Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

EthLabs launches as Ethereum undergoes its biggest leadership transition in years

That transition has also reshaped the Ethereum Foundation itself.　　Earlier this year, the foundation published a renewed mandate emphasizing Ethereums core values: including credible neutrality, self-sovereignty and open infrastructure, while reducing its involvement in some implementation-focused initiatives. Combined with ongoing budget constraints, the shift has resulted in restructuring across the organization.　　Dietrichs views those changes less as a crisis than an overdue evolution. “Its more a transition period,” he said. “Ethereum is now much more intentionally, proactively reorienting itself to be ready for this new time period.”　　Filling in the gaps　　But as the turmoil started to unveil itself at the EF, many have started to wonder whether EthLabs would replace it. Dietrichs sees that rather than competing with the foundation, EthLabs intends to complement it. “Were deliberately positioning ourselves to fill the gaps that the Ethereum Foundation now deliberately leaves,” Dietrichs said. “Were not trying to create a competing vision for Ethereum.”　　Those gaps, he argues, center on adoption-oriented engineering work, like improving Ethereums scalability, strengthening layer-1 performance, advancing interoperability, and identifying the technical barriers preventing broader institutional use.　　“The gap we see is this more practical, adoption-oriented work, making Ethereum, practically useful for the real world,” he said. EthLabs plans to continue work its

07-01Industry

Citi slashes 12-month bitcoin, ether targets as ETF flows dry up

The downgrade marks a sharp reversal from Citis previous outlook, which assumed passage of U.S. digital asset market structure legislation would spur adoption among financial advisors and traditional investors. The bank now believes that timeline has slipped, leaving the market without a meaningful catalyst.　　Saunders said ETF flows continue to be the main force behind crypto prices, with recent demand turning negative as investors pulled back from risk.　　According to the banks analyst, sentiment has also been hurt by concerns that digital asset treasury (DAT) companies could become net sellers of bitcoin. Recent corporate actions by Strategy amplified those fears despite involving relatively modest BTC sales.　　The report noted that bitcoin and ether both remain below key technical levels, including their 200-day moving averages, while speculative capital has shifted toward AI-related investments.　　The banks revised forecasts assume flat ETF flows in its base case. In its bull case, stronger retail and institutional adoption lifts bitcoin to $108,000 and ether to $2,932. Its bear case, based on recessionary macro conditions and continued ETF outflows, sees BTC falling to $53,000 and ETH to $1,094.　　While the banks equity strategists have become more constructive on U.S. stocks, providing some support through cryptos equity correlation, the report said that

07-01Industry

Anthropic restores AI models Fable, Mythos after the U.S. lifts export controls

SummaryAnthropic is restoring access to its Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 AI models after U.S. export controls that forced a June suspension were lifted at the end of the month.Fable 5 is returning globally on July 1, while Mythos 5, a less restricted variant of the same underlying model, is being reintroduced only to approved U.S. organizations following government review.The episode, triggered by an Amazon-discovered jailbreak that let Fable 5 generate exploit code, has spurred closer collaboration between Anthropic and U.S. agencies on model testing, threat sharing and standards for rating jailbreak risks.　　Anthropic is restoring access to its two most advanced AI models after the U.S. government lifted the export controls that forced it to pull them last month.　　The controls on Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 were removed on June 30, the company said. Fable 5 returns globally on July 1 across Anthropics platforms, while Mythos 5, which shares the same underlying model but carries fewer safety restrictions, is being restored to a set of U.S. organizations after government approval on June 26.　　The freeze dated to June 12, when the government applied export controls, rules that limit which foreign nationals can access a technology, to both

07-01Industry

Bitcoin options traders load up on $50,000 puts and gold futures flash a death cross

SummaryBitcoin dipped to $57,700, its lowest since September 2024, before recovering to $58,800, with $395 million in liquidations recorded and bears remaining the more aggressive side despite open interest climbing to 768,000 BTC.Puts are trading at a premium to calls across all timeframes on Deribit, with a notable block trade targeting a $50,000 BTC put at the September expiry suggesting some traders expect a further 15% decline by end of Q3.Jupiter (JUP) rose 11.5% on a 55% surge in trading volume and a jump in TVL from 13.9 million to over 20 million SOL, while stellar (XLM) extended its weekly rally to 16%, keeping CoinMarketCaps altcoin season index sticky at 48/100.　　Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $58,700 on Wednesday, showing a sliver of strength after spiking down to $57,700, the lowest point since September 2024, shortly after midnight UTC.　　Ether (ETH) is at $1,580, having also experienced a slight relief bounce since 01:00 UTC.　　U.S. equity index futures are lower since midnight UTC, with Ss hardly surprising given BTCs dip to lows under $58,000 early in the day.The real story is crude futures listed on crypto exchanges. They have seen liquidations worth $15 million, the fifth-largest tally among all tokens. The figure shows just

07-01Industry

‘We are bullish on Morpho’: Standard Chartered sees token at $60 by 2030, outperforming bitcoin and ether

Quick TakeStandard Chartered initiated coverage of Morpho on Wednesday with an end-2030 price forecast of $60, a growth rate it said would outperform both bitcoin and ether.The forecast assumes growth driven by Morpho Vaults and deeper TradFi integrations, with the protocol expected to scale alongside broader DeFi adoption through 2030.　　Standard Chartered Bank initiated coverage of Morpho on Wednesday with a price target of $60 for the protocols native token by the end of 2030, citing growth driven by DeFi adoption and vault-based asset management infrastructure.　　In a note to clients on Wednesday, the banks Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoff Kendrick, set a multi-year path for the token, forecasting MORPHO-USD at $3.50 in 2026, $11 in 2027, $22 in 2028, and $40 in 2029, before reaching $60 by end-2030.　　The bank said the trajectory implies (MORPHO) would outperform both bitcoin and ether over the same period, based on relative return assumptions in its digital assets framework.　　“We are bullish on the outlook for Morpho, the second-largest decentralised finance (DeFi) lending protocol after Aave,” Kendrick wrote in the note.　　The forecast is anchored on Morphos lending markets and vault infrastructure, which Standard Chartered said positions the protocol to scale alongside its projection of a

07-01Industry

Bernstein sees 203% upside for Circle even as new stablecoin rival OUSD debuts

Quick TakeBernstein reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Circle with a $190 price target, implying 203% upside, even as CRCL stock closed down 17.5% on the Open USD announcement.Analysts noted that Coinbase‘s participation in the 140-company OUSD consortium “has raised eyebrows,” given Coinbase earns roughly half of USDC’s reserve income.　　Bernstein reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Circle Internet Group and kept its $190 price target, implying 203% upside, a day after CRCL stock closed down 17.5% on the launch of Open USD, a stablecoin backed by more than 140 companies, including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, and Coinbase.　　According to a note on Wednesday, Bernstein also retained its Outperform rating and $330 price target on Coinbase.　　What is Open USD　　Open USD will be run by Open Standard, an independent company governed by a board of its own partners rather than by a single issuer.　　Minting and redemption, two key ends of stablecoin infrastructure, are free with no issuance caps, and reserve earnings are shared across the partner network rather than retained by one company.　　Zach Abrams, chief executive of Stripes stablecoin unit Bridge, was named founding CEO of Open Standard. Stripe said OUSD will become the default stablecoin for businesses on its platform, with a full launch

07-01Industry

Symbiotic officially pivots to collateral markets with Core V2 launch

Quick TakeSymbiotic now powers shared collateral infrastructure that can support multiple DeFi use cases like insurance, credit, and RWAs.Each vault operates with fully independent risk parameters, including custom allocation limits, accepted collateral types, and defined loss conditions, all enforced onchain.　　Paradigm-backed collateral markets platform Symbiotic is continuing to expand beyond its restaking roots with the launch of Symbiotic Core V2 on Wednesday.　　“Symbiotic started out and was previously known as a restaking protocol, but Symbiotic Core V2 marks its transition into collateral markets, and its the upgrade that makes that shift official,” a representative told The Block. Going forward, the protocol is focused on building infrastructure and products for collateral markets.　　In other words, instead of every DeFi app, from insurance pools and credit protocols to RWA vaults and otherwise, needing its own isolated pile of locked-up capital, each can now share in a common collateral base.　　Symbiotic V2　　One of V2s key unlocks is enabling capital to remain productive when not being used to secure other financial products.　　According to the announcement, capital committed to Symbiotic vaults can be dynamically routed into blue-chip lending protocols like Aave and Morpho when not actively needed to generate base yields. When obligations arise, the framework automatically recalls funds

07-01Industry

Crypto hack theft falls 7% in June to $76 million as Humanity Protocol tops list: PeckShield

Quick TakeCrypto hacks totaled $75.9 million across 40 incidents in June, down 7.1% from Mays $81.7 million, according to PeckShield.The Humanity Protocol exploit topped the list at $31 million, though the projects own investigation later put losses closer to $36 million.　　Crypto hackers stole around $75.9 million across 40 major incidents in June, a 7.1% drop from Mays $81.7 million, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield.　　The Humanity Protocol exploit accounted for the largest share at $31 million, per PeckShields tally. Onchain analyst Specter first reported that wallets connected to the project had drained over $31 million on June 9, before Humanity Protocols own investigation later put the total closer to $36 million, The Block reported. Founder Terence Kwok attributed the breach to a compromised private key.　　Syscoin Bridge lost $10 million to a validation flaw that let an attacker mint billions of unbacked SYS tokens without a corresponding burn, PeckShield said.　　A bot tied to the address JaredFromSubway.eth, known for running MEV sandwich attacks, was itself exploited for $7.5 million, according to the tally. Secret Network, Polymarket users, SecondFi, and TESSERA rounded out the rest of Junes larger incidents, with losses ranging from $2.4 million to $4.67 million.　　Notably, Aztecs deprecated infrastructure was hit

07-01Industry

Europe's MiCA crypto regime is fully in force: Here's who wins and loses

Quick TakeOnly 244 of more than 3,000 crypto companies operating across Europe under national regimes have obtained authorization under MiCA, according to Trezor executive Danny Sanders.Binance not securing a license is the most high-profile case of a major company missing the July 1 deadline.“Key elements, including the treatment of multi-jurisdictional stablecoin issuance, remain unclear in practice,” according to Ripple.　　Europe‘s years-long effort to bring crypto firms under one of the world’s most comprehensive regulatory frameworks reached a key milestone on Wednesday, as the final transition period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation came to an end.　　The question now is how the end of MiCAs final transition phase will affect users, companies, and the market.　　For the industrys largest players, the answer is fairly clear. Exchanges that secured MiCA authorization can operate across the EU under a single regulatory regime, while firms left without licenses must wind down or restrict services to EU clients. Based on crypto trading volume data, MiCAs impact on many users may be limited.　　Data from research firm Kaiko suggests Binances absence will have little impact at scale, saying that “as of June 2026, exchanges with a MiCA license account for approximately 83% of trading volume in Europe.”　　On the

07-01Industry

Ripple, Coinbase among top donors in crypto's $189 million election spending: report

Quick TakeCrypto companies have contributed $189 million so far in the 2026 midterms cycle, according to a Public Citizen analysis of FEC data.　　Crypto companies have contributed $189 million so far to influence the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, accounting for 37% of the $517 million disclosed in corporate political spending this cycle, according to Public Citizen.　　Entities associated with Gemini and its founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss added another $25.7 million, bringing spending by those four crypto groups to roughly $149 million, according to the report, which analyzed Federal Election Commission disclosures and OpenSecrets data.　　The report also suggested that the biggest beneficiaries of cryptos corporate spending are Fairshake, a sector-focused super PAC, and MAGA Inc., the Trump-backing super PAC. Fairshake received $82.6 million in crypto-related contributions, while MAGA Inc. received $56.2 million.　　Cantor Fitzgerald-backed Fellowship PAC also accounted for another crypto-focused political vehicle, receiving $10 million from the Wall Street firm, which serves as Tethers banking partner.　　Crypto spends more than AI, Big Tech sectors　　The report found that artificial intelligence and Big Tech companies contributed $60 million during the cycle, with $50.1 million directed to the AI-focused Leading the Future PAC. Online betting companies also spent $45.6 million, including $43 million that flowed to

07-01Industry

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