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AI agent launchpad Virtuals has launched its much-anticipated Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) in beta. The goal of ACP is to enable agents to communicate with one another and leverage each other's unique tools to fulfill requests. Virtuals notes that the protocol is still early, and it is looking for user feedback for improvement.
Erebor is a new digital-only bank from Palmer Luckey (Anduril) and Joe Lonsdale (Palantir co-founder) to fill the void left by Silicon Valley Bank's March 2023 collapse, which had disrupted financing for startups and crypto firms. The bank has applied for a national charter and will serve tech businesses in AI, crypto, defense, and manufacturing, with leadership from Circle's Jacob Hirshman. Erebor aims to become "the most regulated entity conducting and facilitating stablecoin transactions," positioning stablecoins as a core focus alongside traditional banking products for both US and international clients seeking access to the US banking system.
Euler V2 introduces a modular vault infrastructure (EVK/EVC) that enables permissionless deployment of bespoke lending markets with cross-vault collateralization and programmable liquidation, creating a composable credit layer akin to traditional capital markets. Its EulerSwap feature activates idle liquidity by allowing vault assets to serve as AMM LPs with just-in-time borrowing, sharply boosting capital efficiency, market depth, and protocol fee generation. TVL surged from roughly $110 million to nearly $2 billion in under a year, but most fee switches remain off, deferring token value accrual and positioning EUL for future monetization while capping current utility. Euler faces stiff competition from Aave, Compound, and new entrants like Morpho, and must rebuild trust after its 2023 exploit to sustain growth and attract institutional capital.
“USDC-in USDC-out” strategies aggregate USDC lending across protocols, like Summer Finance's Lazy Summer (≈7.4%), srUSD (6.7% APY), Gauntlet's USD Alpha (7.7%), Infinifi Labs' siUSD/liUSD (8%–13.4%), and Euler frontier markets (12%–14%), to deliver steady yields without any swapping or slippage. They combine organic interest with native token incentives and just-in-time capital activation through composable vault architectures. All maintain full USDC liquidity on exit, enabling seamless redeployment for trading opportunities, deleveraging, or expense coverage.
The U.S. government's newfound love for stablecoins is driven not by ideology, but by a need to monetize debt without triggering market panic. The Genius Act, SLR exemptions, and potential cessation of Fed interest payments on reserves collectively enable TBTF banks to issue stablecoins, freeing up to $10.1 trillion in T-bill buying power. In this framework, stablecoins aren't about DeFi or freedom, they're a state-sanctioned liquidity injection mechanism designed to fund deficits, prop up equity markets, and preserve elite wealth.
Robinhood's push to offer tokenized exposure to private firms like OpenAI amounts to sidestepping traditional disclosure rules. Vlad Tenev (Robinhood CEO) argues it's illogical to restrict retail access to private equity while allowing zero-day options or meme coins. Matt Levine counters that letting the public buy "private" shares without public disclosure effectively erases the distinction between public and private companies, not by reforming IPO rules, but by discarding them entirely.
Swiss-regulated AMINA Bank has become the first bank globally to support Ripple's new RLUSD stablecoin, offering custody and trading services to institutional clients.
Ethereum's stablecoin supply just hit a record $135.4 billion.
On-chain trading activity peaks between 3 PM and 9 PM UTC (11 AM–5 PM ET), with hourly volume reaching up to $9.1M, nearly double that of early morning lows.
North Korean IT workers have infiltrated 300-900 jobs and are collecting crypto for payment.
Bit Digital raised $162.9 million through a public share offering to expand its Ethereum treasury, marking a full pivot away from Bitcoin mining. The Nasdaq-listed firm plans to convert its 417 BTC into ETH and build on its 24,434 ETH holdings, which were already worth nearly $60 million at the end of Q1. The move reflects a growing trend among public companies using treasury strategies for leveraged exposure.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust generated an estimated $187.2 million in annual fees on $52 billion AUM at a 0.25% management fee, narrowly outpacing the $187.1 million earned by its flagship iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) despite IVV's $624 billion AUM and 0.03% fee. Launched in January 2024, IBIT has recorded net inflows every month except one, making it the largest spot bitcoin ETF. The fund's higher fee reflects the added complexity of custody, regulatory compliance, and infrastructure required for bitcoin exposure.
Circle's Gateway is a new interoperability layer that allows users to access a unified USDC balance across multiple chains in real time. Instead of relying on bridges, users can deposit USDC into a non-custodial contract that syncs liquidity across supported networks like Avalanche, Base, and Ethereum (testnets launching July). The move follows Circle's IPO and banking license application, signaling deeper integration into traditional finance.
Stable has launched a dedicated Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin payments, branding itself as the first “Stablechain.” Powered by USDT as native gas, the chain offers gas-free peer transfers, ultra-low fees, sub-second finality, and EVM compatibility. Aimed at users, businesses, and developers, Stable seeks to simplify cross-border payments and unlock stablecoin utility with tools like a social-login wallet, USDT-linked debit cards, and enterprise-grade infrastructure.
Crypto's fat protocol era, built on public goods and vague token value, is collapsing under its own weight as institutional players embrace profitable, product-first models. Whereas before we had crypto-native builders clinging to tokens and memes, now there is a new class of "Digital Asset" firms deploying practical zk tech, real-world asset protocols, and CEX-native products. The call is clear: pivot from crypto idealism to pragmatic digital asset infrastructure or risk irrelevance.
Coinbase plans to launch fully compliant perpetual-style futures for BTC and ETH in the U.S. on July 21, challenging HyperLiquid's de facto American perps monopoly by leveraging its 10 million monthly users versus HyperLiquid's 500,000. However, Coinbase's existing global perps volume and its recent Deribit acquisition still trail HyperLiquid, and its track record of entering new markets raises questions about execution. Decentralized frontends have also begun bridging US traders to HyperLiquid despite regulatory uncertainty, but the biggest looming rival is Robinhood, which boasts 15 million MAUs, deep options-trading experience, and a history of successfully launching new products.
Trading bot volumes across Solana have plummeted ~75% from May highs, with visible outflows of 100K+ SOL last week and cumulative holdings down 5.26% in two weeks. Simultaneously, Pump.fun volumes continue a multi-month slide, dipping below $100M over the weekend. The once-frenzied onchain trading meta is entering a clear cooldown phase.
Coinbase's acquisition of token management platform Liquifi marks its fifth purchase in 2025, following deals for Spindl, Iron Fish's team, Roam, and the industry-record $2.9 billion Deribit takeover. Liquifi, backed by a $5 million 2022 seed led by Dragonfly and used by Uniswap Foundation, OP Labs, Ethena, and Zora, offers cap table tracking, token vesting distribution, and tax withholding tools like Carta. The move advances Coinbase's goal of an end-to-end token lifecycle platform, positioning it closer to Binance-style launchpad offerings and expanding beyond simple trading.
Velodrome's SuperSwaps is a tool that enables native cross-chain token swaps across Optimism Superchain networks without bridges, wrappers, or external liquidity.
Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed HB 2324, a bill that would have established a Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund to manage crypto seized through criminal forfeiture.
Stripe and TrueLayer have launched Pay by Bank in Germany, marking a pivotal escalation in direct bank payments across Europe.
Ripple has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national banking license to expand its crypto services under federal oversight.
The SEC granted accelerated approval for the conversion of Grayscale's Digital Large Cap Fund LLC into an exchange-traded fund, marking the first mixed‐crypto ETF to clear US regulatory hurdles. The fund's holdings are dominated by bitcoin (~80%) and Ethereum (~11%), with smaller allocations to Solana, Cardano, and XRP. Regulators are now evaluating standalone spot ETFs for assets like SOL, DOGE, ADA, and XRP. Market observers see the GDLC approval as a “test run” that could smooth the path for these individual products.
Paxos launched the USDG stablecoin in Europe under MiCA via its regulated Finnish entity, offering 1:1 dollar redemption and trading on platforms like Kraken and CoinsPaid. Backed by firms including Robinhood, Galaxy, and Anchorage, USDG circulates on Ethereum, Ink, and Solana, with $322M in market cap and aims to meet increasing EU demand for dollar-pegged stablecoins.
Bitget Wallet has partnered with Mastercard and web3 payments firm Immersve to launch a crypto card usable at 150M Mastercard-accepting merchants globally. Users in the UK and EU will get early access, with expansion to Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand planned. The card supports digital issuance, yield on idle balances, transaction rewards, and a one-time bonus for identity verification. It aims to make crypto payments as seamless as traditional ones.
The Point of Control (POC) is the price level with the most traded volume and acts as a key support or resistance. High Value Nodes (HVNs) attract price and act as resistance in ranges, while Low Value Nodes (LVNs) act as fast-pass zones where price moves quickly. The Value Area (VA) covers 70% of traded volume between the VAH and VAL. Repeated closes outside it can signal a breakout. Drawing volume profiles around ranges and expansions helps traders anticipate reactions to past volume levels.
Bitcoin treasury companies trade at significant premiums to NAV by using public capital markets, particularly at-the-market equity issuances, to increase BTC-per-share and amplify exposure. Major players like MicroStrategy trade at roughly a 75% premium, while smaller firms such as The Blockchain Group and Metaplanet sport premiums of 217% and 384%, reflecting the value investors place on future BTC accumulation and narrative. A key driver is “bitcoin yield,” which measures BTC growth per diluted share, and transparent proof-of-reserves practices further bolster confidence. However, this model depends on sustaining premiums: if share prices fall to NAV, equity raises become dilutive rather than accretive, breaking the self-reinforcing capital-raise/accumulation cycle.
Hyperliquid logged $1.57 trillion in onchain perpetuals volume over the past 12 months, generating $56 million in fees this month and $310 million in cumulative revenue. Its volume surged from $75 billion in November to $150 billion in December 2024 during the $1.2 billion HYPE airdrop, with May's $248 billion easily outpacing the $140 billion combined volume of other onchain perps DEXs. The platform, bolstered by its new HyperEVM network and HyperCore Layer 1 infrastructure, delivers sub-second finality and handles over 100,000 orders per second on a fully onchain order book.
This week will see several launches and presales, including Yapyo Arb's token presale, Sui Pay's USDC payment rollout on Sui, and Katana DEX's mainnet launch. Bybit's hybrid DEX ByReal kicks off its Reset Launch with Fragmetric's liquid restaking protocol, while Succinct Labs advances to Testnet Stage 2.5 with $PROVE distributions. Stacks has unveiled its BD roadmap, Drift has opened FUEL redemptions for $DRIFT, HanaNetwork teased tokenomics, and Boundless is preparing for July's ZK mining launch.
Fidelity has purchased 10,283 ETH worth $25.7 million, signaling continued institutional accumulation of Ethereum.
MetaMask has launched Embedded Wallets, a self-custodial SDK that lets developers create seamless, branded wallets inside their apps without the need for seed phrases or extensions.
Despite rumors, onchain data shows Base is continuing to pay its weekly fee to the OP Collective.
A tokenized version of OpenAI private equity, issued via Robinhood, is now live on Arbitrum.
Senator Lummis has filed an amendment to the Senate's “Big Beautiful Bill” that would exempt small crypto transactions under $300 (capped at $5,000 annually) from capital gains taxes and eliminate double taxation on staking and mining rewards by taxing them only upon sale. The proposal also seeks to clarify tax treatment for crypto lending, wash sales, and charitable contributions in a bid to reduce friction for casual users and align policy with industry practices. While the amendment has not yet been voted on, it is part of the Senate's ongoing “vote-a-rama” process amid negotiations over the nearly 1,000-page spending package.
Spain's Guardia Civil, with support from US, French, and Estonian authorities, arrested five individuals in connection with a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme that duped over 5,000 victims out of approximately €460 million. The suspects were detained in operations on the Canary Islands and in Madrid, where investigators also executed search warrants. Authorities say the criminal network laundered funds through a Hong Kong–based corporate and banking structure, using global associates, multiple payment gateways, and crypto exchange accounts to receive, store, and transfer illicit proceeds.
Robinhood is launching tokenized equities for 200+ stocks starting in the EU, offering 24/5 trading and dividend payouts directly in-app, initially on Arbitrum and later its own L2. The company also announced ETH and SOL staking for U.S. users, new crypto-reward auto-purchases tied to its Gold Card, and perpetuals trading for EU users routed via Bitstamp. The push marks a major step toward integrating traditional finance with onchain rails.
Backed's xStocks are now live on Bybit, Kraken, and Solana DeFi, offering over 60 tokenized stocks for 24/7, onchain trading and global accessibility. Bybit and Kraken have joined the xStocks Alliance, while Chainlink's Data Streams provide sub-second, onchain price feeds, and corporate action verification. These tokenized equities plug into Solana's DeFi stack, including Kamino money markets for lending, Raydium AMMs for liquidity provision, Jupiter for aggregation, and Phantom for direct trading, to enable lending, borrowing, fee-earning, and complex structured products. xStocks' neutral, multi-chain design aims to bridge traditional capital markets and DeFi.
Crypto functions as an extractive arbitrage system rather than a traditional investment market, where HODLing rarely pays off – only 3.7% of tokens recover a 75% drawdown, and 86% of large-FDV launches plunge at least 75%. Altcoins largely underperform Bitcoin, and revenue-generating protocols like Hyperliquid, Maple, and Aave are exceptional outliers, not the rule. Venture capital struggles because tokens lack equity-like cash flows and favor early-stage edge that disappears as funds scale. True winners in crypto are market-neutral actors that systematically extract value regardless of price direction.
There are four proven strategies for trading real-money prediction markets: arbitrage across platforms, reacting quickly to breaking news, live-event trading, and building predictive models. Prediction markets are uniquely attractive because of their low institutional presence, minimal fees, and inefficiencies that offer retail traders a quantifiable edge.
Circle has applied to the OCC to establish a federally regulated trust bank (First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A.) to oversee USDC reserves and offer custody services to institutions. The move aims to align Circle with requirements under the proposed GENIUS Act and further integrate USDC into the U.S. financial system. CEO Jeremy Allaire framed it as a step toward building market-neutral infrastructure for the global internet financial system.
Robinhood's “To Catch a Token” event exceeded attendee expectations, with its seamless integration of tokenized stocks, the Robinhood App, Bithumb exchange, and the Robinhood Chain emerging as a key breakthrough. The decision to build on Arbitrum and Ethereum instead of Solana reinforces Ethereum's DeFi dominance while boosting Arbitrum's cultural and financial stake, especially with Arbitrum earning 10% of Robinhood Chain sequencer fees. The event also sparked conversation on access to private markets, permissionless trading, and the relevance of collectives like Optimism, as Robinhood's model shows how financial institutions can own their full tech stack.
Robinhood's June 24 crypto deposit promo offers a 2% cash bonus for BTC, ETH, or SOL, but is only paid if users keep their balance above the deposit value for a full year.
Privy has rolled out a new “Recipes” homepage featuring step-by-step guides for common integration tasks across wallets, UI, trading, payments, mobile, and social apps.
Stablecoin transaction volume has jumped 49% year-over-year, with 2025 averaging $702B per month vs. $472B per month in 2024.
In just a few weeks, Ethereum has seen Shopify adopt stablecoin payments on Base, EigenLayer launch EigenCloud, Stripe acquire Privy, and JPMorgan announce a deposit token on Base.
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Newly elected President Lee Jae Myung has made Korean won–based stablecoins a national priority, aiming to reduce capital outflows and improve monetary independence. Proposed legislation would lift the ban on won-backed stablecoins, create a licensing regime, and promote usage across industries like gaming and e-commerce. While critics argue the won lacks global demand and risks becoming a proxy-CBDC, supporters say there's real utility for cross-border trade and digital Korean services.