Cryptoccino — Sunday 26 July 2026

Bitcoin ETF volumes hit a post-October 2024 low. Weekly trading volume across spot Bitcoin ETFs dropped to its lowest point since October 2024, signalling thin conviction among institutional participants. Meanwhile, Ether funds have pulled in nearly as much fresh capital as Bitcoin products over the past three weeks despite holding only about one-eighth of the net assets, a ratio that is drawing attention from allocators watching rotation signals. theblock

Upbit lists Morpho and Euler in the KRW market. The South Korean exchange added MORPHO and EUL to its Korean won pairs on 25 and 26 July respectively, giving a large retail base direct access to two of DeFi lending’s more established protocol tokens. KRW listings on Upbit have historically moved prices meaningfully on the day of opening, so watch for volatility around the EUL window. cryptobriefing

Robinhood Chain’s RWA TVL jumps fivefold as tokenised equity volumes grow. Real-world assets on Robinhood’s own chain have scaled rapidly as tokenised stocks begin trading in larger size, suggesting the platform’s vertically integrated bet on on-chain equities is gaining traction beyond early adopters. The volume growth matters as a data point for whether retail demand for tokenised equities can sustain itself outside a novelty window. coindesk

BitMEX will cease operations on 23 September, ending an 11-year run. The exchange that defined leveraged crypto trading in its era has set a firm shutdown date, and users are being urged to withdraw assets before then. It joins Dango’s perp DEX, Odos, and Satori Finance in a recent cluster of shutdowns, pointing to sustained consolidation pressure across the derivatives and DeFi stack. cryptobriefing cointelegraph_defi

Sberbank targets a December launch for crypto trading infrastructure. Russia’s largest bank is building out the rails to offer crypto trading to its customer base, with a year-end deadline. The move comes as the EU simultaneously adds HTX and several other platforms to its Russia sanctions list effective 23 August, tightening the gap between sanctioned and unsanctioned crypto access points in the region. coindesk theblock

Robinhood in talks to integrate Crypto.com prediction markets. According to the WSJ, Robinhood is negotiating to offer yes-or-no contracts from Crypto.com’s derivatives arm directly to its users, a move that would put it in more direct competition with Kalshi. No deal has been signed, and the talks could still fall apart, but the direction of travel is clear: US retail brokerages are converging on prediction markets as a product category. theblock

BlueNoroff compromises crypto wallets via fake Zoom and Teams calls. The North Korean group has hit over 100 victims across 20 targets using social-engineering lures dressed as legitimate video meetings, stealing wallet credentials in under five minutes from initial contact. Separately, North Korea made a rare domestic move, arresting a group of hackers accused of laundering funds stolen from a local bank through crypto, suggesting internal enforcement is tightening even as external operations continue. cryptobriefing coindesk

Fidelity lobbies the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act. The asset manager has formally urged the Senate to advance market structure legislation, adding institutional weight to what has until now been largely an industry-group push. The CLARITY Act is designed to draw cleaner jurisdictional lines between the SEC and CFTC for digital assets, and Fidelity’s public endorsement raises the political cost of inaction. cointelegraph_regulation

Bitcoin Policy Institute embeds staff inside the State Department’s digital freedom programme. BPI and three partner organisations will place employees alongside State Department officials to work on issues framed around digital freedom and financial access. It is a quiet but notable expansion of Bitcoin advocacy into foreign-policy infrastructure, opening a direct channel to how the US frames crypto in its overseas diplomacy. cointelegraph_regulation

What else is grinding?

• Fed Chair Warsh reiterated concerns about persistent inflation, with prediction markets pricing a July rate hike at 16% yes. cryptobriefing
• Zelenskiy says Russia has positioned around 30,000 North Korean troops near Voronezh since June, adding a fresh layer of geopolitical tail risk. cryptobriefing
• Iraq and Syria signed a deal to rebuild the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline at 2 million bpd capacity, reducing Strait of Hormuz exposure for Iraqi exports. cryptobriefing
• Dango’s perp DEX is shutting down on 13 August, less than four months after launch, the latest in a run of DeFi and derivatives platform closures. cointelegraph_defi
• EU sanctions designations effective 23 August will block transactions with HTX, EXMO, Rapira, and several smaller platforms linked to Russia. theblock

Last sip. The Iran pause is holding for now, but the interceptor stockpile problem does not resolve itself overnight.