JOON HYOUNG LEE

US House Financial Services Panel to Hold July 17 Hearing on Clarity Act

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on how the Clarity Act could affect the financial industry. The panel will convene an in-person hearing at 11 p.m. Korea time on July 17 under the theme, “The Future of Finance and Innov

DeepSeek Seeks Shanghai STAR Market Listing by Second Quarter of 2027, Targets $71 Billion Valuation

Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek is pursuing a listing on Shanghai's STAR Market as early as the second quarter of 2027. The Wall Street Journal reported on July 15, citing multiple people familiar with the matter, that DeepSeek has b

[Breaking] Minimum Order Size for Single-Stock Leverage Raised to 20 Lots From 1

Binance Lists 3 ETF-Linked Perpetual Futures With Up to 25x Leverage

Binance, the global cryptocurrency exchange, is listing three perpetual futures contracts tied to the prices of US exchange-traded funds. BlockBeats reported on July 16 that Binance would launch three TradFi-based perpetual futures products: MUUUSDT,

Volvo Weighs Blockchain Adoption to Optimize Supply Chain

Volvo is considering adopting blockchain technology for supply chain management. Cointelegraph reported on July 16 that Ivan Branco, Volvo Group's head of information management, AI and data analytics, said in a recent interview with the Cardano Foun

Iotrust to Launch Card-Sized D'CENT S Cold Wallet, First New Product in 8 Years

South Korean cold-wallet maker Iotrust is set to launch its first new product in eight years. The company said July 14 that it had opened a teaser page for a preview of D'CENT S, a card-type cold wallet. The product is scheduled for an official relea

MARA Pursues 2-Gigawatt AI Campus in Texas; Shares Jump 14%

MARA Holdings is moving to build a large artificial intelligence infrastructure project in Texas. The company said July 9 it signed an agreement with HIF USA to acquire a 1,200-acre powered site in the state. The site is slated to be developed into a

Temasek Says It Has No Direct Crypto Investments, Plans to Raise AI Exposure

Singapore state investor Temasek said it plans to focus on artificial intelligence investments rather than cryptocurrencies. Nadim Hamiyeh, president of global investments at Temasek, told CNBC on July 8 that the firm currently has no direct investme

Aave Labs Launches Stable Vaults for Institutional Stablecoin Yield

Aave Labs, the developer of the Aave decentralized finance protocol, has launched Stable Vaults, a stablecoin yield infrastructure product for institutions. The company said on July 9 that Stable Vaults is designed to help exchanges, fintech companie

CFTC Chair Urges Congress to Pass Clarity Act, Says Bill ‘Has to Get Done’

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig urged Congress to pass the crypto market structure bill known as the Clarity Act. The Block reported on July 9 that Selig, in a recent interview with Fox Business, said the bill “has to get don

US Initial Jobless Claims at 215,000, Slightly Below Forecast

US initial jobless claims came in slightly below market expectations last week. The Labor Department said July 9 that initial jobless claims totaled 215,000 last week. That was 3,000 below economists’ forecast of 218,000 and 2,000 lower than the prio

Sony Bank Moves to Issue Dollar Stablecoin in US After OCC Conditional Approval

Sony Bank, a unit of Sony Financial Group, is moving to issue a dollar stablecoin in the US. Cointelegraph reported on July 9 that Sony Financial Group said in a July 6 filing that Sony Bank had received conditional approval from the Office of the Co

South Korea Legislative Research Service Flags Risk of Legal Disputes Ahead of Crypto Tax

South Korea’s National Assembly Research Service said legal disputes could arise when taxation of virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies, takes effect in earnest next year. The legislative research body recently submitted a written response on vi

Swift Nears Launch of In-House Blockchain With 17 Banks

Swift is nearing the launch of its in-house blockchain, with 17 global banks set to participate. Swift said on July 9 that its blockchain-based ledger is ready for pilot testing. Financial institutions in the initial rollout will be able to use token

SMBC Nikko Says BOJ May Deliver Another Rate Hike in October

SMBC Nikko Securities said the Bank of Japan may raise interest rates again in October. Citing the outcome of a meeting of BOJ branch managers, SMBC Nikko economist Yoshimasa Maruyama said on July 9 that the central bank still appears to be on track

Bitcoin Break Above $64,000 Could Trigger $689 Million in Short Liquidations on Major Exchanges

Bitcoin's rise above $64,000 could trigger $689 million of short liquidations across major exchanges. BlockBeats reported on July 9, citing CoinGlass data, that a break above $64,000 could force the liquidation of $689 million in short positions on m

KRWQ Lists on Grow, Enabling Won-Based Investment Access to SpaceX

KRWQ, a won-pegged stablecoin, has been listed on tokenized asset platform Grow. KRWQ announced on its official X account on July 8 that the token had been listed on Grow. The company said users can gain on-chain investment exposure to OpenAI, Anthro

Robinhood CEO Sells 375,000 Shares, Cashes Out $43.56 Million

Robinhood Markets Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev has recently sold a large chunk of his holdings in the company. BlockBeats reported on July 9 that Tenev sold 375,000 Robinhood shares from July 6 through recent days. The shares were sold at

Nvidia to Develop Open-Source AI Models for Robots With Hugging Face

Nvidia is teaming up with Hugging Face, a global open-source artificial intelligence platform, to develop AI models for robots. BlockBeats reported on July 9 that Nvidia had announced a joint effort with Hugging Face to build open-source AI models ta

Iran Says It Will Close Strait of Hormuz if US Launches More Airstrikes

Iran said it would close the Strait of Hormuz if it comes under further attack by the US. Walter Bloomberg reported on July 8 that Iran would again shut the Strait of Hormuz if the US carries out additional airstrikes. Tehran also said it would respo

Paradigm Raises $1.2 Billion Fund to Expand Into AI

Paradigm, a crypto-focused venture capital firm, has raised a new $1.2 billion fund to expand its investments in artificial intelligence. Bloomberg reported on July 8 that the firm had completed fundraising for its third fund. Paradigm plans to use t

Trump Says Iran Could Be Hit ‘Hard’ Tonight, Nuclear Program May Be Dismantled Without Talks

President Donald Trump said the US could dismantle Iran’s nuclear weapons capability without separate negotiations. Reuters reported that Trump made the remarks on July 8 at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Turkey. “Maybe we’ll hit them

Kalshi Appeals After New York Court Denies Bid to Halt State Enforcement

Global prediction-market platform Kalshi filed an appeal shortly after a federal court in New York denied its request for a preliminary injunction against state regulators. Cointelegraph reported on July 8 that Kalshi submitted a notice of appeal to

BNB Chain to Develop AI Agent-Focused Layer 1, Plans Mainnet Launch Next Year

BNB Chain is developing a Layer 1 blockchain tailored for trading by artificial intelligence agents. The Block reported on July 8 that BNB Chain had unveiled its technology roadmap for the second half of 2026. The centerpiece of the roadmap is a new

Strategy Boosts Cash Reserves 13% in Three Months to $2.55 Billion

Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury company, increased its cash reserves by 13% over the past three months. Phong Le, the company’s chief executive officer, wrote on X on July 8 that Strategy increased its dollar reserves over th

OKX Steps Up EU Expansion With MiFID License, Eyes Next-Generation Digital Market

Global cryptocurrency exchange OKX is launching financial instrument trading services in the European Union. OKX founder Xu Mingxing wrote on X on July 8 that the company will offer European users cryptocurrency, commodities and equity derivatives se

Bitget Tokenized Stock AUM Tops $100 Million, Cumulative Volume Nears $700 Million

Bitget's assets under management for tokenized stocks have surpassed $100 million. BlockBeats reported on July 8 that Bitget announced the milestone about a month after launching trading in tokenized stocks through its altoken, or rToken, service. Th

SpaceX Moves $88 in Bitcoin in First Transfer in Six Months

SpaceX, the space company led by Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, transferred some of its Bitcoin holdings for the first time in six months. Odaily reported on July 8 that SpaceX moved $88 worth of Bitcoin in what is believed to have been a t

RBI Reaffirms Near-Ban Stance on Crypto as India Tax Authorities Warn of Evasion Risk

The Reserve Bank of India has reaffirmed its longstanding view that cryptocurrencies should face regulation amounting to a near ban. Reuters reported on July 8, citing Indian government documents it obtained, that the RBI recently held internal discu

OKX Launches DATA Trade-to-Earn Campaign With 1 Million Token Rewards

Global cryptocurrency exchange OKX is launching a trading rewards campaign for DATA, an artificial intelligence data infrastructure project formerly known as Story. OKX announced on July 7 that it will run the DATA Trade to Earn campaign through July