Today's news highlights:
Over 50 companies in Hong Kong intend to apply for stablecoin licenses.
The record high price of Bitcoin did not trigger a surge in search interest.
Hong Kong stock market cryptocurrency concept stocks rose broadly, with OKC Chain increasing by 46.24%.
BTC breaks $123,000, with a daily increase of 3.71%.
Wintermute may be one of the market makers for $PUMP, having received a small test transfer from the project party.
Bitwise CEO: The true competitors of Ethereum are Web2 and traditional finance, not Bitcoin.
Several CEXs have received $PUMP tokens and may open trading soon.
Over 45,800 ETH transferred from Binance to an unknown wallet, valued at approximately $138.9 million.
Regulation/Macro
Over 50 companies in Hong Kong intend to apply for stablecoin licenses.
According to Hong Kong 01, with the (stablecoin regulations) set to officially take effect on August 1, currently 50 to 60 companies intend to apply for Hong Kong stablecoin licenses, half of which are payment institutions and the other half are well-known internet companies, most of which have Chinese backgrounds. The industry expects that only 3 to 4 licenses will be issued in the first phase, with initial stablecoins mainly pegged to the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar.
The record high price of Bitcoin did not trigger a surge in search interest.
According to Bitcoin News, although the price of Bitcoin reached a new high of $119,444 on the Bitstamp exchange, Google Trends data shows that public search interest in Bitcoin has not yet reached the heat level of the bull markets in 2021 and 2017. Analysts believe that the current retail market sentiment is relatively calm, and the price increase has not sparked widespread attention.
The Governor of the Bank of England warns about the risks of private stablecoin issuance, suggesting that focus should be on deposit tokenization.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned in an interview with the Sunday Times that issuing stablecoins by banks could pose systemic risks, threaten the stability of the financial system, and potentially lead to a loss of control over sovereign currencies. He suggested that the Bank of England focus on deposit tokenization rather than launching central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) or centralized digital fiat currencies. Bailey currently serves as the chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which may strengthen regulation of stablecoins in the future. Additionally, officials from several European countries have expressed concerns over the US's push for a US dollar stablecoin, fearing it could threaten the euro's position.
Jensen Huang will hold a media briefing in Beijing on July 16.
According to Reuters, a senior executive at NVIDIA said on the 13th that CEO Jensen Huang will hold a media briefing in Beijing on July 16. Two US senators wrote to Huang on the 11th about this trip to China, asking him not to meet with companies suspected of undermining US chip export controls. Furthermore, they requested that Huang avoid contact with entities on the US export restriction list. According to the Financial Times, NVIDIA is expected to launch a new version of AI chips tailored for the Chinese market as early as September. The third China International Supply Chain Promotion Expo will open in Beijing on July 16, where NVIDIA will participate for the first time. According to insiders quoted by the Financial Times, CEO Jensen Huang will also attend the event, not only to promote NVIDIA's new products but also to reaffirm its long-term commitment to the Chinese market.
Hong Kong stock market cryptocurrency concept stocks rose broadly, with OKC Chain increasing by 46.24%.
The Hong Kong stock market closed with strong performance in cryptocurrency concept stocks. OKC Chain led the rise, increasing by 46.24%; Xiong'an Technology rose by 35%; Blue Harbor Interactive increased by over 13.13%; New Fire Technology Holdings rose by 7.02%; Huaxing Capital closed up by 6.23%. Previously, Lianlian Digital's stock price rose by 23.51%, having announced plans to raise funds to develop blockchain technology applications in the payment field.
Opinion
Bitwise CEO: The true competitors of Ethereum are Web2 and traditional finance, not Bitcoin.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley tweeted that Ethereum is not competing with Bitcoin, but with Web 2.0 and traditional financial service software. He stated that in the next 6 to 12 months, the industry will gradually move away from the 'CoinMarketCap' era, no longer viewing all crypto assets as homogeneous products distinguished only by market value. Just as applications on iPhone have similar technological foundations but different use cases, there is also diversity and differentiation in opportunities among different blockchains.
Project updates
The Lagrange Foundation may buy back $LA tokens to stabilize prices.
The Lagrange Foundation stated that it has noticed the price fluctuations of $LA and announced that it may participate in the buyback of $LA tokens in the future to help stabilize the price. The foundation indicated that all actions will comply with relevant laws and regulations, and the buyback situation will be publicly disclosed to the community after it occurs.
Core staking wallet transferred 1,803 BTC to Binance.
According to Onchain Lens, 14 hours ago, the staking wallet of Core (Core DAO) transferred 1,803 Bitcoin to Binance, valued at approximately $214 million.
Several CEXs have received $PUMP tokens and may open trading soon.
According to Yu Jin, six centralized exchanges (CEX) participating in the $PUMP public offering have received $PUMP tokens. On-chain data shows that Kraken holds 7.5 billion, Bitget holds 7.5 billion, Gate holds 6.4 billion, Bybit holds 5 billion, MEXC holds 5 billion, and Kucoin holds 4.1 billion. The market expects that $PUMP may start trading tonight or tomorrow.
OKX will delist the perpetual contract trading pairs LSK/USDT, LOOKS/USDT, and PIPPIN/USDT on July 18.
OKX announced that it will delist the following perpetual contract trading pairs: LSKUSDT, LOOKSUSDT, and PIPPINUSDT on July 18 at 16:00.
Binance will launch AXS/USDC, COMP/USDC, and XAI/USDC spot trading pairs on July 15.
Binance announced that it will launch AXS/USDC, COMP/USDC, and XAI/USDC spot trading pairs at 16:00 on July 15, providing users with more trading options. At the same time, Binance will also open spot algorithmic order services for these trading pairs. Additionally, NEAR/USDC and UNI/USDC trading pairs will support spot grid and dollar-cost averaging (DCA) trading robot services.
Important data
Abraxas Capital has shorted BTC, ETH, and Solana, accumulating losses of over $100 million.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Abraxas Capital's two wallets on the Hyperliquid platform have accumulated losses of over $107 million due to shorting Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other crypto assets. It is reported that these short positions were taken to hedge their spot holdings.
BTC breaks $123,000, with a daily increase of 3.71%.
OKX market shows that BTC has just broken through $123,000, currently reported at $123,078.10 per coin, with a daily increase of 3.71%.
Over 45,800 ETH transferred from Binance to an unknown wallet, valued at approximately $138.9 million.
According to Whale Alert monitoring, 45,846 ETH were transferred from Binance to an unknown wallet at 15:29, valued at approximately $138.9 million.
Wintermute may be one of the market makers for $PUMP, having received a small test transfer from the project party.
According to ai_9684xtpa monitoring, in the past 11 hours, addresses related to the Pump.fun project have conducted small test transfers of 10 PUMP, including the Wintermute address, indicating that it may be one of the market makers for the PUMP project. More market-making tokens are expected to be transferred in the next couple of days. Additionally, analysis suggests that tonight at 10 PM will mark 48 hours after the public sale of PUMP, and the token generation event (TGE) may occur between tonight at 10 PM and tomorrow at 10 PM.
Market: BNB breaks $700.
Market shows that the price of BNB has broken $700, currently reported at $701.87, with an increase of about 2% for the day.
Ethereum spot ETF had a net inflow of $908 million last week, marking nine consecutive weeks of net inflow.
According to SoSoValue data, from July 7 to 11 Eastern Time, Ethereum spot ETFs had a net inflow of $908 million for the week, with none of the nine ETFs experiencing net outflows. Among them, BlackRock's ETHA saw a net inflow of $675 million, with a historical cumulative total of $6.29 billion; Fidelity's FETH had a net inflow of $87.04 million, accumulating $1.83 billion. As of now, the total net asset value of Ethereum spot ETFs is $13.53 billion, accounting for 3.77% of Ethereum's market value. The historical cumulative net inflow has reached $5.31 billion.
Bitcoin spot ETF had a net inflow of $2.72 billion last week, marking five consecutive weeks of net inflow.
According to SoSoValue data, from July 7 to 11 Eastern Time, the net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $2.72 billion for the week, marking the fifth consecutive week of net inflow. BlackRock's IBIT recorded the highest single-week net inflow of $1.76 billion, with a historical cumulative inflow of $54.4 billion; Fidelity's FBTC saw a net inflow of $400 million, with a historical cumulative total of $12.61 billion. Grayscale's GBTC experienced a net outflow of $50.37 million, with a historical cumulative net outflow of $23.38 billion. As of now, the total net asset value of Bitcoin ETFs is $150.6 billion, accounting for 6.43% of Bitcoin's market value.
Financing/Merger
Circle Games completed a new funding round of $7.25 million, led by Bitkraft Ventures.
Istanbul game studio Circle Games raised $7.25 million in the latest funding round, led by Bitkraft Ventures, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Play Ventures, e2vc, and APY Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to promote the development of its new game (Sort Express) and expand its team.
Institutional accumulation
DigitalX spent $19.7 million to purchase 109.3 Bitcoin.
According to the DigitalX Investor Hub website, DigitalX Ltd. (ASX:DCC) announced that it has successfully invested approximately $19.7 million of strategic placement funds into Bitcoin, purchasing 109.3 Bitcoin at an average price of about $118,000 per coin. The company's total Bitcoin holdings now amount to 367.3 coins, including 174.4 coins held directly and 192.9 coins held indirectly through the ASX Bitcoin ETF (BTXX). The company stated that it will continue to focus on a Bitcoin-centric financial strategy aimed at creating long-term value for shareholders.
Metaplanet spent $93.6 million to repurchase 797 Bitcoin, bringing total holdings to 16,352 BTC.
According to Metaplanet's announcement, Metaplanet Inc. announced the purchase of 797 Bitcoin at an average purchase price of 17,312,239 yen, with a total expenditure of about 13.798 billion yen. The company's total Bitcoin holdings have now increased to 16,352, with a cumulative purchase cost of 239.616 billion yen and an average purchase price of 14,653,636 yen. According to SoSoValue analysis, compared to the previous period (announced on July 6, 2025) where 2,205 Bitcoin were added at $108,237, the current increase has decreased by about 63.85% quarter-on-quarter, and total investment has decreased by about 60.79%.
SharpLink Gaming purchased 16,374 ETH again 7 hours ago, bringing its total holdings to 270,000 ETH.
According to Yu Jin, SharpLink Gaming purchased 16,374 Ethereum (ETH) again 7 hours ago, valued at approximately $48.85 million. Currently, its total ETH holdings have increased to 270,000. Since starting to accumulate ETH in 'micro-strategy' mode in early June, SharpLink Gaming has accumulated 270,000, with an average purchase price of about $2,667, currently realizing an unrealized gain of approximately $81.8 million.
