The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633) received support from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), the second major law enforcement group to endorse the bill before the August Senate deadline. The endorsement follows NOBLE’s backing earlier in July, giving the legislation two law enforcement endorsements. FLEOA said the bill represents progress toward balancing digital asset development with public safety. The association represents more than 34,000 active and retired federal officers across over 65 agencies. FLEOA requested revisions to clarify DeFi accountability, replace the bill’s specific intent test with a knowledge standard, and ensure the legislation does not limit federal investigative powers. The group also urged that the text preserve authority over criminal cases, anti‑money‑laundering rules, sanctions and counter‑terrorism financing. National President Mathew Silverman said officers need tools to investigate complex financial crimes. Other law enforcement groups have warned that broad protections in Section 604 could impede crypto crime investigations, and the Department of Justice has challenged those claims as inaccurate. The Major County Sheriffs of America changed its position from opposition to neutral after further discussion of Section 604. The Senate’s August work period runs from August 10 to September 11, leaving August 7 as the final scheduled session day before the break. As of July 14, no floor vote on the bill had been listed. President Donald Trump urged the Senate to pass the measure on July 13, linking the appeal to the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator Cynthia Lummis said on July 8 that the legislation may represent the last chance to enact digital asset rules before 2030. She warned that failure to act could allow other countries to set the regulatory framework. Senate staff still need to align language from the Banking and Agriculture Committees before a final floor vote, and the bill requires bipartisan support to reach the 60‑vote threshold. Its requested revisions show that questions over DeFi accountability, developer protections and investigative authority remain unresolved before the summer break.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, regulation, and the forces moving digital assets.
Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached $1.79 trillion in June, according to Visa Onchain Analytics, a 63% increase from May and 125% higher than a year earlier. During the same period, the total circulating supply fell by $7.7 billion, the largest monthly decline since the TerraUSD collapse in May 2022.
Stablecoin supply represents the total value of issued tokens and functions as crypto’s cash balance, whereas volume measures the amount transferred over a period. Visa’s adjusted metric excludes high‑frequency bot activity, exchange treasury rebalancing, and repetitive smart‑contract calls, aiming to capture economically meaningful on‑chain activity.
CEX.IO reported total stablecoin supply of roughly $312 billion in Q2, down more than $3 billion from Q1’s $315 billion, marking the first quarterly contraction since Q3 2023. Adjusted volume declined 5.5% in Q2 alongside the supply drop, with yield‑bearing stablecoins falling 15% and losing more than $3.5 billion, while Treasury‑backed products such as BlackRock’s BUIDL and Circle’s USYC posted gains.
Supply fragmentation was evident across networks: Ethereum L2s lost $4.34 billion, with Arbitrum shedding 45% of its base, HyperEVM’s stablecoin supply rising 300% to $5.6 billion, and Tron adding $3.4 billion. Ethereum’s mainnet contributed over $10 billion in absolute supply loss. Transaction counts fell by 530 million in Q2 to 4.48 billion, the steepest quarterly decline recorded.
Analysts noted that a contracting stablecoin base can reduce on‑chain dollar liquidity, especially as spot Bitcoin ETF outflows and weaker corporate treasury buying occur. Talos identified three concurrent drags on demand and liquidity in Q2: declining stablecoin supply, ETF outflows exceeding $4 billion in June, and slower corporate treasury purchases. Bitcoin fell 14% in Q2, trading below $60,000, while stablecoin supply contracted.
Payment companies view the increased transaction volume as a win for velocity rather than float, with Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot reaching a $7 billion annualized run rate in April across nine networks. Stripe’s treasury product now offers USDC‑denominated balances to businesses in 101 countries, and Nuvei’s acquisition of Payoneer aims to embed token settlement into regulated commerce infrastructure. Circle obtained OCC approval on July 10 to create a federally chartered national trust bank, Circle National Trust, with USDC reserve management as a future capability, coinciding with the GENIUS Act’s pending implementation rules.
Analysts note that the contraction of the underlying capital pool could affect future liquidity as other demand sources weaken.
Crypto exchanges are adding tokenized equities and real‑world asset derivatives as distribution channels for Wall Street exposure, a trend reflected in a rise of new listings.
Tokenized assets accounted for less than 7% of new listings in 2025 and increased to nearly 20% in the first half of 2026, according to CryptoRank data. The growth coincided with a decline in retail equity purchases, which fell to a net $13 billion in the most recent month, the lowest since early 2020, per VandaTrack.
Trading volume in real‑world asset perpetual futures on centralized exchanges rose 57% in June to a record $311 billion, with Binance handling $245 billion, or 78.6% of the market, according to CoinDesk. The tokenized stock market grew more than 470% over the past year to about $1.87 billion, and monthly transfer volume reached $8.4 billion, per RWA.xyz. Kraken reported that xStocks generated $25 billion in total transaction volume, including more than $3.5 billion in on‑chain activity.
Overall new token listings in Q2 2026 fell to 351, the lowest quarterly total since Q3 2023, and delistings outpaced additions for the second consecutive quarter, according to CryptoRank. Memecoin listings declined 79% from Q4 2024 to Q2 2026, and GameFi listings fell 84% from their Q2 2024 peak to 15 in Q2 2026.
The expansion reflects a broader shift in exchange strategy as platforms diversify beyond speculative crypto‑native tokens toward assets linked to established financial markets.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Base’s content coin strategy failed and that the network changed direction earlier in 2026, shifting focus to trading, payments and AI agents.
Base began promoting content coins through its social app in 2025, using Zora contracts to turn posts into tradable tokens that allowed creators to earn fees when users traded their content. The initiative generated more than 1.6 million tokens and about $470 million in trading volume from roughly three million traders, most of whom engaged for short‑term profit.
Armstrong said the content coin projects “didn’t work” and that the network pivoted early this year, acknowledging a mistake. He said Base now allocates most resources to trading infrastructure, with payments and AI agents receiving less emphasis. According to Armstrong, payment services require foreign‑exchange capabilities and AI agents may rely on trading and payment tools. He added that the new direction may not yet be clear to external users.
Community members and a user identified as SmileyXBT criticized the Zora promotion, saying Base spent more than a year highlighting Zora‑based tokens and giving extra attention to projects linked to former Coinbase staff. They also questioned creator coins tied to public figures and Base team members, noting that some traders incurred losses.
Armstrong said Base has not replaced its community strategy with AI agents, describing agents as one component of a system built around trading and payments. The company launched Agentic Wallets that let software agents hold funds, trade tokens and make payments, and introduced Coinbase for Agents, which connects AI systems to trading and portfolio tools. Base also released Base MCP, a tool that enables users to direct wallet actions through AI chat while retaining transaction approval. Base promoted x402 as a method for software agents to pay for online services using stablecoins.
The shift marks a public break from content coins as a central growth plan, though it remains unclear how the new focus will affect long‑term user engagement and the viability of AI‑driven products.
Bitcoin slipped below $63,000 on July 13, 2026, a 1.4% decline in 24 hours as markets reacted to heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Data from CryptoSlate showed the price near $62,940, down 1.4% over the previous day.
CoinGlass reported $252.9 million in cryptocurrency positions liquidated the prior day, most from leveraged long positions.
Other digital assets such as Ethereum, XRP and Solana posted modest losses of less than 2%.
The price decline coincided with renewed U.S. strikes against Iranian facilities, which pushed Brent crude up to 4% near $80 per barrel.
Higher crude prices lifted the two-year Treasury yield to its highest level since February 2025 and implied about 39 basis points of Fed tightening by year‑end.
Yields increased the opportunity cost of holding non‑yielding assets, contributing to Bitcoin’s weakness despite rising geopolitical risk.
The U.S. Central Command confirmed deployment of fighter aircraft, naval vessels and autonomous sea drones to neutralize coastal radar and missile sites, stating the strait remains open for lawful commercial navigation.
Iranian authorities claimed the strait is closed to international shipping and warned that transit will be limited to Iranian‑controlled arrangements.
Polymarket assigned a 3% probability that Hormuz traffic will meet its recovery threshold by July 31, based on a contract that resolves “Yes” if the IMF’s PortWatch records at least 60 vessel calls in any seven‑day period through that date.
The contract had recorded more than $16 million in volume as of the latest report.
The KOSPI fell 9.2% on the same day, erasing about $950 billion in market value, with SK Hynix down 15% after its $26.5 billion ADR listing.
Samsung Electronics also declined about 11%.
While the KOSPI remains up 58% year‑to‑date, the recent drop marks a contraction from earlier gains.
The immediate outlook for Bitcoin stays linked to oil price trends and expectations for U.S. monetary policy, with no clear resolution to the Strait of Hormuz dispute.
Binance released its 44th proof‑of‑reserves report for June, showing that customer Bitcoin holdings rose 1.22% to about 640,000 BTC, an increase of 7,715 BTC. Ethereum holdings fell 1.41% to about 4.08 million ETH, a decline of 58,591 ETH. Tether balances dropped 1.51% to roughly 33.7 billion USDT, a decrease of 510 million USDT. The report compared balances recorded on June 1 with a snapshot taken on July 1 and did not indicate whether the changes resulted from purchases, sales, or transfers. Binance said it holds customer assets on a 1:1 basis with additional reserves and uses Merkle trees and zero‑knowledge proofs to let customers verify that their balances are included in the total liabilities. In June, Binance recorded approximately $1.63 trillion in futures trading volume, its highest monthly total of 2026 according to CryptoQuant. The exchange also introduced service changes for some European users after the EU’s MiCA transition ended on July 1, allowing affected users to continue using previously communicated options, including withdrawals where available. CoinMarketCap ranked Binance first in January 2026 with about $155.6 billion in proof‑of‑reserve assets. Similar trends were reported at Bybit and OKX, where Bitcoin holdings rose while USDT balances fell, though the reports did not specify the causes.
Hyundai Motor's US and Mexican units completed a pilot cross‑border treasury transfer using Tether's USDT stablecoin, settling a $20,000 payment in about seven minutes on the Avalanche blockchain. Traditional cross‑border bank transfers typically take three to four hours. Tether said Hyundai Motor America converted the funds into USDT, transferred the stablecoin to Hyundai Motor Mexico, and converted it back into US dollars. The process took roughly seven minutes, compared with three to four hours for a conventional bank transfer. The pilot used Axiym's settlement infrastructure, while Hyundai Card designed the remittance structure and oversaw the regulatory, compliance, accounting and operational requirements. The trial aimed to evaluate whether stablecoin‑based settlement could be integrated into existing corporate treasury operations without changing governance, compliance or accounting procedures. The next phase will expand testing to additional payment corridors and local‑currency settlements as the companies assess broader enterprise treasury workflows. Kyriba partnered with Circle in April to integrate USDC into its treasury platform, allowing treasury teams to manage stablecoin balances alongside cash and settle cross‑border payments near‑real time outside regular banking hours. A Bitso Business report indicated that stablecoin transaction volumes on its platform rose 81% year‑over‑year in the first half of 2026, driven by demand for real‑time settlement, treasury management and cross‑border liquidity. Survey data showed that 22.5% of businesses already use stablecoins for international payments or plan to within the next year, and B2B transactions accounted for roughly 60% of the estimated $390 billion global stablecoin payment volume in 2025. The stablecoin market capitalization reached about $312.3 billion, up 21.5% from the previous year, with USDT remaining the largest stablecoin by market value.
A wallet inactive since Bitcoin traded near $6,500 transferred $188 million of Bitcoin, its first on‑chain movement in seven years, sending 2,931 BTC from address 356my to bc1qn on Sunday, according to blockchain data firm Arkham.
The transfer occurred as Bitcoin hovered around $64,000 per coin and as large whale transfers — defined as at least $10 million — have accounted for the majority of Bitcoin inflows to exchanges this year.
Analysts noted that the 2,931 BTC moved represented a nearly tenfold increase from the price at which the coins were originally acquired, according to analytics platform Onchain Lens.
Whale deposits to exchanges often precede sales, and the exchange‑to‑total‑inflow ratio stood at 0.99, meaning that almost all inflows originated from the ten largest transfers, a level that analysts have described as historically bearish because such deposits may be followed by significant sell pressure.
The activity adds to persistent selling pressure from spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded fund holders, who recorded $4.51 billion in net outflows in June, the worst month on record for ETF inflows, according to Farside Investors.
The transaction highlights continued movement by long‑dormant holders in a market that has seen substantial outflows from ETF investors and remains sensitive to large‑scale whale activity.
Franklin Crypto's CIO, Ginns, said crypto prices appear disconnected from underlying fundamentals as institutional interest grows. In an interview with Jennifer Sanasie on CoinDesk's Public Keys on July 13, 2026, he noted that the convergence between traditional finance and crypto has continued despite a prolonged market slump. Franklin Crypto aims to build a leading fundamental crypto investment platform after Franklin Templeton's acquisition of 250 Digital, a firm that emerged from CoinFund's liquid investment business. He said venture capital remains a natural fit for institutional allocators and that current market conditions make liquid crypto investments more viable. Ginns cited several developments that could attract more institutional capital, including Robinhood's blockchain initiative, growing interest in tokenized money market funds, tokenized equities, stablecoin adoption, and broader financial infrastructure. He added that an upcoming Senate vote on the CLARITY Act may provide regulatory certainty for digital assets. He expects projects to improve token value capture through stronger tokenomics, noting Hyperliquid's revenue-driven token buyback model as an example. Ginns highlighted Uniswap, Aave, and Chainlink as protocols that could benefit from improved token economics, and said Stellar's efforts to deepen institutional engagement are notable among blockchain infrastructure projects. He believes established crypto projects may regain investor attention as they rethink their token models.
Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum layer‑2 launched on July 1, 2026, has recorded about $312 million in total value locked and 3.6 million daily transactions, according to data from DefiLlama and Token Terminal. The network was created to support tokenized stocks and other real‑world assets, but early usage has been driven by speculative memecoin trading, including the CASHCAT token, which rose 2,158% over the past week and reached a $156 million market cap, according to CoinDesk. Total value locked grew from $17 million on July 3 to $135 million, as reported by DefiLlama, and the chain ranked among the top three for decentralized exchange trading volume with $3.1 billion in weekly volume. Tokenized equity assets accounted for $12.8 million of the locked value, while stablecoins and other tokens made up the remainder. The chain processed 10.4 million transactions in a single day, surpassing Base’s 6.4 million, as posted by CEO Vlad Tenev on X, and has attracted nearly 800,000 lifetime active addresses. Fees per transaction run a fraction of a cent, and the value of all tokens locked on the protocol is $312 million with a total asset market cap of $480 million, according to the protocol’s public metrics. CEO Vlad Tenev stated on July 2 that assets without utility lack lasting purpose and that tokenized real‑world assets are the durable direction for crypto, and on July 8 he added that the chain 'works great for memes too,' according to his X posts. Whether the current speculative demand will convert into broader adoption of tokenized equity and real‑world asset services remains unresolved.
Strategy raised $466.7 million by selling 4,818,781 MSTR shares between July 6 and July 12, according to an SEC Form 8‑K filing. The company said it held 843,775 Bitcoin unchanged during the same period.
The at‑the‑market sale was conducted through the company’s ATM program and left its Bitcoin holdings, acquired for about $63.69 billion at an average price of $75,476 per Bitcoin, unchanged. Strategy also reported an increase of $450 million in its USD Reserve and maintained roughly $3.0 billion in USD reserves as of July 12. The filing indicated the cash would be used to cover preferred stock dividends and debt interest, and that $23.79 billion remained available under its ATM stock program.
The filing followed a $216 million Bitcoin sale disclosed the prior week, the second sale in the company’s history. Strategy said the proceeds would fund dividends tied to its STRC preferred stock and other digital credit securities. The company did not repurchase any shares under its existing buyback program during the week. Standard Chartered noted that recent Bitcoin weakness was linked to uncertainty about Strategy’s treasury approach rather than fundamental changes. The bank reiterated its $100,000 price target for Bitcoin by the end of 2026 and said the pullback should not alter its long‑term bullish outlook. Michael Saylor posted a Bitcoin acquisition chart on July 12 with the caption “Orange dots tell only part of the story,” but the post did not confirm any transaction for the week.
The company continues to hold its Bitcoin position while maintaining its USD reserve, and it has not indicated further Bitcoin sales under its monetization program.
A solo miner using a low‑power Bitaxe device mined Bitcoin block 957,382 and earned 3.1382 BTC, valued at about $200,000, after operating for eight hours through the Public Pool service. The Bitaxe is an open‑source ASIC miner that uses the same Bitmain BM1370 chip found in industrial Antminer S21 units, delivering roughly 1 to 1.3 terahashes per second while consuming 15 to 21 watts of power and costing $60 to $150. Solo mining activity rose 41% year over year, with 24 blocks found in the past 12 months. The miner’s average hash rate was about 995 GH/s, or roughly one terahash per second. This win marked the second time a Bitaxe has solo‑mined a block on Public Pool, according to data posted by Public Pool on X. Bitcoin mining difficulty fell 5% to 127.17 trillion on July 12, continuing a decline that began in mid‑June, as several large mining firms seek to pivot toward artificial‑intelligence data centers to sustain profitability.
On Monday, the U.S. government transferred nearly $297 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime, according to blockchain data.
The transfer involved about 3,940 BTC, valued at roughly $244 million, and approximately 30,000 ETH, valued near $53 million at the time. The Bitcoin originated from seizures linked to Ryan Farace, known online as “Xanaxman,” and the now‑defunct exchange BTC‑e, while the Ether came from wallets tied to Brian Krewson, an Oracle employee in a federal case concerning crypto storage and money‑laundering, according to Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn.
Coinbase Prime, which provides custody, trading, financing and staking services, received the assets as part of a custody or asset‑management move, not as evidence of an imminent sale. The U.S. Marshals Service selected Coinbase Prime in 2024 to safeguard and trade forfeited digital assets, and the government has transferred funds to the platform on several occasions, including a 2.438 BTC transfer in April, making the Monday movement one of the largest government‑linked transfers to the platform in 2026.
The transfer renewed questions about compliance with President Trump’s March 2025 executive order that created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate digital‑asset stockpile, the order stating that Bitcoin “shall not be sold” and limiting sales to exceptions such as restitution to victims, law‑enforcement use or court orders. Analysts noted that Ether and other non‑Bitcoin holdings fall under a separate stockpile where the Treasury may set stewardship plans within its legal authority, and ongoing discussions between the Treasury and the Department of Commerce concern control of seized Bitcoin and the need for new legislation.
Government‑linked wallets currently hold an estimated $20.5 billion in crypto, with Bitcoin comprising the majority at roughly 325,000 BTC, alongside Ether, Tether, wrapped Bitcoin and other seized assets; the recorded balance can shift with market price movements, court‑ordered restitution, custody transfers or the identification of additional wallets, and until further wallet activity or an official statement is provided, the transfer remains a custody move rather than proof of liquidation.
Bonzo Lend, a Hedera‑based lending protocol, paused withdrawals on July 13 after an oracle verifier accepted a proof containing a zeroed signature and public key, allowing a wallet to borrow approximately $9.05 million using 250 SAUCE tokens. The exploit occurred when a transaction submitted a price update that inflated the SAUCE token price by many orders of magnitude while the market price remained near 0.2 HBAR. Eight seconds after the manipulated price was stored, the wallet borrowed 6.63 million USDC and 34.5 million wrapped HBAR. The submitted update contained no valid oracle signature; its signature field was [0,0] and the referenced committee public key was the zero point, known in cryptography as the point at infinity. The verifier sent these inputs to Hedera’s pairing precompile, which returned true because both points represented the mathematical identity. Since the verifier did not reject identity inputs, it treated the result as a committee signature. Bonzo’s lending contracts then applied their programmed loan‑to‑value rules using the stored price. A second wallet borrowed roughly $1 million while the abnormal price was live, later identified as a white‑hat responder stating intent to return the funds; Bonzo counted about $1 million recovered, though final figures remained unsettled. Bonzo Finance Labs and the Bonzo Finance Foundation are assessing recovery paths, including regression tests to confirm the verifier rejects identity inputs and possible additions of price‑deviation checks or tighter collateral parameters. The protocol’s status page listed the incident as unresolved on July 13, and no reopening date, reimbursement plan, or user withdrawal terms have been announced.
The U.S. government moved nearly $300 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime on Monday, according to on‑chain data.
Arkham reported that 3,940 Bitcoin valued at approximately $243.95 million and 30,014 Ether valued at about $53.09 million were transferred to Coinbase Prime. The Bitcoin originated from seizures of Ryan Farace, also known as XanaxMan, and the now‑defunct exchange BTC‑E, said Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Research. The Ether was linked to Brian Krewson, an Oracle employee implicated in a $54 million crypto storage and money‑laundering scheme.
The transfer represents one of the largest movements from government‑controlled wallets this year. In June, a government wallet moved 98,589 Chainlink tokens, traced to assets seized from FTX and Alameda Research; in April, roughly 8.2 Bitcoin connected to the 2016 Bitfinex hack were sent to Coinbase Prime. Government‑linked wallets are estimated to hold around $20.6 billion in crypto, including roughly 325,000 Bitcoin, 28,000 Ether, 146 million USDT and 750 wrapped Bitcoin.
Coinbase Prime provides institutional custody, trading, financing and staking services, which may explain the consolidation rather than an immediate sale. The March 2025 executive order issued by President Donald Trump states that seized Bitcoin should be retained as part of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and not sold, a provision that the recent transfer does not appear to violate.
Whether the transferred assets will eventually be liquidated remains undisclosed.
Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, reported $15 billion in revenue for 2025 and $1.04 billion net profit in the first quarter of 2026, and disclosed that it holds about 154 metric tons of physical gold valued at roughly $20 billion, which backs both its USDT and XAUT tokens.
The gold holdings represent approximately 10% of USDT's total reserve composition, with 132 of the 154 tons stored in USDT reserves and 22 tons directly backing XAUT, each token representing one troy ounce of London Good Delivery gold held in Swiss vaults.
On June 18, Ledn announced that it will accept XAUT as collateral for USDT‑denominated loans, with a planned USAT token launch later in 2026, marking Tether's first integration of gold‑backed assets into a centralized lending platform. S&P assigned a BBB‑ rating to Ledn's senior notes tied to a $188 million Bitcoin‑backed securitization, though the rating applies only to those notes and not to customer loans. The XAUT lending product will be limited to eligible jurisdictions and will not be available to residents of Canada or the European Union.
Gold ETFs such as SPDR Gold Shares and IAU provide regulated, liquid exposure but require conventional brokerage and clearing processes for collateral use. XAUT enables on‑chain, 24/7 settlement and direct use as collateral on crypto lending platforms without rehypothecation, though the underlying gold is held by TG Commodities and verified through quarterly attestations rather than full forensic audits. Tether has not sought MiCA licensing, and the EU's MiCA transitional deadline expired on July 1.
Specific loan‑to‑value ratios and liquidation thresholds for the XAUT product have not been disclosed, and Tether's concentration of both USDT and XAUT creates potential credibility risk for both tokens. The success of XAUT‑backed lending will depend on demand for borrowing against tokenized gold, as Tether aims to operate across stablecoin, physical gold, and collateralized credit markets.
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt will take a leave of absence at the end of July to undergo military training with the Georgia Army National Guard, a development that occurs as the Senate considers the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before its August recess.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, introduced to establish the first comprehensive U.S. regulatory framework for cryptocurrency markets, has a narrow window to pass the Senate before lawmakers begin their August 8 recess, a timeline viewed as critical by industry observers.
Witt, who has served as executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets since August, is scheduled to finish his work on July 24 and begin Judge Advocate General training with the Georgia Army National Guard, a program that will qualify him as a legal officer in the Guard. Cody Carbone, CEO of Digital Chamber, said Witt has been forthcoming about his planned military leave.
In Witt’s absence, Harry Jung, deputy director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, is expected to assume his responsibilities, though sources indicate Witt intends to remain engaged in the legislative process during his training. Witt has been involved in negotiations between crypto industry representatives and banking officials concerning stablecoin yield provisions and ethics clauses in the bill.
The outcome of the CLARITY Act before the Senate recess remains unresolved, and Witt’s temporary departure may influence the legislative timeline.
Stablecoin cross‑border payments were priced below interbank foreign‑exchange rates in every month of the second quarter of 2026, according to Borderless.xyz’s Q2 benchmark. The median Parity Gap was minus 3.2 basis points, meaning the delivered stablecoin price was lower than the interbank midpoint. The cost to deliver a $10,000 payment stayed near $27 throughout the quarter, varying by less than 30 cents. The benchmark tracked 260 payment corridors across 108 countries and 59 currencies, using 2.96 million rate observations. A business that used the median provider instead of the best available route paid 23.3 basis points more, equivalent to an extra $2,330 for every $1 million moved across 81 corridors. Provider rankings changed frequently; the USDT‑to‑BRL corridor switched leadership about every 2.6 days, with no single provider holding the top position for half the quarter. The report identified the resulting cost difference as the “Routing Tax.” The network covered 377 payout routes on seven blockchains and included 82 corridors with at least two steady providers, including 18 with three or more backup routes. USDC and USDT differed by only 0.4 basis points on average, but individual corridors showed larger gaps, such as a 99‑basis‑point discount for USDC versus USDT in Peru. Mexico’s 21.5‑basis‑point USDT routing gap applied to $67.6 billion in annual remittance inflows. In Africa, the median provider spread rose to 512.8 basis points, with Malawi’s spread increasing from about 296 to 1,975 basis points after a 5.8 % change on April 9. dLocal expanded stablecoin services to more than 44 markets, and SBI Remit partnered with Fasset to cover over 50 payment corridors. The report said that dynamic routing can provide greater savings than reliance on a fixed provider under competitive market conditions. The findings indicate that routing remains the largest avoidable cost lever for stablecoin payments, though savings depend on corridor, provider and transaction size.
Reed Smith, a law firm with more than 30 offices worldwide, launched Aquarius, an automated platform that helps crypto companies meet European Union Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) requirements. The rollout came after the MiCA transition period ended on July 1, when temporary national exemptions ceased to apply.
MiCA establishes licensing, consumer protection and operational rules for digital asset service providers across the EU’s 27 members. Aquarius automates tasks such as asset classification, regulatory white‑paper creation, due‑diligence checks and ESG reporting, aiming to simplify compliance for firms entering or expanding in the EU market.
The firm, which operates a digital‑asset practice under its On Chain initiative, has previously advised on high‑profile transactions, including the placement agents for Trump Media’s $2.5 billion Bitcoin treasury financing and the Nakamoto Holdings merger that created a Bitcoin treasury company. It plans to extend Aquarius to support compliance regimes in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Regulators are reviewing how custodians safeguard client assets and manage risk, as ESMA began a supervisory review of authorized crypto‑asset service providers. Sebastien Dessimoz, co‑founder and managing partner of Taurus, said a MiCA license is only the first step, with continued oversight required for cybersecurity, governance and asset protection. EU policymakers are also discussing revisions to MiCA’s stablecoin framework, prompted in part by the United States’ GENIUS Act, which creates a federal framework for payment stablecoins.
Obtaining a MiCA licence remains complex for many service providers, and the new platform seeks to streamline that process through automated workflows and legal expertise.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday urging members of the Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act “in honor of” the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who died Saturday at age 71. He said Graham had been “a big supporter” of the bill and called for Senate action before the August recess.
The CLARITY Act proposes to shift regulatory authority for digital assets from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Senate has four weeks of session before a month‑long August recess, creating a narrow window for passage. Graham served in the Senate from 2003 and did not sit on the banking or agriculture committees; he voted for the GENIUS Act in 2025 but did not publicly endorse CLARITY.
The Republican majority in the Senate stands at 51‑47 after Graham’s death and Senator Mitch McConnell’s hospitalization, requiring at least 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Senate Democrats have said they will not back the bill unless it includes conflict‑of‑interest provisions, citing Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showing about $1.4 billion in crypto‑related earnings. Five Democratic committee members requested a review of the disclosure, arguing it raises concerns about the president influencing legislation to benefit his own crypto investments.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, said she agreed with Trump’s remark, noting Graham’s passion for keeping U.S. leadership at the forefront of digital assets. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt also posted that the legislation should not be delayed. No immediate response was received from the offices of Senators Tim Scott, Kirsten Gillibrand and Angela Alsobrooks.
The bill’s passage remains uncertain as Democrats demand ethics safeguards and the Senate’s limited session timeline adds pressure. The outcome will depend on whether additional bipartisan support can be secured before the August recess.
Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, raised $466.7 million by selling 4.8 million shares of its Class A common stock through an at‑the‑market offering from July 6 to July 12, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s Bitcoin holdings remained unchanged at 843,775 BTC, with an average purchase price of $75,476 per BTC.
The capital raise increased Strategy’s U.S. dollar reserve to $3 billion as of July 12, up from $2.55 billion a week earlier. The reserve supports dividend payments on its preferred stock and interest on outstanding debt. It also includes proceeds from share sales that had not yet settled at the reporting date.
Earlier, Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for about $216 million to fund preferred stock dividend payments and to replenish its dollar reserve. The sales included 1,363 BTC at an average price of $59,256 between June 29 and June 30 and 2,225 BTC at an average price of $60,773 between July 1 and July 5. The company reported no Bitcoin purchases in its June 29 8‑K filing and disclosed a prior ATM offering of 12.7 million MSTR shares that generated $1.15 billion in net proceeds.
On June 8, Strategy announced a shift to a semi‑monthly dividend schedule for its STRC preferred stock, with record dates on the 15th and the last day of each month and payments made on the following record date. The first record date under the new schedule was June 30, 2026, with the initial payment set for July 15.
The company has $23.8 billion of remaining capacity under its existing ATM offering and $21 billion of capacity from a new offering announced on March 23, which it may use once the current offering is fully depleted.
Circle Internet Group received final Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approval to charter a national trust bank, a step Mizuho said does not resolve the firm’s underlying challenges. The approval was announced on July 13, 2026. Circle’s shares rose about 5 percent on Friday but fell 4.7 percent to $63.03 on Monday as investors digested the news. Mizuho analysts, led by Dan Dolev, maintained a neutral rating and said the regulatory milestone does not address declining USDC supply or heightened competition from Open USD, a GENIUS Act‑compliant stablecoin backed by a consortium that includes Mastercard, Stripe and Coinbase. The analysts noted that USDC’s circulating supply has fallen roughly $7 billion since its March peak to about $74 billion, marking its largest monthly decline since 2022, which could weigh on transaction and reserve‑income outlook despite strong on‑chain usage. Circle’s USDC stablecoin has faced headwinds as redemptions outpaced new issuance, contributing to the contraction that coincided with a broader monthly decline in the stablecoin market, the largest in years, as crypto markets remained near 2026 lows. The outlook for Circle remains uncertain as it faces ongoing supply contraction and intensified competition in the stablecoin market.
BitMine (BMNR) increased its Ethereum holdings to 5.77 million ETH, or 4.8% of the token’s circulating supply, according to a July 13 press release.
The company now holds nearly five million ETH in staking and reports 206 bitcoin, a $180 million stake in Beast Industries, a $69 million stake in Eightco Holdings, and about $482 million in cash and marketable securities.
Chairman Tom Lee said growing use of Ethereum layer‑2 networks, including the Robinhood Chain launched on July 1, drives the firm’s focus on ETH. The layer‑2, built on Arbitrum technology, has processed more than $1 billion in transaction volume and now exceeds other decentralized exchanges in activity, according to the release.
BitMine’s token fell 3% on Monday as Ethereum slipped 2% to $1,769 over the past 24 hours.
Relay, a cross‑chain transaction protocol, reported that some tokens bought on the Robinhood Chain have vanished from users’ wallets, leaving the funds spent unrecoverable. The disappearances were not attributed to compromised keys or altered balances. Robinhood Chain, a permissionless Ethereum Layer 2 launched on July 1, saw increased speculative trading, with decentralized exchange volume approaching $400 million and new token listings added by platforms such as Pump.fun. Relay said it screens transactions against sanctions and risk databases, blocks suspicious tokens as they appear, and verifies tokens it deems safe, but it has not disclosed the contract addresses, transaction hashes, or the number of affected users. The warning noted that the issue appears limited to specific tokens that may be of questionable security, rather than a systemic problem with the Robinhood Wallet or the broader Robinhood platform. Users are advised to review transaction details before signing and to verify a token’s status prior to purchase.
The Justice Department has indicated it will move to dismiss the criminal case against Matthew Goettsche before the scheduled October trial. Prosecutors allege that Goettsche helped operate the BitClub Network, a venture that raised about $722 million from investors between 2014 and 2019 by selling shares tied to cryptocurrency mining pools. Bloomberg Law reported that the deputy attorney general's office directed New Jersey prosecutors to seek a dismissal with prejudice, and that Goettsche's counsel told the court on July 8 that the parties had reached an agreement in principle and were working to finalize terms. The proposed dismissal has not yet been filed with the court, leaving the specific conditions, any potential restitution, and the handling of the $722 million figure undisclosed. Victims await details on recovery amounts, as the department has directed alleged investors to an FBI questionnaire while indicating it is recovering a substantial amount owed to them. The development follows a 2025 DOJ memo stating the department will avoid using criminal actions to impose regulatory frameworks on digital assets and will close investigations deemed inconsistent with that policy. A subsequent filing may clarify the terms of the dismissal and its impact on restitution or forfeiture proceedings.
Bitcoin held above $62,000 on July 13, 2026, as signs indicated that marginal sellers may have exhausted their positions and spot bitcoin exchange‑traded funds recorded net inflows.
The cryptocurrency had dropped about 28% year‑to‑date, falling from a low of $57,700 earlier in the month, while heightened U.S.–Iran tensions and rising oil prices had prompted concern about further declines.
Jasper De Maere, an over‑the‑counter trader at Wintermute, said in an email that price stability over the weekend, despite airstrikes and a Hormuz closure, suggested that weak‑hand sellers were disappearing. Spot bitcoin ETFs attracted a net $197.40 million of investor capital last week, ending an eight‑week outflow streak, according to De Maere. Analyst Dessislava Ianeva of Nexo noted that spot selling pressure fell to 53 BTC per day in July, down from nearly 2,000 BTC per day in June, according to Glassnode data.
Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, warned that the recent price bounce was largely driven by derivatives traders rather than spot demand, and that a sustained recovery would require stronger buy‑side liquidity. Upcoming U.S. CPI data and testimony from Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh could influence interest‑rate expectations and affect risk appetite.
Without a clear return of spot market demand, bitcoin may remain range‑bound for several months, analysts said.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company considered shutting down after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit in 2020, citing the potential cost of legal defense and job losses. The SEC filed its complaint in 2020 alleging that Ripple’s sales of XRP constituted unregistered securities. The agency later secured a judgment that included a $125.04 million civil penalty and an injunction against further token sales.
Garlinghouse said he and co‑founder Chris Larsen evaluated a plan to wind down Ripple and distribute its XRP holdings to shareholders on a pro‑rata basis. He explained that continuing the litigation would cost roughly $150 million in legal fees and could result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. The company chose to remain operational and contest the case.
The SEC’s August 2025 litigation release indicated that its appeals were dismissed, leaving the district court’s final judgment in place, which includes the civil penalty and the injunction. Ripple has continued to operate while the settlement remains pending a vote by the SEC.
Garlinghouse emphasized that the legal battle did not threaten the XRP ledger itself or the holdings of public XRP users, noting that the company’s shutdown would not have affected the decentralized network.
The outcome of the SEC’s pending vote on the settlement will determine whether the enforcement action is formally concluded.
President Donald Trump disclosed that his crypto holdings have grown to about $1.4 billion, a figure that Democrats say raises conflict‑of‑interest concerns for officials participating in the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The Senate is expected to release a revised draft of the Clarity Act within days, as the chamber has limited time to act before the summer recess. Democratic senators, led by Senator Chris Murphy, have argued that the ethics provisions of the bill should be expanded to cover senior officials and their families, including bans on ownership and stricter disclosure requirements. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said that Trump earned $636 million in 2025 from a memecoin bearing his name and that legislation should prohibit presidents from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. Senate Democrats have stated that the Clarity Act cannot achieve the 60‑vote threshold required for passage unless the ethics language is revised. President Trump has indicated that enacting the Clarity Act is a personal priority, and after the death of Senator Lindsey Graham he posted that the bill should be passed in his honor, though Graham was not directly involved in the negotiations. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a Republican who chairs the Senate Banking Committee’s digital assets subcommittee, has expressed support for moving the bill forward. White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt noted on social media that the current week is critical for the Clarity Act, marking the one‑year anniversary of the stablecoin regulatory legislation. The Senate must resolve the ethics language and other outstanding issues before a floor vote, and it remains unclear how Trump’s financial interests will affect the final shape of the bill.
Binance.US aims to regain about 20% of the U.S. cryptocurrency trading market after a two‑year regulatory pause. The exchange, which operates as a separate U.S.-only entity with its own governance, previously held roughly 20% of the market before regulatory pressure limited its services.
In April, Binance.US reduced spot trading fees to 0% maker and 0.02% taker or less on more than 250 trading pairs, with select pairs at 0.01%, describing the platform as “essentially almost a no‑fee exchange.” The firm also said it may pursue licenses for derivatives, perpetual futures and prediction markets, pending regulatory approval.
CEO Stephen Gregory stated that the company has restarted its growth strategy, contacted its largest customers to determine what would bring them back, and plans to rebuild trading volume and liquidity. He described the prior two‑year period as a “hibernation” caused by regulatory pressure on the Binance brand. Binance.US remains a distinct U.S. business, though it shares a brand name and beneficial owner with Binance.com.
Lower fees and expanded product offerings are intended to increase order flow, narrow spreads and improve trading conditions. The company’s lean workforce and focus on custody services could provide new revenue as trading fees decline.
Regulatory changes have supported the rebuilding effort. U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals were restored in February 2025, and the SEC dismissed its civil lawsuit against Binance, Binance.US and Changpeng Zhao in May 2025. The exchange still faces the task of restoring market depth and customer trust, with some U.S. states remaining unsupported or offering crypto‑only services.
The 20% target will depend on whether lower fees, new licenses and additional products can restore trading activity and attract retail participants.
Bolivia is evaluating a regulatory framework that would allow Tether’s USDT stablecoin to be used for everyday payments, savings and trade.
The assessment follows the 2024 lifting of Bolivia’s ban on cryptocurrencies and President Rodrigo Paz Pereira’s pledge to incorporate digital assets into the formal financial system.
Economy and Public Finance Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza said the government is reviewing a framework that would treat USDT “as just another currency” alongside the boliviano and the US dollar.
Any implementation would require a robust regulatory structure and strong anti‑money‑laundering safeguards because Bolivia remains on the Financial Action Task Force grey list.
USDT, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, exceeds $184 billion according to CoinMarketCap.
Bolivia has experienced a prolonged shortage of US dollars, driven by a widening gap between the official exchange rate of 6.86 bolivianos per dollar and parallel market rates that trade at a premium.
The parallel market premium has increased demand for dollar‑denominated alternatives such as USDT.
In Chainalysis’ 2025 assessment, Bolivia recorded $14.8 billion in crypto transaction volume over the prior 12 months, ranking it among the most active Latin American markets.
The proposal remains under review, and the government has not indicated a timeline for approval.
The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) submitted a letter to the Senate Banking Committee endorsing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, weeks before the Senate’s August recess. The bill, introduced to create a clear regulatory framework for digital assets, has received support from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and faces opposition from several law enforcement groups concerned about decentralized finance provisions. FLEOA said the current version balances innovation with public safety and commended the committee for establishing a framework that preserves anti‑money laundering, counter‑terrorism, sanctions enforcement and investigative authorities. The organization urged lawmakers to tighten DeFi accountability, clarify liability language, and prevent firms from claiming decentralization to evade regulation. In June, four law enforcement groups, including the National District Attorneys Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, wrote to the White House warning that Section 604 could create exemptions that hinder crypto investigations. The White House responded by inviting the groups to a meeting in late June. The Major County Sheriffs of America later shifted its position to neutral after initially opposing the bill. Senator Cynthia Lummis said the August 8 recess marks a likely final opportunity to pass the legislation this year, warning that failure would cede rule‑making to other countries. The bill still awaits Senate action, and its prospects remain uncertain as the legislative window closes.
Bitcoin fell 2% in 24 hours to $62,380, while XRP and Ether also declined amid heightened expectations of a July Federal Reserve rate hike. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield rose to 4.29%, its highest level since early 2025, as oil prices climbed to near $80 a barrel following increased U.S.-Iran tensions. President Donald Trump reinstated a blockade of Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and called for a 20% fee on cargo transiting the waterway. Money market probability of a rate hike this month rose to about 50% from roughly 10% a few days earlier, according to Bloomberg. The shift followed remarks by Fed Governor Christopher Waller suggesting officials might raise rates to curb price pressures. The repricing pushed fixed‑income markets and influenced cryptocurrency pricing. The consumer price index will be released on Tuesday, with economists expecting headline inflation to fall below 4% annually, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is set to testify before Congress, where his remarks may indicate whether the Fed will proceed with a rate hike or hold rates steady.
Strategy, the software company formerly known as MicroStrategy, has not bought any Bitcoin since June 22, when it acquired 520 BTC for about $35 million. Since then, the firm has sold 3,588 BTC in two transactions, netting roughly $216 million and reducing its Bitcoin holdings to 843,775 BTC. The sales have increased its U.S. dollar cash reserve to approximately $3 billion, which the company says provides 20.4 months of coverage for preferred‑stock dividends and interest payments. The company said the cash cushion improves flexibility if Bitcoin declines further, though analysts warned that a continued drop could strain the reserve. Economist Peter Schiff said the move may destroy shareholder value. While Strategy’s cash position strengthens its ability to meet obligations, the firm noted that a further decline in Bitcoin could require additional financing or more sales, potentially pressuring its stock and its perpetual preferred securities, which trade at a discount to stated value. Analysts observe that the mNAV ratio remains near 1.02, indicating modest premium to net assets, and that the expanded reserve could support longer‑term dividend payments without needing equity financing.
President Donald Trump announced that he will deliver a primetime address on Thursday at 9:00 PM ET alongside CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte. The speech will focus on newly declassified intelligence documents from early 2021 that were released by the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security. Those documents examined election infrastructure, voter registration systems, vote counting procedures, ballot handling, and result reporting. Government investigators said they found no evidence that any foreign government‑affiliated actor prevented eligible voters from casting ballots, altered votes, changed ballot totals, disrupted vote counting, or interfered with the timely reporting of election results. The assessment also noted cyber activity linked to Russia and Iran that accessed some election‑related networks but concluded the activity did not materially affect voter records, ballot integrity, or the certified outcome. Officials said several claims by Iran about weaknesses in the U.S. electoral system were inaccurate or exaggerated. Polymarket assigns an eight percent probability that U.S. courts will ultimately rule the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. Markets are watching the White House address for any additional disclosures or interpretations of the released materials. The announcement follows heightened geopolitical tension after Trump reinstated a blockade on Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and imposed new cargo fees, prompting a decline in Bitcoin’s price toward $62,000. Whether the administration will introduce new evidence or simply expand on the existing assessments remains to be seen.
Strategy (MSTR) increased its U.S. dollar reserve by $466.7 million to $3 billion last week, according to a regulatory filing. The cash was raised through an at‑the‑market equity program. The company holds 843,775 Bitcoin unchanged from the prior week. Strategy said the reserve supports dividend payments on its preferred stock and interest on outstanding debt. No Bitcoin purchases or sales occurred during the period. The company acquired its Bitcoin for an aggregate cost of about $63.69 billion, averaging $75,476 per coin. MSTR shares fell roughly 3 percent in pre‑market trading as Bitcoin dropped to $62,800. The firm did not indicate any change to its Bitcoin holdings.