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UN Agency Advances Stellar Network Payments Past Pilot Phase

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is moving from blockchain pilots to a wider rollout of blockchain-based payments after signing a new agreement with the Stellar Development Foundation. The initiative builds on 16 months of testing in multiple countries and aims to define how UNDP country offices can use blockchain payments across a broader set of development and humanitarian programs. According to UNDP, the new phase will focus on creating a repeatable process that offices can apply, following pilot projects in Haiti, Syria, Kenya, Guatemala and The Gambia, with additional work reported in Colombia and Papua New Guinea. UNDP said the pilots generated measurable outcomes that helped justify the next step. Key takeaways UNDP has signed an agreement with the Stellar Development Foundation to expand blockchain-based payment usage across programs beyond initial pilots. Pilot results cited by UNDP include lower distribution costs in Syria and continued payments during a ce...
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Bitmine to Buy $74M in Ether as Chair Cites Higher Clarity Act Odds

Bitmine Immersion Technologies says it has boosted its Ethereum treasury, adding $74 million worth of ETH to bring its holdings to 5,742,237 tokens as of Sunday. The update marks a sizable increase from the company’s previous reported balance and comes as US lawmakers move toward a vote on the proposed CLARITY Act, legislation that could reshape how digital assets are regulated. In the same period, Strategy—one of the most prominent Bitcoin treasury companies—reported selling $216 million worth of BTC to fund dividend payments, cutting its total holdings. Together, the two moves highlight a developing split in how major crypto treasuries are allocating capital across ETH and BTC. Key takeaways Bitmine reported ETH holdings of 5,742,237 as of Sunday, up by 42,197 ETH from its previously disclosed figure. The company estimates the latest purchases were worth about $74 million based on ETH’s prior valuation at the time of reporting; ETH has since moved higher. Bitmine’s chair Tom Le...
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Strategy sells 3,588 BTC for $216M to fund dividends, keeps $2.55B reserve

MicroStrategy’s long-time Bitcoin proxy, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy Incorporated), has again sold a portion of its holdings to fund corporate needs. In a Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, the company said it sold 3,588 Bitcoin for a total of $216 million, trimming its position to 843,775 BTC. The disclosed sales were completed across multiple days and were priced at two different average levels: Strategy sold 1,363 BTC at an average of $59,256 between last Monday and Tuesday, and 2,225 BTC at an average of $60,773 between Wednesday and Sunday, according to the filing. Key takeaways Strategy sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million, reducing its total holdings to 843,775 BTC, per its Monday SEC 8-K. The sales come after Strategy previously reported its first Bitcoin sale in years in early June, following a 2022 tax-related transaction. Strategy’s June capital framework ties Bitcoin sales to dividend funding, and it raised its STRC preferred st...
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AI Decides Which Crypto Brand You Trust And It's Not Neutral

You think you research crypto brands on Forbes or CoinDesk. You don’t. You ask ChatGPT. And ChatGPT already picked its favorites. The Gatekeeper Nobody Noticed For twenty years, if you wanted to know whether a financial brand was trustworthy, you went to established media. Forbes. The Wall Street Journal. Bloomberg. CoinDesk for crypto specifically. Those outlets shaped perception. Their coverage decided who was credible and who wasn’t. A positive Forbes profile moved markets. A negative Bloomberg investigation destroyed reputations. That era just ended. On July 2, 2026, PR firm 5W released The Crypto Trust Index , research scoring how ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI answer when a first-time buyer asks whether a crypto brand is safe. The finding: AI engines do not stay neutral. They answer with a verdict, recommend, hedge, or warn. There is no neutral tier. The gatekeeper didn’t disappear. It just moved. And almost nobody noticed. What The Research Actually Found 5W ...
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FCA Warns of Regulatory Overhaul as AI Agents Move Toward Tokenized Money

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a wide-ranging blueprint for how retail financial services should be regulated as “agentic” AI pushes firms toward near-total automation. In its landmark report, “AI and the future of retail financial services” , FCA executive director Sheldon Mills argues that the industry is moving away from human-led, episodic decisions and toward continuous services delegated to AI systems. The review, issued as regulators grapple with the speed of generative AI deployment and growing experimentation with blockchain-based finance, frames settlement infrastructure as a key constraint. It suggests that advanced automation will require financial plumbing capable of processing transactions instantly and reliably—something the FCA implicitly contrasts with slower legacy settlement processes. Key takeaways The FCA says retail financial services are shifting from human-led decisions to AI-enabled, continuous and delegated activity. The report call...
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Strategy Sells 3,588 Bitcoin to Fund STRC Dividends as MSTR Shares Slip

Strategy sold 3,588 Bitcoin worth $216 million during the past week to support dividend payments on its STRC preferred securities. The transaction marked the company’s largest Bitcoin sale so far this year and reduced its total holdings to 843,775 BTC. Meanwhile, MSTR shares declined in premarket trading, while Bitcoin also traded lower after the disclosure. Strategy Uses Bitcoin Sale to Support STRC Dividend Payments Strategy completed two Bitcoin sales between June 29 and July 5 and raised about $216 million. The company disclosed the transactions through a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Therefore, the move confirmed its decision to use Bitcoin reserves for funding preferred stock obligations. The company sold 1,363 BTC between June 29 and June 30 for approximately $80.8 million. It then sold another 2,225 BTC between July 1 and July 5 for about $135.2 million. Together, both transactions represented the company’s largest Bitcoin sale to date. Following the ...
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Crypto Hacks Drop 47% in H1, but Smart-Contract Risks Persist: CertiK

Crypto losses from hacks and scams dropped in the first half of 2026, according to new figures cited by CertiK. In the period, overall losses fell 46.8% year-on-year to $1.32 billion—yet the security firm argues the headline decline is deceptive, pointing to a shift toward more targeted and destructive attacks. CertiK’s report breaks the half-year down by quarter: phishing drove $508.2 million in losses in Q1, while wallet compromises became the dominant threat in Q2 with $807.5 million attributed to that attack vector. The firm also highlighted that more than 70% of Q2 losses came from two major incidents—KelpDAO and Drift Protocol—events tied to North Korean state-sponsored hacking activity. Key takeaways First-half 2026 crypto losses fell 46.8% year-on-year to $1.32 billion, but CertiK says the reduction does not indicate a safer ecosystem. Attack dynamics shifted: phishing dominated Q1 ($508.2M), while wallet compromises were the largest driver in Q2 ($807.5M). Over 70% of Q2...
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