Senate adds CBDC ban to housing legislation

Legislative summaries and committee releases say the measure would stop the Federal Reserve from issuing, creating, or indirectly distributing any central bank digital currency “widely available to the general public” until December 31, 2030. The provision was included in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which passed the Senate Monday by an 85 to 5 vote.

Republican lawmakers argue that CBDCs could enable state surveillance and have sought to prevent the United States from following European or Chinese frameworks. If the House approves the bill and President Donald Trump signs it, the CBDC language would become federal law with the housing package.

Temporary digital dollar restriction follows Trump order

The restriction would not be permanent. If enacted, it would expire at the end of 2030. In January, Trump directed his administration not to pursue a CBDC, saying it could threaten privacy rights and financial system stability.

Trump allies in Congress added an amendment to the housing bill that would block the Federal Reserve System from creating a CBDC or similar digital asset through financial intermediaries. The Federal Reserve has said a U.S. digital currency remains only a theoretical research subject.

That position contrasts with Europe and China, where government-backed digital currency projects have advanced further. Europe is preparing to test a digital euro next year before a full launch in 2029. China has continued developing its digital yuan under the People’s Bank of China.

Former Fed Chair Jerome Powell said any digital dollar would be issued through private banks, countering Republican concerns about direct government control. New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh told lawmakers during his nomination hearing that he does not support a U.S. CBDC, calling it a “bad policy choice.” House lawmakers could approve the package as early as Tuesday.

South Korea and Europe advance CBDC work

South Korea is moving its CBDC work into a second phase led by the Bank of Korea. The pilot now focuses on placing deposit tokens inside banking systems after earlier retail tests.

Participating banks will add e-wallets, voucher tools, and blockchain functions to core banking operations. Authorities want to test whether central bank-guided tokens can handle payments and settlements within the banking infrastructure.

The European Parliament approved the digital euro in February, calling it “necessary” for monetary independence and smoother retail payments. The ECB spent March and April on technical work for the digital euro and tokenized cash systems, with launch dependent on legislation.

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The organization said through PR Newswire on June 22 that it focuses on infrastructure for institutional use. Its work will cover settlement speed, cross-chain infrastructure, mainnet capacity, native asset issuance, and ETH economics.

Funding includes Anchorage, Octant, SNZ, and more than 50 community partners, Decrypt reported. Ethlabs did not disclose the amount raised. Its backers show institutional interest in Ethereum research, as Bitmine has disclosed more than 5.4 million ETH, and SharpLink remains a major ETH treasury firm.

Former Foundation Researchers Lead Ethlabs

Ethlabs was founded by Ansgar Dietrichs, Barnabé Monnot, Caspar Schwarz-Schilling, Josh Rudolf, and Julian Ma. They worked on Ethereum finality, scaling, data availability, the Ethereum Virtual Machine, and protocol economics.

Dietrichs, the executive director, said Ethereum is “uniquely positioned to become the shared base layer” of the emerging on-chain economy. He also described it as “the neutral foundation the broader on-chain ecosystem is built on.”

“As longtime contributors to the core protocol, we are establishing an independent non-profit organization to advance Ethereum’s core technology and the shared standards and infrastructure builders depend on,” Dietrichs said.

The launch follows Foundation leadership changes. Hsiao-Wei Wang, a co-executive director, stepped down on June 18 after a sabbatical. Tomasz Stańczak resigned earlier in 2026.

Institutional Ethereum Needs a Shape Research Agenda

Ethlabs said its early work will address technical areas tied to institutional adoption. Faster settlement, higher capacity, stronger interoperability, and clearer ETH monetary properties are central.

Those priorities reflect current Ethereum use across stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, on-chain portfolios, and AI-driven commercial transactions. Each area depends on reliable infrastructure and better coordination across networks.

Tom Lee, chairman of Bitmine, said the ecosystem needs to “dramatically expand its investment in talent and research” as institutional and AI-driven activity grows. SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom called the launch “the beginning of an institutional supercycle on Ethereum.”

Independent Funding Tests Ethereum Governance

Ethlabs said its funding model is designed to protect research independence. An external grants administrator will screen, evaluate, and allocate capital. Funders will receive quarterly reporting and an annual independent audit, but they will not control the research agenda.

That structure matters because some backers hold major ETH exposure. Ethlabs said final technical decisions will remain with its leadership.

Lubin, who also co-founded Consensys, described Ethlabs as part of Ethereum’s move toward a broader set of steward nodes that can help evolve and protect the network.

The launch widens Ethereum’s research map beyond one central foundation. It also shows how open-source blockchain development is spreading across independent organizations with separate missions, funding sources, and technical mandates.

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The Nasdaq-listed firm, trading under ASST, bought the coins between June 15 and June 21 at an average price of $65,850 each, according to an 8-K filing disclosed on June 22. The deal pushed its holdings beyond 19,800 BTC.

Strive buys Bitcoin at a lower average cost

The latest purchase was cheaper than Strive’s major May acquisition. The Vivek Ramaswamy-founded company then paid an average price of $74,092 for more than 2,500 BTC, spending $185.2 million. 

The June average was about 11% lower, showing how Bitcoin volatility can change a corporate buyer’s cost basis within one quarter.

Chief Executive Matt Cole announced the June acquisition on X, writing that Strive “acquired an additional 759 $BTC for ~$50M.” Since January, the company has added more than 3,700 BTC to its balance sheet. 

That total includes Bitcoin gained through Strive’s acquisition of Semler Scientific earlier this year, along with continuing open-market purchases.

SATA funding supports Bitcoin accumulation

Strive has funded accumulation through SATA, a perpetual preferred stock paying daily dividends at a 13% rate. 

The company uses SATA instead of a convertible note or an at-the-market common equity offering. It says the structure helps avoid dilution for existing ASST shareholders.

BitcoinTreasuries.net data showed SATA generated meaningful capital during its first full week of daily dividend payments, from June 15 through June 19. 

The mechanism raised enough to acquire an estimated 603 BTC. Its strongest day was June 16, when net proceeds reached roughly $19.45 million and supported an estimated 296 BTC purchase.

SATA still faced market pressure. Its price slipped below the $100 par value and traded as low as $93 at midday before recovering to $97.70 at the close on June 18. Cole called that session “the most difficult day in the history of Digital Credit,” attributing the decline to a leverage liquidation event. Strategy’s competing STRC preferred stock fell further, touching a record low of $82.53.

Strive ranks among the top corporate holders

As of June 22, Strive ranked seventh among public companies by Bitcoin holdings. Its 19,864 BTC were valued at about $1.3 billion.

Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, remained the largest holder with 847,363 BTC. Twenty One Capital, Metaplanet, and MARA Holdings ranked second, third, and fourth. 

Strategy also bought 520 BTC for $35 million while increasing its dollar reserve to $1.4 billion, according to Cryptopolitan. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said the company “plans to continue replenishing” that reserve to back preferred stock offerings. 

The parallel purchases show public firms using structured finance as Strive positions SATA apart from Strategy’s convertible-note-heavy playbook for Bitcoin accumulation.

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The agreement gives South Korea’s third-largest internet-only bank a framework to explore blockchain-based settlement as part of a broader push into digital financial services and customer-focused financial infrastructure.

Toss Bank Plans Stablecoin Remittance Testing

The bank said the partnership will begin with overseas remittances and settlement. The cooperation covers three areas, with remittance proof of concept forming the initial stage before broader payment and digital asset reviews later. 

The first phase will focus on a proof of concept designed to assess whether stablecoins can reduce transfer costs and improve payment speed across borders. 

The initiative will also review blockchain-based payment and settlement models, along with potential uses for stablecoins and digital assets in financial services.

Park Jin-hyeon, head of strategy at Toss Bank, said the agreement will help the bank move gradually into blockchain-based finance. “We will work together to build a future where Toss Bank’s 15 million customers can experience faster and more cost-effective global digital finance with Solana,” said Jin-hyeon.

Solana Foundation Deepens Korean Finance Links

The MoU marks another partnership between the Solana Foundation and a major South Korean financial company. In April, the foundation worked with Shinhan Card on a proof of concept to test a real-world payment system using stablecoins on Solana.

Toss Bank said blockchain adoption will proceed in phases. After remittances, the bank plans to expand the review into payments, digital assets, and tokenized real-world assets. Park described the deal as a starting point for integrating digital financial infrastructure into the bank’s wider services.

The agreement also adds a blockchain element to the roadmap of Viva Republica, Toss Bank’s parent company. Viva Republica is preparing for a U.S. initial public offering in 2026 and is targeting a valuation above $10 billion.

Korea Crypto Rules Shape Stablecoin Strategy

The partnership comes as South Korea tightens oversight of digital asset activity. Authorities last week announced plans to place cross-border crypto transfers under formal foreign exchange supervision, with registration expected to begin in December 2026.

The new approach will require the Travel Rule to apply to both sending and receiving virtual asset service providers. The rule requires exchanges to verify and share information about senders and recipients during transfers. Its scope will also extend below existing minimum thresholds, covering small-value transactions, according to Cryptopolitan.

Toss Bank said it now “plans to proactively respond to domestic legislative trends regarding stablecoins” as Korea’s regulatory framework changes. The bank’s Solana agreement, therefore, places remittance testing at the center of its blockchain plans while keeping the focus on compliance.

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Record Open Interest Extends

Open interest differs from volume because it measures unsettled positions active in the market. It shows capital still at risk, not daily turnover. A16z Crypto data showed open interest has increased sixfold over the past year.

Activity spans politics, macroeconomic events, culture, cryptocurrency, and other categories. Major events still attract attention, but activity extends beyond headline-driven trading.

WSJ Report Raises Marketing Questions

The Wall Street Journal reported that Polymarket paid social media creators to publish fake trading and profit videos promoting the platform. According to the report, some creators used nearly identical versions of Polymarket’s website and recorded fictitious wagers.

The Journal said several videos presented profits that did not occur. Some clips were allegedly sent back for review. Creators said Polymarket requested retakes when videos appeared dull or staged.

Creators also told the Journal they were instructed not to disclose that they were paid. Payments often ranged from $2,000 to $3,000 per month. Many videos showed a creator opening Polymarket, placing a bet, and calling the result “free money.”

The Journal also reported that Polymarket hired Virality to manage influencer campaigns. Social media accounts reposted the videos.

The campaign allegedly targeted American users, even though Polymarket has been barred from operating its main crypto platform in the United States since 2022. The Journal also reported that Polymarket signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Adin Ross.

Polymarket said it is “committed to maintaining accurate, fair, and transparent markets. We are part of a rapidly growing industry and are constantly evaluating ways to improve how we’re engaging and earning the trust of our audience.” The company also said it would review promotional content.

Podcast Push Targets Culture

Polymarket has expanded its media strategy through Dear Media. The companies launched “What Are the Odds?”, its first podcast, as a weekly audio and video show mixing pop culture coverage with live market data.

The show moves the brand toward celebrity news, film releases, and award coverage. Polymarket’s user base remains concentrated in several categories. Sports betting accounts for about 39% of trading volume, while crypto represents about 20%, and politics accounts for another 32%.

That leaves 9% for other topics. The podcast is designed to broaden that share through market pricing.

“Our partnership with Dear Media marks a new chapter in how prediction markets capture the pulse of culture around the world,” said Josh Tucker, Polymarket’s head of creative marketing. Episodes are released on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

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Blockaid reported, “Blockaid Exploit Detection system detected an exploit involving the MEV bot on Ethereum. The incident resulted from attacker-controlled contracts tricking an automated MEV execution system into granting token approvals, later used to drain funds.”

Fake pools targeted automated approvals

The exploit was not typical phishing and did not necessarily come from a smart contract weakness. Attackers shaped the trap around the bot’s execution logic, making fake opportunities appear profitable enough to trigger approvals.

Blockaid said attackers created a fabricated ecosystem of 66 fake tokens and pools. These included versions of Wrapped ETH, USDC, and USDt, paired with CAP tokens. The setup imitated MEV signals that Jaredfromsubway.eth was built to detect, leading the bot to authorize attacker-controlled contracts.

Blockaid chief technology officer Raz Niv said, “Ironically, in the process, it provided the attacker the keys to millions in the bot’s treasury.” Etherscan data showed losses of $7.5 million. Blockchain records suggested some funds were sent to Tornado Cash.

Sandwich bot record draws scrutiny

Jaredfromsubway.eth had become one of Ethereum’s most visible sandwich bots. Earlier research found that Ethereum traders lose about $60 million each year to sandwich attacks. From November 2024 to October 2025, Ethereum telemetry recorded 60,000 to 90,000 sandwich attacks monthly, with Jaredfromsubway.eth responsible for about 70%.

Crypto investor and commentator David Gokhshtein said, “We shouldn’t be happy about this; no one should celebrate … but if this has sandwiched … I’m pretty sure you’re not upset about this news.”

In May, the bot targeted Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s transaction involving 26,544 DigitalBits. The loss was small, but it showed how MEV systems pursue minor opportunities. Etherscan records show the transaction was sandwiched between block 24993038 and 24993039.

MEV debate returns to the Ethereum roadmap

Before Buterin’s swap was executed, the bot routed about $1.14 million in WETH through SushiSwap and Uniswap V2 to move XDB pricing across pools. EigenPhi warned that slippage lets Jared push prices higher, forcing traders to pay more while the bot captures the spread.

EigenPhi wrote, “Jared 2.0 would use adding liquidity transactions as the front piece and/or the centerpiece and removing liquidity transactions as the back piece. The combination can be various, putting several transactions in between, becoming sandwich attack victims.”

By May, MEV extraction on Ethereum had exceeded $1.2 billion, with sandwich attacks accounting for about 51% of total volume. Buterin has advocated for encrypted mempools as Ethereum developers consider ways to reduce harmful MEV practices.

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The proposal was published on June 19 on the ENS governance forum. It was authored by Katherine Eth and outlines a shift of day-to-day management from token voters to the ENS Foundation. 

The plan would leave token holders in charge of protocol-level decisions, while the Foundation would oversee registration revenue, treasury management, grant distribution, and coordination among working groups.

ENS DAO Proposal Targets Governance Strain

The proposal argues that the DAO model has placed too many operational decisions before delegates and token voters. It says the structure has created delegate fatigue, weak strategic focus, limited accountability, slow coordination, and poor long-term treasury execution.

“The root of the current dysfunction within the ENS DAO comes from the gap between what the DAO was meant to do (steward credibly neutral infrastructure) and what it actually does day to day (act as a budget committee for an organization),” the proposal states.

According to the proposal, stewards and delegates face a growing queue of votes on matters they may not be equipped to assess. It also says voting capacity is often spent on routine operational issues while strategic matters receive less attention.

ENS Foundation Role Would Expand

Under the proposed framework, the ENS Foundation would receive more authority over operations, grants, and capital stewardship. The proposal says the Foundation is better placed to provide continuity, professional execution, and institutional counterparty capacity for long-term asset management.

Token holders would retain two powers described as non-negotiable. They would continue to control ENS protocol changes and would keep the authority to remove Foundation directors.

ENS DAO announced the temp check on X on June 19, saying the proposal would “evolve the ENS DAO by expanding the Foundation’s role in operations, grants, and long-term capital stewardship.”

The proposal notes that an earlier version attempted to address coordination problems by adding a budget-allocating board above the DAO structure. The latest version argues that adding more bodies to the current system would not solve the underlying issue.

DAO Restructuring Trend Frames ENS Debate

The proposal also places ENS within a broader industry shift. Several protocols that launched DAOs around the same period have moved away from similar models, consolidated authority, converted tokens back to equity, or folded DAO legal entities into lab teams.

ENS differs because ENS Labs is largely self-sustaining and not venture-backed. The organization was supported by an initial $1 million Ethereum Foundation grant and ongoing .eth registration revenue.

ENS traded at $4.79 on June 20, down more than 94% from its $85.69 all-time high in November 2021. CoinMarketCap data showed a circulating supply of 40.4 million ENS from 100 million total tokens.

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Car said Bloomberg misread on-chain data, overstated suspicious activity, and relied too heavily on wallet flags.

Bloomberg cited Polysights data that marked $45 million in Trump-related volume as suspicious and classified 34,225 wallets as possible insiders. 

Car said algorithmic labels were not evidence. “Do Bloomberg journalists think someone can have insider information about Argentina winning the World Cup?” Car wrote on X.

Car disputes Bloomberg wallet analysis

Car questioned the $1.5 million figure. He said Polymarket’s position leaderboard showed the top winner on the contract earned $1.1 million, while Bloomberg’s cited wallet did not appear at that level. Car said the account won “a couple hundred thousand,” not the amount stated.

Car said the wallet had a history of large election and sports wagers, which did not indicate classified intelligence. “Even the most credible newspapers are extremely bad at covering supposed insiders or suspicious wallets on Polymarket,” he wrote, adding, “I know from experience insider trading on Polymarket is not a thing on the scale the media makes it seem.”

Prediction market scrutiny grows

Prediction markets face scrutiny over integrity risks. In January 2026, a Polymarket account bet $32,000 that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro would be removed from power hours before U.S. forces seized him. The account made over $430,000.

A month later, Israeli authorities charged two people with using classified information to bet on Polymarket before strikes on Iran. Bubblemaps also found six accounts that won $1 million after betting on the exact date of the February 28 strikes. The accounts were funded within 24 hours. Over $529 million traded on Iran strike contracts.

Polymarket updated its integrity rules in March 2026. It now bars trades based on confidential information, breaching a duty of trust, insider tips, or outcomes a trader can influence. Neal Kumar, Polymarket’s chief legal officer, said the rules “make our expectations abundantly clear for every participant across both platforms.”

Car says large wagers are misread

Congressman Ritchie Torres introduced the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026 in January. The bill would bar people with access to material non-public government information from trading on prediction markets. It has over 40 Democratic co-sponsors.

Car’s rebuttal coincides with questions about profitability. Research by analyst Andrey Sergeenkov in April 2026 found that 84.1% of Polymarket traders lost money. Only 2% of 2.5 million wallets cleared $1,000, and 35 traders earned an average U.S. monthly salary for 12 straight months.

Car acknowledged that one or two genuine insider cases may exist. However, he argued that treating well-timed, high-conviction wagers as insider trading distorts how experienced traders operate.

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Changpeng Zhao, Binance founder, told Galaxy Research that artificial intelligence may pose an existential risk to humans, but not to crypto. His June 18 interview also covered Bitcoin’s market cycle, Satoshi Nakamoto’s holdings, Hyperliquid, and AI agents.

Zhao said autonomous software may adopt crypto rails before banks can support non-human economic activity. He argued that AI agents need open, programmable, and borderless payment tools. That need, he said, gives digital assets a practical role beyond trading.

AI Agents Need Programmable Rails

Zhao separated AI risks from its possible benefits to crypto. AI may affect jobs, security, and human control. However, he does not view those risks as a direct threat to digital assets.

Autonomous software cannot easily open bank accounts, complete onboarding, or rely on slow compliance processes. A crypto wallet can be created quickly and used across borders.

At Davos, Zhao said, “The native currency for AI agents is going to be crypto,” according to DL News.

Stablecoins Could Support Agent Payments

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said at Davos that billions of AI agents could conduct transactions within three to five years. Such transactions could involve data, API calls, computing power, storage, and services.

Analysts at Andreessen Horowitz have described a similar model. AI agents could pay instantly for data, GPU time, or API access without invoices, reconciliation, or batching.

The same rails may support stablecoin use and low-cost settlement. The World Bank’s Global Findex Database 2025 shows account ownership reached record levels. However, about 1.3 billion adults remain outside formal finance.

Adoption Remains The Main Test

Zhao’s wider argument links AI payments with financial inclusion. Internet-native payment systems could serve autonomous agents and users who lack bank access.

Still, crypto does not remove every barrier. Users face volatility, regulation, fraud risks, weak interfaces, and unreliable on-ramps.

Zhao is bullish on Bitcoin and crypto despite stepping back from supercycle timing calls. Through YZi Labs, he remains focused on blockchain, AI, and biotech investments. He prefers “AI shovels,” including data centers, power, and computing hardware, according to Yahoo Finance.

His post-Binance role frames the debate. Zhao resigned as Binance CEO after pleading guilty in 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Bitwise estimated that AI and crypto could add $20 trillion to global GDP by 2030. DL News reported that investors placed more than $565 million into AI and crypto startups in 2025.

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The network recorded 285,971 RWA wallets, placing it ahead of Ethereum and BNB Chain as tokenized adoption spreads.

The wider tokenized asset market now has 924,469 holders across 35 networks. Solana accounts for about 31% of that total, compared with Ethereum’s 199,191 holders and BNB Chain’s 101,902. 

RWA.xyz data also showed Solana’s holder base rising 29.3% over the past 30 days. The network first crossed 200,000 RWA holders in late April, adding nearly 85,000 wallets in under two months.

Ethereum Keeps Leading By Asset Value

Solana’s holder lead does not place it ahead by asset value. Ethereum remains the largest network by distributed RWA value, with $16.3 billion. That total is more than five times Solana’s $3.0 billion, while BNB Chain stands at $3.9 billion.

Still, Solana has gained ground in recent activity measures. Its distributed RWA value increased 14% over 30 days, while Ethereum’s total declined 4.7% in the same period. Solana also recorded $5.5 billion in RWA transfer volume over 30 days, up 66.94% month over month.

Solana Compass said the $4.4 billion in transfer volume recorded on June 11 showed strong turnover on a $2.7 billion asset base. That suggested tokenized instruments were changing hands actively rather than remaining idle.

Credit And Equity Products Lift Adoption

Several product launches have supported Solana’s RWA growth. Securitize expanded its Securitize Tokenized AAA CLO Fund, known as STAC, to Solana. Ethena Labs committed $250 million to the fund, adding major tokenized structured credit activity to the network.

Securitize co-founder and CEO Carlos Domingo said, “Tokenization is most powerful when it combines quality assets with the speed, efficiency, and accessibility of blockchain infrastructure. 

Expanding STAC to Solana brings one of the largest fixed-income markets in the world onto one of the most active blockchain ecosystems. Ethena’s planned allocation further demonstrates how tokenized real-world assets are becoming core infrastructure for the next generation of finance.”

Other launches also contributed to activity. SurancePlus introduced tokenized reinsurance securities, while Shift RWA listed leveraged tokenized equities on Jupiter. 

Backpack and Sunrise listed tokenized SpaceX stock the same day SpaceX debuted on Nasdaq.

Stablecoins Support Solana Distribution

Solana’s stablecoin rails have strengthened its role in tokenized asset distribution. RWA.xyz lists its stablecoin market capitalization at $15.6 billion, with 10.6 million holders.

In May, Western Union deployed USDPT on Solana for settlement across its global payments system. SoFi also made its bank-issued stablecoin available to nearly 15 million members through its app, using Solana blockchain technology in its enterprise banking system.

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