South Korea’s crypto regulatory agenda moved to the front of the market on July 20. Regulators have started a sanctions process against Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, while the Financial Services Commission said it will add AI-based monitoring tools to virtual asset oversight after completing about 40 unfair-trading investigations over the past two years and referring or reporting more than 30 cases to judicial authorities.
U.S. agencies miss GENIUS Act deadline for final stablecoin rules
According to The Block, U.S. regulators failed to publish the final rules needed to implement the federal stablecoin framework within the one-year period required by the GENIUS Act.
President Donald Trump signed the act into law on July 18, 2025. It required the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the U.S. Treasury, and state stablecoin regulators to complete supporting rules by July 18, 2026. As of the afternoon of July 18 local time, the main rule packages from the OCC, FDIC, NCUA, and Treasury were still at the proposal stage, while some rules tied to the Federal Reserve and anti-money laundering oversight were still open for public comment.
The report said the law does not provide for an automatic extension if agencies miss the deadline. It also does not suspend the statutory requirements or delay the broader framework from taking effect.
The OCC’s consolidated implementation proposal covers reserve assets, capital, liquidity, custody, risk controls, and reporting requirements. The FDIC proposal deals with reserves, redemption, custody, and the deposit insurance treatment of stablecoin reserves. The NCUA issued separate proposals in February and May on licensing and operational risk controls, but the consultation for the later proposal closed only one day before the deadline, leaving no realistic path to final adoption in time. The Block said that means some of the key rules needed for the framework to function will only be finalized after the deadline has passed.
David Sacks criticizes use of regulatory uncertainty against open-source AI
David Sacks, chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, wrote on X that using regulatory uncertainty as a competitive weapon is “completely unacceptable.” He said regulatory decisions should rest on facts, logic, and evidence, not on manufactured fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
Sacks said he was unsure whether venture capitalist and AI policy researcher Dean Ball was acknowledging a strategy of regulatory capture or merely predicting it. Either way, he said, it should not be acceptable to push regulated companies away from Chinese open-source models by encouraging agencies to issue soft-law warnings that trigger market panic.
He said Ball’s view appeared to be that regulators would not need to ban Chinese open-source models directly. In Sacks’ description, agencies could instead issue warnings that create enough doubt and uncertainty to shape business decisions, even if the reasons are not especially strong. Sacks said any regulatory action must be well grounded and should not rely on artificially manufactured doubt as a substitute for policy.
He added that bypassing open debate in this way would weaken the rule of law and could open the door to future regulatory abuse against any company or individual. Sacks also said AI policy is at a turning point and argued that leading closed-source labs, which already form a duopoly at the revenue level for AI models, are trying to use government power to remove open-source competitors. He called on companies and developers in Silicon Valley that still support open competition to say so publicly.
Doctor Profit closes crypto shorts and resumes spot BTC buying
Crypto trader Doctor Profit said he has closed all of his cryptocurrency short positions. That includes a Bitcoin short opened in the $115,000 to $125,000 range, another BTC short opened between $79,000 and $82,000, and more than 100 altcoin shorts established over recent months. He said those positions produced large profits.
He also said he bought spot Bitcoin again at $64,000, marking his first long-term allocation since September 2025. His plan is to deploy 5% of planned capital each day to buy spot BTC when the asset trades between $54,000 and $64,000, for as long as 20 days. If the price moves closer to $54,000, he said he will increase the pace of buying.
Doctor Profit described the current market as showing clear herd behavior. Investors who were previously bullish at higher prices and looking for $150,000 BTC are now broadly waiting for a drop to $40,000 to $50,000 and are treating September or October as the bottom of the four-year cycle. He said markets do not always move in line with crowded expectations around the same price targets and timing, which is why he chose to build positions earlier. He also said the bottom in this cycle may arrive earlier than the market expects.
He cited regulatory clarity, tokenization infrastructure, and institutional adoption as structural reasons behind the shift back to buying. He also withdrew his earlier forecast that Bitcoin would fall to $40,000 to $50,000. At the same time, he said he is keeping all of his S&P 500 short positions because crypto markets have already repriced significantly while U.S. equities still look expensive.
South Korea opens sanctions procedure against Dunamu
Yonhap reported that South Korean financial regulators have sent an inspection report to Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, and opened a sanctions process. The move follows a hacking incident involving 44.5 billion won.
Since the incident, the Financial Supervisory Service has been examining whether the company violated the Virtual Asset User Protection Act. The report noted, however, that there is currently no direct penalty provision for hacks or computer system failures, so it remains unclear whether the case will lead to severe disciplinary action.
The FSS plans to notify the company in advance of a sanctions opinion letter after hearing its explanation. That document will include the level of sanctions under consideration. Final measures will then be decided through resolutions by the sanctions review committee, the Securities and Futures Commission, and the Financial Services Commission.
Two separate Coinglass liquidation snapshots were reported
One Coinglass update showed $83.9485 million in liquidations across the market over the past 24 hours, including $26.71 million in long liquidations and $57.2385 million in shorts. Bitcoin accounted for $3.8368 million in long liquidations and $14.4067 million in shorts, while Ether accounted for $4.5691 million in longs and $17.5008 million in shorts. A total of 50,348 traders were liquidated, and the largest single liquidation order took place on Binance’s ETHUSD_PERP contract at $1.764 million.
A later Coinglass snapshot put 24-hour liquidations at $72.3283 million, with $29.2017 million from longs and $43.1266 million from shorts. Bitcoin long liquidations came to $1.1837 million and short liquidations to $12.6716 million. Ether long liquidations were $3.8755 million and short liquidations were $9.9417 million. In that dataset, 49,355 traders were liquidated, and the largest single liquidation order again appeared on Binance ETHUSD_PERP at $1.764 million.
Four Bitcoin mining pools control more than 70% of hashrate
Data showed that as of June 23, 2026, Foundry Digital, AntPool, ViaBTC, and F2Pool together controlled more than 70% of the Bitcoin network’s hashrate, at roughly 31%, 18%, 13%, and 10% respectively.
Foundry Digital is a U.S. mining pool backed by Digital Currency Group and mainly serves large institutions and publicly listed mining companies. D-Central gave Bitcoin a Nakamoto coefficient of 3 in the first half of 2026, meaning only three mining pools would be needed to exceed half of block production. The report also said ViaBTC has faced tighter regulatory scrutiny in 2026, prompting some miners to shift to alternative pools such as EMCD.
Broadridge survey points to tokenization as a strategic priority
CoinDesk reported that fintech services firm Broadridge surveyed 200 North American financial services executives and found that 84% view tokenization as important to their business. The result suggests Wall Street is moving beyond blockchain experiments and preparing to fold tokenized assets into day-to-day market infrastructure.
The survey found that 68% of respondents believe tokenization will at least partly reshape financial markets over the next three to five years. Nearly one-third plan to increase investment in tokenization projects by 26% to 50% or more in the next two years. Another 92% expect digital assets and traditional assets to coexist for the foreseeable future, while 69% plan to integrate tokenization into existing infrastructure rather than build entirely native onchain systems.
South Korea releases roadmap for won internationalization
ETNews reported that the South Korean government has released a roadmap for won internationalization aimed at shifting the currency from a regulated currency toward a freely convertible one and building an offshore won settlement network.
Under the plan, the Bank of Korea will launch an “offshore won settlement network,” a provisional name for the project, with a pilot expected in September this year and a formal launch in January next year. South Korea also plans to build digital-asset payment infrastructure to support the issuance, distribution, and trading of won-denominated stablecoins. A pilot program is scheduled for next year to advance government bond tokenization linked to the Bank of Korea’s wholesale CBDC.
South Korea will also formally join Agora, the cross-border digital payments project led by the Bank for International Settlements and involving eight central banks.
Base meme coin BRIAN slumps after Brian Armstrong changes profile image
The Defiant reported that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong changed his X profile image to a newly purchased CryptoPunk. The Base meme coin BRIAN, which had earlier rallied on attention tied to Armstrong’s profile picture activity, then fell sharply.
Over the past 24 hours, the token’s market capitalization dropped about 86% to roughly $1.5 million. During the same period, trading volume across around 30 Uniswap pools reached about $13.2 million, while total liquidity stood near $561,000.
The report said Armstrong changed his X profile image on July 16 to the “Coinbase Man” character associated with BRIAN and posted, “New profile photo - who dis.” The market briefly interpreted that as a sign of attention toward the token, pushing BRIAN sharply higher. The report stressed that BRIAN is a community-created token, Armstrong is not the issuer, and he has not claimed any official tie to it.
Visa hires for senior stablecoin role in New York
According to a post from GSR head of strategic communications Frank Chaparro, Visa is hiring a “Sr Director, Stablecoin Labs” in New York with compensation of as much as $400,900 a year, plus bonus and equity incentives.
The job listing says the role will be responsible for Visa’s Web3 and stablecoin product roadmap, exploring new commercial use cases and helping plan the company’s next generation of stablecoin payment products. Chaparro said the posting shows stablecoins are becoming a core priority in global payments.
Market and onchain data: BTC turnover, Hyperliquid whale positions, Korean exchange volume
CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost said data suggests Bitcoin is building an important support zone between $59,000 and $70,000, one of the most heavily defended price regions in its history. About 50% of the total BTC supply has now changed hands above $59,000. If coins considered permanently lost are excluded, that share would rise further. Darkfost said short-term holders have been the main force behind the turnover, while market behavior is splitting between sellers and buyers.
Coinglass data showed whales on Hyperliquid currently hold $5.705 billion in positions. Long positions total $2.8 billion, or 49.08%, while shorts total $2.905 billion, or 50.92%. Unrealized PnL on longs stands at -$54.4536 million and shorts at -$35.648 million. One whale address, 0x66f8..a9, opened a 40x isolated BTC long at $63,957.5 and is currently showing unrealized profit of $1.3193 million.
Digital Asset reported that weekly trading volume across South Korea’s five largest digital asset exchanges fell to about 8.06 trillion won for the period from 2 p.m. on July 9 to 2 p.m. on July 16, extending the decline from the previous week and marking the lowest level since May 2023. The same metric had moved down in sequence from 17.7 trillion won on June 5–12 to 15.4 trillion won, 14.6 trillion won, 13.4 trillion won, and 9.97 trillion won before dropping again to 8.06 trillion won.
Market-share rankings were unchanged. Upbit remained first with 63.57%, down 0.63 percentage point from the prior week. Bithumb stood at 29.18%, Coinone at 6.41%, and Korbit and Gopax at 0.76% and 0.07% respectively.
Tokenized stocks still represent a small share of DeFi
The Defiant reported, citing Token Terminal data, that onchain activity and lending use for tokenized stocks are rising, though the sector still makes up a small part of the broader DeFi market.
Onchain spot DEX trading volume in tokenized stocks reached $1.8 billion over the last 90 days, while deposits in lending markets were about $23 million. Trading was concentrated on BNB Chain and Solana, which accounted for 47.3% and 45.5% of the 90-day total respectively. By asset, tokens tracking QQQ and SPY represented 40.5% and 40.4% of total volume.
On the lending side, xStocks held 86.5% of issuer share, Solana accounted for 85.5% of chain share, and Kamino held 82.6% of protocol share. The report noted that, compared with Uniswap’s monthly trading volume of about $45 billion and xStocks TVL of around $330 million, tokenized stocks remain small both in trading and collateral use.
Ostium says trader collateral and open positions were not affected by attack
Ostium said in an incident update that its liquidity provider treasury was attacked on July 15, leading to a loss of 23,752,746 USDC. According to the project’s preliminary investigation, the attacker compromised offchain infrastructure used to supply price data to the protocol and submitted disguised malicious price reports. The attacker then opened and closed multiple large positions quickly to extract artificial profits from the treasury.
Ostium said trader collateral is stored in separate isolated smart contracts and was not affected. All trading positions remain open. The team paused trading and froze all trading contracts within 60 minutes of the first attack transaction.
The protocol said it is working with Mandiant, zeroShadow, Collisionless, SEAL 911, and law enforcement, while also coordinating with trading venues, bridge contracts, and stablecoin issuers. The engineering team is focused on repairing and reinforcing the relevant infrastructure to support a safe return to trading. Ostium said it will give at least 24 hours’ notice before unfreezing trading contracts. Once trading resumes, existing positions will be marked using the reopening price, without reflecting price moves during the pause. Supporting affected liquidity providers and restoring trading safely remain the priority.
Analyst views center on $66,000 and $69,000 levels
Glassnode chief research analyst CryptoVizArt wrote that a heatmap of short-term holder cost-basis distribution shows fresh coin transfer to new buyers in the $62,000 to $65,000 range during Bitcoin’s rebound from $57,000.
He said the structure cuts both ways. On one side, buyers have been accumulating during the move up, which could create a new cost-basis support and allow Bitcoin to test $66,000 and higher. On the other, much of the latest accumulation arrived late in a local rebound. If Bitcoin cannot break above $66,000 in a convincing way, the risk of a temporary top rises. He described $66,000 as the key short-term level separating those two outcomes.
In another note, CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost said Bitcoin’s bear market has lasted about nine months and has affected both short-term and long-term holders. The cost basis of short-term holders has now moved below that of long-term holders and stayed there for three days, triggering what he called a signal that the bear market may be nearing its end.
Darkfost said the long-term holder cost basis used in that calculation excludes BTC that has been held for more than seven years in order to better reflect economically active long-term holdings. He added that the signal does not mean the bear market has ended immediately or that a final bottom has been confirmed. Instead, it suggests the market may be entering the last stage of the bear phase, a period in which dollar-cost averaging may make more sense. If the short-term holder cost basis later crosses back above the long-term holder cost basis, that would serve as confirmation that a bull phase has begun and could be used as a cue to stop DCA. He said the short-term holder cost basis has now fallen from $112,500 to $69,000.
Polymarket bet, quantum-vulnerable BTC recovery, and BIP 110 debate
Onchain sleuth Specter said an unidentified entity withdrew 31 BTC worth $1.98 million from Wasabi Mixer minutes earlier, bridged the funds to Ethereum, and converted them into 1,059 ETH. The wallet then created a new Polymarket account called “yamal19” and deposited the funds there. So far, the account has bought $1.16 million worth of YES shares on “Spain will win the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”
Project Eleven introduced a new zero-knowledge proof system that offers a recovery path for quantum-vulnerable Bitcoin targeted by the proposed BIP-361 freeze, including coins held by Satoshi Nakamoto. The design relies on the idea that quantum computers may be able to break elliptic-curve signatures but not the one-way hashes used in modern wallet key derivation, allowing the real owner with seed material to prove control. Benchmark tests showed the Project Eleven prototype is significantly faster than earlier proposals, though it remains unaudited and unfinished. The system would also require a controversial change to blockchain rules before it could protect existing BTC onchain.
Michael Saylor wrote on X that many Bitcoin supporters he respects back the BIP 110 proposal and that he understands and shares their desire to protect Bitcoin, but he believes the proposed solution is “more dangerous than the problem itself.” He said Bitcoin needs defenders of network neutrality and added that he will present “110 reasons” why Bitcoin must preserve neutrality.
South Korea’s FSC says it has handled more than 30 market manipulation cases in two years
KBS reported that South Korea’s Financial Services Commission released an update on virtual asset market oversight. In the two years since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect, authorities have completed about 40 unfair-trading investigations in virtual assets and referred or reported more than 30 cases to judicial authorities, with a focus on short-term manipulation and pump-and-dump activity.
The FSC said it will strengthen market surveillance by building an AI-based virtual asset oversight system. Planned functions include real-time market monitoring, second-level analysis of price manipulation, and automated identification of suspicious accounts and trading ranges.
Meme rankings and other reading items
According to GMGN market data as of 09:30 on July 20, the top five trending ETH tokens over the last 24 hours were ADI, LINK, ASTEROID, ZAMA, and FIFA. On Solana, the top five were Jimothy, Agamemnon, ANSEM, nice, and MrSue. On Base, the top five were BRIAN, JERRY, SOSO, COBIE, and ELSA.
The original roundup also highlighted several feature reads. One was an interview with CZ, who said traditional finance, onchain finance, and trading infrastructure will ultimately merge into one system rather than remain separate. Another was a conversation with an a16z partner on whether large language models have network effects and on the distinction between tasks and jobs. A third piece discussed whether the sharp selloff in technology stocks is nearing its end, covering factor unwinds, market breadth, valuations, and cross-asset correlations.