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📰 TOP NEWS
Optimism builds in Washington for Clarity Act passage as ethics provisions remain key sticking point
Lawmakers and industry figures are expressing cautious optimism about passing the Clarity Act into law, with Rep. William Timmons declaring "we're going to get it done" and Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger saying "there's nobody on the Hill that I've met with so far that's like 'I'm going to kill this bill.'" Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said he wants the bill on the Senate floor before the August recess, with updated legislative text expected this week, though if the Senate passes its version it would still need to return to the House — a step that may not happen before lawmakers leave town July 24. The central remaining obstacle is ethics language addressing Trump's crypto conflicts of interest, with President Trump, Sens. Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis, and top White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt slated to meet Thursday to resolve the issue. Democrats have pushed back sharply, with Sen. Ruben Gallego telling Politico that current bill text lacks Democratic agreement on ethics and warning "you're not going to have the Democratic votes" without a strong ethics deal. Mersinger described the ethics conversation as a "linchpin," noting that Democrat offices are "pretty dug in" on the issue. Separately, gaming associations have been pushing to include prediction market rules for sports betting as amendments to the bill, a prospect Mersinger called a "poison pill," while Rep. Steven Horsford said prediction markets should be handled through standalone legislation.
ECB selects 36 payment providers for 12-month digital euro pilot set to begin in late 2027
The European Central Bank has chosen 36 payment service providers from across the euro area to participate in a 12-month digital euro pilot scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027, selected from a pool of more than 50 applicants. The list includes major eurozone institutions such as Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, and BPCE alongside digital-native platforms including Revolut Bank, Stripe Technology, and Adyen. Participating providers will act as distributing or acquiring payment service providers, with the pilot testing person-to-person and person-to-business payments online and offline using a beta version of the digital euro across the ECB and 19 euro area national central banks. "The strong market interest in the pilot shows the private sector's readiness to engage actively and quickly advance with the digital euro project," said ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone. The ECB aims to be ready for a potential first issuance in 2029, assuming the digital euro regulation is adopted in 2026, though a final decision will only be taken after legislation is approved. The pilot milestone follows remarks last month by ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel that the digital euro is essential to preserve the role of central bank money as stablecoin adoption grows and dollar-denominated tokens risk reinforcing US dollar dominance — a position that stands in contrast to the Trump administration, which has ruled out a US CBDC while pushing Congress to advance the Clarity Act.
UK publishes tokenization roadmap projecting £33 billion in annual economic output by 2035
The UK government's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Christopher Woolard published the country's first roadmap for tokenizing wholesale financial markets, warning that without swift action the UK risks losing liquidity, influence, and market share as the global tokenized asset market is projected to reach $88 trillion by 2035, up from roughly $23 billion today. The report estimates the plan could add up to £33 billion in annual economic output and £14 billion in annual tax revenue by 2035 if the UK moves quickly to build supporting infrastructure. Among its key recommendations, the report calls for prioritizing the Digital Gilt Instrument pilot with a target first issuance by the first quarter of 2027, expanding the use of tokenized collateral, building payment rails to settle tokenized assets and stablecoins, and establishing legal and tax standards to encourage institutional adoption. Ripple's Head of Policy UK & Europe Matthew Osborne welcomed the report as "a promising step forward," while Banking Circle's Chief Digital Assets Officer Kirit Bhatia cautioned that tokenized markets will need payment infrastructure capable of supporting real-time settlement, cross-border movement, and interoperability between stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and existing fiat rails. "Without that, digital assets risk becoming faster at the edges but still constrained by the legacy plumbing underneath," Bhatia said.
Trump's teleprompter operator under CFTC scrutiny for alleged insider betting on presidential speeches
Gabriel Perez, who has operated President Trump's teleprompter for about a decade, is reportedly in negotiations with the CFTC over allegations that he used insider knowledge to place bets on Kalshi about what Trump would say during speeches, including his State of the Union address and a January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. According to ABC News, Perez placed bets over three months and allegedly adapted to Trump's frequent deviations from the teleprompter, at times backing out of certain bets mid-speech. Kalshi's surveillance team flagged the suspicious trading activity and referred the matter to regulators. Perez has since been placed on paid administrative leave, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Trump "believes it's deeply unfortunate and frankly a disgrace." The CFTC told The Block it "can't confirm or deny an investigation." The case is the latest in a string of insider trading allegations tied to prediction markets, following the arrest of an active-duty US Army soldier for allegedly using confidential information to net $400,000 on Polymarket betting on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's removal, and the charging of a Google software engineer who allegedly used internal search data to make $1.2 million on the platform. The incidents have intensified calls for regulation, with the Senate having already banned itself from trading on prediction markets and lawmakers introducing legislation to restrict government officials from betting on policy-related outcomes.
🎟️ EVENT OF THE WEEK
Web3 Toronto Conference 2026
Web3 Toronto Conference 2026 takes place in downtown Toronto, Canada, on Monday, July 20, 2026, as part of Canada Crypto Week. The main program runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, followed by a closing networking hour.
General Admission tickets cover the full day of programming, networking, and the closing reception. Group and student rates are available on request. Venue and access details are shared with ticket holders ahead of the event.
Date Jul 20 2026
💬 EXPERT OPINION
Government leaders should get up to speed on the blockchain by understanding it first and committing to exploring its potential.”
📊 METRIC OF THE WEEK
Our researchers designed this metric with ❤️
GLOSSARY CORNER The CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) is a comprehensive U.S. legislative bill aimed at establishing a clear regulatory framework for digital assets, defining the jurisdictional boundaries between the SEC and CFTC over crypto markets, and resolving key issues such as stablecoin yield, DeFi regulation, and the classification of cryptocurrencies as securities or commodities. | EDITOR’S CHOICE |
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