Base, Coinbase, Optimism and WalletConnect are backing EIP-8130, a new Ethereum standard for native account abstraction that cuts USDC transfer costs by 63% versus ERC-4337. It's live for testing at vibes.base.org and slated for Base mainnet in September via the Cobalt hard fork.

Across Protocol suffered its first-ever hack on July 17, when an attacker exploited a gap in Solana's event system to trick relayers into paying out on fake deposits. Because Across's relayers front capital rather than pooling user funds, the losses landed entirely on Risk Labs, the foundation behind the protocol, while every user transfer was completed or refunded in full.

Binance's share of XRP withdrawal transactions hit 54.5% on July 17, the highest since July 2024, mirroring the setup that preceded XRP's 66% rally last summer. Analyst Amr Taha cautions the metric tracks transaction share, not volume, so it's not a guaranteed repeat.

The House Financial Services Committee held a field hearing in New York on July 17 to pressure the Senate into a floor vote on the CLARITY Act before the August recess. The bill would settle whether the SEC or the CFTC regulates tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but it remains seven to nine Democratic votes short of the 60 needed to pass, with Senator Elizabeth Warren tying her opposition to Trump's crypto disclosures.