Crypto World
Visa looking for new stablecoin settlement partner after BVNK sale to Mastercard
Visa is looking for a new stablecoin settlement partner with licensing capabilities across multiple regions, according to documents seen by CoinDesk. This would fill the role previously held by BVNK, the stablecoin firm acquired by Mastercard earlier this year.
Visa’s request for product (RFP) talks about the ability to swap and support a range of stablecoins, as well as handle settlement for the newly introduced Open USD stablecoin project, fronted by Stripe, Visa and Mastercard, which plans to support multiple stablecoins.
The need for a stablecoin partner licensed in all major markets means the scope of potential partners has narrowed somewhat, Visa said. The payments giant said it is looking at one settlement and an over-the-counter (OTC) partner in particular, with cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the U.S., Canada, the UK and Singapore.
The stablecoin race hasn’t slowed down despite a flat bearish market persisting across the rest of the crypto industry. As such, stablecoins have become a focal point for the large card networks and payments players. The total stablecoin market cap is about $300 billion, according to CoinGecko data.
Sherlock has publicly launched Sherlock Audit Engine, revealing a security auditing platform the company had largely kept under wraps while testing the model with protocol teams.
Audit Engine operates one layer above individual AI auditors, coordinating several approaches to vulnerability discovery inside the same review.
Frontier LLMs, purpose-built AI auditors and AI-enabled security researchers work against the same codebase and context. Sherlock handles orchestration across the engagement, with findings judged, validated and deduplicated before being consolidated into one final audit result.
That model also sheds new light on one of Sherlock’s more unusual engagements this year.
Was Polygon an Early Look at Audit Engine?
In June, Sherlock put Polygon’s Heimdall V2 through a review involving a broad field of AI auditing systems and security researchers.
Heimdall V2 is the consensus client at the core of Polygon PoS, making it a consequential codebase for an early deployment of the model.
With Audit Engine now public, the engagement appears to have served as a proving ground for the platform Sherlock is bringing to market.
Automated AI auditing systems emerged among the strongest performers for overall coverage, while different systems and researchers surfaced different portions of the overall issue set. The result reinforced a central idea behind Audit Engine: no single approach captured the full security picture.
The platform measures those differences directly. Teams can see which systems delivered broad coverage, which maintained high precision and where different approaches contributed complementary security signal.
That becomes increasingly relevant as the underlying technology changes.
In July, Google DeepMind introduced Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber, a cybersecurity-specific model designed to find, validate and patch vulnerabilities quickly, another indication of how fast specialized AI security capabilities are developing.
For security teams, the best available mix is therefore a moving target.
Audit Engine is designed to incorporate new models, auditors and researcher methodologies as they emerge, while giving protocols a consistent environment for measuring what actually performs well against their code.
The post Sherlock Takes Audit Engine Public After Months of Quiet Testing appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Sending ether will no longer always carry the same network fee, breaking one of Ethereum’s oldest rules of thumb.
Developers from the Ethereum Foundation, the nonprofit that supports and maintains Ethereum, told wallet makers, blockchain trackers, and fee calculators in a blog post to update any software built on the assumption that a basic ETH transfer costs 21,000 gas units. Gas is how Ethereum measures the work a transaction asks the network to do, and users pay for that work in ETH.
Today, that 21,000 applies whether the receiving account has been used before or not. Under Ethereum’s next major upgrade, Glamsterdam, sending to an existing account still costs 21,000, while sending to an address that has never appeared in Ethereum’s records costs more because the network has to create and permanently store a new account.
The proposal puts that extra charge at 183,600 units of a new category called state gas.
US stock futures moved lower ahead of today’s open, with the Nasdaq 100 dropping by 1.2%, the S&P 500 by 0.5%, and the Dow by 0.1%.
This selloff came as the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.74% and the 30-year yield reached 5.2% – its highest level since June 2007.
Higher Yields Hit Tech Stocks
The sharp move in bonds had the greatest impact on growth and tech stocks. Nvidia dropped by about 2% in premarket trading, while Micron Technology fell by about 4%.
This weakness followed a softer session yesterday, when the Dow declined by 272 points, and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also closed lower. Rising oil prices also added to the pressure, with WTI crude oil currently trading at around $84.5 per barrel.
Home Depot stock was a notable exception, gaining roughly 1.5%, but that’s because it reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results while maintaining its full-year outlook.
Crypto Markets Remain Relatively Resilient
In an interesting change of pace, crypto has been steadier throughout the past 24 hours. The total market cap is at around $2.28 trillion, up about 0.5% over the day.
Bitcoin remains above $64K at the time of writing, up roughly 1% during the period, despite the pressured equities and the rise in Treasury yields.
This suggests that the crypto market has managed to absorb the latest macro pressure better, which hasn’t been the case for a while – when risk-on assets decline, the drop in cryptocurrencies is usually more pronounced.
The post Tech Futures Drop on Rising Treasury Yields While Bitcoin Holds Near $64K appeared first on CryptoPotato.
South Korean crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb have seen revenues plummet in the first half of the year amid a wider downturn for crypto companies in the country. Meanwhile, South Korea has also banned prediction market Polymarket after concluding that its operations constitute illegal gambling.
The Block reports that Bithumb recorded an operating profit of 14.9 billion won ($11 million), down 83% from last year’s profit of 90.1 billion won ($64 million).
Its operating revenue this year is 168.8 billion won ($120 million), down almost 49% from last year’s 329.2 billion won ($233 million).
It also suffered a net loss this year of 108.7 billion won ($77 million).
Crypto firms hit by poor global market
Upbit parent company Dunamu reported a similar drop in operating revenue. It made 408.1 billion won ($289 million) in the first half of this year, a drop of 49% from last year’s 801.9 billion won ($568 million).
Its operating profits were 111.5 billion won ($79 million), an almost 80% drop from 549.1 billion won ($389 million) last year.
Dunamu said, “The recent decline in performance is attributed to a contraction in liquidity across the global digital asset market, which has led to a weakening of investor sentiment.”
South Korea finds Polymarket is a gambling firm
Meanwhile, crypto-based Polymarket has been banned after South Korea’s Media and Communications Commission concluded the platform’s operations constitute illegal gambling.
The regulator claimed Polymarket crossed an information threshold that is classed as gambling under the Criminal Act and National Sports Promotion Act.
It found that Polymarket’s use of yes-or-no contracts encourages speculative behavior where winnings are reliant on events out of users’ control.
Read more: American Indian tribes want Kalshi and Polymarket off their land
Polymarket argued that it doesn’t manage user funds, that it removed Korean-language services, and that it doesn’t support South Korea’s won fiat currency.
However, the commission said, “Technical features or service methods cannot exempt a platform from domestic legal compliance. Since Polymarket provides a real illegal gambling environment to domestic users, access blocking is unavoidable to protect them.”
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Many projects, he said, raised enormous rounds despite having little revenue and no realistic path to profitability, leaving them dependent on becoming multibillion-dollar businesses simply to justify another financing.
Crypto’s fundraising culture made matters worse.
Unlike most industries, announcing a large raise could boost a project’s token and generate retail attention, creating incentives to present financing in the most flattering possible light.
The headline number could also obscure how firm the financing actually was. Kirkley said Global Settlement Network experienced investors failing to ultimately fund signed commitments, illustrating how announced rounds can differ from cash actually received.
Token governance meets reality
Another experiment now being tested is decentralized governance.
Token ownership did not necessarily translate into active participation, Kirkley said, while governance votes could make it harder for struggling protocols to pivot quickly. “Token holders do not mean active participants in your ecosystem,” he said.
The result is a market increasingly deciding what crypto actually needs.
Kirkley points to stablecoins, neobanks and institutional-grade wallet and settlement infrastructure as emerging winners, while areas including social tokens, memecoins and parts of Web3 gaming face a harsher reckoning.
Bitcoin faces a key support test
The shakeout could intensify if bitcoin breaks its next major support zone.
Kirkley described the market as a “soft bear market,” but sees support at $61,200 as critical.
Japan is losing three financial battles at once as its currency, bond, and debt defenses fail together. The yen has erased most of a rare US-backed rescue, and Bitcoin (BTC) traders are bracing for the yen shock.
Tokyo raised rates, spent an estimated $88 billion in two days, and brought in the US Treasury. Three weeks later, the market has beaten all three defenses.
Battle One Was the Yen, and America’s Help Is Fading
Japan’s Ministry of Finance sold dollars on July 30 as USD/JPY pushed toward 164, the yen’s weakest in decades. A day later, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined the fight, selling euros to buy yen.
Washington had not stepped in to support the yen since 1998, during the Asian financial crisis. That history shows how seriously both governments took the slide.
The rescue worked for about a week. USD/JPY dropped to around 157, then climbed back near 159. The market has taken back roughly half of what two governments bought. BeInCrypto covered how the intervention gains faded last week, and the pressure has not let up since.
The reason is simple math. US rates sit at 3.5% to 3.75% while Japan’s sit at 1%. That gap pays traders to sell yen every single day, and no one-off intervention changes it.
Goldman Sachs argues Tokyo still holds a $1 trillion war chest for further action. Yet the first $88 billion bought less than a month of relief.
“The causes of yen weakness remain intact, Fortune reported, citing David Meier, economist at Julius Baer.
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Battles Two and Three Opened in the Bond Market
While the currency defense unraveled, a second battle opened at home. Japan’s 10-year bond yield touched 2.945% on Tuesday, its highest since September 1996. The 30-year yield now sits above 4.1%.
Higher yields would normally help a currency. In Japan, they signal distress. Government debt tops 200% of GDP, the heaviest load in the developed world. Every basis point makes that mountain more expensive to carry.
The economy offers no cover. Growth ran at an annualized 1.1% in the second quarter, missing forecasts. Household spending shrank for the first time in eight quarters.
The third battle is over Japan’s own war chest. Official Treasury data released Monday showed Japan sold $26.4 billion in US Treasuries during June, the largest cut of any country. China shed a similar amount, shrinking its pile to $633.4 billion, and the top three foreign holders dumped $61 billion in one month.
Those reserves are the ammunition for every yen defense. Selling them lifts US yields, widens the rate gap, and weakens the yen further. Each battle Japan fights makes the next one harder.
Will Bitcoin Feel the Yen Shock?
Bitcoin trades near $64,136, up 0.9% in 24 hours. It has held steady while Tokyo burned billions. History suggests that calm can end fast.
The yen is the world’s favorite funding currency. Traders borrow it cheaply and buy assets that pay more, including crypto. This strategy, the carry trade, works until it suddenly does not.
August 2024 showed what the ending looks like. A surprise Bank of Japan (BOJ) rate hike forced carry traders to unwind at once. Tokyo stocks fell 12% in a single day. Bitcoin lost up to 20%, according to the BIS, the bank for central banks.
The same trigger is now loaded. DBS analysts expect the BOJ to hike in September, then every three to four months after that. Faster hikes squeeze carry traders on the funding side while record Japanese yields pull money home.
There is a counterargument. BeInCrypto analysis found the yen squeeze explanation covers less of Bitcoin’s behavior than commonly assumed. Gold, not crypto, has absorbed most of the flight from government debt stress this year.
Still, the risk points one way. Markets have beaten Japan’s intervention, its rate hikes, and its American backup in three weeks.
If USD/JPY breaks 160, Japan must choose between a bigger defense and a public defeat. Both paths shake global liquidity, and Bitcoin rarely sits out that kind of storm.
The next tests come quickly. Japan publishes its official intervention totals at the end of August, and the BOJ meets in September. Traders should watch which battle breaks first.
The post 3 Battles Japan Is Losing at Once, Will Bitcoin Feel the Yen Shock? appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Citigroup plans to begin offering bitcoin custody later this year, bringing crypto into the same infrastructure it uses to safeguard traditional assets for institutional investors.
On Tuesday, the bank’s institutional infrastructure arm announced the launch of Custody+, a suite of services designed to make custody, settlement, foreign exchange and cash management faster.
The service, which does not yet have a launch date, will start with bitcoin and give clients access to traditional and crypto custody through the same framework.
Citi’s custody operation serves clients in more than 100 markets, including 62 markets where it runs its own custody network. By adding bitcoin custody, those clients could keep their bitcoin with the same bank that holds their stocks and bonds, making it easier for some institutions to invest in bitcoin without using a separate crypto custodian.
“Custody+ is the product of a multi-year commitment to building infrastructure that matches the speed of our clients’ strategies,” Amit Agarwal, head of custody at Citi Investor Services, said in a statement.
The Latam Digital Assets Conf will take place Aug. 20-21, bringing together banks, fintechs, regulators and investors to discuss stablecoins, tokenization and digital finance regulation across Latin America.
The event arrives as major financial institutions deepen their push into digital assets. JPMorgan launched its own institutional digital currency in late 2025, BlackRock’s tokenized fund has surpassed $2 billion in assets, and the DTCC has launched a tokenization service with dozens of financial firms.
Stablecoins already account for more than 60% of crypto activity in Argentina, and six in ten new corporate clients onboarded by Bitso Business in 2026 were banks or traditional financial institutions. A recent study by EY and Taquion found that one in two Argentines want traditional banks to offer digital asset services. Argentina’s regulatory framework has kept pace: Decree 475/2026 aligned crypto tax treatment with other financial activity, and the National Securities Commission (CNV) now oversees a registry of virtual asset service providers and a growing tokenization regime.
The two-day conference will cover digital asset regulation, stablecoins, payments, tokenization and institutional decentralized finance through panels and public-private working sessions.
“Latin America is crossing a threshold. Our institutions are no longer debating whether to enter the onchain ecosystem, they’re building the future of finance, and Argentina holds a privileged place in that movement,” said Santiago Cristóbal, Managing Director of Crecimiento.
Confirmed speakers include congress member Martín Yeza; Buenos Aires city legislator Darío Nieto; Pablo Moauro (ADEBA); Gonzalo Pascual Merlo (BYMA Digital); Rafael Soto (MODO); Gastón Irigoyen (Pomelo); Manuel Beaudroit (belo); Julián Colombo (Bitso); Rafael D’Ambrosi (Twin); Eduardo Novillo Astrada (Agrotoken); Borja Martel (Roxom); Sarina Gowland (Fireblocks); Kyle Rojas (Ethereum Foundation) and Hanna Schiuma (Lucero), among others. The full lineup is announced on our official event website.
About Crecimiento
Crecimiento is a foundation that drives Argentina’s tech ecosystem to position the country as a global innovation hub. Since 2024 it has connected startups, developers, investors, companies, and public actors through conferences, hackathons, acceleration programs, and a sustained regulatory agenda. Along the way it has brought together more than 15,000 people across its initiatives, supported more than 1,000 startups, and built more than 200 partnerships with companies and communities in the industry.
About Aleph Week
The Latam Digital Assets Conf is part of Aleph Week, which from August 17 to 23 brings together banks, protocols, builders, and regulators in Buenos Aires. In the days following the conference, the Aleph Hackathon will also take place, among other events to be announced in the coming weeks.
The post Latam Digital Assets Conf to Bring Financial Institutions to Buenos Aires appeared first on BeInCrypto.
NASA on Monday awarded payload services contracts to Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, L3Harris and All Points Logistics for future missions. SpaceX prepares for another Starlink launch tonight. SPCX shares slid on a test of resistance early Tuesday. Space stocks trended lower early Tuesday. NASA on Monday selected All Points Logistics, Firefly Aerospace (FLY), L3Harris (LHX) and Blue Origin, the space…
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Strategy (MSTR) stock is climbing back toward $100, closing Monday near $97.68 after a 5% jump, even though the Bitcoin behind it has barely moved near $64,000.
The stock is down about 38% in 2026, a steeper fall than Bitcoin’s 28% slide. Yet almost every analyst covering MSTR stock still rates it a Strong Buy. Three forces explain that gap, and they all trace back to one number, a premium called mNAV.
MSTR Stock Has Fallen Faster Than Bitcoin
First, the damage. MSTR has dropped roughly 38% so far in 2026, while Bitcoin, the asset that fills its treasury, is down about 28%. The stock fell harder than the thing it owns.
That is the opposite of what buyers signed up for. Strategy was built to act as leveraged Bitcoin, rising more in rallies, so trailing the coin in a slump is the puzzle the bull case has to solve. But MSTR can still do it without Bitcoin’s help, and 3 reasons explain how.
Reason One, a Premium That Can Rebound
The recovery starts with mNAV, the one number that drives the stock. MSTR is worth the Bitcoin it holds, its net asset value, times a premium investors pay on top, a multiple you can track live. When sentiment runs hot, the premium swells. When it sours, the premium shrinks.
Right now it has shrunk hard. Strategy holds 840,447 BTC, worth about $54 billion at today’s price, yet it paid roughly $63 billion for them, leaving the stack around $9 billion underwater.
The premium that once reached 1.4 times of Bitcoin has since collapsed, and here the math splits in two. On a basic basis, which counts only the common stock, mNAV slipped under 1 to about 0.7, so the shares were worth less than the Bitcoin behind them.
Trackers that also fold in Strategy’s preferred shares and convertible debt read higher, closer to 1.05, which is why you will see both numbers quoted.
That discount is the setup. If sentiment steadies and the premium re-rates back toward 1.5, the stock could climb by half with Bitcoin doing nothing at all.
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How can that premium rise while Bitcoin holds still? Because it is a demand multiple, not a fixed amount, so it swells when more money wants MicroStrategy as a convenient, leveraged Bitcoin bet than wants the coin itself. Index buying, share buybacks that shrink the supply, or a simple return of risk appetite can each lift it.
Reason Two, Strategy Buys Back Its Own Stock
The second reason is what the company now does with its cash. When the premium sat above 1, Strategy could sell new shares at a markup, buy Bitcoin, and hand holders more Bitcoin per share. Near 1, that accretion engine stalls, so the buying stopped.
Strategy’s last Bitcoin purchase came in mid-June, and it has since gone about eight weeks without adding a coin. Instead, it funnels cash into its STRC preferred stock, a share class that pays a rich dividend and is built to trade near $100, buying it back to defend that price.
The move is deliberate.
Retiring stock below its value lifts the Bitcoin behind each remaining share, so holders can gain even while Bitcoin sits flat.
Reason Three: The Sellers Have Quit
The third reason sits on the chart. MSTR has traded inside a rising channel since late June, carving higher lows while Bitcoin drifted sideways. Monday’s 5% candle bounced off the lower edge near $92.
The volume seals it. Trading is down about 63% from June, and since early August, the selling has thinned while buyers have crept back to July levels. Tired sellers and steadier buyers point to seller exhaustion, not fresh mania.
What the Price Action Says Now
All three reasons now meet at one line, $100. A clean break above the round number exposes $101.96, and clearing it opens $104.73 and then $108.26.
The bigger signal sits higher. A push above $118.46 would give the stock room to run toward $134.95 and even $151.44. That zone only reaches the low end of Wall Street’s target range, and the average target sits far above even that.
Below the action, $98.07 and $95.66 are the first supports, and a daily close under $91.77 breaks the channel and voids the case.
Analyst’s View: So the bullish case for the MSTR stock is possible but conditional. MSTR stock only rewards the Strong Buy if Bitcoin steadies. And also if the premium heals and the price clears $118, the upper trendline of the bullish channel.
The post 3 Reasons MicroStrategy (MSTR) Stock Could Climb While Bitcoin Remains Flat appeared first on BeInCrypto.
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