Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: SEC breaks away from Binance case, $240B project is being tokenized on Algorand, Bitcoin treasuries are becoming a trend, crypto kidnapping and torture investigation continues, the bitcoin conference is already looking ahead to 2026, and so much more.

Bitcoin Conference 2025 was a success. Crypto continues global domination. Today is absolutely packed with news. Let’s dive in.

Also, HAPPY FRIDAY 🤝

Market Snapshot

  • Bitcoin's price slipped to its lowest in nine days briefly trading below $106,000, while ETH and XRP outperformed as most large cryptos declined

    • It was down 1.5% in the last 24 hours, but still only 5% away from record high levels

    • Tariff uncertainty is back on the menu as a U.S. appeals court reinstated the trade barriers, perhaps affecting investor sentiment

  • Ethereum's ether could be setting the stage for breakout above $3,000, B2 Ventures founder argued

Headline Roundup
The major headlines driving crypto markets

  • The SEC dismisses lawsuit against Binance alleging the firm of inflating numbers – all the details here

  • OpenSea upgrades NFT platform with notice of SEA token to come in the near future (CD)

  • Ross Ulbricht addresses Bitcoin 2025 with message to supporters: "You didn’t forget me" – see his full remarks here

  • Bergen County, New Jersey enters partnership with Avalanche to tokenize $240B of real estate (TR)

  • The fall of FTX, by the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, will get an 8-episode limited series on the streaming giant Netflix – the full release plans here

  • Twenty One Capital raises an additional $100M for its bitcoin treasury (BL)

  • Bitcoin Conference is returning to Vegas in 2026 (BM)

  • NYC Mayor Eric Adams says it's time to end the BitLicense and rethink crypto regulation (DE)

  • Sol Strategies files $1B shelf prospectus to expand Solana investment offerings (DE)

  • SEC says proof-of-stake staking activities do not qualify as securities transactions (TB)

  • Circle freezes $58M in USDC tied to Libra memecoin scandal, according to Arkham (TB)

  • Sol Strategies submits initial prospectus for Solana-focused investment products (TB)

  • Tether holds over 100K Bitcoin and 50 tons of gold, according to its CEO (TB)

  • Japanese firm Metaplanet has raised $135M in 2025 alone for bitcoin buying, issuing $21M of bonds as its latest fundraise (CT)

  • OpenSea's SEA token exits beta as OS2 platform rewards go live for users (TB)

  • Base rebounds to 10M daily transactions, cementing its position as a top Layer 2 network (TB)

  • Ethereum Foundation moves deeper into DeFi with $2M GHO stablecoin loan (TD)

  • Nasdaq-listed DeFi Development Corp taps into liquid staking infrastructure for protocol expansion (TB)

M&A Announcements

  • Zebec Network price triples after announcement of Science Card acquisition (DL)

Venture Capital

  • Accomplice co-leads $11M Series A round for crypto startup True Markets (CB)

  • AI x web3 startup Donut closes $7M pre-seed funding round led by Seqouia, Bitkraft, and Hack VC (NG)

  • Norwegian company K33 privately raises $5.6M from insiders to develop a bitcoin treasury (CN)

  • Rumi secures $4.7M led by A16Z CSX to transform media with rewards system (VB)

  • Matador Technologies looks to acquire 25% stake in India-based HODL systems with $3.2M investment (CD)

  • Mason Labs leads $3M strategic round for blockchain security architecture startup Naoris Protocol (MS)

Launches

  • Wall Street’s Cantor Fitzgerald to launch a gold-backed bitcoin fund (CD)

  • Midas protocol launches a tokenized U.S. T-bills on Algorand (CT)

  • Bitcoin-native execution layer Arkade officially launched by Ark Labs (BM)

  • Two Tether-backed startups launch MiCA-compliant initiative as Tether exits Europe (TB)

  • Mezo Network launches mainnet with mUSD stablecoin, 1% borrowing rates, and yield vaults (TD)

  • Opera unveils Neon, an AI-powered agentic browser that chats, does, and makes for users (TV)

  • Amboss launches yield service using Bitcoin Lightning Network with self-custody support (TB)

Regulation

  • U.S. House of Representatives introduces new bipartisan bill to regulate digital asset market (CD)

  • Ripple submits formal letter to the SEC regarding crypto regulation (NB)

  • CFTC urged by Paradigm to develop DeFi perpetual derivatives regulatory framework (NB)

  • Thailand’s securities regulator bans multiple exchanges for unlicensed operations to combat money laundering OKX, Bybit, Coinex, and more – see full list here 

  • Panama City Mayor entertains the idea of a bitcoin reserve to accept canal port payments via bitcoin (CD)

  • Bybit opens EU base in Vienna thanks to secured MiCA license in Austria (CT)

  • UK Prime Minister candidate Nigel Farage vows to create pro-crypto legislation if elected (CD)

  • Russian Central Bank allows financial firms to offer crypto derivatives to qualified investors (TB)

Cybersecurity

  • William Duplessie and John Woeltz plead not guilty in crypto-related kidnapping and torture case of 28 year old Italian (CD)

  • Sui community greenlights $162M recovery plan for crypto stolen from Cetus Protocol (DH)

  • Philippines company Funnull Technology sanctioned by U.S. Treasury for links to crypto scams and hacks (CT)

  • Iranian man pleads guilty as mastermind behind Robinhood crypto ransomware scam (DH)

  • Crypto game 'Maple Story N' bans thousands of bot and cheating accounts and is closely monitoring other suspicious activity (BW)

  • Check out this week’s crypto hack roundup including details on Cetus’ $223M hack

Extra Reads

Chart of the Day

CB Insights and Stablecon partnered to develop 172 companies impacting and developing the future of stablecoins

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