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Edition · 2026-07-29
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Crypto projects lost more than $1 billion to hacks in the first half of 2026, with a record number of exploit incidents, according to Blockaid. The firm’s report released Tuesday said the number of incidents was the highest recorded for any six‑month period, though total dollar losses were lower than the $1.5 billion lost in the year‑earlier Bybit exploit. North Korea‑linked actors were identified as responsible for the largest share of stolen funds, accounting for $285 million in the Drift exploit and $292 million in the KelpDAO exploit. Blockaid expects attacks linked to North Korea to continue, noting that LinkedIn‑based social engineering leading to multisig signer compromise contributed to two of the four largest incidents. Immunefi reported $972 million lost across 207 incidents, while Quill Audits recorded $935.3 million lost in 87 DeFi hacks during the same period. DeFi losses have fallen 74 % from their 2022 peak. Ethereum and Solana were the most affected chains, with $332 million and $326 million in losses respectively; Ethereum suffered mega code exploits targeting high‑value protocols, while Solana attacks focused on signer infrastructure. Blockaid predicts a rise in artificial intelligence‑related exploits in the second half of 2026, with prompt injection and tool‑use abuse expected to increase.
MYANMAR PARLIAMENT PASSES ANTI-SCAM BILL IMPOSING LIFE SENTENCES FOR CRYPTO SCAMS
The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Myanmar’s combined parliament, approved an anti-online scam bill on Tuesday that mandates prison terms ranging from 10 years to life for cryptocurrency fraud and related offenses. The legislation also prescribes the death penalty for acts of violence, torture, unlawful arrest or detention that are used to force individuals into online scams, with death required when such conduct results in a fatality.
The draft, published in May, outlines penalties of 10 years to life for scam activities and specifies capital punishment for violent or coercive tactics that cause death, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar. Lower House MP Aye Chan stated that the final version retained the death‑penalty provision and that no significant changes were made to the key elements of the draft, a claim reported by Agence France‑Presse.
Parliamentary sources indicated that the two chambers resolved differences between earlier versions of the bill, but the report did not specify when the measure would take effect or whether it had received presidential assent.
The bill marks the latest governmental attempt to curb an expanding network of online fraud centers that have turned parts of the country into hubs for digital scams.
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission plans to draft a consolidated Digital Asset Basic Act with the ruling Democratic Party, aiming to create a unified framework for stablecoin issuance and broader cryptocurrency regulation. The proposal would set rules for issuance and circulation of stablecoins, entry requirements for exchanges, disclosure obligations, internal controls and system‑resilience standards. Ten separate digital‑asset and stablecoin bills remain pending in Parliament, and disagreements over whether won‑denominated stablecoin issuers must be majority bank‑owned and on ownership limits for major exchanges have delayed progress. The FSC has not announced a timeline for introducing the consolidated bill.
An opposition bill to repeal South Korea’s crypto income tax was scheduled for review by the Finance and Economic Planning Committee on Wednesday. The amendment, introduced by People Power Party lawmaker Song Eon‑seok on March 19, would delete the provision that taxes income from transferring or lending digital assets, which is set to apply from January 1, 2027 to gains exceeding 2.5 million won (about $1,700) annually, plus a 2 % local surcharge. A petition signed by more than 50,000 people requesting the same repeal is expected to go before a petitions subcommittee, though no subcommittees have been fully constituted and no review dates have been set.
The government and ruling party support implementing the tax, while the opposition argues that taxing crypto income is unfair compared with the current exemption for most stock investors. The legislative process remains ongoing, with no final dates established for committee deliberations or the introduction of the consolidated bill.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a series of cost‑of‑living measures and pledged to increase defence spending after taking office last week.
By · 86d ago · Source: bbc
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a series of cost‑of‑living measures and pledged to increase defence spending after taking office last week. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the government has no scope to increase borrowing and must choose between raising taxes or cutting spending to meet its pledges.
Niesr warned that persistent inflation linked to the war in Iran will continue to pressure public finances. Its latest economic outlook projects inflation to peak at 3.8% in February 2027 before falling back to the Bank of England’s 2% target, and interest rates are not expected to be cut until 2028.
Stephen Millard, Niesr deputy director for macroeconomics, said the government will need to fund the pledges through higher taxes or spending reductions, citing the welfare bill, the triple lock on pensions and possible reforms to council tax or VAT exemptions.
Burnham has said he will uphold Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance for workers.
The Treasury responded that it will maintain fiscal discipline while investing in public services, describing fiscal discipline as the bedrock of economic stability and national security.
Niesr concluded that without additional revenue or spending cuts, the national debt ratio will continue to rise, leaving the government’s ability to meet its commitments uncertain.
BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs and SoFi have publicly backed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, legislation that would set a new regulatory framework for U.S. crypto assets and clarify the responsibilities of the SEC and CFTC. The endorsements come as the Senate works to advance the bill before its August recess. The legislation has exposed a split within traditional finance. Asset managers and some banks support the measure, while JPMorgan Chase has advocated for modifications to stablecoin rules that it says could advantage issuers over traditional deposits. Coinbase and other crypto firms contend the changes would weaken the bill and slow U.S. digital asset development. Franklin Templeton wrote on X that the legislation would clarify crypto regulation and give investors certainty. Fidelity said the act would provide clear rules of the road to strengthen investor confidence and reinforce U.S. leadership in digital asset markets. BlackRock senior managing director Samara Cohen told Politico that the bill is an important step toward a regulatory framework that puts investors first and shapes the next era of market structure. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said the act, while not perfect, would create a level playing field and enhance market stability, allowing crypto markets to develop appropriately. SoFi CEO Anthony Noto noted that durable rules are critical for U.S. global competitiveness, protect consumers and allow safe building under domestic regulation. Updated legislative text released last week merged House and Senate versions and introduced ethics restrictions for senior officials involved in crypto matters, a point of contention as lawmakers debate the scope of the proposal relative to President Donald Trump’s crypto business interests. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has shifted focus to judicial nominations and a Russia sanctions package, leaving the Clarity Act without scheduled floor time. The Senate is set to begin its summer recess on August 8, giving legislators only a few days to act before the break. Because the bill must pass before the August 8 recess, its fate remains uncertain as the Senate agenda is currently dominated by other priorities.
Morgan Stanley announced on July 28, 2026, that it will begin trading exchange‑traded products on NYSE Arca that track ether (ETH) and solana (SOL), expanding its digital asset lineup beyond its spot bitcoin fund launched earlier this year. The announcement follows the introduction of the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust in early 2026 and reflects increasing demand for regulated cryptocurrency investment products. The new funds use CoinDesk benchmark indexes, charge a 0.14% expense ratio, and will stake a portion of the underlying assets, passing any staking rewards to investors. According to a press release from Morgan Stanley, Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy, said that client interest in digital assets continues to grow and that the firm is focused on providing investment solutions that meet its governance, infrastructure and risk‑management standards. The ether trust will track the CoinDesk Ether Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate, and the solana trust will track the CoinDesk Solana Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate, giving investors exposure without needing to hold the tokens directly. Both products carry the same 0.14% expense ratio, which the firm says is the lowest on the market. Morgan Stanley’s 16,000 financial advisors and its E*TRADE platform provide distribution channels for the products. In addition to the two new trusts, eight solana‑focused exchange‑traded funds exist, with total net assets of $889.3 million, according to SoSoValue data. The bitcoin trust, which had $381 million in assets under management as of July 16, tracks the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark Rate. BlackRock, which operates the largest spot bitcoin exchange‑traded fund, recently launched a crypto income fund, indicating broader industry interest in steady‑income crypto products. The launches illustrate a continued shift of traditional financial institutions into digital asset products, and the market impact of these offerings will become clearer over time.
Bitcoin fell around 2% to $63,985 on July 28, 2026, as South Korea's Kospi index dropped 11% and the U.S. Senate deferred the Crypto Clarity Act. The Kospi decline, driven by a slump in chipmaking stocks, pressured global risk assets, including AI and layer‑1 tokens such as FET, NEAR and HYPE, which lost up to 10% in 24 hours. The Senate's decision to set aside the Crypto Clarity Act to prioritize a Russia sanctions bill and federal nominations left two weeks of legislative time before the August 8 recess, raising uncertainty about the bill's prospects. Bitcoin's price, reported by CoinDesk, was down 0.53% since midnight UTC and 2% during the U.S. overnight session. Ether slipped 0.56% to $1,880, failing to break the $2,000 level. The Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.70%, gold fell 0.93% and silver 1.50%. Taker long/short volume in futures turned bearish, with shorts representing 51.5% of volume, a shift from recent bullish bias. XRP futures open interest rose to 2.35 billion tokens, up about 6% from the previous day, while open interest in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana futures remained steady. Open interest in other tokens such as SHIB, AVAX, LINK and DOGE declined, indicating capital outflows. The 24‑hour cumulative volume delta turned negative for the first time in three weeks, showing that bearish price action was driven by short market orders. Funding rates for Bitcoin hovered near zero, while rates for Ethereum, Solana, XRP and TRX turned negative. Implied volatility for Bitcoin and Ethereum remained low, near recent lows, suggesting market participants were not pricing heightened stress despite the Fed meeting and core PCE inflation data scheduled for the week. Deribit options showed a modest increase in put‑call skew for Bitcoin and Ethereum, with puts taking the top ranking in volume. The outcome of the Crypto Clarity Act remains unresolved, and the market's direction will depend on forthcoming regulatory decisions and economic data.
A two‑minute flash crash in a Hyperliquid perpetual contract that tracks the dollar value of one SK Hynix share caused the contract price to dip to $927 during South Korea’s pre‑market session before rebounding. The contract, called SKHX and operated by TradeXYZ, uses an oracle supplied by Pyth Lazer and a margin system provided by HyperCore. Open interest was reported at $407 million, a 20 percent decline over 24 hours, while 24‑hour trading volume reached $959 million, according to DefiLlama. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 10.84 percent after a 20‑minute circuit breaker was triggered, and SK Hynix’s Korean shares closed 14.65 percent lower at 1.55 million won, Yonhap reported. The contract’s pricing window runs from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. Korean time, and the price is derived from the Korean share price converted at the prevailing USD/KRW rate. TradeXYZ’s relayers update the oracle, mark and external prices roughly every three seconds, while HyperCore matches orders, applies margin, and performs liquidations and auto‑deleveraging. The HIP‑3 deployment rules allow anyone who stakes $20 million to create a perpetual contract, giving the deployer control over oracle settings and price definitions. TradeXYZ said its investigation was ongoing and that an update would follow once a conclusion was reached. No official incident report, insurance details, trading halt, or slashing mechanism had been published at the time of the report. The episode exposed uncertainty around the published pricing methodology and raised questions about the adequacy of existing risk controls in decentralized perpetual markets.
Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission filed a criminal complaint on July 23, 2026 against Bitkub Online and two former directors, alleging they submitted false daily net‑capital reports that omitted a theft of roughly $53 million in customer assets.
The alleged theft occurred in May 2021 after a cyberattack that resulted in the withdrawal of assets across 16 cryptocurrencies. Bitkub’s Form DA 1 filings from May 10 to October 30, 2021, showed no change in asset balances, according to the regulator.
The SEC says the former directors, identified as Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, made false entries in company documents. Bitkub acknowledged that staff chose not to disclose that assets from a single wallet had been stolen, saying the nondisclosure was intended to prevent a bank run while the exchange sought to replace the missing funds. The company denied any fraudulent intent and said its co‑founders absorbed the loss by purchasing the same currencies in the same quantities, claiming that neither the firm nor its customers experienced asset losses.
In a separate September 2025 update, the SEC reported that customer digital assets held by Bitkub were safe and complete as of September 8, 2025, but that update does not resolve the 2021 reporting allegations.
The regulator has not said when the asset replacement was completed. An inquiry official will review the case and recommend whether to proceed with prosecution; a public prosecutor would then evaluate the file, and a court would decide the outcome if the matter proceeds. The allegations remain unadjudicated.
The investigation will determine whether the SEC’s allegations of false reporting and potential fraud can be substantiated.
According to IGN, Sony has issued copyright takedown notices to remove footage of the post‑credits scene from Spider‑Man: Brand New Day that was posted on X early on. The official theatrical release is scheduled for July 31, following a July 27 premiere and same‑day previews, according to Sony. The post‑credits clip, recorded from inside a theater, began circulating on the platform shortly after the premiere, according to IGN. Sony’s legal team says the material violates its intellectual property rights. While Sony successfully removed several instances of the clip, IGN reported that other versions remained on the platform at the time of writing. Sony has not identified the specific theaters that had early access, and attempts to locate all copies appear ongoing. Industry observers note that such leaks are common for high‑profile superhero films, and the post‑credits scene may contain spoilers for upcoming sequels. The movie is set to open nationwide on July 31, and Sony has advised audiences to avoid social media until viewing to prevent plot spoilers, according to the company. Meanwhile, the new costume worn by Spider‑Man in Insomniac Games’ Spider‑Man 2 has been made available to players.
This edition was assembled from neutral, agent-rewritten summaries of the day's aggregated news.
Why it matters: Every article was reviewed for loaded language, partisan framing, and missing attribution before publication.
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