
South Korean tax officials have proposed amending the Criminal Procedure Act to create a legal framework for seizing self-custodied digital assets, arguing current rules do not cover wallets controlled through private keys. The proposal, published in a criminology journal, recommends search warrants specify asset types, wallet addresses, and transfer methods, and advocates for court-supervised joint wallets to store seized crypto rather than agency-controlled wallets, reducing theft and misuse risks. The paper follows a 2025 Supreme Court ruling that Bitcoin seized from exchange wallets was lawful but left self-custodied assets unaddressed, and comes after the National Tax Service suffered a security breach exposing a recovery phrase and losing about $4.8 million in crypto, prompting a task force to improve custody procedures.

According to SEC filings, Circle President Heath Tarbert has sold approximately $30.8 million in CRCL shares across 10 transactions since June 2025, while still holding around 503,000 shares and reporting no open-market purchases. Despite the stock declining from about $260 to the low $60s amid stablecoin competition—notably from Open USD, backed by firms including Visa and BlackRock—and removal from Russell Growth indexes, Tarbert defended Circle‘s long-term strategy, emphasizing USDC’s $73 billion circulation across 34 blockchains. Analysts at Mizuho and JPMorgan have lowered price targets and earnings forecasts, citing margin pressure from revenue-sharing models. Meanwhile, Circle received OCC approval on July 10 to establish a federally supervised trust bank for digital asset custody.

South Korea has unveiled a comprehensive roadmap to make the won a freely convertible currency, combining foreign exchange reforms with a legal framework for won-backed stablecoins under the upcoming Digital Asset Basic Act. Announced jointly by the Financial Services Commission, Bank of Korea, Financial Supervisory Service, and Korea Securities Depository, the plan aims to remove time and location barriers to trading the won while improving cross-border capital flows. The legislation will provide legal recognition for won-denominated stablecoins, while the central bank expands CBDC pilots linked to tokenized government bonds and participates in BIS's Project Agora for cross-border payments. Separately, the Bank of Korea continues its deposit token program for everyday services. Foreign exchange measures include establishing an offshore won settlement network, more than doubling reporting thresholds for capital transactions, and shifting from a prior-approval to a post-reporting framew

Hyperliquid plans to introduce permissionless deployment for HIP-4 outcome markets, rolling out on testnet before mainnet. Validators will vote on standardized outcome templates stored onchain, allowing anyone to deploy markets using approved formats without validator approval for each listing. Deployers must stake 500,000 HYPE, which validators can slash for poor definition, incorrect settlement, or unresolved markets over one week; stake locks for six months. Each deployer initially receives capacity for 100 outcomes, with an auction system planned to increase allocation. Market creators can charge fees up to 50%. The proposal remains preliminary and may change after feedback. HIP-4 launched in May, generating roughly $100 million in trading volume during its first month. Hyperliquid continues gaining attention; Bitwise recently added HYPE to its BITW ETF with a 0.95% allocation, following reported $1.34 trillion in trading volume and $320 million in revenue during the first half of

Troy Hunt, creator of Have I Been Pwned, plans to stop accepting cryptocurrency donations because Australia's new Travel Rule compliance requirements make small, anonymous tips impractical. After Coinbase demanded extensive sender data—including full name, ID number, and home address—to process a $6 donation, Hunt called the regulations impossible and said he may return to PayPal-only donations. Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC began enforcing Travel Rule mandates for virtual asset service providers on July 1, tightening KYC oversight. While self-hosted wallets were suggested as an alternative, Hunt dismissed the idea, noting that KYC requirements are tightening everywhere and the hassle isn't worth it for such small amounts.

Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, posted a detailed critique of BIP-110, a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal that would temporarily fork the network to limit non-monetary transactions like Ordinals inscriptions. In a 3,700-word post, Saylor argued for "neutral rules, hard consensus, open markets, and permissionless innovation," acknowledging that respected Bitcoiners support the proposal but disagreeing with the remedy. BIP-110 was introduced in December 2025 to preserve Bitcoin's peer-to-peer cash focus, but currently only 1% of blocks support it. Ordinals activity is near all-time lows. Opponents like Blockstream CEO Adam Back call it an attempt to police others, while supporters like Ocean's Luke Dashjr view data bloat as a serious threat. The proposal remains far from activation.

US regulatory agencies missed the one-year rulemaking deadline under the GENIUS Act for stablecoins, leaving no final regulations issued despite several proposed rules from the Treasury, OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve. The missed deadline does not invalidate the act but creates regulatory uncertainty for stablecoin issuers. The Treasury issued four of the ten proposed rulemakings, covering state regime alignment, foreign issuer registration, and anti-money laundering. Meanwhile, Anchorage Digital used the anniversary to urge passage of the CLARITY Act to extend similar market-structure rules to broader digital assets, though banking groups oppose its stablecoin yield provisions. Galaxy Digital has lowered its odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 to 50%.

INGs Chris Turner highlights that deteriorating Gulf news and higher energy prices are keeping the dollar supported, even though the DXY remains about 1% below its June peak. Soft US CPI and PPI data have tempered the hawkish Federal Reserve narrative, but markets still price only about 40bp of Fed easing over nine months versus 55-60bp of tightening in the eurozone and UK. Turner expects USD/JPY to grind higher, possibly briefly breaking above 162.75/85 if Japanese authorities refrain from intervention. He sees DXY finding support near 100.50 and then pushing toward 101.30, as energy shocks underpin dollar resilience and discourage dollar selling among existing holders.

Grayscale highlighted Ripple's partnerships with Mastercard, JPMorgan, OKX, and Ondo Finance in a measured discussion covering institutional strategy, RLUSD adoption, and XRP's role—yet the token remains near $1.10, exposing a persistent gap between elite alliances and price action. Structural factors explain the disconnect: XRP's high transaction velocity reduces holding pressure, circulating supply and escrow dynamics create a potential overhang, and speculative capital rotates toward higher-volatility assets. Analysts note support around $1.08–$1.09 and resistance near $1.12–$1.14, while broader liquidity and market sentiment appear to dictate any decisive move. Despite Grayscale's legitimacy boost, the price is unlikely to rally until on-chain volume and macro conditions align.

QuantumScape stock closed at $5.86 on July 17, trading below all key daily moving averages with momentum indicators deep in bearish territory. The daily RSI at 33.57 nears oversold but hasn't triggered a reversal, while the MACD remains negative across timeframes. With Q2 earnings approaching amid wider loss estimates and limited revenue visibility, the technical and fundamental backdrop is fragile. A credible bullish reversal would require a sustained close above the daily EMA20 at $6.81—roughly 16% above current levels. Conversely, a break below support at $5.67 exposes further downside toward $5.49. The hourly chart confirms the downtrend with only minor stabilization, while the 15-minute timeframe shows compression that could precede a catalyst-driven move. The earnings report is the dominant event risk, with negative baseline expectations suggesting caution for both long and short positioning.
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