

COTI launched Nightfall, an enterprise-grade ZK Roll-up privacy layer, on testnet July 22, advancing toward an Ethereum mainnet deployment later this year. The protocol, built on open-source architecture originally developed by Ernst & Young in 2019, is designed for regulated and institutional environments that require transaction privacy without sacrificing auditability, COTI said. "Nightfall gives enterprises the ability to execute private transactions on Ethereum while maintaining regulatory compliance through built-in KYC and AML flows," the COTI team said in a Medium post announcing the testnet launch. The rollout follows a two-phase schedule. Phase one, now active, restricts access to COTI's internal team and selected partners to validate network flows. Phase two will open the testnet to developers and the broader COTI community ahead of a mainnet launch targeted for later in 2026. Nightfall supports private transfers under the ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155 and ERC-3225 standards, and incorporates selective disclosure features for regulators alongside end-to-end encrypted smart contracts. Nightfall operates in parallel with GC, COTI's Garbled Circuits network oriented toward high-performance confidential computing. Both networks use the COTI token as their native unit, with 1:1 bridges between chains and a fixed maximum supply — expanding the token's utility without altering its issuance structure. The dual-network architecture positions COTI to compete with other privacy-focused Ethereum L2s such as Aztec and Starknet's privacy stack, both of which have also advanced their testnet and mainnet capabilities in recent months. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

XRP spot ETFs recorded $5.66 million in daily net inflows on July 22 while Hyperliquid funds shed $698,040, SoSoValue data show. "Today's draft is a meaningful step toward the Senate vote on the Clarity Act we've been calling for," Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, said. The 616-page bill, released by Senate Republicans on Wednesday, includes ethics rules barring the president and members of Congress from issuing or sponsoring digital assets, a provision that addresses months of Democratic pressure over President Donald Trump's crypto ventures, which a July financial disclosure tied to about $1.4 billion in 2025 income. The divergence in fund flows reflects a broader rotation as the Clarity Act advances toward a Senate floor vote. Majority Leader John Thune plans to bring the bill to a vote in the coming weeks, though it needs 60 votes to pass, requiring support from at least seven Democrats. The legislation preserves the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which clarifies that non-custodial developers are not money transmitters, and adds bankruptcy protections treating customer digital assets as property of the customer rather than a failed company's estate. A separate stablecoin-yield compromise bans interest on idle payment-stablecoin balances while allowing rewards tied to transaction activity. The capital shift toward XRP — a token with clearer regulatory standing after the SEC's July 2023 ruling that it is not a security — suggests institutional investors are positioning for a regulatory framework that could formally legalize most crypto activity in the US. The Clarity Act divides oversight between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, giving XRP and similar tokens a defined regulatory path that Hyperliquid's HYPE token, operating on a decentralized perpetual exchange, currently lacks. The XRP ETF inflows come as the broader crypto fund complex has seen mixed flows this year. Bitcoin ETFs have drawn steady institutional interest, while Ethereum funds have lagged. XRP's outperformance in fund flows suggests investors view it as a direct beneficiary of the Clarity Act's market structure provisions, which would codify the SEC's classification of tokens without an associated security offering. The ethics provisions, which sunset on Jan. 20, 2029, were negotiated between the White House and Republican Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno, though the bill currently lacks Democratic sign-off. Twelve Senate Democrats this week urged negotiators to limit the spread of prediction markets under the bill, citing concerns over tribal gaming rights under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The rotation out of Hyperliquid, a perpetual DEX on Ethereum, mirrors a pattern seen in prior regulatory milestones where capital flows toward assets with defined legal status. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the effort as being at the "1-yard line," while Trump has pressed the Senate to act before the August recess. The House passed its version of the bill in July 2025 on a 294-134 vote, and Coinbase and other firms have pushed for Senate passage before lawmakers break for the midterm campaign season. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce warned that crypto vaults, onchain lending products and other asset management tools may fall under US securities laws, urging developers to assess whether products that actively manage user assets require regulatory compliance. "Moving activities that fall within the scope of the federal securities laws onchain, as a general matter, does not take those activities outside the scope of the laws the Commission administers," Peirce said in a statement published July 22. The commissioner, widely known as "Crypto Mom," said recent SEC guidance has clarified that many crypto assets are not securities, but stressed that others remain within the agency's jurisdiction. Peirce said vaults designed to generate yield through staking or lending may constitute securities or investment companies if they involve managerial efforts or investments covered by federal securities laws. Onchain lending arrangements may qualify as securities in certain circumstances and could raise investment adviser or investment company issues, she added. "If you do headstands, backflips, and other gymnastics to read the law so that it does not apply to crypto assets and activities that are well within the scope of the federal securities laws, you will have a painful fall," she wrote. The statement comes as crypto vaults — smart contract-based systems that pool user assets into yield-generating strategies across lending markets, staking protocols and liquidity pools — have expanded rapidly this year. Kraken launched a Bitcoin vault in May offering up to 2.5% variable APY by deploying wrapped Bitcoin across Aave and Morpho on Ethereum. Telegram's TON Wallet introduced self-custodial vaults for Bitcoin, Ether and USDT that automate yield generation without centralized custody. The products have also exposed users to technical risks: in December, Yearn disclosed a roughly $9 million exploit affecting its legacy yETH yield vault on Ethereum. **What the SEC's guidance means for DeFi vault operators** Peirce said the agency will treat these vehicles on an individual basis, meaning her statement is not a blanket ban on onchain vault or lending activities. "Whether a particular vault or lending strategy's structure and activities are within the scope of the federal securities laws will come down to the specific facts and circumstances," she said. Vaults that invest in securities or allocate assets into securities-related investments could fall within investment company regulations, while parties managing vault allocations or lending parameters could trigger investment adviser requirements under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The SEC has delayed the release of an innovation exemption that could provide a sandbox for tokenization experimentation. US lawmakers are also working toward passing the Clarity Act, which would codify the SEC's and Commodity Futures Trading Commission's roles in overseeing the crypto industry. Peirce encouraged industry participants to engage with the SEC during product development and said the agency is open to considering regulatory updates that enable innovation while continuing to protect investors. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.