Cointelegraph.com
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Cointelegraph.com - 21:36 Jul 03, 2026
Rising interest in Solana-network memecoins and prediction markets was followed by a rally in SOL price. Will the momentum continue? Key takeaways: Solana’s SOL token jumped to its highest mark in over 30 days on Friday at $83, marking a decoupling from the altcoin market. SOL’s rally gained steam from a surge in tokenized trading volume on Solana, inflows of stablecoin liquidity, and an unexpected comeback in memecoin activity. Can SOL reclaim the $90 level? Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:26 Jul 03, 2026
The restriction proposed by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand would bar members of Congress, the US president and their spouses from “issuing or sponsoring their own digital assets.” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the US lawmakers behind negotiations for a digital asset market structure bill in Congress, has proposed barring elected officials and the president from issuing or sponsoring their own tokens, citing President Donald Trump’s and First Lady Melania Trump’s memecoins. In a Friday notice, Gillibrand said that Congress should support measures barring elected officials and their spouses from “issuing or sponsoring their own digital assets.” The New York lawmaker said that the proposed restriction would include any US president and their spouse, but did not specifically mention extending the provision to the office of the vice president or other members of their families. “This is a commonsense requirement that should get broad bipartisan support – public officials and their spouses should not be issuing m... -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:57 Jul 03, 2026
The US President disclosed earning more than $1 billion from crypto ventures amid discussions of a digital asset market structure bill in Congress and legislation to ban CBDCs awaiting his desk. US President Donald Trump has responded to criticism of his 2025 financial disclosures, showing that he earned $1.4 billion in income from crypto-related ventures while in office. In a Thursday interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen, Trump said that there was “nothing illegal” and “nothing wrong” with profiting from his crypto investments as president. He claimed that other people were responsible for his investments and he didn’t “even know who they are,” not directly answering questions about perceived conflicts of interest as president. Donald Trump (left) and Joe Kernen (right). Source: CNBC Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:54 Jul 03, 2026
The European regulator said companies cannot circumvent EU financial rules by marketing binary-style products as event contracts rather than derivatives. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has warned that many prediction market contracts may already fall under existing restrictions on binary options, saying companies cannot avoid financial regulations simply by marketing them as "event contracts." In a public statement on Friday, the regulator reminded companies that event contracts meeting the definition of financial instruments are already prohibited from being marketed, distributed or sold to retail investors under national measures implementing ESMA's 2018 binary options restrictions. ESMA said the assessment depends on a contract's characteristics rather than how it is marketed, adding that event contracts with binary outcomes and fixed payouts are likely to qualify as financial instruments subject to the restrictions. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:03 Jul 03, 2026
Strategy authorizes Bitcoin sales, Open USD takes on USDT and USDC, Fidelity defends Bitcoin security and crypto ramps up political spending for 2026. For years, Michael Saylor’s Strategy built its brand around a simple mantra: Buy Bitcoin. Never sell. This week, that narrative changed. The company authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales under a new capital framework. At current prices, that equates to roughly 21,000 BTC that could eventually hit the market — a reminder that even Bitcoin’s most committed corporate holder isn’t immune to the realities of capital management. This week’s Crypto Biz explores how the digital asset industry is entering a more pragmatic phase, where ideological purity is giving way to financial discipline. It also examines the intensifying stablecoin race as issuers compete for reserve yield, Fidelity's latest defense of Bitcoin's long-term security model and the crypto industry’s growing political influence ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 15:11 Jul 03, 2026
Bitcoin set new highs for July after the Dow Jones and global stocks market cap set new all-time highs before the US Independence Day holiday. Bitcoin (BTC) saw new July highs on Friday as bulls kept pushing over the US holiday period. Key points: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:59 Jul 03, 2026
Lawyers and industry executives expect EU regulators to enforce MiCA differently as unauthorized crypto companies are required to wind down operations. The European Union’s cryptocurrency industry has entered a new enforcement phase as the transition period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation came to an end. The end of the transition means crypto companies without MiCA authorization can no longer legally serve EU clients and are expected to wind down operations or face multimillion-euro fines and other enforcement action. Industry executives and lawyers told Cointelegraph the next challenge is ensuring national regulators apply the bloc’s single rulebook consistently, even as supervisory approaches are expected to vary across member states. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:19 Jul 03, 2026
Upbit said it only expressed interest in potentially joining the OpenStandard ecosystem in the future, as several South Korean firms distanced themselves from the OUSD initiative. South Korean crypto exchange Upbit said it is not participating in the issuance of Open USD, after its operator Dunamu was named among more than 140 businesses involved in the new stablecoin initiative. “Upbit has only indicated our potential willingness to consider taking part in the future expansion of the OpenStandard ecosystem,” an Upbit spokesperson told Cointelegraph. The clarification follows similar pushback from Samsung Electronics and other South Korean companies listed by Open Standard. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:43 Jul 03, 2026
Belgian authorities say a European phishing gang stole over $572,000 from victims before laundering the proceeds through cryptocurrency. Belgian authorities arrested a 19-year-old suspected of being a key figure in a European phishing and money-laundering network that stole more than 500,000 euros ($572,000) using fake government emails and phone calls to trick victims into installing remote-access software. Authorities detained the suspect in an Airbnb in Antwerp, where a second suspect was also found. The Federal Judicial Police launched the investigation in March 2026, when phishing attacks became a priority in the region, according to a Thursday police report. The main suspect was brought before an investigating judge, who issued an arrest warrant. The gang used money mules and cash carriers and laundered the proceeds through cryptocurrencies. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:02 Jul 03, 2026
ESMA publishes its first post-deadline MiCA register update, adding 37 crypto-asset service providers, including Standard Chartered and FalconX. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published the first update to its register of crypto companies under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) after the transitional period ended Wednesday. Friday's update to the register added 37 licensed crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), including global banking group Standard Chartered, which secured MiCA authorization from Luxembourg regulators on June 25. Among the new CASPs are digital asset prime brokerage FalconX, Sygnum Europe and Ronin EM, while the register of electronic money tokens (EMTs) has added Crédit Agricole’s CACEIS. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:34 Jul 03, 2026
Bitcoin supply dynamics pointed toward the end of the 2026 bear market after the first "buy" signal since November 2022, but analysis warned that BTC price could still go lower. Bitcoin (BTC) has added another bear-market bottom signal this month as analysis draws comparisons to November 2022. Key points: Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:21 Jul 03, 2026
Shielded Labs said exchanges, mining pools and wallets may need more time to complete Zcash’s Z3 software migration and safely prepare for Ironwood. Shielded Labs has raised the possibility of delaying Zcash's Ironwood network upgrade, warning that ecosystem participants like exchanges, mining pools and wallets may not have enough time to prepare their systems for the planned activation in late July. Jason McGee, executive director of Shielded Labs, said in a Zcash community forum post that two major projects are moving forward at the same time. Alongside Ironwood, infrastructure providers are being asked to replace Zcash’s longstanding node and wallet software, zcashd, with a new collection of tools known as the Z3 stack. The concerns highlight the trade-off between quickly restoring confidence in Zcash’s shielded supply and giving ecosystem participants enough time to deploy and audit the new infrastructure safely. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 11:10 Jul 03, 2026
A defendant who owns one of the dormant Bitcoin wallets filed to dismiss the New York case, which seeks ownership of $229 billion worth of Bitcoin considered lost. A pseudonymous defendant has moved to dismiss a New York lawsuit seeking ownership of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses, arguing that Bitcoin addresses are merely data strings that cannot be sued. The defendant, identifying themselves as “John Doe 33,” filed a notice of appearance and motion to dismiss on Thursday, claiming they control one of the dormant wallets named in the lawsuit. According to the motion, the lawsuit is legally defective because Bitcoin address strings are neither persons nor legal entities subject to the court's jurisdiction. The filing argues that a public Bitcoin address cannot itself be “found” under New York's lost-property law because it has always been publicly visible on the blockchain. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 09:26 Jul 03, 2026
The Indian central bank reportedly urged lawmakers to keep banks insulated from crypto and private stablecoins while preserving room for regulated tokenization. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly backed a containment strategy for digital assets to shield banks and other financial institutions from exposure to crypto and privately issued stablecoins, as lawmakers prepare a report on the country’s digital asset policy. According to a report by The Economic Times, RBI Deputy Governor Rohit Jain and Executive Director P. Vasudevan presented the central bank’s position to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday. In a background note submitted to the panel, the RBI reportedly said prohibition remained a recognized policy option and recommended preventing the use of crypto in payments and settlements while restricting banking-sector exposure. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 08:47 Jul 03, 2026
Irish authorities recovered 500 Bitcoin in criminal proceeds, bringing the total seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau to about $92 million in BTC for 2026. Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) confirmed the seizure of another 500 Bitcoin, currently worth about 27 million euros ($30.9 million), in collaboration with Europol's European Cybercrime Centre. That brings the total Bitcoin seized by CAB in 2026 to 1,500 BTC, worth about $92.4 million, the law enforcement agency said in a social media post on Thursday. CAB said Europol had provided operational coordination, technical expertise and decryption support during the investigation. The agency did not disclose the identity of the wallet owner or details of the underlying investigation, adding that it had no further comment. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 07:56 Jul 03, 2026
US spot Bitcoin ETFs post $221.7 million inflows, the strongest daily intake since early May, as Bitcoin recovers above $61,000. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their first daily net inflow above $200 million since early May, snapping weeks of sustained withdrawals. The funds attracted $221.7 million in net inflows on Thursday, according to SoSoValue data, ending a 10-day streak of net outflows that totaled more than $2.7 billion. The rebound follows one of the weakest stretches for US spot Bitcoin ETFs this year, with the funds posting a record $4.5 billion in net outflows in June. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:18 Jul 03, 2026
Peter Stokes, 19, has been charged in the US for allegedly taking part in a hacking group’s unsuccessful $8 million crypto ransom scheme. A teenager suspected of involvement with the “Scattered Spider” hacking group has been extradited to the US over his alleged role in an $8 million crypto ransom. The US Justice Department said on Wednesday that Peter Stokes, a 19-year-old dual US-Estonian national, was arrested in Finland in April on an Interpol Red Notice and extradited to the US last week to appear in a Chicago federal court on Tuesday. A criminal complaint unsealed in court accused Stokes and others of breaching a luxury jewelry retailer’s computer system in May 2025 to steal data and demand a ransom payment of $8 million in crypto. The retailer managed to evict them from the network and did not pay the ransom, but suffered $2 million in disruption damages, according to the complaint. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 06:07 Jul 03, 2026
Mark Zuckerberg’s comments came on the same day that Meta expanded its Meta Business Agent globally for businesses on Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said AI agent development at the firm is progressing more slowly than expected, even as technology and crypto firms continue pouring resources into the nascent technology. In a company meeting on Thursday, Zuckerberg said the “trajectory of the agentic development over at least the last four months hasn't really accelerated in the way that we expected,” according to Reuters, which reviewed a recording of the call. The bet on agent adoption hasn’t “come to fruition yet,” Zuckerberg said, adding that executives made an aggressive push into agentic infrastructure in January in part because of fears they weren’t moving “fast enough.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 03:38 Jul 03, 2026
New data from Allium suggests that US users are bypassing geoblocks to bet on markets offered on Polymarket’s global platform. US-based users are the biggest political bettors on Polymarket, despite the crypto-based prediction market’s efforts to restrict US citizens from using the decentralized platform, according to new research. Blockchain research firm Allium estimated in a report published on Thursday that US-based users are the single biggest political market of any country by contracts traded and wallet count on Polymarket — not to be confused with Polymarket US, which is a US-regulated platform that launched in December with a narrower set of markets. “Blocking access did not end US participation; it made the US the largest single political market on Polymarket by volume,” the report said. “The demand is still there, now offshore and beyond US oversight.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 03:12 Jul 03, 2026
Bitwise’s Matt Hougan said Strategy's STRC offer of high yields and low volatility was always a questionable fit for buying Bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency offers neither. Strategy’s era as the dominant Bitcoin buyer may have come to an end following last week’s STRC turmoil, which cast doubt on the company’s Bitcoin-buying strategy and sent the cryptocurrency to a nearly two-year low, according to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan. “For years, Strategy has been the most dominant Bitcoin buyer in the world and a one-way source of Bitcoin demand. Those days are likely over,” Hougan said Thursday. “I just expect it to be a less important figure in Bitcoin in the next cycle than it was in the last,” Hougan said, adding that investment banks, asset managers, pensions, endowments and sovereign wealth funds will likely replace Strategy as Bitcoin’s primary demand driver. Read more
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