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Ex-Goldman Credit Veteran Says Markets May Be Mispricing MicroStrategy’s STRC by 13%

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MicroStrategy STRC Dividend. Source: Strategy

Khing Oei, a former Goldman Sachs credit investor, says the market has Strategy’s STRC preferred stock priced wrong. His math says it is worth about $96. It trades near $85.

Oei spent 25 years valuing risky debt at Goldman Sachs and hedge funds. He shared his STRC model in a recent lengthy discussion.

Why the 14% Yield on MicroStrategy’s STRC Misleads

STRC pays a 12% dividend. Divide that by today’s discounted price and you get a yield above 14%. That number is everywhere. Oei says it is wrong.

MicroStrategy STRC Dividend. Source: Strategy
MicroStrategy STRC Dividend. Source: Strategy

Here is the problem. That math assumes STRC pays out forever, no matter what. STRC promises no such thing. It never matures and never has to repay its $100 face value, known as par. It pays only while MicroStrategy can afford it.

The shares crashed 25% below par during June’s Bitcoin selloff. That is what made the yield look so juicy.

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“That experience leaves you with a simple instinct: never value a stream by dividing this year’s coupon by today’s price,” Oei wrote in his analysis.

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So he values STRC like a bond. Count the cash it will actually pay out, and nothing more. Strategy’s dashboard showed 843,775 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $54 billion, plus $3 billion in cash. Debt and senior preferred shares claim $8 billion of that first. STRC’s $10.5 billion comes next.

29 Years of Dividends Even if Bitcoin Never Rises

Strip out the senior claims and $50.2 billion backs the preferred shares. The dividend bill runs $1.73 billion a year.

That produces two striking numbers. Bitcoin only needs to grow 3.4% a year and the dividends never stop. If Bitcoin stays flat forever, the money still lasts 29 years.

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Value those 29 years of payments at a 12% discount rate and STRC is worth $96.30. BeInCrypto checked the math. It holds.

The market pays $85.29. That price only buys 17 years of dividends. Oei thinks that is too gloomy, since STRF, the safer Strategy share above STRC, yields just 10.4%.

MicroStrategy STRF Effective Yield. Source: Strategy
MicroStrategy STRF Effective Yield. Source: Strategy

That gap between $85 and $96 is the 13% mispricing. It carries a sharp implication. If Oei is right, buyers collect the 14% yield while the price climbs toward fair value. If the market is right, the discount is a warning that the dividend may one day stop.

Some buyers seem to agree with Oei. A BitcoinTreasuries survey found over half of holders bought the dip below par.

The Road Back to $100

Bitcoin’s price does most of the work. Oei’s table puts STRC back at $100 if Bitcoin reaches $80,000. At $40,000, it drops to $58.

MicroStrategy holds levers too. STRC listed in July 2025 at $90 with a 9% dividend. The board has raised the rate again and again, now 12%, to pull the price toward par.

Cash helps as well. Each $1 billion raised and held in reserve adds about four points, Oei estimates. A buyback adds five, since Strategy would pay $85 for something he values at $96.

The mispricing itself becomes the company’s cheapest tool. The growing cash pile fits what one research desk called a Bitcoin winter pivot.

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One caveat applies. Oei runs Treasury, a European Bitcoin treasury firm, so he benefits when these shares are taken seriously. Skeptics also remain. Economist Peter Schiff just predicted a crash toward $20,000, and others ask who ultimately pays if Strategy’s $64 billion bet unwinds.

The question is now a simple one. Does a company with $57 billion in assets deserve this much doubt over a $1.73 billion dividend bill? Bitcoin’s next move will go a long way toward answering it.

The post Ex-Goldman Credit Veteran Says Markets May Be Mispricing MicroStrategy’s STRC by 13% appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Is AI Money Rotating Into Ethereum? Tom Lee Cites 72% Outperformance

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ETHA/DRAM ratio chart up 72% since June 25, showing AI money rotating into Ethereum, Source: Tom Lee (Fundstrat) via X

Tom Lee says the AI trade is changing lanes. He points to Ethereum (ETH) beating the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) by 72% in relative terms this month, a sign of AI money rotating into Ethereum.

ETH rose 24% in his chart window while the memory fund fell 38%. Lee co-founded research firm Fundstrat and now chairs BitMine, one of the largest holders of ETH.

ETH Up 24%, Memory Fund Down 38%

Lee shared the chart Monday in a post. The 72% is the rise in Lee’s ratio chart. It divides BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) by the memory fund. That ratio climbed from 100 to 172 between June 25 and July 21.

“The “AI downstream” relative performance continues to strengthen – $ETH vs $DRAM relative outperformance in the past month gained to 7,200bp, or 72 percentage points – ETH up +24% vs $DRAM ETF down -38%”

ETHA/DRAM ratio chart up 72% since June 25, showing AI money rotating into Ethereum, Source: Tom Lee (Fundstrat) via X
ETHA/DRAM ratio chart up 72% since June 25, showing AI money rotating into Ethereum, Source: Tom Lee (Fundstrat) via X

The DRAM ETF is new. Roundhill launched it in April as the first fund built only on memory chipmakers. SK Hynix and Samsung alone make up about 41% of it, data shows.

Investors piled in fast. The fund raised $6.5 billion in 27 trading days, the fastest ETF launch on record. It peaked at $81.34 before the slide. Lee’s 38% drop measures from June 25.

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Ether, meanwhile, trades near $1,921, up 1.5% in a day. BeInCrypto rankings data shows ETH up 10.9% over 30 days. Lee’s bigger 24% measures from June 25, when his chart starts.

Ethereum Downstream to AI Trade
Ethereum Downstream to AI Trade

ETH also sits 61% below its August 2025 peak of $4,946. So the winner of this trade is still climbing out of its own hole.

AI Money Rotating Into Ethereum, or Just a Memory Reset?

Lee’s case is simple. Wall Street is building on Ethereum, not just trading it. He points to BlackRock’s tokenized BUIDL fund and Robinhood Chain, which pays its fees in ETH. That drives Ethereum’s institutional bull case.

He also compares ETH to Amazon, which sat near $6 for 12 years before its market grew. Big wallets lean his way for now. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes resumed buying, adding $2.53 million in ETH on Monday.

However, the memory story is not dead. Jefferies expects memory prices to climb about 50% this quarter. Supply is so tight that a US lawsuit accuses chipmakers of engineering a 700% DRAM price spike.

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The ETF’s slide may simply be a reset after a wild run. SanDisk sank 14%, Micron 5%, and Seagate 10% in one July session on memory supply glut fears.

One caveat. Lee’s BitMine holds 5.77 million ETH, about 4.8% of all supply. If his rotation call wins, he wins with it.

What settles the question? Memory earnings and Ethereum ETF flows in the coming weeks.

The post Is AI Money Rotating Into Ethereum? Tom Lee Cites 72% Outperformance appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Can Solana price break past $80 resistance this week?

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Solana daily chart shows SOL testing resistance near $79 after recovering from its June low.

Solana price has climbed to $78 after buyers defended support near $74, though repeated failures below $80 and lingering concern over the BONK governance attack have kept market sentiment cautious.

Summary

  • Solana price has recovered to $78 but must close above $80 to confirm a breakout.
  • SOL trades above four key moving averages, while liquidity clusters could trigger a short squeeze.
  • A loss of the $75.55 support would expose $72.50 and the June range floor near $67.

According to data from crypto.news, Solana (SOL) price traded at $78.03 at press time, up marginally over the past 24 hours after moving between an intraday low of $77.42 and a high of $78.88. The token has recovered about 5% from its July 18 low but remains below the $82–$84 zone reached earlier this month.

Confidence across the Solana ecosystem took a hit after an attacker drained nearly $20 million from the BonkDAO treasury. According to crypto.news, the attacker spent roughly $4.4 million to acquire enough BONK to meet the governance threshold, then passed a proposal with 99.9% approval.

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The incident did not compromise Solana’s base layer, but it exposed weak safeguards within a major ecosystem project. BonkDAO had low voter participation, no execution delay, and enough concentrated voting power for one participant to control the result, according to crypto.news analysis.

Meanwhile, demand through regulated investment products has provided some support. U.S. spot Solana exchange-traded funds recorded $8.36 million in net inflows on July 6, their strongest day in nearly two months, according to data from SoSoValue. Early-July inflows reached about $5.75 million during one full trading week, with no daily outflow reported over the period.

Geopolitical pressure remains a hurdle for high-beta cryptocurrencies. Brent crude settled at $91.01 on July 21 after U.S.-Iran hostilities, and Houthi threats against Red Sea shipping routes raised concern over energy supplies. The dollar index also advanced to 101.16 as traders increased bets that higher oil costs could keep the Federal Reserve focused on inflation, Reuters reported.

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A stronger dollar and renewed rate-hike expectations usually reduce demand for speculative assets. Solana may therefore need both crypto-market strength and less pressure from energy prices to sustain a move beyond nearby resistance.

Solana needs a daily close above $80 to unlock the next range

The daily chart places SOL directly below resistance at $78.92, a level that previously acted as support in February, April and early June. Buyers briefly reclaimed it during the first half of July, but price slipped back underneath after stalling near $83.

Solana daily chart shows SOL testing resistance near $79 after recovering from its June low.
Solana price daily chart — July 22 | Source: crypto.news

A daily close above $78.92 would clear the first barrier, while $80 remains the psychological level required to confirm a breakout. Beyond it, the July swing highs between $82.50 and $84 form the next supply zone. A close above $84 could open the route toward $90 and the previous range high near $97.60.

Daily momentum favors another test. The Aroon Up reading stands at 71.43%, while Aroon Down has fallen to zero, showing that recent highs carry more weight than recent lows. However, the Chaikin Money Flow remains slightly negative at -0.02, which shows that capital inflows have not yet matched the price recovery.

According to crypto trader Daan Crypto Trades, SOL has reached a “key high timeframe region” that will decide whether bulls can attack the upper end of the range.

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“Either the bulls push through and set a higher low here to take a stab at the range high in the $90s. Or this rejects here and dribbles back down to that mid $60s area.”

The 4-hour chart offers a more constructive setup. SOL trades above its 20-period moving average at $77.01, its 50-period average at $76.42, its 100-period average at $77.60 and its 200-period average at $75.55. Regaining all four lines has placed short-term control with buyers.

Solana 4-hour chart shows SOL above key moving averages as it approaches the $80 resistance.
Solana 4-hour price chart — July 22 | Source: crypto.news

The 4-hour MACD remains above its signal line, although its histogram has narrowed to 0.13. Momentum has therefore stayed positive, but buyers need stronger follow-through before the move can extend through $80.

Derivatives liquidity could help accelerate a breakout. CoinGlass’ three-day liquidation heatmap shows concentrated short-liquidation bands near $78.50, $79.20 and $80.60. A move through $79 could force leveraged bears to close positions and add market buy orders, creating the conditions for a quick test of $81.

Solana liquidation heatmap shows major liquidity clusters above $78.50 and below $77.
Solana liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass

Loss of $75.50 would invalidate the bullish setup

Below the market, the largest nearby liquidation pools sit around $76.80, $76.10 and $75. A downturn through those levels could trigger long liquidations and pull SOL toward $74, where buyers stepped in during the latest retracement.

The 4-hour 200-period moving average at $75.55 serves as the main invalidation line. A sustained close below it would return SOL beneath its moving-average cluster and expose $72.50, followed by the June range floor near $67.

Oil above $90, further U.S.-Iran escalation, or another Solana ecosystem security incident could strengthen the bearish case. For now, the charts support another attempt at $80, but SOL must close above that level with stronger capital inflows to turn the recovery into a confirmed breakout.

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Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

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Movement Labs collapses into bankruptcy after MOVE token scandals

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Movement Labs collapses into bankruptcy after MOVE token scandals

Movement Labs has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with no more than $500,000 in assets and liabilities that could reach $10 million following more than a year of turmoil around the MOVE token.

Summary

  • Movement Labs filed for Chapter 11 with up to $10 million in liabilities.
  • Rushi Manche holds its largest unsecured claim, worth more than $1.6 million.
  • Move Industries says its operations and Movement blockchain development remain unaffected.

Court records show that MVMT Labs submitted its petition on July 15 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The original developer of the Movement blockchain listed between $100,001 and $500,000 in assets, up to $10 million in liabilities and as many as 299 creditors.

Former co-founder and chief executive Rushikesh “Rushi” Manche holds the largest unsecured claim at more than $1.6 million, according to the filing. The document also names the Delaware Division of Corporations, Move Industries, Anchorage Digital and security auditor OtterSec among the claimants, with the Delaware agency allegedly owed $459,000.

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Despite being removed from the company in May 2025, Manche still owns a 34.25% equity stake in Movement Labs. He previously sued the company in the Delaware Court of Chancery and secured payment of legal expenses connected to a U.S. Department of Justice grand jury investigation into the MOVE launch.

Movement Labs originally served as the main research and development company for Movement Network, which launched as an Ethereum layer-2 using the Move programming language. Meta initially developed Move for its abandoned Libra and Diem digital currency projects.

Before the token controversy, Movement Labs had attracted substantial venture funding. The company raised $38 million in a Series A round led by Polychain Capital, while Reuters reported in January 2025 that it was close to completing another $100 million round at a proposed $3 billion valuation.

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MOVE scandal left lasting damage

Movement Labs’ problems intensified after MOVE debuted on exchanges in December 2024. An investigation by CoinDesk found that a market-making agreement handed 66 million MOVE tokens, or about 5% of the supply, to a little-known intermediary called Rentech.

According to internal documents reviewed by CoinDesk, wallets linked to market maker Web3Port sold the tokens one day after MOVE’s exchange debut and generated about $38 million. The sale placed a large share of the publicly traded supply under one counterparty’s control and contributed to a steep fall in the token’s price.

Scrutiny also fell on the structure of the agreement because Rentech appeared in contracts both as a Movement Foundation agent and as a Web3Port affiliate, CoinDesk reported. Rentech denied misrepresenting itself, while Movement co-founder Cooper Scanlon told employees that the project was examining whether it had been misled.

Reviewing the documents, crypto founder Zaki Manian argued that the terms created incentives to raise MOVE’s valuation before selling tokens to retail traders.

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“Even participating in a discussion where that’s on paper is insane,” Manian told CoinDesk.

Binance later banned the market-making account for what the exchange described as misconduct and froze the profits linked to the token sales. Movement Network Foundation subsequently announced a $38 million MOVE repurchase plan using the recovered funds and hired outside firm Groom Lake to investigate the agreement.

Leadership changes followed the inquiry. Movement Labs terminated Manche after alleging that he had signed undisclosed agreements, while the company transferred core development responsibilities to the newly formed Move Industries under chief executive Torab Torabi.

Trading disruptions compounded the damage. The Block reported that Binance and Coinbase suspended MOVE trading after the launch controversy, while TradingView data cited in the original report placed MOVE near $0.0108 following the bankruptcy news, with the token gaining less than 1%.

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Move Industries remains outside the filing

Move Industries has denied any involvement in the Chapter 11 case and continues to operate the blockchain separately from Movement Labs. Addressing the filing on X, Torabi stressed that the two companies are distinct legal entities.

“Move Industries is operating normally. We continue to put our heads down and build.”

Movement Network Foundation confirmed in December 2025 that Move Industries had become the network’s primary service provider and assumed its main operating duties. Under that arrangement, the foundation remains the independent network steward, while Move Industries handles development, operations and ecosystem work.

Following the corporate separation, Move Industries converted Movement from an Ethereum layer-2 into an independent layer-1 network. The company has since positioned the chain as infrastructure for stablecoin payments, cross-border transfers and remittances in emerging markets.

Movement Labs is the second prominent crypto company to seek U.S. bankruptcy protection in recent months. In May, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin Depot entered Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas to close its crypto ATM business and sell its assets under court supervision.

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Unlike Movement Labs, Bitcoin Depot blamed tighter state rules, lower transaction limits, litigation and enforcement pressure for making its model unsustainable. The company took more than 9,000 kiosks offline and included its Canadian entities in the court-supervised process, according to its May 18 announcement.

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Crypto Clarity Act still at mercy of ethics section as Democrats balk at Trump deal

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U.S. senators seek to block foreign adversaries from AI technology in new bill

August 7 — the fast-approaching final day before the Senate’s summer recess — is seen as a major deadline for finishing the Clarity Act this year. Crypto insiders are expecting the bill to get to the floor as soon as the beginning of next week, which would fit with what Senate Majority Leader John Thune had previously indicated. The legislation could require several days to get to a final vote.

Earlier on Tuesday, CoinDesk had reported that a White House official said Trump agreed to “the most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history,” though the actual language he’s accepted hadn’t yet been shared with Democrats. As of press time, it was still unclear if Democrats had seen the exact language. Still, the administration argued that it had “bent over backward” to satisfy Democrats, suggesting it would be their fault if the legislation doesn’t advance.

Trump’s agreement to a crypto constraint of his own business ties raises significant questions about how his involvement would be made sufficiently remote to comply with the limit. The president and his family are deeply connected to several crypto business initiatives, including their ownership stake in World Liberty Financial. While Trump has insisted he’s not conflicted as his administration imposes crypto policies that affect his own businesses, Democratic lawmakers have openly accused him of corruption.

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Crypto lobby group TDC sues Illinois to block digital asset tax

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Crypto lobby group TDC sues Illinois to block digital asset tax

A crypto lobbying organization has sued the state of Illinois over a last-minute tax provision inserted into the state budget last month.

The Digital Chamber alleged that Illinois’ Digital Asset Tax Act violated both the U.S. and state constitutions and is preempted by a federal tax law. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, asks a federal judge to block the Illinois state government from enforcing the tax.

The tax violates the Illinois state constitution’s uniformity and due process clauses, the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Internet Tax Freedom Act by specifying digital asset transactions, the suit said.

The Digital Asset Tax Act was passed and approved on short notice last month, right before the Illinois state government wrapped up its session for the year. The 0.2% tax applies to any entities that are based in Illinois or provide services with gross receipts of over $100,000. The tax takes effect in January.

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TDC’s lawsuit said the Internet Tax Freedom Act alone created a rule that “electronic commerce would not be subjected to discriminatory state and local taxation.”

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KuCoin Pay Wants Crypto to Blend into Local Payment Rails

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KuCoin Pay Wants Crypto to Blend into Local Payment Rails

A customer walks into a café in Peru and wants to pay with crypto. The café accepts QR payments, but it has no crypto wallet or special crypto checkout. At that point, the customer would usually need to convert the funds or choose another way to pay.

KuCoin Pay is trying to solve this problem by offering a shorter route. The customer scans the café’s existing payment code and pays from their KuCoin crypto balance. The merchant continues using the local payment system already in place.

In June, KuCoin Pay added QR-based access in Argentina and Peru. A separate rollout connected users with bKash and Nagad in Bangladesh, Mexico’s SPEI bank-transfer system, and the MTN and Airtel mobile-money networks in Zambia.

The expansion builds on KuCoin Pay’s earlier integration with Brazil’s Pix network. Its current support pages also indicate broader QR payment coverage across Southeast Asia, alongside Open CryptoPay support in Switzerland.

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Together, these integrations point to a larger ambition: making crypto held in a KuCoin account as accessible for everyday payments as funds in a local payment app, even across markets with very different financial systems.

The question is whether this routing layer can turn crypto holdings into payment infrastructure people use regularly.

The Real Product Is Routing

Global crypto networks use common technical standards, while retail payments remain heavily local. A Brazilian merchant expects Pix. Consumers in Bangladesh use mobile wallets. Mexican bank transfers move through SPEI.

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That fragmentation creates the last-mile problem for crypto payments. Moving a stablecoin between blockchain addresses can take seconds, yet spending that value still requires a connection to the system used by the recipient.

KuCoin Pay handles that translation inside one interface. In QR-driven markets, the user scans a supported national code. For local transfers, the user selects a network and enters the recipient’s account or phone details. KuCoin then routes the payment through the supported local channel.

The product supports more than 50 cryptocurrencies, including USDT, USDC, Bitcoin, and KCS. KuCoin says the service is designed to offer a simple payment experience, with instant settlement and no payment fees charged by KuCoin.

Approved refunds are returned to the user’s funding account in USDT, although individual merchants may impose their own handling charges.

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This model removes blockchain addresses and network selection from the checkout experience. The local payment method remains visible while crypto operates as the funding source.

Local Rails Solve Crypto’s Distribution Problem

In 2026, there is a wider change in how people access financial services. The World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 found that 79% of adults worldwide now have a financial account. 

In low- and middle-income countries, 84% own a mobile phone. Mobile money and digitally enabled accounts are already shaping how people receive funds and make payments.

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Stablecoins have also reached meaningful scale. Visa estimated that stablecoin supply grew by more than 50% during 2025 to $274 billion. Its adjusted data placed annual transaction volume above $10 trillion after filtering high-frequency trading wallets and automated activity.

Consumer spending remains a much narrower market. Visa’s crypto head said in January that stablecoins still lacked merchant acceptance at scale. Much of their on-chain activity continues to involve trading, treasury movement, or transfers between crypto platforms.

KuCoin’s local-rail strategy addresses that distribution gap. Merchants can remain inside the payment systems they already use. The consumer gains a route from a crypto balance to an existing retail endpoint.

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Brazil provides the clearest example. KuCoin Pay users can scan a standard Pix QR code at a participating merchant and pay from the app. The merchant does not need to display a separate crypto wallet address or introduce a new checkout process.

Replicating that experience requires country-specific integrations. Argentina’s interoperable QR network works differently from Peru’s wallet ecosystem. 

Bangladesh relies heavily on mobile financial services, while Zambia’s payment market centres on mobile-money operators. The interface can look consistent even when each transaction follows a different route underneath.

A Payment Layer Between Crypto and Local Finance

KuCoin describes the system as a unified technical entry point for local payment routing. That places KuCoin Pay closer to a payment orchestration layer than a simple crypto checkout tool.

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“Real-world utility will define the next phase of crypto adoption, and payments are where this shift becomes most visible,” KuCoin Managing Director Alicia Kao said in the company’s Latin America expansion announcement.

KuCard already connects digital assets with merchants through the familiar Visa and Mastercard networks. KuCoin Pay complements this card-based model by extending crypto payments into national QR systems and domestic transfer networks.

This local approach could matter most in markets where cards are less central to everyday payments. It allows KuCoin to enter payment behaviour that has already formed around bank apps, mobile wallets, or phone numbers.

The underlying infrastructure still carries traditional financial dependencies. Local liquidity must be available, compliance rules differ by jurisdiction, and payment failures must be resolved clearly. Currency conversion can also affect the final cost, even when the payment product advertises no transaction fee.

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The IMF has warned that stablecoins may lower payment friction while increasing risks around currency substitution and capital-flow controls. Those questions become more important as crypto platforms connect directly with domestic payment networks.

The Next Test Is Repeat Usage

KuCoin’s announcements establish geographic coverage. The platform has reported strong growth in on-chain payment volume, with 25x order growth and 60% growth in service Partner and merchant numbers.

These figures show that crypto payments are undeniably becoming an increasingly important layer of traditional financial infrastructure. 

However, the practical test will come from ordinary transactions: users repeatedly paying merchants, transferring to local accounts, or topping up mobile services without encountering delays or unclear costs. Reliable performance across different local networks will matter more than the number of countries listed.

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KuCoin Pay has established a credible route from crypto balances into familiar financial systems. Its wider infrastructure claim now depends on showing that people continue using that route after the launch campaigns end.

The post KuCoin Pay Wants Crypto to Blend into Local Payment Rails appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Clarity Act May Enable CFTC Oversight of Prediction Markets, Lawyer Says

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Crypto Breaking News

A U.S. House hearing this week zeroed in on who should regulate sports-event prediction markets and what kind of customer protections regulators can realistically enforce as these platforms expand. Lawmakers and legal specialists discussed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) role, the agency’s resourcing constraints, and the impact that pending U.S. crypto market-structure legislation—especially the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act—could have on oversight of prediction market companies.

During a Tuesday session titled “Examining Customer Protections and Market Integrity in Sports Event Prediction Markets,” Carl Kennedy, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman, said the CFTC may be “short-staffed” for both regulatory supervision and enforcement of prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. Kennedy argued that the CLARITY Act could help by expanding the regulator’s authority to cover not only digital assets but also the “explosive growth of prediction markets.”

Key takeaways

  • A House Agriculture subcommittee hearing highlighted a perceived mismatch between the CFTC’s capacity and the rapid growth of sports prediction markets.
  • Experts pointed to the CLARITY Act as a potential vehicle to expand the CFTC’s jurisdiction over prediction markets alongside crypto assets.
  • The CFTC chair’s “exclusive jurisdiction” stance has intensified federal-versus-state regulatory conflict involving Kalshi and Polymarket.
  • Legislators expect the CLARITY Act’s bill text to be released soon, though details on prediction-market treatment have not yet been made public.

Why lawmakers are pushing on prediction market oversight

The hearing focused on how customer protections and market integrity should work in the specific context of sports event prediction markets. Kennedy’s intervention put a practical lens on the debate: even if the legal framework is clarified, enforcement still depends on agency resources.

He told the committee that the CFTC likely lacks enough staffing to fully address both regulation and enforcement for prediction market platforms. Kennedy’s argument linked this operational challenge to legislative timing—suggesting that any additional authorities from the CLARITY Act would need to come with the capacity to carry them out.

That point matters for market participants because prediction markets often rely on clear rules about how customer funds are handled, how conflicts are addressed, and how platforms maintain orderly trading. In a fast-moving sector, regulators typically face pressure to move quickly while also building the infrastructure to supervise new product types.

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The CFTC’s jurisdiction claim and the state-federal clash

Part of the hearing’s urgency comes from ongoing legal and regulatory conflict. The CFTC chair, Michael Selig, has taken the position that the agency has “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction market companies. Selig’s reasoning is that event contracts traded on these platforms are classified as “swaps,” placing them within the CFTC’s remit.

As Kennedy’s comments and related expert discussion underscored, this approach has fueled disputes with state authorities. Many Democratic senators have characterized the CFTC’s stance as an “assault” on states trying to regulate prediction markets. Several states have pursued legal action against Kalshi and Polymarket over sports-betting-like activity.

One flashpoint involved a Michigan court ruling that Kalshi said put it in an untenable position between state and federal directives. Earlier, reporting noted that Selig ordered Kalshi to ignore the Michigan court ruling—something the company described as creating a difficult compliance bind.

Legal experts quoted in earlier coverage have also suggested that these disputes could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The underlying issue is structural: whether states can regulate prediction markets in parallel with the CFTC’s federal authority when the regulator views the contracts as swaps.

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What the CLARITY Act could change—and what’s still unknown

In the hearing, attention turned to the CLARITY Act as the most immediate legislative lever on the horizon. Kennedy said the bill could grant the CFTC additional authority to address the “explosive growth” of prediction markets, implying that Congress may be willing to clarify—at least procedurally and jurisdictionally—how these products fit within the commodities regulatory framework.

However, the specific mechanics of how the CLARITY Act would treat prediction markets were not publicly detailed as of Tuesday. In reporting from the hearing session, Republican senators pushing for a vote before August state work periods said they expect to release the bill’s text soon, but no public details were provided on how the legislation would address prediction markets, ethics, or other concerns raised by legal experts.

One signal of the policy pressure surrounding the bill comes from earlier activity in Congress. In June, gambling industry groups petitioned the U.S. Senate to add language to CLARITY that would “explicitly prohibit” event contracts tied to sports and casino-style gaming. The White House has also been linked to ethics-related provisions in the package, with reporting stating the Trump administration “agreed to the most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history” and worked to accommodate Democratic concerns.

Taken together, these threads show a tension that markets will watch closely: legislators appear to be trying to expand regulatory clarity for digital assets and related markets, while simultaneously debating whether prediction markets—particularly those resembling sports betting—should face stricter boundaries.

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Why the timeline matters for platforms and customers

The sector’s near-term planning depends heavily on what Congress does next. If the CLARITY Act’s language expands the CFTC’s authority, it could potentially reduce some uncertainty for platforms—though it may also intensify legal battles with states if the legislation is interpreted as narrowing state power.

Just as importantly, the hearing made clear that authority alone may not solve the enforcement question. Kennedy’s “short-staffed” framing suggests the market could see continued compliance and supervision gaps even as legal frameworks evolve. For customers, those gaps can translate into uneven protections—especially during periods of rapid growth.

Readers should watch the release of the CLARITY Act text and closely track how it defines prediction markets, customer protection obligations, and the relationship between federal oversight and state regulation. The next legal steps—particularly any moves that could raise questions up the court system—may determine whether the regulatory tug-of-war ends or simply shifts into a new legislative framework.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

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Bets against SpaceX grow to 32% of float as Elon Musk warns short sellers won’t survive

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Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Elon Musk warned that investors betting against SpaceX have little chance of survival — even as short sellers boosted their wagers against the company to about one-third of its publicly tradable shares ahead of several key catalysts.

About 206 million SpaceX shares are now sold short, representing roughly 32% of the company’s publicly tradable float and about $25 billion in notional bearish bets, according to estimates from S3 Partners. That’s up from about 185 million shares, or 29% of the float, just last week, and marks a dramatic increase from an estimated 40 million shares, or roughly 5% to 7% of the float, about a month ago.

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“We continue to see short sellers adding exposure ahead of several key upcoming catalysts, including the company’s first earnings report as a public company and subsequent lock-up expirations,” Matthew Unterman, head of research at S3, told CNBC.

Musk responded to the growing short interest in a post on X, predicting investors betting against the company would ultimately lose.

“The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low,” Musk wrote. “I said SpaceX will be worth more than Earth if we achieve our goals. Obviously true.”

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SpaceX one month

SpaceX confirmed Tuesday that it will release its first quarterly earnings report as a public company after U.S. markets close on Aug. 4. The results will give investors their first detailed look at SpaceX’s performance since its initial public offering and could provide a fresh test for both bulls and short sellers.

The growing bearish position comes as investors weigh SpaceX’s long-term prospects against its valuation and the possibility of additional shares becoming available after lock-up restrictions expire. Bulls point to the company’s leadership in launch services, Starlink’s expansion, and its artificial intelligence ambitions, while skeptics have questioned how much future growth is already reflected in the stock.

SpaceX shares rose about 3% on Tuesday, snapping a seven-session losing streak after analysts at Macquarie reiterated their outperform rating and urged investors to buy the recent weakness. The stock climbed to around $124, though it remains below its $135 IPO price following a sharp post-listing pullback.

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CLARITY Act Could Help CFTC Deal with Prediction Markets: Lawyer

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CLARITY Act Could Help CFTC Deal with Prediction Markets: Lawyer

Lawmakers in the US House Committee on Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development held a hearing on how the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) could address oversight of prediction market companies, including discussions of pending crypto market structure legislation.

In a Tuesday hearing on “Examining Customer Protections and Market Integrity in Sports Event Prediction Markets,” Carl Kennedy, a partner at New York law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, said that the CFTC was likely too “short-staffed” to fully deal with the regulation and enforcement of prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. According to the lawyer, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act under consideration in the US Senate could grant the commodities regulator additional authority not only to address digital assets but also the “explosive growth of prediction markets.”

“I do believe that with additional resources — they’re about to perhaps receive additional authorities under the CLARITY Act — with additional resources to address these new asset classes in the cash markets and crypto, as well as to deal with the explosive growth of prediction markets, I think that the CFTC certainly should receive additional resources,” said Kennedy.

Carl Kennedy at Tuesday hearing. Source: House Committee on Agriculture

Kennedy’s remarks were just one example of legal and regulatory experts chiming in on the CFTC’s approach to handling prediction markets under Chair Michael Selig. Since being confirmed by the Senate in December, the chair has unilaterally taken the position that the agency has “exclusive jurisdiction” over the companies, arguing that event contracts on the platforms are classified as “swaps” under the CFTC’s purview. Selig is the only Senate-confirmed member heading the CFTC in a leadership panel normally consisting of five commissioners.

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Related: Trump claims he can ‘future proof’ crypto regulation with CLARITY Act

The CFTC chair’s position has led to what many Democratic senators call an “assault” on state authorities trying to regulate prediction market platforms, with some US states filing lawsuits against Kalshi and Polymarket over sports betting. Last week, he ordered Kalshi to ignore a ruling from a Michigan court, which the company said “put [it] in an impossible position” between state and federal authorities. 

Some legal experts expect that one or more of the prediction markets cases could eventually reach the US Supreme Court to address the clash between state and federal regulators.

Text of CLARITY Act expected to be released soon

Republican senators pushing for a vote on the CLARITY Act in Congress before the chamber breaks for August state work periods say they expect to release the bill’s text soon. Details on how the bill could address prediction markets, ethics and other concerns from lawyers were not made public as of Tuesday.

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In June, gambling industry groups petitioned the US Senate to add language to CLARITY “that explicitly prohibits event contracts tied to sports and casino-style gaming.” The White House also confirmed reports that the Trump administration “agreed to the most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history“ and it had “bent over backward to accommodate [Democrats’] concerns.“

Magazine: Peter Brandt predicts the exact day Bitcoin’s bear market will be over

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Jack Mallers Steps Down as CEO of Twenty One Capital

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Jack Mallers Steps Down as CEO of Twenty One Capital


Jack Mallers said he is stepping down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, the Tether-backed bitcoin treasury company he founded, to focus on his payments firm Strike. "I've decided to step down as CEO of Twenty One," Mallers wrote on X on Tuesday. "My life's work remains Bitcoin. My Bitcoin company is… Read the full story at The Defiant

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