According to Huo Xing Cai Jing, Pendle cofounder TN and Head of Growth Dan used a July 23 community meeting to recap the protocol's performance in the first half of 2026 and outline priorities for the remainder of the year. The team said H1 efforts centered on building fixed-income infrastructure. Pendle V2 continued to strengthen its position as a leading onchain fixed-income protocol, while Boros made early headway in onchain interest-rate derivatives. Pendle V2 posted an average daily TVL of about $1.3 billion in H1. Of the platform's 11 core markets, nine now support real-world assets (RWA) as collateral, which the team said points to sustained institutional inflows into the RWA segment. Pendle also launched on the Monad network and, in less than a month, ranked among the network's top five protocols by TVL, with roughly $150 million locked. On the product and tokenomics front, Pendle completed the migration from vePENDLE to sPENDLE. About 36% of PENDLE is currently staked, and 93% of stakers have not unstaked. The protocol has repurchased around 2 million PENDLE using revenue and cut weekly liquidity incentives from roughly 90,000 PENDLE to 21,000 PENDLE to improve capital efficiency. Pendle also rolled out an in-app one-click Loop feature aimed at simplifying leveraged yield strategies. Boros, another core product, has surpassed $14 billion in cumulative trading volume in under a year, with users up 50% since the start of 2026. To better serve professional traders, the team added tools including four-leg arbitrage strategies, bulk order acceptance, and a funding-rate dashboard. For H2 2026, Pendle plans to prioritize curation infrastructure so external teams can create PT/YT markets and integrate PT assets as collateral within lending protocols. It also intends to launch Pendle-branded yield vaults with partners including Morpho to broaden distribution for fixed-income products. Institutional expansion will focus on collaborating with multiple New York-based RWA issuers to list tokenized ETFs, single bonds, and other onchain yield products. Pendle said the goal is to build an institutional-grade RWA yield discovery and distribution platform. Boros will shift its strategy toward cross-platform funding-rate arbitrage, with a focus on institutional arbitrageurs. Planned additions include peer-to-peer acceptance markets, funding-rate visualization tools, and one-click strategy products for retail users, aimed at further developing the onchain interest-rate derivatives ecosystem.

Breaking: Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX said it will shut down all operations.

Crypto derivatives venue BitMEX will cease operations after HDR Global Trading Limited, its owner and operator, completed a strategic review of the business. The company said trading will end on Sept. 23, 2026, and urged customers to close open positions and withdraw funds ahead of the shutdown. BitMEX said client assets will remain secure and accessible throughout the wind-down. Founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, BitMEX became one of the most influential early platforms in crypto derivatives and helped popularize leveraged trading. In May 2016, it introduced the XBTUSD perpetual swap, enabling traders to take leveraged exposure to Bitcoin without managing a contract expiry. Perpetual swaps later became one of the most actively traded instruments in crypto markets. BitMEX also pointed to its security track record, saying no customer cryptocurrency was lost to hacking over its 11-year run. The exchange's history was also marked by regulatory scrutiny. In 2021, BitMEX entities agreed to pay a $100 million civil penalty to settle charges from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. HDR Global Trading was fined an additional $100 million in January 2025 after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering program. Customers now have roughly two months to settle accounts, close positions and transfer remaining assets off the platform.

Negotiations over the CLARITY Act's ethics language have stalled as the White House and Senate Democrats clash on two core issues. Democrats want state Attorneys General (AGs) to help enforce the bill's ethics provisions. A White House-backed proposal instead would give the Department of Justice (DoJ) sole enforcement authority in ethics-related matters. A second sticking point is Democrats' push to hold U.S. President Donald Trump accountable for past crypto activity. Trump reportedly made more than $1.4B in crypto profits in 2025, while holders of his memecoins and tokens suffered losses. The White House has rejected that approach, with Chief Crypto Advisor Patrick Witt calling it "blatantly unconstitutional" in a statement. Criticism of the proposed ethics framework has also come from Democratic-aligned voices. Former SEC Chief of Staff Amanda Fischer described the deal as "laughable," arguing it leaves significant gaps: it reportedly gives the president a one-year window to place crypto ventures into a blind trust, does not prohibit interest income, and caps penalties for ethics violations at $500K. Fischer said it "doesn't change much at all" about Trump's existing crypto dealings, adds no divestment requirement, and would rely on Trump's personal attorney Todd Blanche for enforcement. She also pointed to an amnesty provision taking effect once a new president is inaugurated. The proposal bars the president, administration officials, and members of Congress from certain activities but does not cover their children. Senate Democrats including Angela Alsobrooks, Ruben Gallego, and five others have opposed the current ethics language along with other CLARITY Act provisions. In a joint critique, they said the Republican text "falls short" and called for stronger rules around ethics for elected officials, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest, and market integrity. Alsobrooks and Gallego were the only Democrats to back the bill during committee markup. With Republicans needing roughly 7–10 Democrats to reach the 60-vote threshold on the Senate floor, Democratic holdouts could prove decisive. The legislative uncertainty has coincided with a modest pullback in crypto markets. Bitcoin (BTC) eased to about $65.7K after climbing to nearly $67K earlier in the week, highlighting how closely near-term sentiment is tied to progress on the bill. Key Takeaways • Senate Democrats are rejecting the White House-backed ethics deal and pressing for broader changes to the CLARITY Act. • The White House appears unwilling to accept Democrats' demands on ethics enforcement and accountability provisions.

BitMEX will stop operating at 04:00 UTC on Sept. 23 after its owner, HDR Global Trading, decided to close the exchange following a strategic review. The platform has urged users to wind down any open positions and withdraw funds as soon as possible. BitMEX was an early leader in crypto derivatives, known for introducing the 100x perpetual swap—a product that has since become the most actively traded derivatives instrument in the digital-asset market.

Kakao Group and Circle have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the development of a Korean won stablecoin and blockchain-based payment infrastructure in South Korea.

An attacker exploited a bridge operated by AFX, an Arbitrum-based protocol, siphoning about $24.15 million in USDC in an incident detected on July 22 at 21:30 UTC, according to blockchain security firm Blockaid. The breach is the 14th crypto security incident recorded in July, a month that has already exceeded June's total hack losses. Investigators emphasized the exploit did not impact Arbitrum's native infrastructure. Offchain Labs cofounder Steven Goldfeder said the transaction originated from a third-party protocol and confirmed the Arbitrum native bridge "has not been hacked or exploited in any way." After the drain, the attacker bridged the stolen USDC from Arbitrum to Ethereum and converted it into approximately 12,467.5 ETH, PeckShield reported. PeckShield traced the assets to a single wallet address, noting the total may shift as researchers continue monitoring on-chain movements. The incident underscores persistent risks around cross-chain bridges, which remain among DeFi's most frequently exploited components due to their reliance on smart contracts, validator setups, and liquidity mechanisms. DeFiLlama data showed 13 hacks had already been logged in July before the AFX exploit, with losses totaling about $72.6 million even prior to this breach. As interoperability expands across blockchain ecosystems, bridge security remains a central hurdle for protocols seeking broader user and institutional adoption.

BitMEX, one of the early leaders in crypto derivatives and the venue credited with popularizing the 100x leveraged perpetual swap, will permanently cease operations on September 23. In a newly released statement, the exchange said trading will end at 04:00 UTC on September 23. Parent company HDR Global Trading Limited said the decision followed a strategic, in-depth review of the business and broader industry conditions. BitMEX has already stopped accepting new account registrations and is urging existing customers to close open positions and withdraw assets ahead of the deadline. Launched in 2014, BitMEX helped shape today's crypto derivatives market by introducing 100x leveraged perpetual swaps, a product that later became an industry standard and was adopted by most major competitors. At its peak, BitMEX ranked among the world's largest crypto exchanges, drawing professional traders with deep liquidity and advanced trading tools. The company also highlighted its security track record, saying no customer funds were lost to a hack during its near-decade of operation. Regulatory pressure weighed on the business in later years. In 2020, U.S. authorities charged the company's founders with violating anti-money-laundering rules, alleging the exchange operated without adequate Know Your Customer (KYC) controls. BitMEX later reached a settlement with U.S. regulators, while former CEO Arthur Hayes and other executives pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations. Although the platform continued operating after those cases were resolved, competition intensified and eroded its market share. BitMEX said trading will remain available in the coming months, with restrictions introduced gradually. After August 26, users will be unable to open new positions and will only be allowed to reduce existing ones. After the September 23 shutdown date, customers will retain account access solely to view balances, review transaction history, and withdraw any remaining assets.

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, best known for inventing the perpetual swap and reshaping global market structure, said Thursday it will shut down on Sept. 23. "With a very heavy heart" the platform will end operations effective 23 September 2026 at 04:00:00 UTC, BitMEX told users, urging them to close positions and withdraw funds as soon as convenient. Account holders who do not withdraw by the deadline will be subject to automatic penalties. BitMEX said it will charge either a $50 monthly maintenance fee or an annualized 1% levy on remaining assets, according to an email cited in the announcement. The shutdown follows years in which BitMEX gradually lost the perpetuals franchise it pioneered to faster-moving centralized competitors and a new wave of decentralized derivatives venues. Liquidity, market makers and large traders shifted to platforms offering deeper order books, broader listings and fewer legal overhangs. New account registrations have already been halted after a strategic business review by parent company HDR Global Trading Limited. The winddown closes an 11-year chapter for the Seychelles-incorporated venue, launched in 2014, that helped build the infrastructure underpinning modern digital-asset derivatives markets. To reduce system risk during the winddown, trading will continue for several weeks, but BitMEX will impose strict limits on Aug. 26 to prevent users from opening new positions. From that date through the late-September deadline, the exchange will progressively force-close any remaining open contracts to ensure an orderly shutdown. A key operational issue is converting customer assets into users' chosen fiat currencies, with potential withdrawal delays if the Bitcoin network becomes congested. BitMEX said its current proof-of-reserves shows platform liabilities fully cover customer assets. The exit comes despite what the company described as a clean security record, with no user losses from hacks or smart-contract exploits, even as it faced years of regulatory enforcement globally. The announcement also arrives three weeks after BitMEX lost its CEO, chief financial officer and head of growth. BitMEX was co-founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed. In 2020, the company was accused of failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering measures and later pleaded guilty. Hayes, Delo and Reed resigned shortly after U.S. authorities filed criminal charges. At its peak during the 2019 market expansion, BitMEX processed more than $1 trillion in annual trading volume and captured about 57% of global crypto derivatives market share. Daily volume hit as high as $8 billion in July 2018, setting records as turnover exceeded 1 million bitcoin (worth more than $8 billion at the time).