Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest private lender, is preparing to launch its own digital depository and a full slate of crypto services once national regulation takes effect, joining a widening race among Russian banks to capture a market that does not yet legally exist.

Dmitry Vitman, chief operating officer of Alfa-Bank’s corporate and investment business, told RBC Investments that the bank intends to offer “all possible services related to digital currencies” once the relevant legislation comes into force. 

“First and foremost, we plan to create our own digital depository and offer its services to other companies,” he said.

Under the framework expected to govern the…

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Bitcoin traded near $62,000 today, surrendering part of a rebound that had carried it to $64,000 from last week’s bear-market low of $57,700. The pullback holds the price above the $60,000 level that CryptoQuant treats as support, though it trims a recovery of some 11% off the bottom.

The dip came as CryptoQuant’s Weekly Crypto Report, published today and shared with Bitcoin Magazine, argued the backdrop skews toward further gains. Head of Research Julio Moreno framed the bounce as a bear-market recovery rather than a trend reversal, with one central caution: the firm’s Bull Score Index, an aggregate of on-chain, market, and valuation conditions on a 0-to-100 scale, sits at…

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Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig said the Clarity Act remains within reach, days after Congress missed its July 4 target to pass the crypto market-structure bill. “We’re so close. We have to get this done,” Selig told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. 

Some analysts give the measure even odds of passage before the August 7 recess.

The bill would divide oversight of digital assets between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, a split the industry has sought for years. The House passed the legislation last summer. The Senate has yet to hold a floor vote.

Selig, a Trump appointee confirmed in December, backed the Clarity Act…

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Bull Bitcoin exchange, recently licensed under MiCA, is challenging the European directive in French courts that sets up a mass surveillance database, putting millions of crypto users at risk. 

Bull Bitcoin, the world’s oldest Bitcoin-only and non-custodial exchange, recently licensed under MiCA by France’s financial markets regulator AMF, has filed a legal challenge before the Conseil d’État, France’s supreme administrative court. The challenge seeks to annul Decree No. 2025-1276, the main measure transposing the European DAC8 directive into French law, on the grounds that it creates a massive surveillance grid and database that institutions can not secure from leaks and…

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Strategy remains under pressure as Bitcoin hovers near $60,000, but recent capital moves have bought the company time, according to Jim Ferraioli, director of crypto research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

Speaking on Morning Trade Live at the New York Stock Exchange, Ferraioli said the firm led by Michael Saylor faces scrutiny while the price of Bitcoin sits 50% below its peak. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has funded much of its buying through preferred equity, including its variable-rate Stretch preferred stock, known as STRC.

That product fell near $70 from its $100 par value before a rebound. To defend the peg, Strategy raised…

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Cantor Equity Partners I (Nasdaq: CEPO), a special purpose acquisition company backed by an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald, and BSTR Holdings said today that they will not complete their proposed bitcoin business combination on the terms set in their July 2025 agreement. The parties plan to negotiate a revised structure and amended terms that reflect market conditions.

The companies said the private placements tied to the original deal will not need to close. A shareholder meeting for CEPO, set for July 10, moved to a postponed date with no fixed timeline. Public shares submitted for redemption will return to holders, the note said. 

The announcement marks a reversal for one of…

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Polymarket, the crypto-native prediction market, has begun supporting instant Bitcoin deposits over the Lightning Network. The feature uses infrastructure from Spark, a Bitcoin protocol built for payments and stablecoins. 

In a post on X, Spark told users they can deposit BTC to the platform with more speed and more privacy than the older method offered.

The move extends a funding push that started in October 2025, when Polymarket switched on standard on-chain Bitcoin deposits. Those deposits carried a wait: most on-chain Bitcoin transactions need three to six confirmations, a window of 10 to 60 minutes, before a platform credits an account. 

The on-chain route carried a…

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Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has asked the Delaware Court of Chancery to enter a final judgment against its former auditor, Mazars USA, after an arbitrator awarded the firm $22 million. 

The exchange disclosed the request on July 7 through an open letter from co-CEO Arjun Sethi and a series of posts from CEO Dave Ripley.

The dispute traces to December 2023, when Mazars withdrew from Kraken’s 2022 audit days before its completion. Mazars had audited Kraken for three prior years and issued two clean opinions, according to the company. 

In writing, Sethi said, the auditor confirmed it had no disagreement with management, no concerns…

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Vanguard, one of the world’s largest asset managers and a longtime skeptic of cryptocurrency, has opened a search for a head of digital assets, a senior role that would shape the firm’s strategy across crypto and blockchain-based finance.

The job, posted this week within Vanguard Personal Wealth and based in Dallas, calls for an executive to develop the firm’s digital asset vision, identify business opportunities, and lead execution across product, technology, operations, legal, and compliance teams. 

According to the posting, the hire would serve as Vanguard’s “senior subject matter expert,” advise senior leadership on market developments, and represent the firm in…

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