Cointelegraph.com
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Cointelegraph.com - 20:21 Jul 17, 2025
Australia’s Block Earner has launched a Bitcoin-backed mortgage as a new path into the property market, following a regulatory win that cleared the way for crypto-backed lending. As home prices in Australia continue to outpace incomes, a company is rolling out a Bitcoin-backed mortgage, offering crypto holders a new way to access the property market without selling their assets. On Wednesday, Block Earner launched the country’s first Bitcoin-backed home loan after fighting with regulators in court for over two years. The product was made possible by an April Federal Court ruling that found that Block Earner’s crypto lending products did not qualify as “financial products” under the Corporations Act. The decision cleared the company from needing a financial services license in order to offer Bitcoin as collateral in home loans. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 20:06 Jul 17, 2025
The start of a new altcoin season could play a key role in sending SUI toward $5. Key point: Growing interest in altcoins could push SUI above the stiff overhead resistance at $4.30, setting up a rally to $5. Bitcoin (BTC) has been consolidating after hitting the all-time high of $123,218. Although BTC has not given up much ground, its falling dominance of the total crypto market capitalization shows that money is flowing into altcoins. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:52 Jul 17, 2025
The company's stock price has been in a negative trend in 2025, indicating that a Bitcoin strategy is not a “panacea,” according to an analyst. Semler Scientific bought another $25 million in Bitcoin to push its holdings to nearly 5,000 BTC, but investors aren't buying into the buzz. Even with its treasury strategy and big gains on its crypto investments, the medical technology company’s shares are down 22% year-to-date. Semler bought 210 Bitcoin (BTC) in the first week of July at an average price of $118,974 per coin, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company now holds 4,846 Bitcoin, acquired for almost $455 million and now worth $577.9 million. The shift from medical technology business to the Bitcoin treasury company is backed by a $175 million capital raise through an at-the-market (ATM) offering in April. The company plans to hold 105,000 BTC by 2027. If Semler achieves its goal, it would hold 0.05% of all BTC that would ever be produced. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:36 Jul 17, 2025
The three bills on Republicans’ crypto agenda passed with bipartisan support despite continued pushback from Democrats over claims of corruption and conflicts of interest. After delays in Congress over Republican concerns with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the US House of Representatives has passed three pieces of crypto legislation. In a Thursday House session, lawmakers voted 294-134 to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bill aimed at establishing a market structure for cryptocurrencies, 308-122 in favor of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, and 219-210 for the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. Almost 80 Democrats voted yes for the CLARITY Act and more than 100 for the GENIUS Act, with the bills having been expected to move through the chamber before Congress breaks for its August recess. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 19:31 Jul 17, 2025
Data from Fidelity Investments suggests that Bitcoin is still mid-cycle in its adoption curve as institutional interest and inflows signal asset maturity. Key takeaways: Fidelity’s Jurrien Timmer says Bitcoin is still mid-cycle in its adoption curve. 125 public companies now hold BTC, with digital asset products witnessing $3.7 billion in weekly inflows last week. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 18:21 Jul 17, 2025
Bitcoin technical charts suggest BTC could remain range-bound for an extended period of time. Cointelegraph explains why. Key point: BTC is facing selling near $120,000, signaling an upcoming phase of consolidation. Bitcoin (BTC) is taking a breather, but a positive sign is that the bulls have not ceded much ground to the bears. That suggests the bulls are holding on to their positions as they anticipate the uptrend to resume. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 17:12 Jul 17, 2025
XRP cloud mining is possible in 2025, but approach with caution, as risks often outweigh the rewards. XRP cloud mining doesn’t mine XRP; it funds BTC or ETH contracts using XRP. Promised returns (100%-800% APR) are often unsustainable and lack transparency. High risks include scams, volatility and hidden fees, with little regulatory oversight. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 16:28 Jul 17, 2025
Republicans and Democrats tussled over the Trump family’s crypto ties, consumer protections, and backing stablecoins with fiat assets. As day four of “Crypto Week” kicks off, US Democratic and Republican lawmakers remain divided on the future of key legislation that will shape the country's regulatory approach to digital assets. Votes were anticipated on the Clarity Act, the GENIUS stablecoin bill and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, but progress has been slowed by political gridlock on amendments, including proposals to bar government officials from trading cryptocurrencies. The fourth day of the so-called Crypto Week started Thursday with US lawmakers in the House of Representatives debating consumer protections, anti-money laundering provisions, the development of a central bank digital currency, banking protections and preventing conflicts of interest in the executive branch. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 15:21 Jul 17, 2025
LINK price is on the verge of confirming a historically bullish pattern, which could send the altcoin’s price above $18. Key point: Convergence of TradFi and DeFi could propel LINK past $18 and start a new uptrend. At the RWA Summit Cannes, Nelli Zaltsman, JPMorgan Kinexys’ head of blockchain payments innovation, said that decentralized finance and traditional finance are converging rapidly. The banking giant, Chainlink (LINK), and Ondo Finance (ONDO) recently completed a crosschain Delivery versus Payment (DvP) test transaction, involving a permissioned payment network and a public testnet. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 15:00 Jul 17, 2025
Bhutan’s unique naming culture and values of sovereignty make it a strong candidate for adopting blockchain-based identity systems. Opinion by: Ezra Reguerra, journalist at Cointelegraph The Kingdom of Bhutan’s openness to dive into Web3 technology creates an opportunity to build a blockchain-based identity infrastructure and modernize the nation’s approach to digital identity. Bhutan is a Himalayan country where modernization is paced and driven by its culture and values. Its Gross National Happiness (GNH) development philosophy pushes the country to take a cautious approach to tourism and technology. Because of this, Bhutan has historically chosen sovereignty over scale. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:55 Jul 17, 2025
Aplus and SBI VC Trade launch Japan’s first point-to-crypto program, letting users earn XRP, BTC and ETH from everyday spending. On July 8, 2025, Aplus, a credit card and financial services company under Japan’s Shinsei Bank Group, collaborated with SBI VC Trade, the cryptocurrency exchange division of SBI Holdings, to introduce a pioneering rewards program. For the first time, cryptocurrencies have been incorporated as redeemable assets within the Aplus Points program. If you are an Aplus credit cardholder, you can now convert your reward points into cryptocurrencies, including XRP (XRP), Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). This makes Aplus the first major Japanese loyalty program to enable direct conversion of points to cryptocurrencies. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:31 Jul 17, 2025
ETH continues its “up only rally” after breaking $3,000, as an Ethereum trader says the price could top between $7,000 and $10,000 this cycle. Key takeaways: Ether price has climbed to a six-month high, driven by record ETF inflows and rising network activity. The RSI buy signal at 40 in April, historically tied to major ETH price rallies, suggests a potential price target of $7,000-$10,000 in 2025. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:30 Jul 17, 2025
AI-controlled “slaughterbot” drones likely within 12 months in Ukraine, new research suggests AI agents are 70% useless, and more: AI Eye. A few years ago, arms control groups warned of a dystopian future where swarms of AI drones called Slaughterbots would lay waste to humanity. That reality has edged closer thanks to the drone arms race between Ukraine and Russia. Each side jams the radio frequencies the other uses to remotely pilot drones, so last year they switched to drones that unspool up to 20 kilometres of fiber-optic cable behind them, allowing them to be piloted via a wired connection. Now, a Ukrainian drone startup called the Fourth Law says AI-piloted drones are likely to emerge in the next six months. They wont be tiny like in the film, but they will be lethal. When were talking about full autonomy, I think were definitely going to see singular demos by the end of this year, founder Yaroslav Azhnyuk told the Kyiv Independent. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 14:22 Jul 17, 2025
Tether’s USDt stablecoin has surpassed $160 billion market cap, confirming its place as the digital dollar, as Tron leads in blockchain supply. The market cap of Tether’s USDt, the world’s largest stablecoin, has surpassed $160 billion for the first time, a “new mind-blowing milestone,” according to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. In a Thursday post on X, Ardoino called the achievement a testament to USDt’s growing role as the digital dollar for “billions of people living in emerging markets and developing countries.” USDt crossed $150 billion in May. Ardoino has said that USDt (USDT) is used by more than 400 million people worldwide, expanding by 35 million wallets each quarter, especially in emerging markets where it serves as a reliable dollar substitute. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:54 Jul 17, 2025
Boosty Labs founder and CEO Viktor Ihnatiuk told Cointelegraph that Tether’s USDT will be RGB’s first real-world use case for stablecoin transfers on Bitcoin. Smart contract and asset issuance system RGB Protocol said it had launched on the Bitcoin mainnet, enabling tokenized assets like stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and custom tokens within the Bitcoin ecosystem. On Thursday, the protocol announced that tokenization tools allowing users to create, send and manage digital assets on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network were available. The protocol said it enables new tokenization functions on top of the network, while preserving its principles of decentralization, privacy and self-custody. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:47 Jul 17, 2025
BTCFi TVL soared from $304 million to $7 billion in 2024 — driven by new protocols and institutional inflows — but trust, risks, and infrastructure hurdles still hinder adoption. Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi), often referred to as BTCFi, is experiencing significant growth but still faces challenges. According to DefiLlama data, Bitcoin-based (BTC) DeFi protocols’ total value locked (TVL) went from $304.66 million on Jan. 1, 2024, to $6.5 billion by Dec. 31, 2024. As of publication, DefiLlama data shows that BTCFi has a TVL of $7.05 billion. This translates to an increase of more than 22 times. A report shared by Bitcoin smart contract layer Arch Network suggests that “this surge was fueled by new protocol launches, emerging token standards, institutional inflows, a major price rally pushing BTC to an all-time high, and the rise of liquid restaking.” Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:46 Jul 17, 2025
Despite the rising DEX-to-CEX ratio, centralized exchanges still lead in the crypto spot market, posting $3.9 trillion in trading volume, compared to $877 billion for DEXs. Cryptocurrency traders have been moving away from centralized exchanges (CEXs) in favor of decentralized exchanges (DEXs), pushing the CEX-to-DEX ratio to a new all-time high. Spot trading volume on DEXs surged at least 25% in the second quarter of 2025 over the previous quarter, while CEXs volumes plunged almost 28%, according to the latest quarterly industry report by the crypto data aggregator CoinGecko. This shift drove the DEX-to-CEX ratio to a record high in Q2, rising from 0.13 in the previous quarter to 0.23, the report noted. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 13:30 Jul 17, 2025
This episode of the Clear Crypto Podcast uncovers how Bitcoin is shedding its passive role and becoming a usable financial tool through wrapped assets, bridges and new DeFi use cases. For years, Bitcoin (BTC) has remained in digital hibernation, meaning it is held tightly in wallets and admired as “digital gold,” though rarely used. According to StarkWare’s Bitcoin lead Ilia Volokh, that era may be ending. On the latest episode of The Clear Crypto Podcast, hosts Nathan Jeffay and Gareth Jenkinson dig into what it means for Bitcoin to evolve from a static store of value to a dynamic financial instrument. The conversation centers on how innovations like wrapped Bitcoin and trustless bridges may unlock new uses for the world’s most well-known cryptocurrency. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:13 Jul 17, 2025
The US SEC has extended its decision deadline on whether to allow in-kind redemptions for Bitwise’s spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs on NYSE Arca. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) extended its deadline for ruling on in-kind redemptions for two separate crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to a Wednesday SEC filing, the regulator will take more time to decide whether to allow in-kind redemptions on NYSE Arca for Bitwise’s Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) spot ETFs. The time limit for the decision was extended, but the underlying limit remains “45 days, extendable to no more than 90.” “The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change, and the issues raised therein,” the announcement read. Read more -
Cointelegraph.com - 12:00 Jul 17, 2025
There have already been 35 reported physical attacks on Bitcoiners in just the first seven months of 2025. Bitcoin “wrench attacks” — a violent form of cryptocurrency theft — could see its worst year in 2025, with criminals spurred on by Bitcoin’s soaring market value, according to Chainalysis. “Wrench attacks” refer to a situation where physical force or intimidation is used to force a victim to give up their crypto holdings, and Chainalysis said that with 35 attacks already recorded as of July, the numbers are on track to “have potentially twice as many physical attacks as the next highest year on record.” The last bull market peak in 2021 was the worst year on record, with a total of 36 recorded attacks against crypto holders, according to a list compiled by Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk and co-founder of self-custodial firm Casa on GitHub. Read more
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