Cryptocurrency
Strategy Stock Slides as Saylor Pivots to Preferred Share Buybacks
Strategy shares fell 4.56% to $93.28 on July 31 after the company reported an $8.22 billion quarterly loss. The dip, which saw the stock briefly touch $89.21, follows a strategic shift by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor to prioritize the par value of preferred stock over immediate Bitcoin acquisitions.
South Korea Crypto Trading Volume Plunges 55% as Upbit Dominates
A 54.6% year-over-year decline in trading volume has swept through South Korea’s five major won-based crypto exchanges during the first half of 2026. As retail activity cools, liquidity is increasingly pooling into the market leader, Upbit, leaving smaller competitors struggling to retain their share of a shrinking pool.
US Treasury Escalates Crypto Crackdown on Iran via Operation Economic Fury
The US Treasury has seized nearly $1 billion in digital assets as part of Operation Economic Fury, a sweeping 2026 campaign targeting Iranian sanctions evasion. By leveraging the freeze mechanisms of centralized stablecoins, regulators are attempting to dismantle an illicit financial infrastructure that moved billions through offshore exchanges.
Moneyflip CEO faces federal charges in murder-for-hire plot
After allegedly paying undercover agents $40,000 to kidnap and execute a business rival, Moneyflip CEO Marcos Arturo Kleiman Tronllan was arrested in Miami. Federal prosecutors claim the executive, who allegedly laundered $750,000 in drug proceeds, attempted to settle a personal debt through a staged, lethal hit.
Hong Kong Woman Loses $3.3 Million in Sophisticated Romance Scam
A 50-year-old insurance professional in Hong Kong has been defrauded of approximately $3.3 million after a digital romance led her into a counterfeit cryptocurrency investment scheme. The victim was lured by a contact posing as a car dealer, who manipulated her into transferring massive sums to a fraudulent platform.
XRPL 3.3.0 Upgrade Targets Institutional Privacy and Settlement
Five proposed amendments arriving with the upcoming xrpld 3.3.0 release aim to bridge the gap between public blockchain infrastructure and the stringent requirements of global financial institutions. By introducing cryptographic privacy and atomic settlement, RippleX seeks to streamline how banks and asset managers handle tokenized real-world assets.
Uniswap Expands Into Onchain Lending With Morpho Vaults
Uniswap has moved beyond token swaps, launching a self-custodial lending product called Earn that allows users to deposit USDC, USDT, and ETH directly into curated Morpho vaults. The integration aims to capture user activity between trades by offering interest-bearing opportunities without requiring a move to a separate lending protocol.
Pump.fun Employees Reportedly Fired Before Massive Token Vesting
At least one former employee at Pump.fun lost out on a seven-figure token windfall after being dismissed just before their PUMP grants were set to vest. The layoffs, occurring in successive waves, have sparked allegations that the platform strategically purged staff to avoid honoring lucrative compensation agreements.
Tether Reports $1.5B Profit as USDT Market Dominance Grows
Tether generated $1.5 billion in net operating profit during the second quarter of 2026, bolstered by high yields from US Treasury holdings and repo operations. The firm’s latest BDO attestation reveals a massive expansion in circulating supply, with USDT reaching $184.6 billion and commanding over 60% of the global stablecoin market.
Bitcoin Slides Toward $60K Mark as Tech Momentum Fades
A cooling rally in Asian semiconductor stocks has sent Bitcoin tumbling below $63,000, compounding fears that the cryptocurrency is ill-prepared for its historically volatile August cycle. With the Crypto Fear & Greed Index hitting 25, investors are bracing for a potential slide toward the $58,000 support level.
Grayscale presses Senate for CLARITY Act vote before August recess
As the Senate approaches its August break, Grayscale Investments has issued an urgent appeal for a floor vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The asset manager argues that legislative gridlock leaves the U.S. crypto sector vulnerable, threatening to drive innovation toward more predictable international markets like Singapore.
CLARITY Act prospects dim as ethics deadlock hits the White House
Betting markets have slashed the probability of the CLARITY Act becoming law to 25%, as a critical bipartisan ethics compromise awaits a final signal from the White House. With the Senate August recess looming, the legislation remains stalled by negotiations over how to police federal officials' digital asset holdings.
SBI Holdings Values Ripple Stake at $41.2 Billion Amid Market Slump
Despite a sluggish cryptocurrency market and the declining price of XRP, Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings has pegged the value of its Ripple shareholding at 6.6 trillion yen, or approximately $41.2 billion. The company maintains that its decade-long partnership remains a core pillar of its long-term strategic investment portfolio.
South Korea Confirms 22% Crypto Tax for 2027
South Korea will begin taxing cryptocurrency gains at a combined rate of 22% starting January 1, 2027. The move ends years of speculation regarding potential delays, though critics argue the lack of loss-offset provisions could drive domestic traders toward offshore platforms before the rules even take effect.
Senate Scrambles to Schedule CLARITY Act Vote Before August Recess
With the Senate calendar rapidly narrowing, Majority Leader John Thune is keeping a narrow window open for a floor vote on the CLARITY Act. Senator Cynthia Lummis confirmed leadership remains committed to moving the crypto market structure bill before the August recess, despite a logjam of competing legislative priorities.
Coinbase Shares Slide 12% as Q2 Revenue Miss Jolts Investors
A 12% plunge in Coinbase stock followed the exchange’s second-quarter earnings report, where revenue of $1.22 billion fell short of Wall Street’s $1.29 billion forecast. The sell-off, which dragged shares to $143.77, reflects deep investor anxiety over the firm’s continued reliance on volatile crypto trading volumes.
Hyperliquid HYPE Token Slips Below $55 Amid HIP-4 Testnet Launch
A whale movement toward major exchanges and a broader market downturn have pushed the HYPE token below the $55 support level. This decline coincides with Hyperliquid launching its HIP-4 prediction-market framework on testnet, as the platform attempts to challenge established competitors like Polymarket and Kalshi.
Circle Secures New York Trust Charter to Bolster USDC Oversight
Stablecoin issuer Circle has been granted a limited-purpose trust charter by the New York Department of Financial Services for its new entity, Circle New York Trust. This state-level authorization arrives shortly after the company received federal approval to establish a national trust bank, signaling a dual-layered regulatory expansion for the firm.
Bank of Italy study finds stablecoins lack universal remittance edge
A July 2026 study from Banca d’Italia reveals that stablecoin remittances fail to consistently outperform traditional transfer services in cost or speed. Testing ten USDC corridors, researchers found that total fees fluctuated between 0.30% and 9%, proving that savings depend more on local banking infrastructure than blockchain efficiency.
Bernstein Backs Robinhood Growth With $160 Price Target
Bernstein has reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Robinhood Markets, maintaining a $160 price target as the platform pivots from a traditional brokerage toward a multifaceted financial infrastructure provider. Analysts point to aggressive expansion in tokenization, prediction markets, and proprietary exchange technology as the primary engines for long-term value.
The Divide Over Bitcoin Self-Custody Usability
A sharp critique from Bitcoin Archive has reignited a long-standing debate, characterizing the steep learning curve of self-custody wallets not as a technical necessity, but as a form of elitist gatekeeping designed to exclude non-technical users from the broader Bitcoin ecosystem.
KSNet and Solana Foundation Partner to Test Blockchain Payments in Korea
South Korean payment processor KSNet has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to trial blockchain-based transaction systems. The collaboration aims to integrate Solana Pay into existing merchant networks while exploring AI-driven payment models that bypass traditional credit card authentication hurdles.
NEAR Protocol launches staking-based payments for AI services
Users can now access 43 artificial intelligence models on NEAR Protocol without a credit card by locking NEAR tokens to generate compute credits. This system allows developers and individuals to run confidential inference and autonomous agents, keeping their capital intact while avoiding traditional subscription-based billing cycles.
Crypto Treasuries Pivot to AI Data Center Funding
Quantum Solutions and Hyperscale Data have begun liquidating significant portions of their digital asset treasuries to finance AI infrastructure. The shift marks a tactical departure from passive holding, as firms increasingly treat Bitcoin and Ethereum as primary capital sources for physical data center expansion.
Swan Treasury suffers $625,000 loss after signer key leak
A critical security breach on the BNB Chain has left Swan Treasury short $625,000 after attackers obtained the protocol’s off-chain signer key. By exploiting this leaked credential, bad actors bypassed purchase restrictions to acquire STY tokens at a 100-fold discount before dumping them into liquidity pools for profit.
Bitcoin Miners Pivot to AI as Network Contraction Deepens
Bitcoin mining is enduring one of its most significant contractions in the ASIC era, with network difficulty plunging 19.9% from its peak. While miners struggle with compressed margins and a reduced block subsidy, listed operators are increasingly pivoting toward lucrative artificial intelligence and data-center contracts to maintain valuation.
Bitcoin Price Stagnates After $9.6 Billion Options Expiry
A massive monthly options settlement involving $10.43 billion in combined Bitcoin and Ether contracts failed to catalyze a market breakout, leaving Bitcoin anchored near its $64,000 maximum pain level. Despite heavy call-side positioning, the expiry passed with little immediate impact on the prevailing trading range.
New York Targets Kalshi in $36 Billion Gambling Lawsuit
New York state officials have launched a sweeping legal offensive against prediction market platform Kalshi, seeking to halt its operations and recover at least $36 billion in penalties. The lawsuit accuses the company of bypassing state licensing requirements and allowing minors to participate in high-risk, unlicensed gambling activities.
AFX to Unveil Recovery Plan Following $24.15 Million Social Engineering Hack
A social engineering campaign targeting a single developer’s workstation allowed attackers to siphon $24.15 million from the AFX bridge, prompting the decentralized protocol to schedule a goodwill recovery plan for Aug. 3. The breach bypassed smart contract security by compromising internal validator nodes through trusted management software.
South Korea Launches 20 Trillion Won AI Sovereign Investment Account
South Korea is set to pivot its sovereign wealth strategy by establishing a 20 trillion won investment account dedicated to artificial intelligence and strategic domestic industries. This move marks a historic shift for the Korea Investment Corporation, which will now be permitted to deploy capital into local assets.