Summary
gm, Tether reported a remarkable Q2 profit of $4.9 billion and announced plans for a major U.S. venture. Blockstream debuted 'Simplicity,' a new smart contract language for Bitcoin designed to enhance security while bringing Ethereum-like capabilities to the Bitcoin ecosystem through its Liquid sidechain. Meanwhile, regulatory clarity continued to advance as SEC Chair Paul Atkins unveiled "Project Crypto" aimed at modernizing securities regulations and transitioning U.S. financial markets onto blockchain technology. Additionally, major payment processor Visa expanded its stablecoin settlement infrastructure to include support for PayPal's PYUSD, Paxos' USDG, and Euro Coin across new blockchain networks including Avalanche and Stellar, signaling increasing mainstream adoption of digital assets for payments.

News Headlines
📊 Strategy Reports $10B Q2 Profit Amid Bitcoin Rally

  • Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) reported an extraordinary $10 billion profit in Q2 2025, rebounding from a $5.9 billion Q1 loss thanks to Bitcoin's price recovery from $77,000 to highs of $111,000.
  • The company increased its Bitcoin holdings by nearly 20% quarter-over-quarter, acquiring another 21,000 BTC for $2.5 billion, bringing its total to 597,000 BTC valued around $74 billion.

📱 Robinhood CEO Emphasizes Tokenization Strategy in Q2 Earnings Call

  • During Robinhood's Q2 earnings call, CEO Vlad Tenev mentioned "tokenization" 11 times, positioning it as fundamental to the company's strategy for democratizing access to various assets through 24/7 trading and instant settlement.
  • Despite a decline in crypto trading revenue, Robinhood posted stronger-than-expected profits and continues to develop its stock tokens offering synthetic exposure to private companies.

💰 XRP Outperforms Ethereum in Coinbase Transaction Revenue

  • Coinbase's Q2 report revealed that XRP generated 13% of consumer transaction revenue, surpassing Ethereum's 12%, despite overall transaction revenue dropping by 39% to $764 million.
  • XRP's retail popularity remains driven by low transaction costs and regulatory clarity following positive rulings in the Ripple case, while Ethereum saw increased institutional demand driven by ETF inflows.

🏛️ Hong Kong Implements Stablecoin Licensing Regime

  • Hong Kong has introduced a comprehensive licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoins effective August 1, requiring companies issuing or marketing stablecoins to retail investors to obtain approval from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
  • The regime includes compliance measures for reserve asset management, client fund segregation, and anti-money laundering protocols as part of Hong Kong's strategy to enhance its crypto regulatory framework.

🌐 SEC Allows Crypto ETF Issuers to Swap Bitcoin and Ether for Fund Shares

  • The SEC has approved in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETFs, allowing issuers to swap Bitcoin and Ether directly for fund shares instead of using cash, significantly improving operational efficiency.
  • Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas described the ruling as a "plumbing fix" that won't dramatically change how retail investors interact with crypto ETFs but will reduce costs and improve efficiency for the funds.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Mill City Ventures III (Undisclosed, $450M) - Publicly traded specialty finance non-bank lending company
2. Subzero Labs (Undisclosed, $20M) - Original contributor behind Rialo
3. TACEO (Seed, $5.5M) - Cryptography-focused infrastructure provider

Regulatory
🏦 Andreessen Horowitz Warns of Loopholes in Draft Crypto Rules

  • Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz urged US lawmakers to revise a crypto regulation bill due to potential loopholes that could undermine investor protections.
  • The firm suggested adopting the CLARITY Act's "digital commodity" framework and implementing a control-based decentralization framework to better assess risks of digital assets.

🚨 UK Regulator Lifts Ban on Crypto ETNs for Retail Investors

  • The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has lifted its ban on cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes for retail investors, effective October 8, 2025.
  • The FCA noted that the crypto market has evolved significantly since the original ban in 2021, making these products more mainstream and better understood by investors.

👨‍⚖️ Democrats Press Bank Regulator on Trump Stablecoin Conflicts

  • Democratic senators led by Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould expressing concerns about potential conflicts of interest due to Donald Trump's involvement in cryptocurrency businesses.
  • The letter questions how the OCC plans to handle conflicts involving the Trump family's USD1 stablecoin ventures and called for an investigation into competitors of Trump family's ventures.

🌐 Liquid Staking in Solana ETFs Gains Institutional Support

  • Jito Labs, VanEck, and Bitwise are pushing for liquid staking to be approved for Solana exchange-traded products (ETPs) by the SEC.
  • Advocates argue liquid staking could enhance capital efficiency by minimizing forced rebalancing for ETP issuers, reducing costs and tracking errors while increasing network security.

🔍 SEC's Crypto Task Force to Hold 10 Roundtables Across the US

  • SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead a tour across 10 US cities to gather feedback from stakeholders, developers, and investors on future digital asset regulations.
  • The roundtables will focus primarily on crypto startups less than two years old with 10 or fewer employees, demonstrating a more positive stance toward the industry under the current administration.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Bitcoin has broken the floor of the rising trend channel in the short term, which indicates a weaker initial rising rate. The price has broken through the floor at 114242 of a rectangle pattern. A decisive break will signal a further fall to 110386 or less. The currency has support at points 110000 and resistance at points 120800. Volume has previously been low at price tops and high at price bottoms. This weakens the currency. The RSI curve shows a falling trend, which could be an early signal of the start of a falling trend for the price as well. The currency is overall assessed as technically slightly negative for the short term.

Ethereum - Ethereum has broken through the floor of a rising trend channel in the short term. This indicates a slower rising rate at first, or the start of a more horizontal development. The currency has support at points 2780 and resistance at points 3870. The currency is assessed as technically neutral for the short term.