Cosmos Labs Acquires Block Explorer Mintscan

Zilliqa’s official statement notes that the project has learned of a security incident involving one of its centralized exchange (CEX) partners, resulting in the theft of some ZIL tokens from cold wallets. The incident remains under investigation, and the team is collaborating with relevant parties to identify the root cause and scope of impact. As a preventive step, Zilliqa has notified all CEXs to temporarily suspend ZIL deposits and withdrawals, to block stolen funds from being transferred or sold via centralized platforms. The project added that it will release further updates after verifying details, and reminded the community to only follow information published through official channels.

According to blockchain security firm SlowMist, the malicious TRAE IDE extension "juannegro.solidity" disguised as a Solidity plugin acts as a cross-platform malware dropper. The extension automatically executes upon IDE startup and establishes persistence. It leverages Ethereum smart contracts to store and retrieve dynamic command-and-control (C2) configurations, enabling attackers to update C2 endpoints and payloads without republishing the extension. Though the extension has been removed from Open VSX, it remained accessible via the TRAE marketplace as of July 18. Users who have installed it should delete it immediately and check their systems for potential compromise.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have reignited and persisted for several days, though both sides have so far remained restrained and rational. U.S. operations have focused primarily on targets linked to the Strait of Hormuz, while launching limited strikes on "soft" national infrastructure such as bridges and railways. Iran has responded by targeting U.S. assets in the region, including sites in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, but has not directly attacked Israel for now. The two sides have maintained an unspoken truce: the U.S. avoids hitting Iran’s core national infrastructure, and Iran has not expanded its actions to Israeli territory. Analysts say there is no clear timeline for when the current conflict will end. However, three main factors could drive Israel’s involvement in the future: First, the U.S. expanding its strike scope. If U.S. forces attack Iran’s nuclear facilities or ballistic missile programs—including the previously unmentioned key target Pickaxe Mountain—it could prompt Iran to widen its retaliation. Second, the two sides could escalate the conflict due to miscalculation. Either Israel or Iran might attempt to seize an advantage through sudden actions, triggering a larger-scale confrontation. Third, Israel could proactively seize a military opportunity to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and missile capabilities, to fulfill the unachieved military objectives of Operation "Roaring Lion". Analysts note that Iran currently has no intention of dragging Israel into the conflict on its own initiative, as it is well aware of the military capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and its air force. It is widely believed that the rivalry between Iran, the U.S., and regional countries will continue, with this being just another phase in the long-term strategic game.

According to official announcements, Bitroot’s African community ecosystem round financing has been successfully completed. The subscription price for this round is $2 per BRT, primarily targeting African community builders and ecosystem participants, with the aim of advancing Bitroot’s community expansion, localized operations, and on-the-ground application scenarios in the African market. Bitroot is positioned as a high-performance parallelized EVM-based AI public chain, dedicated to providing infrastructure support for AI Agents, Real World Assets (RWAs), decentralized computing power, Physical AI, and high-frequency on-chain applications. According to public data, Bitroot’s testnet boasts a TPS of over 100,000, a block time of approximately 0.3 seconds, and has exceeded one million testnet addresses. Additionally, Bitroot is advancing exploration of RWA scenarios such as gold on-chain, and recently held a business exchange meeting with Tencent Cloud, where the two parties discussed areas including cloud infrastructure, AI computing power, Web3 technical services, and global ecosystem support. This African ecosystem expansion is regarded as a key milestone in Bitroot’s global strategy and the implementation of its AI public chain ecosystem.

According to South Korean media Hankyung, the South Korean KOSPI index fell 4.46% today, breaking below the 6,500-point mark since the end of April. In terms of capital flows, institutions recorded a massive net sell of 920 billion won, while individual investors and foreign investors posted net purchases of around 350 billion won and 510 billion won respectively. Selling pressure was mainly concentrated in semiconductor stocks, driven by leverage products, derivatives, and market stabilization program trading. The media conducted targeted interviews with heads of research centers at 18 securities firms; half of them (9) predicted the KOSPI’s downside support level would be between 6,000 and 6,500 points, while another 4 heads believed the support level would range from 6,500 to 7,000 points. However, some analysts argued the market bottom could be lower: one securities firm estimated the downside could reach as low as 4,600 points, while KB Securities forecast that in a worst-case scenario, the 6-month downside support level would drop to 4,500 points. As for the main cause of the correction, 10 research heads cited concerns over the peak of the semiconductor cycle (doubts about the sustainability of AI investment and memory demand) as the top factor, while another 7 noted that leverage factors cannot be ignored. Additionally, 6 securities firms (including Daishin, Samsung, Hana, IBK, SK, and KB) projected a rebound within July, but it would not replicate the strong performance seen in the first half of the year.

According to The New York Times, the Pentagon has concealed dozens of U.S. military casualties in the Iran War.