News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: UAE-based foundation Aqua1 Foundation purchased $100 million worth of governance tokens from decentralized finance project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) on June 26, marking the largest single publicly disclosed purchase of the token to date. The funds trace back to Chinese businessman Guren "Bobby" Zhou, with up to $75 million flowing to entities linked to the Trump family and World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff. WLFI tokens confer governance and voting rights and do not represent equity in the company. Zhou was arrested in the UK in March 2021 on suspicion of money laundering, with UK law enforcement investigations still ongoing as of late July 2026. Two of his long-time employees were indicted in September 2025, one of whom has pleaded guilty, with trial scheduled for 2028. Zhou has not yet been formally charged. Zhou met with Eric Trump in Dubai to discuss the investment and described it as participation in the "Trump family's crypto project." The source of the $100 million Aqua1 used to purchase WLFI remains unclear, and public information does not indicate any direct link between these specific funds and money laundering activities. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News: Tether's Q2 net operating profit was $1.5 billion, primarily derived from interest generated by its U.S. Treasury holdings and repurchase agreements. As of June 30, Tether's reserve buffer stood at $4.11 billion, with assets exceeding liabilities by the same amount. USDT's circulating supply increased by $446 million to $184.6 billion, accounting for over 60% of the global stablecoin market. DeFiLlama data shows the global stablecoin market size is approximately $307 billion, with Tether remaining one of the major holders of U.S. Treasury securities. Asset management firm BlackRock has launched two tokenized money market products aimed at stablecoin issuers to help meet reserve requirements under the U.S. GENIUS Act. One of the funds tokenizes shares of its existing Treasury liquidity strategy on Ethereum, while the other is an institutional-grade money market instrument designed to support multiple chains and automatically reinvest returns.
Odaily News The U.S. labor market has shown notable signs of cooling. Data shows that U.S. non-farm payrolls decreased by 23,000 in July, far below the market's previous expectation of an increase of 85,000, missing expectations by 108,000 — marking the third-largest monthly decline since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Meanwhile, June's non-farm payroll figures were revised down by 37,000, further signaling a weakening trend in the labor market.Following the release of the employment data, market expectations for a September rate hike by the Federal Reserve quickly declined. Data indicates that the probability of a September rate hike dropped sharply from roughly 70% to 40%, prompting investors to reprice the future path of Fed policy. Analysts suggest that a lower probability of rate hikes typically benefits risk assets, but the underlying reasons — weakening economic growth and a softening labor market — could also heighten market risk aversion. At the same time, gold prices have surpassed $4,400, reflecting rising demand for safe-haven assets.For Bitcoin, the current market presents a dual impact: on one hand, a shift toward looser Fed policy could boost risk appetite, which is positive for crypto assets; on the other hand, continued deterioration in the labor market could limit upside potential for the market. The market will be watching next month's non-farm payroll data to see whether it further confirms the trend of slowing employment. If labor weakness persists, it could reinforce expectations of a Fed pivot toward easing — but it could also intensify concerns of an economic recession.
Odaily News: U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the U.S. Department of Commerce to explain its policy toward the UAE, following the U.S. granting the UAE greater access to AI chip exports after UAE-linked entities invested in Trump-family-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, it was mentioned that an Abu Dhabi entity invested $500 million in World Liberty Financial in January; another UAE-affiliated company used World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to complete a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance. The U.S. Department of Commerce previously reclassified the UAE as Country Group A:5, granting it greater access to license-free exports, including advanced chips. The department also stated it would "actively review" license applications involving exports of chips and servers to MGX, the UAE entity that completed the $2 billion Binance investment. Warren stated that the Commerce Department's actions raise significant questions about whether the president's crypto business interests could influence agency operations and national security. In June, several senators, including Warren, had already requested a hearing regarding the $500 million World Liberty Financial deal.
According to BeInCrypto, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit officially issued the mandate in the SBF case on August 4, marking the formal conclusion of Sam Bankman-Fried's appellate proceedings. The one-page order affirmed the original verdict without providing any new reasoning, leaving his 25-year prison sentence and approximately $11 billion forfeiture order unchanged. Previously, on June 12, the panel rejected SBF's appeals on all seven counts. In the opinion, Judge Parker noted that while SBF publicly assured customers, investors, and regulators of the safety of FTX funds, he misappropriated customer funds for real estate, political donations, and personal investments. Currently, SBF's only remaining judicial recourse is to petition for a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court within 90 days, but the Supreme Court's acceptance rate is extremely low. Additionally, SBF has separately submitted a clemency application to the Department of Justice, but Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego have jointly introduced a resolution opposing the granting of clemency to him.
Odaily News: Apple has limited the number of vulnerability reports a single researcher can submit at one time because its security team has received a large number of submissions generated by AI, many of which do not actually contain real flaws. Apple stated that researchers can request a higher limit at any time, and the company is also using AI internally to triage submissions.Bynario, a Milan-based cybersecurity startup, said it used OpenAI's ChatGPT to discover more than 50 vulnerabilities in the latest version of macOS within three weeks, including a privilege escalation chain that could give attackers full control of a Mac device.Bynario stated that it was unable to report this vulnerability because Apple had already rejected further submissions. Bynario CEO Alfredo Pesoli estimated the vulnerability's value on the criminal market at $100,000 to $200,000. Apple said it has reached out to the company and reviewed its work. In June, Apple added a submission cap and a 30-day cooldown period to its security portal. In a recent security update, Apple listed vulnerabilities discovered with the assistance of Anthropic and OpenAI software, with the number of fixes approximately five times that of a normal cycle. (Decrypt)
According to CoinDesk, the 30-day implied volatility index BVIV, which measures expected volatility in the Bitcoin options market, has continued to decline, now falling to 36%, the lowest level since May 31, significantly down from the high near 60% in early June. Recent influencing factors include the Coldcard wallet attack incident involving tens of millions of dollars, weak institutional demand, and uncertainty in the regulatory and macroeconomic environment, but there are no obvious signs of panic in the market. However, volatility has mean-reverting characteristics. When the indicator falls to historical lows, a rebound often follows. Currently, BVIV has approached levels that have previously formed support multiple times. If volatility rebounds quickly in the future, it may be accompanied by a significant directional move in Bitcoin; whether up or down, traders need to remain vigilant.
Odaily News, According to blockchain detective Specter's monitoring, it has identified a cluster of wallets holding 28,600 BTC, valued at approximately $1.8 billion, suspected to be related to wallets previously attributed to the Zhimin Qian money laundering case. A few weeks ago, a Bitcoin wallet that had been dormant since 2017 transferred 1,020 BTC, valued at approximately $60 million, and began distributing funds to multiple addresses in a manner consistent with money laundering patterns. After tracing these transactions, Specter discovered that the related wallet cluster connects to addresses publicly associated with the UK's investigation into Zhimin Qian. Between 2014 and 2017, Zhimin Qian organized large-scale investment fraud in China, with over 128,000 victims. UK authorities later traced substantial criminal proceeds flowing into Bitcoin, and the Met Police ultimately seized 60,000 BTC, marking the largest cryptocurrency seizure in UK history at the time. In July 2021, UK authorities transferred the seized BTC, creating identifiable on-chain links. Following the recent transfer of 1,020 BTC, Specter identified additional wallets that collectively hold 28,600 BTC, valued at approximately $1.8 billion, and these wallets have remained largely dormant since June 2021. Based on on-chain evidence, it remains unclear whether these wallets are still controlled by the same actor, other custodians, or have already been identified by law enforcement.
According to Bitcoin.com, a recent survey report released by Bearingpoint shows that 23% of Swiss adults use cryptocurrency at least occasionally, far higher than 11% in Germany and 18% in Austria. The survey was conducted by YouGov in June 2026 among over 4,000 adults in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The report points out that Switzerland's leading advantage stems from its Distributed Ledger Technology Act (DLT Act) officially effective in 2021, which provides a clear legal framework for crypto assets, attracting a large number of enterprises to establish operations, and driving the expansion of the "Crypto Valley" ecosystem to 1,749 blockchain companies. Additionally, 37% of Swiss respondents consider cryptocurrency an asset worth investing in, and 45% support it becoming an international reserve currency, both leading Germany and Austria. In contrast, regarding Germany, although retail adoption rates lag behind, the "meinkrypto" platform under DZ Bank and Dekabank's crypto services for the savings bank network are expected to cover approximately 80 million customers, potentially gradually narrowing the gap with Switzerland.
Odaily News: Domestic stablecoin funds in South Korea continue to flow to overseas exchanges. Data from the Financial Supervisory Service shows that in June 2026, the volume of stablecoins transferred from South Korea's top five crypto exchanges to overseas exchanges reached 2.7625 trillion KRW, while inflows amounted to 2.2022 trillion KRW, resulting in a net outflow of approximately 560.3 billion KRW (around $367 million).Data indicates that from January 2025 to June 2026, net outflows of stablecoins to overseas exchanges have exceeded inflows for 18 consecutive months. In the second quarter of this year, South Korea's net stablecoin outflow reached 1.6872 trillion KRW, while during the same period, net selling of overseas stock investments totaled 1.6185 trillion KRW. Analysts believe that stablecoins flowing overseas are primarily used for cryptocurrency derivatives unavailable on domestic exchanges, spot and futures products related to Korean stocks, as well as services such as RWA and DeFi.A South Korean lawmaker stated that capital outflows and high-leverage trading overseas have increased risks for investors, and the government needs to strengthen related regulations and protective measures. (Yonhap)
: Michael Saylor posted on X platform that the company announced its BTC monetization plan on June 29, which was earlier than the release of its second-quarter earnings, and it was not introduced after incurring losses.He stated that the company has never adopted a policy of "never selling Bitcoin," and the BTC monetization plan does not necessarily mean the company must sell Bitcoin. The company expects to continue being a net buyer of Bitcoin in the future.
According to Korean media Daum, volatility in the South Korean stock market has recently intensified, investor risk appetite has clearly cooled, and funds are flowing back from the stock market to safe-haven assets such as banks. Due to adjustments in the semiconductor sector and stricter regulation on leveraged investment, idle funds in the South Korean stock market are withdrawing rapidly, and the market is exhibiting a phenomenon of "reverse capital migration". Data shows that as of the end of July, the time deposit balance at South Korea's five major banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup) reached 973.49 trillion won, an increase of 24.09 trillion won from the end of the previous month, marking the largest single-month increase this year. Funds related to the stock market also showed significant contraction. According to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, investor securities account deposits (idle funds for stock trading) reached a historical high of 139.69 trillion won on June 4, but as of July 28, had fallen to 107.20 trillion won, a decrease of over 32 trillion won in less than two months. The balance of credit transaction financing, representing the scale of market margin trading, fell to 33.19 trillion won during the same period, a decrease of about 4.5 trillion won from the peak of 37.72 trillion won set on July 2, a decline of approximately 12%.
According to Cointelegraph, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released a "Stablecoin Sprint" policy research report, consolidating opinions from industry participants such as banks, payment companies, and stablecoin issuers. The report indicates that stablecoins currently demonstrate the most prominent advantages in the cross-border payment sector, particularly offering significant benefits to emerging markets with limited access to US dollars; however, in UK domestic retail payment scenarios, due to the existing payment system being relatively fast and low-cost, consumers lack the motivation to switch, and adoption is expected to be relatively slower. The aforementioned research findings have been incorporated into the final regulatory rules released by the FCA on June 30, requiring stablecoins issued in the UK to be fully backed by reserve assets and redeemable at par value.
the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published the results of its March Stablecoin Sprint policy initiative, which brought together banks, payment companies, stablecoin issuers, and other industry participants to explore the use of stablecoins. Participants indicated that cross-border payments are the clearest near-term use case for stablecoins, particularly in emerging markets with limited access to US dollars. In major payment corridors where existing systems are already fast and relatively low-cost, stablecoins offer fewer advantages. Participants also noted that the incentive for domestic UK consumers to shift to stablecoin payments is limited, given that existing payment methods are already fast and low-cost. However, merchants could benefit from lower costs and faster settlement times. The feedback has been incorporated into the FCA’s final rules on June 30 and will influence its subsequent stablecoin payment policies.
Odaily News Kalshi trader Caleb Davies stated that he had requested Kalshi to delay the settlement of a Spotify prediction market to allow the执法 team to review suspected artificially manipulated streaming data. The market focused on which artists would top the Spotify US Daily Chart, with a trading volume of $3.32 million. Davies stated that Malcolm Todd's song "Earrings" surged approximately 70% in a single day and reached the top of the Spotify US Chart on June 29. Kalshi's Head of Enforcement and Legal, Robert DeNault, responded that only Spotify could verify whether the data originated from genuine listens or manipulation. Kalshi finalized the settlement minutes after issuing this response. Davies noted that the open interest for the "Earrings" outcome rose from $2,000 to over $70,000 in the days leading up to the emergence of the disputed streaming data. The following day, Spotify removed 523,000 streams from the cumulative data for "Earrings," meaning that under the adjusted data, the song would have ranked fourth on June 29 instead of first. Subsequently, Spotify requested Kalshi and Polymarket to remove its branding, stating that neither party had established a partnership with the streaming service. Kalshi has removed the relevant branding and modified its wording. Spokesperson Elisabeth Diana stated that the company is contacting Spotify and conducting an investigation; Kalshi has not yet published the investigation results, rescinded the settlement, or announced compensation.
Asset management firm Franklin Templeton announced its support for the CLARITY Act on July 27. Franklin Resources had previously disclosed that as of June 30, its assets under management totaled $1.79 trillion, up from $1.78 trillion a month earlier. Franklin Templeton stated that the CLARITY Act would establish clearer rules for digital assets, help investors understand the protections available, and increase corporate certainty regarding the division of federal regulatory responsibilities. BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, and Charles Schwab have previously publicly supported this market structure bill. Senate Republicans released an updated version on July 22, proposing to divide the regulatory oversight of digital assets between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Odaily reports: After perpetual futures entered the regulated US market, Wall Street institutions are still taking a wait-and-see approach. Bank of America estimates that the global annual trading volume of perpetual futures is approximately 90 trillion USD; within a week of Kalshi launching perpetual futures in June, trading volume exceeded 1 billion USD. Perpetual futures are similar to standard futures but have no expiration date, meaning traders do not need to close or roll over positions monthly or quarterly. Instead, periodic funding rates keep the contract price close to the underlying asset. On May 29, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved Kalshi to offer such contracts, and Coinbase also received approval to list regulated perpetual futures in the US. Insiders say that large financial institutions are still studying these products, with proprietary trading firms, market makers, and emerging clearing firms likely to be the first to participate. Large banks face stricter capital rules, client obligations, and reputational risks, and typically wait for years of data, clear regulatory treatment, and stable infrastructure. Perpetual futures may also be used to manage weekend risk, but market depth remains a concern. Industry insiders note that regulatory disagreements are emerging over whether certain contracts should be classified as futures or swaps, and CME has already challenged the CFTC's handling of Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual contract.
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has donated approximately $10 million worth of Bitcoin to MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting former US President Donald Trump. According to a report filed with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC), Gemini co-founders Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss completed the donations in two installments on June 19, each worth over $5 million. This donation occurred about three weeks after the CFTC and Gemini jointly filed a motion with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to vacate the $5 million settlement agreement reached in January 2025. The settlement stemmed from the CFTC's earlier allegations that Gemini had made false or misleading statements. MAGA Inc. can use these funds to support independent political expenditures for Donald Trump. Previously, the Winklevoss brothers each donated $1 million to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign and contributed $21 million worth of Bitcoin to the Digital Freedom Fund PAC to support the crypto policy direction of the Trump administration. Currently, the court has not yet ruled on the motion to vacate the settlement between the CFTC and Gemini. Meanwhile, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig remains the sole commissioner of the agency. As of June 30, MAGA Inc. has reported receiving over $397 million in funds.
Odaily news The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit concerning its records on the Ethereum investigation. According to a joint case status report filed on July 22, the SEC and the plaintiff, History Associates Inc., have reached a settlement and have requested the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case.Under the agreement, the SEC will continue to provide the remaining relevant documents and pay a fixed amount to cover the plaintiff's legal fees. The lawsuit was filed by History Associates in June 2024. This agency, commissioned by Coinbase, demanded the SEC disclose materials related to its regulatory investigation of Ethereum, including investigation files on Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC, as well as records of regulatory discussions regarding Ethereum's transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS).Previously, this lawsuit prompted the SEC to deliver thousands of documents. The court also ordered the SEC to prioritize providing internal communications sent, received, or reviewed by then-Chairman Gary Gensler regarding Ethereum's migration from PoW to PoS.During the case, the SEC sparked controversy for deleting some of Gensler's text message records. The SEC's Office of Inspector General previously disclosed that the agency accidentally deleted Gensler's text messages from October 2022 to September 2023. Subsequent documents revealed that the SEC also wiped data from 21 senior officials' phones.Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the incident highlights transparency issues within government agencies during the crypto regulatory process and noted that the relevant lawsuits aim to promote public access to the basis for regulatory decisions. With the SEC completing the submission of the remaining documents, this lawsuit, which has lasted for over two years, will officially come to an end. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News, Swiss cantonal bank BancaStato has launched regulated cryptocurrency trading services, utilizing the systems of digital asset bank Sygnum and banking software provider Avaloq. The bank serves the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in Switzerland. BancaStato has joined Sygnum's B2B banking platform, integrating Sygnum's trading and custody services into its existing Avaloq banking system. Clients can buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, ETH, LTC, and SOL via the bank's web and mobile banking applications. Sygnum's B2B platform is already used by over 25 financial institutions, with its banking partners including Societe Generale-FORGE, PostFinance, and VZ Depotbank. In late June, Sygnum announced that its Liechtenstein subsidiary, Sygnum Europe AG, had obtained a license as a crypto asset service provider under the MiCA framework.