AscendEX Shuts Down, Freezes Withdrawals
AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) says it ceased operations on July 1, blaming the EU's new MiCA regime — under which it holds no authorization — plus broader regulatory, financial and operational pressures, cutting off deposits, trading, swaps and staking for all users.
As of July 6, all withdrawals face manual review with automated payouts paused, and AscendEX says it cannot give assurances on timing or amounts. It lost ~$78M to the Lazarus Group in 2021.
👉 ascendex.com
AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) says it ceased operations on July 1, blaming the EU's new MiCA regime — under which it holds no authorization — plus broader regulatory, financial and operational pressures, cutting off deposits, trading, swaps and staking for all users.
The shutdown follows on-chain sleuth ZachXBT's warning that the exchange had stalled user withdrawals for weeks while still taking deposits, then went silent on X for nine days.
As of July 6, all withdrawals face manual review with automated payouts paused, and AscendEX says it cannot give assurances on timing or amounts. It lost ~$78M to the Lazarus Group in 2021.
👉 ascendex.com
Nearly 4 in 5 coins ended H1 2026 in the red
We took the top 1000 coins (stablecoins excluded) and measured how they actually did year-to-date. It's a bloodbath.
Benchmark check: only 41% beat simply holding Bitcoin (−26.9% YTD), and 56% beat ETH (−39.3%).
The deeper you go down the cap ladder, the worse it gets — top-100 median −23%, but ranks 301–1000 median −38.8%. The majors held; the long tail drowned.
We took the top 1000 coins (stablecoins excluded) and measured how they actually did year-to-date. It's a bloodbath.
— 789 of 1000 (79%) finished the half in the red
— The typical coin lost 35.7% (median) — not a tail, the middle of the pack
— The single biggest group: 325 coins down 25–50%
— 288 coins (nearly 1 in 3) lost half or more; 48 lost 75%+
— On the other side, just 71 coins (7%) managed a 2x
Benchmark check: only 41% beat simply holding Bitcoin (−26.9% YTD), and 56% beat ETH (−39.3%).
The deeper you go down the cap ladder, the worse it gets — top-100 median −23%, but ranks 301–1000 median −38.8%. The majors held; the long tail drowned.
BNB Chain Plans New Layer 1 for AI Agent Trading
BNB Chain is building a dedicated Layer 1 purpose-built for “agentic” trading — autonomous AI agents that execute trades on their own — with a testnet slated for late 2026 and a mainnet targeted for early 2027.
It complements the existing BNB Chain stack, whose AI-agent ecosystem has already grown to some 150,000 deployed agents across the network.
👉 theblock.co/post/407406/bnb-chain-builds-new-layer-1-for-agentic-trading-targets-2027-mainnet
BNB Chain is building a dedicated Layer 1 purpose-built for “agentic” trading — autonomous AI agents that execute trades on their own — with a testnet slated for late 2026 and a mainnet targeted for early 2027.
The chain targets sub-50ms transaction pre-confirmation and over 100,000 TPS, and removes the public mempool — a change meant to curb the front-running attacks common on open chains.
It complements the existing BNB Chain stack, whose AI-agent ecosystem has already grown to some 150,000 deployed agents across the network.
👉 theblock.co/post/407406/bnb-chain-builds-new-layer-1-for-agentic-trading-targets-2027-mainnet
Paradigm Closes New $1.2B Fund, Eyes AI and Robotics
Crypto-focused VC Paradigm has closed a new $1.2 billion fund — one of the largest in the sector — and says it will now hunt for bets well beyond crypto.
The move underscores how top crypto VCs are chasing the AI boom, as the lines between crypto, AI and frontier-tech investing keep blurring.
👉 bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-08/crypto-focused-vc-firm-paradigm-raises-1-2-billion-for-ai-bets
Crypto-focused VC Paradigm has closed a new $1.2 billion fund — one of the largest in the sector — and says it will now hunt for bets well beyond crypto.
With fresh capital in hand, the firm plans to expand into artificial intelligence and robotics, broadening its mandate past the digital-asset startups it is known for.
The move underscores how top crypto VCs are chasing the AI boom, as the lines between crypto, AI and frontier-tech investing keep blurring.
👉 bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-08/crypto-focused-vc-firm-paradigm-raises-1-2-billion-for-ai-bets
Anthropic Releases Official Claude Prompt Library
Anthropic has launched an official Claude Code Prompt Library, a collection of 50+ ready-to-use prompts designed to help developers work faster and more effectively with AI.
Beyond providing prompts, Anthropic also explains why they work, sharing practical prompting techniques such as focusing on outcomes instead of steps, defining measurable goals, providing references, and asking the AI to verify its own work.
The beta is rolling out to Max subscribers first, with broader availability planned in the coming weeks.
👉 x.com/claudeai/status/2074525815820169320?s=20
Anthropic has launched an official Claude Code Prompt Library, a collection of 50+ ready-to-use prompts designed to help developers work faster and more effectively with AI.
The library covers everything from planning, debugging, testing, and refactoring to Git workflows, documentation, product development, marketing, security, and automation.
Beyond providing prompts, Anthropic also explains why they work, sharing practical prompting techniques such as focusing on outcomes instead of steps, defining measurable goals, providing references, and asking the AI to verify its own work.
Anthropic is also expanding Claude Cowork to mobile and web. Users can now start long-running tasks on desktop, monitor progress from their phone, and let Claude continue working even when their computer is offline.
The beta is rolling out to Max subscribers first, with broader availability planned in the coming weeks.
👉 x.com/claudeai/status/2074525815820169320?s=20
Google to Remove Prediction Market Extensions From Chrome Web Store Under New Policies
Google has updated its Chrome Web Store Developer Program Policies to classify prediction markets as prohibited products.
Additionally, Google is continuing its Manifest V2 phaseout. Beginning August 31, 2026, all remaining Manifest V2 extensions will be removed from the Chrome Web Store, preventing users from reinstalling them.
The move marks the final stage of Google's transition to the more secure Manifest V3 extension framework.
👉 androidauthority.com/google-chrome-old-manifest-v2-extensions-delete
Google has updated its Chrome Web Store Developer Program Policies to classify prediction markets as prohibited products.
Starting August 1, 2026, Chrome extensions that facilitate or support real-money prediction market trading will no longer be allowed on the Chrome Web Store. The updated policies also introduce stricter privacy, user consent, and data collection requirements for extension developers.
Additionally, Google is continuing its Manifest V2 phaseout. Beginning August 31, 2026, all remaining Manifest V2 extensions will be removed from the Chrome Web Store, preventing users from reinstalling them.
The move marks the final stage of Google's transition to the more secure Manifest V3 extension framework.
👉 androidauthority.com/google-chrome-old-manifest-v2-extensions-delete
ESMA Launches First Crypto Custody Review Under MiCA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched its first coordinated review of crypto custody providers since MiCA entered full enforcement.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is already considering updates to MiCA. Regulators are seeking feedback on expanding the framework to cover tokenization and non-EU stablecoin issuers, reflecting the rapid evolution of digital asset markets and recent regulatory developments worldwide.
👉 theblock.co/post/407613/european-commission-expand-mica-tokenization
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched its first coordinated review of crypto custody providers since MiCA entered full enforcement.
The supervisory action will assess operational resilience across the EU, including governance, private key management, transaction controls, incident response, smart contract risks, and third-party dependencies. National regulators will conduct risk-based reviews through 2027.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is already considering updates to MiCA. Regulators are seeking feedback on expanding the framework to cover tokenization and non-EU stablecoin issuers, reflecting the rapid evolution of digital asset markets and recent regulatory developments worldwide.
👉 theblock.co/post/407613/european-commission-expand-mica-tokenization
GRVT Announced July 21 as GRVT Token Launch Date
GRVT, the licensed ZK-powered hybrid derivatives exchange, confirmed its native token GRVT will go live on July 21 — putting an official date on its long-awaited TGE.
GRVT now ranks as a top-5 perpetuals DEX, with around $1.3B in 24h volume and roughly $40B over the past 30 days.
👉 x.com/grvt_io/status/2072961054070763647
GRVT, the licensed ZK-powered hybrid derivatives exchange, confirmed its native token GRVT will go live on July 21 — putting an official date on its long-awaited TGE.
GRVT has expanded its community token allocation to 28%, with Season 2 participants receiving an 18% share.
GRVT now ranks as a top-5 perpetuals DEX, with around $1.3B in 24h volume and roughly $40B over the past 30 days.
👉 x.com/grvt_io/status/2072961054070763647
Binance Wallet Adds Plume's RWA Yield Vault
Binance Wallet has integrated Plume Network's nBASIS vault, giving self-custody users direct access to tokenized Invesco and Bitwise funds — its first structured RWA yield product.
Both funds were tokenized by Superstate — USTB holds over $860M in assets and USCC over $170M.
👉 theblock.co/post/407632/binance-wallet-plume-yield-vault-invesco-bitwise-funds
Binance Wallet has integrated Plume Network's nBASIS vault, giving self-custody users direct access to tokenized Invesco and Bitwise funds — its first structured RWA yield product.
Users deposit stablecoins and earn roughly 3.5% from two institutional funds behind one vault: Invesco's tokenized U.S. government-securities fund (USTB) and Bitwise's crypto carry fund (USCC).
Both funds were tokenized by Superstate — USTB holds over $860M in assets and USCC over $170M.
👉 theblock.co/post/407632/binance-wallet-plume-yield-vault-invesco-bitwise-funds
Hyundai Card's Stablecoin Pilot: 4 Hours to 7 Minutes
Hyundai Card and Hyundai Motor completed a stablecoin remittance pilot, moving $20,000 between the automaker's U.S. and Mexican units in about 7 minutes — versus 3–4 hours by traditional bank wire.
Hyundai Card now plans to expand stablecoins across settlements and fund transfers for Hyundai Motor Group's overseas units — a notable TradFi step onto onchain payment rails.
👉 theblock.co/post/407660/hyundai-stablecoin-poc-avalanche-tether
Hyundai Card and Hyundai Motor completed a stablecoin remittance pilot, moving $20,000 between the automaker's U.S. and Mexican units in about 7 minutes — versus 3–4 hours by traditional bank wire.
Phase one ran on Avalanche with Tether's USDT (via Axiym), while a European phase with Circle and Visa is set to begin in late July.
Hyundai Card now plans to expand stablecoins across settlements and fund transfers for Hyundai Motor Group's overseas units — a notable TradFi step onto onchain payment rails.
👉 theblock.co/post/407660/hyundai-stablecoin-poc-avalanche-tether
Robinhood Chain Sends 10% of Fees to Arbitrum's DAO
Robinhood launched its own chain on Arbitrum — and for the first time, Arbitrum's DAO earns from a network it doesn't even settle. Every Arbitrum-stack L2 that settles outside Arbitrum One/Nova now returns 10% of net revenue: 8% to the DAO treasury, 2% to the developer guild.
👉 x.com/sgoldfed/status/2074924352659755217
Robinhood launched its own chain on Arbitrum — and for the first time, Arbitrum's DAO earns from a network it doesn't even settle. Every Arbitrum-stack L2 that settles outside Arbitrum One/Nova now returns 10% of net revenue: 8% to the DAO treasury, 2% to the developer guild.
ARB jumped ~14% in 24 hours on the news. Week one brought ~$57K in protocol revenue — a modest run-rate today, but a genuine structural shift: from a pure governance token to one with a real, recurring on-chain revenue path.
👉 x.com/sgoldfed/status/2074924352659755217
World.xyz Leaves Solana for Robinhood Chain
World.xyz, a decentralized prediction market that debuted on Solana barely a week ago, is migrating to Robinhood Chain — the new Layer 2 that Robinhood only launched on July 1.
👉 x.com/world_xyz/status/2074861520576540961
World.xyz, a decentralized prediction market that debuted on Solana barely a week ago, is migrating to Robinhood Chain — the new Layer 2 that Robinhood only launched on July 1.
The team called it a “tactful pivot” made after 24 hours of deliberation, thanking the Solana foundation and community on its way out. Solana diehards weren't impressed — Raydium mocked the exit, and Phantom simply replied: “i still like solana.”
👉 x.com/world_xyz/status/2074861520576540961
DeFi Dashboard Zapper to Shut Down After 7 Years
Zapper, one of DeFi's earliest portfolio dashboards, will wind down on August 3, 2026 — closing its website, mobile apps and API. CEO Seb Audet said the team weighed its options and chose an orderly shutdown.
Audet admitted the goal of making DeFi truly accessible fell short, but said Zapper still helped make the onchain economy far easier to navigate for a great many people.
👉 theblock.co/post/407634/defi-dashboard-zapper-shut-down-after-7-years
Zapper, one of DeFi's earliest portfolio dashboards, will wind down on August 3, 2026 — closing its website, mobile apps and API. CEO Seb Audet said the team weighed its options and chose an orderly shutdown.
At its peak Zapper served ~2 million monthly users and processed over $13 billion in transactions, after raising roughly $16.5M from Framework Ventures, Sound Ventures and others since 2019.
Audet admitted the goal of making DeFi truly accessible fell short, but said Zapper still helped make the onchain economy far easier to navigate for a great many people.
👉 theblock.co/post/407634/defi-dashboard-zapper-shut-down-after-7-years
Prime Intellect Raises a $130M Series A
Prime Intellect closed a $130M Series A led by Radical Ventures, with NVIDIA Ventures, Intel Capital and Dell Technologies Capital also joining — lifting total funding to over $150M.
👉 primeintellect.ai/blog/series-a
Prime Intellect closed a $130M Series A led by Radical Ventures, with NVIDIA Ventures, Intel Capital and Dell Technologies Capital also joining — lifting total funding to over $150M.
The startup builds decentralized infrastructure to train and deploy open frontier AI models with reinforcement learning — its bid to make an open superintelligence stack real and usable. Angel backers span founders and execs from Cloudflare, Ramp, Box, Zapier, Tesla and LangChain.
👉 primeintellect.ai/blog/series-a
MiCA is live — and Europe already has a leader
The EU's crypto rulebook fully kicked in on July 1. One week later, the regulated market has a clear #1: Kraken.
$416M in spot liquidity — nearly half of all MiCA-regulated liquidity, and 2.4x its closest rival. Kraken alone runs deeper than Coinbase and Crypto com combined.
The exchanges that went all-in on EU compliance early now own the market. In regulated Europe, being big globally means nothing. Being licensed and liquid means everything.
The EU's crypto rulebook fully kicked in on July 1. One week later, the regulated market has a clear #1: Kraken.
$416M in spot liquidity — nearly half of all MiCA-regulated liquidity, and 2.4x its closest rival. Kraken alone runs deeper than Coinbase and Crypto com combined.
The exchanges that went all-in on EU compliance early now own the market. In regulated Europe, being big globally means nothing. Being licensed and liquid means everything.
Cryptomarket Check-In. Major Events & Headlines
This week saw major crypto firms deepen their regulatory presence in Europe while blockchain infrastructure kept moving forward with new networks, scaling upgrades and Bitcoin-native innovation.
🔎 Recent Updates & Developments
– Robinhood launched its Layer 2 on Arbitrum
– Kraken is pursuing a European banking license
– Coinbase obtained a U.K. MiFID license
– GRVT set July 21 for its token launch
– BNB Chain unveiled an AI-focused Layer 1
– Ethereum scheduled Glamsterdam with up to 78% lower fees
– Tether is bringing native USDT back to Bitcoin via RGB99
This week saw major crypto firms deepen their regulatory presence in Europe while blockchain infrastructure kept moving forward with new networks, scaling upgrades and Bitcoin-native innovation.
🔎 Recent Updates & Developments
– Robinhood launched its Layer 2 on Arbitrum
– Kraken is pursuing a European banking license
– Coinbase obtained a U.K. MiFID license
– GRVT set July 21 for its token launch
– BNB Chain unveiled an AI-focused Layer 1
– Ethereum scheduled Glamsterdam with up to 78% lower fees
– Tether is bringing native USDT back to Bitcoin via RGB99
Aave Labs Unveils Stable Vaults for Fixed-Rate Stablecoin Yield
Aave Labs is introducing Stable Vaults, a new all-in-one infrastructure layer for embedding fixed-rate stablecoin yield into consumer products.
With Stable Vaults, companies can integrate Aave-powered yield, or any ERC-4626 vault strategy, without building yield infrastructure from scratch. The operator decides which stablecoins to support, which strategies to use, and what fixed rate to offer.
Stable Vaults enable businesses to easily offer fixed-rate stablecoin yield across use cases ranging from neobanks and payment platforms to exchanges and fintechs.
The production-ready infrastructure is already deployed in the Aave App and supports secure cross-chain functionality via Chainlink Price Feeds and CCIP.
👉 aave.com/blog/introducing-stable-vaults
Aave Labs is introducing Stable Vaults, a new all-in-one infrastructure layer for embedding fixed-rate stablecoin yield into consumer products.
The system is already powering the Aave mobile savings app and is now open for any business to build on. Stable Vaults aim to solve one of DeFi’s biggest challenges: turning volatile onchain lending rates into a predictable rate users can actually rely on.
With Stable Vaults, companies can integrate Aave-powered yield, or any ERC-4626 vault strategy, without building yield infrastructure from scratch. The operator decides which stablecoins to support, which strategies to use, and what fixed rate to offer.
Stable Vaults enable businesses to easily offer fixed-rate stablecoin yield across use cases ranging from neobanks and payment platforms to exchanges and fintechs.
The production-ready infrastructure is already deployed in the Aave App and supports secure cross-chain functionality via Chainlink Price Feeds and CCIP.
👉 aave.com/blog/introducing-stable-vaults
Gauntlet Raises $125M in Series C Led by SBI Holdings
Gauntlet has closed a $125M Series C led by SBI Holdings as it pushes deeper into onchain finance and institutional infrastructure.
SBI said the investment aligns with its long-term strategy to bridge traditional finance with digital assets, including plans for a yen-denominated stablecoin in 2026.
👉 gauntlet.xyz/resources/gauntlet-closes-125-million-series-c
Gauntlet has closed a $125M Series C led by SBI Holdings as it pushes deeper into onchain finance and institutional infrastructure.
The company says the new capital will help expand its platform, grow the global team, and broaden stablecoin coverage beyond USD and EUR to include MXN, JPY, and more. Gauntlet currently curates more than $1.5B in supplied assets across its vaults and works with over 150 fintechs and institutions.
SBI said the investment aligns with its long-term strategy to bridge traditional finance with digital assets, including plans for a yen-denominated stablecoin in 2026.
👉 gauntlet.xyz/resources/gauntlet-closes-125-million-series-c