Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy announced an immediate blockade of the Strait of Hormuz early on July 12, banning all vessel traffic, according to PANews citing Jin's report. The Guard stated that any foreign intervention or unauthorized routing would face a firm response, with the blockade lasting until further notice or until the U.S. halts its regional involvement.
Strait of Hormuz Blockade
The announcement came hours after several ships attempted to sail without Iranian approval, with one vessel disabling its Automatic Identification System before stopping after warning shots. The Guard warned that any U.S. attack under this pretext would trigger a strong retaliation, targeting more American military bases in the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical maritime corridor for Middle Eastern crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
CLARITY Act Progress
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Republican leadership is pushing for a floor vote on the CLARITY Act, a digital asset regulatory bill, by July 20, as reported by Odaily. However, bipartisan disagreements remain on key issues such as government ethics rules and anti-money laundering measures. If the bill fails to advance before the August recess, legislative timing before the midterm elections may become insufficient. The CLARITY Act aims to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets, requiring at least seven Democratic senators' support for passage.
Other Crypto News
In other developments, Turkey's prosecutor indicted a massive money laundering ring using cryptocurrencies, involving approximately 400 billion Turkish lira ($850 million), with 504 suspects. Grayscale predicted that stock tokenization will evolve in three stages, benefiting Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Canton Network. Singapore police, in collaboration with Coinbase and six other exchanges, prevented over $4.2 million in losses during a six-week anti-fraud operation. Emory Digital sold 1,400 BTC in the past two months, reducing its holdings by 48% to 1,514 BTC. A whale address withdrew 49,407 ETH and 250 WBTC from Binance, totaling about $99.86 million. Gate saw a net outflow of $207 million over seven days, ranking second among centralized exchanges, while Binance led inflows with $308 million. Additionally, 190.9 million USDC moved from Aave to an anonymous whale wallet.