World Gold Council data sourced from official central bank reports found that while H1 2026 demand (345 tonnes) was the lowest since 2022, accumulation accelerated in Q2, with institutions netting purchases of 288.9 tonnes. Poland, Uzbekistan and China pushed demand, while Russia and Turkey were net sellers.

Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar has disabled Diamond Casino wagering for Australian GTA Online players, adding the country to a list of restricted territories that has existed since 2019. GTA VI, set to launch four months from now, arrives in a regulatory landscape that did not exist when the franchise last launched, and is expected to be the biggest-ever launch in video game history.

Reno casinos won $81.6 million in June, a 20.3% increase that outpaced Nevada’s other major gaming markets. Las Vegas moved in the opposite direction: Strip win declined despite a 25.8% surge in convention attendance, while hotel rates and revenue per available room also fell.

Following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady, Bitcoin briefly surged past $65,000 to a daily peak of $65,100 before facing selling pressure. It settled around $64,700, pushing its market cap to $1.3 trillion and keeping it on track for an over 10% gain in July.

Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure stocks posted double-digit gains across the board on Thursday, July 30, 2026, as a broad group of companies tied to both cryptocurrency hashpower and AI computing moved sharply higher in midday trading.

Russian official Andrey Svintsov has advised citizens to stop buying Gram cryptocurrency and halt all Telegram financial transactions until security agencies issue official guidance.

Prediction markets and interest rate futures now point to a growing likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise rates in September, reversing expectations from just weeks ago after officials struck a more hawkish tone.

No single mining pool has found more bitcoin blocks than the miners who never identified themselves at all.

Hyperscale Data, Inc. sold approximately 100 BTC and opened a bitcoin-backed credit facility on July 30, 2026, to speed up construction of its artificial intelligence (AI) data center campus in Dowagiac, Michigan.

Bitcoin ETFs ended a four-day losing streak with $32.11 million in net inflows, powered by strong demand for Blackrock’s IBIT. Solana funds also rebounded sharply, while ether and HYPE ETFs moved deeper into negative territory.

Robinhood reported record Q2 2026 net revenue of $1.31 billion and a 48% surge in net income to $573 million. Growth was fueled by strong performance in options trading, equity trading and a tenfold expansion in event contracts.

DCG’s Fortitude Mining has entered into purchase agreements worth about $45 million for mining hardware and Nebraska infrastructure as it accelerates vertical integration in Zcash mining.

Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court has moved Igor Runets, founder of crypto-mining firm Bitriver, from house arrest to a pretrial detention facility for at least two months.

Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ) has paid $41.9 million to terminate a bitcoin miner contract with Block and its Proto unit, underscoring the data center operator’s accelerating retreat from bitcoin mining toward AI infrastructure.

The first half of 2026 was the most active period for onchain security threats on record, with Blockaid verifying 212 high-threshold exploits, a 3.4-fold increase over all of 2025.