Bitcoin Edges Lower on Iran Pressure With $62,000 at Risk

Bitcoin (BTC) fell further into Monday’s Wall Street open as markets reacted to the US-Iran escalation. Key points: Bitcoin falls toward $62,000 as losses intensify on nerves over the US-Iran war. Donald Trump says that the US should “run” the Strait of Hormuz as a tug-of-war with Iran continues. BTC price action is described as…

Lawson Tests Yen Stablecoin Payments as Netstars Opens Merchant Service

Japanese convenience-store operator Lawson plans to test yen-denominated stablecoin payments at a Tokyo location in August, examining whether stablecoin payments can work inside a standard convenience store checkout flow. On Monday, blockchain company HashPort said it had signed an agreement with Lawson and telecom group KDDI to conduct the trial at the Lawson Takanawa Gateway…

Trump’s crypto riches loom over Clarity Act talks to ban conflicts for U.S. officials

On Monday, several Senate Democrats announced that they’d hold a press conference this week to state their opposition to Clarity and what they said is its “failure to rein in President Donald Trump’s corrupt crypto schemes.” Senator Murphy will join senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley at that event on Capitol Hill, which will…

India Crypto Tax Filings Lagged Trading Activity: Reuters

India’s tax department reportedly found widespread gaps in crypto tax reporting, warning that offshore exchanges, private wallets and peer-to-peer (P2P) trades are making crypto activity harder to track.  Reuters on Wednesday reported government documents showed that fewer than a quarter of 645,000 individuals who made crypto transactions in the year ending in March 2023 reported…

Bitcoin Whale Moves $188M for First Time in 7 Years

A wallet last active when Bitcoin was trading near $6,500 transferred $188 million of its holdings in recent days, its first onchain movement in seven years. With the biggest cryptocurrency now trading at around $64,000 apiece, the whale transferred 2,931 Bitcoin (BTC) from wallet “356my” to wallet address “bc1qn” on Sunday, according to blockchain data…

UK Digital Gilt Push Could Help Unlock $44B in Annual Output

The United Kingdom could add as much as 33 billion British pounds ($44 billion) to its annual economic output by 2035 by becoming a leader in tokenized financial markets, according to a government-backed industry task force.  The estimate appears in the first report from Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard, who was appointed by HM…

Thailand Central Bank Audits USDT Amid Gray Money Crackdown

Thailand’s central bank is stepping up stablecoin surveillance as part of a wider effort to crack down on money laundering, illicit finance and “gray money” in the country. The Bank of Thailand is working with the Kingdom’s Securities and Exchange Commission to audit high-volume stablecoin transactions, with a focus on USDt (USDT), cash transactions and…

Live updates: Bitcoin slips below $63,000 in an Asian-session leverage flush

Bitcoin fell to about $62,800 on Monday, down 1.4% over 24 hours, after sliding from roughly $64,300 during Asian morning hours, per CoinDesk data. Nothing new drove it. Bitcoin has traded between roughly $59,000 and $66,000 for a month, and the Asian-session drop was a leverage flush inside that range. The liquidations were minor, running…

US Bitcoin ETFs break 8-week outflow streak

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded a net inflow of $197.4 million in the week ended Friday, snapping an eight-week streak of weekly outflows dating back to May. Data from Farside Investors shows that most of the week’s gains came from the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which recorded $291.9 million in inflows. This was…

Alfa-Bank Launches Crypto Trading Tests in Russia

Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa-Bank, is reportedly preparing to offer cryptocurrency services as the country continues developing a legal framework for the digital asset market. Dmitry Vitman, chief operating officer of Alfa-Bank’s corporate and investment banking division, said the bank plans to roll out a suite of crypto services once the relevant digital asset legislation…