Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has criticized Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin strategy, arguing that Strategy’s funding approach added pressure to the wider crypto market. 

In a CNBC clip shared by Squawk on the Street, Garlinghouse said, “I think team Michael Saylor wasn’t focused on the right stuff, and that has hurt the overall market.”

Garlinghouse later posted on X that “Financial engineering doesn’t drive long-term value. Utility does.” As previously reported by crypto.news, he also said during a CNBC interview that lasting value in digital assets should come from real-world use, not from financial structuring used to keep buying Bitcoin.

Azerbaijan has completed a draft law to regulate virtual assets and submitted it for review, with the Central Bank expecting the legislation to be adopted before the end of the year.

According to remarks by Central Bank of Azerbaijan Financial Technologies and Innovation Department Director Fidan Tofidi, the proposed legislation would require every company dealing with crypto assets to obtain a licence from the central bank before operating in the domestic market.

Under the draft framework, licensed firms would have to meet strict regulatory standards and remain under continuous supervision by the central bank. Tofidi said businesses would also be required to comply with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing rules while carrying out mandatory customer identification.

Speaking about the proposal, Tofidi said the central bank considers the legislation part of Azerbaijan’s financial market development strategy for 2027 to 2030, which she said is being built using real data. She added that protecting the stability of the country’s financial system remains one of the regulator’s main priorities.

Licensing framework takes shape

Once approved, the law would make a central bank licence mandatory for all crypto-related businesses serving Azerbaijan’s domestic market. Without regulatory approval, companies would not be allowed to provide virtual asset services inside the country.

The proposal comes as Azerbaijan continues to build its digital asset regulatory framework while maintaining a cautious stance on state-issued digital currencies.

Last year, Central Bank Governor Taleh Kazimov said the institution had no immediate plans to issue a central bank digital currency, explaining that officials wanted to study the impact of such projects on monetary policy and financial stability before making any decision.

At the time, Kazimov also said the central bank had not identified any fully successful CBDC implementation globally, noting that most projects remained in pilot stages.

Earlier, Binance’s director for government relations across the CIS region, Olga Goncharova, disclosed that the exchange had been discussing possible cooperation with the Central Bank of Azerbaijan on developing mechanisms for regulating the country’s cryptocurrency market.

The XRP Ledger is moving closer to a native credit layer after RippleX said the XRPL Lending Protocol has entered validator voting. 

Jasmine Cooper, head of product at RippleX, said the network has already evolved through core stages of representing value, moving value and trading value. The next step, she wrote, is to “finance value.”

Ripple’s June 29 post frames credit as the missing layer for on-chain capital markets. The company said tokenized assets can now exist and move on-chain, but many markets still lack tools for borrowing, lending, collateral use and short-term liquidity. The XRPL Lending Protocol is designed to address that gap through protocol-level lending rather than a separate application.

Lending design separates credit checks

The proposed system keeps credit judgment off-chain and execution on-chain. Ripple said institutions would continue handling underwriting, legal review, credit risk and compliance checks outside the blockchain. Once loan terms are agreed, the XRP Ledger would enforce repayment schedules, interest calculations and default rules.

This design differs from many DeFi lending systems, where risk rules and liquidation logic sit directly inside app-level contracts. Ripple said a blockchain should not replace credit teams or legal processes, but it can standardize what happens after a loan agreement is made. The company wrote that the protocol can manage how liquidity is pooled, how loans start, how interest builds and how defaults are processed.

Vaults and loans form core system

The lending framework has two main components. Single Asset Vaults, or XLS-65, pool and manage one asset on the ledger. The Lending Protocol, or XLS-66, then allows that pooled liquidity to move into fixed-term loans with defined servicing and repayment terms.

Ripple’s open-source documentation describes XLS-66 as a lending primitive for on-chain, fixed-term, uncollateralized loans funded from Single Asset Vaults. The same documentation says the system relies on off-chain underwriting and risk management, while offering configurable peer-to-peer loans without banks or other traditional intermediaries.

The protocol also uses compliance controls. Ripple said lenders and borrowers would complete checks before joining pools, and verifiable credentials would decide who can take part and under what conditions. That setup aims to support public blockchain access while giving institutions permissioned controls.

Mainnet launch still needs approval

The proposals are not live on mainnet yet. Ripple said XLS-65 and XLS-66 remain subject to validator approval, while infrastructure providers and developers can already test the lending system on devnet.

As reported by crypto.news, XLS-66 entered validator voting on Jan. 28 after XRPL version 3.1.0, alongside the companion XLS-65 proposal. The report said the change would build fixed-term, fixed-rate lending directly into the XRP Ledger without relying on external smart contracts.

Security work has also continued before possible activation. As reported by crypto.news, RippleX developers worked with Common Prefix on formal verification for the lending code, aiming to catch edge cases that normal testing may miss. Halborn later completed a re-audit of the lending protocol and found no critical or high-risk flaws.

The lending vote comes as builders prepare products around the proposed framework. As reported by crypto.news, SOIL has said it wants to become one of the first applications to use XRPL’s native lending infrastructure if validators approve the amendments. That would make the vote important not only for core protocol design, but also for future lending, yield and working capital tools on XRPL.

Key Highlights

• Over 6,100 fresh wallet addresses joined Chainlink’s network within a 48-hour window, representing the most significant expansion spike of 2026.
• Analytics from Santiment reveal LINK has surpassed 892,800 active wallets on Ethereum, with more than 8,000 new addresses appearing in just five days.
• This rapid user base expansion occurs while LINK’s market value hovers near recent bottom levels, trading around $7.30.
• Chainlink’s technology plays a central role in the real-world asset tokenization sector, which has expanded by over 100% since the beginning of 2025.
• Major financial players including the DTCC, UBS, and Mastercard are actively collaborating with Chainlink to develop tokenized asset systems.

Chainlink’s ecosystem is experiencing a remarkable surge in user adoption despite its token continuing to struggle with price performance. Recent analytics indicate the network onboarded 6,100 new unique wallet addresses within a mere two-day period. This represents the most aggressive user acquisition rate the protocol has registered throughout 2026.

Address growth serves as a fundamental metric for gauging network adoption and genuine usage, distinct from speculative price movements. It’s entirely possible for a digital asset to experience downward price pressure while simultaneously expanding its active user community. This divergence appears to be exactly what Chainlink is demonstrating at present.

Santiment Intelligence, a respected blockchain data analytics platform, published findings highlighting this unusual pattern. The firm’s official account noted that Chainlink’s address count has entered a “parabolic” growth phase. Their data indicates LINK on the Ethereum network has reached 892,800 wallets containing balances, representing an influx of over 8,000 new holders within a five-day timeframe.

Breaking Down The User Growth Metrics

Analysts at Santiment observed that maintaining the current velocity, Chainlink could breach the 900,000 holder threshold before the current week concludes. Their projections further suggest that if this momentum sustains, the network might achieve the 1 million holder milestone by the conclusion of the summer season.

The Santiment analysis also drew connections between this adoption wave and recent institutional developments. The report referenced Project Pangea, ongoing DTCC collateral initiatives, the expansion of tokenized financial products, and around-the-clock equity data delivery systems as catalysts driving renewed interest. The analysts suggested that this pattern of accumulation during price weakness often precedes broader market recognition and momentum shifts.

LINK has experienced approximately 20% depreciation over the trailing three-month period. Current market data shows the token exchanging hands at $7.30, a significant decline from its 52-week peak of $27.70.

Despite facing downward price pressure, Chainlink continues advancing its position within the real-world asset tokenization ecosystem. This emerging sector involves representing traditional asset ownership—including equities, fixed income instruments, and property—on distributed ledger technology. The tokenized asset market has experienced explosive growth, expanding from $15.2 billion in early 2025 to $32.2 billion currently.

Both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are actively developing platforms for tokenized equity offerings. The DTCC, the critical infrastructure provider for securities clearing and settlement operations, has established a strategic partnership with Chainlink to construct the technical foundation for continuous trading capabilities.

Understanding Chainlink’s Infrastructure Position

Chainlink provides oracle services and connectivity solutions that bridge blockchain networks with external data sources and traditional systems. Its technology operates across both permissionless public blockchains like Ethereum and permissioned private networks deployed by financial institutions.

This interoperability proves crucial as traditional financial institutions explore both public and private blockchain architectures. Chainlink’s technology stack accommodates both paradigms, positioning the protocol to capture value regardless of which model achieves dominance.

The protocol’s institutional partnership roster features prominent names including UBS, Mastercard, and various U.S. government entities. Chainlink also claims its infrastructure underpins over 70% of decentralized finance applications currently operational.

Market strategists specializing in blockchain metrics caution that wallet proliferation in isolation doesn’t guarantee imminent price appreciation. They emphasize that on-chain transaction volumes, accumulation behaviors, and technical price structure must all align to validate a sustainable trend reversal.

Currently, Chainlink’s wallet metrics continue their upward trajectory while the token’s market price remains anchored near multi-month support levels. The immediate data point market participants are monitoring is whether the network successfully crosses the 900,000 holder mark by week’s end, as current growth rates indicate is probable.

TL;DR

• UK FCA sets October 2027 deadline for crypto licensing.
• Existing AML registrations must be replaced with new approvals.
• Stablecoin rules eased after industry feedback.
• UK pushes toward a fully regulated crypto market.

Crypto companies operating in the United Kingdom now have a clear timeline to secure regulatory approval after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which started the year with a crackdown on crypto companies, finalized its long-awaited crypto framework, setting October 25, 2027, as the date the new regime officially takes effect.

The announcement marks one of the country’s biggest regulatory overhauls for digital assets, bringing exchanges, custodians, stablecoin issuers, staking providers, and other crypto businesses under a unified licensing system. Firms currently registered under the UK’s anti-money laundering (AML) rules will not automatically qualify under the new framework and must submit entirely new applications if they wish to continue operating.

Firms Face Strict Authorization Timeline Under UK FCA

According to the FCA, the application window will open on September 30, 2026, and remain available until February 28, 2027. During that period, companies intending to provide regulated crypto services in the UK must either apply for a fresh license or amend their existing financial services permissions.

The regulator warned businesses not to delay their applications, noting that incomplete submissions or late filings could slow the approval process and potentially interrupt operations before the new rules become effective.

One notable revision concerns stablecoin issuers. The regulator reduced its proposed capital requirement from 2% of issued stablecoin value to 1%, acknowledging feedback that the original proposal was unnecessarily burdensome for businesses entering the market.

Despite the softer capital requirement, issuers will still be required to maintain adequate reserves, ensure timely redemption of tokens, and comply with strict operational standards.

The FCA also confirmed that sterling-backed stablecoins will fall under its direct supervision, while larger stablecoins considered systemically important may instead come under the oversight of the Bank of England.

Stronger Risk Controls for Crypto Businesses

Beyond licensing, the new framework introduces significantly tougher operational requirements for crypto companies.

Businesses will be expected to demonstrate that they can withstand severe market disruptions by maintaining sufficient capital against higher-risk assets and conducting annual stress tests that assess their financial resilience during periods of economic uncertainty.

Unlike major banks, which receive standardized stress-testing scenarios from the Bank of England, crypto firms will be allowed to design their own testing models based on their internal risk assessments before submitting the results to the FCA for review.

According to FCA Executive Director for Payments and Digital Finance David Geale, the framework applies the same regulatory principles already used across traditional financial services, ensuring firms manage comparable risks under comparable standards.

The FCA has also indicated that decentralized finance will remain a regulatory priority as the sector evolves.

As regulation gets tight around the world, future guidance is expected to distinguish between protocols that operate without any identifiable controlling entity and platforms that maintain centralized governance or management structures. Services with identifiable operators or controlled decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are more likely to fall within the regulator’s supervisory scope.

Under the “yen carry trade” framework, a weak yen (USD/JPY rising) is supposed to be accompanied by rising BTC, just as it tends to support stocks. Extending that logic, a strengthening yen should trigger risk aversion in both stocks and cryptocurrencies.

That’s precisely what happened in late July/early August 2024, when the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates, sending the yen sharply higher. Risk assets had a meltdown, with BTC falling from roughly $65,000 to $50,000 in the following weeks.

Carry-unwind fears have resurfaced lately as the yen continues to slide, hitting four-decade lows this week. That’s raised hopes of more aggressive action by the BOJ to stem the yen’s slide.

However, if the latest correlation is anything to go by, potential BOJ action and a resulting rise in the yen could actually put a floor under BTC, working the opposite way from what carry-trade logic would predict.

A mirage?

Correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation.

Neither BTC nor the yen may be driving the other directly. Instead, broad US dollar strength or weakness may be moving both assets independently, creating the appearance of a tight BTC-yen relationship.

That reading makes sense in context: markets have recently priced in at least one 25-basis-point interest rate hike from the Fed this year. That hawkish repricing, a sharp reversal from earlier hopes of rate cuts, has lifted the dollar broadly. The euro, the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, gold and silver have all declined against the greenback over the same stretch.