This is Cryptocurrency

#NEWS 🇪🇺 More than 10 million Europeans may lose access to their usual cryptocurrency services The European cryptocurrency market is undergoing one of its most extensive transformations. According to Erald Hus, CEO of OKX Europe, approximately 80% of existing crypto platforms in the EU may cease operations due to the new MiCA regulations. 📉 Currently, over 3,000 digital asset service providers are registered in the EU, but not all have obtained the necessary licenses. 📄 According to the new regulations, platforms that are not licensed according to MiCA standards are required to stop serving clients within the EU or assist users in transferring funds to licensed providers or non-custodial wallets. The deadline for compliance expired on July 1. Even the largest players are facing significant challenges. Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, attempted to obtain a MiCA license in several European countries, including Greece, but failed to secure approval. The company's founder, Changpeng Zhao, stated that the application fully complied with regulatory requirements and was close to approval, but he accused "political forces" of thwarting the process. 👀 Tighter oversight by European regulators is putting additional pressure on the industry. The European Banking Authority (EBA), which oversees major stablecoin issuers, has proposed introducing fines of up to 12.5% ​​of companies' annual turnover for MiCA violations. Public consultations on this initiative will run until September 28. Against this backdrop, experts are increasingly talking about a possible exodus of crypto businesses from Europe. 🌍 Many companies are already considering relocating their operations to friendlier jurisdictions, such as the United Arab Emirates. The law firm NeosLegal reported receiving over 120 inquiries per week from European crypto projects seeking to relocate their legal structures outside the EU. Meanwhile, licensed platforms are actively taking advantage of the situation and attempting to attract clients from their departing competitors. Coinbase and OKX have already announced special programs for new users, offering bonuses that in some cases reach 8% of account balances. As a result, the introduction of MiCA could radically change the European crypto market: some companies will exit the market, others will relocate to new jurisdictions, and the largest licensed platforms will have the opportunity to significantly increase their audience share. ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS 🇺🇸💵 US Treasury: after the end of the conflict, Russia will want to return to the dollar US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with CNBC that after the end of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia will likely want to integrate into the dollar financial system again. According to the head of the Ministry of Finance, the attractiveness of the American currency remains extremely high due to the depth of the US financial markets, their liquidity and enormous opportunities for attracting capital. “Everyone wants to be part of this system,” Bessent emphasized. 🌎 In his opinion, it is the dollar that remains the main center of global financial architecture. As examples, the minister cited Venezuela, which is gradually returning to payments in dollars, as well as Iran, where, according to him, future transactions will also be billed in US currency. Washington considers strengthening the position of the dollar one of the key strategic objectives and is confident that the global financial system will continue to rely on it. However, Bessent’s statements came against the backdrop of controversial statistics 📊 In recent years, the share of the dollar in the international reserves of central banks has been gradually declining, and gold has overtaken American bonds in popularity among global regulators for the first time in several decades. Additionally, the dollar's purchasing power has shrunk by about 99% over the past 55 years, further fueling debate about the future of the world's reserve currency. The Iranian factor is also interesting. Previously, Deutsche Bank analysts warned that a possible conflict with Iran could threaten the petrodollar system, in which global oil trade is predominantly carried out in dollars. However, the US Treasury takes a different position: the current pressure on the dollar is seen as a temporary phenomenon, and not as the beginning of its long-term weakening. 🤖 It is interesting that the sanctioned countries have already begun to build alternative financial infrastructure. For example, in Venezuela and Iran, dollar stablecoins, primarily USDT, play a significant role in payments, which allow transactions to be carried out without using the traditional banking system and SWIFT. A similar trend can be seen in Russia. The State Duma is considering a bill according to which unqualified investors may be allowed to transact only with a limited list of digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, USDC and USDT. At the same time, the situation around Tether remains ambiguous ⚠️ The company has already frozen more than $4.4 billion at the request of Western regulators, including funds associated with the Russian crypto exchange Garantex. This creates a paradoxical situation: states are trying to reduce their dependence on the dollar, but at the same time continue to use instruments that, in one way or another, remain closely connected with the American financial system. ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS ⚠️ Stablecoin apxUSD lost its peg to the US dollar, showing a decline of more than 30%. 📉 A significant disruption was recorded in the cryptocurrency market: the synthetic stablecoin apxUSD, the rate of which should stabilize at $1, sharply deviated from parity and continued to decline. Over a 24-hour period, the value of the token decreased by more than 36%, falling below $0.76. The main reason for the sale was growing investor concerns regarding the project's collateral structure. The apxUSD token was developed by Apyx Finance and is positioned as a “dividend digital dollar.” The model involves the issuance of a stablecoin secured by preferred shares of digital asset companies in order to provide increased profitability. Currently, the main collateral is the STRC preferred shares of Strategy, a company associated with Michael Saylor. It was the decline in the cost of STRC that became the catalyst for the crisis. During the trading session, the price of these securities reached a minimum of $73.62, after which it partially recovered to a level of about $78. This raised doubts about the adequacy of the collateral and the ability of apxUSD to return to the target rate of $1. Market participants are actively discussing the sustainability of the project’s business model. Some analysts believe that the current collateral structure carries significantly higher risks than originally expected. Crypto investor Vinny Lingham noted that returning STRC to its nominal value of $100 seems to be an extremely difficult task. In his opinion, the market has already formed an objective assessment of the asset, and the damage caused may be long-term. Lingham also pointed out the complicated situation for Strategy founder Michael Saylor, comparing it to the chess concept of "zugzwang" ♟ - a position in which any subsequent move worsens the current position. Currently, market participants are closely monitoring the dynamics of STRC and the actions of the Apyx Finance team. The ability to restore investor confidence will determine whether apxUSD can regain its lost peg to the US dollar. ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS ⚡️ Accelerating US Defenses Against Quantum Threats: Implications for the Cryptocurrency Market US President Donald Trump signed two new executive orders concerning quantum technologies. The first document accelerates the transition of government systems to post-quantum encryption methods, while the second aims to develop quantum computing, networks, and sensors. This is an important signal for the crypto market 👀: the US is effectively acknowledging the need to modernize existing cryptography in advance, before the advent of powerful quantum computers. Bitcoin and Ethereum are not currently under immediate threat, but cryptography underlies blockchain security. If quantum technologies make a significant breakthrough in the future, some existing security algorithms may require replacement. According to new plans, US federal agencies should begin implementing the new standards in the coming years. For the most critical systems, the transition to post-quantum security should be completed by 2030–2031. Authorities are paying particular attention to the "build now, decrypt later" risk 🔒. The essence of the threat is that attackers can already store encrypted data today, hoping to decrypt it in the future using more powerful quantum machines. At the same time, Washington is increasing investments in its own quantum research 🚀. The goal is to accelerate the creation of next-generation technologies and maintain US leadership in this field. The main conclusion is simple: there are currently no threats to BTC and ETH, but major countries are already beginning to prepare for the post-quantum era. This means that the issue of upgrading cryptographic security will eventually become relevant for the entire cryptocurrency industry. 📈🔐 ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS 🚨 MSUSD Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg and Plunges 85% The MSUSD token, linked to the MainStreet Finance platform, experienced a sharp decline and temporarily lost its peg to the US dollar. Amid growing investor concerns, its price plummeted by approximately 85%, causing serious market anxiety. According to PeckShield analysts, alongside the price drop, the msY/$USDC market utilization on the Morpho platform reached a peak of 100%, further increasing pressure on the project's liquidity. The AlphaUSDC Delta V2 strategy, managed by AlphaPING, has attracted particular attention from market participants. It reportedly accounts for approximately 30% of this market volume, equivalent to approximately $18 million. 📉 The catalyst for the crisis was Accountable's decision to terminate its cooperation with MainStreet Finance regarding reserve verification. This has raised questions from investors regarding the transparency of the project's reserve collateral. The MainStreet Finance team stated that the issue is not related to a lack of assets or a deterioration in portfolio quality. According to the developers, the cause was the shutdown of the independent reserve verification system. Project representatives emphasized that these are infrastructure and reporting issues rather than solvency issues. ⚠️ MainStreet also warned that disabling the reserve verification panel could lead to the shutdown of the oracle used by the Morpho market. This, in turn, could increase uncertainty among participants and increase borrowing costs. To support liquidity, the project team has already closed some short-term positions and transferred over $8 million in USDC to the token issuance side. Furthermore, MainStreet announced negotiations with new reserve verification service providers and the gradual reduction of certain positions to restore normal system operation. If necessary, the project is ready to act as a liquidity provider and a last resort to stabilize the market. 💰 MainStreet's investment portfolio is based on so-called "box spread" strategies. These strategies aim to achieve a predetermined price at maturity, allowing for a relatively accurate assessment of the future value of assets. However, the developers acknowledged that early liquidation of such positions may incur additional costs. These include commissions, widened bid-ask spreads, market maker discounts, and other expenses dependent on market liquidity. Despite the significant decline in MSUSD, the MainStreet team continues to insist that the project's assets are fully backed. Nevertheless, investors are closely monitoring the situation, as regaining confidence after such a massive de-pegging could take considerable time. 👀 ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS 📉 Bitcoin under pressure, while the dollar prepares for a major breakout Bitcoin continues to decline for the third day in a row. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is trading near $63,900, down almost 1% in 24 hours. Along with BTC, the majority of the crypto market is also declining, although individual assets such as HASH, XLM, and ENA managed to grow by more than 7%. 🚀 One of the main reasons for the pressure on cryptocurrencies remains the strengthening of the US dollar. The dollar index (DXY), which measures the value of the American currency against a basket of global currencies, rose to 100.66 points. After jumping 0.8% the day before, the index gained another 0.26% and is now on the verge of breaking out of the range it has traded in for the past 13 months. This is an important signal for financial markets 👀 When the dollar index breaks through long-term resistance levels, traders often begin to actively increase their positions following the trend. This can lead to further strengthening of the US currency, which traditionally puts pressure on risky assets, including cryptocurrencies. Historically, Bitcoin has often moved in the opposite direction to the dollar. Recently, the 90-day correlation between BTC and DXY reached -0.82, indicating a strong inverse relationship. An additional factor supporting the dollar was the recent statements from the US Federal Reserve. The regulator's tougher rhetoric has increased expectations that interest rates may remain high longer than the market had anticipated. If the dollar's strengthening continues, Bitcoin risks testing a key technical support level—the 200-week moving average, currently located around $62,258. Analysts at crypto exchange Kraken note that in past cycles, a drop below this level subsequently led to an average gain of more than 100% over one and three years. 📊 However, some experts warn that a break of this support could trigger a deeper correction before the market finds a bottom. From a technical perspective, the situation for the dollar looks particularly interesting. 📈 Since May 2025, the 100.60 level on the DXY index has served as a significant barrier, where sellers regularly halted gains. The index is currently trading above this level, and if this hold is confirmed, the market could see an acceleration of the dollar's upward movement. This means that pressure on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could persist for some time. ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS ⚖️ Kalshi Under Pressure: Nevada Authorities Demand $120,000 Per Day in Fines Due to Geoblocking Issues 🚫 The Kalshi prediction market has found itself at the center of a new conflict with Nevada regulators. The Nevada Gaming Control Commission (NGCB) has filed a lawsuit seeking to find the company liable for failing to comply with a court order restricting access for state residents to certain contracts on the platform. The case stems from a May 18 ruling requiring Kalshi to block Nevada users from trading contracts related to sporting events, elections, and the entertainment industry. 🚨 However, according to the regulator, the current restriction system is effectively failing to meet its intended purpose. Instead of using professional geolocation services employed by licensed US bookmakers, Kalshi has decided to rely on its own IP address verification mechanism. State authorities consider this approach insufficient and easily circumvented. To confirm this, commission staff conducted a series of audits. Based in Nevada, they repeatedly accessed prohibited markets and purchased contracts on various events, including tennis matches, NBA playoff games, MLB matches, football competitions, and even the Los Angeles mayoral election. The audits were later repeated, and Nevada users were allegedly still able to participate in markets related to World Cup matches ⚽️. 💰 The regulator is now demanding that Kalshi be fined $120,000 for each day the geoblocking system remains ineffective. The penalty is calculated as approximately one-fiftieth of the company's estimated daily commission revenue. Kalshi itself stated that implementing a full-fledged geolocation system is costly and attributed the problems to a technical glitch. The company also claims that the commission did not contact its representatives before filing the contempt petition. The situation appears particularly ambiguous given Kalshi's previous statements about the need for strict compliance with rules in prediction markets. Previously, the company's management actively criticized competitors for insufficient user controls and weak compliance with regulatory requirements. 📊 Now, attention has turned to Kalshi's own infrastructure. The conflict will also impact the broader debate between federal regulation of prediction markets and individual state gambling laws. Currently, Nevada remains the only state where a court has effectively ordered access to sports betting on the platform to be restricted. NGCB Chairman Mike Draitzer emphasized that authorities intend to continue to vigorously defend local laws and protect the state's gambling industry. The court has not yet issued a final ruling, but according to regulators, Nevada residents can still access Kalshi's website and purchase bets on sporting events that should have been restricted. ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS Payments company MassPay Holdings LLC announced a strategic partnership with Coinbase aimed at making it easier for businesses to use stablecoins in cross-border payments As part of the collaboration, global payment network MassPay will integrate Coinbase's digital asset infrastructure. This will allow companies to make payments to recipients in more than 180 countries through a single API, using bank transfers, mobile wallets, local payment systems and cryptocurrency assets. One of the key elements of the new system will be support for the $USDC stablecoin 💵. MassPay corporate clients will be able to fund their payment accounts in US dollars and then automatically convert the funds into $USDC through the Coinbase infrastructure. Users will also be able to directly deposit $USDC and send payments in both stablecoins and other digital assets or national currencies, depending on the needs of the recipient. The roles between the companies will be distributed as follows: 🔹 Coinbase will provide the operation of crypto wallets, storage of digital assets and support for blockchain infrastructure. 🔹 MassPay will be responsible for delivering funds to final recipients through its international payment network. The new solution is aimed primarily at the corporate sector, including international companies, marketplaces, fintech platforms and services that regularly make cross-border payments. According to market participants, such integrations become an important step towards the mass introduction of stablecoins into the global financial system. The use of digital dollars will speed up settlements, reduce commissions and reduce the number of intermediaries during international transfers ⚡️. The cooperation between MassPay and Coinbase reflects the general trend of the market: more and more companies are beginning to consider stablecoins not as an investment instrument, but as a full-fledged infrastructure for global payments and settlements. ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS 🏦 Citigroup launches trading of tokenized shares of private companies One of the world's largest banks, Citigroup, announced the launch of a new blockchain platform for working with tokenized shares of non-public companies. The project is aimed at wealthy and institutional investors seeking to gain access to the fast-growing pre-IPO investment market 📈. Increased interest in companies like SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic is pushing financial institutions to look for better ways to invest in private equity before companies go public. The new solution is based on tokenized depositary receipts issued by Citigroup itself. At the first stage, the service will be available to international clients, but in the future the bank intends to open access to investors from the United States. According to Artem Korenyuk, head of digital assets at Citi, the new infrastructure makes it possible to deal with shares of private companies almost as easily as with ordinary exchange-traded securities. 💬 “Investors will be able to hold shares of private companies next to assets such as Apple or other public companies,” he noted. The technological partner of the project was the Swiss company SIX, which ensures the operation of the infrastructure. Citigroup also emphasized that the platform will be available to other financial institutions, potentially accelerating the adoption of tokenization in traditional financial markets. 🔗 Focus on transparency instead of complex schemes Citi believes that tokenized depositary receipts can provide a clearer and more transparent alternative to the popular SPV structures that are often used today to invest in private companies. According to the bank, many investors do not always fully understand exactly what assets they own through an SPV, while the tokenized model makes the ownership structure much more transparent. Interest in such tools is growing rapidly. Coinbase previously launched perpetual futures for pre-IPO SpaceX shares and has already announced plans to expand the line of similar products. However, the market for tokenized private assets has already faced criticism. A number of platforms offered access to OpenAI and Anthropic through various investment vehicles, but the companies themselves emphasized that such tokens do not provide direct ownership of their shares. A similar discussion arose around the launch of OpenAI tokenized shares on the Robinhood platform. OpenAI stated that it did not give permission to distribute such tools, but Robinhood management confirmed its intention to develop the direction of tokenized assets and integrate them with DeFi protocols. ⚡️ Against this background, Citigroup’s initiative looks like an attempt to move the market for tokenized private investments into a more regulated environment of traditional finance that is more familiar to large investors. The bank also reported that the first transaction within the new infrastructure has already taken place. Wealth management clients invested in Kaleido, a platform specializing in asset tokenization and digital financial infrastructure development. ▶️This is James | This is Serj

#NEWS 📉 Is SpaceX Unrelated? Why Are Investors Still Pulling Billions Out of Bitcoin ETFs? Since the beginning of May, approximately $4.5 billion has been withdrawn from US spot Bitcoin ETFs. This has sparked speculation in the market about a massive sell-off of crypto assets by investors seeking to participate in future IPOs of major tech companies, including SpaceX and Anthropic. However, analysts believe the situation is much more complex 👀. According to Fabian Dori, Chief Investment Officer at Swiss crypto bank Sygnum, a significant portion of the outflow may be related not to interest in IPOs, but to the closure of arbitrage strategies. The expert noted a decline in open interest in Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which coincided with the redemption of ETF units. This may indicate that major market participants are simply winding down carry trades and other arbitrage positions. 💬 According to Dori, if investors were truly selling Bitcoin en masse to participate in the IPO, the market would have seen more noticeable consequences: reduced liquidity, a decline in stablecoin volumes, and abnormal withdrawals from crypto exchanges. Currently, no such signs have been observed. 📊 Analysts identify three main reasons for the current outflow: • the closure of arbitrage and carry trade strategies by large funds; • the continued withdrawal of capital from Grayscale's ETF, which has lost nearly $27 billion in assets since its launch; • a partial redistribution of funds into the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector and future tech IPOs. At the same time, experts consider the first two factors to be more technical and temporary, while interest in AI stocks reflects investors' overall appetite for risky assets. 📉 Over the past week, US Bitcoin ETFs recorded an outflow of approximately $1.7 billion. In the first three days of this week, investors withdrew approximately $382 million more. However, experts note that selling pressure is gradually easing rather than intensifying. 🚀 Interest in SpaceX through the cryptocurrency market remains high. On Binance, the daily trading volume of SPCX futures exceeds $190 million, and open interest has already exceeded $193 million. On the TradeXYZ platform, the figures also remain impressive: over $75 million in daily turnover and approximately $150 million in open interest. The current value of SPCX corresponds to a valuation of SpaceX of approximately $1.6 trillion. Moreover, NYSE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher previously stated that such crypto instruments are already capable of influencing investor expectations regarding company valuations before going public. 📈 According to Polymarket, the probability of SpaceX's post-IPO market cap exceeding $1.6 trillion is estimated at 93%, while the chances of seeing a valuation above $2 trillion reach 67%. Thus, despite the high interest in SpaceX and other tech giants, analysts do not yet see convincing evidence that future IPOs are the main reason for the massive withdrawal of funds from Bitcoin ETFs. ▶️This is James | This is Serj