Latest developments: Teng says Virtuals has expanded beyond gaming-focused AI agents and is now building infrastructure for what it calls an “agent society.”

• The company began by creating autonomous agents for gaming before expanding into crypto influencers, trading agents and other autonomous software systems.
• Virtuals now focuses on five pillars: creating digital agents, creating physical agents and robots, enabling agent coordination, supporting capital formation and building governance systems for agents.
• Teng described the long-term vision as a “parallel society” where agents participate in a permissionless economy and collaborate with each other at scale.

What this means: The company believes AI agents will increasingly handle economic activity without constant human oversight.

• Teng said Virtuals’ vision centers on agents that can control wallets, trade with one another and perform specialized tasks.
• He argued that giving agents access to money unlocks new behaviors, including hiring other agents, coordinating work and potentially employing humans.
• The company refers to these systems as “autonomous economic actors,” capable of pursuing goals with growing independence from their creators.

The complication: Agent autonomy creates new risks around mistakes, fraud and accountability.

• Teng identified three major failure points: incorrect user intent, failures in service fulfillment and outright scams.
• Virtuals is working on mechanisms including intent verification systems, escrow-based transaction standards and reputation frameworks designed to reduce economic risk.
• Teng argued that reputation systems and economic staking mechanisms could eventually determine how much trust and capital an agent is allowed to manage.

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters may soon return to the helm of the House Financial Services Committee if Democrats perform as expected in the November elections, and she’s asking that the Department of Labor back away from a proposal that would encourage the managers of 401(k) retirement plans to offer alternative investments, including cryptocurrency.

In March, the Labor Department proposed a rule to implement what President Donald Trump had ordered: that people’s 401(k) accounts be open to investments in private equity, private credit, real estate, commodities and digital assets. Waters filed a detailed, 11-page comment letter with the department this week, requesting that the idea be withdrawn.

“It is incoherent for the department to bless digital assets as suitable for the retirement savings of everyday Americans while the [Securities and Exchange Commission] is still building the investor-protection regime intended to make those same assets safe for ordinary investors,” Waters argued in the letter. “The hazard is not confined to the volatility of individual tokens, severe as that is. It reflects a broader deterioration across the digital‑asset ecosystem, where trading activity, developer engagement, and user participation have collapsed.”

Latest developments: The Alliance to End Human Trafficking is urging lawmakers to revisit Section 604 of the Clarity Act, arguing the provision could make it harder to hold some crypto platform developers accountable when their technology is used to facilitate human trafficking.

• Katie Boller Gosewisch, executive director of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking, said her organization’s primary concern is language stating that developers who do not control user funds are not money transmitters.
• Boller Gosewisch argued the provision could allow some third-party platform developers to “hide behind” a lack of liability if their software is used to facilitate trafficking-related payments.
• The Alliance and Catholic Charities recently sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outlining their concerns with the legislation.
• Boller Gosewisch joined Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti on CoinDesk’s The Policy Protocol.

The debate: Rettig argued Section 604 reflects longstanding U.S. anti-money laundering policy rather than creating a new legal shield.

• Rettig said the provision simply clarifies that developers who do not control customer assets are not considered money transmitters, consistent with existing Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN guidance.
• She argued the bill preserves liability for parties that do control user funds and does not eliminate exposure under other criminal statutes.
• She also pointed to existing money laundering laws, including 18 U.S.C. § 1956, as tools prosecutors can use against developers who knowingly facilitate criminal activity.

Ethra Ship has launched a blockchain protocol backed by four years of maritime operations, opening access to an asset class where individual vessels can cost between $30 million and $120 million.

According to a recent announcement from Ethra Ship, the company has introduced a two-layer real-world asset tokenization protocol designed to connect crypto users and institutional investors with operating dry bulk shipping assets.

The platform is supported by Ethra Invest, which has been acquiring, managing, and commercially operating vessels since 2021, providing the protocol with an existing revenue-generating business rather than a pipeline of future acquisitions.

Speaking about the launch, Ethra Chief Executive Officer Saeed Al-Marri said tokenization only succeeds when it is built on top of an operating business rather than an idea.

“Tokenization only works when there is a real business underneath it. We bring four years of vessel operations, live charter revenue, and operational data to the protocol from day one, setting the standard maritime RWAs should be held to.”

Ethra said its portfolio has generated Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) revenue through commercial vessel operations while establishing the infrastructure required to manage maritime assets before introducing blockchain technology. According to the company, this approach differs from projects that issue tokens first and seek to acquire underlying assets later.

The protocol separates governance from regulated vessel investments

Under the announced structure, the first layer revolves around the SHIP token, which serves as the ecosystem’s utility and governance asset. Ethra said token holders will be able to stake their holdings for access to its Fleet Visibility Dashboard, which provides real-time fleet performance data, while also participating in governance decisions as the protocol develops.

Alongside the public token layer, the company has created a regulated investment tier for eligible investors who complete KYC and AML checks. According to Ethra, participants in this layer receive fractional exposure to Special Purpose Vehicles that own operating dry bulk vessels, allowing them to share in cash flows generated through commercial freight charters.

Commenting on the rollout, Ethra Chief Operating Officer Emad Shahin said the protocol combines blockchain infrastructure with a shipping business the company has operated for several years.

“Ethra Ship Protocol gives both Web3 and traditional investors a structured way to engage with an asset class that we have been operating and investing in since 2021. The infrastructure exists around our track record in the maritime sector, giving participants confidence that we have experience operating a fleet of revenue-producing ships.”

Ethra added that future development phases will expand staking features, institutional participation, and on-chain data services before eventually introducing tokenized vessel ownership.

RWA markets continue expanding beyond traditional asset classes

Maritime shipping enters the tokenization market as real-world assets continue attracting institutional attention.

As crypto.news reported in May, the value of tokenized real-world assets on public blockchains climbed to nearly $34 billion, up from roughly $5.4 billion at the beginning of 2025. Ethereum currently carries about 60% of that market, while tokenized U.S. Treasuries account for around $15 billion.

New asset categories have also continued to emerge. Earlier this month, DBS Bank announced plans to launch tokenized physical gold backed by bullion stored in Singapore, extending its digital asset strategy beyond tokenized money market funds and stablecoin services.

Wall Street institutions have also projected substantial growth for the sector. In its Tokenization 2030: Wall Street On-Chain report, Citi estimated the tokenized securities market could reach $5.5 trillion by 2030 under its base-case scenario, with projections ranging from $2.7 trillion to $8.2 trillion depending on adoption. The bank expects blockchain infrastructure to support an increasing share of Treasury bills, equities, funds, and other financial assets during the decade.

Morgan Stanley has warned that the Federal Reserve could still be forced to raise interest rates this year under certain economic conditions, even as it maintains its forecast for unchanged policy.

According to Morgan Stanley, its base-case forecast remains that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged this year. Even so, the bank cautioned that a stronger labor market or stubborn inflation could require policymakers to tighten monetary policy again.

The bank pointed to two specific risks. A decline in the unemployment rate below 4% would indicate continued strength in the labor market, while inflation remaining above the Fed’s target could leave officials with little choice but to remove monetary accommodation.

Recent inflation data has kept those concerns in focus. As reported by crypto.news earlier, the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures price index accelerated to 4.1%, its highest reading since 2023. At the same time, oil prices have fallen following the U.S.-Iran peace agreement, a development that could ease energy-driven inflation and support Morgan Stanley’s expectation that rates remain on hold.

Other institutions continue to expect rate increases

Although Morgan Stanley does not currently forecast a rate increase, several financial institutions have adopted a more hawkish outlook.

As reported by crypto.news earlier in June, BNP Paribas abandoned its previous expectation that rates would remain steady and now expects the Federal Reserve to reverse the three interest-rate cuts delivered in 2025. The bank projected three consecutive rate hikes beginning with the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

BNP Paribas said policymakers may need to withdraw part of the monetary stimulus if inflation continues to strengthen while employment conditions remain resilient. The bank also projected the unemployment rate could gradually decline to around 4% by the end of the year, giving the Federal Reserve more room to prioritize inflation over labor-market support.

Citadel Securities has taken an even more aggressive position. In a recent client note, the firm warned that the Federal Reserve could begin raising rates as early as September 2026 if inflation continues spreading through the economy.

According to Citadel, inflation is no longer being driven only by energy prices. The firm argued that accommodative financial conditions, persistent supply-chain disruptions, continued labor-market strength, and rapidly growing artificial intelligence investment are all contributing to sustained price pressures.

Citadel estimated AI-related capital expenditures could reach about $750 billion in 2026 before increasing to approximately $1.25 trillion in 2027.

The firm’s projected policy path includes rate hikes in September and December 2026, followed by another increase in March 2027.

Fed officials and markets remain divided on the outlook

Federal Reserve officials have also acknowledged the possibility of additional tightening if inflation fails to moderate.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said he was among the policymakers who projected a rate hike this year. He explained that his decision was based on signs of persistent inflation across the economy rather than concerns limited to the conflict in the Middle East or disruptions to global oil supplies.

Following the June Federal Open Market Committee meeting, nine of the 18 Federal Reserve officials projected at least one rate increase this year, while six of those policymakers anticipated multiple hikes, according to earlier reporting by crypto.news.

Financial markets also continue to assign meaningful odds to tighter policy. Polymarket data indicates a 53% probability that the Federal Reserve raises interest rates this year, while CME FedWatch data shows traders are pricing in possible increases at the September, October, and December policy meetings. The September meeting currently carries a 46.8% probability of a rate hike.

Latest developments: Trent Van Epps says Ethereum’s long-term decentralization strategy is entering a critical transition phase.

• Van Epps said he left the Ethereum Foundation after it became clear the organization would accelerate its “subtraction” philosophy of pushing authority and legitimacy into the broader ecosystem.
• He described the Ethereum Foundation as intentionally reducing its central role rather than consolidating power, arguing that multiple independent institutions should eventually coordinate the ecosystem.
• The comments come after recent Ethereum Foundation leadership changes and workforce reductions, which have fueled questions about Ethereum’s future governance.
• Van Epps joined CoinDesk’s Jennifer Sanasie on Markets Outlook.

What this means: Van Epps argues Ethereum faces a practical funding challenge rather than an existential crisis.

• He estimated core protocol development requires roughly $30 million annually, even as the Ethereum Foundation’s treasury gradually declines over time.
• According to Van Epps, the issue is not shrinking technical needs but identifying new organizations willing to finance public goods that keep the network reliable and secure.
• He said his Protocol Guild initiative has distributed nearly $40 million to Ethereum core developers over roughly four years but is not sufficient on its own to replace broader ecosystem funding.