BMO said it will work with CME Group and Google Cloud on a blockchain-based tokenized cash platform designed for real-time margin and collateral settlement, with regulated access expected after approval in the second half of 2026.

Crypto primary-market activity picked up sharply in the week of July 13 to July 19, with 17 disclosed blockchain funding deals worth more than $812 million, according to PANews. Capital continued to cluster around a smaller number of larger rounds, a trend also visible in first-half 2026 data from Tiger Research and RootData, which showed $13.3 billion in crypto capital inflows across 435 rounds, down 78% from the 1,978-round peak in 2022. The week’s largest deal came from Crypto.com, which said it received a $400 million strategic investment from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation, marking the exchange’s first institutional funding round in its 10-year history. Beyond CeFi, stablecoin payments and financial infrastructure remained a major draw, with deals for Cyclops, Pact Labs, Flex and Velocity. PANews also highlighted continued momentum in AI-linked markets, from DGrid AI in Web3 infrastructure to large non-crypto rounds such as Fireworks, Walden Robotics and LimX Dynamics, as investors kept backing AI compute, developer platforms and embodied intelligence commercialization.

BMO Capital raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 from $435 and kept its outperform rating on the stock, according to a July 17 note cited by BlockBeats. The firm said it lifted its Google Cloud forecasts by 2% for the fourth quarter and 13% for fiscal 2027, bringing its estimates in line with broader consensus. BMO said the view is supported by strong cloud channel checks, expansion capacity, and a sizable backlog at the company. The note also said Google Search still holds its leadership position, with growth running at a mid-to-high double-digit pace. At the same time, BMO flagged fresh questions around the intelligence of the Gemini model family. It added that Gemini Pro 3.5 has reportedly been delayed because of insufficient benchmark testing. The update combines a more constructive outlook on cloud performance with a note of caution around product execution in AI.

Real-world asset activity expanded on-chain during the week ending July 17, 2026, even as stablecoin payments lost momentum. Data cited from RWA.xyz showed total on-chain RWA market capitalization rising to $34.9 billion, up 3.74% from a month earlier, while the number of asset holders climbed to 1.077 million, a record high. At the same time, stablecoin market capitalization edged down to $299.06 billion and monthly transfer volume fell 20.9% to $5.49 trillion, pointing to a split between broader user participation and softer settlement demand. Regulation moved on several fronts. In the United States, a bipartisan housing bill containing a central bank digital currency ban became law automatically after Donald Trump declined to sign it. The UK set an early-2027 target for a digital sovereign bond, the European Central Bank selected 36 payment firms for a digital euro pilot due to begin in the second half of 2027, and regulators or governments in Russia, South Korea, Bolivia and Tanzania also advanced new digital asset rules or pilots. On the industry side, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo and HSBC are joining a shared tokenized deposit network operated by The Clearing House. DTCC is working with nearly 40 institutions on tokenized stocks and U.S. Treasuries, while Japan remained a focal point through SBI, Progmat and Lawson. Funding activity also stayed strong, led by Alpaca’s $135 million round, Flex’s $70 million financing and Velocity’s $38 million Series A.

A broad set of crypto, payments, regulatory and AI developments emerged between July 16 and July 17. CoinGecko’s 2026 second-quarter report showed total crypto market capitalization fell 12.6% to $2.1 trillion by the end of June, while stablecoin market cap slipped 1.6% to $305.1 billion, marking its first decline since Q3 2023. Centralized exchange spot volume dropped 27.9% to $1.95 trillion, but prediction market notional volume rose 48.7% to $113.8 billion. In Washington, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a new Regulation E-Delivery framework that would let issuers, broker-dealers and investment advisers default to electronic delivery for a wide range of required disclosures, with a 60-day public comment period after publication in the Federal Register. Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether trading on Kalshi involving alleged early access to Trump speech content may have relied on nonpublic information. Corporate and product announcements also accelerated. Visa launched its Visa Stablecoin Platform, while Flex raised $70 million for its stablecoin-based cross-border banking platform. Crypto.com disclosed a $400 million strategic investment from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation, and T. Rowe Price launched TKNZ, described as the first actively managed multi-token spot crypto ETF. Binance, MoonPay, Alpaca, Fireworks, Ethena and several other firms also announced new listings, acquisitions, funding rounds or ecosystem expansions.

GMGN data shows the top five trending tokens reached $22.78M in 24-hour volume. UNCEROID dominates volume but crashed 99.3%, while ADHD surged 7,280%, highlighting extreme volatility.

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings announced a $2 billion at-the-market stock offering, primarily to acquire more bitcoin. The company is now the second-largest corporate bitcoin holder after MicroStrategy.

Bank of Montreal disclosed roughly $150 million in bitcoin ETF holdings through an SEC 13F filing, with the bulk allocated to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF and smaller positions in other funds.