UFC Fighter Rug Pull

Inverse Cramer Strikes Again With Bullish Bet

Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: UFC fighter is being accused of a rug pull just weeks after almost dying, Jim Cramer laws down his bullish crypto bets, Vine memecoins explode after Musk seeks to bring the app back to life, the DOJ’s Tornado Cash case wobbles, Trump’s crypto task force gets ready to release their first report, crypto crime reaches new high with kidnappings, and so much more

It’s finally Friday - Let’s dive in

Market Snapshot

  • The total crypto market cap fell to approximately $3.96T, down -2.75% on the day

  • Bitcoin traded between $116,000 - $118,000, losing about 0.6–2.25% amid profit-taking, automated selling, and concerns over upcoming regulatory and policy update

  • Several altcoins posted sharp losses, with XRP dropping -10% to near $3 before staging a modest rebound, while some coins like Merlin Chain (MERL) surged nearly +20%

  • Market sentiment was cautious, with traders watching for macroeconomic signals and awaiting new U.S. policy reports expected to impact digital asset regulation

Market Predictions

  • Bettors on Kalshi are predicting on what the US GDP growth in Q2 2025?

  • Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi

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Headline Roundup
The major headlines driving crypto markets

  • Jim Cramer says he loads up Bitcoin because 'America's broke' and the crypto market promptly turns - see interview here

  • BlackRock’s ETHA Ethereum ETF becomes 3rd ever ETF to hit $10B in assets within one year (TB)

  • Ethereum stakers face 9-day wait as stETH loops fall into the red (BW)

  • Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen under fire after sending roughly $140M in XRP to exchanges over seven days (TB)

  • Arizona TikToker sentenced for aiding $17M North Korean IT worker scheme (DC)

  • Ten major fintech and crypto trade associations have urged President Trump to stop big banks from imposing fees (CD)

  • Bank of America says that a number of U.S. banks are preparing to issue their own crypto-linked stablecoins (TD)

  • ‘Every family here is sick,‘ say neighbors of Bitcoin mining facility in Texas (CT)

  • The US government expects to rest its case against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm on Thursday (BW)

  • Physical Bitcoin bar redeemed for $10M after 13 years (TD)

  • Elon Musk said that the X-owned video app 'Vine' is set to return with an AI twist sending the Solana meme coin Vine Coin skyrocketing in value (DC)

  • JPMorgan says crypto inflows have surged to $60 billion year to date amid regulatory push (TB)

  • Satoshi-Era Bitcoin whale moves $469M in BTC after 14 years (DC)

  • DCG-backed Horizen transitions ZEN to ERC-20 token on Base for compliant privacy L3 appchain (TB)

  • DOJ’s Tornado Cash case wobbles after jury hears questionable evidence (TD)

  • ETH unstaking queue hits record high (TD)

Venture Capital

  • Strategy has boosted its Stretch preferred offering from $500M to $2B, pricing shares at $90 with a 9% cumulative dividend (TB)

M&A Announcements

  • Ethereum holding company GameSquare (ticker: GAME) has acquired a CryptoPunk NFT from Superstate founder for $5.15M in preferred shares (TB)

Launches

  • Kraken plans to integrate the INK token and Ink Layer 2 into its existing product suite for its global client base (TB)

  • Circle says it will launch its yield-bearing stablecoin, USYC, on Binance (TD)

  • Franklin Templeton has launched the BENJI platform on at least seven blockchains (CT)

  • deBridge launches Reserve Fund to buy back its DBR token with all protocol revenue (TB)

Regulation

  • Trump’s crypto task force will release its 180-day report on July 30 (DC)

  • Ghana is set to begin licensing cryptocurrency platforms in response to a surge in demand for digital assets (CD)

  • House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) believes the Senate will ultimately opt to pass the House's market structure bill, the CLARITY Act (DC)

Cybersecurity

  • After near escaping death, former UFC fighter Ben Askren promoted a Solana meme coin on his social media on Wednesday, which was "rug pulled" not long after (DC)

  • Two men accused of kidnapping and torturing a Bitcoin trader were granted $1 million bail each, despite facing life sentences (DC)

  • WOO X said it is investigating “a contained incident” impacting an estimated $14M worth of losses (TB)

  • Crypto platform suffers $12M exploit across multiple blockchain networks (CN)

  • Ripple CEO warns of scammers impersonating the firm on YouTube and other social sites amist all time highs (DC)

  • Stellar Blade's social media hacked by cryptocurrency scam posts, now fully restored (EG)

Extra Reads

Chart of the Day

ETHA surpasses $10B in AUM

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