CLARITY Act faces uncertain vote before August recess

The CLARITY Act may still come to a vote, but its prospects remain uncertain as the August recess deadline approaches, even after wealthy memecoin entrepreneur Donald Trump agreed to an ethics deal.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he does not believe the Act currently has enough votes to pass, but he may bring it to the floor anyway to “get Clarity started. We’ll see where the votes are.”

The bill is central to US crypto market-structure negotiations because it would help define how digital assets and related intermediaries are supervised, including the division of authority between financial regulators. That has made the ethics fight a procedural and political obstacle for a broader regulatory package that many industry firms have pushed Congress to complete.

The ethics agreement would bar all US officials from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. However, Democrats have objected to several provisions they view as favorable to the President, including that the rules would expire on the day Trump is scheduled to leave office in 2029.

The ethics provisions would also be enforced by the Attorney General appointed by Trump. Democrats want state attorneys general to enforce the rules instead, but Trump is seen as unlikely to agree to empower dozens of state AGs to attempt to prosecute him.

The White House called the bill the “most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history.” Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego described it as a “piece of shit” and “not a serious effort.”

Negotiations are continuing as lawmakers seek a compromise both sides can accept, though the lack of trust has made an agreement difficult. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said the bill is “not perfect” but has supported it, as have Fidelity and Charles Schwab, each of which represents many trillions of dollars in assets under management.

Law enforcement groups have also started to signal support. The National Fraternal Order of Police, which represents hundreds of thousands of members, said the latest version of the BRCA, which protects developers of decentralized protocols, would not impede investigations into money laundering and fraud.

Polymarket puts the odds of the bill passing this year at 38%.

BitMEX to shut down after 11 years as class action lawsuit is filed

BitMEX, an early cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform, said it will shut down operations in September after 11 years.

The exchange launched in 2014 and became known for introducing 100x leverage perpetual swaps. In recent years, its trading volumes have fallen amid rising competition from major exchanges such as Binance and decentralized protocols such as Hyperliquid.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said BitMEX’s share of the Bitcoin futures market has dropped to 0.08%, with roughly $84 million in daily trading volume. “It was a great exchange that helped shape the industry, and now it is passing the torch to the next generation of exchanges it inspired,” Ju said in a post on X: https://x.com/ki_young_ju/status/2080221628605309288

BitMEX’s utility token, BMEX, fell sharply after the announcement. On the same day, a class action lawsuit accused the crypto derivatives platform of fraudulently engineering customer liquidations to seize traders’ collateral. BitMEX denied the allegations and said it had successfully defended itself against similar claims in the past.

Restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia told Cointelegraph that the exchange’s decline shows the industry is consolidating. “The top five platforms now control an estimated 80% of global spot volume, leaving mid-tier and regional exchanges with shrinking margins and no viable path to scale... The headwinds are structural, not cyclical.”

The closure is also notable because perpetual swaps, the product BitMEX helped popularize, remain one of crypto’s most heavily used trading formats even as volume has shifted to larger centralized venues and newer decentralized derivatives platforms.

Shortly afterward, BitMart also announced it would close in the coming months, further underscoring pressure on smaller and mid-tier trading platforms.

S&P launches blockchain fundamentals index for digital assets

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have launched a digital asset index that tracks major crypto assets but excludes Bitcoin and XRP.

The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index is designed as a benchmark crypto index for institutions. It screens out blockchains using minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization and liquidity.

The index launched with 18 constituents. Ether (ETH), BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), TRON (TRX) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) are its five largest holdings. Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) are the largest non-constituents.

The product follows a wider industry effort to create institutional-grade benchmarks for digital assets. Similar products include the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, the Franklin Crypto Index ETF and the Coinbase Store of Value Index. Such benchmarks can give asset managers and market participants standardized rules for comparing crypto baskets, especially where index construction depends on measurable network activity rather than only market capitalization.

Robinhood weighs prediction market expansion as CFTC issues warning

Robinhood is reportedly discussing an expansion of its prediction markets business with crypto exchange Crypto.com.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the talks involve integrating yes-or-no event contracts supplied by Crypto.com. Robinhood launched prediction markets in March 2025, initially facilitated by Kalshi to comply with regulatory requirements from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Bernstein analysts last week raised their price target for Robinhood (HOOD) stock to $160 from $130 per share, citing the company’s outlook for prediction markets and tokenized equities.

Meanwhile, the CFTC, which aims to become the primary regulator of prediction markets, issued a warning to providers last week. The agency told platforms they need to be much more specific when certifying event contracts.

The advisory addressed concerns about broad, template-style certifications that combine many possible event contract variations into one filing. For platforms seeking to list many event contracts quickly, the filing standard is important because CFTC certification determines whether contracts can be offered under the agency’s rules.

Carl Kennedy, a partner at New York law firm Katten Muchin, told a House Agriculture Committee hearing last week that the CLARITY Act could help the CFTC oversee the “explosive growth of prediction markets.”

Balaji’s Network School looks to Kazakhstan after Malaysia setback

Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School, a community of “digital nomads,” is considering a new campus in Kazakhstan after its Forest City campus had its business license in Malaysia revoked over alleged premises-use violations.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Kazakhstan’s relevant minister, Zhaslan Madiyev, and Srinivasan to establish the first Network School campus in the country, which aims to become a digital hub.

The School was forced out of Johor, Malaysia, after controversy over allowing Israeli dual citizens to attend. Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country and has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Although an investigation found no visa violations, the Network School was ordered to shut down on another pretext.

Dragonfly Capital managing partner Haseeb Qureshi said the episode validated Balaji’s Network State thesis.

“The whole idea of a network state is taking a dense group of talent and capital, and collectively negotiating with states. The Malaysia drama set up Balaji to negotiate better terms with another state to copy and paste the network there.”

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $65,395, Ether (ETH) at $1,958 and XRP (XRP) at $1.11. The total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.24 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the week’s top three altcoin gainers were Audiera (BEAT), up 53%; Shinba Inu (SHIB), up 29%; and Venice Token (VVV), up 19%.

The week’s top three altcoin losers were DeXe (DEXE), down 89%; Midnight (NIGHT), down 26%; and Pyth Network (PYTH), down 10%.

Prediction of the Week: Bitcoin could get a ‘lift’ from Hyperliquid and Robinhood

Bitcoin (BTC) is “finally showing signs of a bottom,” according to Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise.

Hougan said TradFi integrations, particularly Hyperliquid and Robinhood, will drive the next crypto bull market, and that the resulting tide should “lift” the largest cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether.

Hougan said crypto is bringing major benefits, such as 24/7 trading, to traditional markets. He noted that “nearly half the volume on Hyperliquid is in conventional assets like oil, silver, and the S&P 500 [and] it’s expanding into spot commodities, prediction markets, and options.” His post on X is available at: https://x.com/Matt_Hougan/status/2079989491893211164

Bitwise data also indicates that apparent demand for BTC is showing signs of reversal. The metric measures the difference between newly mined BTC and supply that has been inactive for at least one year.

Source: Matt Hougan.

Top FUD of the Week

Home invasions became most common crypto wrench attack in H1 2026: CertiK

Home invasions became the most common form of crypto wrench attacks in the first half of 2026, rising to 20 publicly reported incidents from one a year earlier, according to blockchain security firm CertiK.

On Thursday, CertiK said it verified 52 wrench attacks worldwide in the first half of 2026, up 33.3% from 39 incidents in the same period of 2025. Kidnappings rose to 16 from 12, while robberies declined to one incident from five.

CertiK said recorded financial exposure linked to the attacks reached about $124.1 million, up from $10.5 million a year earlier. The firm’s report is available at:

The rise in home invasions suggests criminals are increasingly bypassing digital protections by physically coercing crypto holders and their families.

Hackers steal $31.6 million in two crypto bridge attacks within seven hours

Hackers stole more than $31.6 million in two unrelated crypto bridge exploits just hours apart, targeting bridges operated by decentralized perpetual exchange AFX and Verus Protocol.

According to Blockaid, AFX, a decentralized perpetual exchange on Arbitrum, reportedly lost $24.15 million on Wednesday through a hack targeting one of its cross-chain bridges. Hours later, Blockaid said it detected an exploit targeting the Verus Ethereum Bridge that resulted in about $7.5 million in crypto being stolen.

Bridges are frequent security targets because they connect separate blockchain environments and often hold or control assets while messages move between chains. That makes bridge design, monitoring and incident response a recurring concern for decentralized finance users and developers.

“Another bridge, another exploit. Bridges will always be a weak link, until security is upgraded,” onchain investigator TheCrypticWolf said in a post on X: https://x.com/TheCrypticWolf1/status/2080145550100337039?s=20

Ethereum ETFs end week in red and snap five-day inflow streak

US-listed spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded $70.62 million in net outflows on Friday, ending a five-day inflow streak.

Ethereum funds recorded $211.25 million in net inflows over the previous five sessions from July 17, according to SoSoValue data:

The funds still posted $103.9 million in net inflows for the week ended Friday. Despite the outflows, Ethereum ETFs extended their weekly inflow streak to three consecutive weeks and have attracted $337.74 million in net inflows so far in July.

Bitcoin ETFs reversed gains made earlier in the week and finished with $33.9 million of inflows.

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