Crypto World
SWIFT Crypto Ledger Targets Settlement Dead Zones With 17-Bank Go-Live
SWIFT is taking its biggest step into crypto after confirming its blockchain-based shared ledger is ready for initial use. Built on Hyperledger Besu over nine months, the network will let 17 major banks, including HSBC, Citi, UBS, BNP Paribas, DBS, ANZ, and Standard Chartered, pilot live cross-border payments using tokenized deposits.
The rollout moves beyond closed sandbox testing into real banking operations. Rather than replacing existing payment rails, the ledger coordinates tokenized deposits between participating banks while final settlement stays on the current infrastructure. That could help banks process payments during nights, weekends, and across time zones, where delays have long been a problem.
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What the SWIFT Crypto Ledger Actually Does
The shared ledger sits above existing payment rails instead of replacing them. When a participating bank starts a transaction, the platform coordinates funding commitments across counterparties and gives every institution the same real-time view of payment status. Final settlement still runs through RTGS systems and Swift’s existing messaging network.
The pilot uses bank-issued tokenized deposits rather than stablecoins or public crypto assets. Each token is backed one-to-one by commercial bank deposits, giving it the same regulated status as money held in a traditional bank account. In practice, the blockchain improves how banks move and coordinate funds, while the underlying money and compliance framework remain unchanged.
SWIFT already processes 75% of payments to beneficiary banks within 10 minutes on existing rails, often in seconds. The ledger’s specific contribution is removing the remaining constraint: the dependency on overlapping business hours between sender and receiver.
The result is 24/7 settlement availability, including overnight and weekend flows that current infrastructure cannot support, regardless of how fast the underlying messaging moves.
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Compliance Architecture Is the Strategic Signal
One reason the crypto project could gain traction is what Swift chose not to change. The shared ledger keeps the compliance, credit, risk, and control standards already used in today’s payment systems. Instead of creating a separate settlement network, it works within the existing regulatory framework.
That approach matters because regulators and major banks have been reluctant to adopt tokenized payment systems that weaken oversight. By keeping established safeguards in place, Swift is pitching blockchain as an upgrade to existing infrastructure rather than a replacement for it.
Thierry Chilosi, Swift’s Chief Business Officer, said the platform lets tokenized value move across borders with the speed modern commerce demands while maintaining the resilience, security, and compliance expected by global financial institutions.
The pilot brings together 17 banks from six continents, including ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citi, DBS, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq, MUFG Bank, OCBC, Standard Chartered, UBS, UOB, and Wells Fargo.
The lineup suggests this is more than a regional trial. These institutions play a central role in cross-border payments across the dollar, euro, and major Asian currency corridors. Their participation gives the project a broader international footprint from the outset and could provide an early test of blockchain-based settlement at global banking scale.
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The Broader Institutional Tokenization Race
SWIFT is not operating in isolation. A separate consortium including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, and BNY Mellon announced a US-focused tokenized deposit network via The Clearing House, targeting a first-half 2027 launch.
NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange has outlined a 24/7 settlement venue for tokenized securities with stablecoin-based funding, while NYSE itself partnered with Securitize in March to build blockchain infrastructure for tokenized stocks and ETFs.
Payments, deposits, and securities are steadily moving toward a blockchain-based infrastructure that can operate around the clock. Swift’s pilot stands out because of its reach. Its existing network connects more than 11,500 financial institutions across over 200 countries, giving the shared ledger a potential user base that few blockchain payment networks can match.
If the pilot succeeds across 17 major banks and multiple currency corridors, it could make it easier for other institutions to join. The project is designed to work within existing banking rules, reducing one of the biggest barriers to institutional adoption.
Swift has already outlined the next phase. Future upgrades are expected to support foreign exchange payment versus payment, programmable corporate payments, and cash movements tied to securities transactions. The current rollout is an early milestone, while the next test is whether that global network can translate interest into meaningful transaction volume.
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Ethereum price prediction is back in focus after Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee floated a $5 trillion network valuation. ETH trades near $1,740, leaving it valued at around $210 billion. That puts Lee’s target 24 times above today’s level. Big swing, small ask, right?
Speaking on the New Era Finance podcast, Lee argued Ethereum remains undervalued compared with the markets it could eventually support. He pointed to gold at roughly $22 trillion, global equities above $100 trillion, and real estate near $300 trillion. His view is that more of those assets will migrate on-chain over time.
Lee also tied that thesis to tokenization and AI infrastructure, where Ethereum could serve as the main settlement layer. The comments fit with BitMine’s growing Ethereum treasury strategy, a stance Lee has supported for some time. If ETH’s circulating supply stays near 121 million coins, a $5 trillion valuation implies a price close to $41,300.
Of course, reaching that level is another story entirely. Macro conditions, regulation, and institutional demand still drive Ethereum’s price in the near term. Until those pieces line up, traders may care more about the next resistance level than a target that belongs several zip codes away.
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Ethereum Price Prediction: Can it Even Break $2,000 Before the Next Macro?Catalyst?
Ethereum still well below $2,000, is putting the price prediction debate on a knife’s edge. Buyers have defended this area, although conviction still needs proof. Volume remains healthy, showing traders have not wandered off for coffee just yet.
The $1,750 to $1,770 zone remains the first level worth watching. If ETH reclaims and holds above it, momentum could build toward resistance between $1,845 and $1,865. Beyond that, the $1,975 to $2,000 range is the real test, where sellers have previously shown up in force.
The bullish case stays intact while Ethereum holds above roughly $1,725. A pickup in buying volume could send ETH back toward $1,865 over the coming sessions. Otherwise, the market may continue shuffling sideways between $1,730 and $1,850, waiting for a fresh catalyst instead of making the first move.
If ETH closes decisively below $1,725, the technical picture weakens. That could expose support near $1,620, with $1,530 becoming possible if selling accelerates. On chain activity, including Ethereum supply trends and stablecoin flows, may influence which path the market ultimately takes.
Tom Lee’s implied $41,000 target remains a long term thesis rather than a near term trading call. The idea depends on tokenized real world assets driving greater demand across Ethereum’s network. Until that story plays out, investors may need patience because markets rarely sprint in a straight line.
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Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside While Ethereum Consolidates
ETH at $1,740 is a long way from $41,000. Even the optimistic near-term target of $2,000 represents a 15% move from here. It’s real, but modest relative to where early-stage infrastructure can move.
Ethereum’s scale also means its market cap needs tens of billions in new inflows to move the needle meaningfully. For traders who believe in the on-chain infrastructure thesis but want asymmetric exposure, the math on a $210 billion asset is structurally different from an early-stage presale.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is positioning as the first Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, a combination that targets Bitcoin’s core limitations: slow throughput, high fees, and minimal programmability.
The project has raised $33 million at a current token price of $0.0136829, with a staking mechanism offering high APY for early participants. The SVM integration is the technical differentiator, bringing smart contract performance comparable to Solana while settling on Bitcoin’s security layer.
If the on-chain infrastructure buildout Lee describes actually accelerates, the picks-and-shovels layer — fast, programmable, Bitcoin-secured, is where early capital tends to concentrate.
Research Bitcoin Hyper before the presale closes.
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The post Ethereum Price Prediction: Tom Lee Predicts $5 Trillion Ethereum appeared first on Cryptonews.
South Korea has launched its first government-backed blockchain stablecoin pilot after Gyeonggi Province confirmed an eight-month proof-of-concept program scheduled to begin in August.
Summary
- Gyeonggi Province will begin South Korea’s first government-backed blockchain stablecoin pilot in August.
- ZKrypto will test issuance, settlement, privacy, fraud prevention, and proof-of-reserves through February 2027.
- Toss and KT have also launched separate initiatives to develop infrastructure for won-based stablecoins.
According to blockchain media outlet NexBlock, Gyeonggi Province, the country’s most populous province, will begin testing a blockchain-based stablecoin in August as part of an initiative to examine its use for regional currency and government disbursements. The project is being led by blockchain security company ZKrypto and is expected to run until February 2027.
First phase focuses on core stablecoin functions
During the initial stage, the pilot will test how the stablecoin is issued, circulated, and settled before moving into a second phase between October and December. ZKrypto said the later stage will examine fraud prevention measures, privacy protections, and the possibility of using the stablecoin across public benefit programs.
To support the pilot, ZKrypto said the system will use zero-knowledge proof technology to stop duplicate spending while protecting user privacy. The company added that proof-of-reserves technology will verify reserve assets in real time throughout the testing process.
ZKrypto also stated that the project comes as dollar-denominated stablecoins continue gaining adoption globally, adding that South Korea should strengthen its own domestic stablecoin infrastructure. The company presented the provincial pilot as one step toward evaluating whether locally issued digital assets can support public-sector financial services.
Private companies are expanding won stablecoin infrastructure
The government-backed pilot follows several private-sector initiatives announced this week as South Korean companies continue testing blockchain payment infrastructure.
Earlier this week, financial super-app Toss signed a strategic agreement with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to evaluate infrastructure for South Korean won-linked stablecoins.
According to a press release shared with crypto.news, the three companies will conduct a three-month proof-of-concept to determine whether blockchain infrastructure can support institutional payment systems while complying with South Korean financial regulations.
Separately, South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, KT, disclosed plans to invest 18 trillion won ($13.2 billion) over the next three years, including 6 trillion won for artificial intelligence infrastructure and 12 trillion won for networks, information technology, and cybersecurity.
According to South Korean technology publication Digital Daily, KT Chief Executive Park Yoon-young said the investment strategy also includes expanding into tokenization services and infrastructure for won-based stablecoins.
The company said those blockchain initiatives will be developed alongside upgrades to its core telecommunications business as part of its long-term growth plans.
Taken together, the announcements show government agencies, financial technology companies, and telecommunications providers testing different parts of South Korea’s digital payments infrastructure.
While Gyeonggi Province is examining stablecoin use in public administration, private companies are evaluating blockchain networks for regulated payments and building the systems needed to support future won-denominated digital assets.
Policymakers in New Hampshire’s executive council voted against a proposal that would have allowed the state to issue $100 million in bonds backed by Bitcoin (BTC).
At a Wednesday hearing, the five-member panel voted 3-2 against the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority’s (BFA) proposed issuance of $100 million in BTC-backed bonds. The proposed investments, which the authority approved in November 2025, already had support from Governor Kelly Ayotte.
“It was an extremely short-sighted decision,” said state representative Keith Ammon in a Thursday X post after the vote. “I can’t believe I witnessed it in person. They should gather all relevant facts and information and reconsider their vote at a future meeting.”
Councilors Karen Liot Hill, Dave Wheeler and Janet Stevens voted against the measure, while Joseph Kenney and John Stephen approved it. The crypto investment vehicles, issued by the BFA and with CleanSpark putting up BTC as collateral, would have marked New Hampshire’s continued approval of digital asset policies, following its May 2025 crypto reserve law.
Related: Bank of Korea governor outlines tokenized bond vision, unified ledger plan
While the BTC-backed bonds had support from many in the crypto industry, some experts warned against the proposal, saying it carried “substantial risk” for New Hampshire residents. Moody’s assigned the Bitcoin bond a provisional Ba2 rating in March.
New Hampshire to join prediction markets fight against CFTC?
With gaming authorities in many US states having already filed lawsuits against prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket over sports betting, some have speculated that New Hampshire could join the legal fight challenging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) authority. State Senator Tim Lang reportedly planned to introduce legislation restricting prediction markets in New Hampshire in April, but as of Friday, the platforms were still live in the state.
Magazine: Has Bitcoin bottomed for this cycle? Analysts say ‘not yet’
The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly moving toward dropping federal charges against Matthew Goettsche, the founder of BitClub Network, a purported Bitcoin mining operation accused of defrauding investors of $722 million between 2014 and 2019. The development, if finalized, would represent one of the more consequential reversals in recent U.S. crypto enforcement history.
According to a Bloomberg Law report, the DOJ’s deputy attorney general’s office directed the New Jersey attorney general’s office to dismiss the case against Goettsche with prejudice. Following that directive, Goettsche’s attorneys informed the court that the parties had reached an “agreement in principle” to resolve the pending charges, but needed additional time to finalize the terms.
Key takeaways
- DOJ action to dismiss the BitClub Network case with prejudice would mark a major enforcement rollback for a high-profile crypto fraud prosecution.
- Goettsche’s counsel says the parties reached an agreement in principle, signaling a likely procedural resolution, though terms are not yet final.
- The case reversal follows a broader DOJ policy push described in an April 2025 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
- Earlier in the same BitClub matter, multiple former associates—Silviu Balaci, Joseph Abel, and Gordon Beckstead—have already pleaded guilty.
A dismissal “with prejudice” under discussion
In a court filing surfaced via Bloomberg Law, Goettsche’s attorneys wrote to U.S. District Court Judge Claire Cecchi on Wednesday stating that the parties had reached an “agreement in principle” to resolve the pending charges. The letter adds that the parties “need time to finalize the terms,” suggesting that while a shift in posture has occurred, the outcome still depends on completing the procedural steps required by the court.
Bloomberg Law reported on Friday—citing two sources familiar with the matter—that DOJ leadership instructed New Jersey prosecutors to dismiss the case with prejudice. In legal terms, dismissal “with prejudice” typically prevents the government from refiling the same charges, which would effectively end the case against Goettsche in its current form.
Background on BitClub’s allegations
Goettsche was indicted in December 2019 and was scheduled for trial in October on charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and selling unregistered securities. Prosecutors characterized BitClub as a mining pool where investors could purchase shares and receive passive earnings.
According to the allegations described in reporting, BitClub purportedly falsified earnings values reported to investors and fabricated mining-related data to attract additional participation. The claim that investors were promised returns tied to mining activity is central to how the scheme was framed, because it linked the advertised profitability of mining to alleged misrepresentations.
The timing also matters for readers trying to understand the scope of potential impact. The accusations cover a multi-year window from 2014 to 2019, after which the case entered the federal court system and eventually resulted in an indictment and trial scheduling.
Why this case stands out in DOJ’s crypto approach
The reported reversal comes amid a broader shift in DOJ messaging about how prosecutors should approach digital assets—at least as described in internal guidance. In April 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo directing the DOJ to move away from what it characterized as “regulation by prosecution” against the digital asset industry, according to a DOJ-published document: https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1395781/dl?inline.
That memo has been interpreted across the industry as a potential recalibration of how far enforcement actions should be used to draw lines on digital asset behavior. Earlier reporting from Cointelegraph also referenced this pivot in the context of Blanche’s views on the relationship between code and criminality, including coverage such as Acting AG Todd Blanche confirms ‘code is not a crime’ in DOJ pivot.
Still, the BitClub allegations—centered on investor deception and alleged wire fraud—sit in a familiar lane for U.S. prosecutors: fraud and securities-related theories rather than purely novel questions about whether a technology feature is “criminal.” That creates a tension worth watching. If the government is willing to step back from prosecuting Goettsche, investors and legal observers will likely focus on what DOJ believes the evidentiary or legal posture looks like under the newer policy framework.
The human dimension: prior pleas by co-defendants
One reason this potential dismissal drew attention is that the BitClub case already produced guilty pleas from multiple figures previously involved in the scheme. According to the coverage, three of Goettsche’s former colleagues—Silviu Balaci, Joseph Abel, and Gordon Beckstead—have pleaded guilty. Their earlier outcomes can complicate perceptions of how the government views the case overall, especially if Goettsche’s prosecution is curtailed while other participants have already resolved their matters.
It’s also notable that the broader enforcement environment for crypto remains active. Earlier coverage highlighted that DOJ continues to pursue criminals operating in digital asset fraud and theft. In April, a California man named Evan Tageman was sentenced to 70 months in prison for an alleged criminal enterprise that stole about $263 million worth of crypto from victims through social engineering scams and burglary, per Cointelegraph reporting such as this article. Separately, DOJ actions reported in April described the freezing of over $700 million in crypto tied to investment scammers targeting Americans, and in February, the seizure of nearly $580 million linked to a criminal scam group operating in Southeast Asia—reflected in Cointelegraph coverage including this report and this one.
Taken together, those examples suggest that while DOJ’s strategic posture may be shifting, enforcement against alleged fraud and theft is still proceeding through other cases. The question in the BitClub matter is therefore not whether DOJ will prosecute crypto-related wrongdoing, but whether it will continue this particular prosecution in light of updated internal guidance and the specifics of the case.
What to watch next
For now, the key development is procedural: Goettsche’s attorneys say an agreement in principle exists, but the terms are not yet finalized. Investors, attorneys, and crypto operators should watch for the court’s next filings to confirm whether the dismissal becomes official—and, if so, how DOJ explains its reasoning in a way that clarifies what the “regulation by prosecution” directive means when fraud allegations are on the table.
Exclusive analysis of the RWA.xyz database surfaces three surprising tokenization stats. They show that tokenization’s growth engine has quietly moved. The money is no longer where the headlines say it is.
Three figures from RWA.xyz data between May 31 and July 9, 2026 tell one story. The famous category has stalled, a $20 billion giant hides in plain sight, and stablecoins are quietly rotating.
How to Read These Tokenization Stats
All figures come from one source, RWA.xyz, using its dashboard convention. That means distributed on-chain value, or tokens natively issued on a blockchain, counted once per asset.
Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.
Growth rates use the dashboard’s 30-day change, or daily API snapshots normalized to daily averages.
Tokenized Stocks Are Growing Nearly 40x Faster Than Tokenized Treasuries
For two years, tokenization mostly meant putting US government bonds on a blockchain. That trade has stalled.
The value held in tokenized US Treasuries, such as the BUIDL and BENJI funds, stands at $15.16 billion, up just 0.74% in the past 30 days. Tokenized stocks tell the opposite story. At $1.85 billion they are still about eight times smaller, but they grew 28.6% over the same month.
Monthly transfer volume in stock tokens jumped 87% to $8.76 billion. Holders grew 24.5% to more than 443,000.
The shift matters because Treasury tokens are a cash product, and that demand looks full. Stock tokens are an access product, and demand is still climbing. At these rates the story is convergence, not an imminent crossover, though the direction is clear.
The Biggest Tokenized Asset Is a $20 Billion Home-Loan Token
The largest tokenized asset is not a BlackRock fund. It is a home-equity token from Figure Technologies. A home-equity line of credit, or HELOC, is a loan taken against the value of a house.
Figure records these loans on the Provenance blockchain, then finances and trades them on-chain. It is one of the most surprising tokenization stats in the data.
The token reached about $20.1 billion on July 7, up $730 million in three weeks. That is more than every tokenized US Treasury combined, which totals $15.16 billion. It is also over 10 times the tokenized stock market.
It grows without marketing because it is securitization plumbing, the bundling of loans for investors, not a retail product. Counting all tokenization types, the wider shift to private credit now tops $31 billion on-chain, the largest non-stablecoin category.
Stablecoins Look Flat, but They Are Churning Underneath
Total stablecoin value has not moved in a month. It sat near $321 billion since June 7. The calm is misleading.
Under the surface, billions are rotating between types. USDGO, a regulated dollar issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, grew 54% in three weeks to $6.12 billion. Global Dollar (USDG) rose 16% and Dai gained 8%.
On the other side, Ethena’s USDe fell 16%, about $1.4 billion redeemed. USDe is a synthetic dollar, one that earns yield from crypto trading positions rather than bank deposits.
That yield only holds while traders pay to stay long. So the redemptions point to falling funding rates and leverage unwinding across the market.
The same capital is moving into regulated, fully-reserved tokens like USDGO and Global Dollar. Traders are swapping market-driven yield for the safety of bank-issued dollars.
Honorary Mention, the Marginal Dollar Buys Stocks and Credit
Put the 30-day growth numbers side by side and the rotation is clear. Tokenized stocks grew 28.6%,whereas tokenized credit grew 7.6% to $6.58 billion in distributed value. Tokenized US Treasuries grew just 0.74%.
It is worth noting that Tokenized credit is the umbrella for private credit, on-chain lending, corporate bonds, and structured debt. It is held by nearly 185,000 addresses across more than 2,500 assets.
The category runs deeper than that number suggests. Adding assets represented on-chain, including Figure’s HELOC complex, tokenized credit tops $31 billion. Its leaders are lending protocols like Maple’s Syrup pools and tokenized CLO funds, bundles of corporate loans, from Janus Henderson and Securitize.
Treasury tokens were tokenization’s proof of concept. Credit and fund wrappers, built by leading tokenization platforms, are where the growth now compounds.
What the Rotation Adds Up To
One thread ties these tokenization stats together. Very little new money entered the market. The same capital simply moved.
It rotated out of Treasury tokens into equities and credit. It rotated out of synthetic dollars into regulated ones. That distinction matters for liquidity. Growth built on rotation, not fresh inflows, leaves the market thin. Value also sits in very few tokens, from a single $20 billion HELOC token to a stock market of $1.85 billion spread across hundreds of small instruments.
When capital turns, it can leave fast. USDe’s $1.4 billion in redemptions show how quickly. That is the core of the RWA market liquidity problem.
The coming weeks will show whether stock tokens keep compounding near 40 times the Treasury pace.
The post 3 Surprising Tokenization Stats Reshaping On-Chain Markets in 2026 appeared first on BeInCrypto.
[PRESS RELEASE – Amsterdam, Netherlands, July 10th, 2026]
NOWPayment believes the crypto industry has accepted unnecessary costs for too long – and that businesses no longer have to. For years, paying blockchain fees has been treated as the price of sending crypto.
According to Kate Lifshits, CEO of NOWPayments, it’s time to challenge that assumption. “Why does sending crypto still feel harder than sending an email?”
The company’s latest zero-fee payout infrastructure replaces wallet-based transfers with instant email-based payouts, enabling businesses to eliminate network fees, reduce operational complexity, and automate payouts at scale.
Crypto Payouts Have Become Unnecessarily Expensive
Most businesses still operate payout infrastructure designed around blockchain wallets. That means collecting wallet addresses, validating networks, recovering failed transactions, paying blockchain fees, and handling recipient support.
At scale, these problems become one of the largest hidden operational costs for affiliate platforms, marketplaces, gaming companies, payroll providers, cashback platforms, creator economies, and fintech businesses.
“The market has spent years competing over who can charge less per payout. We are asking a more important question: why should businesses pay per payout at all?” – Kate Lifshits NOWPayments CEO
The Industry Is Paying for Problems It No Longer Needs to Have
Instead of requesting wallet addresses, companies simply use an email address as the payout destination. Recipients automatically receive access to their funds, while businesses avoid wallet validation, blockchain confirmation delays, and transaction fees.
Benefits include:
- Zero network fees
- Zero service fees
- Under-one-second delivery
- Automated onboarding
- Fewer failed payouts
- Lower support costs
The Biggest Impact Isn’t Technical
Although the release introduces API support, the larger story is economic rather than technical. Businesses making thousands of payouts can dramatically reduce operational costs while simplifying finance workflows. Payouts become a growth and engagement tool instead of a recurring expense.
Operational Cost Mitigation Analysis
The actual savings depend on payout volume, blockchain network fees, and the cryptocurrencies being used. While some businesses may save thousands of dollars annually, organizations processing hundreds of thousands or even millions of payouts could reduce costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
To help businesses estimate their own potential savings, NOWPayments has launched a Zero-Fee Crypto Payout Savings Calculator, allowing companies to compare their current payout costs with the potential cost of switching to zero-fee email-based payouts.
Calculate your savings here
“The future of crypto payouts is not wallet-to-wallet. It is person-to-person: identified by email, delivered instantly and free to move inside the ecosystem. Anything more complicated is legacy infrastructure.” – Kate Lifshits
Built for Businesses That Pay at Scale
The solution is designed for affiliate networks, marketplaces, gaming platforms, payroll providers, cashback programs, creator platforms, and fintech companies. Businesses can automate payouts globally using only an email address while maintaining existing workflows.
Conclusion
NOWPayments believes crypto payouts are entering a new phase. Instead of optimizing fee-based infrastructure, businesses can eliminate many of the costs and operational barriers traditionally associated with blockchain payouts. The question is no longer how to reduce payout costs – but whether those costs should exist at all.
About NOWPayments
NOWPayments is a global crypto payment gateway helping businesses simplify digital asset payments and payouts through enterprise-ready infrastructure. Supporting 350+ cryptocurrencies, 30+ stablecoins, and a comprehensive suite of APIs, payment tools, and payout solutions, NOWPayments enables companies worldwide to accept crypto, automate payouts, and scale their payment operations with speed, flexibility, and reliability.
The post NOWPayments CEO Kate Lifshits Says Businesses Should Stop Paying for Crypto Payouts appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Kraken has launched an AI-powered investing assistant that delivers personalized portfolio recommendations and market insights while keeping final trading decisions in users’ hands.
Summary
- Kraken has launched an AI investing assistant that delivers personalized portfolio recommendations while requiring user approval for every trade.
- The platform builds investment plans using users’ financial goals, risk tolerance, funding preferences, and market data.
- The launch comes as exchanges including OKX, Coinbase, and Revolut expand AI-powered tools across crypto trading and payments.
According to Kraken, the new mobile experience replaces a trading-first interface with a goal-based approach that asks users about their financial objectives before suggesting investments.
Instead of requiring customers to navigate charts and order books, the platform customizes recommendations around targets such as buying a home, building an emergency fund, or saving for retirement.
The exchange said its “financial intelligence” system continuously tracks market conditions, identifies potential investment opportunities, and recommends trades, but does not execute transactions on its own. Every suggested trade requires user approval before it is placed, with Kraken describing the feature as a decision-support tool rather than an autonomous trading system.
According to CNBC, the assistant also considers a user’s risk tolerance, funding preferences, and financial profile to generate a suggested portfolio. Users can modify those recommendations before investing, while the app continues providing portfolio updates and tailored investment ideas based on their existing holdings.
Commenting on the launch in an interview with CNBC, Kraken chief data officer Kamo Asatryan said the technology is intended to give everyday investors access to market awareness comparable to the exchange’s most active traders by continuously monitoring markets and surfacing trading opportunities.
“[T]here’s an opportunity for everyday people to become high-frequency traders and do so using plain English.”
AI tools are becoming a new battleground for crypto exchanges
Kraken’s latest rollout comes as cryptocurrency exchanges increasingly compete by embedding AI assistants into trading platforms instead of limiting users to traditional exchange interfaces.
Earlier in June, OKX introduced a beta marketplace that allows AI agents to complete onchain tasks, build blockchain-based reputations, and transact autonomously. During the same month, Coinbase launched a tool that enables AI agents to make payments and trade cryptocurrencies on behalf of users through its x402 payments protocol.
Supporting that trend, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reported last month that agentic payment activity on Coinbase’s Base network had exceeded 100 million transactions. According to the report, although transaction growth has moderated, the average value of transfers has increased, suggesting AI-driven payments are expanding beyond low-value experiments into more meaningful financial activity.
Human approval remains central to AI-assisted investing
While exchanges are adding more AI capabilities, they continue to keep users in control of trade execution.
On Friday, fintech company Revolut expanded its Revolut X exchange by allowing customers to connect external AI assistants including Claude, Gemini, Cursor, and OpenClaw. According to the company, those assistants can analyze markets, backtest trading strategies, and submit trading instructions using natural-language prompts.
Like Kraken’s platform, Revolut requires users to review and approve every order before execution rather than allowing AI systems to trade independently. Across these products, companies are positioning AI as a research and portfolio management assistant instead of giving automated agents unrestricted authority over customer funds.
The US Department of Justice is reportedly moving to drop charges against the founder of BitClub Network, a purported crypto mining platform that allegedly defrauded investors of $722 million between 2014 and 2019.
A court filing shows Matthew Goettsche’s attorneys wrote to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi on Wednesday, stating that the parties “reached an agreement in principle” to resolve the pending charges “but need time to finalize the terms.”
Goettsche’s attorneys’ letter to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi. Source: Bloomberg Law
The filing came after the deputy attorney general’s office in Washington reportedly ordered the New Jersey attorney general’s office to dismiss the case against Goettsche with prejudice, according to a report on Friday from Bloomberg Law, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Goettsche was indicted in December 2019 and was set to face trial in October for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and selling unregistered securities. A reversal would mark one of the more notable changes in US crypto enforcement history, particularly given that three of his former colleagues, Silviu Balaci, Joseph Abel and Gordon Beckstead, have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme.
The potential reversal follows an April 2025 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who directed the DOJ to end its “regulation by prosecution” strategy against the digital asset industry.
Cointelegraph reached out to the DOJ for comment but didn’t receive an immediate response.
BitClub operated from April 2014 to December 2019, claiming to be a Bitcoin mining pool where investors could buy shares and earn passive returns. BitClub allegedly falsified earnings values to investors and fabricated mining data to entice more investors into the scheme.
Related: Acting AG Todd Blanche confirms ‘code is not a crime’ in DOJ pivot
Past court filings show Goettsche once described his model as one built “on the backs of idiots.”
DOJ is still taking down crypto’s bad actors
In April, California man Evan Tageman was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his role in a criminal enterprise that stole about $263 million worth of crypto from victims through social engineering scams and burglary.
The DOJ also froze over $700 million in crypto tied to investment scammers targeting Americans in April, while in February, it seized nearly $580 million in crypto linked to a criminal scam group operating in Southeast Asia.
Features: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line?
Cardano News: Charles Hoskinson has flatly denied rumors he is retiring from Cardano, calling the claims “categorically untrue” and “a complete fabrication” in a video posted July 10, a denial that became necessary after decontextualized clips circulated widely enough to reach well outside the crypto community.
The rumor spread so far that a London taxi driver relayed it to visiting Cardano supporters, and contacts at a partner firm had passed the same claim to their own chief executive.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
Cardano News: How the Misinformation Took Hold
The exit narrative accumulated over several months from a series of clips stripped of their surrounding context. A New Year 2026 stream in which Hoskinson said he had “outgrown X” and was handing the account to curators circulated without his explicit denial delivered in the same session.
A brief “I’m taking a break. TTYL” post on X was screenshotted and spread without the accompanying video. A 26-minute reform video in which he criticized the Cardano Foundation’s governance structure, calling elements of it the biggest mistake of his career, generated clips that left out the surrounding denial.
The pattern is consistent: each clip preserved the dramatic line and dropped the disavowal. Hoskinson has now posted a direct rebuttal and asked the community to share it with anyone still repeating the rumor.
“It is categorically untrue. It’s a complete lie. It’s a complete fabrication.”
Hoskinson said in the video, leaving no interpretive room on where he stands.
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Governance Turbulence Feeding the Narrative
The denial lands against a backdrop that made the exit story plausible to outside observers. EMURGO exited Cardano’s Pentad governance body following a wallet exploit, removing one of the ecosystem’s three founding pillars from the formal structure.
Investor Justin Bons publicly called for Hoskinson’s removal, a move that drew significant community backlash but kept the founder’s position in the headlines.
A separate period of sharp public commentary from Hoskinson on Cardano’s governance failings added further ammunition to the out-of-context clip cycle.
Hoskinson has also been explicit about his formal position: he holds no governance keys, cannot initiate a hard fork or protocol parameter change, has no treasury access, and does not own the Cardano trademark.
The Plomin hard fork in January 2025 transferred key governance powers to ADA holders via DReps, meaning his influence is structural and reputational rather than executive. That distinction matters for traders trying to assess what his actual departure, hypothetical as it is, would change in protocol terms.
An active funding standoff between DReps and Input Output’s research budget remains unresolved. Hoskinson has warned that the ecosystem could lose scientists if IO’s research funding fails, a credible threat given Cardano’s academic-pipeline model is a core differentiator versus other L1s. He has floated a governance overhaul aimed at restoring confidence, though no specific proposal has been formally tabled.
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The post Charles Hoskinson Denies Retirement Rumor That Reached London Cab Drivers appeared first on Cryptonews.
Sam Altman ChatGPT AI just delivered the most institutionally detailed Bitcoin price prediction bull case in this entire series. The model predicts $150,000 as the central year-end target, with a credible bull range of $180,000 to $200,000 and a momentum-driven stretch target of $250,000 sitting above that.
The bull case reads like a complete regulatory and adoption checklist rather than a single thesis. Bitcoin trades near $64,000 today, and the model describes the catalyst stack as unusually powerful even by Bitcoin’s historically catalyst-rich standards.
The bipartisan CLARITY Act has passed the House and advanced through Senate committee work, and final enactment would clarify SEC versus CFTC jurisdiction and remove a major institutional risk premium that has kept conservative allocators cautious. The GENIUS Act adds another layer of regulatory clarity for stablecoins and digital assets on top of that.
The Trump administration’s explicitly pro-crypto policy pivot and the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve whose holdings are not to be sold give Bitcoin unprecedented political legitimacy that no previous cycle has ever had.
Regulated demand channels are widening simultaneously across multiple vectors, including spot ETFs, in-kind ETF creations and redemptions, potential 401 (k) access, the repeal of restrictive SAB 121 custody accounting, OCC approval for banks to provide crypto custody and execution, and FASB fair value accounting.
That last item matters enormously because it means corporations can now hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets without penalizing accounting treatment.
Adoption has moved well past theoretical at this point, with digital asset funds attracting $47.2 billion during 2025, corporate treasury participation expanding, and Strategy alone reporting holdings above 845,000 BTC, creating persistent structural demand against Bitcoin’s fixed post-halving issuance.
The bear case names specific triggers rather than vague concerns. A fall toward $45,000 to $60,000 becomes the scenario if CLARITY stalls before the midterms, inflation forces the Federal Reserve to tighten instead of easing, ETF flows reverse, or leveraged Treasury companies are forced sellers.
The model explicitly frames the $150,000 target as the best risk-adjusted outcome rather than a guaranteed one, which is a notably measured closing statement for a prediction this ambitious.
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Recovers Off Its Lowest Level In Over A Year With The Best Catalyst Stack Of The Cycle
The daily chart shows Bitcoin at $64,382 after a recovery that has gained real traction over the past 2 weeks, bouncing from lows near $58,000 in late June and building momentum into early July.
Today’s candle is up nearly 2% and has traded as high as $64,453 intraday, putting Bitcoin back above the $64,000 level for the first time since late May.
That recovery looks structurally different from the shallow bounces that came before it, with a series of higher lows forming since the June bottom and each subsequent session holding gains rather than immediately giving them back.
Resistance sits first at $68,000, the level that capped multiple attempts to push higher throughout May and June, with a much heavier ceiling near $80,000 where the most extended rally of the year ultimately ran out of buyers.
The $60,000 level sits directly below as the line between the current base and the upper end of the bear case range named in this prediction, making it the most critical number to watch on this chart.
The broader structure still shows lower highs stretching back to October, with the downtrend technically intact until Bitcoin can clear $80,000 and hold it.
Momentum on the daily candles looks the most constructive it has been since April, with green sessions becoming more consistent and the selling pressure that dominated June clearly dissipating.
Given how precisely the model frames the CLARITY Act timeline and late Q3 to Q4 as the ignition window, the price action over the next 6 to 8 weeks around the $60,000 to $68,000 zone will almost certainly determine whether this base becomes the launchpad ChatGPT is describing or simply another failed attempt to reverse a dominant downtrend.
Here is What ChatGPT AI Predicts About LiquidChain
Most people will only see this rotation in hindsight. The smart money has already moved.
Large caps are not failing. They are out of room. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP keep pressing against the same ceilings with nothing breaking through. Every macro tailwind has a new arrival date. Every institutional wave lands next quarter. Sitting in assets where the upside depends entirely on someone else’s decision is not a strategy. It is a waiting room.
Capital that has survived enough cycles knows one thing. It moves before the destination becomes obvious.
Early-stage infrastructure plays by completely different rules. A small market cap means that a modest rotation can produce dramatic price movement. The returns live in the gap between what something is genuinely worth and what the market has assigned it so far. That gap exists only while the project remains undiscovered. Once found, it closes permanently.
Multi-chain fragmentation is bleeding DeFi every single day. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana exist as completely isolated systems. No native bridge between them. Every user crossing those boundaries absorbs the cost directly in fees, slippage, and failed transactions. Every single crossing. Every single time.
ChatGPT AI predicts LiquidChain fixes that entirely. All 3 networks within a single execution layer. One deployment reaches everything. Zero cross-chain tax on any interaction.
The presale is at $0.01454 with just over $890,000 raised. The market has not found this yet. That is exactly the point.
Execution is unproven. Adoption is unknown. Established assets offer a predictable ride toward a ceiling everyone can already see. LiquidChain is an entry point that disappears the moment the market looks up.
The post Sam Altman ChatGPT AI Predicts Bitcoin Price Will Shock Everyone by End Of 2026 appeared first on Cryptonews.
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