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According to The Block, Bank of America has appointed Sonali Theisen as the head of its global digital asset platform and Kevin Milsom as the head of AI transformation to drive the development of digital asset and artificial intelligence strategies.Sonali Theisen will be responsible for the design, development, expansion, and governance of the bank's digital asset platform, while continuing to serve as the head of electronic trading and strategic investments for fixed income, foreign exchange, and commodities (FICC) business. Her focus will include promoting the integration of blockchain products into Bank of America's existing financial market infrastructure and collaborating with the digital asset transformation head Adam Dixon to advance tokenized deposits, stablecoins, digital collateral circulation, cryptocurrency trading settlement, and custody services.Kevin Milsom will be responsible for promoting the application of AI in Bank of America's global markets platform. Reports indicate that this move continues the trend of Wall Street financial institutions accelerating their layout in digital assets and AI. Previously, Vanguard had initiated the recruitment of its first head of digital assets, and Morgan Stanley appointed Amy Oldenburg earlier this year to lead digital asset strategy to promote the integration of crypto assets and asset tokenization with traditional financial infrastructure.

According to Cointelegraph, Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), stated that the large-scale adoption of stablecoins could weaken the retail deposit base of commercial banks and alter the competitive landscape of the traditional banking system. Cipollone pointed out during a speech at the Italian Banking Association in Rome on Friday that digital payments are reshaping the banking industry while increasing Europe’s reliance on non-European payment infrastructures.Banks are currently facing declining payment fee revenues and loss of transaction data due to the development of mobile payment service providers. As payment tools like stablecoins and other digital assets become more widespread, commercial banks may face increased pressure from deposit outflows. Cipollone emphasized that the digital euro will help maintain the status of public money and ensure that banks continue to participate in the payment ecosystem while meeting the evolving financial needs of customers."The digital euro can both maintain the role of public funds and ensure that banks retain an important role in the payment system," Cipollone stated. This Tuesday, the European Central Bank selected 36 payment service providers to participate in a 12-month pilot project for the digital euro, including banks, fintech companies, and payment firms.The pilot program is set to launch in the second half of 2027, aiming to test the feasibility of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) operating in the eurozone. The European Central Bank has previously stated that if relevant legislation and testing progress smoothly, the digital euro could be officially issued as early as 2029.

a16z published a blog post stating that as traditional financial institutions accelerate their exploration of blockchain technology, the market generally believes that the future will see a comprehensive integration of DeFi (Decentralized Finance) and TradFi (Traditional Finance), forming a new financial model through the combination of decentralized finance and institutional distribution systems.However, the reality may not be so. The core motivation for traditional financial institutions to adopt blockchain is not to embrace decentralization, but to value its commercial benefits in reducing costs, improving settlement efficiency, expanding distribution channels, and optimizing customer relationship management.What is more likely to emerge in the future is a new type of "programmable financial infrastructure" based on underlying blockchain technology, optimized for institutional needs, rather than a simple integration of traditional finance and DeFi. Institutions are selectively absorbing certain technological capabilities from DeFi and modifying them according to their own regulatory, risk management, and operational requirements.For example, atomic settlement can reduce counterparty risk, shared ledgers can lower back-office reconciliation costs, programmable funds can automatically execute processes such as interest payments, margin management, and corporate actions, and automated market-making models are also being applied to on-chain foreign exchange and tokenized asset pricing.At the same time, the native DeFi features of open access, anonymity, and trustless execution often conflict with institutional requirements for compliance, control, and accountability. Therefore, cases such as JPMorgan's institutional blockchain project, BlackRock's and Franklin Templeton's tokenized funds, are essentially not traditional finance entering DeFi, but rather using blockchain technology to improve existing financial business processes.In the future, the blockchain industry will have two development paths: on one hand, enterprises and financial institutions will continue to promote the implementation of blockchain infrastructure that meets regulatory requirements, expanding the industry scale through applications such as stablecoins, tokenized assets, and on-chain settlements; on the other hand, open networks will continue to play the role of a source of innovation, continuously generating new financial primitives and market mechanisms, providing technical reserves for future institutional infrastructure.TradFi and DeFi are not in competition but are developing together in different directions. Traditional finance may not fully adopt the DeFi model but will gradually adopt parts that suit its own needs. The true integration may ultimately occur at the underlying blockchain network level, rather than one side replacing the other.For developers, the key is not to chase all markets simultaneously but to clarify the target audience: for institutions, products need to be built around compliance, risk control, and long-term business processes; for open networks, there is a need to continue exploring innovation, liquidity, and network effects. The future financial system may operate on blockchain infrastructure, but the most important innovations may still come first from open networks.

According to Gate Ventures' latest weekly report, the global market continued to be influenced by high interest rate expectations and geopolitical factors last week, with the cryptocurrency market overall maintaining volatility. BTC rose 0.2% over the week, ETH increased by 1.2%, and market sentiment saw a slight recovery. Meanwhile, BTC spot ETFs ended eight consecutive weeks of net outflows, recording a net inflow of approximately $197 million, and ETH spot ETFs also resumed net inflows, with institutional allocation demand showing marginal improvement.On the industry front, traditional financial institutions are continuing to accelerate the construction of on-chain infrastructure. Swift officially launched a blockchain-based shared ledger and partnered with 17 global banks to initiate a tokenized deposit pilot; fintech platform Toss is collaborating with Optimism to advance the infrastructure development for the Korean won stablecoin; Robinhood Chain, which launched only two weeks ago, has surpassed a total locked value (TVL) of $132 million.In terms of investment and financing, a total of 8 financing deals were disclosed last week, amounting to $381 million, with the infrastructure (Infra) sector dominating. Prime Intellect completed a $130 million financing round to accelerate the construction of enterprise-level AI infrastructure; Gauntlet received a $125 million strategic investment from Japan's SBI Holdings to further expand its institutional-level DeFi treasury business. Gate Ventures believes that stablecoins, on-chain finance, and institutional-level infrastructure are continuing to become important development directions for the industry, with institutional capital further increasing its investment in digital asset infrastructure.

According to CoinPost, JCB has reached a partnership with a Circle affiliate, planning to test USDC payments at a store in Tokyo that attracts many foreign tourists within the year and evaluate the promotion to more franchise merchants.The pilot aims to reduce the currency exchange process for tourists and lower payment transaction fees. JCB has previously tested USDC and JPYC offline payments with Digital Garage, Resona Holdings, and others; Japan has also accelerated stablecoin merchant payment trials recently, including Lawson's plan to test JPYC in-store settlements in August.

According to CoinDesk, Franklin Crypto Chief Investment Officer Seth Ginns stated that although digital asset prices have not reflected the strongest fundamentals in the industry for years, institutional adoption of crypto is accelerating. Ginns pointed out that the momentum of the integration between traditional finance and crypto is strong, and believes that under current market conditions, liquidity crypto investments are becoming increasingly attractive.He mentioned that Robinhood's blockchain initiative is an example of the shift from traditional financial distribution to crypto infrastructure, with the tokenization of money market funds, tokenized stocks, and stablecoin adoption driving the integration of traditional finance and blockchain technology. Ginns expects that the Senate vote on the Clarity Act will provide institutions with more regulatory certainty and is optimistic about Hyperliquid's revenue-driven token buyback model. He also believes that DeFi protocols such as Uniswap, Aave, and Chainlink can benefit from improved token value capture mechanisms.

According to Jinshi, as the situation between the U.S. and Iran escalates again due to the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Trump stated that he will deliver a national address at 9 PM on July 14 (9 AM on July 15 Beijing time). Trump did not specify the content of the speech, but this statement indicates that the war with Iran is actually accelerating again, whereas both sides were supposed to enter negotiations after the signing of the memorandum of understanding.

The Websea offline summit was successfully held, bringing together hundreds of industry partners, channel representatives, market elites, and regional operation center teams to exchange ideas on transaction innovation, market growth, and long-term value opportunities.The holding of this summit releases a positive signal that Websea's market strategy is accelerating comprehensively. Currently, Websea is continuously advancing the layout of regional operation centers, global BD recruitment, channel cooperation upgrades, and regional market expansion, with multiple business lines working simultaneously to further expand the platform's market coverage, channel scale, and ecological influence.In the future, Websea will continue to focus on product innovation as the foundation, channel growth as the core, and market implementation as the driving force, working hand in hand with outstanding global teams and partners to build a more vibrant and long-term valuable digital asset ecosystem.

Gate today announced that Jason Fung has officially joined Gate as the Head of Global Partnerships. He will lead the global cooperation strategy, deepening long-term collaboration with high-quality projects, L1/L2 ecosystems, TradFi institutions, and Web3 partners, enhancing the platform's ecological value and global resource integration capabilities.Jason has over 15 years of industry experience in Web3, fintech, consumer technology, and gaming. He has worked at Sei, ABFinance, TikTok, and Alibaba, and has been involved in founding multiple Web2 and Web3 startup projects, accumulating rich experience in market expansion, ecosystem construction, asset operation, strategic cooperation, and international business development. He graduated from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.Jason stated, "I am excited to join Gate. The digital asset industry is welcoming more innovation and collaboration opportunities. I look forward to leveraging my experience in Web3, technology, and global cooperation to establish closer connections with global project parties, ecosystem partners, and industry participants, exploring more innovative opportunities and jointly promoting the development of the digital asset field."Jason's addition will further enhance Gate's global cooperation system, promote resource synergy across ecosystems and industries, and work with more partners to explore innovative applications of digital assets, supporting the construction and long-term development of the industry ecosystem.

According to Bloomberg, Nubank's parent company Nu Holdings, a crypto-friendly digital bank in Brazil, has been granted a formal banking license by Mexico's financial regulatory agency Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, allowing it to conduct business such as payroll accounts, checking accounts, higher limit deposits, and more loan products locally.Since entering Mexico in 2019, Nubank has invested billions of dollars, and currently has over 15 million customers, accounting for about 15% of the local adult population. Founder and global CEO David Vélez stated that total investment in Mexico is expected to reach approximately $4.2 billion by 2030. Obtaining a full banking license is expected to help Nubank replace some wholesale financing with low-cost deposits and compete directly with large traditional banks in Mexico as well as fintech institutions like Revolut and Klar.

Websea recently officially announced the launch of a new round of global talent recruitment plan, open to the world for regional leaders, global business, market growth, risk control compliance, technology research and development, user operations, and other core positions. With a highly competitive salary and benefits system and broad career development opportunities, it aims to recruit top talent globally, comprehensively accelerate team building, and reserve core talent for the next stage of business growth and global market expansion.Websea CMO Herbert R. Sim stated: "Globalization has always been the core strategy for Websea's long-term development. The launch of the global talent plan is not only a further expansion of the team size but also a continuous investment in future growth and global market layout. We hope to attract more outstanding talents from around the world to work with Websea to promote product innovation, ecological construction, and global business development, creating a safer, more professional, and more efficient digital asset trading experience for global users."

Based on the x402 open standard, the HTTP native payment infrastructure PayGo officially announced the completion of strategic financing, with investors including United Overseas Bank (UOB), Signum Capital, and Ledger Capital.It is reported that PayGo is natively built on the ENI blockchain, with its core business providing account-free, subscription-free, and API Key-free request-level instant stablecoin (USDT/USDC) payment settlement services using the HTTP 402 "Payment Required" status code for APIs, AI entities, and the machine economy. PAYG is the governance token for the project.

Sophia Dew, a member of the Ethereum Foundation (EF) Developer Acceleration team, announced in a post that this week will be her last week working full-time for the Ethereum Foundation. Dew has been active in the Ethereum ecosystem for the past four years and has participated in projects such as Funding Commons, Gitcoin, and Celo.She stated that after leaving, she will continue to promote the vision of Ethereum and cryptocurrency technology in other ways, and she clearly expressed her continued optimism about the future development of Ethereum.

Stablecoin issuer Tether announced a strategic financing round investment of $20 million in the Latin American on-chain financial services platform Mercado Bitcoin to support its development in asset tokenization, payments, credit, capital markets, and compliant digital financial services.Founded in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has expanded from a digital asset trading platform to a comprehensive on-chain financial infrastructure platform, covering areas such as trading services, tokenized investment products, lending, stablecoin payments, banking infrastructure, and cross-border financial services. The funds from this financing will primarily be used to expand payment infrastructure, increase the scale of tokenized products for institutional and retail investors, develop credit business, advance on-chain capital market construction, seek strategic cooperation opportunities, and promote international expansion.

According to the Industrial and Commercial Times, due to the soaring prices of key components such as memory and SSDs, the cost pressure for configuring high-capacity storage in mainstream laptops has greatly increased. Cost-effective mainland Chinese memory and storage components are gradually penetrating the PC supply chain, with brands such as Lenovo, ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, Acer, and even the American brand Apple accelerating the certification, introduction, or platform tuning of related products.The report pointed out that Lenovo has expanded its use of mainland components this year, and recently flagship laptop models equipped with Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) SSDs have appeared on North American cross-border e-commerce platforms. The American brand Apple is also reported to be negotiating with the U.S. government to procure Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) memory to cope with the rising prices. In terms of Taiwanese board manufacturers, MSI recently announced that it is the first to complete the verification and tuning of Changxin Memory DDR5 chips on the AMD platform at DDR5-8000+, while Gigabyte has also adopted Changxin Memory chips in some motherboard models. ASUS and Acer have introduced memory modules from mainland manufacturers such as BIWIN through their own brand memory certification or OEM models.Industry analysts believe that although the short-term imbalance in supply and demand for storage has prompted non-mainland brands to accelerate related certifications, due to the limited production capacity of mainland manufacturers, brand Taiwanese manufacturers still emphasize that Korean original manufacturers with long-term contracts remain the main supply partners at present.

Web3 security company CertiK released the "Hack3D: First Half of 2026 Report." The report shows that in the first half of 2026, the Web3 ecosystem experienced a total of 344 security incidents, with cumulative losses of approximately $1.32 billion. Although this figure represents a 46.8% decrease compared to the same period last year, if we exclude the impact of the $1.45 billion security incident encountered by Bybit, the loss scale in the first half of this year has actually increased by about 28% year-on-year, indicating that the overall security environment in the industry has not seen substantial improvement.The report points out that wallet theft has become the largest type of attack causing financial losses, resulting in approximately $450 million in losses in the first half of the year; meanwhile, although the number of phishing attacks has decreased by over 50% year-on-year, the amount of losses has only decreased by about 10.8%, reflecting that attackers are increasingly targeting high-net-worth individuals and institutional targets, implementing more focused high-value attacks.In addition, code vulnerabilities remain the most frequently occurring type of attack, with related incidents reaching 204. CertiK believes that attackers are increasingly targeting long-running and outdated smart contracts that lack re-auditing.The report also shows that large-scale attack incidents continue to dominate industry losses, with the Kelp DAO and Drift Protocol incidents collectively causing approximately $577 million in losses, accounting for 44% of the total losses in the first half of the year. From the perspective of incident quantity, the impact of single attacks, and changes in attack patterns, the Web3 industry is facing increasingly complex and continuously escalating security challenges.

According to official news, Gate will launch the gStocks Position Acceleration Program from July 6 at 16:00 to July 20 at 16:00 (UTC+8), with a total prize pool worth $60,000 in gStocks rewards. During the event, users who purchase any gStocks for the first time with a minimum of 50 USDT and hold the position for more than 72 hours can receive a new user reward equivalent to 5 USDT in gStocks, limited to the first 2,000 users. At the same time, users can share a $50,000 gStocks prize pool based on their average daily holdings of gStocks during the event; by completing the specified cumulative trading volume of gStocks, they can also receive up to a 2.0 times position bonus coefficient, increasing their share of the prize pool, with a maximum individual reward of 10,000 USDT in equivalent gStocks.Gate has launched tokenized stock trading for gStocks, using 1:1 fully-backed native stocks as the underlying asset endorsement, supporting 24/7 trading, order book trading, and unified account management, providing users with a more flexible and convenient global stock investment experience.

According to Bloomberg, Germany's financial system is experiencing a rapid expansion of cryptocurrency asset services. Several local financial institutions, including cooperative banks and savings banks, are planning to launch cryptocurrency trading services for retail customers, allowing users to buy and sell virtual assets directly without going through third-party trading platforms.It is reported that banks in Germany, which have long served local families and businesses, are gradually embedding cryptocurrency trading functions into their existing retail banking systems. Relevant services are expected to be launched in the coming months. This trend indicates that Germany's traditional banking system is accelerating its embrace of the digital asset market within a compliance framework, which may further promote the penetration of cryptocurrencies into the mainstream financial system in Europe.

According to reports from Jiemian News, Kingsoft Cloud will accelerate the construction of GPU computing clusters in the second half of the year to meet the explosive growth in computing power demand from major clients. Among them, Xiaomi's demand for Kingsoft Cloud's GPU computing power has upgraded from a ten-thousand-card cluster, with the related budget significantly increasing from nearly 4 billion yuan to over 10 billion yuan. In addition, Alibaba's large model team has signed a 5-year computing power leasing contract with Kingsoft Cloud, involving more than 3,000 eight-card GPU servers. Based on the contracted price, the annualized revenue after full delivery will exceed 4 billion yuan.To meet the surging customer demand, Kingsoft Cloud's capital expenditure plan for 2026 has been raised to 15 billion yuan, with an annual revenue target of 12.5 billion to 13.5 billion yuan. It is reported that due to tight upstream supply, Kingsoft Cloud is currently only accepting long-term contracts from clients for 3 to 5 years, and some orders are facing delivery delays. Due to concerns about the risk of impairment of high-level card assets, Kingsoft Cloud is currently pausing aggressive hardware expansion, anticipating that the prices of computing hardware may reach a turning point for decline in the third quarter of this year.