Zcash researchers have completed formal verification of the network’s Ironwood shielded pool, publishing a machine-checked proof that excludes undetectable counterfeiting bugs under its stated cryptographic assumptions. The work establishes that the new pool cannot distribute more value than has publicly entered it.

The proof, prepared in the Lean programming language, contains more than 2,700 theorems and required more than a month of effort by three teams of researchers and cryptographers. It addresses the components required for balance integrity, including the zero-knowledge proof system, circuit rules and ledger-level accounting. Privacy properties of Ironwood fall outside the scope of the verification.

Ironwood was introduced in the NU6.3 network upgrade following discovery of a vulnerability in the preceding Orchard shielded pool. That flaw could in theory have permitted undetectable creation of ZEC tokens. Developers reported no evidence that the issue had been exploited. The new pool aims to reinforce confidence in the integrity of the token supply.

Assets moving from Orchard into Ironwood must pass through a public accounting checkpoint known as a turnstile. The mechanism is intended to block any hypothetical excess coins from entering the new pool. As balances exit Orchard, the process may also generate additional evidence regarding whether the earlier pool was compromised.

Tether has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nairobi Securities Exchange to explore the issuance of tokenized securities, blockchain-based market infrastructure and the possible use of its USDT stablecoin as a settlement layer. The agreement was announced on Tuesday.

The memorandum sets out plans to examine blockchain market systems, digital asset education and the tokenization of real-world assets. It includes potential deployment of Tether’s Hadron platform for the issuance and trading of tokenized securities. The parties will also evaluate instantaneous settlement mechanisms and the role of USDT as a digital settlement infrastructure where Kenyan regulations permit.

Tokenized real-world assets excluding stablecoins currently hold an on-chain value of approximately $36.8 billion. Stablecoins themselves total nearly $298 billion, with USDT accounting for roughly $184 billion as the largest such token by market capitalization.

Shares of Ionic Digital, a Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence infrastructure firm linked to the former Celsius Network, rose about 26 percent in their Nasdaq debut on Tuesday after completing a direct listing. The stock opened at $50 and closed at $62.90, valuing the company at approximately $2.8 billion based on roughly 44.9 million shares outstanding.

Ionic was established in 2024 to acquire the mining assets of Celsius through the bankrupt crypto lender’s restructuring process. The company has since broadened its operations into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure. At the exchange’s $53 reference price, the listing implied a market value of $2.4 billion, marking the largest US direct listing since 2021.

The shares later retreated 6.5 percent to $58.80 in after-hours trading.

South Korea’s financial regulator is preparing a consolidated digital asset law covering stablecoin issuance and cryptocurrency market oversight in coordination with the ruling party, while opposition lawmakers press to abolish a scheduled income tax on digital assets. The Financial Services Commission intends to table the government-backed proposal after months of legislative delays.

The draft Digital Asset Basic Act would address stablecoin issuance and circulation, digital asset business requirements, exchange entry standards, disclosure obligations, internal controls and system resilience. Ten separate digital asset and stablecoin bills currently sit before parliament, and disagreements have blocked agreement on key elements of the country’s second-stage cryptocurrency framework. Outstanding issues include whether issuers of won-denominated stablecoins must be majority-owned by banks and whether ownership caps should apply to large exchanges. The timing and precise form of the consolidated bill remain undecided.

Separately, the National Assembly’s Finance and Economic Planning Committee was due to consider an opposition measure that would repeal the cryptocurrency income tax before its scheduled start on January 1, 2027. The amendment, introduced in March by a People Power Party lawmaker, seeks to remove the tax on income from transferring or lending digital assets. It is expected to move to a tax subcommittee for closer examination. A related public petition supported by more than 50,000 people is also set for review by a petitions subcommittee, though neither body has been fully formed and no meeting dates have been fixed.

Under the existing schedule, annual income from crypto transfers or lending above 2.5 million won faces a 20 percent tax plus a 2 percent local surcharge. The government and ruling Democratic Party support implementation, while the opposition contends that the levy is inequitable because most ordinary equity investors remain exempt. The Finance Ministry confirmed in May that the tax would proceed after earlier postponements.

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams rejected assertions that newly activated protocol fees on the exchange’s version 4 reduce earnings for liquidity providers. He said the criticism rests on incorrect assumptions about how the fees operate.

Governance recently approved the introduction of protocol fees for selected version 4 pools across multiple blockchains. Adams stated that the fees are additive and do not subtract from the amounts received by liquidity providers. He disputed suggestions that the protocol captures 25 percent of provider profits. In a 30-basis-point pool, a 5-basis-point protocol fee equates to roughly 14 percent of total swap fees rather than a cut in provider returns.

Uniswap remains the largest decentralised exchange by total value locked, with approximately $3.06 billion secured on the protocol.

Trade.xyz, an operator of on-chain perpetual markets on Hyperliquid, will reimburse eligible traders for liquidation losses stemming from a price anomaly in its SK Hynix contract. The contract’s mark price dropped nearly 19 percent on Monday after an external transaction was relayed by independent data providers.

The mark price of the SKHYNIX perpetual fell from $1,127.90 to $917.25 at 23:01 UTC. The move originated from an executed trade on an external venue rather than the platform’s own order book. Trade.xyz tracks the US dollar value of one SK Hynix common share by converting the Korean won price at the prevailing exchange rate. That external print fed into the oracle and altered the mark price used to value positions and trigger liquidations.

The SK Hynix contract ranks among Hyperliquid’s most active markets. It generated more than $1.5 billion in 24-hour volume and held nearly $600 million in open interest. Trade.xyz stated that its oracle functioned according to its design by following the primary South Korean pre-market venue. The firm described the reimbursement as a one-time discretionary step and said it would review price formation during extreme events. It is also considering greater weight for prices generated on its own order books, which now supply meaningful liquidity.

Eligibility criteria will be published shortly, with payments expected in the coming days. The platform has not disclosed the number of affected traders or the total sum to be distributed.

Trade.xyz operates under Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework, which permits builders to list perpetual contracts linked to external price feeds. The firm accounted for more than $22 billion of the framework’s first $25 billion in cumulative volume and has launched a licensed S&P 500 perpetual based on official index data.

Russian authorities have charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activity and issued an international arrest warrant for him. The move escalates a criminal case against the messaging service executive.

The Federal Security Service alleged that Telegram did not remove channels, chats and bots used by Ukrainian intelligence services, terrorist groups and extremist organisations to coordinate attacks, recruit operatives and carry out cyber fraud.

The action builds on a criminal investigation opened earlier this year. In February, Durov acknowledged the case and said Russian officials were creating pretexts to limit access to the platform and curb privacy and free speech rights.

A separate criminal inquiry continues in France over alleged illegal activity on Telegram. French authorities lifted travel restrictions earlier this year, permitting Durov to leave the country.

Industry participants in a United Kingdom regulatory exercise identified cross-border payments as the clearest near-term application for stablecoins, while domestic retail use is expected to advance more slowly. The findings emerged from a March policy sprint organised by the Financial Conduct Authority that convened banks, payment firms, stablecoin issuers and other market participants.

Participants concluded that stablecoins deliver the strongest advantages in cross-border transfers, particularly in emerging markets with restricted access to US dollars. Benefits appear more limited in major payment corridors where existing systems already operate at high speed and relatively low cost. Domestic UK consumers have little reason to change established methods that are already fast and inexpensive, although merchants stand to gain from reduced costs and quicker settlement.

The feedback shaped final rules issued on June 30 requiring UK-issued stablecoins to maintain full backing by reserve assets and to remain redeemable at par. The same input is expected to guide subsequent policy development on stablecoin payments.

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded net outflows for a fourth consecutive trading session, with withdrawals reaching a combined $526 million as the cryptocurrency encountered renewed selling after slipping below $65,000. Investors pulled roughly $49.8 million from the funds in the latest session while Bitcoin briefly traded as low as $63,000.

The largest single-day redemptions occurred on July 24 and July 23, amounting to approximately $240 million and $225 million respectively. The recent outflows reversed a prior seven-session inflow period that had attracted nearly $1 billion. Cumulative net inflows into the products nevertheless stood at $51.3 billion, with total net assets at $77.2 billion as of July 28.

Market conditions remain subdued. Spot trading volumes on major platforms have declined sharply from late-2024 peaks, with one leading exchange handling about $35 billion in July compared with $246 billion in November of the previous year. Analysts note that a sustained return to an upward trend would require stronger demand and broader improvement in market sentiment.

Bitcoin traded at $64,371 at the time of writing, reflecting a 2.7 percent gain over the preceding seven days. The token had earlier touched $63,100 on Thursday, its lowest level since July 17.

Online brokerage Robinhood is in discussions with Crypto.com to expand its prediction-markets service by incorporating yes-or-no event contracts supplied by the exchange. Robinhood introduced its prediction-markets platform in March 2025, initially through Kalshi to meet US Commodity Futures Trading Commission requirements and later through ForecastEx and Rotella.

Analysts recently lifted their price target on Robinhood shares to 160 dollars from 130 dollars, citing growth prospects in prediction markets and tokenized equities. They project that revenue including these segments could reach 1.7 billion dollars by 2028. Industry forecasts have placed potential prediction-market volumes at 1 trillion dollars by 2030.

Prediction-market operators continue to encounter jurisdictional disputes in the United States. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission asserts exclusive authority over event contracts, while gaming regulators in multiple states have filed suits seeking to limit or prohibit the products.