to the migrated assets. For Aave to be able to sustain further growth, they need to continue to draw new capital into the platform.

Should V4 continue to outperform V3 in terms of true net additions of liquidity, then Aave can solidify its position as the dominant liquidity provider within DeFi.

Broader liquidity tells a different story Although Aave V4 continues to see record-breaking deposit numbers, the overall trend in liquidity is much more nuanced. The TVL previously reached an all-time high of about 13.4 million ETH. However, it fell dramatically due to the recent downturn in markets.

TVL has since bounced back to about 7.4 million ETH. Still far from the previous highs, this indicates that significant amounts of capital have been slow to recover even with improvements in investor sentiment.

Source: DeFiLlama That said, withdrawals are still outpacing some portion of the influx of new capital into V4, which is limiting how much liquidity grows as a whole.

While V4 has seen continuous updates to its protocols and has seen a recovery in TVL. Still, these indicators suggest a resilient position by V4 for future growth but do not show that V4 is structurally weak.

Moreover, cbETH deposits across Aave have increased lately. Deposits held near $18-$20 million through May before increasing to early July levels of approximately $70 million.

Source: TokenLogic This rapid increase indicates a strengthening demand for liquid staking collateral; additionally, it reinforces the liquidity and lending capacity of Aave.

Whether Aave can expand once again as a larger ecosystem will be determined by the ability to continue seeing net positive flows to the platform over time, excluding internal migration.

Final Summary Aave V4 growth depended on sustained net new liquidity, not internal capital migration. Aave’s liquidity was strengthening as cbETH deposits continued to rise across the protocol.

Nike's (NKE +2.39%) iconic global brand is not delivering the steady growth investors are used to. The stock has been in a downward spiral since hitting an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic and has fallen another 32% year to date.

The discount has brought the dividend yield up to 3.7%, more than three times the S&P 500 average. Is this yield too good to pass up? Let's first assess Nike's dividend payout health before determining whether this is the smartest dividend stock to buy in 2026.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Dividend coverage is weakening Nike is still navigating challenging macroeconomic headwinds, including inflation and higher energy prices, which are hurting consumer spending. It reported flat revenue for fiscal 2026, which ended in May, with fourth-quarter revenue down 1% year over year.

The weak top-line growth and investments to turn things around have caused Nike's trailing-12-month free cash flow to plummet 65% year over year to just over $1 billion. This doesn't leave enough room for the dividend. The company paid out nearly $2.4 billion in total dividends to shareholders over the last year.

Nike generated $3.1 billion in net income over the last year. With over $7.5 billion in cash on the balance sheet, the dividend is unlikely to be cut. Still, the elevated payout ratio to free cash flow raises this risk for investors unless there is a material recovery in profitability.

The good news is that management has made progress in tightening inventory to better manage costs. It is prioritizing margins over maximizing near-term revenue growth, with gross margin expected to improve starting this quarter.

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Nike's turnaround will take time Nike sportswear and Jordan streetwear remain weak, and together account for about half of Nike's total revenue. The only bright spot appears to be running, which has delivered five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth.

Management is actively working to reduce discounting to boost margins and adjust its product mix to drive sales growth. Over 150 stores have refreshed their inventory with performance-based products, which are seeing stronger demand than lifestyle products. Nike is also introducing a dozen new footwear styles later this year. However, management expects these efforts to take time to generate consistent results.

The turnaround is progressing, but probably not as quickly as Wall Street anticipated. Management is confident in its actions to improve margins. Still, the elevated dividend payout to free cash flow doesn't make the stock the safest choice for income investors.

I wouldn't call Nike the "smartest" dividend stock to buy right now. There are more durable consumer brands, such as Coca-Cola, that offer high yields but don't carry the execution risk associated with a major turnaround effort. Investors who buy Nike shares will need to closely monitor its quarterly earnings to ensure the company is on track to recover margins and free cash flow, which is crucial for sustaining and growing the dividend.

Shares of Palantir Technologies (PLTR +2.99%) rose 14% this past week, following news of a potentially lucrative collaboration with an artificial intelligence (AI) giant and a bullish analyst note.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

A powerful alliance Palantir is teaming up with Nvidia (NVDA 1.39%) to make it easier for the U.S. government to reap the benefits of open-source AI models.

By combining Palantir's sovereign AI operating system with Nvidia's Nemotron open models and accelerated computing infrastructure, government agencies could achieve gains in cost, safety, and customization while preserving data security.

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The partnership could provide a boost to Palantir's already fast-growing government division. Revenue in this segment soared 84% year over year to $687 million in the first quarter.

A new Palantir bull D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria sees more reasons to be bullish on Palantir's stock.

Luria believes it makes more sense for companies to build on Palantir's platform, which offers access to a wide range of AI models from nearly all major providers, rather than directly on the models developed by the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic.

He highlighted Anthropic's confrontation with the Trump administration last month, which forced it to temporarily disable access to its models. A business that solely relied on Anthropic's model could have faced "catastrophic" disruptions, according to Luria.

On the other hand, companies that used Palantir's platform would have faced minimal downtime as it quickly shifted to alternative models.

In turn, Luria upgraded Palantir's stock from neutral to buy on Thursday and placed a $175 price target on its shares.

Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Defense heavyweight Lockheed Martin is leading the race to buy naval defense group Ultra Maritime, CNBC has learned.

The deal to acquire Ultra is roughly $3.5 billion, and Guggenheim and JPMorgan are advising on the sell side, according to sources close to CNBC.

Ultra is owned by private equity firm Advent International, and specializes in anti-submarine technology. The company makes radar and electronic warfare systems, as well as torpedo defense countermeasures.

A Financial Times report last week said that talks were still ongoing and a deal could be announced as early as this week.

Advent was reportedly put up for sale earlier in 2026 for more than 3 billion pounds, or $4 billion.

Lockheed Martin is one of the world's largest defense firms, producing planes such as the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet and munitions like the Patriot air defense missile.

Defense stocks have enjoyed a bumper year in 2026, as conflicts from Ukraine to Iran increase demand for munitions worldwide.

In April, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said global defense outlays in 2025 climbed to a staggering $2.89 trillion, led by massive spending by European nations.

Shares of Robinhood Markets (HOOD +3.75%) climbed 14% this past week after the financial services company unveiled an array of new product innovations.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Going global With roughly 28 million customers in 38 countries, Robinhood's financial platform already possesses impressive scale and reach. Yet it continues to expand into new markets.

Robinhood's acquisition of digital asset services provider WonderFi in June gave it a beachhead in Canada. The fintech platform also plans to launch crypto trading and brokerage services in the U.K. and Singapore.

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In addition to entering new international markets, Robinhood launched its new stock tokens in over 120 countries. The tokenized debt securities are designed to offer economic exposure to popular stocks and ETFs. They're tradable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Robinhood also expanded its popular perpetual futures offering in European markets to include commodities, ETFs, and foreign currencies.

Agentic trading Investors were perhaps most intrigued by Robinhood's plans to integrate more artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features into its platform. Robinhood wants to become a hub for agentic AI trading by enabling its customers to use AI agents to buy and sell stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies on their behalf.

Many of these products and services will be enabled by the fintech's new blockchain platform, Robinhood Chain. The Layer 2 blockchain is built on the Arbitrum Platform and integrates with leading decentralized finance networks like Chainlink and Uniswap.

Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chainlink and Uniswap Protocol Token. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Revolution Medicines (RVMD +0.92%) spent most of its history as a publicly traded company -- that's since 2020 -- trading for less than $50 a share. The company offers a new approach to oncology treatment, aiming for targets once thought to be "undruggable." In recent months, Revolution has clearly demonstrated the potential of its technology and is rapidly approaching the finish line. So, it's no surprise that investors have been taking notice.

In fact, they've taken so much notice that the stock price has soared nearly 140% this year. This is amid positive late-stage clinical trial results and optimism about potential revenue ahead. Considering the full picture and after its triple-digit gain, is this hot biotech stock still a buy? Let's find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Making the "undruggable" protein "druggable" We'll start off by taking a look at Revolution's technology and pipeline progress. The company focuses on treating cancers linked to the activity of RAS proteins. RAS proteins have generally been called "undruggable" because potential therapeutics can't bind to their surfaces. But Revolution, using its tri-complex inhibitor platform, has found a way, producing "druggable" sites -- the investigational therapeutics then go on to block cancer signaling.

Revolution is exploring its candidates in cancers in which RAS proteins play a key role, and the company recently reported solid results from a phase 3 trial of previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer. Daraxonrasib delivered a survival rate of 13.2 months versus a survival rate of 6.7 months for patients treated with the standard care of chemotherapy.

The company said these results are considered final, and it's submitting them to support a request for regulatory review. Revolution is also advancing another candidate, zoldonrasib, in phase 3 trials for the same indication.

Revolution has phase 3 trials ongoing for daraxonrasib in non-small cell lung cancer, and zoldonrasib as a combination therapy with standard of care is entering phase 3.

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Results just ahead And the biotech company is conducting earlier-stage trials in colorectal cancer and aims to share results of these combination studies -- with standard of care or investigational approaches -- this year.

Meanwhile, Revolution doesn't yet have products on the market, so it isn't generating revenue -- and due to this period of heavy investment in research and development, the company's loss in the recent quarter doubled from the year-earlier period to more than $453 million. The cash position at $1.9 billion and the $2.1 billion in net proceeds from financing should help support ongoing R&D.

The company clearly has developed an interesting approach to cancer treatment and has made significant progress in pancreatic cancer -- a key area where better treatments are needed. The fact that the company's lead candidate is approaching the finish line is positive, too, as that suggests a revenue stream may be right around the corner. So, if all goes smoothly, Revolution could be very close to becoming a commercial-stage biotech. This could reduce risk as a potential regulatory nod represents a vote of confidence for the technology that's used throughout the pipeline -- and would open the door to revenue and eventually profit.

And speaking of the financial picture, it's not worrisome to see the company's R&D costs climb right now -- this is a standard pattern across biotech companies in the clinical development stage.

Now, let's consider whether the stock is a buy. If you're a cautious investor, it's best to focus on biotech players that already have at least one product on the market and either are profitable or have made steps toward profitability. Biotech companies that aren't yet commercial-stage represent a certain amount of risk.

But, if you're a growth investor who can handle this risk, Revolution, even after its big gain, represents a compelling buy. This is because the company has shown the strength of its technology and may be very close to potential product approval. A regulatory nod and revenue growth to follow could result in significant gains, and Revolution's strong pipeline could lead to more strength down the road. All of this means that, over time, the stock may have plenty of room to run.

Nike (NKE +2.39%) desperately wants to get back in shape financially, but its "Win Now" turnaround campaign is being held back for one main reason: China. While the retailer's fourth-quarter results actually beat Wall Street's expectations, revenue in Greater China fell a whopping 17% in the quarter and 13% in fiscal year 2026.

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"Win Now" is, however, showing signs that it's beginning to work in other capacities. Nike's running business has grown by double digits for five consecutive quarters. Nike is also rebuilding its wholesale relationships.

Wholesale revenue grew 4% year over year in the fourth quarter. Nike Running also gained market share in both Western Europe and North America. The brand also believes margin expansion could begin this quarter, earlier than the company's original projection.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

China remains Nike's biggest challenge. There's increasing competition within the country, and consumers there have shifted preferences. It doesn't seem like Nike has a real answer to this significant headwind yet.

Shares of Nike are down almost 31% this year and over 72% in the past five years. Investors hoping for a turnaround will, unfortunately, need even more patience as CEO Elliott Hill and his team navigate a tricky global market.

I still believe Nike will make its comeback, but it won't be easy against a defiant Chinese market. Nike needs a stronger strategy in China, as the brand has lost its prestige and cool factor in the market. Current and prospective investors should recognize that this will be a multiyear effort and that the turnaround of a massive global brand will be slower than expected.

Catie Hogan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nike. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The spot @HyperliquidX ETFs posted net inflows of $4.32M for the week ending July 4, marking their weakest weekly performance since launching in mid-May 2026. While still positive, the figure represents a notable cooldown from the pace that made these products some of the most closely watched new ETFs in crypto this year.

A Strong Start That Has Slowed The suite of spot $HYPE ETFs, which includes Bitwise's BHYP, 21Shares' THYP, and Grayscale's HYPG, had an explosive debut. The products crossed $100M in combined net inflows within just 10 trading sessions of their mid-May 2026 debut, a pace that, on a market-cap-adjusted basis, no prior altcoin ETF had matched. Inflows accelerated sharply early on, jumping from $6.89M in the partial launch week to $68.02M for the full week ending May 22, a near 10x week-over-week surge.

The momentum continued into June. Spot Hyperliquid ETFs attracted $111M in net inflows on June 29 alone, even as U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs faced significant outflows. That single-day figure dwarfs the entire week's tally reported this week, underscoring how sharply the pace has moderated.

Despite the slower week, the ETFs have seen remarkably few down days. According to @BSCNews, the products have recorded only two days of net outflows since launch (June 5 and June 30), a sign of durable if cooling institutional interest.

Supply Lock-Up Continues Perhaps more telling than weekly flow figures is the cumulative supply impact. The spot $HYPE ETFs now collectively hold 2.28% of $HYPE's current circulating supply, a meaningful concentration that reduces the float available to open-market participants. The two leading funds have attracted over $137M in total, validating institutional demand for the asset.

Part of the structural appeal for ETF investors is $HYPE's built-in buyback mechanism. Hyperliquid runs a mechanism called the Assistance Fund, with 99% of trading fees from the exchange's perpetual and spot markets flowing into it, and the fund spending that money buying $HYPE on the open market. That dynamic, combined with ETF inflows locking up supply, has drawn comparisons to the demand structures seen in early Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF cycles.

Whether this week's softer inflow number signals a sustained deceleration or simply a pause after June's record-setting activity remains to be seen. What is clear is that the $HYPE ETF category, barely two months old, has already redefined expectations for altcoin ETF launches.

Sources:
CNBC: Bitcoin is cratering, but a new Wall Street crypto hype is on the rise
CryptoNews: Hyperliquid Price Prediction 2026
FXStreet: Hyperliquid Price Forecast, Easing ETF Flows

Something is building inside the @Litecoin ecosystem. The chain has now reached a total of 409 million unique addresses, with some 22 million of those created in just the past six months. That works out to roughly 5.37% of all $LTC addresses ever created, generated in half a year.

On-Chain Data Points to Real Momentum Address growth of this scale is one of the cleaner signals of organic network expansion in crypto. It suggests new participants are arriving, not just existing holders reshuffling funds. According to BitInfoCharts data, active Litecoin addresses grew roughly 7.5% between February 2026 and recent weeks, even as the token's price remained under pressure. The same data shows around 180,915 transactions processed in a 24-hour window, with an average fee of just $0.0023, figures that support Litecoin's payment-focused use case.

On-chain charts show that $LTC consistently ranks second only to $BTC in daily transactions, maintaining roughly 30 to 40% of Bitcoin's transaction count over the past four years. That kind of sustained throughput gives the address growth figure more weight. It is not simply a vanity metric.

A Broader Ecosystem Building Behind the Numbers The address surge is arriving at a moment when the wider Litecoin ecosystem is expanding on multiple fronts. A mid-year review highlighted that the network surpassed 400 million lifetime transactions, with hashrate growing nearly four times since the 2023 halving. Nasdaq-listed Lite Strategy also invested $1 million into LitVM, a zero-knowledge Layer-2 aiming to bring smart contracts and DeFi to Litecoin without altering its base layer.

On the institutional side, the Canary Litecoin ETF (LTCC) launched and began trading, giving institutions and retail brokerage clients regulated exposure to $LTC for the first time, though assets under management remain modest at around $5.5 million. MEI Pharma also acquired 929,548 Litecoin, establishing a $110.4 million Litecoin treasury.

Address growth alone does not guarantee price performance. As of late June 2026, Litecoin was trading around $42, down roughly 45% year-to-date, though it remains one of the more liquid assets in the market with over a decade of uninterrupted operation. Still, the pace at which new addresses are being created points to a network that is broadening its base regardless of near-term price action.

Sources:
StealthEX: Litecoin Price Analysis and 2026 ETF Outlook
CoinPedia: Litecoin Retail-Driven Growth
CoinMarketCap: Latest Litecoin Network Updates

Glamsterdam, @ethereum's next major hard fork, has reached its final devnet stage with ten Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) locked in. Core developers call it the most significant protocol change since The Merge.

Two EIPs Driving the UpgradeTwo proposals sit at the heart of the upgrade. Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), defined in EIP-7732, integrates the block-building process directly into the Ethereum protocol. This removes the current 80 to 90 percent reliance on third-party relays like MEV-Boost, reducing centralization risks and ensuring a fairer, more transparent distribution of Maximal Extractable Value (MEV).

The second headliner is EIP-7928, Block-Level Access Lists (BALs). Block-level Access Lists let blocks declare the accounts and state they will touch, enabling faster parallel execution and raising the L1 transactions-per-second ceiling.

Beyond the two headliners, the package also contains EIP-7708 (ETH transfers and burns emit a log), EIP-7778 (block gas accounting without refunds), EIP-7843 (a SLOTNUM opcode), EIP-7954 (raising the maximum contract size from roughly 24 KiB to 32 KiB), EIP-7975 (eth/70 partial block receipt lists), EIP-8024 (backward-compatible SWAPN, DUPN and EXCHANGE opcodes), EIP-8037 (state-creation gas-cost increase), and EIP-8159 (eth/71 Block Access List Exchange).

Gas Limit and TimelineTogether, the two headline proposals clear a path toward a dramatically higher gas ceiling. The 200 million gas limit is the design target for what Glamsterdam unblocks, not a value the fork itself enforces. Validators set the limit via standard gas-vote signaling, which they currently coordinate around the 60 million range, and would step it up only as nodes prove they can handle the larger blocks without degraded propagation.

The final devnet is the last major engineering phase before client releases, security reviews, and public testnets. Holesky and Hoodi will fork before mainnet, and only after multi-client stability holds for several epochs across those networks. Past forks have run two to four months of public-testnet seasoning, putting a mainnet window broadly between September and December 2026.

Ethereum Foundation contributors note Glamsterdam is proving trickier and slower than Fusaka, so a slip remains possible. No firm mainnet activation slot has been set. What is clear is that $ETH's base layer, if the upgrade lands on schedule, will be materially more capable heading into 2027.

Sources:
The Defiant: Ethereum's Glamsterdam Upgrade Enters Final Devnet Phase
Datawallet: Ethereum Glamsterdam Upgrade and EIPs Explained
Kiln: Glamsterdam, Ethereum's Next Hard Fork Explained

The @Cardano_CF has signaled it is exploring integration with OpenUSD (OUSD), the newly announced stablecoin consortium that counts Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, and Stripe among its more than 140 founding partners. The development positions Cardano as a potential participant in what is shaping up to be the broadest cross-industry stablecoin alliance assembled to date.

Brale as the Bridge The Foundation's current connection to OpenUSD runs through @brale_xyz. The Cardano Foundation's formal tie to OpenUSD currently runs through Brale, a compliant stablecoin issuance platform that secured a launch partner slot in the new consortium. The Foundation highlighted that relationship publicly, welcoming the announcement of OpenUSD and Brale as a launch partner. Brale already maintains a working relationship with the Cardano ecosystem, having partnered with the Cardano Foundation in 2025 to support compliant and native stablecoin issuance on the network.

The Foundation made clear that Brale is not the end of the story. It is exploring additional integration options, signaling that Brale may represent only one of several possible pathways into the OpenUSD ecosystem, with further details to be shared as discussions progress.

What OpenUSD Is, and Why It Matters for $ADA Open Standard, the company behind OpenUSD, announced the stablecoin with Stripe, Visa, BlackRock, and over 140 other businesses signed on as partners. Once live, OpenUSD will let businesses mint and redeem the stablecoin with no fees or volume caps, while returning most reserve earnings back to participating partners. Unlike most existing stablecoins, it will be run by Open Standard, a separate company whose board is made up of its partner businesses. Open USD is expected to go live later in 2026.

Cardano is not listed among OpenUSD's public launch partners, which include Visa, Mastercard, Ripple, MoonPay, Stripe, and more than 140 other companies. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson went further than the Foundation in explaining the gap, tying Cardano's absence not to any external rejection but to internal governance choices made by the network's delegated representatives, known as DReps, who had previously rejected proposals specifically designed to accelerate commercialization.

Being part of a major stablecoin initiative like OUSD could significantly boost Cardano's DeFi activity, liquidity, and overall network utility, while the outcome of these integration efforts could influence Cardano's competitive position against other blockchain networks already in the consortium, such as Solana and Polygon. The Foundation says more integration options are being actively explored, with details to come.

Sources:
Fortune: Stripe, Visa and over 140 businesses to launch Open USD stablecoin
Brale: Brale x Cardano Foundation Native Stablecoin Infrastructure
Cryptonomist: Cardano Open USD Integration

What Zipper Actually ChangesStellar's Protocol 27, named Zipper, is set for a mainnet validator vote on July 8. The upgrade centres on a single but consequential change: making authentication delegation a first-class feature on Stellar, meaning one account can officially authorise another to act on its behalf.

Before Zipper, delegation existed on Stellar only as an accidental side effect. Developers who tried to use it faced a tangle of manual steps, extra simulation passes, and bloated transaction sizes, so most teams avoided it entirely. Zipper turns that workaround into a clean, supported tool.

In practical terms, the upgrade opens the door to features that have been difficult or impossible to build cleanly until now. Cheaper transactions and more flexible account designs, including social recovery, delegated signing keys, and modular multisig, become practical to build. Transactions also become smaller and cheaper because all delegated signers bundle into a single authorisation entry instead of requiring separate ones.

On the security side, CAP-0071-02 adds address-bound Soroban credentials, closing a narrow replay vulnerability where accounts sharing private keys could be exposed to cross-account signature reuse.

Laying the Ground for Protocol 28Zipper's significance extends beyond what it ships on day one. CAP-0071-01 is explicitly foundational to CAP-0072, which adds contract-based authentication to classic Stellar accounts. The delegation mechanism introduced here is the same one that more visible features in future protocols will depend on.

The Stellar Development Foundation has confirmed that Protocol 28 will bring contract-based authentication to classic Stellar accounts, the standard ones most users hold today, and the delegation mechanism in Zipper is a direct prerequisite for that. In effect, what validators are being asked to approve on July 8 is as much an infrastructure decision as a feature release.

The release timeline ran as follows: Stellar Core shipped June 5, RPC and Galexie on June 10, SDKs between June 5 and 11, Horizon on June 12, and the testnet upgrade on June 18, ahead of the mainnet protocol vote on July 8.

Sources:
Stellar Development Foundation: Zipper, Protocol 27 Upgrade Guide
Stellar Docs: Software Versions and Protocol Features
GitHub: Stellar Core v27.0.0 Release Notes

Key Highlights ZEC is currently priced at $462.33 as of July 4, marking a 13.3% increase over the last week A critical vulnerability discovered in the Orchard shielded pool during May caused prices to plummet over 50% Engineers released a fix and revealed the Ironwood upgrade (NU6.3) plans on June 6 Ironwood closes the compromised Orchard pool and launches a new audited version, with mainnet scheduled for July 21 Market analyst Ali Charts identifies a bounce from key support levels with potential targets around $680 Zcash has posted a solid 13.3% gain across the last seven days, with ZEC currently trading at $462.33 on July 4. This upward movement arrives as development teams prepare for the Ironwood network upgrade, which is set to go live on mainnet approximately July 21, 2026.

Zcash (ZEC) Price This recent surge marks a significant turnaround from a challenging period. ZEC experienced a steep decline exceeding 50%, dropping from approximately $630 to between $250 and $300 after security concerns emerged in late May. The subsequent bug fix and transparent upgrade timeline have since fueled price recovery.

On May 29, security specialist Taylor Hornby, contracted by Shielded Labs, uncovered a critical vulnerability within the Orchard shielded pool’s elliptic curve implementation. The flaw existed in the halo2_gadgets crate and permitted attackers to substitute incorrect base points, leading the circuit to validate fraudulent proofs.

Given that Orchard’s architecture conceals sender, receiver, and transaction amounts, any forged notes generated within the pool would be indistinguishable from legitimate ones. This vulnerability had existed undetected since Orchard’s initial deployment in May 2022.

Core development teams verified the security issue within hours of disclosure. A soft fork was implemented to halt new Orchard operations around June 1. Subsequently, a hard fork designated NU6.2 was executed on June 3, restoring complete Orchard capabilities after approximately one day of suspended shielded transactions. Both Zcash Open Development Lab and Shielded Labs have stated they discovered no signs the vulnerability was actively exploited.

Ironwood Closes the Legacy Orchard Pool Revealed on June 6, Ironwood arrives as NU6.3 and represents collaborative work from ZODL, Tachyon, Valar Group, the Zcash Foundation, and Shielded Labs. This upgrade introduces a fresh Ironwood shielded pool constructed on the corrected circuit, complete with formal verification protocols and external security audits.

🚨JUST IN: ZCASH UPGRADE TO STOP UNLIMITED FAKE ZEC COULD BE DELAYED

Zcash Shielded Labs said the Ironwood upgrade may be pushed back as exchanges, wallets and mining pools need more time to complete migration.

The upgrade is meant to replace the Orchard privacy pool after a… pic.twitter.com/lWaKojZsqy

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) July 3, 2026

Simultaneously, the original Orchard pool will be permanently closed. New incoming transfers are prohibited, internal movements are restricted, and existing funds can only migrate to the Ironwood pool or transparent addresses.

By preventing new value from entering the legacy pool, any hypothetical counterfeit notes become isolated. This enables full node operators to independently verify the total circulating supply without relying solely on developer attestations.

Ironwood additionally implements ZIP 2005, which modifies the note format to enable potential recovery measures in the event of future quantum computing threats.

Testnet activation occurred around July 3–4. Mainnet deployment is projected for approximately July 21. Node operators running outdated zcashd versions must transition to Zebra or upgraded clients before that deadline.

Technical Analysis: $500 Resistance Level Critical Market analyst Ali Charts observed that ZEC has successfully rebounded from the channel’s middle support zone and, should current momentum persist, the next significant price objective lies around $680 at the channel’s upper boundary.

Zcash $ZEC has successfully bounced from the channel’s mid-range support.

If momentum continues, the next major target sits at the top of the channel near $680. pic.twitter.com/AMUulFc30V

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) July 5, 2026

Critical Price Zones Under Observation Market observers have pinpointed $500–$520 as the crucial resistance band. Breaking above and holding this range would bolster the technical argument for continued recovery. Conversely, a sustained drop below $380 might trigger a pullback toward $340.

Source; TradingView Moving average indicators across various timeframes maintain a bullish configuration. Momentum oscillators show neutral readings, which technical analysts interpret as consolidation phases rather than trend reversals.

Investor and entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya has publicly highlighted Ironwood’s supply transparency features as a significant advancement for the cryptocurrency.

Formal verification documentation is expected to be released before mainnet activation, and wallet providers, exchanges, and infrastructure services must complete their integration updates within the remaining two and a half weeks.

Multiple networks move at onceIn the span of just two weeks, three major blockchain projects have taken concrete steps toward quantum-resistant infrastructure. @trondao deployed post-quantum signatures on testnet, @NEARProtocol shipped quantum security as part of its 2.13 upgrade, and the $XRP Ledger continued advancing a structured, multi-phase post-quantum roadmap. The moves reflect a broader shift across the industry: networks are no longer waiting for a cryptographic emergency to begin hardening their systems.

NEAR Protocol's upgrade 2.13 adds FIPS-204, a NIST-approved signature scheme built to withstand quantum attacks. NEAR's account model, controlled by rotatable access keys, enables a seamless rotation to quantum-safe signing. The protocol-level upgrade is designed to be transparent to users, meaning NEAR token holders and decentralized application users need take no action.

On the $XRP side, Ripple has introduced a multi-phase roadmap to prepare the XRP Ledger for a post-quantum future, with a target for full readiness by 2028. The approach involves active testing of quantum-resistant cryptography and a hybrid rollout that runs alongside existing systems, with Ripple working alongside Project Eleven to accelerate development including validator testing and early custody prototypes. The roadmap also includes a contingency plan to enable a secure migration to quantum-safe accounts if current standards are compromised before the 2028 target.

Why the urgency now The push responds in part to research from Google Quantum AI suggesting that quantum computers could crack current blockchain cryptography with fewer resources and on a faster timeline than previously estimated, with some scenarios placing a credible threat window as early as 2032. If future quantum computers became capable of breaking current encryption standards, cryptocurrency wallets and blockchain infrastructure could face serious vulnerabilities, and although experts continue debating the timeline, many believe preparation must begin years before such systems become commercially viable.

Zcash's Tachyon upgrade is also targeting quantum readiness, according to CoinDesk Research, adding another major protocol to a list that is growing quickly. The broader crypto industry is grappling with the same problem at different speeds. Algorand integrated post-quantum state proofs as far back as 2022, while Bitcoin's debate remains largely at the discussion stage given the complexity of coordinating protocol changes across a decentralized network with no central team. The pattern is clear: projects with more centralized coordination are moving fastest, while the more decentralized networks face a longer road.

The industry's posture has shifted from reactive to proactive. Waiting for Q-Day, the theoretical moment when quantum computers can break current public-key cryptography, is no longer considered an acceptable strategy for infrastructure built to last decades.

Sources
Ripple: Post-Quantum Readiness on the XRP Ledger
CoinDesk: Ripple wants the XRP Ledger to be quantum-proof by 2028
CryptoWisser: NEAR Protocol Upgrade 2.13 is Live on Testnet

If you wanted to build a toll booth on Solana, Jito already beat you to it. The protocol, which operates at the intersection of liquid staking and maximal extractable value infrastructure, has cemented itself as the closest thing Solana has to a monopoly on validator-level revenue capture.

As of early July 2026, Jito’s governance token JTO sits at a market cap of roughly $351 million, backed by a circulating supply of approximately 491 million tokens. Its MEV-optimized validator client is now running on more than 95% of Solana’s active stake, up from figures that sat between 60% and 94% in prior periods.

What Jito actually does, and why it prints money Think of Jito as a two-sided business. On one side, it runs JitoSOL, a liquid staking token that lets holders earn staking yields without locking up their SOL permanently. On the other side, it operates MEV infrastructure that allows validators to capture tips from traders who want their transactions prioritized.

JitoSOL currently holds around $2.92 billion in total value locked, with more than 14.5 million SOL staked through the protocol.

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October 2024 alone saw $78.9 million in MEV fees flow through the protocol. MEV fees have risen 42% as on-chain activity on Solana has accelerated through 2025 and into 2026.

Jito operates through two distinct entities: Jito Labs, the engineering and product arm, and the Jito Foundation and DAO, which governs the protocol and controls token-level decisions.

JTX: the new piece of the puzzle On June 26, 2026, Jito Labs launched early access to JTX, a self-custodial trading terminal built on top of Solana’s decentralized exchange ecosystem. The product is designed to improve liquidity routing across both spot DEX venues and perpetuals markets.

Approximately 80% of JTX protocol revenue is directed back to JTO holders through buybacks. Rather than accruing value to a foundation treasury or a VC cap table, the majority of trading fee revenue would actively reduce circulating supply, creating mechanical buy pressure on the token.

Jito already sits at the base layer of Solana’s validator infrastructure. Adding a trading terminal means it can now capture value at the application layer too.

What this means for investors and the broader Solana ecosystem Jito has outpaced competitors like Marinade in both the staking and MEV markets. The 95%-plus validator adoption figure means that when block producers on Solana choose how to order transactions, the overwhelming majority are using Jito’s tooling to do it.

For JTO holders, the current setup offers a few distinct value drivers. Staking yields flow through JitoSOL and benefit from MEV tip capture on top of base staking rewards. The JTX buyback mechanism creates a direct connection between trading volume growth and token supply reduction.

Jito’s revenue is deeply tied to Solana network activity and MEV opportunity. A sustained drop in on-chain trading volume would compress fee flows quickly. Regulatory scrutiny on MEV practices, which has already begun in Ethereum circles, could eventually extend to Solana as well.

A $351 million market cap against a protocol that handles $2.92 billion in staked assets and captured nearly $79 million in MEV fees in a single month is a ratio worth examining.

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

These may be the last days of Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.

An announcement on the Mechanical Turk website says that on July 30, 2026, the crowdsourcing service will close to new customers. Amazon Web Services says the decision was made after “careful consideration,” adding, “Existing customers can continue to use the service as normal. AWS continues to invest in security and availability improvements for Mechanical Turk, but we do not plan to introduce new features.”

In other words, Amazon isn’t completely pulling the plug, but the service is very much on life support.

First launched in 2005, Mechanical Turk was a marketplace where people were paid tiny amounts to perform simple tasks that resisted full automation — things like completing CAPTCHA challenges or identifying the basic sentiment in a sentence.

In its heyday, the service was at the center of debates around the ethics of crowdsourced labor, and it even played a small role in the early stages of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal. 

Beginning in 2018, Amazon also began billing it as a way for companies to annotate data to train neural networks as part of its SageMaker AI service.

Less overtly, Mechanical Turk has also been described as the hidden enabler for companies taking a fake-it-till-you-make-it approach to AI, where products marketed as Ai are actually being performed by the Mechanical Turk workforce — all the more fitting since the original Mechanical Turk was itself a hoax, with a hidden human chess player pretending to be a chess-playing machine

Over time, the relationship between Mechanical Turk and AI models grew even more complicated. In a snake-eating-its-own-tail irony, a 2023 analysis found that between 33% and 46% of workers on the platform were using large language models to complete their tasks, raising questions about the reliability of data annotated on the platform and also about whether humans needed to be in the loop at all.

This week, after Amazon’s decision became public, one Reddit user suggested the platform died “years ago,” with workers and researchers abandoning it due to bots and fraud. The user predicted, “Someone at Amazon is going to decide keeping the Mturk servers running is a waste of time and resources and pull the plug entirely.”

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Anthony Ha is TechCrunch’s weekend editor. Previously, he worked as a tech reporter at Adweek, a senior editor at VentureBeat, a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, and vice president of content at a VC firm. He lives in New York City.

You can contact or verify outreach from Anthony by emailing [email protected].

Imagine telling your AI assistant to deploy a smart contract the same way you’d ask it to book a dinner reservation. That’s essentially what Injective just built.

The blockchain network’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) server enables AI coding agents to build, deploy, and verify smart contracts on Injective using natural language prompts. No manual transaction construction required.

What the MCP server actually does The MCP server acts as a bridge between AI models and Injective’s onchain modules, converting what an AI agent wants to do into the precise blockchain operations needed to make it happen.

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It ships with 22 tools covering market data, trading, transfers, and bridging. The server uses AES-256 encryption for key security.

Injective CEO Eric Chen framed the philosophy behind the launch pretty clearly.

“Agents shouldn’t need to understand transaction construction to trade onchain. With the MCP Server, any AI agent can go from intent to signed trade in seconds.”

The bigger picture: an AI-native blockchain stack The MCP server isn’t a one-off product launch. It’s part of a growing ecosystem of AI-focused developer resources that Injective has been assembling.

An Injective Documentation MCP server provides example prompts for users, including prompts for deploying EVM smart contracts. Meanwhile, an agent-skills repository includes the injective-evm-developer package, which facilitates EVM smart contract development on the network.

Stitch these pieces together and you get an end-to-end workflow. A coding agent can reference documentation, write a contract, deploy it to the blockchain, and verify it, all through the MCP server tools.

What this means for investors and developers For traders, the MCP server’s trading tools mean AI agents can execute perpetual futures trades, access market data, and manage transfers autonomously.

The open-source nature of the MCP server is worth noting. By making the tools publicly available, Injective is inviting the broader developer community to build on top of the protocol, audit the code, and extend its capabilities.

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

Kaspa ($KAS) has activated the Toccata hard fork, an upgrade that marks a fundamental shift for what has long been marketed as the fastest pure proof-of-work blockchain. The fork moves Kaspa well beyond its payments-layer origins, introducing programmability directly at the base layer without abandoning the BlockDAG architecture or proof-of-work consensus that define the network.

Covenants, native tokens, and ZK proofs land on Layer 1 The centrepiece of the upgrade is the addition of covenants, programmable rules attached directly to transactions. Previously, Kaspa's UTXO model only controlled who could spend coins. After Toccata, developers can create conditions that determine how and when coins are spent, opening the door for smart wallets, escrow services, time-locked vaults, and decentralised finance applications.

The hard fork also introduces native KRC-20 tokens and covenant programming via the SilverScript compiler, transforming Kaspa from a fast payments layer into a programmable proof-of-work Layer 1 that can support DeFi and NFTs directly on its base layer. Previously, KRC-20 tokens operated through inscription-style mechanisms, relying on off-chain indexing and external infrastructure, which introduced inefficiencies and limitations. Under the new regime, token creation, transfers, and atomic operations become part of consensus rules, giving users lower fees, trustless atomic swaps, and seamless integration without bridges or wrapped assets.

The third pillar is zero-knowledge infrastructure. The Toccata upgrade adds zero-knowledge proof verification opcodes at the protocol level, enabling native ZK proof verification on Layer 1. With ZK verification primitives, Kaspa can serve as a settlement layer for ZK rollups: Layer 2 solutions can perform heavy computation off-chain and submit only compact validity proofs to Layer 1.

Core developer Michael Sutton has described Toccata as the point where Kaspa's high-frequency monetary base layer meets programmability in two layered forms: native L1 covenant systems, and based ZK systems built on top of the same foundations.

Two EVM-compatible Layer 2s already building on top The Toccata upgrade is complemented by two distinct Layer 2 solutions, Kasplex and Igra, with independent testing showing that both achieve full EVM compatibility and significant cost advantages, positioning them as viable alternatives to Ethereum for developers. Kasplex operates as a traditional rollup offering immediate EVM compatibility and faster finality, while Igra operates as a decentralised rollup built directly on Kaspa's BlockDAG, offering L1-backed security and community-node processing from day one.

On the Layer 1 covenant path, developers can write covenant-based applications directly on Kaspa using the SilverScript compiler, implementing advanced UTXO-based workflows and programmable transaction constraints within Kaspa's scripting environment. For more complex applications, the ZK infrastructure introduced in Toccata enables developers to build ZK applications that inherit transaction ordering from Layer 1 while performing computation externally and submitting cryptographic proofs back to the chain, supporting rollups, canonical bridges, and other proof-based applications anchored to Kaspa's DAG.

The upgrade represents a decisive architectural bet: that bounded, UTXO-native programmability can attract serious developer activity without the global-state overhead that comes with a full virtual machine. Whether that gamble pays off will depend on how quickly the ecosystem around Toccata's new primitives matures.

Sources
Kaspa Covenants++ Toccata Hard Fork Outlook, Michael Sutton (Medium)
Kaspa Toccata Hard Fork Deep Dive, Gate Blog
Kaspa Official Developer Docs

The financial plumbing of the global economy is undergoing a rewrite. For the better part of a decade, the issuance of stablecoins, digital dollars living on blockchain networks, was largely monopolized by crypto-native firms. Traditional payment processors appeared to be watching from the sidelines, occasionally announcing small-scale pilot programs. That dynamic was shattered this week.

The launch of Open USD by a 140-member consortium marks the aggressive institutional capture of decentralized payment infrastructure. By redistributing reserve interest directly to network partners, traditional financial processors are weaponizing shared-yield tokenomics against early market entrants. Legacy networks are successfully scaling the digital dollar while actively dismantling the proprietary moats of pure-play crypto issuers.

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The GENIUS Act and the Green Light for Legacy CapitalTo understand the magnitude of this shift, look back to the July 2025 passage of the GENIUS Act. This regulatory framework provided the federal compliance structure that traditional finance demanded.

Visa Today

V

Visa

$361.31 -0.82 (-0.23%)

As of 07/2/2026 03:59 PM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$293.89▼

$362.13Dividend Yield0.74%

P/E Ratio31.47

Price Target$397.96

Legacy players like Visa Inc. NYSE: V and Mastercard NYSE: MA have never ignored the blockchain space. They were waiting for the legal green light to deploy capital at scale without risking entrenched legacy businesses.

With regulatory clarity secured, the broader fintech ecosystem moved rapidly. Stripe laid the operational groundwork by acquiring the stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, placing seasoned operators at the helm of a new standard.

The result is the Open Standard consortium, a massive alliance featuring Visa, Stripe, BlackRock NYSE: BLK, Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL, and Coinbase NASDAQ: COIN. This is not a defensive maneuver by traditional finance. It is an aggressive, calculated infrastructure upgrade designed to own the rails of cross-border money movement.

Tokenomics 2.0: Siphoning the Crypto YieldLet us take a moment to unpack the structural evolution introduced by Open USD, as it directly attacks the core business model of first-generation stablecoins. When an institution mints a legacy stablecoin, they hand over fiat currency, and the issuer deposits those funds into short-term U.S. Treasuries. The issuer then keeps the yield generated by those reserves. When interest rates are high, this model prints exceptional cash flow.

Open USD operates on a shared-yield architecture. Instead of hoarding treasury interest at the issuer level, the Open Standard consortium redistributes that yield back to the network partners who facilitate transactions. They also eliminated minting and redemption fees. This creates a zero-friction, yield-generating asset for enterprise partners, instantly rendering proprietary, closed-loop stablecoin models uncompetitive.

A Leaky Moat: Circle's Margin Compression CrisisCircle Internet Group Today

CRCL

Circle Internet Group

$64.56 -0.06 (-0.10%)

As of 07/2/2026 03:59 PM Eastern

This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more.

52-Week Range$49.90▼

$262.97Price Target$117.38

This architectural shift presents an existential threat to companies heavily reliant on the legacy model. Circle Internet Group NYSE: CRCL generates roughly 99% of revenue from the interest earned on the reserves backing the USDC stablecoin. When the core product is commoditized by a consortium offering better economics to distributors, the resulting margin compression is rapid and severe.

The most glaring signal of this structural vulnerability is the defection of primary ecosystem partners. Coinbase previously served as a massive distribution hub for USDC. In 2024 alone, Coinbase extracted $908 million from Circle in distribution and revenue-sharing agreements.

With the launch of Open USD, Coinbase has joined the Open Standard alliance. The economic incentive is clear. Rather than taking a negotiated cut from a third-party issuer like Circle, exchange networks and payment processors can utilize Open USD to internalize the reserve yields directly. This supply chain defection forces Circle into an impossible corner. To retain enterprise distributors, Circle must either slash fees to zero or give up reserve yield. Both options eviscerate profitability.

$20 Billion Buybacks and Unstoppable MarginsCircle Internet Group Stock Forecast Today12-Month Stock Price Forecast:
$117.38
81.82% Upside

Hold
Based on 24 Analyst Ratings

Current Price$64.56High Forecast$190.00Average Forecast$117.38Low Forecast$55.00Circle Internet Group Stock Forecast Details

The market is already pricing in the collapse of the proprietary stablecoin moat. Shares of Circle Internet Group have faced severe downward pressure, currently trading near $62 after dropping nearly 21% since the start of the year. Circle recently reported quarterly earnings that reflect the strain, with earnings per share (EPS) missing estimates by 6 cents and net margins languishing at negative 2.76%.

Institutional sentiment is rapidly souring on the pure-play crypto issuer. Short interest in Circle rose to 45.4% month over month, now representing 10.06% of the public float.

A short squeeze requires an underlying bullish catalyst, but the structural degradation of the business model provides exactly the opposite. Internal confidence appears equally shaken. Insiders have executed zero open-market purchases over the last six months, instead heavily distributing shares, dumping over $158 million in stock over the past 90 days. Wall Street analysts are aggressively revising valuation models, with Compass Point aggressively slashing its price target on Circle from $97 down to $55.

As capital flees the vulnerable pure-play issuers, it is rotating heavily into the legacy networks, leading the Open USD charge. Visa is one of the primary beneficiaries of this institutional capture. Visa is currently trading near $351 and boasts a market capitalization exceeding $630 billion.

Visa is demonstrating exactly how to leverage an entrenched market position to capture new technology. Integrating Open USD into globally ubiquitous payment rails neutralizes the threat that decentralized finance will disrupt cross-border revenue.

Visa Stock Forecast Today12-Month Stock Price Forecast:
$397.96
10.14% Upside

Buy
Based on 26 Analyst Ratings

Current Price$361.31High Forecast$450.00Average Forecast$397.96Low Forecast$350.00Visa Stock Forecast Details

The fundamentals backing Visa are pristine. Visa recently posted $3.31 EPS, easily beating consensus estimates of $3.10, driven by a 17.1% year-over-year revenue expansion. Profitability metrics remain exceptional, featuring a 51.68% net margin and a massive 65.00% return on equity. A forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 26.84 is entirely reasonable for a network poised to capture the next generation of digital payments.

Analysts are taking note of the expanded moat. Piper Sandler recently upgraded Visa from overweight to a strong buy, citing confidence in its cross-border transaction strategy and resilient consumer discretionary spending.

While Circle faces insider distribution, the Visa board is signaling confidence in the current valuation and future cash flows. Visa recently initiated a $20 billion share repurchase program. This authorization acts as a massive macro tailwind for Visa, providing structural support to the share price while management executes the digital asset expansion. Share buybacks of this magnitude tell you exactly how Visa leadership views its own strategic positioning.

Plugging the Leaks in Your Crypto PortfolioThe era of digital assets existing in a silo outside the traditional financial system is over. The 140-member consortium behind Open USD proves that legacy payment processors possess both the capital and the strategic foresight to absorb disruptive technologies. By weaponizing shared-yield economics, Visa and other legacy giants are capturing the multi-trillion-dollar stablecoin market while systematically dismantling the business models of early crypto-native pioneers.

Investors navigating the shifting payments sector might consider evaluating the durability of revenue streams. Portfolios heavily weighted toward single-product crypto firms reliant on proprietary yield models face significant structural risk. Conversely, adding exposure to entrenched, highly profitable networks executing large volume share repurchases offers a compelling way to capture the upside of the digital dollar's global expansion.

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Worldcoin's $WLD token has emerged as one of the worst performers in the current crypto cycle, slipping roughly 8% on the week and nearly 23% on the month even as many major altcoins stage a recovery.

A Planned Supply Cut Has Not Steadied the Price The losses have come despite a significant supply-side development from @worldnetwork. On July 24, 2026, the WLD token unlock rate will decrease by 43% under the existing unlock schedules. In practice, this will reduce the unlock rate across all token allocations from about 5.1 million WLD per day to about 2.9 million WLD per day. The cuts are split between two groups: the aggregate daily unlock rate drop includes a 50% cut in daily community token unlocks and a 32% reduction in daily team and investor unlocks.

The July 24, 2026, unlock rate decrease will happen automatically, coded into the on-chain contracts from the start. The team has framed the event as a tokenomics milestone, arguing that the most aggressive phase of emissions is now behind the project. Markets, however, have not yet responded with enthusiasm.

Supply Overhang and Regulatory Pressure Weigh on $WLD WLD has lost over 45% of its value since the start of 2026 and trades roughly 97% below its March 2024 peak near $11. The persistent underperformance reflects two structural headwinds. First, the token's circulating supply is already large: a total of 4.9 billion WLD, representing 49% of the token's 10 billion maximum supply, has been unlocked so far, with approximately 3.3 billion WLD in actual circulation. Even after the July 24 reduction, the market will still absorb nearly 2.9 million new WLD tokens daily, meaning demand must keep pace to prevent further price erosion.

Second, regulatory risk remains a persistent overhang. Worldcoin faces significant regulatory headwinds concerning its biometric data collection, with operations suspended or investigated in countries including Kenya, Spain, Indonesia, and Thailand.

Market reaction will ultimately depend on whether demand for WLD, from governance, staking, ecosystem incentives, or speculative flows, grows faster than the slowed unlock curve. Until that demand materialises, WLD's ongoing downtrend and weak sentiment may continue to weigh on price action, limiting the near-term impact of the reduced token unlocks.

Sources:
World Network: Tokenomics Milestone, WLD Unlock Rate to Decrease by 43% in July
BeInCrypto: Worldcoin Cuts Token Unlock By Half, Will WLD Price Rally?
Crypto.news: Worldcoin Eases Off the Gas as WLD Unlock Rate Drops 43%

Regal Rexnord Today

RRX

Regal Rexnord

$218.39 -0.06 (-0.03%)

As of 07/2/2026 03:59 PM Eastern

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52-Week Range$127.96▼

$247.80Dividend Yield0.64%

P/E Ratio50.79

Price Target$237.80

Regal Rexnord NYSE: RRX has spent decades making motors and power-transmission components for factories.

It still does. But it also makes automation and motion-control components for data centers. And its stock is up about 50% this year as orders flood in.

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Analysts rate the company a Moderate Buy by consensus, with most suggesting a Buy.

But a rich multiple, rising short interest, and leadership transition do not make this recent winner necessarily low-risk.

AI Data Centers Are Driving DemandAt its core, Regal Rexnord is a maker of industrial powertrain systems, motion control technology, and power management solutions. In other words, it makes the mechanical and electrical components that move, control, and regulate energy inside machines.

For years, its products went into factories, HVAC systems, agricultural equipment, and commercial infrastructure. More recently, though, cloud companies and AI developers began building data centers at a breakneck pace, and they needed the precision power components that Regal Rexnord specializes in.

Cooling systems require motion control. Power distribution requires conversion technology. The infrastructure behind an AI data center is, at its core, an industrial engineering problem, and Regal Rexnord is one of the companies solving it.

Strong Orders Point to Sustained GrowthThe first quarter of 2026 provided the evidence. The company reported sales of $1.48 billion, up 4.3% year-over-year, and above analysts’ expectations. GAAP net income rose 11.8% to $64.3 million from $57.5 million in the prior year. Adjusted diluted earnings per share climbed to $2.17 from $2.15, also above what analysts expected.

While those top figures were solid, the number that attracted the most attention was found in the order data. Daily orders rose 8.5% from the prior year, and backlog grew 6.7% quarter-to-quarter at the enterprise level.

In particular, it was Regal Rexnord's Automation and Motion Control (AMC) segment where orders tied to data-center applications surged. Total AMC segment orders were up more than 34% compared with the prior year, and even when data-center demand is removed, the remaining AMC orders still grew 28%. Overall, net sales for the unit were $457.1 million, up 15.3% from the year-earlier period.

The company also said it expects orders to continue increasing. “We’re still very, very bullish,” the company’s CEO said in the quarterly conference call with analysts. “This is a market where we’re nicely positioned.”

Strong Results Extend Beyond AI Data CentersThe details are telling, as the data center buildout powers serious demand while the rest of the business is also strengthening, with aerospace, defense, and medical applications all contributing.

The company’s industrial powertrain solutions saw net sales rise 5.8% to $648.2 million. Its power efficiency solutions operations, hurt by a weakness in residential HVAC sales, saw a decrease of 8.6% to $373.8 million.

Management responded by raising its full-year 2026 sales growth expectation to about 4.5%, an increase of roughly 150 basis points from the prior outlook. Its adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance range of $10.20 to $11 for the year stayed level, compared with $9.65 for 2025.

Wall Street Sees Limited Upside After Big RallyThe stock's performance this year reflects how dramatically the market's perception of Regal Rexnord has shifted.

Currently trading at about $212 per share, shares are up about 51% from $140.48 at the start of this year.

The 10 analysts who follow the stock have a consensus rating of a Moderate Buy, though the 12-month price target they collectively predict is $237.80, just 310% higher than recent trading prices. With a quarterly dividend of just 35 cents and a dividend yield below 1%, the stock's potential for appreciation is the key driver.

Seven of the analysts rate the stock a Buy, while three have tagged it a Hold. The highest price target is $265 per share, and the lowest is $160.

Short interest is also something to watch. As of the middle of June, the company had a short interest of 3.35 million shares sold short, about 5% of the outstanding float. That’s more than twice the level from the middle of March.

Margins and New Leadership Pose RisksThe caution that is evident in some of these numbers is not unsupported.

Regal Rexnord competes in markets where Rockwell Automation NYSE: ROK, Eaton NYSE: ETN, and Emerson Electric NYSE: EMR are also pursuing electrification and digital-infrastructure spending. And though the company has attractive specialties and technological advantages, industrial demand can soften quickly.

Despite beating expectations with revenue and earnings, the company also spooked the market as its earnings report showed its margin on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) dropped to 20.6% from 21.8% in the year-earlier period. With tariffs and higher material costs, that margin could also be hit further.

Leadership transition adds another variable. Earlier this year, the company announced it had appointed a new CEO. A new president of the company’s Industrial Powertrain Solutions has also been named.

A New Industrial Growth Story Is EmergingRegal Rexnord is not an easy call. The surge in stock price followed by an influx of short sellers makes it clear there are two ways to view the company.

Regal Rexnord Corporation (RRX) Price Chart for Sunday, July, 5, 2026

For investors, it’s a genuinely interesting opportunity in the industrial sector. The company is not a traditional value stock, nor is it a dividend stock. It is a company that is possibly undergoing a real transformation from a legacy industrial company to an AI-boosted supplier. If the infrastructure buildout is just getting started, Regal Rexnord's position, assuming new management can execute, could be in the formative stages.

A serious dip in the sector, though, could see its growth unfulfilled. Watch for margins and order flow when it reports its next quarter.

Regardless of what happens, Regal Rexnord is no longer easy to ignore.

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