Actor and cryptocurrency critic Ben McKenzie has taken his campaign against the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to Capitol Hill as the legislation approaches a possible Senate vote.

McKenzie spent Tuesday meeting with lawmakers and joined Democratic senators at a Capitol Hill press conference opposing the CLARITY Act. The former The O.C. actor argued against legislation that he and other critics say lacks adequate consumer protections and government ethics rules.

McKenzie joins senators opposing CLARITY Act

McKenzie appeared alongside Senators Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley and Chris Van Hollen, as well as representatives from Americans for Financial Reform and Indivisible. The group called on senators to reject the current bill unless lawmakers address their concerns.

The opposition centers partly on President Donald Trump’s financial ties to digital assets. Critics have called for restrictions preventing senior government officials and their families from benefiting financially from industries they oversee. The White House has rejected allegations of improper conflicts and has argued that ethics rules should apply equally to officials rather than target the president specifically.As previously reported, the ethics dispute has become one of the main barriers to securing the Democratic votes needed for passage.

Actor has become a prominent crypto critic

McKenzie is best known for playing Ryan Atwood in The O.C. and later appearing in Southland and Gotham. In recent years, he has become an outspoken critic of cryptocurrency markets, celebrity token promotions and claims that blockchain technology can remove the need to trust financial intermediaries.

His work has included interviews with investors, industry critics and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. McKenzie has argued that software cannot fully remove human control from financial systems, pointing to failures at centralized crypto companies as examples of why management and oversight still matter.

His latest lobbying effort moves that campaign directly into the legislative debate. A social media post documenting his Capitol Hill activity showed McKenzie participating in the campaign against the market structure bill.

CLARITY Act faces a narrowing Senate window

The CLARITY Act would create a federal market structure for digital assets and establish clearer regulatory roles for the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It would also introduce rules covering exchanges, token issuers and other crypto businesses.

The measure passed the Senate Banking Committee in May by a 15-9 vote after receiving support from two Democrats. It has since reached the Senate legislative calendar, making it eligible for floor consideration, but Senate leaders had not publicly scheduled a final vote as of July 15.

Recent crypto.news coverage noted that the legislation still faces a narrowing path before the Senate’s August break. A July 17 House hearing will also examine the bill, although that hearing cannot move the Senate legislation itself.

Ethics fight could determine whether the bill passes

The CLARITY Act needs enough support to clear the Senate’s 60-vote procedural threshold, making Democratic backing necessary. Ethics provisions have therefore become central to negotiations as lawmakers from both parties work on a final version.

As previously reported, lawmakers are also negotiating rules for decentralized finance and stablecoin rewards. Those disagreements add further pressure to an already limited legislative calendar.

Supporters argue that the bill would replace years of regulatory uncertainty with clearer federal rules. Opponents, including McKenzie and the senators who joined Tuesday’s event, say Congress should not approve the framework without stronger ethics and consumer safeguards.

McKenzie’s involvement does not give him a formal role in the legislative process, but his Capitol Hill campaign adds another public voice to the opposition. The outcome will depend on whether senators can settle the remaining disputes and build the bipartisan support required for a floor vote.

BitMine Immersion Technologies generated $45.7 million from Ethereum staking and validation during the three months ended May 31, making staking its main source of revenue.

The figure represented 98% of the company’s $46.5 million in total quarterly revenue, according to its latest 10-Q filing with the SEC.

A year earlier, BitMine reported total quarterly revenue of just $2.05 million. Machine leasing contributed $1.08 million, while Bitcoin self-mining generated $813,000. The latest results show how sharply the company’s business has shifted toward Ethereum after building one of the world’s largest corporate ETH treasuries.

Ethereum staking becomes BitMine’s core revenue source

BitMine began native Ethereum staking in November 2025 and later launched the Made in America Validator Network, or MAVAN, in March 2026. The institutional platform provides validator and staking infrastructure and is designed to expand beyond BitMine’s own treasury to serve custodians and other institutional clients.

The company also acquired Australian staking infrastructure provider Pier Two in March. The business contributed $3.53 million of quarterly staking revenue and now operates under the MAVAN brand. BitMine said staking and validation generated $56.9 million during the nine months ended May 31, or 95% of its total revenue for the period.

BitMine now has 4.9 million ETH staked

BitMine has continued expanding its Ethereum position since the quarter ended. As of July 12, the company held 5.77 million ETH and had 4,917,189 ETH staked through its operations and staking partners, equal to about 85% of its total holdings.

Notably, BitMine has steadily increased both its ETH treasury and the share placed into staking. Its long-term strategy targets ownership of 5% of Ethereum’s total supply, a goal Chairman Tom Lee calls the “Alchemy of 5%.”

Tom Lee projects $284M in annual staking rewards

Lee said BitMine could generate about $284 million in annualized ETH staking rewards once its entire Ethereum balance is staked through MAVAN and partner platforms. The estimate uses a recent seven-day annualized yield of 2.70%. The figure remains a projection and could change as Ethereum staking yields, ETH prices and validator conditions move.

The company itself identified that dependence as a business risk. Its SEC filing said staking and validation revenue is highly concentrated in MAVAN-related operations. Lower staking yields, validator disruption, Ethereum protocol changes or regulatory developments could therefore have a direct effect on future revenue.

BitMine shifts away from its Bitcoin mining roots

The quarter also showed how small BitMine’s older business lines have become. Bitcoin self-mining generated $624,000, while consulting brought in $168,000. Machine leasing and mining equipment sales produced no revenue after the company ended those operations.

Despite the revenue increase, BitMine reported a quarterly net loss of $83.6 million, driven partly by derivative losses and other expenses. The results show that staking has become the company’s dominant operating revenue engine, but its overall financial performance remains exposed to Ethereum prices, staking economics and its wider treasury strategy.

Recent crypto.news coverage showed BitMine’s ETH holdings reaching 5.77 million tokens as it moved closer to its 5% supply target. With about 4.9 million ETH already staked, future earnings will increasingly depend on whether MAVAN can maintain its validator performance and expand into institutional staking services.

Pi Network price has climbed nearly 20% to around $0.086 on July 15 after an oversold rebound, with improving U.S. inflation data and renewed buying interest combined to lift the token from fresh record lows.

According to data from crypto.news, Pi Network (PI) rebounded from the $0.070-$0.072 area before reaching an intraday high near $0.086, while the latest U.S. inflation figures helped fuel a relief rally across the cryptocurrency market.

The move followed several weeks of relentless selling that had erased roughly 40% of the token’s value and pushed momentum indicators into deeply oversold territory, encouraging bargain hunters and short-term traders to step back into the market.

Oversold conditions and macro relief have supported the rebound

The recovery gained traction after Pi’s daily Relative Strength Index dropped to around 15, a level that typically signals exhausted selling pressure.

At the same time, softer-than-expected U.S. consumer price data improved sentiment across digital assets, drawing fresh liquidity into high-risk cryptocurrencies that had suffered some of the steepest declines during the recent market correction.

Trading activity also accelerated during the rally, with daily volume climbing above $27 million as speculative buyers returned. On the 4-hour chart, Pi has also produced a bullish MACD crossover, while the histogram has turned positive for the first time in days, suggesting bearish momentum has weakened in the short term.

Even so, the technical picture has yet to fully recover. TradingView data shows PI remains below all of its key moving averages, including the 50-period, 100-period, and 200-period simple moving averages, leaving the prevailing downtrend intact despite the latest bounce.

The token briefly reclaimed its 20-period moving average near $0.084 before encountering resistance, indicating buyers still face selling pressure as price attempts to recover.

From a price structure perspective, the recent rebound has helped establish the $0.070 area as an important short-term support zone. However, stronger resistance now sits near the 50-period moving average around $0.094, followed by approximately $0.105 and $0.118, levels that would need to be reclaimed before the market could begin reversing the broader bearish trend.

Heavy token unlocks continue to weigh on sentiment

While macro conditions helped spark today’s rally, the factors behind Pi’s prolonged decline remain largely unchanged. Throughout July, the network has been absorbing substantial scheduled token unlocks, with roughly 103.7 million to 127 million PI entering circulation. The steady increase in available supply has repeatedly outpaced organic demand, contributing to sharp breaks below the $0.12 and $0.10 support levels.

At the same time, capital has continued flowing toward artificial intelligence-related equities in the United States and East Asia, reducing investor appetite for smaller, thinly traded crypto assets such as Pi. The combination of expanding token supply and weaker speculative demand has kept sustained buying pressure limited despite occasional relief rallies.

Developers have nevertheless continued introducing new products intended to strengthen long-term utility within the ecosystem. Recent Pi2Day releases added decentralized application hosting, developer software development kits, and an automated Know Your Customer verification service that requires payments in PI.

Alongside those launches, ongoing core upgrades based on newer versions of the Stellar protocol and continued community speculation surrounding potential listings on major exchanges such as Kraken remain among the key narratives that supporters believe could improve demand over time, although no such exchange listing has been officially confirmed.

SBI Global Asset Management has launched the world’s first tokenized Japanese equity fund on the Solana blockchain through a partnership with DigiFT, bringing a high-dividend equity strategy on-chain for institutional and accredited investors.

According to an announcement shared by SBI Global Asset Management on July 15, the company has introduced the SBI Japan High Dividend Equity Strategy Token (JX token) in collaboration with DigiFT, a regulated real-world asset exchange.

The token gives accredited and institutional investors blockchain-based access to a Japanese high-dividend equity strategy managed by SBI Asset Management Co. The launch is also DigiFT’s first on-chain tokenization of a Japanese equity fund.

Solana powers SBI’s latest tokenized investment product

Built on the Solana blockchain through DigiFT’s tokenization infrastructure, the JX token expands SBI’s digital asset offerings beyond stablecoins and payments.

According to DigiFT, the product combines traditional Japanese equities with blockchain-based ownership while allowing investors to access institutional-grade assets on-chain.

Commenting on the launch, DigiFT founder Henry Zhang said the company has focused on bringing institutional assets onto blockchain infrastructure that investors and asset managers can trust.

“Our mission at DigiFT has always been to bring real, institutional-grade assets on-chain through infrastructure that investors and asset managers can actually trust. JX extends that mission to Japan for the first time.”

The platform also supports settlements in USDC, while DigiFT said integration with a Japanese yen stablecoin is planned for a later stage. According to the company, token holders will also be able to use the asset in decentralized finance applications, including lending and asset management protocols such as Morpho.

The rollout comes as interest in tokenized real-world assets continues to grow across financial markets, with asset managers increasingly exploring blockchain-based distribution for traditional investment products.

Ripple partnership continues alongside multi-chain expansion

Although SBI Holdings has worked closely with Ripple since 2016 through initiatives including SBI Ripple Asia and more recent collaborations around the RLUSD stablecoin, the new equity fund has been launched on Solana because DigiFT’s tokenization platform is built on that network.

The move adds another blockchain to SBI’s digital asset strategy rather than replacing its existing relationship with Ripple. SBI and Ripple continue to work together on expanding XRP and XRP Ledger adoption across Japan.

Most recently, the companies partnered with Doppler to encourage institutional use of XRP in the country. Earlier, SBI also selected Ripple to support RLUSD stablecoin distribution in Japan as part of its multi-stablecoin strategy.

SBI has simultaneously been expanding its yen-backed stablecoin business. As previously reported by crypto.news, the financial group is preparing to introduce a lending product offering a fixed 3% annual yield on its JPYSC stablecoin through SBI VC Trade. The service, which could launch as early as this month, is expected to require users to lock their JPYSC holdings for three months.

The planned lending product follows the release of JPYSC, Japan’s first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank. SBI previously said the stablecoin was designed to reduce transaction costs, support large-value transfers, and serve both retail and institutional users, complementing the company’s growing portfolio of blockchain-based financial products.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest is doubling down on its bet on USDC issuer Circle even as the company’s stock remains under pressure.

ARK bought another 220,000 shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL) across three of its actively managed exchange-traded funds on Tuesday, according to the company’s daily trade disclosure reviewed by Cointelegraph.

Based on Circle’s Tuesday closing price of $63.22 on the New York Stock Exchange, ARK’s latest purchase was worth about $13.9 million.

Circle shares were down about 22% year-to-date and roughly 76% below their post-initial public offering (IPO) peak.

ARK discloses 725,000 Circle shares in July purchases

ARK’s latest buy brought its disclosed July acquisitions of Circle shares to 725,517, following previous buys of 287,609 shares on July 1 and 217,896 shares on July 9.

The latest trade disclosures show ARK has consistently added to its Circle position across its flagship funds despite the stock’s prolonged decline, underscoring the investment manager’s conviction in the USDC issuer.

Source: ARK Invest

As of Wednesday, Circle accounted for 4.37% of the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), making it the fund’s seventh-largest holding. ARKF’s Circle position was valued at about $33 million, according to its latest holdings data.

Related: USDC issuer Circle wins final approval for US national trust bank charter

Circle also represented 3.35% of the flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), where it ranked as the fund’s ninth-largest holding, worth about $218 million.

Analysts see growing risks for Circle

ARK’s latest purchase came as analysts reassessed Circle’s outlook following a sharp decline in the company’s stock price.

Digital asset research platform 10x Research said it no longer considers Circle a buy after the stock fell back below $80. In a report published Tuesday, the company said it previously viewed CRCL as attractive below that level but now says Circle’s fundamentals have “meaningfully deteriorated.”

Source: 10x Research

The research report also pointed to slower USDC activity, including a decline in active addresses, as a concern for Circle.

Related: USDT wins payments, USDC wins DeFi as stablecoins diverge: Dune

USDC’s market capitalization has declined roughly 3% year-to-date to $73 billion at the time of publication, according to CoinGecko. Despite the recent decline, the stablecoin’s market capitalization remains about 17% higher than a year ago.

Still, 10x Research said a bullish case for Circle remains, adding the stock’s recent decline could either present a long-term buying opportunity or mark the start of a more prolonged downturn.

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SpaceX stock has steadied above its IPO price after Needham raised its price target to $250 despite growing warnings that an AI stock bubble could threaten financial markets.

According to Needham, the investment bank lifted its target on SpaceX shares from $200 to $250 while maintaining a buy rating, arguing that recent AI developments and upcoming launch milestones could support the company’s valuation.

The upgrade comes even as SpaceX stock remains under pressure after a sharp pullback from its post-listing highs.

Shares traded around $136 at the time of writing on July 15, down 0.18% on the day after briefly falling to the IPO price of $135 earlier this week. The stock had slipped below its Nasdaq debut price of $150 on July 7 as investors continued taking profits following its strong listing rally.

Needham sees AI and Starship as upside catalysts

Needham attributed its higher valuation to two near-term developments linked to Elon Musk’s AI strategy and SpaceX’s launch schedule. The bank said the release of Grok 4.5 on July 8 fits with Musk’s efforts to rebuild the company’s AI program, a development it believes could strengthen investor confidence.

The investment bank also pointed to the planned Starship Flight 13 launch on July 16. According to Needham, a successful mission could expand SpaceX’s commercial opportunities and act as another catalyst for the stock.

The bullish call stands in contrast to growing concerns about AI-related valuations. On July 8, former White House economic advisers Jared Bernstein and Ryan Cummings warned that the AI bubble continues to inflate as technology companies keep increasing spending on artificial intelligence.

Those concerns gained fresh attention after Bank of England Governor David Bailey cautioned that a sharp correction in AI stocks could spill over into the broader economy. Bailey said such a downturn could eventually require central banks to respond with measures such as interest-rate cuts to limit economic damage.

Even with those warnings, investor appetite for AI companies has remained firm. Reports that DeepSeek is preparing an initial public offering at a valuation of roughly $75 billion have added to expectations for another major AI listing. The planned flotation follows reports that OpenAI and Anthropic are also preparing to go public.

Technical picture points to a key breakout level

The hourly chart shows SpaceX shares trading inside a descending channel that has guided price action lower since early July. Although the broader short-term trend remains bearish, the stock has bounced from support near $135, where the lower boundary of the channel and the psychological support level converge.

Momentum indicators suggest selling pressure may be easing. The Relative Strength Index has recovered to around 36, keeping the stock close to oversold territory without yet confirming a reversal. At the same time, the MACD remains below zero, but its histogram has flattened considerably, indicating bearish momentum is weakening.

For buyers, the first technical hurdle sits near the channel’s upper boundary around $137 to $138. A move above that area could clear the path toward $140, while a sustained breakout may allow the stock to retest its Nasdaq debut price of $150. Conversely, if the $135 support fails, the descending channel suggests the current downtrend could continue.

Institutional investors have continued adding exposure despite the recent decline. ARK Invest purchased approximately $21.3 million worth of SpaceX shares on July 13, extending a position that began with a $528 million purchase when the company debuted on Nasdaq on June 12 under Cathie Wood’s leadership.