U.S. Senate releases crypto market principles, MasterCard supports buying cryptocurrencies

Headline

▌U.S. Senate Banking Committee Releases Crypto Market Structure Principles

According to Eleanor Terrett, Tim Scott, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senators Cynthia Lummis, Thom Tillis and Bill Hagerty jointly released the Crypto Market Structure Principles to guide future cryptocurrency legislation. The principles emphasize six key directions: 1. Clearly define the legal status of digital assets and distinguish between digital asset securities and commodities 2. Clearly allocate the responsibilities of regulators to avoid the emergence of a single all-powerful regulator 3. Modernize regulation to promote innovation, including the SEC providing new exemptions for digital asset financing 4. Protect the rights and interests of digital asset traders and implement innovation-friendly registration requirements for centralized intermediaries 5. Formulate targeted and innovative anti-money laundering measures 6. Federal financial regulators should welcome responsible innovation and provide clear guidance The principles place special emphasis on protecting self-custody rights, distinguishing between centralized and decentralized platforms, and recognizing that tokenization is an evolution of financial infrastructure rather than a fundamental change.

▌Mastercard and Chainlink cooperate to support on-chain cryptocurrency purchases

Mastercard has reached a cooperation with Chainlink, which will allow 3 billion Mastercard cardholders worldwide to purchase cryptocurrencies directly on the blockchain. The service integrates platforms such as Shift4, Zerohash, XSwap and Uniswap, and realizes data exchange between card networks and multiple chains through Chainlink's interoperability protocol. This is another recent layout of Mastercard in the field of cryptocurrency. It has previously launched stablecoin payment and crypto debit card services with MoonPay and Kraken respectively.

Market

As of press time, according to CoinGecko data:

BTC price is $105,898, up or down +0.4% in 24 hours;

ETH price is $2,442.94, up or down +0.9% in 24 hours;

BNB price is $643.19, up or down +0.5% in 24 hours;

Policy

▌US Senate Republicans plan to start voting on tax bill on Friday

US Senate Majority Leader Thune said on Tuesday that he expects to start voting on Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" on Friday, which will extend the voting into the weekend and disrupt the House's recess plan next week. But Thune is confident that Congress will submit the bill to Trump before the July 4 deadline. Thune met with House Speaker Johnson around noon on Tuesday. A few minutes before the meeting, Thune said he had not spoken to Johnson about the bill recently. House leadership reportedly told people that they were worried about whether the Senate version of the bill could pass. Changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction and Medicaid provider taxes are the biggest concerns. Regarding SALT, Thune said, "I know this will be the last issue to be resolved, and it will be."

▌Powell: Banks can provide banking services to the cryptocurrency industry and conduct related business

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that banks can provide banking services to the cryptocurrency industry and conduct related business, provided that the safety and soundness of the financial system are ensured.

▌Powell: The Federal Reserve neither has nor seeks to obtain legal authority to purchase Bitcoin

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that the Federal Reserve neither has nor seeks to obtain legal authority to purchase Bitcoin.

▌Powell: Stablecoin-related legislation is advancing

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that stablecoin-related legislation is advancing, which is good.

▌The EU is ready to take more tariff countermeasures to put pressure on the US

According to Xinhua News Agency, citing the Financial Times on the 24th, Bjorn Seibert, chief of staff to European Commission President von der Leyen, said that before the July 9 deadline for EU-US trade negotiations, the EU needs to coordinate its positions and be prepared to take more tariff countermeasures against the US to pose a "real threat" to the US. Seibert said that von der Leyen is ready to take escalating tariff countermeasures against the US in order to get a better deal. He hopes that EU member states will support a package of tariffs on US goods worth 95 billion euros, and said that the EU is also preparing measures targeting the service industry, including taxing US technology companies and restricting US companies from obtaining public procurement contracts.

▌Powell: The US dollar will always exist as a reserve currency

When asked whether US Treasuries are safe-haven assets, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell replied that yes, in any case, the US dollar will always exist as a reserve currency for a long time to come.

Blockchain applications

▌Flashnet and Brale plan to cooperate with Magic Eden to launch the US dollar stablecoin USDB

The decentralized trading platform Flashnet and the US licensed entity Brale plan to cooperate with Magic Eden this summer to launch the Bitcoin-natively supported US dollar stablecoin USDB, which will be supported by the Bitcoin second-layer network Spark. Magic Eden will assist in distributing USDB and supporting the stablecoin on its NFT platform.

▌Guotai Junan International officially approved to provide virtual asset trading services such as cryptocurrencies

Guotai Junan International announced that Guotai Junan International Holdings Co., Ltd. (stock code: 1788.HK), a subsidiary of Guotai Haitong Group, was officially approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission on June 24 to upgrade its existing securities trading license to provide virtual asset trading services and provide opinions on the basis of providing virtual asset trading services. After the upgrade, customers can directly trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum and stablecoins such as USDT on its platform. Guotai Junan International has thus become the first Chinese brokerage firm in Hong Kong to provide a full range of virtual asset-related trading services, covering virtual asset trading, consulting and related product issuance and distribution. In recent years, the company has continued to expand its virtual asset business, including launching virtual asset ETF structured products, conducting trading platform agency business and digital bond issuance, actively helping Hong Kong build an international virtual asset center.

▌Nobitex, an Iranian crypto trading platform, released a service recovery plan

Nobitex, an Iranian crypto trading platform, released a service recovery plan, and the platform services will be gradually restored in stages. Nobitex was previously attacked by the pro-Israel hacker group "Gonjeshke Darande (Predatory Sparrow)", with an estimated loss of about US$100 million.

▌BIS: Stablecoins are not currencies and have not passed the "three key tests" of the monetary system

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) stated in its latest annual report that stablecoins do not qualify to be at the core of the monetary system and have not passed the three key tests of "unity, resilience and integrity". The report pointed out that stablecoins may weaken the integrity of the financial system and national monetary sovereignty, and even bring the risk of "implicit dollarization". Although it has certain advantages in cross-border payments and technical efficiency, it still has problems such as weak compliance and concentrated issuers. BIS is also optimistic about the prospects of "tokenization" of central bank reserves, commercial bank currencies and traditional assets, believing that this will lay the foundation for the next generation of financial systems. After the report was released, the share price of Circle, the issuer of USDC, fell by more than 15% on the same day.

Cryptocurrency

▌NYSE Arca applies to launch Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF

NYSE Arca, the New York Stock Exchange, submitted a 19b-4 document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 24, 2025, applying to launch the Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF (code: B.T).

▌Grayscale updates spot Solana ETF S-1 application, discloses 2.5% management fee

According to SEC documents, Grayscale recently submitted the latest version of the S-1/A application for the spot Solana ETF (Grayscale Solana Trust, SOL), and disclosed in the document that the management fee rate of the trust product is 2.5%.

▌Coinbase will launch Newton (NEWT)

Coinbase will add support for Newton (NEWT) on the Ethereum network. If liquidity conditions are met, trading will begin later today.

▌Grayscale launches Space and Time Trust to provide investment exposure to SXT

Grayscale announced the launch of Space and Time Trust to provide investment exposure to SXT. It is now open to qualified individual and institutional investors. The verifiable computing layer Space and Time (SXT) is backed by Microsoft's venture capital arm M1.

▌SEC postpones 21Shares spot Polkadot ETF review

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed its review of the 21Shares spot Polkadot ETF.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌Powell: The current interest rate level is high, but it is recommended to wait for more signs

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that our current interest rate level is high, and there is more room for interest rate cuts than when the interest rate is close to zero. We just suggest that everyone wait and wait for more signs. There is no sign of weakness in the labor market at present. If we see weakness in the labor market, we will take measures to adjust. As long as the economy remains strong, we can pause here for a while. If inflation is not expected to rise or the labor market is weak, there is no need to wait and observe.

▌The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in July is 81.4%

According to CME's "Fed Watch": The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in July is 81.4%, and the probability of a 25 basis point interest rate cut is 18.6%. The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in September is 14.8%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 70%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut is 15.2%.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌How does quantitative easing work and affect crypto?

Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy tool used by central banks, especially when interest rates are already low and cannot be lowered further.  It became popular during the 2008 global financial crisis, when traditional monetary tools such as lowering interest rates were not enough to stimulate economic growth. Quantitative easing not only affects traditional financial markets, but also the cryptocurrency market.  When central banks inject more money into the economy, some of the money flows into alternative assets such as Bitcoin and altcoins, pushing up their prices. With more money available for investment, the surge in liquidity typically pushes up prices of all assets, including cryptocurrencies. Additionally, during QE, fiat currencies may lose value due to an increase in money supply, leading some investors to seek cryptocurrencies as a hedge against the risk of inflation or currency devaluation. Bitcoin, in particular, is often viewed as a store of value similar to gold. Cryptocurrencies may be affected after QE ends. When central banks end QE or start raising interest rates (tightening), liquidity decreases and borrowing costs rise. This can lead to a pullback in risky assets, including cryptocurrencies.