Latest Crypto News & Market Updates

Venice AI becomes unicorn after $65M Series A as AI privacy concerns grow

The Erik Voorhees-founded Venice AI has achieved unicorn status after raising $65 million in Series A funding at a $1 billion valuation.　　Led by Dragonfly and with backing from Coinbase Ventures, F-Prime, North Island Ventures, Morgan Creek and others, the funding round announced on Wednesday marks the companys first external capital raise since launching in 2024.　　The fundraising came in the same month Anthropic was forced to suddenly cut foreign access to two of its latest AI models, and comes just weeks after OpenAI was accused in a class-action lawsuit for sharing ChatGPT data with third parties, highlighting the potential appeal of privacy-focused AI platforms.　　“This capital will be used to uphold the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution as they relate to mankinds interaction with AI,” Voorhees said in an X post on Wednesday.　　The First Amendment is part of the United States Constitution protecting five essential freedoms including the freedom of speech. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.　　Venice AI courts privacy-focused users　　Venice AI, which claims to have 3.5 million users, offers access to over 200 AI models but adds a proxy between the user and the models and allows users to choose the level

07-02Industry

Tradeweb executes real-time tokenized US Treasury transaction on Canton Network

Tradeweb, an institutional electronic trading platform, has executed an onchain transaction involving tokenized US Treasuries, with Franklin Templeton transferring a tokenized Treasury security to Virtu Financial in exchange for tokenized cash over the Canton Network.　　Tradeweb provided execution and price discovery, while the Canton Network synchronized settlement between the tokenized Treasury and tokenized cash. The companies said the trade settled in real time, but did not disclose its size.　　A Tradeweb spokesperson told Cointelegraph the deal marked the industrys first real-time purchase and sale of a tokenized US Treasury settled against USDCx, a USDC-backed stablecoin issued on Canton. Participants included Blockdaemon, Digital Asset, Societe Generale, Franklin Templeton, Tradeweb and Virtu Financial.　　According to the announcement, the transaction precedes the planned launch of the Depository Trust s expansion into tokenized financial assets. Earlier this year, the asset manager partnered with Binance to let institutions use tokenized money market fund shares as trading collateral while the assets remained in regulated custody, and with Ondo Finance to bring tokenized ETFs onto blockchain networks.　　Governments expand tokenized bond initiatives　　Governments have also been expanding efforts to bring sovereign debt onto blockchain infrastructure. Several jurisdictions have launched digital bond programs to test blockchain-based issuance, settlement and market infrastructure.　　Hong Kong was

07-02Industry

Robinhood rolls out public blockchain, plans crypto trading for UK residents

Stock and cryptocurrency trading platform Robinhood announced the launch of its public mainnet about four months after it began testing the network.　　On Wednesday, the company said Robinhood Chain, a layer-2 (L2) blockchain built on Arbitrum, had officially launched after the network went live on testnet in February. The blockchain, which the company described as “AI-native and purpose-built for real-world assets,” comes amid Robinhoods expansion of crypto- and decentralized finance-related services.　　According to Robinhood, it plans to launch crypto trading in the UK soon. The company also said that its tokenized stock products were live and available through its wallet app to users in more than 120 countries. CEO Vlad Tenev called tokenized stocks “inevitable” in January, arguing that offering the products could help prevent trading freezes that sometimes occur on traditional exchanges.　　The launch of the public mainnet came just a few weeks after Tenev announced that Robinhood would cut 10% of its workforce as part of a restructuring move. The company is expected to announce its 2026 second-quarter results on July 29, but reported in April that its crypto transaction revenue dropped by almost 50% year-on-year, from $252 million to $134 million.　　Related: Last-minute MiCA approvals mark end of EU transition period　　The

07-02Industry

Anchorage Digital brings off-exchange settlement to Binance

Anchorage Digital has integrated its off-exchange settlement platform with Binance, allowing institutional clients to trade on the exchange while keeping their crypto and cash in qualified custody at the federally chartered US crypto bank rather than depositing assets directly onto Binance.　　Under the arrangement, institutions can use crypto assets or US dollar deposits held with Anchorage as collateral to meet Binances margin requirements without first transferring those assets onto the exchange. The companies said the model separates custody from trade execution, allowing assets to remain with an independent custodian until settlement.　　The service is initially available to select institutional clients and marks the first off-exchange settlement implementation for Anchorage Digitals Atlas platform, which the company said is designed to support institutional trading, settlement, lending and collateral management through custody-based infrastructure.　　The collaboration addresses one of the biggest obstacles keeping institutional capital on the sidelines of crypto markets: exchange counterparty risk. By eliminating the traditional requirement to pre-fund trades, this could bring crypto trading closer to the custody-and-execution model long used in traditional financial markets.　　Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.　　Related: ESMA MiCA warning puts Binance EU service changes under scrutiny　　Crypto exchanges expand off-exchange settlement offerings　　Off-exchange settlement has gained traction among institutional crypto

07-02Industry

Last-minute MiCA approvals mark end of EU transition period

A slew of last-minute licenses were issued to cryptocurrency companies in Europe as Wednesday marked the end of the transitional period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).　　Four companies were authorized in Italy this week, including asset management platform Hodlie, crypto exchange Young Platform, trading platform CryptoSmart and crypto service provider Hercle, bringing Italys total to eight authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs), according to a Tuesday announcement from the Bank of Italy. The central bank said the countrys financial regulator, Consob, approved the licenses in coordination with it.　　The French financial markets regulator, Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), also added three new companies on Tuesday, including crypto investment platform Mereau Finance, blockchain infrastructure provider Iceblock and crypto service provider Aplo, bringing the total number of licensed CASPs to 31.　　In Malta, digital asset prime broker FalconX announced Monday that it had received a MiCA license, while Venga announced on Wednesday that it had received CASP authorization from Spain.　　The licenses were issued during the final stretch of MiCAs 18-month transitional period, which ended on Wednesday. By Friday, the European Securities and Markets Authoritys (ESMA) interim register showed 244 authorized CASPs across the European Union and European Economic Area.Frances whitelist includes newly licensed

07-02Industry

Bitcoin tops $60K amid Fed inflation talks: Is bull trap or $65K next？

Key takeaways:Persistent spot Bitcoin ETF outflows and US dollar strength reduce the odds of a quick bounce to $65,000.Strong AI sector earnings momentum and higher fixed-income returns pull capital from Bitcoin and gold.　　Bitcoin (BTC) reacted positively to US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warshs remarks on stubborn inflation. Despite the gains on Wednesday, traders fear that incentives for fixed-income investments and strong earnings momentum in tech stocks will continue to pressure non-yield-bearing assets like cryptocurrencies.US five-year Treasury yield (left) vs. Bitcoin/USD. Source: TradingView　　The US five-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.22%, meaning traders demanded higher returns to hold government bonds. Even as inflation eventually eases and WTI crude oil prices fell to a 4-month low, investors anticipate monetary expansion. Regardless of how the Fed manages interest rates and its balance sheet, the US Treasury dictates debt issuance trends.Implied odds of FED interest rates on Sept. 16. Source: CME FedWatch Tool　　US government bond futures implied 64% odds of interest rate hikes by September, up from 23% one month prior. The higher expected return on fixed-income investments came as the US dollar strengthened against other major global fiat currencies, which is especially concerning for alternative hedges such as gold and Bitcoin.Gold/USD (left) vs. US

07-02Industry

Bitcoin price returns to $60K as US dollar strength rejects weekly high

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to $60,000 at Wednesdays Wall Street open as stocks moved higher and US dollar strength fell.　　Key points:Bitcoin catches an early tailwind at the start of Julys first US trading session, rising with stocks.US dollar strength cools as analysis sees an increasingly “crowded” USD long trade.Bitcoin traders maintain faith that July will form a relief-bounce monthly candle.　　BTC price eyes 3%+ daily gains　　Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD spiking to $60,475 on Bitstamp, taking daily gains to nearly 3%.BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView　　The new monthly candle had started with a bump and a trip to new multiyear lows for the pair, and 24-hour crypto long liquidations totaled more than $200 million at the time of writing, per data from CoinGlass.BTC/USD vs. cryptocurrency liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass　　“$BTC showing a lovely pump this NY session,” trader Lennaert Snyder wrote in a response on X.　　Snyder expected a low-time frame reversal to kick in, with an accompanying chart showing “exhaustion” to hit before price reached $60,700.BTC/USDT one-hour chart. Source: Lennaert Snyder/X　　Fellow trader Daan Crypto Trades saw a potential breakout on the cards should price attack either end of its low-time-frame range.　　“Lets see if this turns this $58K-$61K area into a range for the time

07-02Industry

France to strengthen response as crypto wrench attacks hit 77

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has promised a “more ambitious” approach to tackling crypto ransom attacks after confirming there were 77 kidnapping, extortion or attempted extortion incidents linked to crypto in the first half of 2026.　　Nuñez said Tuesday that the 77 incidents recorded so far this year are up sharply from the 45 recorded in all of 2025, according to local outlet BFM Business.　　“These are serious matters, and your concern is legitimate,” he told the Association for the Development of Digital Assets (ADAN) as he promised more government support.　　France has become one of the biggest hot spots for crypto wrench attacks, where criminals use physical violence to coerce victims into handing over crypto. Approximately 11% of French people own cryptocurrencies, according to ADAN, which equates to about 7.3 million people.　　Frances rapid alert and protection system　　Earlier this year, French authorities launched a dedicated prevention platform and a rapid-alert and protection system for crypto holders and professionals, which has attracted 724 sign-ups so far, Nuñez said.　　Nuñez said that emergency measures have resulted in 200 arrests, with one recent attacker being arrested within eight hours on Friday, thanks in part to the victim using an emergency identification hotline.　　Related: StarkWare introduces Private KYC to

07-02Industry

Robinhood links with dYdX Labs to launch new DEX Arcus

The company behind the dYdX decentralized exchange (DEX) has partnered with Robinhood to rebrand and launch the protocol as Arcus on the Robinhood Chain.　　An X account for Arcus posted on Wednesday that “dYdX is now Arcus” and would launch on the Robinhood Chain, Robinhoods Arbitrum-based layer 2 blockchain that went live the same day.　　The dYdX Foundation said that dYdX Labs created Arcus “in partnership with Robinhood” and that the dYdX blockchain “is not affected by it in any way.” The platform is set to be blockchains “leading DEX” and will give users access to perpetual products and fee-free trading of 95 tokenized stocks.Source: Charles d’Haussy　　The DEX is part of Robinhoods expanded push into tokenized assets and perpetual trading, two areas of crypto that have recently exploded in popularity as US regulators have shown interest in allowing the products to more easily come to market.　　Robinhoods embrace of perpetual trading comes as it looks to entice traders who have flocked to the crypto perpetual futures platform Hyperliquid, whose token has climbed nearly 150% so far this year as it has captured market share.　　Arcus to offer tokenized stock, perps trading　　“Until now, traders have been shut out of the most valuable markets on earth

07-02Industry

Venice AI becomes a unicorn as AI privacy concerns grow

07-02Exchange

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