News linked to both this project and an event.
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)
the TEM AI Infrastructure Growth Index has declined by 16% over the past month. Beowulf E&D Holdings, managed by TeraWulf Chairman and CEO Paul Prager, sold 275,000 shares of TeraWulf stock on June 29 at an average price of $26.596 per share, generating total proceeds of approximately $7.3 million. Since the end of March, Prager and his managed entities have sold a combined total of approximately 1.59 million shares of TeraWulf stock, with total proceeds of around $32.7 million. On July 6, TeraWulf announced a 20-year AI infrastructure leasing agreement with Anthropic, expected to generate approximately $19 billion in contract revenue over the initial term and support around 401 megawatts of critical IT load. Cipher Digital CEO Tyler Page filed documents on July 8 to sell 112,500 shares of CIFR stock, valued at approximately $2.38 million. Riot Platforms CEO Jason Les sold 175,000 shares in May, worth approximately $4.2 million, and sold 250,000 shares on June 22, valued at $7.03 million. Core Scientific Chief Legal and Administrative Officer Todd DuChene filed documents on July 6 to sell 140,000 shares, valued at $3 million. On June 30, the IREN board approved granting 9,099,328 restricted stock units each to co-CEOs William Roberts and Daniel Roberts. (Bitcoin.com News).
Bitfufu mined 125 BTC in June, of which 70 BTC came from self-mining operations and 55 BTC from cloud mining services; average daily production was 4.2 BTC, down from 5.7 BTC in May. The company's total managed power capacity decreased to 273 MW from 346 MW in the previous month. Bitfufu's proprietary hash rate grew 9.4% to 3.5 EH/s, as it purchased and deployed 1,200 S21 XP miners in June and signed an agreement to purchase and deploy an additional 2,000 S21 XP miners in July. As of June 30, 2026, Bitfufu held 1,671 BTC, down from 1,855 BTC at the end of May. The company's average mining machine efficiency was 17.9 J/TH in June, compared to 17.8 J/TH in May; as of the end of the period, third-party suppliers and hosting clients' hash rate accounted for 11.8 EH/s of its total managed hash rate of 15.3 EH/s. (Bitcoin.com News).
Odaily Odaily News: Custodia Bank has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking a ruling on whether a regional Federal Reserve Bank president has the authority to deny master account services to an institution. Custodia Bank had repeatedly applied for a Federal Reserve master account but was denied in 2023 by the Fed, citing significant safety and soundness risks associated with its novel business model and its planned primary focus on crypto assets. Custodia Bank subsequently appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which ruled in favor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide in October whether to take up the case. (Bitcoin.com News).
on July 9 that Grayscale released research stating that stock tokenization will undergo three stages of development, with Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Canton Network most likely to benefit as ownership models evolve. Grayscale noted that third-party wrapped tokens account for over 70% of the tokenized stock market capitalization. In this model, traditional stocks are placed in special purpose vehicles, and investors receive tokens representing claims on the vehicle's equity, rather than direct ownership. Such wrapped assets operate on Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain, and can be traded and integrated into decentralized finance applications. Grayscale identified the pilot program planned by DTCC as the second stage of tokenized stock development, with Canton Network set to be the first blockchain used for the DTCC tokenization pilot. The third stage is issuer-sponsored tokenization, where companies natively issue securities on-chain. Securitize became the first publicly traded company to tokenize its own common stock when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Grayscale expects that wrapped tokens, the DTCC equity model, and issuer-sponsored issuance will coexist for the next several years. (Bitcoin.com News).
Odaily Odaily Planet Daily reported that Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered, stated that the market has misinterpreted Michael Saylor's adjustments to Strategy Inc.'s bitcoin strategy, and the recent selling pressure stems from confusion over this strategy rather than a change in bitcoin's long-term outlook. Strategy Inc. is shifting bitcoin from being a reserve accumulation asset to serving as collateral to support its STRC preferred stock. Kendrick maintains the bitcoin price forecast of $100,000 by the end of 2026. As of press time, BTC was trading at $64,322.89, and Strategy's stock MSTR closed at $94.64 on Friday. The outstanding notional value of STRC is approximately $10 billion, which Kendrick believes makes the preferred stock heavily overcollateralized due to its bitcoin backing. (Bitcoin.com News).
on July 10, 2026, Metaplanet announced a joint research initiative with JPYC, Progmat, and Metaplanet Securities to explore Bitcoin-backed digital credit products. The plan involves using Bitcoin as collateral for tokenization tools, including settlements via a yen-pegged stablecoin and digital corporate bonds managed by security tokens. As of the end of the second quarter of 2026, Metaplanet held approximately 43,000 BTC, valued at $2.75 billion based on Saturday's BTC exchange rate. Metaplanet stated that the research has not yet yielded a product, and no issuance date, interest rate, product structure, or sales method has been determined. Its 43,000 BTC holdings have not been staked to any specific product at this stage. (Bitcoin.com News).
Odaily News: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging that any version of the "Digital Asset Market Clarity Act" considered by the Senate retain Section 604 to protect non-custodial blockchain developers who do not control user assets. Ron Wyden stated that developers should not be considered money transmitters simply because they create or publish software that allows users to manage their own digital assets. Coin Center Executive Director Peter Van Valkenburgh, the DeFi Education Fund, and Galaxy Digital Head of Research Alex Thorn have expressed support for this stance. Alex Thorn also noted that supporting developer protections does not mean Ron Wyden will endorse the entire CLARITY Act. Ron Wyden further stated that the provision does not protect developers involved in illegal activities and can direct law enforcement resources toward criminals and unlicensed money transmission businesses, rather than neutral software developers. (Bitcoin.com News).
on June 29, Strategy raised the annualized dividend of STRC to 12% and authorized a $1 billion buyback plan covering four preferred securities: STRC, STRF, STRD, and STRK, with STRC as the initial priority repurchase target. Strategy disclosed that the buyback funds will not come from its approximately $2.55 billion cash reserve, but may instead come from the concurrently approved $1.25 billion Bitcoin monetization program. STRC traded in the mid-to-high $80 range this week, dipping below $85 on some trading days, falling short of Strategy's long-term trading target of $99 to $100. Peter Schiff stated that prices below $87 for STRC indicate Wall Street's skepticism regarding the pace of Bitcoin growth. (Bitcoin.com News).
: Eco has announced its integration with the TRON network. TRON will join the Eco unified stablecoin network, allowing users to deposit stablecoins directly into TRON applications within seconds. In Q1 2026, TRON processed over $2 trillion in transfers and supports a circulating supply of $86 billion USDT. This integration will enable businesses and developers to embed cross-chain stablecoin flows within their applications and access USDT liquidity between TRON and other supported networks via the Eco Routes CLI. Sam Elfarra, a community spokesperson for TRON DAO, stated that the Eco infrastructure will allow TRON's 391 million users and developers to access liquidity and applications across multiple chains. As of July 2026, the TRON blockchain recorded over 391 million user accounts, over 14 billion total transactions, and over $26 billion in total value locked (TVL). (Bitcoin.com News).
Pump.fun is hiring a Director of Legal Affairs for its New York office, with an annual salary ranging from $1 million to $5 million. The platform, which launched on the Solana blockchain in 2024, claims to process over $300 million in daily trading volume and reported a $500 million profit in 2025 with approximately 100 employees.Since 2025, Pump.fun has faced a class-action lawsuit in New York, with investors accusing its operating model of resembling a Ponzi scheme. The job posting was shared by Pump.fun founder Alon on X and has garnered over 1 million views. Bitcoin has fallen approximately 50% since October. Pump.fun previously suspended its livestreaming feature after users combined it with disturbing behavior to promote tokens, later resuming it with stricter moderation rules. (Bitcoin.com News).
As of the end of June, 988,905 buyers of the Donald Trump-branded TRUMP Meme coin had collectively incurred losses of $3.81 billion, accounting for about two-thirds of all buyers. Nansen data shows that Donald Trump earned $636 million from the Meme coin; advanced crypto traders using automated tools profited $4 billion before TRUMP dropped 97%.On July 3, TRUMP was priced at $1.76, down 97% from its peak of $75.35. Donald Trump's annual financial disclosure indicates that he earned $2.2 billion from various business ventures in 2025, including proceeds from the token; he also received $799 million from World Liberty Financial. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly denied claims that Donald Trump profited at the expense of his supporters. (Bitcoin.com News).
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).
Coinbase released a monthly review on July 1, stating that in the first half of the year, it advanced its product layout around the strategy of "every asset, every market, one platform," covering tokenized stocks, pre-IPO perpetual contracts, stock options, crypto options, stock index perpetual futures, AI tools, payments, stablecoins, and on-chain infrastructure. Coinbase stated that the tokenized stocks are 1:1 backed shares of US companies, expected to include dividends, on-chain trading, holding, and redemption functions, and are not available to US persons. Coinbase also noted that its pre-IPO perpetual contracts will start with SpaceX and then expand to OpenAI and Anthropic, and will offer crypto options through integration with Deribit. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on July 3 that Coinbase is one of the companies with the highest level of AI application globally. Coinbase also stated that it has launched a direct INR on-ramp in India, become the official deployer of the USDC treasury wallet for Hyperliquid, partnered with Ethena across over $50 billion in assets, and mentioned transferring approximately $4.4 billion USDC to the Hyperliquid deployer. (Bitcoin.com News).
the Central Bank of Brazil stated during a hearing at the Congressional Economic Development Committee that stablecoins should be treated as electronic currency instruments, not digital assets. Fábio Araújo, an advisor to the Financial System Regulation Department of the Central Bank of Brazil, stated that digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum possess characteristics such as scarcity, transferability, and verifiability. Stablecoins, however, are different and should be understood as monetary instruments when they exhibit features of a means of payment. The Brazilian Congress is preparing to deliberate Bill No. 4308/2024, proposed by Congressman Aureo Ribeiro in 2024, to clarify rules for stablecoins. The Brazilian crypto economy association Abcripto opposes this classification. Its members include Binance, Coinbase, Fireblocks, Visa, Tether, OKX, and Ripio. Abcripto stated that this classification will lead to regulatory conflicts, affect stablecoin adoption among both institutional and retail users in Brazil, and hinder virtual asset service providers. The Central Bank of Brazil also recently issued a new resolution, elevating its supervision of virtual asset service providers to the same level as securities institutions. (Bitcoin.com News).
Open Standard, the consortium behind Open USD, has been accused of listing companies such as Samsung Electronics as supporters of the OUSD stablecoin project without their consent.Tony Chung, Head of Blockmedia’s BD division, stated that Samsung Electronics said no formal discussions had taken place and that it was unclear what role it would play in the project.Shinhan, Dunamu, and K Bank stated that Open Standard had inquired about their interest in participating, and they merely indicated they would "consider" it, only to later find their names listed as consortium members.Tether advisor Gabor Gurbacs noted that some of the listed partners claimed they had never signed or agreed to anything.Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire commented, "Integrity matters." OUSD is expected to launch later this year. (Bitcoin.com News).
the Central Bank of Brazil has issued Resolution No. 580/2026, classifying companies providing virtual asset services and their controlling groups as Type 3 institutions, subjecting them to the same requirements as securities brokers, securities distributors, and foreign exchange brokers. Starting January 1, 2027, relevant institutions must comply with prudential requirements such as risk management rules, capital requirements, and information disclosure policies. By June 30, 2028, VASPs will be placed under Segment 4 regardless of their size and will not be eligible for the simplified compliance regime of Segment 5 for low-risk institutions. (Bitcoin.com News).
According to Bitcoin.com, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) recently released an updated Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulatory guidance, requiring cryptocurrency firms operating in Dubai to integrate FATF high-risk and blacklist country data into their risk-scoring models in real time—replacing the previous static compliance tracking mechanism. Under the new rules, firms must update their risk assessments at least once every three months, and immediately upon any material change to their operational structure or product offerings. Additionally, proliferation financing risks and targeted financial sanctions risks must be assessed separately and may not be broadly conflated with AML compliance. Firms are also required to formally document risks arising from AI-assisted operations and privacy-enhancing exchanges. VARA stated that compliance officers, senior management, and board members bear full responsibility for their company’s residual risk rating, signaling a regulatory shift from post-hoc enforcement toward proactive, systemic risk management.