Markets were dominated by institutional demand for Bitcoin, regulatory momentum around tokenisation, and product launches that extend crypto exposure into Europe and traditional banking systems. Major inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs coincided with regulatory commentary about an on-chain future, while tokenised deposit pilots and new exchange-traded products for Zcash and NEAR signalled growing mainstream integration.
Record Bitcoin ETF inflows lift BTC price
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest daily inflow since October 2025, attracting $998.95 million on Monday. BlackRock’s IBIT led with $381.37 million in fresh allocations. Cumulative inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have now reached $56.16 billion. The inflows helped push Bitcoin briefly above $87,000, its highest level since January, taking the ETF cohort above their average acquisition cost of $81,722 and putting the average investor back into year-to-date profit.
Regulators signal a tokenised future
CFTC Chair Michael Selig told a New York Fed conference that markets must prepare for “mass tokenization,” 24/7 on-chain finance and continuous trading, describing the coming decade as potentially more transformative than several prior ones combined. His comments followed the SEC’s recent announcement of an “Innovation Exemption,” with both agencies continuing separate paths after the CLARITY Act did not proceed.
Canada pilots tokenized deposits among major banks
Canada’s six largest banks, including Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank and Scotiabank, said they are exploring a Canadian-dollar tokenized deposit system to speed up inter-institutional transfers. The initial phase will focus on moving deposits between Canadian institutions with an eventual aim of connecting to other digital-asset systems. This initiative follows a regulator clarification from OSFI that tokenized deposits are legally indistinguishable from traditional deposits.
Zcash arrives in Europe with physically-backed ETP
21Shares launched Europe’s first physically backed Zcash (ZEC) exchange-traded product, listing on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam with a 2.5% fee. The issuer also listed a corresponding ETP for Ether.fi’s ETHFI token with the same fee. The ETP follows Grayscale’s US-based Zcash product; ZEC has gained around 1,100% over the past year and briefly traded above $1,500. Fortitude Digital Mining reported it mined roughly 28% of all ZEC during the first half of 2026.
Cardano integrates AI payments standard
Cardano joined the x402 toolkit, a standard that enables applications and AI agents to pay for online services using a blockchain token, implemented here for ADA via a protocol created by Coinbase. Solana and the XRP Ledger already support the standard. The Cardano Foundation completed a test transaction on a pre-production network, and ADA rose nearly 8% on the news. Founder Charles Hoskinson reiterated his view that cryptocurrency will “absorb” artificial intelligence within five to ten years.
Bitwise NEAR staking ETP value rises on token rally
The Frankfurt-listed Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP surpassed $100 million in assets under management without new share issuances, driven by a 135% price increase in NEAR over 30 days. The product holds 25.2 million NEAR tokens, while its outstanding share count remained unchanged at 4,882,271, indicating the AUM growth resulted from NEAR’s price appreciation. Bitwise has applied in the US for a corresponding ETF under the ticker NRR.
Taken together, the day’s developments underline several parallel trends: strong institutional allocation to Bitcoin via ETFs, active regulatory positioning around tokenisation and on-chain finance, and continued product innovation that brings alternative crypto assets and tokenised cash closer to traditional markets.