Bitcoin treasury firm Empery makes a $20 million strategic preferred stock investment in AI data center developer CDP.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the CLARITY Act is unlikely to be passed before the summer recess, but he hopes to at least initiate full Senate consideration of the bill before the break. The crypto industry had previously viewed August 7 as a key window for the bill to pass this year; if delayed until the fall, the likelihood of it being enacted into law in 2026 will decrease. White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt, meanwhile, noted that the Senate could still take action on the bill in the first week of August, though the chances of a final vote in July remain low. (CoinDesk)

Local time on the 24th, Iranian Foreign Minister Al-Araghi said in an interview that there is no "lack of intermediary" between Iran and the U.S., with the crux lying in Washington's policies and practices. Al-Araghi emphasized that Iran will not succumb to U.S. pressure, nor will it accept threats, coercion or forced measures, adding that it will continue to safeguard the interests of the Iranian people and those related to the Strait of Hormuz. He stated that Iran will keep taking actions until the legitimate goals and demands of the Iranian people are fulfilled. (CCTV)

World Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the World Protocol, announced it has raised $52.5 million in new capital via a strategic sale of WLD tokens, with all tokens subject to a one-year lock-up period. The "first closing" of the token sale was led by Pantera Capital, with other investors including Bain Capital Crypto, WLD’s asset management firm Eightco Holdings, Selini Capital, and Susquehanna Crypto. It remains unclear if the foundation plans additional token sales after this first closing. The foundation noted that the WLD tokens sold in the transaction "are intended for internal use within the World Network and do not represent any investment rights, profit, or return entitlements." A spokesperson clarified that this means WLD purchased by investors does not constitute equity in Tools for Humanity, the for-profit company backing the World Network.

The US Memory Chip Index remains down more than 6.4%. According to BIT (bit.com) market data, its constituent stocks are trading lower: SanDisk is down 9.4%, Micron down 6.6%, Western Digital down 5.8%, and Seagate Technology down 4.9%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is currently down 4.1%, with all its constituent stocks in the red: Credo Technology down 10%, Astera Labs down 9.3%, Coherent down 8.8%, Marvell Technology down 7%, Rambus down 6.4%, and NVIDIA down 0.3%.

Institutional crypto trading platform LMAX Group is working with Morgan Stanley and Stifel’s investment banking arm KBW to evaluate strategic options, including a sale, SPAC merger, or listings in the U.S. and Europe, with a potential valuation of up to $5 billion. According to people familiar with the matter, a Nasdaq listing is currently the priority, but the company is in no rush to move forward, as its core foreign exchange business hedges against the current downturn in the crypto market. Headquartered in London, LMAX is regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and provides institutional trading venues for foreign exchange and digital assets to banks, brokers, hedge funds, and asset management firms. In 2021, private equity firm J.C. Flowers acquired a 30% stake in the company for $300 million, valuing LMAX at roughly $1 billion at the time. In January this year, Ripple made a $150 million strategic investment in LMAX to drive institutional adoption of its RLUSD stablecoin. (CoinDesk)

Data shows that the 30-day correlation between U.S. major capital expenditure firms and the Semiconductor Index (SOX) has dropped to near zero, the lowest level in at least 4.5 years, a sharp decline from +0.78 in April and well below the average of +0.60 since 2022. Since early June, semiconductor stocks have risen while shares of AI infrastructure spending giants have fallen, indicating investors no longer view chipmakers and hyperscale data center builders as a single trade: chipmakers are benefiting from AI demand, while hyperscalers face questions about returns on their spending. Analysts believe the next phase of the AI trade will be determined by profitability rather than investment scale, and hyperscalers need to prove their massive spending can generate sufficient returns.