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Crypto daily roundup - jul 22, 2026. Markets spent the night bracing rather than buying. Bitcoin slid about 2.9% to around A$91,100 (US$63,300) and Ethereum gave back roughly 3% to A$2,690 (US$1,878) as traders trimmed risk ahead of what analysts are calling the least predictable US Federal Reserve decision in years - due about 4am AEST Thursday. Rate-hike odds on CME's FedWatch tool have jumped to roughly 36% from 26% a week ago, an 11% plunge on South Korea's Kospi rattled Asian risk assets, and more than US$670 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours - US$533 million of them longs (via Yahoo Finance and CCN). Here's what else matters this morning. AUSTRAC's registration window closes today. Today - Wednesday 29 July - is the final day for crypto platforms to register with AUSTRAC under the new virtual asset service provider regime (Coincu). From tomorrow, an unregistered platform is operating outside the rules. Why it matters: the Travel Rule has been live since 1 July with no minimum threshold, and this deadline is the other shoe dropping. It's worth thirty seconds to confirm the exchange you use is on AUSTRAC's register - the majors (CoinSpot, Swyftx, BTC Markets, Independent Reserve, CoinJar) have been across this for months. US Senate shelves the CLARITY Act. The Senate has put the crypto market-structure bill aside this week to deal with a stack of nominations and a Russia sanctions package (CoinDesk). A freshly merged draft - with the contentious ethics provision included for the first time - could still see a motion to proceed this week and a floor vote in the first week of August, but with recess starting 8 August the runway is now measured in days, and betting markets have marked the odds down sharply. Why it matters: Canberra's digital asset framework keeps borrowing from the US playbook, so a Washington stall tends to push its own timetable - and regulatory certainty for local holders - further out. Strategy sits on its hands for a second week. Michael Saylor's Strategy bought zero bitcoin again last week, instead selling 5.4 million MSTR shares for US$544.5 million and lifting its USD reserve to US$3.75 billion (Strategy). Holdings sit unchanged at 843,775 BTC. Why it matters: the biggest corporate buyer in the market is stockpiling dollars, not coins. With ETF flows wobbling too, that's one less structural bid under the price while the macro picture sorts itself out. Lido starts moving US$16.5 billion of ETH. Lido has begun migrating more than 8 million ETH to its Curated Module v2 architecture, consolidating smaller validators into Ethereum's post-Pectra large-validator design - a move it says could cut the network's validator count by about a third (Wu Blockchain). Why it matters: if you hold or stake ETH, the network's largest staking operator is quietly re-plumbing the machine your yield runs on. Nothing to do here, but big infrastructure shifts are worth knowing about before they make headlines for other reasons. X Money goes live in the US. Cross River Bank and X launched X Money - an FDIC-insured peer-to-peer payments platform built directly into the social media app - rolling out to US Premium subscribers (X Money). Why it matters: the race crypto started - instant, programmable money inside the apps you already use - is going mainstream. Watch how stablecoins and local fintechs respond; Australians will see copycats soon enough. PSA: malware is reading seed phrases out of photo galleries. Kaspersky researchers found SparkKitty, a malware strain that slipped into apps on both the App Store and Google Play, using optical character recognition to scan photo galleries for crypto wallet seed phrases (The Block). Why it matters: if your seed phrase exists as a screenshot, it's not a backup - it's a liability. Write it down, store it offline, and delete anything wallet-related from your camera roll. What to watch. The Fed decision lands about 4am AEST Thursday, with the press conference the real market-mover given how split expectations are. FTX's roughly US$900 million fifth distribution hits Friday 31 July - mind the phishing emails. Coinbase and Strategy both report earnings this week, and the CLARITY Act's motion to proceed (or lack of one) will set the tone for August. If the pullback has you thinking about an entry, compare fees and features before you buy - its guide to Australian crypto exchanges covers the field, and CoinSpot remains its pick for beginners. Disclosure: some links above are affiliate links - Auscrypto may earn a commission if you sign up, at no cost to you. This roundup is general information only and not financial advice. Crypto is volatile; do your own research and never invest more than you can afford to lose. Ready to buy crypto in Australia? CoinSpot is its top-rated AUSTRAC-registered exchange for beginners. Advertisement 300 x 250 Buy crypto in AU Popular guides The daily roundup, in your inbox Australia's crypto news, every morning. Free. Advertisement 300 x 250

X Money rolls out to Premium users with 6% APY, X Card and instant payments. July 28, 2026 by Peter Paul After years of promises and shifting timelines, X has officially begun rolling out its financial platform to paying subscribers in the United States. On July 27, the official @XMoney account announced that X Money is now rolling out to eligible X Premium and Premium+ subscribers. The launch marks the first broad public release of Elon Musk's long-discussed financial ecosystem inside X, transforming the platform from a social network into a service that can also handle everyday payments and banking features. The service is operated by X Payments LLC in partnership with Cross River Bank (Member FDIC) and Visa. Eligible users can access high-yield savings, peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments, direct deposits, and a physical Visa debit card without leaving the X app. Although the rollout is underway, availability remains gradual, meaning not every eligible subscriber will receive immediate access. What X Money includes. According to X and its banking partners, the initial rollout includes a surprisingly broad collection of financial services. Eligible users can earn up to 6.00% APY on eligible balances. Premium+ subscribers receive the full advertised rate, while Premium subscribers can qualify after meeting direct-deposit requirements. Rates are variable and subject to change. Other launch features include: * Free instant peer-to-peer transfers between X users * The new X Card, a physical Visa debit card offering 3% cashback on eligible purchases * Early direct deposit, allowing users to receive paychecks up to two days sooner * Bill pay, domestic wire transfers, and mailed checks * Free worldwide ATM withdrawals with no foreign transaction fees on the X Card * Support for Apple Pay and Google Pay Security features include passkey authentication, customizable spending controls, Visa fraud protection, and FDIC insurance through Cross River Bank. Standard FDIC coverage applies up to $250,000, while an automatic cash-sweep program can extend pass-through coverage to as much as $10 million across participating network banks, subject to program terms. X Payments LLC itself is not an FDIC-insured bank. A launch years in the making. The rollout represents a milestone that has been several years in the making. Shortly after acquiring Twitter in 2022, Elon Musk repeatedly described his ambition to transform the platform into an "everything app" inspired by China's WeChat. Payments and financial services were always central to that vision, but building them required banking partnerships, money-transmitter licenses across dozens of U.S. states, and regulatory approvals. Earlier launch targets slipped from late 2024 into 2025 before limited testing began during 2026. The current rollout is the first time the service has become available to a broader group of paying customers rather than a small pool of test users. Cross River Bank confirmed that it provides the underlying banking infrastructure for X Money, while Visa powers the X Card and supports real-time money movement through Visa Direct. More than another digital wallet. The significance of X Money isn't simply the feature list. It represents the first time Musk's broader vision for X has become a consumer product that users can actually sign up for. Unlike services such as Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal, X Money is integrated directly into a social platform that already serves millions of users. Messaging, payments, savings, and spending now exist within the same application, reducing the need to switch between separate services. Whether that strategy succeeds will depend on factors beyond attractive features. Users will ultimately judge the platform on reliability, customer support, fraud protection, and how smoothly financial services integrate into everyday use. There are also clear limitations at launch. X Money is currently available only to eligible U.S. Premium and Premium+ subscribers, interest rates can change over time, and features such as cryptocurrency or investment services are not part of the initial release despite years of speculation surrounding Musk's long-term plans. For now, X Money has moved beyond concept and into public rollout. The coming months will determine whether it becomes another digital wallet or the foundation of the everything app Musk has envisioned for years. Discover more Computer Hardware Laptops & Notebooks Graphics Card

Cross River Bank will power X Money, making X the first US social media platform to embed FDIC-insured accounts, a Visa debit card, and peer-to-peer payments directly into its app. The collaboration enables users to access financial services without leaving the platform. Cross River provides the regulated banking infrastructure and payment rails connectivity. The company's API-driven core and end-to-end technology ownership allow it to handle the scale required by X's user base whilst maintaining compliance. The partnership represents a shift towards embedded finance, where financial services integrate into platforms consumers already use daily. Cross River plans to support additional products and features as demand grows, demonstrating its position in next-generation financial technology infrastructure.