[News Brief] Jul 15, morning | U.S. Sanctions Cuba-Linked Crypto Addresses as Global Tensions Escalate

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added multiple cryptocurrency addresses associated with entities linked to the Cuban regime to its sanctions list, PANews reported on the 15th.

According to the report, the sanctioned addresses include those on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin, Tron, Dash, Zcash, and Litecoin networks.

The sanctions also target state-linked entities including the Association of Cuban Revolutionary Combatants and Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism. OFAC said it froze accounts controlled by Ukrainian national Dmytro Lashevskyi and Belarusian national Yevgeniy Vladimirovich Silayev, alleging that they operated virtual tools that harmed the United States.

Tether has frozen four wallets on the Tron network, PANews reported on the 15th. The wallets held a total of 131 million USDT, though the reason for the freeze has not yet been clearly confirmed.

According to on-chain analyst Spector, the funds primarily originated from payment service provider DTC Pay and withdrawals from cryptocurrency exchange Bitso.

Spector said the frozen wallets were linked to the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is sanctioned by OFAC, and the Central Bank of Iran.

Odaily reported that U.S. Central Command said it had completed new airstrikes targeting Iran.

The strikes hit dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran’s coastline. The Strait of Hormuz is a major oil shipping route, and rising tensions in the Middle East could affect energy prices and sentiment toward risk assets.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said in a statement on the 15th that as long as the United States continues attacks against Iran, not “a single drop” of oil or natural gas will be exported from the region, Odaily reported, citing Xinhua.

The statement came amid escalating military tensions between the United States and Iran. Fears of disruptions to Middle East energy exports could contribute to higher international oil prices and greater volatility in financial markets.

The UK Treasury reportedly warned that if the U.S.-Iran conflict escalates further, international oil prices could rise to as high as $150 per barrel, according to Odaily.

A sharp rise in oil prices could intensify inflationary pressure and weigh on investor sentiment across risk assets.

Morgan Stanley has filed amended documents related to Ethereum and Solana ETFs, Odaily reported.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said on X that the expected trading tickers are MSSE and MSOL, respectively, with fees set at 0.14%.

Odaily reported that Japan’s House of Representatives has advanced a bill to reclassify Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ETFs to the plenary voting stage.

The vote is expected to take place within days. The bill could influence the introduction of crypto investment products such as Bitcoin ETFs in Japan, as well as discussions over tax reductions.

Debate has continued in Japan over reforming the crypto tax framework and whether to permit spot ETFs.

The United States and the United Kingdom have issued a joint statement through the Atlantic Working Group to deepen digital asset cooperation and outline a roadmap for stablecoins and tokenized assets.

According to PANews, both countries said regulated stablecoins could improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the financial system, and agreed to expand cooperation to reduce market fragmentation.

The joint statement urged the Bank of England, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop frameworks for the treatment of tokenized assets. It also emphasized the need to clarify rules on cross-border fundraising, stablecoin holder protections, reserve segregation, and custody standards.

The statement was released on the first anniversary of the passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act, and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said during a House Financial Services Committee hearing that relevant rules are being prepared ahead of the July 18 deadline.

Hyperliquid Policy Center, Trade.xyz, and Sullivan & Cromwell met with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s crypto task force to discuss a regulatory framework for crypto assets and decentralized perpetual futures markets, PANews reported.

Participants included Hyperliquid Policy Center CEO Jake Chervinsky, Hyperliquid founder Jeff Yan, and Trade.xyz Head of Product Collins Belton.

The meeting is seen as one of the key discussions with the SEC since the launch of the Hyperliquid Policy Center. Previously, the center and Phantom submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission requesting exemptions from broker registration requirements for on-chain software developers and self-custodial wallets.

JPMorgan said the rise of decentralized trading platform Hyperliquid could pressure the USDC-related revenue models of Circle and Coinbase.

According to Odaily, JPMorgan lowered its earnings outlooks for Circle and Coinbase. It said Hyperliquid is emerging as a major distribution channel within the USDC ecosystem, potentially creating competition between the two companies over USDC circulation growth.

JPMorgan estimates that Hyperliquid currently holds about $6 billion in USDC, equivalent to roughly 8% of total circulating supply. The bank’s analysts said this shift could put pressure on the existing partnership and revenue-sharing structure between Circle and Coinbase.

However, JPMorgan added that if the high interest-rate environment persists, reserve income from USDC could still receive some support.