Coinbase Reportedly Opens Sign-Ups in Mainland China
Coinbase has quietly begun letting mainland China residents register and verify accounts with a Chinese national ID and a local address, replacing an earlier setup that required a Chinese passport and a Hong Kong address.
👉 crypto.news/coinbase-targets-china-users-with-easier-signup
Coinbase has quietly begun letting mainland China residents register and verify accounts with a Chinese national ID and a local address, replacing an earlier setup that required a Chinese passport and a Hong Kong address.
Users reportedly cleared identity checks in about a minute. Coinbase has not confirmed the change, and it stays unclear whether the shift extends beyond account sign-ups to actual trading. The move is striking given China’s 2021 ban on crypto trading and on overseas platforms serving its residents; COIN stock ticked higher on the report.
👉 crypto.news/coinbase-targets-china-users-with-easier-signup
Stripe & Advent Bid $53B to Acquire PayPal
Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International have jointly offered $60.50 a share — more than $53 billion — to buy PayPal, backed by roughly $50 billion in committed bank financing, according to a Reuters report.
👉 crypto.news/stripe-and-advent-offer-53b-to-acquire-paypal-in-payments-mega-deal
Stripe and private-equity firm Advent International have jointly offered $60.50 a share — more than $53 billion — to buy PayPal, backed by roughly $50 billion in committed bank financing, according to a Reuters report.
The offer values PayPal about 28% above its last close. Stripe and Advent would take equal stakes and keep the business whole, folding PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin and payments network into Stripe. Neither company has confirmed the talks, and a tie-up of this scale would face heavy antitrust scrutiny in both the US and Europe before it could close.
👉 crypto.news/stripe-and-advent-offer-53b-to-acquire-paypal-in-payments-mega-deal
Same trade, 7 MiCA exchanges: the real cost to hold your own BTC
The gap between the cheapest and priciest way to turn €1,000 into self-custodied BTC? 12x.
Across 7 MiCA-licensed exchanges OKX prices the full move — deposit, taker fee, slippage, BTC withdrawal — at ~€2.47. Same trade on Crypto(dot)com: €32.18.
Fee structures are the quietest tax in crypto — and most never check until they've paid it.
The gap between the cheapest and priciest way to turn €1,000 into self-custodied BTC? 12x.
Across 7 MiCA-licensed exchanges OKX prices the full move — deposit, taker fee, slippage, BTC withdrawal — at ~€2.47. Same trade on Crypto(dot)com: €32.18.
Fee structures are the quietest tax in crypto — and most never check until they've paid it.
BNB Chain has completed 36th BNB Quarterly Burning!
1,615,827 BNB (~$932M) has been burned!
👉 x.com/BNBCHAIN/status/2077346899753881732?s=20
1,615,827 BNB (~$932M) has been burned!
👉 x.com/BNBCHAIN/status/2077346899753881732?s=20
RWA Perpetual Protocol Ostium Suffers Suspected $18M Exploit
Blockchain security firm Blockaid detected a suspected $18M exploit involving Ostium Vault on Arbitrum.
The stolen funds are reportedly being swapped from USDC into ETH via Kyber Network.
More details are expected as the investigation continues.
👉 x.com/Ostium/status/2077412452392652917?s=20
Blockchain security firm Blockaid detected a suspected $18M exploit involving Ostium Vault on Arbitrum.
According to the report, the attacker allegedly abused a registered PriceUpKeep forwarder and future-dated authorized oracle reports to generate artificial trading profits, triggering an ~$18M USDC payout from the vault.
The stolen funds are reportedly being swapped from USDC into ETH via Kyber Network.
Ostium is an RWA perpetual trading protocol focused on equities, commodities, and forex. The project has raised ~$27.8M from investors including General Catalyst, Jump Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute, and GSR.
More details are expected as the investigation continues.
👉 x.com/Ostium/status/2077412452392652917?s=20
BlackRock Hits Record $15.3T in Assets Under Management
BlackRock has become the first asset manager to surpass $15.3 trillion in AUM, marking the strongest first half in the firm's history.
BlackRock's assets under management reached a record $15.3 trillion, up 22% year-over-year, following $192 billion in Q2 net inflows and a record $321 billion in the first half of 2026. The firm's iShares ETF platform attracted $177.9 billion in H1 inflows, pushing total ETF assets above $6.2 trillion.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called it the strongest start to a year in the firm's history, citing continued momentum across ETFs, technology, and private markets. Meanwhile, the company also increased its quarterly share buyback program to $550M.
👉 marketwatch.com/story/blackrock-profits-jump-as-assets-under-management-hit-15-trillion
BlackRock has become the first asset manager to surpass $15.3 trillion in AUM, marking the strongest first half in the firm's history.
The company reported $192B in Q2 net inflows and a record $321B in H1 2026, driven by strong demand for ETFs, private markets, and active strategies.
BlackRock's assets under management reached a record $15.3 trillion, up 22% year-over-year, following $192 billion in Q2 net inflows and a record $321 billion in the first half of 2026. The firm's iShares ETF platform attracted $177.9 billion in H1 inflows, pushing total ETF assets above $6.2 trillion.
The company also reported 31% year-over-year revenue growth to $7.08 billion, while adjusted EPS came in at $13.91, beating analyst expectations. BlackRock's digital asset products now manage $48.8 billion, although crypto investment products recorded $3.1 billion in net outflows during the second quarter.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called it the strongest start to a year in the firm's history, citing continued momentum across ETFs, technology, and private markets. Meanwhile, the company also increased its quarterly share buyback program to $550M.
👉 marketwatch.com/story/blackrock-profits-jump-as-assets-under-management-hit-15-trillion
Japan Reclassifies Crypto as a Financial Product, Paves Way for Tax Cuts
Japan's parliament passed a landmark bill formally reclassifying cryptocurrencies as financial instruments, shifting them from a payment-tool framework to an investment category alongside stocks and bonds.
The bill also lays the groundwork for cutting Japan's crypto tax rate from as high as 55% down to a flat 20%, split 15% national and 5% regional, expected to take effect in 2028 alongside three-year loss carry-forward deductions.
The framework is expected to take effect in 2027, ahead of the 2028 tax overhaul.
👉 coindesk.com/policy/2026/07/15/japan-reclassifies-crypto-as-a-financial-asset-paves-way-for-tax-cuts
Japan's parliament passed a landmark bill formally reclassifying cryptocurrencies as financial instruments, shifting them from a payment-tool framework to an investment category alongside stocks and bonds.
The legislation, approved by the House of Councillors on Wednesday, amends the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Payment Services Act. It clears a key legal hurdle for future spot Bitcoin ETFs, with the Japan Exchange Group reportedly eyeing first listings as early as 2027, though no ETF products have been approved yet.
The bill also lays the groundwork for cutting Japan's crypto tax rate from as high as 55% down to a flat 20%, split 15% national and 5% regional, expected to take effect in 2028 alongside three-year loss carry-forward deductions.
Alongside the lighter tax treatment, the new rules tighten oversight: insider trading is now prohibited, issuers face mandatory annual disclosures, and penalties for unregistered crypto operators jump sharply, from a maximum three years in prison to ten, with fines rising from 3 million yen to 10 million yen (~$61,600).
The framework is expected to take effect in 2027, ahead of the 2028 tax overhaul.
👉 coindesk.com/policy/2026/07/15/japan-reclassifies-crypto-as-a-financial-asset-paves-way-for-tax-cuts
Zakura: A Faster, Open-Source Zcash Full Node
Zakura, a new free and open-source full node for Zcash, shipped its v1.0.0 release — a collaboration between Sean Bowe’s Project Tachyon and Dev Ojha’s Valar Group, both funded by private ZEC donations.
👉 zakura.com/announcements/introducing-zakura
Zakura, a new free and open-source full node for Zcash, shipped its v1.0.0 release — a collaboration between Sean Bowe’s Project Tachyon and Dev Ojha’s Valar Group, both funded by private ZEC donations.
Forked from Zebra and consensus-compatible with the Ironwood (NU6.3) upgrade, Zakura syncs the chain in roughly 4h20m — nearly 5× faster than Zebra — with native block pruning and published snapshots that bootstrap a fresh node in under two minutes. It also ships a zcashd compatibility mode and an experimental transport layer targeting sub-500ms block propagation, aiming to scale Zcash’s node infrastructure.
👉 zakura.com/announcements/introducing-zakura
US Senate Votes Against Any Pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried
The US Senate passed a resolution saying FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should “under no circumstances” receive a pardon or commutation — cleared by unanimous consent, with no senator objecting.
Led by Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego, the measure is non-binding. “He had his day in court,” Lummis said; Gallego added, “Keep him locked up.”
👉 coindesk.com/policy/2026/07/16/u-s-senate-unanimously-opposes-clemency-for-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried
The US Senate passed a resolution saying FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should “under no circumstances” receive a pardon or commutation — cleared by unanimous consent, with no senator objecting.
Led by Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego, the measure is non-binding. “He had his day in court,” Lummis said; Gallego added, “Keep him locked up.”
SBF was convicted in 2023 on seven fraud counts over FTX’s $8B+ collapse and is not eligible for release until around 2044. The vote follows his clemency bid and Trump’s earlier pardons of CZ and Ross Ulbricht.
👉 coindesk.com/policy/2026/07/16/u-s-senate-unanimously-opposes-clemency-for-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried
SpaceX Stock Slips Below Its $135 IPO Price
SpaceX (SPCX) has slipped under its $135 IPO price for the first time since its June 12 Nasdaq debut, marking a fresh post-IPO low for the rocket maker.
The stock had surged past $210 within days of listing, but four straight down days on profit-taking and looming share-unlock fears erased the entire post-IPO pop.
👉 cnbc.com/2026/07/15/spacex-spcx-stock-ipo-price.html
SpaceX (SPCX) has slipped under its $135 IPO price for the first time since its June 12 Nasdaq debut, marking a fresh post-IPO low for the rocket maker.
The stock had surged past $210 within days of listing, but four straight down days on profit-taking and looming share-unlock fears erased the entire post-IPO pop.
Daily closes: ~$161 on debut day → a $211 peak on Jun 16 → $135.27 on Jul 15 — about 36% off the high and right back at the $135 offering price.
👉 cnbc.com/2026/07/15/spacex-spcx-stock-ipo-price.html
Glacis Labs Raises $6.8M Seed for ZeroDelta Clearinghouse
Crypto clearinghouse Glacis Labs raised a $6.8M seed round led by Lightspeed Faction to scale ZeroDelta, its multichain clearing layer for digital assets.
👉 theblock.co/post/408490/crypto-clearinghouse-glacis-labs-zerodelta-funding
Crypto clearinghouse Glacis Labs raised a $6.8M seed round led by Lightspeed Faction to scale ZeroDelta, its multichain clearing layer for digital assets.
Backers include Franklin Templeton, Coinbase Ventures, Again (formerly IDC Ventures), Protein Capital and Techni Ventures. ZeroDelta nets and atomically settles onchain flows across 40+ chains — it has already cleared $1B+ at a ~$1.5B annualized run rate, starting with stablecoins and building toward tokenized securities and RWAs.
👉 theblock.co/post/408490/crypto-clearinghouse-glacis-labs-zerodelta-funding
Tether Invests $20M in Argentine Neobank Ualá
Tether has put $20M into Ualá, one of Latin America’s biggest neobanks, as part of the fintech’s ~$197M funding round, extending the stablecoin giant’s aggressive push across the region’s fast-growing markets.
👉 coindesk.com/business/2026/07/16/tether-invests-usd20-million-in-argentine-neobank-uala-as-it-expands-latin-america-push
Tether has put $20M into Ualá, one of Latin America’s biggest neobanks, as part of the fintech’s ~$197M funding round, extending the stablecoin giant’s aggressive push across the region’s fast-growing markets.
Ualá serves 11M+ customers in Argentina, Mexico and Colombia at a ~$3.2B valuation, with backers like Tencent, SoftBank and Allianz X. But its CEO cautions that local rules rule out any immediate USDT integration in the near term. So the deal reads as a strategic, future-facing bet rather than instant stablecoin distribution — part of Tether’s broader Latin America investment spree that also includes Mercado Bitcoin and the wallet Belo.
👉 coindesk.com/business/2026/07/16/tether-invests-usd20-million-in-argentine-neobank-uala-as-it-expands-latin-america-push
Ondo Joins DTCC’s Newest Tokenization Initiative
DTCC has gone live with its DTC Tokenization Service, running the first production trades of tokenized Russell 1000 stocks, major ETFs and US Treasuries — and Ondo Finance issued the first tokenized shares built on it.
👉 ondo.finance/blog/ondo-and-dtcc-collaborate-on-tokenized-stocks
DTCC has gone live with its DTC Tokenization Service, running the first production trades of tokenized Russell 1000 stocks, major ETFs and US Treasuries — and Ondo Finance issued the first tokenized shares built on it.
The initiative spans 40+ firms, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq and NYSE. DTCC turns DTC-held securities into onchain “digital twins” that keep the same ownership, dividend and governance rights and convert back at will. Limited production trades are starting now, with a full commercial launch slated for October — a milestone in moving Wall Street’s core settlement plumbing onchain.
👉 ondo.finance/blog/ondo-and-dtcc-collaborate-on-tokenized-stocks
Base CEO Jesse Pollak Admits Its Social Bet Failed
In a confessional post, Base creator Jesse Pollak admitted his two-year bet on onchain social — Farcaster, Zora and creator coins — largely missed and even “disintegrated completely,” leaving Base trailing in perps and prediction markets.
He is handing the Base app to Cobie (Jordan Fish, whose Echo launchpad Coinbase bought for ~$375M) and refocusing Base’s infrastructure on three 2026 bets: trading, stablecoin payments and AI agents.
👉 x.com/jessepollak/status/2077427261586997745
In a confessional post, Base creator Jesse Pollak admitted his two-year bet on onchain social — Farcaster, Zora and creator coins — largely missed and even “disintegrated completely,” leaving Base trailing in perps and prediction markets.
He is handing the Base app to Cobie (Jordan Fish, whose Echo launchpad Coinbase bought for ~$375M) and refocusing Base’s infrastructure on three 2026 bets: trading, stablecoin payments and AI agents.
👉 x.com/jessepollak/status/2077427261586997745
The world's 10 biggest asset managers run ~$60 trillion. In crypto? Basically two of them
BlackRock hit a record $15.3T in AUM this week (+22% YoY). But its crypto products, $48.8B, were the one segment that shrank, losing $3.1B in Q2 while everything else hit records.
Zoom out and it's starker: only BlackRock and Fidelity (~$12B) hold meaningful crypto. Vanguard, the #2 manager at $11.6T, holds exactly $0 and has no plans to change that.
Crypto is 0.3% of BlackRock's book. For TradFi's giants, it's still a rounding error.
BlackRock hit a record $15.3T in AUM this week (+22% YoY). But its crypto products, $48.8B, were the one segment that shrank, losing $3.1B in Q2 while everything else hit records.
Zoom out and it's starker: only BlackRock and Fidelity (~$12B) hold meaningful crypto. Vanguard, the #2 manager at $11.6T, holds exactly $0 and has no plans to change that.
Crypto is 0.3% of BlackRock's book. For TradFi's giants, it's still a rounding error.
MoonPay Acquires Crypto-Deposits Startup Glide
Payments giant MoonPay has acquired Glide, a Y Combinator-backed crypto-deposits startup, in an all-equity deal. Glide’s tech lets apps accept crypto deposits and wallet funding from any chain, wallet or exchange.
👉 theblock.co/post/408603/moonpay-acquires-y-combinator-crypto-glide-all-equity-deal
Payments giant MoonPay has acquired Glide, a Y Combinator-backed crypto-deposits startup, in an all-equity deal. Glide’s tech lets apps accept crypto deposits and wallet funding from any chain, wallet or exchange.
The buy extends MoonPay’s rapid M&A run — after deals like Decent, DFlow and Sodot — as it builds a full-stack crypto payments and on-ramp platform. The all-equity deal’s financial terms were not disclosed. Founded in 2023, Glide plugs pre-built funding flows into apps; folding it in deepens MoonPay’s push to make moving money onchain feel seamless for developers.
👉 theblock.co/post/408603/moonpay-acquires-y-combinator-crypto-glide-all-equity-deal
Volvo Tests a Proprietary Crypto for Supplier Payments
Volvo Group is testing an in-house cryptocurrency to settle payments across its supply chain, a senior logistics exec revealed on a Cardano Foundation podcast. It runs as an enclosed, permissioned network between Volvo, its material suppliers and its transport partners.
👉 theblock.co/post/408586/volvo-group-tests-proprietary-cryptocurrency
Volvo Group is testing an in-house cryptocurrency to settle payments across its supply chain, a senior logistics exec revealed on a Cardano Foundation podcast. It runs as an enclosed, permissioned network between Volvo, its material suppliers and its transport partners.
The token targets real operational pain — trust gaps between suppliers, slow payment reconciliation and compliance tracking — with a shared onchain ledger logging every transportation order in the network. No public or tradable token was disclosed; the crypto is internal-only, not for speculation. It builds on Volvo’s blockchain work dating back to a supply-chain traceability push it started in 2018.
👉 theblock.co/post/408586/volvo-group-tests-proprietary-cryptocurrency
Pascal Raises $9M to Build Institutional Prediction Markets
The New York-based startup raised $9M in a Series A led by Union Square Ventures to build a more “pro-grade” prediction market platform, adding to a $6 million seed round from Wintermute Ventures and DBA raised last August.
The startup launched in June and remains in private beta, focusing on lower fees, faster execution, eliminating "phantom fills," and better liquidity incentives for professional market makers.
👉 fortune.com/2026/07/16/exclusive-prediction-market-startup-pascal-9-million-heavyweights-kalshi-and-polymarket
The New York-based startup raised $9M in a Series A led by Union Square Ventures to build a more “pro-grade” prediction market platform, adding to a $6 million seed round from Wintermute Ventures and DBA raised last August.
Founded by Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen (former dYdX CEO) and Matthew Downey, Pascal positions itself as a more refined, perpetual futures-style alternative to Kalshi and Polymarket — built for serious traders and institutions rather than casual bettors.
The startup launched in June and remains in private beta, focusing on lower fees, faster execution, eliminating "phantom fills," and better liquidity incentives for professional market makers.
👉 fortune.com/2026/07/16/exclusive-prediction-market-startup-pascal-9-million-heavyweights-kalshi-and-polymarket
~$40M Trapped in Morpho Markets After msUSD Depeg
Roughly $40M of depositor funds are stuck in isolated Morpho lending markets after Main Street Finance’s msUSD stablecoin depegged to ~$0.27, dragging down linked tokens msY, AVLT and AZND.
👉 x.com/wazzcrypto/status/2077072470096420954
Roughly $40M of depositor funds are stuck in isolated Morpho lending markets after Main Street Finance’s msUSD stablecoin depegged to ~$0.27, dragging down linked tokens msY, AVLT and AZND.
Morpho’s contracts weren’t hacked — the damage traces to curators. The AlphaUSDC Delta V2 vault (curator AlphaPing) alone had ~$18M stuck in the frozen msY/USDC market, which hit 100% utilization and ~138% borrow rates. AlphaPing also held $10M+ of AVLT exposure and pulled ~$8.5M out before the token slid ~11% — a stark reminder of curator and collateral risk in permissionless lending.
👉 x.com/wazzcrypto/status/2077072470096420954
