Galaxy Digital has secured a 15-year naming rights agreement with Texas Tech University, with the school announcing that its football stadium will be renamed Galaxy Stadium starting in the 2026 season. The partnership is also designed to extend beyond branding, positioning Galaxy as an official partner for data center services and digital assets within Texas Tech Athletics.

According to the announcement, the venue will debut under its new name on Sept. 5, when Texas Tech opens its season against Abilene Christian. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Key takeaways

• Texas Tech Stadium will be renamed Galaxy Stadium for the 2026 season, starting Sept. 5.
• Galaxy will serve as the university’s official data center and digital assets partner for athletics.
• The agreement aims to cover AI initiatives, student-athlete name, image and likeness opportunities, and workforce development.
• The deal reinforces Galaxy’s presence in West Texas, where it operates the Helios data center campus.
• The announcement lands as Texas continues expanding its crypto footprint through both infrastructure investment and pro-crypto policy.

What Galaxy’s Texas Tech deal actually covers

Galaxy Digital’s agreement with Texas Tech includes a combination of commercial branding and operational collaboration. Beyond the naming rights, the company will be the official provider for data center services and digital assets related to Texas Tech Athletics.

The partners said they plan to work together on student-athlete name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities, alongside artificial intelligence initiatives and workforce development programs. While details of the programs were not expanded in the announcement, the scope signals a broader strategy: using university athletics as a platform for workforce and technology-oriented partnerships tied to digital infrastructure.

For Galaxy, it also creates a high-visibility link between its infrastructure footprint and a major institutional brand, while for Texas Tech it offers a clear pathway to connect compute and digital-asset expertise to campus programs that can support both athletic and career development goals.

Helios in West Texas: the infrastructure underpinning the partnership

The Texas Tech announcement also ties back to Galaxy’s existing operations in the region. The company operates the Helios data center campus in nearby Dickens County, approximately 60 miles east of Lubbock.

Galaxy stated that Helios has 1.6 gigawatts of approved capacity for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC). That capacity is a key reason deals like this matter to crypto and AI-focused investors: it shows how digital asset infrastructure providers are increasingly positioned at the intersection of compute-heavy applications—often driven by AI—and blockchain-adjacent digital services.

At the same time, it remains to be seen how much of Helios’ capacity will be directed toward specific Texas Tech initiatives, or whether the partnership will focus primarily on student and athletics-facing programs rather than direct compute allocation. Readers should watch for follow-on details as the 2026 season approaches.

Texas continues building a pro-crypto ecosystem

Galaxy’s university deal comes as Texas continues to strengthen its role in the crypto industry—combining large-scale mining and digital infrastructure investment with political momentum and pro-crypto state policy.

Texas is already home to several of the industry’s notable Bitcoin mining and infrastructure operators, including Riot Platforms, Cipher Mining, Core Scientific, CleanSpark, IREN and Hut 8.

Recent months have also featured major infrastructure moves and corporate activity. In February, Bitcoin mining hardware maker Canaan acquired a 49% stake in three operating Texas mining facilities from Cipher Mining for nearly $40 million. Earlier this month, MARA Holdings announced plans to acquire a 2-gigawatt powered Texas site aimed at building a digital infrastructure campus supporting both HPC and Bitcoin mining.

Policy tailwinds: spending, legislation, and reserve custody

Beyond infrastructure, Texas has also drawn attention for crypto-related political activity. In May, industry-affiliated political action committees spent more than $10 million supporting candidates in Texas congressional primary runoffs, with all six backed candidates winning, according to coverage cited in the announcement.

The state has also backed the industry through public policy. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation creating the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a move tied to Texas Senate Bill 21. In May, state officials began transitioning the reserve’s holdings from a spot Bitcoin ETF to directly custodied bitcoin.

Taken together, the pattern suggests Texas is reinforcing crypto with both hardware and compute build-outs and policy frameworks that are intended to make digital assets easier to integrate into state-level plans. Galaxy’s partnership with a major public university fits the broader theme: moving from energy and compute deployment into education, workforce development, and institution-facing adoption.

As the 2026 season approaches, the most important question for stakeholders is how quickly this kind of university partnership translates into measurable outcomes—whether through concrete NIL-related programs, AI or workforce initiatives with defined participation, or operational use cases tied to Galaxy’s Helios capacity. With Texas continuing to attract capital and policy support, the next signal to watch will be what practical projects emerge from the agreement once it begins naming the stadium.

Visa has launched an enterprise stablecoin platform that allows banks, fintech companies and payment providers to manage digital dollars through a single system. 

The Visa Stablecoin Platform, or VSP, will initially support Open USD, the stablecoin introduced by Open Standard in June.

The platform gives institutions access to tools for minting, redeeming, storing and transferring Open USD. Visa has also added Wallet-as-a-Service infrastructure, blockchain connectivity and its existing risk and security systems. The company said clients can use the service alongside its traditional payments network rather than replacing their current infrastructure.

Visa Chief Product and Strategy Officer Jack Forestell said “the hard part isn’t the concept, it’s the operational reality” when institutions adopt stablecoins. He said VSP gives clients one place to manage stablecoin operations while using controls and network infrastructure already provided by Visa.

Open USD adds another challenge to Circle’s USDC model

The launch gives Open USD a direct route into Visa’s institutional customer base. The token uses a different economic structure from established stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC. Open Standard plans to offer fee-free minting and redemption while sharing most reserve income with participating partners after operating costs.

More than 140 companies backed the Open USD initiative when it was announced on June 30. The group includes Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, Coinbase and several other companies across finance, technology and crypto. Visa had already reported a stablecoin settlement run rate of about $7 billion as of March 2026.

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The new platform arrives as investors continue to assess how Open USD could affect Circle’s business. As crypto.news reported, Circle shares fell after Open USD was announced, as markets reacted to a model that could return more reserve income to companies distributing the stablecoin.

Pressure increased this week when Mizuho downgraded Circle and cut its price target from $85 to $50. As previously reported by crypto.news, the bank said Open USD could put more pressure on Circle’s margins by changing how stablecoin reserve income flows to distribution partners. However, Open USD still needs to build the liquidity, regulatory reach and market adoption that USDC has developed over several years.

Visa’s launch moves Open USD from a consortium-backed stablecoin proposal toward institutional payment infrastructure. Banks and fintechs using VSP can access Open USD through Visa-managed tools while connecting stablecoin operations with existing payment products.

For Circle, the competition is now expanding beyond stablecoin issuance. Open USD has gained distribution partners, while Visa is building the systems institutions can use to manage the token directly. The next test will be whether financial companies adopt those tools at enough scale to challenge USDC’s established position in regulated digital-dollar payments.

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Galaxy Digital has signed a 15-year agreement to rename Texas Tech’s football venue Galaxy Stadium from the 2026 season.

According to Friday’s announcement, the deal also makes Galaxy the official digital assets and data center partner of Texas Tech Athletics. Financial details were not disclosed.

We’re excited to share Galaxy is now the official data center and digital assets partner of @TechAthletics under a 15-year agreement, renaming the home of Red Raider Football as Galaxy Stadium.

Texas Tech is central to our community footprint in West Texas. The university has… pic.twitter.com/UvL84ey8mo

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— Galaxy (@galaxyhq) July 17, 2026

The renamed stadium will host its first game on Sept. 5, when Texas Tech opens the season against Abilene Christian. Alongside the naming rights, Galaxy and the university plan to work on artificial intelligence projects, workforce training and opportunities involving student-athletes’ names, images and likenesses.

Galaxy already operates the Helios data center campus in Dickens County, about 60 miles east of Lubbock. Company figures show the site has approval for 1.6 gigawatts of capacity dedicated to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

Through the Texas Tech agreement, Galaxy is connecting its West Texas infrastructure business with one of the region’s most visible college sports programs. The announcement did not provide details on the planned AI projects, training programs or potential payments involving athletes.

Galaxy links its data center business with Texas Tech football

Once the 2026 season begins, Galaxy’s name will appear on a stadium used by a university competing in the Big 12 Conference. The company’s role will also extend beyond branding because the agreement covers digital assets, data centers and joint university programs.

Located in nearby Dickens County, the Helios campus gives Galaxy an existing operational base close to Texas Tech. Galaxy has positioned the facility for AI and high-performance computing workloads, while its approved power capacity places the site among the region’s large digital infrastructure developments.

The Texas Tech deal follows continued investment in computing facilities across the state. Texas already hosts Bitcoin miners and infrastructure operators including Riot Platforms, Cipher Mining, Core Scientific, CleanSpark, IREN and Hut 8.

In February, mining hardware maker Canaan purchased a 49% interest in three operating Texas mining sites from Cipher Mining for almost $40 million. Earlier this month, MARA Holdings announced plans to acquire a powered site with two gigawatts of capacity in Texas for a campus supporting high-performance computing and Bitcoin mining.

Texas attracts more crypto investment and political spending

Outside infrastructure development, crypto-linked political groups have increased their spending in Texas elections. Industry-affiliated political action committees spent more than $10 million in May on candidates contesting congressional primary runoffs, according to the supplied report.

All six candidates supported by those groups won their races, the report stated. The spending added another layer to the industry’s activity in a state already attracting miners, data center developers and digital asset companies.

Texas officials have also adopted policies involving Bitcoin. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation establishing the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

In May, state officials began moving the reserve’s exposure away from a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund and toward directly custodied Bitcoin, according to the report. The transition placed Texas among the US states using public policy to hold Bitcoin directly rather than relying only on a regulated investment product.

Galaxy’s stadium agreement now adds a major college sports partnership to that activity. While the 15-year term gives the company a long presence at Texas Tech, neither party has disclosed the contract’s value or a timetable for the planned student and workforce programs.

Stablecoins are increasingly moving from “cross-border convenience” to everyday financial infrastructure in parts of the developing world. In Bolivia, a new proposal would allow Tether’s USDt (USDT) to be used more broadly in payments and savings—an approach that reflects widening pressure on the local economy and the availability of dollars.

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin mining industry’s pivot toward AI and data-center infrastructure is drawing new scrutiny from investors, especially as insiders sell shares and governance questions rise. And in separate developments, CleanSpark highlighted the potential scale of long-term data-center revenue, while Bitmine reported strong results tied to Ethereum staking.

Key takeaways

• Bolivia is considering a regulatory framework that would recognize USDT as a payment currency amid a prolonged shortage of U.S. dollars.
• Bolivia is still on the Financial Action Task Force’s gray list, meaning any stablecoin rollout would need anti-money laundering controls.
• Investor focus is shifting for AI-focused Bitcoin miners, with recent disclosures of insider stock sales under Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• CleanSpark’s 20-year Georgia data-center lease could generate up to $6.6 billion in contracted revenue, with potential extensions taking the value higher.
• Bitmine reported $45.7 million in revenue from Ethereum staking and validation in the most recent quarter, with most income coming from staking.

Bolivia looks to formalize USDT payments as dollar scarcity deepens

Bolivia is weighing a regulatory path that would recognize Tether’s USDT as a payment currency, according to earlier reporting from Cointelegraph. The proposal, discussed by Economy and Public Finance Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza, would allow USDT to circulate alongside the boliviano and the U.S. dollar for payments and savings.

Espinoza said the framework remains under review and would include anti-money laundering safeguards. The country still sits on the Financial Action Task Force’s gray list, which raises the compliance bar for any integration of stablecoins into regulated financial activity.

The policy debate comes after major currency stress earlier this year. Bolivia faced a sustained shortage of U.S. dollars following pressure on foreign exchange reserves, leading the government to abandon its long-standing currency peg. With a wider gap between the official and parallel exchange rates, demand for dollar-denominated alternatives has increased—boosting the role of stablecoins such as USDT for everyday transactions.

Bolivia’s latest move also follows two contextual shifts referenced by Cointelegraph: the lifting of the country’s crypto ban in 2024 and the new administration’s stated intent to expand access to digital asset services.

For investors and users, the practical question is not whether stablecoins are “faster,” but whether they can reliably substitute for dollars under local restrictions. A regulated USDT channel would potentially reduce friction for payments and savings while making compliance expectations clearer for financial providers that interact with the token.

AI pivots at Bitcoin miners face a new governance test

As some Bitcoin miners reorient toward AI infrastructure and high-performance computing, a separate theme is emerging: investors are increasingly paying attention to what insiders are doing while those strategies are being rolled out.

According to Blocksbridge Consulting, executives at TeraWulf, Cipher Digital, Riot Platforms, and Core Scientific have disclosed stock sales in recent months. Many of those sales were conducted under prearranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. Blocksbridge also pointed out that strategic investors have trimmed their holdings—including Tether, which reduced its stake in Bitdeer after Bitdeer’s AI-driven rally.

The backdrop is a softening of AI infrastructure optimism. Blocksbridge cited the TEM AI Infrastructure Growth Index, stating it fell 16% over the past month. The firm said the market is beginning to look beyond the AI growth narrative and toward whether the miners’ pivots translate into sustainable value for public shareholders.

This is a critical distinction for the sector. Miners may be building long-dated infrastructure bets, but if governance signals—such as insider selling—suggest executives are less confident in near-to-medium term returns, shareholders may demand stronger evidence before capital follows the thesis.

CleanSpark’s long-term data-center lease underscores miners’ infrastructure bet

CleanSpark drew strong market attention after announcing a 20-year data center lease in Georgia. Cointelegraph reported the shares rallied by as much as 22% on the news, reflecting how the market is evaluating the potential scale of contracted revenue as miners deepen their participation in AI-related computing.

The agreement covers a 175-megawatt data center at CleanSpark’s Sandersville, Georgia, campus and is tied to an undisclosed investment-grade global technology company. The tenant will install its computing equipment on-site, with phased deliveries expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027.

Under the announced terms, Cointelegraph reported that the contract could generate up to $6.6 billion in contracted revenue. If the customer exercises two five-year extension options, the contract’s total value could reach $11.6 billion.

The lease also fits a broader industry pattern highlighted in the coverage: miners have been searching for additional revenue streams as post-halving mining economics remain under pressure. While many publicly traded miners have reduced their Bitcoin holdings to strengthen liquidity, CleanSpark has largely remained a net accumulator, although it sold some BTC earlier in the year to fund operations.

For readers tracking this trend, the key variable to watch is how quickly these long-lead infrastructure commitments convert into realized cash flows, particularly once the phased deliveries begin. Contract size can be eye-catching; timing, utilization, and the cost of capital will ultimately determine whether these deals improve balance sheets or merely shift risk further out.

Bitmine posts $45.7 million in Ethereum staking revenue, powered by validator operations

In a different corner of the market, Bitmine Immersion Technologies reported revenue generated from Ethereum staking and validation. Cointelegraph reported that Bitmine earned $45.7 million in revenue in the most recent quarter, despite ongoing pressure on ETH prices.

According to the company’s results, Ethereum staking accounted for 98% of its revenue for the three months ended May 31. Other income streams included about $624,000 from self-mining Bitcoin and approximately $168,000 from consulting services.

Bitmine’s staking activity comes after the March launch of MAVAN, its institutional Ethereum staking platform. Cointelegraph noted that MAVAN was built on the acquisition of validator operator Pier Two Holdings. The company said it has staked roughly 85% of its Ether holdings—about 4.9 million ETH.

Chairman Tom Lee said Bitmine now stakes more Ether than any other entity and projected annualized staking rewards of $284 million once its holdings are fully staked through MAVAN and its partners.

For businesses and investors, the relevance is straightforward: staking revenue remains highly sensitive to staking participation, operational execution, and ETH market conditions. Bitmine’s figures suggest meaningful operating momentum, but readers should still focus on how staking yields evolve and whether partners and fully deployed staking capacity sustain growth into future reporting periods.

Looking ahead, stablecoin policy decisions in Bolivia and similar jurisdictions may determine how quickly dollar-like utility spreads beyond payments, while the Bitcoin mining-to-AI transition will likely be judged not just on infrastructure announcements, but on governance behavior and whether contracted deals begin translating into shareholder value. On the staking side, follow-on disclosures around full deployment through platforms like MAVAN will show whether recent revenue strength can hold.

Ripple Payments Europe has joined 14 other firms in ESMA’s latest MiCA register update, lifting the number of approved crypto asset service providers to 294.

ESMA’s updated register identifies Ripple Payments Europe SA as an authorized crypto asset service provider, allowing the company’s European payments unit to offer regulated crypto services across 29 EU countries.

The authorization follows Ripple’s earlier approval in Luxembourg under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. According to Ripple, the Luxembourg license permits its European subsidiary to serve financial institutions and businesses throughout the European Economic Area.

Combined with its existing electronic money institution license in Luxembourg, the CASP approval gives Ripple permission to provide crypto asset and stablecoin payment services. Ripple has stated that banks, fintech companies, and corporate clients can use one integration to collect funds, exchange assets, and make payments.

Ripple gains access as banks enter the MiCA market

Alongside Ripple, ESMA added Portugal-based Bison Bank, Croatia’s state-owned Hrvatska poštanska banka, and Liechtenstein-based Kaiser Partner Privatbank to the register. Their inclusion shows that regulated banks are also seeking permission to provide digital asset services under MiCA.

Payment processor BitPay has separately secured MiCA authorization from the Dutch financial regulator, according to the original report. The license allows BitPay to provide crypto and stablecoin payment services across eligible EU markets through MiCA’s passporting system.

With the latest additions, ESMA now lists 294 authorized CASPs. Licensing activity has slowed since MiCA’s 18-month transitional period ended on July 1, the report noted, although the register continues to add crypto companies, payment firms, and traditional financial institutions.

MiCA requires companies offering covered crypto services in the bloc to obtain authorization from a national regulator. Once licensed, a provider can use the framework’s passporting rules to operate in other participating European markets without applying for separate approval in each country.

Ripple has also received regulatory approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, according to the company’s previous announcements. Its European permissions apply to Ripple’s payment services and infrastructure, including products that may use XRP, the XRP Ledger, or the RLUSD stablecoin, depending on the service and client.

The future of regulated digital assets payments in the UK has arrived! 🇬🇧

Ripple has officially secured approval of both an EMI license and Cryptoasset Registration from the UK’s FCA.

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Who better to explain what it means than our UK and Europe Managing Director @CraddockCJ.… pic.twitter.com/q2xyeJQXEF

— Ripple (@Ripple) January 9, 2026

July deadline increases pressure on departing crypto firms

Ripple’s entry comes as European regulators monitor customer movements following the end of MiCA’s transition window. Crypto companies that failed to obtain authorization by the applicable deadline must stop offering regulated services in EU markets unless national arrangements provide otherwise.

During a briefing before the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, AMLA chair Bruna Szego warned that firms leaving the market could face a sharp rise in withdrawal requests as customers move their assets before services close.

According to Szego, licensed virtual asset service providers receiving those customers may also struggle to process a large number of new accounts while maintaining effective anti-money laundering checks. She called on departing firms to prepare for increased customer activity and urged authorized providers to preserve compliance standards during onboarding.

AMLA’s warning places Ripple’s registration within a more demanding phase of MiCA implementation. While ESMA’s register shows that authorized providers can now serve customers across participating markets, Szego’s comments indicate that regulators expect them to manage incoming business without weakening identity checks, transaction monitoring, or other anti-money laundering controls.

Bitcoin Ordinals advocate Leonidas has proposed a new open-source Bitcoin client that would raise transaction size limits and reduce the dust threshold, seeking to remove policy restrictions affecting Ordinals and Runes transactions.

In a Friday post on X, Bitcoin Ordinals advocate Leonidas introduced a proposal for an alternative Bitcoin client called Bitcoin $DOG Mode, describing it as software designed to remove limits enforced by existing Bitcoin clients rather than by the Bitcoin protocol itself.

I am very excited to announce the launch of a new open source Bitcoin client called Bitcoin $DOG Mode.

Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots have spent years enforcing rules that Bitcoin itself does not have.

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A transaction can be fully valid under consensus and still be blocked from… pic.twitter.com/WCJ9roEkeo

— Leonidas 🧡 $DOG (@LeonidasNFT) July 17, 2026

The proposed client would increase the maximum individual transaction size to 3.9 million weight units (WU) from the 400,000 WU allowed under Bitcoin Core’s default policy. It would also reduce the dust limit to 1 satoshi, compared with the current 294 to 546 satoshis required by Bitcoin Core for standard transactions.

According to Leonidas, Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots have enforced transaction policies for years that are not part of Bitcoin’s consensus rules. He said the new client is intended to remove what he described as unnecessary restrictions, adding that the long-term goal is to attract enough users for Bitcoin Core to eventually reconsider those policies.

Larger transactions and smaller outputs

If adopted, the higher transaction limit would allow Ordinals users to include much larger inscriptions or entire collections within a single Bitcoin transaction, including transactions that occupy most of a block.

The lower dust limit would also make it easier to create very small transaction outputs. Under the current default rules used by Bitcoin Core nodes, users often have to increase output values above the minimum threshold before their transactions are relayed across the network. Bitcoin $DOG Mode would instead allow outputs as small as 1 satoshi.

Bitcoin $DOG Mode is being positioned as an alternative to Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots, the two most widely used Bitcoin clients.

Ordinals and Runes have remained divisive since their launch. Supporters view them as Bitcoin-native versions of non-fungible and fungible tokens, while critics have argued they consume valuable block space and amount to network spam.

Proposal follows Ord.io shutdown

The proposal comes just months after Leonidas announced the closure of Ord.io, one of the earliest Ordinals explorers. In May, he said the project would shut down after the team ran out of funding and no longer saw a sustainable path forward.

Ord.io, launched in 2023, had served more than 1 million users before announcing plans to go offline. The associated consumer app Zap also ceased operations after failing to reach sufficient user growth, while the team said it would preserve public Ord.io data on GitHub and remained open to another group taking over the project.

Activity around Bitcoin inscriptions has cooled since the strong demand seen during 2023 and early 2024. Runes generated $135 million in fees during the first week after Bitcoin’s 2024 halving, although transaction activity later declined. 

The trust behind reimbursing creditors with ties to defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced that its next distribution of funds would start on July 31.

In a Friday notice, the FTX Recovery Trust and crypto exchange said that they would distribute about $900 million to claimants in the recovery plan’s “convenience and non-convenience classes.” Eligible creditors can receive funds through their BitGo, Kraken or Payoneer accounts within one to three business days starting from July 31.

The distribution will mark the fifth round of attempts of repaying FTX’s creditors. Convenience claims under $50,000 will receive a 120% reimbursement under FTX’s recovery plan, while others will receive between a 103-105% distribution.

Source: Sunil Kavuri

Following a March distribution of $2.2 billion, the trust has paid out about $10 billion since the company filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 amid a crypto market downturn that resulted in many exchanges filing for Chapter 11 protection. Former FTX executives including CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried and Ryan Salame, the co-CEO of FTX’s Bahamian affiliate, are still in federal prison as part of their role in the exchange’s misuse of customer funds.

Related: FTX estate misses out on $3B Cursor stake value after $200K sale in 2023

In May, the law firm Fenwick & West, which advised FTX before its collapse, agreed to pay $54 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed by former users. A group of 20 FTX users sued the law firm for $525 million just days earlier.

Presidential pardon looking less likely for former FTX CEO

Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to his role in the misuse of customer funds at FTX, was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024. His appeal for his conviction and sentence was denied last month after a federal court upheld the New York court ruling.

However, even before the appellate court ruling became public, Bankman-Fried applied for a pardon from Donald Trump, something the US president said in a January interview that he did not plan on granting. Despite the statement from Trump, this week the US Senate unanimously adopted a resolution opposing clemency for the former FTX CEO.

The measure can’t stop Trump from issuing a pardon but reflected bipartisan opposition to the president granting clemency to a convicted felon. Many lawmakers have criticized the president issuing a pardon for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao after a UAE entity invested $2 billion into the crypto exchange using a stablecoin issued by the Trump family business, World Liberty Financial.

Magazine: Strategy became a symbol of the dot-com crash: Could history repeat?

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Stablecoins have long been pitched as a faster way to move dollars across borders. In Bolivia, they’re increasingly becoming a way to access dollars in the first place. The country’s recent proposal to recognize Tether’s USDt (USDT) for payments underscores how economic instability is driving adoption in many emerging markets. 

Elsewhere, Bitcoin miners are discovering that pivoting to AI infrastructure may unlock new revenue streams, but it doesn’t shield them from investor scrutiny.

Bolivia weighs recognizing USDT amid dollar shortage

Bolivia is considering a regulatory framework that would recognize Tether’s USDT as a payment currency, marking another step in the country’s push to integrate digital assets into its financial system.

Economy and Public Finance Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza said the proposal would allow USDT to circulate alongside the boliviano and the US dollar for payments and savings. The framework remains under review and would include anti-money laundering safeguards, as Bolivia is still on the Financial Action Task Force’s gray list. The initiative follows the lifting of the country’s crypto ban in 2024 and the new administration’s pledge to expand access to digital asset services.

The proposal comes as Bolivia struggles with a prolonged shortage of US dollars after pressure on foreign exchange reserves forced the government to abandon its long-standing currency peg earlier this year. The resulting gap between the official and parallel exchange rates has increased demand for dollar-denominated alternatives such as USDT, which has become an increasingly popular payment tool in the country.

Source: EL DEBER

Bitcoin miners’ AI pivot draws scrutiny over insider stock sales

Investors are increasingly scrutinizing insider stock sales at Bitcoin miners pursuing AI infrastructure strategies as enthusiasm for the sector cools and governance concerns take center stage.

According to Blocksbridge Consulting, executives at TeraWulf, Cipher Digital, Riot Platforms and Core Scientific have disclosed stock sales in recent months, many of them made under prearranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. Strategic investors have also trimmed their holdings — including Tether — which reduced its stake in Bitdeer following the company’s AI-driven rally. The shift comes as the TEM AI Infrastructure Growth Index has fallen 16% over the past month.

Blocksbridge said investors are increasingly looking beyond the AI growth story to assess whether the benefits of miners’ strategic pivots will flow to public shareholders.

Most stocks in the 20-company TEM AI Infrastructure Growth Index were down over the past month through July 8. Source: Miner Weekly

CleanSpark stock jumps on $6.6 billion data center lease as AI pivot accelerates

CleanSpark shares rallied as much as 22% after the Bitcoin miner signed a 20-year data center lease in Georgia that could generate up to $6.6 billion in contracted revenue, underscoring its push into AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.

The agreement covers a 175-megawatt data center at the company’s Sandersville, Georgia, campus and was signed with an undisclosed investment-grade global technology company. The tenant will install its computing equipment at the site, with phased deliveries expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027. If the customer exercises two five-year extension options, the contract’s total value could reach $11.6 billion.

The deal reflects a broader trend among Bitcoin miners seeking new revenue streams as post-halving mining economics remain under pressure. While many publicly traded miners have reduced their Bitcoin holdings to shore up liquidity, CleanSpark has largely remained a net accumulator despite selling some BTC earlier this year to fund operations. 

CleanSpark remains a net accumulator of Bitcoin. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET 

Bitmine generated $46 million from Ethereum staking last quarter

Bitmine Immersion Technologies generated $45.7 million in revenue from Ethereum staking and validation last quarter, demonstrating the strength of its business even as ETH prices remained under pressure. 

Ethereum staking accounted for 98% of the company’s revenue for the three months ended May 31, compared with $624,000 from self-mining Bitcoin and $168,000 from consulting services. The results follow the March launch of MAVAN, Bitmine’s institutional Ethereum staking platform, which was built on the acquisition of validator operator Pier Two Holdings. The company said it has staked roughly 85% of its Ether holdings, or about 4.9 million ETH.

Chairman Tom Lee said Bitmine now stakes more Ether than any other entity and projects annualized staking rewards of $284 million once its holdings of the token are fully staked through MAVAN and its partners. 

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