The rise of unofficial fan tokens highlights the speculative risks in crypto markets, underscoring the need for legitimate engagement tools.

The post Lamine Yamal’s World Cup brilliance spawns worthless Solana fan tokens appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The restructuring may blur safety oversight, potentially impacting OpenAI's operational stability and transparency amid leadership changes.

The post OpenAI safety teams now report to VP of Research as leadership exodus reshapes the company appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Intel's strategic pivot, bolstered by government equity, could redefine US tech sovereignty but risks political and market-driven challenges.

The post Intel’s comeback play: US government takes 10% stake as Apple and Nvidia partnerships reshape chip supply chains appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Ukraine's ability to produce Patriot missiles could enhance its defense autonomy, potentially altering regional security dynamics and NATO relations.

The post US grants Ukraine license to produce Patriot missiles in historic NATO summit decision appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The SEC's expanded disclosure rules may deter activist investors from engaging deeply, potentially reducing their influence on corporate governance.

The post SEC tightens rules on activist investor filings, expanding disclosure requirements appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

U.S. Representatives Urge Senate to Vote on CLARITY Act in July, Address Ethics Concerns

Rep. French Hill wants a deadline. 

One year after the House passed the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, the Arkansas Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee used a Fox Business interview with anchor Maria Bartiromo to press Senate leaders for a floor vote before the August recess.

“I’ve encouraged Senate leadership to put it on the floor,” Hill said. “I think if you schedule a floor date here in the month of July, that will cause these final meetings, these final discussions to take place. You’ve got to have a deadline in Congress to get people to move and find consensus.” 

Hill thanked Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Cynthia Lummis, John Boozman and Tim Scott for working toward a deal, and pointed to the 78 Democrats who backed the House measure a year ago.

Hill’s central argument is that the CLARITY Act would resolve the ethics concerns now used to block it, rather than deepen them. 

Critics point to President Trump’s crypto ventures, including $TRUMP meme coin licensing and World Liberty Financial token sales, which a July 1 financial disclosure tied to about $1.4 billion in 2025 income. 

Hill contends a market framework offers the transparency those critics want. 

“If we passed the CLARITY Act last summer, many of the things that people are expressing concern about — meme coin issuance, co-investment, use of exchange, investing in exchanges — all that would be under a market framework of regulation with clarity, no pun intended, and that would provide a lot of transparency to people that are concerned about the Trump family’s investments,” he said.

Clarity Act pairs with the GENIUS Act

Hill framed the bill as the missing half of a system that pairs it with the GENIUS Act, the stablecoin law enacted last year. 

“Stablecoin is like a cell phone not connected to a cell phone network,” he said, “and the market framework is in fact that network that we need.” To keep the pressure on, Hill plans a field hearing in New York next week, led by digital assets subcommittee chair Rep. Bryan Steil, to make the case for a market structure.

His push drew support from two other voices in the same Bartiromo appearance. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig warned of “mission creep beyond what’s really critical here” and cautioned that a stalled bill leaves the rules to regulators. 

Coinbase Vice Chair Ryan VanGrack, a former SEC official, described the measure as “on the one-yard line,” with senators from both parties “working around the clock to get this across the finish line.”

The Senate returns July 13 with about three weeks before recess. Prediction market Polymarket prices Clarity Act 2026 passage near 39%, a fall from the prior month’s 74%.

This post U.S. Representatives Urge Senate to Vote on CLARITY Act in July, Address Ethics Concerns first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Circle (CRCL) Wins Final OCC Approval for National Trust Bank

Circle Internet Group secured final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today, to establish a national trust bank, a milestone that sent the stablecoin issuer’s shares higher and deepened its ties to the federal banking system.

The regulator cleared Circle to charter First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., which will operate under the name Circle National Trust. 

The company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL, said the charter places the new entity under direct federal oversight by the OCC, the primary supervisor for national banks and national trust banks.

Circle National Trust will provide fiduciary custody services for digital assets held by Circle and its affiliates. Under the business plan the OCC approved, the bank could extend custody services to a limited set of institutional customers, with a focus on banks and regulated derivatives organizations. 

The charter opens a path for the bank to manage the reserve backing USDC, the largest regulated stablecoin, which would bring that multibillion-dollar pool under federal supervision.

National trust banks differ from traditional lenders. They safeguard client assets and provide fiduciary services, and they do not take deposits or issue loans. The structure aligns its digital-asset infrastructure with a long-standing model for holding client assets under strict fiduciary standards.

“OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step in bringing blockchain technology and digital assets into the core of the U.S. financial system,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of Circle. He said federal oversight of the trust bank “sets a new standard for transparency, governance, and scale” and unlocks a phase of adoption in which large financial institutions can build on public blockchains with confidence.

Investors welcomed the decision. CRCL shares climbed as much as 14% on the day of the announcement, a rebound from a three-month low. Other crypto-linked names, including Coinbase and Strategy, posted gains near 5% this morning as bitcoin bounced.

CRCL shares have since settled to 5% gains.

Circle’s federal framework

The approval caps a process that began when Circle filed its application on June 30, 2025. The OCC granted conditional approval in December 2025, alongside peers such as Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos. 

The final decision arrives as the GENIUS Act, the federal stablecoin law enacted in July 2025, moves toward full implementation in early 2027. 

That statute requires OCC supervision of large stablecoin issuers, and the trust charter positions Circle to meet the mandate while bringing USDC reserves into a federal framework.

Circle has built a record of regulatory engagement across markets. It received a BitLicense from New York in 2015, became the first global stablecoin issuer to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework in 2024, and holds licenses in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Bermuda, and Abu Dhabi.

The charter strengthens USDC’s role as regulated digital-dollar infrastructure for payments, settlement, and capital markets, Circle said.

This post Circle (CRCL) Wins Final OCC Approval for National Trust Bank first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Metaplanet Announces Joint Study to Bring Bitcoin-Backed Digital Credit to Japan

Metaplanet wants to turn its bitcoin pile into a credit market. On Friday, Japan’s largest corporate bitcoin holder said it has opened a joint study with three partners to build tokenized credit products backed by bitcoin, a step that pushes the company past simple treasury accumulation and toward the role of a financial platform.

The study group brings together Metaplanet, the yen stablecoin issuer JPYC, the regulated security token platform Progmat, and Siiibo Securities, the licensed brokerage Metaplanet bought last month for 2.1 billion yen, or about $13 million. Siiibo becomes Metaplanet Securities on July 13.

The four firms will examine whether bitcoin can serve as collateral for credit instruments that pay interest each day. Metaplanet frames this as a product that exists in the United States but not in Japan. 

Digitization, the company said, would allow trading and settlement of these instruments around the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with rights management at the holder level, pro-rata interest math handled in software, and redemptions recorded on a public ledger.

Bitcoin-backed credit is a young product class. Public companies that hold bitcoin use the asset as core collateral for debt offerings, and those offerings pay dividends or interest. The design takes a static coin balance and turns it into an instrument that throws off cash.

Metaplanet was blunt about how early this is. “The four companies will examine issues in product design, the need for proof-of-concept initiatives, and the possibility of future issuance,” the company said. “At this time, nothing has been determined regarding issuance timing, terms, yield, product details, distribution methods, or the form of collaboration.” 

Why Japan?

The pitch rests on a gap in Japan’s debt market. That market favors large corporations that can float public bonds. Mid-sized and growth companies face steep costs and heavy operational load around issuance, sales, investor management, interest payments, and redemptions. Many of them stay shut out.

Digital credit, in Metaplanet’s telling, could open the door to those smaller firms. Onchain infrastructure would bridge traditional capital markets and blockchain rails, cut the manual work, and give issuers a path to raise money that a public bond sale did not offer them. If it works, a growth company in Tokyo could raise debt on a system that settles at any hour and tracks every holder in code.

Each partner brings one piece. Metaplanet and its securities arm will design the products that fuse bitcoin with credit, sell them to investors, field customer questions, and manage the instruments after issuance. 

JPYC will test whether its yen-pegged stablecoin can move payments and redemptions through the system. Progmat will supply the regulated tokenization layer, which tracks ownership, processes transfers, and wires the whole thing to the stablecoin payment system.

The division of labor maps onto a full stack: an issuer and distributor with a license, a settlement asset, and a token platform.

Metaplanet’s bigger plan

The study fits a strategy the company calls Project Nova, its plan to build a bitcoin-centric financial platform in Japan. The Siiibo purchase gave Metaplanet a Type I Financial Instruments Business Operator registration, the license Japan requires to structure and sell financial products to retail investors. 

Siiibo, founded in 2019, runs an online platform for private-placement corporate bonds and has backed more than 40 issuers across 100-plus offerings. Metaplanet gains that track record, plus a shareholder base of about 250,000 investors to sell into.

Simon Gerovich, Metaplanet’s president and CEO, has cast the shift in stark terms. “We view Bitcoin not as a treasury reserve asset, but as the foundation of the next generation of financial ecosystems,” he said when the Siiibo deal was announced.

Metaplanet holds 43,000 BTC, worth about $2.47 billion. Strategy and Twenty One Capital are the two public holders ranked above it.

For the moment, the digital credit plan is a set of questions and four companies willing to study them. Whether it becomes a product depends on the proof-of-concept work that remains. But the direction is clear: Metaplanet wants its bitcoin to do more than sit on a balance sheet. It wants the coin to underwrite a market.

This post Metaplanet Announces Joint Study to Bring Bitcoin-Backed Digital Credit to Japan first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin is “A Screaming Buy”: Standard Chartered Backs $100,000 Target, Shrugs Off Strategy (MSTR) Sell-Off

Standard Chartered maintained its end-2026 Bitcoin price forecast of $100,000 in a note to investors on Friday, arguing that the recent weakness reflects a failure by Strategy to explain a strategic shift rather than any deterioration in the company’s balance sheet.

Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, wrote that Strategy — the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, with 843,775 coins, more than 4% of the 21 million that will ever exist — “appears to be pivoting from its ‘never sell Bitcoin’ mantra to a more complex approach.” 

Clear communication of that pivot, he wrote, will determine how fast the pressure on BTC lifts.

Between 2020 and mid-2025, Strategy’s mNAV — enterprise value divided by the value of its Bitcoin — traded above 1.0. That premium lets the company issue shares, buy Bitcoin, and grow its value by more than the value of the new stock. Convincing the market it would never sell was the load-bearing part of the model.

With mNAV near 1.0, that arithmetic no longer works. Kendrick said Strategy is pivoting toward holding Bitcoin as backing for STRC, its perpetual preferred stock, which functions as a credit product.

The STRC feedback loop

STRC pays a 12% annual dividend, settled twice a month in cash, with the rate reset each month to keep the security near its $100 par value. It has about $10 billion notional outstanding, the largest of the instruments Strategy has deployed.

A negative feedback loop took hold once STRC broke from par, hitting an intraday low of $71.25 on June 26. The divergence began after the June 1 disclosure that Strategy had sold 32 BTC the prior week. STRC still trades near $90, according to Standard Chartered. The USD reserve for STRC dividends stands at $2.55 billion, or 17.4 months of coverage.

Bitcoin is a ‘screaming buy’

The problem with “never sell,” Kendrick argued, is that it constrains how Bitcoin gets perceived. Strategy has announced a monetization program that lets it sell BTC from time to time, including up to $1.25 billion in proceeds for the reserve.

Given its Bitcoin backing, STRC is over-collateralized and should trade back toward $100, the note said. Kendrick compared the mechanism to a central bank promising to do “whatever it takes” and, through credibility, never having to act. 

Effective signaling, he wrote, should remove the need for Strategy to sell any Bitcoin. Kendrick treats the episode as noise rather than a signal about BTC’s medium-term direction. At $64,000, he calls the coin “a screaming buy.”

Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for about $216 million last week, its largest disposal to date, using the proceeds to fund preferred stock distributions and refill the reserve. JPMorgan analysts said the formal sale policy introduces “avoidable two-way risk” by making Strategy both buyer and seller. 

Strategy’s stock trades near $98 on Thursday. BTC traded above $64,400 on Friday.

This post Bitcoin is “A Screaming Buy”: Standard Chartered Backs $100,000 Target, Shrugs Off Strategy (MSTR) Sell-Off first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

JPMorgan Says the Real Threat to Bitcoin Isn’t Strategy (MSTR) — It’s Private Blockchains

Strategy’s recent bitcoin sales and its formal monetization program have rattled investors, but JPMorgan analysts see a bigger danger to bitcoin: blockchain adoption that routes around public networks and the tokens that ride on them.

In a report led by managing director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and reported by The Block, the bank argued that Strategy is not the main structural threat to the asset. 

The company sold 3,588 bitcoin for $216 million in early July to cover preferred dividends, its largest disposal on record, and such sales can add bursts of selling pressure. The deeper concern, the analysts said, is where tokenization, payments and settlement end up.

Should that activity settle on permissioned rails rather than public chains, the crypto ecosystem could face a structural de-rating — thinner liquidity, weaker capital flows and slower on-chain volume — a drag that would reach bitcoin in time.

Institutions have leaned toward permissioned blockchains, which offer privacy, know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering controls, governance, throughput, legal accountability and regulatory certainty. 

That preference, per JPMorgan, creates a competitive problem for public networks like Ethereum.

The analysts cited the Bank for International Settlements, which has warned against public permissionless chains for systemic financial infrastructure and has pushed instead for “unified ledgers” that hold tokenized central bank money, bank deposits and assets inside regulated walls.

Tokenization as a real-world use case

Banks are building to that spec. Tokenized deposits — digital claims on bank balances, backed by banking regulation and deposit insurance — stand out as the clearest case. Should such deposits spread in the non-transferable forms regulators favor, they could crowd out stablecoins in institutional payments. 

SWIFT’s blockchain project and central bank digital currency efforts such as the digital euro and digital yuan would reinforce that regulated lane.

Real-world asset tokenization tells a similar story. The market sits near $50 billion, much of it on Ethereum for now, though the analysts read that as early experimentation rather than a settled structure. 

As adoption matures, issuance, custody and settlement could migrate to private infrastructure, leaving public chains for distribution and interoperability. DTCC and Securitize show the pattern in motion, and the analysts questioned whether public settlement is even the most efficient model for regulated firms, given the capital savings of deferred, netted settlement.

What could prove JPMorgan wrong

The Clarity Act, even should it pass this year, might not lift the threat; it could embolden bank-issued deposit tokens at the expense of public stablecoins. 

The analysts flagged three ways their thesis breaks: a hybrid model where both chain types matter, stronger stablecoin adoption under friendly rules, or bitcoin holding its role as “digital gold” and a debasement hedge whatever happens across the rest of crypto.

This post JPMorgan Says the Real Threat to Bitcoin Isn’t Strategy (MSTR) — It’s Private Blockchains first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin’s more than $10 billion corporate credit market is still attracting new entrants after a June selloff triggered margin calls and drove its leading preferred shares far below par.

A new report from BitcoinTreasuries.net described the downturn as the sector’s first meaningful stress test, offering an early measure of whether companies can reliably build financing structures around their cryptocurrency reserves.

The selloff showed how quickly supposedly stable products can buckle when too much leverage piles in. Yet the market emerged bruised but operational. Dividend payments continued, secondary-market volumes reached record levels, and corporate treasuries kept adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets.

That resilience has drawn praise from industry proponents and sustained interest from prospective issuers, which are advancing plans for new yield-paying products across the US, Europe and Asia.

Investors are now betting that corporate Bitcoin holdings can support a wider market for preferred shares and similar debt-like products.

How leverage turned a stable trade into a cascade

Leverage piled into preferred shares that looked stable, then unwound in a rush of liquidations.

Strategy, the largest Bitcoin holding company with over 800,000 BTC, and Strive have used preferred shares to raise capital without relying entirely on common-stock sales or conventional debt. The securities typically carry a $100 stated value, pay fixed or variable dividends, and have no maturity date.

For issuers, the structure provides long-term capital that can be directed toward Bitcoin purchases or other corporate needs. Investors receive income above the yield available from many traditional fixed-income products without having to hold Bitcoin directly.

Strategy’s STRC and Strive’s SATA emerged as two of the largest instruments in the market. Strategy can adjust STRC’s dividend to keep the shares trading near $100, while SATA offers a variable payout and distributes dividends daily.

For months, both securities traded within relatively narrow ranges around par. That stability encouraged some investors to borrow money to increase their positions and amplify dividend income, BitcoinTreasuries.net said in its June corporate adoption report.

The strategy worked as long as the shares remained stable and the dividends exceeded the cost of financing the trade.

That calculation began to break down as Bitcoin fell below $60,000 in June and selling pressure spread across companies and securities tied to the cryptocurrency.

Beginning June 18, STRC and SATA moved sharply below par. Falling prices triggered margin calls for leveraged STRC holders, forcing them to sell into an already weakening market and driving further liquidations.

SATA also declined under pressure from its own market conditions and spillover from STRC’s selloff.

STRC eventually fell to about $75, roughly 25% below its stated value, while SATA declined to around $88. Bitcoin’s slide weighed on investor sentiment, even though preferred shares continued to pay their scheduled dividends.

Leverage turned products built for steady income into another source of volatility. Higher dividends might draw buyers after a selloff, but they offered little protection once indebted investors had to exit.

Raising the dividend also made the financing more expensive for the issuer. Strategy responded by increasing STRC’s annual payout to 12% and introducing a broader capital framework that included a $2.55 billion cash reserve, authority to repurchase preferred shares, and permission to sell some Bitcoin under specified conditions.

The company said the reserve was sufficient to cover about 17 months of expected preferred dividends and interest payments. It also acknowledged that STRC could remain substantially below its target range, leaving the market to determine whether the higher payout would be enough to restore demand.

Prices rebound as Bitcoin buying continues

Despite the June sell-off, the market stabilized faster than initial liquidations suggested, with prices rebounding, trading volumes hitting record highs, and corporate treasuries continuing to buy Bitcoin.

As of publication, STRC had recovered to about $87 from a low near $75, while SATA had climbed back to roughly $97.

The uneven rebound suggested investors were distinguishing between the two securities rather than abandoning the broader market.

Trading activity also accelerated during the turmoil. Combined June volume for STRC and SATA exceeded $10 billion, even as both products traded below their $100 stated values.

STRC accounted for $8.7 billion of that total, its highest monthly volume on record, and posted two of its five busiest trading weeks. SATA generated nearly $1.5 billion, almost twice its May volume, with three of its four strongest weeks occurring during the month.

Trading held up through the sharp repricing. Buyers absorbed shares from leveraged sellers, keeping the market open and dividend payments uninterrupted.

However, the heavy secondary-market activity did not translate into fresh capital for the issuers. Neither STRC nor SATA was able to raise funds through at-the-market sales in June, as most transactions involved existing shares changing hands between investors.

Still, Strategy and Strive expanded their Bitcoin holdings despite the pause in preferred-share issuance.

Strategy added a net of 3,625 Bitcoin during the month, while Strive acquired 3,364 Bitcoin. Each spent about $200 million, leaving the two companies responsible for most of June’s corporate Bitcoin purchases.

Supporters saw the continued buying as evidence that June’s turmoil stemmed from excessive leverage in the securities, rather than fading confidence in corporate Bitcoin accumulation.

New entrants push the model beyond the US

The recovery in trading and continued corporate Bitcoin buying are now encouraging treasury companies to explore whether the credit model can expand beyond the US.

On July 10, Metaplanet provided the latest sign by announcing a joint study on tokenized credit instruments in Japan.

The Tokyo-listed company will work with Siiibo Securities, the yen stablecoin issuer JPYC, and the regulated security-token platform Progmat to examine products that use Bitcoin as a backing asset or as a source of credit support. Metaplanet recently acquired Siiibo for $13 million.

According to the firm:

“Digital credit backed by Bitcoin could evolve into instruments traded and settled globally on a 24/7/365 basis, with interest and distributions accruing on a daily prorated basis according to the holding period.”

The initiative targets longstanding barriers in Japan’s corporate credit market, where smaller and growing companies can face high costs for product design, distribution, investor administration, interest payments and redemptions.

Metaplanet and its partners said digital infrastructure could reduce some of those costs. Their proposal combines stablecoins for payments and distributions, security tokens for recording ownership and transfer rights, and Bitcoin as an asset supporting the securities.

The structure could calculate interest based on how long an investor holds a product, reducing reliance on conventional record dates. It could also allow trading and settlement outside regular market hours.

The project remains at an early stage, with no issuance date, return, distribution plan, or final structure in place. The companies have yet to decide whether to run a proof of concept.

Metaplanet has also not specified whether investors would have a direct legal claim to the designated Bitcoin. That detail will determine whether the products function as formally secured instruments or rely more broadly on the issuer’s balance sheet and cryptocurrency reserves.

Metaplanet holds 43,000 Bitcoin, ranking third among publicly traded companies by BTC holdings.

Bitcoin digital credit growth forecasts meet a more demanding market

Metaplanet’s planned entry adds weight to expectations that Bitcoin-backed credit will expand, though June’s selloff has given investors a clearer view of the risks behind those forecasts.

A BitcoinTreasuries.net survey found that 78% of respondents expect the digital credit market to grow through the end of 2027. Another 22% projected that outstanding supply could exceed $50 billion, with some expecting it to surpass $100 billion.

The results, however, reflect a group already predisposed to support the products. The report found that 87% of respondents viewed digital credit favorably and 72% had invested in the sector. About 76% also expected similarly sharp price declines to occur again.

That mix of confidence and caution offers a more measured assessment of June. Investors remain optimistic about the market’s long-term potential, even as they acknowledge that leverage and liquidity can drive large departures from par.

Michael Saylor has argued that Bitcoin makes digital credit easier to assess because its primary market risk is tied to a globally traded and continuously observable asset. Investors can track Bitcoin’s price and volatility in real time and incorporate those movements into their valuation models.

June proved Bitcoin-backed credit could survive a liquidation shock. Its next hurdle is persuading investors to fund new issuance after watching leading products trade below par.

The post Bitcoin’s $10 billion credit market keeps growing after its first major selloff appeared first on CryptoSlate.

AscendEX shut down on July 1, leaving some customers unsure whether they will recover their funds.

The exchange said in a July 6 notice that it does not hold authorization under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. It also cited financial and operational pressures, including a failed strategic transaction expected to provide liquidity.

Customers can no longer use AscendEX to open accounts, deposit funds, trade, swap, stake or lend. They should retain access only to withdraw assets and complete other exit steps, provided the platform remains available, and no legal or insolvency restrictions intervene.

Related Reading

Millions of EU crypto users face exchange cutoff as MiCA deadline hits in days

Around three in four of the crypto companies registered across Europe are expected to lose their license this summer in the most aggressive thinning the industry has probably ever seen.

Jun 14, 2026 · Andjela Radmilac

Withdrawal risk is separate from the MiCA shutdown

AscendEX drew a distinction between losing access to the market and processing money owed to customers.

Automated withdrawals were paused on July 6. Every request now requires manual review, including identity, sanctions, and fraud checks; asset and balance reconciliation; network availability; and any legal or insolvency requirements.

AscendEX warned that some withdrawals may be delayed, face further checks or be rejected. Customers have no firm payment date and no assurance they will recover their full balances.

The exchange has disclosed too little financial information to determine whether it is insolvent. The uncertainty leaves customers facing creditor risk as the platform winds down.

AscendEX said a counterparty failed to complete an agreed transaction intended to provide liquidity. It is assessing its financial position and warned that unresolved balances could become subject to a formal insolvency or similar process if one begins.

The gaps in AscendEX’s disclosures leave customers guessing. They do not know whether manual reviews reflect routine compliance checks, a short-term cash squeeze or a deeper hole in the exchange’s finances. AscendEX has also left unclear which legal entity holds customer assets and where any insolvency case would be handled.

It has yet to disclose how many withdrawals are waiting, how much money is tied up or when customers will hear more.

ESMA told unauthorised providers to stop onboarding EU clients after the MiCA transition ended on July 1 while allowing only the services needed for an orderly exit. AscendEX's warning goes further by tying withdrawals to liquidity pressure and possible insolvency constraints.

Related Reading

MiCA’s July 1 deadline is Europe’s first crypto user-migration test – OKX interview

MiCA can force unlicensed exchanges out of Europe on paper. OKX Europe’s CEO says the real test is whether offshore apps are still one tap away.

Jul 1, 2026 · Gino Matos

Customers should stop sending deposits, review their balances, and make sure their KYC information is complete. Withdrawal requests should be submitted only through the official platform flow.

Users should also export their transaction histories and retain copies of withdrawal submissions and written complaints. Those steps preserve account records and a paper trail, but they do not guarantee processing or payment.

Related Reading

Latest bear market victim shows how quickly DeFi users are left behind when crypto projects move on

Swell warned users to bridge out by June 23, turning a planned L2 shutdown into a test of user exit procedures.

Jun 24, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

Public warnings and the next signals

Withdrawal concerns had circulated before the notice. On June 26, on-chain investigator ZachXBT asked AscendEX about reports of delayed or incomplete withdrawals and warned users not to deposit.

On July 6, he said multiple users had faced suspended withdrawals. His claims about wallet balances and individual losses have not been independently established.

AscendEX customers still do not know when withdrawals will resume or whether the exchange can repay them. They can file claims, but there is no timeline for receiving their assets and no guarantee they will be returned in full.

The post AscendEX shuts down after MiCA miss and warns some withdrawals may not be processed appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Hong Kong crypto platforms have until July 8, 2027, to ditch one-time passwords for client logins and device registration under new security rules.

By then, licensed virtual asset service providers and internet brokers must use authentication that can resist phishing for client logins and the registration or binding of devices, according to a July 9 circular.

The regulator said one-time passwords, or OTPs, do not meet that standard and should not be used for those two processes.

The rule applies only when clients log in or link a new device, leaving other OTP uses unchanged.

Firms do not have to make existing clients rebind devices that are already linked. Large internet brokers are expected to deploy the stronger methods immediately, while the broader group has a 12-month implementation period.

Related Reading

Hong Kong approves 4 new crypto trading platform licenses in regulatory push

The licensed platforms must meet rigorous standards and undergo evaluations to ensure compliance with global security practices.

Dec 18, 2024 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Controls around those logins take effect from the outset. Firms must review and improve client notifications, account monitoring, surveillance and incident-response procedures now.

The SFC requires firms to suspend or restrict an account as soon as they spot signs of fraud.

A deadline with liability attached

The order follows phishing campaigns reported in 2025. Fraudsters sent text messages containing links that impersonated brokers and purported to be requests from regulators or government bodies.

Clients handed over login credentials and one-time passcodes on fake sites, giving attackers a path to hijack sessions and move funds.

Related Reading

FCC robocall rule could make phone accounts a richer target for crypto attackers

The FCC’s robocall proposal could turn phone accounts into richer targets for SIM swaps, recovery abuse, and crypto theft.

Jun 21, 2026 · Gino Matos

The SFC wants firms to monitor irregular logins, new-device activity, trading that deviates from a client’s history, and fund or virtual-asset withdrawals.

Clients should receive prompt notices of successful logins and higher-risk changes, including new devices and the creation or revocation of passkeys.

Passkeys use public-key cryptography in place of a reusable secret that a client can type into a fake site.

The credential is designed to work only with the legitimate service, while the private key remains on the user’s device or with a passkey manager.

The SFC also accepts device binding built around robust verification, with an additional factor such as a biometric check or an account password.

The regulator tied those safeguards to firms’ duty to shield clients from theft and fraud.

It said a firm can be held accountable for client losses when inadequate measures fail to prevent, detect and stop large-scale unauthorized transactions after a hacking incident.

Related Reading

The trick big crypto exchanges are using to mitigate hacks, yet can still lock up your money

Exchanges can reimburse hacked balances, but they can’t stop the instant shock to liquidity and market depth.

Dec 1, 2025 · Gino Matos

Senior managers overseeing overall operations and information technology are ultimately responsible for the rollout.

The real test comes by July 2027, when platforms must drop OTP at key login points while improving fraud detection enough to protect clients through the change.

The post Hong Kong gives crypto platforms one year to ditch one-time passwords or cover user losses appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Terraform Labs’ bankruptcy court cleared the Plan Administrator to use Jump Trading documents in a lawsuit seeking at least $4 billion while rejecting four late crypto-loss claims.

One order lets the administrator use Jump Trading documents in the $4 billion lawsuit. The other rejects four late claims, narrowing who may share in any recovery. Neither decides whether Jump owes money or how much creditors could receive.

Related Reading

Terraform Labs secures court approval to wind-down operations after settling with SEC

US Bankruptcy Judge Brendan Shannon approved Terraform's bankruptcy plan in Wilmington, Delaware, giving a green light to the wind-down.

Sep 19, 2024 · Gino Matos

Court permits evidence after finding a violation

In a July 8 order, Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon found that the Plan Administrator violated the protective order as written by using “Jump Reproduced Documents” in the Illinois lawsuit.

Shannon then modified the order to permit those documents to be used in the Jump action, including in an amended complaint. The change took effect immediately, but the judge left decisions on removing confidentiality designations to the court handling the Illinois case.

The Delaware ruling lets the administrator use the documents in the lawsuit without making them public or deciding whether they support the claims or any creditor recovery.

The Plan Administrator says the case seeks at least $4 billion and alleges that Jump entered a secret arrangement to support TerraUSD and received $1.5 billion in Bitcoin reserves without written agreements or oversight. Those allegations have not been adjudicated.

Jump opposed the change, arguing that it consented to reproduce the materials only under restrictions limiting their use to the bankruptcy. It also said that modification would allow the administrator to bypass a discovery stay in securities cases and expose competitively sensitive information.

Related Reading

Jump Crypto allowed to submit certain info confidentially in SEC's case against Terraform Labs

Though it has not alleged any wrongdoing, the SEC believes that the firm's involvement was instrumental in the collapse of Terra's UST stablecoin in May 2022.

Nov 29, 2023 · Mike Dalton

CryptoSlate covered the original lawsuit in December.

The claims ruling has a more limited scope than social media posts suggested. Docket 1276 was a certification filed July 8; the signed order was entered July 9 as Docket 1281.

That order denied motions from four named people seeking permission to file crypto-loss claims after the deadline. It also directed Kroll, the claims agent, to update the register. It did not state that every late claimant is barred.

The administrator reports approximately 16,640 submitted crypto-loss claims and says determinations are continuing on a rolling basis. Submitted claims are not the same as allowed claims, which will determine who can share in distributions.

Related Reading

Terraform Labs launches claims portal for algorithmic UST stablecoin crash victims

Terraform Labs sets deadline for UST creditors to file claims, requiring proof of asset ownership and eligible tokens.

Mar 28, 2025 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

What changes for creditor recoveries

Existing claimants now face a simpler reality: any added recovery depends on Jump’s lawsuit surviving early challenges and ending in a judgment or settlement.

If it does, net proceeds could increase the assets available for allowed claims. If it fails, permission to use the documents doesn't generate any revenue on its own.

Four late claims are now out, but any recovery from Jump still depends on a lawsuit with no settled value or outcome.

The post Judge lets Terraform use Jump lawsuit evidence while blocking four late creditor claims appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Regulators have until July 18, 2026, to turn the GENIUS Act from a statute into access rules for stablecoin issuers that want a clear regulatory path into the US.

That date is the Act's one-year rulemaking deadline, not a blanket cutoff for users or every restriction on issuers. Public Law 119-27 requires primary federal payment stablecoin regulators, Treasury, and state payment stablecoin regulators to issue implementing regulations through notice-and-comment rulemaking within one year of enactment.

The law’s effective date is separate from this deadline. According to the OCC, the GENIUS Act takes effect on the earlier of two dates: 18 months after its July 18, 2025, enactment, or 120 days after regulators finalize the implementing rules.

Related Reading

GENIUS made stablecoins legal, July 18 decides which stablecoins stay competitive

GENIUS may make stablecoins safer, but tx and Plasma warn the compliance bill could turn the market into a scale game only giants can afford.

Jul 3, 2026 · Gino Matos

Issuer status decides who gets in

For stablecoin issuers, the biggest question is whether they can qualify as a permitted payment stablecoin issuer in the first place. The GENIUS Act generally bars anyone outside that category from issuing a payment stablecoin in the United States. Digital asset service providers have separate offer-and-sale restrictions with their own three-year timeline and exceptions.

The OCC's February proposal shows how broad the implementation effort could become. Its rule would apply to national bank subsidiaries, federal savings association subsidiaries, and federal branches, as well as foreign payment stablecoin issuers, nonbank entities seeking federal qualified issuer status, and state-qualified issuers within OCC authority.

The Federal Register proposal also places applications, registrations, supervision, reserves, redemption, custody, revocation, and capital backstops within the same implementation framework. After deciding who gets in, regulators are also defining what issuers must look like once they are approved to operate.

Compliance is the next hurdle. Under Treasury’s FinCEN and OFAC proposal, permitted payment-stablecoin issuers would fall under Bank Secrecy Act rules, bringing anti-money-laundering and sanctions requirements with them.

The OCC followed with a June 22 proposal for OCC-supervised issuers that would create AML/CFT supervision, FinCEN consultation, and information-sharing procedures for enforcement or supervisory actions.

Related Reading

Stablecoin regulation converts issuers into psuedo-banks while adding a barrier to entry for smaller players

Stablecoin regulation is giving issuers legal clarity, but compliance costs may leave the market to the biggest firms.

Jun 21, 2026 · Andjela Radmilac

For issuers, that means access to the US market also depends on whether their controls can satisfy BSA, OFAC, and lawful-order requirements before the rules settle into an operating framework.

Foreign payment-stablecoin issuers face a separate barrier because access to the US market depends on complying with lawful orders and establishing reciprocal arrangements under the GENIUS Act.

It also gives the Treasury one year from enactment to issue rules for these foreign-issuer provisions. The OCC’s proposal includes the process details: registration, rejection, appeals, and rescission for foreign issuers under its jurisdiction.

State-qualified issuers face another barrier. Their home state's regulatory regime must be substantially similar to the federal framework, with Treasury responsible for deciding whether it meets that standard.

Although state certifications will depend on the Act’s effective date, the practical problem arrives much earlier: state equivalence will be hard to determine if federal, Treasury, and OCC rules are still unfinished.

Related Reading

Treasury’s first GENIUS rule tightens Washington’s grip on who can scale stablecoins

The proposal leaves states with a narrow lane while pushing large stablecoin issuers toward federal control.

Apr 2, 2026 · Gino Matos

The stablecoin fight now comes down to who gets through the US market’s front door.

The issuers most exposed are those still trying to secure a place in the US framework: new federal applicants, foreign issuers seeking US availability, and state-qualified issuers relying on equivalence. If July 18, 2026, arrives without a coherent set of rules, they will be the first to feel it.

The post GENIUS Act deadline puts stablecoin issuers on the clock appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Privacy coins are back in the spotlight. $ZEC is up more than 8% over the past 24 hours, trading near $503 and holding above the closely watched $500 level. The move caps a strong week for Zcash and has traders asking whether this is the start of a bigger breakout or just another burst of volatility in a notoriously high-beta asset. Here is what is actually driving the zcash price and where analysts think it goes from here.

What Is the Zcash Price Today?

The zec price today sits at roughly $503, up about 8% on the day, with an intraday high near $505. That keeps $ZEC comfortably above the $500 psychological level and well clear of the $464 mid-range pivot on the chart. On the 2-hour timeframe, the token is pressing toward overhead resistance near $546, with $385 marking the base of the recent range.

The context matters: this is not an isolated one-day pop. $ZEC has been climbing for over a week, having reclaimed $500 for the first time since early June after a brutal stretch. The privacy coin lost more than 40% of its value in early June, crashing from around $624 toward the $300s in under 48 hours after a critical bug was disclosed in its Orchard shielded pool. Today's strength is best understood as a continued recovery from that shock rather than a reaction to a single fresh headline.

Why Is Zcash Pumping Today?

There is no single news catalyst behind today's specific 8% move — it is a mix of a strengthening fundamental narrative and classic trading-day dynamics.

The dominant driver is the upcoming Ironwood upgrade, expected to activate in late July. Ironwood replaces the vulnerable Orchard shielded pool with a formally verified version, mathematically designed to prevent the kind of undetectable counterfeiting flaw that spooked the market in June. It also introduces a "turnstile" migration mechanism to enforce Zcash's fixed supply and harden its shielded pool. For a privacy coin whose entire value proposition rests on verifiable, private money, that directly addresses the trust damage from the bug — which is why the market is treating it as a genuine catalyst, not just hype.

Layered on top is momentum from social sentiment and derivatives. Zcash's social activity has spiked sharply, with its AltRank climbing into the top tier of coins and the large majority of tracked sentiment reading bullish. That has fed a feedback loop: the fundamental upgrade story sparked a technical breakout, which drew in momentum traders and triggered short liquidations — with over $7.6 million in short positions wiped out during one recent leg higher. In other words, today's 8% is part fundamental conviction, part leveraged short squeeze, and part broad altcoin-rotation beta.

Is This a Real Breakout or Just a Trading-Day Effect?

Honestly, it is both — and that is the key thing to understand before chasing it. The Ironwood narrative gives the rally a real fundamental anchor, which separates it from a purely speculative spike. But the mechanics of the move are heavily leverage-driven. Futures volume has dwarfed spot volume during this rally (recent readings showed ZEC futures turnover well above $1 billion against roughly $115 million in spot), and elevated open interest means the price can reverse just as sharply as it rose. High-beta privacy coins are famous for explosive moves on good fundamental news, followed by volatile pullbacks as speculative capital rotates out.

What Are the ZEC Price Predictions From Here?

On the technical side, the immediate battle is at resistance. As long as $ZEC holds above $500, the bullish case points toward the $546 zone next, with a decisive break potentially opening a run toward the $620–$650 liquidity area that several analysts have flagged. A clean breakout above that region is what bulls would need to talk about higher targets. On the downside, losing $500 would likely shift momentum back to sellers, with support around $464, then $450, and the $385 range floor below that.

Longer-term zec price prediction models are cautiously constructive but wide-ranging, reflecting how much hinges on Ironwood landing cleanly. Third-party forecasting sites put the 2026 average trading price somewhere in the $460–$505 band, with monthly peaks stretching toward the $570–$580 area in a bullish scenario, and some multi-year models projecting a return toward four-digit territory only in later years if privacy-coin demand sustains. These are algorithmic projections, not guarantees, and privacy coins carry outsized regulatory and technical risk — so they are best treated as rough scenarios rather than price targets.

The realistic near-term picture: a successful, verified Ironwood activation in late July could provide the next leg higher, while any delay or technical hiccup would likely trigger a deeper consolidation. Bitcoin's stability and broader altcoin sentiment will also heavily influence where $ZEC trades, given how tightly it moves with overall market risk appetite.

When the EU's MiCA transition deadline reshaped the European crypto market on July 1, the big question was simple: where would displaced users go? Binance has now offered an answer — and it is not the one Brussels was hoping for. Here is what the numbers show and why licensed regulated crypto exchanges are throwing serious money at anyone willing to move.

What Did Binance's CEO Reveal About EU Users?

Speaking at the Reuters NEXT Asia summit in Singapore on July 9, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng dropped a striking statistic. Of the EU users who withdrew funds from the platform after the MiCA transition, roughly 70% moved their crypto into self-hosted wallets, while only about 30% flowed to MiCA-regulated entities.

Teng, a former regulator himself, framed it as a warning shot at the EU. His argument: pushing users toward self-hosted wallets actually undercuts the consumer protection MiCA was designed to deliver, because non-custodial wallets fall outside the AML and KYC controls that licensed exchanges must run. In his words, once crypto goes into a self-hosted wallet, the risks amplify rather than shrink.

The claim has been widely reported by Cointelegraph, Reuters, Yahoo Finance and others, so the 70/30 figure is Binance's own data — and it comes with obvious self-interest, given the exchange's exclusion from the bloc. Supporters of self-custody read the same numbers very differently: holding your own keys removes counterparty risk, and many see direct control as the whole point of crypto, not a loophole.

Why Did So Many Binance Users Leave?

The exodus was triggered by Binance's own regulatory setback. The exchange withdrew its MiCA regulation license application in Greece on June 24, after reports that the Greek regulator was preparing to reject it. With no license in place by the July 1 deadline, Binance stopped serving new EU customers and began restricting services, forcing existing users to decide where to move their balances.

The result was Binance's heaviest weekly outflows in more than three years. Net outflows hit roughly $1.23 billion in the week beginning June 29 — up about 207% from the prior week, according to DefiLlama data reviewed by Cointelegraph. That is a lot of capital suddenly looking for a new home.

Are EU Exchanges Welcoming Ex-Binance Traders?

Absolutely — and aggressively. The MiCA deadline handed licensed platforms a rare opening: a wave of experienced traders, already holding funds, being forced to move whether they like it or not. What followed is best described as a land grab, with regulated crypto exchanges competing hard for every migrating account.

The offers have been substantial. OKX Europe rolled out its "Time to Switch" campaign with deposit bonuses of up to 8% (paid out over 52 weeks) plus 400 euros in BTC welcome rewards for new users, and reported record EU sign-ups in the run-up to the deadline. Coinbase countered with a transfer bonus of up to 5% for users moving funds before mid-July.

These campaigns are structurally different from typical crypto marketing. Instead of chasing newcomers, they target established capital from users who already know how to move funds — and are being pushed to do so anyway. Every migrated account becomes a durable source of trading volume, staking balances and fees, which is exactly why the incentives are so generous.

Which MiCA Exchanges Offer the Biggest Rewards?

This is the key question for anyone with funds still sitting on Binance or another platform that did not make the MiCA cut. The bonuses are real, but they are time-limited, capped, and vary a lot by exchange, region and deposit method — so it pays to compare before you move rather than jumping at the first offer you see.

We have put together a full, up-to-date breakdown of every MiCA-regulated exchange currently paying users to switch, including the exact bonus structures, caps and deadlines: see our complete comparison of the best regulated MiCA exchanges here.

What Does This Mean for Europe's Crypto Market?

Teng's 70/30 split points to a deeper shift: many Europeans are not simply swapping one exchange for another — they are choosing to hold assets directly. That leaves the EU with a narrower, more heavily supervised market on the licensed side, and a growing pool of self-custodied capital that sits beyond any regulator's reach. MiCA has settled who is allowed to operate. The open question now is where users actually want to keep their crypto — on a regulated platform, or in their own wallet.

The crypto market is closing out the week on firmer footing. $BTC is climbing back toward a closely watched level as regulatory optimism in the US and a major traditional-finance move offset lingering worries over ETF flows and macro pressure. Here is a breakdown of the crypto news today and what is moving the bitcoin price.

What Is the Bitcoin Price Today?

The btc price today sits at roughly $63,950, up around 1.2% over the past 24 hours and about 4% across the week, extending a rebound from late-June lows near $58,000. That run brings $BTC within reach of $64,000, a level it briefly cleared earlier in the week before easing back.

The recovery has firmed even as its footing stays thin. Institutional futures activity has thinned and downside options protection has turned unusually expensive, leading some derivatives traders to read the setup as a late-stage washout rather than the start of a fresh leg down. After a first half that closed down roughly 20%, this looks more like a bounce off the lows than a confirmed trend change.

The majors have joined the move. $ETH is trading near $1,770 and has outperformed on the week, while $XRP and $SOL have held most of their weekly gains around $1.13 and $80 respectively.

Why Is the Bitcoin Price Rising?

Two catalysts are doing most of the work behind today's bitcoin price strength. The first is regulatory: a fresh draft of the US crypto Clarity Act could land as soon as next week, with insiders pointing to a possible Senate vote later this month. The bill still lacks full bipartisan buy-in, so hurdles remain, but the prospect of movement on clarity act market-structure rules has supported prices. On top of that, the SEC is reportedly preparing to propose a rule this month aimed at easing conditions for crypto startups and fundraising.

The second is institutional infrastructure. Swift is rolling out a new swift blockchain ledger designed to bring 24/7 settlement to 17 global banks, with names like HSBC, UBS, Wells Fargo and Citi preparing to pilot live transactions using tokenized digital assets. The move underscores how mainstream finance keeps migrating onto blockchain rails.

What is Happening With Bitcoin ETF Flows?

The bitcoin etf picture remains mixed. June saw multi-billion-dollar outflows from US spot funds that raised concern about institutional risk appetite, and July flows have been choppy so far. Even so, the market has absorbed selling that would have rattled it a month ago: Bitcoin shrugged off a disclosure that Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for around $216 million — its largest sale since dropping its never-sell stance — without breaking the rebound.

Is Crypto Still Tied to AI Stocks?

For most of 2026, weakness in AI and chip stocks dragged crypto lower with it. This week that link loosened: the ethereum price and bitcoin price held steady even as some AI equities slid. Whether that independence lasts is one of the key questions for the back half of the year, especially as large allocators keep rotating toward AI exposure.

What Comes Next for the Crypto Market?

The crypto market today reflects cautious optimism rather than conviction. Regulatory clarity, potential SEC rule-easing and institutional adoption are providing tailwinds, and Bitcoin's push toward $64,000 shows buyers defending the recovery. The open questions are whether the Clarity Act draft actually materializes next week and whether $BTC can turn its run at $64,000 into a durable base above $60,000.

If you want a regulated, MiCA-compliant European exchange to trade $BTC and other assets, you can check out our full list of regulated exchanges here.

Elon Musk's SpaceX pulled off the largest IPO in history on 12 June 2026, and the debut lived up to the hype: shares priced at $135, opened around $150 and closed near $161 on day one, briefly valuing the company above $2 trillion. Less than a month later, the picture looks very different. $SPCX has drifted back down toward the $145–$150 zone, giving back almost every point of that first-day pop and sitting well below its 16 June intraday high of roughly $225.

That round trip — from a record blockbuster launch to a stock hovering just above its offer price — is why "will SpaceX stock crash?" has become one of the most searched questions in the market right now. Below we break down what is happening, why, and the realistic scenarios from here.

Why is the SpaceX stock price falling?

The slide is less a single catastrophe than a classic post-IPO cool-off colliding with an eye-watering valuation. A few forces are stacked on top of each other:

The debut pop was built on retail euphoria. SpaceX reserved an unusually large share of the offering — reportedly around 30% — for individual investors, and demand ran several times oversubscribed. That kind of frenzy tends to front-load buying, and once the initial rush fades, the price often gravitates back toward where the deal was actually priced. That is roughly what has happened here.

The valuation leaves little room for error. Even after the pullback, $SPCX carries a market capitalisation north of $2 trillion against negative trailing earnings. Bulls are underwriting Starlink's cash flow, a dominant launch franchise and the xAI/Grok AI angle years into the future. When a stock is priced for near-flawless execution, even neutral news can trigger selling.

Sector sentiment turned. Space and satellite peers have sold off in sympathy, and a broader risk-off tone across high-multiple tech has weighed on the newest, most speculative name in the group. Not being eligible for S&P 500 inclusion for at least a year also removes a source of forced index buying that some traders had been counting on.

What are analysts saying about SPCX?

Wall Street is, on paper, still constructive — but the range of opinion is extreme, which is itself a warning sign. Consensus sits at a "Buy," with average 12-month targets clustering somewhere in the low $200s depending on the data provider. Individual targets, however, span from around $115 on the low end to as high as $800 on the most aggressive bull notes, with at least one street-high call implying enormous upside.

That spread — a low-triple-digit bear case against a high-triple-digit moonshot — tells you the honest truth: nobody really knows how to value SpaceX yet. When targets disagree by a factor of five or more, the "average" price target is close to meaningless, and the stock is likely to stay extremely volatile. Notably, at least one prominent value investor has publicly called the listing one of the most overvalued in history and predicted an eventual collapse, while momentum-focused analysts see the next leg higher toward and beyond $250.

Will SpaceX stock crash? Three scenarios

Rather than pretend to know the outcome, it helps to frame the possibilities. None of these is a prediction — they are the paths the market is currently pricing between.

• Bear case — a genuine unwind. If the retail bid keeps fading, a lock-up or anti-flipping window expires and allows more supply onto the market, or a Starship setback or macro risk-off event hits, $SPCX could break below its $135 IPO price and keep going. Given the beta and daily swings the stock has already shown, a fast 30–50% drawdown from current levels is well within the realm of what a name this speculative can do. This is the scenario the "crash" question is really about.
• Base case — a long, choppy consolidation. The stock spends months digesting its valuation, ranging roughly between the IPO price and its debut highs while the business grows into expectations. Volatile, frustrating, but not a crash — the typical fate of a hyped mega-IPO once the dust settles.
• Bull case — the story reasserts itself. Strong Starlink numbers, Starship progress, momentum behind the xAI/Grok integration and eventual index inclusion pull buyers back in, and the stock retests and clears its former highs toward the upper end of analyst targets.

The uncomfortable reality: all three are plausible right now, and the stock can travel a long way in either direction before the fundamental picture is any clearer.

How to trade SpaceX stock price — in either direction?

Here is where many investors get stuck. If you think $SPCX is heading lower, simply owning shares does you no good — and if you think it is heading higher, you may want leverage or the flexibility to move fast. This is exactly the situation CFDs are built for, because they let you take a position in both directions: go long if you back the bull case, or go short if you think a crash is coming.

With XTB you can trade SpaceX ($SPCX) as a CFD — meaning you can open a long position to profit from a rebound, or a short position to profit if the stock falls, all from one account. XTB is a well-established, regulated broker with a fast, intuitive platform, transparent pricing and no minimum deposit, which makes it a practical choice whether you are positioning for the next leg up or hedging against the downside.

👉 Open your XTB account here and trade SpaceX long or short

Whatever your view on the crash question, the key advantage is optionality: you are not forced to pick "buy and hope." You can express a bearish or a bullish thesis — and manage your risk with defined position sizing — through a single regulated platform. Start trading $SPCX with XTB.

The MiCA transition period ended on July 1, 2026, and the damage is now measurable. This wasn't a soft compliance nudge — it was a mass extinction event that redrew the entire European crypto map in a single day. While the market obsessed over price charts, the more consequential story is who's still legally allowed to operate on the continent, and who just quietly disappeared.

How many crypto firms actually survived MiCA?

The numbers are brutal. Public mirrors of the bloc's register counted 244 licensed CASPs across 25 jurisdictions once the deadline passed. Before MiCA, roughly 3,167 firms held national crypto registrations across Europe. Measured against that base, close to 92% of the market did not make the cut.

Framed against the pre-MiCA legacy pool, only 210 of 1,200+ EU crypto firms converted to MiCA authorization. The other 83% are now in breach of EU law. Either way you count it, the vast majority of the old market is gone — and there are no do-overs. The European Securities and Markets Authority has confirmed that there are no extensions and no grace periods.

Who are the biggest casualties?

Two names dominate the losers' column, and both are giants. The two biggest casualties are private. Binance, the largest exchange in the world, withdrew its license application in Greece days before the deadline and restricted services in several EU countries. Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, chose to stay out rather than restructure its reserves to MiCA's standard.

Tether's exit was a deliberate strategic call, not a failure to qualify. CEO Paolo Ardoino called MiCA's stablecoin reserve requirements "very dangerous" — specifically the rule requiring issuers to hold 60% of reserves in EU bank deposits, which Tether argued creates systemic bank exposure. The practical result is stark: $USDT, the most-traded stablecoin on earth, has been pulled from every EU-licensed venue. 

Binance isn't necessarily gone forever, though. Binance is pursuing a French MiCA licence. If granted, passporting rules allow it to re-enter the EU. The July 1 deadline suspended services; it did not permanently revoke the ability to apply. 

Why does this matter for the survivors?

Because every euro of displaced volume has to go somewhere legal. That matters for the public names because it removes their toughest competition from the regulated arena. Every euro of EU volume that can no longer legally touch Binance or USDT has to find a licensed home.

The market has already tilted decisively toward the compliant perimeter. Approximately 70 percent of EU crypto transactions now occur on MiCA-compliant exchanges, and that share can only grow as unlicensed platforms wind down.

Which exchanges are the winners?

The survivor list is short and increasingly powerful. Major exchanges have secured licenses. The strategic weapon here is passporting: Coinbase spent the run-up securing a MiCA license and opening a Luxembourg hub to passport regulated services across all 27 EU member states. One license now covers a 450-million-person market, a barrier that smaller, unlicensed rivals cannot cross.

On the stablecoin side, the winner is even clearer. Circle is the only issuer among the ten largest stablecoins to secure MiCA authorization for both its dollar token, $USDC, and its euro token, EURC. With $USDT locked out, regulated euro rails now run largely through Circle.

Is the European market healthier or just smaller?

That's the open question. The market that emerges in late 2026 will be smaller, more concentrated, and governed by a single rulebook. Whether that is a feature or a flaw depends on who is still standing. For traders, the upside is real: fewer, better-regulated venues with clearer legal protection. The downside is reduced competition and the friction of migrating away from familiar USDT pairs.

What should EU traders do now?

If your funds are still sitting on an unlicensed platform, the clock has already run out — move them to a MiCA-authorized exchange. You can compare the fully regulated survivors side by side in our broker comparison.

Apple alleges former employees took confidential designs, supplier information, and engineering files before joining OpenAI.

Top Democrats on key Senate committees demanded inquiries into the more than $1.2 billion that President Trump made on crypto last year.

Nasdaq-listed Empery Digital said it sold 1,400 Bitcoin since May to help fuel an AI data center deal, legal bills, and other expenses.

Asha Sharma will advise the Federal Reserve on AI’s impact on jobs and productivity as Xbox undergoes the biggest restructuring in its history.

Unless President Trump vetoes the bill, it will become law at midnight, banning the Federal Reserve from developing a CBDC until 2031.

The market is seeing some hope as multiple assets enter recovery channels.

Chainlink community lead Zach Rynes has stated that there is "no tangible adoption or meaningful role for XRP in the financial system.

Standard Chartered is standing firm on its bullish Bitcoin outlook, maintaining a year-end target of $100,000 for the flagship cryptocurrency.

Following Nakamoto's lead, Empery Digital drops $87.1 million in BTC to join the AI race.

Robinhood Chain crosses $100 million milestone in its TVL within just about ten days of launch as the network continues to see rapid adoption.

TLDR:

• XRP funding rates on Binance have turned extremely negative, signaling heavy short positioning.
• XRP has dropped 70% since July 2025, though it remains above its historical lows.
• Open interest fell to $350.6 million as leveraged traders exit futures positions broadly.
• NVT ratio stays elevated at 162.86, showing network activity lags behind valuation levels.

XRP funding rates have dropped to extremely negative levels as the token continues to trade under pressure. The broader altcoin market remains weak, with roughly 40% of altcoins sitting close to their all-time lows.

XRP has avoided that fate so far, yet it has still lost around 70% of its value since reaching $2.45 in July 2025. Traders on Binance are increasingly positioning for further downside.

Funding Rates Signal Extreme Pessimism

Derivatives data shows that bearish sentiment toward XRP has intensified over recent weeks. Funding rates on Binance, when aggregated over a 30-day period to reflect broader trader sentiment, have moved into extreme negative territory. This pattern indicates that a growing number of traders are holding short positions against XRP.

Analyst Darkfost noted that this pessimism now forms a clear consensus among derivatives traders. According to the analysis, funding rates for XRP have held a bearish bias since the beginning of the year. Such consistency over several months points to sustained skepticism about the token’s near-term direction.

Historically, extreme funding rate readings following steep corrections have sometimes preceded reversals. Darkfost pointed to April 2025 as an example, when XRP fell to $1.25 before staging a recovery. That rebound eventually produced a 126% rally, illustrating how oversold conditions can shift quickly.

Whether a similar pattern emerges this time remains uncertain. The current setup shares some similarities with past bottoming phases, but market conditions differ across cycles. Traders are watching closely for signs that selling pressure may be nearing exhaustion.

Open Interest and Market Cap Point to Weak Demand

Beyond funding rates, other metrics also reflect a cautious market environment. Open interest in XRP futures has declined to $350.6 million, one of its lowest readings in recent months. This drop suggests that leveraged traders are closing positions rather than adding new exposure.

Analyst Pelinay observed that XRP’s market capitalization has also fallen, reaching $10.89 billion. This decline shows that capital is leaving the market alongside reduced leverage.

Source: Cryptoquant

Fewer open positions combined with a shrinking market cap suggest limited fresh buying interest at current levels.

The NVT ratio, which compares network value to transaction volume, remains elevated at 162.86. A high NVT ratio typically signals that on-chain activity has not kept pace with valuation. This gap suggests that network usage has yet to support a meaningful price recovery.

Taken together, these indicators describe a market where risk appetite has cooled substantially. Futures positioning continues to shrink while spot market capitalization contracts in parallel.

Sellers appear to retain control of price action for now, even as funding rates flash signals reminiscent of past reversal points.

The post XRP Funding Rates Turn Extremely Bearish as Open Interest and Market Cap Slide appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• AI assistants now connect directly to Revolut X for enhanced crypto market analysis
• Platform enables strategy backtesting, portfolio tracking, and customized price notifications
• All trade executions mandate explicit user confirmation before processing
• The exchange provides access to more than 300 digital assets
• Implementation follows industry trend of AI-enhanced cryptocurrency trading platforms

Revolut has launched integration between Revolut X and third-party AI assistants, providing users with conversational access to cryptocurrency trading capabilities. This functionality encompasses research tools, portfolio oversight, notification systems, trade setup, and performance testing, though all transactions require manual user confirmation.

AI-Driven Interface Transforms Crypto Trading Experience

Revolut enables compatibility with multiple AI platforms including Claude, Gemini, OpenClaw, and Cursor via its exchange integration. Additional compatible systems can connect using a universal skill framework or command-line interface. Technical documentation is publicly available through Revolut X’s official GitHub repository.

Traders can query real-time pricing data and obtain straightforward portfolio performance summaries using natural language. Balance inquiries, position tracking, and personalized alert configuration are accessible through conversational commands. The platform processes both instant market orders and delayed limit orders via plain-English instructions.

Backtesting functionality enables traders to evaluate strategies against past market behavior. Users might analyze a Bitcoin grid trading approach across specific timeframes, receiving detailed performance metrics, risk assessments, and optimization recommendations from the system.

Manual Authorization Required for All Transactions

Revolut maintains a mandatory approval step for every order before Revolut X processes the transaction. Connected AI systems cannot independently execute trades without explicit human authorization. This safeguard preserves user control while streamlining the trading workflow.

The company clearly delineates its services from third-party AI platforms utilizing the integration. Revolut assumes no responsibility for operating or validating external assistant accuracy. Users bear full responsibility for verifying market data and trading instructions generated by these tools.

Erroneous prompts or computational errors may generate inappropriate order parameters or flawed analysis. Traders must verify pricing, volume, order specifications, and risk exposure before confirming transactions. Revolut emphasizes the importance of securing API keys associated with exchange accounts.

Platform Expansion Continues Across European Markets

Revolut X debuted in May 2024 as a desktop-focused exchange serving United Kingdom retail traders. The service expanded throughout 30 European territories in November 2024. Mobile application support rolled out to UK and European Economic Area users in March 2025.

The exchange currently facilitates trading in over 300 cryptocurrency tokens through dedicated infrastructure. Revolut built the AI integration leveraging its existing trading API. Engineering teams successfully prototyped the assistant connection to this interface in approximately 30 minutes during initial testing.

Early prototypes demonstrated inventory tracking, price discovery, order execution, monitoring capabilities, and automated alerting functions. Development teams subsequently created comprehensive tools covering authentication, account connectivity, trade execution, and strategy evaluation. Installation documentation now supports over 50 compatible AI assistant applications.

Industry-Wide Movement Toward AI-Enhanced Trading

This release aligns with broader cryptocurrency industry adoption of agent-based trading infrastructure. Gemini introduced comparable account integration via the Model Context Protocol in April. Liquid subsequently deployed live trading features for conversational AI platforms.

Robinhood has publicly announced forthcoming crypto-specific agentic account features for US markets. Coinbase and Base have built proprietary tools supporting portfolio management, payment processing, and wallet operations. Transaction approval requirements remain standard across most implementations.

Revolut delivers this functionality to a user base exceeding 16 million cryptocurrency customers. The broader organization serves over 75 million retail clients throughout its financial services ecosystem. European cryptocurrency operations function through a Cyprus-regulated entity compliant with MiCA regulatory standards.

The post Revolut X Integrates AI Assistants for Advanced Crypto Trading Features appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• SILO stock declined 28% to $5.57 after disclosing a $4 million capital raise.

• The biotechnology company will distribute 619,965 shares along with two distinct warrant categories.

• Each warrant series features a $6.21 strike price and is immediately exercisable.

• Full warrant conversion could bring in an additional $7.7 million in capital.

• The firm intends to allocate funds toward working capital and standard corporate activities.

Silo Pharma experienced a dramatic stock decline of nearly 28% after revealing a $4 million private financing arrangement. Trading saw SILO drop to $5.57 during the morning session before finding support around the $5.50 level. This capital raise encompasses both common stock and warrant instruments that may significantly increase the total outstanding share base.

Silo Pharma, Inc., SILO

SILO Stock Tumbles on Capital Raise Announcement

Silo Pharma committed to distributing 619,965 common shares or their pre-funded warrant equivalents via this private financing. Each unit in the offering commands a $6.452 purchase price in accordance with Nasdaq’s at-the-market regulations. The deal structure incorporates two distinct warrant categories as part of the arrangement.

The Series A-3 warrants grant investors the right to acquire up to 619,965 additional common shares. The Series A-4 warrants provide rights to an identical share quantity but feature a condensed time frame. Each warrant category establishes a $6.21 strike price per underlying share.

Investors can exercise these warrants starting immediately upon issuance, providing instant access to extra equity. The Series A-3 instruments will remain valid for five years following the effectiveness of the resale registration. In contrast, Series A-4 warrants will terminate 18 months after registration becomes effective.

Financing Could Yield Extra $7.7M in Capital

Silo Pharma anticipates collecting roughly $4 million in gross capital from this private transaction. This figure represents pre-expense proceeds before deducting placement agent compensation and transaction-related costs. H.C. Wainwright acts as the sole placement agent managing this offering.

The company stands to collect an additional $7.7 million should all warrant holders convert their instruments through cash payments. Whether warrants get exercised hinges on prevailing market dynamics and individual investor choices. As such, there’s no guarantee the firm will capture any portion of these supplementary funds.

Silo Pharma projects the deal will finalize approximately July 10, pending satisfaction of customary closing requirements. Management intends to channel the net capital toward working capital needs and standard corporate activities. These resources could sustain operational activities while the firm’s therapeutic programs continue through development phases.

Instruments Need Registration for Public Resale

Silo Pharma structured this offering utilizing exemptions provided under Section 4(a)(2) and Regulation D. The securities and warrants lack registration under federal securities statutes or relevant state regulations. Therefore, purchasers face restrictions on reselling these instruments absent registration or qualifying exemptions.

The firm executed a registration rights agreement encompassing all securities distributed in this placement. This agreement obligates Silo Pharma to submit registration documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These submissions will address the public resale of issued shares and equity underlying the warrant instruments.

Private placements frequently create downward pressure on smaller biotechnology equities due to increased share availability. Expanded share counts can diminish current stakeholder ownership positions and negatively impact per-share valuations. The significant SILO price drop illustrated investor concerns regarding potential ownership dilution.

Company Focuses on Central Nervous System Therapeutics

Silo Pharma functions as a development-stage pharmaceutical enterprise concentrating on neglected medical needs. Its research pipeline emphasizes psychiatric conditions, persistent pain syndromes and central nervous system pathologies. The company currently lacks any commercially approved therapeutic products.

Key pipeline candidates include SPC-15, designed to address post-traumatic stress disorder and associated stress-related conditions. The development roster also features SP-26 targeting fibromyalgia and chronic pain relief. Additionally, Silo Pharma maintains a preclinical program investigating Alzheimer’s disease treatment.

Pharmaceutical development demands continuous capital infusion as clinical trials and regulatory processes typically entail substantial expenditures. Silo Pharma depends on periodic financing transactions to maintain research activities and corporate functions. While this latest placement supplies needed capital, it simultaneously creates meaningful dilution risk for existing shareholders.

The post Silo Pharma (SILO) Stock Tumbles 28% Following $4M Financing Announcement appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• The exchange is building its redesigned platform around autonomous AI trading agents

• Intelligent agents will monitor cryptocurrency markets and complete transactions based on user parameters

• Portfolio recommendations will be generated using investment objectives, risk appetite, and available capital

• The platform aims to evolve from pure crypto exchange into comprehensive financial services provider

• AI agent technology may define the next competitive phase among cryptocurrency trading platforms

Kraken is preparing to unveil a reimagined trading application built on agentic AI technology, making autonomous intelligent systems the cornerstone of its retail offering. The platform will continuously scan cryptocurrency markets, spot trading possibilities, and carry out transactions according to boundaries established by individual traders. This strategic shift sets up the exchange to compete in a fresh wave of innovation where platforms leverage automated financial tools to deepen user engagement.

Autonomous Agents Form Foundation of Trading Experience

The revamped application will deploy artificial intelligence from the initial signup phase to evaluate investment objectives, risk preferences, capital allocation options, and user financial backgrounds. Following this assessment, it will generate a preliminary portfolio structure, outline the reasoning behind asset allocation, and enable users to review and modify recommendations. This methodology is designed to streamline investment choices without demanding that customers develop expertise in sophisticated trading mechanics.

Kraken’s platform will supply users with relevant portfolio updates, market intelligence, and actionable recommendations tailored to each individual account. The intelligent system may additionally flag dormant capital and suggest more productive deployment strategies. The company intends to personalize both conversational interactions and visual interfaces according to specific user requirements.

Agentic trading represents an evolution beyond conventional automation because AI agents dynamically process emerging data and work toward specified objectives. While users maintain control over operational boundaries, the system continually assesses market dynamics and operates within established constraints. This framework has the potential to democratize sophisticated trading capabilities that have historically been accessible primarily to institutional and algorithmic traders.

Artificial Intelligence Powers Broader Market Participation

The exchange anticipates that AI technology will enable casual investors to react more promptly as market dynamics shift. Professional market participants typically maintain active positions during downturns, whereas retail traders commonly withdraw from trading activity. Consequently, Kraken aims to equip its application with capabilities for persistent market surveillance and prompt order execution accessible to all users.

This strategic direction also aligns with the company’s ambition to transcend its identity as a conventional cryptocurrency trading venue. The organization intends to develop operations spanning payment processing, banking services, credit facilities, stablecoin products, and tokenized financial instruments. Artificial intelligence could serve as the unifying layer connecting these diverse offerings through a single interface while minimizing technical knowledge barriers for customers.

The exchange is simultaneously pursuing a demographic beyond institutional clients, proprietary trading desks, and veteran leverage traders. Its established user community already possesses deep cryptocurrency market knowledge and frequently trades through multiple market cycles. The redesigned application, however, specifically addresses individuals requiring enhanced guidance, streamlined functionality, and more transparent portfolio assistance.

Industry Braces for AI Agent Arms Race

Competing platforms including Coinbase and Gemini have similarly launched AI-enhanced trading capabilities and developer tools. These initiatives demonstrate that exchanges increasingly recognize artificial intelligence as fundamental infrastructure rather than supplementary functionality. Consequently, autonomous trading technology appears poised to emerge as a primary competitive dimension throughout the cryptocurrency industry.

This strategic emphasis arrives amid challenging cryptocurrency market dynamics, when exchanges typically experience reduced transaction volumes and weakening customer loyalty. The company maintains that automated assistance could enable users to maintain engagement across both bullish and bearish market phases. Such an approach may decrease reliance on intermittent waves of speculative trading interest.

Established in 2011, the platform stands among the most enduring international cryptocurrency exchanges. Its forthcoming application will integrate trading execution, portfolio advisement, and financial services through a unified AI-powered system. The launch will effectively test whether agentic technology can fundamentally alter retail customer interaction with cryptocurrency trading platforms.

The post Kraken Embraces AI-Powered Agents to Transform Cryptocurrency Trading Experience appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• American AI leaders OpenAI and Google delivered artificial intelligence services to Singapore operations of Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent—companies flagged by the Pentagon.
• These transactions comply with existing U.S. regulations, as current restrictions don’t prohibit AI service provision outside China’s mainland.
• OpenAI terminated several Alibaba-associated accounts following concerns about “distillation”—leveraging AI responses to develop competing models.
• Google acknowledges that location-based restrictions alone cannot prevent determined users from circumventing access controls.
• Anthropic has adopted more stringent measures, refusing service to all Chinese-affiliated organizations while advocating for expanded federal export regulations.

Major American artificial intelligence companies OpenAI and Google have delivered access to their cutting-edge AI systems to Singapore-registered branches of three prominent Chinese technology corporations—Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent—despite their parent organizations being featured on a Pentagon watchlist connecting them to Chinese military operations.

The Financial Times initially broke this story on July 10, 2026.

Understanding the Pentagon’s Military-Linked Companies List

The watchlist in question is officially designated as the 1260H list. This catalog names corporations that American officials suspect maintain connections with China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Inclusion on this roster doesn’t create an automatic prohibition against purchasing U.S. AI technology. Present American regulations don’t prevent Chinese corporations from obtaining advanced AI model access when operating beyond China’s territorial boundaries, explaining the legality of these arrangements.

Both OpenAI and Google verified to the Financial Times that they delivered AI capabilities to these Chinese companies’ Singapore-based divisions.

How OpenAI Addressed the Distillation Concern

Last month, OpenAI revoked access privileges for certain users connected to Alibaba. The organization stated it discovered potential “distillation” activities raising red flags.

Distillation describes a technique where software developers utilize responses generated by sophisticated AI systems to enhance and refine their own rival technologies. OpenAI disclosed that it forwarded information about this behavior to federal authorities.

OpenAI maintains it prevents direct connections originating from China while permitting select Chinese-controlled enterprises to utilize its platforms in jurisdictions where the company believes protective measures can be effectively implemented.

Google stated its AI offerings remain accessible in territories including Singapore and Hong Kong, governed by its terms of service policies. However, Google conceded that geographical limitations alone prove insufficient to prevent technically skilled users from bypassing such restrictions.

Anthropic’s Stricter Position on Chinese Access

Anthropic has implemented more aggressive policies than its competitors. This organization has prohibited Chinese corporations and any overseas entities under their control from utilizing its advanced AI systems.

Anthropic has additionally claimed that Alibaba deployed thousands of fraudulent accounts to extract information from its Claude AI platform.

The firm is actively lobbying federal officials to establish comprehensive export limitations on AI software products, mirroring the constraints already governing sophisticated semiconductor chip exports.

This disclosure has reignited discussions in Washington regarding whether artificial intelligence export regulations have matched the stringency of semiconductor restrictions. Legislators and policy analysts are demanding stricter guidelines governing frontier AI model accessibility.

Alphabet’s stock price showed minimal movement in pre-market trading after the news emerged. Alibaba’s American depositary receipts similarly remained relatively stable.

The post U.S. AI Giants Sold Services to Pentagon-Blacklisted Chinese Firms via Singapore appeared first on Blockonomi.

Euro Coin (EURC) saw a sharp increase in on-chain activity as both daily active addresses and new wallet creation reached all-time highs in its four-year history, according to Santiment.

The surge likely reflects growing demand for regulated euro-denominated stablecoins as the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework encourages exchanges, payment providers, and crypto applications to adopt compliant digital assets.

Biggest On-Chain Spike

Circle’s EURC has emerged as one of the leading euro-backed stablecoins in this environment, particularly as usage for these tokens continues to expand beyond traditional US dollar trading pairs. Santiment said the latest on-chain data indicates euro liquidity is becoming increasingly important across blockchain networks.

The analytics firm also linked the increase in activity to recent developments within Circle’s ecosystem, broader cross-chain expansion of stablecoins, and renewed interest in compliant payment infrastructure.

Circle issues EURC through Circle SAS, with the regulated euro-backed stablecoin available on networks including Ethereum. It has also continued expanding EURC support across additional blockchain ecosystems. This includes enabling USDC and EURC on Cronos while investing in broader stablecoin infrastructure.

Santiment said that although stablecoins do not typically experience price rallies like other crypto assets, rising activity around EURC points to growing underlying demand within Europe’s blockchain-based payment ecosystem.

Europe’s Regulated Stablecoin

The market for MiCA-compliant euro stablecoins currently consists of eight fully authorized tokens, which offer regulated options for different types of users.

EURC is the largest by market capitalization and is joined by Société Générale’s EURCV, which is designed for institutional and wholesale settlement. Monerium issues EURE as a regulated e-money token, while Schuman Financial offers EUROP, a newer entrant focused on the European market. StablR’s EURR is a cash-backed euro stablecoin, and Quantoz Payments issues the MiCA-compliant EURQ.

EURI, issued through Banking Circle, is among the three largest euro stablecoins by market capitalization, while EURAU is the newest addition, launched by AllUnity. The combined market capitalization of the eight tokens grew from around $295 million to $669 million over the past year, an increase of about 126%.

The post EURC’s Record Network Growth Could Signal a Major Shift in Europe’s Crypto Economy appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitwise’s Q2 2026 crypto market review shows its 10 Large Cap Crypto Index dropped 15.4% last quarter, the third straight quarter in the red and the longest such stretch since 2022.

However, the same report argued that even as prices fell, the crypto sector, including stablecoins, tokenized assets, and prediction markets, has been strengthening.

Crypto Prices Down, But Fundamentals Are Improving

According to Bitwise, eight of the index’s 10 constituents finished Q2 in the red, with the worst performer in the basket being Cardano (ADA), which slipped nearly 40% in Q2 and is down more than 56% year to date. Ethereum and XRP lost 24.66% and 20.79% of their values, respectively, while Solana’s dip was more modest in comparison at 10.87%, although YTD it registered a more significant 40.61% plunge.

Bitcoin itself just suffered its worst June in four years after falling below $60,000 and was about 49% off its October 2025 all-time high of over $126,000 at the time of writing, stretching the downturn to about nine months.

But there were two assets in the Large Cap Crypto Index that bucked the downward trend: Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Stellar Lumens (XLM), with the former going up 79% and the latter over 10%. However, year-to-date XLM dumped 6.71% while HYPE still stayed green, surging by nearly 158%.

A separate report from CryptoQuant indicated that about 40% of altcoins are trading near their all-time lows, a share that climbed toward 45% when BTC broke below the aforementioned $60,000.

Per the Bitwise market review, on-chain activity, trading volume, and the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi also slipped. But it was not all doom and gloom, as prediction market volumes reached a record $43.2 billion during the quarter, which is almost 18 times higher than the year before.

Meanwhile, tokenized real-world assets have gone up more than 50% so far this year to nearly $33 billion, and crypto-focused equities have also outperformed the wider digital asset market, with the Bitwise Crypto Innovators 30 Index gaining 30.6%.

The asset manager also noted that stablecoins settled 2.3 times more value than Visa and collectively hold more US Treasuries than the likes of Norway, India, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia. Further, it pointed out that revenue generation among crypto applications has become more concentrated, with Hyperliquid, PancakeSwap, and Aave each producing roughly $900 million over the past year.

A Market Twice the Size It Was at the Last Bottom

When Bitwise compared current activity levels to the same point in the 2022 cycle, the difference stood out away from the price charts. For instance, Ethereum transaction counts ran about 13 times higher, and DeFi TVL sits more than 60% above the level from that period. Additionally, stablecoin assets under management have doubled.

According to the report, only prices have failed to keep pace with the increasing usage and infrastructure, with the market now valuing crypto at levels associated with the last bear market, even though the industry is operating at almost twice the scale it had reached then, and there is greater liquidity and clearer participation from traditional finance firms.

The post Bitwise Report: Crypto Fundamentals Are Getting Stronger Despite Third Straight Negative Quarter appeared first on CryptoPotato.

[PRESS RELEASE – Amsterdam, Netherlands, July 10th, 2026]

NOWPayment believes the crypto industry has accepted unnecessary costs for too long – and that businesses no longer have to. For years, paying blockchain fees has been treated as the price of sending crypto.

According to Kate Lifshits, CEO of NOWPayments, it’s time to challenge that assumption. “Why does sending crypto still feel harder than sending an email?”

The company’s latest zero-fee payout infrastructure replaces wallet-based transfers with instant email-based payouts, enabling businesses to eliminate network fees, reduce operational complexity, and automate payouts at scale.

Crypto Payouts Have Become Unnecessarily Expensive

Most businesses still operate payout infrastructure designed around blockchain wallets. That means collecting wallet addresses, validating networks, recovering failed transactions, paying blockchain fees, and handling recipient support.

At scale, these problems become one of the largest hidden operational costs for affiliate platforms, marketplaces, gaming companies, payroll providers, cashback platforms, creator economies, and fintech businesses.

“The market has spent years competing over who can charge less per payout. We are asking a more important question: why should businesses pay per payout at all?” – Kate Lifshits NOWPayments CEO 

The Industry Is Paying for Problems It No Longer Needs to Have

Instead of requesting wallet addresses, companies simply use an email address as the payout destination. Recipients automatically receive access to their funds, while businesses avoid wallet validation, blockchain confirmation delays, and transaction fees.

Benefits include:

• Zero network fees
• Zero service fees
• Under-one-second delivery
• Automated onboarding
• Fewer failed payouts
• Lower support costs

The Biggest Impact Isn’t Technical

Although the release introduces API support, the larger story is economic rather than technical. Businesses making thousands of payouts can dramatically reduce operational costs while simplifying finance workflows. Payouts become a growth and engagement tool instead of a recurring expense.

Operational Cost Mitigation Analysis

The actual savings depend on payout volume, blockchain network fees, and the cryptocurrencies being used. While some businesses may save thousands of dollars annually, organizations processing hundreds of thousands or even millions of payouts could reduce costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

To help businesses estimate their own potential savings, NOWPayments has launched a Zero-Fee Crypto Payout Savings Calculator, allowing companies to compare their current payout costs with the potential cost of switching to zero-fee email-based payouts.

Calculate your savings here

“The future of crypto payouts is not wallet-to-wallet. It is person-to-person: identified by email, delivered instantly and free to move inside the ecosystem. Anything more complicated is legacy infrastructure.” – Kate Lifshits

Built for Businesses That Pay at Scale

The solution is designed for affiliate networks, marketplaces, gaming platforms, payroll providers, cashback programs, creator platforms, and fintech companies. Businesses can automate payouts globally using only an email address while maintaining existing workflows.

Conclusion

NOWPayments believes crypto payouts are entering a new phase. Instead of optimizing fee-based infrastructure, businesses can eliminate many of the costs and operational barriers traditionally associated with blockchain payouts. The question is no longer how to reduce payout costs – but whether those costs should exist at all.

About NOWPayments

NOWPayments is a global crypto payment gateway helping businesses simplify digital asset payments and payouts through enterprise-ready infrastructure. Supporting 350+ cryptocurrencies, 30+ stablecoins, and a comprehensive suite of APIs, payment tools, and payout solutions, NOWPayments enables companies worldwide to accept crypto, automate payouts, and scale their payment operations with speed, flexibility, and reliability.

The post NOWPayments CEO Kate Lifshits Says Businesses Should Stop Paying for Crypto Payouts appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin-backed preferred shares STRC and SATA posted their highest combined monthly trading volume on record in June, surpassing $10 billion amid a BTC sell-off that pushed both below their $100 par value.

According to data from BitcoinTreasuries.net (BTN), Strategy’s STRC generated $8.7 billion in trading volume last month, while Strive’s SATA recorded $1.5 billion, and this happened with the price of BTC falling near the $57,000 level.

June Trading Sets New Preferred Stock Record

BitcoinTreasuries’ latest corporate adoption report shows that the $8.7 billion recorded by STRC represented a 20.8% jump from the $7.2 billion in May and 11.5% above April’s $7.8 billion. The amount was also more than 52% higher than what the shares generated in March after a much quieter start to the year.

Strategy’s perpetual preferred stock volumes had reached $2.2 billion in February before climbing 159.1% in March. January recorded $2.4 billion, following $1.2 billion in December 2025.

The BTC treasuries market aggregator pointed to June as the first major stress test for the digital credit products after STRC and SATA both dropped well below their $100 par value beginning June 18. According to the firm, margin calls forced STRC and SATA leveraged traders to liquidate positions after an extended period of trading near par.

After weathering Bitcoin’s fall to a price level below $60,000, STRC recovered to about $87 by July 2 after falling as low as $75, while SATA traded near $97. A survey by BTN found that investors were quite headstrong despite the volatility, with more than half of respondents saying that the price decline was not a significant concern. 84% did not sell either of the stocks during the decline, and 52% bought one or both of them after June 18.

“The instinct after June 18 is to ask whether STRC and SATA are safe,” the survey read. “That is the wrong question. Strategy holds 847,363 BTC acquired at an average cost of approximately $75,651. The dividend obligation is a cash flow question, not a solvency question.”

It also pointed out that none of the issuers had missed a payment, and none of them had seen their credit quality change from mid-June.

Strategy, Strive, Metaplanet Lead in Issuer Confidence

In the investor confidence part of the BTN study, respondents projected the strongest issuance potential for Strategy, with the most common expectation placing new digital credit issuance between $10 billion and $30 billion for the Michael Saylor-led firm by the end of 2027.

Strive came in second place on a forecast between $2 billion and $5 billion in additional issuance, followed by Metaplanet, Smarter Web Company, and Bitmine, respectively.

When asked which digital credit issuers appeared most promising, 78.4% of those who took the poll ranked Strategy first, 74.5% tapped Strive second, and Metaplanet took third spot with 49%.

The post STRC, SATA Hit Record $10B Monthly Trading High Despite Price Drop Below Par appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The controversial cryptocurrency project continues to draw attention across the industry after releasing key features and unveiling big upgrades.

Its native token, PI, is also very popular, boasting a multi-million-strong holder base. However, only a small fraction of users own more than 10 million coins. Below is a detailed breakdown of each holder group.

How Many Whales?

The X account BSCN revealed that only 21 accounts hold over 10 million PI each. The next group of investors (those holding between 1 million and 10 million tokens) comprises 9,961 users, while 766 own between 100,000 and 1 million tokens.

Further down the distribution, 353,340 wallets hold between 1,000 and 10,000 PI, and another 1,503,374 accounts sit in the 100 to 1,000 PI bracket. The largest cohort by far consists of small holders: around 80% of all Pioneers (more than 14.5 million users) possess fewer than 10 coins each.

The post on X ignited a heated debate, drawing numerous people who began dissecting the data. Some claimed that the whales couldn’t have mined such an enormous amount of tokens, arguing that they had bought them on exchanges.

Others noted that the overwhelming majority of Pioneers hold extremely small balances, making it difficult for them to contribute to the ecosystem via staking or other utility-driven features.

PI Price Outlook

Unfortunately for the multi-million-holder base, Pi Network’s native token has been suffering lately. Earlier this week, it dropped to a new all-time low of around $0.09, representing a 20% plunge on a monthly scale and a 97% collapse since the all-time high of $3 witnessed at the start of 2025.

Its free fall comes despite the numerous updates introduced by the Core Team. Recall that on Pi2Day (June 28), the developers launched SoloHost, Pi Sign-in, and PiVerify – tools designed to expand the ecosystem beyond native apps and into AI, digital identity, and third-party services.

Earlier this month, Pi Network announced that Pi App Studio released two updates to help creators “build more engaging and useful” application experiences: backend support that enables users to save and retrieve specific data across sessions and an AI-assisted App Planning Phase where creators can develop their ideas with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

Meanwhile, the rising number of tokens held on crypto exchanges and upcoming unlocks (over 127.5 million PI are scheduled for release in the next 30 days) suggest the price could experience a further short-term pullback.

The post Pi Network Holders Breakdown: How Many Pioneers Actually Hold Over 10 Million PI? appeared first on CryptoPotato.