Binance Denies WSJ Report Alleging $850M in Iran-Linked Crypto Transactions

Binance CEO Richard Teng has pushed back against a new Wall Street Journal investigation claiming the exchange processed $850 million in transactions tied to a sanctioned Iranian financier, which eventually flowed to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In a Friday post on X, Teng called the reporting “fundamentally inaccurate,” saying that Binance never permitted transactions…

ECB Rejects Euro Stablecoin Push, Warning of Risks to Banks and Monetary Policy

The European Central Bank warned EU finance ministers on Friday that proposals to expand euro stablecoin issuance could weaken bank lending and complicate monetary policy, according to three sources cited by Reuters. The pushback came in response to a policy paper prepared by Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, whose authors presented their proposals at the two-day…

Clarity Act could usher in a new era of crypto ‘yield-as-a-service’

The Clarity Act’s biggest outcome may be the creation of an entirely new market for “yield-as-a-service,” according to Joe Vollono, chief commercial officer at stablecoin infrastructure firm STBL. At the center of the debate is Section 404 of the proposed legislation, which would prohibit Digital Asset Service Providers (DASPs) and their affiliates from offering yield…

SEC Approves Nasdaq Bitcoin Index Options

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Nasdaq’s proposal to list cash-settled Bitcoin index options on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. The options are European-style contracts tied to the Nasdaq Bitcoin Index, a benchmark that tracks one one-hundredth of the CME CF Bitcoin Real Time Index, which updates with data from major cryptocurrency exchanges every 200…

Fed Proposes ‘Skinny’ Accounts, Calls for Tier 3 Pause

The US Federal Reserve proposed creating limited payment accounts that could give legally eligible fintech and crypto-linked banks narrower access to its payment rails without the backstops available to traditional banks. The proposal was released on Wednesday through a Federal Reserve Board request for comment and notice of proposed rulemaking, referring to “skinny master accounts”…

Saylor Says ‘Not Unlikely’ Strategy Will Sell Bitcoin in 2026

Strategy chairman Michael Saylor has not ruled out the company offloading some Bitcoin as early as this year, after recently softening his long-held “never sell” stance. “I think it’s not unlikely that we’ll sell some Bitcoin between now and the end of the year,” Saylor said during an interview with Natalie Brunell published to YouTube…

Multiple ETH Data Points Suggest Altcoin Is Good Longterm Buy: Analyst

Ether’s (ETH) long-term investment case is drawing fresh attention as Ethereum continues to lead in key areas of onchain activity and decentralized finance, despite the altcoin losing 28% of its value this year. The network still hosts roughly $43 billion in DeFi liquidity, more than $165 billion in stablecoins, and about 55% of tokenized assets…

F2Pool founder who controls 11% of bitcoin’s hashrate to lead first SpaceX mission to Mars

Chun Wang, the Chinese-born Maltese-Kittitian crypto investor who co-founded F2Pool, has been named Mission Commander for SpaceX’s first commercial human spaceflight interplanetary mission to Mars, crucial to Elon Musk’s plans to send one million people to the Red Planet. Wang, whose mining pool controls roughly 11.3% of the global Bitcoin network hashrate and whose personal…

New Federal Reserve Chair Sworn In, but Rate Cut Odds Remain at 0

Kevin Warsh was sworn in on Friday as the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, but investors and traders still forecast no interest rate cuts for the rest of 2026. Speaking at the ceremony, US President Donald Trump said that Warsh will remain “independent” of the Executive Branch regarding interest rate policy, and claimed…

XRP Ledger Activity Surges, But What Is Stopping Price Breakout?

XRP Ledger has seen a spike in new addresses over the last 24 hours, but overhead resistance at $1.40 kept the XRP (XRP) price in check. Key takeaways: XRP Ledger added 4,300 new wallets in 24 hours, marking the fourth-largest growth spike on the network in 2026. XRP price recovery may face resistance at $1.40,…