The Protocol: Polymarket Feeds Political Junkies, With Nate Silver In this week’s issue of CoinDesk’s blockchain tech newsletter, we look at the “alternative news source” that Polymarket’s prediction-betting site has become.

Vitalik Buterin Argues Against Supporting Political Candidates Based Only On ‘Pro-Crypto’ Stances

Crypto Custody Firm Copper Receives Key License in Hong Kong as it Expands in Asia Pacific The license permits the holder to provide trust and corporate services in the region.

Bitcoin’s ‘OP_CAT’ Possibilities Teased in StarkWare Test Project StarkWare used its new STARK verifier on the Signet network, a testing environment for Bitcoin, in a proof-on-concept project designed to demonstrate what the oldest blockchain might be capable of were the pending “OP_CAT” technical proposal to get adopted.

Philanthropy’s Blockchain Uptake Is Slow, But Future Is Bright Adoption by non-profits, or the lack of it, is a good test of product simplicity and reliability, says Paul Brody, head of blockchain at EY.

Without High Switching Costs, Telecom Looks Vulnerable to DeWi High switching costs and long-term contracts have previously made telcos impossible to compete against. Key changes in market structure today are allowing challengers with unique crowdsourced supply to challenge them, says EV3’s Mahesh Ramakrishnan.

Bitcoin Dips Below $64K as U.S. Equity Selloff Stalls Crypto Rebound A stock market correction is the biggest risk for the crypto market, but a renewed downturn would be a buying opportunity, an LMAX Group strategist said.

Protocol Village: IoTeX ‘DePIN Infrastructure Modules’ to Reduce Development Time The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For the period of July 18-24.

Financial Building-Blocks: Structured Products and Blockchain From significant cost reductions to enhanced composability, and improved accessibility, Christine Cai, Co-Founder of Cicada Partners, and Alexander Szul, CEO of Rome Blockchain Labs, argue the technology can revolutionize the way structured products are issued, managed and distributed.

‘It’s a Bitcoin Play’: Mark Cuban Says Silicon Valley’s Embrace of Trump Revolves Around Crypto

Democrats Have Made a ‘Horrific Mistake’ on Crypto, Says SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci The former White House Communications Director under President Trump spoke in an exclusive interview with CoinDesk’s Jennifer Senasi.

Core Scientific Upgraded to Buy From Neutral to Reflect HPC Expansion: B Riley The bitcoin miner will be a future leader in HPC hosting due to the lucrative deals it has signed with CoreWeave and management’s deep experience in operating enterprise data centers, the report said.

Bitcoin Summer 2024: What to Expect BTC is currently flat, caught in a plateau between narratives. What factors could wake the bull again? Alexander Blume, CEO of Two Prime, looks ahead.

Blockchain Friendly Roberta Metsola Reelected as EU Parliament President In 2018, as a member of the European Parliament for Malta, she called for regulation on crypto and blockchain when needed, without stifling innovation.

Polymarket Hires Nate Silver After Taking in $265M of Bets on U.S. Election: Report As the U.S. presidential election enters its final stretch, crypto-based prediction market platform Polymarket is striking while the iron is hot by hiring popular statistician and writer Nate Silver as an adviser.

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Mixed Results with XRP and ICP Leading The index rose slightly in overnight trading with half the assets trading higher, including notable gains in XRP and ICP.

Rotation Out of Mega-Cap U.S. Stocks Could Provide Tailwind for Cryptocurrencies, Marex Solutions Says Wall Street investors are deserting mega-cap stocks and piling into small-caps amid cooling inflation and strengthening signs of a Fed interest-rate cut.

First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Bulls Eye $70K After Return to $66K The latest price moves in bitcoin (BTC) and crypto markets in context for July 17, 2024. First Mover is CoinDesk’s daily newsletter that contextualizes the latest actions in the crypto markets.

Hong Kong to Prepare Stablecoin Legislation as Public Consultation Ends Hong Kong’s financial regulators published the conclusions of consultation on fiat-referenced stablecoin regulation and said they are preparing a bill to introduce into the Legislative Council later this year.

Crypto Exchanges Clamping Down on Prime Brokers Is Backwards Step for Market Efficiency, Traders Say