Autor Cointelegraph By Felix Ng

Patrick Witt, the White House’s pointman on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, is taking a leave of absence at the end of July for several months of military training, Crypto In America reported.Witt, who has served as the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets since August, is expected to wrap up his work on July 24 before reporting for Judge Advocate General (JAG) training with the Georgia Army National Guard. The training will qualify him to serve as a legal officer in the Guard, the report wrote. “Patrick has always been forthcoming and honest with every stakeholder that he was taking military leave later this month,” said Cody Carbone, CEO of Digital Chamber, on Tuesday. The move comes as the CLARITY Act, which would create the first comprehensive US regulatory framework for the crypto market, faces a narrow window to pass the Senate before lawmakers begin the Aug. 8 recess, which many see as a critical deadline for the bill. Source: Patrick WittCointelegraph reached out to the White House and Patrick Witt for comment. Related: CLARITY Act gains second law enforcement endorsement before Senate pushWitt has been instrumental in advancing negotiations between the crypto and banking industry representatives over certain aspects of the crypto market structure bill, including stablecoin yield and disputes over ethics provisions. In Witt’s absence, the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets’ deputy director, Harry Jung, is expected to take on his responsibilities, though Witt intends to remain involved in the process during his military training, according to sources who spoke with Crypto In America.Magazine: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line?Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

The US government moved nearly $300 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime on Monday, renewing speculation that the assets could be sold. Data from Arkham shows 3,940 Bitcoin (BTC) (worth $243.95 million) and 30,014 Ether (ETH) (worth $53.09 million) were sent to Coinbase Prime on Monday. The funds were linked to several high-profile US government crypto seizures.“These coin movements were comprised of coins seized from ryan farace (“xanaxman”) and defunct crypto exchange btc-e,” said Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn, referring to the Bitcoin movements. The Ether is linked to Brian Krewson, an Oracle employee implicated in a $54 million crypto storage and money laundering scheme. The transfers have drawn attention because a sale would appear to conflict with US President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order, which said Bitcoin seized by the US government should form part of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and should not be sold. However, the deposits do not confirm a sale, as Coinbase Prime provides institutions with custody, trading, financing and staking services, meaning the transfers may simply reflect asset consolidation. Related: US Bitcoin reserve hits snag as federal agencies debate for control: Bloomberg Although the US government has previously transferred cryptocurrency to Coinbase Prime, Monday’s transfer was one of the largest from government-linked wallets this year. In June, a US government-linked wallet moved 98,589 Chainlink (LINK) tokens to the platform, with the funds traced to assets seized from FTX and Alameda Research. In April, around 8.2 Bitcoin tied to the 2016 Bitfinex hack was sent to Coinbase Prime. US government-linked wallets are estimated to still hold $20.6 billion in crypto, including around 325,000 BTC, 28,000 ETH, 146 million USDT and 750 Wrappd Bitcoin (WBTC).Magazine: Bitcoin nearing late stages of bear market: Jamie Coutts, Real VisionCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has secured its second public endorsement from a major US law enforcement organization, coming just weeks before what many see as a make-or-break legislative deadline before the Senate’s August recess.In a July 10 statement, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) said it submitted a letter to the US Senate Banking Committee endorsing the CLARITY Act, while calling for changes to strengthen accountability in decentralized finance (DeFi) and preserve investigators’ existing powers. “[FLEOA] expressing support for CLARITY and confirming what many of us know — this bill is strong on consumer protection and law enforcement,” said Ji Kim, CEO of the Crypto Council, in a statement Monday. The endorsement came nine days after the bill was backed by the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), with both letters helping counter arguments that the CLARITY Act would weaken the government’s ability to police crypto crime. Source: Patrick WittIn its statement, the FLEOA said the current version of the CLARITY Act “represents meaningful progress toward balancing technological innovation with public safety.”Related: Donald Trump invokes US senator’s death to push crypto bill“FLEOA commends the Committee for its efforts to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets that promotes responsible innovation while preserving critical criminal, anti-money laundering, counterterrorism financing, sanctions enforcement, and investigative authorities.”  However, the FLEOA also urged lawmakers to narrow the CLARITY Act’s DeFi protections; make it clearer who is accountable in decentralized finance (DeFi) systems; stop firms from avoiding regulation by claiming to be decentralized; revise “specific intent” language to make it easier to establish liability and explicitly affirm that the legislation doesn’t limit existing federal investigative authority.Law enforcement groups seek changes to CLARITY ActIn June, four law enforcement organizations reached out to the White House with concerns centered on Section 604 of the legislation, which seeks to protect developers from liability for illicit activity carried out by users on their decentralized platforms. The organizations, including the National District Attorneys Association, the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs’ Association, argued it could create broad exemptions that would make it tougher for law enforcement to investigate crypto-related crimes. The opposition prompted the White House to invite law enforcement organizations objecting to the language of the bill to a meeting in late June. In July, the Major County Sheriffs of America shifted its stance on the CLARITY Act to neutral after initially opposing the bill. CLARITY Act nears August deadlineThe letter comes less than four weeks before the Aug. 8 Senate recess. Industry insiders have seen the recess as a critical milestone to see it passed this year. “This is likely our last chance to get real legislation for digital assets on the books before 2030,” Senator Cynthia Lummis said on July 8. “If we fail to pass the Clarity Act, we are ensuring another country will write the rules for digital assets and we spend the next decade catching up.”Magazine: Robinhood L2 sparks ETH optimism, Saylor ‘muddies waters.’ Hodler’s Digest, July 5-12, 2026

Zcash’s Ironwood network upgrade, the solution to an “infinity” bug discovered in May on the privacy-focused blockchain’s main private transaction pool, Orchard, is set to go live on July 28. Announced in June, Ironwood closes the current Orchard pool, prevents new activity in it and sets up a new private pool. Funds leaving Orchard would have to pass through an accounting checkpoint before entering Ironwood, which could produce evidence about whether any counterfeit Zcash (ZEC) tokens were produced through the Orchard bug. “Zcash’s Ironwood mainnet activation height has been set and tagged! All of the major organizations are committed to activation of NU6.3 at height 3428143, which is approximately July 28th at 8AM EST,” Zcash core developer Sean Bowe said on Thursday.Source: Sean BoweShielded Labs had floated delaying Zcash’s Ironwood upgrade, warning that ecosystem participants such as exchanges, mining pools and wallets would not have enough time to prepare their systems for a late-July mainnet activation. Bowe’s latest comment confirms the upgrade will go ahead one week later than its earlier target date of July 21. Related: Anthropic’s Mythos AI finds no more ‘serious’ bugs in Zcash: WilcoxIn June, Shielded Labs said Ironwood may provide evidence about whether the Orchard vulnerability was ever exploited. “As users migrate funds from the existing Orchard pool to the new pool, any hypothetical counterfeiter faces a choice: attempt to move counterfeit funds and risk exposing their existence, or leave them behind and risk being unable to move them in the future.”ZEC plummeted 50% to $299.25 from $602.68 after the disclosure of the Orchard bug on June 3. The price of ZEC has made a partial recovery in the weeks following and is trading at $492.61 at the time of writing. Zcash crossed a major monetary milestone this week, with more than 80% of its maximum 21 million ZEC supply now issued. A post from ruZCASH on Monday shows that there is now 16,806,723 ZEC in supply. Magazine: Bitcoin’s quantum dilemma: Bigger blocks or STARK proofs?Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Australian crypto exchange Swyftx says it will be seeking opportunities in the crypto payments space after securing a license from Australia’s market regulator. Swyftx said on Wednesday that it received its Australian Financial Services License (AFSL), joining the likes of Coinbase, BTC Markets and Crypto.com. The license allows it to offer derivative products, such as crypto options or futures, to retail customers, as well as non-cash payment facility authorization, setting up the fintech to offer payment services to business and retail clients. It does not hold an AFSL to offer spot crypto. “Swyftx won’t be a pure crypto spot exchange in future,” Swyftx interim co-CEO Andrea Yuen told Cointelegraph. “In particular, we see a lot of opportunity in the payments space following local changes to credit card surcharging.”From Oct. 1, Australian businesses will be banned from adding surcharges to Visa and Mastercard debit and credit card payments, which could prompt businesses to look for cheaper payment rails as they are set to absorb the cost. Swyftx is looking to pitch crypto and stablecoins as an alternative.“Crypto payments and stablecoins offer an opportunity for merchants to reduce the transaction costs they might have to bear in future,” added Yuen.Meanwhile, Swyftx said it is also looking to expand its presence overseas. The company serves clients in New Zealand and the US, and had previously eyed expanding to the UK, filing an application with the Financial Conduct Authority in March 2022. “Looking ahead, we want to use a well-regulated Australian market as a base to expand our presence overseas,” said Yuen.AFSL requirements take effect in 2027Crypto companies with an AFSL need to meet the same compliance duties as other finance companies. Crypto exchanges previously only needed to have anti-money laundering and know-your-customer policies in place, but legislation passed in April requires most crypto firms to hold an AFSL from April 9, 2027.“It’s an enormous responsibility to be a regulated financial service,” said Yuen.Only a small number of crypto exchanges have so far obtained AFSLs, including Coinbase, BTC Markets, Crypto.com and KuCoin.It comes as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission recently extended the grace period for crypto firms to apply for an AFSL to Sept. 30. ASIC said it has received around 30 license applications from crypto businesses since October last year. Related: Australia’s crypto travel rule is coming into effect: Here’s what’s changingAustralian crypto ownership risesA survey from Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve suggested that 33% of Australians now own cryptocurrency, up from 31% in 2025. “Younger Australians are confronting an economic reality where traditional wealth-building paths, particularly home ownership, feel increasingly out of reach,” Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny said. “As a result, many are exploring alternative assets that have historically delivered stronger returns than traditional portfolios, and cryptocurrency has naturally become an option.” Bitcoin remains the dominant digital asset, which was held by 71% of survey respondents. Magazine: Has Bitcoin bottomed for this cycle? Analysts say ‘not yet’