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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau jointly announced that the first phase review on promoting the further application of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in Hong Kong's fixed income market has been completed.The review results indicate that the current legal and regulatory environment in Hong Kong is sufficiently flexible to support the issuance of tokenized bonds. The three batches of iconic tokenized bonds issued by the Hong Kong government and the increasing number of corporate issuances (including those from issuers in Asia and the Middle East) are the best evidence of this. The next phase will involve a review of the legislation to promote the broader application of DLT in the fixed income market and the digital asset sector, including allowing the electronic execution of tokenized bond issuance documents and exploring concepts such as "custody" and "transfer" of tokenized fixed income products.

According to The Block, Benchmark Equity Research maintains a Buy rating on Strategy and reiterates a target price of $570. This target price still has about a 515% upside compared to Strategy's closing price of $92.68 on Monday.Analyst Mark Palmer stated in the report that the digital credit capital framework launched by Strategy allows it to actively manage both ends of its capital structure according to market conditions, including repurchasing common and preferred stock when necessary, selling Bitcoin to meet obligations, and pausing additional issuances when the stock price is not at a premium.Palmer believes that this framework marks a shift for Strategy from previously issuing securities in a one-way manner to actively managing capital in both directions. He stated, "This is a significant positive for shareholders."The report also pointed out that this framework addresses market concerns about dilution and enhances flexibility through a structured repurchase plan. Palmer also believes that the authorization to sell up to $1.25 billion worth of Bitcoin is negligible compared to Strategy's reserve of approximately 847,000 BTC.

According to official news, Binance has announced that it has decided to withdraw its MiCA license application submitted in Greece and instead seek authorization in another EU member state. The company stated that this move is based on a prudent assessment of the current approval progress and timeline in Greece, emphasizing that user interests are at the core of the decision.Binance stated that Europe remains an important market for it, and its commitment to operate in compliance with the EU MiCA unified regulatory framework remains unchanged. It expects to obtain the relevant licenses in a new member state within the next few months, but the specific country will be announced "when ready."

According to the THORChain announcement, the network has fully resumed operation after being offline for more than a month, with core functions such as signing, node churning, asset custody, liquidity provision, and cross-chain exchanges back online, and trading services officially restored.THORChain stated that this recovery prioritizes security and stability, and comprehensive verification of the treasury and key shares has been completed. The future roadmap includes native Monero exchanges, Zcash support, dynamic fees, and deeper liquidity optimization.

Robert Kiyosaki, the author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," stated that despite the recent decline in gold and silver prices, he will not decide to buy or sell assets solely based on price, as he has made many mistakes in the past, one of which was allowing price to influence his investment judgments. He believes that more attention should be paid to the "environment" and macro background of the assets rather than short-term price fluctuations.Currently, the global economic management is performing poorly, which may lead to worsening problems. Therefore, he is focusing on the technical trends of gold, silver, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, and waiting to buy after the prices end their downward trend. The technical charts for gold and silver indicate that both may be in a phase before a significant rise, but investors should make their own judgments and not blindly trust others' opinions.

THORChain released an event update stating that the network is entering the final stage of recovery. Currently, the integrity of each node's keyshare is being verified through the new KeyVerify protocol. This step is used to confirm that each vault is in a secure state before the churn begins. If the verification passes, the next major step will be the churn, where the network will transfer all funds to new vaults.THORChain indicated that the churn time is the current main variable, which may take anywhere from several hours to several days. After the churn is completed, subsequent steps are expected to progress quickly, including re-enabling Secured and Trade assets, LP operations, and finally restoring trading. This network recovery has taken longer than expected, as the team has consistently prioritized security and stability, and will continue to share more updates moving forward.

According to CoinDesk, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has released a discussion paper exploring how decentralized finance (DeFi) can be incorporated into the EU MiCA framework. The MFSA pointed out that while MiCA exempts "fully decentralized" crypto services, many DeFi projects still retain centralized features such as admin keys, governance centralization, and protocol upgrade permissions.The regulatory body is seeking public opinion on whether decentralization should be viewed as a "spectrum" rather than a binary concept, and discussing whether to establish a standardized framework to determine if protocols fall outside the scope of MiCA regulation. Additionally, the document proposes potential legal structures such as DAOs and segregated cell companies, and examines automated compliance mechanisms like custodial agents. The public consultation on this discussion paper is open until July 10.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today announced the launch of a joint pilot project to explore new digital payment solutions for trading during after-hours sessions in the derivatives market. This pilot project aims to optimize Hong Kong's capital markets and meet the growing demand for after-hours trading sessions. HKEX and HKMA are studying the introduction of "digital Hong Kong dollar"—a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) operating on a 24/7 model—for the payment of pre-paid margins during after-hours trading sessions, to enhance the risk management capabilities of the derivatives market outside of banking hours while maintaining existing operational processes.

At the 2026 Lujiazui Forum, Ding Xiangqun, Director of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, stated that efforts should be made to strengthen regulation, eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, and ensure full coverage without exceptions. Ding Xiangqun emphasized the need to focus on preventing and resolving risks, firmly maintaining the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks. Efforts should be made to "reduce existing amounts and control new amounts." Effectively and orderly handle risks of small and medium-sized financial institutions, and support the resolution of real estate and local government debt risks. Adhere to the principle of "preventing problems before they occur" and focus on the front end, improving the early correction mechanism for financial risks with hard constraints to achieve early identification, early warning, early exposure, and early handling. Focus on "regulating the legal and more on regulating the illegal." Strengthen central-local collaboration and inter-departmental coordination, striving to eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, ensuring full coverage without exceptions. Taking the overall battle against illegal financial activities as a starting point, maintain a high-pressure crackdown, strengthen systematic governance across the entire chain, and strive to protect the "purses" of the people.

According to The Block, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis has written to the Treasury Department, requesting the maintenance of states' authority to regulate stablecoins under the GENIUS Act. The act allows stablecoin issuers with a market capitalization of no more than $10 billion to be regulated by states, provided that state-level rules are "substantially similar" to federal rules. The Treasury Department released proposed rules in April, suggesting broad principles for determining whether state systems are "substantially similar," but did not clarify the timeline and standards for state regulation. The senators stated in their letter that the lack of clarity "creates uncertainty for the states," and therefore requested the Treasury Department to issue guidance that clarifies the application, review, and certification processes for state systems. The New York State Department of Financial Services proposed formal rules last week to align its stablecoin framework with the GENIUS Act.

A bipartisan group of senators led by Cynthia Lummis has written to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, requesting that the Treasury maintain states' regulatory authority over certain stablecoin issuers when formulating implementation rules for the GENIUS stablecoin bill. The GENIUS Act was signed into law last year, establishing a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States, requiring that stablecoins be fully backed by U.S. dollars or similar high-liquidity assets, and mandating that issuers with a market capitalization exceeding $50 billion undergo annual audits, while also setting rules for offshore issuance.The bill allows stablecoin issuers with a market capitalization of no more than $10 billion to be regulated at the state level, as long as the relevant state regulatory systems are "substantially similar" to federal requirements. The senators believe that the rules previously proposed by the Treasury do not clearly outline the timeline and standards for state regulatory system applications, reviews, and certifications, creating uncertainty for the states. The letter points out that there are significant differences in legislative cycles across states, with some states even adopting a biennial legislative cycle, thus requiring a flexible and continuously open certification mechanism to ensure that states can apply for certification when demand arises, rather than being constrained by timing mismatches that limit innovation and competition.

According to Bitcoin.com, the Bank of Ghana has issued a mandatory directive requiring all regulated financial institutions to immediately cease support for unauthorized foreign currency digital wallet services provided by cryptocurrency platforms. The central bank stated that several cryptocurrency platforms operating in Ghana offer digital wallet services denominated in foreign currencies (primarily US dollars) that integrate with the local banking system through direct bank transfers, payment cards, and other channels. These cryptocurrency platforms are not authorized to conduct such activities.The central bank pointed out that these foreign currency digital wallets involve compliance requirements under the Payment Systems and Services Act of 2019 and the Foreign Exchange Act of 2006. Due to the lack of necessary approvals for cryptocurrency platforms, the banking infrastructure supporting these services is illegal. The directive takes effect immediately and applies to banks, deposit-taking institutions, electronic money issuers, and payment service providers, prohibiting the establishment or maintenance of any arrangements supporting these unauthorized fiat wallet systems. Non-compliant institutions will face regulatory or enforcement actions. The central bank has established a virtual asset service desk for businesses to consult on compliance matters.

According to the Economic Times, the Indian tax department has strengthened its review of cryptocurrency tax filings for the fiscal year 2026, discovering over 88.8 billion rupees (approximately 10.4 million USD) in unreported virtual digital asset income, and has issued more than 44,000 notices to the relevant taxpayers.

According to Livecoins, the Brazilian House of Representatives' Finance and Taxation Committee (CFT) has approved a bill to penalize cyber fraud, authorizing the freezing of cryptocurrency balances of individuals under police investigation, and also proposing amendments to relevant provisions of the Penal Code to increase penalties for cybercriminals.Crimes committed through social media or phone will face harsher penalties, with those convicted of cyber attacks facing imprisonment of 6 to 10 years, up from the previous 4 to 8 years. Additionally, judges will have the authority to freeze suspects' assets in Bitcoin exchanges and bank accounts. Some preventive measures include freezing physical assets and prohibiting the use of payment systems. The bill will next be submitted to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) for review, which is expected to be completed in the coming days.

Former CFTC and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler submitted an amicus brief to the appellate court, arguing that federal law does not grant his former agency, the CFTC, the authority to regulate sports-related prediction markets.Several other entities have submitted similar amicus briefs, stating that sports-related prediction markets violate state and tribal regulatory provisions. Courts in various parts of the United States are currently deliberating whether sports-related prediction markets should be regulated at the state or federal level, with related rulings involving tax collection and other regulatory matters.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted on the X platform that Coinbase has been approved to offer global crypto perpetual contracts to users in the United States. He stated that for years, crypto trading has shifted overseas due to the lack of clear regulations in the U.S., and perpetual contracts are high-quality products that traders want but are not allowed in the U.S. It is estimated that about half of the perpetual contract trading volume comes from Americans using offshore products with relaxed regulations through VPNs.

The blockchain infrastructure protocol Lava Network has signed a non-binding memorandum with developer BHL Group to design a tokenized regulatory sandbox for the planned residential development project Alba Bay in the Caribbean. The project plans to build over 40,000 residential units, covering nearly 40 million square meters, with a cost of billions of dollars, and is expected to break ground in the first quarter of 2027.Lava claims this is its first real-world asset authorization project. Currently, no units have been tokenized, and no infrastructure has been deployed; BHL is not required to pay any upfront fees to Lava. Lava's role is to support ecological promotion, coordinate the application of crypto-native teams, and participate in the sandbox design, with commercial terms based on usage, no fixed fees, equity, or token grants.According to CoinGecko data, the LAVA token has fallen over 90% from its peak in 2024, with a market capitalization of approximately $9 million. Lava stated that the tokenization structure has not yet been determined, and any tokens will supplement rather than replace existing property registrations; whether the project can advance to the tokenization stage depends on subsequent assessment results.

According to Jinshi reports, the President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Yu Weimen, stated in a media interview that Anchor Technology is expected to launch a stablecoin by mid-year and will begin trial use in a few weeks.HSBC is expected to launch a stablecoin in the third to fourth quarter of this year, with different application scenarios; Anchor Technology focuses on cross-border payments, while HSBC emphasizes retail payment scenarios. Yu Weimen emphasized that Hong Kong will continue to attract global capital inflows.

Alex Thorn, the Research Director at Galaxy, stated that the UK's decision to include the entire HTX on the sanctions list is controversial, as there are still a large number of legitimate users on the platform. He also pointed out that there are significant differences in the standards and timing of asset freezes among different stablecoin issuers, and suggested paying attention to the potential impact of stablecoin freeze mechanisms on user assets.

According to The Block, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed allowing authorized investment funds (including UCITS schemes and most non-UCITS retail schemes) to allocate up to 10% of their assets to cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs).This proposal is included in the FCA's 52nd quarterly consultation document, and the public and institutions have five weeks to submit their opinions, with a deadline of July 13. The FCA stated that this move aims to bridge the regulatory gap between individual retail investors and authorized funds. Since the FCA lifted the four-year retail ban on cryptocurrency ETNs in August 2025, individual investors can directly invest in ETNs, but funds were previously still subject to an "effective ban."The FCA emphasized that the 10% cap is deliberately set, as exceeding this ratio could force funds to be reclassified as restricted public investment products, affecting their retail fund status. In the proposal, professional and qualified investor schemes are not subject to the cap; long-term asset funds and non-UCITS retail schemes operating in the form of alternative investment funds will be excluded.The FCA pointed out that cryptocurrencies do not align with the investment objectives of these funds. From the industry perspective, the Investment Association supports the proposal, believing that acquiring crypto assets through regulated listed products is manageable in terms of risk, and the 10% cap helps manage fund risk. Fund managers must ensure that their holdings are consistent with the investment objectives and risk characteristics disclosed by the fund and disclose significant cryptocurrency ETN holdings.The FCA emphasized that it is not currently considering allowing authorized funds to directly hold cryptocurrency assets for investment and will make a decision after assessing the impact of the upcoming cryptocurrency asset regulatory framework and client asset protection rules.