1. Arbitrum Foundation proposes to use a new transaction sorting strategy called Timeboost on Arbitrum One and Nova. Timeboost allows for the use of auction fast lanes, giving winners an advantage in their transactions and the opportunity to capture arbitrage opportunities.
2. Coinbase Derivatives has submitted multiple certification documents to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list regulated SHIB, LINK, AVAX, XLM, and DOT futures contracts in the US.
3. Federal Reserve Board Governor Bowman said that the US Congress seems to have little interest in central bank digital currencies.
4. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Consensys. The SEC alleges that since 2016, Consensys has developed and operated a suite of services related to cryptocurrency assets under the “MetaMask” brand. Consensys claims to be a leader and innovator in the cryptocurrency asset industry, but some of the products it provides to customers perform old functions: (1) acting as a broker for retail investors in securities transactions and (2) engaging in the offer and sale of securities. Consensys violated federal securities laws by not registering as a broker-dealer or registering the offer and sale of certain securities, thereby depriving investors of key protections under these laws. Since October 2020, Consensys has acted as an unregistered cryptocurrency securities broker through its MetaMask Swaps service. Since January 2023, Consensys has engaged in the offer and sale of unregistered cryptocurrency staking plans through its MetaMask Staking service and acted as an unregistered broker-dealer. As an unregistered broker-dealer, Consensys has collected more than $250 million in fees through these activities.
5. The US Securities and Exchange Commission believes that Lido and Rocket Pool staking projects are securities, according to market sources.
6. Bitcoin mining company Bitdeer Technologies Group has announced that it has signed a 30-year industrial base lease with the Monroe County Port Authority in Ohio to expand its mining business by leasing an industrial park, with an expected power capacity of 570 megawatts.
7. 21Shares is the second company to submit a SOL exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and like VanEck, the company also believes that Solana’s native token should be considered a commodity. It is reported that 21Shares SOL ETF funds will be held by Coinbase Custody. Andrew Jacobson, legal director of 21Shares, said that the launch of the Solana ETF is a necessary step for the cryptocurrency industry. Although adding cryptocurrency tokens to CME futures contracts has legal precedents, it should not be the only criterion for ETF eligibility, and many cryptocurrencies meet the conditions for tradable ETFs.
8. Eleanor Terrett, a Fox Business Channel reporter, revealed Consensys’ official statement on the SEC’s enforcement action, which reads: “Consensys fully anticipated that the SEC would continue to carry out its threat against us, claiming that our MetaMask software interface must be registered as a securities broker. The SEC has been pursuing an anti-cryptocurrency agenda through temporary enforcement actions. This is the latest example of its regulatory overreach, a transparent attempt to redefine established legal standards through litigation and expand SEC jurisdiction. We firmly believe that the SEC has not been granted the power to regulate software interfaces like MetaMask. We will continue to actively pursue our case in Texas, as this is not only about our company, but also about the future success of Web3.”
9. Binance Research Institute has released a report on “The Road to One Billion On-Chain Users”: the adoption rate of blockchain networks is significantly slower than that of social media networks, and decentralized systems are inherently more complex than centralized systems. Many blockchain projects are dedicated to creating decentralized alternatives to existing centralized products and services. The report studied three types of future users: institutions, retail investors, and cryptocurrency skeptics. For institutions, deep liquidity is needed to execute trades effectively and efficiently with capital. The current multi-chain world has led to liquidity being dispersed across multiple independent distributed ledgers and Layer2s. The lack of blockchain interoperability also forces institutions to decide on specific blockchain ecosystems. At the same time, chain abstraction has become an important development for bringing institutions onto the chain. The report introduces the case of the cross-chain interoperability protocol Axelar (AXL), pointing out that Axelar (AXL) has achieved some preliminary success in working with institutions to promote blockchain development: in November 2023, the Axelar (AXL) team successfully conducted a proof-of-concept collaboration with JPMorgan’s blockchain platform Onyx, using Axelar’s cross-chain technology to achieve interoperability with private and permissioned blockchains.
10. Ripple recently won an undisputed victory in a class action lawsuit from a monetary perspective, but the judge also confused the issue on a larger question, suggesting that Ripple’s XRP may be a security and therefore require stricter regulation, which is contrary to last year’s highly anticipated ruling. The conflicting rulings of two judges, one of whom called XRP a security and the other who believed it was not, are a sign of a larger problem: the lack of legal and regulatory clarity in the US cryptocurrency industry. Unless Congress or a higher court makes a clear ruling, projects like Ripple may become even more confusing. Moish Peltz, a partner at the New York law firm Falcon, Rappaport, and Berkman, explained: “At least as to this ancillary reason for the lawsuit, the question of whether XRP is a security has not been resolved.”
11. Cryptocurrency gamblers on the online betting platform Polymarket predict that US President Biden may withdraw from the presidential race due to his performance in the debate with Trump.Donald Trump performed poorly in the debate and is expected to withdraw from the upcoming election. Gamblers believe there is a 38-cent chance of Joe Biden withdrawing, compared to a 63-cent chance of him staying. Predictive startup Manifold also shows a decrease in the probability of Biden becoming the Democratic candidate, dropping from 94% to 68% in the past day. Market experts point out that Biden’s health and cognitive ability issues have raised widespread concerns. Possible replacements include California Governor Gavin Newsom, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
12. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released the cryptocurrency transaction tax system for 2025, aiming to establish filing rules for digital asset brokers. However, rules regarding DeFi and non-custodial wallets have been put on hold. The rules, published on Friday, will take effect from 2025 and require brokers to closely track the cost basis of customer tokens starting from 2026. The new rules for cryptocurrency brokers require trading platforms, custodial wallet services, and digital asset kiosks to submit disclosures regarding customer asset changes and earnings. These assets will also include stablecoins like USDT, USDC, and high-value non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in very limited cases. According to the new rules, the IRS will not require reporting for most regular stablecoin sales and sets a $600 annual threshold for reporting NFT earnings.
13. Over 65% of the Bitcoin supply has remained untouched for over a year.
14. Dan Romero, the co-founder of decentralized social media protocol Farcaster, launched a new in-app payment feature on Friday. This new tool, built for the Farcaster client Warpcast, enables one-click payment of stablecoins using USDC through a user’s profile or the application’s messaging platform. This feature addresses a long-standing issue of finding someone’s alphanumeric wallet address when making cryptocurrency payments. As Farcaster identities are human-readable, it simplifies the process.
15. IglooInc., the parent company of Pudgy Penguins, has acquired Frame, a platform centered around Web3 creators. The Frame team will collaborate with Igloo to develop Abstract Chain, a network building on-chain culture and community.
16. A spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign team stated that there are currently no discussions about Biden stepping down or not running anymore. Biden will participate in his second debate with former President Trump on September 10. While Biden’s disastrous performance in the debate with his Republican challenger has prompted increasing calls from Democratic figures for him to withdraw, he has stated that he remains committed to winning the November election. Biden admitted on Friday that his advanced age posed a barrier and that he performed poorly in the previous night’s debate. However, he claimed to be capable of fulfilling the responsibilities of the presidency for another four years. Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina, Biden said, “I promise you, I wouldn’t have come out if I didn’t wholeheartedly believe I could do this job. I intend to win this state in November.” He also told his supporters, “I know I’m not a young man anymore. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. My debating skills aren’t what they used to be, but I know what I know—I know how to tell the truth, I know how to discern what’s right and wrong, and I know how to do this job well.”
17. The US Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Deference rule on Friday with a 6-3 vote. This rule, in existence for 40 years, allowed administrative agencies responsible for implementing laws to create legislative rules to interpret ambiguous provisions or fill gaps in congressional legislation. Industry insiders in the crypto space see this ruling as a victory. Amanda Tuminelli, Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund, stated, “This ruling means that administrative agencies like the SEC and CFTC will need to be more cautious in expanding their regulatory reach, especially in emerging and rapidly evolving areas like crypto and AI.” Majority Whip Tom Emmer said this would directly impact Gary Gensler, the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He stated, “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Chevron weakens Gensler and all the unaccountable, unelected regulators who legislate through rulemaking.”
18. Citigroup strategists suggest that the decrease in fund inflows and lowered growth expectations indicate an imminent stock market crash in the US. The company recently raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 index to 5600 points but stated in a client report led by Scott Chronert on Friday that they are prepared for a pullback in the short term. They note that fund flows have slowed, and internal sentiment indicators are at “frothy” levels, with Citigroup predicting a recession in the second half of this year. Additionally, recent widespread growth expectations have declined. Citigroup strategists state that all of these factors are setting the stock market up for a “summer squall” or “sudden gust.” Furthermore, the volatility of the election remains an uncertain factor, with both parties potentially facing fundamental pressures.
19. Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, stated on the X platform, “It looks like we’ll have to push back the expected launch date of the physically-backed Ethereum ETF until after the holidays. I heard the SEC took more time this week to respond (though just some very minor tweaks), and from what I’m hearing, next week will be slow due to the holiday, so the process will resume on July 8, and then they’ll launch soon after that.”
20. According to Farside Investors’ monitoring, the US spot Bitcoin ETF saw a net outflow of $27.2 million yesterday (June 28).
21. James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, stated in an interview before 21Shares became the second applicant for a Solana ETF, “I think VanEck’s application is a call option on the November election, and under the current SEC management—based on years of approvals and rejections of crypto ETFs—I would expect a rejection of a Solana ETF because there is no federally regulated futures market. But a new government in the White House and a new SEC more inclined to embrace crypto policies could change that.”
22. Nate Geraci, President of investment advisory firm The ETF Store, stated that given the absence of Solana futures trading on the CME, the only viable path to approval for a spot Solana ETF seems to be the implementation of a legitimate crypto regulatory framework that clearly defines which crypto assets are securities and which are commodities, or the SEC agreeing to designate Solana as a non-security commodity. Additionally, the institution would need to establish monitoring-sharing agreements with currently unregulated spot cryptocurrency exchanges. Under the current administration, all of this seems unlikely, making the applications from VanEck and 21Shares likely bets on a more crypto-friendly government.
