SWIFT said it will restart its annual “Policy Lab” global policy lab on July 1, 2026, focusing on interoperability in cross-border payments and testing XRP as a “regulation-friendly liquidity bridge asset.” The initiative is positioned as a mechanism for policy dialogue and sandbox-style validation rather than a formal integration or technical rollout, stressing potential use cases within existing financial regulatory frameworks. XRP is the only crypto asset explicitly named in the announcement, with the move framed as SWIFT-led rules evolution rather than any direct technical upgrade, capital inflow, or market-access step, according to SWIFT.

The EU’s transition period for the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) ends by July 6, 2026, marking the framework’s full move into the implementation phase. All crypto-asset service providers operating in the EU—including exchanges, custodial wallet providers and stablecoin issuers—must meet MiCA’s requirements on licensing, disclosures, governance and consumer protection. The development does not involve token issuance changes, delistings or fund flows, and it does not announce any temporary bans or exemptions for specific asset types. Bitcoin’s move above $62,500 was cited as a contemporaneous market development and is not presented as having a direct causal link to MiCA taking effect.

TRM Labs reported 207 crypto hacks in the first half of 2026, the highest half-year total it has recorded, while total losses fell to $972 million from $2.3 billion a year earlier. Smart-contract exploits drove 125 incidents, but operational weaknesses such as key theft, compromised signing systems and failed bridge validation accounted for about 76% of stolen value, or roughly $740 million. North Korea-linked activity made up about 66% of the losses, largely tied to two April infrastructure-level intrusions at Drift Protocol ($285 million) and KelpDAO ($292 million). The report said audits alone are no longer enough, with controls over how funds are moved becoming the largest risk exposure.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis said the proposed CLARITY Act would allow U.S. banks to freely buy and hold XRP and other digital assets. She said the measure is intended to clarify how crypto assets are assessed for securities status and reduce current regulatory uncertainty. The bill has not been passed and has no voting timetable, remaining at the proposal stage. XRP was the only crypto asset mentioned, and any path to bank compliance access would significantly improve its institutional adoption after lingering effects from the SEC lawsuit.

Stack BTC, a bitcoin treasury company backed and promoted by Nigel Farage, has seen its asset value fall 15.48% since listing in March 2026, a decline of about £565,000. The Liberal Democrats have asked the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to examine whether Farage’s promotional role could amount to attempted market abuse, after he took just over a 6% stake for £215,000. The episode comes as bitcoin trades around a $60,000–$60,500 support area, adding to UK skepticism toward BTC-linked corporate structures amid pressure from the MiCA framework.

The Clarity Act’s outlook in the U.S. Senate has shifted after MCSA moved from “opposed” to “neutral,” easing law-enforcement concerns tied to Section 604. The bill still requires 60 votes, but the neutral stance could open room for Democratic votes that had appeared out of reach. For XRP and XLM, which are positioned around compliant payment and settlement use cases, clearer rules are closely tied to large-scale institutional adoption.

Revolut will phase out USDT services for retail users in the EU and European Economic Area, halting purchases on July 6 and rejecting deposits from July 30. Any remaining USDT held on the app will be automatically converted into euros at Revolut’s internal rate on Aug. 31. The change follows the end of the EU’s MiCA transition period on July 1, 2026, and comes as Tether has not applied for a MiCA e-money licence, requiring authorised platforms such as Revolut—approved by CySEC—to remove the token from regulated access.

CryptoQuant data show this Bitcoin bull cycle has absorbed about $697 billion in fresh capital since 2022 while delivering a 689% gain, and that another parabolic leg would likely require more than $1 trillion in new institutional money, according to CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $4.5 billion in net outflows in June, the worst month since their January 2024 launch. Citigroup cut its 12-month Bitcoin target to $82,000 from $112,000 and projected zero net new ETF money over the next year. The CLARITY Act is seen as a potential catalyst to unlock long-term capital, with a Senate floor vote expected in July and Polymarket putting the odds of passage at 48%.