After Twenty One Exit, Jack Mallers Says Bitcoin Taught Him Hard Lessons

Rather than predicting prices, Maller argued Bitcoins toughest periods are what keep the network and its participants honest.  Jack Mallers says Bitcoins bear market has left him “getting my ass kicked,” but the Strike founder believes that is exactly what makes the asset different from traditional financial systems.  In an essay published Friday, just days after stepping down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, Mallers argued that Bitcoins painful downturns expose reality instead of hiding it.  Mallers Says Bitcoins Pain Has a Purpose  Mallers wrote that he originally drafted the essay on July 11, before resigning from Twenty One Capital, intending to publish it the following Monday. That plan changed after he was told to wait until his departure became public.  In the opening note, he acknowledged that the company he believed he was building and the direction it ultimately took “were no longer the same,” leading him to step away. He also accepted responsibility for helping create expectations that “were not ultimately fulfilled,” while making clear that the essay was not intended as a defense of his decision.  Instead, Mallers used Bitcoins latest bear market as a lens through which to examine leadership, conviction, and failure. Although BTC is trading almost 50% below its all-time

07-24Industry

Police group, crypto association back revised CLARITY Act as support broadens

The revised CLARITY Act has gained backing from both the National Fraternal Order of Police [FOP]and the National Cryptocurrency Association [NCA], with the two organizations endorsing the legislation for different reasons.  The FOP said changes to the latest version of the bill addressed its concerns over law enforcement powers. At the same time, the NCA argued the legislation strengthens consumer protections and provides clearer rules for the digital asset industry.  Police group says revised bill strengthens enforcement powers  In a letter dated July 24, the National Fraternal Order of Police, which represents more than 382,000 law enforcement officers, urged Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren to support the revised CLARITY Act.  The organization said it had reviewed changes to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act [BRCA] provisions and was satisfied that they would not limit law enforcement agencies‘ and prosecutors’ ability to investigate crimes involving digital assets.  Source: X  The FOP also highlighted provisions covering anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance, digital asset kiosks, seizure and tracing authorities, temporary transaction holds requested by law enforcement and new grant and training programmes aimed at strengthening digital asset investigations.  According to the letter, the revised legislation also establishes a digital asset cyber innovation center. It clarifies

07-24Industry

Bitfinex completes El Salvador licence set across three markets

Bitfinex has secured a Digital Asset Service Provider licence in El Salvador, completing a local regulatory structure covering spot trading, crypto derivatives and tokenized securities.  SummaryBitfinex now holds Salvadoran approvals spanning spot trading, derivatives and regulated tokenized securities services locally.CNAD registered two core Bitfinex entities in April, adding them to existing licensed operations there.El Salvador remains central to Bitfinexs Latin American strategy for trading and tokenized capital markets.  The exchange announced the approval on May 12, after the National Commission of Digital Assets registered two Bitfinex-linked operating entities on April 23.  The new approval brings the core Bitfinex trading platform alongside Bitfinex Securities El Salvador and Bitfinex Derivatives El Salvador. Bitfinex said the structure gives the group a regulated presence across its main businesses in the country, although product access will still depend on customer eligibility, location and the platforms terms.  You might also like:  Bitcoin price retreats to $65K ahead of $1.2B options expiry  Core Bitfinex platform joins regulated local entities  El Salvadors CNAD public registry lists BFXNA El Salvador under registration PSAD-0082 and BFXWW El Salvador under PSAD-0083. Both registrations cover activities that include exchanging digital assets, operating trading platforms, transferring assets, custody, receiving client orders and executing trades in digital asset derivatives.  The registry entries

07-24Industry

Ex-Sushi CTO Joseph DeLong to Launch Order Book DEX on Robinhood Chain

The former SushiSwap CTO described the decentralized exchange as a side project that ‘outgrew nights and weekends,’ with no specs, contract, or token disclosed.  Joseph DeLong, the former SushiSwap CTO who now runs stablecoin card startup Colossus, said he will launch a decentralized exchange called Deepstate on Robinhood Chain next week.  “I have a decentralized exchange side project that outgrew nights and weekends. Im gonna launch it next week on @robinhood chain,” DeLong wrote on X on July 24, linking to a whitepaper published on GitHub.  A Fully Onchain Order Book  The whitepaper, dated June 29 and authored by DeLong, specifies a limit order book that lives entirely in smart contract storage. Each resting order is packed into a single 32-byte word — price tick, quantity, a rounding-correction code, and a time-priority nonce — and stored in a binary radix tree keyed by price and arrival order. The design offers 4.3 billion logarithmically spaced price ticks and caps the work each trade performs at the trees fixed 64-bit depth, an attempt to keep gas costs bounded no matter how many orders rest on the book.  Fully onchain central limit order books remain rare on EVM chains because every storage read and write costs gas. Most

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India Arrests Dubai Man in Global Crypto-Hawala Crackdown

ED arrests Dubai resident in crypto-hawala probe tied to narcotics money laundering across India, Brazil and Thailand.  Indias Enforcement Directorate has arrested a Dubai resident in a sweeping crypto-hawala crackdown.  Nihal V.N. now faces charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Investigators allege he laundered drug proceeds through crypto and foreign exchange transfers.  The Goa Zonal Office carried out the arrest as part of a wider narcotics money laundering probe. A Special PMLA Court in Goa has remanded him to ED custody until July 28, 2026.  Crypto Wallets Linked to International Drug Cartels  According to a press release, the ED says Nihal V.N. worked as a key financial node for international drug syndicates. He allegedly converted cash from illicit drug sales in India into cryptocurrency and forex.  Investigators claim the funds then moved to cartels and suppliers in Brazil and Thailand. Those networks reportedly used the money to finance high-grade narcotics and synthetic drugs for smuggling into India.  Forensic teams have already traced multiple crypto wallets tied to the alleged scheme.  Officials also flagged offshore bank accounts and domestic shell entities used to move the funds. The agency describes the accused as an operational bridge between Indian drug proceeds and overseas suppliers.  Digital evidence collected so far

07-24Industry

The Safest States For Retirement And The Tax Risk Most Rankings Miss

Where should you retire? A new analysis from CareScout suggests that retirement security extends beyond investment portfolios and healthcare costs.  getty  For decades, Americans choosing where to retire have weighed familiar questions: Which states have lower taxes? Where are homes still affordable? What is the weather like? How close is the nearest grandchild?  Increasingly, another question is drawing attention: How safe is it to grow older there?  A new analysis from CareScout suggests that retirement security extends beyond investment portfolios and healthcare costs. Using seven measures—including elder fraud, violent crime, property crime, police staffing, fall-related deaths, traffic fatalities involving older drivers and hospital capacity—the report ranks the safest and most challenging states for retirement in 2026.  While the overall rankings are worth a look, one finding stands out: Fraud targeting older Americans continues to climb, making financial crime one of the defining risks facing retirees.  Fraud Has Become A Retirement Planning Issue  Retirement has traditionally focused on the basics, like saving enough money, managing investments and stretching a retirement nest egg over a longer lifespan. But keeping that money has become increasingly difficult.  According to CareScouts analysis, reported property crimes involving adults age 60 and older increased from 473.7 incidents per 100,000 seniors in 2015 to 769.8 in

07-24Industry

XRP ETF Gains Investment From Kansas-Based Wealth Manager

Kansas-based wealth manager Leisure Capital Management has revealed a position in Franklin Templetons XRP ETF during the second quarter of the year.  According to a newly filed regulatory form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Leisure Capital Management held 16,745 shares of the Franklin XRP Trust ETF (XRPZ). They were valued at roughly $206,000 as of June 30.  The investment is not significant, but it shows that XRP is gaining more and more acceptance.  Robinhood CEO Breaks Silence on Crypto Hack  Cash Cat (CASHCAT), Solana (SOL), XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE) Price Analysis for July 24: Recovery Hype Goes Out  The Overland Park, Kansas-based wealth management firm manages investment portfolios for individuals and institutions and holds traditional equities, bonds and ETFs.  Its XRP ETF position appeared alongside holdings in major companies including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon.  More institutional interest  Earlier in July, Realta Investment Advisors reported a position in the REX-Osprey XRP ETF with more than $260 million in reported holdings.  Vista Finance also disclosed exposure to the Franklin XRP Trust ETF, holding 129,958 shares worth approximately $11.45 million.  You Might Also Like  Brookstone Capital Management revealed a $71 million XRP ETF position. At the same time, CPR Investments disclosed a $363,000 position in the ProShares Ultra XRP ETF.  Institutional activity

07-24Industry

South Korean Won: Strong GDP and inflows support Won – Commerzbank

Commerzbank reports that South Koreas advance Q2 GDP rose 0.6% quarter-on-quarter and 3.7% year-on-year, beating expectations. Robust AI-related semiconductor demand and resilient domestic spending underpin growth. The strong data support prospects of a further 25bp Bank of Korea hike in August. USD/KRW fell to 1,475, with the Won aided by portfolio inflows into bonds and equities.  Growth surprise bolsters BoK hike case  “The advance Q2 GDP rose 0.6% qoq sa (Bloomberg consensus: 0.4%) vs 1.8% in Q1. This suggests that growth momentum remained resilient despite energy supply disruptions.”  “On an annual basis, the economy expanded 3.7% yoy (Bloomberg consensus: 3.5%) vs 3.8% previously. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) recently upgraded its 2026 growth forecast to 3.0% from 2.0%, reflecting the stronger outlook for exports and investment.”  “On monetary policy, the strong Q2 GDP reading supports the case of another 25bp hike to 3.0% by the Bank of Korea (BoK) at the 27 August meeting. At the previous meeting, Governor Shin Hyun-sung described August as a ”live“ meeting, reinforcing the BoKs data-dependent approach.”  “With growth remaining resilient, inflation above target, and the AI-driven export boom broadening into wages and domestic demand, policymakers have scope to continue normalising policy.”  “In FX, USD-KRW fell 0.2% to 1,475

07-24Industry

BitMEX faces proposed class-action suit for theft, insider trading as crypto exchange shuts down

SummaryBitMEX is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit from BKX Services and David Namdar, who allege unfair liquidations and the withholding of collateral.The complaint, which cites 622.66 BTC ($40.7 million) allegedly owed to the plaintiffs, says BitMEX designed a system to retain customer collateral and says an internal desk accessed private user data during server freezes.The lawsuit coincides with BitMEX announcing it will cease operations on Sept. 23, ending its 11-year run as a crypto derivatives exchange.  BitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange that invented the perpetual swap, faces a proposed class action suit alleging theft of bitcoin and insider trading filed the same day it said it would shut down in three months.  The lawsuit, filed by former tokenization project BKX Services and David Namdar in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, sees BKX claim it lost at least 305.81 BTC through forced liquidations, while Namdar alleges losses of more than 316.85 BTC — a total of 622.66 BTC ($40.7 million).  The July 23 filing came as BitMEX said it would close on Sept. 23, ending an 11-year run. Similar claims were made in a 2020 class-action case, which was closed in June 2025 without a ruling on the

07-24Industry

Bitcoin treasury companies sell up, repay debt, pivot to AI as share prices collapse

Among others abandoning the treasury approach include Sequans Communications (SQNS), which sold 1,025 BTC before disposing of nearly 80% of its remaining holdings to repay convertible debt. It has ruled out further purchases and plans to monetize its remaining 658 BTC.  Nakamoto (NAKA), whose shares have fallen 99% since its May 2025 SPAC deal, sold around 284 BTC to raise $20 million for working capital following its acquisitions of BTC Inc. and UTXO Management. It sold roughly 40 BTC received through its derivatives program, according to VanEcks Sigel. Almost 70% of its remaining 5,342 BTC were pledged against a Kraken loan maturing in December, creating what Sigel described as a potential binary event.  Its not only specialist treasury companies that are reducing their holdings of the largest cryptocurrency. Crypto miners including Bitdeer and MARA Holdings are selling bitcoin to repurchase or repay debt and repurpose their energy-supply deals and computing resources to power AI data centers.  Other sellers include Empery Digital, which has reportedly sold almost half its bitcoin to finance buybacks and debt repayment, and Strategy, which has sold about 3,620 BTC in recent weeks and authorized additional sales to support its U.S. dollar reserves.  Strategy, which started the investment trend, remains the

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