Iran Strikes Trigger $1B Crypto Liquidation, Bitcoin Plunges Below $62K

Iranian missile strikes on a US-linked Jordanian air base and projectile attacks on military sites in Bushehr, Iran, triggered over $1 billion in crypto liquidations, with Bitcoin plunging below $62,000. The US Treasury simultaneously sanctioned Iran's largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, targeting Iran's use of digital assets to bypass sanctions. Meanwhile, Circle received final OCC approval to establish a national trust bank for USDC, and the US CBDC ban became law as the CLARITY Act faces a narrow legislative window before the August recess.

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Iran missile strikes trigger $1B crypto liquidation, Bitcoin below $62K Iranian ballistic missiles struck a US-linked Jordanian air base on July 9, while projectile attacks hit military sites near Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant. The escalation triggered over $1 billion in crypto liquidations, with Bitcoin plunging from above $73,000 to as low as $61,688. The US Treasury simultaneously sanctioned Nobitex, Iran's largest crypto exchange, targeting Iran's use of Bitcoin and Ethereum to bypass sanctions. 1 2

Circle receives final OCC approval for national trust bank for USDC Circle received final OCC approval on July 10 to establish First National Digital Currency Bank N.A., operating as Circle National Trust. The federally chartered trust bank will provide fiduciary digital asset custody for Circle and may eventually manage USDC reserves directly under OCC oversight, eliminating reliance on third-party banks. CRCL shares rose nearly 5% on the news. 3 4

US CBDC ban becomes law as stablecoin rulemaking deadline looms The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law automatically without President Trump's signature, embedding a statutory ban on a US CBDC through December 31, 2030. The ban takes effect seven days before the July 18 deadline for six federal agencies to finalize stablecoin rules. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the administration's rejection of a CBDC over surveillance concerns while urging passage of the CLARITY Act. 5 6

CLARITY Act faces narrow window before Senate August recess Senator Cynthia Lummis warned the CLARITY Act is Congress' strongest opportunity for digital asset market structure rules before 2030, but faces a tight legislative calendar before the August recess starting August 10. The bill passed the House and cleared the Senate Banking Committee, but requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Treasury Secretary Bessent backed the bill, calling it essential for US leadership in digital assets. 7 8

SEC targets three crypto rules in July before Congress acts The SEC has penciled in three crypto rulemaking proposals for July 2026 covering token offerings, broker-dealer custody, and trading venue market structure. Chair Paul Atkins framed the push as bringing crypto products onshore, but the legal authority for the Crypto Assets proposal is listed as 'not yet determined,' creating potential statutory vulnerability if the CLARITY Act passes. 8

Ethereum Foundation fixes AI-discovered crash bug in gossipsub The Ethereum Foundation fixed CVE-2026-34219, a remotely triggerable crash in the Rust implementation of libp2p's gossipsub protocol that could knock validators offline with a single crafted message. An AI agent flagged the integer overflow vulnerability first, but human engineers validated it. The bug had a CVSS score of 5.9 (Medium). 9 10

BonkDAO loses $20M in governance attack with only 7 votes cast A malicious governance proposal drained approximately $20 million worth of BONK tokens from the BonkDAO treasury after only seven addresses cast votes. Wallets linked to the attacker controlled 99.878% of voting weight. BONK's price slid 9% intraday. The team is coordinating with exchanges, bridges, and the Solana Foundation, and law enforcement has been notified. 11

Crypto market adds $170B in 10 days as Bitcoin reclaims $64K The total crypto market cap climbed $170 billion since July 1 to reach $2.28 trillion, with Bitcoin trading above $64,100. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their first weekly net inflow since May, led by a $265.69 million single-day haul on July 6. Ethereum ETFs also saw their best week since late April with $84.42 million in net inflows. 12 13

Ethereum Glamsterdam Devnet 7 targets July 14 as final testnet Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade is approaching specification stability as developers prepare Devnet 7, expected to be the final dedicated devnet before a mild specification freeze. Devnet 6 runs at ~80% participation. A public application-testing devnet is targeted for early August 2026 to help ecosystem applications test ePBS-related changes. 14

Eric Trump cheers as Ethereum reclaims $1,800 Ethereum climbed back above $1,800 on July 11, prompting Eric Trump to post 'ETH pumping hard' on X. ETH traded at $1,809.69 with a market cap of $218.39 billion. However, 24-hour trading volume dropped nearly 12%, signaling cautious market participation despite the price recovery. 15