News linked to both this project and an event.
a fraud review commissioned by the UK government recommends that the Judicial College provide training for all judges and magistrates in England and Wales to address the rise in cases involving AI fraud and money laundering via cryptocurrency. The report argues that the Fraud Act 2006 is generally adequate for handling AI fraud, but the issue lies in the courts' lack of preparedness for adjudicating such cases. It recommends assessing whether the existing "Long and Complex Trials" course should be updated or replaced with specialized modules on fraud and related offenses, and considering mandatory training for judges who may preside over complex fraud cases. The report states that fraud could soon account for half of all crime in England and Wales, with an estimated 4.1 million cases occurring in the year to June 2025, affecting 1 in 14 adults and 1 in 4 businesses. The Financial Ombudsman Service estimates that over half of investment scams now involve crypto assets. The report also references the case of Qian Zhimin, who operated a Ponzi scheme in China, defrauding over 128,000 victims of approximately £5 billion and laundering the proceeds into Bitcoin. This case led to the largest confirmed Bitcoin seizure in UK history, involving over 61,000 BTC. Qian Zhimin was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison at Southwark Crown Court in November.
Galaxy Digital Head of Research Alex Thorn stated that in 2024 and 2025, a large amount of long-dormant Bitcoin came back online and underwent on-chain transfers, on a scale second only to 2017. He believes this "major distribution" is mostly over, and the number of awoken coins in 2026 is expected to be less than half of last year's.
According to Livecoins, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a new round of sanctions on July 13, freezing 13 cryptocurrency wallets and trust funds associated with the Cuban regime, involving addresses on multiple chains such as Tron (TRX), Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), Dash (DASH), and Zcash (ZEC), as well as Bitcoin and Ethereum assets. Sanctioned targets include Ukrainian citizen Dmytro Rashevskyi, Belarusian resident Yevgeniy Vladimirovich Silayev, and several Cuban state-owned institutions such as the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban Ministry of Tourism. OFAC simultaneously released FAQ 1262, advising all U.S. citizens to immediately cease all dealings with the entities on the aforementioned sanctions list.
Ripple announced on July 14, 2026, that it has joined the x402 Foundation under the Linux Foundation as a Premier Member, participating in the technical and governance development of the protocol. The x402 Foundation, initiated by 40 member organizations, aims to develop an open payment standard based on HTTP for AI agents, APIs, and applications. Coinbase has contributed x402 to the Linux Foundation, supporting AI agents, APIs, and applications in sending and receiving payments directly during network interactions. Ripple stated that the XRP Ledger already supports agent payments via x402, including transactions using XRP and the Ripple USD stablecoin RLUSD. (Bitcoin.com News).
TxFlow L1 has announced the launch of its second Channel, Probly, the first prediction market application developed based on the TxFlow Improvement Protocol 3 (TIP3). Upon launch, Probly offers 172 live markets covering over 7,000 events, including continuous rolling markets with a minimum duration of 5 minutes, and supports on-chain settlement and TxFlow L1's shared financial infrastructure. Probly covers 15 categories including politics, sports, crypto, finance, and geopolitics, and provides prediction markets related to BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP price movements for 5-minute, 15-minute, 1-hour, and 4-hour intervals. Users can access Probly via an email-based embedded wallet without needing to manage seed phrases, or by connecting compatible wallets such as MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Phantom, and Uniswap Wallet. Eligible settlement amounts will be automatically credited in USDC after the event is resolved, with no separate claim required. (Decrypt).
Interactive Brokers announced on Tuesday an expansion of its digital asset business, adding trading tokens such as Aave, Aptos, Canton, Lido DAO, Monad, NEAR Protocol, Plasma, Pax Gold, and Uniswap, and supporting 24/7 stablecoin wallet transfers via USDC, PYUSD, and RLUSD. As of mid-2026, Interactive Brokers manages approximately $930.3 billion in client assets. Crypto trading commissions start at 0.12% to 0.18% of the total transaction amount, with a minimum of $1.75 per order, and no additional spreads, markups, or custody fees are charged. The company stated that two-way stablecoin deposits are not available for UK and Irish accounts, and clients of the Irish affiliate company will not have access to the newly listed crypto assets. (Bitcoin.com News).
BIP-110 aims to temporarily restrict certain types of transaction data on the Bitcoin blockchain. The proposal has sparked discussions on whether Bitcoin should distinguish between "benign" and "malicious" uses. Currently, the proposal has limited support from miners and the broader industry, making it seem unlikely to be activated. (CoinDesk).
according to official sources, OKX Jumpstart will launch SENT (Sentient) from 15:00 on July 17, 2026, to 15:00 on July 27, 2026 (UTC+8). During the event, users can participate by staking BTC, OKSOL, OKB, or SENT to share in the airdrop reward of 32,000,000 SENT.Additionally, users can start subscribing early from today, with rewards accruing from the official start of the event. Users can view and participate in the relevant activities via the "Jumpstart" entry at the top of the Explore page in the OKX App.
: White House Crypto Council Executive Director Patrick Witt will conclude his final working day at the White House on July 18. He will begin attending the Georgia Army National Guard Judge Advocate Officer training on July 27. Witt was previously responsible for negotiations on the CLARITY Act, which is expected to face a full Senate vote around July 20. Deputy Director Harry Jung will take over the relevant negotiations and will also lead efforts on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the GENIUS Act. The consolidated draft of the CLARITY Act is expected to be released this week. The bill needs 60 votes to pass the filibuster threshold, requiring at least seven Democratic supporters. Democrats are demanding the inclusion of ethics clauses regarding the president's personal crypto asset exposure. Disclosure information shows that Trump earned over $1.4 billion from crypto-related businesses last year. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to an official announcement, Binance will remove and halt trading for the following spot trading pairs at 03:00 (UTC) on July 17, 2026: GLM/BTC, KNC/BTC, ONT/BTC, and XAI/USDC. Binance will simultaneously terminate the spot trading bot services for these pairs. Users are required to update or cancel related trading bots before this time to avoid potential losses. The delisting of these trading pairs does not affect the trading of the tokens on other trading pairs available on Binance.
据官方公告，Upbit 将上线 DRV 韩元、BTC 及 USDT 交易对。
Sui stated on X platform that institutions continue to express distrust towards cross-chain bridges or wrapped BTC. Hashi keeps BTC native on-chain, making it verifiable, controllable, and usable as collateral. EvanWeb3 explained this, and the Hashi global testnet is about to launch.
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte signed HB 639 into law last week. Known as The Blockchain Basic Laws, the bill provides protections for cryptocurrency innovation and usage within the state and allows for the establishment of a special blockchain dispute docket in the superior court. Last year, New Hampshire passed a strategic Bitcoin reserve bill, allowing the state treasurer to invest up to 5% of public funds in Bitcoin, as well as precious metals such as gold and silver. Additionally, the state's Executive Council last week rejected a proposal that would have allowed the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority to promote Bitcoin-backed municipal bonds. (Decrypt)
: Amid the escalating situation between the United States and Iran, Bitcoin continues to face pressure, with its price briefly approaching $62,000 as risk assets experience widespread selling pressure. Data shows BTC/USD is declining, and JDK Analysis notes that Bitcoin's current price trend is "very weak," with a large amount of short capital betting on further declines, potentially making the $60,000 area a market focus again.However, if new spot buying emerges and key support levels hold, a significant number of shorts could face a squeeze. Some traders remain bullish, with trader Roman pointing out that multiple technical indicators, including the current RSI and trading volume, suggest the market may be experiencing downside exhaustion. He believes Bitcoin still has the potential to rebound to the $70,000 to $75,000 range in the future.
BitcoinTreasuries.NET posted on X platform, stating that following the completion of its acquisition of Siiibo Securities, Metaplanet (3350.T) has launched Metaplanet Securities, offering BTC-backed credit facilities to Japanese investors. BTC-backed credit is on the rise.
According to a report released by CryptoQuant analyst maartunn, Binance's monthly futures trading volume has climbed to $1.6 trillion, the highest level this year. Despite the current Bitcoin price still hovering in the mid-$60,000 range, generally cautious market sentiment, and multiple headwinds such as the European MiCA regulatory adjustment period and the summer trading off-season, momentum in Binance derivatives trading has not subsided, indicating that traders are still actively establishing futures positions.
According to Bitcoin.com, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis launched a nighttime special operation in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Department, seizing multiple luxury vehicles using forged or unregistered license plates, with drivers all claiming to be cryptocurrency and forex "traders". Among them was a Mercedes-AMG GLE valued at over $153,000 (approximately 2.5 million South African rand), which was fraudulently registered as a white BMW. Authorities pointed out that such "financial influencers" are accustomed to flaunting wealth with luxury cars on social media platforms like TikTok, luring victims into investing in fraudulent platforms. A report released in March had previously identified Cape Town and Johannesburg as hubs for organized crypto fraud, where criminal groups employ technologies such as deepfakes and cloned apps to commit fraud, and illicit funds are laundered through crypto wallets and physical assets. To address increasingly complex financial crimes, the mayor has established an independent Metropolitan Police Detective Unit to enforce the law independently, bypassing the under-resourced national police system.
: Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis recently participated in a municipal police night operation targeting individuals claiming to be cryptocurrency and forex traders who were driving luxury vehicles with fake or no license plates. During the operation, police seized a silver Mercedes-AMG GLE, falsely registered as a white BMW and valued at over $153,000, and arrested a driver of an unregistered BMW 3-Series. Local officials stated that fraudulent crypto syndicates use TikTok to display assets and employ luxury cars as status symbols to lure victims into fake investments. A report released in March revealed that corporate fraud centers operated by international crime syndicates have formed clusters in Cape Town and Johannesburg, using deepfakes, cloned apps, and fake investment platforms to commit fraud. The illicit funds are typically laundered through crypto wallets, money mules, and physical assets such as unlicensed high-end vehicles. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News: Michael Saylor posted Strategy's orange dot Bitcoin accumulation chart on X on July 12. Strategy previously sold 3,588 BTC between June 29 and July 5, generating $216 million to support preferred share obligations and strengthen its U.S. dollar reserves. The chart shows Strategy has made 113 BTC purchase events, holding 843,775 BTC with a total purchase value of approximately $63.69 billion and an average purchase price of about $75,476. Strategy’s latest dashboard reveals that its BTC holdings are valued at approximately $53.991 billion based on a BTC price of $63,988. MSTR has a market cap of $35.17 billion, an enterprise value of $54.838 billion, an mNAV ratio of 1.02, U.S. dollar reserves of $2.55 billion, debt of $6.754 billion, and preferred stock value of $15.464 billion. (Bitcoin.com News)
: Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of bitcoin treasury company Strategy, has once again released information related to the Bitcoin Tracker, captioning it “Orange dots tell only part of the story.”According to previous patterns, Strategy typically discloses its increased Bitcoin holdings the day after such messages are released.