Crypto Weekly 7/12/26

Life got in the way for a few weeks (moving is apparently a full-time job), but Crypto Weekly is officially back! Thanks for sticking around.

- Crypto Market Cap ($2.27T): -1% / -26%
- BTC ($64,117): +1% / -27%
- ETH ($1,820): +2% / -39%
- SOL ($78): -5% / -38%
- HYPE ($68): -5% / +167%
- COIN ($159): -4% / -30%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($184B): 0% / -2%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($73B): +1% / -3%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 57% / 10%

- Bitcoin and crypto assets fell mid-week as renewed geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran rattled risk assets over fears of fuel-linked inflation and potential rate hikes to counter it. Link.

- President Trump’s plan to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has stalled due to legal concerns around which government agency, the Treasury Department or Commerce Department, has the legal authority to manage it. The US government is one of the largest owners of Bitcoin globally, holding more than $20 billion at current prices. Link.

- Swift, the messaging system used by banks to process millions of transactions a day, is preparing to pilot a blockchain-based network to facilitate 24/7 cross-border money transfers across 17 global banks. Link.

- US spot bitcoin ETFs and ether ETFs recorded $197 million and $84 million of net inflows this week, ending a record combined eight-week outflow of $9.46 billion. Link.

- Crypto VCs deployed $4 billion across 355 deals in the first quarter of 2026, down roughly 50% from the prior quarter. Only 8 new crypto venture funds closed in the first quarter, the fewest since the third quarter of 2020. Link.

- The Senate has a few weeks to pass the Clarity Act before the August recess and mid-term elections. The Senate Banking Committee and Senate Agriculture Committee passed their respective versions, which are being combined for the final Senate vote. Link.

- Crypto lost $972 million across 207 hacks in the first half of 2026, less than half the amount lost in the first half of 2025. Link.

- Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million to fund preferred-stock dividends and refill cash reserves. Its 843,775 in BTC holdings are currently sitting at an unrealized loss of $8.32 billion. Link. Link.

- Nearly 1 million people lost a total of $3.8 billion on President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin according to crypto analytics firm Nansen. President Trump revealed he made $636 million from $TRUMP, nearly half of the $1.4 billion he made from crypto last year. Link. Link.

- A group of Senate Democrats want to investigate whether President Donald Trump’s crypto exposure poses national security risks. Link.

- The SEC plans to unveil its long-awaited safe harbors and broad exemptions for certain crypto activity this month. The rules would govern the offer and sale of crypto assets, and include certain exemptions for on-chain financial activity. Link.

- USDC issuer Circle received regulatory approval to establish a US trust bank, which would allow it to act as a custodian for its own reserves and client assets. Link.

- Privacy focused Venice AI raised a $65 million Series A at a $1 billion valuation. Venice hosts “uncensored”, open source models on its own data centers and encrypts and unencrypts all user input client-side, with no data stored on Venice’s own systems. Link.

- The SEC released its 2026 Regulatory Agenda, which includes 3 crypto-related proposals that would amend the minimum liquid reserves required by brokers, protect customer assets if a broker becomes insolvent, and modify recordkeeping rules for broker dealers. Link.

- Russia’s largest bank by assets Sber plans to integrate a crypto wallet and digital asset depository into its mobile app by September. Link.

- Custodia Bank, which provides financial services to crypto companies, has asked the US Supreme Court to review claims it was unlawfully denied access to the Fed Reserve payment system in a 2023 Fed decision. Link.

- British politician Nigel Farage is under fire for accepting a £5M “gift” from British crypto investor Christopher Harborne. Link. Link.

- The CFTC blocked the CME’s bid to offer round-the-clock trading in oil futures starting as soon as this week. The CFTC said it would need more time to review trading of 24/7 futures across different asset classes, including perps. Link.