Banca Sella, one of Italy’s oldest and most respected banks, has announced plans to offer Bitcoin trading to its customers via its mobile application Hype
The Hype platform was developed in 2021 as a joint effort between Banca Sella Holding and Illimity Bank. Using Hype, Italian users can trade Bitcoin without going through exchanges.
To ensure safe trading with no trouble, Banca Sella has restrictions on yearly bitcoin trades for its customers. With “Hype Start” status, users can transact as much as 2,700 USD per year in bitcoins, while “Plus” and “Premium” members have limits set at 54,000 USD per year. These restrictions afford traders a fairly high degree of flexibility and also keep bank risk manageable at first sight
Beta testing will initially be offered for those Hype Plus

Franklin Templeton’s FOBXX is now available on Arbitrum, enhancing digital asset compatibility.

The integration is a significant step toward merging traditional and decentralized finance.
The Arbitrum Foundation and global asset manager Franklin Templeton announced this week that the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (FOBXX) is now available on the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain, Arbitrum. Investors can have access to FOBXX via digital wallets on the Benji Investments platform, Franklin Templeton’s proprietary blockchain-integrated recordkeeping system, with the option to use the Arbitrum network.

The goal of this collaboration is to speed the integration of decentralized finance (DeFi) into traditional financial services. Franklin Templeton’s addition to the Arbitrum

Binance recovered over $73 million in user funds in 2024, surpassing 2023’s total.

Most recoveries stem from external hacks, showcasing Binance’s proactive security efforts.
Binance revealed the successful recovery and freezing of approximately $73 million in customer assets from external hacks between January 1 and July 31, 2024. This represents a huge increase over the $55 million collected throughout 2023. Binance’s proactive actions and coordination with industry participants and the state sector have assisted users in recovering lost and stolen digital assets. Approximately 80% of these recoveries were due to external hacks, exploits, and thefts, with the remaining 20% due to scams performed outside of the Binance platform.

Binance’s Commitment to User Protection

Jimmy Su,

Samsung and Illuvium join forces to bring the Illuvium universe to life on Samsung Web3 TVs.
The GEN3RATOR campaign will further merge Samsung and Illuvium communities, featuring exclusive NFTs.
Samsung has announced a groundbreaking collaboration with ‘Illuvium, a top Web3 game developer, to improve the Web3 television experience. Samsung’s Web3 TVs will incorporate Illuvium’s NFTs, allowing users to display in-game assets like weapons, Illuvials, and suits directly on their TV screens, transforming home entertainment into an immersive digital art experience.
Bringing Illuvium’s Universe to Life on Samsung Web3 TVs
Experience Illuvium’s three interconnected games Overworld, Arena, and Zero on Samsung’s state-of-the-art Web3 TVs at Gamescom 2024 by popping by the Samsung booth. With the

Sandbox land prices have dropped by up to 95% from their peak

TOPIA Worlds remains resilient with a 65% drop, driven by smart rebranding and active community support.
As per CoinGecko’s most recent report, the prices of Sandbox land have dropped drastically, falling by about 95% from their highest peaks. Metaverse land prices in 2024 fell an average of 72% from their peak to between 0.08 ETH and 1.88 ETH. A larger sequence of notable corrections from the bull market peaks in 2022 is shown in the current downturn.

Prominent Sinks Across Major Projects

The Sandbox project encountered the most severe loss, with an average floor price that dropped dramatically by 95% from 2.86 ETH in 2021 to just 0.13 ETH in 2024. Decentraland and Otherdeed have also experienced notable declines,

The Montenegro Supreme Court has halted the extradition process of Do Kwon to South Korea. This decision came after the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office appealed a previous court ruling that approved his extradition. The suspension will stop the proceedings while the Supreme Court reviews the case.
The extradition case is complex, and there are many legal loopholes present in the case. Several decisions relate to the extradition of Do Kwon to the United States and South Korea. The co-founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, is accused of embezzling $40 billion through two cryptocurrencies, Luna and Terra.
He was arrested in March 2023 and has remained in detention, waiting for extradition. His lawyers have complained about how the case has been managed and stated that there are multiple court

Bitstamp, the world’s longest-running crypto exchange has joined forces with Stripe, a financial infrastructure platform for businesses to support Stripe’s fiat-to-crypto onramp across the European Union. This collaboration aims to make cryptocurrency purchases easier for consumers throughout Europe.
According to a blog post from Bitstamp, this collaboration brings together two premier fintech brands around the globe, helping consumers get hold of cryptos on the transparent chain using an unrestricted channel.
Stripe is one of the few that has a customizable onramp that is an easily embedded widget of the app or website, with a fast and straightforward checkout process that can use cryptocurrencies and process transactions at a nearby real-time speed. Stripe and Bitstamp handle the

Mox Bank simplifies crypto investments with Crypto ETFs, offering a regulated and safe platform for Hong Kong investors
Low trading fees and easy access through the Mox app make investing in emerging asset classes more attractive.
The Standard Chartered subsidiary Mox Bank Limited (“Mox”) has announced the launch of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on its Mox Invest platform. Customers may now more easily and safely diversify their portfolios with Mox, the first virtual bank in Hong Kong to allow direct trading of spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in addition to derivative Crypto ETFs, owing to this ground-breaking step.
Innovative and Customer-Centric Approach
According to a recent survey, about one-third of Hong Kong residents use cryptocurrencies, and many of them favor banks that sell

Ripple, a leader in enterprise blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions, has announced a new partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This collaboration aims to boost blockchain and digital asset innovation in the UAE. The DIFC Innovation Hub is a key player in Dubai’s innovation development, hosting over 1,000 tech firms, digital labs, and venture capitalists.
The partnership will enable Ripple to access the DIFC’s diverse base of developers and innovative firms. It is intended for early-stage startups and traditional institutions to increase the use of blockchain technology among themselves. Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse noted that the UAE has a progressive regulatory system that allows virtual asset services and encourages financial solutions.
Specifically,

India has no immediate plans to regulate cryptocurrency sales and purchases
The government is assessing crypto risks and benefits, aiming for a policy by September 2024.
The Ministry of Finance states that India does not currently have any plans to regulate Cryptocurrency transactions. GM Harish Balayogi, a member of the Lok Sabha, asked questions concerning the country’s laws governing virtual digital assets (VDAs). Pankaj Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Finance, responded in writing to the legislature.
Chaudhary mentioned that the government of India does not gather data on cryptocurrencies and that they are still unregulated in the country. He declared: “At this time, there isn’t a proposal to introduce laws in the nation to control the buying and selling of virtual digital

Team Lead Péter Szilágyi has raised concerns about the future direction of the Ethereum blockchain network. His concerns center around the Ethereum PeerDAS proposal, which includes increasing the size of Ethereum blobs to 32 MB. Szilágyi argues that this upgrade would make it difficult for home stakers, who typically use simpler computing setups, to participate in the network. This, he believes, goes against the decentralized ethos of Ethereum.

At this point I’d be happy to proven otherwise, but I feel #Ethereum is losing the plot. The research team fully embraced the idea to centralise everything as long as it can be verified. Which is a cute charade: decentralised validation but centralised control.
— Péter Szilágyi (karalabe.eth) (@peter_szilagyi) July 26, 2024
In a message posted on

Abu Dhabi has officially launched a center dedicated to driving blockchain innovation and establishing the city as a hub for top global events and workshops, connecting industry leaders. The Blockchain Center will also incorporate a venture capital arm to support and invest in Web3 startups.
The Blockchain Center aims to encourage the development of the blockchain industry in Abu Dhabi. It aims to make Abu Dhabi one of the key hubs of blockchain innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship by fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems, businesses, and universities. The center is planned to be a venue for the top international events and workshops for industry leaders. These events will also be used to inaugurate new applications for blockchain technology.
Commenting on the unveiling of the

Xapo Bank is the first UK bank to offer interest-bearing accounts for Bitcoin and fiat currency.
Xapo Bank provides 1% interest on Bitcoin without staking, lending, or locking up assets.
Xapo Bank is the first bank to provide interest-bearing accounts in both Bitcoin and fiat currencies. Gibraltar-based bank announced its extension into the United Kingdom on August 5, 2024, This milestone took place under the UK’s passport program, which was approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Bank of England, and Gibraltar authorities.
Seamus Rocca, CEO of Xapo Bank, acknowledged the challenges of getting the license but expressed a desire to grow local membership. Joey Garcia, Director and Head of Regulatory and Public Affairs at Xapo Bank,

Vice President Kamala Harris faces increasing pressure to clarify her stance on cryptocurrency as the 2024 election approaches or risk losing the crypto industry’s support to former President Donald Trump. A new report from the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) underscores the urgency for Harris to engage with the crypto community more effectively.
Democrats Urge Party to Embrace Crypto and Blockchain
Trump has gained favor within the crypto community by promising supportive regulations and advocating for a U.S. Bitcoin reserve. He has received significant support online partly because the crypto community has long felt neglected by current policies. This was particularly evident during the National Bitcoin Conference in Nashville where Trump gave a speech,

On July 27, the world’s biggest Bitcoin conference of the year kicked off at the Music City Center in Nashville. Thousands of attendees lined up, enduring multi-hour waits to get through Secret Service security and into the highly secured main floor. The anticipation was deep as former President Donald Trump was set to speak about what a second term might mean for Bitcoin. The giant of the crypto world, Bitcoin, is also known as “Digital Gold” due to its high value. Attendees, sporting “Make America Great Again” and “Make Bitcoin Great Again” caps, speculated on Trump’s speech.
Trump Highlights $25M Crypto Donations at Event
The best seats at the event were sold at $844,600, which was the maximum amount a single individual could contribute to the Trump 47 Committee. A selfie with Trump

Bitcoin’s recent declines may signal a deeper downturn due to US economic concerns
Recent price rally halted by weak ISM index and Fed’s dovish outlook.
The cryptocurrency research group 10X Research predicts that the recent declines in the price of Bitcoin could be the start of a more serious decline, citing an upcoming economic storm and the asset’s separation from the stock market. Despite a strong start to the week marked by interest in Bitcoin ETFs from three major US pension funds and Mt. Gox delivering billions in Bitcoin to creditors, prices boosted and tested the $70,000 trend line for the sixth time before economic worries set in.
Market Confidence Is Shaken by Economic Concerns
It has become clear over the past 48 hours that the US economy is weaker than the Federal Reserve had

South Korea has introduced new supervisory fees for cryptocurrency exchanges. These regulations have affected major players like Upbit and Bithumb. Starting next year, these exchanges will need to pay these fees as part of updated regulations announced by the Financial Services Commission on July 1. The new rules are part of the revised ‘Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Commission’ and the ‘Regulations on the Collection of Financial Institution Contributions’.
According to the new rules, the virtual asset operators have to pay supervisory fees for the inspection by FSS. The combined fee for the top four exchanges is expected to be roughly 300 million won ($220,000). Out of this amount, Upbit, which is the largest exchange, is expected to account

In a strategic move to hedge against Japan’s faltering yen and combat economic instability, the Tokyo-based investment firm Metaplanet has been aggressively accumulating Bitcoin (BTC). This bold embrace of the world’s largest cryptocurrency has not only bolstered the company’s digital asset holdings but has also ignited a remarkable surge in its stock valuation, making it one of Japan’s top-performing listed entities.
Japan’s Metaplanet Bitcoin Buying Spree
Since April, Japan’s Metaplanet has been on a mission to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet to protect against inflation and currency debasement. Their latest purchase of 20.38 BTC worth $1.2 million is their 4th in July alone.
This is their 4th purchase in July:
Last week Metaplanet bought 42.47 BTC worth $2.3 million.
Earlier this month

Bitcoin’s volatile journey continues to captivate investors and traders alike. Recently, the world’s largest cryptocurrency made headlines by briefly rising past $68,000, largely due to a significant political development in the United States. President Biden’s announcement of his withdrawal from the upcoming election stimulated a hope among crypto enthusiasts and traders.
The Impact of Biden’s Announcement on Bitcoin
BTC gains started late Sunday, as current U.S. president Joe Biden said in an X post that he would not contest the upcoming November elections. However, this dropped the possible Republican candidate Donald Trump from Sunday’s 71% to 65% in Asian morning hours Monday on the crypto betting application Polymarket. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris unofficially won a majority of

Germany’s Bitcoin Sell-Off and the Subsequent Price Surge
On July 13, Germany’s Saxony state concluded the sale of 50,000 BTC, seized from the movie piracy website movie2k, for around $2.87 billion. This move secured a profit of over $740 million compared to the acquisition cost of $2.13 billion in January. However, immediately following the sale, Bitcoin prices surged by up to 16.55%, driven higher by the assassination attempt on former United States president Donald Trump, which subsequently boosted his odds of reelection in November.
Missed Maximum Returns in March
The timing of the sale significantly impacted the potential profits for the Saxony government. In March, Bitcoin hit a record high of around $74,000, offering a golden opportunity for higher returns. A theoretical sale of

The recent exit of President Joe Biden from the 2024 presidential race has sparked a significant rise in the value of a meme coin dedicated to Vice President Kamala Harris. The coin, known as KAMA, soared to an all-time high of $0.025 shortly after Biden’s announcement. Currently, KAMA is trading at $0.01741, with a market cap of $24 million. This increase has made KAMA nearly four times larger than BODEN, the meme coin initially inspired by Biden. On the other hand, BODEN has dropped nearly 50% in value since the announcement.
The political change has seen new meme tokens imitating both Harris and Biden set up on the meme coin website, Pump.fun. Most of these tokens have been known to experience a big dip in their value as the traders engage in speculation and the market calms down.
Meme

Data supplied by Coinglass, a globally renowned platform for crypto data analysis, has shown that the crypto liquidity surged by 150% since President Biden announced that he’s stepping down in the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris was chosen as the replacement, but that didn’t change anything as the crypto market experienced a small downward momentum.
Statistics Show That Bitcoin Leads the Chart
According to Coinglass, Bitcoin sat atop the charts with $49.5 million in liquidations ($21.5 million in shorts and $27.9 million in longs). Ethereum was trailing right behind with $36.6 million in liquidations. Out of those, $27 million were in longs and $9.6 million in shorts.
The data showed that Binance had the largest 24-hour liquidations. It sat at $84 million and 66.7% of them

Terraform Labs, the infamous company behind the Terra stablecoin collapse, has agreed to settle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for $4.5 billion. Simultaneously, Do Kwon, Terraform’s disgraced founder, and others involved will be banned from ever operating ventures in the crypto industry. A New York judge approved this settlement.
A press release issued by the SEC read, “The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Terraform Labs PTE, Ltd. and Do Kwon agreed to pay more than $4.5 billion following a unanimous jury verdict holding them liable for orchestrating a years-long fraud involving crypto asset securities that led to massive investor losses when the scheme unraveled.”
Terraform will pay $3.6 billion in disgorgement, with Kwon personally liable in

Turkey is not going to impose taxes on profits from trading crypto assets and stocks, clarified an official from the country’s finance ministry. The clarification comes after news reports mentioning Ankara’s plans to impose crypto taxes started making rounds few days ago.
According to news reports from earlier this week, Mehmet Simsek – Turkey’s treasury and finance minister announced plans to put the country on the path of economic recovery.  Taxing income from cryptocurrency and stock market trades was reported as one of the measures under consideration to establish new revenue streams. These reports led to confusion among the country’s crypto community due to lack of clarity regarding crypto taxes.
In fact, up until 2008, gains from trading stocks on the Istanbul Stock Exchange were

Bitpanda, one of the leading European crypto trading and brokerage platforms has announced that it has deepened its relationship with Deutsche Bank. The latest development allows the Austrian crypto platform to offer a better experience to its users, especially those in Germany.
The relationship between Bitpanda and Deutsche Bank is not exactly new. Deutsche Bank has been acting as the former’s European Hausbank for cross-currency solutions in Austria and Spain for a while now. The latest development allows Bitpanda to make use of the German bank’s API-based account solution to issue local IBANs for users in Germany.
Using local IBANs will make transactions in and out of the platform a lot quicker and more convenient. It also signals Deutsche Bank’s receptiveness towards crypto assets and

Tools for Humanity Corporation, Worldcoin’s parent company, has reached an agreement with the Spanish Agency for Data Protection (AEPD) to stop its operations until the end of 2024. The stoppage of operations comes due to growing concerns about its data storage and usage practices among regulators.
Worldcoin faces rising friction from regulators due to its policies surrounding the use of personally identifiable information, like facial patterns and iris scans. It offers users the WLD token in exchange for using it to create digital identities – the only caveat is that it stores scanned information for up to 10 years.
Data regulators worldwide are raising red flags about Worldcoin’s operations and policies due to concerns about unethical usage of such sensitive information. The threat of a

Keith Gill, more popularly known online as ‘Roaring Kitty’, returned to Reddit after a long-tenured absence to let users of the r/Superstonk subreddit know about their recent $115.7 million worth purchase of 5 million GameStop (GME) stocks. They are often attributed as the user that facilitated the GME short squeeze that sent GME stocks surging at a time when institutions were short-selling the stocks.
This unforgettable phenomenon occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic on r/wallstreetbets and gave rise to the term ‘meme stocks’. Another meme stock of the time was AMC – its price, too, was driven to the moon in 2020, alongside GME’s price.
If the hype-driven investing pattern seems familiar, it is because it is. Crypto degens often do the same with memecoins, driving up hype and, in turn,

Polygon Labs has acquired Toposware, a Zero-Knowledge (ZK) startup, which has been working on its type 1 prover technology for some time now. The acquisition comes as Polygon Labs’ third one – it has acquired Mir Protocol and Hermez Network. It paid over $650 million in total for both those projects. With the Toposware acquisition, Polygon Labs’ investments in the ZK ecosystem go beyond the billion-dollar mark.
The company has focused on delivering scalable technologies to improve the user experience on the Ethereum network, enabling users to witness faster transactions and pay lesser gas fees. Developers, too, benefit from its scalability solutions by way of deploying high-execution dApps (decentralized applications) and bringing innovation. Polygon has brought a scalable environment

Weidong Guan, who also goes by Bill Guan, was charged by the Department of Justice (DoJ) for participating in a scheme that laundered $67 million in illicitly obtained funds. The scheme depended on cryptocurrency and prepaid debit cards to funnel funds into Epoch Times’ bank accounts as well as Guan’s personal bank and crypto accounts.
The Epoch Times is a global media platform catering to conservative audiences and is often known for bashing the Chinese government. However, the media outlet was not named in the indictment – it was referred to as Guan’s place of occupation where he serves as the CFO.
In a press release, the DOJ stated, “From at least in or about 2020, through in or about May 2024, GUAN, while working as the Chief Financial Officer of a multinational media company

The first-ever spot bitcoin ETF starts trading today in Australia. Listed on Cboe Australia, the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) is managed by Monochrome Asset Management Pty Ltd. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) approved the exchange-traded product sometime during the first quarter of 2024.
With the listing going live on June 4, 2024, IBTC becomes the first ETF on Cboe to offer investors direct exposure to bitcoin in a completely regulated setting. According to Monochrome’s description, IBTC’s objective is to provide investors with a return that tracks BTC price in AUD.  This is achieved by following a straightforward investment strategy of buying and holding BTC over the long term without using derivatives, leverage, short selling or any other investment strategies