Cointelegraph.com
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Found 11104 news
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Cointelegraph.com - 01:39 Jul 14, 2026
Bitcoin backed mortgages and stablecoin yield are hot topics in Japan right now, as Hyundai experiments with Avalanche for global stablecoin transfers. Asia Express A crypto wallet linked to a suspected romance-scam money launderer processed more than $122.5 million in 10 months, according to Interpol. Interpol said that Thai authorities arrested two suspects and uncovered a money-laundering network that funneled proceeds from romance scams into cryptocurrencies, using cross-chain token swaps to obscure the trail. The investigation was part of Operation First Light 2026, an Interpol-coordinated campaign targeting social engineering scams and the financial infrastructure used to launder their proceeds. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 01:37 Jul 14, 2026
The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association expressed support for the CLARITY Act but urged changes to the legislation’s language. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has secured its second public endorsement from a major US law enforcement organization, coming just weeks before what many see as a make-or-break legislative deadline before the Senate’s August recess. In a July 10 statement, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) said it submitted a letter to the US Senate Banking Committee endorsing the CLARITY Act, while calling for changes to strengthen accountability in decentralized finance (DeFi) and preserve investigators’ existing powers. “[FLEOA] expressing support for CLARITY and confirming what many of us know — this bill is strong on consumer protection and law enforcement,” said Ji Kim, CEO of the Crypto Council, in a statement Monday. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 23:00 Jul 13, 2026
OP_CSFS authenticates signatures over arbitrary data. OP_CAT concatenates stack values into a single message. Together, they let Bitcoin scripts verify transaction structure at spend time, without pre-signed key management or new consensus rules beyond the two opcodes themselves. This is Part 4 in the technical article series about Bitcoin covenants by Cointelegraph Research. To read the previous article, click here. The following opcodes do not independently implement full covenant functionality. Instead, they are building blocks for constructing covenants when combined with other opcodes or script elements. OP_CSFS is a proposed opcode that would allow Bitcoin script to verify signatures over arbitrary messages supplied on the stack. It is different from OP_CHECKSIG, which verifies signatures over the spending transaction according to the active SIGHASH mode. By enabling signature verification for data other than the serialized transaction details, OP_CSFS enables a broader class of constructions, includin... -
Cointelegraph.com - 21:40 Jul 13, 2026
Reed Smith’s Aquarius platform automates regulatory filings and legal workflows as demand for MiCA compliance tools grows across Europe. Reed Smith, a global law firm with over 30 offices across North America, Europe and Asia, has launched an automated compliance platform designed to help crypto companies navigate the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation as the bloc enters a new phase of crypto oversight. The platform, called Aquarius, automates key compliance tasks including crypto-asset classification, regulatory white paper generation, due diligence and environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures. Reed Smith said it plans to expand the platform to support crypto compliance regimes in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Singapore. According to the firm, Aquarius is intended to simplify MiCA compliance for companies entering the European market or expanding their crypto offerings in the region by combining automated workflows with legal expertise. Rea... -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:20 Jul 13, 2026
As foreign currency reserves remain under pressure, Bolivia is considering a framework to let the world’s largest stablecoin be used for payments, savings and trade. Bolivia is evaluating integrating Tether's USDt into its national payments system, a move that could mark one of Latin America's most significant stablecoin adoption initiatives as the country grapples with a persistent shortage of US dollars. Economy and Public Finance Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza told a press conference on Monday that the government is assessing a regulatory framework that would allow USDT to circulate “as just another currency,” alongside the boliviano and the US dollar. According to the Spanish news outlet CriptoNoticias, the framework is still under review and, if adopted, would recognize USDT for everyday transactions, including payments, savings and trade, without relying exclusively on cash or the traditional banking system. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:45 Jul 13, 2026
Hyundai completed a proof-of-concept using Tether's USDT to settle a cross-border treasury transfer between its US and Mexican subsidiaries, highlighting growing enterprise interest in stablecoin-based payments. Hyundai Motor's US and Mexican units completed a pilot cross-border treasury transfer using Tether's USDT stablecoin, settling a $20,000 payment in about seven minutes on the Avalanche blockchain. According to Tether, Hyundai Motor America converted the funds into USDT, transferred the stablecoin to Hyundai Motor Mexico and converted it back into US dollars. The transfer and verification process took about seven minutes, compared with three to four hours or more for a traditional cross-border bank transfer. Tether said the pilot used Axiym's settlement infrastructure, while Hyundai Card designed the remittance structure and oversaw the regulatory, compliance, accounting and operational requirements needed to support the proof of concept. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:27 Jul 13, 2026
With the death of Senator Lindsey Graham and another senator hospitalized, Republicans’ current majority in the chamber has been reduced to 51-47, likely requiring more Democratic support to pass crypto market structure. US President Donald Trump is urging members of the Senate to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act “in honor of” Senator Lindsey Graham, who died over the weekend. In a Monday Truth Social post, Trump said that Graham had been “a big supporter” of the CLARITY Act, calling on the Senate to pass the legislation. The chamber has four weeks in session before a month-long state work period in August, giving lawmakers a small window of opportunity to pass the crypto market structure bill. Graham died at age 71 on Saturday. Source: Donald Trump Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 15:05 Jul 13, 2026
Bitcoin bulls faced an uphill struggle to preserve $62,000 as stocks opened down on Strait of Hormuz rhetoric between the US and Iran. Bitcoin (BTC) fell further into Monday’s Wall Street open as markets reacted to the US-Iran escalation. Key points: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:26 Jul 13, 2026
Coinbase’s venture capital arm leads 2026 crypto investing even as funding withered and unique investors shied away amid the bear market. Coinbase Ventures, the corporate venture capital (VC) arm of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, led the ranks of crypto-focused VC's with 30 deals in the first half of 2026. Runner-up Animoca Brands completed 19 investments, while Silicon Valley VC a16z logged 18 deals and stablecoin giant Tether completed 15, according to data aggregator CryptoRank. In the past 12 months Coinbase Ventures completed a peer-best 75 deals, followed by Animoca Brands with 40, YZi Labs (previously Binance Labs) with 39, GSR with 31 and a16z with 30. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:08 Jul 13, 2026
Strategy boosted its US dollar reserve to $3 billion after selling $466.7 million in MSTR shares, while keeping its 843,775 Bitcoin holdings unchanged. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, raised fresh capital by selling MSTR shares through its at-the-market (ATM) offering last week while leaving its BTC treasury unchanged. Strategy sold 4.8 million shares of its Class A common stock for $466.7 million between July 6 and July 12, according to a Monday 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company did not buy or sell any Bitcoin during the period and reported holdings of 843,775 BTC at an average purchase price of $75,476 per BTC. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:50 Jul 13, 2026
The government-backed roadmap calls for the UK’s first digital gilt by early 2027 and seeks to make tokenized bonds usable for trading and borrowing. The United Kingdom could add up to 33 billion pounds ($44 billion) to its annual economic output by 2035 by becoming a leader in tokenized financial markets, according to a government-backed industry task force. The estimate appears in the first report from Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard, who was appointed by HM Treasury to help implement the government’s digital markets strategy. Developed with an industry task force, the report sets out a 12-month plan to test blockchain in a financial transaction where securities are used to borrow cash. It also calls for the UK to issue its first tokenized government bond by the first quarter of 2027. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:36 Jul 13, 2026
A dormant whale transferred BTC worth $188 million after seven years of holding, adding to the growing ratio of whale transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges. A wallet last active when Bitcoin was trading near $6,500 transferred $188 million of its holdings in recent days, its first onchain movement in seven years. With the biggest cryptocurrency now trading at around $64,000 apiece, the whale transferred 2,931 Bitcoin (BTC) from wallet ‘356my’ to wallet address ‘bc1qn’ on Sunday, according to blockchain data platform Arkham. The whale is likely looking at a nearly ten-fold gain on the long-dormant holdings, according to blockchain analytics platform Onchain Lens. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:20 Jul 13, 2026
Binance futures volume jumped 80% in June, to $1.61 trillion, outpacing rivals while broader crypto trading activity remained weak. Binance’s futures market volume is hitting a new 2026 high even as cryptocurrency spot trading remains stuck at its weakest levels in two years. Binance, the world’s largest centralized exchange (CEX) by trading volume, recorded $1.6 trillion in futures trading volume in June, its highest level of 2026, according to CryptoQuant analyst Maarten Regterschot, who posts under the moniker "Maartuun." “That might seem unexpected,” Maartunn wrote in a post on Friday, noting that Bitcoin remains in the mid-$60,000 range as many cautious traders continue to describe the market as bearish. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 10:45 Jul 13, 2026
Bitcoin price analysis called for the end of the bear market within three months as the US-Iran war sent BTC lower from strengthening $64,000 resistance. Bitcoin (BTC) starts the new week with a bump as traders brace for more macro volatility. Key points: Bitcoin continues to circle its lowest levels since Q3 2024, but one theory is already calling for the return of the bull market as soon as September. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 10:27 Jul 13, 2026
SBI VC Trade will open JPYSC lending applications on July 16, offering an initial 3% annual rate for a 12-week term without deposit insurance. Tokyo-based SBI VC Trade will begin accepting applications Thursday for a Japanese yen-denominated stablecoin lending service offering an initial annualized rate of 3% on JPYSC lent for 12 weeks. Customers will lend JPYSC to the SBI Holdings subsidiary from Thursday and receive the tokens back with a lending fee at maturity, the company said in a Monday press release. At the advertised rate, the gross return over the 12-week term would be about 0.69%, before tax. The company said the product pays more than the 0.325% to 1% annual rate SBI cited for ordinary yen deposits. Still, it is not a bank deposit, is not covered by deposit insurance and generally cannot be canceled early. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 08:58 Jul 13, 2026
Lawson will test yen stablecoin payments in Tokyo as Netstars launches a merchant service supporting USDC, USDT and JPYC. Japanese convenience-store operator Lawson plans to test yen-denominated stablecoin payments at a Tokyo location in August, examining whether stablecoin payments can work inside a standard convenience store checkout flow. On Monday, blockchain company HashPort said it had signed an agreement with Lawson and telecom group KDDI to conduct the trial at the Lawson Takanawa Gateway City store. Participants will use HashPort's non-custodial wallet, while the store will process payments through the company's point-of-sale system without needing to open or manage crypto wallets. The pilot aims to explore how stablecoin payments can be integrated into Japan’s existing retail infrastructure while shielding merchants from much of the operational complexity associated with accepting digital assets. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 05:24 Jul 13, 2026
The AI-native cohort of the expanding gig economy could increasingly use stablecoins to avoid slow and expensive traditional payment rails, Australian crypto exchange Swyftx said. AI-enabled microbusinesses could provide a major boost for stablecoin transaction volumes as the global gig and freelance payment market grows, according to Australian crypto exchange Swyftx. In a second-quarter industry report, Swyftx estimated the global gig and freelance payments market could reach $2.1 trillion by 2033, with AI-native workers accounting for $775 billion. Swyftx’s base-case model projected that $262 billion of the AI-native cohort’s payment volume could be settled in stablecoins, based on an assumed adoption rate of roughly 33%. “We see the vibe-coding and AI economy as a significant potential tailwind for stablecoin use,” Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at Swyftx, told Cointelegraph. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 04:43 Jul 13, 2026
Thailand has been plagued by Chinese-affiliated scam centers, with illicit gains flowing through a “gray money” economy. Thailand’s central bank is stepping up stablecoin surveillance as part of a wider effort to crack down on money laundering, illicit finance and “gray money” in the country. The Bank of Thailand is working with the Kingdom’s Securities and Exchange Commission to audit high-volume stablecoin transactions, with a focus on USDt (USDT), cash transactions and currency exchanges, to identify and stop illicit financial flows. “The measures we are implementing are not short-term fixes; they require the continuous deployment of multiple parallel strategies,” Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn said, according to local media outlet The Nation on Saturday. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 01:49 Jul 13, 2026
Analysts are not yet ready to call it a recovery in institutional demand for Bitcoin. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded a net inflow of $197.4 million in the week ended Friday, snapping an eight-week streak of weekly outflows dating back to May. Data from Farside Investors shows that most of the week’s gains came from the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which recorded $291.9 million in inflows. This was offset by outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund and the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF. The end of the outflow streak could suggest institutional demand for Bitcoin is recovering after two months of sustained selling pressure. However, analysts say it’s too early to tell. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 23:24 Jul 12, 2026
Even Ethereum's critics believe Robinhood Chain is bullish for ETH. Nigel Farage and Donald Trump become embroiled in crypto related scandals, and more. The successful launch of the layer-2 network Robinhood Chain has boosted investor sentiment around Ethereum. The newly launched blockchain uses ETH as its native gas token and around $141 million in ETH has already been bridged to the chain. More than half a million wallets holding ETH are now on the network, which surged past the Ethereum L1 and rival L2 Base over the past 24 hours, with DEX volumes of $877.56 million. The L2 is an offshoot of TradFi trading platform Robinhood, which offers tokenized stocks to customers in 120 countries, further strengthening the EVM-compatible ecosystem. L2s have been seen by many pundits as bearish for Ethereum as they take activity away from the L1 without returning much in the way of transaction fees. However even some former ETH bears are now reassessing that thesis. Influencer Ansem wrote: Mike Dudas from 6th Man Ventu...
11104 items