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Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy, argues that while Bitcoin has "achieved victory," it now faces the primary threat of internal division from factions seeking to rewrite the network's consensus rules. He emphasizes that the base protocol acts as Bitcoin's constitution, and any attempts to alter it for specific groups infringe on the economic rights of others. He criticizes initiatives like BIP-110, stating they censor legitimate fee-paying transactions. According to Saylor, proposals for larger block sizes dilute space scarcity and increase validation costs, while mechanisms restricting coin use in smart contracts complicate consensus and create new attack vectors. He stresses the importance of transaction fees for miners as block rewards halve. Saylor calls for keeping Bitcoin's base layer simple, neutral, and secure, pushing all innovations to external layers. The article notes alternative viewpoints from figures who question his motives or suggest his criticism of protocol changes is outdated, referencing the prior Taproot upgrade. It concludes by mentioning Saylor's company recently formed a consortium with firms like BlackRock and Coinbase to support independent developers working on network security, including quantum threats.

Bitcoin Briefly Rebounded to $66,9K, Retreats as Focus Shifts to Fed's FOMC Meeting Bitcoin touched a high of $66,910 last Tuesday but later retreated, with its price movement closely tied to shifting expectations around the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy decision. The market's attention is firmly on the July FOMC meeting, Chair Warsh's second, where the statement and press conference will set the tone for the September path. CME FedWatch indicates a ~64% probability rates remain unchanged. Institutional flows were mixed. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their longest inflow streak since May end with net outflows later in the week, while spot Ethereum ETFs recorded a third consecutive week of net inflows. Over 2.52 million ETH is queued for staking, signaling strong structural demand for yield-bearing assets. Corporate holdings showed stability: Tesla maintained its 11,509 BTC position (recording an unrealized loss), while Sarcity (formerly MicroStrategy) held its 843,775 BTC but paused new purchases, boosting its cash reserves. Morgan Stanley filed for spot Ethereum and Solana staking ETFs with a low 0.14% fee, highlighting the growing competition in crypto yield products. The overarching narrative is one of cross-market linkage: crypto prices are increasingly driven by macro signals, with the Fed's guidance acting as a primary short-term directional catalyst.

Metaplanet, built on a Japanese investment company, is preparing a platform for launching bonds collateralized by Bitcoin. According to sources cited by Benchmark, the new brokerage structure, Metaplanet Securities, will not be used solely as a funding channel for its own Bitcoin purchases. Instead, it aims to become a full-fledged market for tokenized Bitcoin-backed debt instruments, termed "Bitbonds." The platform is designed to allow companies accumulating Bitcoin to issue debt to finance further purchases of the cryptocurrency. Initial bond yields are expected to be 4-6% annually. Metaplanet later plans to migrate these bonds onto a blockchain, use stablecoins for settlements, and develop a secondary market. Final issuance parameters, including the investor pool, loan-to-value ratio, and launch date, remain undisclosed. However, the company has begun surveying investor preferences regarding product design, trading hours, coupon schedules, investor protection, distribution channels, and stablecoin settlements. This initiative follows Metaplanet's acquisition of Siiibo Securities for approximately $13 million, which provided access to a regulated Japanese securities platform. Previous examples of Bitcoin-linked bonds include those issued by Goldman Sachs in October last year and Sberbank in Russia, whose returns were tied to Bitcoin's price performance.

Iran launched a "sudden strike" with ballistic missiles targeting a US base near Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base on July 28. US Central Command reported all missiles were intercepted by Patriot air defense systems, with no casualties. Iran claimed the attack was retaliation for perceived US actions against its interests. This strike broke a brief ceasefire that began after President Trump paused offensive operations against Iran days earlier. The attack triggered immediate financial market reactions. WTI crude oil prices surged nearly 4% to $83.08 per barrel, while Brent crude rose to $87.34. US stock index futures also saw gains as traders priced in renewed Middle East risks. This price jump reversed a significant portion of the oil price decline that followed the initial ceasefire announcement. Bitcoin's price movement mirrored this volatile cycle. It had recovered to around $65,200 as oil prices fell during the ceasefire, but dropped back to the $63,600-$63,800 range following news of the missile strike. While Bitcoin has shown some resilience compared to purely risk-on assets during the conflict, the July 28 attack directly challenged the "truce" narrative that had supported its recent stability. The pattern of price declines following escalations and recoveries during pauses has become familiar since the conflict began in February.

As markets await the Federal Reserve's rate decision, views are diverging. While most analysts expect rates to hold steady, Citadel Securities, a $67 billion asset manager, predicts the Fed could surprise with a 25 basis point hike. According to CME's FedWatchTool, the market currently sees a 68.5% chance of no change and a 31.5% chance of an increase. Citadel's Head of Macro Strategy, Frank Flight, told CoinDesk that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh might raise rates unexpectedly at this meeting to reinforce the central bank's commitment to fighting inflation. Flight argues such a move would mark a shift from the Fed's long-standing practice of signaling policy changes in advance, thereby strengthening its perceived independence and credibility on inflation. He contends a hike this week would have a stronger impact than waiting until September. An unexpected increase could boost confidence in the Fed's inflation fight, influence corporate pricing and wage expectations, and potentially avert the need for more aggressive tightening later. Flight noted that such a surprise hike could apply short-term pressure to risk assets, including Bitcoin, if it leads to higher Treasury yields. (Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.)