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Survivors of the Bloodbath. H1 2026's Top Performers
H1 was brutal and almost everything fell. But a few went the other way, hard. LAB did a 47x (+4,626%). DeXe, Bitway and ETHGAS all pulled 7–8x.
Out of the entire top 1000, only 71 coins even doubled. Here are the ones that actually ran 👇
Google to Remove Prediction Market Extensions From Chrome Web Store Under New Policies
Google has updated its Chrome Web Store Developer Program Policies to classify prediction markets as prohibited products.
Starting August 1, 2026, Chrome extensions that facilitate or support real-money prediction market trading will no longer be allowed on the Chrome Web Store. The updated policies also introduce stricter privacy, user consent, and data collection requirements for extension developers.
Paradigm Closes New $1.2B Fund, Eyes AI and Robotics
Crypto-focused VC Paradigm has closed a new $1.2 billion fund — one of the largest in the sector — and says it will now hunt for bets well beyond crypto.
With fresh capital in hand, the firm plans to expand into artificial intelligence and robotics, broadening its mandate past the digital-asset startups it is known for.
Nearly 4 in 5 coins ended H1 2026 in the red
We took the top 1000 coins (stablecoins excluded) and measured how they actually did year-to-date. It's a bloodbath.
— 789 of 1000 (79%) finished the half in the red
— The typical coin lost 35.7% (median) — not a tail, the middle of the pack
— The single biggest group: 325 coins down 25–50%
— 288 coins (nearly 1 in 3) lost half or more; 48 lost 75%+
— On the other side, just 71 coins (7%) managed a 2x
KOR Protocol Raises $7.5M Series A at $100M Valuation
Backed by 1kx, Blockchain Capital, Animoca, Sfermion and the Solana and Avalanche foundations, KOR Protocol raised $7.5M in a Series A that values the onchain intellectual-property (IP) network at a $100M post-money valuation.
The raise funds KOR's work bringing IP rights and licensing onchain, letting creators and brands tokenize and monetize their intellectual property directly.
Polymarket Enables BTC Lightning Deposits
Prediction-market platform Polymarket has switched on native Bitcoin funding: users can now deposit BTC over the Lightning Network in seconds, powered by Spark and without any stablecoin conversion.
“Starting today, Polymarket now supports instant Bitcoin deposits over Lightning, powered by Spark. Deposit BTC straight to Polymarket — faster and more privately,” Spark said. Spark is a Bitcoin scaling network that calls itself “the best way to build on Bitcoin,” part of a wider push to make BTC directly spendable across crypto apps.
Tokenized Stocks: Who Runs the Market
The tokenized-stock market just hit $1.95B (+34% in 30 days). Two issuers run most of it — and they play completely different games.
The two giants (≈78% combined):
— Ondo (Global Markets): 43.6% share · $870M onchain · 405 assets. The deepest, but flat (−1.3% MoM). An open network: distributed across Binance, MetaMask, Bitget, Euler.
— xStocks (Backed, Kraken-owned): 34.6% share · $690M · 172 assets, but +58.7% MoM — the fastest riser. A Kraken vertical: Kraken, Bybit, Gate, Bitget Wallet.
The challengers:
— Robinhood (Stock Tokens): ~2,000 tokens, but EU/EEA only + reduced rights
— Coinbase (Tokenize): launching this summer, promising real dividends + voting
— bStocks (by Binance): its own issuer, ~6% share in just 8 days
— Dinari (dShares): SEC transfer agent, the only one US investors can legally use (accredited)
Institutional Crypto Exchange EDX Markets Raises $76M to Expand Global Infrastructure
EDX Markets has secured $76 million in a Series C funding round led by SBI Holdings. The capital will support product development, infrastructure upgrades, and global expansion.
The company plans to strengthen its trading, clearing, and settlement systems while expanding its institutional digital asset services. EDX recently launched FlowConnect, a crypto-as-a-service platform for financial institutions.
Tether Invests $20M in Mercado Bitcoin to Accelerate Brazil’s On-Chain Infrastructure
Tether has invested $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin's strategic financing round. The Brazilian platform is one of Latin America's largest regulated on-chain financial services providers.
Mercado Bitcoin serves 4.5 million users, has issued over R$2 billion in tokenized assets, and operates under more than 10 licenses across Brazil and Europe.
Tether’s Former CIO Plans to Sell Part of His Stake
Tether’s former chief investment officer Richard Heathcote is reportedly looking to sell a small portion of his 1.26% stake in the stablecoin giant. According to Bloomberg, he is working with PJT Partners on the secondary sale.
Heathcote stepped down as CIO in March and later moved into a non-executive advisory role. His deputy, Zachary Lyons, took over day-to-day investment management at the company.
The potential deal comes after Tether paused earlier plans to raise funds at a valuation of up to $500 billion, as the firm waits for its first full audit. Tether has also hired a Big Four accounting firm to handle the review.
DeepSeek Is Building Its Own AI Chip, Sources Say
DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip to cut its reliance on Nvidia and Huawei, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The chip targets inference — running trained models — rather than training new ones.
The effort is still early: DeepSeek is in talks with chip-design, foundry and memory firms and has quietly hired chip engineers. Domestic rivals Alibaba and Baidu are already building their own AI chips. Huawei now holds about half of China's $50B domestic AI chip market after U.S. curbs on Nvidia exports.
Ethereum Glamsterdam: The Biggest Upgrade Since The Merge
Glamsterdam is Ethereum's first base-layer throughput overhaul since 2022 — it rebuilds how the network assembles blocks.
What changes:
— Gas limit: ~60M → 200M floor (~3x)
— Throughput: ~20 → up to ~10,000 TPS*
— Gas fees: up to −78%*
— Data propagation: 2s → ~9s (~4.5x wider window)
Tether Brings USDT Back to Bitcoin via RGB Protocol
Tether plans to issue USDT natively on Bitcoin through the RGB protocol (v0.11.1), with UTEXO leading the commercial rollout — returning the world's largest stablecoin to the network where it first launched in 2014.
RGB lets users send and receive USDT between Bitcoin addresses and compatible wallets, with UTEXO saying the feature could go live as early as July. Support from Tether Wallet and multiple exchanges is expected to follow.
BonkDAO Treasury Drained of ~$20M in Governance Attack
BonkDAO was hit by a malicious governance proposal that drained an estimated $20M in BONK from its treasury, with the stolen tokens already moving to exchanges.
The attacker bought BONK ahead of the vote to secure enough voting power to push the proposal through. BonkDAO says it has identified the exchange wallets used and is working with exchanges, bridges and the Solana Foundation to trace and freeze the funds.
Klarna Seeks Green Light to Become a US-Chartered Bank
Klarna has applied to the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and the FDIC to establish Klarna Bank USA, a proposed Utah-chartered industrial bank. If approved, the unit would be FDIC-insured and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Klarna Inc.
The move marks another step in Klarna’s push beyond buy now, pay later and deeper into full-scale banking. The company says it already serves U.S. customers through partner banks, while about 30 million Americans use Klarna each year.
ESMA Launches First Crypto Custody Review Under MiCA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched its first coordinated review of crypto custody providers since MiCA entered full enforcement.
The supervisory action will assess operational resilience across the EU, including governance, private key management, transaction controls, incident response, smart contract risks, and third-party dependencies. National regulators will conduct risk-based reviews through 2027.
Anthropic Releases Official Claude Prompt Library
Anthropic has launched an official Claude Code Prompt Library, a collection of 50+ ready-to-use prompts designed to help developers work faster and more effectively with AI.
The library covers everything from planning, debugging, testing, and refactoring to Git workflows, documentation, product development, marketing, security, and automation.
Anthropic is also expanding Claude Cowork to mobile and web. Users can now start long-running tasks on desktop, monitor progress from their phone, and let Claude continue working even when their computer is offline.
BNB Chain Plans New Layer 1 for AI Agent Trading
BNB Chain is building a dedicated Layer 1 purpose-built for “agentic” trading — autonomous AI agents that execute trades on their own — with a testnet slated for late 2026 and a mainnet targeted for early 2027.
The chain targets sub-50ms transaction pre-confirmation and over 100,000 TPS, and removes the public mempool — a change meant to curb the front-running attacks common on open chains.
AscendEX Shuts Down, Freezes Withdrawals
AscendEX (formerly Bitmax) says it ceased operations on July 1, blaming the EU's new MiCA regime — under which it holds no authorization — plus broader regulatory, financial and operational pressures, cutting off deposits, trading, swaps and staking for all users.
The shutdown follows on-chain sleuth ZachXBT's warning that the exchange had stalled user withdrawals for weeks while still taking deposits, then went silent on X for nine days.
Kraken Pushes to Become a Bank in Europe
Kraken is pursuing a full banking license in Europe, targeting Lithuania — a move that would make it the only crypto exchange with bank status, mirroring the path Revolut took to offer accounts, lending and stock trading across the EEA.
CEO Arjun Sethi says Kraken plans to secure banking licenses region by region over the next decade — via acquisitions or from scratch — as part of parent Payward's global licensing push.
OpenAI to Launch GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra & Luna on Thursday
GPT-5.6 is OpenAI's newest model family in three tiers: Sol — the flagship for reasoning, coding and agents — plus a balanced everyday Terra and a fast, low-cost Luna.
“GPT-5.6 Sol, along with Terra and Luna, will launch publicly this Thursday. We're expanding preview access globally now,” OpenAI said. The models first reached a small group of partners in a late-June preview under U.S. government review — Thursday marks their first public release.
Predict fun Launches Block Trading for Institutional-Size Prediction Market Orders
Predict fun has introduced block trading for large-volume prediction market orders, allowing users to execute trades of 100,000+ shares through a dedicated concierge service. Liquidity for the new feature is provided by Susquehanna Crypto.
The platform enables buyers and sellers to complete large peer-to-peer transactions without the slippage and liquidity issues common on public order books. Predict is also waiving all OTC-related fees for the first two weeks following the launch.
According to the team, the feature is designed to bring institutional-grade trading infrastructure to on-chain prediction markets as demand from larger participants continues to grow.
TAC Sees Over 90% Price Drop in 15 Minutes Amid Heavy Selling
Binance Alpha token TAC fell more than 90% in just 15 minutes, dropping to around $0.0063. The sharp move triggered attention across the crypto market.
TAC was first listed on Binance Alpha and Binance Futures in July 2025. The project is backed by TON Ventures and investors including Hack VC, Animoca Ventures, Symbolic Capital, and Spartan Group.
Prediction Markets: 6 Months, 5 Venues
H1 in one picture — every major venue, month by month. Where the volume actually went, Jan → Jun:
The majors
— Kalshi: a relentless climb: $3.7B → $9.4B, peaking in June. Six straight months of growth, no wobble.
— Polymarket: stuck in a $3.2B–$4.8B range, dipped to $3.2B in May, rebounded to $4.3B in June. Flat while Kalshi ran.
The challengers
— Opinion: front-loaded and fading: $3.3B in January → collapsed to ~$380M by June. The entire −80% share drop is right here.
— Predict.fun: volatile: a $647M April spike, back down to $265M in June.
— Limitless: the quiet grinder: $47M → $327M by May, the cleanest growth curve of the small caps.
Coinbase Wins UK License for Stocks and Derivatives
Coinbase has secured U.K. regulatory approval to offer equities and derivatives alongside crypto, adding a MiFID license in one of its largest international markets.
The license lets institutional traders access crypto, equity and commodity perpetual futures, while U.K. retail users can trade equities on Coinbase for the first time. The move advances Coinbase's “Everything Exchange” strategy — spanning stocks, crypto derivatives, prediction markets and tokenized products.
Zeus Network Faces Scrutiny Over Communication Issues as ZEUS Drops 99%
Zeus Network is facing increasing concern from the community after its official X account reportedly disabled replies, while the team has also become less responsive on Discord.
In April, the project announced that it had been “acquired” by a Cardano-related project and would expand beyond Solana. Since then, users have continued to raise questions about communication and withdrawal-related issues.
Paradigm Leads $5.5M Seed Round in M1X Global
M1X Global raised $5.5M in an oversubscribed seed round led by Paradigm, with Breed VC the only other backer — lifting total funding to $8.5M. The firm issues USDM1, a tokenized U.S.-dollar sovereign debt instrument.
USDM1 is issued by the Republic of the Marshall Islands, backed 1:1 by short-duration U.S. Treasuries and live on Stellar, Canton and Solana.
Jito Labs Sets July 14 Launch for JTX Trading Platform
Jito Labs will launch JTX on July 14 — a self-custodial trading platform on Solana, pitched as “one surface to trade every market.”
JTX aims for CEX-level speed with spot trading and RWAs while keeping user funds fully self-custodial. The launch marks Jito's move beyond MEV and staking into consumer-facing trading.
Major Crypto Cards: Who Pays You Back the Most
Crypto cards are quietly the best cashback game in the market right now. We stacked up the 4 majors.
Kolo — up to ~5% in BTC for the first 3 months (CryptoDiffer promo)
Plasma One — 2–4% in XPL
ether.fi Cash — 3%
KAST — 1.5–3%
Yield Guild Games to Shut Down Its Gaming Publishing Division
Yield Guild Games (YGG) announced it is sunsetting YGG Play, its Web3 game publishing arm, citing unfavorable macroeconomic conditions and an unsustainable market for crypto game publishing. The transition will be completed by August 1.
Despite generating over $9M in lifetime revenue by the end of Q1 2026, YGG said the prolonged crypto market downturn and weak retail activity made the business no longer commercially viable. The company will also lay off 35 employees as part of the restructuring.