Summary
gm, The GENIUS Act was signed into law to regulate stablecoins and prevent big tech companies and banks from dominating the market. Circle's Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte highlighted that the legislation requires non-bank entities to establish separate legal entities for stablecoin issuance and navigate strict regulatory oversight. Meanwhile, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) signaled another Bitcoin purchase, with Michael Saylor announcing the company now holds 601,550 BTC valued at over $71.4 billion, cementing its position as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. In market movements, Ethereum has surged to a seven-month high of over $3,750 as validators support increasing the gas limit to 45 million units, aimed at reducing transaction fees and improving network scalability, while Bitcoin experienced a notable increase in social media discussions to 43% of all crypto-related chatter, potentially signaling a local price peak.

News Headlines
🔍 California Sheriffs Link 74-Year-Old's Disappearance to Son's Crypto Fortune

  • Authorities are investigating the disappearance of 74-year-old Naiping Hou as potentially connected to his son Wen Hou's significant crypto holdings, with evidence of fraudsters impersonating the missing man to defraud the family of over $1 million.
  • This case highlights the growing "wrench attack" trend where crypto holders face physical violence or threats to extract their digital assets. Wen Hou, a hedge fund executive, has offered a $250,000 reward for information about his father.

💰 Tim Draper: Macroeconomic Factors Will Dampen Bitcoin's Halving Cycle

  • Investor Tim Draper predicts that macroeconomic factors including dollar decline and inflation will reduce the impact of Bitcoin's traditional four-year halving cycle on price movements. He believes these broader economic forces will increasingly drive Bitcoin's value.
  • Draper makes the bold prediction that in 10-20 years, the US dollar might become obsolete, positioning Bitcoin as a secure alternative amid growing distrust in banking systems and geopolitical instability.

📉 Bitcoin Transaction Fees Slashed by 90% Amid Network Activity Slump

  • Bitcoin network fees have plummeted to as low as 0.1 satoshi per virtual byte, a 90% decrease from the previous minimum, as miners attempt to attract more transactions during a period of reduced blockchain activity.
  • While lower fees potentially make Bitcoin more practical for everyday transactions, a perspective championed by figures like Jack Dorsey, some users express concern about potential implications for network security if fee revenue remains depressed long-term.

🧠 Crypto Experts: GENIUS Act Is Just the Foundation for Real-World Integration

  • Industry experts view the GENIUS Act as a foundational regulatory shift that clarifies that not all crypto assets are securities, providing a starting point for integrating cryptocurrency into finance and identity systems.
  • The legislation is expected to catalyze innovations in stablecoins, DeFi, and asset tokenization while boosting institutional adoption, though experts stress the continued need for infrastructure development and user-friendly applications to avoid market pitfalls similar to the dot-com bubble.

📈 High-Risk Trader James Wynn Opens Massive Leveraged Positions on ETH and PEPE

  • Prominent trader James Wynn has initiated massive leveraged trades worth over $23 million, taking a 25x long position on Ethereum (3,269 ETH valued at $12.12 million) and a 10x position on PEPE (812.16 million tokens worth $11.28 million).
  • The high-risk trades follow significant losses earlier this month, with Wynn currently showing an unrealized profit of over $251,000 on his PEPE position while his ETH position is down $62,700, highlighting the extreme volatility of leveraged crypto trading.

Market Metrics

Fundraising & VC
1. Syntetika (Pre-seed, $2.5M) - Blockchain protocol bridging TradFi and DeFi
2. Trends (Angel, Undisclosed) - Solana-based tweet tokenization protocol

Regulatory
💰 UK Treasury Considers $7B Seized Bitcoin Sale

  • The UK Treasury is exploring the sale of over 61,000 Bitcoin (valued at approximately $7.1 billion) seized from a Chinese Ponzi scheme to help address a budget deficit.
  • Officials from the Home Office and Treasury are working with law enforcement to create a system for the potential sale, though legal claims from victims of the scheme may complicate the process.

🏦 Three US States Pass Bitcoin Reserve Laws

  • New Hampshire, Arizona, and Texas have enacted legislation permitting the establishment of Bitcoin reserves to enhance financial resilience at the state level.
  • New Hampshire allows its state treasurer to invest up to 5% of public funds in Bitcoin and other digital assets with a minimum $500 billion market cap.

🔧 MetaMask Bug Threatens SSDs, Fix Coming Soon

  • A bug in the MetaMask browser extension is causing excessive disk activity, with some devices writing hundreds of gigabytes of data daily, potentially shortening the lifespan of solid-state drives.
  • Consensys, MetaMask's parent company, has confirmed the issue and is working on an imminent fix, particularly for users with unusually large state sizes.

🔐 Human Rights Principles Essential for Crypto's Future

  • Experts argue that embedding human rights principles like self-custody, universal personhood, and privacy-by-default into cryptocurrency architecture is crucial for legitimizing these technologies.
  • As bots and AI-generated content proliferate, providing proof of humanity while safeguarding individual autonomy has become an essential consideration for digital identity solutions.

Technical Analysis
Bitcoin - Bitcoin is in a rising trend channel in the short term. This shows that investors over time have bought the currency at higher prices and indicates good development for the currency. 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. The currency is approaching resistance at 120000 points, which may give a negative reaction. However, a break upwards through 120000 points will be a positive signal. The currency is overall assessed as technically positive for the short term.

Ethereum - Investors have paid higher prices over time to buy Ethereum and the currency is in a rising trend channel in the short term. This signals increasing optimism among investors and indicates continued rise. 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 2780 points. Positive volume balance strengthens the currency in the short term. RSI is above 70 after a good price increase the past weeks. The currency has strong positive momentum and further increase is indicated. 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.