Summary
gm, Bitcoin surged past $113,000 to reach a new all-time high of $116,500, triggering over $1 billion in short position liquidations. The regulatory landscape is evolving as the U.S. House of Representatives prepares for "Crypto Week" with a scheduled July 16 hearing on tax policy frameworks, while the IRS has officially rescinded a controversial broker reporting rule for DeFi platforms. Institutional adoption continues to accelerate with Circle announcing a revenue-sharing agreement with Bybit to enhance USDC adoption, Franklin Templeton's innovation head projecting all company products will be onchain within a decade, and a record 159,107 BTC ($17.6 billion) being acquired by corporations in Q2. Meanwhile, tokenization momentum builds as BNB Chain implements the Maxwell hard fork, doubling transaction speeds, while Kraken and Backed Finance launch tokenized equities on the network.

News Headlines
🌐 Jack Ma's Ant Group to Adopt Circle's USDC Stablecoin

  • Ant Group, the Chinese parent company of Alipay serving over 1.6 billion users, plans to integrate Circle's USDC stablecoin into its blockchain platform once USDC achieves full compliance in the U.S.
  • Initially focusing on improving global payment efficiency rather than crypto transactions, Ant is also reportedly considering launching its own stablecoins backed by the Hong Kong dollar as it lobbies the Chinese government.

🌉 Phantom Wallet Integrates Hyperliquid Perps, Reshaping Solana Ecosystem

  • Phantom, Solana's leading wallet with 15 million monthly active users, has integrated Hyperliquid perpetual futures directly into its interface, expanding its offering beyond traditional wallet services.
  • This integration raises questions about Solana's fees and total value locked (TVL) as user flow may be directed to a competing platform, while also reflecting a fundamental shift in how wallets operate in the blockchain landscape.

📱 Coinbase Partners With Perplexity AI to Integrate Crypto Market Data

  • Coinbase has partnered with Perplexity AI to integrate real-time cryptocurrency data into its Comet browser, allowing users to access market trends and token information through natural language queries.
  • CEO Brian Armstrong expects this innovation to serve as a significant catalyst for crypto adoption, projecting that AI integration could result in a "10x unlock" for the industry, with future developments allowing seamless access to live market activities.

💵 Corporations Fuel Q2 Bitcoin Boom with Record Acquisitions

  • Corporate adoption of Bitcoin significantly increased in Q2 2025, with public companies acquiring 159,107 BTC and boosting total corporate holdings to 847,000 BTC worth approximately $91 billion.
  • A total of 125 publicly listed firms now hold Bitcoin, with 46 new entrants joining this trend, viewing Bitcoin as a strategic treasury reserve to enhance financial resilience against economic pressures and inflation.

🔄 BIT Mining Pivots to Solana, Stock Surges 350%

  • BIT Mining's stock surged by over 140% following its announcement to raise between $200 million and $300 million for a Solana treasury, converting its existing Bitcoin and cryptocurrency holdings into SOL.
  • The company plans to run validator nodes on Solana to enhance integration within the ecosystem, a strategic pivot as the mining industry faces challenges like diminishing rewards and increasing difficulty.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Agora Finance (Series A, $50M) - AUSD stablecoin issuer
2. NexBridge (Series A, $8M) -Regulated digital asset issuance on Bitcoin
3. Remix (Seed, $5M) -  AI-native mini‑game platform

Regulatory
🌐 Australia Launches Major Tokenization Initiative With 24 Pilot Programs

  • Australia has approved 24 pilot programs involving real-money transactions using CBDCs and stablecoins through "Project Acacia" in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of Australia.
  • Major banks including ANZ and Commonwealth Bank will participate in the pilots, which will test tokenized asset transactions across various asset classes including carbon credits and trade receivables.

🧾 European Regulator Criticizes Malta's Crypto Licensing Process

  • The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has criticized Malta's implementation of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regime, particularly regarding a crypto asset service provider that was approved despite unresolved issues.
  • The review raises questions about Malta's expedited licensing processes and highlights concerns over the thoroughness of authorizations, particularly in assessing business plans, governance, and ICT infrastructure risks.

💰 Greece Executes First Crypto Seizure Linked to North Korean Hack

  • Greek authorities have frozen approximately $72 million in cryptocurrency funds connected to the $1.5 billion Bybit hack attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group.
  • The operation led to the recovery of around €10 million ($11.7 million) returned to victims, with analysis confirming links between the suspect's wallet and primary wallets used in the hack.

🏦 Ex-Bitfury Executive Confirmed as Head of OCC Banking Regulator

  • Jonathan Gould, formerly the chief legal officer at crypto firm Bitfury, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in a 50-45 vote.
  • Under the proposed Genius Act, the OCC would oversee federally licensed stablecoin issuers, potentially regulating a market valued at over $250 billion.

🔍 Florida Investigates Robinhood's Crypto Trading Pricing Claims

  • Florida's Attorney General has launched an investigation into Robinhood, claiming the platform violated the state's Deceptive and Unfair Practices Act by misleadingly promoting its crypto services as the most cost-effective option.
  • The investigation focuses on Robinhood's payment for order flow model, which the Attorney General suggests may potentially inflate costs for customers as third parties charge higher prices to remain profitable.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - An approximate horizontal trend channel in the short term is broken up. Continued strong development is indicated, and the currency now meets support on possible reactions down towards the trend lines. The price has risen strongly since the positive signal from the rectangle formation at the break through resistance at 107710. The objective at 115727 is now met, but the formation still gives a signal in the same direction. There is no resistance in the price chart and further rise is indicated. In case of a negative reaction, the currency has support at approximately 110000 points. RSI above 70 shows that the currency has strong positive momentum in the short term. Investors have steadily paid more to buy the currency, which indicates increasing optimism and that the price will continue to rise. However, particularly for big stocks, high RSI may be a sign that the stock is overbought and that there is a chance of a reaction downwards. The currency is overall assessed as technically positive for the short term.

Ethereum - Ethereum has broken up from an approximate horizontal trend channel in the short term after investors have paid ever more. A positive signal has been triggered and further increase for the currency is indicated. There is no resistance in the price chart and further rise is indicated. In case of a negative reaction, the currency has support at approximately 2760 points. RSI above 70 shows that the currency has strong positive momentum in the short term. Investors have steadily paid more to buy the currency, which indicates increasing optimism and that the price will continue to rise. However, particularly for big stocks, high RSI may be a sign that the stock is overbought and that there is a chance of a reaction downwards. The currency is overall assessed as technically positive for the short term.