Author: James Wilson
Bitcoin has climbed back above $64,000 after Standard Chartered reaffirmed its $100,000 year-end 2026 price target and argued that recent selling linked to Strategy has not weakened Bitcoin’s long-term outlook. Summary Standard Chartered says Strategy-related concerns, not Bitcoin fundamentals, caused the recent market pullback. The bank has reaffirmed its $100,000 Bitcoin price target for the end of 2026 despite recent volatility. Wells Fargo increased its Strategy stake while trimming IBIT holdings and expanding its crypto options positions. Standard Chartered said the recent decline in Bitcoin was driven more by uncertainty over Strategy’s changing treasury approach than by any deterioration in…
Morgan Stanley and Barclays have raised their Robinhood price targets to $124 and $122, respectively, even as HOOD has fallen more than 5% toward key support near $109. Summary Morgan Stanley raised Robinhood’s target to $124, while Barclays lifted its forecast to $122. HOOD fell more than 5% after failing near $120 and testing support around $109. Robinhood Chain growth and strong trading activity continue to support analysts’ bullish outlooks. Morgan Stanley reiterated its buy rating on Robinhood Markets on July 10 and lifted its target from $95 to $124, an increase of more than 30%. The new target sits…
Major Wall Street banks are tightening employee rules for prediction markets as concerns grow over the use of confidential information on platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi. Summary Wall Street banks are restricting employee prediction-market trades as concerns about confidential information use increase. Goldman Sachs bars contracts tied to finance, politics, macroeconomics, geopolitics, and bank-specific events for staff. Federal cases and congressional probes are pushing platforms and employers toward tighter surveillance and compliance. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have added or updated restrictions covering event contracts, according to a Reuters report. The policies aim to…
Revolut has connected its standalone crypto exchange, Revolut X, to third-party AI assistants. The integration allows users to study markets, monitor accounts and prepare trades through natural-language instructions. Summary Revolut X users can analyze markets and prepare crypto trades through supported third-party AI assistants. Every trade requires user approval, limiting agents from executing orders without a final human check. The launch follows agentic trading products from Gemini, Coinbase, Robinhood and other crypto platforms worldwide. Supported tools include Claude, Gemini, OpenClaw and Cursor. Revolut has also published a universal plugin and command-line interface for other compatible AI platforms through its official…
Bitcoin has climbed about 3% to $64,300 after crude oil dropped below $72, and reports that the United States and Iran would continue peace talks revived risk appetite across crypto markets. Summary Bitcoin climbed above $64,300 as falling oil prices and renewed U.S.-Iran talks revived risk appetite. A $79.5 million short squeeze helped drive the rally, with $65,000 remaining the key resistance. Analysts say a breakout above $65,000 could target $68,000, while rejection may send BTC back toward $62,000. The rebound followed two volatile sessions in which fresh U.S. strikes on Iranian targets and Tehran’s attacks on American bases pushed…
HSBC has completed its first blockchain-based issuance of a digitally native structured product, using tokenized U.S. dollar-denominated notes in a private placement for institutional investors in Hong Kong. Summary HSBC completed its first blockchain based issuance of a digitally native structured product through a private placement in Hong Kong. Marketnode supported the transaction by issuing the notes on blockchain and managing digital payment flows between HSBC and the investor. The pilot builds on Hong Kong’s growing tokenization efforts as financial institutions continue testing blockchain for capital markets. According to HSBC, the pilot transaction involved U.S. dollar-denominated structured notes issued in…
North Carolina has become the first U.S. state to explicitly recognize the CFTC’s authority over prediction markets while setting a 6% state tax on their trading fee revenue. Summary North Carolina has recognized the CFTC’s authority over prediction markets while approving a 6% tax on platform trading fee revenue. The new law allows federally registered prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket to operate legally in the state from 2027. The measure comes as Kalshi continues legal battles with several states after a federal judge declined to block New York from enforcing its gambling laws. Under Senate Bill 257, signed…
Hyperliquid Policy Center and Phantom have urged the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to update its rulebook for onchain trading, arguing that existing regulations built for traditional financial markets do not fit decentralized infrastructure. Summary Hyperliquid Policy Center and Phantom have asked the CFTC to create rules tailored for onchain trading instead of applying legacy market regulations. The groups said developers of decentralized trading software and non custodial wallet providers should not face the same registration requirements as traditional intermediaries. The proposal comes as U.S. regulators review derivatives rules and CME continues its legal challenge over the CFTC’s treatment of…
The Ethereum Foundation has revealed that the biggest challenge in AI-assisted security research has become proving which reported vulnerabilities are genuine rather than finding potential bugs. Summary Ethereum Foundation says verifying AI bug reports is harder than generating them. AI agents found a real libp2p vulnerability, later disclosed as CVE-2026-34219. The Foundation says human validation and reproducible proof remain essential for protocol security. According to the Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol Security team, recent experiments with coordinated AI agents uncovered real software flaws across systems that Ethereum depends on, but the organization said the majority of the effort now goes into separating…
Bitdeer Technologies has unveiled a $36 million manufacturing facility in Nevada, bringing production of its SEALMINER Bitcoin mining machines to the United States. Summary Bitdeer will invest $36 million in a Nevada factory to produce SEALMINER Bitcoin mining machines. The new Sparks facility is expected to begin commercial production by the end of 2026. Bitdeer shares jumped 14.1% as the company reported stronger U.S. manufacturing and 921 BTC mined in May. According to Bitdeer, the new plant in Sparks, Nevada, will manufacture key components for the company’s SEALMINER mining rigs, with commercial production scheduled to begin before the end of…