Crypto World

Cynthia Lummis races to save the CLARITY Act before 2030

Published

3 hours ago

12 July 2026

CLARITY Act's real obstacle: Trump's crypto business

Sometime in the week of July 13, according to people briefed on the negotiations, Senate staff will release a unified draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, merging months of parallel work by the Banking and Agriculture Committees into a single text reportedly more than 70 pages longer than either predecessor. Floor action is targeted for the week of July 20. The Senate leaves for its August recess on the 7th, and a defense spending bill is competing for the floor time in between. Senator Cynthia Lummis, the chamber’s lead crypto legislator, has stated the stakes without decoration: this is likely the last chance to get real digital asset legislation on the books before 2030, and failure means another country writes the rules while America spends a decade catching up.

Summary

The CLARITY Act’s path to passage hinges on winning support from seven Senate Democrats before the August recess.
Ethics rules, regulator staffing, and DeFi protections remain the biggest obstacles to securing the 60 votes needed.
A successful vote could reshape U.S. crypto regulation, while failure may delay comprehensive legislation until 2030.

Strip away the drama and the CLARITY Act’s fate reduces to one number: seven. Republicans hold 53 seats, cloture requires 60, and every Republican vote is already assumed. Seven Democrats must cross, and as of this writing, zero have committed. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, the two Democrats who advanced the bill through the Banking Committee on May 14, have both said their committee votes do not guarantee floor support.

Galaxy Research has cut its odds of 2026 passage to 50%, down from 60% earlier in the month and 75% right after the committee markup, citing calendar compression more than substance. Stifel’s chief Washington strategist has written that if the Senate fails to act before recess, the bill’s prospects deteriorate materially.

This piece maps the actual arithmetic: what the bill does, what each unresolved dispute costs in votes, what the fallback looks like if it dies, and why both the optimists and the pessimists have a defensible case with 3 weeks on the clock.

What the bill actually does, in one section

The CLARITY Act would create the first federal statutory framework for digital asset markets. Its core mechanism is a three-bucket taxonomy. Digital commodities, assets that rely on a blockchain for their value and meet decentralization criteria, with Bitcoin the clearest case and Ether and Solana likely included, would fall under Commodity Futures Trading Commission jurisdiction for spot market oversight, an authority the agency has never held in statute. Assets that qualify as investment contracts, tokens sold to fund a centralized team, would remain with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Permitted payment stablecoins would sit with banking regulators under the GENIUS Act framework that Congress completed earlier, after its own bruising fight over state versus federal authority that crypto.news followed through the Senate.

Around that taxonomy, the bill builds a registration regime for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers, applies the Bank Secrecy Act to them for anti-money-laundering purposes, codifies a clearer standard for when the Howey investment contract test applies to a token, and shields software developers from money transmitter liability when they do not custody customer assets, a provision drawn from the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. Lummis points to more than 16 illicit finance safeguards in the text and $150 million in dedicated enforcement funding, including new sanctions authority aimed at Iran and explicit powers for exchanges to freeze illicit funds.

The practical consequence, if it passes, is that exchanges would know which regulator they answer to, token issuers would know which test applies to them, DeFi builders would know they are not money transmitters, and institutional allocators who legally cannot touch unclassified assets, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds chief among them, would gain a defined category to buy. JPMorgan and Standard Chartered have each projected $4 to $8.4 billion in first-year spot XRP ETF inflows alone under passage, and Citi and Standard Chartered carry Bitcoin targets of $143,000 and $150,000 respectively that are contingent on the bill becoming law. The May 14 committee vote offered a small-scale preview: within an hour of the result, Bitcoin jumped to $81,449, and XRP gained 4.5%.

How the bill got here: a two-year procedural ledger

The distance already traveled is worth recording, because it explains why supporters treat this window as unrepeatable.

The House passed its version, H.R. 3633, on July 17, 2025, by 294 to 134, the strongest bipartisan congressional vote on crypto in history, with provisions from Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s Securities Clarity Act and the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act folded into the text. The bill then entered the Senate, where jurisdiction split between two committees with overlapping turf. Banking handled the securities side; Agriculture, which oversees the CFTC, handled the commodities side. The two tracks proceeded separately for most of a year.

The Senate Banking Committee advanced its text on May 14, 2026, by 15 to 9, with all 13 Republicans joined by Gallego and Alsobrooks, both of whom attached explicit caveats that committee support did not commit them on the floor. Senator Lummis called it the most consequential Senate action on crypto regulation ever taken. The Agriculture Committee’s version cleared on strictly partisan lines, which is why the merged draft required months of member-level negotiation instead of a staff-level splice. The bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar as Calendar No. 423 on June 1, making it formally eligible for floor consideration at any moment leadership chooses.

Since then, the record is a sequence of missed markers. The White House floated July 4 as a signing target in May; the Senate left for its state work period on June 29 with the bill untouched. A tentative bipartisan ethics framework reached in May came apart in June when Republicans and White House officials withdrew from the state attorney general enforcement mechanism. Emergency leadership meetings were reported in late June to salvage the effort. More than 200 organizations, spanning exchanges, startups, and trade associations, sent coordinated letters urging a floor vote, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pressed publicly for action. Galaxy Digital, in the most concrete expression of institutional conviction available, placed a $10 million prediction market position on 2026 passage back when its own research desk still quoted 60% odds. Polymarket has traded the question between 59-72% across the spring before drifting toward the coin-flip consensus.

That ledger supports both readings of the moment. Optimists see a bill that has cleared every gate it has actually faced, usually by comfortable margins. Pessimists see a bill that has cleared every gate except the one that requires opposition votes, and has now spent two months parked in front of it.

Dispute one: the ethics wall

Every path to 7 Democratic votes runs through a single provision that does not yet exist in agreed form: a conflict-of-interest rule barring senior government officials, up to and including the president, from holding business interests in the crypto industry while in office.

The demand is not abstract. President Trump’s crypto exposure, estimated at $2.3 billion across the TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins, the family’s involvement in World Liberty Financial, and Bitcoin mining ventures, means the officeholder who would sign the bill is also the individual most directly affected by its ethics language. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said at Consensus Miami in May that the bill will not get approved in the Senate without the provision. Senator Elizabeth Warren has argued the latest draft contains nothing addressing the conflict. Gallego has promised to do everything he can to crack down on what he called corrupt dealings. These are not fringe positions within the caucus; they are the price of admission.

The White House position, articulated by crypto adviser Patrick Witt, is that ethics rules must apply across the board, from the president to the most junior official, and that language singling out one officeholder is unacceptable. Between those positions, negotiators have tried and discarded several mechanisms. An amendment from Senator Chris Van Hollen that would have barred senior officials from crypto business interests failed in committee on a near party-line vote. A tentative framework involving state attorney general enforcement collapsed when Republicans and the White House backed away, and a narrowed substitute placing enforcement solely with the US Attorney General was rejected by Democrats as circular, since the Attorney General serves at the president’s pleasure. Republicans floated impeachment as the constitutional remedy for presidential ethics violations, an offer Democrats declined as no remedy at all.

Industry figures close to the talks say the ethics agreement is the key that unlocks everything else, and that if ethics closes, the rest of the bill comes together quickly. That is probably right, and it is also the problem. The dispute is not about crypto policy, where the two sides are by most accounts 80-85% aligned. It is about whether a sitting president’s family business gets carved around or constrained, a question on which neither side can move without paying a visible political price.

Dispute two: the agencies that would run the new regime

A second standoff has grown from a staffing footnote into a potential statutory switch. The SEC and CFTC would both receive expanded mandates under the bill, and both currently operate with vacant commissioner seats. The White House and Senate Democrats have spent weeks trading blame over nominations for the minority seats, and some Agriculture Committee Democrats have made agency staffing a condition of their floor support.

Senator Amy Klobuchar has sharpened that condition into an amendment that would block new CFTC rules from taking effect until at least four commissioners are confirmed. In effect, the amendment would make the entire regulatory framework the bill creates contingent on a nominations process the bill does not control. CFTC Chair Selig pushed back on July 9, arguing the agency’s statute requires no quorum for rulemaking and that the bill is being derailed by matters extraneous to its substance. He is right about the statute and beside the point about the politics: for Democrats skeptical of handing a lightly staffed, Republican-led CFTC a new industry to supervise, the amendment is leverage, and leverage is the only currency that matters at 55 votes.

Dispute three: the developer shield and the law enforcement split

The third fight cuts across party lines. Section 604, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act language, would protect developers of decentralized software from money transmitter classification when no centralized intermediary controls customer assets. The DeFi industry treats the provision as existential, and it received an unexpected boost on July 8 when Senator Ron Wyden, no reflexive friend of the industry, wrote to Senate leadership urging that the BRCA be preserved in any floor text.

Law enforcement organizations see it differently. The National Sheriffs’ Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the National District Attorneys’ Association have raised objections that the shield could complicate illicit finance prosecutions, and the White House Crypto Council has hosted them directly to negotiate. Several Democrats have said plainly they will not vote yes until law enforcement signals its concerns are addressed. The split within the enforcement community itself, between officials who want the bill’s new funding and sanctions tools and those who fear the developer shield, has become its own subplot, one crypto.news examined as the vote approached. Wyden’s letter matters precisely because it gives cover on the civil liberties flank while the law enforcement flank is negotiated separately.

The calendar is the real opponent

None of these disputes is individually unsolvable. The bill’s true adversary is time, and the schedule deserves to be spelled out.

The Senate returned from its state work period on July 13 with three working weeks before the August 7 recess. The first week is partly claimed by the defense spending bill. The merged CLARITY text, once released, needs a motion to proceed, floor debate, an amendment process that will relitigate ethics, staffing, and Section 604 in public, and a cloture vote at 60. If it clears, the House must then act on whatever the Senate produced. House Agriculture digital assets subcommittee chair Dusty Johnson has promised a fast companion vote, and House Financial Services chair French Hill has previewed the same posture, meaning a Senate-passed bill could reach the president on a single House vote without a conference committee. That is real, but it assumes the Senate text stays close enough to the House version that Republican whips can sell it, another constraint the drafters must respect while simultaneously buying Democratic votes.

After the recess, the math changes character. Members return in September to a midterm campaign already in motion, and controversial 60-vote bills do not move in October of an election year. That is why Lummis frames the window as now or 2030: a new Congress means new committee drafts, new markups, and, depending on the midterms, possibly a chamber with no interest in the project at all. As crypto.news reported, even the downstream steps carry fresh uncertainty, with House Republican infighting slowing that chamber and the president holding up an unrelated bipartisan housing bill over his voting rules agenda, a reminder that a signature is not automatic even after passage.

The case that it passes, and the case that it dies

The optimist’s case rests on alignment and incentive. On substance, negotiators are most of the way there; the merged draft’s added consumer protections are designed specifically to give Democrats something to claim. The industry’s political machine, with Fairshake-affiliated committees holding roughly $193 million entering the year and Coinbase and Ripple contributing $25 million each, gives moderate Democrats in competitive states a concrete reason not to be the vote that killed the bill.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, a former Banking Committee staffer who knows the gate count precisely, said in early July she still expects passage this summer. And the ethics dispute, for all its heat, has a known landing zone: uniform rules with a phased enforcement mechanism, the structure analysts at TD Cowen have flagged as the available off-ramp. When a deal has one sticking point, and both sides know the compromise shape, deals tend to close when the deadline is real. This deadline is real.

The pessimist’s case rests on revealed behavior. Every prior deadline has slipped: the July 4 signing target the White House floated in May died quietly, the tentative ethics framework from May collapsed in June, and negotiations that insiders described as close have now been close for 8 weeks. The Democrats being asked to cross are being asked to hand the current administration a signature legislative win, ratify a regulatory structure its appointees will implement, and accept ethics language the White House has veto power over, all while the president’s family holds billions in the assets being legislated. That is a heavy lift for 7 members of an opposition party in an election year, and the safest individual choice for each of them is to demand one more concession until the clock solves the problem. Galaxy’s drift from 75-50% is just that logic expressed as a number.

Both cases share one observation: the merged draft’s release is the last genuine information event before the vote itself. If the text contains a real ethics mechanism that Gallego and Alsobrooks can defend publicly, the whip count moves within days. If it punts, the punt is the answer.

What the market has already priced, and what it has not

The trading question underneath the politics is how much of a CLARITY outcome is already in prices, and the evidence points to less than the headlines suggest.

The clean natural experiment is May 14. The committee vote was telegraphed for weeks, the whip count was known, and passage was expected. Prices still moved sharply on the result, Bitcoin to $81,449 within the hour and XRP up 4.5% on the day, which says the market was assigning meaningful probability to failure even at a gate the bill was favored to clear. If a 15-to-9 committee vote was worth several percentage points, a 60-vote floor passage, the gate the market has watched slip for 2 months, is worth considerably more, and the asymmetry runs in both directions. A bill priced at 50% that passes should produce roughly the mirror image of a bill priced at 50% that dies.

The second-order effects are less symmetric. Passage would trigger mechanical flows with published estimates attached: the $4 to $8.4 billion first-year ETF inflow projections for XRP alone assume allocator categories, pension funds, sovereign funds, and insurance portfolios that currently cannot hold unclassified assets at all. Those buyers do not front-run legislation; their mandates activate on enactment, which is why the inflow case survives even if traders fully price the vote beforehand.

Failure, by contrast, produces no forced selling. It removes a catalyst without creating an obligation, which is why the bearish scenario for most large caps is a grind lower on faded expectations, not a crash, with the notable exception of assets like XRP where a specific institutional unlock has been the centerpiece of the 2026 thesis.

The third variable is the broader tape. This entire negotiation is unfolding inside the worst crypto market since 2022, with digital assets posting a third consecutive quarterly loss in Q2, Bitcoin trading near $62,000, and total market capitalization down $2.3 trillion over 8 weeks at the June trough. A weak market cuts both ways politically.

It weakens the industry’s swagger in Washington, but it also lowers the temperature of the enrichment critique, since it is harder to argue the bill is a giveaway to a booming sector when the sector is visibly bleeding. Whether that helps or hurts with the 7 persuadables is unknowable, but it is one more way in which the CLARITY vote and the market are pricing each other in real time.

What fills the void if the bill dies

The fallback framework already exists, and its limits are the strongest argument the bill’s supporters have. The SEC has formalized an administrative regime known as Regulation Crypto, including a fundraising exemption that Chair Paul Atkins has explicitly described as a bridge to the CLARITY Act. The CFTC continues to stretch its existing derivatives authority toward spot-adjacent products.

Together they amount to a workable de facto system, which is precisely the danger: administrative frameworks are reversible by the next commission without a vote of Congress, and every market participant pricing regulatory certainty into valuations is pricing an asset that a future administration can repossess.

The market consequences of failure would be uneven. Assets whose institutional story depends on classification, XRP being the canonical case, would lose their largest identified catalyst, and as crypto.news noted when the July 4 target slipped, the token’s key support levels already trade in the shadow of the Senate calendar. Bitcoin, already wrapped in ETFs and commodity treatment, needs the bill least.

The stablecoin sector keeps the GENIUS Act either way, though the adjacent fight over yield, the $6 trillion standoff between banks and crypto that crypto.news has covered, would continue under rules the industry considers unfinished. Exchanges and DeFi builders would return to jurisdiction-shopping, and the comparison that stings most would be Europe, where MiCA’s licensed perimeter is already fully operational, and the question of what a token is has a written answer.

The three tells worth watching

Between now and August 7, three signals will resolve most of the uncertainty. First, the ethics language in the merged draft, specifically whether it contains an enforcement mechanism independent of presidential appointees, because that single design choice is what Gallego and Alsobrooks have said their votes depend on.

Second, whether Majority Leader Thune actually schedules floor time in the week of July 20, since leadership does not burn scarce floor days on bills expected to fail cloture. Third, any public movement from the roughly 10 Democrats considered persuadable, with particular attention to members who took crypto-aligned money in competitive races.

The CLARITY Act has completed more of the legislative journey than any market structure bill in American crypto history: a 294 to 134 House vote, a 15 to 9 committee vote, calendar placement, and now a merged text on the runway. What remains is the hardest 100 meters in American lawmaking, a 60-vote sprint through an ethics minefield with a stopwatch running. 7 Democrats hold the outcome, the deadline is 26 days away, and for once in this industry the phrase last chance is not marketing. It is the Senate schedule.

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Crypto World

Top Democrats Slam Trump Over Crypto Engagement

Published

6 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Bitcoin price remains constructive as it trades around $62,000 to $63,000, while Trump and crypto legislation continue to shape market expectations. Daily price action has been relatively calm, but developments in Washington could influence sentiment over the coming sessions. While volatility has eased, traders are watching whether policy headlines begin to outweigh macro drivers.

Five senior Senate Democrats publicly criticized President Donald Trump growing ties to the crypto industry. Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Dick Durbin, and Ron Wyden argued that Trump’s reported crypto-related financial interests raise fresh conflict of interest concerns. They said those disclosures deserve closer scrutiny as Congress advances digital asset legislation.

JUST IN: Rep. James Comer warns Democrats will investigate & “harass” Trump if they retake the House.
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) July 9, 2026

Meanwhile, lawmakers are still negotiating key pieces of crypto legislation. Senate leaders have yet to release the final text of a broader market structure bill, while several policy issues remain unresolved. In the House, disagreements over unrelated measures have also slowed momentum, making the legislative timetable less certain.

Even so, markets have largely priced in expectations for regulatory progress. Investors continue watching for stablecoin legislation and a clearer market structure framework, both viewed as long-term positives for the industry. However, any meaningful delay could remove one of Bitcoin’s strongest near-term catalysts and leave prices more dependent on macroeconomic and liquidity trends.

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Can Bitcoin Reclaim $73,000 With Trump Crypto Headwinds Building?

Bitcoin climbed more than 6% this week, briefly trading around the $63,000 to $64,000 range before easing slightly. That leaves the recent breakout zone under the spotlight rather than in the rearview mirror. As long as buyers defend roughly $61,000 to $62,000, the trend stays constructive. Lose that area, and the market could suddenly remember where the exit is.

Market activity remains healthy, with daily crypto trading volume hovering around $80 billion. Bitcoin dominance is holding above 58%, showing that larger investors still prefer the market’s heavyweight instead of chasing every shiny new token. Meanwhile, Ethereum has outperformed on the week, while Solana continues to trade sideways, waiting for a reason to wake up.

The bullish case is straightforward. If lawmakers make tangible progress on digital asset legislation, Bitcoin could challenge the $65,000 region and test higher resistance. The market has a habit of reacting first and asking questions later when regulation turns friendlier.

The base case is less dramatic. Political wrangling could drag on without derailing the legislation, leaving Bitcoin stuck between roughly $61,000 and $65,000 for the next few weeks. It may not be exciting, but markets often spend more time catching their breath than sprinting.

The bearish scenario hinges on politics rather than charts. If bipartisan support fades and the legislation becomes another partisan battleground, sentiment could cool quickly. In that case, Bitcoin may revisit the upper $50,000s, where buyers would likely get another chance to prove they still mean business.

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The post Top Democrats Slam Trump Over Crypto Engagement appeared first on Cryptonews.

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Crypto World

Standard Chartered backs Bitcoin despite Strategy selloff fears

Published

12 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

BTC breaks $80k for the first time since January as Fox DeFi explains the capital driving the rally

Bitcoin has climbed back above $64,000 after Standard Chartered reaffirmed its $100,000 year-end 2026 price target and argued that recent selling linked to Strategy has not weakened Bitcoin’s long-term outlook.

Summary

Standard Chartered says Strategy-related concerns, not Bitcoin fundamentals, caused the recent market pullback.
The bank has reaffirmed its $100,000 Bitcoin price target for the end of 2026 despite recent volatility.
Wells Fargo increased its Strategy stake while trimming IBIT holdings and expanding its crypto options positions.

Standard Chartered said the recent decline in Bitcoin was driven more by uncertainty over Strategy’s changing treasury approach than by any deterioration in the cryptocurrency’s fundamentals.

In a research note, the bank maintained that the latest pullback should not be viewed as a sign that the longer-term bull case has changed.

📰 STANDARD CHARTERED: STRATEGY’S BITCOIN SALES ARE “MOSTLY NOISE,” $100K TARGET STANDS!
Geoffrey Kendrick says the bank is brushing off recent sales by Michael Saylor’s firm and keeping its $100,000 $BTC price call for this year.
Strategy has sold before only to resume buying,… pic.twitter.com/HmQoABiW8p
— Front Runners (@247FrontRunners) July 10, 2026

Strategy’s treasury changes remain at the center of investor attention

According to Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick, investors have largely misunderstood Strategy’s evolving use of its Bitcoin holdings. Rather than continuing to rely mainly on debt and equity issuance to accumulate Bitcoin, the company is increasingly using its treasury to support credit-focused products, including its perpetual preferred stock, STRC.

Standard Chartered said this development has altered how some investors interpret Strategy’s role in the Bitcoin market. The bank added that clearer communication around the company’s treasury plans could help reduce concerns over future Bitcoin sales.

In its report, Standard Chartered compared the importance of credible corporate commitments with the way central banks use consistent policy signals to build market confidence.

Earlier this year, Strategy’s Bitcoin sale triggered a sharp market reaction after investors questioned whether the company might continue reducing its holdings. According to the report, the announcement contributed to Bitcoin falling from around $80,000 to nearly $60,000, while Strategy shares and STRC also declined as investor confidence weakened.

Even during that period, however, Standard Chartered kept its forecast that Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2026, arguing that the market had overreacted to uncertainty surrounding Strategy rather than changes in Bitcoin itself.

Institutional positioning continues to evolve

As Bitcoin recovered to trade near $64,500, institutional investors also adjusted their exposure to Strategy and crypto investment products.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Wells Fargo disclosed in its latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it increased its holding in Strategy by 125%, lifting its position to nearly 726,000 shares after adding about $41.5 million in exposure.

The same filing also showed that Wells Fargo reduced its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by 75,102 shares compared with the previous quarter.

At the same time, the bank opened a new IBIT call position and expanded its put exposure during a period of elevated market uncertainty tied to the U.S.-Iran conflict, indicating a more balanced options strategy instead of relying solely on spot ETF holdings.

Beyond Bitcoin-related investments, the SEC filing showed that Wells Fargo also increased its exposure to Ethereum- and Solana-linked products, suggesting continued institutional participation across multiple digital asset markets despite recent volatility.

Standard Chartered argued that if Strategy succeeds in explaining how its treasury model is changing, concerns about additional Bitcoin sales could ease further. With Bitcoin trading back above the $64,000 level while the bank maintains its long-term forecast, the report said investor confidence could continue improving as uncertainty around Strategy’s financing strategy fades.

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Vitalik Buterin urges Elon Musk to remake X for AI governance

Published

19 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Vitalik Buterin unveils Ethereum's biggest overhaul since The Merge

Vitalik Buterin has called on Elon Musk to reshape X into a platform where ordinary users can help coordinate global AI governance instead of leaving key decisions to governments and large institutions.

Summary

Vitalik Buterin urged Elon Musk to turn X into a platform for global AI governance coordination.
Buterin proposed predefined AI slowdown triggers while backing open participation over centralized control.
The proposal comes as SpaceXAI prepares Grok 4.5 and OpenAI readies GPT-5.6 for release.

According to a July 11 thread published by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on X, the social media platform could become a place where people participate in major AI policy discussions through open coordination rather than relying solely on governments, major AI laboratories, or nonprofit organizations.

One thing I find striking in the discourse between AI 2040 and its detractors is that the two seem to be locked in to totally incompatible worldviews of how fast and how much of a big deal AI progress is:
* In AI 2040, every scenario sees superintelligence of some kind emerging…
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— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 11, 2026

X could become a coordination layer for AI policy

In the thread, Buterin argued that X is well positioned to help people negotiate what he described as “grand win-win deals” on AI governance. Addressing Musk directly, he wrote that if he were running the platform, he would redesign it to help identify agreements that give more people influence over decisions instead of concentrating power among governments, technology companies, and leading institutions.

The proposal builds on ideas Buterin has discussed before. In earlier posts, he praised X’s Community Notes system and prediction markets as two of the most important social technologies for improving public knowledge.

At the same time, he has also warned that the platform could become a tool for coordinated harassment if its incentives move in the wrong direction, making governance changes increasingly important in his view.

Buterin’s proposal comes as the AI race accelerates after SpaceXAI released Grok 4.5 and OpenAI rolled out GPT-5.6. Ahead of Grok 4.5’s public launch, Musk described it on X as an “Opus-class model” that is faster, more token-efficient, and lower cost following positive beta feedback.

Crypto tools could benefit if X adopts the model

Beyond proposing changes to X, Buterin outlined what he sees as the biggest disagreement in the AI debate. According to his post, one group believes artificial superintelligence could emerge around 2040 unless development slows dramatically, while another treats AI as a continuation of previous technological progress and dismisses warnings about existential risks and centralized control.

Although Buterin said he remains uncertain about AI timelines, he argued in favor of establishing predefined conditions that could temporarily slow AI development. His examples included the emergence of super-pandemics, unemployment rising above 25%, or autonomous lethal drones becoming widely deployed.

Those proposals are consistent with Buterin’s defensive acceleration, or d/acc, framework, which prioritizes technologies such as cryptography, formal verification, secure open hardware, pandemic preparedness, and stronger public information systems. The same philosophy has also influenced Ethereum’s technical roadmap, where Buterin has repeatedly supported privacy-focused infrastructure through what has become known as the Lean Ethereum vision.

For crypto markets, Buterin’s proposal points toward a larger role for decentralized infrastructure if X evolves into a coordination platform. Prediction markets could be used to verify whether agreed AI trigger events have occurred, while zero-knowledge technologies and on-chain governance systems could receive additional attention if institutions adopt more transparent decision-making processes.

Even so, Buterin stopped short of calling for new AI regulation. Instead, his thread argued for coordination between participants with different views, presenting a framework that attempts to balance open participation with safeguards against high-risk AI outcomes.

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Crypto World

Stablecoin market loses $10B as crypto liquidity quietly contracts

Published

24 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Stablecoin news: FinCEN's new self-policing rule

The stablecoin market has lost about $10 billion since reaching a record high in May 2026. Total supply fell by $7.7 billion during June to about $312 billion, marking the largest monthly decline in dollar terms since the TerraUSD collapse in May 2022. The decrease equaled roughly 2.4% for June and about 3% from the May peak.

Summary

Stablecoin supply lost $10 billion since May as USDT and USDC redemptions reduced crypto liquidity.
June recorded the largest monthly dollar decline since Terra, but the market contracted only 3%.
Transaction volumes remained strong while tokenized assets expanded, showing blockchain finance activity continued despite redemptions.

Current DefiLlama data places the market near $312.23 billion. The dashboard shows Tether’s USDT at about $184.15 billion and Circle’s USDC at roughly $73.41 billion. USDT still controls close to 59% of the market, leaving the sector heavily dependent on its two largest dollar-backed tokens.

USDT and USDC lead the supply reduction

USDT fell from about $190 billion in May, cutting roughly $6 billion from its circulating value. USDC declined from a March peak near $80 billion, losing almost $7 billion over four months. Together, those changes account for most of the retreat, although smaller regulated issuers continued expanding during the same period.

Paul Howard, senior director at trading firm Wincent, described the decline as “a relatively small pullback in what we believe is a long-term growth market.” The current drawdown remains far below the 26% stablecoin contraction recorded across the 2022 bear market. That earlier decline followed the Terra failure, lender collapses, and the failure of FTX.

Stablecoin Market Loses $10B Since May in Biggest Retreat Since the Terra Crash
According to CoinDesk, stablecoin market capitalization has fallen by roughly $10 billion from its May peak, including a $7.7 billion drop in June—the largest monthly decline in dollar terms since… pic.twitter.com/RafAPoaerJ
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 12, 2026
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Lower supply points to thinner crypto liquidity

Traders use stablecoins as settlement assets and quote currencies across exchanges and decentralized markets. A falling supply can show that users redeemed tokens for bank dollars or moved capital outside crypto. It can also reduce the amount of dollar-linked buying power available for Bitcoin, Ether, and other digital assets.

The reduction arrived during a weak month for crypto investment products.Crypto.news reported that U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds lost more than $4 billion in June, their worst monthly outflow since launch. The parallel declines show that institutional fund demand and on-chain dollar liquidity both weakened as digital asset prices remained under pressure.

Activity did not fall at the same pace as supply. The adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached a record $1.78 trillion in June. USDC processed about $1.21 trillion, while USDT handled $573 billion. USDT still recorded more individual transfers, showing that fewer tokens can continue supporting heavy payment and trading activity.

Tokenized assets grow while stablecoins retreat

Tokenized real-world assets moved in the opposite direction. However, their on-chain value crossed $30 billion during 2026, led by tokenized Treasury products, funds, and private credit. CoinDesk Research also recorded a 145% rise in tokenized equity volume during June to a record $3.86 billion.

Regulation and new issuers continue reshaping the stablecoin market. The U.S. GENIUS Act created a federal framework for payment stablecoins, while regulators are drafting customer identification, sanctions, and reserve rules. Crypto.news has also tracked new reserve products from Fidelity and State Street designed for regulated issuers.

The latest supply figures point to a pause in market expansion rather than a Terra-style collapse. USDT and USDC remain near their dollar pegs, transaction activity remains high, and the total market retains most of its recent growth. Further monthly contractions would provide clearer evidence that crypto liquidity is leaving the system rather than moving between issuers or on-chain products.

Investors will now watch July issuance, redemption data, exchange volumes, and ETF flows for signs that demand is returning or weakening further.

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Empery abandons part of Bitcoin treasury to tackle debt burden

Published

32 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

5 red months, 74% LTH profit rapidly eroding

Empery has sold 1,400 Bitcoin for about $87.1 million since May, using the proceeds to reduce debt, fund acquisitions, cover legal costs, and strengthen its cash position while scaling back part of its Bitcoin treasury.

Summary

Empery sold 1,400 BTC for $87.1 million to reduce debt and fund operations.
The company now holds 1,514 BTC and about $73.9 million in cash.
Capital B and Nakamoto are pursuing different Bitcoin treasury strategies through financing and refinancing.

Bitcoin sales have strengthened Empery’s balance sheet

According to Empery, the Nasdaq-listed company sold the 1,400 BTC between May 7 and July 10 at an average price of $62,200 per Bitcoin. The transactions generated approximately $87.1 million in gross proceeds, leaving the company with 1,514 BTC and roughly $73.9 million in cash as of July 10.

Company filings show the proceeds are being allocated across several financial obligations rather than additional Bitcoin purchases. Empery said the funds are being used to repay debt, finance a previously announced property acquisition, cover legal expenses related to ongoing stockholder litigation and support general operations.

As part of those efforts, Empery disclosed that it repaid $10 million of outstanding debt on July 7. Even after that payment, the company said about $45 million remains outstanding under its debt facility.

The latest disposal follows an earlier round of Bitcoin sales this year. In its annual report, Empery disclosed that it sold 722 BTC for approximately $50 million between Jan. 1 and March 25, 2026, while also warning investors that future Bitcoin sales could affect both its financial results and overall financial condition.

Earlier treasury expansion has given way to liquidity needs

The latest sales stand in contrast with the company’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy announced last year. In August 2025, when the company still operated under the Volcon name, Empery said it held more than 4,018 BTC and described its strategy as becoming a low-cost, capital-efficient Bitcoin aggregator.

Recent treasury decisions by other publicly traded Bitcoin holders show that companies are taking different approaches depending on their balance sheet needs. As previously reported by crypto.news, Nakamoto Inc. reduced outstanding debt by about $45 million after selling roughly 600 BTC and using Bitcoin-related derivative positions, generating around $48 million in net proceeds.

The company also refinanced most of its remaining borrowings into 2027, lowered financing costs, and retained approximately 4,467 BTC worth more than $280 million, according to company figures.

Capital B has moved in the opposite direction by seeking additional funding to expand its Bitcoin holdings rather than selling existing reserves. As previously reported by crypto.news, shareholders approved a financing framework in June authorizing up to €5 billion in new equity issuance and €100 billion in credit instruments.

According to Alexandre Laizet, Capital B’s board director of Bitcoin Strategy, the proposal would allow the French Bitcoin treasury company to issue up to 125 billion new shares at their current nominal value alongside a substantial pool of debt and credit instruments to finance further Bitcoin purchases.

Unlike Capital B’s capital-raising strategy or Nakamoto’s refinancing plan, Empery’s latest disclosures show that the company is relying on Bitcoin sales to meet immediate financial obligations while maintaining a smaller digital asset treasury on its balance sheet.

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Saylor’s orange dot sparks fresh buy-or-sell mystery at Strategy

Published

42 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Saylor’s orange dot sparks fresh buy-or-sell mystery at Strategy - 2

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has renewed speculation about the company’s next Bitcoin transaction. In a July 12 post, he shared Strategy’s familiar acquisition chart and wrote, “Orange dots tell only part of the story.” The chart marks past Bitcoin purchases, but the message did not say whether Strategy had bought, sold, or taken no action during the latest reporting period.

Summary

Saylor’s orange-dot post leaves Strategy’s next Bitcoin move unclear after last week’s major corporate sale.
Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million, funding preferred dividends and rebuilding its dollar reserve.
MSTR remains bearish near support, while weak momentum keeps the buy-or-sell question open for investors.

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Suspected Hedera exploit sends over $5.8M to Ethereum as HBAR slips

Published

49 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Gnosis Pay exploit tied to Zodiac delay module as users exit

Hedera’s native token HBAR has fallen more than 2% after blockchain security researchers reported that a suspected exploit had moved more than $5.8 million in assets from the Hedera network to Ethereum.

Summary

Suspected Hedera exploit moved more than $5.8 million in assets to Ethereum, according to blockchain security researchers.
Specter and PeckShield said the attacker bridged funds through LayerZero before swapping WBTC for ETH.
HBAR fell more than 2%, trading near $0.069 as the reported exploit unfolded.

According to blockchain security researcher Specter, the suspected attacker had already bridged more than $3.7 million worth of assets from Hedera to Ethereum before continuing to move additional funds.

There appears to be an ongoing hack involving @hedera Network, with over $3.7M already bridged to Ethereum by the attacker.
The stolen funds are currently being swapped from WBTC for ETH after being bridged from the Hedera network via Layerzero.
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Theft addresses:… pic.twitter.com/KSxd3K2vlu
— Specter (@SpecterAnalyst) July 11, 2026

Specter said the stolen assets were being swapped from Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) into Ether (ETH) after crossing chains through LayerZero. The researcher also published two wallet addresses believed to be linked to the incident.

At the time of writing, CryptoBull360 reported that the wallet’s estimated value had increased to roughly $5.8 million, indicating that more assets had reached Ethereum after the initial transfers. The shared wallet data showed holdings of about 3,203 ETH, representing nearly 80% of the portfolio, alongside roughly 20% in WBTC.

According to data from crypto.news, Hedera (HBAR) price traded around $0.069, down more than 2% following the reports of the suspected exploit.

Cross-chain transfers have continued after the initial breach

As additional transactions appeared on-chain, blockchain security firm PeckShield said the suspected exploit had already transferred approximately $5.25 million from the Hedera mainnet to Ethereum. The firm added that the wallet held around 2,360 ETH, valued at roughly $4.25 million, and 15.58 WBTC, worth about $1 million, at the time of its analysis.

PeckShield also reported that the wallet had originally been funded with 1 ETH from Tornado Cash, citing on-chain transaction history. The observation identifies the source of the wallet’s initial funding but does not establish who controls the address or who carried out the alleged attack.

The wallet screenshots shared by both Specter and PeckShield showed a series of inbound transfers arriving within a short period before the assets were converted into ETH.

Investigation remains ongoing as official details are limited

Neither Specter nor PeckShield identified the party responsible for the suspected exploit, and no official estimate of the total losses had been released at the time of writing. The reported value of the stolen assets continued to change as additional funds were observed moving through the wallet.

The incident is still developing, with blockchain security researchers continuing to monitor the addresses and publish updates as new transactions appear on-chain. Meanwhile, market participants are watching for an official statement from the Hedera team regarding the reported exploit and any measures taken to contain its impact.

The Hedera incident comes amid a series of security-related developments reported by crypto.news in recent weeks. Blockaid recently said it detected an active exploit targeting Summer.fi, estimating losses of about $6 million at the time of its alert.

Separately, Ctrl Wallet announced it will permanently shut down after a security exploit affecting some Cardano wallets, giving users until Aug. 3 to withdraw their assets. Meanwhile, crypto.news also reported that Secret Network has proposed migrating SCRT from Cosmos to Arbitrum, with the team citing security risks, weaker liquidity, and an aging codebase in its July 7 governance proposal.

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The End of a Ripple Era: XRP ETFs Record First Red Week In Months

Published

57 minutes ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

For weeks and weeks, the spot Ripple ETFs, alongside HYPE and sometimes SOL, dominated all cryptocurrency-related exchange-traded funds, while the market leaders suffered.

However, this trend has finally changed as the financial vehicles tracking the performance of the cross-border token turned red in the past week for the first time in over two months.

Streak Broken

Although the actual numbers were not as impressive as they were back in October, November, and December last year when the XRP ETFs launched, they were still in the green for nine consecutive weeks. Moreover, the only week that broke that streak saw a minor $35.21K (not millions) in net outflows, so it doesn’t really count. Within this timeframe, the total net inflows rose from under $1.29 billion to a new all-time high of $1.49 billion as of July 2.

However, the tides finally turned in the past five business days. Interestingly, though, only one day was in the red, with $7.29 million leaving the funds on July 8. A minor $107.38K entered the funds on Friday, while the other three trading days saw no reportable action, according to SoSoValue data.

This is rather concerning as XRP has seen similar net inflow-free days in the past, but that wasn’t the case in the last few months. Now, though, investors appear to have turned their attention away from Ripple’s token and back to the market leaders. As reported yesterday, both the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded their first green week in two months, with net inflows of almost $200 million and $84 million, respectively.

XRP Price Stalls

Despite the major net inflows for nine weeks, Ripple’s native coin failed to capitalize and record any substantial gains in that time. However, the net ouflows in the past week seem to have harmed it, as current data from CoinGecko shows a 3.2% decline over the past week.

XRP challenged the $1.15 resistance earlier this week, but it was halted there, and the subsequent rejection pushed it south to under $1.10. Although it has rebounded to that level now, the uncertainty continues as many analysts expect a major move ahead.

The direction, as usual, is unknown, but the overall belief within the crypto community is that XRP has reached a decision point and it could either head below $1.00 soon or rocket toward new local peaks.

The post The End of a Ripple Era: XRP ETFs Record First Red Week In Months appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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Pakistan seeks crypto dialogue after scholar rejects USDT payments

Published

1 hour ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

OpenAI buys tech talk show TBPN as it builds out communication strategy

Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority Chairman Bilal bin Saqib has called for continued discussion on digital assets under Islamic law. His statement followed a meeting with scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani on July 11. Saqib said both sides shared one aim: protecting Pakistanis from fraud, exploitation, and financial harm.

Summary

Pakistan’s crypto chief seeks technical and Shariah reviews instead of one broad digital asset ruling.
Mufti Taqi Usmani’s ruling rejects crypto purchases because tokens allegedly lack recognised Shariah wealth status.
Pakistan continues licensing crypto firms while religious concerns add another layer to its regulatory rollout.

In his public statement, Saqib said blockchain, stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and other digital assets cover different technologies and uses. He said they require “careful technical assessment alongside rigorous Shariah examination” instead of one broad judgment. He also called for further engagement among scholars, regulators, and industry specialists.

Religious ruling rejects purchases made with crypto

The meeting followed an Islamic legal ruling issued by Darul Ifta at Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi. Mufti Usmani and five other scholars signed the ruling, dated June 10, 2026. It said purchases made with cryptocurrency, including USDT, were not permitted under their reading of Islamic law.

According to Dawn’s report, the scholars said current research did not establish crypto as recognised property or wealth. The ruling described it as “merely the recording of fictitious numbers in an account.” Saqib did not directly reject that finding. He instead asked for separate reviews of different digital asset categories.

Pakistan continues building a licensed crypto market

The exchange comes as Pakistan moves ahead with a regulated virtual asset sector. The Virtual Assets Act 2026 created PVARA as the body responsible for licensing and supervising virtual asset service providers. PVARA also opened a public consultation on rules covering exchanges, custodians, brokers, token issuers, and other providers.

On April 15, the State Bank of Pakistan allowed banks to open accounts for firms licensed by PVARA. The central bank circular requires banks to verify licences, perform due diligence, monitor accounts, and keep customer money separate from company funds. Banks cannot use their own capital or customer deposits to trade or hold virtual assets.

A previous report shows that the policy ended an eight-year restriction on banking services for regulated crypto firms. The report said banks must still follow foreign exchange, anti-money laundering, and counterterrorism financing rules. Suspicious activity must be reported to Pakistan’s Financial Monitoring Unit.

Stablecoins and tokenization remain part of policy plans

Pakistan has also explored stablecoins and tokenized assets through agreements with international companies. In December 2025, the government signed a nonbinding agreement with Binance to study the tokenization of up to $2 billion in state assets. Crypto.news coverage linked the plan to government bonds, Treasury bills, and commodity reserves.

A separate January 2026 agreement involved studying the use of the USD1 stablecoin in cross-border payments. Crypto.news reported that the work would involve Pakistan’s finance ministry and central bank. These projects remain subject to regulation, technical review, and formal approval.

The dispute over crypto payments now adds a religious review to Pakistan’s regulatory process. PVARA has not announced any change to licensing rules after the meeting. Saqib’s statement leaves the discussion open while the regulator continues drafting operating standards. The ruling did not change state licensing rules, while licensed firms remained bound by the Virtual Assets Act and central bank controls.

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Empery Digital stock jumps after Bitcoin treasury sale funds AI datacenter

Published

1 hour ago

12 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Empery Digital’s shares jumped after the company disclosed it has been steadily trimming its Bitcoin treasury to support new funding needs. According to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the NASDAQ-listed company sold nearly half of its Bitcoin holdings over the past two months and used the proceeds to back an AI data center project and reduce debt.

The news lands at a time when some investors appear increasingly skeptical of corporate “treasury” strategies that treat Bitcoin as a long-term balance-sheet asset without an obvious liquidity plan. Empery’s decision—and the market’s initial reaction—highlights how quickly corporate crypto strategies can shift when capital priorities change.

Key takeaways

Empery Digital sold 1,400 Bitcoin at an average price of $62,200 per coin, raising about $87.1 million, per its SEC 8-K filing.
The company said proceeds were used partly for its 25% stake in a Hunt Properties-affiliated venture targeting an industrial site conversion into an AI data center.
Empery also allocated about $10 million of the proceeds to pay down outstanding debt.
The sale reduced Empery’s Bitcoin holdings by about 48% to 1,514 BTC, according to the disclosure.
Shareholders who had pressured Empery to change its Bitcoin strategy previously demanded leadership resignations tied to its treasury approach.

What Empery disclosed in its SEC filing

Empery Digital said it sold 1,400 BTC over the past two months. In the filing referenced by the company, the sales were executed at an average price of $62,200 per Bitcoin, resulting in gross proceeds of roughly $87.1 million.

The company linked that liquidity move to two key corporate priorities. First, it directed part of the funding toward an equity position: Empery said it used proceeds to maintain a 25% stake in a venture affiliated with Hunt Properties. That venture, according to the disclosure, is acquiring an industrial site intended to be converted into an AI data center.

Second, Empery indicated that it used proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet by paying off $10 million in outstanding debt. While the filing’s focus is primarily on the capital allocation, the combined effect is clear: the firm treated Bitcoin holdings as a source of funding rather than solely a long-duration investment.

Shares react as the Bitcoin treasury thesis faces scrutiny

Following the disclosure, Empery shares rose early in Friday’s trading. The article notes that the stock gained about 4.2% to $3.95 within the first 35 minutes and later narrowed to a $3.86 close, up roughly 1.58% for the day.

That initial upside suggests investors interpreted the sale as a pragmatic adjustment—one that may reduce the risk of capital being locked up in a treasury asset while the business pursues other needs. The timing also matters. The move comes amid broader pressure on corporate Bitcoin holders, where some investors have questioned whether “hold and never sell” approaches are realistic when companies must fund operations, pay debts, or finance new growth initiatives.

For Empery, the filing also shows how much of the Bitcoin position was affected. The company’s sales trimmed its holdings by about 48%, leaving it with 1,514 BTC. At current prices referenced in the report, that remaining position is described as worth about $97 million.

Pressure from a major shareholder preceded the sales

Empery’s Bitcoin reduction did not occur in a vacuum. Earlier reporting highlighted a shareholder dispute involving Tice P. Brown, who holds nearly 10% of the company. According to earlier coverage from Cointelegraph, Brown urged Empery to abandon its Bitcoin-buying strategy and called for changes in leadership, demanding the CEO and the board resign.

Cointelegraph’s prior account described Empery’s pivot to a Bitcoin-centric treasury plan that began around mid-2025, when Bitcoin was rallying toward its all-time high of $126,080 set in October. The latest disclosure indicates that—at least for now—the company is shifting away from adding to that position at the same pace, and instead monetizing part of it to fund other priorities.

Empery previously held a peak of 4,081 BTC before offloading some holdings in March and April. The Friday disclosure therefore appears to be part of a broader trend rather than a one-off sale.

The wider corporate Bitcoin pattern: Strategy’s earlier exit adds context

Empery’s actions echo a larger corporate debate about whether Bitcoin should be treated as an operational liquidity tool or as a purely long-term reserve. Earlier this month, Cointelegraph reported that Strategy—described as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder—sold 3,588 Bitcoin, worth about $216 million, after having taken the market-facing stance of “never sell your Bitcoin.” The company’s rationale, per the report, was tied to funding dividend payments for investors in its top perpetual preferred stock offering, Stretch (STRC).

That sale came as investors were already watching signals that Strategy’s dividend structure could be under stress. Cointelegraph referenced that STRC had broken below its $100 par value and was trading below $75 last month, raising concerns about the sustainability of the dividend model. In that context, Strategy’s willingness to sell some Bitcoin—despite its earlier messaging—illustrates how quickly capital management decisions can override long-held narratives when cash needs and investor obligations intensify.

In practical terms, Empery’s disclosure reinforces the same theme: when companies face debt payments or new investment opportunities, Bitcoin can function as a financial source rather than only a hedge against market cycles. The difference is that Empery’s stated end uses are directly tied to an AI data center initiative and debt reduction—two needs that investors often view as tangible business drivers rather than passive treasury management.

Going forward, market watchers will likely focus on whether Empery pauses further Bitcoin trimming or continues to rebalance toward cash-generating projects. The next tell will be how much of its remaining 1,514 BTC stays untouched while the AI data center stake and other obligations progress—and whether shareholder pressure resurfaces if the company’s treasury strategy diverges further from what investors expected.

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