Daily News: Trump Officially Signs GENIUS Act, Charles Schwab to Launch BTC & ETH Trading, CoinDCX Hacked for $44M, and More

Trump Officially Signs Stablecoin GENIUS Act

U.S. President Trump signs the "Guidance and Establishment of the National Innovation in U.S. Stablecoins Act," or the GENIUS Act, at the White House, marking the first-ever federal legislation on cryptocurrency regulation officially taking effect.

The act imposes stricter regulatory standards on stablecoins, requiring issuers to back them 1:1 with liquid assets such as U.S. dollars and short-term Treasury bonds, and to disclose reserve compositions monthly. Stablecoins are no longer experimental tools in a regulatory gray area but are now recognized as "official monetary instruments" endorsed by the nation and enshrined in U.S. law.

Trump Seeks Minimum Tariffs of 15-20% on EU Goods

Trump raises demands in trade negotiations with the European Union, seeking to maintain tariffs on EU goods at a minimum of 15-20% in any agreement. In prior weeks, both sides had considered keeping most tariffs at a baseline of 10%. Trump's tougher stance aims to test the EU's tolerance for tariff pressure.

Sources indicate that Trump remains unmoved by the EU's latest proposal to lower car tariffs and is willing to keep auto tariffs at 25% as originally planned. A U.S. official disclosed that even if a deal is reached, the U.S. government is considering setting reciprocal tariffs above 10%.

An EU senior diplomat stated that if Trump insists on raising reciprocal tariffs to 15-20%, it would revert to the levels discussed when negotiations began in April, potentially forcing the EU to take retaliatory measures.

UK Treasury Considers Selling £5 Billion Worth of Bitcoin to Address Fiscal Deficit

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves is contemplating selling confiscated cryptocurrency held by the government to ease fiscal pressures, The Telegraph reports. The Home Office is working with police forces to develop an official cryptocurrency storage system to manage the sale of Bitcoin and other digital assets.

Estimates suggest that the UK government holds seized cryptocurrency valued at at least £5 billion. Notably, a 2018 enforcement operation confiscated 61,000 Bitcoin from a Ponzi scheme, which, at current market prices, is worth over £5.4 billion.

Charles Schwab to Launch Bitcoin and Ethereum Spot Trading

Charles Schwab confirmed plans to introduce Bitcoin and Ethereum trading soon, directly competing with Coinbase as crypto adoption grows among its clients. CEO Rick Wurster emphasized that Schwab clients already hold over 20% of exchange-traded crypto products, though crypto assets represent a small portion of their overall holdings. With over $10 trillion in managed assets, Schwab aims to integrate these digital currencies with its existing financial offerings to meet client demand.

Sources: Hong Kong to Adopt Invitation-Based Approach for Stablecoin Issuer Licenses

Sources reveal that the issuance of stablecoin issuer licenses in Hong Kong will not follow the traditional method of applicants downloading forms and submitting written applications uniformly. Instead, it will adopt a process similar to an invitation-based application system. "In practical terms, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, responsible for license regulation, will engage in preliminary communication with prospective applicants to assess whether they meet the basic eligibility criteria. Only those who receive preliminary approval during this communication will be issued application forms by the HKMA."

CoinDCX Hacked in Server Breach, $44M Stolen but User Funds Safe

CoinDCX was hacked on Friday, compromising an internal account used for liquidity provisions through a server breach. The attack drained $44 million, though no user funds were affected, as confirmed by CEO Sumit Gupta. Gupta stated the incident was contained by isolating the affected account and assured that the loss would be absorbed by the exchange's treasury reserves. Onchain analysis revealed the attacker used Tornado Cash to fund their address and bridged stolen funds from Solana to Ethereum. This incident highlights ongoing cybersecurity threats in the crypto industry, with similar attacks reported on other exchanges recently.

WLFI Clarifies: No Team or Advisor Tokens Will Unlock at Launch

WLFI issued a statement to the community clarifying that none of the tokens held by co-founders, team members, or advisors will unlock at launch. Additionally, there will be no additional private funding rounds. Instead, WLFI will collaborate with major trading platforms to launch a token rewards program, allowing users to earn WLFI tokens directly on platforms they already trust and use.

Unlocking Plan Details:

• Only tokens purchased during the public sale at $0.015 and $0.05 will partially unlock initially. Treasury tokens will solely be used to inject liquidity.

• After launch, the team will submit a community vote to decide the unlocking schedule for the remaining tokens purchased at $0.015 and $0.05 (including OTC tokens).

• Once this vote is completed, another final vote will be submitted by the team, allowing the community to decide the unlocking schedule for tokens held by founders, team members, and advisors.

WLFI is currently collaborating with major centralized exchanges (CEX) to ensure the token is available on platforms familiar and trusted by users. At the same time, DeFi options will also be provided to cater to users who prefer decentralized trading experiences. Full details of the launch plan will be announced soon.

GSR Markets and Amber Group Likely Market Makers for ERA (Caldera)

According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, ERA (Caldera) market makers are suspected to be GSR Markets and Amber Group. Amber Group is reportedly providing 2.5 million tokens for market making, while GSR Markets is supplying 2 million tokens.

Cryptocurrency Exchange Bullish Files for IPO in the U.S.

Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange backed by former PayPal CEO and operated under Block.one, files for an IPO this Friday in the U.S., aiming to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BLSH."

According to its IPO filing, Bullish has recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume since its launch as of March 31. In Q1 2025, its daily average trading volume exceeded $2.5 billion. Competitors include Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. In its submission to the SEC, Bullish stated its mission includes "promoting the adoption of stablecoins, digital assets, and blockchain technology."

Bullish, a spinoff of Block.one, received initial investments from Thiel’s Founders Fund and Thiel Capital, along with Nomura Securities, Mike Novogratz, and others. Additionally, Bullish acquired cryptocurrency news site CoinDesk in 2023.

Strategy's Bitcoin Holdings Ranked Ninth Among S&P 500 Companies

According to Strategy's X account, the company's current Bitcoin holdings have placed it ninth among S&P 500 companies, surpassing firms such as Nvidia and PayPal.

Michael Saylor Releases Bitcoin Tracker Update, BTC Accumulation Data May Be Disclosed Next Week

Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has once again shared Bitcoin holdings tracking information on the X platform. He wrote, "Stay Humble. Stack Sats." Typically, after such posts, Strategy reveals its Bitcoin accumulation data the following day. This suggests that new BTC purchase details may be disclosed next week.

VENOM, IOTA, EIGEN, and FET Tokens to Undergo Significant Unlocks This Week

According to Tokenomics, several tokens, including VENOM, IOTA, EIGEN, and FET, will experience substantial one-time unlocks this week. The details are as follows:

• EIGEN: 1.29M tokens on July 23, worth ~$1.97M (0.41%).

• IOTA: 15.16M tokens on July 23, worth ~$3.61M (0.39%).

• VENOM: 59.26M tokens on July 25, worth ~$13M (2.84%).

• FET: 3.05M tokens on July 28, worth ~$2.4M (0.12%).