The crypto market started July 22 without a clear direction: Bitcoin was moving sideways, Ethereum was trying to grow, and the main news of the morning came from the areas of sanctions control, DeFi security, and crypto communities of digital nomads.
- HTX regularly changes wallets, complicating sanctions screening.
- Balance Coin lost more than 99% after an exploit.
- Network School is considering Kazakhstan for a new campus.
The Largest Coins on the Morning of July 22
Bitcoin started the day calmly and spent most of the morning moving sideways. According to TradingView, as of 07:35 Moscow time, the cryptocurrency was trading around $66,379, which was about ₽5,214,401 per token. Over the past 24 hours, the minimum was $65,438, and the maximum reached $66,910.
Ethereum looked slightly stronger and started the day with growth. At the time of preparing the review, the coin was worth about $1,936, or about ₽152,081 per token. The dynamics of the second-largest coin by market capitalization remain an important benchmark for the entire sector, including pairs with USDT and sentiment around older assets like Litecoin.
Among the top ten cryptocurrencies, two assets stood out the most:
- XRP: +1.50% in 24 hours, .46% in seven days.
- Hyperliquid: -3.49% in 24 hours and -9.73% in a week.
In the top hundred, three assets stood out the most:
- Midnight: +35.08% in 24 hours.
- Ondo: +25.25% in seven days.
- DeXe: -84.41% in 24 hours and -87.10% in a week.
This volatility is a reminder: before investing in digital coins, it is important to assess the risk in advance and be prepared for sharp price movements.
TRM Labs: HTX Changes Wallets to Bypass Sanctions Screening
TRM Labs analysts drew attention to HTX’s scheme of working with hot wallets and deposit addresses. According to them, the exchange cyclically rotates addresses in the TRON, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Solana networks, sending old wallets ‘into retirement’ within a few hours.
This tactic makes static address lists almost useless. If verification relies only on already known wallets, a new address may not be filtered in time. TRM Labs believes that due to constant rotation, HTX’s on-chain trail becomes a moving target.
In May 2026, the UK Foreign Office added Huobi Global S.A., later renamed HTX, to the sanctions list. The reason was the company’s alleged role in circumventing restrictions against Russia. Despite this, the platform continues to operate.
TRM Labs suggests focusing not only on address lists but also on behavioral analysis: new wallets can be linked to sanctioned entities by the nature of their operations and recurring activity patterns.
HTX previously stated that regulatory compliance remains the company’s top priority.
Balance Coin Lost Its Peg After Oracle Attack
Balance Coin, the algorithmic stablecoin of the Balance protocol, collapsed by more than 99% after news of an exploit. According to SlowMist, the attack was related to manipulation of an abnormally low oracle price for Bitcoin on the Binance network, where BTCB is used.
The attacker was able to liquidate collateral in several BTCB vaults, even though these positions should not have been subject to liquidation. After that, the extracted assets were exchanged for a profit.
SlowMist believes that all actions took place within a single transaction. The vulnerability was possible due to the lack of price protection and liquidation delay in the system, which is built on the Maker model. PeckShield estimated the damage to 42DAO, the managing structure of the Balance protocol, at $915,000. The stablecoin’s collateral was mainly linked to Bitcoin Cash.
Network School Looks Toward Kazakhstan
Network School by Balaji Srinivasan, a community of digital nomads, is looking for a new base after problems in Malaysia’s Forest City. The local site lost its business license due to alleged violations in the use of premises.
Kazakhstan has become one of the options for a new campus. Minister of Digital Development Zhaslan Madiev and Balaji Srinivasan signed a memorandum of understanding, which could give the project a new site for development.
The country is promoting itself as an emerging technology hub and plans to build the first crypto city in Central Asia in Alatau. According to Balaji Srinivasan, the future campus should become a center of global techno-optimism: among the stated advantages are accelerated visas, easier change of jurisdiction, and active talent attraction.
Brief Context: How the Crypto Market Works
The crypto market is a market for digital assets, where prices are formed on exchanges and in DeFi protocols under the influence of supply, demand, liquidity, news, regulation, and participant sentiment. Market capitalization is usually calculated as the asset price multiplied by the number of coins or tokens in circulation.
It involves exchanges, traders, investors, miners and validators, protocol developers, analytics companies, and regulators. Therefore, events such as HTX wallet rotation, the Balance Coin exploit, or Network School’s plans can quickly change market expectations.
Main Types of Digital Assets
- Bitcoin — the first and largest cryptocurrency, often used as a benchmark for the entire market.
- Altcoins — all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin; these include, for example, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, and Hyperliquid.
- Stablecoins — tokens that try to maintain a peg to another asset; the story of Balance Coin shows that even this model can fail.
- Tokens — digital assets issued within specific blockchains, applications, or protocols.
- NFTs — unique tokens that confirm ownership of a specific digital object.
- ETF in the crypto context — an exchange-traded fund through which an investor gains market exposure to a crypto asset without directly holding coins.
How to Reduce Risks When Working With Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies remain risky due to sharp price movements, possible hacks, errors in smart contracts, oracle problems, sanctions restrictions, and regulatory differences between countries.
- Before buying, check the exchange’s reputation, liquidity, fees, and user requirements.
- For storage, people usually choose between exchange wallets, software wallets, and hardware devices; the more control over the keys, the greater the personal responsibility for their safety.
- Never share your seed phrase, confirm unclear transactions, or keep all your funds in one place.
- For news and analytics, it is useful to compare TradingView market data with reports from specialized companies such as TRM Labs, SlowMist, and PeckShield.
- When choosing an asset for investment, it is better to start by assessing capitalization, liquidity, team, technology, use cases, and your personal readiness for losses.
Against the backdrop of these events, the market once again shows how closely regulation, protocol security, and the technological agenda are intertwined. Artificial intelligence, blockchain infrastructure, and cryptocurrency services are increasingly becoming topics not only for industry players but also for regulators in Europe, Asia, and the United States of America.
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