Market Watch
Things to Watch This Week (July 6 - July 10)
· Cooling Economic Data Supports Risk Assets
Market sentiment remained constructive this week as softer-than-expected U.S. labor market data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain a patient policy stance. At the same time, easing oil prices helped reduce inflation concerns, while investors looked ahead to the upcoming Fed meeting minutes and the start of the second-quarter earnings season. Overall, improving macro conditions continued to support risk assets despite ongoing sector rotation within equities.
Random Musing This Week
Anchorage Digital: The First Crypto Bank
As the digital asset industry matures, institutional investors are demanding more than just cryptocurrency exchanges. They need secure custody, compliant infrastructure, and banking services designed specifically for digital assets. This is where Anchorage Digital has established itself as one of the industry’s most important players. Founded in 2017, Anchorage became the first federally chartered crypto bank in the United States, positioning itself as a bridge between traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem.
What Does Anchorage Do?
Anchorage provides a full suite of services for institutional clients. Its core business is digital asset custody, allowing hedge funds, asset managers, and corporations to securely store cryptocurrencies. Beyond custody, Anchorage offers staking services, enabling institutions to earn rewards on proof-of-stake assets without managing validator infrastructure themselves.
The company also provides institutional trading and settlement services, simplifying the execution and settlement of large crypto transactions. In addition, Anchorage supports on-chain governance, allowing clients to participate in protocol voting while their assets remain securely custodied. Rather than focusing on a single product, Anchorage aims to become the financial infrastructure that institutions need throughout the entire digital asset lifecycle.
How Is It Different from Fireblocks and Coinbase?
Although Anchorage is often compared with Fireblocks and Coinbase, they serve different customer needs.
Fireblocks is primarily a wallet and digital asset infrastructure provider. It offers secure wallet technology and transfer solutions, making it an excellent choice for firms that want to manage their own digital asset operations. However, clients using Fireblocks are still responsible for managing many aspects of their crypto business themselves.
Coinbase, on the other hand, is best known as a cryptocurrency exchange with additional institutional services such as Coinbase Prime and Custody. It is well suited for institutions whose primary focus is trading and market access.
Anchorage takes a different approach. Instead of being centered around wallets or trading, it integrates custody, staking, trading, settlement, and governance into a single institutional platform. For clients seeking one provider to manage multiple aspects of their digital asset operations, Anchorage offers a more comprehensive solution.
Why Anchorage Matters
The crypto industry continues to produce new exchanges, wallets, and infrastructure providers every year. However, relatively few companies are building the institutional financial infrastructure required for the next phase of digital asset adoption.
As tokenization, stablecoins, and institutional participation continue to expand, demand for secure and integrated digital asset banking services is expected to grow. Anchorage is well positioned to benefit from this trend by offering institutions a platform that goes beyond custody and supports the broader financial ecosystem surrounding digital assets.
While many crypto companies focus on individual products, Anchorage’s long-term vision is to become the core financial infrastructure for institutional digital assets. That ambition makes it one of the most interesting companies to watch in the evolving crypto landscape.
Recap of Top Stories (June 29 - July 3)
Top Story of the Week
Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock and 140+ Firms Launch the Open USD Stablecoin Consortium
[Stablecoin] [Institutional] [Infrastructure] [Payments]
On June 30, a consortium of more than 140 companies — spanning Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, American Express, BlackRock, BNY, Standard Chartered, DBS, Coinbase, and Google — unveiled Open USD (OUSD), a dollar stablecoin governed by an independent entity, Open Standard, rather than a single issuer.
The design inverts the incumbent model: businesses mint and redeem OUSD with no fees or volume caps, and nearly all interest earned on the reserves flows back to partners after a small management fee, rather than to the issuer. Governance sits with a board of partner companies, more like a payment network than a single issuer.
The launch is the broadest cross-industry stablecoin alliance of 2026 and reads as a direct challenge to Circle and Tether, whose economics depend on keeping reserve yield. OUSD is expected to go live later in 2026, launching first on Solana.
Also, In Focus
MiCA Enters Full Force Across the EU, Reshaping the European Crypto Market
[Regulation] [Europe] [Market Structure]
On July 1, the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation came fully into force, ending the transitional period: any firm serving EU clients must now hold a MiCA license or wind down. ESMA had instructed unlicensed providers to help customers migrate to authorized platforms.
Of roughly 3,000 pre-MiCA registered providers, only about 210–240 secured authorization — the biggest regulatory consolidation in European crypto history. Compliant euro- and dollar-pegged stablecoins stand to gain share as non-compliant tokens are delisted from EU venues.
UK FCA Publishes Final Crypto Rulebook, Cutting the Stablecoin Capital Requirement to 1%
[Regulation] [Stablecoin] [Europe]
On June 30, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority finalized its cryptoasset rulebook, bringing exchanges, custodians, staking and stablecoin issuers into a single authorization regime for the first time. Following industry feedback, it cut the capital requirement for non-systemic stablecoin issuers from a proposed 2% to 1% of issued value.
Systemic stablecoins remain under the Bank of England’s tougher regime, complementing its June framework. Firms can apply from September 30, with the regime taking effect in October 2027, positioning the UK as a competitive global hub alongside MiCA.
Taiwan Passes Its First Dedicated Virtual Asset Service Act
[Regulation] [Asia] [Stablecoin]
On June 30, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed the Virtual Asset Service Act on its third reading — the island’s first comprehensive crypto framework — moving oversight from AML registration to a full Financial Supervisory Commission licensing regime across seven service-provider categories.
Upcoming Market Events
July 18 – GENIUS Act final-rules deadline
July 28 – FOMC Meeting