Together with

Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: AI adoption in crypto crime rises 40%, Crypto advocates sue Illinois over crypto tax, Coldcard adds new security measures after exploit, Fed study finds crypto investors easily swayed by returns, Ray Dalio says to buy ‘a bit’ of Bitcoin, and so much more

Looking for institutional guidance on your firm's crypto stragey? Speak to the team at Alvarez & Marsal Crypto. They offer comprehensive advisory services on everything from stablecoin adoption, tokenization and custody to diligence, compliance and risk. Book a call!

Happy Monday – Let’s dive in.

Market Snapshot

Click here to learn more about the Gannon’s portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.* Since inception (7/3/25), Gannon’s Crypto Portfolio is up +13.8% Gannon’s AI Fund is up +57.9%

  • Bitcoin nears $80,000 in its biggest weekly rally in three years as short-sellers get decimated

    • Over $1.2B in shorts liquidated as rally stretches to a third straight day, powered by institutional buying

    • BTC and ETH ETFs draw $2.6B in the strongest inflow week since October

    • XRP leads a broad altcoin rally and is on track for its biggest weekly gain in 21 months

    • ZEC hits an eight-year high near $850 on a Grayscale ETF push

  • The rally sends crypto stocks soaring as miners and treasury companies jump, fueled by Trump pushing the Senate on the CLARITY Act

Prediction Markets

  • Bettors on Polymarket are predicting EPL 2027 Champion?

  • Deposit $10 and get a $20 bonus with code LIT on signup, only on the Polymarket US app

Headline Roundup
The major headlines driving crypto markets

  • Washington goes all-in on crypto (DC)

  • Most Americans say Trump's crypto profits cross the line (DC)

  • Eric Trump denies new coin launch (TD)

  • Musk's X wants to pay creators in stablecoins (CD)

  • Strategy swings $1.4B bitcoin profit (DC)

  • Ray Dalio says to buy ‘a bit’ of Bitcoin (CT)

  • Binance opens door for AI crypto trading (DC)

  • Judge keeps Sun's World Liberty claims in court (TD)

  • Tether's $120M Uruguay bitcoin mining project collapses (TB)

  • Crypto card spending tops $1B (CD)

  • Binance employees questioned in UAE released (CT)

  • Fed study finds crypto investors easily swayed by returns (CT)

  • Grayscale moves closer to launching Zcash ETF (TB)

  • Solana cuts mainnet slot time to 350ms (TB)

  • Circle targets mainnet launch (TD)

  • BitMart weighs restart and payouts after shutdown (CD)

  • Upbit trading volume spikes 273% (TB)

  • Shinhan partners with Solana Foundation for tokenized fund (TB)

  • Illuvium team cuts wages (TD)

  • BounceBit sunsets blockchain (TB)

A Message from Alvarez & Marsal Crypto

A&M Crypto: Institutional Digital Asset Advisory, Executed at Scale

Alvarez & Marsal's Crypto practice is the leading global digital asset advisory firm, with 90+ offices worldwide and operators who've executed through every market cycle. A&M combines operational, financial, and industry expertise to take institutions from strategy to deployment: stablecoin adoption, tokenization and RWAs, custody and infrastructure, M&A advisory, IPO readiness, risk and compliance, restructuring and much more.

A&M's clients include half the Fortune 500 and the leading crypto-native and TradFi firms in the industry.

Whether you’re looking to adopt stablecoins, standing up digital asset infrastructure, or navigating tokenization/RWAs… A&M has done it before, at scale across finance, operations, engineering, commercialization, risk and compliance.

Talk to A&M Crypto


Venture Capital

  • Ethena, the protocol behind USDe, unveils a $1B secured facility with FalconX (CD)

  • Ripple, a crypto services provider, raises $275M led by Piper Sandler (CD)

  • NeoSoul, a decentralized AI platform, raises $11M from MH Ventures, Amber Group, ArkStream Capital, and more (LI)

  • Amadeus Protocol, a Layer-1 blockchain, raises $10M from top VCs (X)

Access the complete VC deal flow on Fundable.

Launches

  • Coldcard adds new security measures after exploit (DC)

  • Ripple backs an RLUSD credit fund (CD)

  • Capital.com plans UAE crypto services (CT)

Regulation

  • Crypto advocates sue Illinois over crypto tax (CD)

  • CME and Kalshi execs clash over prediction markets (DC)

  • Laser Digital wins Japan crypto approval (CD)

  • South Korea seeks power over unregistered crypto firms (CT)

Cybersecurity

  • AI adoption in crypto crime rises 40% (TB)

  • Microsoft fixes 'Perfect 10' exploit (DC)

  • Term Finance loses $8.5M to exploit (TB)

  • MANTRA freezes network following incident (TB)

  • Sandbox stops Base and BNB bridging after exploit (CD)

Extra Reads

  • Three companies supplied over 80% of crypto's $200M-plus in 2024 political spending, and the resulting bill is built around the business models of the largest intermediaries, not the developers and self-custody users crypto was meant to empower – Here's the case that the Clarity Act is anti-crypto

  • FTX's inner circle finally facing trading bans, a soldier accused of insider-betting a coup on Polymarket, and a $165M Ponzi suspect deported from Fiji – Here's what happened in crypto legal news this week

Chart of the Day

Bitcoin jumps +21% since the Treasury buyback announcement


Meme Dump

Pls send us crypto memes to be featured in the newsletter 🤝

🐦 Follow Us: Visit our X account for daily updates on all things web3, DeFi, & crypto.

💰 Gannon’s Crypto Portfolio: Trade alongside Gannon’s crypto on Autopilot

💵 Litquidity Ventures: Accredited investors & qualified purchasers within the Litquidity community can gain access to alternative investments such as venture, late-stage growth, and private equity through Litquidity Ventures. Interested? Fill out this form.

☎️ Book a call with Lit: Want to pick Litquidity’s brain on business advice, insights, or just chat to say what’s up? Buy his time here.

📧 Launch your own newsletter: Have great content ideas and looking to launch your own publication? We highly recommend Beehiiv to get started.


*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot advisers LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks including the risk of the loss of principal. Performance doesn’t include fees. See more here.