Open Standard Unveils Open USD Backed by 140+ Major Partners
Open Standard has unveiled Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin built for the internet economy and backed by more than 140 partners, including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, Google, and Coinbase.
Open Standard says Open USD is being built as an open, low-cost, and high-throughput stablecoin for global money movement. The stablecoin will be governed by an independent company with a board made up of partners, rather than a single issuer.
Open USD is set to go live later this year, with Open Standard inviting businesses that want to build on the network to get in touch.
👉 x.com/openstandard/status/2071946305652367869?s=20
Open Standard has unveiled Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin built for the internet economy and backed by more than 140 partners, including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, Google, and Coinbase.
The project is designed around three core principles: scale, shared economics, and collaborative governance. Businesses will be able to mint and redeem Open USD at no cost, while partners receive the majority of reserve earnings, minus a small management fee.
Open Standard says Open USD is being built as an open, low-cost, and high-throughput stablecoin for global money movement. The stablecoin will be governed by an independent company with a board made up of partners, rather than a single issuer.
Open USD is set to go live later this year, with Open Standard inviting businesses that want to build on the network to get in touch.
👉 x.com/openstandard/status/2071946305652367869?s=20
More Than $1.98B in Tokens Set to Unlock This Month
More than $1.988 billion worth of token unlocks are set to hit the market over the next month. The schedule includes both large cliff unlocks and continuous linear releases across major crypto assets.
1️⃣ Cliff unlocks (each above $10M) include HYPE, PUMP, H, ZRO, CONX, ENA, and KAITO, with some tokens releasing significant portions of their adjusted supply in a single event.
2️⃣ Linear unlocks dominate the broader flow, led by RAIN ($896M), LAB ($336M), SOL ($150M), CC, WLD, TRUMP, ASTER, TAO, MORPHO, AVAX, ZEC, JTO, and NEAR, representing steady monthly emissions across ecosystems.
Combined, these unlocks highlight a heavy supply overhang across both large-cap and mid-cap tokens, with potential short-term pressure depending on absorption demand and market liquidity conditions.
More than $1.988 billion worth of token unlocks are set to hit the market over the next month. The schedule includes both large cliff unlocks and continuous linear releases across major crypto assets.
1️⃣ Cliff unlocks (each above $10M) include HYPE, PUMP, H, ZRO, CONX, ENA, and KAITO, with some tokens releasing significant portions of their adjusted supply in a single event.
2️⃣ Linear unlocks dominate the broader flow, led by RAIN ($896M), LAB ($336M), SOL ($150M), CC, WLD, TRUMP, ASTER, TAO, MORPHO, AVAX, ZEC, JTO, and NEAR, representing steady monthly emissions across ecosystems.
Combined, these unlocks highlight a heavy supply overhang across both large-cap and mid-cap tokens, with potential short-term pressure depending on absorption demand and market liquidity conditions.
Tokenized Google Stock Inflated 7,700% in Edel Finance Lending Exploit
Edel Finance paused its lending protocol after an attacker manipulated the pricing of a tokenized Google share used as collateral, leaving about $403,000 in bad debt.
Edel said its Chainlink price feeds were working correctly, with Google stock still priced at around $357. The issue came from the wrapping mechanism, where the conversion between GOOGLx and wGOOGLx was manipulated.
The protocol has frozen all version-one contracts, traced the attacker’s transactions, and offered a whitehat settlement. Edel also said no depositor will lose funds, as the team will cover the bad debt and restore balances one for one.
👉 coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/01/tokenized-google-stock-inflated-7-700-in-rare-defi-lending-exploit
Edel Finance paused its lending protocol after an attacker manipulated the pricing of a tokenized Google share used as collateral, leaving about $403,000 in bad debt.
According to the team, the attacker inflated the value of wGOOGLx, a wrapped version of the tokenized Alphabet share GOOGLx, to around 78x its true price. That allowed them to borrow real assets against fake collateral.
Edel said its Chainlink price feeds were working correctly, with Google stock still priced at around $357. The issue came from the wrapping mechanism, where the conversion between GOOGLx and wGOOGLx was manipulated.
The protocol has frozen all version-one contracts, traced the attacker’s transactions, and offered a whitehat settlement. Edel also said no depositor will lose funds, as the team will cover the bad debt and restore balances one for one.
👉 coindesk.com/tech/2026/07/01/tokenized-google-stock-inflated-7-700-in-rare-defi-lending-exploit
Privacy-Focused Venice AI Hits $1B Valuation After $65M Raise
Privacy-focused AI startup Venice AI has raised $65 million in a Series A round at a $1 billion valuation, marking its first external fundraise.
The company positions itself as an “uncensored” AI platform, offering access to more than 200 models while keeping user data private. CEO Erik Voorhees said Venice is built as a neutral tool, similar to Bitcoin’s open protocol philosophy.
Venice plans to use the new capital to buy GPUs and build its own data centers, improving margins and reducing reliance on leased infrastructure. The startup also has two tokens, VVV and DIEM, though Voorhees said only about 8% of users pay with crypto.
👉 techcrunch.com/2026/07/01/venice-ai-becomes-a-unicorn-with-65m-series-a
Privacy-focused AI startup Venice AI has raised $65 million in a Series A round at a $1 billion valuation, marking its first external fundraise.
The round was led by Dragonfly, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, North Island Ventures, and others. Venice says it already has 3 million active users, 850,000+ unique website visitors, and processes around 1.7 million API calls per day.
The company positions itself as an “uncensored” AI platform, offering access to more than 200 models while keeping user data private. CEO Erik Voorhees said Venice is built as a neutral tool, similar to Bitcoin’s open protocol philosophy.
Venice plans to use the new capital to buy GPUs and build its own data centers, improving margins and reducing reliance on leased infrastructure. The startup also has two tokens, VVV and DIEM, though Voorhees said only about 8% of users pay with crypto.
👉 techcrunch.com/2026/07/01/venice-ai-becomes-a-unicorn-with-65m-series-a
RWA Added 222,000 New Holders in Q2. Here's Where They Landed
Tokenized real-world assets grew their user base 31% last quarter (723.6K → 945.9K holders), and the retail wave didn't follow the money.
Solana added the most: +106,838 holders (+58%), now the largest holder base in RWA at 291.7K. But the sharpest surge was BNB Chain — up 166% (+70,809), a clear retail rush. Ethereum added +39K; Stellar (+73%) and Base (+77%) grew fast off smaller bases.
The tell: value concentrates in Ethereum, but people are onboarding through Solana and BNB. RWA is going retail — just not on the chain that holds the value.
Tokenized real-world assets grew their user base 31% last quarter (723.6K → 945.9K holders), and the retail wave didn't follow the money.
Solana added the most: +106,838 holders (+58%), now the largest holder base in RWA at 291.7K. But the sharpest surge was BNB Chain — up 166% (+70,809), a clear retail rush. Ethereum added +39K; Stellar (+73%) and Base (+77%) grew fast off smaller bases.
The tell: value concentrates in Ethereum, but people are onboarding through Solana and BNB. RWA is going retail — just not on the chain that holds the value.
Kraken Completes Its Acquisition of Reap
Payward — Kraken's parent — has closed its acquisition of Reap, a stablecoin-native card issuing and payments infrastructure firm licensed across APAC and the Americas.
Announced in May and closed July 1 with terms undisclosed — another sign stablecoin rails are becoming default for cross-border business payments.
👉 payward.com/press-release/payward-reap-close
Payward — Kraken's parent — has closed its acquisition of Reap, a stablecoin-native card issuing and payments infrastructure firm licensed across APAC and the Americas.
The deal folds card issuance, cross-border payments and treasury into Payward's B2B platform — one API instead of multiple correspondent banks. Reap stays a standalone brand under co-founder Daren Guo.
Announced in May and closed July 1 with terms undisclosed — another sign stablecoin rails are becoming default for cross-border business payments.
👉 payward.com/press-release/payward-reap-close
Robinhood Layer 2 Network is Now Live on Mainnet
The real story: a brokerage giant now owns its settlement rails instead of renting someone else's — and it went live with a full day-one stack: Chainlink (oracles), LayerZero (bridge), Uniswap (DEX), Morpho (lending), Lighter (perps), Fireblocks & BitGo (custody), Alchemy (RPC), Allium (analytics).
This is the RWA distribution war we mapped in our Q2 recap — now with a public brokerage in the ring.
The real story: a brokerage giant now owns its settlement rails instead of renting someone else's — and it went live with a full day-one stack: Chainlink (oracles), LayerZero (bridge), Uniswap (DEX), Morpho (lending), Lighter (perps), Fireblocks & BitGo (custody), Alchemy (RPC), Allium (analytics).
This is the RWA distribution war we mapped in our Q2 recap — now with a public brokerage in the ring.
ZachXBT Flags AscendEX Over Frozen Withdrawals
On-chain investigator ZachXBT says the exchange AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) has been delaying or failing to process user withdrawals for weeks — while still accepting deposits.
AscendEX previously lost ~$78M in a December 2021 hack attributed to the Lazarus Group.
👉 t.me/investigations/349
On-chain investigator ZachXBT says the exchange AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) has been delaying or failing to process user withdrawals for weeks — while still accepting deposits.
As of July 2, AscendEX has stayed silent on X for nine days. A large affected user says co-founder George Cao isn't responding to their concerns, and ZachXBT is urging anyone with stuck funds to file reports with law enforcement and regulators.
AscendEX previously lost ~$78M in a December 2021 hack attributed to the Lazarus Group.
👉 t.me/investigations/349
dYdX Rebrands to Arcus, a DEX on Robinhood Chain
dYdX Labs has rebranded its exchange as Arcus, a next-generation DEX it built jointly with Robinhood Crypto and launched July 1 on Robinhood Chain.
dYdX Labs stays independent, and the DYDX token remains — though it slid ~23% after the announcement.
👉 x.com/arcus_xyz/status/2072395169215959221
dYdX Labs has rebranded its exchange as Arcus, a next-generation DEX it built jointly with Robinhood Crypto and launched July 1 on Robinhood Chain.
Arcus lists 95 tokenized US stocks for spot trading plus waitlisted perpetuals, with 0% web trading fees and pre-IPO access planned. The year-long build pairs dYdX's on-chain derivatives with Robinhood's retail reach.
dYdX Labs stays independent, and the DYDX token remains — though it slid ~23% after the announcement.
👉 x.com/arcus_xyz/status/2072395169215959221
Avalanche Treasury Corp Stock Crashes 93% in a Month
Avalanche Treasury Corp told the SEC its ability to continue as a going concern is in doubt after its Nasdaq-listed stock (AVAT) fell 93% in a month — from over $10 to under $0.73.
It's one of the starkest failures yet among the wave of crypto "treasury" companies that levered up on tokens.
👉 thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/avalanche-treasury-corp-stock-crashes-93-warns-sec-going-concern
Avalanche Treasury Corp told the SEC its ability to continue as a going concern is in doubt after its Nasdaq-listed stock (AVAT) fell 93% in a month — from over $10 to under $0.73.
The firm holds ~15M AVAX (about 3.5% of supply), which it paid roughly $265M for — a position now worth less than half. It disclosed the going-concern risk in a July 1 SEC filing.
It's one of the starkest failures yet among the wave of crypto "treasury" companies that levered up on tokens.
👉 thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/avalanche-treasury-corp-stock-crashes-93-warns-sec-going-concern
June 2026: One $32M Hack Did Half the Damage
Crypto lost ~$65M to exploits in June — a relatively calm month by 2026 standards. But the damage was lopsided.
Humanity was drained for $32M, nearly half of every dollar lost all month, in a single hit. Everything else was a long tail: Syscoin, the infamous MEV bot JaredFromSubway, and a string of sub-$5M drains.
The 2026 lesson repeats: aggregate losses are shrinking, but concentration is rising. One bad day outweighs a whole quiet month.
Crypto lost ~$65M to exploits in June — a relatively calm month by 2026 standards. But the damage was lopsided.
Humanity was drained for $32M, nearly half of every dollar lost all month, in a single hit. Everything else was a long tail: Syscoin, the infamous MEV bot JaredFromSubway, and a string of sub-$5M drains.
The 2026 lesson repeats: aggregate losses are shrinking, but concentration is rising. One bad day outweighs a whole quiet month.
Standard Chartered Is First G-SIB to Offer USDC Access
Standard Chartered and Circle have launched institutional USDC minting and redemption — making Standard Chartered the first global systemically important bank (G-SIB) to offer it through a regulated banking channel.
It's a milestone for stablecoin adoption — a top-tier global bank plugging USDC straight into regulated finance.
👉 circle.com/pressroom/standard-chartered-and-circle-launch-launch-first-g-sib-led-integrated-access-to-usdc-minting-and-redemption
Standard Chartered and Circle have launched institutional USDC minting and redemption — making Standard Chartered the first global systemically important bank (G-SIB) to offer it through a regulated banking channel.
The service runs out of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), giving institutions a bank-grade on-ramp to mint and redeem USDC directly against Circle's reserves.
It's a milestone for stablecoin adoption — a top-tier global bank plugging USDC straight into regulated finance.
👉 circle.com/pressroom/standard-chartered-and-circle-launch-launch-first-g-sib-led-integrated-access-to-usdc-minting-and-redemption
Ondo Finance Debuts SEC-Aligned Tokenized Stocks on Ethereum
Ondo has launched tokenized versions of iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Micron Technology (MU) shares on Ethereum, becoming the first live implementation of the SEC's custodial tokenization framework.
Although the product is currently unavailable to U.S. investors, the launch marks another major step toward bringing regulated equities fully onchain and expanding institutional adoption of tokenized securities.
👉 coindesk.com/business/2026/07/01/ondo-finance-debuts-sec-aligned-tokenized-stock-model
Ondo has launched tokenized versions of iShares Core S&P 500 ETF and Micron Technology (MU) shares on Ethereum, becoming the first live implementation of the SEC's custodial tokenization framework.
The underlying securities remain held by regulated custodians, while one-to-one tokenized representations are issued through a registered transfer agent. Token holders also receive proxy voting, shareholder communications, and governance rights via Broadridge's infrastructure.
Although the product is currently unavailable to U.S. investors, the launch marks another major step toward bringing regulated equities fully onchain and expanding institutional adoption of tokenized securities.
👉 coindesk.com/business/2026/07/01/ondo-finance-debuts-sec-aligned-tokenized-stock-model
H2 2026 TGE Watchlist. 40 Tokens That Haven't Launched Yet
The Q2 TGE wave already cleared out its winners — Arcium, MegaETH, Re and others are live and trading. This is what's still loaded in the chamber for the back half of the year.
40 projects, zero tokens — yet. And the mix tells you where the meta is heading: perp DEXs dominate the board (10 of 40, all quietly farming points), while the biggest names left tokenless — Base, MetaMask, Arc — could each be the airdrop of the year.
Some are weeks away (Squid, GRVT). Some are a whole narrative away. Either way, if you're positioning for H2, these 40 are the names to know.
The Q2 TGE wave already cleared out its winners — Arcium, MegaETH, Re and others are live and trading. This is what's still loaded in the chamber for the back half of the year.
40 projects, zero tokens — yet. And the mix tells you where the meta is heading: perp DEXs dominate the board (10 of 40, all quietly farming points), while the biggest names left tokenless — Base, MetaMask, Arc — could each be the airdrop of the year.
Some are weeks away (Squid, GRVT). Some are a whole narrative away. Either way, if you're positioning for H2, these 40 are the names to know.
Cryptomarket Check-In. Major Events & Headlines
Tokenized infrastructure reached operational scale this week, with major traditional finance players launching active services and platforms deploying concrete integrations rather than announcements.
🔎 Recent Updates & Developments
– Open Standard unveiled Open USD backed by 140+ partners
– Standard Chartered became first G-SIB offering USDC minting and redemption
– Ondo launched tokenized stocks on Ethereum including iShares S&P 500 ETF
– Robinhood Layer 2 went live on mainnet with full settlement stack
– Ethena integrated USDe into BlackRock’s Aladdin managing $20 trillion
– Plume and FalconX launched a $1B RWA facility for prime brokerage loans
– SK Hynix filed for a $29B Nasdaq listing as dominant AI HBM maker
– Venice AI raised $65M at $1B valuation led by Dragonfly
Tokenized infrastructure reached operational scale this week, with major traditional finance players launching active services and platforms deploying concrete integrations rather than announcements.
🔎 Recent Updates & Developments
– Open Standard unveiled Open USD backed by 140+ partners
– Standard Chartered became first G-SIB offering USDC minting and redemption
– Ondo launched tokenized stocks on Ethereum including iShares S&P 500 ETF
– Robinhood Layer 2 went live on mainnet with full settlement stack
– Ethena integrated USDe into BlackRock’s Aladdin managing $20 trillion
– Plume and FalconX launched a $1B RWA facility for prime brokerage loans
– SK Hynix filed for a $29B Nasdaq listing as dominant AI HBM maker
– Venice AI raised $65M at $1B valuation led by Dragonfly
Polymarket vs Kalshi: The Distribution War
Kalshi and Polymarket barely pull you to their own sites anymore. The land grab is happening inside other people's products — and the two took opposite doors.
They're not even measured on the same axis. Kalshi rides regulated broker balance sheets — $7.48B in 30-day volume. Polymarket rides raw on-chain flow — $3.73B — across wallets that never report a dollar of AUM.
Liquidity stopped being the moat. Distribution is. Whoever lands inside more apps owns the next wave of traders — and both are racing to become the default yes/no layer wherever money already sits.
Full platform map on PredictionTalk 👇
predictiontalk.org/prediction-markets
Kalshi and Polymarket barely pull you to their own sites anymore. The land grab is happening inside other people's products — and the two took opposite doors.
Kalshi wired itself into regulated brokers: Robinhood, Coinbase, Webull, Interactive Brokers. ~88M funded accounts, sitting next to trillions in client assets.
Polymarket went the other way — into self-custodial wallets: MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Bitget, OKX. A market in front of ~420M users.
They're not even measured on the same axis. Kalshi rides regulated broker balance sheets — $7.48B in 30-day volume. Polymarket rides raw on-chain flow — $3.73B — across wallets that never report a dollar of AUM.
Liquidity stopped being the moat. Distribution is. Whoever lands inside more apps owns the next wave of traders — and both are racing to become the default yes/no layer wherever money already sits.
Full platform map on PredictionTalk 👇
predictiontalk.org/prediction-markets
eToro Leads $12.5M Round in Onchain Perps DEX Extended
eToro led a $12.5M funding round for Extended, an onchain perpetual-futures exchange built by a former Revolut crypto team, alongside Jump Crypto and Alber Blanc.
It's part of a broader broker race into DeFi, with eToro citing "growing demand for seamless access to DeFi products" as Robinhood pushes its own onchain rails.
👉 coindesk.com/business/2026/07/02/etoro-invests-in-onchain-derivatives-platform-extended-as-brokers-race-into-defi
eToro led a $12.5M funding round for Extended, an onchain perpetual-futures exchange built by a former Revolut crypto team, alongside Jump Crypto and Alber Blanc.
Extended has cleared over $245B in volume across 100+ perp markets. eToro plans to wire its engine into Zengo, the self-custody wallet it acquired for $70M in April — letting users trade onchain derivatives while keeping custody.
It's part of a broader broker race into DeFi, with eToro citing "growing demand for seamless access to DeFi products" as Robinhood pushes its own onchain rails.
👉 coindesk.com/business/2026/07/02/etoro-invests-in-onchain-derivatives-platform-extended-as-brokers-race-into-defi
Securitize Brings Its Own Stock (SECZ) Onchain
On its NYSE listing day, Securitize tokenized its own public stock (SECZ) on both Avalanche and Solana — putting its shares onchain the moment they went public.
It underscores how tokenized public equities are moving from pilots to real listings on major chains.
👉 x.com/Securitize/status/2072711940091392449
On its NYSE listing day, Securitize tokenized its own public stock (SECZ) on both Avalanche and Solana — putting its shares onchain the moment they went public.
A rare eat-your-own-cooking moment: the RWA-tokenization firm behind BlackRock's BUIDL fund now runs its own equity as an onchain token, tradable alongside its NYSE-listed shares.
It underscores how tokenized public equities are moving from pilots to real listings on major chains.
👉 x.com/Securitize/status/2072711940091392449
Solana (SOL) Has Launched Onchain Governance
Solana has gone live with onchain governance, letting validators and SOL stakers formally propose, back and vote on core protocol changes directly on the network.
It shifts Solana's protocol decisions onchain, formalizing what had mostly run off-chain through core teams.
👉 coindesk.com/markets/2026/07/02/solana-adds-onchain-governance-with-usd7-7-million-sol-needed-to-open-proposals
Solana has gone live with onchain governance, letting validators and SOL stakers formally propose, back and vote on core protocol changes directly on the network.
Opening a proposal requires 100,000 SOL staked — around $7.7M — a deliberately high bar to keep out spam and low-effort proposals.
It shifts Solana's protocol decisions onchain, formalizing what had mostly run off-chain through core teams.
👉 coindesk.com/markets/2026/07/02/solana-adds-onchain-governance-with-usd7-7-million-sol-needed-to-open-proposals
Mesh Eyes a $2B Valuation as Binance Leads New Round
Mesh, the crypto payments network behind PayPal's "Pay with Crypto," is raising a round led by Binance at up to a $2B valuation — double its $1B mark from six months ago.
The raise rides a boom in crypto and stablecoin payment rails as tokenization fuels demand for moving money onchain.
👉 axios.com/pro/fintech-deals/2026/07/02/crypto-payments-mesh-funding-round
Mesh, the crypto payments network behind PayPal's "Pay with Crypto," is raising a round led by Binance at up to a $2B valuation — double its $1B mark from six months ago.
It follows a $75M Series C in January and pushes Mesh past $200M raised since 2020. Earlier backers include PayPal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Bybit.
The raise rides a boom in crypto and stablecoin payment rails as tokenization fuels demand for moving money onchain.
👉 axios.com/pro/fintech-deals/2026/07/02/crypto-payments-mesh-funding-round
