Mastercard wants payments to move beyond plastic by 2030, replacing traditional card numbers with unique transaction tokens and approving purchases with biometrics such as fingerprints and facial recognition. The company says the shift should speed checkout and reduce fraud, but it also raises worries about reliability in all-digital systems and accessibility for less tech-savvy users.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Kentucky in federal court on June 23 to block the state’s crackdown on Kalshi and Polymarket – its ninth such suit since April, and the first against a state with a Republican attorney general.

Federal prosecutors are warning that fake government agents are pressuring victims into crypto ATMs, wire transfers, and cash handoffs. Reported losses reached $917 million, with scammers using spoofed calls, fake badges, and urgent threats to make people believe their money is at risk.

Binance is seeking a new EU licensing path after withdrawing its MiCA licence application in Greece shortly before its current permission expires. The exchange now faces an upcoming authorization deadline as it prepares to apply in another EU member state.

Gold’s recent pullback has strengthened Robert Kiyosaki’s wait-for-confirmation approach, with the investor monitoring technical charts before making new purchases. Peter Schiff, meanwhile, argued that gold’s drop reflects market expectations about interest rates that may not be enough to contain inflation.

Ripple executive Reece Merrick compared crypto payments to the early evolution of online shopping, arguing that crypto payments are moving through a similar infrastructure-building phase that preceded mainstream e-commerce adoption.

Peter Schiff pushed back against claims that bitcoin is undervalued following recent declines, arguing that the asset lacks conventional valuation benchmarks as Strategy-linked securities faced steep losses.

The price of bitcoin is down 40% over the last year and has spent the past week trading between $62,171 and $65,994. In one of our periodic AI prediction experiments, we asked leading artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to scan the market, weigh the pressure points and forecast where bitcoin could be headed next.

Senate lawmakers could release cryptocurrency tax legislation as early as this fall, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said, with the Montana Republican stating that a framework is already in place and broadly aligned with a parallel House effort.

XRP supply on Binance has expanded, with the XRP Binance Scarcity Index dropping to around 0.34, its lowest level in more than three months, pointing to a noticeable rise in available tokens on the exchange.

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Markets split sharply on Wednesday as lower oil prices eased inflation fears, but pressure on technology stocks, crypto assets and precious metals kept investors focused on risk.

On June 24, bitcoin fell 5% in 24 hours to a new year-to-date low of $59,018. This marks a nearly 10% drop over the week and a 30%+ decline since the start of the year.

On Wednesday, bitcoin slipped beneath the $60,000 zone, touching an intraday low of $59,500, while Strategy’s 847,363 BTC stash now sits $12.55 billion below water. At the same time, the company’s MSTR shares have faltered, shedding 78.37% since July 16, 2025.

_________________________________________________________________________ Bitcoin.com accepts no responsibility or liability, and shall not be liable, whether directly or indirectly, for any loss, damage, claim, cost, or expense of any kind, whether actual, alleged, or consequential, arising out of or in connection with the use of, or reliance upon, any content, goods, or services referenced in this article. Any reliance placed on such information is strictly at the reader’s own risk.