The U.S. Navy's mid-air refueling highlights ongoing military commitment, potentially prolonging regional tensions and impacting global markets.

The post US Navy P-8 Poseidon refuels mid-air amid Middle East patrols appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

A potential US-Iran agreement could stabilize global oil markets and improve diplomatic relations, impacting regional and global economies.

The post Potential US-Iran agreement may ease Strait of Hormuz tensions: Al Jazeera appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The escalation may destabilize regional security, impact global oil markets, and increase the risk of broader military conflicts.

The post Houthis attack Saudi Arabia from Iraq, prompting US-Saudi airstrikes appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The scam highlights vulnerabilities in digital communication, emphasizing the need for enhanced cybersecurity measures and public awareness to prevent fraud.

The post China Business Journal warns of fraudsters demanding Bitcoin payments in impersonation scam appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Iraq's stance may enhance regional stability, reducing the likelihood of military escalation and reassuring neighboring countries of its peaceful intentions.

The post Iraq denies use of its territory for attacks amid regional tensions appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Legendary Investor Ray Dalio Still Holds Bitcoin — But Only 1% of His Portfolio 

Legendary investor Ray Dalio still only holds 1% of his portfolio in Bitcoin — and prefers gold instead. 

Speaking on a Thursday episode of the Diary of a CEO podcast, the Bridgewater Associates founder explained that while there are different types of money, and Bitcoin was one of them, gold was a better investment.  

Dalio has gone from saying he wouldn’t invest in Bitcoin over the years to finally admitting it was in his portfolio. 

“[Bitcoin] is a type of money that can’t be printed, but there are technologies that can hurt it — in other words, if there’s quantum computing,” he said. 

“And it can be monitored by governments and so on, and it could be taxed. And digital currencies are somewhat similar.”

Dalio added that Bitcoin only makes up 1% of his portfolio. “I prefer that — I’m pointing to the gold bars here — rather than the Bitcoin,” he added on the show. 

Last year, Dalio also admitted that Bitcoin only made up 1% of his investments. 

This isn’t the first time Dalio has criticized Bitcoin and praised gold: Back in 2020, the billionaire investor said that the cryptocurrency was too volatile to use as money but said everyone should have some gold in their portfolio. 

Dalio continued that governments could crack down on Bitcoin. “When the governments say I don’t want it, they have the power, therefore, to do whatever they want with it, and central banks will not own any significant amount of that because of the reason I said: they want their transactions to be private and in their control.”

While Dalio still takes a cautious approach to Bitcoin buying, over the years, the asset has become more widely accepted among traditional investors and even Wall Street heavyweights — including BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager.  

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink in recent years has called Bitcoin an “international asset” and a way of “digitizing gold.” 

This post Legendary Investor Ray Dalio Still Holds Bitcoin — But Only 1% of His Portfolio  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Urges Lawmakers to Vote on Clarity Act, Quotes Satoshi Nakamoto

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday became the latest major figure to support the crypto Clarity Act — and quoted Satoshi Nakamoto while doing it. 

Writing on X, the politician urged the Senate “vote NOW on this landmark legislation,” and blasted Democrats — focusing on Elizabeth Warren — for holding back the bill. 

Lawmakers are hoping the Clarity Act gets passed before Congress departs for August recess. While the bill has been drafted bipartisanly, some Democrats are unhappy with the current version. 

“The truth is that Senate Democrats are afraid to advance the Clarity Act as they fear Senator Warren and the ‘Anti-Crypto Army’ she once promised to build,” wrote Bessent.  

He added: “Will Senate Democrats be on the side of American Exceptionalism, or will they opt to cede American leadership of a global industry for fear of the bespectacled squirrel’s Left flank?”

“America will lead or America won’t. It’s not more complicated than that. I believe Satoshi once said it best: ‘If you don’t believe me or don’t get it, I don’t have time to try to convince you, sorry.'”

Democrat Senator Warren has long criticized the crypto industry. Her attacks on the space have become fiercer following President Donald Trump’s support for all things crypto. 

Lawmakers are currently mulling over a new draft of the Clarity Act. A number of major nonprofits and financial institutions have backed the bill, which includes amendments addressing ethics, but some Democrats are still unhappy with how it is worded. 

Warren last week blasted the bill, claiming it would “make it easier for criminals to move money” and that “it does not stop Donald Trump from cashing in on his presidency.”

President Trump campaigned on a ticket to help the crypto industry and received major backing from digital asset entrepreneurs. 

But some Washington lawmakers have criticized the way the Trump family has profited from digital asset ventures, such as the Republican’s meme coin, TRUMP, and World Liberty Financial project. 

Trump and the White House have always denied any conflicts of interest. 

US banking representatives, regulators and crypto bigwigs have been meeting at the White House to work on the Clarity Act since last year. 

If approved, it would set in stone crypto regulation in the world’s largest economy. 

This post Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Urges Lawmakers to Vote on Clarity Act, Quotes Satoshi Nakamoto first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Professional Law Enforcement Group Backs Crypto’s CLARITY Act, Adding Pressure Before August Recess

More support has been thrown behind the Clarity Act as lawmakers rush to get the long-awaited bill over the line. This time from the Major Cities Chiefs Association. 

The nonprofit — made up of police chiefs from major U.S. cities — said Thursday that it was happy with how the bill addresses financial crime. 

Lawmakers are hoping the Clarity Act gets passed before Congress departs for August recess. While the bill has been drafted bipartisanly, some Democrats are unhappy with the current version. 

“The most recent changes to the legislation have earned MCCA’s support,” a letter from the organization, first posted on X by Semafor White House reporter Eleanor Mueller, reads. 

“Critically, the bill now includes a new title with additional law enforcement provisions,” it continued, adding that the latest update “represents a meaningful step toward improving the ability of law enforcement to investigate financial crimes involving digital assets.”

Last week, The National Fraternal Order of Police said it supported the bill. And Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto this week sent some suggested changes to the bill, along with two law enforcement groups, that she said they felt “good” about. 

Major financial institutions, lawmakers and companies have said they support the latest draft of the new bill, but a group of Democrats last week said in a statement that the legislation in its current form falls short.  

Despite being passed in the house of representatives last year with strong bipartisan support, the Clarity Act has been in a deadlock for much of 2026. The banking lobby raised concerns over stablecoin yield and some lawmakers have said improvements need to be made surrounding ethics. 

An updated bill of the Clarity Act was introduced last week that addressed some of these concerns — banning government officials and their families from issuing or promoting crypto. 

Democrats — and some Republicans — have criticized President Trump’s crypto business interests, with some alleging conflicts of interest as his family has made money from meme coins and the decentralized finance protocol, World Liberty Financial. 

Republicans are hoping to gain bipartisan support for the bill this week to advance the legislation. The long-awaited bill aims to create a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market in the U.S.

This post Professional Law Enforcement Group Backs Crypto’s CLARITY Act, Adding Pressure Before August Recess first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

NYSE-Listed AI Company Taps Lightning Network to Pay Employees In Bitcoin

Publicly traded AI operating system Vida Global (NYSE American: VIDA) has said it has started paying employees in Bitcoin using the Lightning network — but in a way where the company does not have the leading crypto on its balance sheet. 

The Austin, Texas-based company said Thursday that after a worker in Argentina asked to be paid in Bitcoin, the firm tapped Bitcoin infrastructure company Voltage to make the transaction. 

But the company is not keeping Bitcoin on its books: it simply sends the cash amount via Voltage’s platform, the employees receive payment in Bitcoin, and Vida’s balance sheet remains in dollars. 

“Vida has a global team, including team members in Argentina who prefer to be paid in Bitcoin because of challenges with their local currency,” Vida CEO Lyle Pratt said. 

“Voltage facilitates the Bitcoin payments, and we settle the balance in U.S. dollars at the end of the month, just like a standard vendor invoice. It has made offering Bitcoin payments remarkably simple for both our team and our finance operations.”

Pratt added the setup meets employee needs without adding crypto complexity to accounting.

Voltage CEO Graham Krizek said it was solving a mismatch between “global by default” AI companies and payment rails that haven’t kept up.

“Their team members get paid in seconds in the money they actually want, and their finance team never touches crypto,” he said. “When a public company runs part of its team compensation on Bitcoin rails and the books stay boring, that’s the point.”

Lightning is another network that skirts transactions around the main chain, cutting costs and increasing speed — originally designed so people could use Bitcoin for daily purchases.

Bitcoin maxis like Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey have since integrated the network into their businesses, payments platform, Cash App and his PoS terminals, Square.

This post NYSE-Listed AI Company Taps Lightning Network to Pay Employees In Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Spanish Bank Banco Santander Reveals $4.3M Bitcoin Investment

Spain’s largest bank, Banco Santander, has revealed a $4.3 million investment in Bitcoin. 

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the Madrid-based bank bought the exposure via BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust — a total of 129,615 shares. 

The filing is the latest example of a traditional institution seeking exposure to the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap. 

Over the past year, Santander’s digital bank, Openbank, has allowed customers to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and began a more friendly approach to marketing digital assets to customers. 

BlackRock’s Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) allows investors to buy exposure to Bitcoin without having to own and store the digital coin directly. 

The shares trade on a stock exchange and can be bought quickly and easily via a brokerage account. 

BlackRock’s IBIT is the most successful crypto ETF: The fund has received more inflows than any other crypto ETF, currently holding $46.9 billion in assets under management, according to its website. 

Other major institutions have bought exposure to Bitcoin via the ETFs after their 2024 approval. A large number of investors were previously put off by having to deal with things like storage and private keys but once the SEC approved a slew of ETFs in 2024, new capital entered the space. 

The crypto ETF market is already a crowded one, with popular products by top asset managers BlackRock, Fidelity, and bank Morgan Stanley already on the market.

U.S. Bitcoin funds currently manage over $83 billion in assets, according to CoinGlass data. 

This post Spanish Bank Banco Santander Reveals $4.3M Bitcoin Investment first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Morgan Stanley’s new Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds drew $33 million on their second trading day, outperforming larger rivals and giving the Wall Street firm an early foothold in two increasingly competitive markets.

The Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust, trading under the ticker MSSE, attracted $14.03 million on Wednesday, while the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, or MSOL, recorded $19.03 million, according to SoSoValue data.

MSSE’s intake exceeded that of BlackRock’s ETHA, the dominant US spot Ethereum ETF, even as the broader category recorded approximately $19 million in net outflows. Total net inflows into Ethereum ETFs since launch remained at $11.19 billion.

MSOL accounted for all the money entering US Solana ETFs during the session, despite having traded for only two days. SoSoValue lists eight other Solana funds with combined net assets of approximately $842 million.

With these inflows, MSSE and MSOL now manage $20 million in assets.

Meanwhile, the inflows to these products followed an active debut on Tuesday, when the two Morgan Stanley products generated roughly $38 million in combined trading volume.

The second-day figures provide a stronger indication of investor demand than launch-day volume alone. Trading volume measures transactions between buyers and sellers, while net inflows show that additional capital entered the funds through the creation of new shares.

Morgan Stanley’s early performance places it alongside issuers including BlackRock, Bitwise, Grayscale, VanEck and 21Shares, which have already built positions in the Ethereum and Solana ETF markets.

Morgan Stanley brings its distribution power to crypto ETFs

Morgan Stanley is using its early success in Bitcoin to build a broader crypto ETF franchise.

Its Bitcoin trust has gathered about $400 million in assets since launching earlier this year, giving the firm an established pool of crypto investors as it rolls out products tied to Ethereum and Solana.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the new funds represent the most significant entries into their categories since the first wave of launches, largely because few rivals can match Morgan Stanley’s distribution reach. The bank has roughly 16,000 financial advisers and one of the largest wealth-management platforms in the world.

Alongside that platform, E*TRADE gives Morgan Stanley another route to self-directed investors. Its investment-management arm oversees about $2 trillion in assets and employs more than 1,300 investment professionals.

The scale of that network could give MSSE and MSOL an advantage over crypto-native issuers that lack comparable access to advisers, institutions and affluent clients.

Morgan Stanley is also competing aggressively on price. Both funds carry a 0.14% expense ratio, putting them near the low end of their respective markets.

The products are designed to stake part of their holdings and distribute the resulting rewards to shareholders. That approach combines price exposure with income generated through Ethereum and Solana’s proof-of-stake systems.

Their launch reflects a wider shift among US asset managers toward products beyond Bitcoin. After spot Bitcoin ETFs opened the market in January 2024, issuers began expanding into Ethereum and a growing range of altcoins, including Hyperliquid and Chainlink, as demand for regulated crypto exposure broadened.

The post Morgan Stanley Ethereum and Solana ETFs outperform rivals as second-day inflows reach $33 million appeared first on CryptoSlate.

BitMEX settled 35 derivatives today, July 30, closing any remaining positions and canceling open orders as the exchange moved another step toward its September shutdown.

BitMEX’s settlement log shows 33 contracts closing almost on the stroke of noon, at 12:00:05 UTC. EURUSD and USDCHF followed at 12:32:25 and 12:33:25 UTC. With prices now posted for the full 35-contract batch, the early settlement flagged in BitMEX’s July 22 notice is complete.

BitMEX attributed the delistings to insufficient trading interest and its planned exchange shutdown. It described the process as an early settlement, not a margin liquidation.

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Jul 24, 2026 · Gino Matos

Before settlement, the contracts traded normally until 04:00 UTC, when BitMEX fixed the final funding rate, known as F0, using prices from the preceding eight hours. It then stopped calculating new funding and set the next funding rate to zero. The checkpoint established the funding input for settlement but did not end trading; that occurred at 12:00 UTC.

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Jul 23, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

Settlement results

The table pairs each contract with the 30-minute reference index from BitMEX’s notice and the settled price now shown in the exchange’s public records.

What settlement changed

The affected contracts expired, trading ended, and open orders were canceled. BitMEX exchanged funding based on F0 before closing remaining positions at the listed settlement prices. The exchange charged no settlement fee, added each contract's lifetime profit or loss to the user's Bitcoin or Tether balance, and removed the contracts from the Positions section.

The settlements were one step in a wider wind-down. BitMEX's July 23 closure notice says new registrations stopped immediately. From 04:00 UTC on Aug. 26, users will only be able to reduce positions, and the venue may force-close positions before exchange services end at 04:00 UTC on Sept. 23. Any position remaining at closure will be force-closed, although users will retain account access to view balances and withdraw funds.

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BitMEX said KYC-verified users who leave assets on the platform after closure may face an account fee, billed monthly, equal to the greater of $50 equivalent or 1% per year.

The post BitMEX wipes out 35 derivatives as exchange shutdown approaches with punishing post-closure fees appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Shareholders of Satsuma Technology Plc approved a capital return and delisting with 90.63% and 90.59% of votes cast, respectively, against the majority board's recommendation. The votes put the UK-listed Bitcoin treasury company on a path toward selling its Bitcoin and returning cash to shareholders.

The result converted the conditional proposal CryptoSlate covered on July 16 into an approved process. Satsuma's July 20 announcement says the board authorized immediate preparations to close trading activities and sell the Bitcoin, while the official circular indicatively targets a sale on or around Aug. 3.

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The public record remained at the preparation stage through July 30. Satsuma's official London Stock Exchange issuer page still listed the July 20 result as its latest RNS, leaving the execution date, venue, amount, price and net proceeds undisclosed.

Satsuma's latest publicly disclosed holding was 668.48 BTC as of June 30, when it reported no Bitcoin disposals during June. The company valued the holding at £29.44 million using $58,353 per BTC.

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Aug. 3 determines who shares in the return

Under the indicative timetable, 6 p.m. UK time on Aug. 3 fixes the number of ordinary shares entitled to receive one B share each. Warrant holders must exercise by that cutoff for the resulting ordinary shares to participate. The record time sets entitlement, with payment and court confirmation scheduled later.

The amount returned per B share depends on the Bitcoin sale proceeds, cash balances and any warrant exercise proceeds. The calculation then deducts about £2 million of retained working capital and estimated transaction and termination costs of about £2.7 million. Warrant exercises increase both available cash and the eligible share count, and the return requires High Court confirmation.

The June 30 figures show why the cash outcome remains uncertain. Satsuma reported 0.80x mNAV, defined as market capitalization divided by the value of its Bitcoin, along with no debt or other material liabilities. Its average Bitcoin acquisition cost was £84,026, leaving an unrealized loss of £39,984 per BTC at that date.

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The expected sequence moves to a directions hearing on Aug. 13 and a confirmation hearing on Sept. 8. The return is scheduled to become effective on Sept. 11, listing cancellation is expected at 8 a.m. UK time on Sept. 14, and payments are due on or before Sept. 28. Those dates remain indicative, while the execution price and net proceeds are the central missing inputs for shareholder recovery.

The post A 90% shareholder rebellion just forced this public company to dump its entire Bitcoin treasury at a crushing £39,984 per-coin loss appeared first on CryptoSlate.

FTX will begin an approximately $900 million fifth distribution under its Chapter 11 plan on Friday, July 31, paying holders of allowed Convenience and Non-Convenience claims who met the June 16 record-date and applicable pre-distribution requirements.

Eligible creditors should receive funds from BitGo, Kraken or Payoneer within one to three business days from July 31, according to FTX’s fifth-distribution notice.

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FTX’s July 24 creditor FAQ distinguishes allowed-claim status from readiness for payment. The original claim holder had to satisfy the Plan’s know-your-customer requirements by June 16. Once the claim was allowed, its holder also had to submit a valid tax form, successfully onboard with a distribution provider and pass sanctions screening by that date.

That sequence matters because claim allowance and payment readiness are separate gates. A claim could be allowed even if its holder had not submitted a valid tax form, completed provider onboarding or passed sanctions screening by the record date.

Missing any applicable June 16 eligibility or pre-distribution requirement means the holder will receive no July 31 payment. For an allowed claim holder still awaiting successful provider onboarding, July 31 also opens a six-month window. If onboarding remains incomplete throughout that period, the holder may forfeit the right to receive distributions on the allowed claim. Tax forms follow a separate timeframe under Section 7.14 of the Plan. Under the FAQ, failure to submit a valid tax form within the Plan’s own timeframe can also forfeit the distribution.

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Sep 19, 2025 · Gino Matos

The Plan waterfall sets different fifth-round payments across creditor classes. Allowed Class 5A Dotcom Customer Entitlement Claims are slated for an incremental 9% payment, taking their cumulative distribution to 105%. Class 5B U.S. Customer Entitlement Claims are slated for a 5% payment and 105% cumulative distribution. Classes 6A General Unsecured Claims and 6B Digital Asset Loan Claims are each slated for 3%, taking both to 103% cumulatively. FTX lists Class 7 Convenience Claims at a 120% cumulative distribution. FTX said actual class percentages may vary slightly because of rounding.

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Mar 31, 2026 · Andjela Radmilac

Two other July 31 processes have their own terms. The Preferred Shareholder Remission Fund Trust is scheduled to make a separate $18 million second payment to eligible preferred-equity holders, bringing its total payments to $95 million. FTX Digital Markets administers the Bahamas process separately, and its distribution notice said eligible non-convenience and catch-up distributions were expected to begin July 31, with the rate to be confirmed later.

The approximately $900 million figure applies to the Chapter 11 creditor distribution. The preferred-equity payment and Bahamas process proceed under their distinct terms, while the six-month onboarding provision governs allowed claim holders whose provider setup remains incomplete.

The post FTX’s $900M payout drops Friday, triggering 6-month countdown for creditors to onboard or forfeit funds entirely appeared first on CryptoSlate.

As of July 30, BitcoinTreasuries ranked Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company fifth among public companies, displaying 30,021 BTC worth about $1.9 billion.

Its live profile labels the amount “BTC Holdings” and “Bitcoin Reserve,” although the transaction documents describe the coins as contributions intended for a corporate treasury that has not closed on its announced terms.

The picture changed on July 8. Cantor Equity Partners I (CEPO), a publicly traded SPAC, and BSTR scrapped the deal’s original terms and began discussing a new structure.

The private placements fell away, CEPO postponed its shareholder meeting indefinitely, and investors got their redemption shares back. BSTR and CEPO are still talking, though the financing behind the 30,021-BTC figure has unraveled.

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From promised contributions to a live ranking

The original July 2025 announcement described 25,000 BTC to be contributed by founding shareholders and another 5,021 BTC from an in-kind private investment. The prospective combined company was expected to trade as BSTR after closing.

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A May 29, 2026 registration statement preserved that structure. It said the public company expected to hold at least 30,021.11 BTC at closing, including 25,000 BTC from the seller and 5,021.11 BTC from private-placement investors. BSTR Holdings (Cayman) and those investors were the expected contributors; the public issuer was due to receive the assets through the closing mechanics.

BitcoinTreasuries dates its rounded 30,021-BTC figure to July 22, 2025, refreshes the dollar value to July 30, 2026, and records zero purchase events. The site treats the contribution-based stack as a reserve without a purchase history, and the profile carries no visible proposed or pro forma qualifier.

The tracker’s public editorial policy says its data draws on regulatory filings, audited financial statements, company disclosures, on-chain heuristics and third-party providers. The policy does not explain whether closing-dependent contributions qualify as present holdings.

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Jun 29, 2026 · Andjela Radmilac

Private ownership remains possible: the seller and prospective investors may still hold the coins. The SEC disclosures, however, do not establish that BSTR Holdings, CEPO, BSTR Newco or the prospective combined issuer currently owns or controls the 30,021-BTC stack. A July 9 prospectus supplement disclosed neither agreed replacement terms nor completed Bitcoin contributions.

BitcoinTreasuries has put a future promise in the same column as coins already sitting on company balance sheets. For now, BSTR’s 30,021-BTC entry looks more like a deal waiting to take shape than a finished corporate treasury.

The post How a $1.9 billion ‘Bitcoin reserve’ ended up in the top corporate rankings without buying a single coin appeared first on CryptoSlate.

South Korea just delivered the most violent equity collapse in its history. The KOSPI has fallen more than 33% in July alone, its worst month on record, and roughly 40% from the all-time high it printed barely six weeks ago. Circuit breakers fired on consecutive sessions for the first time ever. Somewhere between $1 trillion and $2 trillion in market value has evaporated, depending on which starting point you measure from.

For crypto traders, this is not a foreign story. Korean retail capital is one of the most influential flows in digital assets, and it spent the last nine months somewhere else entirely. Now that trade has blown up.

What is the KOSPI and why does it matter?

The KOSPI, short for Korea Composite Stock Price Index, is the benchmark index of the Korea Exchange main board. It covers every common stock listed on that board and is the standard proxy for South Korean equities, in the same way the S&P 500 stands in for the US market. Its smaller, tech-heavy sibling is the KOSDAQ.

Two things make the KOSPI unusually important right now.

First, concentration. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together account for close to half the index weighting. That is not a diversified benchmark. It is a leveraged bet on two memory chip manufacturers, which in 2026 means a leveraged bet on the global AI buildout.

Second, position in the supply chain. High-bandwidth memory is the bottleneck component for AI accelerators. When Korean chipmakers move, the market reads it as a signal about AI capital expenditure everywhere. That is why a Seoul selloff shows up in Nasdaq futures and, increasingly, in Bitcoin.

How did the KOSPI erase $2 trillion in 40 days?

The rally came first, and it was extraordinary. The index more than doubled in the first half of 2026, gaining 116% at its peak and hitting an all-time high of 9,385.59 in June. That briefly made South Korea the world's sixth-largest stock market by value.

Then the reversal. Measured from the June record, the drawdown now approaches 44%. The index closed at 5,593.56 on Thursday after a 5% morning bounce faded. July's candle opened at 8,591.50 and traded as low as 5,262.77, a 38.95% intra-month collapse. For context, the COVID crash of March 2020 took the index down 31.10% from high to low.

The two sessions of July 28 and 29 did most of the damage. Roughly 864.5 trillion won was wiped out across those two days alone, with the index plunging more than 10% on the 28th and another 6% on the 29th. Bloomberg data circulating this week puts the total destruction at close to $2 trillion since the June peak. South Korea has fallen from the sixth-largest equity market in the world to the eleventh.

Circuit breakers, which halt trading for 20 minutes when the index drops 8% or more within a minute, have now fired nine times in 2026. Before this year, the mechanism had been triggered a handful of times in the entire history of the exchange.

Samsung Electronics has lost more than 35% over the past month. SK Hynix has lost nearly 47%.

Why did the KOSPI crash happen?

There was no single trigger. Five pressures landed on a heavily stretched market at roughly the same time, and each one amplified the next.

1. Record leverage. Outstanding leveraged bets reached 29.2 trillion won, around $19.7 billion, in early July. Margin loans hit a record 61.98 trillion won in the second quarter. Retail investors piled into single-stock ETFs tied directly to Samsung and SK Hynix, products that magnify every move in both directions.
2. The AI trade unwind. Global doubts about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending hit an index where two chipmakers dominate. What looked like structural growth in June started looking like a financing-driven bubble in July.
3. The China chip shock. On July 28, reports emerged that China had begun mass production of homegrown DUV chipmaking tools. Combined with the $8.6 billion CXMT listing, the market suddenly had to price in a real threat to DRAM pricing power.
4. The SK Hynix earnings miss. A day later, SK Hynix reported record second-quarter revenue of 79.3 trillion won and still missed the 84 trillion won consensus. Record revenue was not enough. The stock fell 9.61%.
5. Tightening and outflows. The Bank of Korea delivered its first rate hike since 2023 while foreign investors sold aggressively. On July 27 alone, foreign net sales hit 1.9 trillion won, and retail buying could not absorb it.

The feedback loop did the rest. Falling prices triggered margin calls, forced selling deepened the losses, and leveraged ETFs mechanically sold more into the decline. Regulators held an emergency meeting, and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol conceded that the leveraged products deserved closer scrutiny before launch, adding that further stabilisation measures would follow if needed.

Why is this important news beyond South Korea?

Because it is the first large-scale, real-money test of what happens when the AI trade unwinds in a market with retail leverage stacked on top of it.

Every argument being made about US AI capex, circular vendor financing and semiconductor valuations has now been stress-tested in Seoul. The answer was a 40% drawdown in 40 days. Somewhere around 700,000 leveraged retail traders have been caught in it, and the second-order effects on Korean consumer balance sheets have barely started to show.

It also matters because the KOSPI was the best-performing major equity market on the planet as recently as late July, up 41.5% year to date in dollar terms. Best performer to worst crash in a matter of weeks is the kind of whiplash that changes global risk appetite, not just local sentiment.

Will the KOSPI crash have repercussions on crypto?

Yes, and the mechanism is more specific than generic risk-off contagion.

• Korean retail left crypto for this trade. In late 2025, Korean investors executed what local commentators called the Great Korean Pivot, rotating out of crypto and especially memecoins into AI-linked equities. The effect on domestic exchanges was brutal. Combined daily volume across Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax collapsed roughly 88% year on year to around $305 million in July, down from $2.82 billion a year earlier. Fee income dried up to the point where smaller platforms like Korbit reportedly sold their own Bitcoin and Ether reserves to fund operations, and Upbit operator Dunamu posted sharp declines in quarterly revenue and profit.
• Some of that capital is now coming back. On July 28, as the KOSPI plunged past 10% and halted, combined volume across the top five Korean exchanges hit $964.11 million, up 82.45% against the prior month's daily average of $528.39 million. On July 29 it was $831.76 million, up 57.4%. Upbit did about $715 million on the 28th, roughly double its monthly average, as order flow concentrated in the deepest venue.
• But look at what they bought. On Upbit that day, Tether volume reached 121.5 billion won, ahead of Bitcoin at 89.7 billion won and Ethereum at 59 billion won. That is not a rotation into crypto risk. That is capital parking in dollars through the fastest available on-ramp. When stablecoins outrank BTC on a Korean exchange during an equity crash, the signal is defensive, not bullish.

An earlier episode supports the caution. When the KOSPI fell 8.22% and halted on July 13, Upbit's BTC volume rose from around 7,436 BTC to 8,724 BTC over two days, an increase that still left activity roughly 27% below its own 30-day average. A blip, not a migration.

Bitcoin is trading as a high-beta tech asset. $BTC sits near $64,500 as of Thursday, up marginally on the day after the Fed held rates steady, but still around 45% below its October 2025 all-time high. Through the worst of the Korean selloff, Bitcoin traded flat to soft rather than catching a safe-haven bid. The Korea Premium Index, the modern version of the kimchi premium, has been sitting in negative territory, confirming that domestic demand has not yet flipped.

There is a genuine bull case here, and it is worth stating fairly. Korean regulators are now restricting leveraged equity products. Several hundred thousand burned retail traders still want volatility. Historically, when Korean retail gets pushed out of one venue, it reappears in another, and crypto has been the usual destination. If the KOSPI stabilises and risk appetite recovers, Korean flow returning to Upbit and Bithumb would be a real tailwind for altcoins in particular.

The bear case is simpler. Margin calls are settled by selling whatever is liquid, and crypto is liquid 24/7. In a deleveraging event, correlations go to one.

What should crypto traders watch next?

Three levels and one flow.

The 5,100 to 5,300 support zone on the KOSPI has held so far, and the July low landed inside it. If it breaks, the next major support sits between 3,200 and 3,400, roughly 40% lower. That scenario would almost certainly drag global risk assets down with it.

Watch the Korea Premium Index. A flip from negative to positive is the cleanest early signal that Korean retail is re-entering crypto rather than hoarding stablecoins.

Watch Korean exchange volume mix. If the BTC and altcoin share starts taking back ground from USDT, the rotation thesis gains substance. As long as Tether leads, capital is hiding, not buying.

And watch the Fed. Wall Street just posted its worst session since April 2025 following a divided rate decision. Korean stress landing on top of an already fragile US tape is a different problem than Korean stress in isolation.

For most of 2026, the story was simple: AI stocks up, crypto down. July flipped the script. Bitcoin and Ethereum posted the strongest monthly returns of any major asset class, while the trade that carried global equities all year came apart.

The scoreboard for July:

The odd part is that almost nobody in crypto felt like they were winning. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index sat at 28, firmly in "Fear" territory, on the same day Ethereum was printing a 20% month.

How did Bitcoin and Ethereum actually perform in July?

Ethereum entered the month around $1,600 and traded near $1,920 by July 29, a gain of roughly 20%. 

Bitcoin started July near $60,000 and changed hands around $64,200 at the end of the month, up about 9%.

Neither move was a straight line. Both assets pushed higher after a softer than expected US CPI report in mid July, wobbled when spot Bitcoin ETFs snapped a week long inflow streak with a single day of $225 million in net outflows, then recovered again once Washington paused airstrikes on Iranian military targets and geopolitical risk premium came out of the market.

What matters is the shape of the month: crypto absorbed bad news and kept grinding upward, while equities did the opposite.

Why did chip stocks fall 22% while the Dow rallied?

This was not a risk off month. It was a rotation.

Semiconductors went into July having gained nearly 97% on the year. By mid month, roughly a third of that 2026 advance had been erased, and the selling accelerated into the final week. The trigger was not weak demand. It was the price investors had agreed to pay for flawless execution.

Three things broke the trade at once. Bank of America's own bubble risk indicator for semis climbed to 0.91, above the Nasdaq 100's 0.69, with strategist Michael Hartnett noting that the combination of extreme concentration and overbought conditions had not been seen since June 2000. Big Tech's AI capital spending guidance started to look like a cost rather than a growth story. And reports on China's progress in memory chips and lithography equipment raised the question of how durable the moat really is.

The damage went global in the last week of July. South Korea's Kospi dropped 10.84% in a single session, with Samsung down 13.4% and SK Hynix down more than 14.7%. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.95%. Advantest lost over 10%.

Meanwhile the Dow Jones climbed 537 points on July 28 for a third straight winning day, lifted by strong earnings from Sherwin-Williams and Coca-Cola. Money did not leave the market. It left the crowded end of it, and some of it landed in crypto.

Why did Ethereum outperform Bitcoin by more than 2 to 1?

Ethereum's 20% beat Bitcoin's 9% by a wide margin, and the reasons are specific rather than sentimental.

Corporate treasury demand kept showing up. Bitmine added another $74 million in ETH during July as Tom Lee continued building toward a stated goal of holding 5% of total supply. Institutional desks also started framing ETH as the cleaner expression of a crypto recovery. Fundstrat's Sean Farrell argued mid month that the tactical backdrop was improving and that ETH increasingly stood out as the more attractive way to trade it.

There is a historical pattern behind that view. During the 2022 bear market, Ethereum began outperforming Bitcoin several months before Bitcoin found its bottom. Traders who believe that rhyme is repeating were positioned in ETH before the rotation out of semis began.

Did the Fed decision change anything for August?

On July 29, the Federal Reserve held the funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75% for a fifth consecutive meeting, the longest pause since the 2008 cycle. The vote was 9 to 3, with Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan all dissenting in favour of a 25 basis point hike.

That is the detail to carry into August. A three way hawkish dissent is rare, and it came after prediction markets had already priced roughly a one in five chance of an actual hike, the highest of this cycle. Chair Kevin Warsh gave little explicit forward guidance, which leaves September genuinely open.

Crypto held its ground through the announcement, with BTC around $64,268 and ETH around $1,917 shortly after. But a steady rate alongside firmer yields and a stronger dollar is a tighter liquidity setup than the mid July CPI print implied. Standard Chartered still has a $100,000 year end target on Bitcoin. Polymarket's crowd is far more conservative, with top odds on BTC finishing 2026 between $70,000 and $75,000 and ETH between $2,000 and $2,250.

What should investors take from July?

The useful lesson is not that crypto is back. It is that crypto and AI equities have stopped moving as one asset. For two years they traded as the same liquidity bet. In July they diverged sharply, and a portfolio holding both would have felt that divergence as diversification rather than as double exposure.

The risk cuts the other way too. If the semiconductor unwind turns into a broader growth scare rather than a rotation, crypto's July independence will be tested quickly.

Cardano is trading at $0.1638 after a sharp three-day bounce off $0.1535, and momentum has quietly shifted back in favour of buyers. The $0.18 area is where $ADA was rejected a week ago, and it is the level that would confirm the July downtrend is over. Getting there means clearing $0.1751 first. Here is what the 3-hour chart says about the odds.

What Does the Cardano 3-Hour Chart Show Right Now?

The 3-hour chart shows ADA in a broad range with a clear pattern of lower highs. The month opened with an aggressive impulse that spiked into $0.200 on 5 July, a move that was rejected almost immediately and gave back every cent of the advance within 48 hours.

The second attempt came on 23 July, when Cardano pushed up to roughly $0.1805 before rolling over again. That lower high matters, because it confirms sellers are stepping in earlier on each rally. Price then slid into $0.1535 on 27 July, and that is where buyers finally defended.

The current candle prints at $0.1638, with an intraday high of $0.1648 and a low of $0.1626. In other words, ADA has recovered around 6.7% from the swing low but is still sitting almost 18% below the July peak.

The structure to keep in mind is simple: three horizontal levels define everything. Resistance at $0.1751, support at $0.1488, and a deeper support shelf at $0.1424 that dates back to the late-June accumulation base.

Why Is $0.1751 the Level That Decides ADA's Next Move?

$0.1751 is not an arbitrary line. It is the level that capped the entire post-spike recovery in early July and it sits just above the 23 July rejection wick. Everything ADA has done for four weeks has happened underneath it.

From $0.1638, that resistance is roughly 6.9% away. A clean 3-hour close above $0.1751, ideally with expanding volume rather than a single wick, would break the sequence of lower highs and put the $0.180 area back in play as the first target. Above that, the July high at $0.200 becomes the obvious magnet, and reclaiming it would be the first genuinely bullish monthly signal ADA has produced since spring.

Until then, every push toward $0.175 has to be treated as a supply zone rather than a breakout.

What Happens If Cardano Loses $0.1488?

The bearish scenario is equally well defined. $0.1488 is the first real support beneath current price, around 9.2% lower, and it lines up with the top of the base ADA built through late June.

Lose that on a closing basis and $0.1424 becomes the next stop, roughly 13% below spot. That level is the floor of the June accumulation range, and it is the last structural support before $Cardano is back at the multi-year lows it printed at the end of June, when ADA closed the month near $0.1453 after shedding close to 40%.

The nuance worth flagging: the 27 July low at $0.1535 held comfortably above $0.1488. That is a higher low relative to the June base, and it is the single most constructive thing on this chart.

Is the RSI Signal Strong Enough to Trust?

The 14-period RSI reads 55.89, with its moving average down at 39.27. That gap tells you two things.

First, RSI dipped close to the mid-20s during the 27 July flush, which is a genuinely oversold reading on a 3-hour timeframe, and the bounce came directly off it. Second, RSI has now crossed decisively back above its own signal line, a momentum shift that usually precedes at least a test of overhead resistance.

The caveat is the speed of the move. Going from oversold to 56 in three sessions is a fast repricing, and RSI is now entering the zone where previous July rallies stalled. Momentum is improving, but it is not yet confirming a trend change. That confirmation only comes from a price close above $0.1751.

What Fundamentals Could Support the Cardano Price?

The technical picture is not operating in a vacuum. Cardano has just moved through one of its busiest development stretches: the Van Rossem hard fork took the network to protocol version 11, adding new Plutus built-in functions and updated cost models that reduce the resources needed to run complex smart contracts. It was also the first Cardano upgrade fully ratified through the on-chain Voltaire governance system.

Behind it sits Ouroboros Leios, the scalability overhaul that went to public testnet in June and is targeted for mainnet late in 2026. Charles Hoskinson has framed it as a step change in throughput, with figures in the 10x to 65x range floated by the community, though those numbers still need to survive real-world load.

On-chain, Santiment data showed wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million ADA lifting their share of supply from 37.66% to 38.13% through the June selloff. Whale accumulation into weakness does not time a bottom, but it does explain why $0.1424 has held so far. Working against that, daily transaction counts fell to roughly 17,400 at the end of June, close to a 45-day low, so usage has not yet followed the development activity.

What Are the Key Levels to Watch for ADA?

• Resistance 1: $0.1751, the level that has capped every rally this month
• Resistance 2: $0.180, the 23 July rejection high
• Resistance 3: $0.200, the July peak
• Support 1: $0.1535, the 27 July swing low
• Support 2: $0.1488, first structural support
• Support 3: $0.1424, the June accumulation floor

The base case is continuation of the range: ADA grinding between $0.1488 and $0.1751 while the market waits for a catalyst. The bullish trigger is a 3-hour close above $0.1751. The bearish trigger is a close below $0.1488. Anything in between is noise.

Dubai's flagship carrier has flipped the switch. Emirates has officially launched Crypto.com Pay, allowing customers to use the digital payment solution on the airline's website and app platforms. It makes Emirates the first major Gulf airline to accept cryptocurrency payments for flight bookings, and it turns a 12-month-old paper agreement into a live checkout button.

What exactly did Emirates launch?

Customers with a Crypto.com account booking on emirates.com or the Emirates App can now select Crypto.com Pay at checkout, with transactions processed in compliance with UAE regulatory standards. The option is open to eligible UAE residents for bookings priced and settled in Emirati Dirham (AED).

The rollout is the delivery of a deal signed a year ago. Emirates and Crypto.com signed a Memorandum of Understanding in July 2025 to explore integrating Crypto.com Pay into the airline's payment systems. One notable gap in the announcement: the specific cryptocurrencies accepted have not been spelled out, so the assets available at checkout will depend on what sits in a user's Crypto.com wallet.

Adnan Kazim, Emirates' Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer, framed it as a generational shift, pointing to younger travellers who "manage their money and plan their journeys primarily from their phones" and expect airlines to keep up.

How does paying for an Emirates flight with crypto work?

The flow splits by device. On mobile, customers booking through the Emirates App are pushed into the Crypto.com app to complete payment from their wallet, then redirected back to the Emirates App for the booking confirmation and e-ticket. On desktop, they pick Crypto.com Pay at the payment step, scan the QR code shown on the booking page and approve the payment in the Crypto.com app, after which the confirmation and e-ticket are issued on screen.

No card, no bank transfer, no manual wallet address. Functionally it behaves like any QR based mobile payment, which is exactly the point.

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Why does the Central Bank licence matter here?

This is the part most travel coverage is glossing over. The integration is powered by Crypto.com's Dubai entity, the first Virtual Asset Service Provider to be granted a Stored Value Facilities (SVF) licence by the Central Bank of the UAE, and it operates inside that SVF framework. emirates

In other words, this is not a crypto payment gateway bolted onto the side of a regulated business. It sits within the UAE's formal financial plumbing, under Central Bank supervision. That is why an airline of this size was willing to put it in front of customers at all. The same licence, granted in May, already lets UAE residents pay government fees with digital assets.

What does this mean for crypto adoption in the UAE?

The state agenda is doing a lot of the work. The launch supports the Dubai Cashless Strategy under the D33 Economic Agenda, which targets 90% of all financial transactions across government and private sectors being digital by the end of 2026. It also builds on Emirates' own digital payments partnership with Dubai Finance, and follows Crypto.com's separate tie-up with Dubai Finance for government service payments.

For Crypto.com, the strategic value is distribution rather than volume. Eric Anziani, the company's President and COO, called the Emirates partnership a milestone for the Pay product. Flight tickets are high ticket, high intent purchases, and an airline with Emirates' brand weight normalises crypto at checkout in a way that a hundred smaller merchant integrations cannot.

The bear case is simple: AED settlement means the crypto leg is a funding rail, not a currency. Users spend digital assets, Emirates receives dirhams. That is the same model that made card-linked crypto spending work, and it is also why it will not, on its own, move the price of anything.

Still, for a sector that has spent a decade promising payments and delivering speculation, a working checkout button on one of the world's largest airlines is a real data point.

Russia now has a comprehensive crypto trading law. The United States, one year after the House passed its own market structure bill by a landslide, still does not. That gap closed in a single week, and this week it got a detail almost too on the nose to be true: the US Senate cleared its floor for a Russia sanctions bill and pushed the crypto bill back again.

What exactly did Russia just pass?

On 21 July 2026, Russia's State Duma completed the second and third readings of bill No. 1194918-8, titled "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights." The vote was not close. It cleared with 340 in favour, after a first reading in April that carried 327 of 340 deputies.

The core provisions:

• Crypto is legally property. Holders get judicial protection in courts, bankruptcy proceedings and divorce settlements, and that protection applies even to assets that were never declared to the authorities.
• Licensed intermediaries only. Exchanges, brokers, custodians, asset managers and exchange service providers go into a single registry supervised by the Bank of Russia. Banks will be required to reject transfers to providers outside it.
• Cross-border settlement is allowed, domestic payment is not. Russian companies can settle foreign trade in crypto. Paying for coffee in Bitcoin inside Russia stays illegal, and the ruble remains sole legal tender.
• Hard retail caps. Non-qualified investors are limited to roughly 300,000 rubles per year, about $3,800, per licensed intermediary. Qualified investors get up to 3 million rubles.
• A liquidity filter on listings. Only assets with an average market cap above 5 trillion rubles, around $64 billion, and average daily volume above 1 trillion rubles, around $12.8 billion, over the prior two years automatically qualify for trading.

The bill still needs Federation Council approval, which has a 14-day window, then Putin's signature within a further 14 days. Main provisions are slated for 1 September 2026, with the licensed-intermediary regime fully enforced from 1 July 2027. Notably, the digital ruble rollout is scheduled for the same 1 September date, so Moscow is launching its CBDC and its private-crypto framework on one timeline.

For context on what is being formalised: Russia's Finance Ministry has estimated domestic crypto trading at roughly 50 billion rubles a day, about $640 million, most of it currently outside any oversight.

Why does this look like Russia's version of the CLARITY Act?

Because it does the one thing the CLARITY Act was written to do. It answers the question "who regulates what, and under which rules can a platform legally operate."

Russia's answer is narrower and far more restrictive than anything Washington has drafted. There is no equivalent of a developer safe harbour, no DeFi carve-out, and retail access is capped at a level a US trader would find absurd. It is regulation by permission slip, and the sanctions motive is explicit: lawmakers stated on the record that the law lets Russian firms pay foreign counterparties in crypto while working around sanctions restrictions.

But it is a rulebook. Firms can read it, budget for it, and know the deadline. That is the comparison that stings.

Where does the US CLARITY Act actually stand right now?

Nowhere new, which is the problem.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, H.R. 3633, passed the House on 17 July 2025 by 294 to 134, with more than 70 Democrats crossing over. The Senate Banking Committee advanced it 15 to 9 on 14 May 2026. Since then it has sat on the Senate Legislative Calendar as Calendar No. 423. No cloture motion. No floor vote. The White House's informal 4 July signing target came and went.

Senate Republicans released revised text on 22 July, merging the Banking and Agriculture Committee approaches and adding ethics language negotiated with the White House. Senator Cynthia Lummis published it publicly. It did not break the deadlock. A group of pro-crypto Democrats responded that the draft still falls short on ethics provisions, illicit finance and conflicts of interest.

The arithmetic is brutal. Cloture needs 60 votes, meaning roughly seven Democrats on top of a fully unified Republican caucus, and the Republican whip count itself is not clean.

Then came this week. Majority Leader John Thune moved a package of nominations on Monday and a Russia sanctions bill on Tuesday, which pushes any CLARITY floor action to the final days before the 7 August recess. Thune already told reporters on 23 July that he did not expect the bill to pass before the break, though he wants to at least get the process started. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt pushed back and said he would not count out the first week of August.

Prediction markets have voted. Polymarket odds on the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 sank to a record low near 32% in mid-July, sat around 38% this week, and Galaxy Research has trimmed its own estimate to about 30%. Stifel's Washington strategist has warned that missing the August recess would cause the bill's prospects to deteriorate materially. After the recess, senators head into midterm campaigning, and even a Senate passage would need the House to approve the amended version.

Is the rest of the world really moving faster than Washington?

Largely yes, and Russia is not even the most striking example.

• Japan approved amendments to its Financial Instruments and Exchange Act on 15 July 2026, reclassifying many blockchain-based assets as financial instruments.
• The European Union has MiCA fully in force, and it has become the template other jurisdictions copy from.
• South Korea has unveiled a national digital asset strategy.
• Vietnam introduced Decree No. 284/2026/NĐ-CP with fines for traders using unlicensed platforms, ahead of launching a licensed market.
• Hong Kong and the UAE continue expanding their licensing regimes, with Dubai's VARA now a default choice for international exchanges.
• The UK is finalising an FCA regime targeted for late 2026 implementation.

The US still runs a multi-agency model where the SEC, CFTC and FinCEN each claim a slice, and the boundaries get drawn by enforcement actions rather than statute. For a compliance officer, that is the worst of both worlds: real legal exposure, no fixed rulebook.

How is this showing up in crypto prices?

Not well, though regulation is only part of it.

Bitcoin opened Tuesday 28 July at $63,706, about 2.5% below Monday's open, and traded in the $63,300 to $63,800 range through the US morning. Ethereum opened at $1,890, down 3.2%. Total crypto market cap sat near $2.26 trillion, off 1.6% on the day, with Bitcoin dominance around 56%. The Fear and Greed Index is at 29, firmly in fear.

Market breadth is the uglier number. Only 29 of the top 100 coins are trading above their 50-day moving averages, and Bitcoin and Ethereum are two of them. That is a market where the majors are holding and everything else is bleeding, which is exactly the pattern you get when institutional flows are cautious and speculative capital has no thesis to price.

Two things are pressing at once. The Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting on 28 July, and CME FedWatch has the odds of a hike at around 35.8%, up sharply from 25.7% a week earlier. That alone is enough to drain risk appetite. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have also seen recent outflows, pointing to softer institutional demand.

Regulation sits underneath both. The honest read on the CLARITY delay is that it is not a crash catalyst, it is a ceiling. Traders who bought the "market structure passes in 2026" thesis in the first quarter have been unwinding it since, and each slipped deadline removes a reason to add risk rather than adding a reason to sell. Exchanges cannot finalise listing strategy, token issuers cannot plan disclosures, and ETF issuers cannot expand product lines beyond what the current agency posture allows. That is capital sitting on the sidelines, not capital fleeing.

The mirror image is worth noting too. Russia's framework is restrictive enough that it will not import much new demand. Retail caps of $3,800 a year and a listing filter that only clears the very largest assets do not create a bid. What it creates is a legal channel for cross-border settlement, and that matters more for stablecoin flows and commodity trade than for altcoin prices.

What should traders watch next?

Four concrete markers:

1. Whether Thune files cloture at all before 7 August. Starting the floor process, even on a failing vote, forces senators on the record and can unlock negotiations in September.
2. Whether the ethics language gets bipartisan sign-off. That single issue is the gating item, not the market structure text itself.
3. Putin's signature and the 1 September date. Watch whether the effective date holds, since the original target was 1 July and already slipped once.
4. Actual Russian volume data in Q4. Passage of a law is not adoption. The real signal is which counterparties start routing trade through Bank of Russia-licensed venues.

If CLARITY misses the recess and the September window closes, 2027 becomes the base case, and the agency framework carries the load in the meantime. That is a longer stretch of the same limbo the market has already priced.

Scott Bessent urged the Senate to immediately vote on the crypto market structure bill, accusing Democrats of delaying the legislation for political reasons.

A multi-institution study found that today's frontier AI agents could handle the mechanics of research but failed to produce original work worthy of acceptance at a top AI conference.

The advance reflects IBM’s continued progress toward machines powerful enough to challenge today's cryptography.

Regulators accuse the telehealth company of sharing sensitive health information with advertising platforms including Meta and Snap despite promising users privacy.

Ark Invest sold shares of Bitmine, Robinhood, Bullish, and Block during Wednesday's pullback in crypto equities, while continuing to add to Coinbase and Circle.

Open USD (OUSD), a new institutional-focused stablecoin backed by a consortium of more than 140 companies that includes Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock and BNY, is set to launch on Ethereum.

The Zcash network is set to receive a major boost in mining capacity after institutional miner Fortitude agreed to purchase 9,000 Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro machines.

On-chain data tracks a massive new 864 billion Shiba Inu token shift on Korea's Upbit following Sunday's 36% price spike.

Renowned XRP Ledger Validator issues crucial warnings about potential scam attacks as the first lending protocol on XRPL is set to launch.

SecondFi issues a final ultimatum to the hacker behind the June breach, leaving the bounty active for 16.1 million stolen ADA as North Korean Lazarus Group links emerge.

TLDR

1. RCAT stock jumps 9.08% after securing a $2.49M U.S. Air Force drone contract.
2. Teal Drones will supply Black Widow systems, training, spares, and support.
3. Air Force Security Forces will assess Black Widow as a potential Teal 2 successor.
4. Black Widow already serves as the U.S. Army’s selected short-range drone platform.
5. Successful testing could open a broader Air Force fleet replacement opportunity.

Red Cat Holdings (RCAT) stock rose 9.08% to $7.39 after Teal Drones secured a $2.49 million Air Force contract. The award covers Black Widow drones, training, batteries, spare parts, and shipping for an assessment. The gain pushed RCAT near session highs.

Red Cat Holdings, Inc., RCAT

Air Force Tests Black Widow as Teal 2 Successor

The Air Force awarded Teal Drones a contract through its Security Forces Center. Red Cat will supply Black Widow systems and train personnel who will instruct other operators. The package includes batteries, spare components, support, and shipping.

The Air Force will test Black Widow across technical and operational security missions. The review will determine whether the platform can replace the Teal 2 fleet. That fleet serves active-duty personnel, Air National Guard units, and Air Force Reserve teams worldwide.

Red Cat must complete delivery by August 24, 2026, under the contract schedule. The assessment could create a larger opportunity if Black Widow meets operational and training requirements. However, the current award only covers test systems and related services.

Contract Extends Red Cat’s Defense Drone Momentum

Black Widow serves as Red Cat’s main short-range reconnaissance drone for missions. The system gives field units portable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support during operations. Its compact design allows teams to deploy the aircraft quickly near sensitive locations.

The U.S. Army previously selected Black Widow for its Short Range Reconnaissance Program. That decision strengthened Red Cat’s position among domestic small drone suppliers. The Air Force review adds another military branch to the platform’s defense record.

Red Cat builds its systems in the United States for government and military use. Federal agencies seek domestic drones that reduce reliance on foreign supply chains. Therefore, the contract supports Red Cat’s expansion across defense programs and service branches.

RCAT Stock Gains on Potential Fleet Opportunity

RCAT shares advanced because the award creates a path toward a broader Air Force fleet decision. A successful assessment could position Black Widow to replace Teal 2 systems across security units. That outcome would require separate approvals, procurement steps, and funding beyond this contract.

The $2.49 million award remains small compared with major defense procurement programs. Still, it gives Red Cat direct access to Air Force testing and user feedback. It also lets the company prove performance across active-duty, Guard, and Reserve environments.

Red Cat focuses on small drones, robotic systems, and related defense technology. Security needs, domestic sourcing rules, and battlefield demand shape the company’s market within the defense sector. The contract adds another government customer and gives RCAT stock a clear near-term catalyst.

The post Red Cat Holdings (RCAT) Stock: Surge 8% as  $2.49M Air Force Contract Fuels Gains appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR

• Citigroup stock gains as Citi expands premium dining access with Mastercard.
• The Curated Table returns with major events across New York, Austin, and Miami.
• Strata Elite cardmembers gain access to fashion, racing, fine art, and dining.
• Tickets start at $100, while premium packages add exclusive runway show access.
• Citi links card rewards with premium travel, dining, and cultural experiences.

Citigroup (C) shares rose 3.73% to $131.87 after expanding a premium dining series with Mastercard for cardmembers. The companies will stage three major events tied to fashion, motorsport, and art during fall 2026. The program strengthens Citi’s push to connect credit card rewards with lifestyle experiences.

Citigroup Inc., C

Citi Expands Premium Dining Access

Citi and Mastercard will bring The Curated Table to New York, Austin, and Miami this fall. Each event combines food with a major cultural or entertainment setting for Strata Elite cardmembers. The companies launched the series last year and now plan events across three cities.

The first event will take place at The Shed in New York on September 9. Christian Siriano will present a runway show, while the Voltaggio brothers will lead dining. Citi designed the event to align with New York’s busy fashion season.

The Austin event will follow October 21 during a major Formula 1 weekend. The program will feature the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team and a special driver appearance. Guests will also receive a premium dining experience linked to the race.

Strata Elite Card Offers Higher Rewards

The Miami event will return December 2 during the city’s annual art week. Citi will combine dining, music, art, and multi-sensory elements at the gathering. The company will reveal the featured artist closer to the event date.

The Curated Table supports Citi’s wider strategy for the Strata Elite rewards card. The card targets consumers seeking premium travel, dining, and entertainment benefits. Citi also uses the series to strengthen loyalty among high-spending customers.

Cardmembers earn 12 points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Citi Travel. They receive six points on flights booked through the same platform. Restaurant purchases earn six points during selected weekend hours and three points at other times.

Mastercard Adds World Legend Benefits

The card provides 1.5 points per dollar on other purchases. Citi estimates that its travel, dining, and lifestyle benefits offer nearly $1,500 in annual value. Actual value depends on cardmember use of available credits and services.

Citi Strata Elite became the first issued card carrying Mastercard’s World Legend premium benefits. Those benefits include priority restaurant reservations and access to selected music, theater, and sporting events. Mastercard uses its global network to support the card’s experience-based rewards package.

Eligible cardmembers can buy Curated Table tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. Standard tickets start at $100, while a limited number of premium packages offer added access. Some September packages include entry to Christian Siriano’s runway show alongside the dining event.

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TLDR:

• The XRP staking scam allegedly took 3.4 million XRP from 71 investors, while police estimate total losses could ultimately approach $19 million.
• Investigators say the fraudulent FXRP Network site promised monthly returns of 1.5% to 1.8% while misusing a legitimate asset name.
• Seoul police froze about 17.3 billion won in virtual assets within three days after overseas exchanges flagged a cluster of complaints.
• Two suspects are detained, another was arrested, and authorities requested an Interpol Red Notice for the alleged overseas ringleader.

Seoul police arrested three suspects in an XRP staking scam. It targeted 71 investors through a fraudulent online platform. Investigators say victims transferred 3.4 million XRP, valued near 12.3 billion won when the theft occurred during the scheme. That amount equals roughly $8.5 million, while potential losses may reach 27.3 billion won, or almost $19 million. 

Two suspects were detained, while another was arrested without detention. Authorities are also pursuing an alleged ringleader believed to be overseas. Police warned investors against guaranteed returns and unverified services. These schemes often use legitimate blockchain project names to gain retail trust in Korea.

How the XRP Staking Scam Exploited a Real Asset Name

The suspects allegedly opened the FXRP Network website on October 16, 2025. It operated for only one week before disappearing on October 23.

The service claimed users could earn monthly returns between 1.5% and 1.8%. Promoters said deposits would support staking through FXRP, a genuine XRP-linked asset connected to Flare Network. Police said the website had no legitimate relationship with either project. That distinction was not disclosed to victims before they approved transfers through the promoted online service.

Investigators believe the group timed the XRP staking scam around growing public attention toward FXRP. That timing helped the XRP staking scam appear connected to a real product launch. The promised returns also exceeded rates commonly available through legitimate digital asset services.

Promotion spread across Naver Blog, Naver Knowledge iN, Tistory, Wikipedia, online articles, and YouTube. Some posts falsely stated that FXRP staking required transfers through Binance. Other videos used channel names resembling Upbit Developer and Ripple XRP.

Actors reportedly followed prepared scripts that directed victims through each transfer. This approach gave the instructions a professional appearance and reduced suspicion during the payment process.

Victims first moved XRP from domestic exchanges to overseas platforms. They then sent funds into wallets controlled by the suspects. Police believe this structure was designed to avoid South Korea’s Travel Rule checks.

Those rules require sender and recipient verification for virtual asset transfers above one million won. After receiving the XRP, the group allegedly sold it through over-the-counter traders. The proceeds were then converted into Korean won.

Police Trace XRP Staking Scam Funds Across Exchanges

Overseas exchanges alerted Seoul police after several FXRP staking complaints appeared within a short period. Investigators then used blockchain records to follow transfers across wallets and trading platforms.

Within three days of receiving the intelligence, authorities froze about 17.3 billion won in virtual assets. The frozen amount exceeded losses confirmed from the 71 victims. Police are examining whether assets include proceeds from additional cases.

Three suspects have been arrested under laws covering aggravated economic crimes, fraud, and unauthorized deposit-taking activities. Two were detained. Investigators described the suspects as friends who divided responsibilities across the operation.

Authorities have also secured an arrest warrant for the suspected ringleader. An Interpol Red Notice was requested after investigators determined that he was staying abroad. Police continue to review the roles of people who built, advertised, or managed the fake staking platform.

The XRP staking scam also highlights the risks surrounding yield products that borrow names from established blockchain networks. FXRP is a real asset associated with Flare, but the XRP staking scam was not an official service.

Police urged users to verify platform domains, ownership details, and project announcements before transferring tokens. Guaranteed monthly returns should receive added scrutiny, especially when deposits require several exchange transfers.

XRP traded near $1.09 on July 30, rising about 1.7% during the day. Immediate support stood near $1.0744, while the 20-day exponential moving average near $1.0963 marked the first resistance level. The investigation has not linked Ripple, XRP, Flare Network, or legitimate FXRP services to the alleged fraud.

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TLDR

• Blackstone acquires DarkVision to expand industrial inspection technology reach.
• DarkVision strengthens Blackstone’s energy transition technology portfolio.
• AI-powered ultrasound imaging boosts Blackstone’s industrial technology assets.
• Blackstone expands infrastructure technology through DarkVision acquisition.
• DarkVision deal supports industrial inspection and infrastructure reliability.

Blackstone Inc. traded at $128.64, down 0.59%, after announcing a definitive agreement to acquire DarkVision Technologies. The acquisition will be completed through funds managed by Blackstone Energy Transition Partners. The transaction expands Blackstone’s industrial technology portfolio with advanced infrastructure inspection capabilities.

Blackstone Inc., BX

Blackstone Adds Advanced Inspection Technology Through DarkVision Acquisition

Blackstone Energy Transition Partners agreed to acquire DarkVision from Koch Engineered Solutions, a business unit of Koch Inc. The companies did not disclose the transaction value. The deal remains subject to customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2013, DarkVision develops advanced ultrasound imaging systems for industrial infrastructure inspections. The company operates from North Vancouver, British Columbia, and employs about 300 people. It serves customers across energy and industrial markets worldwide.

DarkVision combines imaging sensors, silicon chips, artificial intelligence models, and visualization software within one technology platform. Its systems transform ultrasound data into detailed three-dimensional images. Operators can identify defects and assess infrastructure conditions more accurately.

Acquisition Supports Energy Transition and Industrial Growth

The acquisition strengthens Blackstone’s Energy Transition Partners investment strategy across industrial and energy infrastructure markets. The platform has invested more than $29 billion in energy-related businesses globally. The addition of DarkVision expands its technology-focused portfolio.

DarkVision’s inspection platform helps operators detect equipment defects before failures occur. The technology also supports maintenance planning and improves operational efficiency. Industrial companies can strengthen asset reliability and reduce unexpected downtime.

The transaction also expands Blackstone’s presence in industrial software and infrastructure technology. DarkVision will continue developing advanced ultrasound inspection solutions after the acquisition closes. Blackstone plans to support the company’s future commercial growth and product development.

Background Highlights Strategic Expansion

Blackstone manages more than $1.3 trillion in assets across private equity, infrastructure, credit, real estate, and other investment strategies. The firm regularly invests in businesses with scalable technology platforms. It continues expanding investments tied to industrial modernization and energy transition.

Koch Engineered Solutions supported DarkVision’s technology expansion before the agreement. During that period, the company broadened its inspection capabilities and strengthened customer relationships across global industrial markets. Those developments increased the company’s presence within critical infrastructure inspection.

Financial advisors included Stifel and Guggenheim Securities for Blackstone and Evercore for DarkVision. Legal advisors represented both companies throughout the transaction process. Following regulatory approvals and customary closing requirements, Blackstone will add DarkVision to its Energy Transition Partners portfolio.

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TLDR

• Nvidia is reportedly tied to Hut 8’s $19.6 billion Texas lease agreement deal
• Hut 8’s two leases cover 704 MW of planned AI data center capacity in Texas
• The $50.2 billion headline depends on future lease renewal options being used
• NVDA stock traded at $193.43 after briefly nearing $197.50 during the session
• NVDA support sits near $192.50 and $190.01, while resistance stands at $195.02

Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) Stock rose 1.80% to $193.43 as reports linked Nvidia to Hut 8’s Texas data center leases. The shares briefly approached $197.50 before pulling back during the session. The reported agreement connects Nvidia with $19.6 billion in base-term lease value.

NVIDIA Corporation, NVDA

Nvidia Link Gives Hut 8 Deal Greater Weight

The Financial Times identified Nvidia as Hut 8’s previously unnamed Beacon Point customer. Nvidia neither confirmed nor denied the reported tenant relationship. Hut 8 has also kept the customer’s identity private.

Hut 8 disclosed a second 15-year lease covering 352 megawatts of IT capacity. The agreement doubled the same tenant’s planned footprint to 704 megawatts. Together, both contracts carry $19.6 billion in base-term value.

Nvidia could gain attention from this large infrastructure commitment. However, the reported $50.2 billion figure includes optional lease renewals. Therefore, that amount does not represent guaranteed revenue under the current contracts.

Beacon Point Supports Large AI Infrastructure Expansion

The reported arrangement would place Nvidia behind rent obligations covering 704 megawatts. Nvidia could also use the site to support customers deploying its computing systems. Still, neither company has announced a sublease agreement.

Nvidia remains tied to demand for large computing facilities. Nvidia has promoted its DSX architecture for designing and operating large data centers. The company works with infrastructure partners to expand deployment capacity.

Hut 8 must deliver energized buildings according to the project schedule. The company raised $4.25 billion through non-recourse senior secured notes in June. It expects the first Phase 2 data hall during the second quarter of 2028.

The Beacon Point campus forms part of Hut 8’s planned one-gigawatt development in Texas. However, the project still carries construction, financing, and customer concentration risks. Hut 8 must also deliver each stage within the agreed timeline.

Nvidia Holds Above Key Support

Nvidia  traded at $193.43 after giving back part of its intraday advance. The shares face immediate resistance near $195.02. Meanwhile, support sits near $192.50 and $190.01.Exchange data showed 324,052,767 NVDA shares sold short on July 15. That position represented 1.39% of Nvidia’s public float. Nvidia therefore showed limited evidence of a crowded bearish trade.

Nvidia’s latest filing listed no pending stock merger or convertible debt balance. Therefore, the available data provides little support for a short-squeeze case. The company’s price movement remains tied mainly to earnings, demand, and broader market conditions.

Hedge fund ownership in Hut 8 declined during the first quarter. Sixty tracked portfolios held HUT in March, compared with 64 in December. The small decline did not change the contractual value of the leases.Nvidia  now combines positive price action with a reported infrastructure connection. The Hut 8 contracts provide $19.6 billion in firm base-term value. However, neither company has publicly confirmed Nvidia as the tenant.

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Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) look set to finish July ahead of most major asset classes, with the former adding over 7% and the latter gaining almost 20% in the last 30 days.

The performance adds to a month of recovery for the two largest cryptocurrencies after a difficult first half of 2026, although historical data suggests August has been a much tougher month for BTC.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead July Returns

Data from CoinGlass at the time of writing showed that Ethereum had gained 19.5% during the month while Bitcoin had risen 7.37%. Meanwhile, a comparison by analyst Ash Crypto across major markets showed chip stocks fell 22% in the same period, with the Nasdaq 100 and the Russell 2000 slipping by 9% and 3%, respectively.

The S&P 500 also fell, but its decline was much smaller than that of its counterparts, at about 1%. Silver dropped by 2.64%, but gold was little changed, adding just 0.38% to its value over 30 days.

What makes the gains by the cryptocurrencies noteworthy is that before July, they had endured a rough 2026. CoinGlass data shows BTC fell more than 10% in January, as it continued a red run that had started in October 2025. That sequence continued into February, when the OG crypto lost almost 15%, before reprieves in March and April. May registered a -3.41% return and June recorded the worst drop of the year so far when the asset lost over 20% of its worth.

Ethereum’s first two quarterly performances were just as bad, with Q1 returns at -21.26% and those for Q2 at -25.28%.

Recall that BTC started July trading near $58,000 but gradually climbed the chart, hitting a monthly high near $67,000 last week before price action started cooling somewhat. It was pretty much the same with ETH, as CoinGecko data shows it kicking off the month near $1,500 and eventually ending up very close to $2,000 as July drew to a close.

At the time of writing, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency was changing hands just above $1,900, having shed about 1% in the last seven days. However, despite the good monthly run, it’s still more than 50% lower than where it was a year ago and about 61% away from its August 2025 all-time high. Bitcoin, on its part, has settled near $64,000, which is almost half of its own ATH, after shrugging off the slight volatility that came with yesterday’s decision by the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged.

August Record Keeps Traders Cautious

While July brought relief for crypto investors, CoinGlass data points to a recurring seasonal pattern. Every August since 2022 has ended with Bitcoin posting a monthly loss, including declines of 6.49% in 2025, 8.6% in 2024, 11.29% in 2023 and 13.88% in 2022.

That backdrop has kept analysts divided on what comes next, with Ali Martinez forecasting that Bitcoin’s bear market could last until October, while traders Pepesso and Crypto Lens expect another move lower before a broader recovery begins in 2027.

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Aave is deprecating 50 low-adoption asset reserves across its lending markets and winding down its deployments on six blockchains.

In a July 30 post on X, founder Stani Kulechov noted that the move touches $98.1 million in supply and $15.6 million in debt and comes wrapped in two new internal rulebooks meant to keep the protocol from carrying assets nobody is really using.

Aave Commences Plan to Offboard Low Activity Reserves

“Aave is deprecating 50 low adoption asset reserves across multiple deployments,” Kulechov wrote, also citing an orderly wind-down of Aave deployments on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos, affecting another 25 asset reserves. He added that 21 matured Pendle PT tokens would also be retired in favor of new maturities as part of the overhaul.

According to implementation notes alongside the announcement, risk management firm LlamaRisk and Aave service providers recommended removing several inactive Aave V3 reserves together with six complete market deployments. Those positions account for $85.3 million in supplied assets and $11.5 million in debt.

The six blockchain deployments scheduled for retirement hold $12.8 million in supply and $4.1 million in debt. On Ethereum, the biggest chunk of the list is two Bitcoin liquid-staking wrappers, FBTC and eBTC, whose combined deposits have fallen from roughly $72 million six months ago to about $16 million now.

Several bridge tokens, including USDC.e and USDbC, are being cut because users have already migrated to native versions, and MaticX is being wound down simply because its issuer, Stader, is retiring the token.

On the six departing chains, LlamaRisk said each deployment now brings in under $5,000 a quarter in revenue, not enough to cover the oracle and monitoring costs of keeping it running. Deposits on those chains had already thinned out well before the vote, with Sonic falling from $28.9 million to $7.6 million and Scroll from $16.1 million to $2.2 million over the past six months.

The stated objective is to remove protocol exposure gradually, allowing users to exit positions in an orderly manner while limiting liquidation risks. Under the default wind-down process, each reserve will be frozen and its supply and borrowing caps reduced to one.

Oracle Changes Expand Review in Aave V2 and V3

The proposal will cover oracle infrastructure, in which LlamaRisk’s recommendation has identified a group of Chainlink price feeds linked to long-tail assets in Aave V2 and V3 for deprecation. Chainlink placed the links in a high or very high operational risk category because the underlying assets have lost significant adoption and liquidity, leaving insufficient trading activity for reliable pricing.

Those oracle changes will affect 10 deployments and assets worth a combined $6.76 million in supplied funds and $4.29 million in debt.

The reserve cuts land a few months after Aave moved on two separate fronts. In late May, two of its UK subsidiaries won registration from the Financial Conduct Authority to run crypto exchange and electronic money services.

Then in June, Grayscale Research put out a report estimating AAVE’s fair value near $175 within a year, well above where the token is currently trading, citing the protocol’s lending market share, its roughly 200,000 monthly users, and its push into tokenized real-world assets through its institutional market called Horizon.

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Ethereum’s (ETH) genesis block turned 11 on July 30, closing quite a busy year. The network now runs on a 60 million gas limit, double where it sat two years ago, with rollups carrying roughly 95% of its transactions.

On the morning of the anniversary, blocks were landing about 229 transactions each, close to 21 per second on the base layer, and running 55% full. The base fee sat near 5.3 gwei, which works out to about $0.20 for a plain ETH transfer, $0.52 for an ERC-20 transfer, and $3.79 for a swap, according to data from Etherscan.

Scaling and ETFs

The fund wrappers arrived alongside the scaling. Morgan Stanley began trading the cheapest US ether ETP at a 0.14% expense ratio on Tuesday, staking 50% to 80% of its holdings and passing the rewards through.

Likewise, BlackRock’s ETHB holds spot ETH and stakes a portion of it, the firm’s first crypto fund to do so. Both lean on Revenue Procedure 2025-31, the safe harbor letting exchange-traded products stake and distribute rewards without a separate tax charge.

Two upgrades are queued for this year: Glamsterdam and Hegotá. The 2026 protocol roadmap sets three tracks – scaling, user experience, and hardening the base layer – and targets a gas limit beyond 100 million per block, and names post-quantum readiness a consideration across protocol development.

Despite all of this, it has been a painful year for the native token. ETH traded at $1,920 on July 30, down 49% over the 12 months to the anniversary and 61% below the $4,946 record it set on August 24, 2025. Its market capitalization stood at $231 billion across 120.7 million coins, second behind Bitcoin.

Two Directors Out in Five Months

The network had some interesting developments, and the overall project managed to thrive, despite all the duress the Ethereum Foundation (EF) went through recently.

Around 54 colleagues had departed, close to 20% of its workforce, and reorganized what remained into five clusters covering the protocol, access, user, community and institutional layers, plus operations and management.

Investor Ryan Berckmans, an eight-year figure in the community, attributed the wider wave of exits to disagreements over sub-strategies. He said confidence in the network itself was not the reason. Researchers Carl Beek, Julian Ma, Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, Trent Van Epps and Josh Stark all left during the same stretch.

Tomasz Stańczak stepped down as co-executive director on February 13, effective immediately, with Bastian Aue named interim co-executive director. The board said Stańczak left “after extensive contributions to the Foundation’s mission and operations.”

Hsiao-Wei Wang resigned as co-executive director and board member in June, writing that she had decided to step down “after my sabbatical.” That leaves Vitalik Buterin, Patrick Storchenegger and Aya Miyaguchi on the board.

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Ethereum continues to trade within a critical technical area after recovering sharply from its June lows. While the broader rebound remains intact, the latest price action suggests momentum is fading as buyers and sellers battle for control beneath major resistance.

Ethereum Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

On the daily timeframe, Ethereum remains below both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, keeping the broader trend cautious despite the recovery from the June bottom. The recent rally stalled just below the 100-day MA near the $1.95K region, where sellers quickly stepped in and pushed the price back toward the $1.88K to $1.91K supply zone.

This area is now acting as immediate resistance. A successful breakout above it would improve the medium-term outlook and expose the confluence of the 100-day and 200-day moving averages inside the $2.02K to $2.15K resistance zone. Until then, ETH remains vulnerable to another rejection.

On the downside, the $1.75K to $1.79K demand zone remains the first important support. Losing this area would likely trigger a deeper correction toward the major demand region around $1.56K to $1.64K.

ETH/USDT 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour chart shows Ethereum trading inside a compression pattern, with price action confined between the rising white trendline and the descending yellow trendline. This narrowing range reflects increasing indecision as neither buyers nor sellers have been able to establish a decisive directional move.

Ethereum is currently consolidating around the $1.88K to $1.91K resistance zone while continuing to respect the ascending support trendline. A breakout above both the resistance zone and the descending trendline would likely strengthen bullish momentum and pave the way for another attempt at the recent highs.

However, a breakdown below the white ascending trendline would invalidate the current sequence of higher lows and could accelerate a correction toward the $1.75K to $1.79K demand zone, where buyers would be expected to defend the broader recovery structure.

Sentiment Analysis

The two-week Binance liquidation heatmap highlights a notable concentration of liquidity above the current price around the $2K level, making it the primary upside liquidity target if buyers regain momentum.

At the same time, a significant liquidation cluster has formed around the $1.82K region beneath the market. Since price is currently trading between these two liquidity pools, Ethereum may continue to experience choppy and range-bound price action before making a decisive move toward one of these high-liquidity areas. A sweep of either cluster could trigger increased volatility as leveraged positions are liquidated.

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Bitcoin traded in a tight range around $64,500 as investors remained cautious following the Federal Reserve’s hawkish hold, while ongoing US-Iran tensions kept risk sentiment in check.

Against this backdrop, a key BTC on-chain metric has fallen 62% in the past nine months.

Short-Term Holders Are Cracking

Crypto analyst Darkfost said short-term Bitcoin holders (STHs) continue to realize losses, as cumulative losses are becoming increasingly significant. In the latest note, the analyst found that STHs’ realized capitalization has declined by nearly 62% from its October 2025 peak.

According to Darkfost, the drop reflects typical behavior seen among short-term holders during market corrections. This includes extreme capitulation, which removes UTXOs created at much higher prices, as well as continued accumulation during the correction, which creates new UTXOs at lower prices. This process mechanically reduces the realized capitalization of the STH cohort.

The findings also reveal that previous bear markets recorded drawdowns of 70% to 75% in this metric. While the current levels are approaching that range, it remains uncertain whether the market will continue consolidating or enter a final correction phase.

Earlier this week, Joao Wedson stated that Bitcoin may be approaching a historically important accumulation zone based on on-chain data. The Alphractal founder noted that the ratio of Long-Term Holder Realized Cap to Short-Term Holder Realized Cap climbed to 3.9, close to the level above 4 that previously coincided with major market bottoms.

This trend shows realized capital is increasingly concentrated among long-term holders, which is essentially indicative of stronger investor conviction and an advanced accumulation phase as short-term holders exit.

BTC’s longer-term outlook continues to remain a subject of debate. Sykodelic, for one, has made one of the boldest forecasts yet. In a recent market outlook, the crypto analyst argued that the current bear market is a mid-cycle correction. Drawing comparisons with the 2011-2013 and 2019-2021 cycles, he predicted Bitcoin could climb to between $380,000 and $450,000 from March 2028.

The forecast is primarily based on the 200-week simple moving average multiplied by five and a quantile-95 statistical band. However, not everyone was convinced, and many skeptics disputed both the projected timeline and the methodology behind it.

IBIT Drives ETF Gains

On the institutional side, US spot Bitcoin ETFs returned to positive territory on Wednesday after four straight days of outflows. The funds posted net inflows of over $32 million. BlackRock’s IBIT led the way with $89.83 million.

Withdrawals from other ETFs, including Fidelity’s FBTC, which saw $43 million in outflows, and Ark 21Shares’ ARKB, which lost $14.6 million, limited the overall gains.

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