CNBC says digital assets are becoming institutionalized as banks, asset managers, and payments companies adopt blockchain infrastructure, with Ripple recognized among firms developing technology for payments, custody, tokenization, and other financial services.

Seven Senate Democrats rejected the latest CLARITY Act draft, saying it does not go far enough on ethics, consumer protection, and illicit finance, while Republicans argue the bill contains the strongest federal ethics rules ever proposed for digital assets.

Kambi says its first entirely AI-traded World Cup processed more than $1.14 billion in stakes and over 100 million bets without manual trading intervention. The sportsbook supplier is also evaluating prediction-market partnerships and an internally developed product, but says licensing risks prevent an immediate US launch.

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have introduced a digital asset benchmark built around revenue, usage, and economic activity. The index is designed to give institutional investors a more disciplined alternative to crypto products driven by market popularity or price momentum.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the CLARITY Act is ready for Senate floor consideration as Stand With Crypto reported 950,000 contacts with lawmakers, intensifying pressure for action on a federal digital asset framework.

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs extended their winning streak to six trading days with $203.14 million in net inflows on Tuesday. Ether, XRP, and solana funds also attracted fresh capital, while HYPE ETFs returned to activity with a modest outflow.

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood delivered a sweeping endorsement of SpaceX as shares traded 48% below their peak and 13% under the IPO price, citing Starlink, space exploration and orbital data centers as historic opportunities.

The real-world asset (RWA) sector logged $34.67 billion in distributed value this week, down from the $35.2 billion peak recorded on July 10, 2026, according to data from rwa.xyz. The modest pullback over the last week comes even as the broader tokenization ecosystem keeps expanding on other fronts.

Bitcoin struggled to hold $66,000 on Wednesday, trading near $66,200 after bouncing between a low of $65,536 and a peak of $66,921.

President Donald Trump issued a severe public warning on Wednesday, declaring on Truth Social that the United States will destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if attacks on commercial shipping continue in the Strait of Hormuz.

Bitcoin traders piled $49.82 billion into open futures contracts this week, betting hard on where the world’s largest cryptocurrency heads next. The action stretched from the regulated pits of CME to the crowded order books of Binance, and the numbers tell a story of institutions leaning bullish while retail exchanges quietly bleed positions.

Prediction market traders on Polymarket and Kalshi are pricing in a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms while giving Republicans the edge to hold the Senate, with tens of millions of dollars wagered across hundreds of individual races and primary markets.

A hidden cost of moving the world’s oil has exploded nearly 1,900%, Devere Group analysis shows, signaling a level of risk that some analysts say could prove far more important than oil’s latest rally as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz intensify.

The Digital Chamber, a crypto trade association led by CEO Cody Carbone, sued the state of Illinois over its new Digital Asset Tax Act, becoming the first industry group to challenge the nation’s first state-level tax targeting crypto business activity.

Bitcoin has overtaken gold as the preferred hard asset among American investors, according to bitcoin financial services firm River. The firm found that 49.6 million Americans, or 18.6% of the adult population, now own bitcoin, compared to 28.8 million, or 10.8%, who hold gold.