Crypto markets saw a dense mix of policy, listing, funding and infrastructure updates over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin miner Ionic Digital is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on July 28, 2026, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declared its registration statement effective.
According to Theenergymag, the company will trade under the ticker IOND. Ionic chose a direct listing rather than a traditional initial public offering, meaning it will not issue new shares or raise proceeds from the transaction. Existing registered shareholders will instead be able to sell their holdings in the public market.
Ionic was originally formed to take over bitcoin mining assets tied to the Celsius estate. It later shifted toward a broader digital infrastructure model built to serve artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads. The company filed its first Form S-1 earlier this month and said it had already raised about $400 million ahead of the listing to support data center construction and its move beyond bitcoin mining.
Armstrong addresses Base community criticism
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded on X to criticism tied to a recent profile picture change and complaints from members of the Base community who said they had not received enough support.
Armstrong said users should not treat his personal X account as investment advice or as a signal on any specific token. He wrote that he posts things he finds funny or interesting online and may not even know whether a given post is connected to a token or project. His posts and profile picture, he said, do not amount to endorsement or a promise.
He added that Base is focused on building financial services infrastructure spanning tokenized stocks, lending protocols, stablecoin payments and meme coin trading. While he supports economic freedom and users’ freedom to trade, anyone using his account as a trading signal is taking that risk on themselves, and that is not what he wants.
On what kind of support Base or Coinbase can offer, Armstrong said many tokens cannot be listed on centralized exchanges for compliance and regulatory reasons. “If you want Jesse or me to pump or shill certain tokens, we’re not going to do that,” he said.
He said Coinbase’s support includes Base Batches in-person events, grants for promising developers, investments through Coinbase Ventures and the Base ecosystem fund, and regular integration of promising Base DeFi protocols into Coinbase products. The post has drawn more than 1.05 million views.
South Korea opens second-phase Digital Asset Basic Act talks
South Korea’s government will hold a forum chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok to formally begin discussions on the second phase of the Digital Asset Basic Act, according to Edaily. Stablecoin regulation is set to be a main focus.
The forum is described as the first stablecoin legislative forum hosted and organized by the government. The government and the ruling Democratic Party plan to push the bill through within this year.
In its 2026 economic growth strategy released on July 14, authorities said they would move ahead with Digital Asset Basic Act legislation in the second half of the year, classify segments of the digital asset industry, establish a conduct framework for businesses and lay the legal groundwork for a formal stablecoin regime.
Grayscale files Worldcoin ETF registration statement
Grayscale has submitted a registration statement to the SEC for a Grayscale Worldcoin ETF, according to The Block. The fund would hold WLD, the native token of World Network, and operate as a passive investment vehicle. Its goal is for the value of each share to reflect the value of the WLD it holds, minus fees and liabilities.
If approved, the ETF would list on Nasdaq. Bank of New York Mellon would serve as transfer agent, and BitGo Bank & Trust would act as custodian.
Russia advances and passes crypto market rules
Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, said a crypto market regulation bill would move through second and third readings, according to Bits.media.
Aksakov said the bill would “combat the illegal use of cryptocurrency” while creating legal room for international settlements. Under the proposal, non-professional investors would need to pass a special test before buying crypto, face an annual cap of 300,000 rubles, trade only through licensed institutions and be limited to the most liquid crypto assets.
The bill had originally been scheduled to take effect on July 1 before being postponed to Sept. 1. The Duma committee had earlier rejected several easing amendments, including proposals to raise buying limits for non-professional investors and allow the use of non-custodial wallets. If approved through the remaining steps, it would still need Federation Council approval and the president’s signature.
Separately, Cointelegraph reported that the State Duma passed bill No. 1194918-8, “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” in its second and third readings on Tuesday. The measure sets rules for domestic crypto asset operations and cross-border trade.
It creates a regulatory framework for exchanges, brokers, asset managers and custodians, while spelling out operating requirements for industry firms. The bill allows crypto assets to be used in foreign trade, though payments for goods and services inside Russia remain banned. Key provisions are expected to take effect on Sept. 1, 2026, with a transition period running until July 1, 2027. The bill still awaits President Vladimir Putin’s signature.
BlackRock leads debt package for Meta data center project
BlackRock is leading an at least $12 billion debt financing package for a new Meta data center project in El Paso, Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported. BlackRock and its infrastructure and private credit arms hold an 80% stake in the project, while Meta owns the remaining 20%. The campus is expected to have roughly 1 gigawatt of capacity.
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are leading the debt issuance and are contacting other potential investors. The structure is similar to Meta’s Louisiana data center project, where Blue Owl holds 80% of the joint venture and Meta holds 20%, with debt financing supporting construction.
Meta has also agreed to lease a large data center project in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, being developed by BlackRock-backed Aligned Data Centers. Over the past year, BlackRock has expanded its AI data center push, including its $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers. BlackRock was also one of the main investors in Meta’s $27 billion private debt financing for the Louisiana data center and bought more than $3 billion of bonds in that deal.
Arcus launches tokenized stocks and perpetuals beta
Arcus has gone live with 24/7 trading and rolled out more than 95 tokenized stocks on Robinhood Chain with zero trading fees, according to The Block. The company also introduced a beta perpetual futures market through its self-custody decentralized trading platform.
Arcus said eligible traders can gain exposure to companies across artificial intelligence, semiconductors, space exploration and quantum computing, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon.
It also launched a waitlist for the beta perpetual futures market, which has already drawn more than 75,000 signups. The platform supports perpetual contracts tied to U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds, commodities and cryptocurrencies, including products linked to SPY ETF, QQQ ETF, GLD ETF, USO ETF, bitcoin, ether, Solana and XRP.
Arcus was founded by Eddie Zhang, and its development team comes from the core team behind dYdX.
Cross-chain bridge exploit triggers exchange response
Midnight Foundation said on X that the Wanchain Cardano BNB bridge suffered a security incident. KuCoin, Kraken, Binance, Bybit, OKX and MEXC took preventive measures to restrict the movement of stolen assets, including freezing related accounts and addresses, blacklisting attacker wallets and suspending NIGHT token deposits and withdrawals.
Exchanges said the incident was an isolated third-party bridge vulnerability and was not related to the Midnight Network mainnet or the NIGHT asset itself.
Spot ETF flows remain positive
According to SoSoValue data, U.S. spot Ether ETFs recorded $38.0886 million in net inflows on July 20 Eastern Time. BlackRock’s ETHA led the day with $34.3111 million in net inflows, bringing its cumulative historical net inflows to $11.348 billion.
Fidelity’s FETH posted $2.8315 million in net inflows, with cumulative inflows reaching $2.131 billion. As of press time, total net assets across spot Ether ETFs stood at $10.295 billion. Their net asset ratio, measured against Ether’s total market capitalization, was 4.48%, and cumulative historical net inflows had reached $11.117 billion.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $227 million in net inflows on July 20 Eastern Time, marking a fifth straight day of positive flows. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $116 million in net inflows, taking its historical cumulative net inflows to $60.606 billion.
ARK Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB brought in $72.7422 million on the day, lifting cumulative net inflows to $1.322 billion. Grayscale’s GBTC saw the largest daily outflow at $45.4001 million, with cumulative historical net outflows reaching $27.377 billion.
As of press time, total net assets in spot Bitcoin ETFs stood at $79.163 billion. The net asset ratio relative to bitcoin’s total market value was 6.04%, and cumulative net inflows had reached $51.579 billion.
Fed pricing
Jin10, citing CME FedWatch, reported that the probability of the Federal Reserve holding rates steady in July stood at 84.5%, while the probability of a cumulative 25-basis-point hike was 15.5%.
For September, the probability of no change fell to 36%. The probability of a cumulative 25-basis-point hike was 55.1%, and the probability of a cumulative 50-basis-point hike was 8.9%.
Nigeria sets up virtual asset coordination framework
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed an executive order aimed at coordinating virtual asset oversight, improving cooperation among financial, tax and capital market authorities, and addressing fragmentation in digital asset regulation.
The order creates a Virtual Assets Committee made up of the heads of Nigeria’s main financial regulators to guide related policy. Nigeria’s tax authorities will update digital asset policy and provide more detail on taxpayer impacts.
Presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga said the order does not create a new regulator or shift powers between agencies. Existing agencies will keep their statutory mandates and independence, and registration requirements will depend on the nature of the activity and the assets involved.
An IMF report released in June said Nigeria has accounted for about 60% of stablecoin inflows into sub-Saharan Africa since 2019. From July 2023 to June 2024, crypto inflows into the country were about $59 billion.
Questions over South Korea’s CBDC pilot checks
South Korea’s financial authorities did not carry out an independent security review during the first phase of the central bank-led CBDC pilot, according to materials cited by Maeil Business. Instead, participating banks conducted their own advance security checks.
Before the project began, only an IT vulnerability self-assessment was conducted for participating banks. That process involved the Korea Financial Security Institute, SK Shields, and self-inspection teams from Woori Bank and NongHyup Bank, creating what critics described as a model of “regulated entities checking themselves.”
The Bank of Korea acknowledged public questions over the security of deposit tokens in its pilot results report and said prior checks had been sufficient. Critics argued that this was still a self-assessment rather than an independent third-party review.
Washington court grants preliminary injunction against Kalshi
The King County Superior Court in Washington approved the state’s amended motion for a preliminary injunction against KalshiEX, LLC on July 20. The court held that Kalshi’s activity constituted illegal conduct under Washington’s gambling law and ruled that the federal Commodity Exchange Act does not preempt state gambling law.
The decision stands out in a broader jurisdictional dispute between state regulators and federally regulated prediction market platforms. The CFTC chair had previously accused states of taking unlawful enforcement action against federally regulated exchanges. The court issued its ruling after reviewing multiple materials, including oral arguments heard on July 10. The case number is 26-2-10264-3 SEA.
Strategy details bitcoin reserve coverage
Strategy’s bitcoin reserves can cover 31 years of dividends based on management calculations, while its dollar reserves can cover 1.8 years of near-term dividend obligations, according to data shared on X by Chaitanya Jain, the company’s head of bitcoin products and investor relations.
An SEC filing showed Strategy held $3.225 billion in dollar reserves, which the company said are intended to pay preferred stock dividends and interest on outstanding debt.
Strategy currently holds 843,775 BTC acquired for about $63.69 billion at an average purchase price of $75,476. The company sold 2.73 million MSTR shares and raised about $264 million in net proceeds. The filing also showed that Strategy did not issue preferred stock, repurchase shares or buy bitcoin during the week. Its most recent disclosed bitcoin purchase was on June 22.
Funding rounds across banking and infrastructure
Augustus, a startup building a federally chartered clearing bank, said it has raised $180 million at a $1 billion valuation. Tiger Global Management led the round, with participation from Hummingbird Ventures, QED Investors and investors including the founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle and Deel.
The company said the funding will help expand its dollar payment infrastructure as stablecoins reshape global finance. Rather than focusing on stablecoin issuance itself, Augustus is targeting correspondent banking. CEO Ferdinand Dabitz said in an interview, “We think the bottleneck in the distribution of financial services is at the clearing bank layer.” He added that traditional clearing systems are “slow, not available 24/7, take two days to settle, and are closed on weekends.”
Separately, stablecoin and digital asset financial infrastructure provider Cordant announced an $8 million seed round, according to Business Wire. The round was co-led by Motive Partners and Oak HC/FT, with participation from Bankless VC, FJ Labs, SignalFire, Quona, Next Stage, Selah Ventures, Flatironx, Nascent Ventures, Silvercircle Ventures and Generative Ventures.
Cordant said the new funding will support additional payment networks and AI automation tools. The company is co-building products with financial institutions across banking, payments, embedded finance, cross-border transactions, stablecoins and digital assets. Latin American digital asset and payments platform Bitso and blockchain infrastructure company Paxos both invested and are also acting as design partners.
Pakistan and India move on policy
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has created a virtual currency investigation unit within the newly launched National Command and Control Center, or NC3, according to Dawn. Its focus is on fighting money laundering and terrorist financing involving virtual assets.
An official overseeing counterterrorism said the unit will work with the newly created Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or PVARA, to investigate crypto-related crime. The official also recommended that the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and the Anti-Narcotics Force create similar units to address the use of crypto assets in cybercrime and drug trafficking.
The FIA is also integrating anti-money laundering functions, border entry and exit monitoring, and investigations into human trafficking and smuggling within NC3, while pushing new rules and staff expansion to shorten case processing times and improve coordination.
In India, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state is advancing work on a draft Digitalization and Exchange of Land Token Assets Act, or DELTA Act.
Fadnavis chaired a related meeting, directed officials to study global laws and best practices, and set up an expert committee including representatives from SEBI, BSE and NSE, as well as other professionals, to build a full legislative framework. Under the proposal, real estate would be tokenized on blockchain and traded fully on-chain. The plan is intended to unlock property value, create new revenue sources and support Maharashtra’s target of reaching $1 trillion in GDP by 2030. If enacted, Maharashtra would become the first Indian state with this type of law.
LSE, Hanwha, SEC enforcement and other corporate updates
The London Stock Exchange plans to launch a standalone overnight trading venue in the first half of 2027, according to The Block. The new platform would operate outside the main market and extend access for investors seeking longer trading hours.
The main market’s regular session would stay at 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The new venue would run from 5:00 p.m. to 7:50 a.m. the next morning, with a 30-minute pause from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. for end-of-day processing. At launch, it is expected to focus on exchange-traded products, including funds tracking U.K. and U.S. equities. CEO Julia Hoggett said the move is mainly intended to meet the needs of retail investors, especially international investors. The exchange ultimately wants extended-hours trading to cover more than 2,600 listed ETPs.
Hanwha Group has become the largest shareholder in U.S.-based real-world asset project Securitize, holding a combined 15.6895 million shares for a 9.6% stake. That puts it ahead of Blockchain Capital at 6% and co-founder Carlos Domingo at 5.4%.
Hanwha holds the stake through its private equity fund, Hanwha Systems subsidiary H Foundation and Hanwha Investment & Securities, with holdings of 5.9%, 3.1% and about 0.6%, respectively. This year, Hanwha Investment & Securities has invested KRW 58 billion in projects including blockchain data platform Xangle, Web3 infrastructure company Kresus and Digital Asset, the operator behind Canton Network. It also added KRW 597.8 billion to its investment in Dunamu, parent company of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, raising its stake to 9.84%.
The SEC also sued Florida resident Zan Shaikh and his company Bright Vision Distribution LLC, which did business as Mining Automatic, accusing them of defrauding investors through a sham crypto mining investment program that raised about $22 million.
The agency said that from June 2023 through May 2025, Shaikh and Mining Automatic promised fixed monthly returns from crypto asset mining operations, even though the mining business could not generate the returns they claimed. According to the complaint, Shaikh and the company made false statements about mining experience, operational capacity, the use of investor funds and the status of the mining business, while explaining delayed payments as an inability to pay returns. The SEC said more than 380 investors were involved.
Bloomberg reported that Venezuelan fintech company Cashea recently completed two funding rounds totaling $100 million. A $60 million Series B in June was led by FinSight Ventures, while a $40 million Series A in March was led by Spice Expeditions and included $20 million in debt from Architect Capital. Several U.S. endowments and Latin American investment firms also joined.
Founded in 2022, Cashea provides buy-now-pay-later services to Venezuelan consumers who have long faced limited access to credit. Users can pay a down payment through the app or by scanning offline and then complete the rest in interest-free installments. The company said it has processed more than 110 million transactions, served more than 10 million accounts and worked with 40,000 merchants. The new funding will be used to expand credit products and support post-disaster reconstruction.
Forbes reported that humanoid robotics startup Humanoid raised a $152 million Series A round at a post-money valuation of $1.35 billion, making it Europe’s first unicorn focused on humanoid robots. Prime Movers Lab led the round, with participation from Schaeffler, Bosch, Taiwan-based Fubon Financial Venture Capital and Aglaé Ventures, among others. Following the round, Humanoid’s cumulative funding reached $270 million.
ChangXin Technology said online investors gave up subscriptions for 6.5862 million shares in its initial public offering. The company priced the offering at RMB 8.66 per share and initially issued 6.688 billion shares, equal to about 10% of total post-offering share capital.
Final strategic placement totaled 1.667 billion shares, and the final online allotment success rate was about 0.47141739%. Online investors paid for 3.845 billion shares and abandoned 6.5862 million shares, while offline investors paid for 2.173 billion shares and abandoned 31,567 shares. The joint lead underwriters took up 6.6178 million shares worth RMB 57.3101 million. Before any greenshoe exercise, issuance costs stood at RMB 281 million.
Meme ranking and reading list
According to GMGN market data, as of 09:30 on July 22, the top five trending ETH tokens over the past 24 hours were ASTEROID, LINK, ZAMA, ADI and 1INCH. On Solana, the top five were Jimothy, USOH, USOH, USOH and ANSEM. On Base, they were BRIAN, JERRY, SOSO, ELSA and RWAGMI.
ChainCatcher also highlighted several feature reads, including pieces on BIP-110 and Bitcoin governance, OpenAI’s revenue and valuation pressure, deleveraging in the South Korean stock market, payment rails and stablecoins, maker commentary on potential BTC bottom signals, and Wall Street reactions to Kimi K3 and AI infrastructure demand.