CoinMarketCap, the world’s most referenced price tracking platform for cryptocurrencies, has completed its acquisition of the crypto derivatives data platform CoinGlass.

 

While details of the deal have yet to be disclosed, the acquisition, according to CoinMarketCap, is aimed at providing its over 115 million monthly users with access to derivatives market data, including the positions of leveraged traders, the movement of liquidation clusters, and funding rates, alongside the prices they already track.

 

 

"Derivatives are where most of the market's risk is taken, and CoinGlass is where most people go to see it," said Rush, Chief Executive Officer of CoinMarketCap.

 

"CoinGlass built the most trusted view of positioning in crypto by doing one thing very well. Our job is to make that view available to many more people, not to change it. CoinGlass stays CoinGlass, and nothing changes for its users."

 

CoinMarketCap’s acquisition of CoinGlass comes at a time when the annualized trading volume of the crypto derivatives market reached $35.08 trillion in the first half of the year, generating about $18.63 trillion in actual trading volume. That is about 9.6 times the volume generated by spot trading during the same period.

 

Like CoinMarketCap, several other companies have made similar acquisitions to expand their crypto market data offerings, notable among which is Kaiko’s acquisition of Amberdata in June, a move that was aimed at strengthening Kaiko’s institutional-grade derivatives market offerings.

 

About CoinMarketCap and CoinGlass

 

Launched in 2013, CoinMarketCap (CMC), often referred to as the “Home of Crypto,” is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency data platforms that tracks prices, market capitalizations, trading volumes, and other crypto-related metrics of thousands of crypto assets.

 

Due to its influence in the crypto industry, Binance acquired CMC for an undisclosed amount that was reportedly speculated to be up to $400 million. According to Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance’s co-founder, CMC had more users than any other crypto product at the time.

 

CoinGlass is a crypto derivatives data analytics platform that aggregates real-time and historical crypto metrics, including open interest, funding rates, liquidations, ETF flows, and more. Prior to its acquisition, the platform was serving over 5 million monthly users and 10K+ API customers across 28 exchanges and 2,500+ instruments.

 

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has today announced a $100 million equity investment in Circle Internet Group, the global financial technology company behind the USDC stablecoin.

 

 

The investment, which is a renewal of an ongoing partnership that started in 2024, involved Binance purchasing Circle’s newly issued Class A common shares through a private placement at a 5% discount to the market price.

 

 

Under this agreement, Binance will accelerate the promotion, awareness, and integration of USDC across its global platform, especially in emerging markets, with Circle providing the infrastructure services that support the holding and use of USDC.

 

"Circle has earned its place as one of the most credible issuers in the world, spanning USDC, Arc, and the infrastructure reshaping how value moves across borders. Our $100 million investment and five-year commitment represent long-duration conviction," said Richard Teng, co CEO of Binance.

 

"We are helping to build a more inclusive, transparent, and compliant digital economy. A stable, trusted digital dollar should not be a privilege. It should be available to anyone with a phone. That's the future this partnership is designed to deliver."

 

Building on an Existing Partnership

 

The current partnership between both crypto giants is a continuation of a commercial agreement made in late 2024 at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, where Binance entered a strategic agreement to expand USDC availability across its product offerings.

 

The partnership also comes shortly after Circle launched Arc, its Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin finance. Since its launch a few days ago, Arc has reached a TVL of over $300 million. Transactions also crossed 7 million, dropping to 1.27 million thereafter.

 

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has signed three memorandums of understanding with key entities and institutions in Kazakhstan.

 

In a blog post announcing the agreements, Binance said the MoUs focus on key sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy and were signed with the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, and the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).

 

Under the memorandum signed with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, Binance will cooperate on digital assets, digital and computing infrastructure, and innovative payment solutions, while exploring the possibility of issuing a stablecoin backed by the Kazakhstani tenge.

 

The second memorandum, signed with the National Bank of Kazakhstan, focuses on building payment and digital financial infrastructure, with Binance and the National Bank potentially exploring opportunities to position Kazakhstan as a regional payments and fintech hub.

 

To ensure the initiative is practically implemented and moves beyond a paper plan, Binance and the National Bank of Kazakhstan have already created a roadmap outlining the different phases for building payment infrastructure, obtaining licenses, and launching new payment products.

 

The third memorandum, signed between Binance and the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), is aimed at strengthening cooperation under the Investment Tax Residency Programme and expanding the potential use of digital assets as part of Kazakhstan’s modern investment infrastructure.

 

According to Renat Bekturov, Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre, the expansion will enable investors to better access new opportunities within the AIFC ecosystem and contribute to the further development of Kazakhstan’s digital asset market.

 

Binance affiliates have filed a lawsuit against the founders of Hong Kong-based crypto payments firm RedotPay over the alleged diversion of hundreds of thousands of Binance customers and an alleged breach of contract.

 

In the lawsuit, Binance affiliates Nest Trading Ltd., Distributed Technologies Ltd., and Chaintecs Consulting Singapore Pte. accuse RedotPay cofounders Gao Zhangpeng, Chan Wa Choi, and Yao Chao of violating the terms of an agreement signed by both parties last year.

 

According to the filing, the two companies signed an agreement last year under which Binance said it received assurances that Binance Pay funds would be kept separate from RedotPay's own operations.

 

Under the agreement, Binance users could use RedotPay only for crypto-to-fiat conversions, in-app transfers, or the purchase of RedotPay branded products.

 

However, Binance now claims that RedotPay violated the agreement by allowing and encouraging Binance Pay funds to be used beyond the agreed terms, including to top up RedotPay cards. Binance alleges that this resulted in the diversion of more than 470,000 of its users to RedotPay's competing product, contributing to the company's increased valuation.

 

Estimating the lifetime value of each customer at $925, Binance is seeking about $472.8 million in damages for the more than 470,000 customers it alleges RedotPay diverted to its platform.

 

Responding to the lawsuit in a blog post published on its website, RedotPay said it was confident in its legal position and would vigorously defend itself against all claims. 

 

The lawsuit comes at a time when RedotPay has witnessed significant growth and is considering an initial public offering that could value the company at $4 billion.

 

The company also claims to have grown its user base by more than 33% to over 8 million users in the last six months and to have generated more than $180 million in revenue from an annualised payment volume exceeding $14 billion.

 

 

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has re-entered the Philippines after being designated an unregistered exchange and blocked by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2024.

 

Binance's return to the Philippines was made possible through a regulatory sandbox partnership with BlockShoals Technologies Inc., a Philippine-registered fintech company.

 

Image credit: X.com 

 

Since this is not a fully licensed entry, Binance, under the supervision of the Philippine SEC, will have its infrastructure integrated with BlockShoals for the next 90 days. This will allow the Philippine SEC to monitor Binance's transaction flows, user protection measures, and anti-money laundering controls in a controlled environment before deciding whether to grant broader operating approval.

 

If Binance meets all compliance requirements after the 90-day testing period, the Philippine SEC may grant the exchange a full operating license. As a result, Filipino retail traders may not see Binance-branded services until at least early October, following the completion of the 90-day testing period.

 

Binance's sandbox partnership with BlockShoals comes about two years after the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, through the National Telecommunications Commission, blocked access to Binance's website and related pages. According to the regulator, Binance was operating without the required license and registration and was offering unregistered securities, which it said posed risks to investors.

 

Crypto adoption in the Philippines appears to remain strong. According to a Chainalysis report, the country ranked ninth in the Global Crypto Adoption Index, down from second place in 2022. The Philippine crypto market is currently valued at about $55 billion and is projected to reach $120 billion by 2034.

 

Binance's Other Sandbox Partnerships

This is not the first time Binance has entered a country through a sandbox partnership. In 2022, Binance formed a joint venture with Gulf Innova, a major subsidiary of Thailand's Gulf Energy Development. The partnership resulted in Gulf Innova's transition into Gulf Binance, enabling Binance to secure a full digital asset exchange and broker license from Thailand's SEC.

 

Binance has also pursued similar sandbox partnerships to enter Dubai and Kazakhstan. It also acquired Sakura Exchange BitCoin, a local Japanese crypto exchange, enabling it to operate in the country without regulatory setbacks.

 

Binance is winding down its centralized non-fungible token (NFT) platform and has instructed users to move their NFT assets before July 3, 2026.

 

Although the shutdown was framed as an "upgrade" by the exchange, users have been urged to transfer their NFT assets from the Binance NFT marketplace to the Binance Wallet, which the exchange says will now support NFT custody.

 

 

Users holding transferable NFT assets have been given one month's notice, until July 3, 2026, to move their NFTs to either their Binance Wallet or any other compatible wallet of their choice, or risk losing access to any NFTs that remain unwithdrawn.

 

As for users holding non-transferable NFTs, those assets will neither be withdrawable nor transferable because they were originally coded to prevent withdrawal and transfer. However, Binance said through Binance Academy that it will issue PDF certificates to users who have completed courses on the Binance Academy platform.

 

To facilitate the prompt withdrawal of NFTs from its marketplace, Binance said it will reimburse 1 USDC to up to 100,000 users withdrawing general NFTs from the platform. The 1 USDC reimbursement represents the estimated cost of withdrawing a single NFT. For users holding CR7-themed NFTs, Binance said it will refund the full withdrawal fees.

 

Declining NFT Market

The NFT market has experienced a dramatic decline in recent years, falling sharply from its 2021 and 2022 peaks. At its height, the market was valued at an estimated $17 billion to $24 billion, with monthly trading volume surpassing $4 billion.

 

However, market conditions have changed significantly, and the sector has fallen to historic lows. The global NFT market is currently valued at approximately $1.5 billion, representing a decline of more than 90% from its 2022 peak. Monthly trading volume has also dropped substantially and now ranges between roughly $400 million and $720 million, well below the peak level of more than $4 billion recorded in 2022.

 

Several NFT platforms, including Magic Eden, X2Y2, Zora, and Nifty Gateway, have either scaled back parts of their operations, significantly reduced their activity, or shifted their focus away from the NFT market, citing the sector's prolonged downturn.

 

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has launched access to more than 7,000 U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for traders outside the United States.

 

The launch, announced on Monday, will give non-U.S. traders access to a range of U.S.-listed stocks, including major companies such as Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, all within the Binance app.

 

 

To make investing more accessible, Binance has enabled users to purchase fractional shares with as little as $5. Traders will also be able to buy and sell U.S. stocks and ETFs with zero commissions, subject to a minimum platform fee of $0.35 per order or 10 basis points on orders above $350.

 

According to Binance, stock trading on the platform will be available 24 hours a day, five days a week. Because the service is integrated into the Binance app, users will no longer need to switch between platforms to manage different asset classes. Both stock and cryptocurrency holdings will be accessible through a single account.

 

The launch of U.S. stocks and ETFs for non-U.S. traders marks a significant step in Binance's effort to become a multi-asset financial super app.

 

"We have set out to reach the next 3 billion users, and to do that, we need to make it simpler for users to access opportunities across asset classes, diversify their portfolios, and move more easily between traditional investing and on-chain finance," said Yi He, a co-founder of Binance. "That is what a multi-asset financial super app should help people do," she added.

 

As part of the rollout, Binance said it will soon launch bStocks, tokenized securities that represent selected U.S. stocks and ETFs. Users will be able to convert their bStocks holdings into on-chain assets. The launch is expected in the coming weeks, with Binance saying additional details will be released at a later date.

 

The launch follows Binance's recent introduction of a wallet-lockdown feature designed to help prevent wrench attacks. Meanwhile, Steve Gregory, chief executive officer of Binance.US, is scheduled to speak at the upcoming Rare Evo 2026, which will take place from July 28 to July 31, 2026.

 

 

The wife of Sébastien Borget, co-founder and chief operating officer of The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based virtual world platform, reportedly narrowly escaped being kidnapped at the couple’s home in Villenoy, Seine-et-Marne, France, this week.

 

According to Le Journal du Dimanche, a local French newspaper, one of the kidnappers disguised as a deliveryman wearing a branded vest, knocked on the couple’s home.

 

On opening the gate, five other hooded accomplices charged at Borget’s wife in an attempt to forcefully drag her into a vehicle. However, her cries alerted neighbors, forcing the group to scatter and leave the victim behind.

 

Four suspects escaped in the vehicle, while two others fled on foot and hid nearby. The two suspects attempted to book a ride-hailing car but were later captured by officers from the Meaux Anti-Crime Brigade.

 

The two suspects arrested were identified as Mateo V. and Walid H., reportedly born in 2010 and 2009, respectively, and are both residents of Pantin in Seine-Saint-Denis. They were found carrying a fake handgun, zip tie restraints, and balaclavas.

 

While investigations are ongoing, local news reports have linked the attempted kidnapping to cryptocurrencies, citing an increase in crypto-related wrench attacks and kidnapping incidents reported this year.

 

France Remains a Hotspot for Crypto Wrench Attacks

There has been an increase in attacks on crypto holders, with France leading and becoming the global epicenter.

 

In just the first four months of this year, between 41 and 47 incidents were reported in France, an average of one incident every 2.5 days. The French authorities have also charged 88 suspects, including more than 10 minors, across 12 major investigations, with 75 in pretrial detention.

 

Jameson Lopp, cofounder and chief security officer of Casa, a well-known blockchain security company, has long been tracking these crypto-wrench attacks in a GitHub repository named "physical bitcoin attacks." According to the repository, there have been about 35 recorded incidents this year, with France accounting for 74 percent of those, or 26 incidents in total.

 

To help combat the increasing number of wrench attacks, Binance recently added a withdrawal protection feature to the Binance wallet that activates a lockdown period, preventing withdrawals from the wallet, especially by intruders.

 

 

 

Global cryptocurrency exchange OKX and Korea Investment & Securities are reportedly looking to acquire approximately 20% stakes each in Coinone, a cryptocurrency exchange based in South Korea.

 

To maximize capital flow, the acquisition will involve Coinone issuing new equity shares to OKX and its acquisition partner, rather than selling shares held by existing shareholders. Although the acquisition is, for now, just a financial investment, some industry observers have opined that OKX may become more involved in the exchange’s managerial activities in the future.

 

Currently, The One Group, a private investment company managed by Cha Myung hoon, Coinone’s founder, owns about 34.30% of Coinone, followed by Com2uS Holdings, a South Korean gaming firm, which owns 21.95%, and Com2uS Plus, one of its entities, which owns 16.47 percent. Coinone's CEO, Cha Myung-hoon, owns 19.14%.

 

If successful, this will be the third time a global cryptocurrency exchange has acquired a stake in a South Korean exchange. In 2022, crypto exchange Crypto.com fully acquired OK BIT, a small South Korean crypto exchange, while in 2025, Binance acquired a 67% majority stake in Gopax, one of South Korea’s top five crypto exchanges.

 

Crypto Acquisitions on the Rise

The partial acquisition of Coinone by OKX comes at the same time as Hana Bank, one of South Korea’s largest commercial banks, announced a 6.55% stake acquisition in Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea.

 

Kraken, through its parent company Payward, has also agreed to acquire Reap, a payments infrastructure firm based in Hong Kong, for about $600 million, just a few weeks after it acquired Bitnomial for $550 million in April.

 

Several other crypto entities have also been involved in acquisitions, including the crypto exchange Bullish, which acquired Equiniti for $4.2 billion, and MoonPay, which recently acquired Dawn Labs.

 

According to a report from Architect Partners, about 89 crypto acquisition deals were completed in the previous quarter, with approximately $3.2 billion spent on crypto-related acquisitions, a significant increase from the first quarter of 2025, which recorded 61 deals and $2.2 billion in deal value.

 

 

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has just rolled out a new wallet feature to combat the rising cases of wrench attacks against crypto holders.

 

Announcing the launch of this feature, Binance wrote in a Monday blog post, “Most security advice you will read about crypto assumes that the threat is digital. Some of the main threats include malicious phishing links, imposter scams, SIM swaps, and compromised seed phrases, and the industry has built strong defenses against them.”

 

“But there is a category of risk that those defenses do not cover: physical coercion. These are situations where someone is pressured, in person, to move their own funds. Such cases are rare, but when they happen, the losses can be severe and irreversible.”

 

When activated, this new withdrawal protection feature blocks all on-chain withdrawals from a user's Binance account for a preset lockdown period, during which no one, not even the owner of the wallet, can move crypto assets out of the wallet.

 

The new withdrawal protection feature can be enabled from the settings section of the Binance wallet. While 48 hours is the default lockdown period, a user can choose to change this to anywhere between 1 and 7 days, depending on their preferences.

 

 

To enhance flexibility, Binance added a toggle feature that allows users to end the lockdown period early, especially in emergency cases when a user needs to move crypto assets from their wallet. It is also important to note that this feature only restricts withdrawals, thus users can still trade, hold positions, and carry out other in-wallet activities even when the withdrawal protection feature is enabled.

 

Crypto Wrench Attacks on the Rise

Crypto wrench attacks have steadily risen over the last few years. According to a CertiK report, there were 72 verified cases of physical attacks and coercion against crypto holders in 2025, an increase of nearly 71% from the 41 cases recorded the previous year, with losses amounting to over $41 million.

 

This year has not been an exception, as there have been several recorded cases of wrench attacks, with France being an epicenter of these attacks.

 

Just last month, a family of five in France was held captive by two men who invaded their home and extorted approximately €700,000 worth of cryptocurrencies.

 

In another attack in France, a mother and her son were kidnapped by four armed men who demanded about $471,000 for their release. The victims were held hostage for about 20 hours before they were eventually released, and the suspects were arrested by law enforcement officers.

 

 

Brazil’s central bank, Banco Central do Brasil, has banned the use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for settling cross border payments in regulated systems.

 

The ban follows the issuance of Resolution BCB No. 561, which amends Brazil’s foreign exchange rules. Under the amendment, regulated electronic foreign exchange (eFX) systems in the country will no longer be able to use virtual assets to settle cross border payments and remittances.

 

While this does not outright ban the use of cryptocurrencies for cross border transfers, the rule restricts their use in foreign exchange settlements. The measure was introduced to strengthen regulatory supervision and oversight and will take effect on October 1, 2026.

 

This restriction comes shortly after Resolutions BCB 519, 520, and 521 took effect on February 2, 2026. Although the framework was initially published in November last year, it requires all Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), including crypto exchanges and wallet providers, to obtain a Sociedade Prestadora de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais (SPSAV) license from Brazil’s authorities before they can legally operate in the country. Non compliant companies must shut down if they fail to secure the license within a nine month grace period.

 

The State of Crypto in Latin America

Crypto adoption in Latin America continues to grow strongly. In 2025, the region saw a 60% increase in regional transaction volume, reaching nearly $730 billion.

 

Since many countries in Latin America have been hit by the harsh effects of inflation, stablecoins have become a backbone for many in the region, acting as digital dollars for households and businesses, and accounting for about 80-90% of the total annual transaction volume in several countries.

 

Brazil continues to lead crypto adoption in Latin America, accounting for about one third of the total crypto transaction volume in the region, followed by Argentina and Mexico. Through the acquisition of Simpaul in 2025, a Brazilian brokerage firm, Binance became the first global exchange to become a broker dealer in the country, allowing it to expand its financial offerings.

 

Crypto asset manager Hashdex also launched XRPH11, the world's first spot XRP ETF in Brazil, which was later listed on B3, Brazil’s stock exchange.

 

 

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has introduced into its wallet application, prediction market, a new feature that allows users to participate in probability-based markets directly from the Binance wallet app. 

 

This feature was made possible through the integration of Predict.fun, an independent decentralized prediction market platform built on the BNB Chain, with Binance explicitly stating the integration of more prediction market platforms into its app in the future. 

 

With the integration of Predict.fun into its wallet app as well as other future prediction market integration, Binance aims to tap into the over $20 billion prediction markets volume, going toe-to-toe with giant prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket which both account for 85–90% of the total global prediction market volume.

 

To encourage the mass adoption and use of this new prediction market feature, Binance is offering a gasless trading experience for all users. Thus, all trading fees incurred will be sponsored and catered for Binance itself, thereby making it very easy for its over 300 million users tap into the growing crypto prediction markets. 

 

Image credit: Binance

 

The Binance prediction market feature will also support market and limit orders, allowing traders execute trades immediately at the current best market price or leave immediately, without delay, as well as allowing traders execute trades at their specified price or even better. 

 

The Current State of Prediction Markets

Crypto prediction markets have grown rapidly in recent times, evolving from a niche segment of the crypto industry into a major sector in global finance. The global monthly trading volume across prediction market platforms has consistently exceeded 20 billion dollars, with last month recording approximately 25.7 billion dollars in trading volume.

 

Despite the high monthly trading volume and the growing number of unique crypto wallets actively trading across different platforms, prediction market companies have faced several regulatory challenges. This is especially true for the two largest platforms, Kalshi and Polymarket, whose trading volumes together account for about 92 to 93 percent of global prediction market activity.

 

Although the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator in the United States, has recently moved to defend prediction market companies from strict regulatory actions imposed by several states, the activities of these companies remain restricted in at least 11 states.

 

The services of Polymarket remain blocked in about 33 countries, while Kalshi is restricted in about 50 jurisdictions, although it is still available in roughly 140 countries.