💵 Aptos Launches Open USD with Mastercard, Visa and Stripe
Aptos has announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin initiative developed in partnership with Mastercard, Visa, and Stripe.
The collaboration brings together three of the world's largest payments networks on the Aptos blockchain, aiming to accelerate stablecoin adoption in global finance. No further details on token mechanics, issuance structure, or regulatory status were disclosed in the available source material.
The involvement of major traditional finance players signals growing institutional interest in on-chain dollar infrastructure.
🟠 Dormant Bitcoin Wallet Moves $383M After 8 Years
A Bitcoin wallet inactive for over eight years transferred 5,908 BTC — worth approximately $383 million — to a new address on Wednesday.
The movement was flagged by blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, citing Arkham data. The wallet is described as belonging to an early Bitcoin holder, with the funds sitting untouched since before 2017.
Large movements from long-dormant wallets are closely watched by market participants as potential signals of selling intent, though the destination and purpose of this transfer have not been publicly confirmed.
🟠 BIP-110 Splits Bitcoin Community Over Non-Financial Data
A new Bitcoin Improvement Proposal — BIP-110 — is dividing developers, miners, and industry leaders by seeking to restrict non-financial data from being stored on the Bitcoin network.
The debate has reached a key activation deadline, with prominent figures on both sides clashing over whether Bitcoin's blockchain should be limited strictly to financial transactions or remain open to arbitrary data storage. Supporters argue the restriction would protect network efficiency and preserve Bitcoin's core purpose; opponents see it as a governance overreach that could set a dangerous precedent.
The conflict is being compared to the Blocksize Wars, Bitcoin's most contentious governance battle, raising fresh questions about how protocol-level decisions get made — and who has the power to make them.
🌐 DTCC Pilots Stock and Treasury Tokenization with 40 Major Firms
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. has launched a production pilot to tokenize U.S. stocks and Treasury securities, marking one of the most significant moves by traditional financial infrastructure into blockchain-based settlement.
The trial involves 40 financial institutions, including JPMorgan, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Vanguard. JPMorgan will tokenize part of its Invesco QQQ Trust holdings held at DTCC, while Microsoft shares, Circle and SPY are also among the assets being tokenized. The pilot will evaluate settlement and custody of tokenized assets on a shared infrastructure.
DTCC serves as the backbone of U.S. securities clearing, processing trillions in transactions annually — making its direct involvement a notable step toward mainstream adoption of tokenized financial instruments.
🟠 Bitcoin rebounds to $65K as JPMorgan flags Hyperliquid risk
Bitcoin climbed 3.5% in 24 hours, trading just under $65,000 on July 15, marking a notable recovery in broader market conditions.
JPMorgan issued a risk warning on Hyperliquid, the decentralized perpetuals exchange, flagging concerns relevant to traders and DeFi participants. Separately, the European Central Bank intensified its push for a digital euro, signaling continued regulatory momentum around central bank digital currencies in Europe.
These developments reflect three converging forces in crypto markets: renewed BTC price strength, institutional scrutiny of DeFi infrastructure, and accelerating CBDC policy in major economies.
Senator Cynthia Lummis announced on July 14 that the CLARITY Act — the Senate's comprehensive crypto market structure bill — is ready after roughly ten months of negotiations, with bill text set to be introduced within days.
Lummis, who chairs the Senate Digital Assets Subcommittee, is pushing for a floor vote before the August recess, leaving a roughly four-week window. The bill's stated priorities include combating illicit finance, strengthening consumer protections, and keeping crypto markets within U.S. jurisdiction.
Passage of the CLARITY Act would mark a significant step toward establishing a federal regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States.