Autor Cointelegraph By Andrew Fenton

Cold storage fears after Coldcard users lose $90M in BitcoinAfter $90 million in Bitcoin was drained from Coldcard wallet users, small hodlers desperately sought refuge on centralized exchanges and via alternative custody methods. Bitcoin transfers below 1 BTC climbed to their highest daily level since 2022 on Friday, with 39,600 BTC moved, according to data shared by CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno on Saturday.The figure was just 300 BTC below the 39,900 BTC transferred on Nov. 16, 2022, days after FTX filed for bankruptcy.Galaxy Research, the research arm of crypto investment company Galaxy Digital, reported Saturday that the third wave of attacks on users of the hardware wallet on the weekend brought estimated losses to 1,367 BTC ($88.6 million) across 4,585 addresses.Alex Thorn, Galaxy Digital’s head of firmwide research, warned in an X post on Sunday that the attack was still ongoing and urged users to move funds from Coldcard-generated addresses immediately if they had not already done so. The exploit reportedly targets a flaw in the Coldcard seed generation process, that did not employ a genuinely random number generator. Source: Alex ThornClarity Act clock running out: No vote, or ‘no’ vote? President Donald Trump is considering a revised ethics proposal for the Clarity Act that was devised by Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Ruben Gallego. The original proposal Trump signed off on would have prevented elected officials from endorsing or profiting from crypto projects and would have been enforced by the Department of Justice. The Democrats don’t trust the DoJ and want the State Attorney Generals to enforce it.The compromise proposal would allow the State AGs to sue the DoJ if it does not properly enforce the rules, rather than allow them to sue elected officials *cough, Trump* directly. With just five days left on the clock, the chances of any kind of Senate vote on the legislation are receding, much less the multiple separate votes required to pass the bill. Trump’s $1.4 billion in crypto profits are a particular sticking point, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introducing a bill (with little hope of passing) called the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act that targets “executive branch corruption.”Ethics isn’t the only outstanding issue, with the banks still up in arms over paying any kind of yield on stablecoins, and law enforcement groups divided over the impact of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. Designed to protect blockchain developers, some argue it would thwart investigations into money laundering and fraud. Changes to the BRCA proposed by the National Association of Assistant US Attorneys and the National District Attorneys Association look dead in the water. White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt scoffed at the proposals and the claim they resulted from “productive negotiations.””This is not even close,” he said. Crypto ‘no earnings’ reportsNobody is making much money in crypto right now it seems, at least according to this week’s corporate earnings reports for the second quarter.Coinbase generated roughly $1.2 billion in net revenue, down 19% from a year earlier. It reported a net loss of $359 million, significantly wider than analysts’ expectations for a $122 million loss. Transaction revenue, subscription and services revenue, and adjusted EBITDA all fell short of consensus estimates.Strategy’s habit of smash-buying every Bitcoin top, helped it to record an $8.22 billion loss in the second quarter, driven almost entirely by its unrealized losses on its Bitcoin holdings. However, the company also said it has now built a $3.75 billion U.S. dollar reserve, which is enough to cover more than two years of preferred dividend payments and interest obligations. Online brokerage Robinhood is making loads of money, but not much of it is attributable to crypto. The firm posted record second-quarter revenue and earnings, even as cryptocurrency transaction revenue fell 38% from a year earlier, from $160 million to $100 million.Crypto enters biggest consolidation phase in historyARK Invest analyst Lorenzo Valente says the cryptocurrency industry is entering its biggest consolidation phase yet, with revenue increasingly concentrated among a handful of dominant protocols.Valente noted that perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid and memecoin launchpad Pump.fun account for roughly 67% of total crypto application revenue between them. Including synthetic dollar protocol Ethena raises the top three’s combined share to nearly 80%.Valente added that he expects the trend to accelerate in the coming months, leading to more mergers and acquisitions, Chapter 11 bankruptcies, project shutdowns and acqui-hires. Somewhat surprisingly, he concluded that “this is extremely bullish for the space.”World Cup generated $20B in blockchain prediction market volumeThe 2026 FIFA World Cup drove $20 billion in blockchain-based prediction market volume and $24 million in digital collectible trades, with more than 400,000 wallets participating in blockchain-based betting, according to a report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.The $20 billion figure includes trading before and during the tournament, with bettors placing roughly $5.7 billion in wagers over the five-week World Cup itself. World Cup-related markets accounted for about 63% of all prediction market activity during that period, the report said.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 3% to trade at $63,350, Ether (ETH) is down 3.5% to trade at $1,879 and XRP (XRP) is down 2.3% and is changing hands for $1.08. The total market cap is at $2.18 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Cardano (ADA) at 14.7%, Uniswap (UNI) at 8%, and Pi (PI) at 3.2%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are Stable (STABLE) at -16%, Venice Token (VVV) at -14.6% and Lido DAO (LDO) at -14.1%.Prediction of the WeekBitcoin may have bottomed before its traditional cycle lowCrypto-focused asset manager Grayscale said that Bitcoin’s price may have bottomed earlier than the traditional four-year cycle, which would imply a cycle low in September or October. Head of research, Zach Pandl, argued that Bitcoin (BTC) has “grown up” as an asset and is increasingly driven by macroeconomic factors. “If the Fed forgoes rate hikes and economic growth holds up well, Bitcoin’s price may already have bottomed,” Pandl wrote in a report.However, people have been peddling this hopium for months now. Earlier in July, crypto brokerage K33 pointed to more than 50% of the Bitcoin supply being held at a loss as another signal of an imminent market bottom. In June, Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten told Cointelegraph that the holdings of long-term investors, which reached an all-time high of 14.7 million Bitcoin, were another signal of an imminent Bitcoin bottom.Sooner or later, someone will be right. Top FUD of the WeekThe Russians… and the Australians… are after Telegram’s Pavel DurovRussian authorities have placed Telegram founder Pavel Durov on an international wanted list as they escalate a criminal case accusing him of facilitating terrorist activity.Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that it had charged Durov with facilitating terrorist activity and issued an international warrant for his arrest, local news agency Interfax reported.The FSB alleged that Telegram failed to remove channels, chats and bots that Ukrainian intelligence services, alleged terrorist groups and extremist organizations used to coordinate attacks, recruit operatives and conduct cyber fraud.A defiant Durov said on Thursday the Russians had become “confused about who can ban whom from the Internet.”Meanwhile the Australian eSafety Commisioner has launched court proceedings against Telegram seeking civil penalties, alleging the platform failed to remove terrorism-related content.Pump.fun laid off workers before they received millions in PUMP tokensSolana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun reportedly fired employees two months before they were due to receive PUMP tokens worth millions of dollars.According to a Friday Sandmark report, at least one Pump.fun worker was due to receive PUMP tokens worth in the seven-figure range. The employees were reportedly fired in April, just two months before they were due to start receiving the company’s tokens based on agreements signed in 2025. Trump teleprompter operator accused over Kalshi bets leaves governmentA White House teleprompter operator accused of using inside knowledge to profit from prediction market bets on President Donald Trump’s speeches no longer works for the federal government, according to the Associated Press.Perez was accused of using nonpublic information to make more than $100,000 betting on Kalshi prediction markets tied to Trump’s speeches, according to an earlier ABC News report.Best Magazine Stories of the WeekCrypto’s fundamentals have never been stronger, yet degens keep chasing hot new narratives. Behavioral finance may explain why get-rich-quick stories continue to beat substance.DeFi projects that survived the fallout from the Terra and FTX collapses in 2022 are dying out in 2026. But analysts say it’s not a case of industry consolidation — but the opposite.Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Some articles contain affiliate links, from which Cointelegraph may earn a commission. These relationships do not influence which products we review or our editorial conclusions. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

Binance ‘red teams’ its own staff every month to keep hackers outCryptocurrency exchange Binance has been running simulated phishing attacks against its own employees for the past four years and can fire staff who repeatedly fail the tests, according to Binance chief security officer Jimmy Su.The fake attacks are conducted by Binance’s red team, an internal ethical hacking unit whose job is to break into systems to identify vulnerabilities.“We do phishing attacks on our own employees on a monthly basis just so we understand if our security hygiene is improving,” Su told Cointelegraph. “The ones that have failed it, we will do remediation training.” In February, AMLBot estimated that 65% of crypto security incidents in 2025 were driven by social engineering.India’s BitChat GitHub takedown order ‘unconstitutional’India’s Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has condemned a government order directing GitHub to remove repositories for Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app BitChat, calling the move unconstitutional and warning it threatens free speech and open-source software.The statement came a day after India’s cybercrime agency ordered GitHub to disable access to three BitChat repositories within three hours, saying the decentralized messaging app could be used to bypass internet shutdowns, evade lawful surveillance and facilitate unlawful activities.BitChat is a decentralized messaging app that routes encrypted messages between nearby devices over Bluetooth without relying on internet connectivity or centralized servers.Since its release in July 2025, the app has gained traction during periods of unrest and internet outages in countries including Madagascar, Nepal, Uganda, Jamaica and Iran.More crypto news from India:— India’s Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued guidance directing crypto exchanges to report all transactions on their platforms to the Income Tax department.Balaji’s Network School turns to Kazakhstan amid Malaysian setbackBalaji Srinivasan’s utopian Network School looks set to move to Kazakhstan after Malaysian authorities revoked its business license over alleged premises-use violations. A memorandum of understanding was signed between Kazakhstan’s Minister of Digital Development and Srinivasan to establish a campus in the country which has been positioning itself as an emerging technology hub, and has plans for Central Asia’s first “crypto city” in Alatau.The Network School had been at the centre of a scandal involving hosting Israeli citizens given the Muslim majority country has no diplomatic relations with Israel. The US State Department called in the Malaysian envoy to ask for an explanation about the country’s apparent policy of deporting dual citizens with Israeli passports. Source: The Times of Israel/ReutersSouth Korea crypto volumes shrink as retail investors shift to stocksSouth Korea’s five major crypto exchanges have seen their combined trading activity fall by 89% year over year, even as the country’s stock market surged.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) benchmark more than doubled over the period, while volumes across the country’s largest won-based crypto platforms fell off a cliff.Cointelegraph reviewed CoinGecko’s historical 24-hour volume readings for Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax, comparing seven-day periods in July 2025 and July 2026.On a combined basis, average daily volume fell about 89%, to $305 million from $2.82 billion in the comparable July 2025 period. More crypto news from Korea:— South Korean crypto exchange Korbit will reportedly rebrand as Digital X after becoming part of Mirae Asset Group. — South Korea’s KB Kookmin Bank will launch a blockchain-based cross-border payment service for import and export businesses in August using JPMorgan’s Kinexys network.— South Korean regulators have removed 29 unlicensed crypto exchange apps from the Google Play store. Affected apps include those from OKX, Bybit, MEXC, Kucoin, Gemini, Backpack, and BitMEX.— North Korean authorities have reportedly arrested a group of former state cyber operators and IT specialists accused of hacking two state banks and laundering stolen funds through cryptocurrency.Thailand SEC files complaint against Bitkub over alleged false disclosuresThailand’s SEC filed a criminal complaint against Bitkub and two former directors over alleged false disclosures linked to a 2021 cyberattack involving $50 million in assets.The complaint names former Bitkub directors Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan, who the SEC said were responsible for submitting company reports during the period under investigation.The case comes as Bitkub’s parent company considers a potential public listing, putting renewed attention on transparency and governance at one of Thailand’s most prominent crypto businesses.More crypto news from Thailand:— Thailand’s Kbank has signed a memorandum of understanding with BPMG and HashKey Group to develop stablecoin-based cross-border remittance services.— Thailand authorities have raided seven illegal Bitcoin mining operations after uncovering large scale electricity theft. More than 1900 crypto mining machines were seized. One of two Bitcoin mining warehouses in Samut Sakhon alleged to be stealing power. Source: DSI Facebook page.Philippine bank BPI plans stablecoin payments pilotThe Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is planning to pilot a stablecoin-based settlement rail for cross-border payments to freelancers, virtual assistants and other workers receiving overseas income.Developed with global digital clearinghouse Meridian, the system is intended to reduce the cost and processing time of inbound payments while retaining safeguards used in traditional banking transactions, according to ABS-CBN and the Philippine Daily Inquirer.Stablecoins would be used as a settlement instrument before the funds are converted to Philippine pesos and credited to recipients’ BPI accounts. Coinbase to expand Singapore office headcount by 25%: ReportCryptocurrency exchange Coinbase plans to expand its presence in Singapore and grow its headcount from 150 to about 200 staff members by the end of 2026. The cryptocurrency exchange is mainly looking to hire more engineers, customer service, relationship management staff and institutional sales representatives for its Singapore office, which opened at One Raffles Quay on Wednesday. Hassan Ahmed, Coinbase’s country director for Singapore, told the Business Times the exchange plans to expand its operations in Singapore because the city state is increasingly becoming a strategic hub for cryptocurrency innovation.More Singapore crypto news:— The Singapore Police Force and the U.S. FBI signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen joint operations on online scams including crypto related scams, cyber fraud, and money laundering cases.— Singapore based payments firm Triple-A reportedly lost $11.8 million after its hot wallet was drained. The firm said it was investigating but no customer funds were affected.— The Monetary Authority of Singapore has tightened monetary policy, which will lead to the Singapore dollar appreciating by about 1% per year.Hong Kong crypto giant HashKey merges regional exchange into oneHong Kong digital asset services business HashKey Holdings has merged its HashKey Exchange and HashKey Global exchanges into a single platform and application.Core jurisdictional hubs including Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East (Dubai) and Bermuda have been merged under a single platform.The idea is that all users download the same application wherever they are, while the platform manages compliance on the back end with local regulatory frameworks.News in brief from China— A Hunan man was penalized under the Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law for reselling virtual currency for profit and for lending out his relative’s payment accounts to others so they could receive and transfer funds.—Authorities in Shenzen have closed down numerous social media accounts for hyping up cryptocurrencies.Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

Clarity may get a vote, but don’t get your hopes up yetDespite wealthy memecoin entrepreneur Donald Trump agreeing to an ethics deal, the Clarity Act is floundering as the August recess deadline looms. Senate Majority Leader John Thune doesn’t believe the Act has the votes to pass just yet, but may bring it to a vote anyway to “get Clarity started. We’ll see where the votes are.”The ethics deal would prohibit all US officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets, but contains some “get out of jail free” provisions for the President that the Democrats are unhappy with, including the fact the rules expire the day he is scheduled to leave office in 2029. The ethics provisions will also be enforced by the Attorney General that Trump appointed. The Democrats instead want state Attorney Generals to enforce it — but Trump seems unlikely to agree to empower dozens of state AGs to attempt to prosecute him. The White House described the bill as the “most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history,” while Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego described it as a “piece of shit” and “not a serious effort.”Negotiations are continuing to find a deal both sides can live with, but given the lack of trust, it’s not going to be easy to find a compromise. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon conceded the bill is “not perfect” but has supported it anyway, along with Fidelity and Charles Schwab who represent many trillions in assets under management each. Law enforcement organizations have also begun to signal support, with The National Fraternal Order of Police representing hundreds of thousands of members, stating the latest version of the BRCA (which protects developers of decentralized protocols) would not impede investigations into money laundering and fraud. The odds of the bill passing this year are at 38% on Polymarket. BitMEX to shut down after 11 years as class action launched against itBitMEX, one of the pioneers of cryptocurrency derivatives trading, announced it will shut down operations in September after 11 years.BitMEX launched in 2014 and became known for introducing the 100x leverage perpetual swaps. In recent years volumes have tanked increased competition from major exchanges like Binance and decentralized protocols like Hyperliquid. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said BitMEX’s share of the Bitcoin futures market has fallen to just 0.08%, with roughly $84 million in daily trading volume.“It was a great exchange that helped shape the industry, and now it is passing the torch to the next generation of exchanges it inspired,” Ju said.BitMEX’s utility token BMEX collapsed in value after the announcement. That same day, news emerged of a class action lawsuit accusing the crypto derivatives platform of fraudulently engineering customer liquidations to seize traders’ collateral. BitMEX denied the allegations and said it had successfully defended itself against similar claims in the past.Restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia told Cointelegraph the exchange’s demise shows the industry is consolidating.The top five platforms now control an estimated 80% of global spot volume, leaving mid-tier and regional exchanges with shrinking margins and no viable path to scale… The headwinds are structural, not cyclical.As if to undescore the point, BitMart subsequently announced it would also close in the coming months.S&P launches blockchain fundamentals index for digital assetsS&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have launched a digital asset index that tracks the major crypto assets — but doesn’t include Bitcoin or XRP.The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index is designed to be the benchmark crypto index for institutions, but it screens out blockchains based on minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization and liquidity.The index launched with 18 constituents, with Ether (ETH), BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), TRON (TRX) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) as its five largest holdings, while Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) are the largest non-constituents.The latest index follows a broader industry push to develop institutional-grade benchmarks for digital assets, with similar products including the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, the Franklin Crypto Index ETF and the the Coinbase Store of Value Index among others.Robinhood to expand prediction markets as CFTC issues new warningRobinhood is reportedly discussing plans to expand its existing prediction markets offerings with crypto exchange Crypto.com.According the Wall Street Journal the talks involve integrating yes-or-no event contracts supplied by Crypto.com. Robinhood launched its prediction markets in March 2025, initially facilitated by Kalshi in order to comply with regulatory requirements from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Bernstein analysts last week raised its price target on Robinhood (HOOD) stock to $160 from $130 per share, based on the company’s outlook for prediction markets and tokenized equities.Meanwhile the CFTC, which aims to become the primary regulator of prediction markets, issued a shot across the bow of providers last week, telling platforms they need to get a lot more specific about event contracts certifications. The advisory addresses concerns about the practice of submitting broad, template-style certifications that combine many potential event contract variations into a single certification. Carl Kennedy, a partner at New York law firm Katten Muchin, also told a House Agriculture Committee hearing last week, that the CLARITY Act could help the CFTC’s efforts to oversee the “explosive growth of prediction markets.” Balaji’s Network School turns to Kazakhstan amid Malaysia setbackBalaji Srinivasan’s Network School, a community of “digital nomads,” is eyeing a new campus in Kazakhstan after its Forest City campus had its business license in Malaysia revoked over alleged premises-use violations. A memorandum of understanding was signed between Kazakhstan’s relevant Minister Zhaslan Madiyev and Srinivasan to establish the first Network School campus in the country, which aims to become a digital hub. The School was forced out of Johor in Malaysia, following a controversy in Malaysia over allowing Israeli dual citizens to attend. The Muslim majority country has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Despite an investigation finding no visa violations, the Network School was ordered to shut down on another pretext.Dragonfly Capital managing partner Haseeb Qureshi said the drama has validated Balaji’s Network State thesis.“The whole idea of a network state is taking a dense group of talent and capital, and collectively negotiating with states. The Malaysia drama set up Balaji to negotiate better terms with another state to copy and paste the network there.“Winners and losersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $65,395, Ether (ETH) is at $1,958, and XRP (XRP) is at $1.11. The total market cap is at $2.24 trillion according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Audiera (BEAT), which gained 53%, Shinba Inu (SHIB) with a 29% gain, and Venice Token (VVV), which increased 19%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are DeXe (DEXE), which lost 89%, Midnight (NIGHT), which fell 26%, and Pyth Network (PYTH), which dropped 10%.Prediction of the WeekBitcoin will get ‘lift’ from Hyperliquid, Robinhood in next crypto bull marketBitcoin (BTC) is “finally showing signs of a bottom,” according to Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise.Houghan predicts that TradFi integrations, particularly Hyperliquid and Robinhood, will drive the next crypto bull market, and the resulting tide should “lift” the largest cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ether.Houghan believes crypto is bringing major benefits like 24/7 trading to traditional markets, and noted that today “nearly half the volume on Hyperliquid is in conventional assets like oil, silver, and the S&P 500 [and] it’s expanding into spot commodities, prediction markets, and options,”Bitwise data also suggests apparent demand for BTC is showing signs of reversal. The metric measures the difference between newly-mined BTC and the supply inactive for at least one year. Source: Matt HouganTop FUD of the WeekHome invasions became most common crypto wrench attack in H1 2026: CertiKHome invasions became the most common form of crypto wrench attacks during the first half of 2026, rising to 20 publicly reported incidents from just one a year earlier, according to blockchain security firm CertiK. On Thursday, CertiK said it verified 52 wrench attacks worldwide in the first half of 2026, up 33.3% from 39 incidents during the same period in 2025. Kidnappings rose to 16 from 12, while robberies declined from five incidents to one. CertiK said the recorded financial exposure linked to the attacks reached about $124.1 million, up from $10.5 million a year earlier. The increase in home invasions suggests criminals are increasingly bypassing digital safeguards by physically coercing crypto holders and their families.Hackers steal $31.6M in 2 crypto bridge attacks within 7 hoursHackers stole more than $31.6 million across two unrelated crypto bridge exploits spaced just hours apart, targeting bridges operated by decentralized perpetual exchange AFX and Verus Protocol. According to Blockaid, AFX, a decentralized perpetual exchange operating on Arbitrum, reportedly lost $24.15 million on Wednesday through a hack targeting one of its cross-chain bridges. Hours later, Blockaid said it detected an exploit targeting the Verus Ethereum Bridge that resulted in about $7.5 million in crypto being stolen. “Another bridge, another exploit. Bridges will always be a weak link, until security is upgraded,” onchain investigator TheCrypticWolf said in a post on X. Ethereum ETFs close week in red, end 5-day inflow streakUS-listed spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) logged $70.62 million in net outflows on Friday, ending a five-day inflow streak.Ethereum funds saw $211.25 million in net inflows over the previous five sessions from July 17, according to SoSoValue data. They still posted $103.9 million in net inflows for the week ended Friday.Despite the outflows, Ethereum ETFs extended their weekly inflow streak to three straight and have attracted $337.74 million in net inflows so far in July.The Bitcoin ETFs reversed gains made earlier in the week to end up with $33.9 million of inflows. Top Magazine Stories of the WeekBoth parties say they want US crypto market structure legislation, but a dispute over ethics rules and who enforces them is becoming the bill’s biggest obstacle.A Bitcoin development roadmap that addresses quantum computing risks could see the price surge by “double digits” very quickly, according to Charles Edwards.Are the fears of an AI driven hacking epidemic totally overblown, or is this just the lull before the storm?Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

VIETNAMVietnam goes after the little guysVietnam will fine retail crypto users up to $1900 if they trade on unlicensed overseas platforms such as Binance, OKX and Bybit, instead of on licensed local exchanges.There’s just one problem: Vietnam’s Finance Ministry has yet to issue any exchange licenses for its regulated digital asset market which is due to start on September 1. Five exchanges have been approved in principle however.Domestic investors who trade crypto that’s been designated exclusively for foreign investors can be fined up to $3800. Crypto companies providing or advertising services without a license, those who fail to properly ID customers, or unlawfully deal with crypto account data, can be fined up to $7600.MALAYSIANetwork school dragged into Israeli citizen controversy Balaji Srinivasan’s utopian Network School in Forest City, Malaysia is under fire over allegations it has been hosting Israeli citizens using second passports.The claims trace back to an activist group Malaysia Protest 4 Palestine, which has accused the school of becoming a “gathering place for Israeli entrepreneurs.” In other countries such a kerfuffle might result in a few BDS protesters or a boycott, but Malaysia has no diplomatic relations at all with Israel, and bans Israeli citizens from even visiting.That said, dual nationals with Israeli passports are allowed… for now, although the controversy suggests that particular loophole may be closed soon. Vitalik, Bryan and Balaji at the Network School. (X)The incident made international headlines after Srinivasan threatened to pull the Network School and its millions in investments out of the country. The Immigration Department said its investigation had found the 266 foreigners have valid documents, while the Johor state government is plowing ahead with a probe to ensure compliance with regulations on business licenses, building usage and commercial operations.Ironically, the Network School is based on the concept of online network states, which are meant to be above such petty IRL squabbles.  JAPANJapan reclassifies crypto as financial assetsThe Japanese parliament has passed revisions to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and now classifies cryptocurrencies as financial assets. The move takes crypto regulations out of the Payment Services Act and comes with a mixed bag of tax benefits along with harsher fines and regulations that befit crypto’s new status up there alongside TradFi assets.Source: Reuters, X.Unlicensed crypto platforms face a fine of 10 million yen or 10 years in jail and there’s a new ban on insider trading in crypto that will be policed by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission.On the upside, current crypto tax rates of up to 55% will be slashed to approximately 20%, with a three year carry forward provision for any losses… which neatly lines up with a bull run every fourth year. Unfortunately the new tax rules don’t come into effect until 2028.SOUTH KOREASouth Korea adds crypto to public wealth management rulesSouth Korea has proposed updating its national asset management scheme to include crypto and IP under the definition of “national assets.”The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced it is rewriting the 1950 State Property Act, as the National Asset Basic Act, which would make it the first national sovereign asset management statute to embed cryptocurrency. The existing law was built around an economy focused on real estate which no longer reflects the range of assets the government holds. The new framework also changes the emphasis from managing assets to instead generating value from them. So perhaps we’ll see the Korean Government yield farming on Aave one day soon.More news from Korea— South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has begun sanction procedures against Upbit operator Dunamu, after the platform was hacked for $30 million in November. FSS has been investigating to determine if the incident violated the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, however that law doesn’t provide sanctions for hacks or IT failures. — That particular oversight is expected to be addressed in the forthcoming Digital Asset Basic Act. Legislators have finally restarted talks on the new act after four months. — Korea’s Financial Services Commission is extending victim compensation schemes to cover crypto scams. — Weekly trading volume on Korea’s five top exchanges has more than halved since early June to just 8 trillion won.— The Bank of Korea will expand its Project Hangang CBDC pilot to nine banks. Phase two, which kicks off in September, also adds biometric payments and person to person transfers.— Officials from South Korea’s National Tax Service have proposed changing the law to establish clear procedures for seizing self hosted crypto wallets during investigations. — Consensys unwittingly hired a North Korean dev and gave him access to Metamask’s code. It says an investigation didn’t uncover any security issues.CHINA and HONG KONGIs Coinbase allowing Chinese users to verify?Wu Blockchain reports that Coinbase has opened up verification for users who are solely based in China. Previously Chinese users needed to provide a Hong Kong address, but they can now reportedly verify on the platform using only a Chinese ID card and a Chinese address. However, China still does not appear in Coinbase’s list of supported countries. — Hong Kong has approved its first crypto native tokenized fund from Baillie Gifford, that allows professional investors to have direct ownership of assets on the blockchain.  INDONESIA— Bybit is launching a regulated platform in Indonesia, following its acquisition of the local NOBI exchange. It will retain NOBI’s senior management team to run the Bybit Indonesia operation.  Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

CLARITY hinges on Trump’s ethicsPolymarket suggests the odds of the CLARITY Act passing this year are just 40%, after a raft of Democratic Senators, including Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley and Chris Van Hollen, spoke out against the bill. A crucial Senate vote could happen as early as this week, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune stating it will definitely be held before Aug. 10.Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren is trying to spoil the vote by highlighting how much money President Trump has extracted from the industry. She demanded Trump voluntarily release his crypto earnings for this year, after his 2025 disclosure, showed he earned more than a billion dollars from crypto last year. The controversy means that Senate Democrats are unlikely to support the bill without a provision banning elected officials promoting or issuing cryptocurrency. Summer Mersinger, the CEO of the Blockchain Association and a former commissioner at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said: “Ethics is the big elephant in the room.”“For my members and what we are advocating for on the Hill… look, whatever you decide on ethics, that’s really not our concern. That is politics. That’s Congress. That’s elected officials. But please don’t let it kill all the hard work that we put in the rest of the bill.” Source: PolymarketPrediction markets see record Q2 volume, France blocks PolmarketCrypto markets continued to flounder in the second quarter, with the notable exception of prediction markets. Spot trading volume across the top 10 centralized exchanges (CEXs) fell from $2.7 trillion in the first quarter to just $1.95 trillion in the second, according to CoinGecko’s latest Crypto Industry Report.CEX perps volume also declined 10% to $12.7 trillion, while the stablecoin market slipped 1.6% to $305.1 billion. In contrast, prediction markets recorded their strongest quarter on record with $113.8 billion in notional volume.Polymarket’s World Cup winner market alone has attracted more than $3.3 billion in trading volume, while contracts tied to the 2028 US presidential election rank among the platform’s largest markets, according to Polymarketscan data.Meanwhile, France’s National Gambling Authority has just ordered internet service providers to block access to Polymarket as it considers prediction markets to be illegal gambling.Polymarket is blocked in 33 countries… unless you have a VPN of course.Strategy became a symbol of the dot-com crash: Could history repeat?Senate agrees SBF should serve his time as FTX distributes another $900MThe US Senate has adopted a resolution opposing executive clemency for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.The measure cannot block a presidential pardon but reflects bipartisan Senate opposition.Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in March 2024 after being convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges linked to FTX’s collapse in 2022.Speculation about a possible presidential pardon grew after Bankman-Fried applied for clemency from Trump in June 2026.On Friday, the FTX Recovery Trust said it would distribute about $900 million to creditors in the fifth round of repayments. The trust has now paid out about $10 billion since the company filed for bankruptcy.Tokenized stocks hit record $2.3B The global market capitalization of tokenized stocks rose to a record $2.3 billion on Wednesday, as more investors sought exposure to blockchain-based equity products.The Ethereum network boasted the largest market share, at 34%, followed by BNB Chain with 30% and the Solana network with 23%, data aggregator Token Terminal shared in a Wednesday X post.The largest increase came from Kraken exchange’s xStocks, which accounted for $507 million worth of tokenized stocks and Binance’s bStocks, with $334 million. Ondo Finance remained the largest tokenized stock issuer with $955 million in onchain equities, according to Token Terminal data.The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, which is the custodian of $114 trillion in assets, last week launched a trial of tokenized securities in partnership with more than 40 financial firms. Robinhood Chain also aims to become a leader in tokenized stocks, however its volume to date is largely driven by memecoins.Is Robinhood Chain’s success bullish or bearish for ETH the asset?US and UK to align stablecoin rules, but Genius Act rules are TBAThe US Department of the Treasury and HM Treasury in the UK have issued four joint recommendations on digital assets.The task force recommended that authorities consider a private-sector-led group focused on “testing of cross-border use cases for tokenized assets” and that financial agencies in the US and the Bank of England identify shared approaches on the regulation of tokenized assets. The statement said that stablecoins “should be fully backed, on at least a one-to-one basis, by high-quality, liquid assets,” aligning with the US law.Ironically, a few days later it emerged the US regulatory agencies had all missed Saturday’s rulemaking deadline for the GENIUS stablecoin act. Missing the statutory deadline does not invalidate the GENIUS Act, but will result in issuers having less time to comply before the rules go into effect in January. Source: ZachXBT (but DYOR)Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $64,620, Ether (ETH) at $1,868 and XRP (XRP) is at $1.09. The total market cap is at $2.21 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Pump.fun (PUMP) which gained 36%, Venice Token (VVV) on 10%, and Litecoin (LTC) which is up 7%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are DeXe (DEXE) after it lost 27%, Lighter (LIT) which was down 17%, and Worldcoin (WRLD) which fell 14%.Prediction of the WeekBitcoin gets new $80K August targetBitcoin (BTC) may hit up to $80,000 by August if it clears nearby resistance, a new prediction says. A macro tide could be the spark to ignite the next move higher.Crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe said earlier this week that BTC/USD has successfully defended “crucial” support.“It’s holding the crucial level at $61,000 and flipping important MAs for support, indicating that there’s more momentum on the horizon,” he wrote, referring to moving average trend lines. “I’m expecting to see a rally to $68,000 in the next 1-2 weeks, followed by a continuation towards $75,000-80,000 in August.”Not everyone agreed with the analysis, including nichoxbt who thinks the price is heading back under $60,000.Source: NichoxbtTop FUD of the WeekConsensys unknowingly outsourced developer work to North KoreanBlockchain company Consensys accidentally used a software developer linked to North Korea, who had access to some of its systems for a month.First reported on Friday by Drop Site, Consensys earlier this year took on a software developer via a “reputable third party service provider” who was later discovered to have ties to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The move caused the Metamask developer to temporarily suspend product releases, but said an investigation has “confirmed there was no misappropriation of assets or data, no malicious code deployed, and no impact to user safety and security.”Kaspersky identifies malware framework targeting crypto investorsCybersecurity company Kaspersky said a newly identified malware framework is targeting cryptocurrency investors.Dubbed “OkoBot,” the malware initiates an infection chain that starts with social engineering tactics such as ClickFix, which tricks users into running malicious commands, or trojanized GitHub apps that deliver a backdoor to infected devices, the cybersecurity company wrote in a Wednesday report.A separate malware campaign seeks to infiltrate the devices of Web3 developers via fake LinkedIn recruitment opportunities, according to SlowMist.Attackers contact blockchain devs via LinkedIn, posing as recruiters. They then send fake GitHub repositories to victims, claiming they contain code that needs to be assessed before the interview, the security company said in a Saturday report.Base’s social bet left it trailing in prediction markets and perps: PollakBase creator Jesse Pollak says he is stepping back from leading the Base App after admitting he made a “wrong bet” on social, leaving the chain to fall behind on prediction markets and perpetual futures. In a post to X on Wednesday, Pollak said he had bet that creator, content and messaging apps would drive adoption, but instead the market “disintegrated completely.” Pollak said he now realized financial applications are the way forward for the network, with a focus on trading, payments and AI agents. The Base App will now return to Coinbase, and will be overseen by crypto influencer and trader Jordan Fish, better known on X as “Cobie.” Top Magazine Stories of the WeekStrategy became a symbol of the dot-com crash: Could history repeat?MicroStrategy blew up during the dot-com era, before Michael Saylor transformed it into the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Did he learn his lesson?Is Robinhood Chain’s success bullish or bearish for ETH the asset?Surging volumes on Robinhood Chain could be very good for Ethereum, but only if the “ETH is money” crowd turn out to be right.Gambling on random Pokémon cards: Onchain gagcha hits record high as crypto sinksUsers spent a record $324 million on onchain gacha in June, even as Bitcoin hit a 21-month low. The thrill of scoring a top Pokemon card from a random pack is becoming big business.Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.