Zimbabwe’s securities regulator listed seven fintech projects as approved regulatory sandbox participants on July 24, with tokenization accounting for four of the projects.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe named Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Exchange, Ndarama Standard, Questview Brokers, Crowdaxe Capital, Procode Platforms, Financial Securities Exchange and Colmin Resources Zimbabwe.

The projects will test products under SECZ supervision rather than immediately begin unrestricted commercial operations. The regulator’s framework defines a sandbox as a controlled environment for testing eligible financial technology with live users and set operating limits.

Zimbabwe’s sandbox places tokenization at the centre

Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Exchange will test a blockchain-based capital-raising platform. Ndarama Standard focuses on asset tokenization, while Questview Brokers will test synthetic trading. Crowdaxe Capital operates a web-based crowdfunding platform intended to connect businesses seeking capital with investors.

The remaining projects deepen the tokenization focus. Procode Platforms is testing securities tokenization, FINSEC is working on an asset-tokenization market, and Colmin Resources Zimbabwe is developing an infrastructure-tokenization project. Industry disclosures show that FINSEC and Zimbabwe Entrepreneurship Exchange had received project-specific regulatory approvals before SECZ published the consolidated participant notice.

Sandbox approval is not a commercial licence

SECZ’s Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines allow licensed securities intermediaries, prospective licensees and partnerships between the two to apply. Eligible categories include crowdfunding, alternative investment platforms, automated advice, artificial intelligence and other products accepted by the commission.

Participants must operate within an approved testing plan covering customer limits, transaction exposure, risk controls, disclosures and procedures for handling losses or complaints. SECZ can relax selected requirements during a test, but it can also revoke admission following a failed test, unresolved regulatory gaps, liquidation or breaches of sandbox conditions.

The rules state that testing must last at least 12 months. SECZ may approve an extension, although the additional period cannot exceed another 12 months. Successful testing does not automatically authorise a nationwide launch.

Tokenized projects still face separate regulatory duties

At the end of testing, SECZ may issue an existing licence, provide a conditional no-objection letter, create new product-specific requirements or deny permission to operate. Participants must also prepare an exit plan protecting customers if a trial ends without approval.

Tokenization approval under the securities sandbox should not be treated as general cryptocurrency or virtual asset service provider registration. Zimbabwe introduced separate anti-money laundering requirements for businesses that exchange, transfer, store or control virtual assets. As previously reported, crypto firms must register under Zimbabwe’s new VASP framework, which places covered activities under Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe oversight.

The distinction will matter when projects choose their underlying technology and operating model. A platform could fall under both securities supervision and virtual-asset rules if it tokenizes investments while also providing custody, exchange or transfer services.

SECZ will determine which projects can launch

SECZ says the sandbox is intended to generate evidence for future policy while supporting investor protection, financial stability and market integrity. The commission can monitor participants, impose further operational requirements and use testing results when updating securities rules.

No full commercial launch date or verified market reaction accompanied the July notice. The next formal steps will be the start of controlled trials, regulatory reporting and SECZ’s assessment of whether each project meets licensing requirements.

In related coverage, Zimbabwe sought public input on a broader crypto framework in 2024. The country has also experimented with state-backed digital finance, including its gold-backed digital token and ZiG currency. The latest sandbox programme is narrower because it concentrates on capital-market products rather than monetary policy.

A U.S. federal judge on July 27 granted Kalshi, Polymarket US and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission preliminary relief from Minnesota’s prediction market ban.

Judge Katherine Menendez barred officials from enforcing Minnesota Statute 609.7615 against entities registered with the CFTC as designated contract markets. The July 27 order arrived five days before the law’s August 1 start date and remains effective until the court reaches a final decision.

Minnesota’s measure would make creating, operating or facilitating a covered prediction market a felony. It would also criminalize certain support, data and payment services, as well as advertising products that promote prohibited transactions. The state statute covers markets tied to sports, elections, government action, legal cases, popular culture and several other events. It was the first state measure designed to prohibit prediction markets directly, rather than applying an existing gaming law to selected contracts.

Kalshi and Polymarket won on federal preemption

Menendez found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed, at least partly, on their express-preemption claims. The Commodity Exchange Act gives the CFTC “exclusive jurisdiction” over swaps traded on federally registered contract markets. The judge concluded that Minnesota’s across-the-board prohibition would probably reach many transactions reserved for federal oversight.

The court also found that the plaintiffs faced irreparable harm and that the balance of harms supported temporary relief. However, the ruling is not a final judgment that Minnesota’s law is invalid. Menendez described it as a preliminary assessment intended to preserve the existing position while the cases proceed. She did not decide the companies’ implied-preemption or First Amendment claims.

The temporary injunction could become narrower

The injunction protects CFTC-registered designated contract markets rather than every prediction market or event contract provider. Kalshi and QCX LLC, which operates as Polymarket US, are parties in separate cases considered alongside the federal government’s challenge during the preliminary-injunction process.

Menendez also rejected the idea that registration alone resolves every contract’s legal status. She said the plaintiffs had not shown that every event contract on the two platforms meets the federal definition of a swap. A weather or crop contract may have an economic consequence, while some sports propositions may not. Permanent relief could therefore cover fewer products than the current injunction.

Minnesota will continue defending its ban

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he disagreed with the decision and would continue defending the law. He described prediction markets as gambling and argued that Minnesota may protect residents from unlicensed activity. Kalshi said the ruling confirmed that states cannot ban products outside their jurisdiction, while Polymarket also welcomed the order.

The Minnesota result does not settle the wider state-federal dispute. Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada and Washington have obtained orders restricting parts of Kalshi’s activity. In related coverage, Kalshi and Polymarket lost bids to halt proceedings in Nevada and Washington, while a separate Michigan order temporarily restricted Kalshi’s sports contracts.

CFTC rules could shape what happens next

The three Minnesota lawsuits now move toward final decisions on the merits. The injunction keeps the challenged criminal provisions from applying to CFTC-registered contract markets during that process. The court may later examine specific contract categories and decide whether federal preemption protects all, some or none of them.

A parallel CFTC rulemaking may also define the boundary. The regulator’s June proposal would create a contract-by-contract process for reviewing event contracts involving gaming, war, terrorism, assassination or unlawful conduct. Its public-comment period closed on July 27. As previously reported, the proposed framework could directly affect Kalshi and Polymarket by establishing formal public-interest tests for listed contracts.

Earlier on July 27, the CFTC had asked the court to rule before the August 1 deadline and indicated that it could seek emergency appellate relief if no decision arrived. Kalshi and Polymarket joined that request. The injunction removed that immediate deadline, but Minnesota’s attorney general has made clear that the underlying jurisdiction dispute will continue.

South Korea’s Korea Exchange halted trading in KOSPI-listed shares for 20 minutes on July 28 after the benchmark fell 8.02% to 6,213.51.

The Level 1 circuit breaker took effect at 10:13 a.m. local time after the decline remained above 8% for one minute. It was the eighth KOSPI circuit-breaker activation of 2026 and the 14th on record.

Selling continued after trading resumed. Yonhap placed the index 8.59% lower at 6,175.71 at 11:20 a.m., while Reuters reported a decline of about 9.4% by 12:41 p.m. Korea time. The figures were intraday and may differ from the eventual closing level.

The KOSPI circuit breaker stopped the full market

The Level 1 mechanism suspended trading and order-taking in shares on the main KOSPI market for 20 minutes. The exchange then reopened trading through a 10-minute single-price call auction. The measure followed sell-side “sidecar” curbs earlier in the session, which temporarily stopped program trading as futures and cash shares fell.

The two controls serve different purposes. A sidecar pauses program orders, while a circuit breaker stops most trading across the market. The July 28 halt followed earlier 2026 activations on March 4 and 9, June 8, 23 and 26, and July 7 and 13, according to Korean market reports citing the exchange.

The latest decline extends a period of unusually sharp moves in South Korean equities. As previously reported, KOSPI volatility in June was intensified by margin calls, high retail leverage and the heavy index weight of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

SK Hynix ADR fell below its $149 offer price

SK Hynix’s Nasdaq-listed American depositary receipts closed the previous U.S. session at $143.02, down 7.5%, according to Reuters. That was their first close below the $149 offering price since regular trading began in July. Market data showed an intraday low near $139.10, explaining reports that the ADR had briefly fallen below $140.

The verified closing figure differs from the $139.45 quote circulated in some early reports. That lower number appears to reflect an intraday or extended-hours quote rather than the official regular-session close. The ADR opened at $159.61, reached $164.30 and fell as low as $139.10 before closing at $143.02.

SK Hynix priced 177.9 million ADRs at $149 and raised about $26.5 billion in the U.S. offering. Each ADR represents one-tenth of a Korean common share. The company said the listing was intended to broaden its U.S. investor base and strengthen its position in AI memory markets.

Chip concerns drove the KOSPI selloff

SK Hynix shares in Seoul fell as much as 14%, while Samsung Electronics dropped as much as 13.4%, Reuters reported. The two chipmakers together account for nearly half of the KOSPI, so their declines exerted heavy pressure on the benchmark.

The selloff followed another decline in U.S. semiconductor shares. Investors were reassessing the scale and financing of AI infrastructure spending, including questions around whether chip suppliers and technology companies are supporting customer demand through large financial commitments. Those concerns remain market interpretations rather than evidence that orders have been cancelled.

China-related developments added pressure. Reuters cited analysts who pointed to the stock-market debut of Chinese memory producer ChangXin Memory Technologies and reports of progress in domestic deep-ultraviolet lithography equipment. Details about the equipment’s performance and commercial timeline had not been disclosed, so the competitive threat remains uncertain.

In related coverage, concerns around AI valuations had already pushed SK Hynix and Samsung lower during earlier July sessions. Another report examined how Bitcoin traded alongside technology shares during a prior KOSPI-led risk-off move.

Earnings and tighter ETF rules come next

SK Hynix is scheduled to publish its second-quarter results at 9:00 a.m. Korea time on July 29. The release will give investors updated figures for high-bandwidth memory sales, margins, capital spending and demand from major AI customers.

In April, the company reported first-quarter revenue of 52.58 trillion won and operating profit of 37.61 trillion won. SK Hynix attributed the results to strong demand for AI memory, high-capacity server DRAM and enterprise solid-state drives.

July 29 is also the scheduled KOSPI listing date for the newly issued common shares underlying the U.S. ADR sale. The additional shares may affect short-term supply and index positioning, although the company has not forecast a specific price effect.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is also accelerating restrictions on single-stock leveraged exchange-traded products. From July 31, retail investors must hold at least 30 million won in cash to make new or additional purchases. The previous 10 million won requirement allowed some securities to count towards the minimum.

The FSC has already suspended new listings and advertising for single-stock leveraged products. Further changes covering premium controls and watchlist rules are scheduled for August 19. The regulator said it would continue monitoring demand and consider more measures if volatility remains elevated.

For markets, the next confirmed events are SK Hynix’s earnings, the additional share listing and the July 31 leverage restrictions. Investors will also watch whether the KOSPI recovers after the halt and whether SK Hynix’s ADR can reclaim its $149 offering price.

Bitcoin BTC$63,186.54 has come under pressure since the U.S. stock market closed Monday, with South Korea’s Kospi leading Asian equities lower and providing risk-off cues to the cryptocurrency market.

BTC has fallen to $63,200 from nearly $65,000, a 2.7% decline that has spilled over into the broader crypto market and dragged down the likes of ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), solana (SOL), and others. The drop ends the brief resilience the market showed earlier Monday as shares in NVDA tanked on Wall Street.

The Senate has shelved the CLARITY Act to prioritize a Russia sanctions bill, making a vote on the much-awaited legislation, touted to deliver regulatory clarity and unlock massive institutional buying for digital assets, unlikely before next week. This leaves only the final days before the Aug. 8 recess.

Asian stocks cracked sharply, with South Korea’s Kospi index falling 10% to its lowest level since mid-April. The index has now dropped 25% from its mid-June peak. The latest decline featured steep losses in heavyweights such as Samsung and SK Hynix. “The market is falling out of love with chipmakers at the moment and that’s been a big driver of the bull market in South Korea,” InvestingLive wrote.

Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has warned Bitcoin could lose its dominance if its governance system and community fail to coordinate a response to the quantum computing threat.

Bitcoin developers are already working on post-quantum solutions, including BIP 361, which proposes moving away from ECDSA and Schnorr signatures after a post-quantum system is selected.

Quantum Threat Could End Bitcoin Dominance

Hoskinson’s warning came during an interview with The Starting Block. The Cardano co-founder described Bitcoin as being “stuck in time” because any changes to the network require consensus across stakeholders including users, miners, node operators, and developers. According to Hoskinson, frustration with Bitcoin’s rigidity and inflexibility was one of the reasons behind the creation of Ethereum. Hoskinson was one of the original co-founders of Ethereum along with Vitalik Buterin. He stated during the interview, “The issue with Bitcoin is it’s frozen in time. It’s very difficult to change anything.”

Bitcoin uses elliptic-curve cryptography to prove the ownership of funds. Quantum computers, in theory, could decipher private keys from the public keys and authorize transactions without the owner’s knowledge or approval. Hoskinson believes the quantum threat could pose a major risk to the flagship cryptocurrency and its $1.3 trillion market capitalization, eventually stripping it of its dominance unless its governance mechanism adapts without impacting the qualities that give it value. “What made Bitcoin so strong is it survived external threats … including the loss of its founder. Quantum computers are yet another threat … if Bitcoin’s governance is such that it’s impossible actually to make meaningful progress, or they compromise the core reason to use Bitcoin, I don’t think Bitcoin’s going to stay the number one cryptocurrency.”

Cardano Better Equipped for Technical Threats

Hoskinson argued that Cardano’s formal on-chain governance and ability to approve upgrades make it better at responding to threats like the one confronting Bitcoin.

“Cardano is, in many ways, a spiritual successor [to Bitcoin]. It reflects correcting a lot of things that I think that Satoshi couldn’t get around to because of expertise or time but was directionally moving there.”

Cardano moved to full community governance after the Plomin hard fork in January 2025. ADA token holders can vote or delegate their vote to representatives called DReps. A constitutional committee and stake pool operators also participate in key decisions. This system helps Cardano approve hard forks and treasury decisions on-chain. Hoskinson argued that Cardano could use the system to vote on migrating away from quantum-vulnerable infrastructure.

Hoskinson added that Cardano is preparing for its largest upgrade, which would make the network “60-times faster.”

Not a Perfect System

However, Cardano has yet to undertake or complete such a migration because its governance system must evaluate technical designs, approve funding, and organize users, developers, and service providers. Cardano’s governance system has also witnessed several disputes. Cardano delegates recently rejected and challenged several proposals linked to Hoskinson and Input Output, including a proposal to research Leios scaling and quantum-resistant cryptography.

Bitcoin Developers Exploring Post-Quantum Options

Bitcoin’s governance allows developers to propose code. However, users and node operators decide on its implementation. Miners, exchanges, and wallet providers also influence decision-making. While this helps avoid frequent changes, it makes urgent coordination difficult. The community is tracking BIP-361, a proposal that phases out legacy ECDSA and Schnorr signatures to protect the network against the quantum threat. Several other proposals are also under consideration, including ones advocating new address formats, hybrid signatures, and recovery paths.

However, any measure will require wallets, exchanges, custodians, and dormant holders to migrate their funds without splitting the network or creating conflicting ownership rules.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong has argued that artificial intelligence will increase demand for crypto rather than replace it.

In a July 27 post on X, he described Base, USDC and the x402 payment standard as the core of Coinbase’s “Agentic Finance,” or AiFi, strategy.

Armstrong wrote that “AI being a megatrend takes nothing away from crypto” and said AI agents would eventually complete more daily transactions than all people combined. The forecast has no set timeline. Current data shows growing x402 activity, but it does not prove that autonomous agents already exceed human payment use.

Armstrong links AI growth to programmable money

Armstrong rejected calls for crypto companies to pivot away from blockchain and focus only on AI. He said AI agents need programmable money because traditional bank accounts, cards and checkout pages depend on human identity checks and manual approval.

Under Coinbase’s model, software can hold a wallet, pay for an API request and receive a digital service without opening an account with each provider. Agents could buy data, computing power, research, media generation or storage through small payments that settle onchain.

The structure may raise transaction counts because one agent can make many low-value payments during a single task. However, transaction frequency does not show the total economic value of the activity. Armstrong’s claim therefore remains a company thesis rather than a measured outcome.

Base and x402 form Coinbase’s AiFi payment stack

Coinbase introduced Base in February 2023 as a low-cost Ethereum layer-2 network for onchain applications. The company did not build Base only for AI, but its lower fees and faster settlement later made it a main network for x402 payments.

Coinbase launched x402 in May 2025. The open protocol uses the HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status code to let websites and APIs request stablecoin payments. A client receives payment instructions, signs a blockchain transaction and gains access after the payment is checked.

USDC serves as a common settlement asset because its price tracks the U.S. dollar. Coinbase also offers Agentic Wallets, which let developers set spending and trading rules for AI systems. The wallets can pay for data and computing through x402 while operating without manual approval for each transaction.

As crypto.news previously reported, Coinbase also launched Coinbase for Agents, giving software access to trading, portfolio management and x402 payments under user-defined limits. The company later added x402 support for businesses that want to receive USDC directly from software agents.

Chainalysis counts more than 100 million Base payments

Chainalysis reported on June 3 that x402-linked payments on Base crossed 100 million transactions after about nine months of activity. The analytics company identified flows connected to the protocol and studied the wallets involved.

The report found that payments worth at least $1 made up 95% of the value transferred. It also said agentic payment wallets tended to be newer, held smaller balances and owned 550% more asset types than typical Base users.

Still, Chainalysis said meme-coin farming drove much of the early transaction growth. That detail limits claims that all 100 million payments came from independent AI agents buying useful services. Automated scripts, incentive campaigns and other software activity can also create x402 transfers.

As crypto.news reported in June, x402 had already passed 100 million Base transactions while Armstrong and other industry leaders promoted crypto as a payment layer for AI. Earlier crypto.news coverage also found that x402 activity reached 75.41 million transactions over one 30-day period, with Base and USDC leading usage.

Coinbase expands agent tools before quarterly results

Coinbase has continued adding products around the same strategy. Agentic.market allows software agents to find and purchase services using USDC. Developers can also use Coinbase tools to build wallets, set transaction policies and charge for API calls through x402.

Outside Coinbase, companies have begun testing the protocol for travel, cloud services and online content. Travala launched an AI hotel-booking system that lets agents search more than 2.2 million properties and pay with USDC on Base.

The market remains early. Coinbase’s products show that machines can initiate blockchain payments, but adoption figures depend on how analysts classify agent activity. Security, spending controls, identity rules and service quality will also shape wider use at present.

Coinbase will publish its second-quarter 2026 results on July 30 after U.S. markets close. The report may give investors more detail on stablecoin revenue, Base activity and developer products, although the company has not said it will disclose AiFi revenue separately.

Bitcoin moved higher at the start of the week’s first Wall Street session, testing fresh local highs as broader markets opened in positive territory. The latest push came alongside reports of a pause in US–Iran tensions and renewed efforts connected to the Strait of Hormuz—an outcome that traders viewed as a near-term reduction in geopolitical risk.

According to TradingView data cited in market coverage, BTC/USD spiked toward the $66,000 area as risk assets gained traction. At the time of writing, US equity benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up by roughly 0.3%, while WTI crude oil dipped before a modest rebound, reflecting a less volatile energy backdrop than earlier in the month.

Key takeaways

• Bitcoin pushed toward new local highs near $66,000 after a reported easing in US–Iran strike activity.
• Iranian and Omani discussions tied to maritime traffic via the Strait of Hormuz supported sentiment, with oil moving less sharply.
• BTC held two key short-to-medium-term trend levels on the daily chart: the 21-day and 50-day SMAs near $64.3k and $63.3k.
• Despite the bounce, market commentary emphasized the price base as “fragile,” with traders watching for follow-through toward $66k–$67k.
• Crypto short liquidations increased as price rose, with CoinGlass data showing the figure nearing $250 million over 24 hours.

Geopolitics and risk assets lift BTC at the open

The immediate catalyst for Bitcoin’s uptick was macro-linked sentiment tied to the Middle East. TradingView data showed BTC/USD jumping toward $66,000 as traders responded to reports that there had been a pause in strikes between the US and Iran.

Additional reporting referenced statements by an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman indicating that Tehran and Oman were “trying to establish mechanisms regarding maritime traffic” through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil flows that had been closed. While headlines about reopenings and “mechanisms” can remain fluid, the market impact was clear: energy risk eased at the margin, and that helped equities—and Bitcoin—start the session with momentum.

WTI crude oil, often treated as a proxy for near-term geopolitical stress, fell toward about $82 per barrel before recovering modestly. The combination of a steadier oil tape and higher equity futures aligns with a classic “risk-on” relationship that can temporarily benefit liquidity in major crypto markets.

Macro headwinds remain, but crypto’s July performance stands out

Even with the immediate tailwind, traders were careful not to overstate the durability of the move. One potential constraint mentioned in the coverage was the risk of higher US bond yields, which can weigh on assets with lower real-yield support.

QCP Capital argued that—despite a more challenging macro backdrop—digital assets had generally outperformed equities during July. In its “Market Color” analysis, the firm said BTC and ETH were up about 11.6% and 24.6% month-to-date, respectively, noting that higher Treasury yields and periodic risk-off episodes had pressured broader markets.

Importantly for investors focused on regulation, QCP also flagged attention around the proposed CLARITY Act. The analysis described ongoing interest from digital asset participants because the bill could affect the US regulatory framework for the sector. The CLARITY Act was referenced as being under consideration, with market participants watching for any progress that could shift expectations around how digital asset rules might evolve.

Support levels hold—yet traders want proof beyond the bounce

On the chart, the rally’s quality mattered as much as the direction. Crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe highlighted that BTC was holding the 21-day and 50-day simple moving averages (SMAs). The levels cited were approximately $64,289 for the 21-day SMA and $63,261 for the 50-day SMA—areas that often function as magnets for both discretionary traders and systematic strategies.

Van de Poppe characterized the holding as a “strong signal” for long-biased positioning, but added that the structure was still “a little fragile.” In a posted view on X, he indicated he would prefer to see a decisive advance into the $66,000–$67,000 band within the next 1–3 days, which would indicate more persistent demand rather than a single-session push.

That distinction is crucial. A market can rise quickly toward resistance levels and still fail if buyers don’t expand after the initial liquidity draw. For traders, the next test is not just whether BTC reaches the higher range, but whether it can keep the bid long enough to convert a “spike” into a sustained move.

Liquidations rise as shorts get squeezed

Alongside price strength, liquidation data suggested that the move was accompanied by short-covering. CoinGlass data referenced in the coverage showed crypto short liquidations increasing as BTC rallied, with the metric nearing $250 million over a 24-hour period.

Liquidation spikes can be interpreted in two ways: they may signal aggressive leverage being forced out, or they may reflect a crowded short position that becomes vulnerable when the market turns upward. Either way, when large liquidation prints occur near key technical levels, they often coincide with bursts of volatility—meaning traders may see both acceleration and faster reversals if price fails to hold.

What to watch next

With BTC holding important moving averages while testing the upper end of the near-term range, the market now appears to be waiting for confirmation. Traders are watching whether Bitcoin can sustain interest into the $66,000–$67,000 zone, while broader risk sentiment could hinge on continued developments around US–Iran tensions and any tangible progress related to Strait of Hormuz maritime arrangements.