Crypto World

Onchain Gagcha Hits Record Highs

Published

3 hours ago

16 July 2026

June 2026 was brutal for the crypto market. Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than 20%, hitting a 21-month low, while spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a record $4.5 billion in outflows.

That did not stop users from spending a record $324 million on onchain gacha during the month, according to Blockworks Research. A year earlier, the monthly figure was closer to $50 million.

Spending hit a new all time high in the depths of a bear market. While crypto prices were tanking, people were opening more and more packs of tokenized Pokémon cards — driven by the thrill, the hope of a profit or the urge to expand a collection.

It’s an entire randomized Real World Asset (RWA) sector that’s flown under the radar… until now.

Onchain gacha spending hit an all-time high in June 2026. Source: Blockworks.

Booster packs, grades and slabs

Gacha is a mechanism borrowed from Japanese vending machines, where a fixed payment yields a random item. In the trading card game (TCG) market, it usually works through booster packs: sealed packs holding a random assortment of cards. The buyer does not know in advance what they will get.

The cards inside a booster are not created equal. Print run, rarity, condition and year of release drive prices orders of magnitude apart: from cents for an ordinary card, to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a rare copy in pristine condition. A market has grown up around those collectibles, which Global Market Insights values at $9.2 billion and Mordor Intelligence at $15.11 billion.

Some cards can fetch several hundred thousand dollars. Source: PriceCharting.

When a card can cost as much as a car, its authenticity and condition have to be assessed.

That is what grading is for — a process in which an independent company such as PSA, Beckett or CGC checks a card against several criteria. The card is inspected for image centering, the condition of its corners, edges and surface, and for scratches and stains, after which it is assigned a grade and sealed in a plastic case known as a slab.

The grade directly affects the price: two identical cards can be worth completely different amounts, while a raw, ungraded card sells as a riskier asset.

A Pokémon card sealed in a PSA slab. Source: eBay.

Projects such as Collector Crypt and Courtyard are moving these real world assets onto the blockchain. They accept physical cards — usually ones that have already been graded — hold them in vaults and issue NFTs tied to a specific copy.

When a user buys and opens a pack, they receive a token backed by a real card in a real vault. The token can be kept, listed on a marketplace, sold back to the platform or redeemed for the physical card.

Crucially, the value of these NFTs rests on the assumption that the partner vault really does hold that exact card in the stated grade. The user takes on custodial risk — the safety of the asset, the integrity of the authentication and the durability of the platform itself — and with grading companies themselves reporting a rise in counterfeits, that assumption is far from trivial.

Why now?

The growing popularity of onchain gacha, and of TCG-focused blockchain platforms more broadly, is probably down to several factors.

Pokémon cards are the core product for many of these projects, and the franchise is on a roll right now.

According to research firm Circana, Pokémon became the most popular toy brand in the US in 2025, with $2.5 billion in sales, up 87% from a year earlier.

The interest is not coming from children alone. Wealthier members of Generations Y and Z sometimes prefer cards to expensive paintings. Demand for grading is so high that in June, PSA temporarily suspended card submissions across four basic service levels as it tried to work through a backlog of almost 10 million cards.

Tokenization simply plugged into this frenzy by providing a useful service and removing friction.

High-profile buyers like Logan Paul have helped push Pokémon cards into the spotlight. Source: Logan Paul.

The real world trading card market suffers from a problem common to all collectibles markets: the absence of instant liquidity. To sell a card offchain, the owner has to find a counterparty, verify its authenticity and grade, and ship the item.

“Traditional marketplaces are slow and expensive,” Dakota Campbell, head of marketing at Collector Crypt, told Cointelegraph. “With tokenized trading cards, collectors can buy, sell, trade, and verify ownership instantly while the physical asset remains securely vaulted until they want it shipped.”

Collector Crypt has tokenized roughly $40 million worth of cards and comic books, according to Campbell. About $23 million of that inventory belongs to the platform itself, while the rest sits in user wallets or has already been redeemed. To keep up with demand, the company buys around $2 million worth of cards every week.

Gambling on collectibles

As with the NFT boom, it’s hard to deny that price speculation and gambling-style dopamine hits from the random prizes are part of the appeal.

The instant buyback mechanism, available on most platforms, creates an almost perfect “gacha loop”: Buy a pack, and if the card is unappealing or not worth much, sell it back for, say, 85% of its value and go open the next one. Pull something rare, and either list it on a marketplace or keep it. Unlike with physical cards, there’s no searching for a buyer, no shipping, no waiting.

The “instant buyback” option is available on nearly all TCG platforms. Source: Phygitals.

The gagcha mechanism is similar to loot boxes within video games: The user pays for a random outcome, knowing only the odds. Some jurisdictions have already tried to bring loot boxes under gambling regulations. Whether that logic will reach tokenized TCGs probably depends on how big the sector grows.

Either way, this is exactly how the traditional TCG market works. The only difference is speed: Offchain, closing the gacha loop takes weeks. Onchain, it takes a few seconds.

Sometimes users are driven by nothing more than the desire to “try their luck.” Source: X.

“There is always speculation in an emerging market, especially in the crypto sector,” Campbell said, while arguing that the platform benefits most from committed collectors hunting for their next “grail.”

No country for collectors?

Genuine collectors of physical cards still make up a proportion of the market. According to Dune, users burn 5% to 8% of the NFTs issued on Courtyard each week, with each burn representing a real physical claim.

Users burn 5% to 8% of Courtyard’s issued NFTs each week for physical cards. Source: Dune.

Collector Crypt reports that around 30% of its users eventually redeem a card, according to Campbell, and many more hold their cards in their onchain inventory past the 72-hour buyback window rather than flipping them.

“In just the last 30 days, 5,400 assets shipped to 634 unique users at $3.29 million insured value,” he said.

New tracks for an old train

Essentially, blockchain startups are running the classic tokenization play: moving a proven business model onto more efficient rails and removing some of the friction.

Concerns about the speculative nature of this market, or the role of gambling in it, are warranted to the extent that platforms build their marketing around this aspect.

Beyond that, this is simply how gacha works. People sift through the “junk” in pursuit of a rare card. And if there are complaints to be made, they should be addressed to the entire TCG industry, not just its onchain segment.

As for June’s records, they are the result of several factors converging. The traditional card market is booming, tokenization has proved mature enough to plug into it, and the gacha mechanic sits neatly on blockchain rails.

How sustainable that is remains an open question. The gacha loop runs fast in both directions, and record inflows can reverse just as fast.

Features: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line?

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Crypto World

‘The Worst Is Still Ahead’ for ETH: Analyst Predicts Another Ethereum Crash

Published

4 minutes ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Ethereum’s native token rode the sub-CPI crypto rally like very few did, pumping toward a six-week peak of roughly $1,950. This means that it had recovered nearly 30% in value since its multi-year peak at $1,510 was reached weeks ago.

However, its run was halted at that level, and the asset now stands below $1,900. According to popular analyst Crypto Rover, this minor rejection might be just the beginning.

Another Major Leg Down?

While observing ETH’s more macro picture, the market commentator outlined a rather interesting pattern that the asset tends to follow – a very precise 1,369-day repeating occurrence that drives it up and down.

Rover speculated that “Ethereum may be heading for its biggest crash yet,” as this historical pattern maps out two “devastating sell-offs” incurred at approximately this time of each cycle. They both began after similar rallies like the 30% surge in the past couple of weeks, but the subsequent rejections pushed the altcoin south to new local lows.

If the analyst’s scenario plays out again, ETH could dump again to and even below $1,500, which would mark a new multi-year low. The other side of the coin of this pattern shows a spectacular long-term run would be in the making following this capitulation. Rover’s analysis outlined some massive targets of somewhere around five-digit territory at $10,000.

ETHEREUM MAY BE HEADING FOR ITS BIGGEST CRASH YET.
This chart shows the exact same 1,369-day pattern repeating for a third time.
The previous two cycles ended with devastating selloffs.
If this fractal holds…
Advertisement

The worst may still be ahead. pic.twitter.com/jMYhpiUgZ5
— Crypto Rover (@cryptorover) July 16, 2026

Maybe Bottom Is In, Though

Fellow analyst Michaël van de Poppe also weighed in on ETH’s impressive move above $1,900, calling it “phenomenal.” However, he doesn’t see such a doomsday scenario as Rover. Instead, he said he doubts there will be “a lot more new lows coming in on the markets,” as the on-chain data he reviews points in the opposite direction.

“There’s a lot more upside going to come on this one, and I think it’s simply in a ‘buy-the-dip’ regime,” he added.

His focus was more on ETH’s short-term performance, and the chart he listed envisions targets of around $2,500-$2,700 by the start of Q4.

The post ‘The Worst Is Still Ahead’ for ETH: Analyst Predicts Another Ethereum Crash appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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AI Agent Economy Confronts Visa, Artemis-Linked Infrastructure Gaps

Published

12 minutes ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Visa and investment thesis platform Artemis have released a report arguing that the rise of “agentic” AI—software that can discover services, negotiate terms, and execute transactions—may force a rethink of how the world processes payments. The core problem, they say, is that today’s card rails and similar incumbents were designed for human purchasing patterns: relatively infrequent, fee-sensitive transactions settled on timelines that don’t fit high-volume micropayments.

In their view, AI agents reached a practical capability threshold in mid-2025, enabling them to locate unfamiliar APIs, compare pricing, and initiate payments autonomously. That shift makes near-zero friction and fast settlement more important than ever—conditions the report says current infrastructure often cannot meet at scale. The report also frames stablecoins as a potential catalyst for machine-native micropayments while pointing to a convergence model where multiple rails coexist.

Key takeaways

Visa and Artemis argue traditional card infrastructure struggles with the frequency and fee sensitivity required for AI agents’ micropayments.
The report links AI agent adoption to a mid-2025 capability jump that lets agents evaluate services and trigger payments autonomously.
It projects convergence rather than replacement: cards for proxy transactions inside merchant networks, stablecoins for machine-native micropayments, and hybrid workflows.
Coinbase’s x402 protocol is cited as a developing real-world example, with volume and transaction counts accelerating after its May 2025 launch.
The paper describes a shared machine-payment framework approach, including Visa work to extend Tempo’s Machine Payment Protocol (MPP) toward card-based agent commerce.

Why AI agents pressure payment rails

The joint report, released Wednesday, centers on the mismatch between human commerce and machine commerce. According to Visa and Artemis, card systems were built around lower-frequency transactions where fee structures and settlement timing are acceptable. AI agents, by contrast, can operate in rapid cycles—discovering new endpoints, running pricing checks, and paying in the background—creating what the report calls a demand for near-zero fees and faster settlement to make micropayments economically viable.

The authors argue this isn’t simply a theoretical upgrade request. They say AI agents crossed a key capability threshold in mid-2025, where they can both navigate unfamiliar APIs and make payment decisions without human intervention. In that context, even modest frictions—fees that scale poorly, settlement delays that reduce automation efficiency, or lack of operational flexibility—can become bottlenecks.

Evidence of adoption: Coinbase’s x402 protocol

The report also points to early market signals from agent-oriented payment standards. One example highlighted is x402, a payment protocol developed by Coinbase. Visa and Artemis say x402 processed $15 million in adjusted volume across more than 109 million adjusted transactions since its launch in May 2025.

More notably, the report describes a sharp acceleration after a period of relatively low activity. It says that in October 2025, the monthly transaction count jumped from 40,000 to 3.8 million, culminating in 38 million transactions processed in October alone. The data is used to suggest that agent-compatible micropayment pathways can see rapid throughput growth when the right operational conditions are met.

Stablecoins as part of a convergence, not a winner-takes-all

A central thesis in the report is convergence across payment types. Visa and Artemis write that the “trajectory points toward convergence rather than competition,” outlining three roles for different rails: cards for proxy purchases within existing merchant networks; stablecoins for machine-native micropayments; and hybrid flows where both types of payments operate within the same workflow.

That framing matters because it avoids a binary story of crypto displacing incumbents. Instead, it suggests that stablecoins may become especially useful where card economics and settlement cadence do not match machine micropayment needs, while card networks could still provide reach inside merchant ecosystems—particularly for transactions where proxy purchasing or familiar merchant integration is beneficial.

The report further argues that a single machine-payments framework could support both stablecoin and card transactions, creating a pathway for agentic flows to extend into card-based commerce networks rather than forcing a full migration.

Shared frameworks and the push to connect card networks to machine payments

To describe how convergence could be implemented, the report discusses Tempo’s Machine Payment Protocol (MPP). It says MPP now spans both onchain crypto payments and fiat payments through shared payment tokens. Visa, in turn, is described as working to extend the protocol into card-based agent commerce.

In practical terms, the report says Tempo’s approach is designed to make it easier for AI actors to send and receive money, while Visa’s tools aim to support agentic payments on card rails. Visa’s crypto division has also been referenced in relation to AI tooling, including functionality for same-day payments by AI agents. Separately, Tempo—which has backing associated with Stripe in the source material—has been described as launching AI-related capabilities alongside its machine payments work in March.

Beyond the product details, the investor-relevant takeaway is structural: instead of treating cards and crypto rails as separate stacks, the report highlights efforts to align them through shared tokenized payment concepts. That alignment is presented as a key step toward enabling agents to execute payments across different networks without the underlying automation logic having to be rebuilt for every rail.

How stablecoins may scale with AI-native microbusiness

The report’s convergence model also intersects with another recent claim in the broader ecosystem: Swyftx earlier this week said AI-enabled microbusinesses could add an estimated $262 billion in stablecoin volume by 2033, assuming roughly 33% adoption. The company’s argument, as presented in the source material, connects AI-native payments settled in stablecoins to growth in machine-driven commercial activity.

While that figure is based on Swyftx’s adoption assumptions rather than Visa/Artemis data, it aligns with the joint report’s emphasis on micropayment economics. The implication for readers is that the stablecoin narrative may increasingly hinge on transaction utility—especially volume at the micro scale—rather than on retail speculation alone.

For investors and builders, the next signal to watch is whether machine-payment standards such as x402 and the broader MPP framework keep showing step-function usage growth, and whether card-network extensions can reduce the friction that the report identifies. The unanswered question is not whether AI agents will create new payment demand, but whether payment rails can adapt fast enough to keep that demand commercially frictionless.

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Crypto World

The $65.5K Rejection: What Top Analysts Are Saying About Bitcoin’s Next Move

Published

18 minutes ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

The US CPI data for June brought a much-needed relief rally in the cryptocurrency markets, pushing the largest of the bunch to a new three-week peak at $65,500.

However, after gaining about $4,000 in just a day, the asset was rejected and driven south by $1,500. According to popular crypto analysts, this was not an isolated or accidental rejection, as history might map out the path forward.

Why Was BTC Stopped?

Crypto Rover noted that BTC has faced the same scenario after every relief rally during this bear cycle. It surges to the Short-Term Holder Realized Price, and then the bears step up and halt its progress. He believes this is because it’s the average cost basis of recent buyers.

“As soon as they get back to break-even, many sell to exit their positions.”

This pattern first played out in November last year, after the notorious October crash, which wiped out over $19 billion in leveraged positions. BTC was stopped at $115,000 at the time, before similar occurrences took place during January’s rally to $95,000, and the mid-May surge to $83,000.

Merlijn The Trader shared a similar opinion, claiming he envisioned this bull-trap rally to $65,500. He believes another leg down is in the making and predicted a “flush toward the $58.5K-$60K order block.”

He outlined the significance of the $63,000 support. If held, BTC could still see some upward momentum, especially if it reclaims the aforementioned $65,500 resistance. However, a breakdown below $63,000 is likely to result in another sub-$60,000 dip.

On The Flip Side…

Another popular analyst, Jelle, outlined a rather contrasting scenario. He indicated that BTC’s recent move represented a “big win for the bulls,” as the asset has “reclaimed the previous range lows.” He warned that bitcoin tends to move slowly during the summer and investors should be cautious about becoming too bullish during such not-ideal market conditions.

Nevertheless, Jelle added that this is a “good start” for bitcoin, but a more profound move north would require breaking many key levels before “things really change for the better.”

Big win for the bulls, $BTC has reclaimed the previous range lows!
Good start, but still loads of levels to break before things really change for the better.
It’s still summer; tends to be slow – and I’ll treat the market accordingly. DCA, nothing more. pic.twitter.com/XrpNvb3uoE
— Jelle (@CryptoJelleNL) July 16, 2026

The post The $65.5K Rejection: What Top Analysts Are Saying About Bitcoin’s Next Move appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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MoonPay Acquires Glide to Expand Crypto Deposit Infrastructure

Published

25 minutes ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

MoonPay has acquired crypto infrastructure startup Glide, aiming to fold Glide’s deposit and routing technology into MoonPay’s fiat-to-crypto offering. The companies announced the deal this week, positioning it as a step in MoonPay’s shift from payments toward broader digital asset infrastructure for other applications.

Glide, founded in 2023 by Tushar Soni and Qinyu Tong, is designed to help software applications accept deposits from a wide range of token and wallet sources without requiring users to manually coordinate cross-chain bridges, swaps, and other intermediate steps. Glide’s documentation states the platform supports more than 100 tokens across 30 blockchain networks.

Key takeaways

MoonPay is integrating Glide’s deposit and routing capabilities into its MoonPay Deposits product.
Glide’s core utility is simplifying wallet funding across chains, tokens, exchanges, and cards without manual bridge-and-swap workflows.
The acquisition reinforces MoonPay’s strategy to expand beyond fiat-to-crypto payments into deeper infrastructure layers.
MoonPay did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition.

Glide’s approach to cross-chain deposit friction

Soni said Glide was created after recurring issues surfaced while working with Web3 consumer startups: users struggled to add funds to their wallets smoothly. In those workflows, balances could end up on the wrong chain, in the wrong token, or sitting on the wrong venue—forcing users to complete multiple steps to get funds where they actually needed them.

“Funds sat on the wrong chain, in the wrong token, on an exchange, or on a card, and every deposit meant bridges, swaps, and drop-offs,” Soni told Cointelegraph.

According to Soni, the founders also met while working on Robinhood Wallet and later pursued Y Combinator with a plan to build wallet infrastructure for Web3 consumer startups. But their engagements with startups made the deposit problem more visible—prompting Glide to pivot from general wallet infrastructure toward a unified deposit flow.

From multiple sources to a single funding experience

Glide’s model centers on reducing the manual complexity that often accompanies deposits in multi-chain ecosystems. Instead of asking users to orchestrate the path from one asset or chain to another, Glide is intended to automate routing so applications can fund wallets from different sources—such as other chains, tokens, wallets, exchanges, or card-based funding.

As Glide evolved, the objective sharpened: enable users to top up without having to complete bridges and swaps themselves. That distinction matters for app developers because it shifts a portion of the user-experience burden away from end-users and into infrastructure logic that can be reused across products.

Glide was founded in 2023 by Soni and Tong, both formerly associated with the team behind Robinhood Wallet. Their focus on deposit flows reflects a broader trend in crypto—consumer-facing services increasingly depend on reliable onboarding and funding rails, not just token support or interfaces.

How MoonPay plans to use the technology

MoonPay said that after the acquisition, Glide’s technology will be integrated into MoonPay Deposits. MoonPay Deposits is already used by applications including Wallet in Telegram, Moonshot, and Paysafe, according to the announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

MoonPay CEO and co-founder Ivan Soto-Wright framed the purchase as part of a larger infrastructure strategy. He pointed to MoonPay’s recent deals expanding security, trading, and accounting capabilities, arguing that digital asset companies need more than checkout-style payments to help businesses and end users operate reliably with crypto.

“Every acquisition this year has added a layer of the infrastructure that businesses and their users need to operate with digital assets: moving money, securing it, trading it, accounting for it,” Soto-Wright said.

Soto-Wright also described the specific problem Glide targets: users can lose funds by sending the wrong token on the wrong chain. The implication is that future blockchain-based platforms will increasingly require infrastructure that removes these complexities from the user’s workflow, making the underlying transfers effectively invisible.

MoonPay’s expanding acquisition pipeline

The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the Glide acquisition.

For MoonPay, the deal adds to a busy stretch of dealmaking. The acquisition was described as MoonPay’s sixth acquisition announcement of 2026, with additional purchases previously reported by Cointelegraph including Sodot, Decent, DFlow, Entendre, and Dawn Labs. MoonPay’s investor roster includes Thrive Capital, Paradigm, Valhalla Ventures, Tiger Global Management, and Coatue, according to startup data platform Tracxn.

MoonPay also noted leadership changes in its compliance and administration function, with former acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Caroline Pham named chief legal officer and chief administrative officer late last year.

What to watch next for deposits and routing

With Glide’s deposit and routing technology slated for integration into MoonPay Deposits, the key open question for builders and users will be how quickly MoonPay can translate Glide’s cross-chain simplification into smoother funding experiences across supported apps—and whether that improvement reduces common user errors tied to token and network mismatches.

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Dogecoin, Elon Musk, and SpaceX: Can DOGE Run Again?

Published

38 minutes ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Dogecoin is holding the mid $0.07 range, and remains down about 55% from a year ago, even as much of the crypto market has clawed back losses. That leaves traders asking whether the Musk effect still has any fuel.

The latest talking point arrived on July 11, when Morgan Creek Capital’s Mark Yusko argued that Dogecoin’s value depends heavily on Elon Musk and other major holders avoiding large sales. His view paints DOGE as unusually exposed to concentrated ownership. That kind of narrative rarely gets institutions reaching for their wallets.

SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company, is at an all-time low, while the DOGE ETFs launched in late 2025 have done little to change the trend. The largest fund still manages only about $13.7 million in net assets. Even Musk’s AI-generated “Dogefather” post in March barely stirred the market. Once upon a tweet, Dogecoin would sprint. Now it barely stretches.

Sentime n t also remains fragile. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is still sitting in fear territory, while only about 40% of the past 30 trading days finished green. Even so, DOGE has refused to roll over. That standoff between cautious sentiment and stubborn price action could make the second half of July worth watching.

Discover: The Best Token Presales

Can Dogecoin Price Break $0.09 Before August?

Dogecoin is trading around $0.0748, up roughly 3.0% over the past week with a modest daily gain. Trading volume sits near $550 million over the last 24 hours, healthy enough for a market catching its breath but still shy of the rush that usually kicks off a sustained rally.

Technically, $0.07 remains the line in the sand. Buyers have stepped in there several times, making it the level traders keep returning to. Meanwhile, resistance between $0.08 and $0.09 has swatted away every recent rally. Changelly’s projections, with a 2026 ceiling near $0.0810 and an average around $0.0793, fit that picture of a market stuck in a tight box.

From here, three paths stand out. In the bullish case, Bitcoin catches another wave, meme coins wake up, and DOGE finally takes another swing at $0.09. The base case is less dramatic, with DOGE drifting between $0.07 and $0.08 through August. Not exactly fireworks, but markets do enjoy making traders wait.

The bearish case needs a real catalyst, not just a slow news week. If $0.07 fails on a weekly close, momentum could fade toward $0.055. That makes the support level worth watching, because once a floor gives way, gravity tends to stop asking permission.

Longer term, some analysts still see $0.20 to $0.24 as a realistic upside target if fresh catalysts emerge. Retail calls for $1 also refuse to die, though they still rely on events that have yet to arrive. As for the DOGE-1 lunar mission, it remains unscheduled, so that story is still waiting for its next chapter.

Trade Ethereum, and Don’t Miss Out on Our $1,000 USDT Airdrop on ByBit

Maxi Doge Targets Early Mover Upside as DOGE Tests Key Levels

DOGE’s range-bound chart illustrates the core problem with large-cap meme coins at this stage: the upside math gets harder as market cap expands, catalysts become harder to manufacture, and the early-mover advantage belongs to a prior cycle. Traders who still want meme-coin exposure are rotating toward earlier-stage projects where the valuation starting point is dramatically lower. That rotation dynamic is already showing up in presale inflows across the meme-coin sector.

Maxi Doge ($MAXI) is an ERC-20 meme token built around a specific and surprisingly coherent concept: a 240-lb canine juggernaut embodying 1000x leverage trading mentality, wrapped in gym-bro humor and community-driven competition mechanics.

Play the game. Roll the dice. In it for the thrill dawg. pic.twitter.com/rV7AabMdWf
— MaxiDoge (@MaxiDoge_) June 25, 2026

The presale has raised $4.8 million at a current price of $0.0002829, which is an entry-level pricing that DOGE hasn’t seen in years. The project offers dynamic staking APY, holder-only trading competitions with leaderboard rewards, and a Maxi Fund treasury earmarked for liquidity and partnerships.

The meme-first marketing angle is deliberate and on-brand. “Never skip leg-day, never skip a pump” is the kind of tagline that moves fast on social.

Research Maxi Doge before committing capital.

Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio

The post Dogecoin, Elon Musk, and SpaceX: Can DOGE Run Again? appeared first on Cryptonews.

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Forex Expo Dubai Adds New Features for Verified Traders and Introducing Brokers

Published

47 minutes ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Expanding the Expo Experience

As preparations continue for Forex Expo Dubai 2026, the event is expanding its attendee experience while welcoming a growing lineup of exhibitors from across the forex and trading industry.

Confirmed exhibitors include Super Elite sponsors GTCFX, Valetax, Xchief, Funding Pips, and Honor Financial, alongside Elite sponsors EC Markets, TMGM, Metaquotes, JustMarkets, FP Markets, PU Prime, Dprime, Funded Firm, VPFX, Aegeanlabs Software LLC, Eplanet, SGFX, FortressFX, UEXO, Moneta Markets, and CXM.

As the forex and trading landscape evolves, industry events are adapting to changing attendee expectations. Traders, introducing brokers, and business professionals are increasingly seeking practical learning, direct access to industry specialists, and meaningful business engagement. In response, Forex Expo Dubai is introducing dedicated programmes tailored to its key attendee groups.

Personalizing Experiences

Verified traders gain access to dedicated seminar sessions, the Traders Lounge, and Traders Clinic that offers one-on-one guidance from market experts. They can also pre-book meetings ahead of the event and explore exclusive onboarding opportunities from selected exhibitors.

For Introducing Brokers, the dedicated IB Programme creates opportunities to connect with brokers, compare rebate options, and discuss partnership opportunities through face-to-face meetings. The IB Lounge and dedicated seminar sessions provide additional insights to help IBs strengthen their approach and grow their networks.

Expanding Opportunities for Engagement

Beyond these dedicated programmes, Forex Expo Dubai will feature private meeting zones for one-to-one business discussions, networking lounges, coffee areas, and interactive experiences throughout the two-day event. Additional side events taking place before and after the expo will further extend opportunities for engagement across the trading community.

“We’ve seen a clear shift in what attendees expect from industry events,” said Niyaz Mohammed, Commercial Director at HQMENA. “People still come to discover new products and meet brokers, but they’re also looking for more focused learning and higher-quality business interactions. These new programmes have been introduced to create dedicated environments where traders and introducing brokers can engage in conversations that are directly relevant to their goals.”

With an expanded exhibitor lineup and new attendee-focused initiatives, Forex Expo Dubai 2026 is set to offer a more personalised experience for both trading professionals and businesses, reflecting the changing needs of today’s global trading community.

About Forex Expo Dubai

Forex Expo Dubai is one of the region’s leading gatherings for the global online trading and fintech industry, bringing together brokerages, fintech innovators, institutional traders, investors, payment solution providers, IBs, affiliates and online trading technology companies under one roof. The expo serves as a platform for industry dialogue, business networking, technology showcases and market-focused conversations shaping the future of modern finance.

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Crypto brokerage firm Alpaca raises $135 million for tokenized stock infrastructure

Published

53 minutes ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Crypto brokerage firm Alpaca raises $135 million for tokenized stock infrastructure

Crypto brokerage infrastructure firm Alpaca raised $135 million to expand the rails used by exchanges and tokenization platforms to offer U.S. stocks onchain.

Peak XV led Alpaca’s equity round, with participation from Elefund, BNP Paribas’ Opera Tech Ventures and Unbound, according to an announcement on Thursday. The raise follows a $150 million Series D in January that valued the company at $1.15 billion.

Debt financing, primarily from Kraken parent Payward and BMO, brought the total package to $435 million.

Alpaca clears or custodies roughly 94% of tokenized U.S. equities, including products connected to market leaders Binance, Ondo and Dinari. The company said it has more than $1.5 billion of underlying stocks backing tokenized equities held through its infrastructure.

The funding underscores a central constraint facing tokenized equities, where putting a stock onchain does not remove the need for a regulated firm to hold the underlying shares, process corporate actions and connect blockchain transactions to traditional markets.

Its Instant Tokenization Network allows market participants to mint and redeem tokenized stocks against underlying shares around the clock. The products often pair blockchain-based stock exposure with stablecoin funding or redemption, connecting equities to crypto’s 24/7 settlement rails.

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Strengthening defenses against AI fraud

Published

1 hour ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

– Kriti Bansal, vice president finance and accounting, AlphaPoint

Ask an Expert

Q. Can advisors work with AI to ensure clients are safe against fraud?

A.Yes, but AI should support advisors and not act as autonomous decision-maker. It can flag unusual wallet behavior, suspicious contracts, phishing patterns and risky approvals before damage happens. The biggest vulnerability today is granting AI agents direct, unmitigated wallet permission and this can turn the agent itself into a massive attack vector for social engineering or bad on-chain data.

Q. What security in real time looks like in the age of AI?

A. In the age of AI the real time security needs to be predictive and proactive and not reactive. Real-time security means warnings before signing, continuous wallet monitoring, instant alerts on abnormal activity and blocking risky approvals before funds can move.

Q. How can a money manager automate a defense layer that acts as a continuous threat monitor?

A.Money managers must move away from legacy externally owned wallets and transition to programmable smart accounts such as ERC-4337 or EIP-7702. This transition allows one to write automated, programmatic security guardrails directly at the account level. They can use automated monitoring for wallets, approvals, contract risks, transaction patterns and exposure limits, with human escalation for anything unusual.

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Crypto World

XRP whales snap up 70M tokens as exchange reserves hit new low

Published

1 hour ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

XRP 4-hour chart shows price testing a symmetrical triangle breakout.

XRP whales have bought 70 million tokens in one week as the price rebounded above $1.11 and Binance reserves fell to a five-month low.

Summary

XRP whales accumulated 70 million tokens as Binance reserves fell to a five-month low.
XRP is testing triangle resistance near $1.12 as buying pressure remains positive.
Futures open interest reached $2.5 billion, with liquidation clusters surrounding the current price.

Santiment data shared by crypto analyst Ali Martinez on July 16 showed that wallets holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP increased their combined balance to nearly 3.83 billion tokens. The accumulation continued despite volatility linked to the US-Iran conflict.

XRP daily chart shows price consolidating near $1.11 below $1.12 resistance. — XRP price 4-hour chart — July 16 | Source: crypto.news

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Crypto World

Prediction Markets Hold Up as Crypto Slumps, CoinGecko Shows Record Q2 Volume

Published

1 hour ago

16 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Crypto markets ended the second quarter of 2026 with broad weakness, but prediction platforms stood out as an exception. While spot trading, derivatives activity and stablecoin supply all retreated, prediction markets hit record levels, underscoring how quickly bettors are reallocating attention toward event-based contracts.

According to CoinGecko’s latest Crypto Industry Report (published Thursday), spot trading volume across the top 10 centralized exchanges fell to $1.95 trillion in Q2 2026—down 27.9% from $2.7 trillion in Q1. Perpetual futures volume also declined 10% to $12.7 trillion. Stablecoin market size slipped 1.6% to $305.1 billion, even as prediction markets surged to their strongest quarter on record with $113.8 billion in notional volume.

Key takeaways

Broad Q2 weakness across crypto trading: Top-10 CEX spot volume dropped to $1.95T and perpetual futures to $12.7T, according to CoinGecko.
Stablecoin growth stalled: The stablecoin market slipped 1.6% to $305.1B despite prediction-market momentum.
Prediction markets reached a record quarter: Notional volume rose to $113.8B, highlighting a shift toward event-driven demand.
Sports and politics led the demand: World Cup and the 2028 US presidential election were among the biggest drivers, per Polymarketscan and related reporting.
Regulation pressure is mounting: US regulators and states continue to dispute whether prediction markets fit under financial-market rules or gambling regimes.

Trading volumes slide while prediction contracts break records

The gap between traditional trading and prediction-market activity was stark during Q2. CoinGecko’s report shows that while capital and activity flowed less consistently into spot and derivatives, prediction markets instead absorbed momentum—an important signal for traders evaluating where liquidity and attention are concentrating.

CoinGecko recorded prediction markets’ best quarter yet, with $113.8 billion in notional volume. This came alongside sector-specific demand: sports and politics are increasingly becoming the dominant categories for event-based contracts. Polymarket’s World Cup winner market alone reportedly attracted more than $3.3 billion in trading volume, and contracts tied to the 2028 US presidential election ranked among the platform’s largest markets, based on Polymarketscan data.

Binance stays on top, but DEX activity loses ground

Even with the market downturn, Binance maintained its dominant position among centralized exchanges. CoinGecko’s report estimates Binance held a 38.7% market share in Q2. At the same time, at least one major peer saw a more severe contraction in trading activity: MEXC recorded the sharpest slump among spot CEXs, with volume more than halving from $275.2 billion in Q1 to $121.2 billion in Q2.

Decentralized exchange performance also softened. The top 10 spot DEXs collectively processed $408.9 billion in Q2, down from $556.4 billion in Q1. Uniswap remained the leading venue with a 41.2% market share, though its volume fell 21.4% to $168.5 billion.

These figures align with the wider macro picture for the quarter. CoinGecko reported that total crypto market capitalization fell 12.6% to $2.1 trillion during Q2, reinforcing that the downturn was not limited to one segment of the market. The same broader weakness period also coincided with heightened security risks for DeFi: April was described as a record month for hacks in decentralized finance, according to earlier coverage that cited $630 million in losses.

Prediction market leaders shift as June demand surges

Within prediction markets themselves, activity peaked during June. CoinGecko’s report ties the high point to the start of the FIFA World Cup, when monthly notional volume reached an all-time high of $50.7 billion. That represented a 91.9% increase compared with the average of the previous five months—an indicator that the event-driven thesis may be pulling demand forward faster than typical, steady interest.

Over the quarter, Kalshi remained the largest prediction-market platform, retaining a 58.9% market share in Q2. Polymarket’s share declined over the same period, dropping from 35.8% to 30.2%. Robinhood-backed Rothera Markets improved its position, rising to fourth place.

Competition is not only technical or product-driven—it is also shaped by accessibility, compliance strategies, and market participation. For instance, related reporting noted that the Czech Republic told ISPs to block Polymarket after it was added to an unauthorized gambling blacklist, reflecting how local policy can affect user access and platform growth.

Regulatory disputes intensify over whether prediction markets are “financial” or “gambling”

Even as usage grows, prediction markets are drawing increased regulatory attention. In the United States, regulators and states are still divided over how these platforms should be categorized—whether they should be treated as financial markets or as gambling venues. Cointelegraph previously reported on disputes including a Michigan judge blocking Kalshi’s sports-bets effort, along with lawsuits involving platforms such as Kalshi that have escalated through 2026.

Outside the US, other jurisdictions have also moved to restrict prediction markets, citing concerns such as gambling regulation, market integrity, and risks associated with insider trading. The combination of rising volumes and uneven regulatory outcomes means platforms may face a fragmented compliance landscape, with winners depending on how quickly they can meet differing legal requirements.

For investors and builders, the next question is whether prediction-market volume is a temporary summer spike tied to major global events, or a durable shift in how users allocate attention during a weak crypto cycle. Readers should watch for Q3 notional-volume trends, any additional jurisdiction-level restrictions, and how leaders like Kalshi and Polymarket adapt as regulators sharpen their stance on classification and market integrity.

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