Weekly Wrap: Crypto Recovers To Start Third Quarter

Robinhood Launches Public Blockchain: Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: $HOOD) has launched a new public blockchain as it expands its cryptocurrency offerings. The online brokerage has unveiled a public mainnet for “Robinhood Chain” as it moves further into decentralized finance (DeFi). Robinhood Chain is a Layer-2 blockchain built on Arbitrum (CRYPTO: $ARB) and designed for tokenized real-world assets and decentralized finance applications. The company said the goal is to allow its customers to trade tokenized stocks around the clock and use them across decentralized finance applications.

Cathie Wood Bought The Dip In Crypto Stocks: Investor Cathie Wood bought the dip in several crypto stocks during June. Through her Ark Invest asset management firm, Wood bought more than $75 million U.S. worth of beaten down crypto stocks. Specifically, Wood bought $44 million U.S. worth of stock in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: $COIN). She also purchased $25.25 million U.S. of equity in Circle Internet Group (NYSE: $CRCL) and bought $8.2 million U.S. worth of shares in cryptocurrency exchange Bullish (NYSE: $BLSH).

Webull Launches Crypto Trading In Canada: Online trading platform Webull (NASDAQ: $BULL) has begun offering cryptocurrency trading in Canada. Webull says it is responding to investor demand by offering its Canadian clients access to crypto trading. Going forward, Webull will provide Canadian investors with access to digital assets in a secure, transparent way given that its trading platform is a regulated financial institution within Canada. Earlier this year, Robinhood officially entered Canada following its acquisition of WonderFi.

Kalshi And Polymarket Could Become Takeover Targets: Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket could become takeover targets amid a wave of industry consolidation, say analysts at Wall Street brokerage Bernstein. The analysts argue in a note to clients that prediction markets are likely to see a spike in the number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as more companies look to enter sports betting and other forms of gambling. Bernstein says that new entrants in the prediction market space such as DraftKings (NASDAQ: $DKNG) and Robinhood could look to grow through M&A activity.

Crypto Firms Are Biggest Political Spenders: Cryptocurrency firms have emerged as the biggest political spenders of the U.S. Midterm elections that are scheduled to take place this November. So far, crypto companies have poured a combined $189 million U.S. into their efforts at influencing the outcome of the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. A report from consumer advocacy group Public Citizen estimates that the crypto sector accounts for more than one-third of all corporate political spending tied to this year’s congressional races.

Cantor Fitzgerald Says Crypto Winter Near An End: Wall Street brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald says the cryptocurrency winter that began last autumn is nearing its end amid signs of investor capitulation. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald write in a note to clients that the crypto bear cycle is entering its final stages, with Bitcoin’s price likely to bottom in coming months. “Our belief is that we are only a few months away from the bottom of this pullback,” reads the report. In the previous three market cycles, Bitcoin bottomed an average of 384 days after peaking, implying that the current downturn could reach a low in late October of this year.

Visa And Mastercard Launch New Stablecoin: A consortium led by credit card giants Visa (NYSE: $V) and Mastercard (NYSE: $MA) have launched a new global stablecoin. Coinbase Global is also part of the group that has launched a new stablecoin aimed at increasing adoption of digital tokens. The venture, called “Open Standard,” brings together more than 140 businesses for the stablecoin network and will issue a new U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoin called “Open USD.” The new stablecoin will help to address many of the issues and concerns that businesses encounter when scaling stablecoin adoption, says to the consortium.

Solana Unveils New Governance Structure: The price of Solana (CRYPTO: $SOL) rose 5% on July 2 after a formal onchain governance system was introduced for the cryptocurrency. The system, called “Solana Governance Proposals,” enables validators with at least 100,000 SOL ($7.70 million U.S.) staked, or locked on the network, to propose changes to the network. Analysts say the new system is akin to a publicly traded company giving voting rights to its shareholders after years of letting only the board of directors and executives make decisions.