Key Takeaways

• LCID shares declined 7.62% to $6.13 following the release of second-quarter production data.

• The electric vehicle maker manufactured 4,774 units and handed over 3,953 vehicles in Q2.

• Alexander De Bock has been appointed as the new chief financial officer at Lucid.

• Major leadership restructuring aims to streamline operations and enhance accountability.

• Management seeks better alignment between production capacity, operational expenses, and market demand.

Shares of Lucid Group (LCID) experienced a sharp 7.62% decline, closing at $6.13, after the electric vehicle manufacturer disclosed its second-quarter manufacturing and delivery metrics. The downturn came alongside announcements of significant executive transitions, including a new chief financial officer and extensive leadership reorganization. These developments have intensified investor attention on the company’s operational effectiveness and cost management.

Lucid Group, Inc., LCID

Second Quarter Manufacturing and Distribution Figures Released

Lucid manufactured a total of 4,774 electric vehicles throughout the quarter ending June 30, 2026. During this same timeframe, the automaker successfully delivered 3,953 units to customers. Market participants responded negatively, sending LCID shares downward at the opening bell.

The stock experienced initial selling pressure before finding some stability and staging a minor recovery later in the trading session. Nevertheless, the overall negative movement maintained downward momentum on the company’s short-term valuation. The quarterly performance data intensified questions surrounding customer demand dynamics, manufacturing planning capabilities, and distribution effectiveness.

The company maintains its strategic focus on software-integrated electric vehicles and cutting-edge automotive technology. However, Lucid remains under considerable pressure to expand production volumes while simultaneously enhancing operational efficiency. Consequently, this latest operational disclosure coincided with a comprehensive reorganization of its management team and corporate structure.

Financial Leadership Transition Marks Latest Executive Change

Lucid has announced Alexander De Bock as its next chief financial officer. De Bock comes with over twenty years of automotive financial management expertise. His previous role included serving as CFO at TI Automotive, where he led cost optimization initiatives and organizational restructuring projects.

Taoufiq Boussaid, the current CFO, will depart from Lucid following a transition period. He is expected to remain with the organization through the publication of second-quarter financial results. This transition represents another significant shift in the company’s financial leadership structure.

Lucid simultaneously revealed multiple executive appointments under the direction of CEO Silvio Napoli. Management stated these organizational modifications will simplify corporate structure and strengthen accountability mechanisms. The restructuring will reduce the number of executives reporting directly to the CEO by fifty percent.

Organizational Restructuring Aims to Accelerate Performance and Responsibility

Raja Ramana Macha has been named chief technology officer at Lucid. In this capacity, he will direct technology initiatives and engineering implementation. Macha’s professional history includes senior technology leadership positions at Eaton spanning automotive and additional industrial segments.

Billy Hayes has assumed the role of chief customer officer, taking charge of sales operations, customer service, marketing functions, and regional execution. Hugo Martinho will step into the position of chief transformation officer effective August 1. Kay Stepper will head Lucid Technologies, supervising robotaxi development, artificial intelligence, autonomous driving systems, advanced driver assistance systems, and enterprise information technology.

Lucid has additionally elevated Christian Appel to vice president of program management. Appel will coordinate platform execution and manage product portfolio alignment. These organizational changes build upon previous efforts to reduce operational complexity, synchronize manufacturing capacity with market demand, and strengthen competitive positioning.

Solana-based prediction market World has been flagged for “suspected phishing” by Cloudflare after the similarly-named eyeball scanning firm World Network claimed it was impersonating its brand to harvest user data.

Launched yesterday, World’s landing page now displays a large warning that claims the site “has been reported for potential phishing.”

According to World, World Network, which is best known for its data harvesting eyeball scanning orbs, went “crying to [Cloudflare]” and reported the site. 

World shared an apparent email from Cloudflare on X along with a post that said, “Sorry we mogged you so badly that Cloudflare had to step in.”

In the email, a representative for World Network’s parent company, Tools for Humanity, claims it was being targeted by World’s “malicious website,” and asked for it to be taken down.

Read more: World Network’s WLD down 98% amid Altman–Musk legal battle

It claimed that World’s website “is a fraudulent phishing site using the World brand designed to harvest user credentials through a fake email notification page.”

It added, “This is a clear attempt at brand impersonation that endangers users through compromised personal information and potential financial loss.”

World jokingly responded, “the world is big enough for both of us,” signing off the post with “p.s. you’re not scanning my eyeballs freak.”

Read more: Cloudflare’s 2029 quantum sprint raises Bitcoin alarm bells

Cloudflare is a content delivery network (CDN) that allows websites to operate smoothly.

Yesterday, it announced a new monetization system called x402 that would charge incredibly low fees for Cloudflare-protected assets, such as web pages, datasets, APIs, or MCP tools.

Protos has reached out to Tools for Humanity and Cloudflare for comment and will update this piece should we hear anything back.

Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has said Bitcoin may be moving closer to a market bottom as Strategy’s STRC stress drains excess leverage from the market.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan wrote in his latest weekly memo that the recent volatility in Strategy’s STRC preferred stock looks like a late-cycle unwind rather than a sign of more serious structural damage.

“The volatility in STRC is a natural and important part of the crypto cycle. I think we’re nearing the bottom.”

STRC stress has forced leverage out of Bitcoin

STRC is a perpetual preferred stock created by Strategy to offer investors a high yield while keeping the instrument close to its $100 par value. Hougan said Strategy used the product to raise about $10.5 billion, with proceeds helping finance more Bitcoin purchases.

The trade weakened last week after Bitcoin and MSTR declined, sending STRC to roughly $75 and raising concerns over Strategy’s ability to keep funding preferred dividends. The company responded this week by increasing STRC’s annual dividend to 12%, authorizing up to $2 billion in common and preferred stock buybacks, and introducing a capital management framework that allows Bitcoin sales to strengthen reserves, meet dividend and debt obligations, and fund share repurchases.

According to Barron’s, STRC recently fell to a record low of $73.62 before Strategy increased the dividend and moved toward what it called active capital management. The report also said Strategy authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales to help strengthen reserves.

Hougan said the move means Strategy may no longer act as a one-way source of Bitcoin demand. “For years, Strategy has been the most dominant Bitcoin buyer in the world and a one way source of Bitcoin demand,” he wrote. “Those days are likely over.”

Institutions could lead the next Bitcoin rally

Hougan does not expect Strategy to become a forced seller, saying the company still has enough assets to cover debt and preferred obligations. He argued Bitcoin would need to fall much further and stay depressed before Strategy faced serious balance sheet pressure.

Instead, Hougan expects the next cycle to depend more on institutions, including banks, asset managers, pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and financial advisers.

The Bitwise CIO compared the STRC unwind with the collapse of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust premium after the 2019 to 2021 bull market. In his view, both structures pulled capital into Bitcoin during strong markets before losing support and forcing a painful reset.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin briefly climbed above $62,000 after softer U.S. jobs data improved risk appetite. Reuters reported that the U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June, below expectations, while stocks rose and the dollar weakened as traders reduced expectations for Fed tightening.

Hougan said investors should watch for MSTR trading below the value of its Bitcoin holdings, extreme Crypto Fear and Greed Index readings, and negative funding rates. While he warned that bottoms are impossible to call in real time, he wrote that the STRC unwind suggests the market is entering the final stage of the cycle.

“I’m convinced the bottom is closer than ever,” Hougan wrote, adding that he expects a new Bitcoin bull market to begin in the fall.

Bitcoin (BTC) passed $62,000 at Thursday’s Wall Street open as crypto reacted to weak US employment figures.

Key points:

• US nonfarm payrolls data delivers a crypto market boost as job additions for June fall short.
• Investors eye an easing in the inflation outlook as optimism over BTC prices increases.
• Crypto begins its forecast “green July” by liquidating nearly $500 milllion of short positions.

Bitcoin gains amid “volatile situation” for US labor market

Data from TradingView showed new July highs of $62,137 on Bitstamp, with BTC/USD up nearly 4% on the day.

BTC/USD four-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The latest nonfarm payrolls data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that the US added far fewer jobs than expected in June, at 57,000 versus the anticipated 114,000.

“Both the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, and the number of unemployed people, at 7.1 million, changed little in June,” an official news release stated.

US unemployment data. Source: BLS

The jobs numbers painted a weak picture of the labor market — a potential tailwind for risk assets should the Federal Reserve loosen financial policy as a result.

“May’s jobs number was also revised down by -43,000 jobs,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted in a reaction on X. 

“The labor market remains in a volatile situation.”

As Bitcoin and altcoins headed higher, crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe was among those shifting toward a more optimistic mid-term market view.

“Inflation expectations have come down. Now, unemployment drops too. It’s at its lowest level in close to a year. Those are strong, public signals about the direction of the markets,” he told X followers. 

“I don’t think we’ll see another drop on Bitcoin if Bitcoin can clearly break through $65,000 from here.”

Bitcoin “buyers are back and strong”

Other market participants also drew attention to Bitcoin bulls’ newfound strength.

Related: Bitcoin bear market ‘dead’ after first TD9 reversal signal since July 2022 fires

“Price drilling through large asks on Binance perps orderbook is actually sign of strength. Plus, we have chasing bids supporting aggressive buyers,” commentator Exitpump reported about exchange order-book data. 

“Buyers are back and strong.”

BTC/USDT chart with order-book liquidity data. Source: Exitpump/X

Data from CoinGlass put 24-hour crypto short liquidations at nearly $450 million at the time of writing. 

BTC/USD vs. cryptocurrency liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

“Welcome to green July,” trader and analyst Rekt Capital continued.

As Cointelegraph reported, Rekt Capital expects a July relief rally for Bitcoin before bear-market momentum resumes in August.

An accompanying chart, which featured the 21-month and 50-month exponential moving averages (EMAs), drew comparisons to the 2022 bear market, with the implication that the cycle lows were still to come.

“And once Bitcoin turns the 50 EMA into new resistance on this relief rally, it will likely enter additional Bearish Acceleration over time,” Rekt Capital added in a separate X post.

BTC/USD one-month chart with 21, 50EMA. Source: Rekt Capital/X

It is moving from a weak position. Shares closed near 16 cents on June 29, and Nasdaq has twice warned the company this year that it no longer meets listing rules, in January for trading below $1 and again in June because its publicly held shares are worth less than the $15 million minimum.

K Wave is considering a reverse stock split, which combines shares into fewer, higher-priced shares to raise the quoted price. The $250 million it hopes to raise is many times its entire market value.

The retreat fits a pattern followed by bitcoin miners.

These firms have sold more than 15,000 bitcoin from peak holdings and signed over $70 billion in AI computing contracts, chasing steadier margins than mining offers, and treasury companies are now joining that rotation. And it worked for some of the struggling miners, as their stock rallied from their lows. For example, IREN, a previously bitcoin mining company that pivoted to AI, saw its shares surge more than 200% after languishing since 2022.

It is the same shift of money out of crypto and into the AI trade that has weighed on bitcoin through a losing first half.

Whether the switch works remains unproven so far. AI infrastructure is capital-heavy and crowded with better-funded rivals, and K Wave has to stay on Nasdaq long enough to spend what it raises.

The idea of prediction markets is centuries old. Informal information markets date back to early 16th-century Italy, where people speculated on who would become the next pope and circulated the odds through handwritten letters. While the technology has changed dramatically, the underlying instinct has not.

People have always looked to collective opinion as a way to understand what may happen next. But as prediction markets expand and attract attention from major technology companies such as Meta, the industry faces a new question: if these platforms are designed to reflect collective intelligence, why are so many markets still shaped by centralized teams?

Rain Trade is taking a different approach to forecasting. Rather than treating market creation as a centralized process, the platform allows anyone to launch public or private prediction markets on any topic, in any language. Users decide what deserves a market, whether it’s the game aired tonight, a political development, or even the outcome of the latest season of Love Island USA, which generated more than $20 million in trading volume on Kalshi during its first two weeks.

The launch coincides with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, during which millions of fans continually debate match outcomes, player performances, and tournament predictions. The launch campaign is backed by former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who will serve as the face of Rain Trade’s official rollout.

Roy Shaham, CEO of Rain Protocol, the foundation on which Rain Trade is built, said the platform reflects where prediction markets are heading next: “Users want more than a list of markets chosen for them. They want the freedom to create, participate, and build communities around the events they care about. Rain Trade was designed to give them that control, turning prediction markets into something shaped by users, not just platform operators.”

That user-driven approach is central to Rain Trade’s model. Unlike traditional platforms, where markets are selected by the platform itself, Rain Trade allows users to create and share their own markets. They can keep them public or keep them private and password-protected for a specific community, group, or audience. That flexibility allows prediction markets to be shaped less by major headlines and more by the smaller conversations happening in real-time across online communities and in private chats.

To encourage participation, market creators can earn a share of the trading activity generated by the markets they launch. Whether the markets are formed around the World Cup, entertainment, politics, or in a private group chat, the idea is that the community, not a centralized team, should always be the ones to decide what is worth predicting.