₿itcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Iranian missiles reportedly killed two U.S. service members at a Jordanian air base this week, and a third American died a day later in Iraq, as the United States pushed into an eighth consecutive night of airstrikes on Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command disclosed that Iran fired ballistic missiles and […]

Cardano activated its Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, 2026, at approximately 21:44:51 UTC, moving the network to Protocol Version 11 without any reported downtime. The upgrade is an intra-era change inside Cardano’s Conway ledger era. It does not replace the network’s governance structure. Instead, it lowers the cost of running Plutus smart contracts, […]

Zcash developers are sealing off a shielded pool that carried a critical bug, and a new node built for speed is already backing the fix. The Ironwood hard fork, known as NU6.3, activates around July 28, 2026, at block height 3,428,143. It closes a soundness flaw in the Orchard shielded pool and opens a new […]

Michael Saylor says bitcoin cannot achieve global monetary status without corporate adoption. Public companies now hold more than 1.26 million BTC, while Strategy’s financing model shows how bitcoin is being used as both a reserve asset and a source of liquidity. Saylor’s Corporate Bitcoin Thesis Meets a Concentrated Market Corporate adoption could help bitcoin develop […]

France’s national gaming regulator has ordered internet service providers to completely block access to the crypto-based prediction site Polymarket. Polymarket Traffic from French IP Addresses Surges France’s national gaming regulator announced Friday it has ordered internet service providers to completely block access to Polymarket, escalating a crackdown on the prediction platform over fears of rampant […]

FTX Trading Ltd. and the FTX Recovery Trust will send roughly $900 million to creditors starting July 31, 2026, marking the estate’s fifth major distribution since the exchange’s 2022 collapse. The payout covers eligible holders of allowed claims in the Convenience and Non-Convenience Classes who met requirements by the June 16 Record Date. Bitgo, Kraken […]

Ripple has committed $250,000 in RLUSD-funded grants to 25 veteran- and military spouse-owned businesses through a collaboration with Hire Heroes USA. Ripple Backs Veteran Entrepreneurs With $250,000 in RLUSD Grants A quarter-million dollars is now moving into businesses led by veterans and military spouses across the United States. Ripple has awarded $250,000 to 25 companies […]

T. Rowe Price, which manages $1.89 trillion in client assets, has launched TKNZ, an actively managed multi-token spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering exposure to bitcoin, ether, XRP, and other leading cryptocurrencies. Active Management and Multi-Token Crypto Portfolios T. Rowe Price, which manages $1.89 trillion in client assets, announced on July 16, 2026, that its Active […]

Underdog has filed the first seven sports event-contract templates for UDX, the federally regulated exchange it acquired in March. The filings target an initial listing no later than July 17, moving Underdog closer to controlling its own contracts rather than relying exclusively on outside exchanges. Underdog moves from distributor to exchange operator Underdog’s newly acquired […]

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order on virtual assets to address a fragmented regulatory landscape and protect citizens from fraud. Addressing Regulatory Gaps Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has signed an executive order aimed at regulating virtual assets and cracking down on unregistered operators, the government announced on July 17. The order establishes […]

Optic Texas opened the 2026 Call of Duty League Championship as the top seed, and bettors agree the regular season standings mean something. The CDL Championship, known as Champs, started July 16 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. Faze Vegas is hosting the event that closes out the Black Ops 7 season. Eight […]

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wants online sportsbooks and prediction markets to scan users’ faces to estimate their age before allowing them to bet or trade. The proposal promises not to retain identities or biometric information, but its full text has not yet been published, leaving enforcement, accuracy and appeal requirements unclear. Proposal calls […]

France’s 2-0 semifinal defeat to Spain eliminated one of the most heavily backed teams on U.S. sportsbooks, wiping out major outright and player-prop liabilities. The result also closed France’s positions across multibillion-dollar World Cup prediction markets, although exchanges do not profit from an upset in the same way as traditional bookmakers. Prediction markets logged billions […]

SBI Group, DigiFT, and Startale Group have completed a joint proof-of-concept demonstrating the end-to-end lifecycle of tokenized securities using the JPYSC stablecoin. Bridging the Gap in Digital Capital Markets SBI Group, DigiFT, and Startale Group announced a joint initiative demonstrating how JPYSC, a trust-based Japanese yen stablecoin, can support the complete lifecycle of tokenized securities. […]

Quickswap is integrating Orbs’ perps as its default perpetual futures infrastructure across all supported blockchain networks. A New Era for Decentralized Derivatives Quickswap has adopted Orbs’ Perpetual Hub Ultra 2.0 as its default infrastructure for perpetual futures trading across all supported chains, following a community governance vote that saw 81.8% of QUICK token holders back […]

US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $4.5 billion in net outflows in June, their worst month since launching in January 2024, as Bitcoin slid 20.48% and later hit a 21-month low of $58,190 on July 1. Citigroup cut its 12-month Bitcoin target to $82,000 from $112,000, while leveraged futures open interest fell from about $31.3 billion […]

More than 30 traditional finance and digital asset firms joined a live DTCC tokenization event that moved securities held at its central depository onto blockchain networks for real institutional transactions. Why Did More Than 30 Firms Join DTCC’s Tokenization Test? The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced on July 15, 2026, that securities held […]

The European Central Bank (ECB) has selected 36 payment service providers for a 12-month digital euro pilot due to begin in the second half of 2027. The project will test payments, account setup, merchant acceptance, and offline functionality using a beta version of the digital euro. ECB Advances Digital Euro With 12-Month Pilot Across 19 […]

Ripple has joined the x402 Foundation as a Premier Member, placing XRP and RLUSD within an industry effort to develop internet-native payments for AI agents, APIs, and applications. The Linux Foundation-backed initiative launched with 40 members focused on creating an open payment standard for automated commerce. Why Ripple Joined the x402 Foundation Ripple announced on […]

The Czech Republic has become the latest European country to block Polymarket as unlicensed gambling, adding the crypto-based prediction market to its official blocklist and giving internet providers 15 days to cut access. Another European door closes as Gibraltar’s opens The Czech Finance Ministry added Polymarket to its List of Unauthorized Internet Games on Monday, […]

Team Liquid, Rune Eaters Esports, and LGD Gaming survived elimination Tuesday at the Esports World Cup 2026 Dota 2 tournament, while an integrity review postponed the remaining July 14 series. 3 Teams Keep Their Playoff Hopes Alive The Survival Stage at the Esports World Cup in Paris began with 12 teams competing for the tournament’s […]

U.S. President Donald Trump declared a June ceasefire with Iran “over” this week after U.S. Central Command carried out fresh strikes on Iranian military targets, reigniting a conflict that had appeared to cool weeks earlier. The renewed fighting traces back to attacks on commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz around July 7 and 8. […]

The first full week of the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) crowned three champions in Paris, while prediction market traders spread more than $558,000 in reported volume across the Polymarket and Kalshi events. Three Champions Set the Early Pace 100 Thieves defeated NRG 3-1 in the Valorant grand final, with Cryocells earning MVP honors; UNLIMIT […]

Lawson plans to pilot JPYC stablecoin payments at a Tokyo convenience store in August, marking what it says is Japan’s first POS-linked stablecoin payment test. The experiment could help move yen stablecoins from financial pilots into everyday retail use. Hashport Powers Lawson’s JPYC Stablecoin Pilot Through Existing POS Systems Japanese convenience store operator Lawson is […]

Jupiter Exchange opened a beta version of Jupiter Gacha on July 13, launching a platform where users open digital packs and pull real, professionally graded Pokémon and One Piece cards backed one-to-one by physical slabs held in secure vaults. The Solana-based DEX aggregator built the product with Collector Crypt, the platform that already processes over […]

Ripple nearly shut down after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the company, with CEO Brad Garlinghouse considering whether to end operations, distribute XRP holdings to shareholders, and close the business. Ripple Considered Closing After SEC Lawsuit Put Company at Risk Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed that the company considered shutting down after […]

Campbell Harvey, a Duke University finance professor, says an attack on Bitcoin that once looked economically self-defeating may now be financially viable because deep derivatives markets could let an attacker profit from the resulting price collapse. Harvey outlined the argument on Scott Melker’s “The Wolf of All Streets” podcast, describing a theoretical operation in which […]

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor says bitcoin could evolve into a global digital capital asset by 2036, becoming a foundation for reserve capital, institutional collateral, and high-value settlement while powering a new generation of financial products built on a stable base protocol. Saylor Sees Major Changes Coming by 2036 Strategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR) Executive Chairman […]

Grayscale identified XRP as a “global payments” asset, placing the crypto token among digital assets the firm associates with specific financial and technological functions. Grayscale Places XRP at the Center of the Global Payments Narrative Crypto asset manager Grayscale highlighted XRP’s role in global payments as part of a framework that categorizes digital assets by […]