A weaker-than-expected U.S. employment report for June lifted expectations that the Federal Reserve may pause further rate hikes. In early trading, the Dow rose 90 points (0.17%), the S&P 500 added 11.9 points (0.16%), and the Nasdaq edged up 7.4 points (0.03%). The jobs data is a key macro indicator that feeds directly into market pricing for the policy path. That made it an immediate catalyst for moves in major stock indexes.

Ripple said it plans to introduce a native lending framework for the XRP Ledger (XRPL) through two protocol amendments, XLS-65 and XLS-66, announced in July 2026. The proposal is designed to let financial institutions and payment providers borrow digital assets without reducing their XRP holdings. It includes compliance-oriented features such as permissioned participation, credentialed domain verification, token freeze, and clawback mechanisms. Ripple did not disclose a specific launch timeline or any TVL target.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 57,000 in June, well below expectations for a 110,000 increase, and May’s figure was revised down. The surprise cooling pushed the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield down to 4.11% and lifted gold 2.2%. Brent crude fell 1.4% to a four-month low as U.S. talks with Iran made progress.

MacRitchie Investments, an investment arm of Temasek, plans to sell a 2.6% stake in PB Fintech, the parent of Policybazaar, through a block deal. The offering involves 1.19 crore shares valued at about ₹1,908 crore. The floor price is set at ₹1,604 per share, a 4.6% discount to the previous close. The transaction has launched, with buyer identities expected to be disclosed later via stock exchange filings.

Kazakhstan’s central bank issued the country’s first license for crypto exchange operations in early July 2026 under newly revised digital-asset rules. The permit allows the authorized company to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency outside the Astana financial hub’s previously narrow legal framework. The move marks the establishment of a nationwide licensing regime for crypto exchanges, providing a legal basis for compliant operations. The report did not specify supported tokens, trading volumes or user scale, and did not mention any token listings, delistings or technical changes.

Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) said its treasury totaled about $386 million as of July 1, 2026, including 283,452,700 Worldcoin (WLD), 16,278 Ether (ETH), a $90 million indirect investment in OpenAI and about $149 million in cash and stablecoins. The company said the WLD position represents about 8.1% of circulating supply. It also cited WLD’s listing on Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) as expanding retail access.

On July 2, gold prices in India rebounded by Rs 3,000 to Rs 1.47 lakh per 10 grams, while silver rose to Rs 2.40 lakh per kg. The move followed a less hawkish tone from US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, which eased rate-hike concerns, alongside a stronger yen that helped push the dollar index (DXY) lower. In global markets, spot gold climbed 1% to USD 4,070.04 per ounce and silver rose 1.3% to USD 59.89 per ounce.

On Oct. 15, 2025, Kenyan President William Ruto signed the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Act, establishing a clear regulatory framework for crypto payment gateways. Under the law, platforms including BitPesa (AZA Finance), ZinariPay, IntaSend and Ivorypay can operate compliantly, letting merchants accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins such as USDT and USDC while settling in Kenyan shillings (KES). These services typically integrate with M-Pesa and local banks, aiming to cut cross-border fees and speed up settlement. The impact described centers on strengthening stablecoins’ role in East Africa’s payments infrastructure, rather than direct policy benefits or risks for other major non-stablecoin tokens.