Crypto Market Update: PayPal Receives US$53 Billion Joint Bid

Bitcoin price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$64,920.63, up by 0.5 percent over the past 24 hours.

The crypto and stock markets are rallying after US consumer and producer price index data showed cooling inflation, dropping higher interest rate projections to 12 percent compared to nearly 42 percent on July 10.

Bitcoin saw a three week high of US$65,200, while Ether reached US$1,895, its highest since June 3.

However, Bitfinex analysts warn that the rally is “borrowed strength” rather than a sign of genuine, organic demand.

“Options traders are actually hedging into the move higher rather than building positions,” the firm said.

“The 25-delta skew has puts trading five to seven volatility points over calls across all of the important expiries. This implies that traders are once again willing to pay a premium for downside protection rather than a speculative bid. The protection bid deepened through a 4.4 percent rally: participants are renting the upside and paying up to insure the downside. Dealers remain below the gamma flip we last verified near US$68,000 in late June.

Analysts are monitoring the US$68,000 to US$68,300 band as a critical confirmation point, noting that failure to break above it could lead to a retest of lower support levels.

Ether and altcoin price update

• Ether (ETH) was priced at US$1,924.45, trading 2.7 percent higher over the last 24 hours.

• XRP (XRP) was priced at US$1.11, trading 0.1 percent higher over the past 24 hours.

• Solana (SOL) was trading at US$77.25, trading 0.5 percent higher over the past 24 hours.

Today's crypto news to know

Read on for a round-up of the biggest crypto market news:

• PayPal draws US$53 billion joint takeover bid
• Securitize, Cantor team up to offer tokenized stocks
• US, UK unveil joint roadmap to align tokenization regulations
• Aave launches V4 on Avalanche
• Ripple joins x402 Foundation

PayPal draws US$53 billion joint takeover bid

Payment processing giant Stripe has partnered with private equity firm Advent International to launch a massive US$53 billion takeover bid for rival PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL).

According to a Reuters exclusive, the joint consortium reportedly submitted an offer of US$60.50 per share, representing a significant 28 percent premium over PayPal's closing price on Tuesday (July 14).

PayPal's market dominance has steadily eroded against competitors like Apple Pay, sending its valuation crashing from a 2021 peak of US$360 billion down to roughly US$36 billion this year.

Backed by US$50 billion in committed bank financing, the proposed deal would see Stripe and Advent hold equal stakes, keeping PayPal's existing corporate structure intact rather than breaking it up. A successful deal would reshape the digital payments landscape by merging two massive networks under a single unified owner.

The combination also holds particular strategic value for the stablecoin sector by potentially uniting Stripe's newly acquired Bridge infrastructure with PayPal's established PYUSD consumer token.

PayPal's board has yet to respond to the offer.

Securitize, Cantor team up to offer tokenized stocks

Securitize (NYSE:SECZ) and Cantor Fitzgerald have announced an agreement to work together on tokenized initial public offerings and follow-on offerings, with Cantor handling the traditional equity and capital markets side, and Securitize agreeing to provide the blockchain tokenization infrastructure.

Securitize also said its broker-dealer affiliate would be involved in the offering and settlement process.

In practical terms, public companies would be able to raise money and issue shares using blockchain-based records, while still operating inside the normal public offering framework. That means stocks would remain regulated securities that are issued, distributed and tracked on blockchain rails.

The move follows Securitize’s own public listing through Cantor Equity Partners II, which closed in late June.

US, UK unveil joint roadmap to align tokenization regulations

The US and the UK have jointly published a comprehensive roadmap to align regulatory frameworks governing stablecoins, tokenized assets and digital money. This coordinated push by the two financial powerhouses aims to reduce transatlantic market friction and allow blockchain-based finance to move seamlessly across borders.

Developed by the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, the report outlines 10 core recommendations, with five directly addressing digital assets and the remainder focused on traditional capital markets.

Key proposals include identifying common regulatory approaches to tokenized securities settlement and exploring whether stablecoins and tokenized money market funds can serve as clearinghouse collateral. The taskforce also advocates for a private sector-led initiative to test cross-border tokenization use cases over the next year.

Alongside these recommendations, the two governments are drafting a joint statement asserting that payment stablecoins must be fully backed one-to-one by high-quality liquid assets, echoing the newly signed GENIUS Act.

Aave launches V4 on Avalanche

Aave has launched V4 on Avalanche, using a shared pool of liquidity to support different borrowing markets. That structure makes it easier to add tokenized assets and other new forms of collateral without splitting funds across too many separate pools. The move pushes Aave beyond crypto-native lending and closer to broader credit use cases, including markets built around tokenized financial assets and other collateral with value outside the crypto ecosystem.

Ripple joins x402 Foundation

Ripple announced it has joined the newly launched x402 Foundation as a premier member, embedding its XRP token and dollar-backed RLUSD stablecoin directly into an emerging standard for artificial intelligence (AI) payments.

The foundation launched under the Linux Foundation on Tuesday and seeks to standardize the x402 protocol, a system that revives the HTTP 402 Payment Required status code to enable machine-readable payment flows.

Under this framework, autonomous AI agents can instantly pay for APIs, storage and cloud computing using non-custodial wallets without requiring human approval or traditional bank accounts. Ripple's membership places its digital assets alongside 40 major institutional players who are actively building on the new standard.

The XRP Ledger's technical specifications are highly suited for these micro-transactions, offering deterministic finality in under five seconds and predictable fees fixed at a fraction of a cent.

Highlighting the network's early traction in the space, the XRPL Foundation confirmed the ledger recently surpassed one million agentic transactions shortly after rolling out x402 support.