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JPMorgan warned that MicroStrategy’s new Bitcoin sales policy adds unnecessary risk to the crypto market. The Michael Saylor-led firm may sell up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin to fund preferred dividends across the coming months.
The warning arrives as Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) loses ground on both its common and preferred stock across broader financial markets.
JPMorgan just raised a new concern for Bitcoin: Strategy could become a SELLER 🚨Strategy's new capital framework allows selective $BTC sales to fund preferred stock dividends, introducing what JPMorgan calls "two-way risk."The bank says Strategy has been one of Bitcoin's… pic.twitter.com/OURbgk9ORV
— Karan Singh Arora (@thisisksa) July 2, 2026
Why JPMorgan Sees Two-Way Risk in MicroStrategy’s Plan
A two-way risk is a scenario in which price moves in either direction can create potential losses for market participants exposed to the underlying asset. JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou say Strategy’s new Bitcoin sales policy has now introduced exactly that dynamic into the crypto market.
MicroStrategy revealed the option to sell up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin to strengthen its balance sheet. Furthermore, the company could also authorize preferred stock repurchases and share buybacks. The move follows a period of stress on both MSTR common shares and its preferred series.
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The company also set a new minimum cash reserve target. Strategy now aims to cover 12 months of preferred dividends and interest expense.
However, its current $2.55 billion in reserves only covers 17 months of obligations, leaving limited flexibility in the coming quarters.
JPMorgan pushed back hard on the approach. Analysts recommended a higher coverage target of 24-36 months. Moreover, they urged MicroStrategy to issue common equity to expand dollar reserves. That would reassure investors that the firm will not need to sell Bitcoin going forward.
Strategy remains the largest Bitcoin buyer globally. The firm has purchased roughly $13.7 billion of Bitcoin in 2026 alone and holds 847,363 BTC.
As a result, whether it buys or sells, the movement now creates significant unnecessary flow risk across the broader crypto market environment.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto How Bitcoin and MSTR Are Digesting the Fresh Risks
Strategy’s May Bitcoin sale sent ripples across the market. The company sold 32 Bitcoin for approximately $2.5 million between May 26 and May 31. Furthermore, the move marked its first Bitcoin sale since 2022, a sharp reversal from Michael Saylor’s public “never sell” stance.
JPMorgan flagged the direct market impact of that transaction. The bank noted that MicroStrategy’s sale contributed to Bitcoin’s stress in late May and early June. Moreover, greater price volatility could ultimately hurt the company itself, raising the cost of future equity and debt financings.
MSTR stock has slid 34% this year to $100.77. Its STRC preferred series follows the same pattern, down 12% at $87.09. Bitcoin also trades under pressure, off 30% year-to-date at $61,486.
Strategy Inc (MSTR) Price Performance. Source: TradingView
However, JPMorgan analysts see a potential contrarian angle. The current bearish sentiment could set up a stronger second half if two conditions align. Strategy must expand dollar reserves. Moreover, the United States must approve the CLARITY Act to unlock renewed institutional flows.
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President Donald Trump renewed his pro-crypto message by questioning whether Bitcoin should be taxed like a traditional investment while defending his financial disclosure, which revealed substantial crypto-related earnings.
Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing on Air Force One late July 2 into July 3, Trump also praised the stock market, reaffirmed support for digital assets, and addressed concerns about his business interests.
Trump Says Bitcoin Shouldn’t Face Capital Gains Tax
During the informal press gaggle, Trump argued that Bitcoin has evolved into a form of money and questioned why users should pay capital gains tax on everyday purchases.
Using a coffee purchase as an example, Trump said a friend recently pointed out that Bitcoin transactions should not trigger taxes if the asset functions as money, a view he said he agrees with.
The remarks echo Trump’s campaign-era calls for friendlier crypto regulations and come as his administration continues positioning the United States as a global leader in digital assets.
‘Crypto’s a Big Deal,’ Trump Says
Trump doubled down on his support for the industry, calling crypto “a big deal” and insisting the United States should lead the sector.
“Anything we do, we want to be number one,” Trump said, framing digital assets as a strategic technology race rather than simply an investment trend.
His comments reinforce the administration’s broader pro-crypto agenda, including support for digital asset innovation and efforts to strengthen America’s position against competing financial hubs.
Financial Disclosure Draws Questions
Reporters pressed Trump after his latest annual financial disclosure highlighted significant crypto-related income alongside broader investment gains.
Trump responded by distancing himself from the day-to-day management of his businesses.
“My kids run my business. I’m not involved,” he said, adding that professional managers oversee his investments.
He also defended his wealth, saying he has “always made money” while reiterating that he does not personally manage investment decisions.
Fed, Growth, and Markets Remain in Focus
Beyond crypto, Trump commented on Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, saying the Fed board is “a little bit hostile” while adding that Warsh “has to do what he has to do.”
The president also praised the stock market and expressed confidence that U.S. economic growth could eventually exceed 4%, suggesting it could reach 12% or 13% under the right conditions.
What’s Next?
Trump’s latest remarks reinforce that cryptocurrency remains central to his economic messaging. While no immediate policy changes were announced, his renewed criticism of Bitcoin taxation is likely to fuel debate over digital asset tax reform in Congress.
Investors will now watch whether the administration translates its pro-crypto rhetoric into concrete legislation, particularly around capital gains rules and broader regulatory reforms that could influence Bitcoin adoption and market sentiment.

Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 faces growing backlash after its July 1 re-release. Users claim stricter guardrails have crippled the flagship model’s coding, debugging, and agentic performance.
Benchmark group BridgeMind reported steep score drops across its BridgeBench suite. Meanwhile, Anthropic maintains the underlying model is unchanged and attributes the friction to tighter safety classifiers.
Claude Fable 5 Benchmark Scores Collapse After Re-Release
BridgeMind re-ran the July 1 version of Fable 5 and recorded sharp declines. Debugging fell from 86.2 to 25.9, refactoring dropped from 73.6 to 38.4, and hallucination handling slipped from 75.9 to 61.7.
BridgeBench scores for Claude Fable 5 before and after the re-release, Source: Users on X
The mechanics behind those numbers matter. Only three of 12 debugging tasks were completed without falling back to Claude Opus 4.8, and every fallback scored zero.
Therefore, the collapse reflects blocked tasks rather than weaker reasoning.
BridgeMind stressed that Fable 5 matches its June form when a task runs to completion.
“The model did not get worse. It got caged,” they indicated.
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The timeline explains the tension. Anthropic launched Fable 5 on June 9, and Washington pulled it offline three days later. Regulators lifted its export controls on June 30, four days after they restored Mythos 5 access for roughly 100 US institutions.
Restored access also carries limits. Fable 5 draws from just 50% of weekly usage caps through July 7, then shifts to paid usage credits.
Anthropic Defends Its Wider Safety Margin
Anthropic addressed the trade-off in a June 30 statement. The company said it deliberately widened its safety margin, meaning classifiers now block requests that are probably benign. An improved filter stops the bypass technique, Amazon researchers reported in over 99% of attempts.
Claude Fable 5 will be available again globally tomorrow.After a series of productive conversations with the US government, we're redeploying the model with a new set of classifiers to target and block more cybersecurity tasks. In the near term, some routine tasks like coding…
— Anthropic (@AnthropicAI) July 1, 2026
Blocked requests route to Opus 4.8, and users receive a notification. However, Anthropic conceded the filter flags more legitimate coding and debugging work than before.
Its own tests also showed Fable 5 posed no unique risk. Rival models, including GPT-5.5 and Kimi K2.7, identified the same vulnerabilities.
Anthropic says US Commerce Department researchers tested both safeguard versions and judged them extraordinarily strong.
The stakes reach beyond one product cycle. The suspension pushed Europe to court Anthropic, while Chinese AI models gain ground on US frontier labs.
Anthropic is now drafting a jailbreak severity framework with Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Whether classifiers shed false positives quickly may determine whether power users stay or defect.

MemeCore (M) rebounds nearly 150% this week and trades at $1.66 after its treasury announced a buyback worth more than $10 million.
The token collapsed 76% on June 25 and briefly traded near $0.50. Weekly and daily charts now show the recovery pressing into resistance zones that could decide the next major move.
MemeCore Weekly Price Chart. Source: CoinGecko A $10 Million Buyback Answers the 76% Crash
MemeCore’s M token fell from $2.66 to an intraday low of $0.50 on June 25, a crash that pushed its market cap from around $3.5 billion to $903 million. The selloff arrived without any confirmed catalyst.
Onchain investigator ZachXBT connected the collapse to structural weaknesses he had flagged months earlier. He cited less than $100,000 in onchain liquidity on BNB Chain against a market cap still near $900 million.
“Myself, Mlm, & Wazz previously highlighted a number of red flags on X about MemeCore with inorganic supply concentration and deceptive practices by its team to boost user numbers,” he said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, trader Ash Crypto estimated that the selloff liquidated around $8 million in long positions. MemeCore responded days later with a treasury buyback worth more than $10 million, as trader rapperr111 noted on X.
The team stated that an internal investigation found no protocol or infrastructure issues. It also denied any selling by the team or foundation and attributed the crash to a single large market sell order. This explanation has not been independently verified.
The announcement coincided with the start of the recovery. M has since climbed back to rank 40 by market cap after falling to 72 during the crash.
Another day, Another scam.MemeCore $M crashed -85% in the last 24 hours, wiping out $2.7 billion in market cap and liquidating $8 million in longs.Reasons:– According to reports, an estimated 99% of the supply is held by insiders, making the float smaller.– This makes it… pic.twitter.com/Zky9i92UWv
— Ash Crypto (@AshCrypto) June 25, 2026
MemeCore Rebound Holds the Key Weekly Support Zone
The weekly chart shows the crash candle wicking down to $0.53 before buyers stepped in. Notably, the selloff stopped almost exactly at the support zone between roughly $0.60 and $0.85.
This area acted as resistance from July to August 2025, before the token began its long rally toward the all-time high. Historically, such flipped zones often generate strong demand, and the current bounce fits that pattern.
M weekly chart / Source: Tradingview
However, the breakdown also destroyed the long-term ascending trendline that had guided M since mid-2025. That trendline now converges with the horizontal supply zone near $1.80, directly above the current price.
The weekly RSI stands at 45, reset from readings above 80 near the April peak. Therefore, a reclaim of $1.80 could open the path toward the next supply zone between $2.80 and $3.00. In contrast, rejection at $1.80 would signal downtrend continuation toward the $0.60 to $0.85 area.
M Price Prediction as the $2.10 Fib Caps the Bounce
The daily chart confirms the June 25 breakdown, which cut through the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement at $2.63 on record volume. The decline extended for several sessions and bottomed near $0.41.
Since then, buyers have reclaimed the 0.236 Fib at $1.46. M trades at $1.66 at press time, up 54% in 24 hours, according to BeInCrypto Markets data.
The next target is the 0.382 Fib level at $2.10, which is around 27% above the current price. A breakout there would expose the 0.5 Fib at $2.63, which coincides with the descending trendline drawn from the April 24 all-time high of $4.85. This confluence makes $2.63 the decisive barrier for the entire recovery.
M daily chart. Source: Tradingview
Momentum supports the bulls for now. The daily RSI has recovered to 43 after printing oversold readings near 20 during the crash. A previous analysis showed M respecting the same Fibonacci structure in May, before the trend reversed.
On the downside, a break of the 0.236 Fib at $1.46 would invalidate the bullish setup and expose the $0.85 to $0.60 support again. Whether the buyback marks a durable bottom or only a pause in the downtrend now depends on the $2.10 test.

Crypto trader Ansem has urged Pump.fun to launch a PUMP airdrop worth up to $300 million for early users. The demand lands less than two weeks before the platform’s first investor token unlock on July 12.
Pump.fun (PUMP) trades near $0.0015, more than 80% below its September 2025 peak. The debate now centers on whether rewards or burns offer holders better protection when locked tokens hit the market.
Pump.fun (PUMP) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto Ansem Pushes for a $300 Million PUMP Airdrop
Ansem’s argument is that a large distribution would reward loyal traders and repair public opinion toward the platform, potentially driving price upwards.
“all im saying is if they give the trenches a $250-$300M airdrop stimmy as solana is breaking out & gaining attention again + incentivize future trading volumes, the public opinion towards them would change at breakneck speeds,” Ansem suggested.
His words carry weight in the meme coin community. The ANSEM token gained nearly 20,000% in a week after he pledged weekly creator fee airdrops. The platform, however, has not announced any airdrop plans.
Ansem is now up $100 MILLION on $ANSEM.He originally received 65% of the supply, and has since sent out a total of 6.6% as airdrops. That’s $11.22 MILLION of airdrops sent out at the current price.Will $ANSEM keep going? pic.twitter.com/rMvacdehz3
— Arkham (@arkham) July 2, 2026
Burns, Buybacks, and the July 12 Unlock
Pump.fun has so far chosen destruction over distribution. In April, the platform executed a $370 million token burn that removed about 36% of the circulating supply. It also committed half of its revenue to automated buybacks and burns for one year.
Critics said those tokens should have gone to users instead. Co-founder Alon Cohen defended the strategy at the time.
“Every dollar not burned is a dollar being put to work toward the same outcome,” Cohen said in a post.
Yet supply reduction has not delivered lasting price gains. An earlier buyback program struggled against sustained whale selling in late 2025.
The July 12 unlock now poses a bigger test. It falls one year to the day after PUMP sold at $0.004 in its initial coin offering.
Top 7 Token Unlocks in July. Source: CryptoRank.io
As the cliff expires, 82.5 billion tokens worth roughly $133 million will vest to existing investors, according to Tokenomist data.
The tranche equals about a fifth of the circulating supply. Moreover, PUMP remains 62% below its ICO price despite gaining almost 20% over the past week.
Pump.fun can answer Ansem with an airdrop, more burns, or silence. Whichever it chooses, July 12 will test whether shrinking supply and renewed attention can cushion its first investor unlock.

Andrew Tate sold his entire 650 million $TATE token airdrop for roughly $23,000, on-chain data shows. The sale contradicts his repeated public pledges to hold, burn, and never sell tokens sent to his wallet.
The exit adds to a punishing run for the influencer, who lost about $95,000 on a 40x leveraged Bitcoin (BTC) position in June.
Diamond Hands Vow Ends in a $23,000 Exit
On-chain tracker WhaleInsider reported that Tate’s wallet swapped the full allocation through Jupiter for $23,264. The tokens represented roughly 65% of the total supply.
JUST IN: Andrew Tate sold his full 65% allocation of the $TATE token, which was airdropped to him, for approximately $23,000. pic.twitter.com/n2AWtqjYsB
— Whale Insider (@WhaleInsider) July 2, 2026
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A stake covering two-thirds of the supply cleared for less than $24,000, pointing to almost nonexistent liquidity. The exit also clashes with Tate’s no-sell persona, a stance he repeated in October and April posts.
“Sell it for what? Money? lol I dont Jeet. Diamond Hands -” Tate wrote in December 2024.
During the $DADDY era, he also pointed to his public wallet as proof he had never sold.
CHECK MY PUBLIC WALLETIVE BURNT OVER 200,000,000 USD OF COINS AND HELD THE REST.NEVER SOLD ANYTHING EVER.NEVER MADE ANY MONEY.IN IT FOR THE LOLS.DIAMOND HANDS. https://t.co/1F6S7SaNvN
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) September 27, 2024
Traders See Echoes of the $DADDY Playbook
Some traders noted that Tate reposted the same image he shared before $DADDY’s community takeover and rally. They argue the cleared seller overhang leaves room for a rebound. However, past celebrity token crashes show such recoveries rarely hold.
The precedent cuts both ways. DADDY peaked at $0.29 in June 2024 and has since lost about 94% of its value, CoinGecko data shows.
Daddy Tate (DADDY) Price Performance. Source: Coingecko
Experts have repeatedly flagged the risks of celebrity meme coins, citing thin liquidity and concentrated supply.
The dump also follows Tate’s fresh 40x Bitcoin bet, a $3.76 million long that Hyperliquid liquidated eight times in 24 hours. He closed the position at a $95,478 loss. Lookonchain data places his career record at 107 liquidations and roughly $800,000 in cumulative losses.
The coming days will show whether the cleared supply revives $TATE or confirms its brief run has already topped.

Michael Saylor pitted Strategy (MSTR) against the Magnificent 7 (Mag 7) on July 2, branding his company the “MoST inteResting” stock on Wall Street as shares recover from last week’s lows.
The comparison rests on derivatives positioning rather than price performance. According to a chart Saylor shared, MSTR options open interest equals 71.9% of the company’s market capitalization, several times higher than any Mag 7 member.
Michael Saylor Pits MSTR Against Mag7 Members as MicroStrategy Stock Stages July Recovery. Source: Saylor on X MSTR Options Interest Dwarfs the Mag 7
Saylor’s post capitalized select letters in “MoST inteResting” to spell out the MSTR ticker. His chart put Tesla (TSLA) closest at 15.8% and Meta (META) at 10.8%, with the remaining Mag 7 members lower still. Notably, the numbers are Strategy’s own presentation and capture one snapshot in time.
Which stock is MoST inteResting? $MSTR pic.twitter.com/QhFtCHFyoH
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) July 2, 2026
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The ratio captures how traders treat the stock. With a beta of 3.54, per S&P Global data, MSTR moves like a leveraged proxy for its $64 billion Bitcoin bet. Options remain the preferred vehicle for that exposure.
MicroStrategy’s latest filing shows 847,363 Bitcoin (BTC), over 4% of the circulating supply. The company paid $64.1 billion, an average of $75,646 per coin.
However, with BTC trading near $61,760, the position is now worth about $54 billion. This comes only days after Strategy’s valuation fell below the value of its Bitcoin holdings for the first time on June 26.
Strategy Bitcoin Underwater. Source: BeInCrypto July Rebound Rides a New Capital Playbook
MSTR jumped 12.5% on Monday after unveiling its capital management overhaul. It then slid 6.2% to $86.93 on Tuesday as TD Cowen cut its target to $260 from $400.
On Thursday, shares climbed more than 7%, effectively recovering above $1009 to suggest a July recovery that is still pending confirmation.
MSTR Stock Performance. Source: TradingView
The June 29 framework set aside a $2.55 billion cash reserve, covering 17.4 months of preferred dividends and interest. It also authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales and $2 billion in buybacks. Company leadership cast the change as deliberate.
“Strategy is evolving from one-way capital issuance to active capital management,” Phong Le, CEO of Strategy, said in the announcement.
Meanwhile, Wall Street’s response captures the tension. Citi kept its Buy rating but slashed the price target from $260 to $136, saying the plan buys time for Bitcoin to stabilize.
$MSTR – CITI CUTS STRATEGY TARGET TO $136Citi lowered its price target on Strategy to $136 from $260 but maintained a Buy rating.The firm cut its 12-month Bitcoin forecast to $81,800, citing lower expected BTC gains.Citi said Strategy's updated capital plan strengthens…
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) July 1, 2026
TD Cowen and BTIG also kept Buy ratings while lowering targets. Separately, Rosen Law Firm opened a securities probe into Strategy.
Saylor also reiterated the $100 STRC target as the preferred stock recovers from its June 26 record low of $71.25.
Supporters read the options dominance as conviction. In contrast, critics counter that the same leverage dragged the stock from a 52-week high of $457.22 to $81.81.
Whether derivatives fervor converts into durable equity performance still hinges on Bitcoin holding above $60,000. Strategy reports earnings on July 30, the first test of the new playbook in action.

DeFiLlama has cut all ties with DL News after unidentified buyers acquired the outlet’s website and X (Twitter) account. The analytics platform says no future posts from the brand carry its endorsement.
Core developer 0xngmi went further, warning users not to trust anything the brand publishes. DL News ended editorial operations in May 2026 before its assets changed hands.
From DeFiLlama News Arm to Sold Asset
DL News launched in 2022 as the news arm of DeFiLlama, the open-source analytics platform tracking DeFi deposits. Unlike the platform, however, the outlet was built to turn a profit.
DeFiLlama announced the break in a July 1 statement on X.
“New owners have taken over the @dlnews website and assets. We expect them to resume posting soon. They’re no longer affiliated with DefiLlama in any way. We can’t corroborate any information about outreach and no posts should be considered to be endorsed by us.”
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The relationship fractured in March 2023, when 0xngmi publicly threatened a fork over a LLAMA token plan the team opposed. The sides reconciled within days, but the newsroom operated separately for the next two years.
1/3 The DeFiLlama team would like to apologize for the events that unfolded yesterday, as a result of poor communication and a misunderstanding within the team.
— DefiLlama.com (@DefiLlama) March 20, 2023
Director Paige Aarhus announced the closure on May 7, citing shrinking readership and AI’s damage to search traffic.
DL Research, its 2024 commercial arm, grew revenue by 270% in 2025 and crossed the seven-figure mark. The growth still failed to offset the audience collapse.
DeFiLlama, meanwhile, continues to operate as normal. It recently drew scrutiny for relisting Aster perpetual data, a sign of how closely users watch its neutrality.
Why DeFiLlama’s DL News Buyback Failed
0xngmi told users not to trust anything published under the DL News name, likely indicating the open-source analytics platform no longer endorses the publication.
Further, the core developer explained that DeFiLlama attempted to buy the assets after the shutdown but failed.
Obviously I wouldn't have sold it but it was not owned by meAfter dlnews shut down we even tried to purchase it as defillama just to fully close it, but it wasnt possible
— 0xngmi (@0xngmi) July 2, 2026
The purchase failed because the brand belonged to Llama Corp, a Dubai-based entity, not the analytics team.
“Why does being sold mean it can’t be trusted? Doesn’t automatically follow, new ownership doesn’t guarantee bad journalism,” one user challenged.
The core developer did not immediately respond to BeInCrypto’s request for comment.
The site still lists Llama Corp in its footer and displays the closure notice.
DeFiLlama Cuts Ties With DL News After Surprise Ownership Sale
The buyers remain unidentified. But market data suggests why the brand still found one.
An April 2026 analysis of 107 crypto news sites found more than 40 with zero organic traffic. Five outlets captured 78% of search visits.
That concentration gives dormant brands residual value. AI tools also drive over 25% of referrals to US crypto media, rewarding domains with citation history.
Trust remains the open question. Research shows crypto press releases can move risky asset prices, and an inherited newsroom brand could carry similar influence.
Whether the new owners identify themselves once publishing resumes may decide how much credibility survives the transfer.

NVIDIA is expanding its AI infrastructure business with a new model designed to accelerate the deployment of computing capacity across global cloud providers.
The move arrives as Michael Burry increases bearish positions against NVIDIA, creating a sharp debate over AI growth prospects.
NVIDIA (NVDA) Price Performance. Source: TradingView What is NVIDIA’s New AI Compute Model
NVIDIA’s new AI compute framework allows cloud providers to deploy advanced hardware using revenue-sharing and credit-support agreements. The goal is to reduce infrastructure barriers for startups, enterprises, model developers, and regional AI operators.
The company earns revenue from hardware sales and from cloud usage generated by supported capacity. This approach aims to accelerate the construction of large-scale AI factories capable of serving inference workloads and token-intensive applications.
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AI is shifting from model training to always-on token production, and that shift demands a new business model.NVIDIA is partnering with AI clouds to deploy large‑scale, multi‑tenant AI factories through revenue-sharing and credit-support. This opens up compute access to the… pic.twitter.com/PSQdTQJTga
— NVIDIA (@nvidia) July 2, 2026
The strategy addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges: the enormous capital required to build AI infrastructure. By helping partners expand capacity faster, NVIDIA hopes to increase utilization rates while making advanced computing resources more accessible.
Early participants illustrate the scale of the initiative. Sharon AI plans to deploy up to 40,000 Grace Blackwell GB300 GPUs. Meanwhile, Firmus is developing a major campus in Indonesia that could support approximately 170,000 GPUs and 360 megawatts of power capacity.
Why is Michael Burry Betting Against NVDA
Despite NVIDIA’s continued momentum, some investors remain skeptical about how long current AI-driven valuations can be sustained. Among the most prominent bears is Michael Burry, the investor known for predicting the 2008 housing market collapse.
Burry’s latest move goes beyond a general warning about the sector. He disclosed a direct short position on NVIDIA at approximately $198.09 per share, while also establishing bearish positions against Tesla, Applied Materials, Caterpillar, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX).
🔥NEW: 'BIG SHORT' MICHAEL BURRY BETS AGAINST NVIDIA, TESLA AND CATERPILLARBurry disclosed new shorts against $NVDA, $TSLA, $CAT and $AMAT, calling the semiconductor index "a pure form of overvaluation" that is "rarely seen," per Business Insider.He shorted Caterpillar for… pic.twitter.com/qNJXMQRdV4
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) July 2, 2026
His thesis is centered on what he views as excessive enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence. Burry argues that massive investments in data centers, chips and AI infrastructure may be creating conditions similar to previous technology bubbles.
He has specifically raised concerns about rapid hardware obsolescence, aggressive capital spending by hyperscalers, and the possibility that demand growth could eventually slow.
Supporters of NVIDIA see the situation differently. They point to strong demand for AI inference, which is accelerating enterprise adoption and strengthening the company’s dominant position in advanced computing. NVDA traded near $195 at the time of writing, giving the chipmaker a market value of roughly $4.77 trillion.
$NVDA Simplistically what this means for neoclouds,in my view, is it gives them certainty but takes away some of the upside. I think that’s a good deal for them.Also reduces $NVDA reliance on hyper scalers. So $META news yesterday almost irrelevant now too https://t.co/Xpz1WfCHhx
— SixSigmaCapital (@SixSigmaCapital) July 2, 2026
The result is a growing divide on Wall Street. NVIDIA’s bulls believe the company remains at the center of a multi-year AI expansion cycle, while Burry is positioning for a scenario in which expectations have outpaced economic reality. The coming quarters could determine which view gains the upper hand.
What Could Happen Next for NVIDIA
The coming quarters may provide important answers for both bulls and bears. NVIDIA’s success depends on executing its AI factory vision and maintaining strong demand for current and future platforms, including Blackwell and Rubin-based systems.
Investors will closely monitor earnings results, cloud partnership expansion, and progress on infrastructure deployment. If adoption continues accelerating, NVIDIA could further strengthen its position at the center of the global AI ecosystem.
However, valuation concerns are unlikely to disappear. Any slowdown in spending, infrastructure utilization, or enterprise demand could increase volatility.
The result is a high-stakes contest between technological transformation and concerns that expectations may have outpaced economic reality.
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Standard Chartered has become the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) to offer institutional clients direct access to USDC minting and redemption, through a partnership with issuer Circle announced on July 2.
Eligible clients can convert dollars to USDC and back inside their existing banking relationship, with no separate Circle accounts required. However, the launch covers Dubai only, and a rival bank rolled out similar services three days earlier.
Standard Chartered USDC Access Starts in Dubai
The capability, developed with Circle, runs through the bank’s Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) operations.
Standard Chartered becomes the first GSIB to offer direct USDC liquidity as a bundled service for institutional clients. Demand from major banks to offer USDC continues to grow, corresponding to the growth in on onchain payments and treasury and tokenization. https://t.co/Wm5KLgpWax
— Jeremy Allaire – jerallaire.arc (@jerallaire) July 2, 2026
It gives institutions a single onboarding route into USDC, which commands a $73.2 billion market cap.
USD Coin (USDC) Market Cap. Source: DefiLlama
Standard Chartered says the service supports on-chain settlement, treasury operations, and liquidity management, with payment use cases planned later. Expansion into additional markets depends on regulatory approvals and market readiness.
“Digital assets are becoming an increasingly important component of global financial infrastructure, and institutional clients are seeking the same levels of trust and governance that underpin traditional markets,” Roberto Hoornweg, CEO of Corporate and Investment Banking at Standard Chartered, said in the announcement.
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The relationship runs deeper than one launch. Standard Chartered has helped design the Circle Payments Network since April 2025, alongside Santander, Deutsche Bank, and Société Générale.
This week, the bank also initiated coverage of the DeFi lending protocol Morpho.
Rivals are Already Moving on USDC
It is imperative to note, however, that Standard Chartered is not the first. On June 29, BNY enabled clients to mint, redeem, and hold USDC through its Digital Asset Custody platform.
We’re expanding our relationship with @BNYglobal to give their clients connectivity between onchain and traditional assets.@USDC will be the first stablecoin on BNY’s Digital Asset Custody platform, enabling clients to store, transfer, mint and burn USDC.…
— Circle (@circle) June 29, 2026
BNY is no fringe player. It custodies USDC’s reserves and oversees $59.3 trillion in assets under custody or administration.
More may follow. BNY says it plans to add further stablecoin issuers over time, while Standard Chartered cites growing demand from institutions and corporations for regulated stablecoin infrastructure.
Circle, meanwhile, has its own reasons to court bank partners. Its stock fell 15% last week after 140 firms, including Visa and Coinbase, backed rival stablecoin Open USD.
Bank distribution hands USDC deeper institutional rails just as its enterprise lead comes under attack.
Regulation will set the pace. Circle kept its European listings under MiCA while Tether’s USDT exited, yet Standard Chartered’s global rollout still awaits approvals market by market.
Whether treasurers route real settlement flows through bank-issued USDC rather than pilots will determine how quickly the rest of the G-SIB pack moves.

Arm Holdings (ARM) stock is up 194% this year. However, it has stalled and slipped since mid-June, and big investors are quietly selling. The reason is simple. Arm is the chip stock most exposed to rising interest rates.
The next test comes on July 14, when new inflation data is due. A hot reading would push the Federal Reserve closer to a rate hike. And Arm has the most to lose.
ARM Holdings Stock Price Chart. Source: Google Finance Big Money Started Leaving in Mid-June
The clearest warning comes from money flow. Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), a proxy for institutional buying, peaked at 0.37 around June 15 and has since fallen to 0.01. In plain terms, big buyers nearly vanished.
Arm Money Flow Rolls Over: TradingView
Note: Arm is based in the United Kingdom, but its shares trade in New York in US dollars, so Federal Reserve rate moves drive it like any American chip stock.
The timing is not random. Inflation hit 4.2% for the year on June 10, the hottest in three years. Days later, on June 17, the Federal Reserve held rates but signaled it may raise them. More so, institutional money began leaving in the run-up to the June 17 Fed meeting.
Since then, markets have gone back to pricing hikes. Robin Brooks, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former chief economist at the IIF, says one number will set the tone.
Markets are bracing for a hawkish speech from Warsh today and we're back to pricing almost 40 bps in hikes for this year. He will repeat his mantra of "price stability," but that doesn't mean much. The only thing that really matters is the CPI on July 14.https://t.co/9h3RQKGgJH pic.twitter.com/asewL8Q3Vn
— Robin Brooks (@robin_j_brooks) July 1, 2026
Here is why that hits Arm (ARM) hardest. A hot inflation report makes the Fed more likely to raise interest rates. Higher rates make profits expected years from now worth less today. Arm is the priciest big chip stock, and most of its profits sit far in the future. Investors are paying mainly for growth from its AI chip designs in the coming years, not for the money it makes today.
That makes Arm the most rate-sensitive name in its sector. Its price tends to move in the opposite direction of interest rates, and by more than any other big chip stock.
Arm Rate Sensitivity vs the Sector: Charlie Quant Lab
So it falls more than the average chip when rate fears rise. When a major bank warned of up to three more hikes on June 23, Arm dropped over 10% in a day.
Bank of America now expects three Fed rate hikes in 2026 with 25bps increases in September, October and December taking rates to 4.50%.The bank also doesn't expect cuts until 2028 while Polymarket now gives a 61% chance of at least one Fed hike next year. pic.twitter.com/W4VyvboQtU
— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) June 22, 2026
Options Traders Turned Defensive Too
The options market flashed the same signal. Arm’s put-call ratio compares bets on a fall against bets on a rise. On June 15, with Arm near $412, the volume ratio was 0.51, so traders still bought more calls than puts.
Yet the open interest ratio was already 1.22, meaning longer-standing bets leaned bearish.
Arm Put-Call Ratio on June 15: Barchart
By July 1, with Arm near $337, both had turned bearish. The volume ratio jumped to 1.75, and open interest sat at 1.17.
Arm Put-Call Ratio on July 1: Barchart
In short, traders went from hopeful to defensive as rate-hike talk grew louder. The ARM price chart tells the same story.
The ARM Stock Chart Confirms the Warning
The rally was already running on empty. From May 6 to June 30, Arm rose, but the buying volume behind each move kept shrinking.
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That weakness stalled Arm at about $362. The stock now trades near $337, just under the $340 level it needs to hold.
If it breaks lower, $303, then $298, come into view. Far deeper support sits near $198 if the selling speeds up. To turn things around, Arm must reclaim $362 with strong buying, which would pull money flow back up. The real line, though, is $399 (the $400 zone).
Arm Price Analysis: TradingView
Above $400, ARM regains genuine strength. Below it, with a hot July 14 report threatening another rate scare, every bounce is likely to be sold. The $400 mark separates a fresh leg higher from more selling into every rally.

The oil price fall deepened on Thursday as WTI crude slipped below $68 for the first time in 125 days. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) climbed more than 5% to levels above $61,500, and gold extended gains beyond $4,000.
Recovering Saudi shipments through the reopened Strait of Hormuz have erased much of crude’s war premium. Prices had climbed above $110 at the height of the conflict.
Oil, Gold, and Bitcoin Price Performances. Source: TradingView Why the Oil Price Fall Deepened
Saudi Arabia is shipping its most crude through the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran truce reopened the waterway. Four supertankers operated by national carrier Bahri reportedly exited the Gulf with roughly 8 million barrels.
SAUDI OIL EXPORTS SURGE AFTER HORMUZ REOPENSSaudi Arabia is shipping its most crude through the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S.-Iran truce reopened the waterway.Four Bahri supertankers carrying about 8 million barrels have exited the Gulf, signaling higher exports. The…
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) July 2, 2026
The recovery is steep. Exports had slumped to about 4 million barrels per day during the fighting, down from more than 7 million in February. They are again approaching the pre-war pace of 6.3 million barrels per day recorded in Argus data.
During the closure, Riyadh kept roughly half its exports flowing by diverting cargoes to Red Sea ports. Saudi Aramco has since resumed loadings at Ras Tanura, the world’s largest oil terminal, after a near four-month halt.
Shipping analytics firm Kpler estimates strait traffic has recovered to about 40 vessel crossings per day. Neighboring UAE flows have already returned to pre-war levels.
The stakes are global. The waterway handles roughly 20% of seaborne oil trade, according to the EIA. Consequently, WTI now trades below its level when US strikes on Iran began in late February.
However, the 60-day truce roadmap remains interim, and insurers stay cautious on Gulf shipping.
Bitcoin and Gold Move the Other Way
Bitcoin gained over 5% over the past 24 hours to trade near $61,649 as of this writing. Cheaper energy and fading geopolitical fear are reviving appetite for risk assets. Falling crude also cools inflation expectations, an added support for risk-taking.
Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto
The bounce extends signs that Bitcoin selling pressure was already easing before the truce. Equities tell a similar story, with nearly 60% of S&P 500 stocks carrying record Buy ratings as tensions cool.
Inflation worries have not vanished, though. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly noted the AI investment shock has markets asking if it will fuel inflation.
FED'S DALY: AI INVESTMENT SHOCK HAS PEOPLE WONDERING IF IT WILL BE INFLATIONARY; PRODUCTIVITY GAINS COULD RISE EXPONENTIALLY DUE TO AI
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) July 2, 2026
That helps explain gold’s resilience. The metal traded near $4,119, with an intraday push toward $4,140, and remains well below January’s record above $5,500.
Gold (XAU) Price Performance. Source: TradingView
However, bullion is still up more than 22% over the past year. Investors continue to hold it as an inflation and geopolitical hedge.
The divergence suggests markets are pricing a durable supply recovery while still hedging the truce’s fragility.

More than half of the tokenized real-world asset market showed no weekly transfer activity, according to new research from BeInCrypto.
The report, Real State of Tokenization in 2026, tracked roughly $60 billion in tokenized real-world assets across more than 7,000 products and 12 asset classes. It found that the market is growing fast, but actual on-chain activity remains far thinner than the headline numbers suggest.
Across 1,289 tokenized assets worth more than $100,000, 910 showed zero weekly transfers. Those dormant assets represented $32.9 billion in value, or 56% of the market measured for transfer activity.
Only 379 assets showed weekly movement. Together, they represented $26.2 billion in active value.
Tokenization Has Value, But Not Always Movement
The finding points to one of the biggest gaps in tokenized finance. Assets may be brought on-chain, but that does not mean they are actively traded, transferred, or used across financial infrastructure.
The report draws a distinction between “Distributed” assets and “Represented” assets.
Distributed assets can move on public blockchain rails and may be used across wallets, platforms, or DeFi protocols.
Represented assets use blockchain more like an internal ledger or digital record of an off-chain position.
But why does this distinction matter? Because about $27 billion of dormant value came from Represented assets.
In these cases, low transfer activity does not necessarily mean failure. Some products were not designed for public secondary-market movement in the first place.
However, the data still shows that tokenized finance has not yet become a broad, liquid market. Even among active assets, activity is concentrated in a much smaller group than the total product count suggests.
The Next Problem Is Infrastructure
The research concludes that tokenization’s next phase depends less on launching more assets and more on building the systems that allow those assets to move, settle, comply with regulation, and reach investors.
Without stronger infrastructure around access, transfer controls, compliance, collateral use, and market depth, many tokenized assets may remain digital records rather than usable financial instruments.
The full BeInCrypto Research report is available here.

Comcast (CMCSA) stock keeps falling while its sector rises. The company earns most of its money from home internet and cable TV, a shrinking business, and splitting itself in two has not fixed that.
That is why a dramatic breakup failed to lift the shares, which trade around $23.73, near a 52-week low. The problem sits inside the company, not the market.
CMCSA Stock Levels: CMCSA The Sector Is Rising, but Not for Cable
The gains did not spread evenly. The communication services sector, where Comcast sits, rose about 1.4% over the past six months. However, that gain came from its biggest members, the AI-linked giants Alphabet and Meta, not from the telecom and cable names.
Half-Year Sector Performance: FinViz
The connectivity names were left behind. Comcast stock has fallen close to 30% over the past year, and cable rival Charter Communications is down about 33% in 2026.
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The gap points to Comcast’s core business. Its home internet unit keeps losing customers to fixed wireless services from Verizon and T-Mobile, a 5G alternative to cable broadband. Comcast sits on the losing side of that shift.
Why Comcast Is Splitting Itself in Two
Comcast runs two very different businesses. One sells home internet and cable TV. The other is NBCUniversal, which owns NBC, the Peacock streaming service, and the Universal theme parks.
The internet and TV side is shrinking. Customers keep dropping cable and switching to cheaper wireless home internet from T-Mobile and Verizon. Bolted together, the slow-growth internet business made the whole stock look weak. So Comcast plans to separate the two into standalone companies, betting each is worth more alone.
Comcast selling at 4x multiple with a dividend yield of 5.38%, EPS at $5."Company to split separate into two independent publicly traded companies through a tax-free spin-off of NBCUniversal and Sky. Following the spinoff transaction, Comcast (CMCSA) shareholders will own… pic.twitter.com/UJmq9PENXS
— Kalu Aja (@FinPlanKaluAja1) July 1, 2026
The mechanism is a spinoff. Current shareholders receive stock in the new media company, no cash changes hands, and the deal is tax-free.
.@comcast is spinning off @NBCUniversal in a tax-free deal expected to take about a year, creating two separate companies. Comcast will focus on its core connectivity and technology businesses, while NBCU concentrates on media and entertainment. https://t.co/RIB4uXorII
— ADWEEK (@Adweek) June 30, 2026
However, reshuffling the two units does not win back a single lost customer.
A Reshuffle Does Not Fix the Decline
A split changes the structure, not the numbers. Comcast’s connectivity arm, the broadband and wireless business, is its profit engine, with about $7.9 billion in adjusted earnings last quarter. However, that profit fell more than 4% from a year earlier as customers left.
The media arm being spun off has the opposite problem. It brought in $11.94 billion of revenue last quarter but just $331 million in adjusted earnings, and its Peacock streaming service lost $432 million. So the breakup separates a shrinking cash engine from a growing but unprofitable one, and it fixes neither. Separating the two businesses adds no broadband customers and makes no streaming service profitable, so each carries the same problem into its new company.
Rich Greenfield, analyst at LightShed Partners, told the New York Times the move was a concession of failure. Investors put that skepticism to the test the moment the news broke.
The Pop That Did Not Last
The announcement first sparked excitement. Comcast stock gapped up and rallied about 19% to nearly $27 on June 29, as traders bet the breakup would surface hidden value.
Comcast Daily Price Chart: TradingView
The gain did not hold. The stock reversed almost the entire move and fell back to $23.73 by July 1, down 3.34% on the session.
That round trip is the market’s verdict. A reorganization that adds no customers and no revenue gave buyers little reason to stay. The real test, though, is whether big investors bought in.
Large funds move a stock more than anyone else, and the flow data shows they stayed away. Comcast money flow, measured by Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), a gauge of whether institutional buyers or sellers control a stock, has stayed negative and drifted lower.
Money Flow Declines: TradingView
In plain terms, the big money kept selling even after the headline. Fresh buyers did not step in to support the price.
Options traders were more hopeful. The put-call ratio, which weighs downside bets against upside bets, sat near 0.43, meaning calls outnumbered puts and hedging stayed light.
Comcast Put-Call Ratio: Barchart
That optimism, however, was not backed by real buying, as shown by the declining CMF. Wall Street shared the caution.
Wall Street Is Split on Comcast
The analyst response was divided. Rosenblatt upgraded Comcast to buy and raised its target to $31, while Deutsche Bank turned more positive yet trimmed its target to $32.
Others stayed cautious. Citi kept a buy rating but cut its target from $35.50 to $32, and Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Scotiabank, and JPMorgan all held.
The CMCSA price targets span $28 to $36, all above the current price. Even so, four of seven Wall street firms refuse to call the stock a buy.
CMCSA Analyst Price Targets: TipRanks
For now, the breakup hands Comcast a new structure, not a new business. Until it stops losing broadband customers and stems its media losses, the stock has little reason to join a sector being carried by AI.

The US Department of Justice, following an FBI investigation, charged 19-year-old Peter Stokes with conspiracy, computer intrusion, and fraud over his alleged role in the Scattered Spider hacking group. Finnish authorities arrested the dual US-Estonian citizen in April and extradited him last week.
Stokes appeared in federal court in Chicago on Tuesday, and a judge ordered him to remain in custody. FBI Chicago Special Agent-in-Charge Douglas S. DePodesta announced the extradition alongside federal prosecutors.
Scattered Spider Built a $100 Million Extortion Machine
According to the DOJ complaint, Scattered Spider, also known as 0ktapus, Octo Tempest, and UNC3944, has executed over 100 network intrusions. Federal investigators estimate the syndicate collected more than $100 million in ransom payments.
The group relies on deception rather than sophisticated code. Members trick employees into surrendering account credentials, encrypt or steal corporate data, and then demand cryptocurrency. Victims pay to regain control of their data or to stop public leaks. Similar social engineering fuels the WhatsApp username scam risk that Changpeng Zhao recently exposed.
Meanwhile, Chainalysis found that on-chain ransomware payments declined for a second consecutive year in 2025. Attackers, therefore, appear to compensate with more frequent intrusions.
#FBIChicago SAC Douglas D. Podesta's statement on the arrest of an alleged member of criminal cyber hacking group "Scattered Spider", who was arrested in Finland and extradited to the United States. Read more: https://t.co/52yUwapGdQ. pic.twitter.com/gJM4Rh2Au7
— FBI Chicago (@FBIChicago) July 1, 2026
An $8 Million Ransom Demand That Backfired
The complaint alleges that Stokes and his co-conspirators breached a luxury jewelry retailer in May 2025. They copied company data and demanded roughly $8 million in cryptocurrency.
However, the retailer’s security team evicted the intruders, and the company paid nothing. It still lost at least $2 million through business disruption, investigation, and threat mitigation.
“Scattered Spider has repeatedly targeted U.S. companies, extorting employees, inflicting millions of dollars in losses, and disrupting essential operations,” FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman described the group’s impact.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation coordinated the extradition.
Washington Widens Its Crypto Crime Dragnet
The case falls under Operation Riptide, the FBI’s sustained campaign against cybercrime and fraud networks. Americans reported over $20 billion in cybercrime losses last year, a 26% single-year jump. The DOJ’s computer crime section has convicted over 180 cyber criminals since 2020. Courts ordered the return of over $350 million in victim funds.
Moreover, enforcement now stretches across the whole industry. This week, Tether froze sanctioned TRON wallets tied to ISIS-K, and in June a judge sentenced a crypto influencer impersonator to 15 months in prison.
At the same time, the bureau faces scrutiny of its own after Kash Patel’s stock disclosure revealed a late-reported MicroStrategy purchase.
A complaint remains an allegation, and Stokes awaits trial in Chicago. The coming months will show whether prosecutors can turn one arrest into a broader takedown of the syndicate.

Robinhood launched the public mainnet of Robinhood Chain, moving its Arbitrum-based Layer-2 network live during a keynote in London. HOOD shares gained more than 8% after the event.
The company also set a Guinness World Record on stage. An AI agent used a virtual Agentic Credit Card to complete the most purchases within three minutes.
Robinhood Chain Mainnet Builds on Arbitrum
The launch arrives roughly five months after the broker opened a public testnet in February. According to the official announcement, the permissionless network targets financial services and tokenized real-world assets.
Robinhood Chain runs on the Arbitrum technology stack. The network processes transactions off-chain and settles them on Ethereum, an approach the company says lowers fees.
The chain skips having its proprietary token. Instead, it uses Ethereum (ETH) to cover gas and transaction costs.
In addition, Robinhood claims roughly 100-millisecond block times. Meanwhile, Chainlink said it now serves as the network’s data and cross-chain oracle, supporting Stock Tokens from launch.
LIVE: @RobinhoodCrypto adopts Chainlink as its official data and cross-chain oracle.Chainlink is now powering Robinhood Stock Tokens and unlocking access to the onchain economy for millions of users.Live on day 1. https://t.co/aXoTJUo1gw pic.twitter.com/z7IOCrLtOU
— Chainlink (@chainlink) July 1, 2026
Robinhood joins a wider corporate move onto Arbitrum. LG Electronics recently built a blockchain ad network on the same infrastructure.
Robinhood Stock Tokens and DeFi Lending Go Live
Stock Tokens form the core of the release. Eligible users in more than 120 countries can now trade tokenized equities around the clock through Robinhood Wallet, although availability varies by jurisdiction.
Uniswap joined as a day-one partner and deploys a dedicated liquidity protocol on the chain. Meanwhile, Robinhood Earn lets eligible US users lend the USDG stablecoin at an estimated 7% APY, extending the firm’s new Crypto Earn push built on Morpho.
Rivals want the same ground. Binance and OKX are also exploring tokenized US stocks, therefore competition in the segment keeps building.
Robinhood stock price. Source: Tradingview AI Record Lifts Wall Street Sentiment
The Guinness stunt showcased Robinhood’s agentic ambitions. The AI agent sourced, selected, and ordered gifts for attendees, and an on-site adjudicator certified the record.
The company plans to extend Agentic Accounts from equities and options to US crypto trading. Robinhood’s own disclosures warn that AI agents can act on outdated data, behave unexpectedly, and prove difficult to stop in real time.
Investors still responded quickly. HOOD climbed 8.4% to around $108.
However, the rally contrasts with earlier caution. In February, analysts warned that weak crypto activity could pressure the Robinhood stock price this year.
The mainnet launch now shifts attention to adoption. Builder activity and Stock Token volumes over the coming weeks will show whether the chain can hold Wall Street’s interest.

Gold extended its losing streak in June, recording a fourth consecutive red month as expectations of Fed rate hikes and Middle East uncertainty weighed on prices. Despite this, new data shows that central bank demand remained strong.
The metal fell 11.7% in June after a 1.8% decline in May. Meanwhile, World Gold Council data shows central banks bought a net 41 tonnes of gold in May, led by Poland and China.
Gold Slides as Fed Turns Hawkish
BeInCrypto reported that gold dropped to $3,942 on June 30, its lowest price since early November 2025. The metal lost roughly 16% during the quarter ending June 30, posting its worst quarterly performance since Q2 2013.
Major banks have cut their targets amid rising odds of a rate cut. Goldman Sachs lowered its year-end call to $4,900 per ounce. Deutsche Bank trimmed its third-quarter forecast to $4,300, and warned prices could reach $3,800 if the Fed delivers three to four hikes.
Poland Leads Central Bank Gold Buying as Prices Slide
Official demand tells a different story. The National Bank of Poland added 18 tonnes in May, its fourth straight month of double-digit buying. Poland has accumulated 64 tonnes this year, lifting reserves to 614 tonnes.
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Central Bank Gold Activity. Source: World Gold Council
The People’s Bank of China bought 10 tonnes, its 20th consecutive monthly purchase and largest addition since December 2024. China’s reserves now stand near 2,331 tonnes.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore purchased 4 tonnes, its first buy since September 2025. The authority also plans to launch central bank gold vaulting services in October 2026.
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan added 9 tonnes and 7 tonnes, respectively. In contrast, Turkey and Russia remained net sellers.
Sentiment supports the trend. In the WGC’s 2026 survey, 89% of respondents expect global gold reserves to rise over the next 12 months. 45% expect their own institution’s holdings to grow.
However, the latest figures cover May, before June’s steep selloff. The next monthly report will reveal whether central bank conviction held through gold’s double-digit loss.
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Stablecoin issuer Tether froze funds held in all 131 TRON wallets sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on July 1 as part of its updated ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) designation.
The action adds 134 cryptocurrency addresses as identifiers for the group, 131 on TRON (TRX) and 3 on Monero (XMR), according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
ISIS-K Crypto Wallets Received Over $1.4 Million Since 2023
Chainalysis reported that the designated TRON wallets received more than $1.4 million since 2023 and sent over $880,000. Several of the addresses moved funds to Syria-based crypto exchangers, while the broader cluster showed heavy exposure to mainstream services.
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Chainalysis Reactor Graph showing ISIS-K TRON Wallets. Source: Chainalysis
ISIS-K operates across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of Central Asia. OFAC first named the group a Specially Designated Terrorist Group in September 2015. Its media arm, al-Azaim Media Foundation, has solicited crypto donations through websites and messaging platforms.
Historically, individual donations were small, reflecting supporters’ modest means, per Chainalysis.
“Chainalysis has collected historical donation addresses on Tron, Monero, and Bitcoin,” the report read.
The July 1 update follows a June OFAC action against Syrian money service businesses that cashed out funds for ISIS financiers. Earlier, in 2023, it designated Maldives-based operative Ali Shafiu, whose TRON wallet interacted with deposit addresses tied to Iranian exchanges, Chainalysis found.
Tether’s response fits a wider pattern of private firms blocking illicit funds alongside government action. BeInCrypto reported in May that the company’s T3 Financial Crime Unit, operated with TRON and TRM Labs, had frozen more than $450 million in illicit crypto since its September 2024 debut.
Exchanges have joined similar efforts. Coinbase froze over $3 million tied to Southeast Asian scam networks during the US Justice Department’s Disruption Week.
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Sony will stop producing physical game discs for new PlayStation releases in January 2028, shifting new titles to digital-only distribution. Sony shares rose 0.7% on the New York Stock Exchange after the announcement.
Meanwhile, leaks indicate that Microsoft’s next Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix, will also ship without a disc drive. Both moves point to a gaming industry preparing to leave physical media behind.
Sony Sets a January 2028 Deadline for Physical Game Discs
Sony confirmed the plan in an official announcement. Games released before the cutoff remain unaffected, and retailers will still sell new titles as digital codes. However, every new PlayStation release will flow through the PlayStation Store, giving Sony far greater control over pricing.
Important updates: News on physical discs for new games – https://t.co/BzZODXdWGYNews on PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita – https://t.co/ev3mN6wj14 pic.twitter.com/PWXTZGHAh6
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 1, 2026
Sony framed the change as a response to consumer behavior, since digital downloads now far outsell discs. The company also promised a continued retail presence for hardware and accessories. Historically, console makers have tested disc-free hardware, but a full catalog cutover is a first.
Investors welcomed the decision because it strips out production and logistics costs. Therefore, analysts expect stronger margins on software sales. Gaming stocks have reacted sharply to pricing news before, as the recent Take-Two pre-order slide showed.
Sony Group Corp. (6758) stock chart. Source: TradingView Xbox Project Helix Reportedly Drops the Disc Drive
Microsoft appears to share the same road map. According to a Windows Central report, Project Helix will launch without a disc drive. In addition, a program reportedly named Positron would let players convert Xbox One and Series X|S discs into digital licenses.
The program reportedly excludes Xbox 360 and original Xbox discs. Subscription services such as Game Pass would likely gain even more weight in a disc-free lineup.
Microsoft stock climbed 3.0% to close at $384.28 on the Nasdaq, extending a three-day rally. In contrast, US tech peers slipped in late June on digital tax tariff threats and an Asia tech stock selloff. Investors clearly view the all-digital pivot as a margin story rather than a risk.
Gamers Push Back Over Digital Ownership
Wall Street cheered, yet players reacted with fury. The social media backlash reportedly forced Sony into a temporary promotional silence. Critics argue that digital-only libraries erase resale, lending, and preservation rights, and that delisted titles disappear permanently. Retailers also face shrinking revenue as boxed sales wind down.
Sony sharpened those fears last month when it deleted purchased PlayStation movies from user accounts. Hideo Kojima, the celebrated designer behind Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding, warned about this risk in 2021. He cautioned that “access to it may suddenly be cut off” and reposted that warning this week.
1/2Eventually, even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals on their own initiative. Whenever there is a major change or accident in the world, in a country, in a government, in an idea, in a trend, access to it may suddenly be cut off.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) August 5, 2021
The ownership debate has already pushed some developers toward blockchain-based licenses, even though most Web3 gaming projects collapsed this cycle. Upcoming earnings calls should reveal whether preservation concerns dent pre-orders or simply fade as downloads take over.

Metaplanet hit the 43,000 BTC milestone on July 2. The Tokyo-based firm now ranks as the world’s third-largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, trailing only Strategy and Twenty One Capital across the entire global corporate holder ranking.
The move cements Japan’s rising role in the corporate Bitcoin accumulation race.
What the Metaplanet 43,000 BTC Milestone Means
A corporate Bitcoin treasury is a company that holds Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset on its balance sheet. Metaplanet added 2,823 BTC during the second quarter of 2026. Furthermore, the purchase brought total holdings to exactly 43,000 BTC as of July 2.
The average acquisition price landed at roughly 12.71 million yen (~$80,000) per Bitcoin. Moreover, the effective purchase price dropped to around 12.09 million yen (~$77,000) thanks to income from its Bitcoin Generation business. That segment generated $10.95 million in Q2 revenue.
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Metaplanet now holds 43,000 BTC ($2.6B), with total debt and prefs at 23% of BTC NAV.The balance sheet is robust, the capital channels are being built, and the asset we exist to accumulate is on sale. Forward. $BTC $MPJPY https://t.co/4kzJXWCIJg
— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair) July 2, 2026
The scale is now considerable. Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin investment stands at approximately 659.25 billion yen (~$4.2 billion). Furthermore, the holdings were valued at roughly 409 billion yen (~2.6 billion) as of June 30. The overall average cost basis sits at 15.33 million yen (~102,500) per BTC.
The BTC Yield metric confirms the momentum. Metaplanet reported a strong Bitcoin yield of 6.6% during the quarter. As a result, the firm continues to grow its Bitcoin per share metric, one of the key performance indicators for corporate treasury strategies of this type globally.
For the quarter ended June 30, 2026, Metaplanet achieved a BTC Yield of 6.6%. Source: Metaplanet Metaplanet Ranks Third Behind MicroStrategy and Twenty One Capital
The corporate Bitcoin leaderboard is now clear. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) leads with holdings exceeding 847,000 BTC. Furthermore, Twenty One Capital holds the second spot. Metaplanet now ranks third globally, surpassing other major players, including MARA Holdings.
“Congrats to Metaplanet on reaching ₿43,000 and becoming the #3 corporate Bitcoin treasury in the world,” Michael Saylor wrote on X. He added that Metaplanet is proving the Bitcoin treasury strategy is now genuinely global.
Top 10 Public Bitcoin Treasury Companies. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.net
The company has scaled rapidly since adopting the strategy in 2024. CEO Simon Gerovich has used equity offerings, debt instruments, and options strategies to accumulate BTC. Moreover, the approach helps minimize the shareholder dilution associated with these aggressive corporate purchases.
The balance sheet also remains strong. Total debt and preferred stock represent only about 23% of Bitcoin’s net asset value. As a result, Metaplanet has substantial room to continue accumulating. The move solidifies Japan’s role in the growing global race to adopt Bitcoin by corporations.
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