Trump stalls CLARITY Act as ethics dispute threatens Senate vote

The CLARITY Acts chance of becoming law in 2026 has fallen to 31% on Polymarket as the White House withholds support for a disputed ethics provision.  Crypto In America reported that the White House had not approved the ethics language as of July 20, despite President Donald Trump meeting Republican senators last week to discuss the crypto market structure bill. Sources cited by the outlet also said the administration has not explained which ethical limits it would accept.  Without a clear position from the White House, Senate negotiators may need more time to prepare an updated version of the legislation, according to the report. The delay could disrupt Republican plans to bring the CLARITY Act to the Senate floor before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess.  Senate Majority Leader John Thune wants to schedule a floor vote before August, but he has acknowledged that Republicans have not secured a bipartisan agreement. Under Senate rules, the party would need Democratic support to overcome procedural barriers and advance the legislation.  Democrats have demanded restrictions on elected officials‘ involvement in digital assets, with their concerns focused mainly on Trump’s crypto interests. According to the presidents financial disclosure, his digital-asset ventures generated as much as $1.4 billion

07-21انڈسٹری

Bitcoin gets $2.5B target for $72,000 by August as unknown trader bets big on Fed rally

Deribits July 31 options board shows more than 20,000 Bitcoin call contracts open at both the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes.  The two strikes represent the largest call concentrations for that expiry, with roughly 27,000 contracts at $70,000 and 21,000 at $72,000, according to the exchanges data as of press time. Bitcoin sits near $64,289, placing the lower strike about 8.9% above spot.  Deribit Chief Commercial Officer Jean-David Péquignot told CoinDesk that one large block involved buying 20,000 July 31 calls at $70,000 and selling the same number at $72,000.  The exchange data concentration independently confirms substantial positioning at the strikes in the 20,000-by-20,000 bull call spread.  Based on that construction, the two legs carry roughly $2.5 billion in aggregate gross notional at prevailing Bitcoin prices. Premium paid, capital committed and net exposure are separate measures from that figure.  The options expire two days after the Federal Reserves next policy decision. Together, the strike concentration, expiry and spot gap define a tactical test for Bitcoin during the final days of July.  Deribits July 31 Bitcoin options board showed more than 20,000 call contracts open at both the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes on July 20. Open interest confirms the concentration but does not disclose ownership or trade direction.

07-21

NEAR Co-Founder: AI-Powered Hacking Demands New Era of Code Verification

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of $NEAR Protocol, has issued a stark warning about the escalating threat of AI-powered hacking, stating that traditional code review methods are no longer sufficient to protect blockchain ecosystems. According to a report from The Block, Polosukhin noted that AI-driven attacks began to intensify significantly in October of last year, marking a turning point in the cybersecurity landscape.  The Acceleration of AI-Driven Threats  Polosukhin emphasized that the sophistication and speed of AI-generated attacks have outpaced manual code audits, which are often slow, expensive, and prone to human error. He argued that the industry must pivot toward formal verification — a mathematical approach to proving that code behaves exactly as intended — to keep pace with automated adversaries. Formal verification, while historically costly and computationally intensive, offers a level of certainty that traditional testing cannot match.  Why Formal Verification Matters Now  The $NEAR co-founder highlighted that the window for relying solely on human reviewers has closed. AI can now generate thousands of attack vectors in seconds, probing smart contracts and decentralized applications for vulnerabilities faster than any human team can respond. Polosukhin called for the integration of AI tools to make formal verification faster and cheaper, effectively using the same technology that

07-21

US House weighs sports-contract ban threatening Kalshi and Polymarket

The US House Agriculture Committee has scheduled a hearing on sports prediction markets as two gaming associations press Congress to prohibit sports contracts offered by platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket.  According to a committee release, the Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development will examine customer protections and market integrity across prediction markets. Legal specialists and executives representing the American Gaming Association and Indian Gaming Association are expected to testify.  The hearing comes as state authorities challenge whether sports event contracts qualify as federally regulated derivatives or unlicensed gambling products. Kalshi and Polymarket have faced claims from regulators that their sports markets resemble conventional betting services, despite operating within the prediction-market sector.  At the federal level, prediction-market supporters maintain that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission already possesses enough authority to oversee event contracts. Gaming associations, however, want lawmakers to prevent regulated exchanges from offering contracts based on sporting events.  Gaming groups want sports contracts prohibited  Legal expert Daniel Wallach, who reviewed the witnesses‘ prepared testimony, noted that supporters of prediction markets are asking Congress not to pass new legislation clarifying the CFTC’s authority. According to Wallach, those witnesses believe the existing legal framework already allows the regulator to supervise platforms such as Polymarket.  Robert

07-21انڈسٹری

Russia's First Comprehensive Crypto Law Is Two Votes Away From Passing

In briefThe State Dumas second and third readings of a pending crypto bill are scheduled for July 21; if approved, the law takes effect September 1.The bill explicitly permits crypto only for international trade, giving Russian companies a legal mechanism to route payments outside Western banking channels.Domestic crypto payments remain banned.  Russias State Duma, the lower house of its legislative body, takes its final two votes on the countrys first comprehensive cryptocurrency law on Tuesday.  The bill—titled “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights”—still needs Senate approval and Russian President Vladimir Putins signature after that, a process Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, expects to take another two weeks. The law would then take effect on September 1.  The original target was July 1, but the delay came from coordination bottlenecks between government agencies, per reports by the Russian outlet Kommersant.  What the bill creates  The legislation sets up a licensing regime—a government-issued permit system—for crypto exchanges, brokers, and custodians (companies that store cryptocurrency on your behalf, the way a bank holds cash). The Bank of Russia becomes the authority issuing those permits and can bar any cryptocurrency it deems a threat to financial stability.  Major financial institutions arent waiting: VTB and

07-21انڈسٹری

Armstrong says his posts aren't endorsements. Traders ignore him anyway.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told his followers on X that his posts do not serve as an endorsement of any kind. Regardless, traders ignored his “warnings” with many pushing back.   On July 20, Armstrong responded to the buzz around his social media activity, particularly his profile picture, and reiterated the disclaimer on his X bio. He acknowledged the response from the Base community, adding that responses like these only go to show how much people care.  A profile picture worth tens of millions  On July 16, Armstrong changed his profile picture on X from a CryptoPunk avatar to an art tied to $BRIAN, a Base memecoin sometimes referred to as “Coinbase Man”. The market cap of the token jumped $30 million to the $37 million range in mere hours: a move of ~3,000%. This obviously tested how much traders look to Armstrong for trade signals or investment advice because the only change that occurred was Armstrongs change of profile picture.  When Armstrong changed his profile picture back to the CryptoPunk, the drop was just as fast. $BRIAN lost about 85% to 93% of its value in twenty-four hours, falling under the $5 million mark.  This did not alarm any regulator, nor did Coinbase release

07-21

RBNZ Sectoral Factor Inflation Model holds steady at 2.7% YoY in Q2 2026

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) published its Sectoral Factor Model Inflation gauge for the second quarter of 2026, following the release of the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) by NZ Stats on Tuesday.  The inflation gauge came in at 2.7% year-over-year (YoY) in Q2 2026 vs. 2.7% in Q1.  The inflation measures are closely watched by the RBNZ, which has a monetary policy goal of achieving 1% to 3% inflation.  Market reaction  The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) faces some selling pressure on the RBNZs inflation data release. At the time of writing, NZD/USD is off the seven-week high of 0.5874, still up 0.36% on the day at 0.5858.  About the RBNZ Sectoral Factor Model Inflation  The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has a set of models that produce core inflation estimates. The sectoral factor model estimates a measure of core inflation based on co-movements – the extent to which individual price series move together. It takes a sectoral approach, estimating core inflation based on two sets of prices: prices of tradable items, which are those either imported or exposed to international competition, and prices of non-tradable items, which are those produced domestically and not facing competition from imports.  Inflation FAQs  Inflation measures the rise in the

07-21انڈسٹری

Ethereum Could Lead the Next Bull Market: Is Hayes Preparing with More Buys?

Arthur Hayes bought another 1,332.5 ETH ($2.53 million) today, according to on-chain tracking data shared on X.The purchase extends a buying streak from the BitMEX co-founder. It also renews attention on Ethereums institutional demand story.  Hayes sold 6,000 ETH at a roughly $606,000 loss in June. He then reversed course with a series of buybacks in July as some discuss Ethereums role in the next bull run for crypto.  Hayes Extends a Pattern of ETH Accumulation  The latest purchase follows Hayes return to Ethereum earlier this month. He acquired roughly 1,939 ETH then across two OTC-style transactions. That reversal came weeks after his June exit.  Critics have flagged Hayes record of praising tokens like HYPE, ZEC, and WLD before quietly exiting those positions. Ether trades at $1,906, up 1.74% over 24 hours, with a market capitalization over $230 billion.  Ethereum has been climbing over the past month. Image Source: BeInCryptoSome See Institutional Demand Driving the Next Cycle  With some larger accumulation and whale movement around ETH, some are noting a broader shift in Ethereum‘s bull case toward institutions. Bitmine Immersion Technologies Chairman Tom Lee argues that Wall Street adoption now drives Ethereum’s growth, not crypto-native speculation. He points to BlackRock‘s tokenized BUIDL fund and Robinhood Chain’s

07-21انڈسٹری

WETH Whale Activity Hits Highest Since 2021 As ETF And DeFi Demand Converge

Wrapped Ethereum‘s whale transaction count has just breached a level untouched for half a decade. According to the Santiment update, the WETH network recorded 113,000 transactions exceeding $100,000 in the past seven days—the highest since May 2021. The number is not just a statistical curiosity. WETH functions as the plumbing for Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem, and a spike of this magnitude suggests serious capital is moving through trading, lending, and liquidity rails, not parking idly in cold storage.  The market backdrop makes the signal even harder to dismiss. U.S. spot Ether ETFs have been absorbing accelerated inflows, with BlackRocks ETH products among the beneficiaries. Over on the L2 frontier, Robinhood Chain launched on July 1 and has been processing substantial DEX volume, using ETH for gas fees. That kind of utility-driven consumption feeds directly into WETH demand, since the wrapped asset is the standard for most DeFi interactions. It is a different kind of demand than the retail-driven mania of 2021.  Institutional and Treasury Activity Aligns  Corporates are adding their own weight. Bitmine lifted its Ethereum stack to around 5.8 million ETH, a figure that places it among the protocols largest known holders. Bitmine, SharpLink, and Joe Lubin also threw their support behind Ethlabs,

07-21انڈسٹری

Bitcoin treasury company discovers buying own stock adds 24% more BTC per share than buying Bitcoin

When a Bitcoin treasury trades for less than the Bitcoin it holds, the cheapest way to increase gross Bitcoin exposure per share may be to buy back its own stock.  UK-listed B HODL Plc tested that inversion during its first week of repurchases. It paid about £37,985 before fees to retire 823,400 shares, generating about 24% more gross sats-per-share accretion per pound than using the same cash to buy Bitcoin at the comparison price.  That 24% edge is before fees, and the numbers stop short of showing a full NAV-per-share gain.  B HODLs official dashboard on July 19 showed 166.487 BTC, a 5.25 pence share price and a £7.385 million market capitalization. At the displayed Bitcoin price of £48,237, the holdings were worth about £8.031 million, leaving a roughly £646,000 gap.  Applying the latest announced post-cancellation share count at the same stock price puts the equity value at about £7.378 million, roughly £652,000 or 8.1% below the Bitcoin value. Both sides of the comparison move continuously.  Why buying shares beat buying Bitcoin  B HODLs £100,000 buyback authorization took effect July 9. Disclosures covering purchases on July 9, July 10, July 13, July 15, and July 16 total 823,400 shares at a calculated weighted average of 4.613

07-21انڈسٹری
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