Russia’s central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said the digital ruble will be launched on September 1, 2025, after a transition period that began after the currency’s development in 2021. The rollout will initially be limited to banks and credit institutions. The central bank began work on the digital ruble in 2021. The project has been subject to EU sanctions announced in April, which cite Russia’s war in Ukraine. First deputy governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said the law enabling the digital ruble will take effect on September 1, with a transition period until July 2027. Nabiullina said the digital ruble is intended to be in demand among people and businesses, noting that it will be convenient and that the bank is discussing its functionality. Dr. Jack Jarmon, a former USAID technical adviser, said in a February 2025 report that the digital ruble may encounter structural limitations if Russia relies on proof‑of‑work cryptocurrencies, citing the country’s aging power grid and dependence on China for semiconductor components. In the United States, President Donald Trump received a housing bill that includes a four‑year ban on the issuance of a digital dollar, set to take effect in July 2025 if enacted, though he has indicated he will not sign it pending further legislation. The success of Russia’s digital ruble will depend on its adoption and the ability to overcome infrastructure and sanctions challenges, while the U.S. legislative process may shape the broader regulatory landscape for central bank digital currencies.

Tether froze the USDT balances of 131 TRON addresses and three Monero addresses linked to the ISIS‑K affiliate on July 1, 2024, as part of an OFAC sanctions designation. The sanctions update added digital‑currency identifiers to the ISIL Khorasan designation, allowing OFAC to target specific blockchain addresses. Chainalysis reported that the TRON addresses had received more than $1.4 million since 2023 and had sent more than $880,000, while the Monero addresses were included in the listing for potential illicit use. Tether’s freeze applied only to the TRON‑based USDT balances because the issuer can disable those token holdings at the contract level, a capability not available for Monero. The action follows a voluntary wallet‑freezing policy Tether introduced in December 2023 for addresses on OFAC’s SDN list. In 2024, Tether said it had frozen more than $344 million and $450 million in USDT in cooperation with U.S. authorities and the T3 Financial Crime Unit. The enforcement represents a shift from traditional sanctions that rely on banks and payment processors toward direct issuer control of stablecoin balances. While the response demonstrates a faster on‑chain intervention, it also highlights the limits of issuer‑driven controls, as funds can move to assets without a central authority. Regulators have proposed rules requiring permitted stablecoin issuers to develop technical capacities for blocking and rejecting impermissible transactions, treating issuers as financial infrastructure. The case suggests that future sanctions may focus on mapping and disrupting entire funding routes rather than isolated wallets, raising questions about the role of stablecoin issuers in global financial compliance.

Ethereum Foundation announced on July 1 that it created two independent organizations, Ethlabs and Ethereum Institutional, to develop technical infrastructure and pursue corporate adoption of the Ethereum network, according to a public statement.

Both groups are funded by ETH treasury firms that hold large amounts of ETH and aim to expand institutional use of the chain, the statement added.

Over the previous five months the Foundation saw multiple senior departures, including the resignation of co‑executive director Hsiao‑Wei Wang in June and a prior resignation of Tomasz Stańczak, according to records. In March 2026 the Foundation revised its mandate to focus on self‑sovereignty, censorship resistance, open‑source code, privacy and security, without claiming a governing role over the protocol, the document noted.

Ethlabs, built by five former senior researchers from the Foundation, is tasked with accelerating transaction settlement, improving infrastructure readiness, and presenting ETH as a monetary instrument for institutional investors, according to the organization’s description.

Ethereum Institutional focuses on building relationships with banks, asset managers and other corporate entities, delivering pitch decks and organizing forums to convert interest into deployed capital, the organization said.

Bitmine holds 5.70 million ETH, representing about 4.7 % of the total supply, and Sharplink added 10,000 ETH on June 28 to reach a total of 886,725 ETH, according to public data. The combined holdings equal roughly 5.5 % of the 120.7 million ETH supply cited by Bitmine and are valued at about $10.6 billion at current prices.

Bitmine’s market capitalization stands at $6.55 billion and Sharplink’s at over $1 billion, the data show.

Ethereum Institutional said it maintains more than 500 relationships with tier‑1 banks, asset managers, sovereign institutions and custodians, and its Institutional Ethereum Forum attracted more than 150 senior executives representing about $250 trillion in combined assets under management.

Proponents say that the new structure can double mainnet and layer‑2 transaction throughput, reduce mainnet median fees from above $2 to below $0.02, and cut layer‑2 fees by more than 95 % to roughly $0.0015, according to technical analyses.

Price expectations differ; Citi projects a 12‑month ETH target of $2,240 with a bear scenario of $1,094, while Standard Chartered forecasts $4,000 by the end of 2026, the firms reported.

The 2025 GENIUS Act established a federal framework for stablecoins, and a consortium including Visa, Mastercard and Coinbase launched the Open USD stablecoin, a development that could benefit institutional settlement on Ethereum, the report noted.

Analysts indicate that the continued operation of the two organizations depends on ETH price and the ability of treasury firms to provide funding; if ETH price remains subdued, funding certainty may decline, potentially limiting their capacity to underwrite the entities, the analysis said.

Whether the split will yield stronger infrastructure and clearer institutional access while preserving neutral stewardship remains uncertain, as the arrangement ties funding to the performance of the underlying ETH price.

France recorded 77 cases of unlawful confinement, abduction, extortion or attempted extortion tied to crypto‑sector participants in 2024, up from 45 cases in 2025, according to interior minister Laurent Nuñez. Authorities arrested 200 individuals after incidents or in anticipation and enrolled 724 participants in an immediate‑identification system intended to help emergency services recognize high‑risk persons. Nuñez said the government will strengthen intelligence sharing, deepen cooperation with the industry group ADAN through an expert network, and improve operational coordination with foreign jurisdictions. The plan treats attackers as organized networks first and incorporates measures such as priority emergency access, home‑security audits for exposed individuals, and briefings by elite units GIGN, RAID and BRI. A 2025 decree allows company officers and liable partners to request confidential home addresses in public filings. The increase reflects a shift from purely digital safeguards such as hardware wallets and multisig to include physical protection and data minimisation for founders, executives, employees and high‑profile holders whose personal information is publicly visible. Crypto crime researchers have documented a 75 % rise in physical coercion incidents worldwide in 2025, with kidnapping as the primary vector. France’s response aims to map organizers, freeze assets and provide rapid law‑enforcement access, but its effectiveness will depend on the development of supporting infrastructure and cross‑border collaboration.

eToro led a $12.5 million funding round in Extended, an on‑chain exchange for perpetual futures. Jump Crypto also participated in the round. Extended, founded by former Revolut employees, launched in late 2024 and operates on StarkWare’s StarkEx scaling engine. The platform focuses on perpetual futures, which have no expiry date, and supports self‑custody trading while aiming for fast execution. The funding is tied to a partnership between Extended and Zengo, a self‑custody wallet that eToro acquired in April 2026. eToro and Zengo plan to expand access to global financial markets through on‑chain infrastructure and to connect traditional financial assets with decentralized trading venues. The announcement was made on July 2 in a post on X. eToro’s investment is part of its effort to strengthen its self‑custody stack and to enter on‑chain derivatives more directly. In the first quarter of 2026, eToro reported that crypto‑related profit fell to $13 million, or about 5 % of its $258 million net trading profit, down from $46 million in the comparable period of 2025. Perpetual futures remain a major segment of crypto trading; CoinGecko’s 2026 Crypto Perpetuals Report showed that decentralized perpetual exchange open interest share increased from 3.6 % in early 2025 to 13.5 % in 2026, while Binance and OKX continue to lead centralized perpetual futures trading. Robinhood previously introduced perpetual futures tied to commodities, ETFs and currencies for eligible European users, demonstrating the expansion of crypto‑style trading tools into traditional markets.

Allium, a blockchain research firm, estimated that users based in the United States accounted for the largest share of political contracts and wallet count on Polymarket, according to a report released on Thursday. The study, which tagged 6% of wallets with a country, found that US participants are the single biggest political market on the platform despite attempts to block them.

Polymarket restricted US access to its global platform after a $1.4 million settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2022. The researcher said the block did not eliminate US involvement; it shifted activity offshore and beyond direct oversight.

Data indicated that US users are more active in foreign conflict markets, with five of the top twelve markets by notional volume relating to the Iran war, while interest in election markets was lower. Allium estimated that US trading volume on Polymarket totaled between $10.6 billion and $26.7 billion from May 2025 to April 2026, based on analyses of trade timing and market categories.

Polymarket has also been reported to block IP addresses associated with VPN services, according to The Information. The platform is fully blocked in more than 34 countries, including Spain, and operates under “close only” restrictions in four additional jurisdictions. Four regions in Canada and Ukraine are listed as restricted.

Cointelegraph contacted Polymarket for comment. The findings highlight the continued presence of US participants in a market subject to legal and political scrutiny.

Irish authorities seized another 500 BTC, bringing the total recovered from convicted drug trafficker Clifton Collins to 1,500 BTC. Arkham data indicates roughly 4,500 BTC remain in wallets linked to the case. The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) said the seizure occurred with support from Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre. In March 2024, CAB accessed the first 500 BTC wallet after Europol supplied decryption resources, a process described by the Irish Times as the first recovery of funds believed inaccessible due to lost private keys. According to the Irish Times, Collins purchased approximately 6,000 BTC between 2011 and 2012 using proceeds from cannabis sales and divided the holdings across 12 wallets of 500 BTC each. He stored the private keys on paper inside the aluminum cap of a fishing rod case that was later cleared after his 2020 arrest. Europol’s assistance has been central to the recovery effort, with the agency providing technical expertise for wallet access. Lookonchain reported that a recent transfer of 500 BTC was deposited to Coinbase Prime, while about 4,500 BTC remain in wallets linked to the case. CAB has not disclosed how investigators gained access to the latest wallet. The case illustrates how law enforcement agencies combine legal seizure, cybercrime support, and blockchain tracing to recover assets previously considered lost. Analysts continue to monitor the remaining 4,500 BTC.

XRP increased 4% on July 3, 2026, reaching $1.0894 after holding $1.08 and testing $1.10 resistance. Wallet creation rose to 4,941 daily addresses, the highest single‑day increase in 14 weeks, while social sentiment reached a three‑month high with bullish comments outnumbering bearish ones by 3.7 to 1. Ripple’s scheduled escrow release of 1 billion XRP had no measurable effect on price. The price formed higher lows at $1.0552, $1.0589 and $1.0799, and volume rose 26.9% above the seven‑day average, peaking at 117.5 million XRP. XRP failed to break $1.1087, the first resistance level, and consolidated between $1.08 and $1.09 on lighter volume. Analysts said the immediate support is $1.08, with $1.0611 as the next downside level if the support fails. A clean move above $1.1087 could open a path toward $1.12‑$1.13. The token remains in a consolidation phase until it sustains a move above $1.10‑$1.12.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said on July 2 that the recent decline in Strategy’s perpetual preferred stock (STRC) reflects a late‑stage deleveraging phase of the crypto cycle rather than an imminent liquidation risk for the firm, and suggested the market may be approaching a bottom.

Context: Strategy, the parent of MSTR, announced a new capital framework that allows selective bitcoin sales to fund preferred dividends, while maintaining a cash reserve covering more than a year of dividend and interest payments.

The price of Bitcoin fell below $60,000, and STRC traded around $88, down from its $100 par value, prompting questions about the firm’s commitment to defending the preferred share price. Hougan noted that Strategy holds about $52 billion in liquid assets and roughly $7 billion in debt. He described the volatility as a natural part of the crypto cycle and said the firm may sell bitcoin or repurchase STRC as market conditions evolve. The firm also set a minimum cash reserve equal to 12 months of preferred dividend and interest obligations, with its $2.55 billion cash balance covering about 17 months of those payments. Wall Street bank JPMorgan warned that the new policy could create two‑way risk and increase market uncertainty. Hougan added that institutional investors such as asset managers, banks, pensions, endowments and sovereign funds are likely to become the primary source of bitcoin demand, while Strategy’s role may shift to a more flexible participant.

The timing of a definitive market bottom remains uncertain, and the episode underscores the ongoing adjustment of leverage within the crypto ecosystem.

The CoinDesk 20 Index rose about 5% in 24 hours, reaching its highest level in a week, as Bitcoin climbed above $61,000 and smaller tokens such as Memecore’s M and Audiera’s BEAT posted large gains. The rebound follows dovish signals from Federal Reserve officials, including comments by Chair Kevin Warsh that reduced inflation concerns and led to expectations of a delayed rate hike. Bitcoin added roughly 4% to reach $61,200, while ether rose 5% and Solana gained 9% after announcing a staking requirement for its governance proposals. Memecore’s M rose 81% and Audiera’s BEAT rose 12%, making them the top performers among the top 100 coins by market value. Venice Token rose 9%, and XRP advanced about 4%. Derivatives data showed open interest on Bitcoin increasing 4% to $107 million and total trading volume rising 18% to nearly $200 million, while liquidations totaled $444.6 million, with shorts accounting for most of the positions. Positive funding rates around 10% and a shift in implied volatility indexes indicated growing buyer aggression, contrasting with recent periods of seller dominance. Taiko’s cross‑chain bridge, which had been paused after a $1.7 million hack on July 22, was restored, briefly pushing its token TAIKO up more than 100% before the price settled back to around 16 cents; its market capitalization stood at roughly $32.5 million. Analysts noted that the upcoming nonfarm payrolls report and President Donald Trump’s planned AI model standards could influence market direction in the coming days. The market’s short‑term outlook remains uncertain as traders watch upcoming economic data and policy signals.

Edel, a DeFi lending protocol, disclosed a $403,000 exploit that affected the layer where tokenized stocks are used as collateral. The attack manipulated the exchange rate between the wrapped Google stock token wGOOGLx and its underlying GOOGLx token, inflating wGOOGLx's collateral value to roughly 78 times its correct level. By using a flash loan to repeatedly supply and borrow, the attacker distorted the price feed that relied on an ERC‑4626 vault conversion rate, enabling the borrowing of about 384,215 USDC and positions in wrapped SPY, QQQ, MSTR, NVDA and TSLA tokens.

The protocol said no depositor would bear losses and that it would absorb the bad debt, restore affected balances one‑to‑one, and rebuild its oracle architecture for a version two release. Security firms reported differing loss amounts: Cyvers estimated the loss at $353,000, GoPlus at $403,000 with about $305,000 in attacker profit, and CertiK at $204,000, reflecting variations in how bad debt, gross loss and net profit were measured.

Tokenized stocks currently have an on‑chain value of $1.7 billion, up 2.17 % in the past 30 days, with monthly transfer volume of $8.92 billion and over 396,000 holders. Platforms such as Kamino have become the first major lenders to accept these tokens as collateral, while Robinhood plans to launch tokenized stock tokens for EU customers on an Ethereum layer‑2 built on Arbitrum.

The incident underscores the need for protocols to isolate wrapper risk, cap collateral exposure, separate issuer prices from exchange rates and harden oracle paths, lest tokenized equities become vulnerable to flash‑loan attacks that can undermine their credibility as collateral.