Tether leads $3 million seed round for Colombian fintech startup Plenti

Nasdaq announced today that it is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, via its investment arm, valuing Payward at $21 billion upon deal completion. Meanwhile, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and OKX announced in June a 50:50 joint venture, which plans to operate as a U.S.-registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant (FCM) after securing regulatory approval, enabling OKX users access to ICE’s futures markets and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)’s tokenized stock market. Both deals point to a shared trend: traditional exchanges are no longer content with merely researching blockchain applications, but are instead directly acquiring access points, licenses, and on-chain settlement capabilities. Deutsche B?rse acquired a roughly 1.5% stake in Payward for $200 million in April; the London Stock Exchange is also advancing tokenization of xStocks for London-listed shares with Payward. Nasdaq, NYSE, Deutsche B?rse, and London Stock Exchange are nearly simultaneously positioning crypto platforms as next-generation market pipelines, rather than competitors. Payward closed an $800 million funding round in November 2025 at a $20 billion valuation, and had secretly filed an S-1 with the SEC, though its IPO has been delayed to as early as Q2 2027. Nasdaq’s latest stake purchase at a $21 billion valuation marks a new high for Payward’s valuation over the past year, and signals that traditional exchanges are willing to pay a premium for tokenization access. Regulatory approval remains a key hurdle: the ICE-OKX joint venture requires U.S. broker-dealer and FCM licenses, while Nasdaq’s equity tokenization plan must align with existing securities frameworks. But the direction is clear: Wall Street does not want to sit on the sidelines of crypto, but rather integrate crypto into its own trading sessions, clearing networks, and retail access points.

According to market sources, Nasdaq has invested in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, at a valuation of $21 billion.

Brent crude oil prices have surged past $102 per barrel, reviving concerns over a prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict. Bloomberg reported that Iranian senior officials stated that with the U.S. continuing its attacks on Iranian territory, Iran has no intention of backing down and is prepared to further escalate its counterattacks. U.S. President Trump meanwhile said the war could last until after the November midterm elections, and gasoline prices are unlikely to drop significantly in the short term, further dimming expectations of an early de-escalation of the conflict. Brent crude has risen nearly 70% so far this year, with its Wednesday physical benchmark price hitting $114 at one point. Meanwhile, U.S. diesel prices are approaching $6 per gallon, and gasoline and diesel prices in Europe have also continued to climb, further intensifying energy inflationary pressures. Market analysts noted that if the conflict further disrupts oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices could continue to rise. Currently, the U.S. is squeezing Iran’s oil exports via maritime blockades, while White House advisors have discussed scenarios where the war could last through the end of Trump’s term. Additionally, a rebound in crude oil purchases by Asian countries has further tightened global supplies, though high oil prices may force some refineries to cut processing volumes. U.S. diesel inventories are projected to fall to their lowest level in over 20 years this month.

According to a Reuters report, two people familiar with the matter said the White House has not yet made a decision on refined copper tariffs. Officials are weighing the potential downsides of rising copper prices pushing up manufacturing costs against the benefits of encouraging domestic mining. This hesitation comes as the administration increasingly focuses on affordability ahead of the November midterm elections, with Trump and Republican lawmakers facing pressure to prove their economic policies are lowering rather than raising costs for U.S. consumers and businesses. Due to expectations that Trump will impose tariffs on refined copper products such as cathode copper and mine-produced copper concentrates, copper prices have surged to record highs. Traders and industrial buyers are scrambling to build up inventories in the U.S. to stockpile ahead of any new tariffs, forming one of the world’s largest copper stockpiles. A White House official stated that the administration has not made a final decision on the tariffs, and confirmed the Commerce Department submitted an update to Trump by the June 30 deadline set by the White House. The official said: "The administration continues to evaluate all options to bring copper and other critical manufacturing back to the U.S." These remarks indicate the tariffs are not a done deal, despite market expectations that the U.S. may expand existing tariffs to cover refined copper.

Recently, Deepcoin has launched global stock perpetual contracts, further advancing its multi-asset trading infrastructure. Users can trade popular individual stocks and index ETFs including NVIDIA, Tesla, Pop Mart, and Unitree on the platform 24/7. Meanwhile, Deepcoin has also rolled out a sector narrative tool that aggregates hot events, market data, and sentiment information, helping users quickly grasp the market’s main trends and sector dynamics to enable the "understand first, trade later" approach. Through the centralized presentation of market hotspots and sector information, users can more intuitively understand the market background and changes of related assets. In conjunction with the launch of stock perpetual contracts, Deepcoin has launched a series of supporting activities: newly launched stock perpetual contracts offer a limited-time 25% fee discount, alongside three concurrent initiatives—the Stock God Contest, Sector Trading Challenge, and Stock Signal Provider Trading Ranking—further enriching the trading and interactive scenarios for stock perpetual contracts.

Beating AI News Flash: OpenAI is pushing for the establishment of unified mandatory national AI safety rules in the U.S., calling on Congress to directly regulate the most cutting-edge AI firms. The proposed rules cover unified testing, independent security assessments, cybersecurity requirements, and reporting of major incidents. OpenAI hopes the government will further set unified safety thresholds, clarify when AI development must slow down or even halt, and advocate for similar standards to be adopted by other countries. This regulatory framework targets only a small number of major companies developing the most powerful models, excluding regular startups and small-scale developers. Additionally, OpenAI announced its support for four AI safety bills in California, some of which it had not backed previously. The company noted that its stance has shifted amid the rapid advancement of model capabilities.