Author: Chain Wire

London, United Kingdom, July 17th, 2026, Chainwire

ether.fi, the leading onchain neobank for digital asset management, has selected Nexus Mutual to provide crypto’s largest-ever ETH Slashing Cover. The cover protects ether.fi‘s validators against up to 15,000 ETH worth of slashing penalties.

As ether.fi continues to see rapid adoption from both retail and institutional audiences, securing industry-leading protection against slashing risk for ether.fi users is critical. Over the last year, ether.fi has been systematically strengthening their stack across infrastructure, risk management, operational security and real-time defense systems. 

Since ether.fi operates one of the largest validator sets on Ethereum, slashing is a real tail risk for them. By working with Nexus Mutual, ether.fi has mitigated this with protection that kicks in to secure against validator losses. This cover was calculated to protect ether.fi in even the most extreme scenarios and represents more than all historical losses from ETH slashing combined.

“We’ve always believed the safest protocols will ultimately win. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in audits, operational security, staking architecture, and now the largest insurance program in the industry. We are excited to partner with Nexus Mutual to make this a reality,” said Mike Silagadze, Founder & CEO of ether.fi.

“We’ve known the ether.fi team since before it was ether.fi, and they’ve been focused on risk from day one. Covering their users for up to 15,000 ETH in slashing penalties is a historic step, and we’re proud they chose Nexus Mutual to take it with them,” said Hugh Karp, Founder of Nexus Mutual.

About ether.fi

ether.fi is the leading onchain neobank for digital asset management. With $6B+ in AUM across Cash (crypto card), Stake (restaking), and Liquid (liquid restaking derivatives), ether.fi has established category dominance in crypto neobanking. It’s the rare institutional-grade product built for consumer adoption. 

About Nexus Mutual

Nexus Mutual is the first crypto insurance alternative. Since 2019, they have covered more than $7 billion against smart contract hacks, slashing, and other digital asset risks. As the industry leader, they have become a trusted partner for everyone from individuals to institutions to help manage onchain risk.

Contact

Head of Marketing
Phil Johnston
Nexus Mutual
phil@nexusmutual.io

Mutsamudu, Comoros, July 17th, 2026, Chainwire

MEXC, a pioneer in 0-fee digital asset trading, has listed five Ondo tokenized stock trading pairs on its spot market in collaboration with Ondo Finance. The five companies span a supply chain that runs from semiconductor and precision component manufacturing to industrial cooling and power infrastructure supporting AI data centers, allowing users to trade these U.S. stocks using USDT on MEXC around the clock, with instant settlement and no traditional brokerage account required.

The trading pairs include tokenized shares of STMicroelectronics N.V. (STMON/USDT), Fabrinet (FNON/USDT), Trane Technologies (TTON/USDT), Amphenol (APHON/USDT) and Quanta Services (PWRON/USDT). All five pairs went live for spot trading at 13:30 on July 16, 2026 (UTC), with withdrawals set to open at 13:30 on July 17, 2026 (UTC).

Ondo Finance brings traditional financial assets on-chain through compliant infrastructure, giving users access to U.S. stocks and ETFs in a blockchain-native format. Each tokenized asset is backed by the corresponding underlying security held through regulated custodial brokers, allowing users to purchase fractional amounts and giving holders the same economic exposure as the underlying stock, with dividends automatically reflected in token value. The listing further broadens the range of traditional assets available for MEXC users to trade.

To meet different user needs, MEXC offers multiple pathways for U.S. equity exposure: users can trade Ondo’s tokenized stocks on the platform, or directly purchase real shares of U.S.-listed companies through RealStocks, which now covers more than 7,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs, holding the corresponding stock assets, participating in price movements, and enjoying the full benefits of stock ownership.

About MEXC

MEXC is the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange, trusted by more than 40 million users across 170+ markets. Built on a user-first philosophy, MEXC offers industry-leading 0-fee trading and access to over 3,000 digital assets. As the Gateway to Infinite Opportunities, MEXC provides a single platform where users can easily trade cryptocurrencies alongside tokenized assets, including stocks, ETFs, commodities, and precious metals.

MEXC Official Website｜ X ｜ Telegram ｜How to Sign Up on MEXC

For media inquiries, please contact MEXC PR team: media@mexc.com

Risk Disclaimer:

This content does not constitute investment advice. Given the highly volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, investors are encouraged to carefully assess market fluctuations, project fundamentals, and potential financial risks before making any trading decisions.

Contact

MEXC PR team
media@mexc.com

Mutsamudu, Comoros, July 16th, 2026, Chainwire

MEXC, a pioneer in 0-fee digital asset trading, today released its May–June bimonthly security report, reinforcing its role as a trusted global gateway where security and trust always come first. The audit indicates that MEXC’s Futures Insurance Fund surpassed a landmark threshold of 750 million USDT as of June 29, marking a substantial 34% expansion over the preceding reporting period. Concurrently, reserve verification data confirm that the coverage ratios for BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC all remained safely above 100%, with Bitcoin delivering a reserve ratio of 269.35%.

During May–June, crypto security incidents remained elevated across the industry. According to aggregated data from major blockchain monitoring agencies, 142 independent security incidents were confirmed during the period, resulting in approximately US$194 million in verifiable financial losses. DeFi security incidents accounted for 55% of total incidents, with related losses of approximately US$150 million. Cross-chain bridges, private key management, and user endpoints emerged as the three major weak points in the industry’s security landscape during the period.

Against this backdrop, asset reserve transparency and risk-buffering capacity have become important foundations for user protection across trading platforms.

Futures Insurance Fund Grows to 751 Million USDT

Quantifying this safety buffer, the total balance of MEXC Futures Insurance Fund reached 751 million USDT by the June 29 close, marking a net capital inflow of over 191 million USDT relative to the prior bimonthly disclosure. This dedicated capital reserve serves as a primary systemic countermeasure designed to absorb unexpected liquidation slippage during periods of heightened market volatility.

By neutralizing excess delta risk, the fund systematically reduces the likelihood of activating Auto-Deleveraging (ADL) protocols, thereby ensuring orderly clearing conditions across all active derivatives markets. Real-time solvency tracking and live reserve balances remain continuously auditable via the public MEXC Proof of Trust interface.

Major Assets Continue to Maintain Excess Reserves, with BTC Reserve Ratio Reaching 269.35%

In addition to providing a risk buffer for the futures market, MEXC continues to enhance asset transparency through its Proof of Reserves mechanism, allowing users to verify asset backing directly on-chain.

As of the reporting date, reserve ratios for major assets were as follows:

• BTC: Reserve ratio of 269.35%, with 12,656.63 BTC held in wallets, corresponds to 4,698.90 BTC in user assets.
• ETH: Reserve ratio of 118.14%, with 77,527.30 ETH held in wallets.
• USDT: Reserve ratio of 113.95%, with approximately 2.139 billion USDT held in wallets.
• USDC: Reserve ratio of 125.41%, with approximately 95.41 million USDC held in wallets.

These reserve figures are publicly verifiable through on-chain wallet addresses and MEXC’s Merkle Tree-based Proof of Reserves system, enabling users to independently verify asset coverage.

Maintaining platform-wide custody standards, the MEXC Guardian Fund continues to operate its rigorous dual-reserve architecture consisting of USDT and BTC allocations. Every underlying crypto-asset remains fully segregated, verifiable, and tied to on-chain addresses that are permanently open to public audit. The strategic asset expansion roadmap previously disclosed by the corporate risk team remains fully underway.

Guardian Fund Wallet Addresses:

• USDT: https://etherscan.io/address/0x469AfE803C54A36674C55231489Cf4b61da8c1bC#tokentxns
• BTC: 1MDVjZdX8QD212pT8Z8EMP7DuFQHKqN3mx

From risk identification to asset recovery, throughout the Entire Trading Journey

During May–June, user-side attacks also continued to increase. Phishing scams and endpoint & supply chain security incidents resulted in approximately US$28.59 million in related losses, highlighting the growing importance of account risk identification, external support for suspicious fund investigations, and asset recovery capabilities.

In terms of related user protection mechanisms, risk mitigation within the MEXC infrastructure extends far beyond baseline asset reserves, integrating advanced account risk identification, external forensic investigations into funds, and systematic recovery protocols for misdirected transfers. 

During the May–June performance window, the platform’s financial intelligence unit successfully flagged and restricted 9,518 accounts linked to organized illicit syndicates, effectively dismantling 4,394 distinct fraudulent networks.

Geographically, these illicit operations exhibited high concentration vectors within two primary jurisdictions:

• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Region: 2,096 fraudulent networks neutralized.
• Indonesia: 1,229 fraudulent networks neutralized.

In parallel with internal containment, MEXC significantly expanded its judicial and law-enforcement cooperation protocols. The compliance department processed 497 external statutory investigation requests, which included the successful execution of 53 judicial asset-freezing mandates. Furthermore, the platform’s real-time transaction monitoring systems intercepted 7 high-risk inbound illicit fund transfers, freezing a total of 303,277 USDT before it could contaminate the exchange’s broader liquidity pools.

Addressing user-side transactional errors, MEXC manually processed 812 individual asset recovery requests involving erroneous cross-chain deposits and misdirected transfers, successfully remediating assets valued at 343,515 USDT. Every sub-case was subjected to a dual-layer review protocol that combined manual asset verification with on-chain forensic auditing. Compliance teams deployed advanced multi-ledger cross-chain tracing techniques to locate, isolate, and safely return the misrouted capital to its rightful owners.

Vugar Usi, CEO of MEXC, said, “True trust is not built on promises made before risks emerge, but on whether protection remains visible and verifiable when challenges arise. With our Futures Insurance Fund surpassing 750 million USDT, together with publicly verifiable Proof of Reserves, we are reinforcing MEXC’s role as a trusted global gateway where security and trust always come first, ensuring all user’s assets are safeguarded.”

About MEXC

MEXC is the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange, trusted by more than 40 million users across 170+ markets. Built on a user-first philosophy, MEXC offers industry-leading 0-fee trading and access to over 3,000 digital assets. As the Gateway to Infinite Opportunities, MEXC provides a single platform where users can easily trade cryptocurrencies alongside tokenized assets, including stocks, ETFs, commodities, and precious metals.

MEXC Official Website｜ X ｜ Telegram ｜How to Sign Up on MEXC

Contact

MEXC PR team
media@mexc.com

Los Angeles, United States, July 16th, 2026, FinanceWire

Proven on US$20M in Philippine SME loans with a sub-3% NPL rate, Jia’s AI underwriting infrastructure Ossicone is now available for banks, cooperatives and lending companies to deploy under their own brand 

Jia, a financial platform serving businesses across emerging markets, today announced a landmark partnership with Netbank, a bank regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, marking the first time Jia has opened its lending infrastructure to an outside institution. As part of the partnership, Netbank has extended Jia a $2 million credit facility, Jia’s first institutional credit facility in the Philippines, to fund working capital loans for up to 500 SMEs over the next 12 months, and is powering Jia Accounts, a new business banking product for Philippine SMEs that lets borrowers receive funds and manage repayments in a single regulated flow

The partnership is the latest milestone in Jia’s expansion from lender to platform. Since 2022, Jia has originated more than US$20 million in SME loans in the Philippines with a non-performing loan rate below 3% and zero write-offs, against an industry average of 10% to 15%. That track record was built lending to the businesses most institutions overlook such as retailers, distributors, and inventory-heavy companies with proven order flow and a history of repayment, underserved not by their own performance but by the limitations of conventional credit assessment.

At the center of Jia’s infrastructure is Ossicone, its proprietary AI underwriting engine. Ossicone reads the documents that define how emerging market businesses actually operate – purchase orders, supplier invoices, delivery receipts – and returns a credit decision in under 30 minutes at 97% accuracy. No public training set exists for how Philippine SMEs trade, pay, and borrow. Jia has spent three years building one, sharpened by every loan on its book. With Jia Accounts now live, real-time cashflow data feeds directly into Ossicone’s models, compounding its accuracy over time.

SMEs across emerging markets face an estimated US$8 trillion credit gap that legacy banks are structurally unable to close. Jia is now making the infrastructure it built and proved on its own balance sheet available to the banks, cooperatives, and lending companies that want to close it. Through Ossicone via API and a white-label product, any financial institution can deploy Jia’s accounts, underwriting, and capital connectivity under its own brand, without rebuilding core infrastructure. Netbank is the first institution to build on that infrastructure — pairing the banking rails behind Jia Accounts with Ossicone-powered underwriting — validating a model Jia is now extending to banks, cooperatives, and lending companies across the region.

“Every emerging market has thousands of businesses growing fast, paying on time, and waiting for a bank that can see them clearly,” said Zach Marks, CEO of Jia. “We spent three years building the infrastructure to do that and proving it on our own balance sheet. Now we’re opening it to other institutions, because the opportunity is too large for any one lender to capture alone.”

“There is no public dataset for Philippine SME financial documents. That’s the moat,” said Krizanne Ty, President and Country Head at Jia Philippines. “Every loan has sharpened Ossicone’s accuracy, and now that businesses bank with Jia, their live cashflow feeds directly into the models — making them better for every SME on our book and every institution building on our platform.”

Financial institutions interested in deploying Jia’s infrastructure can reach the team at partners@jia.xyz. 

About Jia

Jia is the financial operating system for emerging market businesses, combining business banking, AI-powered underwriting, and capital connectivity in a single platform. Validated on its own live loan book in the Philippines since 2022, Jia now makes the same infrastructure available for banks, cooperatives, and lending companies to deploy under their own brand. Jia is led by a team that has scaled fintech businesses and managed more than US$10 billion in assets across emerging markets, and is backed by leading global fintech investors. Users can learn more at jia.xyz.

Contact

Partner
Maggie Philbin
VSC for Jia
press@jia.xyz

Los Angeles, United States, July 16th, 2026, FinanceWire

Proven on US$20M in Philippine SME loans with a sub-3% NPL rate, Jia’s AI underwriting infrastructure Ossicone is now available for banks, cooperatives and lending companies to deploy under their own brand 

Jia, a financial platform serving businesses across emerging markets, today announced a landmark partnership with Netbank, a bank regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, marking the first time Jia has opened its lending infrastructure to an outside institution. As part of the partnership, Netbank has extended Jia a $2 million credit facility, Jia’s first institutional credit facility in the Philippines, to fund working capital loans for up to 500 SMEs over the next 12 months, and is powering Jia Accounts, a new business banking product for Philippine SMEs that lets borrowers receive funds and manage repayments in a single regulated flow

The partnership is the latest milestone in Jia’s expansion from lender to platform. Since 2022, Jia has originated more than US$20 million in SME loans in the Philippines with a non-performing loan rate below 3% and zero write-offs, against an industry average of 10% to 15%. That track record was built lending to the businesses most institutions overlook such as retailers, distributors, and inventory-heavy companies with proven order flow and a history of repayment, underserved not by their own performance but by the limitations of conventional credit assessment.

At the center of Jia’s infrastructure is Ossicone, its proprietary AI underwriting engine. Ossicone reads the documents that define how emerging market businesses actually operate – purchase orders, supplier invoices, delivery receipts – and returns a credit decision in under 30 minutes at 97% accuracy. No public training set exists for how Philippine SMEs trade, pay, and borrow. Jia has spent three years building one, sharpened by every loan on its book. With Jia Accounts now live, real-time cashflow data feeds directly into Ossicone’s models, compounding its accuracy over time.

SMEs across emerging markets face an estimated US$8 trillion credit gap that legacy banks are structurally unable to close. Jia is now making the infrastructure it built and proved on its own balance sheet available to the banks, cooperatives, and lending companies that want to close it. Through Ossicone via API and a white-label product, any financial institution can deploy Jia’s accounts, underwriting, and capital connectivity under its own brand, without rebuilding core infrastructure. Netbank is the first institution to build on that infrastructure — pairing the banking rails behind Jia Accounts with Ossicone-powered underwriting — validating a model Jia is now extending to banks, cooperatives, and lending companies across the region.

“Every emerging market has thousands of businesses growing fast, paying on time, and waiting for a bank that can see them clearly,” said Zach Marks, CEO of Jia. “We spent three years building the infrastructure to do that and proving it on our own balance sheet. Now we’re opening it to other institutions, because the opportunity is too large for any one lender to capture alone.”

“There is no public dataset for Philippine SME financial documents. That’s the moat,” said Krizanne Ty, President and Country Head at Jia Philippines. “Every loan has sharpened Ossicone’s accuracy, and now that businesses bank with Jia, their live cashflow feeds directly into the models — making them better for every SME on our book and every institution building on our platform.”

Financial institutions interested in deploying Jia’s infrastructure can reach the team at partners@jia.xyz. 

About Jia

Jia is the financial operating system for emerging market businesses, combining business banking, AI-powered underwriting, and capital connectivity in a single platform. Validated on its own live loan book in the Philippines since 2022, Jia now makes the same infrastructure available for banks, cooperatives, and lending companies to deploy under their own brand. Jia is led by a team that has scaled fintech businesses and managed more than US$10 billion in assets across emerging markets, and is backed by leading global fintech investors. Users can learn more at jia.xyz.

Contact

Partner
Maggie Philbin
VSC for Jia
press@jia.xyz

Austin, Texas, July 16th, 2026, FinanceWire

The new report, titled “Back to Basics,” examines bitcoin’s fundamentals, the limits of paper exposure, and the data behind the current buying opportunity, paired with 50% off trading fees and no-cost recurring buys.

Onramp, the bitcoin-centric financial services platform built on Multi-Institution Custody, today released Back to Basics, a summer 2026 research report making the case for owning bitcoin directly at one of the most asymmetric moments in the asset’s history. Bitcoin currently trades roughly ~50% below its late-2025 high, the shallowest drawdown on record by bitcoin’s own historical standard, while the S&P 500 sits within ~1% of its all-time high, the Nasdaq within ~4%, and gold within ~24% of its peak. Alongside the report, Onramp is offering 50% off trading fees and no-cost recurring buys for new clients. The report and offers are available here. 

The timing reflects a deliberate view on where the current cycle stands. Prior drawdowns reached 93% in 2011, 85% from 2013 to 2015, 83% in 2017 to 2018, and 77% from 2021 to 2022. Each ended in a new all-time high. The current cycle’s ~50% decline is the shallowest in bitcoin’s history, occurring as the Fear & Greed Index sits at 22, in extreme-fear territory, at the time of writing. The report arrives at the moment sentiment is at its worst and the historical data makes the clearest case for accumulation.

Back to Basics is organized in three sections. The first covers ten foundational ideas behind owning bitcoin: why fiat currency is designed to lose value, how a capped supply of 21 million makes bitcoin’s scarcity verifiable rather than promised, and why direct ownership differs meaningfully from holding an instrument that tracks the price. The second examines the full range of bitcoin exposure, from ETF shares and exchange balances to structured products and treasury equities, laying out what holders actually own in each case and where the counterparty risk sits. The third presents the data: where the current drawdown sits relative to prior cycles and the pattern of recoveries that have followed comparable declines.

“We find that a meaningful share of people who consider themselves bitcoin owners actually hold a paper claim against it. You get the price exposure, but not the asset itself,” said Michael Tanguma, Founder and CEO of Onramp. “That’s what Back to Basics is designed to address. Whether you’ve never owned real bitcoin or you’ve been sitting in a wrapper for years, this campaign is the on-ramp to the real thing. There’s no substitute for holding it directly.” 

The report makes clear that paper exposure, however convenient, reintroduces the counterparty risk bitcoin was designed to eliminate. A balance at an exchange is the obligation of a platform that may have lent the coins elsewhere. A fund share is a claim on a fund that holds a claim with a custodian. A yield-bearing product passes a borrower’s risk to the holder as a return. A share in a bitcoin-holding company embeds the asset inside a business with its own leverage and dilution. With each step away from the underlying asset, the holder gains convenience and accepts an additional party between themselves and their bitcoin.

“The fundamentals have not changed. The price has,” said Brian Cubellis, Chief Strategy Officer at Onramp. “Back to Basics gives investors the data and the framework to recognize this for what it is, one of the most compelling accumulation windows in bitcoin’s history, and to act on it.”

The campaign also marks the launch of recurring buys on Onramp, a new feature available to every client with no fees that lets investors dollar-cost average into bitcoin automatically on a schedule they set. Alongside it, both new and existing clients get 50% off the fees on every bitcoin buy and sell through September 7, plus free access to the Back to Basics report.

For those looking to do more, the first 100 clients to open an Onramp Bitcoin IRA pay no first- -year-fees. Separately, clients can access Multi-Institution Custody, the 2-of-3 model Onramp pioneered, at a reduced rate of $100 per month.

Back to Basics also marks an expansion of Onramp Media, the company’s editorial arm. The same week the report was released, Onramp debuted Signal vs. Noise, a new weekly show in which four hosts each bring their top stories to the table and the strongest survive, a format built to separate what matters in markets from what merely trends. Alongside the show, Onramp is standing up a dedicated editorial news desk covering money, markets, and the forces reshaping both. The premise mirrors the report itself: strip away the noise, return to the fundamentals, and follow the signal.

The full report and all offers are available here. 

About Onramp

Onramp is a financial platform for people who think about wealth in decades. Onramp Finance, its latest offering, unifies cash accounts with Onramp-funded rewards up to 5% through a partnership with Bridge, a spending card with up to 1.5% cash back, low-cost bitcoin brokerage in all 50 states, bitcoin IRAs, and direct gold access in a single account. Onramp pioneered Multi-Institution Custody (MIC), a model that eliminates reliance on any single custodian by distributing security across independent institutions including Onramp, BitGo, Coincover, and Tetra. No single institution can access, move, or lose a client’s bitcoin. Bitcoin held in MIC is insured by Lloyd’s of London. Users can learn more at onrampbitcoin.com.

For media inquiries: phil@21mcommunications.com 

Contact

Founder
Phil
21M Communications
phil@21mcommunications.com