News linked to both this project and an event.
: Japanese convenience store operator Lawson plans to test yen-pegged stablecoin payments in August at its Lawson Takanawa Gateway City store in Tokyo. HashPort has signed agreements with Lawson and KDDI to conduct the pilot, where participants will use HashPort's non-custodial wallet. The store will process payments through the HashPort payment system, eliminating the need for merchants to open or manage crypto wallets. Japanese payment company Netstars has launched Stablecoin Pay, opening applications to merchants looking to accept multiple stablecoins. The service initially supports USDC, USDT, and the yen-pegged stablecoin JPYC on the Solana and Polygon networks. Supported wallets include MetaMask, and the merchant transaction fee rate is 0.98%. (Cointelegraph).
: Digital asset trading platform Gate has announced that it will open subscriptions for the second phase of its Pre-IPOs project, OpenAI (OPENAI), from July 15, 2026, 15:00 to July 17, 2026, 15:00 (UTC+8), supporting participation with both USDT and GUSD. The total subscription value for the project is approximately $20 million, with 27,700 OPENAI asset certificates issued at a price of 1 OPENAI = $722. The minimum investment is 100 USDT or 100 GUSD, with implicit handling fees and custody costs waived. OpenAI, driven by products like ChatGPT, is advancing generative AI development and has received investments from Microsoft and others, with an implied market valuation of approximately $895 billion.The OPENAI asset certificate is a pre-IPO mirror note for OpenAI, designed to reflect the company's value before and after its public listing. Gate will hedge its exposure by acquiring the corresponding stocks and will offer pathways including pre-market trading, long-term holding, and future conversion into underlying stock assets, stock tokens, or USDT. Allocations are calculated based on the "average hourly locked amount"; the earlier the participation and the longer the lock-up period, the higher the weight. The certificates will be unlocked in three phases on July 17, August 17, and September 17, with pre-market trading opening on July 20. Concurrently, Gate is launching VIP/Super Agent airdrops, GT rewards, and a 3.8% annualized GUSD minting yield. Furthermore, Gate has already introduced Pre-IPOs, IPO Access, Gate Stocks, and gStocks, covering US, Hong Kong, and Korean stocks, encompassing over 12,500 stocks and ETFs, and will continuously expand its global asset ecosystem, including ETFs and RWAs. Gate will continue to bridge traditional finance with on-chain assets, providing global users with a more open, efficient, and one-stop investment service.
the Bitcoin BIP-110 proposal is approaching its early August deadline, with miner support currently below 1%. In the current cycle, support stands at 0%, and no major mining pools have signaled in favor. BIP-110, officially titled "Reduced Data Temporary Soft Fork," aims to restrict OP_RETURN data capacity within one year, prohibit most arbitrary data writes exceeding 256 bytes, and limit certain script formats primarily used for data storage. Strategy founder Michael Saylor and Blockstream co-founder Adam Back have both publicly opposed BIP-110. Data shows that BIP-110 adopts a user-activated soft fork mechanism, setting a 55% miner signal threshold. The proportion of nodes running BIP-110 software remains in the single digits, primarily from Bitcoin Knots users. The current signaling cycle for this proposal is expected to end near block height 959,615, entering a voluntary lock-in period around early August, with activation planned for approximately September. If broad support remains absent by then, it could lead to a small number of nodes forming a split chain.
According to The Hill, the U.S. Crypto Market Structure Bill, the CLARITY Act, is facing a critical advancement milestone before the August congressional recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune plans to push the bill to the Senate floor for consideration during the week of July 20, but it still requires support from at least seven Democratic senators.
American Bitcoin (ABTC), a bitcoin mining company affiliated with the Trump family, announced it will officially disclose its complete second-quarter performance before the US stock market opens on August 3rd EST. At 8:30 AM on the same day, management will hold a conference call and webcast to comprehensively review core operational data, including quarterly mining output, bitcoin inventory, and operational revenue and expenditure.
Gate Card has partnered with Printemps Paris to launch in-store shopping benefits. From July 10, 2026, to October 9, 2026, eligible Gate Card members visiting the Printemps Haussmann flagship store for the first time can enjoy a 5% welcome shopping discount. Additionally, from July 1, 2026, to August 31, 2026, Printemps Paris is running a summer tax refund promotion, offering tiered refund rates based on spending: 12% tax refund for spending up to €2,000, 13% for up to €4,000, 14% for up to €7,000, 15% for up to €10,000, and a maximum of 16% for spending over €10,000.Furthermore, Gate Card users who spend over €188 at the Printemps Haussmann flagship store will receive a Machi Machi beverage gift. Gate VIP Level 5 and above users visiting the store for related services can, depending on on-site arrangements, enjoy personal shopping assistant services to help understand the store's shopping process, brand information, and how to use the benefits. Meanwhile, Gate Card has launched a points system, creating a new user incentive mechanism centered on cashback, point redemption, and tier progression. Users can enjoy up to 8% cashback, with a maximum of 150 USDT per transaction and 400 USDT per month. This partnership enriches the application scenarios of Gate Card in overseas offline consumption. Gate will continue to expand global shopping, travel, and payment-related benefits in the future, providing users with more cross-border consumption convenience.
According to CoinDesk, informed sources revealed that the latest consolidated draft of the U.S. "Digital Asset Market Transparency Act" (Clarity Act) may be released as early as next week, and the Senate is expected to advance deliberations during the week of July 20. The consolidated draft was jointly negotiated by the Senate Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee, adding over 70 pages of content and strengthening consumer protection provisions. However, the bill still faces multiple obstacles: Democrats insist on restricting business ties between senior government officials (including the President) and the crypto industry, and the parties have not yet reached a compromise on this ethics provision; additionally, issues such as federal preemption and SEC and CFTC commissioner nominations remain unresolved, and the White House has not participated in the latest negotiations. For the bill to pass in the Senate, it must reach the 60-vote threshold, and the time window is extremely limited—with only about four weeks of agenda remaining for the Senate in July and early August, and continued infighting among House Republicans further increases legislative uncertainty.
According to Cointelegraph, crypto-friendly digital banking platform Revolut announced that it will cease support for USDT in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss markets by August 31, 2026, with other markets remaining unaffected. Revolut stated that this move stems from regular reviews of crypto services and risk considerations under the EU MiCA regulatory framework. Currently, Revolut has already removed USDT trading pairs for EEA users from its Revolut X trading platform. It is worth noting that Switzerland is not a member of the EU or EEA and is not directly bound by MiCA, yet Revolut has not provided an explanation for including Switzerland in the affected markets. This delisting decision aligns with the overall trend of crypto platforms in the EU—since Tether chose not to apply for authorization under the MiCA framework, multiple platforms have successively delisted USDT.
Seb Audet, CEO of DeFi portfolio tracker Zapper, announced that after nearly seven years of operation, the company has decided to fully shut down. All functions, including the website, mobile app, and API services, will officially go offline on August 3rd. Founded in 2019, Zapper was a mainstream portfolio tracking tool in the DeFi space, with features encompassing liquidity pool monitoring, yield farming tracking, DEX aggregation, and NFT support. At its peak, the project had 2 million monthly active users and processed over $13 billion in transaction volume. Zapper previously raised a $15 million Series A funding round led by Framework Ventures, with participation from investors including Mark Cuban. Seb Audet stated that after evaluating various options, the company believes an orderly shutdown is the best course of action at this time.
Google has updated its Chrome Web Store developer policy, explicitly listing Prediction Markets as a prohibited product. According to the new regulations, any Chrome extension that promotes or supports real-money transactions based on predicted outcomes is not allowed for publication on the Chrome Web Store. This update also strengthens requirements for transparency in user data collection and privacy protection. The new policy will officially take effect on August 1, 2026.
Bitget CFD launches a new user carnival event, running from 19:00 on July 7 to 0:00 on August 1 (UTC+8). New users who complete designated transfer and trading tasks will receive a specific number of lucky draw opportunities, up to a maximum of 10. The winning rate is 100%, operating on a first-come, first-served basis. The prize pool includes USDT rewards, with a maximum of 1,000 USDT per draw. For more details, please refer to the official Bitget platform.
BIT released a daily report stating that Bitcoin performed steadily in early July, continuing its historically relatively strong seasonal performance. US President Trump's statements, such as "the US is taking over cryptocurrency," boosted market sentiment, and investors' attention also turned to the CLARITY Act, which needs to make progress before the Senate enters summer recess on August 7.
Decentralized stablecoin USDD announced on July 6 that TRON DeFi Summer has officially begun and that its summer coin-earning plan launched jointly with Binance Wallet and JustLend DAO is also live. The event runs from today until August 5 at 07:59 (Singapore Time), and participating users can share a total reward of $900,000.
TRON DeFi Summer S1, jointly launched by JustLend DAO and Binance Wallet, has officially kicked off. The event will last until August 5th, 7:59:59 (Singapore Time). Users can participate in JustLend DAO ecosystem pools with one click via the Binance Wallet DeFi feature, subscribing to assets such as TRX, USDD, JST, and SUN to enjoy Boost APR incentives and share an exclusive prize pool of $2.15 million. As the core liquidity hub of the TRON ecosystem, JustLend DAO continuously provides infrastructure support in areas such as lending, staking, and energy leasing, creating diverse yield scenarios for on-chain users. For participation guidelines and more details, please visit the official tweet and event page. TRON DeFi Summer is in full swing, and we sincerely invite all users to join this summer yield feast.
According to Cointelegraph, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released draft guidelines on crypto asset taxation, clarifying relevant tax treatment based on the current Income Tax Act and capital gains tax rules. The draft points out that most crypto activities such as trading, exchanging, and spending are regarded as "disposal events," which may trigger tax events; crypto assets are classified as intangible assets, rather than legal tender or foreign currency; and the donations tax rate is 20%-25%. Taxpayer intent is the key basis for determining whether they are classified as traders or long-term investors. According to SARS 2024 data, at least 5.8 million residents in South Africa hold crypto assets. The draft is now open for public comment, with a deadline of August 31.
the South African Revenue Service (SARS) released a draft guideline on crypto asset taxation on July 1, 2026, aiming to establish compliance rules for approximately 5.8 to 6 million cryptocurrency users in South Africa. The public comment period is open until August 31, 2026. According to the updated framework, crypto assets are classified as intangible assets, not as foreign currency or traditional money. Taxpayers holding these assets are not required to pay tax on unrealized gains or losses. Tax obligations arise upon the disposal of the asset. If an individual’s crypto activities are deemed to resemble business operations or short-term day trading, the profits will be classified as gross income and taxed at marginal rates ranging from 18% to 45%. If crypto assets are held as long-term investments, gains from disposal are subject to capital gains tax, with effective personal tax rates ranging from 18% to 36%. The draft also treats exchanges between different crypto assets as barter transactions, with tax consequences arising immediately at the time of the exchange based on local market value. SARS stated that it has deployed a Crypto Revenue Augmentation Unit to track and audit digital wallets and urged taxpayers who have not previously disclosed their crypto earnings to complete their filings through a voluntary disclosure program to avoid administrative penalties following stricter enforcement after the August deadline. (Bitcoin.com News).
According to the latest report from investment bank Jefferies, the U.S. "Clarity Act," although having passed a bipartisan 15:9 vote in the Senate Banking Committee, still faces significant hurdles in the subsequent legislative process. Political uncertainty may exacerbate crypto market volatility in the coming weeks. The bill aims to clarify the regulatory boundary for digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is considered a core legislative framework for the U.S. crypto market structure. Jefferies pointed out that passage would significantly boost institutional participation, while delays would prolong regulatory uncertainty.Currently, Polymarket data shows that the probability of the bill passing before the end of 2026 has dropped to 48%, a significant decline from 70% in mid-May, primarily due to disputes over ethical clauses, anti-money-laundering reviews, and a tight Senate agenda. Analysts note that with approximately only 20 legislative days remaining before Congress adjourns in August, it must complete the reconciliation of House and Senate versions, procedural votes, and submission to the President for signature. If it fails to advance before the recess, it may be delayed until next year, or even further postponed due to changes in the election cycle.Jefferies believes that if the bill is enacted, it will drive the expansion of businesses such as tokenized assets, custody, staking, lending, and crypto ETFs, benefiting the development of markets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). However, if delayed, it could suppress institutional investment in on-chain infrastructure and crypto-related IPOs.Additionally, the market expects policy uncertainty to continue affecting the stock performance of crypto-related public companies such as Circle, Coinbase, and Bullish. Jefferies added that even as regulations gradually clarify, intensified competition in the stablecoin space could become a long-term source of pressure for companies like Circle. (CoinDesk)
the core US crypto regulatory bill, the "Digital Asset Market Clarity Act" (Clarity Act), has entered a critical two-week negotiation cycle for legislation. The Senate will be in recess until July 13. During the recess, bipartisan staff, the White House, and representatives from the crypto industry will continue to negotiate outstanding differences in the bill, focusing on resolving disputes over topics such as the integration of the two bill versions from the Senate Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee, ethics clauses, and anti-money laundering rules.If all parties successfully reach a unified compromise version, the bill could be submitted for a full Senate vote as early as late July to early August. The market generally believes that the period before the August congressional recess is the only window for the bill to be passed this year. If the vote is not completed during this phase, the probability of the bill being enacted into law within 2026 will significantly decrease. (Crypto in America)
the Ethereum Layer 2 network Base mainnet experienced a "major failure," leading to unstable production of new blocks. According to the Base status page, the issue began around 16:03 UTC.Base resumed operations after approximately two hours of downtime. This failure previously halted block production and transaction processing.The Base team stated that an invalid block triggered the related issue. They are currently investigating the root cause and recommend that node operators restart their nodes. This incident marks another network interruption for Base following its previous downtime in August 2025.
the US Senate is attempting to advance the crypto market structure bill, the "Clarity Act," in July. However, with multiple priority agendas piling up, including the National Defense Authorization Act, the Farm Bill reauthorization, and a housing bill, the time window for the bill's passage is narrowing.The Senate's agenda is packed for the coming weeks. In addition to the annual defense and farm bills, Trump stated on Wednesday that he would not support a major housing bill unless Congress first passes legislation requiring proof of citizenship for federal election voters. The housing bill also includes provisions to ban central bank digital currencies.As lawmakers will leave Washington before the August recess, if the relevant bills fail to advance before then, the political focus will shift to the November election upon their return, further reducing the floor time available for crypto legislation.Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis stated that she expects a new version of the text to be released around July 4th for final review by lawmakers, with a vote pushed forward in July. A Senate aide also noted that the "Clarity Act" will become one of the bipartisan priorities when the Senate returns in July.However, the bill still faces multiple uncertainties, including the level of Democratic support, controversy over Trump's crypto-related conflicts of interest, the priority of other major bills, and the Senate's limited agenda scheduling.