The Block News Feed

ICYMI: Asia & EMEA news recap from James Hunt at The Block 👇 🔮 CFTC proposes prediction rules The CFTC unveiled proposed rules outlining which prediction market contracts would be permitted under federal law. 🔗 Link 🏛 Lawmakers debate crypto taxes The House Ways and Means Committee discussed digital asset taxation after the release of seven Republican-backed bills. 🔗 Link 🧑‍⚖️ Man gets 5-year sentence A Washington man was sentenced to five years in prison for helping facilitate a $100 million crypto laundering scheme. 🔗 Link 🪪 Kalshi tightens trader checks Kalshi introduced mandatory employment verification and other measures aimed at reducing insider trading risks. 🔗 Link 🇷🇺 EU expands Russia sanctions The European Commission's latest sanctions package broadens restrictions on Russia-linked crypto entities. 🔗 Link 🇯🇵 Japanese banks test stablecoin MUFG, Mizuho, and SMBC plan to begin live commercial transactions using a jointly issued stablecoin. 🔗 Link 🕷 Botanix to shut down Botanix said it will wind down its Bitcoin Layer 2 network and urged users to withdraw assets before July 9. 🔗 Link 🗽 New York updates stablecoin rules New York regulators proposed changes to align the state's stablecoin framework with the GENIUS Act. 🔗 Link 🐻 K33 sees bear-market signal More than half of bitcoin's circulating supply is now underwater, a level historically associated with major market bottoms. 🔗 Link 📉 Bitcoin holds near lows BTC traded around $62,000 as ETF outflows, geopolitical uncertainty, and AI-driven capital rotation weighed on sentiment. 🔗 Link 🚀 Curve launches Llamalend v2 Curve Finance rolled out Llamalend v2 on Optimism as the first stage of a broader lending upgrade. 🔗 Link 🌐 Pyth unveils Indices Pyth launched a suite of 24/7 index products covering equities, commodities, and energy markets. 🔗 Link 🤖 Ripple launches AI toolkit Ripple introduced a toolkit for developers building agentic payment applications on the XRP Ledger. 🔗 Link ✅ Benchmark backs Securitize Benchmark maintained a Buy rating and $16 price target as Securitize moved closer to a NYSE listing. 🔗 Link