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Nearly 1,700 UK investors have sued Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) in London’s High Court, seeking at least £150 million ($200 million) over crypto derivatives they say were sold unlawfully.
The claimants argue the exchange marketed risky leveraged products to retail traders from late 2019 without proper authorization. Some say they lost tens of thousands of pounds when those bets turned against them.
The Binance UK Lawsuit Tests Who Pays
The case reaches beyond one exchange. It revives a question crypto has long avoided. When an unlicensed platform sells high-risk products, who absorbs the losses, the platform or the trader? It is a gap UK crypto oversight has not closed.
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) banned retail crypto derivatives in January 2021. It cited extreme volatility and a high risk of sudden losses. The regulator estimated the ban would save retail consumers around £53 million ($70 million).
The claimants say Binance pushed such products around that ban, breaching the Financial Services and Markets Act.
That statute may matter more than any risk warning. Under it, deals arranged by an unauthorized firm can be ruled unenforceable, letting clients reclaim their money and losses.
The real question is whether buyer beware can survive when the seller broke the rules. Britain already forced Binance to restructure under UK financial promotion rules in 2023.
Defenders of open trading say adults chose leverage with full warnings. Critics counter that an unauthorized seller cannot hide behind the risks its customers accepted.
Binance Digs In for a Long Fight
Binance has vowed to defend the claim. A spokesperson told Reuters the exchange honors its legal duties.
“Binance remains committed to its obligations to users and to operating in accordance with applicable law.”
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The allegations echo earlier ones. In 2023, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Binance and CZ with running an illegal derivatives exchange.
Regulators said it courted American users it had claimed to block. Months later, both pleaded guilty in a $4.3 billion settlement, the largest the crypto sector had seen.
The London claim names Cayman-registered Binance Holdings, UAE-based Nest Exchange, and unnamed operators.
CZ, pardoned in the US last year, is named personally. Even so, that structure could make any UK judgment hard to enforce.
The timing is awkward. The claim lands just as Binance exits Europe after its EU license bid failed, leaving its main authorization in the UAE.
Should the court void these deals, buyer beware may no longer protect exchanges that sold unauthorized products. The precedent would reach past Britain.
For an industry built on caveat emptor, that is the real verdict, even if compensation takes years.

President Donald Trump has disclosed hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency-related income, offering the clearest picture yet of how central digital assets have become to his business interests.
The filing, released just one day after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanded presidential authority over independent federal agencies, is expected to draw fresh attention to Trump’s growing role in both the crypto industry and the regulatory landscape.
US Government Releases Trump’s Financial Disclosures Trump’s Crypto Business Delivers Massive Windfall
A newly released U.S. government financial disclosure shows Trump earned more than $600 million from crypto ventures, reported over $100 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, and generated substantial proceeds from token sales linked to World Liberty Financial.
According to the disclosure, Trump reported approximately $635 million in royalties tied to his meme coin, making it one of the largest publicly disclosed crypto-related income figures by a sitting U.S president.
The filing also shows Trump received more than $500 million in proceeds from crypto token sales associated with World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance platform backed by members of the Trump family and business partners.
In addition, Trump disclosed more than $100 million in cryptocurrency holdings, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), further highlighting his direct exposure to the digital asset market.
The figures reflect how Trump’s crypto portfolio now spans meme coins, decentralized finance, token offerings and blue-chip cryptocurrencies.
Filing Also Reveals Media Settlement Income
Beyond cryptocurrency, the financial disclosure reports more than $80 million in income from settlements with media companies, adding another significant revenue stream to Trump’s latest financial filings.
While crypto accounted for the largest headline figures, the filing illustrates the diversity of Trump’s income sources, ranging from digital assets and licensing agreements to legal settlements.
Disclosure Comes After Major Supreme Court Ruling
The disclosure arrives less than 24 hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents have broader authority to remove commissioners from independent federal agencies.
The decision is widely expected to reshape oversight across agencies that influence cryptocurrency markets, placing additional focus on Trump’s financial interests in the sector as his administration continues to pursue pro-crypto policies.
“This Decision gives tremendous additional Power back to the Presidency, where it belongs. It is an Honor to be the sitting President who, after all these years, WON this very important, and hard fought, Case,” Trump remarked on Truth Social.
The timing of the two developments has intensified investor interest, as the president’s expanding crypto portfolio coincides with a changing regulatory framework.
What It Means for Crypto Markets
Trump has positioned himself as one of the cryptocurrency industry’s strongest political supporters, backing policies aimed at making the United States a global hub for digital assets.
His latest financial disclosure reinforces how closely his personal business interests are now tied to the sector.
With substantial income from meme coins, token sales and direct cryptocurrency holdings, investors are likely to pay even closer attention to future policy announcements and regulatory appointments affecting digital assets.
The financial disclosure is expected to fuel debate over cryptocurrency regulation, transparency and potential conflicts of interest as Congress and federal agencies continue shaping digital asset policy.

Binance just expanded its bStocks offering, its tokenized versions of selected US stocks. The exchange now supports Microsoft, Meta, Palantir, Lumentum, and the Invesco QQQ Trust as tokenized 1:1 US securities.
The move arrives as bStocks crossed $100 million in assets only two weeks after launch. The push reshapes how global crypto users access frontier tech equities around the clock.
What the New Binance bStocks Additions Bring
A bStock is a tokenized 1:1 US security issued on Binance through Binance Group affiliate BTech Holdings. The tokens track the price of their underlying stocks. Furthermore, holders can trade them 24/7 and convert them instantly into direct stock positions at no cost.
The latest expansion added five new tickers on June 30. These include Microsoft (MSFTB), Meta (METAB), Palantir (PLTRB), Lumentum (LITEB), and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQB). Moreover, all five trade against USDT pairs and unlock new tech and ETF exposure for global users.
Trading on the LITEB/USDT, METAB/USDT, MSFTB/USDT, PLTRB/USDT, and QQQB/USDT pairs went live on June 30 at 13:30 UTC.
Also, Binance is waiving maker fees on all five pairs through August 31 at 23:59 UTC, giving early users a window of zero-cost entry across the new lineup.
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✨币安交易平台新增bStocks ：Lumentum (LITEB)Meta (METAB)Microsoft (MSFTB)Palantir (PLTRB)Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQB) 交易对！了解更多✅https://t.co/aETPMLKFs9 pic.twitter.com/Chtgmdz70b
— 币安Binance华语 (@binancezh) June 30, 2026
The lineup now spans some of the most followed names on Wall Street. Existing bStocks already include Tesla, NVIDIA, Strategy, SpaceX, Sandisk, Micron, Circle, and an iShares MSCI South Korea ETF. As a result, Binance is rapidly closing the gap with traditional equity brokerages.
The product structure carries important caveats. bStocks do not grant direct ownership, voting rights, or cash dividends from underlying companies. However, dividends are automatically reinvested into additional bStock exposure.
Users also assume full credit and operational risk of the issuer.
bStocks Surges Past $100 Million in Assets Under Management
bStocks growth growth has been explosive. Assets under management crossed $100 million within just 15 days of launch. This marks an 18x jump from 5.6 million on Day 1.
Moreover, cumulative trading volume reached $458 million across the first two weeks.
One trend that’s hard to ignore is the pace at which tokenized equities are being adopted.Binance’s bStocks grew from $5.6 million to more than $100 million in assets in just 15 days—an 18x increase—while generating $458 million in cumulative trading volume.The numbers… pic.twitter.com/5lSj4Xa1nn
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) June 30, 2026
User behavior tells the deeper story. Around 47% of all trading volume happens outside traditional US stock market hours. Furthermore, 58% of activity came from emerging markets across the first 15 days. Over 80% of all trades are fractional, confirming retail-driven flow.
The numbers behind activity are striking. bStocks turn over 4 to 21x faster than their underlying stocks.
As a result, the tokenized format is unlocking a new pool of demand that traditional markets never effectively reached, especially among crypto-native users worldwide.
bStocks turn over 4 to 21 times faster than their underlying stocks. Source: Binance
The broader context matters enormously. The real-world asset derivatives market now exceeds $347 billion in volume. Moreover, Binance commands 55.7% of global RWA derivatives trading.
Adding Microsoft, Meta, and Palantir reinforces the platform’s lead in the quickly growing tokenized equity sector.
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Honeywell Aerospace (HONA) has made a weak and volatile start on the Nasdaq, trailing the wider aerospace and defense sector despite a strong standalone business case.
The stock began trading on June 29 after Honeywell International separated its aerospace unit through a one-for-two distribution. The debut was choppy. HONA reportedly rose nearly 7% intraday before fading and closing down 0.4%, with volume near 8.5 million shares.
Aerospace and defense stocks have remained in demand, while HONA has lagged the group by about 10 percentage points.
Honeywell Aerospace HONA Stock Price Chart. Source: Google Finance
The first explanation is spin-off churn. Newly separated companies often face early selling from funds that do not want the new stock, cannot hold it, or need to rebalance after the distribution. That selling can pressure the share price even when the business itself looks solid.
A Strong Business Faces Early Doubt
The standalone case for Honeywell Aerospace is clear. Management told investors earlier in June that the business generated $17.4 billion in 2025 sales and $4.3 billion in operating profit. Sales also grew 12% organically, meaning growth came without acquisitions.
The business has a large repeat-revenue base. About 44% of sales come from servicing aircraft already in operation. These are parts, repairs and upgrades that operators need long after a plane is delivered.
Congratulations to @Honeywell_Aero on officially launching today as a standalone company headquartered in Phoenix!An exciting new chapter for an employer that has called Arizona home for nearly 100 years and another big win for our aerospace and defense industry. https://t.co/MXZPVTRacC
— Arizona Chamber (@AZChamber) June 29, 2026
Defense and space accounted for 41% of sales, giving the company another steady revenue stream. Honeywell Aerospace also says its technology is used on roughly 90% of aircraft flying today.
The order book adds support. The company has about $18.56 billion of future work lined up across its units, led by Electronic Solutions at $6.8 billion.
HONA also looks cheaper than many peers. At about $70 billion, the company trades near 15 times yearly profit on an EV/EBITDA basis. Comparable aerospace and defense stocks often trade closer to 18 to 20 times.
That discount can attract buyers, but it also shows the market has not fully accepted the new listing yet.
Traders are Still Split
Short-term money flow has not confirmed a clear rebound. Chaikin Money Flow, a gauge of buying and selling pressure, was slightly negative on intraday charts.
Intraday Flow: Charlie Quant Lab
Options activity points to a more bullish view, although the signal is indirect. HONA options are still new, so traders have been watching Honeywell International options as a proxy. HON’s put-call ratio fell sharply by June 29, showing heavier interest in bullish calls than bearish puts.
That does not guarantee HONA will recover. It does show that some traders are still positioning for upside, even as the spot price remains soft.
Honeywell Put-Call Ratio: Barchart The Key Levels for HONA Stock
For now, the chart still favours caution. HONA trades below its VWAP near $223.55. VWAP tracks the average price paid during the session, adjusted for volume. When a stock trades below it, sellers usually have more control.
The key downside level is $217.74. A clean break below that area could push HONA toward $208.59. Before that, $220.56 is the first warning level to watch.
On the upside, HONA needs to reclaim $223.39 to steady the chart. A move above $232.54 could open a retest of $238.48.
The caveat is that HONA has only a few days of trading history. These levels may shift quickly as the market finds a fair price.
For now, HONA looks like a strong aerospace business with a weak early tape. If buyers defend the $217 area and push the stock back above VWAP, the debut sell-off may look like early spin-off noise.
If that level fails, the market may keep marking HONA lower before giving the fundamentals credit.

Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped roughly 20% over the past month, pulling most cryptocurrencies down with it. Even so, top 5 altcoins for July 2026 enter the new month carrying concrete catalysts that could lift them against the trend.
This selection favors dated July catalysts over raw momentum. Every pick ranks inside the top 50 by market cap, holds relative chart strength, and faces a specific upgrade, fork, or launch within weeks.
How We Picked Altcoins for July 2026
The market backdrop is bearish, so momentum alone means little right now. Each candidate had to clear four filters before making the list.
Top 50 by market cap, for enough liquidity to matter.
A dated July catalyst, such as an upgrade, fork, or launch.
Relative technical strength while the major coins decline.
Recent price behavior judged against a risk-off market.
Three names clear all four cleanly. Solana, Hyperliquid, and Zcash lead the group. Ondo and TRON join on the catalyst strength.
1. Solana (SOL) Targets a Channel Reclaim
Ranking: #7Price: $73.33Market Cap: $42.6 billion
Solana (SOL) heads into July with several drivers. Jito plans to launch its JTX trading terminal during the month. The Alpenglow upgrade is in testing toward Q3 activation, while Firedancer continues to expand across validators.
From February to May, SOL traded inside a rising channel between roughly $78 support and $100 resistance. That structure broke in early June. One high-volume candle cut through the floor and bottomed near $62.
SOL daily chart / Source: Tradingview
Since then, SOL has been trading around $62 to $65 and recovered to about $73. Price is now testing the 0.786 retracement near $73.31 and the bottom of the old channel.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has climbed from oversold near 30 to the low 50s. That shift suggests momentum is turning higher rather than simply bouncing. Broader Solana ecosystem activity has also picked up.
A daily close above $78 to $80 would push SOL back inside its channel. That move would open the $88 to $92 zone.
Key risk. A rejection near $80 that breaks $62 would reopen the June lows.
2. Hyperliquid (HYPE) Holds Its Uptrend
Ranking: #10Price: $64.76Market Cap: $14.4 billion
Hyperliquid (HYPE) runs the leading on-chain perpetuals venue, with around 70% market share. Its HIP-3 permissionless markets are scaling fast, and a native options market is slated for Q3. Analysts at Multicoin also see large long-term upside for the token.
HYPE owns the strongest structure in this group. Price has followed a rising trendline from its February low near $21 for the past 5 months. It set an all-time high of around $77 in June before easing back.
HYPE daily chart / Source: Tradingview
The pullback looks orderly. HYPE is trading at the 0.236 retracement at $63.66, where it is now consolidating near $64.76. Resistance sits in the $73 to $76 supply zone. Support waits at the 0.382 band near $55, then the trendline around $48.
The RSI sits near 50, and volume has thinned during the range. That pattern reads as a healthy pause rather than a distribution. A break above $76 would reopen price discovery.
Key risk. Around 10 million HYPE unlock each month on the 6th. Buybacks absorb much of that supply, yet the overhang remains.
3. Zcash (ZEC) Defends Key Support Into a Fork
Ranking: #15Price: $399.01Market Cap: $6.7 billion
Zcash (ZEC) faces its biggest catalyst of the year in late July. The Ironwood network upgrade, also tracked as Network Upgrade 7, activates then. It promises higher shielded throughput and a new supply audit mechanism.
ZEC offers the most two-sided chart here. The token ran from $184 to a $680 head in May. That move formed a head-and-shoulders top, with the right shoulder near $600.
ZEC daily chart / Source: Tradingview
The neckline broke in early June on heavy volume. Price has since failed twice to reclaim the $520 to $540 area.
ZEC is now trading near the 0.382 retracement at $400. That level aligns with prior structure and marks the line bulls must defend. An earlier Orchard pool issue continues to weigh on sentiment.
Below it, support waits at $317 and the $240 base. A reclaim of $466 would invalidate the bearish pattern and reopen $530.
Key risk. The head-and-shoulders target sits below $400. A break there before the upgrade would pressure the price further.
4. Ondo (ONDO) Leans on a July Catalyst
Ranking: #47Price: $0.3098Market Cap: $1.5 billion
Ondo (ONDO) carries a strong institutional catalyst amongst our altcoins for July 2026. The token is tied to a tokenization deployment that involves major asset managers. The effort targets tokenized equities and Treasury bills.
ONDO holds the weakest chart of the five, which fits its catalyst-led role. After basing near $0.25 in the first quarter, it spiked to $0.49 in May. Every rally since has printed a lower high.
ONDO daily chart / Source: Tradingview
A descending trendline now caps price near $0.31. The token trades below the 0.382 retracement at $0.331 and the $0.36 supply band. It joins a wider RWA rotation theme.
The next downside magnet sits at the 0.236 level near $0.282. That zone matches the top of the old accumulation range. A higher low near $0.28 to $0.29, then a trendline reclaim, would flip the structure. The July catalyst could trigger that shift.
Key risk. Momentum points lower. Without the catalyst landing on time, a slide toward $0.28 looks likely.
5. TRON (TRX) Tests Its Yearlong Trendline
Ranking: #8Price: $0.3149Market Cap: $29.9 billion
TRON (TRX) offers steady rather than explosive catalysts. Regulators dismissed their case against the foundation, and Mastercard added TRON to a partner program. A post-quantum mainnet rollout is planned for Q3, per Messari research.
TRX runs the steadiest chart in the group. Price has tracked a rising trendline from its February low near $0.27 all year. It peaked at $0.377 in late May, then eased with the market.
TRX daily chart / Source: Tradingview
TRX now trades near $0.315, pressed against that trendline. It sits between the 0.5 retracement at $0.323 and the 0.618 at $0.310.
The $0.31 zone is the support that must hold. Resistance waits at $0.336, then the $0.352 and $0.377 highs. The RSI near 40 looks soft but not extreme. As long as $0.31 holds, the longer uptrend stays intact.
Key risk. No single July event stands out. A close below $0.31 would break the trendline and expose $0.292.
Altcoins for July 2026: Summary
July 2026 rewards catalysts over momentum. Solana, Hyperliquid, and Zcash pair strong charts with real events. Ondo and TRON depend more on their catalysts than their charts.
CoinPriceJuly CatalystChart PostureKey RiskSolana (SOL)$73.33Jito JTX launch, Alpenglow testingReclaiming broken channelRejection at $80Hyperliquid (HYPE)$64.76HIP-3 growth, Q3 optionsUptrend intact above $63Monthly token unlocksZcash (ZEC)$399.01Ironwood fork in late JulyHolding $400 supportBreak below $400Ondo (ONDO)$0.3098Tokenization go-liveWeak, below trendlineSlide toward $0.28TRON (TRX)$0.3149Steady institutional adoptionTesting yearlong trendlineClose below $0.31


Anthropic and OpenAI opened a new front in their rivalry on Tuesday, both aiming at scientific research. Anthropic launched Claude Science, an AI workbench for researchers, while OpenAI released GeneBench-Pro, a benchmark for computational biology.
The same-day releases push the AI race beyond chatbots and coding into laboratory work. One company shipped a tool for scientists to use today. The other built a yardstick for how far the technology still has to go.
What Anthropic’s Claude Science Does
Claude Science brings the databases, code, and computing power scientists use into a single app. It connects more than 60 scientific databases across genomics, proteomics, and cheminformatics.
Introducing Claude Science, a new app designed with every stage of research in mind. Artifacts traced to their code, environments managed on demand, and 60+ optional scientific databases that you can connect.Available now in beta. pic.twitter.com/HKhLknxLJO
— Claude (@claudeai) June 30, 2026
Claude Science is an app, not a new model. It lands while Anthropic’s most powerful Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models stay restricted under US export rules. Every result is auditable and traced back to the code that produced it.
The workbench extends a life sciences push Anthropic began in October 2025. In beta, the Allen Institute’s Jérôme Lecoq used it to compress reviews that once took up to two years.
Anthropic will also fund up to 50 research projects, with up to $30,000 in credits each.
OpenAI’s GeneBench-Pro Raises the Bar
Shortly after Anthropic’s Claude Science release, OpenAI released GeneBench-Pro. It tests whether AI agents can make the judgment calls that real biology research demands.
We’re introducing GeneBench-Pro, a research-level benchmark for a harder kind of AI progress: how well agents can navigate messy biological data, choose the right analysis path, and make judgment calls that real computational research depends on.https://t.co/AsilnnSxnE
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) June 30, 2026
The benchmark contains 129 problems across genomics, quantitative biology, and translational medicine.
OpenAI’s strongest model, GPT-5.6 Sol, solved 28.7% of the problems at its highest reasoning level. That figure rose to 31.5% in Pro mode. The company’s earlier staggered GPT-5.6 release came at Washington’s request.
GPT-5 scored below 5% on the original GeneBench, while Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 reached 16% on the harder test.
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Two Strategies, One Race
The split reveals two paths to the same goal. Anthropic is shipping a product for daily lab use. OpenAI is measuring how reliably models reason through messy data.
Both launches also arrive as Chinese models gain ground in AI research. OpenAI’s own numbers temper the hype because its best model still fails most GeneBench-Pro tasks.
The pressure is both geopolitical and scientific. US export limits have already pushed Anthropic to weigh new host countries for its models.
Reviewers estimated each GeneBench-Pro problem would take a human expert 20 to 40 hours, costing thousands of dollars. OpenAI said its model finishes the same analysis for a few dollars.
Aubrey de Grey, a biomedical gerontologist, sees AI clearing key research bottlenecks even if broader gains take longer.
“What we’re going to see very very soon is that AI will make certain parts of the process, especially the development of drugs no longer rate limiting,” Aubrey de Grey, President and Chief Science Officer of the Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation, speaking on a BeInCrypto podcast.
De Grey cautioned that turning faster research into approved treatments still depends on regulation and public tolerance for risk.
Researchers Expect Faster Adoption
Some specialists argue the shift is already underway. Dr. Derya Unutmaz, a Professor of Immunology, told the same BeInCrypto panel that AI now outperforms his own judgment.
“I personally trust AI more than my own ideas in my field of 35 years.”
He expects that reliance to spread quickly across clinical practice.
“It is unethical and I believe that very soon it’s going to be malpractice not to use AI in medicine.”
That optimism still runs ahead of the benchmarks. The coming months will show whether scientists adopt these tools and whether GeneBench-Pro scores start to climb.

Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) has moved another 500 Bitcoin (BTC) to custody firm NYDIG, worth roughly $39 million, the latest move in a treasury strategy now funding its push beyond mining.
On-chain monitors spotted the deposit, which fits a familiar pattern. Riot has sold far more Bitcoin than it mines, converting its reserves into cash for a costly pivot into AI data centers.
A Familiar Pattern for Riot
Blockchain monitor Onchain Lens flagged the 500 BTC deposit on June 30. It mirrored a similar transfer that analytics firm Arkham tracked in early April. Such moves to custodians often precede sales.
Riot Platforms is selling $BTC, depositing 500 $BTC ($29.48M) into #NYDIG Custody.https://t.co/iJdbrkgn8A pic.twitter.com/hIt7sSR02u
— Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) June 30, 2026
The scale of the selling is striking. Riot disclosed selling 3,778 Bitcoin for $289.5 million last quarter, while mining just 1,473 coins. The first-quarter Bitcoin sell-off far outpaced production, draining the treasury.
Those sales cut holdings to about 15,680 BTC as of this writing, down 18% from a year earlier.
Riot Platforms Among Top Public Firms Holding BTC. Source: Bitcoin Treasuries
Other miners offloading Bitcoin have leaned on the same playbook. Rival MARA Holdings sold about $1.1 billion in Bitcoin this year, while Core Scientific began monetizing most of its coins.
Thinner margins since the 2024 halving have squeezed pure mining.
The Riot Bitcoin Sale Funds an AI Bet
The clearest link between the selling and the pivot came in January. Riot funded a $96 million land purchase at its Rockdale site in Texas entirely by selling about 1,080 Bitcoin.
That land now anchors a data center business. Anchor tenant AMD signed a 10-year lease worth about $311 million, then doubled its commitment to 50 megawatts last quarter. The segment brought in $33.2 million of revenue, its first contribution.
Every $1 invested in data centers generates $2 to $3 in local economic activity through contractors, suppliers, and jobs. That's real impact in Corsicana and beyond. #TexasEconomy #LocalJobs #SimpleTruths pic.twitter.com/5amb80TzQg
— Riot Platforms, Inc. (@RiotPlatforms) June 30, 2026
The economists explain the urgency. Once equipment depreciation is accounted for, Riot spent $96,283 to mine each Bitcoin last quarter, more than a Bitcoin was worth. It reported a net loss of about $500 million.
What the Sale Streak Signals
CEO Jason Les has cast the shift as a turning point rather than a retreat.
“The first quarter of 2026 marks a definitive inflection point for Riot, as we officially transitioned into an active, revenue-generating data center operator,” the miner’s CEO, Jason Les, said.
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Riot abandoned its long-standing hold-only policy in 2025 and now sells routinely. Still, the company has staked its future on tenants like AMD rather than on Bitcoin alone.
With Bitcoin trading near $58,700, Riot can still raise large sums from a shrinking treasury. The race for AI infrastructure has rewarded that bet, with miner stocks climbing even as mining margins fade.
Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto
The coming quarters will test whether data center income can replace what mining once delivered.

China just built a major AI model without Nvidia chips. Now OpenAI has found ways to run on far fewer of them, cutting inference costs by more than half. Even so, Nvidia stock rose.
That is the puzzle. OpenAI is one of Nvidia’s (NVDA) biggest customers. Yet the shares climbed even as it moved to need fewer chips.
Nvidia (NVDA) Stock Performance. Source: Google Finance OpenAI Cuts Inference Costs on Two Fronts
The first front is software. The Information reported that OpenAI engineers cut inference costs by more than half with new optimization methods. OpenAI has not published the technical details.
The savings reduce the number of Nvidia chips needed to handle some ChatGPT traffic. They could also let OpenAI lower prices or raise usage limits.
The second front is hardware. On June 24, OpenAI and Broadcom (AVGO) unveiled Jalapeño, its first custom chip. OpenAI said early tests point to far better performance per watt than today’s leading chips, with a nine-month design.
We’ve designed and built our first AI chip: Jalapeño.Designed from the ground up by OpenAI and brought to production with @Broadcom, Jalapeño is purpose-built for the LLM workloads powering ChatGPT, Codex, the API, and future agentic products.Chips are foundational to the AI… pic.twitter.com/mHU7DaMMTi
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) June 24, 2026
The first chips will deploy at a gigawatt scale by the end of 2026, with Microsoft as the lead partner. Nvidia still runs most of OpenAI’s inference, even as OpenAI funds its Broadcom chip partnership.
Big Tech Races to Build Its Own Chips
OpenAI is not alone. Google has built tensor processing units since 2016, and Amazon followed with its own. Research firm TrendForce projects ASIC-based systems will reach 27.8% of AI server shipments in 2026, the highest since 2023.
By TrendForce’s count, custom chips are set to grow faster than Nvidia’s GPUs for the first time. Suppliers like Broadcom and Marvell have become key custom chip makers in the build-out.
Sanctions are pushing the same trend in China. Meituan recently trained its 1.6 trillion parameter LongCat-2.0 model on China’s domestic chips, without any Nvidia hardware.
Why Nvidia Stock Keeps Rising
The threat is real, but the numbers explain the calm. Nvidia stock rose nearly 2% on June 30, near a $4.8 trillion value. Nvidia’s latest results showed data-center revenue up 75% to a record $62.3 billion in a single quarter.
Most of the pressure sits at inference, not training. Nvidia still dominates model training, where its CUDA software has locked in developers since 2006. Custom chips rarely match that flexibility.
Jensen Huang is basically saying custom chips from $GOOGL, $AMZN, $AMZN, $MSFT & $META struggle to compete with $NVDA because Nvidia is singularly focused on AI acceleration at a scale no one else matches.CUDA is the default language developers build on, NVLink is still ahead… pic.twitter.com/KQYQT8CWYO
— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) February 1, 2026
Nvidia is also defending the inference layer it is accused of losing. At GTC, Nvidia said its upcoming Rubin platform cuts inference costs per token by up to 10 times compared to Blackwell. Cheaper inference also tends to lift usage and total compute with it.
Not everyone is convinced. Some investors have rotated into rival chip stocks, betting the inference shift compounds. Yet Nvidia guided to this quarter without counting any China sales, and still sees record demand.
Nvidia still sells every chip it can make. The real test is whether its biggest customers can cut it out faster than the market grows.

SharpLink (SBET) expanded its Ethereum (ETH) treasury this week, buying 10,000 ETH to reach 886,725 ETH in total holdings. The purchase came while Fundstrat strategist Tom Lee said sentiment looked worse than after the FTX collapse.
The company paired the purchase with a stock buyback, repurchasing 2.13 million shares after raising $75 million last week. SharpLink frames both moves as a single strategy, increasing the amount of ETH backing each share.
SharpLink Buys ETH and Repurchases Stock
The Ethereum treasury company paid an average of $1,611 per 10,000 ETH, according to a company statement. That price already sits above ETH’s $1,570 level at press time, leaving the fresh tranche underwater within days.
Ethereum Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto
The buy lifted holdings to 886,725 ETH as of June 28, the second-largest corporate stash after BitMine. The position is worth about $1.4 billion at Ethereum’s current price.
ETH set a record near $4,946 in August 2025, then shed roughly 69% of its value. It has dropped about 23% over the past month, well below the level at which SharpLink built most of its treasury.
The company also repurchased 2,132,773 shares at $4.69, spending close to $10 million. That $75 million came from a stock offering priced at about a 41% premium.
“We had the opportunity to buy ETH and repurchase our stock at attractive valuations, so we did both. This past week we added 10,000 ETH and repurchased 2,132,773 shares,” SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom said in a post, tying the two decisions togethe.
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The firm had only recently resumed Ethereum purchases after an eight-month pause.
Tom Lee Says Sentiment Has Hit Post-FTX Lows
The buying contrasts with the wider mood. Lee chairs BitMine, the largest Ethereum treasury firm. It disclosed about 5.7 million ETH and $9.8 billion in crypto and cash this week, more than six times SharpLink’s holdings.
Ethereum Treasury Holdings. Source: BeInCrypto
In a recent interview, Lee pointed to falling Google searches and a record-low RSI as signs of deep fear.
“The fear greed index is worse today than it was after the FTX debacle. So, usually that’s a good time to be buying something.”
Lee said Ethereum’s price is lagging its fundamentals, citing AI and tokenization as long-term tailwinds. He has also rejected Ethereum funding fears raised after staff exits at the Ethereum Foundation.
Staking income has helped Ethereum treasury firms offset paper losses through the slump. Whether SharpLink’s accumulation marks a bottom or just deeper conviction is not yet clear, but the firm keeps buying while much of the market sits on losses.

Ethereum (ETH) enters July 2026 trading near $1,570, close to multi-month lows, after recording its first run of three consecutive red quarterly candles in its history.
On-chain data and price charts now tell competing stories. Network usage keeps falling, yet large holders appear to be buying, which leaves July’s direction wide open.
ETH in July 2026: Active Addresses Fall to Fresh Lows
Glassnode data on active addresses points to weakening engagement. The 14-day moving average peaked near 795,000 in early February 2026. It has since dropped to roughly 420,000, a decline of about 46%.
The early move was unusual. Addresses climbed through January while prices fell, a sign of speculative churn rather than durable demand. Both metrics then rolled over together.
Through the spring, prices held up better than usage. Brief rebounds in active addresses during March, April, and May each failed to hold. The June reading marks the lowest on the chart, and the trend has not yet bottomed.
For this signal to flip, active addresses would need a sustained recovery rather than another short-lived spike.
ETH Number of Active Addresses / Source: Glassnode Whale Address Count Climbs Into the Weakness
The address picture looks bleak. However, the whale data complicates that read. Glassnode’s count of addresses holding 1,000 to 10,000 ETH spiked in the final days of June.
That move produced the greatest 30-day change on the chart, and it happened while the price sat at its lowest point. Accumulation into a low price can suggest that larger holders are positioning early.
External flow data supports the mixed signal. Some reports show whales adding tens of millions of dollars in ETH, while spot Ethereum ETFs recorded net outflows through June. Bitmine chairman Tom Lee tied part of the recent drop to quarter-end fund behavior.
One caveat matters. A similar whale-count surge in late February coincided with a local top before price fell, so rising whale numbers have not been a clean buy signal this cycle.
ETH Whale Address Count / Source: Glassnode 3 Straight Red Quarters Mark Uncharted Territory
The quarterly view frames why the technical picture matters. CoinGlass data shared by analyst Ted Pillows shows ETH closing Q4 2025 down 28.28%, Q1 2026 down 29.26%, and Q2 2026 down 24.77%.
$ETH will close 3 consecutive quarters in red for the first time ever.What went wrong? pic.twitter.com/qQ29FPOgie
— Ted (@TedPillows) June 30, 2026
That run is the first stretch of three consecutive red quarters in the dataset, which begins in 2016. The longest prior streaks reached only two quarters, in 2018 and again in 2019.
The character of this decline also stands out. Rather than one violent crash, ETH has bled steadily across three roughly equal quarters. The broader market has softened alongside it.
Monthly Chart Tests a Key Fibonacci Level
The monthly chart shows ETH near a level that has mattered before. Price trades around $1,570, and a close here would mark the lowest monthly close since March 2023.
The 0.786 Fibonacci retracement, drawn from the $881 low to the $4,956 high, sits at roughly $1,753. That zone acted as support on four prior occasions, and it lines up with the heaviest volume node on the profile.
Price now trades below that level on an intra-month basis. A monthly close beneath it would confirm the break, opening room toward $1,200 and then the $881 swing low. Monthly RSI sits near 40, so momentum is not yet oversold.
ETH monthly chart / Source: Tradingview ETH Price Prediction Hinges on the $1,500 Line
The daily chart sharpens the near-term question. ETH has lost three layered support bands, near $2,375, $2,175, and $1,925, and each now acts as resistance.
Price has also broken below a descending channel and failed two retests of that broken structure in June. It is now holding just above a final demand zone around the psychological $1,500 mark.
Volume has faded through the decline, and Bollinger Band width sits at compressed levels. Low volatility often precedes a larger move, though compression signals magnitude rather than direction.
The setup leaves a clear binary. A daily close below $1,500 would expose the $1,200 area, while a reclaim of $1,753 would invalidate the bearish thesis. The prior monthly outlook flagged the same battle zone.
ETH daily chart / Source: Tradingview What Could Decide ETH in July 2026
The evidence pulls in two directions. The trend, the lost supports, and falling active addresses argue for caution. Meanwhile, whale accumulation and the volatility squeeze hint at a possible snapback.
Two levels frame the month. Holding $1,500 keeps a recovery toward $1,753 on the table, while losing it points lower. Roughly $10.63 billion in June options expiry has already cleared, which may reduce one source of pressure.
For now, the data suggests a market in balance rather than a confirmed move. July’s first weekly closes around $1,500 and $1,753 should indicate which side wins control.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

Shares of Circle Internet Group (CRCL) fell on Tuesday after Open Standard unveiled Open USD (OUSD), a dollar stablecoin backed by more than 140 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase, that targets the market its USD Coin (USDC) token leads.
The launch puts payment networks, banks, and crypto firms behind a single token. It lands as Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT control most of the stablecoin market.
Circle (CRCL) Stock Performance. Source: TradingView Why Circle’s USDC Faces Pressure
Open USD goes after the enterprise users that drive USDC adoption. Businesses can mint and redeem it for free, and partners keep the earnings on its reserves after a small fee.
Introducing Open USD: a stablecoin built for the internet economy, designed by the businesses growing it.https://t.co/jqgDRs6mKf
— Open Standard (@openstandard) June 30, 2026
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That model strikes at how Circle makes money. Reserve interest produced 99% of its revenue in 2024, its filing shows.
Circle paid Coinbase $908 million that year to distribute USDC. Now Coinbase has joined a rival that lets partners keep those reserve earnings.
Circle stock fell nearly 15% on the news, touching its lowest level of the session. It extended a weak run after Circle’s stock rally from $50 to $129 in six weeks earlier this year.
The bigger risk is distribution. Circle gained ground as USDC overtook Tether in corporate transfers. Yet Open USD’s backers include the networks that move most of that money.
Circle still holds advantages. Its USDC carries regulatory standing in the US and Europe and deep exchange liquidity.
A Consortium Stands Behind Open USD
Open Standard will run the token through an independent board of its partners. Zach Abrams leads the company on an interim basis. He co-founded Bridge, the stablecoin firm Stripe bought for $1.1 billion in 2025.
The backers span finance and technology, from BlackRock and BNY to Google and Shopify. Many already run their own stablecoins or build stablecoin infrastructure firms, echoing Mastercard’s recent stablecoin payment integrations.
Stripe tied its payments business directly to the token.
“Open USD will be the default stablecoin for businesses running on Stripe…” read an excerpt in the announcement, citing Will Gaybrick, president of technology and business at Stripe.
Circle, Tether, and PayPal all sat out the venture. Tether’s USDT leads at about $185 billion and Circle’s USDC follows near $74 billion.
Total Stablecoin Market Cap. Source: DefiLlama
All these notwithstanding, the history is not encouraging for consortiums. Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe each backed Facebook’s Libra stablecoin in 2019, then abandoned it within months under regulatory pressure.
Open USD goes live later this year on Plasma and other chains built for stablecoin payments.
Open USD is the new standard for global stablecoins, now coming to Plasma.The stablecoin backed by Visa and Mastercard, launching on the chain built for stablecoin payments. https://t.co/LzVwH3MpxS pic.twitter.com/n1RhfMNtZm
— Plasma (@Plasma) June 30, 2026
The timing matters for Circle, whose USDC revenue-sharing deal with Coinbase comes up for renewal in August.

XRP (XRP) is holding above the $1.00 support zone amid a broader downturn. Yet, on-chain activity is rising.
New wallet, whale, and exchange-traded fund (ETF) activity suggest users are stepping in while the price looks fragile, pointing to demand below the surface.
XRP Price Slump Meets Steady Demand
XRP, like the broader market, has seen notable declines this month. The altcoin touched a 19-month low of $1.01 on June 25. It now trades near $1.05, down 0.18% over the past day.
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XRP Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto Markets
Yet, on-chain data paint a different picture. Santiment reported that the XRP Ledger added 4,941 new wallets in a single day, marking its strongest network growth in more than three months.
Social sentiment has also flipped bullish. The positive/negative social ratio reached 3.7 positive comments for every bearish one, a three-month high in FOMO, according to Santiment. Traders appear to treat the $1.00 to $1.05 band as a dip-buy area.
“Part of this optimism comes from XRP’s familiar rebound history, ongoing ETF and institutional narratives, and the idea that larger holders have continued building exposure even during ugly price action,” the firm said.
XRP New Wallet and Social Sentiment. Source: X/Santiment On-Chain Signals Point to Accumulation
On-chain data support that view. Santiment data shows accumulation across all three large cohorts in June despite a 21% price dip. The 10 million to 100 million XRP tier led with 160 million XRP added, the strongest bullish signal of the group.
Smaller cohorts followed. Wallets holding 100,000 to 1 million XRP added 30 million tokens, while those holding 1 million to 10 million XRP gained 20 million tokens. This suggested that large holders continued to accumulate despite the decline.
XRP Whale Accumulation in June. Source: Santiment
Institutional demand has also remained resilient. US spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted $22.99 million in net inflows last week, extending their inflow streak to eight consecutive weeks.
The new week also began on a positive note, with the funds recording $15.34 million in net inflows on Monday. This trend stands in sharp contrast to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Bitcoin ETFs have recorded seven consecutive weeks of net outflows totaling approximately $7.7 billion. Investors pulled another $231 million on Monday.
Ethereum ETFs have also experienced consecutive weekly outflows. XRP ETFs, by contrast, have not recorded a single day of net outflows since June 3, although several sessions have ended with flat flows.
Santiment said the open question is whether this wallet surge converts into sustained buying pressure or fades as short-term FOMO. With XRP sitting so close to $1.00, the coming sessions should reveal which way the on-chain demand breaks.
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Australia’s crypto Travel Rule takes effect July 1, requiring every regulated exchange to attach sender and recipient identity details to all incoming and outgoing transfers, with no minimum threshold.
The rule arrives as Europe’s MiCA licensing deadline falls on the same day, placing Australia in the midst of a wider tightening of crypto compliance rules across major markets.
What Australia’s Travel Rule Changes for Crypto Users
The measure is the final phase of an AML/CTF overhaul that Australia passed in November 2024, with most reforms live since March. It is enforced by AUSTRAC, the country’s financial intelligence agency, and applies to transfers of any size.
The reach is wide. AUSTRAC has stepped up supervision of 27 local crypto exchanges and flags the sector as high risk for money laundering. About 31% of Australian adults held crypto in 2025, according to one industry survey.
Users will see new prompts when sending or receiving crypto. The platform will ask for the counterparty’s name and the exchange involved. Exchanges can store the details after a first submission, which should limit repeat prompts.
From July 1st (tomorrow) crypto in Australia changes forever.Your CEX is now legally required to log EVERY SINGLE transfer you make no matter how small. AUSTRAC's Travel Rule kicks in with zero minimum threshold, so a $5 movement carries the same reporting weight as a $50k…
— Greeny (@greenytrades) June 29, 2026
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Transfers to self-custodial wallets will prompt users to confirm they control the destination address. Concerns over the checks have already pushed some Bitcoin (BTC) holders toward self-custody of their coins ahead of the start date.
However, AUSTRAC has deferred formal reporting on unverified self-hosted wallets until March 2029.
Some platforms moved early. Kraken began requiring extra verification on private-wallet transfers for Australian clients on March 31.
A Coordinated July 1 Deadline for Global Crypto Rules
Australia is adopting a standard that Europe already runs. The EU’s Transfer of Funds regulation has required full sender and recipient data on crypto transfers of any size since December 2024.
July 1 also marks the end of the EU’s MiCA transition period. After that, unauthorized providers will no longer be able to serve EU clients, and Europe has issued a final MiCA deadline warning. The pressure has reshaped the market.
Coinbase opened a Luxembourg hub to secure EU-wide licensing, while exchanges restricting EU access now include Bybit and Binance.
Both regimes trace back to the FATF Travel Rule, set out in Recommendation 16. The FATF first applied the standard to crypto in June 2019, and adoption has widened since.
The thresholds reveal the divide. Australia and the EU collect data on transfers of any value. The United States, by contrast, only reports transfers from $3,000.
The shared start date shows how quickly travel rule standards are converging. The next test comes in 2029, when Australia begins reporting on unverified self-hosted wallets.
Whether tighter checks move activity into self-custody or simply normalize identity data across borders should become clearer soon.

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), joined the U.S. Defense Policy Board on June 29, placing one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capitalists at the center of U.S. national security strategy.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the board, naming former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as chair. Andreessen is one of 13 additional members appointed alongside former Senator Norm Coleman as vice chair.
Andreessen Enters the Pentagon’s Inner Circle
The Defense Policy Board, established in 1985, advises Pentagon leadership on strategic planning, force structure, and national security. Andreessen’s appointment coincides with a16z closing its fifth crypto fund at $2.2 billion. The firm has separately argued that the stablecoin label is outdated, pointing to the technology’s expanding role in global payments.
Furthermore, a16z holds positions in defense-adjacent companies, including Anduril, Shield AI, and Applied Intuition. All three sell into federal defense markets. The board’s advisory scope covers the same procurement priorities that could benefit these holdings.
Still, the Pentagon has not published financial disclosure requirements for the new board. The firm has also closed its London office to concentrate resources in the U.S. market under the current administration.
Andreessen vs. the AI Pessimist Narrative
Andreessen’s response targets crash narratives advanced by historians and macro investors. Alasdair Nairn’s “The Everything Bubble” argued that speculative excess drove tech and AI valuations to fundamentally unsound levels. His thesis holds that they mirror the dynamics that preceded past market collapses.
It is important to realize how professional pessimists are trying to pick your pockets. pic.twitter.com/SQMrG1jdRa
— Marc Andreessen 🇺🇸 (@pmarca) June 30, 2026
Marc Andreessen. Source: X
Andreessen, however, turns the argument around. For the tech billionaire, sustained pessimism is itself a profitable business model. Bear-case forecasters, he argues, deliberately manufacture panic to unsettle investors and exploit the resulting fear financially.
His firm backs that stance with research. a16z published analysis calling the AI job apocalypse a myth. A Barclays AI investor survey flagged Andreessen’s position as a key counterpoint to cautious institutional consensus.
A Financial Interest in the Outcome
Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz holds stakes in AI healthcare startups Hippocratic AI and Ambience Healthcare. The firm also manages a $500 million biotech venture fund backed by Eli Lilly. Its bets span a broad swath of the Pentagon’s modernization agenda.
The Defense Policy Board carries no formal procurement authority, but its recommendations reach the Under Secretary for Policy. Andreessen’s Pentagon seat gives a16z unusual policy proximity to decisions that could define the next decade of defense technology. That reach extends well beyond financial exposure into the choices that shape where billions in defense spending flow.

Solana (SOL) is outperforming the broader crypto market, posting gains over the past seven days. The divergence is notable in a week of broad declines.
Data shows SOL gaining ground as two different kinds of trading activity, real-world assets and speculation, pull users onto the network at once.
Solana Diverges From a Falling Market
SOL trades around $73.54, up about 7% over the past 7 days. Bitcoin (BTC) fell roughly 4.9% in that span, while Ethereum (ETH) dropped about 6%.
Solana (SOL) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto Markets
The rise comes as network usage climbs. Active addresses, a clear measure of how many users transact on-chain, climbed to 4.51 million on Solana, the strongest reading since February.
Two major sectors appear to be fueling the increase in activity. According to Santiment, interest has been driven by record-breaking growth in tokenized equities on Solana, rising discussion around xStocks since June 26, and SOL’s recovery above key technical levels.
The Kobeissi Letter highlighted that last week, the platform’s tokenized stock transfer volume surpassed $10 billion for the first time.
“The bigger story is that Solana is becoming a go-to chain for real trading activity… If this surge holds into next week, it strengthens the case that SOL’s recent bounce has real network activity supporting it,” Santiment said.
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NEWS: @Solana recorded its biggest week ever in tokenized equities, reaching a record $1.36B in trading volume and capturing 96% of all tokenized trading activity across chains. pic.twitter.com/DCmxtyxduS
— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) June 29, 2026
Ansem Airdrop Sparks Meme Coin Frenzy on Solana
Besides the growth in tokenized equities, it’s also worth noting that Saturday’s spike in activity coincided with crypto influencer Ansem’s announcement that he would airdrop a portion of the creator fees earned through his Pump.fun profile.
As BeInCrypto previously reported, the meme coin Black Bull (ANSEM) surged nearly 20,000% in the week following the news. The influencer distributed more than 67.3 million ANSEM tokens, worth roughly $9.4 million, to over 700 wallets. He also announced another round of airdrops today.
However, Lookonchain noted that the distribution was concentrated, with nearly 50 million tokens allocated to just seven wallets. Those wallets have since sold 38.3 million ANSEM for approximately $1.29 million, while still holding 11.6 million tokens valued at around $1.62 million.
​
Is $ANSEM's token distribution already flashing red flags?Over 67.3M $ANSEM ($9.4M) was distributed to 700+ wallets, per Lookonchain.But nearly 50M tokens went to just 7 wallets.Those wallets have already sold 38.3M $ANSEM, cashing out $1.29M, while still holding 11.6M… https://t.co/AqONZfte1g pic.twitter.com/OqveHuhNTQ
— BeInCrypto (@beincrypto) June 30, 2026
​
Nevertheless, the airdrop appears to have fueled broader meme coin activity across the Solana ecosystem. Data from DefiLlama showed Solana DEX trading volume more than doubled, rising from $1.16 billion on June 27 to $2.5 billion on June 29.
Pump led all Solana decentralized exchanges by trading volume, recording $510.9 million over the past 24 hours and $4.22 billion over the past seven days. The figures suggest meme coin trading was a major contributor to the network’s recent surge in activity.
Pump Dominating Solana DEX Volume. Source: BeInCrypto/DefiLama
The two trends point to the same conclusion. Solana is absorbing serious capital through tokenized equities and speculative flow through meme coins at the same time, and both are landing on one chain.
The open question is durability. Tokenized stock volume has leaned heavily on SpaceX, SanDisk, and Micron exposure, and the meme coin spike can be traced to a single influencer event.
Whether active addresses and DEX volume hold once those catalysts fade will determine if SOL’s bounce reflects lasting usage or a short cycle of attention.
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China just debuted its biggest AI model trained entirely without NVIDIA chips. Meituan unveiled LongCat-2.0, a 1.6 trillion parameter open-source large language model. The Beijing-based food delivery giant ran the project on domestic hardware end-to-end.
The breakthrough now reshapes how the global AI industry views China’s tech self-reliance push.
What Meituan’s LongCat-2.0 Brings to the AI Race
A large language model is an AI system trained on massive datasets. These systems understand, generate, and reason in human language across many domains. LongCat-2.0 ranks among the largest ever, with 1.6 trillion parameters and a 1-million-token context window.
The release comes as China continues to push for full self-reliance in critical compute infrastructure. Furthermore, Meituan said LongCat-2.0 is the industry’s first trillion-parameter model to complete both training and inference on domestic hardware. As a result, the project marks a major technical milestone.
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Introducing LongCat-2.0 🐱1.6T parameters · MoE with ~48B active · 1M contextThe full model behind Owl Alpha on @OpenRouter — now available.Built for agentic coding from the ground up:◆ LongCat Sparse Attention (LSA) — scales efficiently for 1M-context tokens◆… pic.twitter.com/zum2SdZ0Z2
— Meituan LongCat (@Meituan_LongCat) June 30, 2026
The key distinction matters. DeepSeek’s V4-pro relied on domestic chips only for inference. That is the lighter task of answering user questions.
By contrast, LongCat-2.0 used home-grown hardware for both inference and the far more demanding pre-training stage.
Meituan said the cluster was built around large-scale ASIC superpods. These are chips customized for specific workloads. Moreover, the company used Huawei’s Collective Communication Library (HCCL) to manage chip-to-chip coordination at scale. The setup mirrors how NVIDIA’s NCCL coordinates its own GPU clusters.
“…It reminds me of Jensen Huang’s point on the Dwarkesh podcast: export controls on Nvidia GPUs won’t stop China. They’ll just accelerate the development of AI that runs on Chinese chips,” analyst Yuchen Jin said on X.
Why the LongCat-2.0 Launch Matters Globally
LongCat-2.0 showed strong performance across multiple benchmarks. It outperformed Google’s older Gemini 3.1 Pro on Terminal-Bench 2.1 and SWE-Bench Pro.
However, the model still trails global frontier systems. These include OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 and Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 across the most demanding agentic and reasoning tasks.
Industry observers reacted immediately. Tech analyst TP Huang said the launch puts to rest concerns about Huawei’s Atlas-950 SuperPoDs. Furthermore, Lehigh University researcher Hanchi Sun called it the first model ever trained to near-frontier performance on 50,000 Chinese domestic accelerators.
“…If China can scale frontier training on local silicon at this level, the compute arms race is wider open than ever,” venture partner Alvin Foo noted.
Meituan Stock Price Performance: Source: TradingView
Significant hurdles remain across the broader Chinese AI stack. Meituan acknowledged that its software ecosystem still lags NVIDIA’s mature GPU community. Moreover, memory limits were the primary bottleneck during pre-training. As a result, domestic accelerators carry less memory per device than NVIDIA’s banned H800 chip.
The broader signal is structural. Meituan’s success proves that frontier-scale training is now technically viable on Chinese hardware.
Consequently, the gap between Chinese open-source models and the top closed Western systems may shrink faster than recent forecasts projected.

Crypto whales are repositioning for July, and on-chain flows tell the story. Even as several large tokens slipped over the past 24 hours, BeInCrypto analysts tracking big wallets found three altcoins for July drawing fresh accumulation.
The selection rests on whale balance shifts paired with hard protocol data, not price guesses.
Aave (AAVE)
Aave anchors this list of altcoins for July because its on-chain base keeps expanding. The whale bid here comes from mid-sized holders, not one large address.
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The 10,000 to 100,000 AAVE wallet cohort, the smaller whales, lifted holdings from 4.09 million to 4.27 million over the past 48 hours. That is roughly 180,000 AAVE added, worth about $16 million. The move reads as broad crypto whale accumulation rather than a single outlier trade.
AAVE Whale Cohort Accumulation: Santiment
This buying makes more sense alongside the protocol numbers. Aave TVL, or Total Value Locked, the value of assets deposited in a protocol, sits near $13.04 billion, with borrowers drawing about $10.25 billion in active loans, according to DeFiLlama. That activity throws off roughly $937 million in annualized fees. Set against AAVE’s market value near $1.4 billion, the protocol generates fees worth about two-thirds of the token’s entire market cap each year.
Aave Value Vs Market Cap: DeFiLlama
For DeFi tokens, that cash base is what turns the smaller-whale bid into a fundamental call rather than a momentum guess.
AAVE eased about 1.6% over 24 hours to $90.49. Yet the soft session did not stop mid-tier whale wallets from adding. Their willingness to accumulate into weakness suggests they treated the dip as an entry rather than a warning, keeping AAVE among the firmer setups for July.
Uniswap (UNI)
Uniswap earns a place among these altcoins for July, though the whale signal is steadier than aggressive. Large holders are adding, but only at the margin.
Supply held by whales, with exchanges excluded, edged up from 778.56 million to 778.94 million UNI just hours ago. The addition is modest, near 380,000 UNI, so this looks like careful on-chain whale activity rather than a rush to load up.
UNI Whale Supply: Santiment
The patient stance makes sense once the fee switch is followed through. Heavy Uniswap trading volume, near $2.2 billion a day on-chain in June, now feeds a mechanism that buys back and burns UNI.
Uniswap DEX Volume: Dune
That sink pulled roughly $22.5 million of UNI out of supply in H1 2026, according to DeFiLlama. So the float tightens as whales add. Their marginal buying lands on a shrinking supply, and that consequence gives the bid weight.
Uniswap Fee Switch UNI Burn: DeFiLlama
UNI slipped about 2.4% over 24 hours to $2.87 and has traded flat for weeks. With whales adding cautiously rather than chasing, the token sits among altcoins to watch where conviction is building slowly. For now the steady flows and heavy volume matter more than the quiet price, leaving UNI a slower-burn name for July.
Ethena (ENA)
Ethena delivers the boldest whale move among these altcoins for July, and it arrives against a falling price. That tension makes it the most interesting setup in the group.
Over the past 24 hours, ENA whale balances jumped about 3,166%, climbing from near 0.63 million to 20.63 million ENA. That means whales scooped up roughly 20 million ENA in a single day, worth about $1.5 million. The one-day surge marks the most aggressive accumulation in this group, and it landed while broader sentiment stayed soft.
ENA Whale Accumulation: Nansen
The timing tracks Ethena’s recovery. USDe supply on Ethereum, the protocol’s synthetic dollar in circulation, has climbed about 19% off its late-April deleveraging low and held near $4.5 billion for six weeks, according to Dune Analytics. Because USDe is Ethena’s fee base, a rebuilding supply points to returning yield demand and fees accruing to ENA. For whales, a stabilizing stablecoin signals the unwind has passed.
USDe Supply Recovery: Dune
Here the signals clash. ENA fell about 4.4% over 24 hours, yet whales expanded holdings sharply. The split suggests large holders are buying the dip while price lags behind on-chain demand. When aggressive accumulation meets a soft tape, the gap usually resolves one way or the other, and for July the whale bid is the stronger signal on this token.

Artificial intelligence can scale advertising to one message per person, yet it cannot replace human creativity, according to Jordi Urbea, CEO of Ogilvy Spain. He argues AI only processes the past, while creativity builds the future.
Urbea spoke with BeInCrypto at the Ibiza Tech Forum 2026. He deploys AI daily across major brand campaigns. That practitioner’s view adds weight to his claim that emotion and surprise stay human.
AI in Advertising Personalizes at Massive Scale
In an interview with BeInCrypto, Urbea framed his role simply. His job is to take a brand and make it shine. Ogilvy Spain ranks among the country’s largest agencies and belongs to the WPP network.
He is no skeptic of the technology. Instead, he treats AI as a tool that breaks an old production limit. Traditionally, a campaign produced one film, maybe two or three.
“With AI, I have the capacity to create one ad for each person.”
The economics support his enthusiasm. Retailers using AI personalization report 10% to 25% higher return on ad spend, according to Bain & Company. Roughly 65% of senior executives now name AI personalization a primary growth driver.
However, scale alone carries risk. About 71% of consumers expect personalized interactions, while 76% feel frustration when those efforts miss. That gap sets up Urbea’s central argument.
Jakub Dziadkowiec and Jordi Urbea at Ibiza Tech Forum 2026 Why AI in Advertising Cannot Touch the Heart
For Urbea, data answers only half the question. AI can map what people did, but not why they will choose one brand tomorrow.
“AI is thousands and thousands of data points and information about people. That’s very important for analyzing what’s possible to make for each one. But to truly touch the heart of a person, you have to discover the real language they’re ready to hear.”
He then drew the line that anchors his entire view.
“AI works with the past, but creativity works with the future. That’s the key point.”
Academic research echoes him almost word for word. A University of California, Berkeley study found generative AI works by remixing the data it was trained on. It recombines history rather than breaking from it.
One 2025 paper goes further. It describes a mathematical ceiling that holds AI to amateur-level creativity. Until a new architecture emerges, the authors argue, humans remain the source of high-level creativity.
That conclusion touches a wider debate about human essence in an automated economy. Urbea places himself firmly on one side.
“I’m completely sure it’s impossible for AI to replace that. 100% sure.”
His confidence has a practical edge. Studies show consumers judge emotional messaging as less authentic once they learn AI wrote it. Engagement falls even when the words stay identical. The limit is about trust, not output quality.
The Rose and the Chocolate Cake
Urbea explained the danger of pure optimization with a domestic story. Feed an algorithm what works, he warned, and it will tell you to repeat it forever.
“Imagine you’re at home with your partner, and every day you give her a rose and a chocolate cake. The algorithm says she likes the rose and the cake, so every day you give her the same thing. I’m completely sure that by day 20, the message you’ll get is: ‘Okay, there’s more to life than roses and chocolate cakes. A little creativity, please. Surprise me.'”
Advertising research validates the parable. Repetitive, low-creativity ads suffer wear-out quickly, especially for less familiar brands. Creative ads, by contrast, wear in fast and resist fatigue across repeated exposure.
The data therefore mirrors his intuition. Optimization without surprise burns out, while creativity is what survives repetition. The same logic shapes how AI now boosts marketing content without owning the idea behind it.
There is one wrinkle worth noting. Newer research suggests ad wear-out can itself fade over time. Repetition is not always fatal, so the parable marks a tendency rather than an absolute law.
Urbea’s warning lands hardest on brands that copy rivals. He believes imitation erases identity faster than any algorithm.
“When everyone repeats the same formula, your brand disappears. You’re a big ship lost in the night.”
His prescription returns to first principles. Effective storytelling needs a distinct voice, not a borrowed formula. AI can supply the volume and the personalization at scale.
The idea, the surprise, and the emotional reach still belong to people. As AI reshapes the workplace, Urbea’s split offers a clear test for marketers. Let the machine handle the past, and keep the future human.

The July 1 MiCA deadline is a crypto story, yet some of its biggest winners may trade on stock exchanges. As Europe forces unlicensed firms out, a handful of publicly traded MiCA winners, the so-called MiCA stocks.
BeInCrypto analysts screened institutional money flow and options positioning to find three names whose charts reveal how traders are playing them.
Circle Internet Group (CRCL)
Circle sits at the center of the July 1 MiCA deadline, making it the first of three MiCA stocks worth watching. The regulation forces non-compliant euro stablecoins off EU venues, and that consolidation favors Circle directly. Its EURC now holds roughly half the euro stablecoin market, while USDC ranks among the only top-10 stablecoins cleared under the rules.
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Yet institutional positioning complicates the bullish narrative. The Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), a proxy for institutional buying and selling pressure, has fallen steadily since March 4 and sits deep in negative territory at -0.34. Large investors have been net sellers, not buyers, even as the regulatory tailwind built.
CRCL Money Flow Decline: TradingView
The CMF reading tracks inside a falling channel. As long as it holds that channel, a short-term bounce around the deadline stays possible. A breakdown below it would confirm sustained distribution and likely trigger heavier profit booking.
Options flow tells a more constructive near-term story. The put-call ratio, which compares demand for bearish puts against bullish calls, is dropping. Its volume reading fell from 0.75 on June 25 to 0.44, while open interest eased from 0.81 to 0.80. Falling ratios mean traders are opening more bullish call positions than puts.
CRCL Put-Call Ratio: Barchart
That leaves CRCL as a momentary, event-driven bet. The MiCA catalyst and improving options sentiment support a tactical move, with the stock last at $75.96. However, persistently negative CMF caps conviction, and a channel breakdown would nullify any deadline-driven pop.
Coinbase Global (COIN)
Coinbase is the second of the MiCA stocks to watch, and arguably the clearest infrastructure winner. It secured an EU-wide MiCA license through Luxembourg’s regulator, letting it passport regulated services across all 27 member states as rivals exit the bloc.
Options positioning, however, sends a more cautious signal. On June 26, the COIN put-call volume ratio sat at 1.14, skewed heavily toward bearish puts, with open interest at 0.84. Since then, volume has eased to 0.96 while open interest climbed to 0.88.
COIN Put-Call Ratio: Barchart
That split is the interesting part. The falling volume ratio shows fresh call buying. Yet rising open interest points to traders hedging existing positions rather than turning outright bullish. The setup reads as mixed, not a clean reversal.
The chart adds nuance through timeframe. On the daily, CMF remains deep in negative territory. On the four-hour, however, CMF has started rising inside its falling channel, last at -0.14, a sign of building short-term inflows.
COIN Money Flow Recovery: TradingView
That four-hour turn matters most for an event-driven trade. A break above the channel’s upper trendline would open a path back toward the zero line and a more sustained move. That move might also have an impact on the put-call ratio as the MiCA deadline approaches.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD)
Robinhood rounds out the MiCA stocks to watch, and the liquidity angle sets it apart. It owns Bitstamp, which holds a MiCA license passportable across the EU. As roughly 83% of previously registered crypto firms exit the bloc, freed-up trading volume can route toward licensed venues like Bitstamp.
Options positioning leans bullish. On June 25, the HOOD put-call volume ratio sat at 0.43 with open interest at 0.63. Volume has since fallen to 0.35 while open interest ticked up to 0.64. As with Coinbase, the split shows fresh call buying alongside light hedging. Yet the lower volume ratio points to stronger directional conviction.
HOOD Put-Call Ratio: Barchart
The money flow is the standout. HOOD is the rare crypto-linked name whose CMF sits above zero, last at 0.05, holding a rising parallel channel since early February. The reading reflects Robinhood’s diversified brokerage model, which draws steadier institutional inflows than pure-play crypto stocks.
HOOD Money Flow Strength: TradingView
CMF has respected the channel support in early April and mid-May without testing the lower trendline, each time preserving the uptrend. A break below that trendline and the zero line would signal weakness. Until then, the structure stays constructive, helped by a roughly 12% gain over the past month. That makes HOOD the strongest positioned of the three.

Employment is contracting across industries with established AI use cases, with these sectors losing an average of about 11,000 jobs each month over the past three months.
The figures, shared by The Kobeissi Letter, point to one of the clearest signals yet that automation is reshaping white-collar hiring.
Hiring Reverses Across AI-Exposed Industries
The Kobeissi Letter noted that since mid-2023, the affected sectors have posted net job gains in only two separate months.
The affected group spans management consulting, graphic design, office administration, telephone call centers, and computer systems.
It also includes software publishers, web search, data processing, movie production, broadcasting, publishing, and document preparation services.
The reversal is steep. The same industries were adding as many as 55,000 jobs a month at their 2022 peak before the trend flipped negative in 2023.
“The impact of AI on the labor market is becoming increasingly visible,” the post read.
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The sector data tracks a parallel rise in direct layoff announcements. AI was the reason behind 38,579 job cuts in May, the highest monthly total on record.
May marked the third consecutive monthly increase. AI accounted for 87,714 of 2026’s year’s job cuts, or about 22% of the total last month.
This surpassed the full-year 2025 figure of 54,836 with months still to go. While experts disagree on AI-driven job losses, a separate Gallup survey found a link between AI use and exposure to layoffs.
The data suggests that laid-off workers were more likely to be AI non-users. The split is sharpest in tech, where workers who used AI less than monthly were three times as likely to be laid off as those who used it at least monthly.
Whether the decline deepens depends on the months ahead. The early signal is consistent, though. AI is reshaping where the jobs are, and the workers who are slowest to adopt it appear most exposed when the cuts come.
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