Crypto navigates regulatory crossfire and bear market echoes, as AI wealth spills beyond Silicon Valley and oversight scrambles to catch up.
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The week’s biggest storylines share a common thread: Regulatory, financial, and corporate institutions are racing to assert control over technologies moving faster than the rulebooks.
In crypto, Senate Democrats are demanding hearings into Trump’s US$1.4 billion crypto windfall as the CLARITY Act heads to a Senate vote, while New Hampshire blocked a US$100 million Bitcoin bond proposal and Binance navigated the MiCA fallout. Bitcoin is up nearly 10% in July, but analysts warn a bear-market reversal may follow in August.
In AI, the consequences of rapid growth are becoming impossible to ignore. Apple sued OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft, big tech’s carbon footprint hit nearly a third of France’s annual emissions, and communities from New Zealand to the UK are pushing back against datacentres and surveillance technology they had little say in approving.
Get up to speed with the latest in Web3 and AI with this week’s Pasar Pulse.
Crypto and Web3
Bitcoin July Rally Flashes Bear Warning
BTC is up nearly 10% in July, its best start since 2022. Analyst Rekt Capital warns the gain mirrors last cycle’s relief bounce, with August likely reversing gains before a Q4 bottom. Traders eye $70,000 as a near-term target.
DOJ Drops US$722M BitClub Fraud Charges
The DOJ is moving to dismiss charges against BitClub founder Matthew Goettsche, accused of defrauding investors of $722 million. Both parties have reached an agreement in principle. The reversal follows a 2025 DOJ directive ending its regulation by prosecution stance on crypto.
Democrats Demand Hearings on Trump’s Crypto Ties
Five Democratic senators are calling for hearings into Trump’s $1.4 billion in crypto earnings and alleged ties to UAE-linked entities. The move coincides with Senate debate on the CLARITY Act, with Democrats signalling they’ll withhold filibuster votes without clear ethics provisions.
New Hampshire Blocks US$100M Bitcoin Bond Plan
The state’s executive council voted 3–2 to reject $100 million in Bitcoin-backed bonds despite backing from the governor and a Moody’s Baa2 rating. Lawmaker Keith Ammon called it extremely short-sighted and urged a reconvening to revisit the decision.
Kraken Rebuilds App Around AI Trading Agents
Kraken is relaunching its mobile app with autonomous AI agents that monitor markets, suggest trades, and adapt to user goals. The exchange says the intelligence is built into the fabric of the app. It follows similar AI rollouts at Gemini, Coinbase, OKX, and Binance.
Binance: 70% of EU Funds Fled to Self-Custody
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng revealed 70% of EU user withdrawals following the MiCA deadline moved to self-custodied wallets, with just 30% going to regulated rivals. Teng argued this undermines MiCA’s risk-reduction purpose as self-hosted wallets sit outside AML and KYC controls.
Robinhood Chain Flips Hyperliquid in Week One
Robinhood Chain hit US$1 billion in DEX volume, 17 million transactions, and 350,000 addresses in its first week, surpassing Hyperliquid. The Arbitrum-powered chain sends 10% of revenue back to the Arbitrum ecosystem, lifting ARB by 20%.
Circle Wins Federal Banking Charter; Shares Jump 8%
Circle received final OCC approval to establish a national trust bank, shifting USDC’s US$73.2 billion reserve framework from state-by-state rules to a unified federal structure. Shares rose 8.4% on the news.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Apple Sues OpenAI Over Hardware Trade Secrets
Apple sued OpenAI and two former employees, alleging theft of confidential hardware designs and engineering files. The complaint names former Apple engineers Chang Liu and Tang Yew Tan who are now OpenAI’s chief hardware officer.
Big Tech Emissions Up 20% on Datacentre Boom
Microsoft, Amazon, and Google emitted 119 million metric tonnes of CO2e in the year to March 2026 which is equivalent to nearly a third of France’s annual output. The surge is tied to AI datacentre construction, with the trio on track to spend US$765 billion on infrastructure this year.
Meta Scraps Muse Image After Privacy Outcry
Meta pulled its Muse Image feature days after launch following backlash over automatic opt-in for public Instagram users. The feature drew criticism from SAG-AFTRA and Emmy-winner Hannah Einbinder. Meta acknowledged it missed the mark for the feature.
Bank of England to Regulate Amazon, Google, Microsoft
The Bank of England and FCA will directly oversee AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Microsoft as critical third parties to the UK financial system. Firms must conduct stress tests and report major incidents. The move follows years of banking outages linked to US cloud provider failures.
UK Shops’ Facial Recognition to Alert Police Live
Facewatch, deployed in over 100 UK retailers, is adding a feature to alert police within four seconds of a live facial recognition match. Civil liberties groups warn it flags individuals before any offence is committed, and that the system disproportionately misidentifies Black and Asian people.
SK Hynix Raises $26.5bn in Nasdaq AI Chip Listing
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix priced its Nasdaq debut at US$149 per depositary share, raising US$26.5 billion, the second-largest IPO in history. A key Nvidia supplier for high-bandwidth memory, its Seoul shares have surged over 220% this year.
NZ Datacentre Plan Stirs Community Backlash
Datagrid has approval to build a NZ$3.5 billion AI datacentre in Makarewa, set to become New Zealand’s second-largest electricity consumer. Residents cite concerns over water draw and diesel generators, and said the wider community was not consulted.
SpaceX and AI Wealth Fuels Private Jet Boom
SpaceX’s record US$85.7 billion IPO and anticipated listings from OpenAI and Anthropic are driving a surge in private aviation demand among tech investors. Shared-ownership flights rose 11.8% in early 2026, private jet owner flights climbed 13.4%, and one aviation law firm reports business is up 25% year-on-year.
That’s all for this week’s Pasar Pulse. Want more insights? Stay tuned to our site or subscribe via email!
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