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EU Parliament Adopts Digital Assets Policy Position After MiCA Deadline

EU lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a position paper on digital assets, setting out their view on how the bloc should approach crypto regulation after the rollout of its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.

The paper calls on the European Commission to assess whether activities including decentralized finance (DeFi), crypto lending and borrowing, staking and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) should be brought more clearly into the EU’s regulatory perimeter. It also urges consistent application of MiCA across member states and warns against national rules that could fragment the bloc’s digital asset market.

The vote turns the report, “Digital assets – challenges for the competitiveness and integrity of the European Union’s financial system,” into Parliament’s formal policy position on digital assets, but it does not directly amend MiCA or create new legal obligations for crypto firms.

MiCA’s transitional period ended on July 1, requiring crypto-asset service providers that fall under the framework to obtain bloc-wide or national authorization to continue operating across the European Union.

The EU Parliament overwhelmingly approved its digital asset policy stance. Source: European Parliament

EU lawmakers look beyond MiCA 

The report reflects growing pressure in Brussels to address digital asset activities that remain outside MiCA’s current scope.

While MiCA established licensing and conduct rules for crypto-asset service providers and issuers of certain tokens, lawmakers have continued to debate how the framework should treat DeFi, staking, lending, NFTs and tokenized financial assets.

Related: EU crypto rulebook faces enforcement challenge as MiCA transition ends

The EC has already been reviewing whether MiCA should be expanded. In May, it opened a public consultation that sought feedback on potential changes to the framework, including whether additional crypto activities should be covered and whether MiCA’s restrictions on interest-bearing stablecoins should be revisited.

The Parliament report approved Tuesday also takes a more supportive tone toward tokenization and euro-denominated stablecoins, arguing that digital assets could support the competitiveness of EU financial markets if regulated consistently across the bloc.

Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves

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EDX Markets raises $76 million in Series C funding round led by SBI Holdings

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EDX Markets, an institutional cryptocurrency trading platform, said it raised $76 million in a Series C funding round led by SBI Holdings.

The company plans to use the funds to develop new products and grow internationally. EDX operates an institution-only crypto marketplace that separates trading from custody and settlement through a central clearinghouse. The model is designed to reduce counterparty risk and mirrors the structure used in traditional financial markets.

SBI Holdings has been one of Japan’s most active financial groups in crypto. Its SBI VC Trade unit offers access to Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin in Japan, while SBI Shinsei Trust Bank recently issued JPYSC, a yen-denominated stablecoin developed with Startale Group.

Last month, SBI agreed to acquire crypto exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen ($289 million), adding to its existing SBI VC Trade platform.

EDX has been moving beyond spot trading. The firm earlier this year introduced FlowConnect, a crypto-as-a-service product that allows financial firms to offer crypto trading to their customers.

Bitcoin, XRP draw Japanese firms as weak yen drives treasury diversification

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Japanese companies are turning to bitcoin and XRP as a weak yen pushes them to diversify their corporate treasuries, according to SBI VC Trade, as the crypto exchange’s registered accounts passed 2 million.

The crypto arm of financial group Tokyo-based SBI Holdings said use of its corporate service, SBIVC for Prime, has grown as the weak yen drives firms to spread reserves beyond cash, with added demand from companies that hand out bitcoin or XRP through shareholder-perk programs.

It reported the account milestone on Tuesday, roughly double the 1 million it counted in 2025.

The 2 million figure combines its VCTRADE and BITPOINT services and follows SBI VC Trade’s April 2026 merger with sister firm BitPoint Japan. The company plans to fully integrate the two brands around the end of December, which it said should cut costs and unify service levels.

Bitcoin pulls back from $64,500 as weak ETF flows, falling open interest cloud outlook

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Bitcoin stalled on Tuesday, falling for the first time this month and breaking the longest stretch of gains since March. It had rallied to $64,500, its highest point in more than two weeks, on Monday.

Ether (ETH) tracked the larger cryptocurrency, dropping to $1,770 after hitting a high of $1,830 on Monday.

The July recovery can be attributed to a short-squeeze setup that was identified in late June, which saw heavy short interest despite bitcoin trading at its lowest point since 2024.

Bitcoin and other crypto tokens capitalized on a skew in short positions, recovering from oversold territory and advancing every day since the start of the month.

The total crypto market has grown by 8.4% since July 1, and is now worth $2.16 trillion.

U.S. equities fell in pre-market trading on Tuesday, with Nasdaq 100 index futures losing 0.9% since midnight UTC as the decline from June’s record high continues.

Derivatives positioning

  • Over $500 million in leveraged crypto futures bets have been liquidated by exchanges in 24 hours, with shorts, or bearish positions, accounting for most of the tally for a sixth straight day.
  • Despite the recent price strength, BTC’s futures open interest (OI) has slipped to 740K BTC, down from the July 3 high of 776K BTC. This shows that derivative traders are not participating in the price rise alongside a continued weakness in spot demand, as evidenced from ETF flows and the Coinbase premium. This raises questions about the sustainability of the gains.
  • The same is true for ether (ETH), which recently outperformed BTC.
  • OI in SOL has pulled back to 68 million tokens from the peak of over 76 million on June 24. The message is the same. The 10% rise in the token has so far failed to galvanize demand for leveraged plays.
  • Canton Network’s CC token has declined by over 4% in 24 hours accompanied by a 3% uptick in the futures OI to 245.59 million tokens. This, coupled with negative funding rates and 24-hour OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta, points to a growing bearish bias.
  • Most tokens have a negative OI-adjusted CVD, a sign of bears being more aggressive by shorting at market orders rather than passive limit order plays. It suggests potential for losses ahead.
  • Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, has jumped to 40%, snapping a six-day losing streak. Still, the gauge remains well below January highs near 60% in a positive sign for crypto bulls. The same is true for ether’s index, EVIV.
  • On Deribit, options continue to showcase lingering downside concerns in both bitcoin and ether. Options volume in BTC paints a mixed picture with both calls and puts making it to the list of top traded bets in the past 24 hours.
  • On decentralized exchange Derive, a large long call condor strategy on HYPE crossed the tape, indicating expectations for a range play between $75 and $80 till July 24.

Token talk

  • The altcoin market continues to show internal contradictions. Tokens like FET, KASPA and WLD have all posted losses despite the broader marketwide recovery this week, while ETHFI and LIT have outperformed, adding more than 30% over the past seven days.
  • was one of the top-performing tokens on Tuesday, rising 4.8. It’s worth noting that the token, linked to the family of President Donald Trump, is down by more than 89% since it was created last August.
  • The decoupling of some altcoins demonstrates a maturing of the sector, with token performance based on underlying sentiment and onchain activity. Historically, the entire altcoin market moved in unison.
  • CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season indicator is at 46/100, below Friday’s high and higher than in May, when it was consistently around 30/100.

Coinbase secures UK authorization to offer traditional investments alongside crypto

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Nasdaq-listed Coinbase (COIN) has secured U.K. regulatory approval to offer equities and derivatives alongside crypto, expanding its product suite in one of its largest international markets.

The new license enables institutional and advanced traders to access crypto, equity and commodity perpetual futures, Coinbase said in a blog post. Retail customers in the U.K. will also be able to trade equities on Coinbase for the first time.

The authorization sits alongside Coinbase’s U.K. e-money license and crypto registration. The company received FCA cryptoasset registration in February last year, allowing it to provide crypto and fiat services in the country.

U.K. users are getting access to products Coinbase has started rolling out overseas. U.S. users already have access to stock and exchange-traded fund trading, while eligible non-U.S. customers can trade USDC-settled stock perpetual futures on large-cap names including Apple, Microsoft and Tesla.

Coinbase has also said it plans to offer tokenized stocks backed one-for-one by U.S. equities to eligible non-U.S. users. Those products are meant to give investors ownership of the underlying shares, including dividends.

BTC price July rise at risk as Coinbase Premium logs 50-day negative streak: Crypto Daily

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Bitcoin fell on Tuesday after chalking out a six-day winning streak, the longest since March. The gains, in any case, looked fragile when viewed through the lens of several indicators.

The most widely followed is the Coinbase Premium, which tracks the difference between bitcoin’s price on U.S.-based exchange Coinbase (COIN) and Binance. It has now been negative for fifty straight days, according to data source Coinglass.

That means for close to two months, BTC has been cheaper on Coinbase than Binance, which doesn’t operate in the U.S. The discrepancy is an indicator of relatively weak demand in the world’s largest economy, a message underscored by the eight straight weeks of net outflows from U.S. spot exchange-traded funds. Historically, bull runs have featured consistently positive Coinbase Premiums.

Another concerning trend is seen in Japan, where bond yields just can’t stop rising. The 10-year rose to a 30-year high early today, lifting borrowing costs in the U.S., U.K. and Germany. A continued upswing, particularly in Treasury yields, could create a headwind for BTC.

While seasonality supports continued recovery, it’s the ETF flows that matter the most, according to analysts.

Why rally in Ripple-linked token stalled near $1.15

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• Volume ran 16.19% above the seven-day average, enough to show participation but not enough to confirm a clean breakout.

• The sharpest activity came near the session low around $1.1110, when volume reached 106.5 million XRP, about 129% above the 24-hour average.

• Buyers later pushed XRP toward $1.1507, but the move failed to hold near the upper end of the range.

Technical Analysis

• The key development is that XRP defended the $1.11 area, but failed to turn the rebound into a sustained move above $1.13-$1.14.

• The earlier breakout above $1.08 remains intact, but the next leg higher needs stronger volume through resistance.

• The rejection near $1.1507 shows sellers are still active around the same zone that capped recent recovery attempts.

• The hourly structure weakened after XRP failed near $1.1308 and slipped back toward $1.1249, leaving a lower-high pattern intraday.

• XRP remains in a consolidation phase between support near $1.11 and resistance near $1.14-$1.15.

What traders should watch

• $1.1110 is the key downside level after buyers defended it during the session.

• $1.1249-$1.1270 is the immediate support zone after the latest intraday pullback.

• $1.1308-$1.1325 is the first resistance area bulls need to reclaim.

• $1.14-$1.15 remains the bigger test after repeated failures near that zone.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent macro relief faces a challenge from Japanese interest rates

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Japanese bonds are challenging the boost bitcoin has received from shifting interest-rate expectations that lifted the price of the largest cryptocurrency by 8% in fewer than seven days.

The 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield has surged to a 30-year high of 2.85%, adding 18 basis points since the start of the month and raising borrowing costs across other major developed markets.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield has gained nearly three basis points and is testing 4.5% for the first time in nearly a month. The German 10-year bund is approaching 3% and the U.K. 10-year gilt is yielding around 4.8%. Real yields, which are adjusted for inflation, are also climbing.

For years, Japan kept global yields suppressed through near-zero interest rates and aggressive quantitative easing. That policy fueled carry trades that involved borrowing yen at a low rate and investing in high-yielding bonds elsewhere. Thus, Japan indirectly capped borrowing costs in advanced nations.

This matters for bitcoin because higher government bond yields increase the opportunity cost of holding an asset that generates no cash. Capital parked in BTC is capital not earning the stronger, more reliable returns available in fixed income.

Bitcoin holders can now participate in a BTC covered call income strategy on Binance

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Binance has introduced a product for bitcoin holders looking to earn extra yield on their investment without selling any of it, joining the likes of BlackRock in helping them maximize returns.

The product, BTC Yield, is available inside Binance Earn and is designed exclusively for people who already hold bitcoin.

Users deposit their bitcoin into the product and receive an internal position called BTCY, which tracks their share in the strategy. Everything remains denominated in BTC, and the product cannot be funded with stablecoins or other assets.

Binance holds the deposited bitcoin as collateral while systematically selling BTC call options, that is, it writes insurance against price rallies in BTC. The call seller, or writer, gets compensated with a premium. Binance collects those premiums and shares most of them with participants.

This covered-call approach, common in crypto and traditional finance, has typically required deep options knowledge to execute. Binance’s version makes it accessible to regular traders by handling everything behind the scenes.

Two types of return

The product generates potential returns in two ways.

First, a portion of the collected premiums is converted to bitcoin and distributed to users’ spot accounts every Friday as a possible weekly payout.

BonkDAO Treasury Drained of $20M via Malicious Proposal

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BonkDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization tied to the Solana-based memecoin BONK, said Monday it was the target of a malicious governance proposal that drained an estimated $20 million worth of BONK tokens from its treasury, according to a post on its official X account. The DAO said the…

BonkDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization tied to the Solana-based memecoin BONK, said Monday it was the target of a malicious governance proposal that drained an estimated $20 million worth of BONK tokens from its treasury, according to a post on its official X account.

The DAO said the attack routed through a governance vote rather than a smart-contract bug, a vector that has hit other protocols this year, including a June governance takeover at Balancer-linked TOP token pools that drained $1.58 million.

BonkDAO said it has already identified the exchange wallets used to buy BONK ahead of the proposal being submitted, a pattern suggesting the attacker positioned tokens before pushing the malicious vote through. The DAO is “actively working with exchanges, bridges and Solana Foundation to best manage the situation,” per its statement.

Law Enforcement Notified

BonkDAO said law enforcement has been notified and that it continues working with “relevant parties to recover funds and identify those responsible,” according to the same post. The DAO did not name a suspect or disclose the specific governance mechanism exploited to pass the proposal.

The disclosure came directly from BonkDAO’s verified X account, with no on-chain transaction hash, security-firm tracing report, or third-party confirmation yet available. BONK is among the largest Solana memecoins by market capitalization, and a governance-level treasury drain of this size marks one of the larger DAO exploits reported this year via the proposal-attack vector rather than a code vulnerability.