OpenAI repurchases around $7 billion in employee shares, with the transaction valuing the company at $852 billion.

Bitwise Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen said that as the stablecoin market expands to a multi-trillion-dollar scale, investors are underestimating Circle’s growth opportunities. He projects the stablecoin market will grow from its current roughly $300 billion size to $3 trillion to $5 trillion, adding that with the gradual formation of the U.S. stablecoin regulatory framework, Circle holds a first-mover advantage thanks to its existing market share. Rasmussen noted that Circle’s opportunities extend beyond earning more reserve revenue as stablecoins scale; the firm is building payment infrastructure for the stablecoin financial system, a segment the market is “severely undervaluing.” He stated: “Looking back in five years, Circle won’t just be a stablecoin giant—it’ll also be a payments giant,” comparing its potential development path to global payment firms like Visa and Mastercard. On competition from traditional institutions such as banks and consumer companies launching their own stablecoins, Rasmussen does not view this as a major threat to Circle. He argued that the overall market growth pace is likely sufficient for Circle to continue expanding even as competitors rise, with the key being the company’s ability to consistently execute as the regulated stablecoin market develops. Additionally, Rasmussen said Circle’s Arc blockchain will test whether the firm can expand beyond stablecoin issuance into payment infrastructure. Over the next year, what merits attention is whether Arc gains adoption and integrates with traditional financial systems, and how Circle’s business model will evolve as stablecoins become more mainstream and new infrastructure grows.

According to an official announcement, Bithumb will list the DAPPOS (DOS) KRW trading pair.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett published a post stating that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold a public meeting at 10 a.m. ET on Friday to discuss whether to issue a proposed rule notice that would establish a customized issuance regime for certain investment contracts involving crypto assets. The meeting topic remains in the stage of "considering whether to propose new rules", and the specific details of the rules have not yet been made public.

Strategy CEO Phong Le stated that the company currently holds $4.75 billion in cash reserves, sufficient to cover roughly 2.7 years of dividend payments. He added that while the firm had previously expected investors to highly value Bitcoin’s liquidity and long-term growth potential, after rolling out preferred stock products, it found institutional and short-term capital investors still prioritize cash liquidity. Strategy is transitioning from solely buying and holding Bitcoin to a broader digital credit business. The company has launched preferred stock products including STRC, providing an option for investors seeking Bitcoin-related returns while wanting to mitigate volatility. Le noted that though he would personally prefer holding Bitcoin, the successful operation of these preferred stock products will ultimately benefit MSTR and the company’s Bitcoin strategy. Le also said Strategy aims to become “the JPMorgan of digital finance,” envisioning that other firms could eventually develop new investment tools based on Strategy’s financial products, decentralized finance (DeFi) could further expand into various risk and return profiles, and channel more capital into Bitcoin. Currently, Strategy holds around 840,000 BTC, equivalent to roughly 4% of Bitcoin’s total 21 million token supply. Le remarked: “We have now become a bellwether and also the central bank of Bitcoin.” Furthermore, the company’s traditional software business remains on an upward trajectory, with software revenue rising 7% year-over-year and cloud subscription revenue growing 54%.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a crypto whale has transferred 500 BTC (valued at roughly $32 million) to FalconX, and 274 BTC (worth about $17.5 million) to over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform Cumberland. Another 500 BTC (approximately $32 million) was moved to a new address, with indications it may next be transferred to Galaxy Digital. The total value of the BTC involved stands at around $81.5 million.

According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the matter revealed that AI startup Anthropic has entered into a $9.1 billion AI data center computing power agreement with Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms to meet the growing computing needs of its Claude users. Riot disclosed Monday that it will supply 191MW of computing power at its Rockdale, Texas campus to an AI developer, with a 20-year contract term. The sources confirmed the client is Anthropic. Riot stated the contract will run through June 2048, generating an estimated $9.1 billion in revenue, with options to extend the term by five years twice. If fully exercised, the total contract value could reach up to $16.1 billion. Following the news, Riot’s shares rose 25% in after-hours trading to $24.40, per market data from BIT (bit.com). Anthropic has recently signed a series of large-scale computing power agreements. The firm previously inked a $10 billion deal with infrastructure startup Volta Infra Holdings, and in May agreed to purchase nearly $45 billion in computing power from Elon Musk’s xAI to ease pressure from surging client demand. Riot, which was previously focused on Bitcoin mining, is shifting to AI and cloud computing infrastructure like many other crypto mining firms. It also announced another computing power construction deal with AMD earlier, and its data center business contributed to revenue growth in the second quarter.