Standard Chartered launches BTC and ETH trading services; US House of Representatives crypto bill fails in first vote

Headlines

▌Standard Chartered Bank Launches Spot Trading Services for Bitcoin and Ethereum for Institutional Clients

Standard Chartered Bank has launched spot trading services for Bitcoin and Ethereum for institutional clients through its UK branch to meet the growing demand for crypto assets. Standard Chartered Bank said it has become the first global systemically important bank to provide deliverable Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading services, with secure, compliant and scalable access capabilities.

▌The U.S. House of Representatives Failed to Pass a Procedural Vote on the Cryptocurrency Bill

U.S. House Speaker Johnson said he hopes to try again on Wednesday in the House of Representatives for a procedural vote on the cryptocurrency bill. Earlier reports said President Trump was "angry" and was communicating with lawmakers who blocked the cryptocurrency bill from entering the House of Representatives. Previously, the House of Representatives failed to pass a procedural vote on a cryptocurrency-related bill, with 196 votes in favor and 223 votes against. Thirteen Republicans voted together with Democrats to oppose the procedural motion.

Market

As of press time, according to CoinGecko data:

BTC price is $117,623, 24 hours ups and downs -1.9%;

ETH price is $3,129.02, 24 hours ups and downs +4.0%;

BNB price is $692.97, 24 hours ups and downs +0.4%;

Policy

▌Trump: Digital assets represent the future, and the United States is leading

Trump posted on social media, "Happy Cryptocurrency Week. The House of Representatives is about to vote on a major bill that aims to make the United States the undisputed number one leader in digital assets. Digital assets represent the future, and the United States is far ahead. Complete the first vote this afternoon (all Republicans should vote in favor). This is our moment. It's all about making America great again, stronger and more outstanding than ever before. We are leading the world and will work with the Senate and the House of Representatives to push for more relevant legislation to be passed."

▌White House cryptocurrency director: Trump administration plans to ban the issuance of central bank digital currencies

David Sacks, White House director of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, said the Trump administration plans to ban the issuance of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

▌The UK promotes the development of distributed ledger technology and asset tokenization

The UK Treasury announced that it will support wholesale financial markets to explore the best distributed ledger technology (DLT) and asset tokenization solutions, and promote the widespread application of blockchain technology in the financial field. The government plans to establish a regulatory framework for encryption technology and has released draft legislation related to stablecoins in April this year. At the same time, regulators will test stablecoins and other digital payment solutions in the newly established digital securities sandbox.

▌Ghana is finalizing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency trading

Ghana is finalizing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency trading

Ghana is developing a gold export price hedging plan to protect the proceeds from gold exports and avoid future price fluctuations from impacting the central bank's foreign exchange reserves. In addition, Asiama said that Ghana is finalizing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency trading to bring trading platforms and other digital asset platforms under formal supervision. Regulation will enable the Central Bank of Ghana to bring virtual currencies under the supervision of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules and ensure that digital innovation supports rather than undermines exchange controls and monetary stability.

▌The United States and its allies set the end of August as the deadline for reaching an Iran nuclear deal

According to the AXIOS website, three people familiar with the matter revealed that US Secretary of State Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom spoke yesterday and decided to set the end of August as the actual deadline for reaching a nuclear deal with Iran. If no agreement is reached before the deadline, the three European powers plan to activate the "snapback" mechanism to automatically re-implement all sanctions lifted by the UN Security Council under the 2015 Iran Agreement. It takes 30 days to activate the "snapback" mechanism, and Europe hopes to complete the process before Russia assumes the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in October.

Blockchain Applications

▌Ripple confirms plans to apply for MiCA license to expand into EU market

Payment solutions company Ripple has confirmed plans to apply for the Crypto Asset Market Regulation (MiCA) license to expand into the EU market. A Ripple spokesperson said the company intends to "achieve MiCA compliance" because it recognizes "significant opportunities in the European market." The announcement comes as Ripple completed the registration of Ripple Payments Europe S.A. in Luxembourg at the end of April this year.

▌Vitalik: The best way to build L2 is to borrow more from the functions of L1

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the best way to build L2 is to rely more on the functions provided by L1 (security, censorship resistance, proof, data availability, etc.), and simplify the logic to only act as a sorter and prover on top of the core execution layer (if based on the Base network, it is only a prover). Vitalik believes that this is a perfect combination of trust minimization and making L2 not require hard forks, which helps to prevent risks and create a healthy ecosystem.

▌Blockchain loan company Figure Technology plans to IPO

Blockchain loan company Figure Technology Solutions co-founder Mike Cagney said that the company plans to go public this fall and is taking advantage of the White House's more friendly policies toward cryptocurrencies and investors' growing interest in the industry to promote related business development. The IPO is a major turning point for Figure, which tried to go public during former U.S. President Biden's administration but faced resistance from regulators for inappropriate wording used in its regular application documents.

▌California Governor Launches "Breakthrough Project" and Invites Executives from Crypto Companies such as Ripple and Coinbase to Participate in Government-Enterprise Collaboration Reform

FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett said that California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the launch of the "California Breakthrough Project" and invited senior leaders from technology and crypto companies such as Ripple, Coinbase, and MoonPay to participate in the project, aiming to provide advice and support for improving the efficiency of the California government and cross-departmental collaboration. The project working group held its first meeting at Ripple's headquarters in San Francisco on June 6. Other participants include executives from Instacart, Snapchat, Anduril Technologies, and well-known angel investor Ron Conway.

▌The U.S. Department of Justice ends its investigation into prediction platform PolyMarket

Market sources said that the U.S. Department of Justice ended its investigation into prediction platform PolyMarket, marking a victory for cryptocurrency gambling during the administration of U.S. President Trump.

Cryptocurrency

▌Citi is exploring the possibility of issuing stablecoins

Citi's CEO said that Citi is exploring the possibility of issuing stablecoins.

▌Bitwise launches third-party asset reserve proof service for its Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs

Bitwise announced that it has launched a third-party asset reserve proof transparency service for the Bitwise Bitcoin Spot ETF (BITB) and the Bitwise Ethereum Spot ETF (ETHW), which is provided by the US registered accounting firm The Network Firm.

▌NYSE approves ProShares Ultra XRP ETF

According to Cointelegraph, the New York Stock Exchange approved the ProShares Ultra XRP ETF (code: UXRP).

▌Tether has held more than $127 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds in Q2 this year

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino posted on the X platform that in the second quarter of 2025, Tether (USDT) has held more than $127 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds.

▌GameStop CEO: Buying Bitcoin is to hedge against inflation and will not imitate Strategy's strategy

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said in an interview with CNBC's financial program that the company will not follow Strategy's model, but has its own unique strategy. GameStop currently has a very strong balance sheet, with more than $9 billion in cash and securities, and the purpose of purchasing 4,710 BTC before was just to regard Bitcoin as a tool to hedge inflation and global money printing.

▌Trump's eldest son: Cryptocurrency will grow into an industry of at least trillions of dollars

Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said that encrypted digital currency will grow into an industry of (at least) trillions of dollars. I like Musk's role as an innovator.

▌JPMorgan Chase CEO: We will participate in the related business of stablecoins and JPMorgan Chase deposit coins

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) CEO Dimon: We will participate in the related business of stablecoins and JPMorgan Chase deposit coins.

▌OFA Group reaches $100 million equity financing agreement to establish a cryptocurrency treasury

Nasdaq-listed OFA Group announced that it has reached a $100 million commitment equity acquisition financing agreement with Atsion Opportunity Fund LLC to establish a cryptocurrency treasury. Bitwise serves as its strategic advisor. It is reported that the agreement has the option to increase the financing scale to $200 million with the consent of both parties. The funds will be used to implement cryptocurrency fund management strategies and establish a cryptocurrency treasury. It is expected to strategically accumulate BTC, SOL and SUI.

▌Cantor Fitzgerald is close to a $4 billion SPAC transaction with Bitcoin pioneer Adam Back

U.S. brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald is close to reaching a SPAC transaction of approximately $4 billion with Bitcoin pioneer Adam Back. The transaction will purchase more than 30,000 bitcoins (worth more than $3 billion) through Cantor's blank check company Cantor Equity Partners 1 (to be renamed BSTR Holdings), and plans to raise an additional $800 million to expand the scale of digital assets. Adam Back will exchange bitcoin for shares in the company. This move marks Cantor's accelerated layout of crypto assets, and it is expected that the total purchase of crypto assets this year will be close to $10 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed this week, just as the U.S. Congress is intensively discussing digital currency legislation.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌US CPI in June increased by 2.7% year-on-year, higher than market expectations

US CPI in June increased by 2.7% year-on-year, estimated at 2.6%, and the previous value was 2.4%; CPI in June increased by 0.3% month-on-month, estimated at 0.3%, and the previous value was 0.1%. The U.S. core CPI grew 2.9% year-on-year in June, which was expected to be 2.9%; the core CPI grew 0.2% month-on-month in June, which was expected to be 0.3%.

▌Trump: Small countries may face general tariffs of more than 10%

US President Trump said he was satisfied with the current agreement and would soon issue a tariff letter on small countries. Small countries may face general tariffs of more than 10%.

▌Fed Collins: Core inflation is expected to remain at about 3% by the end of the year

Fed Collins: Tariffs will push inflation up in the second half of the year, and core inflation is expected to remain at about 3% by the end of the year.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌How does the trade war affect the stock and crypto markets? Tariffs raise the cost of imported goods, squeezing profit margins for companies that rely on international supply chains. When automakers or electronics brands have to pay higher costs for parts, those costs can either eat into profits or be passed on to consumers. In either case, that’s bad news for earnings, which is what determines stock valuations. There’s also the fear factor. The trade war injects a huge amount of uncertainty into the economy. Will more tariffs be imposed next? Will other countries retaliate? That unpredictability can cause companies to hold off on investments and hiring, while consumers may start spending less. That manifests itself as heightened market volatility. The tariffs also hit cryptocurrencies, but markets recovered after a few days, reflecting their volatile and responsive nature during times of global uncertainty. When uncertainty heightens — such as when global trade tensions suddenly escalate — investors tend to play it safe. That means investors pull out of more volatile assets, including cryptocurrencies, and move into assets seen as safer, like cash or bonds. It’s a classic “risk-off” strategy. But cryptocurrencies don’t stay down for long. For many investors, cryptocurrencies are also increasingly seen as a valuable hedge, despite their volatility, that is not affected by any government or policy decisions.