Polygon delivered its first block time reduction upgrade since genesis, as the network seeks to position for more high-frequency applications such as private stablecoin payments.
Crypto losses decreased by 46.8% to $1.32 billion in H1 2026, but security firms CertiK and TRM Labs warn this drop is misleading. Attackers are becoming more sophisticated, with North Korean state-sponsored hackers responsible for over 70% of Q2 losses, prompting international discussions.
Crypto majors saw significant gains over the July 4th holiday weekend, with Bitcoin rebounding to over $63,000. Altcoins led the charge, with LIT soaring nearly 50% following its Robinhood integration. Key factors driving the surge include a softer-than-expected jobs report and a reversal in Bitcoin ETF flows from record outflows to net inflows.
Binance experienced a significant surge in weekly outflows, totaling $1.23 billion, with Ethereum withdrawals reaching a three-year high. This activity is linked to regulatory uncertainty from the EU's MiCA regulation and potential accumulation behavior.
Crypto exchange Kraken now allows eligible users outside the US to use tokenized stocks and ETFs as collateral for futures and margin trading, expanding the utility of real-world assets on the blockchain.
Bitcoin deposits to centralized exchanges surged to nearly 50,000 BTC daily as the price fell below $60,000. Data from CryptoQuant suggests this pattern, especially with larger deposit sizes indicating whale and institutional activity, historically precedes significant price volatility and potential downward moves.
Bitcoin's Q2 decline coincided with a rare contraction in stablecoin supply, falling over $3 billion to $312 billion. Yield-bearing stablecoins saw a significant drop, while institutional appetite shifted to RWA and US government debt-backed products. Layer-2 networks experienced notable stablecoin balance decreases, with Arbitrum seeing a substantial fall.
