Latest Crypto News | Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoin Updates

STS Digital CEO Maxime Seiler says crypto’s next bull run is being held back by three barriers. First, institutional volatility-selling is dampening price action. Seiler points to unusually subdued Bitcoin implied volatility and notes a reflexive feedback loop: heavy options premium collection encourages more volatility-selling, compressing both implied and realized volatility. Second, AI is diverting attention and capital from crypto as the dominant growth narrative, citing market focus on companies tied to AI hype such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and even SpaceX’s IPO. Third, delayed U.S. crypto regulation—such as the proposed Clarity Act / market-structure legislation—is weighing on sentiment. Seiler argues clearer rules would speed the shift toward 24/7 settlement and trading in traditional finance, improving the backdrop for digital assets. Seiler also says blockchain adoption by banks, exchanges, and brokers is accelerating, but much of the value accrues to incumbents rather than crypto tokens. He expects a meaningful upside move for Bitcoin only when regulatory clarity, broader institutional deployment of 24/7 financial infrastructure, and easier macro policy (potential interest-rate cuts or renewed monetary easing) align. Market context: Bitcoin has largely traded in a tight $60,000–$66,000 range recently, with repeated breakout attempts failing. Seiler frames this as lower interest in directional Bitcoin trading compared with prior cycles.

Circle has received a limited-purpose trust charter from New York’s NYDFS for Circle Internet Trust Company LLC (Circle New York Trust). The approval adds deeper state oversight for the USDC stablecoin business and strengthens Circle’s long-running NYDFS relationship. The NYDFS move arrives in under a month of the OCC approving Circle to form First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A. (Circle National Trust) under federal supervision for fiduciary digital-asset custody. Circle said the NYDFS trust charter complements the OCC approval, not replaces it, because the two authorizations cover different legal roles. Circle also clarified that USDC reserve management remains outside the federally supervised bank initially, while USDC issuance continues via the New York limited-purpose trust company. Separately, Circle is expanding USDC infrastructure through acquisitions and partnerships, including an IBM patent-family purchase and MoUs with Kakao Group and Toss on payments, cross-border settlement and stablecoin infrastructure. For traders, clearer NYDFS authorization supports the USDC custody and compliance path. That can improve confidence in stablecoin rails as regulatory clarity rises, but it may not cause an immediate USDC price re-pricing without new flow catalysts.

The AI hedge fund Situational Awareness, led by “AI stock god” Leopold Aschenbrenner, was forced into rapid liquidation after an AI equity selloff triggered margin pressure. The fund’s mostly listed AI-focused bet was highly concentrated and reportedly used ~4x leverage via total return swaps. As AI-linked data-center, power, storage, and GPU/cloud stocks turned lower, losses on the long side overwhelmed gains from shorts. With “two-sided” damage when some bearish software names rebounded during the drawdown, banks reportedly issued additional margin calls. By July 30, reports said Citadel agreed to an emergency deal covering about $16B of Situational Awareness’s listed portfolio within roughly 36 hours—one of the largest forced asset transfers in years. After the unwind, assets were reported to drop to around $10B, while private holdings reportedly remained, including an estimated $5B+ stake in Anthropic. For crypto traders, this is a liquidity-and-leverage warning for risk assets: even if the long-term AI narrative survives, leveraged, concentrated exposure can still force fast de-risking and raise short-term volatility. Such tech-sector deleveraging can spill into broader crypto sentiment, especially during market-wide risk-off moves.

Bitcoin miners capitulation is underway as Bitcoin’s hashrate weakens and Miner Difficulty falls sharply. The article highlights Miner Difficulty down 19.9% from its peak—the third-largest decline since ASIC mining began—and notes the drawdown has lasted 287 days, signaling one of the longest capitulation phases in BTC history. Bitcoin miners capitulation also shows up in block economics. Block reward revenue in BTC terms hit the lowest-ever daily figure. Average fee revenue over the last 28 days is still below the subsidy from a single block, meaning fees currently cover only a small portion of security costs (fees are roughly $200,000/day versus total miner revenue around $30 million/day). Despite Bitcoin’s weakness (down about 46% over the past year), listed miner stocks have massively outperformed, with some up more than 430% while miners continue offloading thousands of BTC. The author links part of the divergence to broader positioning: AI-related assets rallied while Bitcoin sold off, reducing the usual correlation. The article’s core message: Bitcoin is not at immediate security risk, and this is not presented as a direct bearish price catalyst. However, Bitcoin miners capitulation may reshape long-term miner incentives, with outcomes likely depending on either deliberate policy/industry solutions or higher BTC prices to close the gap as subsidy keeps halving.

This guide explains what a stock market API is and how to use it to automate market data for dashboards, portfolio trackers, backtests, and AI workflows. Using Alpha Vantage, it shows the end-to-end flow: call a stock market API endpoint (via REST), parse the JSON response, and keep each value’s date attached. Key capabilities covered: (1) current and historical prices, including adjusted prices to account for stock splits and dividends; (2) company fundamentals such as sector, market cap, P/E ratio, EPS, and profit margin; (3) technical indicators, specifically RSI (14-day) generated from price series; and (4) optional news and sentiment for ticker-filtered monitoring. A practical example builds a compact “stock summary” for Apple (AAPL): it fetches the latest quote (GLOBAL_QUOTE), daily adjusted history (TIME_SERIES_DAILY_ADJUSTED) to compute a 30-trading-day return, fundamentals (OVERVIEW), and RSI (RSI function). The article emphasizes data freshness, rate limits, licensing, market coverage, and consistent input preprocessing for indicators used in strategies. It also discusses how the stock market API fits the AI era. REST workflows require the developer to assemble context before prompting an LLM. Separately, it highlights MCP (Model Context Protocol), where an AI agent can discover and call an official Alpha Vantage MCP server tool to retrieve real-time/historical data with guardrails—such as separating retrieved facts from model interpretation and treating missing fields as unavailable. Overall, the focus is on making reliable, dated market data machine-readable so trading tools and AI assistants do not rely on stale model knowledge.

Strategy reported an $8.2B net loss in Q2 2026, driven almost entirely by an $8.32B unrealized markdown on its Bitcoin holdings under ASU 2023-08 fair-value accounting. Because Strategy marks BTC to market each quarter through net income, quarterly P&L swings mainly track spot BTC price rather than actual coin sales. Key trading data: Strategy holds 843,775 BTC with an average cost of $75,476 per coin (about $63.69B). At the Q2 reporting date, BTC was around $64,915, implying a roughly $9B underwater gap. New development: Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for $218.4M for the first time in four years to fund preferred stock dividends, and its board authorized up to $1.25B of future BTC sales. Capital structure shift: preferred equity is increasing via STRC. Preferred stock outstanding is about $14.4B, with projected 2026 dividend obligations near $904M, while cash reserves are $3.75B (about 2.1 years coverage). In Q2, Strategy issued $5.47B of STRC preferred stock through at-the-market sales, which could raise future dividend load if issuance continues. Traders should watch Strategy’s BTC vs. $75,476 cost basis, STRC dividend coverage, and whether the authorized BTC monetization expands during a prolonged drawdown—especially since MSTR already trades as a leveraged Bitcoin proxy.

The BIS said Project Agorá has completed real-value testing of tokenized cross-border payments. In 17 scenario trials, 28 institutions and central banks settled about 800,000 Swiss francs (around $1 million) using tokenized central bank reserves and tokenized commercial bank deposits. Settlements involved six currencies: CHF, EUR, GBP, JPY, KRW and USD. BIS reported an average settlement time of about 80 seconds. Participants included major central banks (Bank of England, Bank of France, Bank of Japan, Bank of Korea, Swiss National Bank) and large commercial banks such as JPMorgan, Citi, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, UBS, Standard Chartered and MUFG. The project is exploring whether tokenized cross-border payments can improve wholesale payment efficiency and reduce settlement risk, including aiming for atomic execution across FX legs. BIS frames this work as “plumbing” for global finance—wholesale-focused and not directly tied to retail crypto pricing.

Citadel reportedly bought a large portion of the public stock portfolio of hedge fund Situational Awareness after heavy losses in July’s artificial intelligence equity rout. Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness fell about 67% in July (while still up about 80% for the year), according to a letter to investors cited by the Wall Street Journal. The Financial Times said the fund retained roughly $10 billion in stocks and private investments, including its stake in Anthropic. The deal reportedly followed liquidity pressure: the Journal said Situational needed cash to meet lender margin calls and agreed to sell $3.5 billion of Anthropic shares to a group led by Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital, then reportedly withdrew from the deal on Thursday. Reuters confirmed the leveraged portfolio detail but could not verify whether formal margin calls were issued before the sale. The article also notes steep July declines in AI-linked holdings. Sandisk fell about 44% in July; CoreWeave dropped nearly 26%; Bloom Energy was down about 32%. SEC filings cited direct positions in these companies as of March 31, plus around $1.11 billion in shares of Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies, including IREN, Core Scientific (CORZ), Riot Platforms (RIOT) and CleanSpark (CLSK). It remains unclear what specific stocks were included in the Citadel–Situational transaction and whether any BTC miner positions were kept. Crypto traders should watch for second-order effects on BTC miner equities and broader risk sentiment toward AI-linked tech exposures.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) held interest rates at 1.0% as the yen briefly surged toward the key 160 level after a reported major currency intervention. Eight of nine BOJ officials backed the decision, with only Hajime Takata voting for a 0.25% hike. The BOJ said it would keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate around 1.0%, while warning that CPI inflation pressure may rise to above 2% in the second half of fiscal 2026. Traders linked the yen’s sharp move to coordinated intervention dynamics in the region. Reports suggested South Korea also joined currency support, with the yen gaining as much as ~3.5% overnight. Analysts said Japan–Korea policy alignment could amplify the won and yen impact, and noted the U.S. Treasury/“MOF” may remain uncomfortable with excessive yen weakness—often discussed as a band around 162–165. For crypto markets, yen volatility is closely tied to the unwinding of the yen carry trade, which has historically pressured BTC and altcoins when JPY funding conditions tighten. With BOJ signaling a high-rate stance while still flagging CPI headwinds, traders may see near-term FX-driven liquidity swings. Overall, this is likely to keep the market sensitive to USD/JPY moves rather than deliver a one-way macro catalyst.

Reuters reports a Dubai-based illegal gambling network moving millions in cryptocurrency through Shelbit, an unlicensed crypto exchange at the center of a $4 billion Iran sanctions-evasion scheme. Shelbit, run by Iranian expatriate Siavash Kayvanpour, is described as the hub that links gambling activity and sanctioned Iranian entities to global crypto markets. The operation has allegedly shifted hundreds of millions of dollars to major platforms, including Binance. Binance said it had never held a Shelbit account, and that Shelbit-related transactions were not treated as high risk; it investigated associated users, froze accounts, and referred matters to law enforcement. U.S. and independent investigators say the scheme appears closely tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), though Reuters could not confirm direct IRGC control. Key context: Iran’s central bank is sanctioned under U.S. counterterrorism authorities and has been connected to this sanctions-evasion flow. Some funds are also described as originating from an Iranian Bitcoin mining operation that creates new coins.

In a CoinDesk Opinion column, DWF Labs’ Martin Lee argues that real-world asset (RWA) perpetual futures (“RWA perps”) are scaling faster than traditional tokenization. Key data points highlight the momentum. RWA perp trading hit $347B in May, up 1,472x versus the $230M level at the start of 2025. On DEXs, daily open interest reached $4.5B in July. Also by end of May, exchanges facilitated $1.32T in volume—around 13x the total seen across all of 2025. Lee attributes the outperformance to market structure. Perps run 24/7, letting traders react to geopolitical and commodity news without waiting for CME or other TradFi sessions. He cites oil perps reflecting the Iran conflict on Hyperliquid before CME reopened. The article also claims derivatives tend to outgrow spot. Equity perp volume on Hyperliquid reportedly ran 13–20x tokenized equity spot volume between March and May 2026. While spot has a larger wallet base (180,845 vs 24,378 for equity perps), perp holders compound faster (about 33% monthly vs 17% for spot). Finally, the column argues RWA perps are increasingly “consuming” RWAs: RWA perps grew from 1.3% of onchain perp volume at the start of the year to 31% now. Lee predicts that crypto-native platforms’ speed to launch new perp markets will spread upstream into broader retail distribution (e.g., Robinhood offering RWA perps in Europe).

Crypto’s key 2026 catalyst—the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act)—is losing momentum. JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou says declining odds of CLARITY Act passage will be a headwind for the whole market, arguing that regulatory stagnation keeps sidelining capital. Bitcoin is trading just under $64,000 on July 31, after holding the $60,000–$65,000 range for months. BTC is up modestly on the day but is struggling to break through a newly formed resistance, with daily volume around $28.1B. What the CLARITY Act would do: it would split digital-asset oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. Tokens deemed “digital commodities” would shift toward CFTC supervision, aiming to reduce jurisdictional disputes. A draft grandfather clause would treat tokens tied to spot ETFs listed before Jan 1, 2026—explicitly including XRP, SOL, LTC, HBAR, DOGE, and LINK—as commodities by default. The bill also allows new projects to raise up to $75M annually with less than full SEC registration, subject to disclosures. Why odds are falling: Kalshi estimates only ~30% odds of CLARITY Act becoming law by year-end (down from levels that would typically satisfy institutions). The Senate Banking Committee previously cleared the bill, but the broader Senate schedule, a need for 60 votes, and unresolved stablecoin yield provisions add friction ahead of the August 8 recess. Market impact angle: JPMorgan warns delays could push tokenization and blockchain applications into traditional market infrastructure instead of public networks. Even with support from major firms like BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Goldman, disputes—such as Coinbase’s concerns about stablecoin-related limits—could further weaken the bill’s path. For traders, the CLARITY Act narrative remains a near-term driver: further Senate inaction raises risk of sideways-to-down bias until clarity improves.

Coinbase posts third straight quarterly loss as retail traders cut back activity, worsening the exchange’s fiscal impact and highlighting a broader crypto trading slowdown. For the quarter ended June 30, Coinbase revenue fell to $1.22B (down 13.2% QoQ and 18.5% YoY). Coinbase quarterly loss was just under $360M, a slight improvement vs. Q1’s $394M loss, but far below the profit in Q1’25. Monthly transacting users (MTUs) dropped to 7.6M from 8.2M in Q1 and 8.7M in Q2’25. Transaction revenue totaled $599.2M (-21% QoQ), with consumer transaction revenue down to $451.7M (-20% QoQ). Spot volume fell 24% to $146.4B; consumer spot volume declined 23.7% to $25.8B. Management pointed to share gains in “crypto trading volume market share” (10.3%), supported by derivatives (perpetual futures). Derivatives volume fell only 2.3% to $1.06T, while stablecoin activity was mixed: stablecoin trading slid 23.4% to $7.5B, but mint/burn conversion rose 2.5% to $85.2B. On stablecoins, Coinbase says its Circle USDC partnership will renew when the current deal ends in August, and it plans to be a multi-stablecoin platform while supporting OpenUSD (OUSD). Coinbase’s Subscription & Services segment revenue was $555.2M, with stablecoin revenue (largely USDC) down ~5% to $292.1M. Coinbase also reported prediction-market momentum (annualized “$100M+” revenue, without hard quarterly figures) and a rising Coinbase One subscriber base (1M+), though trading-led economics remain under pressure. Looking ahead, transaction revenue was $130M through July 26, suggesting a weak Q3 if trends persist.

Greece has opened bidding for a large-scale digital identity system worth about €415.6 million (around $472.8 million), aimed at strengthening national electronic authentication and digital government services. The contract covers the integrated production and issuance cycle for security documents under the OPSEA programme. Greece plans to supply and install equipment to create a national electronic authentication system for citizens, build a central interoperability hub (“Citizen Identity Hub”), and provide approved electronic signature certificates. The scope also includes collecting supporting documents and biometric data, managing applications and data, personalising ID documents, and conducting quality control. The government estimates total project value at €515.4 million including VAT (and €415.6 million excluding VAT). Delivery is required within 18 months. Over three years, the plan calls for producing 6.42 million ID1-type ID cards and 1.05 million ID3-type passport booklets, followed by larger production volumes over the next seven years. The winning bidder must also provide operations and maintenance for 10 years, including on-site support, telecommunications services, and supply and personalisation of security forms. The project targets compliance with eIDAS 2.0 and the EU’s European Digital Identity regulation. Under the EUDI framework, EU Digital Identity Wallets are expected by the end of 2026, and member states must offer wallet access (citizens’ use remains voluntary). The bid deadline is September 10, 2026. For crypto traders, this is a payments-and-authentication modernization story rather than a direct token catalyst, with mainly indirect implications for identity infrastructure and European compliance timelines tied to the digital identity system.

Crypto treasuries are increasingly being used as operating finance for AI infrastructure, highlighted by two Tokyo- and US-listed companies. Quantum Solutions (via its subsidiary GPT Pals Studio) sold 1,000 ETH for $1.903 million to fund its Japanese AI data center expansion. The company also raised its total ETH sale ceiling to 4,375 ETH (through Oct 30), with authorization that still allows another 2,471 ETH subject to conditions. Quantum expects a fiscal loss of ¥17 million (about $100,970) because the sale price was below its May 31 carrying value. After the sale, Quantum’s ETH balance fell from 6,668.8 ETH to 4,764.8 ETH, a ~28.6% decline. Most of Quantum’s remaining ETH is pledged as collateral: 3,050 ETH are reportedly pledged, while 1,714.8 ETH sits in a trading account. The raised sale authorization exceeds freely held balance, implying future sales may require collateral release, replacement, or other arrangements. Hyperscale Data monetized roughly 100 BTC and invested proceeds into its Michigan AI data center campus. It also set up a Bitcoin-backed credit facility with a variable interest rate estimated at 4.5%–5%. Hyperscale is building AI-related neocloud capacity under a 10-year master services agreement (initial ~20MW), with potential expansion options. Overall, these moves show crypto treasuries shifting from passive holding toward financing GPU/data-center projects tied to commercialization. Traders may watch ETH selling pressure, credit-facility terms, and delivery timelines for capacity as key near-term catalysts.

Deribit says the number of jurisdictions eligible to receive USDC rewards is growing. From 1 August 2026, additional countries will become eligible for Deribit’s monthly USDC rewards program. USDC rewards are monthly payments to eligible users for holding USDC in a Deribit account. Deribit calculates rewards daily: every day at 00:00 UTC it determines the minimum USDC equity held over the prior 24 hours. After month-end, Deribit sums daily rewards to produce the monthly total, which is then paid within the first two weeks of the following month. The announcement includes a full list of newly eligible jurisdictions. Deribit also notes that it is not available in the United States or other restricted countries, aligning eligibility with local access rules. For traders, the change expands the potential pool of participants who can earn USDC rewards on-platform. If more users in eligible regions allocate capital to hold USDC on Deribit, it could marginally increase demand for USDC balances and improve liquidity conditions around relevant derivatives activity.

Coinkite warned that the Coldcard Mk3 firmware flaw may expose Bitcoin funds if users generated seed phrases on affected versions. The problem relates to device-generated entropy: affected seeds have about 72 bits of entropy instead of the expected 128 bits. Coverage includes every Coldcard Mk3 firmware release since 4.0.1 (Mar 2021). It also affects Mk4/Mk5 seeds generated before firmware 5.6.0, and Q seeds before 1.5.0Q (with a reportedly lower, but still serious, risk). TAPSIGNER, OPENDIME, and SATSCARD are not affected because they use different codebases. Atlas21’s reporting on July 30 described an automated sweep moving 594.5 BTC (≈$38M) across 500 single-signature addresses in a three-block window (960188–960191). The operation moved 1,324 UTXOs. No multisig or Taproot victims were reported. Losses were concentrated: median loss 0.41 BTC, 110 victims above 1 BTC, and a largest loss of 29.9 BTC; estimated fees were 0.044 BTC. A Reddit account claimed its 24-word seed was generated in 2021 and never entered on a computer. Coinkite’s response for affected users: migrate funds only after creating a new seed on an unaffected device (then verify the backup, confirm a new receive address, send a small test transaction, and only then transfer the remainder). If Mk3 is the only option, use a strong unique BIP-39 passphrase and carefully verify wallet fingerprint and addresses. Coinkite is conducting a formal technical review and has not publicly proven causation for the theft. For traders, this is primarily a custody/security alert rather than a protocol change—expect limited direct impact on BTC price unless additional verified incidents or broader wallet exposure emerge.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James have filed a lawsuit against Kalshi, alleging its prediction markets are effectively unlicensed gambling products. The complaint was lodged in Manhattan state court. New York asks the state to stop Kalshi from offering “event contracts” to residents and seeks penalties, profit forfeiture, and restitution for affected customers. The state argues these contracts function like betting on real-world outcomes such as sports, elections, and economic data. Regulators also claim Kalshi violates New York’s age rules by allowing users aged 18–20, while the state requires bettors to be at least 21. Kalshi says its contracts are federally regulated derivatives overseen by the U.S. CFTC, not state gambling. The suit follows a recent federal judge decision denying Kalshi’s request to pause state enforcement while the dispute continues. The broader backdrop is a U.S. jurisdiction fight over whether prediction markets fall under federal commodities regulation or state gambling law, with the CFTC defending its authority and New York pursuing other prediction-market-related businesses. For crypto traders, this renewed regulatory pressure around prediction markets can spill into sentiment for crypto-adjacent trading venues. Pay close attention to risk-off moves in exchange-related equities/tokens, especially where compliance headlines could affect liquidity and volume.

Bitcoin (BTC) is showing a low-timeframe downtrend after nearly tagging $67K about ten days ago. The chart is printing consecutive lower highs and lower lows, with analysts pointing to a bearish head-and-shoulders structure and repeated rejections at resistance zones. If the Bitcoin low timeframe downtrend continues, BTC may sweep toward the $62K area by retesting the bull-market trendline. Key near-term supports are cited at $63,250 and $62,250. On the daily timeframe, the “fakeout” from a descending channel is highlighted, and traders are cautioned to watch the 50-day SMA: falling below it previously preceded sharp sell-offs (from ~$77K to ~$60K, and earlier from ~$90K to ~$60K). Momentum signals are also flagged. The RSI rising wedge near the bottom of the chart appears ready to break down; confirmation would come from end-of-day indicator deterioration and corresponding BTC price action. On the weekly timeframe, the 9th weekly candle is suggested to be close to closing back below a key $66K horizontal resistance, while BTC remains around the 200-week SMA and has bounced off the bull-market trendline. Market cross-asset risk is included: oil prices may rise again, which could pressure U.S. stocks—an unfavorable backdrop for BTC. Overall, this Bitcoin low timeframe downtrend setup implies rising probability of a downside test toward $62K in the next week or so, with volatility likely elevated around $66K resistance and the $63.25K–$62.25K support band.

Coinkite says certain Coldcard Mk3 devices may have generated weak BIP-39 seeds on firmware 4.0.1+ (and for Mk4/Mk5 before 5.6.0). Seeds created on affected versions could let attackers recreate private keys “from the press of a button,” undermining the wallet’s air gap and enabling remote theft. Crypto Core contributor instagibbs demonstrated the issue by recreating a vulnerable seed on a freshly initialized Mk3. Coinkite has not released the root cause yet, and it plans a formal technical review. Impact and affected scope: Mk3 is the clearest risk case, especially when a single signature wallet uses no BIP-39 passphrase, no user dice entropy, and no multisig. Coinkite states the risk is lower for devices using a strong, unique BIP-39 passphrase, adding an extra barrier because the attacker must recover both the mnemonic and the separate passphrase. Multisig can also limit blast radius by requiring independent signers. Remediation: Coinkite advises affected users to generate new keys on a safe setup and move funds on-chain to addresses controlled by the new seed. The company recommends owners verify backups, fingerprint/receive address, run test transfers, then migrate the balance. Firmware updates cannot change already-generated key material, so old addresses remain exposed until funds are moved. Market-trader relevance: this is a self-custody security event, with no direct protocol change to Bitcoin. Traders may see short-term sentiment volatility around hardware-wallet safety, but broader market stability impact is likely limited unless large-scale theft claims emerge.

Japan and South Korea are leaning toward FX intervention as the yen and won come under pressure from a strong US dollar and widening US–Japan/Korea rate gaps. In late July, USD/JPY briefly pushed to around 163.99—near multi-decade lows—and Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned the country would take “decisive action appropriately at any time.” The yen’s weakness has been linked to persistent inflation concerns and expectations that Japan will normalise policy more slowly than the US. South Korea faces a different mix, but the same macro through-line: imported inflation risk and pressure on the won. On July 16, the Bank of Korea raised its base rate by 25 bps to 2.75% explicitly to help stabilise the slumping won and counter inflation. Officials also signalled coordination: in early July, South Korea’s Vice Finance Minister said Seoul was in close contact with Japan and others regarding FX. The article explains how FX intervention is implemented. In Japan, the Ministry of Finance typically directs the Bank of Japan to sell dollars and buy yen in the spot market, often using FX reserves. In Korea, the approach is more rate-focused, supplemented by operations to smooth disorderly moves. For traders, the key takeaway is that FX intervention can calm volatility short term by cooling one-way positioning and repricing hedging/funding. However, it rarely changes the broader trend unless the macro backdrop shifts. Watch for escalation in official language, counter-trend bursts without clear data catalysts, and a quick return to tighter spreads as intervention flows hit. Crypto linkage: FX stress often tightens overall risk budgets, which can reduce bids for altcoins and increase preference for stablecoin pairs during the window.

Bitcoin (BTC) is largely flat near $64,300, even as global equities rebound sharply. Ether, XRP, and Solana trade with limited movement, and most majors remain lower on the week. In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi jumps as much as 17%, led by Samsung and SK Hynix (both up more than 23%) and Taiwan Semiconductor (+10%) after a steep prior selloff. The crypto market shows little follow-through from the risk-on move, suggesting BTC is still decoupled from the tech-sector bounce. Weekly momentum stays soft: HYPE (-5%), SOL (-3%), XRP (-3%), and BTC (-2%). BNB is the exception, up about 3% to around $590. A separate headline involves a security flaw in certain Coldcard hardware wallets. Hackers drained about 594 BTC (roughly $38m) across around 500 wallets via a key-generation issue, but the theft did not register clearly in BTC price during the period. FX and rates also remain in focus: the yen weakens after the Bank of Japan leaves rates unchanged, while Treasuries and oil move lower with the dollar. For traders, the main read-through is that macro/risk sentiment is not yet translating into sustained crypto follow-through, while wallet-security events are not immediately impacting BTC on the tape.

Bitcoin is steady near $64,000 after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its benchmark rate at 1%. Traders say the yen’s bounce faded during Governor Kazuo Ueda’s press conference, helping the yen carry trade stay supported. Japan’s message was widely expected. Ueda signalled a potentially hawkish path, but markets had already priced in an October rate hike. That reduced immediate pressure on risk appetite. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve backdrop remains a headwind for crypto risk sentiment. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, core PCE, rose 3.3% year-on-year in June (down slightly from 3.4% in May) but still stays well above the 2% target. Elevated bond yields tied to persistent inflation weaken the bullish case for risk assets, including Bitcoin. Market conditions were described as quiet. Ether held near $1,885. BNB was the standout large-cap mover, up about 3.5% on the day and 4.4% on the week to around $591, according to CoinDesk data. For traders, the key takeaway is that Bitcoin stability around $64,000 is being supported by BOJ policy expectations and the yen carry trade narrative, while Fed inflation data keeps the broader macro ceiling for risk assets in view.

The Philippines’ DICT says its eGov PH app (eGov Super App) is rapidly digitising citizen services—aiming to remove long queues, repeated paperwork, and multiple identity submissions across agencies. At the ASEAN Tech Summit, DICT Undersecretary David Almirol said users should not need to “repeat the process” because the national digital ID can feed verified information into many government systems. Key capabilities inside the eGov PH app include: - Clearances in minutes: Apply for an NBI clearance in about five minutes, and request permits or driver’s licenses remotely. - One-hub benefits tracking: View PhilHealth contributions, GSIS loans/pensions, and Pag-IBIG savings. - Social assistance applications: Submit for financial aid, medical subsidies, job openings, and agricultural support. - Centralised “e-Report” for online scams: Report to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), flag abuse, alert the PNP, and link to emergency response (e.g., 911). Adoption and infrastructure metrics cited by DICT: - 61M+ total downloads; 80k–100k daily downloads. - ~75% adult population coverage. - ~700% usage growth (2025–2026). - 1,300+ connected agencies/systems. - 92M+ digital national IDs issued (~95% of adults). - E-Verify handling 1,000–2,000 verification requests per minute across 150 relying parties. DICT also embedded free generative AI into the eGov PH app, integrating models such as Google Gemini. Citizens can access conversational AI tools without paid subscriptions, while local government units can build custom bots. The AI is linked to anti-deepfake security measures. For traders, this is primarily a public-sector tech and identity digitisation story, with no direct crypto asset or exchange policy change mentioned.

BitMEX announced that it will end “Convert” support for five tokens on 5 Aug 2026 at 04:00 UTC. The affected Convert spot pairs are FJUSDT_USDT, BONK_USDT, XTZ_USDT, APE_USDT, and AXS_USDT. Withdrawals will continue as normal, but users are urged to remove funds from the platform. The exchange said the delisting decision is linked to the upcoming closure of the BitMEX platform. For users holding fjUSDT, BitMEX notes there is an outstanding fjUSDT balance; any remaining fjUSDT at the time of delisting will be automatically converted to USDT. The company recommends converting fjUSDT to USDT as soon as possible using the Convert function. BitMEX did not mention specific changes to trading, leverage, or fees for derivatives, but the removal of Convert support (and the wider platform closure) reduces convenience and increases operational risk for spot conversion and portfolio management.

Internet Computer (ICP) is down about 99.7% from its all-time high, trading near $2.06, after a peak above $700 in 2021. Its market cap is roughly $1.14B, placing it around the 60th-largest crypto. The bullish case points to potential accumulation and a historical pattern. X user “CW” said ICP accumulation continued for about a month, with a score of 100, and that similar periods have previously been followed by major pumps. Another analyst, “KYRA BLOOM,” flagged a setup where the breakout thesis stays valid if ICP holds above $1.94, with a target near $9. The bearish camp highlights key technical failure. “Cryptorphic” said ICP broke below the $2.10 support zone and warned that if the $2.10–$2.12 area flips to resistance on a retest, the breakdown could continue. They cited $1.67 as the next major downside level, while staying bearish as long as ICP remains below a descending trendline and fails to reclaim broken support. Crypto Patel similarly suggested further downside if $2 fails, projecting a move toward $1 and then $0.50 as the next major target. Overall, traders are watching whether ICP can defend the $1.94–$2.12 band or whether it confirms another leg lower. This is a high-volatility setup where sentiment can swing quickly between “accumulation-driven rebound” and “support breakdown continuation” for ICP.

Bitcoin options expiry hits Friday, Jul 31, with about 149,000 BTC options contracts expiring and roughly $9.57B notional value. Positioning skews call-heavy (put/call 0.28), while “max pain” sits near $64,000, close to current spot. Open interest is concentrated on Deribit at the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes (around $2.4B each), but meaningful short-side OI remains near $60,000 (about $1.3B). Total BTC options open interest across exchanges has risen to ~$34.7B. Deribit flags a cautious macro/risk tone and expects short-term pressure on BTC, but notes the Bitcoin options expiry can still trigger “massive liquidity and volatility,” making it attractive for short-dated options trading. This matters more because weekly volatility has been low during BTC consolidation. Ethereum also has a large expiry: around 433,000 ETH options, ~$825M notional, “max pain” near $1,800, and put/call around 0.59. Across both markets, traders should watch for price “pinning” around the BTC max pain zone near $64k and for volatility spikes as hedging flows unwind around key strikes ($60k, $70k, $72k).

BlackRock clients reportedly bought $183.41M worth of Bitcoin via the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), reinforcing 2026 spot Bitcoin ETF inflow momentum. The later report adds a sequence of large IBIT purchases in July—$209M (July 6), $139M plus an extra $80.82M (July 15), and about $163M around July 22—taking recent IBIT inflows to more than $700M across only a few sessions. The earlier update focused on flow context: while cumulative spot Bitcoin ETF inflows remain large, net cumulative inflow momentum has cooled versus earlier peaks. Net cumulative flows reportedly eased from roughly $63B toward about $50B–$52B, with cumulative outflows around -$28B partially offsetting new inflows. For traders watching Bitcoin momentum through the ETF tape, $50B is the key support zone for net cumulative flows. A hold above it would suggest demand stability; strength would improve if flows push above $55B and toward $60B. A break below $50B would shift attention to the next supports near $45B (then $40B). Overall, continued IBIT buying supports the bullish narrative, but the market’s price follow-through may depend on whether net flows stabilize around the $50B area.

Israeli settlers enter Nablus with army protection, according to Al Jazeera, as dozens of settlers reportedly moved into the western part of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. The report frames this as a continuation of rising tensions, with recent weeks seeing more settler violence and Israeli military activity around Nablus. The area has been on high alert after deadly violence near Tal and subsequent Israeli military clampdowns. The presence of Israeli forces protecting the settlers suggests a significant escalation rather than an isolated civilian action. On the political risk side, market pricing indicates a lower chance that Israeli forces will withdraw beyond the Litani River by July 31. Current odds for a withdrawal by Dec. 31 are 25.5% (YES), highlighting uncertainty as the region watches for official statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an Israeli military spokesperson. Traders may also monitor potential Hezbollah statements or actions and any UN Security Council developments, as these could shift expectations around regional security dynamics. Overall, Israeli settlers enter Nablus with army protection, raising near-term headline risk and uncertainty around broader military posture.