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France’s National Gaming Authority, or ANJ, announced it will block domestic access to the Polymarket website, The Straits Times reported. The move follows France’s ban on French accounts using the platform in November 2024. ANJ said Polymarket’s continued provision of services to French users amounts to advertising for an unlicensed gambling site. The authority said advertising for unlicensed gambling sites is a criminal offense and can carry fines of up to €100,000. While France allows sports betting, it restricts access to online prediction market platforms such as Polymarket along with Germany, Italy and Spain.

CoinMarketCap’s in-house crypto fear and greed index came in at 33, unchanged from yesterday, indicating that fear persisted. The index signals extreme fear as it moves closer to zero and extreme optimism as it approaches 100. CoinMarketCap calculates the index based on price moves among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, market volatility, derivatives-market indicators such as the put-to-call ratio, the stablecoin supply ratio, and CoinMarketCap’s own search data.

Stablecoin issuer Paxos announced it has joined the Governance Council of Robinhood Chain. Paxos said, "institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure starts with trusted governance," and added it was pleased to take part as a member of Robinhood Chain's Governance Council.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu signed an executive order to regulate the virtual asset industry and crack down on unregistered operators, establishing a central bank-led Virtual Asset Council that took effect immediately. The government said the move is intended to unify a fragmented regulatory system and prevent fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. The Virtual Asset Council will oversee policymaking and inter-agency coordination, while the Virtual Asset Office within the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will handle working-level operations. Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (NSEC) will oversee security-type virtual assets, while the CBN will have jurisdiction over payment, settlement and custody services for non-security virtual assets. The central bank also plans to introduce a regulatory sandbox for virtual asset and blockchain services, and the tax authority plans to develop virtual asset tax policy. The government directed the Virtual Asset Council to prepare detailed implementation measures within 30 days.

According to CME FedWatch, the probability that the Federal Reserve will leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting stands at 85.6%, while the probability of a 25-basis-point hike is 14.4%.

An anonymous whale beginning with 0x8Fa4E sold 30,000 ETH, worth about $55 million, through Galaxy Digital OTC, according to Onchain Lens. The address then swapped the 30,000 ETH for 55 million USDC and deposited the full amount to Coinbase.

Numerai announced it bought an additional $1.2 million worth of its NMR token on the market, bringing its cumulative NMR buybacks over the past year to $3.2 million. The company said the latest buyback is aimed at strengthening the NMR staking ecosystem and improving the performance of the platform’s AI-based prediction models. Numerai added that the number of active accounts has more than doubled since it first announced a buyback in July last year, while assets under management have risen to around $700 million from about $560 million at the end of last year.

Listed company Farmhouse (ticker: FMHS) said it bought an additional one Bitcoin, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 12.209 BTC.

Silicon Valley angel investor Jason Calacanis said Bitcoin has a strategic problem, arguing its biggest challenge is not the asset itself but the growing influence of Strategy and Michael Saylor, which he said is creating confusion, according to U.Today.

Bank of America has appointed Sonali Theisen and Kevin Milsom to lead its cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence businesses, respectively, Bloomberg reported. Theisen will oversee stablecoins, deposit tokens, custody and crypto payments, while Milsom will be responsible for applying AI across the bank’s markets business.

The three major U.S. stock indices closed lower today. - S&P 500: -1.01% - Nasdaq: -1.40% - Dow Jones: -0.77%

FTX plans to distribute about $900 million more to creditors later this month, Cointelegraph reported. Eligible recipients are expected to receive the funds within three business days.

Cardano developer Input Output announced it will transfer key infrastructure responsibilities to outside specialist teams as part of its decentralization push, CoinDesk reported. Input Output said it plans to reduce reliance on the in-house developer by handing control of core blockchain infrastructure to external teams, describing the move as the next stage of Cardano’s decentralization. The handoff includes the Haskell node, the Plutus smart contract platform, the Daedalus wallet, Hydra scaling technology and developer relations. Se7en Labs, a developer specializing in Solana blockchain infrastructure, and Teragone, a software development and research team leading work on Mithril, Cardano’s staking-based signature scheme, will take over the responsibilities. The transition is set to begin in August and continue through 2027.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $64,000. BTC is trading at $64,015.53 on the Binance USDT market.

Glassnode said sentiment in the Bitcoin options market is turning positive. The report said Bitcoin’s rebound pushed the volatility index DVOL down to 40 from 48, suggesting some of the fear premium built up during the sharp market selloff in June has eased. It added that volatility remains above the lows seen in May, indicating market uncertainty has moderated but has not fully disappeared. The BTC options put/call ratio by open interest also fell to around 0.59, the lowest level in the past six months, which Glassnode said suggests traders have sharply reduced downside hedging through put options and are rebuilding positions for further upside. Glassnode said the shifts signal options-market sentiment is improving in a bullish direction.

Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said on a YouTube broadcast that Ethereum could rise to $250,000 over time, adding he was not specifically endorsing that exact price target but still sees substantial upside for the asset. Lee also cited the late former Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger’s view that major money is made through patience rather than buying and selling. He added many investors still underestimate cryptocurrency’s role in an AI-driven economy, and said Ethereum could serve as the payment layer for the future financial system. Lee said he believes crypto infrastructure will play a key role in supporting digital assets and AI-powered commerce.

Trezor CCO Danny Sanders pushed back on on-chain analyst ZachXBT’s claim that hardware wallets are useless, Cointelegraph reported. In an interview, Sanders said a dedicated iPhone setup may suit experienced users, but an iPhone has a broader attack surface. Because of that, Sanders emphasized hardware wallets offer a stronger form of self-custody for general users.

A wallet believed to be linked to Lombard Finance transferred 750 BTC worth about $47.8 million to Galaxy Digital, in what was described as likely being related to an OTC trade.

HSBC has become the first company to receive approval from the Bank of England to launch a digital asset platform within the digital securities sandbox, Cointelegraph reported. The approval allows HSBC to support the issuance and settlement of tokenized bonds.

U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who is seen as crypto-friendly, said the CLARITY Act would provide regulatory certainty for developers, protections for investors and stability for the cryptocurrency market, Cointelegraph reported.

RWA perpetual trading volume reached a record $110 billion in June, up 28% from the previous month, Cointelegraph reported, citing CryptoRank data. Stock tokens were described as the fastest-growing segment in DeFi and as driving the surge.

An early Lido investor, or possibly an institution, transferred 4.3 million LDO worth $1.61 million to Kraken about one hour ago after holding the tokens for five and a half years, EmberCN reported. The address received an investment allocation of 5 million LDO in December 2020. Those tokens were once worth $30 million at the 2021 peak, but are now worth just $1.88 million. Still, the estimated purchase price was $0.0085 per token, suggesting a gain of more than 40x even at the current price.

Ether.fi, an on-chain digital asset management platform, announced the launch of a slashing coverage program with decentralized insurance protocol Nexus Mutual that provides up to 15,000 ETH in protection for validator losses from slashing, according to Decrypt. The company described it as the crypto industry’s largest ETH slashing insurance program. Ether.fi said it has continued to strengthen infrastructure, risk management, and operational security as institutional and retail users have grown rapidly, and added that it has established protections against extreme slashing risks as one of Ethereum’s largest validator operators. Ether.fi CEO Mike Silagadze said the company has continued investing in security and staking infrastructure based on its belief that the safest protocol will ultimately win. Nexus Mutual founder Hugh Karp called the slashing cover of up to 15,000 ETH a historic milestone.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the trajectory of gold ETFs over the past 22 years may be the closest comparable case for gauging how spot Bitcoin ETFs could evolve. He explained that both gold and Bitcoin are stores of value that do not generate cash flow, meaning investor sentiment drives prices more than corporate earnings or interest rates, unlike stocks or bonds. Balchunas added that SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), a spot gold ETF, once became the world’s largest ETF before going through about eight years of weakness and later recovering. He said spot Bitcoin ETFs may likewise go through repeated sharp rallies and steep pullbacks that test investors’ patience, while noting that gold ETFs have gone on to surpass previous highs over successive cycles, suggesting spot Bitcoin ETFs could follow a similar long-term pattern.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Republican, said the CLARITY Act, a virtual asset market structure bill, could carry historical significance comparable to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, according to an opinion piece published by U.S. venture capital firm a16z. McHenry said the United States is at a crossroads over whether it will retain its position as a global technology and financial hub or cede leadership to rival countries. He said the CLARITY Act aims to establish a framework that supports innovation in new technologies alongside consumer protection and has bipartisan backing. He argued U.S. financial regulation after the 2008 financial crisis focused on responding to past crises while showing less urgency in building systems for future technological innovation. In that context, McHenry said the CLARITY Act could become the first major financial reform in about 30 years aimed at building the financial system of the future. McHenry added the industry is not rejecting regulation but wants clear rules. If passed, the bill would provide regulatory clarity for the digital asset industry while strengthening investor protection and the ability to combat crime, he said. He also said the CLARITY Act is needed to help preserve U.S. technological competitiveness, as capital and innovation move to countries with clear regulations.