WHAT HAPPENED IN CRYPTO THIS WEEK?
1. Zcash $ZEC nears the Spot ETF—will it “Sell the news”?
- ZEC rose 30–40%, hitting the $855 mark, bringing its market cap up to $13.8 billion.
- The catalyst is Grayscale filing to convert the Zcash Trust into a spot ETF on NYSE Arca, alongside DCG’s plan to add 200,000 ZEC (~$110M–$164M).
=> This is purely a rumor-driven push (Catalyst-driven). SEC approval for a ZEC spot ETF is still a big question—right now only filing has been submitted, not approved.
2. Solana $SOL reduces latency to optimize trading infrastructure
- Solana successfully shortened slot time from 400ms to 350ms, targeting the 200ms milestone. Reducing latency is a hands-on move to turn Solana into high-frequency trading (HFT) and real-time payment infrastructure.
3. Stablecoins hit the $1.04 billion monthly spend milestone
- Spending volume via crypto/stablecoin cards in July 2026 reached $1.04 billion (up 2.5–3x YoY). USDC dominates outright (50–58%), followed by USDT (20–26%). X also plans to pay Creator rewards in USDC.
4. Term Finance and BounceBit were hacked
- Term Finance lost about $8.5M due to a governance attack.
- BounceBit suffered an authorization issue worth about $3.1M, forcing it to permanently shut down its own chain and migrate to BNB Chain.
- Tether failed to extract a $120M project in Uruguay due to contract disputes.
5. Growth of Blue-chip Perps & Buyback
- Hyperliquid $HYPE - ATH $82.5 (Cap $17B): Up 35–50%. President Trump confirmed that the CFTC is supporting Hyperliquid in accessing the U.S. market legally.
- Pumpfun ($PUMP) - Up ~80% thanks to a revenue-funded buyback model. Uses ~50% of platform base revenue to buy back and burn => $1M PUMP/day.
- Lighter ($LIT) - ATH $3.27: Accelerated growth thanks to the CEO serving on the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee, benefiting from compliance/regulatory keys.
1. Zcash $ZEC nears the Spot ETF—will it “Sell the news”?
- ZEC rose 30–40%, hitting the $855 mark, bringing its market cap up to $13.8 billion.
- The catalyst is Grayscale filing to convert the Zcash Trust into a spot ETF on NYSE Arca, alongside DCG’s plan to add 200,000 ZEC (~$110M–$164M).
=> This is purely a rumor-driven push (Catalyst-driven). SEC approval for a ZEC spot ETF is still a big question—right now only filing has been submitted, not approved.
2. Solana $SOL reduces latency to optimize trading infrastructure
- Solana successfully shortened slot time from 400ms to 350ms, targeting the 200ms milestone. Reducing latency is a hands-on move to turn Solana into high-frequency trading (HFT) and real-time payment infrastructure.
3. Stablecoins hit the $1.04 billion monthly spend milestone
- Spending volume via crypto/stablecoin cards in July 2026 reached $1.04 billion (up 2.5–3x YoY). USDC dominates outright (50–58%), followed by USDT (20–26%). X also plans to pay Creator rewards in USDC.
4. Term Finance and BounceBit were hacked
- Term Finance lost about $8.5M due to a governance attack.
- BounceBit suffered an authorization issue worth about $3.1M, forcing it to permanently shut down its own chain and migrate to BNB Chain.
- Tether failed to extract a $120M project in Uruguay due to contract disputes.
5. Growth of Blue-chip Perps & Buyback
- Hyperliquid $HYPE - ATH $82.5 (Cap $17B): Up 35–50%. President Trump confirmed that the CFTC is supporting Hyperliquid in accessing the U.S. market legally.
- Pumpfun ($PUMP) - Up ~80% thanks to a revenue-funded buyback model. Uses ~50% of platform base revenue to buy back and burn => $1M PUMP/day.
- Lighter ($LIT) - ATH $3.27: Accelerated growth thanks to the CEO serving on the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee, benefiting from compliance/regulatory keys.
