Japan could launch its first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund as early as 2028 as regulators prepare rules that would allow investment trusts and ETFs to hold crypto assets directly. A July 23 Nikkei report said the Financial Services Agency plans to revise investment-fund rules after lawmakers approved amendments that bring crypto assets under the Financial Instruments
Following a merger of Ethereum’s [$ETH] Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) into one holistic roadmap, the scaling upgrades seem to be working. For instance, Pectra Upgrade expanded L2 blob throughput, while Fusaka Upgrade increased data availability by 8x. That is not just heresy. It is backed by the recent on-chain data. Here are
Blockchain Moves Beyond the Crypto Hype Digital assets are moving from speculative markets into the infrastructure used to issue assets, transfer money, and settle financial transactions, according to CNBC and Statista’s World’s Top Fintech Companies 2026, an annual survey of leading financial technology businesses across eight industry segments. Forty companies were recognized in the digital
The UK Treasury has set Q1 2027 for its first tokenized sovereign bond transaction, but the project has remained dependent on finding a workable method to settle its cash leg on-chain. CoinDesk reported that the missing payment mechanism has held back institutional use of digital bonds for almost seven years, even as governments and financial
Bitcoin prices fluctuated close to $65,000 on Wednesday, July 22, as analysts pointed out key technical levels that traders should monitor. The world’s largest digital currency by total market value fell to as little as $65,484.00, according to Coinbase data from TradingView. At this point, the cryptocurrency had fallen close to 50% from the all-time
A $16.3 billion U.S. pension fund has increased its exposure to Bitcoin through a larger investment in Strategy, the business intelligence firm widely known for building the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasury. The Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System has boosted its holdings of Strategy’s stock (MSTR) to 21,300 shares, representing a position worth approximately $2.13
Lightning Labs, the company developing core Lightning Network software including Lnd, Loop, and Taproot Assets, has released the alpha version of Wavelength. The toolkit enables developers and AI agents to add self-custodial Bitcoin payments to applications through a simple non-custodial API, without running nodes, managing channels, or sourcing liquidity. In a July 21, 2026 blog
MetaMask will cover gas fees on swap transactions exceeding the $200 threshold. The program includes operations within the Solana network and swaps to other blockchains. The measure was reported by the specialized portal SolanaFloor on July 21, 2026. To simplify Solana trading, the digital wallet MetaMask announced automatic coverage of network fees. The measure applies
Zhibao Technology, a Shanghai-based insurance-technology firm listed on the Nasdaq, said Wednesday it has signed a non-binding term sheet for a stock sale that would be paid for in bitcoin — some 3,500 coins, worth near $220 million at current prices. The deal, a private investment in public equity known as a PIPE, would have