One signature drains nearly $1 million

July 09, 2026

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UK crypto donation freeze faces permanent ban push

Key points:

  • Labour MPs are pushing amendments to the Representation of the People Bill that would turn the UK’s temporary crypto donation moratorium into a permanent ban.

  • The move comes amid wider scrutiny of Reform UK’s funding, although the major donations cited in the controversy were made in cash, not cryptocurrency.

News - Labour MPs are preparing to challenge the UK government’s political funding reforms by demanding tougher rules on campaign finance, including a permanent ban on cryptocurrency donations. The proposed amendment would harden the crypto donation moratorium introduced in March, when concerns around digital asset anonymity and foreign money risks pushed the issue into Westminster’s election law debate.

Crypto becomes the pressure point - The proposal is not being driven by confirmed crypto donations in the latest Reform UK funding row. Instead, crypto is being treated as a structural weak spot in political finance because of concerns that digital asset transfers can be harder to trace, especially across borders. That shifts the debate from whether crypto was used this time to whether it should be allowed at all.

The funding fight is widening - The crypto ban sits alongside other proposed amendments, including lower campaign spending limits, checks on new parties’ start-up capital, and stronger donor-risk reviews tied to foreign influence. Labour MPs backing the changes argue the bill is a rare chance to close gaps in UK political financing rules.

Why this matters - A permanent ban would mark a sharper political line against crypto’s use in elections, even as one review had argued for a temporary pause while regulation caught up. For the crypto industry, the risk is reputational: political finance could become another area where digital assets are framed less as innovation and more as a transparency problem.

Cash Cat memecoin drives early surge on Robinhood Chain

Key points:

  • Robinhood Chain’s DEX volume hit a record $563.9 million on July 8 as Cash Cat became the week-old network’s first major breakout token.

  • CASHCAT’s rally brought new wallets and fast profits, but thin liquidity and no official Robinhood affiliation kept the surge firmly in high-risk territory.

News - Robinhood Chain’s first major hype cycle did not come from tokenized stocks or bonds. It came from Cash Cat, a memecoin inspired by Robinhood’s early CashCat branding. Dune data showed the new Arbitrum-based network hit record DEX volume of $563.9 million on July 8, with nearly 200,000 active addresses and more than 140,000 first-time users.

The meme trade arrived first - Robinhood launched the chain on July 1 with a real-world asset focus, but retail speculation quickly set the pace. More than 16,000 tokens were created in a single day, while Cash Cat led network activity after Vlad Tenev posted that the chain was being built for RWAs but “works great for memes too.”

Early winners do not tell the full story - Onchain data showed one early CASHCAT buyer turning an $838 purchase into more than $900,000 in realized profit, with more tokens still held. Still, the token’s liquidity remained far smaller than its market value, meaning paper gains and headline returns did not reflect what most holders could realistically exit with.

Why this matters - For Robinhood Chain, meme trading delivered the wallets, transactions, and attention a new network needs. The harder test is whether that activity can outlast the Cash Cat rush and support Robinhood’s broader RWA pitch.

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One USDT approval drains nearly $1 million on Ethereum

Key points:

  • A crypto user lost 999,999 USDT after signing a phishing token approval on Ethereum, according to Scam Sniffer.

  • The attacker used approval permissions and multicall transactions to move the wallet’s balance without needing the victim’s private keys.

News - An Ethereum user lost 999,999 USDT after approving a malicious token permission that allowed attackers to drain funds from the wallet. Scam Sniffer flagged the incident, with onchain data showing the attackers first tried to pull a rounded 1 million USDT, failed because the wallet held slightly less, and then adjusted the script to withdraw the exact remaining balance.

The approval was the attack - This was not a seed phrase leak or a broken USDT contract. The loss came through an ERC-20 approval, a standard wallet permission that can let another address spend tokens on a user’s behalf. When that spender is malicious, the attacker can move funds after the signature without asking for another confirmation.

Automation narrowed the exit window - The stolen USDT was extracted across three transfers, including 639,999 USDT, 159,999 USDT, and 200,000 USDT. Sources said the attacker used multicall functions, allowing multiple actions to be bundled quickly. That speed made any later attempt to revoke the approval far less useful.

Why this matters - Approval phishing remains one of crypto’s most persistent user-side risks because a familiar “approve” prompt can hide a direct spending authorization. Security firms urged users to verify domains, spender addresses, token permissions, and approval amounts before signing, while regularly revoking unused approvals tied to unfamiliar apps.

Sony Bank’s stablecoin plan clears first U.S. hurdle

Key points:

  • Sony Bank received conditional OCC approval to create Connectia Trust, a U.S. national trust bank subsidiary focused on dollar-denominated stablecoins.

  • The unit will be backed with $40 million in capital, but it cannot begin operations or issue stablecoins until final approvals are secured.

News - Sony Bank has received preliminary approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Connectia Trust, National Association, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary for issuing and managing dollar-denominated stablecoins. The planned unit, expected to be based in New York, will start with $40 million in capital and is part of Sony Financial Group’s longer-term digital asset strategy.

The approval is only a doorway - The OCC nod moves Sony closer to regulated U.S. stablecoin issuance, but it does not allow the business to launch immediately. Sony Bank said Connectia Trust will not conduct business or issue stablecoins until all required authorizations are received, including final OCC approval.

Sony’s payment use case is still the test - The stablecoin plan could support payments for digital content across Sony’s U.S. business, including games, anime, and subscriptions. That gives the project a more specific use case than a generic dollar token, especially if Sony can connect stablecoin payments to its existing entertainment reach.

Why this matters - Sony is entering a crowded stablecoin field where dollar-backed tokens already dominate market value and major issuers, payment firms, and crypto companies are also pursuing federal trust structures. Conditional approval gives Sony a regulatory path, but the bigger test is whether Connectia Trust can turn that approval into a usable payment layer rather than another stablecoin plan waiting on final clearance.

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Interesting facts

  • Tezos just scaled its data lane without splitting the chain: The Ushuaia upgrade went live on Tezos mainnet on June 30, 2026, increasing Data Availability Layer bandwidth to 10 MB/s, a 15x jump, while activating through on-chain governance without a fork or network disruption. 

  • Stellar is testing privacy that still leaves room for compliance: Stellar’s Confidential Tokens developer preview is live on testnet, letting SEP-41 tokens hide balances and transfer amounts while keeping sender and recipient addresses visible, with auditor view keys and policy controls built into the design. 

  • Uniswap’s next liquidity experiment makes idle capital work between trades: Spark migrated $150 million of stablecoin liquidity to Uniswap v4 and plans to route it through DualPool, a new hook that keeps liquidity in yield-bearing ERC-4626 vaults between swaps and pulls it into a v4 pool only when execution needs it.

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Top 3 coins of the day

Celestia (TIA)

Key points:

  • TIA pushed back near $0.41 after reclaiming $0.40, with $0.41-$0.43 now acting as the next resistance zone.

  • Supertrend stayed supportive near $0.37, while Squeeze Momentum turned positive at 0.0092 and volume reached 2.91M.

What you should know:

TIA’s move was built around a post-upgrade recovery attempt, with the July 1 v9.0.4 completion lifting sentiment and reportedly driving a sharp jump in daily trading volume. On the chart, price reclaimed $0.40 and closed near $0.41, turning the latest candle into a resistance-flip attempt rather than a clean breakout. Supertrend stayed supportive near $0.37, giving the move a clearer trend floor, while Squeeze Momentum rose to 0.0092 above zero. Volume reached 2.91M, confirming participation behind the push without matching the largest prior spikes. $0.41-$0.43 is the resistance zone to monitor, while $0.40 and $0.37-$0.38 are support areas if momentum cools.

Arbitrum (ARB)

Key points:

  • ARB rebounded near $0.087 after a fresh Supertrend buy signal, with $0.088-$0.09 now acting as the next resistance zone.

  • RSI jumped to 71.42, while volume surged to 36.67M, showing strong breakout participation but also a slightly overheated short-term setup.

What you should know:

ARB’s latest jump had a clearer value-accrual story behind it. Robinhood Chain launched on Arbitrum Orbit and crossed 4M transactions in its first week, while a new fee-sharing model directs 10% of protocol fees back to the Arbitrum ecosystem, including 8% to the ARB tokenholder-controlled DAO treasury. That gave the breakout more weight as price rebounded near $0.087 after a Supertrend buy signal around $0.076. RSI rose to 71.42, showing strong but stretched momentum, and volume expanded to 36.67M. $0.088-$0.09 is the resistance zone to clear, while $0.08-$0.082 and $0.075-$0.076 are support areas to monitor.

Stellar (XLM)

Key points:

  • XLM stayed under pressure at $0.18 after failing at $0.21-$0.215, leaving $0.19-$0.20 as the first reclaim zone.

  • Price remained below the 20/50 MA Cross levels near $0.19 and $0.20, while Squeeze Momentum stayed negative at -0.0141 and volume spiked to 418.18M.

What you should know:

XLM’s decline looked like a post-upgrade unwind rather than simple market drift. The July 8 Protocol 27 vote, which introduced delegated authentication and quantum-safe cryptography components, failed to spark fresh speculative demand and instead fed a sell-the-news reaction. On the chart, price slipped near $0.18 after rejection from $0.21-$0.215, while the 20/50 MA Cross kept resistance stacked around $0.19-$0.20. Squeeze Momentum stayed negative at -0.0141, showing sellers still had control, and volume jumped to 418.18M during the breakdown. $0.18 is the immediate support to watch, while $0.17-$0.172 is the deeper downside zone if selling continues.

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