Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Nearly 20 College Players And Almost 300 NBA Players Will Make More Than LeBron James Next Season

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 18: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts against the Utah Jazz during the second quarter at Crypto.com Arena on November 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)　　Getty Images　　LeBron James will make the veterans minimum of about $3.9 million next season in the first year of his two-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.　　Nearly 300 NBA players will earn more than James, according to USA Today, while, in a sign of the changing times in college sports triggered by Name, Image and Likeness rules, almost 20 college players will take home more than the NBAs all-time leading scorer, per The Athletic.　　James made nearly $53 million last season with the L.A. Lakers, but will take a major pay cut this season to pursue his fifth NBA championship in Philadelphia.　　But he wont go hungry. Forbes named James—whose net worth is valued at $1.4 billion as of Friday—a billionaire in 2022.　　“This is my final decision,” James announced on X/Twitter. “I‘m not

07-25Industry

The Most Important Packers: No. 4 — LB Edgerrin Cooper

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper chases Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.　　Getty Images　　The Green Bay Packers were arguably the most disappointing team in football last year. And perhaps no one did less with more than Packers coach Matt LaFleur.　　Green Bay headed into the 2025 season with one of the NFLs top rosters, then traded for star defensive end Micah Parsons 10 days before the year began. Suddenly, Packer Nation was dreaming of their first Super Bowl appearance since 2010.　　Instead, Green Bay went a remarkably unsatisfying 9-8-1 overall and was the NFCs No. 7 seed for a third consecutive year. The Packers then blew a 21-3 halftime lead in the Wild Card round against Chicago, gave up 25 fourth quarter points and eventually suffered a shocking 31-27 loss to the arch-rival Bears.　　“No way you should lose games in this league when youre up that much,” running back Josh Jacobs said.　　Green Bay, which began the year 9-3-1, finished the season with five straight losses. The Packers now enter 2026 with the leagues fourth-longest losing streak.　　Collapsing late in games was the story of Green Bays 2025 campaign.　　Green Bay had double digit leads in the final minutes twice against Chicago and also vs. Cleveland

07-25Industry

Is Vietnams new crypto framework the first step towards a ban？

In an unexpected turn of events, Vietnam unveiled one of its strictest frameworks for regulating cryptocurrencies to date. This does not imply that cryptos are prohibited in Vietnam though. On the contrary, it means that the nation is altering the manner and location of their trade.　　For context, Vietnam lacked a fully regulated domestic cryptocurrency market. In fact, the majority of its users have up until now relied on international exchanges like Binance, Bybit, OKX, or other offshore platforms.　　Thanks to the recently issued decree (Decree No. 284/2026/NĐ-CP), the government hopes that trading will move from these foreign platforms to exchanges licensed by Vietnams Ministry of Finance.　　After the rules go into effect on 1st September, anyone who keeps using unlicensed services could be subject to financial penalties.　　How will this help Vietnams crypto ecosystem？　　With its new regulations, Vietnam has made a significant transition from unregulated crypto adoption to regulated oversight. The government is forcing traders to switch to domestic platforms with licenses rather than outright prohibiting digital assets.　　Unless they acquire local licenses or collaborate with authorized companies, the policy may restrict access to global exchanges.　　Additionally, to prevent illegal activity and enhance regulatory oversight, the licensing framework will tighten anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer

07-25Industry

Anthropic Cuts AI Pricing in Half With Claude Opus 5 Launch Amid IPO Push

Key TakeawaysClaude Opus 5 debuts with pricing 50% below Fable 5 while maintaining competitive performanceThe new model exceeds Fable 5 in coding tasks and knowledge-based work according to internal benchmarksThe company submitted confidential IPO documents in June with plans to complete its public listing in 2026OpenAIs public offering timeline may extend to 2027 amid legal challenges including an Apple lawsuitChinese competitor Moonshot AI introduced Kimi K3, positioning it as equal to GPT-5.6 Sol and Fable 5　　On Friday, Anthropic unveiled Claude Opus 5, positioning it as the companys highest-performing model in its most economical package yet. According to the firm, this latest release surpasses Fable 5 in both programming tasks and knowledge-intensive applications.　　Introducing Claude Opus 5.　　Its a thoughtful and proactive model that comes close to the frontier intelligence of Fable 5 at half the price.　　The pricing structure for Opus 5 stands at $5 for every million input tokens and $25 for every million output tokens. This represents a 50% reduction compared to Fable 5, positioning it as an appealing choice for organizations seeking to optimize their artificial intelligence expenditures.　　Anthropic markets Opus 5 as the solution “designed to be used every day.” Within the companys product hierarchy, it ranks beneath both Fable

07-25Industry

$7 Trillion Wall Street Giant is Watching This Key Bitcoin Metric

Fidelity Digital Assets says the supply of Bitcoin (BTC) held by long-term investors has reached an all-time high. 　　Research analyst Zack Wainwright treats that cohort as one of the clearest reads on investor conviction. Fidelity says the long-term holder data appear consistent with on-chain metrics that are approaching past-cycle bottom levels.　　Why Fidelity Watches This Cohort　　The asset manager noted that nearly 15 million coins have now sat unmoved for at least 155 days. The post framed it as a signal for conviction.　　That supply has historically expanded through bear markets and contracted through bull markets. It set its record on July 5, 2026, while prices stayed under pressure.　　Nearly 40% of the cohort now sits at an unrealized loss. Most of these holders kept their exposure anyway, Wainwright wrote.　　Bitcoin trades roughly 50% below its October 2025 peak of above $126,000. Earlier bear markets cut 70%, 80%, and even 90%. Wainwright reads that shallower decline as a sign of maturation.　　“A variety of on-chain metrics are approaching levels historically associated with bitcoins market cycle bottoms. Whether these signals ultimately mark a turning point remains to be seen, but the long-term holder data appears consistent with that sentiment as well,” Wainwright said.　　Bitcoin Long-Term Holder Supply Reaches

07-25Industry

RWA Adoption Surges as Robinhood Chain Leads Global Market Growth

TLDR:RWA adoption accelerated as global holders rose 190.9% year over year to 1.09 million, while Ethereum surpassed $17 billion in tokenized value.Robinhood Chain recorded 11,416.2% monthly growth and passed 244,000 RWA holders, although memecoins still dominate much of its DEX volume.Hyperliquid RWA contracts generated $25.1 billion in weekly trading volume, accounting for 52% of the decentralized exchanges total activity.Avalanche tokenized Treasuries climbed 68% to $842 million, while Solana, BNB Chain and several smaller networks also expanded their markets.　　RWA adoption accelerated across major blockchain networks as tokenized assets reached new records in value, holders, and trading activity. Ethereum crossed $17 billion in tokenized real-world asset value, while Solana reached an all-time high of $3.4 billion. The number of RWA holders rose 190.9% year over year, increasing from 375,000 to 1.09 million.　　Tokenized stocks also recorded $9 billion in monthly transfer volume during June. Robinhood Chain posted the fastest monthly growth, while Avalanche expanded its tokenized Treasury market.　　RWA Adoption Drives Record Growth Across Major Blockchains　　Robinhood Chain led monthly network growth after its tokenized asset value increased 11,416.2% to $323.7 million. The network also passed 244,000 RWA holders, showing rapid demand for blockchain-based versions of traditional assets. Its growth followed an early period dominated

07-25Industry

Bitcoins Difficulty Adjustment Explained: How the Network Punishes Itself Every Two Weeks

Key TakeawaysBitcoin resets mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks to hold the 10-minute block target.Winter Storm Fern drove an 11.16% difficulty drop and a 14.7% rebound within 12 days in Feb. 2026.A roughly 10% drop hit June 13, 2026 as price pressure and an AI-mining pivot cooled output.　　The Rule Nobody Votes On　　Bitcoin has no manager setting mining difficulty with its math, hard-coded into the protocol such that every 2,016 blocks, the network compares how long that batch of blocks actually took to mine against the 20,160-minute (two-week) target implied by the 10-minute-per-block design.　　If miners found those blocks faster than schedule, difficulty rises for the next stretch. If they found them slower, difficulty falls. Nodes calculate the new value independently from the same block timestamps, so theres nothing to negotiate (i.e., a node that disagreed with the math would simply be on a different chain).　　The adjustment isnt unlimited and consensus rules cap any single retarget at a 4x increase or a 75% decrease, a ceiling designed to stop a single catastrophic data point (like a miner lying about a timestamp) from breaking the network in one step. In practice, most retargets move by low single digits. A double-digit swing, like the ones

07-25Industry

AI predicts XRP price for end of Q3, 2026

OpenAIs artificial intelligence model ChatGPT has projected that XRP could end the third quarter of 2026 at $1.35, representing a gain of roughly 24% from its current trading level of $1.09.　　The forecast comes as XRP continues to trade in tandem with broader cryptocurrency market sentiment, which has remained in a consolidation phase in recent weeks.　　According to ChatGPT‘s analysis, XRP’s most likely trading range by September 30, 2026, is between $1.25 and $1.45, with $1.35 serving as the base-case target.　　The model assigned a 50% probability that XRP finishes Q3 between $1.25 and $1.45, a 25% chance of trading between $0.85 and $1.05, and a 20% probability of reaching $1.60 to $2. The likelihood of XRP exceeding $2 before the end of September is estimated at just 5%.　　XRP price prediction. Source: ChatGPT　　ChatGPT also identified $1.20 as the key level to watch. Sustained weekly closes above that threshold could support a move toward $1.50, while continued weakness below it may keep XRP in the $1.20 to $1.35 range by quarter-end.　　XRP price fundamentals　　Despite several positive developments surrounding the XRP ecosystem, ChatGPT does not expect a major breakout before the end of the third quarter.　　The AI model noted that XRP has repeatedly struggled to establish

07-25Industry

These 10 altcoins are still worth $12B after a 97% collapse

Ten once-prominent cryptocurrency networks now carry a combined market value of $12.06 billion, trading an average of 97.13% below their all-time highs.　　A recent report by Taurex noted that recovery needs across the group range from roughly 21.5x for Avalanche, the largest of the ten at $2.91 billion, to roughly 323x for Internet Computer, which sits furthest from its peak at 99.7% below.　　Blockchains fund security, developer grants and network growth through token issuance, validator rewards and treasury spending, models that work best when prices climb, and newly minted tokens still carry real dollar value.　　At this scale of drawdown, the same issuance produces far less funding, dilutes holders further and adds recurring token supply with little demand behind it.　　The sharper test asks whether these ten networks can still fund security, grants and engineering if their tokens never return to their highs.　　Ten crypto networks remain 95.35% to 99.69% below their peaks while retaining a combined market value of $12.06 billion.　　CryptoSlate defines the subsidy coverage ratio as user-paid fees divided by token rewards and incentives. The ratio shows how much of a networks measured incentive burden is covered by direct user demand, treasury spending, or other subsidies.　　A ratio of 1.0 means user-paid fees match

07-25Industry

Microsoft Earnings Preview: Azure vs AI Spend

Microsoft reports on July 29, and the debate is pretty simple on the surface: does Azure growth keep pace with the AI narrative, and how much does the bill for that narrative swell this time？　　Traders want acceleration without sticker shock. Cloud momentum is the fuel. Data center spend is the drag. The tape will likely move on the balance between the two.　　Theres also a twist: the market now separates genuine AI demand from GPU-fueled capacity that takes longer to monetize. If the numbers hint at durable consumption, not just build-out, that usually lands well.PointDetailsCapex pathMicrosoft has guided roughly $190B in 2026 capex with Q4 rising above $40B and about $25B tied to pricier components like memory and chips MarketBeat.Next-year spend watchStreet chatter pegs FY2027 capex growth at around 20%–30%, implying near $220B, a key swing factor for sentiment MarketBeat.Azure AI revenue lensConsensus has Azure AI Services at about $23.7B for FY2026, framing how much AI is already in the P&L S&P Global Visible Alpha.Operating disciplineWorkforce changes, including roughly 4,800 cuts in early July, point to a tighter focus on AI and core bets Windows Central.Stock driverNet of it all, the market will likely trade Azure growth vs. capex magnitude and

07-25Industry

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