⚡️🇬🇧Burnham Urges Fiscal Discipline at First UK Cabinet Meeting and Scraps 5% Tax on Energy Bills Starting in October

Andy Burnham pledged fiscal discipline in his first cabinet meeting as UK prime minister, while repeating his promise to ease the cost of living for millions of voters.

“We’ve got to show that our commitment to the fiscal rules is real, and we’re prepared to make difficult decisions in relation to that,” — Burnham said, in televised coverage of the meeting.

Burnham removed value added tax from household electricity bills from Oct. 1, a move the government said would save families on average £45 ($61) a year.

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🇷🇺 The Russian State Duma Passes Bill to Regulate the Cryptocurrency Market

⬇️ Russia’s State Duma completed the second and third readings of a comprehensive digital assets regulation bill on July 21, 2026.

The legislation, officially known as Bill No. 1194918-8 or “On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights,” treats cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as legal property. This classification provides holders with clearer legal protections in areas including bankruptcy proceedings, divorce settlements, and court disputes.

📌 The bill maintains Russia’s long-standing prohibition on using digital currencies for domestic payments, ensuring the ruble remains the sole legal tender inside the country. However, it introduces a key exception for international transactions.

🟠Russian companies and entrepreneurs will now be permitted to employ cryptocurrencies for cross-border trade settlements, offering a vital workaround amid ongoing Western sanctions that have restricted access to traditional banking systems like SWIFT.

🟠The legislation also establishes a regulated framework for crypto market participants. Licensed exchanges, brokers, and custodians will operate under oversight from the Bank of Russia.

❗️Following its passage in the lower house, the bill now proceeds to the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber, for approval.

Once cleared there, it will reach President Vladimir Putin’s desk for final signature. Implementation of core provisions is anticipated around September 1, 2026, giving regulators time to finalize supporting rules. 🚀

#BRICS

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💊 Samsung Launches Health Assistant Beta — First Fully Integrated AI-Powered Personal Health Assistant

Health Assistant will help users achieve their health and wellness goals by connecting important health data with insights that empower them to ask questions about their health and gain access to rich, personalized health guidance and recommendations.

With a holistic understanding of a user’s health, Health Assistant will connect user health information from Samsung Health’s five core pillars of wellness — sleep, activity, nutrition, mindfulness, and vitals — and transform this data into meaningful, actionable insights, while explaining how each variable impacts the others.

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⚡️🇺🇸🇨🇦Carney, Trump Agree to Speed Up Trade Talks Before 50% Tariffs Hit

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he and US President Donald Trump agreed to accelerate trade talks ahead of a potential US move to impose 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods next month.

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🕵🏻‍♂️ UK Parliament begins inquiry into banking chokepoint for crypto businesses

U.K. politicians want to know the extent to which the country’s banks have choked-off cryptocurrency firms by refusing them bank accounts and introducing restrictions on crypto-related payments in a cross-party inquiry kicked off on Tuesday.

❗️The Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) is chaired by Ed Vaizey, a former Minister for the Digital Economy and a member of the House of Lords, and Gurinder Singh Josan, a Labour MP.

🟠Several major U.K. banks have introduced restrictions on crypto-related payments. As such, the inquiry will focus on a dearth of bank accounts for crypto businesses, including associated professional services such as insurance.

🟠The APPG will also look at restrictions placed by banks on crypto-related transactions, amid concerns that some of the banks have introduced measures such as blocking payments to certain crypto firms, or imposing transfer limits.

"Over a number of years, the APPG has heard consistent reports from crypto and digital asset businesses that they face difficulties accessing bank accounts and banking services, alongside concerns about restrictions on crypto-related transactions by banks,” — Vaizey said.

The APPG is inviting written evidence from across the banking, payments, fintech and crypto sectors over a six-week call for evidence before publishing a report setting out its findings and recommendations to the government.

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🚀 Telegram plans 'largest rollout of a non-custodial crypto wallet in human history'

Telegram plans to bring a non-custodial crypto wallet to its roughly 1 billion users this summer, the company's CEO said Tuesday. Durov did not provide many details in his post, but did tease "instant zero-fee crypto transactions."

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⚡️🇺🇸US Set to Impose New Tariffs by Friday With Stopgap to Expire

President Donald Trump is poised to impose fresh levies on products from dozens of economies by Friday, a move to ensure his tariff regime remains intact even after stopgap 10% global duties lapse.

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🤑Galaxy sets up $5 million fund to help shield Bitcoin against quantum computing threats

Galaxy announced the launch of the Galaxy Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative, a multi-pillar program dedicated to preparing Bitcoin for the threat posed by advances in quantum computing.

❗️The initiative includes up to $5 million in grant funding for developers working on post-quantum solutions for Bitcoin, a dedicated research and publishing program through Galaxy Research, and the formation of a Quantum Advisory Council of leading experts in quantum computing and post-quantum cryptography.

⬇️ Bitcoin's security relies on elliptic curve cryptography, which could be broken by a sufficiently powerful quantum computer. While no cryptographically relevant quantum computer exists today, the expected timeline for one to be built is compressing.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) finalized its first post-quantum cryptography standards in 2024, and a recent executive order set a 2031 deadline for the federal government to defend against quantum attacks on classical cryptography.

“As leaders in the digital assets space, we believe it’s important that we help be part of the solution to any potential threat quantum computing poses to Bitcoin,” — said Mike Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Galaxy.

“This initiative reflects that commitment, creating practical steps to research, fund and support the work that keeps Bitcoin secure for the long run.” 🚀

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⚡️🧑‍⚖️ Crypto lobby group TDC sues Illinois to block digital asset tax

TDC (The Digital Chamber) alleged that Illinois' Digital Asset Tax Act violated both the U.S. and state constitutions and is preempted by a federal tax law. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, asks a federal judge to block the Illinois state government from enforcing the tax.

📌 The tax violates the Illinois state constitution's uniformity and due process clauses, the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Internet Tax Freedom Act by specifying digital asset transactions, the suit said.

The Digital Asset Tax Act was passed and approved last month. The 0.2% tax applies to any entities that are based in Illinois or provide services with gross receipts of over $100,000. The tax takes effect in January.

⬇️ TDC's lawsuit said the Internet Tax Freedom Act alone created a rule that "electronic commerce would not be subjected to discriminatory state and local taxation."

"The Act does not distinguish between gains and losses, between profitable and unprofitable transactions, between realized and unrealized appreciation, or between transfers that change ownership and transfers that do not. It distinguishes only between traditional financial infrastructure and blockchain infrastructure," the filing said.

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🤖 German firm debuts first 100+ qubit diamond-based quantum processors

German company SAXON Q has built a high-powered quantum computer that doesn’t need a lab or giant supercoolers to run. The company announced the commercial launch of its SXQ128 and SXQ512 systems, scaling up to 128 and 512 qubits, respectively.

Both systems operate at room temperature with no cryogenic cooling, vacuum equipment or specialized facilities required, offering organizations the ability to run quantum convolutional neural networks (QCNN) and chemistry simulations, accelerate materials research and develop the quantum workflows that will define the next era of computing. These are the first quantum computers based on diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers to break past the 10-qubit mark.

“For thirty years, NV-center quantum computing was a question of manufacturing — whether we could place qubits with enough precision and yield to build something that works outside a laboratory. We solved that problem,” — said Marius Grundmann, co-founder and CEO of SAXON Q.

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💠 Tesla Robotaxi has officially launched in Tampa and Orlando, making the service available in seven areas across the U.S.

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🤖 Intel and Fortinet Collaborate to Advance Cybersecurity Innovation and Strengthen Global Supply Chain Resilience

Intel Corporation and Fortinet announced a strategic collaboration to advance cybersecurity innovation and strengthen global supply chain resilience. Together, Fortinet’s purpose-built ASIC expertise and Intel’s leading design, packaging, and manufacturing capabilities will support the development of Fortinet Security Processor 6.

The companies will explore additional opportunities to further deepen collaboration across semiconductor technology, manufacturing, and the infrastructure underpinning future cybersecurity innovation. This work is expected to advance Fortinet’s long-term ASIC roadmap, support greater performance and service richness, and strengthen supply chain assurance for customers worldwide.

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🤖 Sony and Mitsubishi Set Up AI Vision Joint Venture for Factories

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Sony Group Corp. said they will set up a joint venture to provide factory automation services by combining their expertise in AI and image sensors.

The joint venture, Advanced Vision Solutions, will begin operations in October, with Mitsubishi holding a 60% stake and Sony with 40%. The move comes just a week after Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang urged Japan to go all-in on the coming physical AI boom.

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💊 ‘Cochlear implant for blindness’ debuts in Europe, could launch in U.S. in 2027

Europeans can now receive a device that can partially restore their vision loss. Science Corporation announced that European regulators had approved the commercial sale of the startup’s retinal implant that improves eyesight for patients with age-related macular degeneration in their central vision, enough to read books and road signs more clearly.

“We have a cochlear implant for vision now,” — said Science founder and CEO Max Hodak.

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⚡️🇨🇳🇪🇺China and the EU have renewed a 2025–2027 joint research agreement

China's Ministry of Science and Technology and the European Commission have signed a new round of joint research funding agreements to tackle global challenges, such as climate change, and provide scientific and technological solutions to promote carbon neutrality and green and low-carbon development.

Under the agreements, China and the EU will jointly fund collaborative research projects between 2025 and 2027 under two major initiatives on "Food, Agriculture and Biosolutions" and "Climate Change and Biodiversity."

The initiatives will support cooperation among universities, research institutes and enterprises from both sides to carry out practical research and development projects.

#BRICS

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⚡️🧑‍⚖️ Republicans Release New Crypto Bill Text as Senate Eyes Vote Next Week

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning a vote on President Donald Trump’s landmark crypto market structure legislation as soon as next week.

❗️Senate Republicans circulated new text of a landmark cryptocurrency bill, unveiling changes to the so-called Clarity Act.

The final working draft of the Clarity Act has emerged days after talks with President Donald Trump led to a deal on how Republicans would address the effort's biggest remaining hurdle.

📌 That section would limit the president and other senior government officials from direct crypto ties, with the restriction currently set to expire in 2029 and the Department of Justice tasked with policing related ethics complaints.

🟠The overall bill text is reflective of work in two relevant Senate committees — Banking and Agriculture — plus the addition of a lot of new language meant to ensure the safety of digital assets users and investors.

‼️One thing that may land as a significant relief for the DeFi corner of the industry is that the section known as the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act remains intact, meaning developers that don't control users' assets won't be treated under the regulatory regime as "money transmitters," with all the compliance burdens that would come with that.

The Senate is expected to need at least 10 Democrats to approve the final bill before it can become law, because of the chamber's requirement for 60 yes votes on most legislation.

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