Crypto Market Round Up: June 29 2026

Four major developments defined last week across institutional consolidation, regulation, and central bank policy.

↳ The Ethereum Foundation laid off 54 employees (20% of staff), cut its budget 40%, and shut down its ZK research lab PSE. Vitalik Buterin is shifting the org to an endowment model targeting 5% annual treasury spend by 2030.

↳ Japan's SBI Holdings agreed to acquire Bitbank for $289M, creating the country's largest crypto exchange with $6.8B in custody and 2.92M accounts. SBI also launched JPYSC, Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin.

↳ US Congress passed a ban on Federal Reserve retail CBDC issuance through 2030 as part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Senate voted 85-5, House 358-32. Private stablecoins are explicitly exempted.

↳ The Bank of England finalized its stablecoin framework, dropping the £20K per-person holding cap in favor of a £40B per-coin issuance guardrail. Issuers can hold up to 70% of reserves in short-term UK gilts.