Pakistan Allocates 2,000-MW Capacity to Power Bitcoin Mining
The initiative, led by the Pakistan Crypto Council, will also help monetize surplus energy and create high-tech jobs, the finance ministry said in a statement. Coal-based power projects like Sahiwal, China Hub, and Port Qasim, currently operating at 15% capacity, are among those expected to be repurposed for this effort, the ministry said.
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Is It Ethereum's Turn to Rally? 3 Reasons This Leading Crypto Could Be About to Climb Even Higher.
Key Points Ethereum was falling sharply in the first half of the year. It's now climbing rapidly. There are solid reasons to suspect that the climb will continue for a good while. 10 stocks we like better than Ethereum › Through this past spring, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the second‑most valuable cryptocurrency, slogged along as investors fretted about scaling, regulation, and lackluster demand. Fast-forward to July, and the coin has roared back to life, forcing skeptics to ask whether the comeback has legs. It's up 56% during the past 30 days alone (as of July 28). No crystal ball can promise where prices will stand tomorrow, but three forces are converging that make a fresh advance look plausible, so let's dive in and explore the prospects of Ethereum flying higher. 1. Reversion to the mean Markets rarely stay depressed forever, and Ethereum was a textbook case of an oversold crypto with persistently abysmal sentiment. From January to mid-June, its price tumbled, at one point being down by more than 50% year to date. Even diehard evangelists were starting to publicly fold their positions after years of holding. By June 20, the amount of positive social chatter about the chain was at multiyear lows -- but the recovery was already quietly underway by then. Meanwhile, the network kept adding roughly 1 million new wallets per week, evidence that adoption hadn't stalled. That disconnect didn't last too long. Ethereum has more than doubled since April, jumping from the low $1,800s to around $3,800 as of July 28. There's also still no evidence of froth that often caps bull cycles. In other words, the crowd is now increasingly optimistic but not exuberant, which is a setup that can support further upside so long as macro winds stay calm. 2. The Pectra update is working as intended The second catalyst is that on May 7, Ethereum pushed the Prague‑Electra update, better known as Pectra. The update introduces higher validator staking limits, lighter wallets that feel more like regular apps and can operate smart contracts, and twice the data room for Layer 2s (L2s), which also helps with scaling the chain's throughput. Furthermore, bigger validator limits let institutions compound staking rewards, and cheaper L2 roll‑ups translate into lower transaction fees for everyday users. If activity rises because Ethereum is faster and less clunky, demand for the coin should increase. Bugs are always a risk after any upgrade, yet so far network stability looks solid. And that means the party for holders is likely to continue. 3. Capital is gushing in Institutions are directing a firehose of cash toward exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold Ethereum, and it's having a big impact on the price. In the week ended July 19, U.S.-based spot Ethereum funds absorbed nearly $2.2 billion, including an impressive single‑day haul of $726.7 million on July 16. Each new ETF share minted requires issuers to buy coins in the open market, shrinking supply and nudging prices higher. Because institutions tend to build positions in stages, the first wave of buying is rarely the last. That steady purchasing activity is a structural tailwind Ethereum has never enjoyed at this scale until now. Additionally, there are a handful of businesses that are seeking to become crypto treasuries that hold Ethereum as one of their main assets. These buyers are keen to issue new shares of their stock, as well as new debt, with the sole goal of buying and holding the coin. Though the wisdom of this approach in the long haul remains to be seen, for now these treasuries are price-insensitive buyers, and they're a big part of the reason Ethereum is climbing so stridently now in a way that it wasn't before. And, if past heydays are any indication, there will be a lot more well-heeled buyers of this type coming along before there's any kind of slowdown. Taken together, a sentiment reset, a smoother and cheaper network, and significant inflows of capital from ETFs and treasurers tilt the odds toward more upside for Ethereum. Long‑term investors may look back on this summer as a moment when the chain's fundamentals finally started to really catch up with its promise. Should you invest $1,000 in Ethereum right now? Before you buy stock in Ethereum, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Ethereum wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is It Ethereum's Turn to Rally? 3 Reasons This Leading Crypto Could Be About to Climb Even Higher. was originally published by The Motley Fool
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First Hong Kong stablecoin licences may be issued early next year, HKMA says
HONG KONG (Reuters) -The first batch of Hong Kong stablecoin issuer licences is expected to be granted early next year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) told a media briefing on Tuesday. Hong Kong's stablecoin bill is set to take effect on August 1. The market had earlier expected that the first batch of issuer licences might be issued within this year, but Tuesday's comments showed the city's de facto central bank's cautious stance. Darryl Chan, deputy chief executive of HKMA, emphasized that only "a handful" of licences will be granted for the first batch. Investors piled into crypto-related stocks in Hong Kong since the city passed stablecoin bill in May to boost its status as a global digital asset hub. Shares of Guotai Junan International have surged 450% after the broker said it obtained regulatory approval in Hong Kong to offer cryptocurrencies trading services last month. HKMA has been actively flagging risks around the growing frothiness of the market around stablecoins most recently. In a statement on Tuesday, HKMA reminded market participants "to exercise due caution in their public communications, as well as refrain from making statements that could be misinterpreted or create unrealistic expectations." It said that no stablecoin licence has been issued by the HKMA as of Tuesday. HKMA suggested interested institutions to apply for a licence before August 31 to receive feedback from the regulator. Institutions that have so far spoken with the HKMA are mostly exploring HKD- and USD-pegged stablecoins, Chan said. He added stablecoins backed by offshore yuan will still need to clearly specify their use cases and the assets used as reserves. Sign in to access your portfolio
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18 hours ago
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The Smartest Cryptocurrency to Buy With $500 Right Now (XRP)
Key Points The cryptocurrency industry is getting a boost from favorable U.S. government policy. XRP has some natural long-term advantages. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › Nowadays, $500 doesn't feel like much -- especially if you invest it in the S&P 500 index, where you can expect to make an average annual return of 10% (assuming historical trends remain constant). That's just $50 per year. However, the cryptocurrency industry offers the potential for significantly larger gains than traditional asset classes, like stocks or bonds, for investors who are willing to tolerate more volatility. Below I'll explore why the payments-focused token digital XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) might make an excellent long-term pick as it racks up regulatory wins in the U.S. and seeks to disrupt the market for international transactions. The regulatory climate is easing Donald Trump's presidential election victory sparked a sharp rally in many cryptocurrencies, and it isn't hard to understand why Wall Street is so optimistic. On the campaign trail, he promised to support the digital asset industry and, so far, his administration is meeting or even exceeding expectations with a raft of newly passed legislation. On July 18, Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (Genius) Act, which is designed to create a framework for issuing dollar-pegged stablecoins. On its face, this law helps legitimize cryptocurrency as a mainstream asset class, which will encourage businesses and institutional investors to get more involved without the fear of potentially breaking any rules. The Genius Act is a departure from the climate under the previous administration, when lawsuits and enforcement stifled crypto adoption. XRP's developer, Ripple Labs, was affected by this legal uncertainty. In 2021, Ripple lost its partnership with one of its highest-profile clients, MoneyGram, which stopped using its XRP-based liquidity solutions after Ripple was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over alleged securities law violations. The case has now been largely resolved with XRP not classified as a security when sold to retail investors, although there are still discussions about settling fines related to Ripple's sales of XRP to institutional investors. The path to real-world utility XRP's main selling point is its focus on real-world utility. Instead of trying to be a platform for highly speculative and often useless decentralized applications (dApps), XRP focuses on the more tangible market for international payments. Its speed and low fees (0.00001 XRP per transaction) make it an ideal bridge between different currencies. For example, if someone in the U.S. wanted to send money to Japan, they could buy XRP with dollars and use that XRP to buy Japanese yen, bypassing slow and potentially costly intermediaries. Dollar-pegged stablecoins promise to make this process even easier by removing the volatility inherent in a free-floating bridge currency like XRP. Instead of allowing its niche to be disrupted, XRP's developers are joining the fray. In 2024, they launched a dollar-pegged stablecoin of their own called RLUSD. Consumer use of RLUSD can indirectly benefit XRP because both tokens are built on the same network. RLUSD transaction fees are paid with XRP, which is then removed from circulation (burned). Is it too late to buy XRP? Despite its relatively small unit price of just $3.15 at the time of this writing, XRP is the third-largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $187 billion. While this vast size gives it more brand recognition and stability, it also means that investors shouldn't expect a repeat of the explosive returns XRP enjoyed in the past. That said, slow and steady often wins the race. XRP has graduated from the boom and bust volatility of a meme coin, and investors should focus on its long-term growth potential as it benefits from easing regulatory pressure and compelling real-world use cases. Should you buy stock in XRP right now? Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Will Ebiefung has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Smartest Cryptocurrency to Buy With $500 Right Now (XRP) was originally published by The Motley Fool
