Kazakhstan’s president signed a decree to develop the crypto industry, the EU moved to extend MiCA to DeFi, the U.S. bitcoin reserve stalled in bureaucracy, and more from the week.
Bitcoin showed resilience
Early in the week, the price of the first cryptocurrency broke below $62,000 amid a new exchange of strikes between Iran and the United States.
Bitcoin reacted calmly to subsequent U.S. military strikes and the IRGC’s statement about closing the Strait of Hormuz. By the weekend, the price recovered to around $64,000.
For the week, the asset rose 2.2%. Ethereum showed a similar move, up 2.6%. Most major altcoins ended in the red. The steepest declines came from Dogecoin (4%) and Solana (4.4%).
Spot bitcoin ETFs snapped a record eight-week streak of outflows and took in $197.4 million. Total assets in the products rose to $77.4 billion. Even so, the figure is down about 32% since the start of the year.
Ethereum-based funds showed similar dynamics, with $84.4 million in weekly inflows. Aggregate AUM recovered to $9.6 billion.
The crypto fear and greed index left the extreme fear zone, edging above its upper bound to 26.
Total market capitalization rose from $2.07 trillion to $2.2 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance held at 58.4%. Ethereum’s share continued to climb — 9.9% versus 9.8% a week earlier.
Kazakhstan’s president signed a decree to develop the crypto industry
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree “On measures to stimulate and develop the digital assets industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan.” The document’s stated goal is to form a “modern and transparent ecosystem of digital financial services.”
The decree was prepared by the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and the National Bank together with relevant government bodies, as well as the Astana International Financial Centre.
The document provides for developing mechanisms to use digital assets and stablecoins in cross-border settlements. The authorities expect to give businesses additional channels for import and export operations within a regulated framework.
A separate block brings cryptoasset operations into the legal field. Measures include voluntary disclosure of digital assets previously held on foreign unregulated platforms and their transfer to platforms of domestic providers.
For individuals, the plan is to exempt income from transactions with digital assets via regulated Kazakh infrastructure from personal income tax.
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EU to extend MiCA to DeFi and NFTs
On July 7, the European Parliament (EP) approved an official position on further regulation of digital assets.
The report adopted following the vote, “Digital assets – challenges to the competitiveness and integrity of the financial system of the European Union,” became the EP’s official policy position on digital assets. It does not make direct changes to MiCA and does not create new legal obligations for crypto companies.
Lawmakers call for expanded oversight and clear rules for sectors still outside the regulation’s scope:
- DeFi;
- crypto lending and borrowing;
- staking;
- NFTs.
This came right after MiCA’s transition period ended on July 1, when crypto companies in the EU moved to mandatory licensing. The main goal is to prevent individual member states from creating local rules that would fragment the single market.
Bloomberg: interagency dispute slowed creation of the U.S. bitcoin reserve
The Trump administration’s initiative to create a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) faced obstacles due to disagreements between departments over structure and oversight.
Although a March 2025 executive order envisioned placing the SBR within the Treasury, concerns arose over whether the department has the legal authority to manage bitcoin reserves given their high volatility. As a result, the Commerce Department became the next contender.
The Justice Department is working with both agencies to find legally viable options, while the White House continues to assess the optimal structure to implement a plan intended to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the world.”
The United States holds the largest state stash at 328,372 BTC worth about $21 billion.
At the same time, Congress is advancing the BITCOIN Act and the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (ARMA), aimed at acquiring 1,000,000 BTC over five years using budget-neutral strategies.
Also on ForkLog:
- CertiK estimated crypto industry losses from hacks at $1.32 billion in half a year.
- The AscendEX exchange and the Zapper service announced closures.
- At ETH Zurich, researchers created a quantum chip with mechanical memory.
- SpaceXAI released Grok 4.5 with a focus on price and speed.
SWIFT launched a blockchain system for cross-border payments
On July 9, the financial messaging network SWIFT announced its blockchain infrastructure is ready for the first phase of use.
The pilot focuses on 24/7 cross-border payments with tokenized deposits. It involves 17 banks across six continents. Participants include Citi, HSBC, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, BNY, DBS and MUFG Bank.
SWIFT’s solution will connect different ledgers, synchronize payment obligations among participants, and allow transactions at any time, including nights and weekends. Final settlement will remain in existing payment systems.
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