Crypto and DeFi Prepare for $3B Token Unlocks in July

Crypto and DeFi Prepare for $3B Token Unlocks in July

July is here and the crypto market anticipates massive token unlocks, with projects releasing approximately $3 billion worth of assets. Highlighted by CryptoRank, July's top 10 token unlock events include AltLayer releasing 684 million tokens worth $119 million, Aptos and Arbitrum collectively releasing $150 million worth of tokens and Worldcoin's 6.62 million WLD tokens daily over 730 days.

Other notable unlocks include Uniswap's 8.33 million UNI tokens worth $77.88 million, and Ronin's 35.71 million RON tokens valued at $76.32 million. Token unlocks, designed to gradually release coins to prevent large immediate sales by early investors or team members, can increase selling pressure and affect the broader market, and are worth tracking.

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US Judge Lets Most of SEC Case Against Binance Proceed

A federal judge dismissed part of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao but allowed other charges, including charges against the holding company for Binance.US, to proceed. The ruling found Binance founder Changpeng Zhao potentially personally liable due to his control over the company.

The judge ruled that the SEC's charges against Binance for the initial coin offering and ongoing sales for BNB, BNB Vault, staking services, failure to register and fraud charges can proceed. She granted Binance and Zhao's motion to dismiss charges tied to secondary BNB sales and Simple Earn. The dismissal of the secondary sales charge was seen as a victory by legal experts in the crypto industry.

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SEC Sues Consensys over MetaMask Swaps and Staking

The SEC has sued Consensys, alleging it failed to register as a broker for its MetaMask swaps and staking services, and collected over $250 million in fees from unregistered securities transactions. The SEC accuses Consensys of selling unregistered securities through staking programs with Lido and Rocket Pool, issuing tokens like stETH and rETH in return for staked ETH.

The SEC also identified several tokens on Consensys's platform as securities. This lawsuit follows Consensys's own recent legal action against the SEC's regulatory approach to Ethereum, claiming the agency's actions represent regulatory overreach. Despite the SEC closing its investigation into Ethereum, Consensys anticipated this enforcement action and plans to continue the fight.

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Amount of Crypto ATMs Installed at All-Time High Record

The number of cryptocurrency ATMs worldwide has risen 17.8% to 38,279 in the past year, nearing the record of 39,541 set in December 2022. In 2024, 2,564 new ATMs were installed, marking a positive trend compared to the net loss of 2,861 machines in 2023, with consistent monthly increases from July 2023 to May 2024, according to report by Coin ATM Radar.

Leading operators include Bitcoin Depot, Coinflip, and Athena Bitcoin, with the majority of ATMs located in the United States and a substantial increase in Australia. Despite a previous decline between December 2022 and July 2023, recent data shows a recovery, notably with BitAccess increasing its net installations by 1,208 since January 2024.

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Data of the day

Data from CryptoQuant shows a 7.6% drop in Bitcoin mining hashrate this month, now resembling levels last seen during the FTX exchange collapse in December 2022. Unlike that period, today’s decline follows Bitcoin’s recent halving, cutting miner rewards to 3.125 BTC. Some users highlighted that in the FTX case, the hashrate level indicated the market's bottom at the time.

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More breaking news

• 21Shares has filed an S-1 form with the SEC to launch a spot Solana ETF, following a similar filing by rival investment firm VanEck on Thursday.
• The US Treasury Department issued its long-awaited tax regime for crypto transactions, setting up filing rules for digital assets brokers in 2025.
• Farcaster has introduced an in-app crypto payments feature for its Warpcast client. It uses the USDC stablecoin for 1-tap payments.
• Vitalik Buterin says crypto regulations have created ‘anarcho-tyranny’, stating that we’d all be better off with either anarchy or tyranny but not both.
• Jesse Powell, the founder of Kraken, announced that he had personally contributed $1 million, mostly in Ether, to pro-crypto presidential candidate Donald Trump.

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