Escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz could trigger broader regional conflict, impacting global markets and geopolitical stability.

The post Retired US general warns of potential conflict over Iran’s control of Strait of Hormuz appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Rising US bond yields could tighten financial conditions, impacting borrowing costs, economic growth, and speculative investments like crypto.

The post US bond market tests investor demand with 10- and 30-year auctions as yields hover near 5% appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Neymar's milestone highlights the volatile nature of sports fan tokens, underscoring their potential for rapid value shifts during major events.

The post Neymar’s 130th cap for Brazil puts sports fan tokens back in the spotlight appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Norway's victory over Brazil highlights the unpredictable nature of sports, while crypto's involvement underscores its growing influence in global events.

The post Norway stuns Brazil at the 2026 World Cup, and crypto was watching appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Khamenei's death intensifies regional instability and speculation on Iran's leadership, impacting geopolitical dynamics and market predictions.

The post Ayatollah Khamenei’s death sparks 40-day mourning, regional tensions in Iran appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Exchange Inflows Spike to 49,000 BTC in a Day, Signaling More Volatility is Coming: Report

CryptoQuant’s weekly report, “Incoming Volatility?”, makes a clean, data-backed case that something is about to break.

Bitcoin exchange inflows spiked to roughly 49,000 BTC on June 30 — an extreme reading seen only four other times in 2026. Ethereum inflows blew past 1.25 million ETH the same week. Altcoin deposit transactions hit nearly 45,000 a day, the highest in two months and the exact pattern that front-ran Bitcoin’s slide from $82K in early May to below $58K in late June. 

Every one of those signals has historically preceded a directional move, usually down.

And yet, as of Thursday morning, Bitcoin is trading around $61,600 — back above the $60K support the report frames as the line in the sand, and up several thousand dollars from Wednesday’s print near $58,600. The chain is screaming risk-off but the price just shrugged it off. 

The most bearish detail in the report isn’t the raw inflow volume — it’s the composition. The average deposit size doubled from 1 BTC to 2 BTC. That’s not retail panic-selling in dribs and drabs; that’s whales and institutions deliberately repositioning coins onto exchanges. 

As CryptoQuant’s Julio Moreno notes, a jump in average deposit size is a more bearish tell than high volume alone, because it signals intent rather than noise. When large holders queue up to sell, they usually know something, or think they do.

So why did price go the other way? Because the flows aren’t happening in a vacuum. Bitcoin’s June bleed had less to do with anything crypto-native than with capital rotating out of digital assets and into the semiconductor trade, U.S.-Iran tensions stoking inflation fears, and Strategy trimming its stack. 

Mt. Gox moving 10,422 BTC last month revived creditor-selling anxiety ahead of the October repayment deadline. Spot Bitcoin ETFs, meanwhile, have bled billions across a double-digit streak of outflow sessions. 

The whales moving coins to exchanges may simply be positioning for that same macro storm and not really causing it. 

Thursday’s bounce came courtesy of dovish Fed commentary that eased rate-cut fears. That’s the tell within the tell: in this market, macro is the dog and on-chain flows are the tail. 

Bitcoin price action

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $61,469.98, up $1,322.54 (+2.2%) on the day after bouncing off a 24-hour low of $59,520 and peaking near $62,148 around 10 a.m. 

The recovery back above $60,000 — with $32.49B in daily volume and a $1.23T market cap — lines up with the report’s read that $60K is the battleground level, and today the bulls are holding it.

This post Bitcoin Exchange Inflows Spike to 49,000 BTC in a Day, Signaling More Volatility is Coming: Report first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Wavespace Launches MiCA-Compliant Self-Custodial Bitcoin Debit Card Powered by Lightning and NWC

Wavespace, a Bitcoin neobank serving the Eurozone, has announced MiCA compliance of its ‘self-custodial’ debit card. The young fintech company is at the cutting edge of Bitcoin payments technology in Europe, with support for the Lightning Network, and auto DCA to self-custody. 

Debit cards in the Bitcoin and broader crypto industry have traditionally worked by preloading custodial accounts with bitcoin or stablecoins. The process of preloading was usually on-chain, taking time to settle and requiring manual input from the user to send from self-custody wallets or cold storage. If the preloaded balance ran out on the card, spending would not be possible. 

Wavespace’s self-custody debit card solves these problems with a novel Bitcoin technology called Nostr Wallet Connect, or NWC for short. This protocol, documented in NIP-47, allows users to connect a service like this debit card to a self-hosted Lightning node. The user sets a minimum balance, say $200 and every time the user spends from the card via the VISA network, Wavespace pulls sats from the user’s self-custodial wallet to top up the card. This process minimizes custodial exchange risk while maximizing user exposure to the asset and automating away the friction to spend bitcoin.

NWC is a technology developed by the Nostr ecosystem, a high-tech niche within the Bitcoin industry that is branching out into social media and other communication protocols.  

The Wavespace Neobank

As a high-tech neobank, Wavespace gives users a personal IBAN account, which they can send fiat to, to purchase Bitcoin. Their automated DCA services can be set to withdraw bitcoin upon purchase to a selected Bitcoin address. 

The company is MiCA compliant, making it one of the few surviving Bitcoin exchanges in Europe, as the complicated crypto regulations came online.

On the privacy front, the deep Lightning network integration of Wavespace lets user get access to the banking system in a clear and compliant manner, without exposing all their payment data on the Bitcoin blockchain. Since Lightning payments are off-chain, there is no single public record that leaks user data; instead, transactions move through payment channels between various user services, leaving no obvious public trace. The result is a growing compromise between the high privacy, cypherpunk values that created the Bitcoin and crypto industry, while also unlocking access to the legacy financial system, and compliant integration with regulation-heavy areas like Europe. 

In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Eivydas Račkauskas, Chief Orange Pill Giver at Wavespace, said that 70% of the payments made on the platform use the Lightning Network and that the company is looking into the ARK protocol for further self-custody-oriented payments integrations. He also revealed that the company is integrated with Lightspark and is ready for an expansion into the USA, though he did not reveal further details on the matter. 

Wavespace has been almost entirely bootstrapped and self-funded, according to Račkauskas, except for an early Relai angel investor who supported them in 2025. They are currently in the middle of another fundraising round.  

This post Wavespace Launches MiCA-Compliant Self-Custodial Bitcoin Debit Card Powered by Lightning and NWC first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitget Bolsters Stock+ Platform With U.S. Stock Options Trading

Crypto exchange Bitget has launched US stock options, allowing users to trade options on US-listed companies. 

The company described itself in a note to Bitcoin Magazine as the world’s largest Universal Exchange and states that it is the only major crypto exchange offering US stock options alongside crypto and contract-for-difference markets in gold, forex, commodities and indices.

The initial release includes long call and long put strategies for eligible users. A call option lets a trader take a bullish position on a stock, while a put option allows a trader to express a bearish view or manage downside exposure. 

Risk for buyers is limited to the premium paid, and an option can expire without value if the expected price movement does not occur.

The launch expands Bitget’s stock product line. 

The company’s earlier products include tokenized stocks and pre-IPO access to private market opportunities. Stock options join the Stock+ offering, which the company positions as a direct-access venue for US equities built for traders familiar with established stock market products and regulated market infrastructure. 

Bitget stated that the addition supports its goal of combining crypto, stocks, commodities and other assets in one trading environment.

Bitget: The U.S. options market is booming

Demand for listed options has reached record levels. The US options market processed more than 15.2 billion contracts in 2025, an average of about 60 million contracts per trading day. The figures reflect wider use of options among retail and institutional participants for directional trading, hedging and capital management.

“We have moved first to connect stock opportunities with our users,” said Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget. “From tokenized stocks to now options, we are executing on convergence. Our products provide advanced trading access to stocks, gold, crypto and worldwide assets.”

The first release focuses on single-leg options buying to provide an entry point for users. The company plans additional functionality, including multi-leg strategies, as the Stock+ options product develops.

For the launch, eligible users who complete a first US stock options trade may receive $15 in NVIDIA stock, subject to campaign terms and regional availability.

Bitget said they have more than 125 million users and access to over two million crypto tokens, along with 500-plus tokenized stocks, ETFs, commodities, foreign exchange and precious metals such as gold. 

The company holds partnerships with MotoGP and UNICEF, the latter to support blockchain education for 1.1 million people by 2027. Bitget states that it leads the tokenized traditional-finance market across 150 regions.

This post Bitget Bolsters Stock+ Platform With U.S. Stock Options Trading first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

FBI Director Kash Patel Did Not Disclose Six-Figure Strategy (MSTR) Stake: Report

FBI Director Kash Patel disclosed a six-figure investment in Strategy (MSTR), the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, more than six months past the deadline set by federal ethics law, according to a report from NOTUS. The lapse has reopened a fight over stock trading by senior government officials and raised questions about a potential conflict of interest.

Patel purchased between $100,001 and $250,000 in shares of Strategy on November 21, 2025. He did not report the trade to federal regulators until May 26, 2026, a gap of more than 180 days. The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act requires senior executive-branch officials to disclose individual stock trades over $1,000 within 45 days of the transaction.

In his May 26 letter to the Office of Government Ethics, Patel said the trade had been “inadvertently omitted” from a prior filing. Two days later, Deputy Assistant Attorney General William Taylor attributed the omission to a miscommunication, and an FBI official told NOTUS the late reporting was “not realized and unintentional.” 

First-time STOCK Act violators face a $200 fine. The Department of Justice, which would issue or waive the penalty, has not fined Patel. The bureau said the corrected filing was reviewed and approved by a DOJ ethics official.

Why Patel’s stock omission is drawing attention

Strategy, the firm led by Michael Saylor, pioneered the corporate Bitcoin-treasury model and holds more than 760,000 BTC. The stock functions as a proxy for the price of Bitcoin, which makes it one of the most direct routes to a Bitcoin bet through a brokerage account. Strategy’s shares have lost about half their value since the date of Patel’s purchase.

The identity of the company is the crux of the concern. The FBI, under Patel, plays a central role in cryptocurrency enforcement, and Patel has promoted that record.

In a June 19 post on X, he warned crypto fraudsters that “this FBI will find you, and we will bring you to justice.” Weeks before his purchase, he had touted a case that seized roughly $15 billion 

Strategy has done millions of dollars in business with the Justice Department, of which the FBI is a part, along with the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and State, over the past decade, according to the report.

Taylor maintained that Patel’s stake does not create a conflict of interest with his oversight of the bureau.

Patel is not an outlier. Vice President JD Vance disclosed up to $500,000 in Bitcoin, and President Trump and his sons reported more than $1 billion in crypto-related income last year. 

This post FBI Director Kash Patel Did Not Disclose Six-Figure Strategy (MSTR) Stake: Report first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Bitcoin Magazine

Metaplanet Adds 2,823 Bitcoin, Reaches 43,000 BTC and Becomes World’s Third-Largest Corporate Treasury

Metaplanet crossed the 43,000 BTC threshold on July 2, a milestone that places the Tokyo-listed firm as the world’s third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder. The company now trails Strategy and Twenty One Capital across the global corporate ranking, and its climb underscores Japan’s role in the corporate Bitcoin accumulation race.

Metaplanet acquired an additional 2,823 BTC during the second quarter of 2026, a purchase worth about $170.7 million. The buy brought total holdings to 43,000 BTC, valued near $2.6 billion. Shares of the company (ticker 3350) closed 3.5% higher at 207 yen ($1.28) on Thursday following the announcement.

The average acquisition price for the quarter landed at roughly 12.71 million yen (about $80,000) per Bitcoin, according to the company. The effective purchase price fell to around 12.09 million yen (about $77,000) once income from the firm’s Bitcoin Income Generation business is counted. 

That segment produced approximately 1.75 billion yen ($10.85 million) in operating revenue for the quarter, lifting first-half revenue to about 4.72 billion yen. On a trailing 12-month basis, the division’s revenue reached about 11.4 billion yen.

Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin investment now stands at approximately 659.25 billion yen (about $4.2 billion), with holdings valued near 409 billion yen (about $2.6 billion) as of June 30. The overall average cost basis sits at 15.33 million yen (about $102,500) per BTC.

The company reported a BTC Yield of 6.6% for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, a metric that tracks growth in Bitcoin per share. That figure remains a core indicator for corporate treasury strategies of this type.

The corporate Bitcoin leaderboard is now well defined. Strategy, the former MicroStrategy, leads with holdings above 847,000 BTC. Twenty One Capital holds second place. Metaplanet takes third, a position that puts it ahead of other large players such as MARA Holdings, according to data tracked by Bitcoin Treasuries.

Michael Saylor marked the occasion on X, tweeting, “Congrats to Metaplanet on reaching ₿43,000 and becoming the #3 corporate Bitcoin treasury in the world. You are proving that the Bitcoin treasury strategy is global.”

The strategy behind Metaplanet

Metaplanet has scaled at speed since it adopted the treasury model in 2024. CEO Simon Gerovich has drawn on equity offerings, debt instruments, and options strategies to build the position, an approach designed to limit the shareholder dilution that comes with large corporate purchases. The Bitcoin Income Generation business uses Bitcoin options to create recurring cash flow while the company expands its holdings.

The balance sheet leaves room to grow. Total debt and preferred stock represent about 23% of the net asset value of the firm’s Bitcoin, a cushion that gives Metaplanet capacity to keep buying.

The dual model, one part aggressive accumulation and one part recurring income, cements Japan as a rising force in the corporate push to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

This post Metaplanet Adds 2,823 Bitcoin, Reaches 43,000 BTC and Becomes World’s Third-Largest Corporate Treasury first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest bought roughly $77 million of crypto stocks in June, adding $44 million of Coinbase (COIN), $25.25 million of Circle (CRCL), and $8.2 million of Bullish (BLSH) during Bitcoin's worst month in four years, according to ARK's daily trade disclosures.

The purchases extend a thesis both Wood and other funds have held through every crypto downturn: public companies offer a regulated, equity-market way to own the digital asset cycle without holding the coins directly.

CryptoSlate's analysis of daily price data through July 2 shows what that equity route actually cost this year. Across nine US-listed crypto stocks, annualized 30-day realized volatility, which measures how much a price actually moved day-to-day, scaled to a full year, ranged from 68% to 90%, roughly double Bitcoin's 37.6%.

On a 90-day view, Circle's reading is 103.6%, compared with Bitcoin's 37.8%. Circle also sits 51.4% below its 2026 high, Strategy (MSTR) 48.6%, and Bullish 43.6%, all steeper falls than Bitcoin's own 36.4% pullback from its January peak near $97,000.

That volatility gap alone could describe a leveraged Bitcoin bet, but the correlation data points in a different direction. Correlation measures how tightly two assets move together, on a scale from 1.00 (perfect lockstep) down to 0 (no relationship).

Over the last 90 trading days, Circle, Robinhood (HOOD), and Bullish moved in step with Bitcoin, with correlations of only 0.55 to 0.58, meaning Bitcoin's daily swings accounted for roughly a third of these stocks' daily moves. The rest is company-specific risk: quarterly earnings, competition, financing, and dilution from new share issuance.

Investors buying stocks for crypto exposure received partial exposure to the coin and, on top, a full second layer of equity-market risk.

Only one of these crypto stocks actually tracks Bitcoin

Here is the full picture from the price data. Year-to-date returns run from the last close of 2025. Beta measures how much a stock moves per 1% swing in Bitcoin, so a beta of 1.5 implies the stock rises about 1.5% when Bitcoin rises 1%, and falls further when Bitcoin falls. Betas and correlations are calculated over 90 trading days.

Strategy is the one name where the Bitcoin proxy label fits. Its beta of 1.59, combined with a correlation of 0.85, describes leveraged Bitcoin exposure delivered through an equity. The stock behaved accordingly during the selloff, falling further than the coin in both the year-to-date figures and the drawdown from its 2026 high.

Coinbase comes closest to a balanced Bitcoin trade. It fell slightly less than BTC this year at -26.8%, with a beta of 1.26 and the second-highest correlation to Bitcoin in the group. Even so, its realized volatility ran nearly double Bitcoin's, and the stock still trades 60.6% below its July 2025 record of $419.78. Anyone who bought near that top lost more than a holder who bought Bitcoin at its October 2025 record of $126,223.

Circle is the best example of equity risk masquerading as crypto exposure. Its correlation with Bitcoin is the lowest in the group, and its 90-day volatility is 103.6%, the highest. The reason showed up on June 30, when CRCL dropped 17.5% in a single session after the debut of Open USD, a rival stablecoin backed by more than 140 companies, including Coinbase, Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, and BlackRock.

Bitcoin's price had almost nothing to do with that move. Stablecoin issuance is a payments and competition business, and Circle's shareholders absorbed a competitive shock unique to that business.

Robinhood goes the other way and proves the same point. The brokerage is roughly flat for the year at -0.3%, with the shallowest 2026 drawdown in the group at 8.5%, because crypto is one slice of its much larger stock, options, and derivatives business. Diversification cushioned the slide somewhat, but HOOD delivered only a small fraction of the crypto exposure a buyer might have wanted on the way up.

The miners are the strangest result in the dataset. Riot gained 74.5% this year, MARA 38.1%, and CleanSpark 24.7%, while Bitcoin fell 29.5%. That outperformance came from the sector's ongoing conversion into AI and high-performance computing landlords, a shift CryptoSlate has tracked as miners signed tens of billions of dollars in compute contracts and sold down their Bitcoin treasuries.

Their betas still sit above 1, so they swing with Bitcoin on any given day, though the year's total gains came from AI hosting revenue that has nothing to do with the coin's price.

The Bitcoin comparison base is far from calm. Volmex's BVRV index of Bitcoin's 30-day realized volatility bottomed at 24.5 in late May and climbed back to 41.6 by early July, after peaking at 68.7 during a separate February episode. Most of the stocks doubled that reading anyway.

Strategy shows where the equity layer breaks

Bitcoin holders face price risk. Equity holders in a Bitcoin-linked company face that plus everything else that can happen to a company: dilution, loss of the premium the market once paid, financing pressure, and changes to the capital plan.

Strategy experienced all of it inside a single month. In late June, the firm's mNAV, or multiple of net asset value, fell below 1 for the first time. mNAV compares a company's enterprise value (its market capitalization plus debt, minus cash) to the market value of Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

A value below 1 means the market values the entire business at less than the cash it holds. Strategy held 847,363 BTC as of its June 22 disclosure, worth roughly $50 billion at the moment mNAV fell through the threshold.

Falling below 1 breaks the model that built the company. Strategy's flywheel, the self-reinforcing cycle at the core of the business, depended on the stock trading at a premium to the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

That premium allowed Michael Saylor's team to issue new common and preferred shares at prices above the underlying coin's value, then use the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin, adding Bitcoin-per-share for existing holders on every raise.

Below an mNAV of 1, the same process destroys value, because the company would be selling Bitcoin exposure at a discount to the coins it already holds. CryptoSlate reported on this in January when the treasury sector split into premium and discount operators.

Strategy's market capitalization stood at $29.54 billion at the end of June, less than half its 2024 peak above $71 billion, and all four of its preferred stock series, separate share classes that pay fixed dividends and helped fund Bitcoin purchases, traded near record lows.

The company's response confirms how different equity risk is from coin risk. On June 29, Strategy announced a share buyback program and authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales to build a liquidity cushion for preferred dividends and interest expenses. That came weeks after its first Bitcoin sale since 2022, a small 32 BTC disposal on June 1.

Shares closed 12.6% higher on the announcement, snapping an eight-day losing streak. The largest corporate holder of Bitcoin now has board-approved authority to sell into a weak market because its financing structure requires cash that the equity market has stopped providing on the old terms. A direct Bitcoin holder is not tied to that constraint.

That is the context for ARK's buying. On June 25 alone, Wood's funds added 35,023 Robinhood shares worth about $3.27 million alongside fresh Coinbase, Circle, and Bullish positions as all four crypto stocks fell.

Wood pairs the purchases with a seven-figure long-term Bitcoin target, and at current prices, her funds are accumulating businesses at steep discounts to 2025 valuations.

The data tells us what those businesses actually are: MSTR is levered Bitcoin exposure with dilution risk attached; Circle is a payments company in a stablecoin market-share fight; and Robinhood is a diversified brokerage with a crypto sideline. Buying all of them is a portfolio bet across different business models, with crypto exposure ranging from amplified to almost incidental.

Every stock in the group has an investment case on its own terms. Coinbase beat Bitcoin this year, Robinhood protected capital, and the miners posted the best returns in the sector.

But does the equity wrapper reduce risk relative to owning Bitcoin directly? Across nine names, the wrapper either amplified Bitcoin's swings or added a second layer of company-specific risk with little to do with the coin's price.

The crypto stocks that protected capital this year did so by growing revenue streams with their own drivers, meaning AI hosting contracts, brokerage flows, and payments products, with Bitcoin a smaller input to the outcome.

The post Funds are buying crypto stocks. Are they exposed to less risk — or more? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Crypto hack counts just set a record. The warning in TRM Labs' latest data is where the money is actually being lost.

In its H1 2026 crypto hack review, TRM Labs said attackers carried out 207 separate hacks in the first half of the year, the most the firm has recorded in any six-month period.

Yet total losses fell to $972 million, less than half the $2.3 billion stolen during the first half of 2025.

That split changes the security story. More protocols, tokens, and decentralized applications are being hit, but the losses that still define the year are concentrated in operational systems: keys, custody, signing infrastructure, approval flows, and other controls around the code rather than the code alone.

For DeFi teams, smart-contract audits remain necessary because smart-contract exploits accounted for most incidents. The losses that can erase hundreds of millions of dollars increasingly come from systems that decide who can move funds, how signatures are approved, and how infrastructure around a protocol is trusted.

More incidents, smaller typical losses

TRM said the number of hacks more than doubled from 83 incidents in H1 2025 to 207 in H1 2026. Q2 alone produced 123 incidents, after a record-setting first quarter.

Most of that increase came from smart-contract exploits, which accounted for 125 of the 207 incidents.

The typical loss, however, was much smaller than the headline total suggests. TRM put the median hack at about $219,000, while the mean was $4.7 million.

That gap shows how a few very large incidents can dominate aggregate losses, even as the day-to-day threat environment becomes more crowded with smaller exploit attempts.

The result is a split security picture. On the one hand, DeFi is still dealing with code-level vulnerabilities, complex protocol logic, and multi-step manipulations that lead to frequent losses.

On the other hand, the largest damage is coming from failures in the systems that hold or authorize control of funds.

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DeFiLlama data shows $780.3 million in Q2 known losses as bridges, keys and protocol logic turn security into a live cost of participation.

Jun 30, 2026 · Liam 'Akiba' Wright

TRM said infrastructure and operational compromises accounted for only about 15% of incidents in H1 2026 but roughly 76% of stolen value.

That ratio turns the report from a hack-count story into a security-priority story.

If a protocol treats audits as the whole security program, it is defending only part of the risk. An attacker can skip the core contract by compromising a signer, manipulating a bridge validation path, poisoning an operational dependency, or obtaining approval for a malicious transfer.

The clearest example is the concentration of North Korea-linked activity. TRM assesses that about $643 million, or roughly 66% of all funds stolen in H1 2026, was attributable to North Korea-linked activity.

That figure was down from about $1.7 billion in the first half of 2025, but it still made North Korea-linked actors the largest source of stolen value in the period.

Nearly all of that H1 2026 total came from two April operations involving Drift Protocol and KelpDAO. TRM put the Drift loss at roughly $285 million and KelpDAO at roughly $292 million, for a combined total near $577 million.

Related Reading

North Korea hit crypto for $500M+ this month — and the $6.75 billion threat is not over yet

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Apr 21, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Those incidents reflected the same broader pattern: attackers targeted the infrastructure and human layers around DeFi systems rather than simply hammering at core smart contracts.

That distinction matters because North Korea-linked operations are more than another exploit category. They combine technical intrusion, social engineering, operational patience, laundering infrastructure, and state-directed financial goals.

A single successful operation can outweigh months of smaller non-state exploits.

TRM's warning is that the lower dollar total in H1 2026 reflects the absence of another theft on the scale of 2025's largest attacks, not a reduction in attacker capability.

In other words, the aggregate number fell because the biggest outlier was smaller, while the class of risk that creates outliers remains unresolved.

That makes the next large loss less likely to look like a simple bug report. It is more likely to expose a weak approval process, a compromised private key, a signer that could be socially engineered, a vendor or infrastructure dependency that was trusted too broadly, or a response plan that moved too slowly once funds began crossing chains.

Audits need an operational layer

Smart-contract work remains important, but it needs controls around the systems that move funds. TRM says code exploits remain the most common incident type, and DeFi protocols still need audits, formal review, monitoring, and incentives for disclosure.

The change is that audits cannot be the ceiling of the security program.

The controls that matter most for catastrophic loss sit around asset movement. TRM specifically pointed to key management, signing infrastructure, approval workflows, and custody as areas requiring greater attention.

Those are operational disciplines as much as technical ones.

A hardened protocol now needs to know who can initiate large transfers, who can approve them, which devices and repositories can touch signing paths, how governance changes are delayed or challenged, and what happens if a trusted operator, contributor, or vendor account is compromised.

A static audit report cannot answer those questions after the operational environment changes.

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Jun 24, 2026 · Gino Matos

That is why recent CryptoSlate security coverage has kept returning to the same theme: operational security, signing practices, governance, bridge validation, and infrastructure controls are becoming part of the industry's policy-facing defense posture.

A separate CryptoSlate analysis warned that DeFi's older exploit patterns may be fading, but newer risks can travel across chains and infrastructure layers when protocols reuse systems or trust assumptions too broadly.

For security teams, the next budget discussion should therefore cover more than another audit cycle.

It should include hardware-backed signing, multi-party approval for large transfers, limits on privileged access, monitored developer devices, stronger vendor review, tested incident-response playbooks, and treasury planning for a worst-case infrastructure compromise rather than an average exploit.

The same shift affects exchanges, custodians, and financial institutions that may never be the initial target. TRM said stolen assets often move through cross-chain bridges and no-KYC swap services before reaching exchanges.

That makes first-hop screening inadequate when attackers can quickly move value across chains and services.

Multi-hop transaction monitoring, faster wallet intelligence sharing, and coordination between protocols, exchanges, stablecoin issuers, analytics firms, and law enforcement become part of the security stack.

TRM pointed to information-sharing networks as one answer because response time can determine whether stolen funds are frozen, traced, or laundered beyond easy recovery.

For protocols, this creates a second operational burden. The security plan has to assume that prevention can fail.

It must define who can pause systems, who can contact counterparties, how attacker addresses are distributed, and which transfer paths are watched in the first minutes after detection.

That is the real meaning of TRM's H1 2026 data. Crypto experienced more hacks and fewer losses, but it also exposed a split between the growing volume of smaller smart-contract incidents and the concentrated operational compromises that still set the industry's loss profile.

The next test is whether DeFi teams and custodians treat that split as a reason to rebalance security priorities.

If the largest losses continue to stem from compromised keys, signing workflows, custody systems, and infrastructure dependencies, catastrophic risk will fall only when the movement of funds becomes harder to compromise, slower to abuse, and easier to interrupt once an attacker is inside.

The post Crypto hacks hit a record count but the biggest threat isn’t smart contracts appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The next leg of crypto adoption may already be taking shape in estate planning offices instead of on trading floors or in congressional hearing rooms. Analysts have spent a decade modeling adoption through ETF approvals, halving cycles, interest rates, and regulatory milestones. But one of the most powerful forces reshaping demand for digital assets is demographic, slow, and already underway.

Over the next two decades, Cerulli Associates projects that $124 trillion in US household wealth will change hands, the largest transfer of assets in recorded history. Roughly $105 trillion will flow directly to heirs, with another $18 trillion earmarked for charity.

The generations receiving that money invest in fundamentally different ways than the generations giving it, and that gap carries structural implications for Bitcoin and the broader digital asset market that dwarf anything a single ETF approval or rate cut could produce.

A $124 trillion wealth transfer to heirs who own crypto

Cerulli's projections describe a transfer dominated by the oldest cohorts. Baby Boomers and older generations will account for nearly $100 trillion of the total, or 81% of all transfers through 2048. Millennials stand to inherit about $46 trillion, the largest haul of any cohort, while Generation X is projected to receive approximately $39 trillion and Gen Z around $15 trillion.

More than half of the total volume, roughly $62 trillion, will come from high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth households, a group that represents just 2% of all US households. The math reflects a broader accumulation trend: older households controlled 61% of national wealth as of 2023, up from 54% three years earlier, and asset price appreciation since the pandemic has significantly inflated the pool.

Cerulli's own estimate stood at $84 trillion as recently as 2020 before equity and real estate gains pushed it to the current figure.

Approximately $54 trillion will first move horizontally, passing between spouses before it ever reaches children or grandchildren, and nearly $40 trillion of those spousal transfers will go to widowed women in the Boomer generation and older. The intergenerational shift, in other words, unfolds in stages across decades rather than arriving as a single wave. The fact that all of this will happen gradually makes it easy for markets to ignore it and almost impossible for them to price it.

The investment behavior of the receiving generations diverges sharply from that of the giving ones. Gemini's State of Crypto survey found that 49% of millennials and 51% of Gen Z respondents in the US currently own or have previously owned cryptocurrency, against 29% of Gen X.

Motley Fool Money's 2026 investor survey measured current ownership at 30% among millennials, 16% among Gen X, and just 7% among Baby Boomers. The exact numbers vary from survey to survey, yet the shape of the curve never does: adoption falls steeply with age.

A Coinbase survey of 4,350 U.S. adults with investment accounts found that Gen Z and millennial investors hold 25% of their portfolios in non-traditional assets, including crypto, roughly triple the 8% reported by Gen X and Boomer respondents.

Bank of America Private Bank's research on wealthy Americans shows young investors allocating 14% of their portfolios to crypto compared with 1% for older investors, while 72% of investors aged 21 to 43 believe stocks and bonds alone can no longer deliver above-average returns, a view shared by only 28% of those over 44.

Researchers have now started sizing what this means for flows. Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl calculated that Americans aged 60 and older hold nearly $110 trillion in net worth, and that shifting just 2% of transferred assets toward digital assets would generate $2.2 trillion in additional crypto demand. Pandl wrote that as assets change hands, portfolios “could shift to incorporate a higher share of crypto assets.”

Galaxy Research reached a similar conclusion from a smaller base in a December 2023 report, estimating that an immediate transfer would push an incremental $160 billion to $225 billion into crypto markets based on generational acceptance gaps, at a time when the entire asset class was worth about $1.5 trillion. The market later expanded well beyond that 2023 base, and the ETF era has considerably widened the on-ramps.

Wall Street has noticed

Incumbent institutions seem to be repositioning in response to the demographic shift with unusual speed. Morgan Stanley began piloting spot crypto trading on E*Trade in May 2026, charging 50 basis points per transaction to undercut Coinbase, Robinhood, and Charles Schwab, with all 8.6 million E*Trade clients scheduled to gain access later this year.

Schwab launched its own spot trading at 75 basis points. Vanguard, long among crypto's most vocal institutional skeptics, began allowing clients to trade third-party crypto ETFs and mutual funds on its brokerage platform in December 2025.

JPMorgan Private Bank cited the wealth transfer as a driver of future Bitcoin adoption in February 2026 client materials, alongside the $62 billion in net inflows that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had attracted at the time.

Morgan Stanley wealth management head Jed Finn described the E*Trade rollout as “disintermediating the disintermediators,” saying that direct crypto access was a defensive necessity for a company whose future clients grew up on app-based platforms.

This kind of defensiveness also seems to run deep across the industry. A Natixis survey found that 41% of US financial advisors see wealth transfer as an existential threat to their business, and a ZeroHash survey, cited by Forbes, found that more than half of wealthy investors under 40 had fired advisors who did not offer crypto access.

Cerulli senior analyst Chayce Horton has argued that firms able to build relationships with younger investors “will be well positioned for success,” with $85 trillion collectively destined for Gen X and millennial hands. His research finds that 89% of leading high-net-worth firms now prioritize family meetings and next-generation engagement as core retention strategies.

The wealth management industry, in short, is behaving as though the demographic thesis is already true, and its product roadmap is doing the advocacy that crypto lobbyists spent a decade attempting.

Where the thesis meets friction

However, several structural issues temper the bull case for this wealth transfer. Concentration cuts both ways: because $62 trillion of the transfer originates in the wealthiest 2% of households, the average heir will see far less than headline totals suggest, weakening any simple read-through from generational crypto ownership rates to broad market inflows.

Galaxy's own report acknowledged that longer life expectancies, rising medical costs, and retiree spending will erode the amounts that actually reach younger hands. The Fidelity estimate cited in the report put 2021 health care costs for a retiring couple at $300,000, up 88% since 2002, underscoring the risk of erosion rather than providing a current-cost estimate.

There's also the matter of sequencing. With $54 trillion moving first to surviving spouses, much of the wealth will remain under the stewardship of the same generation for years before it descends to heirs, delaying any shift in allocation.

Inheritance behavior adds another layer of caution, since heirs frequently diversify incrementally rather than overhauling portfolios. RBC survey data point to stewardship rather than sudden portfolio churn, finding that 99% of receivers intend to respect their parents' wishes regarding the wealth, and that their top concern is being financially responsible with what they receive.

Older investors are simultaneously narrowing the gap from the other direction, with Gen X and Boomers now accounting for 37% of US crypto owners by some measures as retirement accounts open to digital assets.

Every year that passes moves decision-making authority over the world's largest pool of private wealth toward cohorts whose baseline crypto allocation runs anywhere from three to fourteen times higher than their parents'. Regulation, ETFs, and even halvings might set the market's rhythm for the time being, but the deeper current beneath them is actuarial. Crypto's most durable bull case may depend on outliving skeptics rather than converting them.

The post The $124 trillion Boomer wealth transfer could change crypto forever appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Binance's reported move to lead a new Mesh funding round puts a strategic price on the payment routes stablecoins need to leave exchanges, wallets, and trading venues.

A July 2 Axios Pro report said Binance is set to lead a Mesh round valuing the crypto payments company at up to $2 billion. Mesh announced in January that it had closed a $75 million Series C at a $1 billion valuation, so the reported terms would mark a rapid step-up for a company building payment infrastructure rather than another token issuer.

The signal sits in where the reported capital would land. An exchange with users, wallets, liquidity, and merchant payment ambitions would move closer to the layer that determines how stablecoin payments travel from wallets and trading venues to merchants, payment providers, and fiat accounts.

If the round closes on the reported terms, it would point to a new phase in stablecoin competition. The early race centered on issuers, reserves, regulatory status, and market share. The next phase is more operational: who controls the routes that make tokenized dollars spendable off-screen.

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Stablecoins already have scale. CryptoSlate's stablecoin sector page showed a market cap of about $292 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $95.6 billion on July 3, 2026. CryptoSlate's coin rankings showed USDT and USDC together accounting for roughly $257 billion in market cap and about $845 billion in 24-hour trading volume.

That liquidity still has to be converted into a payment flow. A consumer may hold funds at an exchange, in a self-custody wallet, in a fintech app, or on a chain a merchant may prefer to avoid handling directly. A merchant may want local currency, a stablecoin balance, or a back-end settlement route that avoids direct integration with every wallet, chain, and compliance surface.

Why the route is becoming the prize

Mesh is trying to sit in that gap. The company positions itself as a global crypto payments network across payments, deposits, verification, payouts, stablecoin settlement, on- and off-ramps, and wallet or exchange use cases. Its payments product says merchants can use a single integration across 300+ wallets and exchanges, while customers pay from their existing accounts and merchants settle in stablecoins or local currency.

That mechanism explains the Binance signal. Stablecoin adoption depends on whether a payment can start where the user already holds money and end in the format the merchant can use. The issuer remains crucial because reserve quality, redemption access, regulatory treatment, and liquidity still determine whether a payment asset is trusted.

The transaction layer adds a separate source of leverage: which wallets are supported, which exchange account can be used, which chain carries settlement, whether conversion happens before or after checkout, and who keeps the customer relationship.

Mesh-style infrastructure turns those decisions into a product surface. Mesh's Alliance Program describes an interoperable payments ecosystem across wallets, exchanges, blockchains, stablecoin issuers, and platforms. Its MAP page presents the idea as a partner network rather than a single closed app.

For merchants, that abstraction can reduce the number of crypto integrations they need to support. For wallets and exchanges, it can convert account balances into spendable funds without requiring users to withdraw, bridge, or manually select settlement paths. For stablecoin issuers, it can expand usage, while leaving distribution partly shaped by platforms that sit between the issuer and the payment.

The comparison captures the market shift. Stablecoin payments are moving beyond a contest over the largest supply of digital dollars. The competitive edge can go to the platform that moves supply across wallets, exchanges, apps, and merchants with the least friction.

Related Reading

Crypto now projected to move $719 trillion through global payments

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Apr 9, 2026 · Gino Matos

Binance's reported interest in Mesh is easier to understand when viewed alongside Binance Pay. In a November blog post, Binance said Binance Pay had over 20 million merchants and that over 98% of Binance Pay B2C payments in 2025 so far were settled in stablecoins.

Those figures make payments a distribution surface. An exchange that already has users, liquidity, wallets, and merchant payment ambitions has a reason to care about infrastructure that connects those balances to outside commerce.

The strategic value goes beyond processing one more transaction. It keeps the user's starting point within the exchange account while making that balance useful beyond the exchange's direct merchant relationships. If a routing network can connect exchange balances, wallets, stablecoins, and fiat settlement in one flow, it can extend the exchange's reach without requiring every merchant to become a crypto infrastructure operator.

What would make the layer valuable?

Other payment companies are chasing the same account-to-merchant path. PayPal said Pay with Crypto would be available to U.S. merchants and would allow payments in 100 cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, USDT, XRP, BNB, Solana, and USDC, while connecting wallets such as Coinbase, OKX, Binance, Kraken, Phantom, MetaMask, and Exodus.

PayPal approaches the market from a different starting point than Binance, but the direction is similar. PayPal starts with a mainstream merchant network and payment brand. Binance starts with exchange liquidity, crypto-native users, and Binance Pay. Mesh starts with the integration and orchestration layer.

All three point to the same market structure: stablecoin payments gain commercial traction when the holder, wallet, exchange, processor, and merchant no longer need to coordinate the route manually.

The policy backdrop makes that fight more visible. The White House said the GENIUS Act provides for the regulation of payment stablecoins, while EY later described stablecoin adoption as driven by cost savings and speed, with surveyed institutions and corporates beginning to use or plan for the technology.

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Once regulation and liquidity make stablecoins more acceptable, the hard commercial question shifts to distribution. Who gets stablecoins in front of users at checkout? Who decides which stablecoin is converted, settled, or held? Who earns economics from routing and conversion? And who owns the data trail that shows where tokenized money is actually being used?

CryptoSlate has already tracked stablecoins moving into payment rails and partner-led distribution, including the way card networks, processors, and exchange-linked products are rebuilding parts of the payment stack. A reported Binance-led Mesh round would add an exchange-centered take on the same theme: trading venues are moving before stablecoin payments are handed entirely over to traditional processors.

The open question is defensibility. Routing infrastructure is valuable when merchants, exchanges, wallets, and payment providers treat it as a trusted, neutral layer that simplifies integration. It loses force if the largest platforms replicate the same connections internally or if partners worry that a routing network creates a new control point.

That is why the reported Binance role deserves attention with precise caveats. Axios supplies a reported lead role and a valuation of up to $2 billion; the current public record still leaves open whether the round has closed, whether Binance would receive privileged routing, or whether Mesh's partner network would change its neutrality.

The next signal is therefore commercial as much as financial: more exchanges, wallets, payment service providers, and merchants choosing a shared orchestration layer instead of building direct bilateral connections. If that happens, the stablecoin land grab moves up the stack. Issuers will still fight over supply, but exchanges and wallets will fight over the routes that decide where tokenized money can actually be spent.

The post Why Binance’s reported $2B Mesh investment could decide who controls stablecoin payments appeared first on CryptoSlate.

In 2017, a handful of developers with a whitepaper and a GitHub repository could launch a token or a crypto startup in a matter of days. Capital requirements were low, licensing was either non-existent or seen as an afterthought, and a compelling idea was usually enough to draw thousands of retail buyers into an ICO before a product even existed.

In 2026, though, many customer-facing crypto companies entering regulated markets need lawyers, compliance staff, banking partners, an anti-money-laundering program, and enough capital to satisfy licensing and operating requirements before they can serve customers at scale.

The crypto industry was built by anonymous founders shipping code from a bedroom, but now it runs on companies with balance sheets, licenses, and institutional sales teams. While crypto startups still exist, the barriers to building them now look much like those that have long protected traditional finance from new entrants.

The old crypto startup

The first decade of crypto entrepreneurship was characterized by low capital requirements, minimal regulatory friction, and a global pool of pseudonymous talent building in the open. Exchanges, wallets, and protocols could be assembled by small teams distributed across continents, coordinating mostly through Discord and GitHub.

Ethereum itself launched in 2015 on the back of a public crowdsale that raised roughly $18 million from thousands of individual contributors rather than a syndicate of venture firms. The ICO boom of 2017 and 2018 pushed that model to its extreme. Any team with a website, a token contract, and a Telegram group could raise capital directly from the public, skipping the due diligence and vesting schedules venture funding imposed.

Some of those startups became durable infrastructure, but many more collapsed or turned out to be fraud, and the resulting investor losses became the central argument for the regulatory scrutiny that followed.

The era was marked by the absence of institutional gatekeeping. Developers didn't need a bank, because payments were denominated in crypto. They didn't need a state money transmitter license because regulators didn't even know what token they were selling. They didn't need to chase clients because early users found them through social media rather than procurement departments.

Entry costs, both financial and regulatory, were close to zero, which led to quite a bit of chaos but also to a lot of pretty interesting financial and social experiments.

The new reality

That's no longer how the industry operates. A crypto company serving customers in the US, the EU, and Asia now has to operate under a licensing regime that looks and feels essentially the same as that of traditional banking.

A startup pursuing full multi-state coverage in the US can expect to spend $750,000 to $1.2 million over its first three years, with ongoing annual compliance costs exceeding $2 million once it reaches scale, according to industry licensing guides.

New York’s BitLicense is widely regarded as one of the most demanding state crypto approvals, with licensing advisers often advising applicants to budget more than a year and significant legal, compliance, and operating expenses for the process.

MiCA imposes minimum capital requirements from €50,000 for advisory services up to €150,000 for exchange platforms, figures that represent only the floor of the potential costs crypto companies have to face. The real expense lies in the governance structures, compliance staff, and the continuous reporting that MiCA demands, costs that analysts say have made European crypto operations substantially more expensive than they were eighteen months ago.

U.S. regulatory clarity has also come at a price. The GENIUS Act created a federal framework for payment stablecoins, but its operative requirements depend on implementing regulations and an effective date tied to those rules or 18 months after enactment. The CLARITY Act, meanwhile, remains a market-structure bill moving through the Senate rather than settled law.

All of that clarity is valuable, but it also raises the floor for what a legitimate operator must demonstrate before regulators allow it to operate at all. Licensing advisors now say these compliance investments are barriers that will protect early movers from low-cost competition.

The collapse of Terra and FTX changed how venture capital approaches the sector. Annual crypto venture funding fell from a peak above $44 billion in 2022 to roughly $9 billion in 2024, then recovered to more than $20 billion in 2025, according to Gate Ventures.

Galaxy Digital found that venture firms deployed about $4 billion across 355 crypto deals in the first quarter of 2026, with median deal size hitting an all-time high above $4.5 million. Late-stage companies captured 57% of all capital deployed, while pre-seed's share of deal count slipped to 19%.

CryptoRank's analysis of the same quarter found an even bigger divide: Series C and later rounds surged 1,020% year over year to command 28.4% of all venture capital across just nine deals, while seed and pre-seed combined made up only 5.2% of total capital raised. Analysts describe the result as a barbell market, heavy at the earliest and latest stages with a thinning middle, where growth-stage companies once raised the rounds that let them scale toward enterprise customers.

There are also fewer new funds forming to write those early checks. Investors committed just under $1.1 billion to eight new crypto-focused venture funds in the first quarter of 2026, the smallest quarterly total since 2020.

Capital raised now concentrates among a handful of firms operating at a scale unimaginable a few years ago. Andreessen Horowitz announced more than $15 billion across several firmwide venture strategies in January 2026, a raise that it said represented more than 18% of all U.S. venture capital dollars allocated in 2025.

Dragonfly closed a $650 million fourth fund in February, even as its managing partner, Robbie Hadick, described the broader crypto venture ecosystem as undergoing a “mass extinction event.”

Sector preferences also seem to have changed alongside stage preferences. Trading, exchange, and lending infrastructure drew nearly three-fifths of all first-quarter 2026 capital by Galaxy's count, while payments and prediction markets, categories built around institutional infrastructure rather than consumer apps, accounted for the largest individual rounds of the quarter, including Kalshi's roughly $1 billion raise.

Mergers and acquisitions have filled much of the gap left by organic, venture-funded growth. Crypto M&A hit a record $8.6 billion across 267 disclosed deals in 2025, nearly quadruple 2024's total, according to PitchBook.

The pace has only accelerated: capital deployed through crypto M&A rose from $272 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 to $7.23 billion in the second quarter of 2026, a more than 26-fold increase in six months. Coinbase‘s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit remains the largest deal in crypto history, while Ripple spent $1.25 billion on prime broker Hidden Road as it built institutional infrastructure through acquisition rather than internal development.

Distribution is the moat

Technology alone no longer determines which crypto companies win. The companies gaining the most traction this year are winning less through protocol novelty than through banking access, enterprise customers, regulatory approvals across jurisdictions, and brand recognition that makes institutional counterparties comfortable doing business with them.

They have banking partners, enterprise customers, regulatory approvals across jurisdictions, and brand recognition that makes institutional counterparties comfortable doing business with them.

That's why acquisitions have become the fastest route to market for companies that could, in theory, build the same capability internally. When Coinbase bought Deribit, the prize was a regulated derivatives license and years of accumulated trust with counterparties who would otherwise have taken months to onboard a new venue, which is much more valuable than its underlying codebase.

Ripple's purchase of Hidden Road did the same. These moves have been called “bridge” M&As, in which established players acquire regulatory and distribution capabilities rather than build them from scratch.

Banking relationships are a chokepoint that technical merit alone can't overcome. A startup can build a flawless product and still fail to launch if it can't secure a bank willing to hold its fiat reserves. That chokepoint can be fatal for businesses that depend on fiat on-ramps, even when their core technology works.

Companies that already have those relationships hold an advantage that has little to do with the quality of their underlying technology. Regulatory approval works the same way: a company that has already secured a BitLicense or a MiCA license has cleared a cost and time barrier new entrants still face, and that head start compounds as regulators increasingly favor applicants with a track record elsewhere. Trust, once earned through years of examination, has become a form of capital that can't be raised in a single funding round.

There are many obvious benefits to the crypto industry's maturity, but it comes at a cost. There also seems to be considerable disagreement about which side prevails. The case for optimism is straightforward: higher barriers have made it considerably harder to launch the kind of thinly capitalized, poorly audited project that defined crypto's worst moments, from vaporware ICOs to the algorithmic stablecoin design that collapsed with Terra.

Institutional capital has flowed in because licensed exchanges, regulated custodians, and audited stablecoin issuers now exist at a scale that gives pension funds and banks confidence to participate. That structure can reduce the number of thinly capitalized projects that reach regulated distribution channels and gives supervisors clearer tools to act when misconduct appears.

But there's also reason for concern. Founders without capital, connections, or institutional relationships face a much steeper climb than they did five years ago. A talented engineer with a truly novel idea for on-chain infrastructure may now need to raise meaningful capital earlier, find licensed partners, or narrow the product to areas that avoid regulated customer activity until it can scale.

Venture capital's shift toward proven infrastructure over speculative consumer apps means fewer companies are actually funding exploratory bets, decentralized social networks, novel governance experiments, and new wallets.

Power now concentrates among a smaller set of firms with the capital, licenses, and distribution to compete on the new terms, and later entrants compete for share within a structure incumbents already control.

We've seen this pattern play out before. Banking consolidated around institutions large enough to absorb the compliance burden that followed the 2008 financial crisis, payments consolidated around processors with the scale to manage fraud and cross-border settlement, and social media consolidated around platforms with the capital to build trust and safety infrastructure smaller competitors couldn't match.

Each of those industries began with open experimentation before regulatory and capital requirements rose to a level only well-resourced incumbents could clear.

The crypto industry was created to avoid this kind of consolidation. However, both raw numbers and anecdotal evidence suggest the industry is moving through the same maturation curve its predecessors did, and founders without capital, licenses, or an incumbent's backing will decide for themselves whether that curve still leaves room for someone to build something from nothing.

The post The death of the crypto startup: RIP 2017 – 2026 appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The most talked-about story in crypto this week isn't a price move — it's a question that strikes at the philosophical core of Bitcoin: should the network freeze Satoshi Nakamoto's untouched coins to stop a future quantum computer from stealing them? Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao put that question on the table, and the industry's biggest names have lined up on opposite sides.

Here's what's happening, why it matters, and where the debate goes from here.

What exactly did CZ propose?

Speaking on the Galaxy Brains podcast with Galaxy Research president Alex Thorn on June 18, CZ floated a hypothetical sequence rather than a formal plan. His idea: after Bitcoin eventually upgrades to quantum-resistant cryptography, holders of older, vulnerable addresses — including whoever controls Satoshi's estimated 1.1 million $BTC — would get a six-to-twelve-month window to move their coins to newly secured addresses. If those coins stayed put after that deadline, the community could then decide whether to freeze them.

His reasoning was blunt. In his words, if nothing is done with those dormant coins, the network is effectively handing them to whoever eventually hacks them. Those 1.1 million coins are worth roughly $68 billion at Bitcoin's current price near $62,000.

Crucially, CZ was careful about who gets to decide. He stressed that any such change would require a soft fork or hard fork approved by the Bitcoin community — not a decision by Binance or any single company. He also later pushed back on the idea that he personally wants to freeze Satoshi's wallet, noting that telling Satoshi's addresses apart from other early-miner addresses is technically imprecise, with roughly 22,000 addresses of about 50 BTC each grouped under the Satoshi estimate.

Why is quantum computing suddenly a Bitcoin issue?

The concern is that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could break the cryptography (ECDSA) that protects Bitcoin wallets — scanning the blockchain for exposed public keys and mathematically deriving the private keys behind them.

This moved from sci-fi to serious developer conversation for a concrete reason. On March 30, 2026, Google Quantum AI published a 57-page whitepaper — co-authored with the Ethereum Foundation's Justin Drake and Stanford researchers — that sharply revised the estimated resources needed to break Bitcoin's cryptography, cutting the qubit requirement roughly twentyfold. Drake himself said his confidence that a quantum computer could recover a Bitcoin private key by 2032 had risen significantly after the paper, putting it at least at a 10% probability.

The scale is bigger than just Satoshi. As of March 1, 2026, more than 34% of all bitcoin in circulation have a public key exposed on-chain, making those coins theoretically vulnerable to a powerful enough quantum machine. To be clear, the gap between today's hardware and a Bitcoin-breaking machine is still enormous — Google's most advanced quantum chip, Willow, has 105 physical qubits today — but it's the direction of travel that has developers acting now.

How is the industry reacting?

This is where it gets interesting: some of the most respected voices in Bitcoin can't agree, and they've split into roughly three camps.

• Freeze the coins (the CZ / BIP-361 direction). Developer Jameson Lopp authored Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 361, which lays out a phased, five-year migration away from vulnerable signatures. Lopp frames it less as a plan to seize Satoshi's coins and more as a way to create incentives and deadlines so users, exchanges, custodians and institutions actually migrate in time. Notably, Lopp himself downplayed CZ's framing, describing it as musing on the threat rather than a formal proposal.
• Do nothing (the property-rights line). Investor Michael Terpin argues freezing anyone's coins betrays Bitcoin's foundational promise. In his view it begins a slippery slope of creating permission in a permissionless system. He also doubts consensus is even achievable, pointing out that it took years just to implement SegWit, so a quick agreement here is unlikely. His economic argument: if Satoshi is gone and only a quantum hack ever unlocks the coins, a sell-off would hurt the price but would be a one-time event that Bitcoin recovers from.
• Route around it (the legal-trust option). Bitwise's Matt Hougan rejects both letting the coins be stolen and freezing them outright. He instead backs a proposal from Castle Island Ventures' Nic Carter to place Satoshi's bitcoin into a legal trust until ownership can be proven through historical records — an approach Hougan says avoids the philosophical challenges of both CZ's suggestion and the "let whatever happens" perspective.

Why does this matter for the wider market?

Beyond the philosophy, there's a real market dimension. Those dormant coins represent a meaningful chunk of total supply, and how the network handles them touches on the deepest questions of Bitcoin's identity — is it truly immutable and censorship-resistant, or can the community override those principles when the stakes are high enough?

The timing also lands in an already-fragile market. This week's debate arrived as Bitcoin was clawing back from serious pain: it touched a 21-month low near $57,950 in late June before recovering back above $63,200, and spot Bitcoin ETFs posted their worst-ever monthly outflow of around $4 billion in June, turning year-to-date flows negative for the first time. A structural question about Bitcoin's security is exactly the kind of narrative that shapes long-term institutional confidence.

Bitcoin just went through one of its roughest stretches in years. After starting 2026 above $93,000, BTC bled through the first half of the year and dropped roughly 20% in June alone, sliding to around $58,000 on July 1 — its lowest level in more than 21 months. It even closed a full week below its 200-week moving average for the first time in about four years, a line that has historically only broken during deep bear phases.

So why is anyone talking about altcoins right now? Because the market has since steadied, with $BTC clawing back toward the $60,000–$62,000 zone, and because July has historically been one of Bitcoin's stronger months — green in 9 of the last 13 years with an average return north of 7%. If that seasonal pattern plays out and Bitcoin turns its recent low into support, capital tends to rotate down the risk curve into altcoins. That's where the bigger percentage gains usually show up.

This article focuses on five altcoins that fit three strict filters: a market cap under $2 billion (room to grow), a price under $10 (no psychological "too expensive" barrier), and genuine, demonstrable utility (not just hype). Every price and market cap below reflects early-July 2026 levels and will move — treat them as a snapshot, not a promise.

A necessary reality check first: this is a conditional setup, not a confirmed bull run. Bitcoin is still trading below major moving averages, spot ETFs saw record outflows in June, and several banks have cut their targets. Small-cap altcoins fall harder than Bitcoin when the market turns risk-off. Everything below assumes the recovery continues — if BTC loses its recent lows instead, these coins would likely drop faster than the market. Position accordingly.

Why do altcoins sometimes outperform Bitcoin?

When Bitcoin is falling or uncertain, money hides in BTC or leaves crypto entirely. But when Bitcoin stabilizes and confidence returns, traders start hunting for higher returns, and that capital flows into altcoins. Because these projects have far smaller market caps than Bitcoin, a relatively small amount of new money can move their prices sharply — the same dynamic that makes them fall harder on the way down. This rotation is what people mean by "altseason," and it typically favors coins with real usage and a clear story, not just the biggest names.

1. Render (RENDER) — decentralized GPU power for the AI boom

• Price: ~$1.60
• Market cap: ~$830 million
• Sector: AI / decentralized compute (DePIN)

Render connects people who need heavy graphics and AI computing power with those who have spare GPUs to rent out. As demand for AI training and rendering explodes, decentralized compute networks are one of the clearest "picks and shovels" plays in crypto. Render recently expanded its network capacity significantly through a governance proposal that added tens of thousands of GPUs via a new subnet, directly boosting what the network can handle. With AI infrastructure being one of the hottest narratives heading into the second half of 2026, Render sits right in the middle of it — and at under $1B, it has room to run if that theme keeps attracting capital.

2. Ondo (ONDO) — bringing real-world assets on-chain

• Price: ~$0.33
• Market cap: ~$1.6 billion
• Sector: Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization

Ondo is a leader in tokenizing real-world assets — think U.S. Treasuries, stocks, and ETFs turned into on-chain tokens. It has built serious institutional credibility, with partnerships and pilots involving names like BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Mastercard, and its platform now spans hundreds of tokenized equities. RWA is widely seen as one of the most durable long-term narratives in crypto because it connects blockchain to trillions of dollars in traditional finance. The one thing to watch: Ondo has significant token unlocks scheduled through 2028, which can add selling pressure even when fundamentals are strong.

3. Injective (INJ) — the finance-focused Layer 1

• Price: ~$4.85
• Market cap: ~$478 million
• Sector: DeFi Layer-1 blockchain

Injective is a blockchain built specifically for financial applications — decentralized exchanges, derivatives, prediction markets, and lending. It offers fast, low-cost transactions and a fully on-chain order book, and it's interoperable with major chains like $Ethereum and $Solana. With one of the smaller market caps on this list (under $500M) but a mature, working ecosystem and over a billion transactions processed, Injective is the kind of established-but-undervalued project that can move fast if DeFi activity picks back up in a recovery.

👉 Compare the best exchanges to buy INJ and other altcoins in our broker comparison.

4. Kaspa (KAS) — one of the fastest proof-of-work networks

• Price: ~$0.031
• Market cap: ~$850 million
• Sector: Layer-1 (proof-of-work, now programmable)

Kaspa is a proof-of-work Layer 1 built on its GHOSTDAG protocol, designed for extremely fast block times and high throughput. Its big recent catalyst is the Toccata hard fork (activated June 30, 2026), which added native smart contracts and token support — transforming Kaspa from a pure payments chain into a programmable one. That upgrade opens the door to a whole new wave of apps and developer activity. Kaspa also had a fair launch with no pre-mine and its emissions are winding down toward zero, which reduces future dilution — a rare structural positive among small-caps.

5. XTB-listed majors as your recovery anchor

• Sector: Diversified exposure

Not every allocation in a recovery needs to be a small-cap moonshot. Pairing the higher-risk picks above with exposure to established assets — and using a regulated platform — is how experienced traders manage the downside if the recovery stalls. If you want to trade crypto-related instruments alongside stocks and ETFs on a regulated, MiCA-era-compliant broker, XTB is one option worth reviewing.

👉 Trade on a regulated platform: Open an account with XTB.

Which altcoin is the best buy in July 2026?

There's no single "best" — it depends on which narrative you believe in most. If you're betting on AI, Render is the cleanest exposure. If you want the most durable long-term story, Ondo and RWA lead. If you want a small, established DeFi network with room to grow, Injective stands out. And if you're drawn to a freshly upgraded, fair-launched Layer 1, Kaspa just became a lot more interesting. The smart move for most people is diversification across narratives rather than betting everything on one coin.

Bitcoin has staged a solid recovery, climbing back above $62,000 after one of its sharpest pullbacks of the year. The move caps a two-week grind higher off the lows, and the standout feature on the chart is clear: the $58,000 level has now been defended twice, turning what looked like a breakdown risk into a well-defined buying zone.

The recovery lines up with a broader shift in market structure. Buyers stepped in aggressively around $58K–$60K, recovery volume held up, and a short squeeze forced bearish positions to unwind — liquidating hundreds of millions in shorts across the market. Underneath it all sits a slow but real repositioning of flows as European traders migrate away from platforms exiting the EU toward fully regulated, MiCA-compliant venues.

Why did Bitcoin recover above $62,000?

The bounce was driven by a mix of macro relief and forced buying. A softer inflation message from the Fed eased fears of further hawkish policy, prompting a rotation back into risk assets. That macro spark hit a market that was heavily short after the June selloff, and the result was a classic short squeeze — bearish bets getting liquidated and adding fuel to the move up.

But the more structural story is where the buying is coming from. With MiCA now in full force across the EU, unlicensed platforms have pulled back from European users. A wave of traders who had funds on exchanges exiting the region — including many liquidating positions on Binance — have been moving their crypto to regulated alternatives. Some of that migration is showing up as fresh accumulation: as balances get transferred and repositioned on compliant exchanges, a portion is being redeployed into $BTC around the $58K–$60K zone rather than sitting idle.

In other words, part of this recovery isn't purely speculative — it reflects portfolio adjustments and re-entry buying from users relocating their holdings during the regulatory transition.

What does the Bitcoin chart say right now?

On the 2-hour chart, the most important structure is the $58,000 support line (yellow). Price tested this zone hard twice — once during the late-June flush and again around the start of July — and buyers defended it aggressively both times (highlighted on the chart). That double defense converts $58K from a nervous line into a confirmed demand zone.

Key areas on the chart:

• $65,581 (white line): The major overhead resistance and the level bulls need to reclaim to confirm a full trend reversal. This roughly aligns with the widely watched 50-month EMA.
• $62,000–$63,000: Current trading zone. $BTC is consolidating here after the recovery push. Holding above $62K keeps the near-term structure constructive.
• $60,000 (psychological): The first line of near-term support and the top of the demand zone.
• $58,000 (yellow line): The critical support that has now held twice. Losing it on strong volume would reopen downside risk.

Momentum has recovered meaningfully. The RSI (14) has climbed to around 65 and is trending above its moving average — no longer oversold, but not yet stretched into overbought territory. That leaves room for further upside before momentum becomes a concern.

What are the next Bitcoin price targets?

• Bullish scenario: As long as $BTC holds above $60,000, the path of least resistance points toward the $63,000–$65,000 resistance band. A clean break and close above $65,581 would be the confirmation bulls want, opening the door toward $67,000–$70,000 in the following weeks. A liquidation cluster sitting near $67,600 could act as a magnet if momentum builds, as short sellers get squeezed on the way up.
• Bearish scenario: A rejection in the $63K–$65K band could send price back to retest $60,000 and then the $58,000 support. The line in the sand is clear: a decisive break below $58K on strong selling volume would weaken the entire setup and expose Bitcoin to a move toward the $55,000 zone. Friday's macro data and ongoing ETF flow trends remain the key swing factors.

The bottom line: $58K holding is the foundation of this recovery. As long as that floor stays intact, dips toward $58K–$60K are being treated as buying opportunities rather than exit signals.

Where are traders moving after the Binance EU exit?

With MiCA reshaping the European landscape, one of the most common questions right now is where to go for a fully regulated, compliant place to buy and hold Bitcoin. For many EU and UK users relocating their holdings, Coinbase has become a leading regulated alternative — publicly listed, licensed, and built around consumer protection.

Looking for a Regulated Binance Alternative? Get Started on Coinbase

If you're moving your crypto to a fully regulated exchange, Coinbase is one of the simplest and most trusted places to buy Bitcoin. Here's how to get started step by step:

1. Create your account — Head to Coinbase via our link, enter your email, and set a strong password. Sign up for Coinbase →
2. Verify your identity — Complete the quick KYC check by uploading a valid ID. This is required on all MiCA-compliant exchanges and usually takes just a few minutes.
3. Add a payment method — Link a bank account, debit card, or set up a transfer to fund your account.
4. Buy Bitcoin — Search for $BTC, enter the amount you want to buy, review the fees, and confirm. Your Bitcoin lands in your Coinbase wallet instantly.
5. Transfer existing crypto (optional) — Moving holdings from another exchange or wallet? Use your Coinbase deposit address to transfer them in — and see the limited-time bonus below.

➡️ Get started on Coinbase now →

Disclaimers:

1. Trading in crypto is highly risky and may not be suitable for all as the entire amount invested could be lost.
2. Information is provided for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell a particular digital asset or to employ a particular investment strategy.
3. Coinbase offers simple and advanced trading in eligible jurisdictions. Advanced trading is for experienced traders and is subject to the Trading Rules. Fees on the two platforms vary; maker fees based on volume. 
4. Staking is available only in eligible jurisdictions and for eligible networks. Rewards rate is based on the estimated protocol rate and is subject to change. Terms apply.

Ethereum has staged its strongest 24-hour move in weeks, with $ETH jumping more than 5% to reclaim the $1,700 level for the first time since the brutal June selloff. The rally came in lockstep with $BTC, which pushed back above the psychologically important $60,000 mark, dragging the broader market higher with it.

The move looks macro-driven rather than Ethereum-specific. A dovish shift in Fed messaging around cooling inflation risks lit the match, and the sharpness of the bounce off multi-year lows carries the fingerprint of a short squeeze after positioning turned heavily one-sided to the downside through June. $Bitcoin holding above $60K is the cover that gives $ETH room to grind higher — lose that, and the tailwind evaporates fast.

Why did the Ethereum price jump above $1,700?

The catalyst was broad risk appetite rather than any change in Ethereum's fundamentals. Easier-sounding Fed commentary on inflation prompted a rotation back into risk assets, and the most beaten-down names bounced hardest because they carried the heaviest short interest. $ETH had bled to multi-year lows in June with negative funding across major venues, so a bullish macro headline into that setup was exactly the kind of spark needed to force covering.

There's a fundamental undercurrent too. ETH spot ETF inflows briefly outpaced Bitcoin ETF flows for two consecutive sessions last week, a sign that institutional sentiment toward Ethereum is quietly turning. That relative strength is what separates this bounce from the failed reclaims seen earlier in the downtrend.

Ethereum Price Analysis: Why is ETH Coin UP

Looking at the 2-hour chart, $ETH has cleanly broken out of the $1,540–$1,600 consolidation range that contained price for most of late June. That range acted as a battleground for nearly two weeks, and the decisive break above $1,600 — followed by a push through $1,700 — flips both of those levels into potential support.

Key areas on the chart:

• $1,800 (green line): The next major overhead resistance and the primary upside target. This is the level bulls need to clear to confirm a full trend reversal.
• $1,700 (psychological): Freshly reclaimed. Must now hold as support to keep the structure bullish.
• $1,600 (yellow line): The pivot that flipped from resistance to support. Losing it would signal the breakout is failing.
• $1,540 (yellow line): The lower boundary of the old range and the last line of defense before a retest of the June lows.

Momentum is stretched. The RSI (14) is reading around 74 — firmly in overbought territory — which means a short-term cooldown or sideways digestion near $1,700–$1,720 would be healthy rather than alarming. Overbought readings can persist in strong trends, but they raise the odds of a pullback to retest reclaimed support before the next leg.

What are the next Ethereum price targets?

• Bullish scenario: If $ETH holds $1,700 and $BTC stays firm above $60K, the immediate target is the $1,800 resistance line. A clean break and close above $1,800 would open the door toward the $1,850–$1,900 zone, with momentum traders eyeing a longer-term push back toward $2,000+ if ETF inflows keep resuming. Standard Chartered has floated an ambitious $4,000 year-end target on a rising ETH/BTC ratio, though that requires sustained follow-through.
• Bearish scenario: A rejection at $1,700–$1,720 with overbought RSI unwinding could send price back to retest $1,600. Losing $1,600 puts $1,540 in play, and a break below that risks reopening the June downtrend. Traders should also note a heavy token unlock schedule across July that could inject volatility.

The line in the sand is simple: $ETH holding $1,600 as support with Bitcoin above $60K keeps the bullish case alive. Break either, and this reads as an oversold relief rally rather than a genuine trend reversal.

Is now a good time to trade Ethereum?

Momentum is clearly with the bulls in the short term, but the rally is stretched and macro-dependent. The setup favors patient entries on a pullback to reclaimed support rather than chasing an overbought breakout. As always, position sizing and risk management matter more than the direction of any single candle.

The clock ran out on July 1, 2026. Under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), any exchange without a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) licence can no longer legally serve residents of the European Economic Area. The most consequential casualty is the biggest name in the game: Binance withdrew its MiCA application in Greece on June 24 and is now suspending core services for EU users.

If your funds are sitting on Binance — or on Bybit Global, or any other platform that didn't make the cut — you need a new home. And the licensed exchanges know it. What's unfolding is a full-blown land grab: MiCA-approved platforms are throwing cashback, deposit matches, VIP perks and even a €1,000,000 prize draw at anyone willing to move their crypto over. Below is the complete breakdown of who's offering what.

Why is Binance leaving the EU?

MiCA is the EU's single rulebook for crypto. To legally operate anywhere in the 27-member bloc, an exchange must hold a CASP licence from one member state — that licence then "passports" across the entire EEA. The 18-month transition window closed on July 1, 2026, and ESMA confirmed there would be no extension.

Binance bet on Greece as its entry point and lost, formally withdrawing its application days before the deadline. Of the estimated 1,100–1,300 legacy crypto providers operating in Europe, only around 200 secured a MiCA licence — a clearance rate of roughly 15%. The rivals who cleared the bar are now competing hard for the displaced users, and that competition is good news for your wallet.

A quick but important note: MiCA protection applies to the specific licensed legal entity, not the brand. Bybit Global, for example, is restricting EEA access, while its Austrian-licensed entity Bybit EU remains fully authorised. Always confirm which entity holds your account.

Which MiCA exchanges are offering the best promotions?

Here's how the six major licensed players stack up right now.

Bitpanda — win 3 $BTC + €25 bonus & 5% cashback

The Austrian veteran is running arguably the most generous package. Move your crypto over using code CRYPTOTICKER and you unlock three rewards at once: 5% cashback in EURCV on your transfer, a €25 welcome bonus in $BTC after your first €100 purchase, and one entry into a 3 $BTC giveaway for every euro of qualifying crypto you transfer. Bitpanda holds BaFin regulation in Germany alongside its Austrian licence, making it one of the most solidly regulated options on this list. The catch: it's strictly limited and first come, first served, running only until July 12.

→ Get started with Bitpanda here

OKX — up to 8% deposit bonus (+ €400 for new users)

OKX Europe holds MiCA, MiFID and Payment Institution licences via Malta. Opt in through the OKX app and deposit as little as €10 to earn up to 8% on your net deposit, capped at €20,000 in USDC and paid out over 52 weeks. New users get an extra welcome bonus of up to €400, plus a free 30-day VIP upgrade unlocking reduced fees and up to 10% card cashback. The offer runs until July 31. Note: OKX has delisted $USDT for EU users, as Tether doesn't meet MiCA's stablecoin rules — $USDC and USDG are the supported alternatives.

→ Get started with OKX here

Coinbase — 5% bonus on transferred funds

Coinbase is keeping it simple: 5% back in $BTC on up to €1,000,000 in crypto transferred to the platform before July 14. You'll need an active Coinbase One subscription to qualify, and only genuine crypto transfers from another exchange or wallet count — fiat deposits, crypto purchases, wire transfers and crypto-to-crypto conversions are excluded.

→ Get started with Coinbase here

Crypto.com — up to 10% deposit bonus (in CRO)

New EEA users who register, verify and make a net crypto deposit of at least $10 earn a tiered bonus paid in $CRO — scaling up to 10% on larger deposits, distributed in 12 equal monthly instalments. The campaign runs until July 22 and is capped, so it may close early.

→ Get started with Crypto.com here

Bybit EU — up to €100 welcome bonus + 3% cashback

Not to be confused with the restricted Bybit Global, Bybit EU operates under an Austrian MiCA licence. New accounts can claim up to €100 in welcome rewards, including €50 in $BTC after a €100 deposit, plus up to €120 in Bybit Card bonuses and first-month subscription cashback. Larger deposits unlock up to 3% annual $USDC cashback and VIP perks. It runs until July 31.4.

→ Get started with ByBit here

How do I know if an exchange is actually MiCA licensed?

Don't take a banner's word for it. Check ESMA's public CASP register, which is updated weekly — if a platform isn't listed, it can't legally serve EU residents after July 1. A properly licensed exchange will also display its CASP authorisation and issuing regulator, usually in the website footer or on a dedicated regulatory page. If an exchange only references an old national registration rather than a MiCA CASP licence, it isn't authorised.

What should EU crypto users do now?

If your exchange lost its EU access, your crypto generally remains withdrawable — but services like trading, deposits and staking may be restricted, so acting sooner rather than later avoids disruption. The practical move is to pick a MiCA-licensed platform, verify your account, and transfer your assets across. Given that every one of these exchanges is currently paying you to do exactly that, there's rarely been a better moment to make the switch. Just read each campaign's terms carefully — most require your funds to stay put for a set period, and several are capped or first-come-first-served.

The bottom line: the MiCA deadline forced the shake-up, but the promo war means EU users hold the leverage right now. Compare the offers, confirm the licensing, and let the exchanges compete for your deposit.

A new Mac infostealer dubbed PamStealer impersonates the open-source Maccy clipboard manager to steal passwords and more.

Bitcoin bounced back above $60,000 this week, but increased volatility might be on the way as crypto deposits to exchanges spike.

Andy Konwinski used Anthropic's Fable 5 debacle as exhibit A in the case against letting a handful of private labs govern who gets to do AI research.

ChangeNOW CSO Pauline Shangett digs into the infrastructure underpinning the exchange’s simple, streamlined frontend.

Did Claude Fable 5 get dumber? Two benchmarks, two wildly different conclusions—and one routing layer that explains the whole mess.

Cardano (ADA) has reclaimed ground in the cryptocurrency market rankings.

Cardano (ADA) finds new momentum as retail investors return.

AI fails to unmask Vitalik Buterin’s secret Ethereum doc after a 13-day hunt.

One of Bitcoin's oldest wallets just moved after 14 Years.

Legendary commodities trader Peter Brandt has revealed he is contemplating a major portfolio rotation.

There was a time when meme coins were dismissed as nothing more than internet jokes.

Today, that perception has changed. Some of the largest cryptocurrency communities in the world were built around meme coins, with projects like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu proving that community can be just as valuable as technology. More recently, PEPE demonstrated how quickly a meme coin can capture global attention when the timing and momentum are right. As the crypto market prepares for its next chapter, investors are once again searching for the best meme coins to buy. Alongside the established names, a new Ethereum-based project is beginning to attract attention. IceBull, whose IceBull Crypto Presale is now LIVE in Stage 1 at just $0.00001.

Dogecoin: The Original Meme Coin

Few cryptocurrencies have had a journey quite like Dogecoin.

Originally launched as a light-hearted parody of Bitcoin, Dogecoin evolved into one of the world’s largest digital assets thanks to an incredibly loyal community and widespread recognition. Support from influential public figures, global exchange listings and mainstream media exposure helped Dogecoin become the project that introduced millions of people to meme coins. Even today, it remains one of the first names investors think of when discussing this sector.

Shiba Inu Built an Entire Ecosystem

Shiba Inu showed that meme coins could become much more than internet culture.

Since launching, the project has expanded into staking, decentralised finance, token burning and Layer-2 development, creating a broader ecosystem around its community. Its success demonstrated that strong branding combined with continuous development can help a meme coin evolve into a much larger blockchain project.

PEPE Proved Timing Still Matters

PEPE reminded the crypto industry that narratives move markets.

Without trying to become another Dogecoin or Shiba Inu, PEPE built momentum through internet culture, viral marketing and one of the fastest-growing communities in recent years. Its rise reinforced a lesson many experienced investors already understood: The strongest meme coins often combine excellent timing with passionate communities.

IceBull Is Entering the Market at a Different Stage

Unlike Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and PEPE, IceBull is only just beginning its public journey. Rather than launching directly onto exchanges, the IceBull Crypto Presale is currently LIVE, allowing investors to participate during Stage 1 at just $0.00001. IceBull follows a transparent 16-stage presale, with prices increasing at each stage before reaching a planned listing price of $0.025. While no investment outcome can ever be guaranteed, many investors appreciate knowing exactly how the presale progresses before public exchange trading begins.

The project also includes:

• Stage 1 Presale LIVE

• Entry price of $0.00001

• Planned listing price of $0.025

• Ethereum ERC-20 token

• SolidProof audited smart contracts

• Up to 80% APY staking

• Team allocation vesting

• 10% referral rewards for qualifying purchases above $30

• Community-first ecosystem

Community Is Still the Biggest Driver

One thing every successful meme coin has in common is its community. Technology matters, tokenomics matters and security matters.

But without an engaged community, very few meme coins achieve lasting success. Dogecoin built one of the most recognised communities in crypto, Shiba Inu transformed its community into an ecosystem, PEPE demonstrated the power of internet culture. IceBull is now focusing on building its community from the very first stage of its presale.

Dogecoin vs Shiba Inu vs PEPE vs IceBull

Rather than competing directly, these projects represent different generations of meme coins.

What Makes a Great Meme Coin?

Experienced investors often look beyond social media hype. Some of the most important factors include:

• A recognisable brand

• Active community engagement

• Transparent tokenomics

• Smart contract security

• Long-term development

• Sustainable roadmap

• Clear communication

Projects that combine these elements tend to build stronger communities over time.

Looking Ahead

The search for the best meme coins to buy isn’t simply about finding the newest token or the largest community.

It’s about understanding where each project sits in its journey. Dogecoin continues to represent the original meme coin movement. Shiba Inu has demonstrated how communities can evolve into complete ecosystems. PEPE proved that strong narratives can still capture the market’s imagination. Meanwhile, IceBull is writing its own story. With the IceBull Crypto Presale now LIVE, Stage 1 remains available at $0.00001 before progressing through a transparent 16-stage rollout toward a planned listing price of $0.025. For investors researching the next generation of Ethereum-based meme coins, IceBull is becoming a project increasingly worth following.

For More Information:

Website: https://www.icebull.com/

Telegram: https://t.me/IceBullCoin

X: https://x.com/IceBullCoin

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best meme coins to buy?

Many investors continue following established projects such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and PEPE while also researching emerging projects like IceBull Crypto Presale.

Is IceBull available now?

Yes. IceBull is currently available through its official presale, with Stage 1 priced at $0.00001.

What is IceBull’s planned listing price?

IceBull has announced a planned listing price of $0.025 following the completion of its transparent 16-stage presale.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments involve risk, and readers should always conduct their own independent research before making investment decisions.

The post Best Meme Coins to Buy in 2026: Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, PEPE & IceBull Compared appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights

• SpaceX makes its Nasdaq 100 index debut on Tuesday, July 8, following significant price swings since its June public offering
• Financial institutions can now issue initial coverage on SpaceX as the post-IPO analyst restriction period concludes
• PepsiCo and Delta Air Lines unveil second-quarter financial results, spotlighting consumer behavior and operational expenses
• Federal Reserve publishes its June policy meeting transcript on Wednesday, potentially revealing rate adjustment plans
• Tech and media industry leaders converge at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference throughout the week

PepsiCo reduced pricing during the winter months after elevated inflation caused shoppers to seek alternatives to premium-priced products. Delta described travel appetite as “really great” in March while implementing fare increases to offset rising operational expenses. These quarterly reports will provide investors with valuable insight into current consumer spending patterns.

Fed Meeting Transcript Release Takes Center Stage

The Federal Reserve publishes its June policy meeting minutes on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. During that session, fifty percent of voting members indicated they anticipated at least one rate increase before the calendar year concludes. New Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has demonstrated a more restrictive monetary policy stance, prompting market participants to scrutinize the document for additional clarity on future policy direction.

The weekly unemployment claims figures and the New York Federal Reserve’s consumer inflation expectations report are also scheduled for release. The previous week’s employment statistics registered below analyst projections, which temporarily reduced speculation about imminent rate increases.

Levi Strauss announces its fiscal second-quarter financial performance on Wednesday. The apparel company exceeded analyst estimates in the previous quarter and upgraded its full-year guidance. Management attributed the positive results to enhanced direct-to-consumer channel performance and expanded product offerings beyond traditional denim.

Costco will publish its highly anticipated monthly sales data during the week.

SpaceX Joins Elite Nasdaq 100 Index

SpaceX becomes a Nasdaq 100 constituent prior to Tuesday’s market opening. The benchmark index comprises the 100 largest non-financial corporations listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange and serves as a performance reference for numerous institutional investment portfolios. Index membership is anticipated to generate increased buying pressure as passive index funds establish positions.

SpaceX equity has experienced substantial price fluctuations since the company’s June 12 market debut. The shares commenced trading at a reduced valuation, briefly surged above $225 — temporarily positioning SpaceX’s market capitalization ahead of Amazon — before retreating to a low of $147. The stock concluded last week’s trading session at $162. Market observers anticipate continued price volatility in the near term.

This week simultaneously marks the conclusion of the mandatory analyst quiet period that followed SpaceX’s initial public offering. Investment research firms are now authorized to distribute their inaugural analysis and recommendations on the company. These professional assessments could significantly influence share price movement.

The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference commences this week. Senior executives from Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google, Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery are scheduled to participate. Concurrently, the Raise Summit AI conference convenes in Paris, showcasing thought leaders from Google, Broadcom, Anthropic, and OpenAI.

The three primary U.S. equity indexes concluded the second quarter with percentage gains in the double digits. The previous week featured abbreviated trading due to the Independence Day holiday, and all three major benchmarks registered positive returns.

The post Market Preview: SpaceX (SPACEX) Nasdaq 100 Debut Highlights Busy Week of Earnings and Fed Minutes appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• Taiwan Semiconductor posted first-quarter 2026 revenue of $35.9 billion, marking a 40.6% annual increase with a net margin of 50.5%
• Second-quarter guidance projects $39–$40.2 billion in revenue, while full-year expectations call for growth exceeding 30%
• The chipmaker commands approximately 70% of the worldwide market for cutting-edge semiconductor production
• TSMC’s $165 billion U.S. manufacturing initiative in Arizona is progressing ahead of projections, with the initial facility already generating $514 million in profits
• Trading near $434.70 per share, TSM carries a market capitalization close to $2.25 trillion — Wall Street’s average price target stands at $449.38

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company currently maintains a market valuation around $2.25 trillion, with shares changing hands at $434.70 on the New York Stock Exchange. The distance to a $3 trillion milestone represents roughly a 34% climb — a threshold the company’s financial performance indicates may arrive sooner than conventional wisdom suggests.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, TSM

The first quarter of 2026 delivered impressive results. Revenue totaled $35.9 billion, representing a 40.6% jump from the prior-year period. Net income climbed 58.3% year-over-year. Gross margin reached 66.2%, while the net profit margin settled at 50.5% — effectively meaning the company retains half of every revenue dollar as profit.

Executive leadership provided second-quarter revenue guidance ranging from $39 billion to $40.2 billion. For the complete 2026 fiscal year, growth is projected to surpass 30% when measured in U.S. currency, positioning annual revenue comfortably above the $150 billion threshold.

The equity trades with a price-to-earnings multiple of 36.17 and a PEG ratio of 1.09. Over the past year, shares have fluctuated between $223.70 and $479.00. Analyst consensus leans toward a “Buy” recommendation, with the mean price objective at $449.38. Barclays maintains an overweight stance with a $470 price target, while Needham carries a buy rating with a $480 projection.

TSMC recently lifted its quarterly dividend payment to $1.1136 per share from the previous $0.95. The current annualized yield hovers around 1.0%.

TSMC’s Central Role in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure

Nvidia designs the graphics processing units that drive AI computation centers, but manufacturing isn’t handled in-house. The same applies to AMD and Apple. Each advanced processor from these technology giants originates in TSMC facilities. The semiconductor manufacturer holds approximately 70% of global advanced chip production capacity, with no meaningful competition at the most sophisticated production nodes.

Advanced process technologies at 7 nanometers and smaller now represent 74% of TSMC’s wafer-level revenue. This product composition carries significance — more advanced nodes command premium pricing and deliver superior profitability. As artificial intelligence applications drive requirements toward 3nm and eventually 2nm manufacturing processes, TSMC captures higher revenue per wafer produced.

Every major cloud infrastructure provider deploying GPU arrays — Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft — relies on TSMC-manufactured semiconductors. Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture, Google’s tensor processing units, and Amazon’s Trainium chips all originate from its production facilities.

United States Expansion Reshapes Geopolitical Risk Profile

The persistent concern surrounding Taiwan Semiconductor centered on geographic concentration — nearly all manufacturing capacity resided in Taiwan. This exposure created what market observers labeled a “Taiwan discount” embedded in the stock price.

That discount is diminishing. TSMC has allocated $165 billion toward its Arizona manufacturing complex, spanning more than 2,000 acres with six fabrication plants in the development pipeline. The inaugural Arizona facility generated $514 million in operating profit during its first year of commercial operation. The second phase, utilizing 3nm process technology, remains on schedule for 2027 completion — running a full year ahead of initial timelines.

Expanded domestic U.S. production capacity provides institutional capital allocators who previously maintained distance a compelling rationale to establish positions.

Regarding institutional ownership, Montrusco Bolton reduced its TSM holdings by 27% during the first quarter, disposing of approximately 188,725 shares. Conversely, FUKOKU Mutual Life Insurance expanded its position by more than 2,500% in the identical timeframe. Institutional investors collectively hold 16.51% of outstanding shares.

Two company insiders also acquired stock in late June at prices ranging from $76.64 to $79.19 per American Depositary Receipt equivalent, adding a combined $155,830 to their personal holdings.

The post Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) Stock Marches Toward $3 Trillion Valuation on AI Chip Boom appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• Shares of AXP are currently changing hands around $351.96, posting a 1.42% daily gain with a market capitalization approaching $240 billion
• First-quarter 2026 earnings per share reached $4.28, surpassing analyst expectations of $4.01; revenues climbed 11.4% from the prior year to $14.21 billion
• The company maintained its full-year 2026 EPS outlook of $17.30 to $17.90; Wall Street projects $17.65 on average
• Younger demographics, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, represent the company’s most rapidly expanding customer base
• Analyst consensus stands at Moderate Buy with a mean price objective of $366.95; Goldman Sachs has set a $400 target

American Express (AXP) stock is currently priced near $351.96, drawing renewed attention following a series of positive analyst revisions and increased institutional accumulation. Trading approximately 9% beneath its 52-week peak of $387.49, the stock remains comfortably above its yearly low of $288.34.

American Express Company, AXP

K.J. Harrison & Partners established a fresh stake worth $1.21 million during the first quarter, acquiring 4,003 shares. Multiple other institutional players also expanded their positions throughout the period. Institutional ownership of AXP stock now represents 84.33% of shares outstanding.

The first-quarter financial performance exceeded expectations. The credit card giant delivered earnings per share of $4.28, topping the Street consensus of $4.01 by $0.27. Total revenues reached $14.21 billion, representing an 11.4% year-over-year increase. The company achieved a net profit margin of 15.13% and posted a return on equity of 33.95%.

Executives reaffirmed their full-year 2026 earnings guidance range of $17.30 to $17.90 per share. The analyst community currently projects $17.65 for the complete fiscal year.

Analyst sentiment has strengthened noticeably. Goldman Sachs elevated its price target from $360 to $400 while maintaining a Buy recommendation. Truist increased its objective from $360 to $375, also with a Buy stance. Piper Sandler launched coverage with an Overweight rating and a $396 price target. The collective average price target among all covering analysts stands at $366.95, implying approximately 4% upside from current levels.

The overall analyst rating is Moderate Buy, comprising two Strong Buy ratings, nine Buy recommendations, eleven Hold positions, and one Sell rating among the 23 analysts providing coverage.

Younger Demographics Fueling Expansion

A particularly compelling narrative involves shifting customer demographics. Millennials and Gen Z members have emerged as the fastest-growing segment within Amex’s cardholder base. This demographic shift aligns perfectly with spending patterns focused on experiential purchases — travel, dining, entertainment — categories where the company’s premium card offerings deliver maximum rewards and benefits.

Capturing younger cardholders with premium products early in their financial journey tends to create lasting relationships. As significant wealth transfers occur from older generations over the next several decades, this early-established brand affinity could generate substantial long-term value for the company.

Equity analysts project earnings expansion of 13% to 14% per year over the next three to five years. Even applying a more conservative 10% growth assumption to account for potential economic headwinds, combined with the current 1.1% dividend yield, investors could reasonably expect total annual returns around 11%. Using the rule of 72, this pace would double an investment approximately every six to seven years.

Valuation Metrics and Shareholder Returns

AXP currently trades at less than 20 times projected 2026 earnings. This valuation appears reasonable given the company’s growth trajectory. The price-to-earnings-growth ratio sits at 1.45, while the beta coefficient of 1.04 indicates volatility roughly matching the broader market.

The company recently announced its quarterly dividend of $0.95 per share, scheduled for payment on August 10 to shareholders of record as of July 2. This equates to an annualized payout of $3.80, generating a yield of approximately 1.1%.

The stock is trading above both its 50-day moving average of $322.50 and its 200-day moving average of $333.27.

The upcoming earnings release will provide critical insight into whether the first-quarter outperformance represents an isolated event or the beginning of sustained momentum.

The post American Express (AXP) Stock Gains Momentum as Analysts Raise Price Targets appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways

• On June 12, 2026, SpaceX launched its IPO at $135 per share, starting trading at $150 and finishing the inaugural session at $160.95 — establishing a valuation exceeding $2 trillion
• The company achieved $18.67 billion in revenue during 2025, marking a 33% annual increase, with Starlink contributing approximately 60% of total sales
• Financial results showed a $4.94 billion net loss for 2025, a dramatic shift from the $791 million profit recorded the previous year
• CEO Elon Musk projects SpaceX could generate $1 trillion in yearly revenue by decade’s end
• By early July, short-sellers had established positions against SPCX, even while nursing substantial losses from the initial price surge

When SpaceX (SPCX) made its debut on the Nasdaq exchange June 12, 2026, the company set its initial offering price at $135 per share. Trading commenced at $150 before settling at $160.95 by market close, catapulting the firm’s market capitalization beyond the $2 trillion threshold in what Reuters characterized as the most significant public offering in history.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX

This represents substantial market optimism embedded in the opening price.

Financial reports showed SpaceX brought in $18.67 billion during 2025, reflecting a 33% jump compared to the previous twelve months. Its Starlink satellite internet service represented approximately 60% of these revenues. The constellation currently provides connectivity to about 10.3 million subscribers via roughly 9,600 operational satellites.

This transformation is significant. The company has evolved beyond its identity as solely a space transportation provider — Starlink is rapidly emerging as its primary commercial revenue driver. The predictable income stream from internet subscriptions fundamentally alters the company’s financial structure compared to relying exclusively on launch services.

The rocket business remains crucial. SpaceX’s reusable launch technology serves both private sector clients and government agencies, while simultaneously deploying its own Starlink satellite network. This internal ecosystem reduces operational expenses and maintains schedule control — delivering substantial competitive advantages.

Financial Performance Reveals Complexity

Notwithstanding impressive top-line expansion, SpaceX recorded a $4.94 billion net loss throughout 2025. This marks a substantial departure from the $791 million in profits generated during 2024.

The organization is evidently allocating significant capital toward expanding Starlink and related infrastructure. Long-term shareholders must evaluate whether these investments will ultimately translate into sustainable profitability — and the timeline for achieving it.

Elon Musk has publicly stated SpaceX could reach $1 trillion in annual revenues by 2030. While this represents an ambitious projection, it demonstrates the scale of expansion the company envisions.

Market Sentiment Shows Sharp Division

Stock performance following the IPO has demonstrated significant volatility. Reuters coverage from June 23 highlighted dramatic price fluctuations in SPCX, reflecting intense debate between bullish and bearish investors.

Short-sellers had already established positions against the stock by July 2, despite experiencing paper losses from the post-IPO price appreciation. Early short interest in newly public companies isn’t uncommon — though it indicates skepticism about whether current valuations can be sustained.

With a market cap above $2 trillion, SpaceX is being valued as though its most ambitious objectives are virtually guaranteed.

The optimistic perspective is clear: industry-leading launch capabilities, an expanding internet service business, and exceptional vertical integration. For those investing with extended time horizons, these represent genuine and sustainable competitive strengths.

As of July 2, 2026, short-sellers maintained their bearish positions on SPCX, while post-IPO price volatility keeps the stock under intense Wall Street scrutiny.

The post SpaceX (SPCX) Stock Analysis: Should You Invest After the $2 Trillion Valuation IPO? appeared first on Blockonomi.

France has recorded 77 cryptocurrency-related cases involving kidnappings, extortion, or attempted kidnappings since the beginning of the year.

Speaking to the Association of Digital Asset Holders (ADAN) on June 30, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the number had increased significantly from the 45 cases reported in 2025.

France Unveils Tougher Security Plan

While acknowledging the concerns within the sector, Nuñez described the incidents as serious but said emergency security measures introduced a year ago had delivered results. He revealed that around 200 people had been arrested either after attacks had taken place or before they could be carried out during the same period.

As a recent example, the minister said suspects linked to an incident in the Somme region on the previous Friday were apprehended within eight hours. He added that the victim had activated the dedicated emergency hotline created for members of the cryptocurrency sector.

According to Nuñez, 724 people in the industry are now registered on the government’s immediate identification platforms, representing an 11% increase in participation. While the full details of the government’s next steps have not yet been disclosed, the minister said all departments within the Interior Ministry had developed a new security strategy that is “more ambitious” than previous efforts.

The plan is built around three priorities. The first focuses on expanding intelligence sharing. Nuñez stressed that those directing these crimes are sometimes based outside France, which makes stronger intelligence gathering on criminal networks particularly important. The second priority aims to deepen cooperation with ADAN by creating a network of experts that connects cryptocurrency industry participants with relevant government officials.

The third priority seeks to improve operational coordination between law enforcement agencies to disrupt criminal groups more effectively while also strengthening cooperation with countries where those believed to be organizing the attacks are located.

The minister said cooperation with foreign authorities remains essential. As an example, he cited the June 2025 arrest in Morocco of a Franco-Moroccan man suspected of ordering a series of kidnappings targeting the crypto industry. One of the victims was Ledger co-founder David Balland. According to Nuñez, that arrest led to the sudden end of the attacks.

Wrench Attacks Persist

Similar attacks have continued to emerge elsewhere. In March, a crypto holder pseudonymously known as ‘Sillytuna’ said armed attackers forced him to hand over roughly $24 million in digital assets during a violent robbery. According to the victim, the assailants used weapons and threatened kidnapping and sexual assault unless he transferred control of his crypto holdings.

Blockchain investigators later tracked the stolen funds as they were moved across multiple networks and converted into privacy coins to make tracing more difficult.

The post French Minister Reveals 77 Crypto-Related Kidnapping Cases, Says New Security Plan Is Coming appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ripple’s XRP has delivered a strong recovery from its recent lows, validating the bullish divergence that developed near support. While the broader market structure remains corrective, the latest rally has pushed the price back toward a critical technical inflection point where the next directional move could be determined.

Ripple Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

The daily timeframe continues to show XRP trading inside a long-term descending channel, remaining below the major moving averages and the channel’s upper boundary. Despite the broader bearish structure, the recent price action has improved considerably.

The bullish RSI divergence that formed around the $1.02-$1.05 support zone has played out as expected. While the asset was making lower lows, momentum was printing higher lows, signaling weakening selling pressure. Since then, XRP has rebounded sharply and reclaimed the lower support region around $1.02-$1.06.

The recovery has now carried the price toward the first major resistance zone between $1.17 and $1.24. This area previously acted as support before the latest breakdown and is now functioning as supply. The RSI has also pushed back above the midline, confirming improving momentum and strengthening the case for a continued recovery attempt.

However, the broader trend remains bearish as long as the token trades beneath the descending channel resistance and the major moving averages overhead. A successful reclaim of the $1.17-$1.24 region would be the first sign that the market is attempting to build a larger reversal structure.

XRP/USDT 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour chart provides a clearer view of the recent breakout. XRP spent several days consolidating inside the $1.02-$1.06 demand zone before buyers aggressively stepped in and triggered a sharp rally toward the descending trendline resistance.

The move has already reclaimed the local support area and pushed price directly into the trendline that has capped lower highs since mid-June. XRP is now testing this dynamic resistance as it approaches the lower boundary of the broader $1.21-$1.29 supply zone.

This creates a pivotal setup. A confirmed breakout above the descending trendline would likely open the door for a move into the upper resistance region, where sellers may attempt to regain control. Such a breakout would also confirm a short-term structural shift after weeks of lower highs and lower lows.

On the other hand, failure to break through the trendline could trigger a temporary pullback toward the recently reclaimed support zone. As long as the asset remains above the $1.02-$1.06 area, the current recovery structure remains intact.

For now, momentum favors the bulls in the short term, but the market is approaching a major resistance cluster where a decisive breakout is needed to confirm that the recovery is evolving into something more significant than a relief rally.

The post Ripple Price Analysis: What Are XRP’s Next Targets After 8% Weekly Surge? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin has staged a notable rebound after sweeping liquidity beneath the June lows, but the recovery is now approaching a critical resistance cluster. While momentum has improved in the short term, the broader structure remains bearish until BTC reclaims several major resistance levels overhead.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

The daily timeframe shows Bitcoin continuing to trade below its key moving averages, with both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages sloping lower and acting as dynamic resistance. The market remains structurally bearish after losing the $72K-$74K support zone in June, which has now flipped into a major supply area.

However, the recent price action is becoming more constructive. BTC successfully defended the $58K-$61K support region and produced a sharp bounce from the lower boundary of the broader descending structure.

More importantly, the daily RSI has formed a bullish divergence, with momentum making higher lows while the price registered comparable or lower lows around the June bottom. This divergence often appears during exhaustion phases and suggests selling pressure has been weakening despite the downtrend.

The immediate challenge lies around $65K-$67K, where a major resistance zone intersects with the descending upper trendline. A successful breakout above this area would likely trigger a larger recovery toward the former breakdown region near $72K-$74K. Conversely, rejection from the current resistance cluster would reinforce the prevailing bearish structure and increase the probability of another move toward the $60K support area.

BTC/USDT 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour chart highlights a developing falling wedge structure. Bitcoin recently rebounded from the lower boundary near $58K and has advanced steadily toward the upper trendline, which currently converges with the $63K-$64K area.

The recovery has already reclaimed the $60K-$61K support zone, turning it back into a short-term demand area. Price is now testing the upper boundary of the wedge while approaching the lower edge of the $64K-$66.5K supply zone.

A breakout above the descending trendline could accelerate bullish momentum and open the path toward the higher resistance region around $65K-$67K. Such a move would also confirm a short-term shift in market structure after weeks of lower highs.

If the breakout fails, Bitcoin may continue consolidating inside the wedge before attempting another push higher. The $60K-$61K region remains the most important near-term support, while a breakdown below it would place the recent recovery at risk.

Sentiment Analysis

The Spot Average Order Size metric provides insight into the behavior of larger market participants. Recent data shows that whale-sized transactions continue to dominate activity despite Bitcoin trading near local lows.

The latest readings indicate that large orders remain active in the market while prices hover around the $60K-$63K region. Although the metric alone cannot determine directional intent, the persistence of larger transaction sizes during a prolonged decline suggests institutional and high-net-worth participants remain engaged rather than stepping away from the market.

Combined with the bullish RSI divergence on the daily chart and Bitcoin’s defense of the $58K-$61K support zone, the data suggests accumulation interest may be emerging around current levels. Nevertheless, confirmation still requires a technical breakout above the descending trendline and the $65K-$67K resistance cluster.

Until that occurs, Bitcoin remains in a broader corrective structure, with the current recovery appearing more like an attempt to build a base rather than a confirmed trend reversal.

The post Bitcoin Price Analysis: Is BTC Ready for Another Leg Higher Next Week? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

XRP has not been spared by the overall market weakness, especially in June, plummeting hard to a multi-year low of $1.00. However, that coveted support line managed to hold the bears’ breakdown attempt, and the asset has rebounded swiftly.

All eyes are now on July, which has been historically one of the token’s best-performing months. This is particularly true for the past four editions, as each brought a double-digit gain. So, what’s next for July 2026?

June’s Calamity and July’s Promise

Data from Cryptorank indicated that XRP ended June with a massive 22.1% decline. During the month, the asset dipped to $1.01 (on most exchanges) amid the growing crypto FUD, the escalating tension in the Middle East, and so on. This was its lowest price tag since late 2024 and pushed it out of the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

Although it has rebounded to $1.15 as of press time, it still remains below USDC, BNB, USDT, ETH, and BTC. However, the bulls have a lot to hope for in July, at least according to historical performance. All six previous Julys were in the green for XRP. Moreover, five of them delivered double-digit gains.

July 2020 and 2023 stand out as the most bullish out of the bunch, with price increases of 48.1% and 47.6%, respectively. Last year’s edition brought a spectacular 35% increase, after another 31.2% surge during the year before. The two more modest gains came in July 2022 (14.6%) and 2021 (6.91%).

Although XRP has started the 2026 edition with a 9% increase already, there’s a catch. The five Julys before the aforementioned ones, those from 2015-2019, were all in the red. The question now is, which path will XRP follow now?

Something that can push XRP higher is the ongoing inflows into spot Ripple ETFs. As reported over the weekend, the funds have extended their positive streak to nine consecutive weeks in the green.

Quarterly Moves

The 22.1% drop in June 2026 meant a similar (22.4%) decline for the entire Q2. Moreover, this became the third consecutive quarter in the red for the first time ever, each with massive losses. XRP dumped by 35.4% in Q4 2025, by another 27.1% in Q1 2026, and the aforementioned 22.4% in Q2 2026.

The good news for the Ripple bulls is that the token has reacted with substantial gains after each of its previous negative streaks. The next few months will show whether history will repeat or the losses are just getting started.

The post XRP Suffered 22% June Loss, but History Favors a Major July Rally appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ethereum could be on the verge of a massive price increase after its painful declines in late 2025 and early 2026 that brought it down toward $1,500.

July has already started on the right foot, with a double-digit increase in days. However, it follows two consecutive double-digit monthly declines.

Worst Is Over?

Popular analyst Michaël van de Poppe noted on X in a post from this weekend that “the worst period for ETH is over.” He believes that the altcoin is breaking out upwards and building a higher low against the market leader, which means “that we’re back in an uptrend.”

This comes after ETH closed June in the red, marking its third consecutive quarter with major losses for the first time ever. Moreover, each of those was by more than 20% – 28.28% in Q4 2025, another 29.26% in Q1 2026, and 25.28% in Q2 this year. Given the significance and rarity of this moment, van de Poppe said: “The chances of having four in a row are statistically very low.”

He also outlined the highly anticipated but not certain Clarity Act, which is expected to be signed into law by the end of the year and to benefit Ethereum a lot more than other assets, including BTC. He believes the potential approval will “unlock more liquidity flowing into the ETH ecosystem.”

Triple-Digit Surge Against BTC Next?

Merlijn The Trader shared a similar bullish opinion on ETH, especially against BTC. This is because ETH dipped to 0.026 against the market leader, which is a historically important level that has launched a major rally in the past.

He noted that the last time this signal appeared, the largest altcoin outperformed BTC by over 230%. ETH peaked at over 0.043 against bitcoin in August last year when it charted its ATH against the greenback, but it has been mostly downhill since then.

It indeed dipped to and below 0.026 in the past few weeks, but has managed to bounce and now sits at over 0.028. If it’s to mimic its past 230% surge, it could rocket past 0.08, a level not seen in four years.

The last time this signal fired, Ethereum crushed Bitcoin by 233%.

It fired at 0.026.

ETH/BTC today: 0.026.
Same level.
New golden cross forming.

Five years of pain, just to return to the launchpad.

The market forgot. The chart didn’t. pic.twitter.com/nNAG1HJ4r6

— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) July 4, 2026

The post Analysts: Ethereum’s Worst Period Is Over – Is ETH About to Crush BTC? appeared first on CryptoPotato.