⚖️ US Traders Pile Into 100x Leveraged Perpetual Futures
The Trump administration has opened American markets to perpetual futures contracts — highly leveraged derivatives products that have long been restricted for US retail traders.
US day traders are now piling into "perps" offering leverage of up to 100x. The products have a stark track record: data cited in the report shows 70–97% of day traders lose money using them over time.
Perpetual futures are considered among the riskiest instruments in crypto due to the speed and scale at which leveraged positions can be liquidated, making their arrival in mainstream US retail markets a significant regulatory shift.
🌐 Zcash launches node targeting 50,000 private transactions per second
The Zcash ecosystem has introduced Zakura, a new node client designed as the first live component of Project Tachyon — a broader effort to scale Zcash from roughly one private shielded transaction per second to Visa-level throughput of 50,000 TPS.
Zakura is part of a roadmap that also includes the NU7 network upgrade. Together, these components aim to make fully private payments practical at payment-network scale, not just for individual users.
The announcement comes amid challenges: a recent vulnerability disclosure and a 48% drop in ZEC's price underscore the execution risks still ahead for the project.
An attacker exploited BonkDAO's governance system on July 6, draining 4.426 trillion BONK tokens — worth approximately $21.2 million — from the protocol's treasury.
The attacker has since sold 800 billion BONK for around $2–2.48 million and still holds an estimated 2.4 trillion tokens, creating persistent selling pressure. BONK's price has fallen roughly 40% since the incident.
Governance exploits of this kind highlight the risk of poorly secured on-chain voting mechanisms, where an attacker can pass malicious proposals and execute treasury withdrawals without breaking smart contract code. Users with BONK exposure should monitor on-chain activity closely as further sales remain possible.
🌐 Malaysia Blockchain Week 2026 Eyes Kuala Lumpur as Web3 Hub
Malaysia Blockchain Week 2026 is positioning Kuala Lumpur as a central destination for Web3 and AI development in the Asia-Pacific region, targeting builders, investors, and institutions active in the space.
The event reflects broader momentum in Southeast Asia, where Web3 adoption and real-world use cases are expanding. Malaysia is being presented as a meeting point for global capital and innovation in the blockchain sector.
As APAC's Web3 activity grows, events like this signal the region's increasing role in shaping the next phase of decentralized infrastructure and institutional engagement.
🧩 Crypto-Style Perps Bring AI Compute to Derivatives Markets
Crypto-native derivatives are entering the AI compute sector before traditional exchanges, with perpetual futures and prediction markets already tracking GPU pricing ahead of planned regulated offerings.
According to Bernstein, CME and ICE are targeting late 2026 for regulated GPU futures. In the meantime, platforms like Hyperliquid are already seeing activity — a prediction market contract on Hyperliquid reaching $100 by December 31, 2026 is currently priced at 30% YES.
The development signals growing crossover between crypto-native financial infrastructure and AI compute markets, with decentralized venues moving faster than their regulated counterparts.
🏦 SBI Holdings acquires majority stake in Singapore's Coinhako
Japan's financial conglomerate SBI Holdings has completed a majority acquisition of Coinhako, a Singapore-based crypto exchange, following approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Coinhako holds a digital payment token license in Singapore and serves approximately 400,000 users. The deal folds the exchange into SBI's expanding digital asset network across Asia, strengthening its foothold in Southeast Asia.
SBI has indicated the acquisition could accelerate its plans in stablecoins, tokenized assets, and cross-border digital finance — areas of growing regulatory and institutional focus across the region.