Binance monthly futures trading volume has soared to $1.6 trillion, marking a new peak for the year, according to CryptoQuant analyst JA Maartun. The surge comes despite cautious market sentiment, with bitcoin hovering in the mid-$60,000s, Europe adapting to MiCA regulations, and summer holidays typically slowing trading activity. The sharp increase suggests traders are actively building positions, revealing a notable divergence between sentiment and actual derivatives participation. Attention now turns to whether this gap will persist.

Tokenized stocks of SK Hynix, the Korean chip giant, have exploded in trading volume on Hyperliquid, becoming the platform's second-most active asset class. Combined 24-hour volume for the two SK Hynix products SKHX and SKHY reached approximately $10.15 billion, overtaking ether. SKHX alone saw volume of $698 million with open interest of $494 million, while SKHY recorded $317 million in volume and $117 million in open interest. A notable premium of nearly 17% persists in SKHY relative to SKHX, reflecting strong demand and market segmentation in tokenized equities.

Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited (HKICL) has issued an alert about multiple fraudulent websites impersonating its services. The scam sites lure users with promises of “buyer online security protection” and cash rewards, tricking them into submitting ID card numbers, photos, and phone numbers for so-called “real-name authentication.” Victims are then directed to conduct transactions through virtual wallets for deposits and withdrawals. HKICL urges the public to remain vigilant against suspicious calls, websites, or communications, and to report suspected fraud to the police immediately.

Following SK Hynix's successful $26.5 billion U.S. listing, its tokenized shares have begun trading through xStocks on the Telegram wallet, allowing users to buy and sell directly within the messaging app. Halil Mirakhmed, chief strategy officer of Telegram Wallet, said tokenized stocks are “redefining retail access to global capital markets.” SK Hynix ADRs, trading under the symbol SKHYV on Nasdaq, surged over 13% on Friday, underscoring robust investor appetite for Asian tech equities.

The trial of Lu Jun, former vice president of China Development Bank's Shanghai branch and ex-head of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, has been pending verdict for over six months. Lu is accused of accepting bribes exceeding 700 million yuan, including bitcoin and equity proceeds from Zhongqing Xinxin, totaling 12.18 million yuan in “benefits” received alongside a former colleague. The bitcoin was allegedly generated through a cooperative mining operation, though Lu's defense lawyer claims Lu was unaware of the mining activity. The court has yet to issue a ruling since the trial concluded in November 2025.

China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs jointly announced a temporary export ban on helium, effective July 10, 2026. Helium is a critical material for advanced semiconductors, AI chips, and HBM memory manufacturing. The move, amid tight global supply and geopolitical tensions, is expected to further constrict international helium availability, potentially driving up prices and semiconductor production costs. It prioritizes domestic strategic resource security while adding pressure to Asian chipmakers reliant on helium imports.

Hyundai Motor has become the first major Korean enterprise to publicly adopt stablecoin-based cross-border treasury settlements, deploying a remittance system on the Avalanche public blockchain. In the initial pilot, Hyundai's U.S. subsidiary transferred $20,000 to its Mexican arm, converting funds to USDT and back to Mexican pesos in an average of just 7 minutes, compared to 3 to 4 hours via traditional banking. Led by Hyundai Card, the project plans to expand to more currency corridors and integrate with partners like Circle and Visa for further pilots in Europe, testing local currency settlement and foreign exchange costs.

Tokyo-listed Metaplanet, holder of approximately 43,000 BTC, is forming a research group with yen stablecoin issuer JPYC and compliance token platform Progmat to develop bitcoin-collateralized digital credit products. The initiative aims to tokenize BTC collateral for daily interest-bearing, 24/7 tradable debt instruments, targeting mid-sized and growth-oriented Japanese firms that face high costs and complexity in traditional bond markets. Metaplanet's newly acquired Siiibo Securities, to be renamed Metaplanet Securities, will be involved in product design and distribution.

Injective reported that its security monitoring system immediately detected and disabled a malicious npm package that attempted to steal wallet keys. The affected versions were deprecated and replaced before any downloads occurred, resulting in zero actual downloads and no impact on user funds. Injective highlighted its npm SDK as one of the most widely used development toolkits in crypto, and noted that no vulnerabilities have been successfully exploited on its chain since mainnet launch nearly five years ago. The incident validates the effectiveness of its security response protocols.

SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung cautioned that the global memory chip shortage could persist beyond 2030, driven by surging AI demand and limited supply expansion. He noted that customers are entering long-term contracts to secure supply, signaling expectations of prolonged tightness. SK Hynix, along with Samsung and Micron, has benefited massively from the AI boom, with data center operators' spending straining capacity for traditional and high-bandwidth memory chips, affecting sectors from PCs to automobiles.