🇺🇸#BTC

At the Bitcoin Conference, Donald Trump announced that if he wins the upcoming election, he plans to dismiss Gary Gensler, prevent the U.S. from selling its Bitcoin holdings, and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. He expressed support for the development of stablecoins and the U.S. Bitcoin mining industry. Trump also mentioned forming a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency advisory committee after the election, likening the potential of cryptocurrency to the steel industry of the past and suggesting it could eventually surpass gold in significance.

🇺🇸#Crypto

The campaign team of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Harris has reached out to Coinbase, Circle, and Ripple Labs to help establish a regulatory framework and promote support for responsible business practices. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed openness to engaging with Harris' team.

🟠#BTC

At the Bitcoin Conference, Edward Snowden highlighted that Bitcoin transactions are not truly anonymous and can often be traced back to individuals, primarily through CEXs. He expressed concerns about the risks this poses to personal privacy and cautioned against blindly following political ideologies.

💲#Crypto

Blonkfi announced the completion of its Pre-Seed fundraising round, led by UOB Venture Management and Signum Capital. The amount raised was not disclosed. Blonkfi aims to tackle the challenge of illiquidity in volatile long-tail mid-market capitalization assets, such as memecoins, by allowing these assets to be used as collateral for liquidity. The protocol's testnet is scheduled to launch on August 1, 2024.

🇺🇦#Crypto

In Kyiv, a foreign national was killed for cryptocurrency worth $170k.

According to the National Police of Ukraine, a gang of four kidnapped a 29-year-old foreigner in the Solomensky district of Kyiv, forcibly obtained his bitcoins, and then killed and buried him in a forest. The perpetrators were apprehended during a special operation and have been detained without the possibility of bail. They face life imprisonment.

⚖️#Crypto

A UK hacker, Elliot Gunton, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for his involvement in a scam that compromised over 500 Coinbase accounts through phishing websites in 2018 and 2019. Gunton pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud outside the UK and money laundering.

💲#Crypto

Elon Musk mentioned in a podcast that he sees value in Bitcoin and potentially other cryptocurrencies. He expressed a fondness for Dogecoin, calling it his favorite "meme cryptocurrency," because of his love for dogs and memes. Musk clarified that he does not plan to promote any cryptocurrency seriously, and any endorsement from him would likely be made in a joking manner.

🇦🇷#Crypto

Argentina's Ministry of Justice announced that a company has been registered using cryptocurrency for the first time in the country following new regulations. The company was established with a capital of nearly $500, consisting of 0.00457621 BTC and $194.99 in USDC.

🇺🇸#Crypto

The SEC has notified Binance of its intention to amend its Complaint, which includes the classification of certain tokens as "Third Party Crypto Asset Securities." This action would negate the need for a court ruling on the sufficiency of allegations related to these tokens at this time. The SEC initially classified tokens like SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, ATOM, SAND, MANA, ALGO, AXS, and COTI as securities in its lawsuit against Binance. The proposed amendment might alter these classifications.

⚛️#ATOM

Keplr, a wallet for the Cosmos ecosystem, has expanded its support to include 8 EVM networks, including Ethereum.

👍#Crypto

The crypto betting platform Polymarket has surpassed $1 billion in trading volume.

🔸#Crypto

Binance Labs has invested in aPriori, a project dedicated to developing MEV-powered liquid staking solutions on the Monad network. aPriori aims to decentralize Monad's network and improve the user experience by leveraging MEV technology. This project was incubated during the sixth season of the Binance Labs Incubation Program.

😎#USDe

Ethena Labs has introduced their synthetic stablecoin, USDe, as a reward for margin collateral on Bybit. Starting August 2, all Bybit users will be able to earn up to 20% annual returns, paid daily, by simply holding USDe or trading derivatives with USDe collateral.

🇺🇸#Crypto

The U.S. SEC has charged Nader Al-Naji, the founder of the decentralized social network BitClout, with fraud and the sale of unregistered securities. According to the SEC, Al-Naji raised over $257 million and allegedly misused more than $7 million of investor funds for personal expenses, including luxury home rent and purchasing gifts.

🥴#ZKX

ZKX, a derivatives protocol on StarkNet, announced that it will cease operations. The decision comes due to low user participation, insufficient revenue to cover operating costs, and a decline in token value. As a leading project on StarkNet, ZKX had previously secured investment from over a dozen venture capital firms, including StarkWare, Amber, Huobi, Cryptocom, and Hashkey.

🇺🇸#BTC

A bill drafted by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis proposes that states can voluntarily store Bitcoin in their reserves. The draft also includes a national Bitcoin purchase program, allowing the acquisition of up to 200,000 Bitcoins annually for five years, totaling 1 million Bitcoins.