Ten European financial institutions have formally launched RL1, short for Regulated Layer One, as a blockchain cooperative in Luxembourg to build shared infrastructure for regulated financial markets and tokenized assets. According to RL1’s official announcement, the founding members are ABN AMRO, DekaBank, Natixis CIB, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, Cecabank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Chartered Investment, SC Ventures and Seturion. The group said each member has equal decision-making rights over network governance and development. The infrastructure originated from German fintech firm Secure Worldwide Interbank Asset Transfer, or SWIAT, which has now transferred ownership of the network to the cooperative. SWIAT said the platform has processed more than 50 transactions in a live production environment over three years, with a total value exceeding €700 million, or about $808 million. RL1 is described as a private, permissioned network built for institutional use cases including digital money, tokenized bonds, collateral and blockchain settlement. The cooperative said the shared model is designed to reduce fragmentation caused by financial institutions operating separate distributed ledger systems, and added that it is in talks with more institutions, including NatWest, about joining the network.

Seagate Technology used its latest earnings call to argue that demand for high-capacity storage remains stronger than skeptics expect. CEO Dave Mosley said revenue growth in fiscal 2027 will outpace fiscal 2026 and projected full-year growth of 34%. CFO Gianluca Romano added that the company expects both quarterly revenue and gross margin to rise throughout fiscal 2027. Management also said nearline hard drive capacity has already been locked up through long-term supply agreements into 2028, while customers are showing growing interest in planning into 2029. On pricing, Mosley said contracts are typically set for one year, but customers often pay above contracted levels for extra capacity released through yield improvements, supporting a step-by-step rise in pricing. Seagate guided for roughly 57% gross margin and about 50% operating margin in the September quarter, said incremental gross margin is well above 60%, and noted that discounted pricing for early HAMR customers will be gone in that quarter. The company also said its HAMR roadmap remains on schedule, with Mosaic 3 in mass production, Mosaic 4 contributing meaningfully, and Mosaic 5 expected to begin qualification shipments by the end of 2027.

Ten European financial institutions have jointly launched Regulated Layer One, or RL1, a private permissioned blockchain network aimed at regulated financial markets and tokenized assets. The network has been established in Luxembourg as a European cooperative and is already in operation. Founding members are ABN AMRO, Cecabank, Chartered Investment, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, DekaBank, DZ BANK, LBBW, Natixis CIB, SC Ventures, and Seturion. RL1 said each member holds equal decision-making rights over governance and development. The network is built on infrastructure developed by German fintech company Secure Worldwide Interbank Asset Transfer, or SWIAT, which has transferred ownership of the network to the cooperative. SWIAT said the platform processed more than 50 transactions worth over 700 million euros during three years of production use. RL1 is intended for digital currencies, tokenized bonds, collateral, and blockchain-based settlement. The initiative will be led by former SWIAT Managing Director Henning Vollbehr. KfW and L-Bank will continue to support the project, while RL1 is also in talks with additional institutions including NatWest about joining the network.

A wide set of crypto, equity and AI developments shaped the July 27 news cycle. BitMart said it will wind down its exchange in phases, with new registrations, deposits and fresh orders already set to stop and all trading services ending on Aug. 26, 2026, while withdrawals remain open. Around the same time, Odos and Dango each published shutdown timetables, including read-only periods, trading cutoffs and fund withdrawal arrangements. Elsewhere, ChangXin Technology is set to list today at RMB 8.66 per share, with single-lot profit estimates ranging from roughly RMB 12,000 to RMB 20,200 based on different IPO gain benchmarks cited by Chinese media. Robinhood is also in talks with Crypto.com over a prediction-market partnership, according to The Wall Street Journal, and Binance Research said Gen Z is now the largest user group for its equity-linked products, contributing $80 billion in cumulative trading volume. The broader digest also covered Nvidia’s open-weight AI letter, OpenAI and Anthropic’s reported lobbying on open-source models, expected record earnings at SK hynix, Storj Labs’ Chapter 11 filing, a suspected security incident on WEMIX 3.0, and Fidelity’s call for the U.S. Senate to pass the CLARITY Act.

The source lists Binance Red Packet codes for July 4, 2026, along with the in-app claim route and scam warnings. Users need a verified account to redeem through the official app.

Amsterdam-based banking consortium Qivalis onboarded 25 banks from 15 countries, bringing total members to 37. It plans a regulated euro stablecoin in H2 2026 to counter nearly 98% dollar stablecoin market share. Spain leads with five banks; ECB President Lagarde opposes private stablecoins.

Crypto markets and industry headlines moved on several fronts on July 20. Among the top 10 tokens by CEX trading volume, BANK posted the strongest 24-hour gain at 93.81%, while BTC slipped 0.2% and ETH rose 0.42%. OKX’s 24-hour gainers list was led by NAVX, PUMP, and YB, and GMGN’s on-chain meme rankings showed activity centered on Robinhood Chain and BSC tokens. Outside token performance, several non-crypto developments also drew attention. Spain beat Argentina 1:0 after extra time in the World Cup final, claiming its second title since 2010. ChangXin Technology said winning subscribers in its share offering must complete payment on July 20, with funds from offline investors due by 16:00 on the T+2 settlement day and online investors required to ensure enough subscription funds remain in their accounts by day-end. In business and policy-related updates, Trump Media & Technology Group said its paid data product Truth API will go live on Aug. 1, offering banks and algorithmic trading firms real-time access to posts from 10 influential Truth Social accounts, including Donald Trump. South Korea’s KB Financial Group also unveiled a 100 billion won strategic investment fund focused on digital assets and artificial intelligence, while the U.S. CLARITY Act remained stalled in the Senate one year after passing the House.

Crypto markets opened the July 13 cycle with mixed performance across the most-traded tokens on centralized exchanges, while geopolitics and U.S. policy developments drove much of the broader headline flow. Among the top 10 CEX tokens by trading volume, BNB, BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP posted losses over the past 24 hours, while WLD, ZEC and TRX moved higher. LAT led OKX’s 24-hour gainers with a 58.58% jump, followed by AGLD and T. On-chain meme activity tracked by GMGN featured Harris, Boycoin, fubu, HYPNO and SUNNYS. Outside the market screens, Iran’s Strait management authority said the Strait of Hormuz is currently not passable and that permit reviews will resume after conditions stabilize, according to Xinhua. That statement came alongside comments from Iran’s top leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who said Iran would retaliate against the U.S. and Israel, while U.S. Central Command said shipping through the waterway remains open and that Iran does not control the strait. In crypto-specific developments, a U.S. housing bill containing a ban on a Federal Reserve central bank digital currency has taken effect after Donald Trump neither signed nor vetoed it within 10 days. Robinhood Chain reported more than $1 billion in DEX volume in its first week, and ZachXBT alleged market manipulation involving LAB-linked addresses.