Robinhood L2 Sparks ETH Optimism, Saylor ‘Muddies Waters.’ Hodler’s Digest July 12, 2026

Robinhood Chain surge boosts ETH price The successful launch of the layer-2 network Robinhood Chain has boosted investor sentiment around Ethereum. The newly launched blockchain uses ETH as its native gas token and around $141 million in ETH has already been bridged to the chain. More than half a million wallets holding ETH are now on the…

Signs of life?: State of Crypto

But the 2026 midterm election is coming up quite soon — Nov. 3, so less than four months from now — and lawmakers will have to face their own base and flanks after they break for the summer recess and go into the final campaign swing. That means that U.S. President Donald Trump and the…

Binance Seeks New Crypto Licenses After MiCA Shift

Binance is in talks with regulators that have invited the exchange to apply for crypto licenses following its withdrawal from the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) application in Greece, according to co-CEO Richard Teng. Teng said at the Reuters NEXT Asia conference in Singapore on Thursday that the discussions are still “premature” and declined to…

Saylor’s Strategy Messaging Not Helping Push Bitcoin Story Says StanChart

Strategy founder and chairman Michael Saylor again took to social media on Sunday to offer his latest signal to investors as one analyst sees Saylor’s messaging as needing more clarity to help Bitcoin regain its momentum. “Orange dots tell only part of the story,” was Saylor’s message on Sunday in a post that accompanied a…

Pakistan Crypto Regulator Seeks Dialogue Over Islamic Ruling

Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) chairman Bilal bin Saqib has called for continued dialogue on the treatment of digital assets under Islamic law after meeting prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, who backed a ruling against purchases made with crypto. In a Saturday post, Saqib said the discussion covered blockchain technology, digital assets, stablecoins and…

BOK Doubles Down on Bank-Led Stablecoins as Deposit Token Pilots Advance

The Bank of Korea (BOK) has doubled down on its stance that won-denominated stablecoins should first be issued through bank-led consortiums. According to local reports from Digital Asset and EDaily, the central bank made the comments in materials submitted on Thursday to the National Assembly’s finance committee. Local outlets reported that the BOK called for…

Stablecoins see biggest drop since 2022 crypto winter led by Tether (USDT), Circle’s USDC decline

The combined market capitalization of major stablecoins fell from roughly $166 billion in March 2022 to $122 billion by September 2023, RWA.xyz data shows — a decline of over 26% as investors pulled money from the digital asset market. Tether’s USDT fell from $78 billion to $65 billion between March and November 2022. For USDC,…

Empery Digital Sold Bitcoin to Fund AI Data Center

Shares in Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital rose on Friday after the firm disclosed it had sold nearly half its Bitcoin holdings to fund an AI data center project and pay down debt. Empery Digital (EMPD) shares popped 4.2% to $3.95 within the first 35 minutes of trading on Friday after the company revealed that…

Cambridge Compares Ethereum Energy Use With PoS Networks

A new Cambridge study placed Ethereum near the lower end of energy intensity among major proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, although the network still used more electricity overall than most of the PoS networks studied. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance estimated that Ethereum consumes about 7.87 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually. When adjusted for market value,…

Phantom and Hyperliquid Seek CFTC Clarity on DeFi Infrastructure

Crypto wallet provider Phantom and the Hyperliquid Policy Center have urged the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to exempt blockchain protocol developers and non-custodial wallet providers from regulations designed for traditional financial intermediaries. In response to a CFTC request for information on regulations affecting fintech firms, the companies asked the agency to confirm that…