An anonymous defendant identified as John Doe 33 asked a New York court to dismiss a May lawsuit seeking control of 39,069 dormant Bitcoin addresses said to hold about 3.7 million BTC worth roughly $234 billion. He argued a Bitcoin address is only a data string and not a proper defendant, and the public address is not reclaimable property under New York Unclaimed Property Law.

The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) has become the first major law enforcement organisation to formally endorse the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, joining a debate in which other law enforcement groups have voiced concerns. In a 1 July 2026 letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, NOBLE National President Reneé Hall said the organisation had reviewed the legislation and is formally backing it. The letter notes that law enforcement stakeholders differ on certain provisions, but argues those objections do not outweigh what NOBLE views as the bill's overall investigative value. According to NOBLE, the CLARITY Act would provide investigators with additional capabilities while keeping longstanding federal criminal enforcement authorities intact. The organisation highlighted several operational benefits it says the bill would deliver, including expanded regulatory obligations for more participants in the digital asset industry, enhanced digital asset forfeiture authority, new compliance requirements intended to improve transparency, and added oversight of digital asset kiosks. NOBLE said these measures would increase investigative visibility and strengthen tools to combat financial crime. The letter also states that existing federal criminal statutes would remain fully available to investigators and prosecutors, citing laws covering money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting businesses, conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and sanctions enforcement. The CLARITY Act incorporates the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), which seeks to clarify rules for blockchain developers and service providers. Some law enforcement groups have argued BRCA provisions could create oversight gaps; NOBLE's endorsement rejects that interpretation by emphasizing that criminal authorities are unchanged. Senator Cynthia Lummis, a leading supporter of the bill, said the measure is intended to help the United States maintain leadership in emerging technology, arguing that digital assets are the next major frontier and that the CLARITY Act is designed to prevent the country from ceding its advantage. NOBLE also called for ongoing coordination among Congress, the Justice Department, Treasury, FinCEN, state and local law enforcement, prosecutors, regulators, and industry stakeholders, saying collaboration will be critical for training, guidance, and resourcing as the digital asset sector evolves. Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or any other advice. The publisher is not responsible for losses resulting from the use of referenced content, products, or services. Readers should exercise caution before taking actions related to any company.

President Donald Trump's latest financial disclosure portrays an unusually high level of trading activity for a sitting U.S. president, documenting more than 22,000 securities transactions across eight investment accounts during his first year back in office. The filing indicates Trump's investment portfolio climbed to at least $858 million, with positions spanning roughly 1,600 companies. Advisers executed more than 21,000 trades during 2025, with some tallies putting the total above 22,000. The reported aggregate value of trades ranged from $600 million to $1.86 billion. Trading was heavily concentrated: about 85 transactions per market day on average, with roughly one-quarter of all trades occurring on just 10 trading days, many during volatile market stretches. The disclosure also shows more than 200 instances in which one account bought a security while another account sold the same security on the same day. The scale of activity dwarfs prior disclosures by recent presidents. Former President Joe Biden reported 13 stock trades during his presidency. Trump's first disclosure from 2017 listed 86 stock transactions. Holdings include major contractors and policy-sensitive names The disclosure lists investments in companies with federal contracts or businesses closely tied to government policy, including Palantir, Nvidia, Intel, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, GEO Group and CoreCivic. On July 23, 2025—the same day the White House introduced its AI Action Plan—Trump's accounts purchased between $1 million and $5 million each in Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia. The plan aimed to reduce regulation around artificial intelligence. The filing does not indicate whether the trades were placed before or after the policy announcement, and it also shows purchases of non-AI-related companies that day. Earlier in 2026, Trump's advisers bought between $200,000 and $680,000 in Palantir shares before Trump later praised the company on social media. During the same reporting period, another account sold between $1 million and $5 million of Palantir stock. Crypto and AI comments as scrutiny of business interests grows In a CNBC interview, Trump defended his family's cryptocurrency business and his administration's support for digital assets, arguing the U.S. must remain the global leader in cryptocurrency to avoid ceding ground to China. He also said the U.S. already leads in both crypto and artificial intelligence, adding that America is ahead of China in AI development. The disclosure arrives days after separate filings reported Trump earned more than $1 billion from crypto-related businesses in 2025, intensifying attention on potential conflicts tied to his financial interests. Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Readers should exercise caution before taking any action related to the companies mentioned.

June 30 — Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said Washington is moving to answer the Trump administration's call for the United States to become the "world's crypto capital." Under a new "Crypto Initiative," the SEC plans to speed up updates to its digital-asset rulebook, spelling out which crypto tokens qualify as securities and fall under SEC oversight. The goal is to give issuers, investors, and entrepreneurs clearer guardrails. Atkins also highlighted a newly signed, "historic" memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), aimed at aligning key definitions and coordinating supervisory responsibilities. The crypto sector has long faced murky standards and overlapping enforcement. U.S. regulators are now trying to replace that uncertainty with a framework designed to support onchain adoption and crypto innovation.

July 3 (BlockBeats) — The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance that it continues to favor a regulatory posture toward crypto assets that is "restrictive and leans toward prohibition," adding that an outright ban remains a policy option recognized within international regulatory frameworks. In its submission, the RBI urged that banks and other regulated financial institutions should not hold, trade, or otherwise take exposure to crypto assets or privately issued stablecoins, arguing this would help shield the financial system from potential contagion risks. The central bank also cautioned that applying traditional financial-sector rules to crypto could mislead markets by conferring legitimacy on speculative instruments it says lack real economic value, while giving users a false sense of safety. On stablecoins, the RBI warned that large-scale adoption could erode India's monetary sovereignty, weaken monetary-policy transmission, fragment the payments landscape, and threaten financial stability. It recommended prioritizing sovereign digital payment infrastructure, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Separately, the RBI challenged claims that India leads the world in crypto adoption, citing methodological issues in datasets produced by private blockchain analytics firms. The RBI noted that 54 cryptocurrency service providers are currently registered with India's FIU. It estimated roughly 39.3 million KYC-verified users hold crypto assets worth about INR 20.437 billion. The submission also stressed the need to clearly distinguish speculative crypto assets from tokenized real-world assets (RWA) such as government and corporate bonds, warning that failing to do so could hamper innovation in the tokenization of financial assets.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Peter Stokes, a 19-year-old dual U.S.-U.K. citizen, has been extradited to the United States to face charges connected to the hacking group known as Scattered Spider, according to CoinDesk. Prosecutors allege Stokes participated in a May 2025 cyberattack targeting a U.S. luxury jewelry retailer. The complaint says the attackers posed as company employees and placed phishing calls to the technical support desk to request password resets, allowing them to access multiple employee accounts, including ones with elevated privileges. After gaining access, the group allegedly stole company data and demanded about $8 million in cryptocurrency. The retailer ultimately removed the intruders from its internal network without paying, the DOJ said, but still incurred losses of at least $2 million tied to business disruption, investigation, and incident response. The DOJ described Scattered Spider as also operating under names including Octo Tempest, UNC3944 and 0ktapus. Authorities link the group to more than 100 intrusions and say total ransom payments tied to its activity exceed $100 million. Prosecutors said the group has relied on social engineering, account takeovers, data theft and crypto-ransomware tactics, largely aimed at corporate targets. In 2024, U.S. prosecutors charged five additional individuals allegedly linked to the same organization in cases involving phishing, SIM swapping and at least $11 million in stolen cryptocurrency. Officials said those cases underscore that the group's activity has extended beyond corporate data theft to direct theft of digital assets, including attacks involving victims connected to crypto trading platforms. The case comes as ransomware economics shift. Chainalysis has reported that ransomware payouts fell 35% in 2024, citing law enforcement actions, sanctions and improved recovery capabilities among companies. Its 2026 Ransomware Report adds that in 2025, ransomware-linked groups still received more than $8.2 billion in on-chain payments, down about 8% from 2024, even as the number of claimed attacks rose 50%—suggesting payment volumes declined but pressure on victims persisted. The DOJ also pointed to the importance of on-chain tracking in cybercrime investigations, where agencies combine wallet addresses, exchange records and fund flows to connect crypto transactions to real-world identities. Officials said the case is part of the FBI's "Operation Riptide," targeting cybercriminals, their infrastructure and associated financial networks, and warned that suspects abroad can still face U.S. prosecution if attacks impact American companies or their customers.

India's central bank has reiterated that it favors a regulatory stance on crypto assets that is restrictive and leans toward prohibition. In a July 3 submission to Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said a ban remains a policy option recognized internationally within regulatory frameworks. It urged banks and other regulated financial institutions to avoid holding, trading, or taking exposure to crypto assets or privately issued stablecoins, warning that such links could transmit contagion risks into the financial system. The RBI argued that extending traditional financial regulation to crypto could mislead markets by lending legitimacy to speculative instruments it says lack real economic value, while giving users a false sense of safety. It also cautioned that broad stablecoin adoption could erode India's monetary sovereignty, weaken monetary-policy transmission, fragment the payments landscape, and threaten financial stability. The RBI recommended prioritizing sovereign digital payment infrastructure, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The central bank also challenged claims that India leads the world in crypto adoption, pointing to methodological issues in estimates produced by private blockchain analytics firms. It noted that 54 crypto service providers are registered with India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and that roughly 39.3 million KYC-verified users hold crypto assets valued at about INR 20.437 billion. Finally, the RBI said speculative crypto assets should be clearly distinguished from tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) such as government and corporate bonds, so that rules aimed at crypto speculation do not hinder innovation in financial-asset tokenization.

India's central bank is considering a policy posture designed to contain crypto activity by tightening how banks and other regulated financial firms interact with digital assets and privately issued stablecoins, The Economic Times reported. The RBI's views are expected to feed into a broader reassessment of India's digital asset framework as lawmakers prepare their report. A background note reviewed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance describes the RBI's renewed focus on keeping crypto out of payment and settlement rails while limiting the banking system's exposure. The materials also argue that applying "traditional" financial regulation to crypto could unintentionally legitimize speculative tokens and create a false sense of safety for users. At the same time, the RBI urged policymakers to distinguish crypto from tokenized instruments that already fall under existing regulatory regimes. Key points - The RBI is said to favor a "containment" strategy—curbing banking-sector involvement—rather than an outright ban on ownership. - Officials reiterated support for prohibiting crypto use in payments and settlements, aiming to reduce systemic exposure to digital assets and private stablecoins. - The central bank warned that treating crypto like conventional regulated products could grant unwarranted legitimacy to speculative tokens. - The RBI urged regulators not to conflate crypto with tokenized government securities, corporate bonds, and other already regulated instruments. - Crypto adoption metrics remain disputed: Chainalysis ranked India No. 1 in its 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, while the RBI reportedly challenged the methodology. Containment logic: limit payments use and bank channels According to the report, RBI Deputy Governor Rohit Jain and Executive Director P. Vasudevan briefed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday. The submission reportedly notes that outright prohibition remains "a recognized policy option," but the practical emphasis is on restricting crypto's role in core financial functions—especially payments and settlements. The RBI's concern, as described by The Economic Times, is that banks and other regulated entities could become channels for risk if they are permitted to facilitate crypto transactions directly or take exposure to privately issued stablecoins. The background note reportedly recommends policies that block crypto usage in payments and settlements and keep banking-sector exposure to digital-asset activity limited. The RBI also flagged a regulatory-design risk: bringing crypto under familiar rulebooks meant for conventional instruments could legitimize speculative assets and create a "false perception of safety" among users. Even so, the central bank reportedly drew a clear line between crypto and tokenized versions of regulated instruments such as government securities and corporate bonds—implying support for tokenization when the underlying asset already sits inside the regulated perimeter. Parallels to 2018, and the proportionality hurdle The reported approach echoes the RBI's 2018 playbook, when it instructed regulated financial institutions to stop dealing in crypto or servicing individuals and firms involved in crypto. That move effectively cut many exchanges off from banking rails without banning individuals from holding or trading. India's Supreme Court overturned the RBI circular in March 2020, recognizing the central bank's preventive authority but finding the measure failed the "proportionality" standard. The court noted the RBI had not demonstrated harm experienced by the regulated entities impacted. In May 2021, the RBI clarified that banks could not cite the invalidated circular when advising customers against crypto transactions. It also said regulated entities could continue applying KYC, AML, and foreign-exchange compliance requirements. The difference in the latest reported framing is that the RBI appears to be pushing a model that targets crypto's access to payments and settlement functions and constrains bank exposure, rather than relying primarily on an exchange-banking cutoff. Whether lawmakers can design such rules without triggering the same proportionality objections raised in 2020 is likely to be a central issue as the debate progresses. Tokenization vs. speculative crypto A key element in the RBI's reported position is the insistence on separating categories. The central bank warned against regulating crypto as if it were equivalent to established financial products, while urging a distinction between crypto assets and tokenized government securities or corporate bonds. For market participants, the distinction matters because tokenization is often seen as a bridge between traditional finance and distributed ledger technology. If regulators accept that tokenized versions of already regulated instruments should not be swept into broad crypto restrictions, tokenization could develop within familiar compliance frameworks. If policymakers adopt a broad approach, the same infrastructure could face tighter limits even where the underlying asset is regulated. Adoption numbers in dispute The RBI's stance also intersects with disagreements over how to measure crypto adoption. The report notes India's No. 1 ranking in Chainalysis' 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, while the RBI reportedly questioned the methodology behind private-sector adoption rankings. With India's regulatory framework still under review, attention is likely to center on how policymakers translate the RBI's containment ideas into concrete rules—including restrictions on payment and settlement use cases, what activities banks may undertake, and where regulators draw boundaries between tokenized regulated instruments and broader crypto categories.

CACEIS, the French asset-servicing bank, is in exclusive talks to acquire French crypto platform Meria, a deal that would markedly scale up its regulated digital-asset business as European demand for compliant crypto services accelerates. If completed, the transaction would bring CACEIS roughly 150,000 customers and about €350 million in client assets, along with Meria's licensed platform operating under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime. The acquisition would also give CACEIS additional capabilities across custody, staking, tokenization and broader digital-asset services. Meria was founded in 2017 under the name Just Mining and rebranded in 2022. It is owned by crypto entrepreneur Owen Simonin, also known as Hasheur, and provides brokerage and staking services to both retail and institutional clients. The discussions follow CACEIS becoming the first French credit institution to obtain a MiCA crypto-asset service provider (CASP) license in June 2025. Industry sources said Meria was not the first firm approached as CACEIS looked to expand in crypto, with one executive noting the bank had been in the market for some time and had contacted multiple players. France's digital-asset market is also reshaping as MiCA takes effect across Europe, raising compliance requirements and making licensed operators increasingly attractive takeover targets. Firms already meeting regulatory standards can offer more than trading, including staking, tokenization and digital infrastructure that could underpin products such as tokenized funds and regulated digital securities. The talks come after Crédit Agricole recently launched its euro-backed stablecoin, EURXT. CACEIS issues the ERC-20 token on Ethereum with full euro backing under the MiCA framework. Institutional clients have also used EURXT to subscribe to a tokenized money market fund managed by Amundi. CACEIS has been expanding its digital-asset activities through custody, tokenized funds and Bitcoin exchange-traded products. The proposed Meria deal still requires regulatory approval; if cleared, it would broaden Crédit Agricole's overall digital-asset portfolio. Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The publisher is not responsible for losses resulting from the use of any mentioned products or services. Readers should exercise caution before taking action related to the companies referenced.