Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Keyrock closes deal for BlockFills institutional trading and brokerage assets

Quick TakeKeyrock announced the acquisition of BlockFills institutional trading and brokerage operations, including its trading technology, institutional client relationships and regulatory licenses.The Brussels-based firm was selected as the buyer for $3.25 million in BlockFills Chapter 11 bankruptcy process entered into following a February 2026 crypto market crash.　　Crypto infrastructure and capital markets firm Keyrock has completed its acquisition of BlockFills institutional trading and brokerage operations.　　The deal brings Keyrock BlockFills‘ trading technology, institutional client relationships, and a team of experienced derivatives traders. It also expands Keyrock’s regulatory footprint with a CIMA-registered entity in the Cayman Islands and a proposed FCA-authorized entity in the United Kingdom, according to the announcement.　　“This acquisition represents an exceptional opportunity to further strengthen our team with outstanding talent and accelerate our global reach in serving institutional counterparties,” Juan David Mendieta, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Keyrock, said. “The BlockFills team has built impressive technology and demonstrated exceptional expertise in institutional derivatives.”　　Keyrock‘s announcement does not disclose the purchase price. According to earlier court filings and reporting, Keyrock was selected as the buyer for $3.25 million in BlockFills’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.　　Chicago-based BlockFills filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier in 2026 after suffering significant losses from a February crypto

07-16Industry

ARK pushes back against a16z‘s ’TradFi wants blockchain, not DeFi claim

ARK Invest‘s director of research pushed back against investor a16z crypto’s thesis that traditional finance will adopt blockchain through permissioned infrastructure rather than decentralized finance (DeFi).　　Lorenzo Valente said in a Wednesday X post that public blockchains have already outperformed private blockchain initiatives, citing the growth of tokenized assets on Ethereum and other open networks.　　He added that crypto-native firms such as Circle and Coinbase, rather than incumbent financial institutions, are best positioned to build the next generation of financial infrastructure.　　A day earlier, a16z crypto had argued that traditional financial institutions are not embracing DeFi but selectively adopting blockchain technology that fits existing compliance, governance and operational requirements.　　The venture capital firms X post said banks and asset managers will build “programmable financial infrastructure” that borrows blockchain primitives such as tokenization and atomic settlement while remaining permissioned and institutionally controlled.　　Sentora co-founder Jesus Rodriguez also pushed back against a16z‘s thesis, saying institutions are likely to adopt DeFi’s underlying infrastructure while layering compliance, custody and other enterprise controls on top.

07-16Industry

Ostium pauses trading as security firms report multimillion-dollar oracle exploit

Decentralized trading protocol Ostium paused trading Wednesday after blockchain security firms Blockaid and CertiK reported an apparent exploit of its OLP liquidity vault.　　Blockaid estimated the exploit resulted in $18 million in losses, while CertiK placed the figure at about $22 million. Both firms attributed the incident to an apparent compromise of Ostiums oracle system, which supplies external price data to the protocol.Source: Ostium　　Ostium announced on X that it paused all trading after identifying an issue affecting the vault. It subsequently said: “With user security being our first concern, we recommend that all users temporarily revoke approvals for our contracts until we can further investigate the recent incident.”　　The protocol said its team is investigating and has not yet confirmed the cause of the incident or the estimated losses reported by blockchain security firms.　　Built on Arbitrum, Ostium is an onchain perpetuals trading platform offering leveraged exposure to 75 trading pairs spanning stocks, ETFs, commodities, indices, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies.Source: CertiKAlert　　Related: Crypto hacks fell 47% in H1 but ecosystem is no safer: CertiK　　DeFi hacks remain persistent challenge　　The incident is the latest in a series of high-profile attacks targeting decentralized finance protocols this year, despite broader efforts to strengthen security across the sector.　　According to

07-16Industry

Crypto equities gained 23% while crypto tokens fell 36% this year – Is value shifting？

Bitwise reported that publicly traded crypto companies gained 23% in the first half of 2026, while crypto assets fell 36%, creating a 59-percentage-point gap.　　Equities could be pricing in a recovery that sits above where the tokens currently trade, or they could also be capturing revenue crypto adoption generates for companies through fees, yield, and services that exist whether tokens rise, fall, or sit still.　　Across recent crypto cycles, crypto equities and major tokens have generally moved in the same direction. When Bitcoin and other large-cap assets rallied, exchanges earned more, miners expanded, venture funding returned, and much of the industry benefited.　　Whether that link still holds is one of the points Bitwises report raised.　　Bar chart showing crypto equities gained 23% in H1 2026 while crypto assets fell 36%, creating a 59-percentage-point gap.What the equity basket is made of　　Bitwises crypto-equity theme (BITQ) recently listed Coinbase, Strategy, IREN, BitMine, MARA, Galaxy, Figure, Cipher, Hut 8, and Riot among its top holdings.　　That mix spans fee-based platforms, Bitcoin treasury companies, and miners whose valuations remain highly sensitive to BTC, so the 23% gain compresses several distinct exposures into one figure.　　Stablecoins make the clearest case, as DeFiLlama puts the total stablecoin market cap near $310 billion, with

07-16Industry

Securitize, Cantor target tokenized IPOs for public markets

Securitize and Cantor Fitzgerald have partnered to support blockchain-based initial public offerings (IPOs) and follow-on equity offerings for listed companies, a move that could further expand the use of tokenized securities in traditional capital markets.　　The companies said Wednesday that they are developing a framework for primary issuances that would allow companies to raise capital through tokenized securities while remaining within the existing regulatory framework for public offerings. The framework would support both IPOs and follow-on, or secondary, offerings in which already public companies issue additional shares to raise capital.　　Under the agreement, Securitize will provide the tokenization infrastructure used to issue, distribute and service the digital securities. Its SEC-registered broker-dealer affiliate, Securitize Markets, will participate in the offering and settlement process. Cantor will contribute its equity capital markets and trading capabilities typically associated with public offerings.　　The announcement comes as tokenized securities gain traction across traditional finance. While tokenization has largely focused on private credit and Treasurys, companies are increasingly exploring blockchain-based infrastructure for public equities as well.　　The collaboration builds on an existing relationship between the companies. Securitize, which provides blockchain infrastructure for tokenized real-world assets, went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Cantor Fitzgerald.　　Related:

07-16Industry

Prediction markets defy crypto downturn with record Q2 volume: CoinGecko

Cryptocurrency markets struggled broadly in the second quarter of 2026, with declines across stablecoins, spot trading and derivatives, but prediction markets reached record highs.　　Spot trading volume across the top 10 centralized exchanges (CEXs) fell to $1.95 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, a 27.9% drop from $2.7 trillion in Q1, according to CoinGeckos latest Crypto Industry Report published Thursday.　　CEX perpetual futures volume also declined 10% to $12.7 trillion, while the stablecoin market slipped 1.6% to $305.1 billion. In contrast, prediction markets recorded their strongest quarter on record with $113.8 billion in notional volume.　　The divergence highlights the growing role of prediction markets, with sports and politics emerging as the sector‘s biggest drivers. Polymarket’s World Cup winner market alone has attracted more than $3.3 billion in trading volume, while contracts tied to the 2028 US presidential election rank among the platforms largest markets, according to Polymarketscan data.Source: Polymarketscan　　Binance extends dominance despite bear market as DEX activity falls　　Despite the bear market, Binance extended its dominance, with a 38.7% market share in Q2. In contrast, MEXC saw the biggest slump among spot CEXs, with trading volume more than halving from $275.2 billion in Q1 to $121.2 billion in Q2.　　DEX activity also weakened during

07-16Industry

MoonPay acquires Y Combinator-backed crypto deposits startup Glide in all-equity deal

Quick TakeMoonPay has acquired Glide, a Y Combinator-backed crypto deposits startup, in its sixth acquisition announcement of 2026.The transaction was an all-equity deal, with Glides four-person team joining MoonPay, Glide co-founder and CEO Tushar Soni told The Block.　　MoonPay has acquired Glide, a startup that lets applications accept crypto deposits from any token, wallet, exchange or card, bringing the startups technology and team into the company.　　The transaction was an all-equity deal, Glide co-founder and CEO Tushar Soni told The Block, declining to disclose the size of the deal. The companies began discussing the acquisition late last year, and the transaction has now closed, Soni said.　　Glide was founded in 2023 by Soni and Qinyu Tong, who previously worked together on the team that built Robinhoods crypto wallet. MoonPay said Glide is backed by Y Combinator, Titan Fund and other investors, though Soni declined to disclose how much Glide has raised to date. Glide has four employees, including the two co-founders, and all are joining MoonPay, Soni said.　　Glide developed technology that lets apps accept crypto deposits without requiring users to manually bridge or swap assets across blockchains, helping reduce onboarding friction. MoonPay said Glide supports deposits and payments across more than 100 tokens

07-16Industry

Ledger unveils hardware-backed Agent Stack to prevent rogue AI transactions

Quick TakeWith Ledger Agent Stack, users can deploy bots to read balances, suggest transactions, prepare swaps and draft operations.Transaction execution, however, requires human sign-off via a physical hardware device.Notably, Ledgers existing support of OpenPGP means its wallets can also be used to protect API keys and AI agent credentials.　　Ledger has launched Ledger Agent Stack, an open-source toolkit that lets AI agents interact with crypto wallets and blockchain tools while keeping humans firmly in control of sensitive actions.　　Agents will be able to read balances, suggest transactions, prepare swaps, and draft operations, but will require explicit human sign-off on their physical hardware devices before execution.　　The move comes amid a wave of AI integrations in some of cryptos most-used platforms. For instance, MetaMask is rolling out agentic capabilities that will follow a similar safety-first approach by requiring human approval to execute transactions.　　Ledger notes that it is preparing for a world where AI agents “become more autonomous.” It is building the capability for its customers to deploy bots, but is taking a relatively conservative approach.　　While some wallets are already allowing bots to autonomously execute actions within user-defined rules, Ledger will only let agents propose actions, a move meant to protect users from AI mistakes

07-16Industry

Silver tumbles as energy-driven inflation fears hit sentiment

Silver (XAG/USD) falls toward $56.70 at the time of writing on Thursday, down 1.85% on the day. The white metal comes under selling pressure as renewed tensions between the United States (US) and Iran drive energy prices higher, reviving concerns about persistently elevated global inflation.　　Higher Oil prices are fueling expectations that inflation could remain above central bank targets for longer. This scenario prompts investors to anticipate tighter monetary conditions for an extended period, an environment that is generally unfavorable for non-yielding assets such as Silver.　　Geopolitical concerns intensified after US President Donald Trump threatened to expand attacks on Iranian infrastructure if Tehran refuses to return to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, the suspension of crude loading operations at several Iraqi terminals following a drone-related incident has heightened fears of global Oil supply disruptions, providing additional support to energy prices.　　At the same time, recent US inflation data is helping to limit Silvers downside. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) reports for June showed a further moderation in price pressures, prompting markets to scale back expectations of additional monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve (Fed).　　According to the CME FedWatch tool, the chance of a Fed interest rate hike at

07-16Industry

Bitcoin or AI？ CZ says only one protects against inflation

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao has weighed into the growing Bitcoin versus artificial intelligence debate as investors compare two of the markets largest growth themes.　　In a July 16 post on X, Zhao offered a direct distinction between the two. “AI is great, but it does not protect you against inflation. Bitcoin does.” His comment presents Bitcoin as monetary protection rather than treating AI and crypto as competing technologies with the same purpose.　　AI is great, but it does not protect you against inflation.　　Bitcoin does.　　— CZ ???? BNB (@cz_binance) July 16, 2026　　CZ draws a line between Bitcoin and AI　　Zhaos latest comment comes weeks after he identified artificial intelligence as one factor behind weaker crypto market conditions in 2026. As previously reported by crypto.news, he said new industries such as AI had attracted some speculative capital that might otherwise have entered digital assets.　　However, Zhao has not taken a negative position on artificial intelligence itself. In May, he said he preferred investments in the infrastructure supporting AI, including data centers, computing systems and energy. His investment activities have also remained focused largely on Web3, according to earlier crypto.news coverage.　　AI investment competes with crypto for capital　　The debate has gained attention as major AI companies attract large

07-16Industry

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