crypto

According to Bits media, the Russian government will ban cryptocurrency mining in eight districts of Moscow, Moscow Oblast, and the Kursk Krai starting from August 15. The ban will officially remain in effect until December 31, 2032.The restrictions include eight urban districts in Kursk Oblast and the city of Lgov, and apply to local residents participating in activities such as mining pools. The relevant decree was signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and published on the official legal information portal of Russia.

According to CoinDesk, the unlicensed cryptocurrency trading platform Shelbit in Dubai is suspected of being at the center of a $4 billion network for evading Iranian sanctions and is accused of handling millions of dollars in cryptocurrency funds for a large illegal gambling network.Shelbit is operated by Iranian expatriate Siavash Kayvanpour, who is suspected of transferring hundreds of millions of dollars through major cryptocurrency platforms and providing access to global markets for the Central Bank of Iran and other sanctioned entities.U.S. and independent investigators indicate that the operation appears to be closely linked to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but it has not been confirmed whether they directly control Shelbit or the related gambling network.

The FBI submitted data disclosure to the legislative committee, revealing that losses related to cryptocurrency kiosks in Texas amounted to $56.8 million in 2025, involving 1,179 complaints, making it the highest loss among all states in the U.S. The total number of related complaints nationwide was 13,460, with reported losses increasing by 58% year-on-year to $389 million. Cryptocurrency kiosks can accept cash and exchange it for cryptocurrency, typically set up at gas stations and convenience stores.Statistics from the Texas Tribune show that there are about 4,000 such devices in Texas, where scammers induce victims to withdraw money from their bank accounts and deposit it into the machines. Jesse Saucillo, Deputy Commissioner of the Texas Department of Banking, stated that once funds are transferred out, recovering them is nearly impossible, as the money typically flows into unhosted wallets and then into mixers. He added that AI-generated police and state agency impersonation content makes phone inducements more deceptive.Data from AARP indicates that since 2023, approximately 30 states in the U.S. have enacted laws related to cryptocurrency kiosks. Indiana fully banned such devices in March, followed by Tennessee and Minnesota. Texas House Committee Chairman Rep. Cole Hefner stated that the state will consider measures beyond regulatory scope.

According to The Block, South Korean media and financial regulatory agencies have begun reviewing measures aimed at effectively preventing unregistered overseas cryptocurrency exchanges from providing services to domestic traders.

According to Coinglass data, the cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index is currently at 24, down 3 points from yesterday. The average over the past 7 days is 27, and the average over the past 30 days is 25.

According to The Defiant, Paris-based startup Kulipa suddenly ceased operations due to debt issues, leading to the simultaneous interruption of card projects for about 20 crypto wallets and fintech companies it served. Both the self-custody wallet Ready (formerly Argent) and the Solana wallet Solflare were affected, with user card services being immediately disabled.Since both wallets use a self-custody structure, funds are only deducted from the user’s wallet at the time of purchase, and user assets were not harmed. Notably, Kulipa had completed a $6.2 million seed round financing co-led by Flourish Ventures and 1kx in April of this year, just about 4 months before its collapse.

According to BBX data, yesterday global listed companies disclosed the latest real announcements regarding adjustments in cryptocurrency assets and business payment applications, with the following core dynamics:Hyperscale Data monetizes 100 BTC to build an AI data center: U.S. listed company Hyperscale Data, Inc. (NYSE American: $GPUS) announced the sale of 100 bitcoins to fund the construction of its AI data center located in Michigan. The company's CEO William Horne stated that this move is "converting one balance sheet asset into another," and clarified that the company's underlying belief in bitcoin has not changed.Quantum Solutions sells 1,000 ETH to inject into AIDC business: Japanese listed company Quantum Solutions announced that it sold 1,000 ETH through its merged subsidiary GPT Pals Studio Limited (GPT) for $1.9 million (approximately 311 million yen). The proceeds from the sale will be fully invested in the expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure (AIDC) and data center business.Vida Global seamlessly accesses bitcoin payroll through the Lightning Network: U.S. listed company Vida Global (NYSE American: $VIDA) announced the adoption of Voltage Credit to pay its global team members in bitcoin via the Lightning Network. This mechanism utilizes a revolving credit line to instantly issue bitcoin and repays the balance in U.S. dollars at the end of each month, similar to processing standard vendor invoices, allowing the company to establish a cryptocurrency payroll settlement channel without directly holding a bitcoin wallet or reflecting cryptocurrency assets on its balance sheet.

According to Cointelegraph, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has officially proposed the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act, which aims to establish a new government agency dedicated to addressing corruption at the federal level. The bill specifically names Trump, citing his disclosed investment earnings of over $2 billion in 2025 (of which $1.4 billion is related to cryptocurrency), as well as his family's holdings in cryptocurrency funds linked to foreign governments totaling over $1 billion.The proposed agency will consist of 7 bipartisan members, who will take office upon confirmation by the Senate, and will have "substantive powers" to investigate, enforce, and prevent administrative corruption, integrating the Federal Election Commission, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Office of Special Counsel under one roof. Senators Andy Kim, Alex Padilla, and Jeff Merkley jointly proposed the measure. White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly responded that Trump's investments "are held in a fully managed account by an independent third-party financial institution, with no conflicts of interest."

According to Cointelegraph, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) investigation shows that the cryptocurrency ownership rate in Canada has risen from 10% in 2023 to 25% in 2026. The survey was conducted from December 2025 to January 2026 with 2,360 respondents aged 18 and older, finding that 59% of respondents are aware of crypto assets, and 25% own crypto assets.The survey also indicated that investors' risk awareness has increased, but industry awareness remains limited—about 50% of holders check whether a platform is registered before using it, but many investors have misunderstandings about regulation, insurance protection, and trading capabilities. The Canadian federal government proposed a bill in April to ban political donations in crypto assets and crypto ATMs.

The Central Bank of Brazil disclosed that the purchase volume of cryptocurrency assets in Brazil reached $14.68 billion in the first half of 2026, an increase of 135% compared to $6.24 billion in the first half of 2025. The statistical scope includes transactions involving Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins processed by registered Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP).In June, the purchase volume of cryptocurrency assets in Brazil was $2.54 billion, higher than $1.48 billion in June 2025; in May, the purchase volume of stablecoins was nearly $2.632 billion, an increase of 158% compared to May 2025. Fernando Rocha, head of the statistics department at the Central Bank of Brazil, stated that the country's cryptocurrency asset market has moved past the initial stage and is expanding while exploring application scenarios. Fernando Rocha indicated that the demand for dollar-pegged stablecoins is driving growth, with its demand share exceeding 90%, and it can be used for payments and cross-border settlements. The Central Bank of Brazil classifies VASP as Class 3, and after it takes effect in January 2027, relevant institutions will need to comply with the same requirements as securities brokers, securities distributors, and foreign exchange brokerage firms.

According to Bloomberg, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned cryptocurrency holders that scammers are contacting some taxpayers by mailing fake letters in an attempt to steal their digital assets or personal data. The IRS stated that these letters may ask taxpayers to register for a so-called "Digital Asset Compliance Portal," which does not exist. The IRS also reminds users not to scan suspicious QR codes and not to answer or cooperate with calls requesting payment.While phishing and digital scams are not new in the cryptocurrency industry, sending fake IRS notices through physical mail seems to be a new scam tactic. Since the IRS has indeed sent letters related to digital assets to taxpayers in the past, and last year saw a surge in cryptocurrency tax filing notifications, many taxpayers are confused, which may lead scammers to exploit this familiarity for disguise. As the U.S. tax system requires taxpayers to disclose cryptocurrency activities on their tax returns, communication between the IRS and cryptocurrency holders has become more common. This also makes counterfeit tax notices more misleading. For cryptocurrency users, encountering "IRS letters" involving portal registration, QR code scanning, wallet connections, or payment requests should be treated with caution, and verification should be done through official channels.

According to Coindesk, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) stated that the decreased probability of the "Clarity Act" passing in the U.S. Senate this year poses a blow to the crypto market, and warned that further delays could undermine one of the industry's most important regulatory catalysts. JPMorgan noted that, due to the Senate prioritizing other bills before the summer recess, the market currently predicts that the probability of this bill passing before the end of the year is only 37%. Negotiations regarding ethical clauses, enforcement, DeFi, stablecoin yields, and anti-money laundering rules remain stalled.

According to official news, the prediction market Polymarket announced a significant adjustment to its settlement mechanism for cryptocurrency price fluctuation markets starting from August 7, to protect market integrity. From midnight UTC on that day, the affected markets will no longer settle based on a single price snapshot at a specific time but will instead use a time-weighted average price.Markets of different durations correspond to different TWAP windows: all cryptocurrency 5-minute markets will use a 30-second TWAP, 15-minute markets will use a 60-second TWAP, and 4-hour markets will also use a 60-second TWAP. The previous single snapshot settlement method was prone to price manipulation during periods of low liquidity, and this change is a proactive reinforcement of the market integrity system by Polymarket after facing regulatory scrutiny.To support this transition, Polymarket will inject $1 million in liquidity rewards into all affected markets throughout August. On the technical side, Chainlink TWAP testnet data streams are now available, and mainnet data streams along with Polymarket real-time data stream services will go live on August 4, at which point developers can access TWAP prices directly through Chainlink Data Streams or Polymarket's public WebSocket.

According to Deribit data, a nominal value of 10.3 billion dollars in cryptocurrency options will expire tomorrow.Among them: BTC options have a nominal value of 9.5 billion dollars, with a put/call ratio of 0.28 and a maximum pain point of 64,000 dollars; ETH options have a nominal value of 819 million dollars, with a put/call ratio of 0.59 and a maximum pain point of 1,800 dollars.

According to Coinglass data, the cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index is currently at 27, down 1 point from yesterday. The average over the past 7 days is 27, and the average over the past 30 days is 24.

According to Digital Asset, on July 28, 15 members of South Korea's People Power Party, including Kim Sang-hoon, proposed an amendment to the Specific Financial Information Act, allowing financial authorities to request the suspension of payments for virtual asset accounts suspected of being used for illegal asset transfers.The amendment defines "account" as a unique identification number provided by exchanges to users. The Financial Intelligence Analysis Institute can request a suspension of payments for 30 days when an account is deemed suspicious, which can be extended once. Those who do not comply may face fines of up to 100 million won. The bill will take effect six months after its announcement.