The countries making crypto moves

There’s never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here’s what you need to know this week:

Markets rebound after rollercoaster weekend. Also, Texas plans to purchase BTC for strategic reserve, and ETF inflows continued to surge.

Crypto is going mainstream around the world. Checking in on some key regulatory and adoption developments outside the U.S.

The new record-high total value locked in DeFi lending protocols. Plus, more key stats from around the cryptoverse.

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MARKET BYTES

Crypto markets rebound as tensions appear to ease in Middle East

Crypto prices took a rollercoaster ride over the weekend, with rising geopolitical tensions briefly spooking markets. After the U.S. government announced strikes on Iran’s nuclear program on Sunday, bitcoin dipped below $100,000 for the first time in a month and a half, with options markets accelerating the downward action as more than $1 billion in mostly long positions was quickly liquidated.

By Tuesday, however, most markets had significantly rebounded, with BTC back above $106,000 and ETH above $2,400. Helping boost the recovery was news of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, and some market watchers’ suggestion that interest rates could begin to fall as soon as July.

Here are more of the week’s biggest market stories…

Texas plans to purchase $10 million in BTC for new strategic reserve

Texas has become the latest state to establish a strategic crypto reserve, following similar laws passed in New Hampshire and Arizona earlier this year.

But unlike those states, the Texas law creates a stand-alone fund outside of the state treasury and includes a provision to launch the reserve with a purchase of $10 million in BTC.

“[The purchase] represents just 0.0004% of the state's budget but could create an outsized impact by sending the signal to investors and entrepreneurs alike that Texas understands that the future of finance is digital," Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, told CoinDesk.

The law, which was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott last Friday, is designed to be a "hedge against inflation and economic volatility.” It specifies that the state will only purchase cryptocurrencies that maintain “an average market capitalization of at least $500 billion for the 24-month period" prior to acquisition. (At this time, only bitcoin qualifies.)

Washington, BTC… The states aren’t alone in creating crypto funds. Earlier this year, the Trump administration established a federal strategic digital-currency reserve that’s estimated to hold more than $21 billion in crypto.

Crypto ETFs continued to surge

More than $1.2 billion in fresh capital poured into crypto ETFs last week, with some institutional traders potentially taking advantage of lower prices triggered by rising geopolitical tensions, according to a report from CoinShares.

Bitcoin funds tallied their tenth straight week of inflows while ETH funds racked up their ninth. And while sales may have slowed slightly in the second half of the week (as markets reacted to the U.S. entering the conflict between Israel and Iran), the author of the CoinShares’ report predicted the lull would quickly fade.

“We may see some minor panic outflows,” James Butterfill, CoinShares’ head of research, told Decrypt, “but I expect any price weakness will lead to further adding to positions.”

Next ETFs?… According to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, the odds of SEC approval for a wide variety of altcoin ETFs (including funds that would hold DOGE, XRP, Litecoin, and Solana) have spiked past 90% following a flurry of recent communications between financial institutions and the regulator.

GLOBAL PICTURE

America isn’t the only country making crypto moves

Here in the U.S., mainstream momentum for crypto continues to grow, with the passing of a major bipartisan stablecoin bill in the Senate last week just the latest example.

But crypto momentum is by no means limited to the U.S. All around the world, governments are jockeying to turn their nations into crypto hubs, plotting bitcoin reserves, looking to subsidize crypto mining, and seeking new ways to attract crypto-industry startups.

Here’s a look at some recent headlines you should know about.

Pakistan is embracing crypto as the future of its economy

Pakistan, the world’s fifth most populous country, is moving quickly to make digital assets a cornerstone of its economic growth.

At last month’s Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Pakistan’s minister of state for blockchain and crypto, Bilal Bin Saqib, announced that his country was planning to create a strategic bitcoin reserve, citing President Trump’s similar plans in the U.S. as inspiration. The nation also plans to devote significant resources to crypto mining and AI data centers.

The initiative will be led by the new Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC), which is also developing a legal framework for digital assets with the goal of establishing a “secure, transparent, and innovation-friendly regulatory environment” for the nation’s estimated 20 million crypto users.

According to CoinDesk, government officials have met with Strategy CEO Michael Saylor, who “applauded Pakistan’s proactive approach, calling Bitcoin the ‘strongest asset for long-term national resilience.’” Saylor also said that “countries like Pakistan have a unique chance to leap ahead in the financial landscape by embracing digital assets early,” CoinDesk reported.

Bin Saqib’s longterm goal is to make Pakistan the preeminent crypto hub in the global south. “We have over 100 million unbanked people. They lack tools for saving, for investment, and we want to change that,” Bin Saqib said. ”And I really believe that crypto and blockchain can help us take that quantum leap.”

Vietnam has officially legalized crypto

Vietnam, which ranked fifth on last year’s Global Crypto Adoption Index by Chainalysis, passed a landmark law last week that establishes a legal framework for crypto and formally recognizes cryptocurrencies as property.

It’s a key change for a nation that has achieved a high rate of crypto adoption even as the government officially classified cryptocurrencies as illegal to use for payments. Around 17% of Vietnamese people are estimated to have owned or used crypto.

The law, which was passed by a near-unanimous vote, also creates a host of incentives for startups and developers including tax breaks, subsidies, and special visas aimed at boosting the country’s digital economy. Specifically, Vietnam now has a goal of hosting 150,000 “digital technology enterprises” by 2035, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sees crypto as key to his broader plan of achieving 8% annual growth for the country.

The law is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

U.K. and Singapore are leading in crypto adoption

The U.S. might be dominating crypto headlines recently, but the U.K. and Singapore appear to be leading the way in terms of crypto adoption, according to a new report.

The report’s survey found that 24% of respondents in the U.K. owned crypto, up from 18% last year, while in Singapore, which had the highest crypto-ownership rate in the report, ownership rose from 26% to 28%, noted Cointelegraph.

The survey also found that memecoins appear to be a leading driver of crypto adoption for investors, with 28% of investors in the U.K. who own both memecoins and other tokens saying they bought memecoins first. The same was true for 22% of Singaporean investors.

Investors also appear to be emboldened by the U.S.’s pro-crypto stance, with 21% of non-crypto owners in the U.K. saying that President Trump’s plans for a strategic bitcoin reserve increased their confidence in the value of crypto, as did 21% of Singaporean investors.

The bottom line…

Crypto is global, and mainstream adoption is accelerating in much of the world. Last week, Coinbase secured approval under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework to offer its full range of crypto services to all 27 EU member states, calling the development “a milestone in Europe’s crypto evolution.”

NUMBERS TO KNOW

$55.69 billion

The total value locked in DeFi lending protocols such as Aave, Maple Finance, and Morpho, a new record high, according to data from The Block. While Aave dominates the sector, Morpho and Maple Finance have recently gained traction via bitcoin-backed financing.

$1 billion

The amount of crypto that a new Bitcoin treasury company, ProCap Financial, aims to hold after a merger led by U.S. investor Anthony Pompliano this week. In recent months, a rapidly growing number of public companies have announced plans to build BTC reserves.

$236 million

The trading volume for tokenized gold over the past two weeks. Tokenized gold is gold bullion that has its ownership rights stored as digital tokens on a blockchain. Trading has picked up as geopolitical tensions have risen, causing gold prices to spike.

$225 million

Amount of stablecoin volume settled across Visa’s global network since launching USDC support in 2023. Last week, the payment giant partnered with fintech company Yellow Card to accelerate stablecoin adoption across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. “In 2025, we believe that every institution that moves money will need a stablecoin strategy,” said one Visa executive.