Andy Weir Has One Valid Complaint About Modern Sci-Fi Books – SlashFilm

July 6, 2026

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“The Martian” and “Project: Hail Mary” author Andy Weir was a computer programmer before he found success as a Hollywood-inspiring writer. Given his STEM background, it’s not surprising his books prioritize technical detail, but in a way where the possibilities of science inspire you. For Weir, more sci-fi books could take the path of optimism.

In 2018, Weir discussed the trend of science-fiction dystopia novels with Writer’s Digest, and argued that this kind of storytelling just doesn’t ring true for him.

“The whole young adult market is all these bleak, dismal futures, and I don’t get why that happened because, to me, it’s clear that the future is almost always better than the past. I mean, at least in the long term. […] We have our dips and valleys — I’d rather live in 1923 than 1943, especially if I were European — but I would rather live in 2023 than 1923.”

Teens fighting against a dystopian government was the default YA story for the 2000s and 2010s. Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” was a smash hit and other writers tried to ride in its wake. Brad Bird’s 2015 sci-fi movie misfire “Tomorrowland” took on this trend directly, arguing we as a people have forgotten how to dream of a better tomorrow and prefer to fantasize about the apocalypse, like a civilization-wide death drive.

Weir is a noted fan of classic “Star Trek” shows, the preeminent utopian American science fiction. “Star Trek” suggests humans will one day be able to free themselves from shackles like greed and bigotry. When Weir is used to watching a future like that, little wonder he can’t find his way into the dystopian sci-fi trend.

Andy Weir thinks science fiction could use less dystopia

Mark Watley in spacesuit on Mars in The Martian

20th Century Studios

Weir’s argument that the future is always better to live in than the past hinges heavily on how technology advances over time. From the 19th century to the end of the 20th, the average life expectancy doubled. That trend was helped along by medical advances, like the discovery of an antibiotics that could treat once often-fatal diseases; it wouldn’t be exaggerating to call penicillin one of the most important inventions in human history.

For a sci-fi example, let’s look at James S. A. Corey’s space opera book series “The Expanse,” one of the many sci-fi books that Weir has recommended. Per “The Expanse,” the 24th century is neither a utopia or a dystopia. Even if this future falls short of “Star Trek,” there’s still conveniences that would be life-changing today. In the first book, “Leviathan Wakes,” the hero James Holden is exposed to lethal radiation. In 2011 (when the book was published) that would be a death sentence. Yet all Holden has to do to survive is take regular meds; cancer has gone from the lethal disease to a treatable chronic condition like, say, diabetes.

Weir’s own work allows for his concession that in the short-term, things don’t always get better. Take “Project: Hail Mary,” set in 2032, where humanity faces a serious threat of extinction due to the sun fading. But the world’s best and brightest manage to identify the problem and solve it. Weir’s comments about YA dystopia seem to speak to a cultural consensus; the trend has faded from its 2010s peak, suggesting people got sick of reading about oppressive futures. While there is a new “Hunger Games” film, “Sunrise on the Reaping” out this year, that feels more like lingering affection for that specific franchise.

Dystopian sci-fi is often a reflection of the present

Rally for Big Brother in 1984 film

20th Century Fox

Noted Trekkie though he may be, Andy Weir isn’t one of those “Star Trek” fans who loves the franchise for its political messaging about how the key to a better future is diversity and cooperation.

“I dislike social commentary. Like … I really hate it,” Weir said in a 2017 interview with Futurism. “When I’m reading a book, I just want to be entertained, not preached at by the author.” Frankly, I think this attitude has given Weir a bit of a blind spot. A key reason dystopia is a common genre for sci-fi is because writers use fictional futures to explore the issues of their own time. Take Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” set in a future where books are banned. Published in 1954, this coincided with Red Scare-influenced calls for book burning in the United States.

Circling back to “The Hunger Games,” that series resonated because it commented on a rising trend of the 2000s: reality television. It did what good satire does by pushing reality a step further, suggesting in the future we will watch children kill each other on live TV for entertainment. In the “Hunger Games” books, media and celebrity shape political narrative, just like in reality.

I’m currently watching the sci-fi TV series “Babylon 5,” which features a series-long arc about the rise of a xenophobic, authoritarian government on Earth. “Babylon 5” was made in the mid-1990s, the so-called “end of history” when American democracy had won the ideological battle. “Babylon 5” functioned as a warning for the complacent, in the vein of Sinclair Lewis’ “It Can’t Happen Here,” by suggesting fascism could rise again in the future.

Science fiction can help us imagine a better future, but allegory can also help us understand our present.

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Hyperliquid Open Positions Top 305K as Traders Strategize Around Major Crypto Breakout

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July 6, 2026

Hyperliquid Open Positions Top 305K as Traders Strategize Around Major Crypto Breakout

The decentralized perpetuals trading sector is buzzing with activity as Hyperliquid records a new all-time high in total open positions. Data released on July 6, 2026, shows the platform now hosts 305,508 open positions, marking a clear surge in trader engagement.

This milestone arrives precisely as the broader cryptocurrency market tests critical technical levels, prompting participants to actively position themselves for potential breakouts or pullbacks.

Hyperliquid hits a record 305,508 open positions on July 6, 2026, amid critical technical levels in the broader cryptocurrency market.

The platform’s open-position count has been rising since October, with a sharp acceleration in recent weeks, signaling sustained momentum.

This growth trajectory reflects a multi-month uptrend, with distinct phases of base-building, steady accumulation, and summer acceleration, driven by low-latency order matching.

At this time, traders appear to be using Hyperliquid’s infrastructure to express directional views or manage risk through leveraged perpetual contracts. The platform’s high-throughput design supports rapid execution and on-chain transparency, qualities that have helped it attract growing volumes even during periods of market uncertainty.

With major assets navigating key support and resistance zones, the record open-position count signals both heightened speculation and strategic hedging across the ecosystem.

Surge to Record Open Positions Reflects Platform Growth

The jump to 305,508 open positions represents more than a simple numerical achievement. Tracking data from HyperTracker reveals a clear multi-month uptrend that has accelerated in recent weeks.

Source: Total Open Positions (July 6, 2026) — HyperTracker

Data shows an overall climb from roughly 210,000 positions in early October, through a period of consolidation and a sharp but temporary dip, followed by consistent gains that carried the metric past prior highs.

This incremental growth on top of the longer-term expansion underscores sustained momentum rather than a one-off spike. In perpetual futures markets, the total number of open positions serves as a direct gauge of active trader participation. Each position represents an unfilled leveraged contract that remains open until closed or liquidated, so higher counts generally translate into deeper liquidity pools and tighter spreads.

Hyperliquid’s specialized blockchain architecture plays a central role in this growth. By optimizing for low-latency order matching and finality measured in sub-seconds, the platform reduces friction for high-frequency and algorithmic traders who previously relied on centralized venues.

The visual trajectory on the HyperTracker chart shows distinct phases: an initial base-building period in late 2025, followed by steady accumulation through the first half of 2026 and an acceleration into summer. This pattern is evidence that more traders are comfortable maintaining leveraged exposure for longer durations, a sign of maturing confidence in both the platform and the asset class.

This record also carries implications for liquidity providers and market makers who supply the necessary depth for large orders. Higher open interest typically encourages tighter quoting and improved capital efficiency, creating a virtuous cycle that can further boost trading activity.

While elevated open positions increase the theoretical risk of cascading liquidations during sharp moves, they simultaneously demonstrate the platform’s capacity to handle stress without structural failure.

Broader Market Dynamics Drive Strategic Positioning

The timing of Hyperliquid’s milestone coincides with a period of technical decision-making across major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and leading altcoins continue to oscillate around psychologically and technically significant price zones that often act as inflection points.

When assets hover near resistance, traders frequently increase long exposure in anticipation of breakouts; near support, hedging or short positioning becomes more common. Hyperliquid’s perpetuals market provides a liquid venue for both strategies without the custody or counterparty risks associated with some centralized platforms.

Traders appear to be layering positions across multiple timeframes. Short-term scalpers exploit intraday volatility around key levels, while swing traders establish larger positions aligned with broader macro narratives such as regulatory clarity, institutional adoption trends, or shifts in global liquidity conditions. The ability to trade 24/7 with leverage allows participants to react instantly to news flow or on-chain metrics, advantages that decentralized infrastructure is particularly well-suited to deliver.

Beyond pure speculation, many users employ Hyperliquid for portfolio hedging. Spot holders can open offsetting short perpetual positions to protect against downside moves while retaining upside exposure. This risk-management utility becomes especially valuable when markets sit at critical junctures where the next directional move could be sizable.

Also read: Bitcoin’s Greatest Evolution Comes From Changing Less, Not More — Michael Saylor

Disclaimer: The information researched and reported by The Crypto Times is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Investing in crypto assets involves significant risk due to market volatility. Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR) and consult with a qualified Financial Advisor before making any investment decisions.

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When is EastEnders on tonight? Get up-to-date schedules and changes here

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July 6, 2026

When is EastEnders on tonight? Get up-to-date schedules and changes here

EastEnders usually airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7.30pm, with each episode also landing early at 6am on BBC iPlayer the same day. But as viewers know all too well, that regular slot is far from guaranteed when big sporting events like the World Cup and Wimbledon take over the schedule.

So with the TV timetable being shuffled around once again, what time is EastEnders on tonight, and can fans still watch it on iPlayer as normal?

EastEnders will air earlier tonight (Credit: BBC)

What time is EastEnders on tonight and is it on BBC iPlayer yet?

EastEnders will air on BBC One tonight, Monday, July 6, but not in its usual slot. Instead of the standard 7.30pm showing, the episode will be broadcast earlier at 7pm, running for half an hour.

After that, the next episode is currently set to air on Tuesday, July 7 at 7.30pm. Though this is on BBC Two. As always, the schedule remains subject to change depending on how the ongoing World Cup fixtures impact the BBC line-up.

For those who cannot wait, the episode is already available to stream on BBC iPlayer, where it is released early each day as usual.

But what drama is heading to the Square tonight?

EastEnders spoilers for tonight, Honey vs Bea

A police cordon outside No.18 quickly gets everyone talking in the Square, with residents desperate to find out what is really going on. Nicola and Honey arrange a secret meeting with Billy. But, things take a tense turn when Honey learns a detective is looking to question her about what she has discovered.

Determined not to back down, Honey pulls together help from others to stage an online vigil. She hopes to lure Bea out into the open and finally clear Billy’s name.

At first, the plan seems to be working when Honey spots a hooded figure watching from nearby. But when she confronts a distressed Bea, events spiral quickly. They end in a terrifying struggle that leaves Honey unconscious, before Bea forces her into a waiting car.

EastEnders' Max holding phone — Max can’t keep away from Priya (Credit: BBC)

What else is happening in EastEnders tonight?

Elsewhere in the Square, Cindy becomes increasingly suspicious after witnessing a tense clash between Priya and Avani, leading her to question Priya’s behaviour. Max steps in to defend Priya, explaining her difficult situation involving Ravi, but his intervention soon backfires. Priya later finds out what Max has been saying and angrily warns him to stop discussing her personal life.

Meanwhile, Amy is left worried about Jack, although Denzel tries his best to lift her spirits. Kim continues to avoid Denise as her anxiety grows, fearing her secret about Sheila is close to being exposed.

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Why machine-washable bespoke is unusual

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Metaverse Fashion Week Online

July 6, 2026

This bespoke jacket from Whitcomb & Shaftesbury is machine washable. That’s pretty rare – why?

First, most good tailored jackets are made with canvas in the chest and melton under the collar, both of which don’t react well to machine washing (even on a cool temperature). They get distorted and can shrink.

Second, the material of the jacket itself can’t usually be machine washed. Cottons are the easiest in that respect, but even then the material has to be thoroughly washed beforehand – often multiple times – so all of the shrinkage is taken out.

Bespoke tailoring is also harder than a regular suit, because there’s often more complex canvassing inside, sometimes more delicate handwork, and overall the shape is more precisely made in a 3D shape that can be distorted by the washing. It’s why expert pressing after dry cleaning is so important.

So when Whitcomb showed me a very nice-looking machine-washable jacket they were working on for a client, I was interested.

Not, however, because of the convenience. I cared less about the fact that I could clean it at home, and more that it would bring a bespoke cotton jacket closer to ready-to-wear ones.

Customers of bespoke are often disappointed when they commission a cotton jacket. They’ve seen one in a shop from an Italian brand like Boglioli or an English brand like Drake’s, and they want that softness, that casualness, but made to fit.

Bespoke cotton jackets don’t usually look like that because of the sharpness created by their internal structure, but also because they can’t be washed – and nearly all ready-to-wear cotton jackets are industrially washed.

This garment washing takes place in large vats, in large wash houses, and gives the jacket attractive fading around the edges and seams. The material itself is also often industrially washed beforehand, to break down the cotton and soften it.

This can happen with dry cleaning, but only over a long period of time. Generally the aim of dry cleaning is not to affect the material, as customers want it the same. King Charles has some cotton jackets that have been beautifully faded, but when I’ve spoken to the tailors that have made these for him, they note that they’re all at least 10 years old.

Even if that were one or two years, most people don’t have the patience to repeatedly clean clothes like this – to have it for so long in a state they don’t like and therefore don’t enjoy wearing as much. Even raw denim suffers from this problem today, as we discussed recently, and tailoring doesn’t have the advantage of becoming so much more personal in the way it fades.

My hope with the Whitcomb & Shaftesbury jacket was that it would quickly start to break down and fade when I washed it at home, making it closer to that attractive, lived-in look of RTW cotton jackets.

As pictured here, the jacket has been washed in a machine three times. Regular detergent, regular cycle, just 30 degrees and low spin. It’s then been hung on a good hanger and left to dry.

The jacket was made without canvas in the chest or melton under the collar, but some control and shape was given to the front with hand sewing on the collar. It’s remarkable that the jacket maintains so much shape of that shape when it’s worn, despite all the underpinnings bespoke usually has.

The jacket doesn’t just fit me better than a RTW one would do in 2D terms – the right length, width, overall shape – but in bespoke terms, with shape to the chest, pitch of the sleeve, hold on the neck.

After the second wash I did try steaming it, to take some of the wrinkles out. We have a good steamer in the office and I spent a good 10 minutes working every part of the jacket.

This made the body and sleeves smoother, but had less of an effect on the patched pockets, which didn’t change much. Some careful ironing would be required to change those.

In any case, after half an hour of wearing most of the wrinkles had returned, particularly in areas like the elbows and the lower back. And frankly looked better for it.

The Whitcomb team also pressed it the first time I got it, which made everything perfectly smooth, but again it looked better when I’d worn it for a bit. This is the aesthetic of the thing, the point. (I’ll do a follow-up article on style points such as this.)

After those three washes, the jacket has started to fade slightly on the seams and edges, but it’s barely noticeable. Great as the colour is from a style point of view, the fading would be more noticeable on a dark colour like navy or black. Perhaps that’s a good idea for next time.

The tack stitches around the pockets also needed to be reinforced, to cope with the combination of machine washing and heavy use I put the pockets through. But they’ve been perfect since, and that’s a note for Whitcomb for the future – they haven’t made many of these jackets yet, after all.

There’s a lot more to say on this project, and so I’ve deliberately split coverage into two sections: this one on the practicalities of a washable bespoke jacket, and the second one on aesthetic choices like the material, colour and design, as well as why the style so appeals to me and how I’ve been wearing it.

That second piece will be published on Wednesday this week. Please hold questions about those things until then, if that’s OK.

This jacket cost £2400 including VAT from Whitcomb & Shaftesbury, made bespoke. Other colours available in the same material include black, navy, olive and beige.

Clothes pictured in main outfit, shown top and below:

‘East-West Passerby’ tote by Métier in Suede Marrakech
Bespoke trousers by Whitcomb & Shaftesbury in Art du Lin (covered previously here)
Black alligator belt by Rubato
Boy Scout shirt by Husbands in white voile (not currently available)
Loafers by Alessandro Gasperini (being covered soon)
Zepherin sunglasses by Jacques Marie Mage (also being covered soon)

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Vitalik’s new Lean Ethereum plan puts ETH’s Wall Street pitch on a 4 year clock

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July 6, 2026

Vitalik’s new Lean Ethereum plan puts ETH’s Wall Street pitch on a 4 year clock

Vitalik Buterin’s July 4 Lean Ethereum post put a clock on ETH’s institutional story: a protocol pitched as financial infrastructure now has to show it can rebuild itself in public.

In a weekend post on X, Buterin described Lean Ethereum as a three- or four-year collection of upgrades and called it Ethereum’s third major iteration, after the Merge.

The accompanying EF Architecture strawmap frames itself as a strawman coordination tool, rather than a final prediction. Its north stars are still large: seconds-level finality, 1 gigagas/sec on L1, teragas-scale L2 capacity, post-quantum security, and privacy as a first-class L1 goal.

That framing hardens the investment question around ETH. Institutions are being asked to believe that Ethereum can become durable financial plumbing while a decentralized protocol redesigns major parts of itself over several years. The settlement assurances that make Ethereum attractive in the first place now have to survive the transition.

The Institutional Pitch Meets Protocol Change

Ethereum’s Wall Street moment has already been moving beyond spot-market access. That pitch now reaches banks, asset managers, stablecoin issuers, tokenization desks, and public companies that treat ETH as a balance-sheet asset or Ethereum as settlement infrastructure.

The Ethereum Foundation’s 2025 Trillion Dollar Security initiative framed that ambition directly. Ethereum wants to become infrastructure secure enough for individuals, companies, institutions, and governments to hold very large amounts of value on-chain.

That is the institutional promise Lean Ethereum now has to serve.

New BlackRock report exposes a historic shift in crypto that leaves only one blockchain controlling the settlement layer

Stablecoins are going mainstream, and Ethereum is positioning itself as the place those dollars ultimately settle.

Jan 10, 2026 · Andjela Radmilac

The timing is not accidental. Ethereum Institutional launched as a corporate front door for banks, asset managers, public companies, tokenization, and stablecoins, while Ethlabs emerged as a treasury-backed R&D layer tied to the ETH monetary case.

Bitmine, Sharplink, and Joe Lubin sit behind both efforts, creating a new external stack around Ethereum’s institutional push while the Foundation tries to preserve a neutral protocol role.

JPMorgan taps both Ethereum and Solana for separate reasons for its institutional cash stack

JPMorgan’s latest tokenized money market fund filing offers a map of how the institutional cash leg of crypto may split across public chains.

May 13, 2026 · Gino Matos

That context makes Lean Ethereum more than a technical wish list. If ETH is to be sold as durable settlement collateral, the roadmap has to reduce uncertainty rather than add a new kind of it.

CryptoSlate market data on July 5 showed ETH trading near $1,763, with a market value of roughly $213 billion. The asset is large enough for protocol direction to matter, but still exposed enough for institutions to care about execution risk.

For banks and treasurers, this is a different due diligence problem from buying an asset with a volatile chart. They need to judge whether the base layer’s next architecture can keep settlement predictable while applications, wallets, clients, L2s, and privacy tooling adjust around it.

A strong roadmap helps only if it produces a credible path from today’s Ethereum to a more scalable and secure version of the same neutral network. That is the terrain Lean Ethereum now enters.

Why The Upgrade Stack Matters

Buterin’s post grouped Lean Ethereum around several changes that are easy to miss if they are dismissed as research jargon.

Recursive STARKs would shift verification away from direct re-execution and toward proofs that can make checking the chain cheaper and more scalable. For institutions, that goes to confidence in the system’s auditability and long-run operating cost.

Quantum-safe cryptography is a different kind of bet. It addresses whether assets and applications meant to live for decades can rely on signature and proof systems that will age well. The strawmap’s post-quantum L1 north star makes that a protocol-level concern.

The finality and gas-limit pieces are more immediately operational. Faster finality changes how quickly a transaction can be treated as settled.

Repeated gas-limit increases, blob increases, and shorter slot times affect how much activity Ethereum can absorb without pushing users and applications elsewhere. The strawmap’s gigagas L1 and teragas L2 goals are ambitious, but the institutional read is straightforward: if Ethereum wants to carry more settlement flow, it has to make capacity feel less scarce.

State is the most disruptive part of the plan because it touches application design. Buterin described a future in which today’s dynamic state remains, but grows only moderately, while new state types scale much further with tighter design constraints.

That could make ERC-20s, NFTs, and many DeFi use cases cheaper if they adapt, while more complex shared contracts continue to rely on dynamic state.

That makes the state plan a migration-incentive story. If new state designs can materially lower fees for common assets, application developers will have reason to move.

If those designs fragment liquidity, composability, or developer expectations, the savings come with tradeoffs. This is where the institutional settlement case becomes as much a product and governance problem as a cryptography problem.

Privacy sits in the same category. Buterin said privacy is now a first-class goal, and the strawmap lists private L1 as one of its north stars.

For institutional workflows, privacy is an operating requirement. Banks and asset managers need confidentiality, compliance controls, and predictable settlement.

Ethereum also has to preserve public verifiability and credible neutrality. Lean Ethereum’s privacy work has to thread those requirements while keeping the base layer usable.

The Risk Is Coordination

The strawmap is careful about its own authority. It says that an official roadmap that reflects every Ethereum stakeholder is effectively impossible, and that rough consensus is emergent and uncertain.

It also says the plan is a coordination tool, not a prediction, and that timelines should be treated with skepticism.

Ethereum Foundation cuts 20% of staff as ETH sinks 44% YTD despite record usage

The Ethereum Foundation cut 54 jobs and narrowed its mandate as record user activity collided with falling fees and a 44% decline in ETH.

Jun 24, 2026 · Oluwapelumi Adejumo

Those caveats are the reason the roadmap matters. Ethereum’s institutional appeal has always depended partly on its refusal to become a corporate-controlled settlement network.

The same neutrality that makes Ethereum useful to competing market participants also complicates protocol delivery compared to a private platform roadmap.

Lean Ethereum therefore creates two simultaneous messages. The positive message is that Ethereum is trying to harden itself for a world of higher value, more proofs, cheaper verification, larger state, stronger privacy, and eventual quantum risk.

The harder message is that the network is asking users and institutions to accept deep transition risk while that work happens.

That risk reaches beyond fork timing. It includes whether app developers understand the new state model, whether wallet and infrastructure teams can absorb protocol changes, whether users keep trust through transitions, whether L2s and the L1 roadmap remain aligned, and whether governance can prioritize difficult upgrades without turning the process into a battle among power centers.

A multi-fork plan can miss its goal in smaller ways even when individual upgrades ship. Capacity can rise while application architecture lags. Privacy can improve while compliance teams still prefer permissioned rails.

New state designs can lower fees for common assets while complex contracts remain anchored to older assumptions. That is why institutional adoption will be measured through usage and migration as much as roadmap publication.

The institutional lens sharpens the test. A private settlement network can promise a clean product timeline, even if it sacrifices openness. A rival public ecosystem can compete on simpler throughput or cheaper execution.

Ethereum’s answer is that public, neutral settlement can still evolve fast enough to carry serious financial infrastructure. Lean Ethereum makes that answer more concrete and easier to measure.

What The Next Four Years Test

The next signal is a sequence of shipped changes and developer responses: what lands in Glamsterdam and Hegota, how I-star and later forks take shape, whether gas and blob capacity rise safely, how finality work progresses, and whether application teams treat new state designs as useful rather than disruptive.

If Ethereum performs well, Lean Ethereum strengthens the investment case for ETH by making ETH’s settlement role more credible.

Faster finality, cheaper verification, privacy, post-quantum planning, and scalable state would make Ethereum look less like a mature chain defending its legacy position and more like infrastructure still capable of compounding.

If the process stalls, the same roadmap becomes a liability. Institutions may not wait indefinitely for public infrastructure to become faster, more private, cheaper, and quantum-safe.

Stablecoin issuers, tokenization platforms, and treasury firms can route workflows toward systems that offer more predictable near-term deployment, even if those systems are less neutral.

That is the real change Lean Ethereum brings to ETH’s Wall Street story. It gives institutions a more rigorous technical explanation of why Ethereum could remain the settlement layer for high-value digital assets. It also gives them a clearer checklist for doubt.

Over the next four years, Ethereum has to turn that roadmap into shipped, adopted infrastructure without losing the qualities that made a neutral public chain worth institutional attention in the first place.

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Aave V3.7 Launches on Monad as Network TVL Nears $450M

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July 6, 2026

Aave has officially deployed Aave Protocol v3.7 on Monad on July 2, opening an additional lending and borrowing market on this EVM-compatible Layer 1 after receiving approval from Aave governance. The launch comes as Monad’s DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL) approaches $450 million, according to DeFiLlama data, while Aave’s Monad market quickly surpassed $100 million in total market size following its initial deployment phase.

Aave V3.7 Launches on Monad

Aave went live on Monad with Aave Protocol version v3.7 after securing approval through Aave governance, according to an announcement from the Monad Foundation on July 2. The deployment opens an additional lending and borrowing market for Monad users, supporting 12 assets from day one.

The list of supported assets includes USDT0, USDC, GHO, USDe, mUSD, AUSD, WETH, cbBTC, wstETH, weETH, syrupUSDC, and sUSDe. This selection covers stablecoins, ETH liquid staking assets, BTC wrappers, and yield-bearing collateral, establishing a foundation for both asset supply and borrowing activities on Aave.

The arrival of Aave adds a major lending protocol to the Monad ecosystem, where borrowing and lending markets have begun to form alongside the growth of on-chain liquidity.

Monad Market Tops $117M

Aave’s Monad market has reached a total market size of $117.56 million, according to data from the Aave app. Within this, available liquidity is $69.08 million, while total borrowings are $48.47 million.

This momentum follows the $75 million deposit milestone within the first 24 hours post-launch, announced by Aave on X on July 3. In the same update, Aave stated that deposits on Monad had neared $80 million.

Aave V3 on Monad. Source: Aave

Total market size reflects the amount of assets supplied to Aave on Monad, while borrows show the portion of liquidity that users have borrowed. With $48.47 million in total borrowings, the amount of borrowed assets currently equates to over 40% of the total market size, indicating that the market experienced early two-way activity after launch. For a newly deployed lending protocol on a new chain, the noteworthy point is not only the volume of supplied assets but also the speed at which liquidity began to be utilized by borrowers.

Monad TVL Nears $450M

Monad recorded approximately $449.84 million in DeFi TVL according to DeFiLlama data, placing the network among the chains with significant on-chain liquidity during its early mainnet phase.

Monad’s Total Value Locked. Source: DeFiLlama

Aave joins Monad at a time when the lending market on this network already sees the presence of multiple other protocols. According to data from DeFiLlama, Euler V2, Morpho Blue, and Curvance are all among the major lending markets on Monad by TVL.

This competition makes Aave’s deployment not just an addition of a major lending venue to Monad, but also a test of Aave’s ability to attract liquidity within an ecosystem that already offers multiple borrowing and lending options.

Stablecoin Borrowing Leads Early Activity

Borrowing activity on Aave’s Monad Market is predominantly concentrated in the stablecoin sector. According to Aave app and DeFiLlama data, USDT0 recorded approximately $20.2 million borrowed, USDC around $16.0 million, AUSD around $5.0 million, and mUSD around $4.1 million. WETH also saw over $3 million borrowed, but stablecoins still account for the majority of borrowing activity in the early phase.

syrupUSDC is currently the asset with the largest supply in the market, at approximately $46.85 million. This structure indicates that Aave’s initial liquidity on Monad tilts toward stablecoins and yield-bearing collateral, rather than being evenly distributed across all 12 supported assets.

The Monad Foundation stated that subsequent phases could add Pendle PT assets and Fastlane’s LST. Expanding the asset list could help Aave move beyond the initial stablecoin borrowing demand, especially if demand for yield assets and liquid staking collateral continues to rise on Monad.

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Michael B. Jordan-Produced The Greatest Drops First Trailer, Offering a Powerful New Look at Muhammad Ali’s Legacy

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July 6, 2026

Michael B. Jordan-Produced The Greatest Drops First Trailer, Offering a Powerful New Look at Muhammad Ali’s Legacy

It looks like Danny McBride is serious about bringing G.I. Joe back to the big screen.

During a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, McBride confirmed that he has completed a screenplay for a new G.I. Joe film, and according to the actor and writer, Paramount Pictures is enthusiastic about moving the project forward.

“I’ve written one. I’m stoked about it. I’m really fired up about the script,” McBride said. “Paramount seems fired up about it, so hopefully we’re shooting it next year.”

For longtime fans of the franchise, perhaps the most exciting revelation wasn’t the production update—it was hearing how deeply McBride understands the source material.

“It was definitely the cartoons and the comics,” he explained. “G.I. Joe was my thing when I was a kid. I liked that more than Star Wars, more than anything. I still have all the characters.”

That lifelong passion helped shape the movie’s direction.

According to McBride, his original pitch wasn’t even for a traditional G.I. Joe film. Instead, he wanted to make a movie centered around the Dreadnoks, Cobra’s infamous biker gang of mercenaries. Paramount liked the idea but felt the franchise first needed a proper relaunch before branching into spinoffs.

“I had an idea for a Dreadnoks movie,” McBride recalled. “So I went to Paramount and pitched it, and they were like, ‘Well, the franchise kind of needs to be launched, so we can’t come out with a Dreadnoks movie. Would you have an angle for a G.I. Joe project?’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah, I’ll have an angle for that.’”

Rather than simply rehash familiar stories, McBride developed a new concept alongside his The Righteous Gemstonescollaborators Jeff Bradley and John Carcieri.

The film reportedly follows Duke and a team of Joes as they investigate Springfield, the infamous town from the comics that secretly operates under Cobra’s control.

“You’re following Duke and a group of other Joes. There’s that town in the comic, Springfield, which is a town that’s secretly all Cobra, and so that is where our film takes place.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the tone.

Despite McBride’s reputation for outrageous comedies like Eastbound & Down and The Righteous Gemstones, he insists this won’t be a comedic take on the iconic toy line.

“We cracked something that we really love,” he said. “It’s not a comedy; it’s kind of suspense and action. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

He even described the screenplay as a more grounded approach to the franchise, suggesting audiences should expect tension and espionage rather than over-the-top parody.

While McBride stopped short of revealing any casting announcements, he hinted that conversations are already taking place behind the scenes.

“We have some pretty interesting people lining up to be in it,” he teased. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it looks like it’s going to be pretty fun.”

Following the disappointing box office performance of Snake Eyes in 2021, Paramount has been searching for the right direction to revive the franchise. If McBride’s comments are any indication, the studio believes it has finally found a fresh approach—one rooted in the classic comics while delivering a grounded action-thriller centered around Duke, Cobra, and the mysterious town of Springfield.

Should production begin next year as planned, G.I. Joe fans may finally be getting the franchise reboot they’ve been waiting for.

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The Cub Review | TheXboxHub

Gaming

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July 5, 2026

A Beautiful Journey Through The End Of The World

There is a certain comfort to games that are set at the end of the world. I think it’s somehow reassuring to be the only survivor wandering the wastelands, trying to stay alive. It’s become such a common setting that I almost feel I might stand a chance if everything goes pear-shaped, thanks to all the things I’ve learnt from games over the years.

The Cub is a game that feels like a cross between The Jungle Book and The Last of Us. Here, Earth has become uninhabitable, and the last humans have left for Mars. But did they really take everyone?

The Cub running — The Cub – a tale of forgotten Earth

Before we start this review properly, be aware, you should be aware – you will die a lot in this game. At its heart, this is an old-school 2D platformer, and it’s very much a one-hit, one-fall-and-you’re-dead kind of experience. It will frustrate you at times, and it may even make you want to throw your controller across the room. But on the other hand, there is so much to love here So let’s start with the story.

A Story Told Through A Forgotten Earth

The game is set in the near future, where the world has gone terribly wrong. Earth has become completely uninhabitable, and millions have died. The last of humanity escaped aboard spaceships bound for Mars. But one child – or perhaps more – was left behind in the chaos. The hero you play is one of those children, raised by wolves and now surviving among the wastelands and abandoned cities. After discovering a helmet belonging to one of the off-worlders, our hero soon finds himself being hunted by a group of humans from Mars who have returned to capture him. It’s up to you to make sure they don’t.

The story is told through a series of cutscenes at the beginning of each chapter, with The Cub’s narration guiding us through the events. There is also some excellent environmental storytelling as you journey across Earth while escaping your pursuers. Newspaper articles, emails, and videos scattered throughout the world slowly reveal the story of humanity’s final days on the planet. One of my favourite touches is the radio station that begins playing through the helmet The Cub discovers, giving you regular glimpses into life on Mars. It’s a wonderful piece of storytelling, full of wit, humour, and an underlying sense of melancholy.

The Cub floating — There’s some tough platforming here

Tough Platforming Keeps You On Your Toes

Gameplay revolves around platforming, with all the old favourites making an appearance, including jumping and double jumping. It takes a little while to get used to the game’s physics and just how precise everything is, but eventually you find your rhythm. There is also a stronger jump that you need to master for certain sections. Alongside the platforming are stealth sequences and plenty of chase scenes.

There are a few creature enemies, but the biggest threat comes from the explorers sent from Mars. They pursue you across the barren landscapes. Some fire tranquillisers on sight, others try to trap you in nets, while another type launches bombs that will also bring your escape to an abrupt end. Trying to outrun or sneak past these enemies while navigating difficult platforming sections creates some tense moments.

You’ll also encounter other dangers along the way, including missile-firing drones that demand quick reflexes and good timing. As I said earlier, expect to die a lot, and there will definitely be moments where some deaths feel a little unfair. Thankfully, the checkpoint system is generous enough that you rarely lose much progress.

Gorgeous Presentation Brings The Wasteland To Life

Visually, The Cub is wonderful, with a unique animation style that feels both inventive and beautiful. Watching nature reclaim the decaying remains of civilisation creates some stunning imagery. The animated cutscenes before each chapter are equally impressive.

The audio is excellent too, particularly the radio station from Mars, which plays an eclectic mix of original music that is a genuine pleasure to listen to. The voice acting is equally strong, from The Cub’s narration to the wonderfully dry performance of the radio DJ.

A Short But Memorable Adventure

I had a great time with this game; one of those experiences that kept me wondering what would be around the corner. My only real criticisms are that the platforming can occasionally become frustrating, and that The Cub simply doesn’t last long enough.

I wanted more. But for now, I’m happy to have experienced this brilliant journey through a decaying world.

Important Links

The Cub Finally Lands On Xbox – A Post-Apocalyptic Platformer With A Classic Heart – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-cub-finally-lands-on-xbox-a-post-apocalyptic-platformer-with-a-classic-heart/

The Cub combines The Jungle Book with the armageddon – coming to Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-cub-combines-the-jungle-book-with-the-armageddon-coming-to-xbox-playstation-switch-and-pc/

Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/the-cub/9NSTG1KGXJK4/0010

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Weekly Wrap: MiCA Kicks In, Trump’s Crypto Fortune Tops $1B, Bitcoin Rebounds

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July 5, 2026

Weekly Wrap: MiCA Kicks In, Trump’s Crypto Fortune Tops B, Bitcoin Rebounds

Welcome to this week’s cryptocurrency market update. If last week was about Bitcoin crashing below $60K, $1 billion in liquidations, Binance’s decision to halt EU services, and Cardano’s $20M SecondFi hack, this week the story shifted from market pain to structural regulatory upheaval and a stunning reveal of how much money the sitting U.S. President has personally made from crypto.

MiCA enforcement went live on July 1, formally locking Binance out of the European Union and forcing Revolut to schedule a full USDT delisting by August 31; the U.S. Supreme Court handed President Trump at-will removal power over the SEC and CFTC while carving out an explicit shield for Federal Reserve independence; Trump’s $635 million memecoin profit and Vice President JD Vance’s $500K Bitcoin disclosure pushed the Trump family’s total crypto earnings past $1 billion; Bitcoin clawed back 6% while MSTR surged 23% as Strategy boosted its Bitcoin reserve to $2.55B and lifted STRC’s dividend to 12%. Hinkal Protocol was drained for $820K in a Tornado Cash-laundered exploit. Let’s get into it.

Top headlines for this week

Below are the major headlines defining the crypto market this week.

MiCA enforcement goes live, reshapes the European crypto map

The most consequential regulatory story of the week was July 1, and with it the full enforcement of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation. As promised the previous week, Binance was formally locked out of the EU after withdrawing its Greek license application. The exchange reassured users that funds remain safe and withdrawals will stay open, even as spot orders, sign-ups, deposits, and staking products go dark for EU residents.

The fallout was immediate. Revolut announced it would delist USDT by August 31, joining a growing list of platforms shedding non-compliant stablecoins to remain compliant and continue operating in Europe. On the other side of the ledger, ESMA published its latest update to the MiCA authorization list, adding 37 firms including Standard Chartered and FalconX — a signal that traditional finance is racing into the regulatory space Binance just vacated.

The 1,700 UK investors who filed a £150M lawsuit against Binance and CZ in London this week are a reminder that Europe’s break with Binance is not just regulatory but litigation-driven. The claims center on token listings that allegedly caused catastrophic retail losses, and the London court is being asked to hold the exchange and its founder personally accountable.

SCOTUS hands Trump SEC and CFTC control, spares the Fed

The most under-covered but arguably most consequential story of the week came from the U.S. Supreme Court. In a landmark ruling, SCOTUS granted President Trump at-will removal power over the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, ending nearly a century of independent-agency protections that traced back to the 1935 Humphrey’s Executor decision. The Court explicitly carved out the Federal Reserve, preserving the central bank’s independence.

The practical impact for crypto is enormous. Both the SEC and CFTC are now, effectively, extensions of executive branch policy. Combined with the Trump family’s now-disclosed $1B+ in crypto earnings, enforcement priorities, rulemaking timelines, and the SEC’s litigation strategy can all be reshaped through the removal threat alone. Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC leadership no longer serve fixed terms in any meaningful sense.

For an industry that spent years fighting SEC enforcement under Gary Gensler, this is the ultimate whiplash: the same agency that once treated most tokens as unregistered securities is now under direct control of a president whose own memecoin trades daily on-chain.

Trump family crypto empire crosses $1B

The disclosures kept coming. Trump’s financial disclosure showed $635 million in earnings from the TRUMP memecoin — far exceeding what he made from Bitcoin, DeFi ventures, or World Liberty Financial. Vice President JD Vance disclosed a $500K Bitcoin stake, his first formal on-record crypto position, alongside Trump’s aggregate crypto haul crossing $1 billion.

Asked to respond, Trump defended the earnings as being incidental to broader market gains, telling reporters he’s profiting simply because the stock market is going up. Ethics watchdogs disagreed loudly. The disclosure lands the same week the Supreme Court expanded his control over the very agencies that would investigate self-dealing.

FBI Director Kash Patel, meanwhile, was found to have violated the STOCK Act by failing to disclose a $250K MSTR stake within statutory timelines. The Patel disclosure is smaller in dollar terms but points to a pattern of senior administration officials holding meaningful crypto-adjacent positions without proper filings.

Bitcoin rebounds 6%, MSTR surges 23%, Strategy boosts reserve to $2.55B

After last week’s brutal breakdown below $60K, Bitcoin staged a recovery. BTC climbed 6% while MSTR surged more than 23% as sentiment shifted on the back of Michael Saylor’s aggressive balance-sheet moves. Strategy boosted its cash reserve to $2.55 billion and raised the STRC dividend to 12%, directly addressing the CryptoQuant recommendation from the prior week that Strategy pause purchases and rebuild cash.

But not all was smooth. A rumor tore through X mid-week that Strategy was about to dump 491 BTC, triggering a mini-panic. Saylor personally responded, using the moment to talk about Bitcoin governance and reaffirm the company’s HODL thesis. The sell-off rumor was denied, but the fact that it moved the market at all shows how thin sentiment remains around the corporate BTC treasury model.

Longer-term, technical analysts flagged that Bitcoin is now sitting on its 200-week moving average — a level historically associated with the transition into deeper bear phases. Combined with continued capital rotation from crypto into AI equities, the setup remains fragile despite this week’s bounce.

Not everyone was rewarded for holding through. Dave Portnoy publicly admitted this week that he’s down millions on Bitcoin and has regrets — a personality-driven capitulation moment traders will read either as a contrarian bottom signal or as confirmation that late-cycle retail is finally throwing in the towel.

CLARITY Act picks up law-enforcement backing

The U.S. crypto market-structure bill picked up meaningful momentum. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) became the first police group to endorse the CLARITY Act, citing its provisions for combating illicit finance without stifling innovation.

Days later, the Major County Sheriffs of America dropped their opposition to the bill after negotiators added stronger crime-fighting powers into the framework. Together, the two endorsements neutralize what had been one of the most effective conservative talking points against CLARITY — that law enforcement wanted stronger controls before Congress unlocked commodity treatment for most tokens.

With the July 17 House hearing approaching and Trump now in effective control of the SEC and CFTC through SCOTUS’s ruling, the CLARITY Act’s odds of passing in 2026 look markedly better than they did just weeks ago, when Galaxy cut them to 50-50.

Hinkal drained for $820K, more DeFi exploits pile up

The DeFi security picture stayed grim. Hinkal Protocol was exploited for $820K as an attacker moved more than 450 ETH through Tornado Cash and THORChain to obscure the trail. The privacy protocol was ironically undone by an attacker leveraging the same privacy infrastructure it was designed to serve. Later in the week, Hinkal published its preliminary post-mortem, tracing the root cause to a flaw in its Ethereum contract logic.

Elsewhere, the AIDC token was drained for $121K in WBNB from a PancakeSwap pool via a burn-function bug, and Edel Finance lost $403K to an attacker who once again routed funds through Tornado Cash. In a rare piece of good news, Gnosis Pay contained the fallout from its $1.8M card-related exploit and confirmed that 100% of user funds are safe.

The pattern is impossible to ignore: attackers are now systematically using Tornado Cash + THORChain as a two-step laundering pipeline, and DeFi teams have not caught up.

India moves in three directions at once

India delivered one of the most contradictory regulatory weeks of the year. Maharashtra became the first state to explicitly protect crypto assets under law, granting recognition to virtual digital assets as recoverable property under state statutes — a landmark shift for Indian investors who have long lived in a legal grey zone.

Days later, RBI-side voices reasserted the opposite. The Finance Panel Chairman confirmed that the RBI has rejected legal status for crypto, even as he acknowledged the central bank’s own e-Rupee CBDC is failing to gain traction. The comments underscore the RBI’s continued institutional hostility to crypto despite growing state-level and industry momentum.

Tying it all together, India confirmed that its long-awaited comprehensive crypto policy report will be tabled during the Monsoon Session of Parliament — likely to be one of the biggest single policy inflection points for the Indian market this year.

The regulatory tug-of-war is also playing out in liquidity. India’s USDT premium jumped to 8.5% this week as ED raids and stablecoin shortages hit off-ramps, meaning Indian traders are paying an extra 8.5% just to access dollar-denominated stablecoin liquidity.

Ondo debuts tokenized securities; Google, BlackRock, Coinbase back Open USD

The tokenization narrative gained real traction. Ondo Finance debuted the first U.S. tokenized securities issued under the new SEC framework, setting a legal template other issuers will now copy. This is a genuinely historic milestone: for years the SEC blocked the on-chain issuance of registered securities, and the new framework — arriving alongside the executive-branch shift — is the first regulatory pathway that actually makes it work.

On the stablecoin side, a coalition of 140 firms, including Google, BlackRock, and Coinbase, publicly backed the Open USD stablecoin initiative. The industry heavyweights are lining up behind an interoperable, standards-based stablecoin architecture designed to compete with both Tether and Circle at the infrastructure layer.

Speaking of Circle, ZachXBT publicly questioned Circle over its delayed freeze of $280M in USDC linked to illicit activity, framing the delay as evidence that Circle’s real-time compliance is not what it markets. The debate spilled into the broader OUSD rivalry conversation, with critics arguing that Open USD’s transparent governance is an implicit answer to exactly this class of failure.

SharpLink piled onto the ETH treasury trend, adding 10,000 ETH and buying back 2.1M shares after a $75M raise — a mini-Strategy move that signals ETH-native treasury companies are now being taken seriously by public equity investors.

News you might have missed

Vitalik drops a 10,000-word iO deep dive: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a massive treatise on indistinguishability obfuscation, calling it “the final boss of cryptography” and arguing it could reshape how privacy is engineered on-chain over the next decade. The full essay is on vitalik.eth.limo.

Loopring shuts down its DEX: Loopring, one of the original zkRollup pioneers, shut down its DEX and disabled the trustless exit mechanism it had helped invent — a bitter symbolic end for one of Ethereum’s most idealistic rollup projects.

Polygon shuts down $250M zkEVM on July 1: Polygon Labs formally wound down its once-flagship zkEVM after roughly $250M in cumulative investment, pivoting fully to AggLayer.

Michigan slaps Kalshi with $120K daily fine: A Michigan court ordered Kalshi to halt operations and imposed a $120,000-per-day fine, the harshest state-level penalty yet in the ongoing prediction-market war.

Ansem airdrop turns into a dump: Ansem’s $9.43M ANSEM airdrop landed with a thud — 7 wallets received 74% of the supply and immediately began dumping, sparking fresh questions about influencer-led token distributions.

Robinhood Chain claims 4x Solana speed: Robinhood’s new chain claims 100ms blocks, roughly 4x Solana speed, reopening the perennial debate about whether the market actually needs sub-second blocks or if the frontier lies elsewhere.

Claude Fable 5 returns: Anthropic re-released Claude Fable 5 with tighter safety measures, raising the question of whether its revised guardrails can protect billions in crypto from AI-enabled DeFi and social-engineering attacks.

Ireland seizes another 500 BTC: Irish authorities seized another 500 BTC from a drug dealer’s lost wallets, bringing the total to roughly $90M in state-controlled recovered Bitcoin.

Buzz of the Week

The buzz this week is the convergence of three stories that would be enormous individually and are seismic together: MiCA taking effect, SCOTUS handing Trump the SEC and CFTC, and the Trump family’s crypto haul crossing $1B.

Take them separately for a moment. MiCA is the largest crypto regulatory transition in the world’s second-largest economic bloc. Binance is out. Revolut is delisting USDT. ESMA’s authorization list is filling up with names like Standard Chartered and FalconX rather than the crypto-native brands that dominated the last cycle.

The European crypto market that opens on July 2 is fundamentally not the same market that closed on June 30. Every retail user in the EU has to check whether their exchange, their stablecoin, and their staking product still work legally. Every institutional desk has to reassess counterparty risk. This is not a policy adjustment. It is a purge.

Now layer SCOTUS on top. For 90 years, Humphrey’s Executor stood for the proposition that independent agencies were, in fact, independent. This week, that changed. The SEC and CFTC now serve at the pleasure of the President. The Fed was carved out — a huge political win for markets — but every other financial regulator with jurisdiction over crypto now takes direction from the White House.

If Trump wants the SEC to drop the last enforcement actions against crypto firms, he can order it. If he wants the CFTC to accelerate perpetual futures approvals, he can order it. If he wants the SEC to fast-track the Ondo tokenized-securities framework across every registered issuer, he can order it. And, critically, if he wants any of the above reversed, that also just takes an order.

Now add Trump’s crypto haul. Six hundred and thirty-five million dollars from a memecoin. Total crypto earnings past $1 billion. Vance holding $500K in Bitcoin. Kash Patel caught undisclosing MSTR. The sitting administration is now materially, personally exposed to crypto asset prices at a scale that dwarfs any prior political-financial entanglement in the sector. And the same administration just gained direct control over the regulators that would investigate self-dealing in that market.

You do not have to take a partisan position to see the structural implication. Regulation, market structure, and personal fortune are now aligned in the same direction for the first time in U.S. crypto history. That alignment can be constructive — Ondo’s tokenized securities launch is impossible without it — or it can be dangerous, depending on how the guardrails hold up. What is no longer plausible is the pretense of separation.

Meanwhile, the market is doing what markets do when structural uncertainty resolves in a bullish direction: Bitcoin bounced 6%, MSTR ripped 23%, Saylor topped up his reserve, and Strategy raised the STRC dividend to 12%. Sentiment shifted from “we broke the 200-week MA” to “the White House owns crypto now.” Whether that trade lasts through the Ondo launch, the CLARITY Act hearing, and the next set of disclosures is the question everyone will be asking in the second half of July.

And on the security side, another quiet reminder that infrastructure remains fragile. Hinkal, Edel, AIDC, Gnosis Pay — four exploits in one week, three of them routed through Tornado Cash. Regulators can control the fiat ramps. Nobody has figured out how to control the on-chain laundering pipeline.

What to expect next week

Next week has several critical threads converging.

First, the MiCA fallout continues to unfold. Binance’s EU-user migration patterns will now be visible in exchange market-share data. Coinbase, Kraken, and the newly authorized ESMA-listed members are positioned to absorb the flow. Any exchange missing that transition will hemorrhage volume. Watch for the first EU-specific volume reports from major venues.

Second, India’s Parliament Monsoon Session opens with the comprehensive crypto policy report set to be tabled. This is the single biggest Indian regulatory event of the year and will set the tone for how the world’s largest population interacts with crypto for the next several years. Maharashtra’s move creates state-level pressure; the RBI’s continued opposition sets up a genuine central-versus-state confrontation.

Third, the CLARITY Act momentum is building. With NOBLE and the Major County Sheriffs both now aligned or neutral, and the July 17 hearing approaching, the political runway for a 2026 passage has genuinely improved. Watch for the Senate schedule and any signal from Majority Leader offices about floor time.

Fourth, Bitcoin is sitting on the 200-week moving average. Either this week’s 6% bounce extends, and the 200-week holds as long-term support, or the level fails and BTC opens the door to a deeper capitulation into the mid-$50Ks. The next 5–10 trading days will decide.

Fifth, watch for Trump-family disclosure follow-ups. The $1B haul has invited more scrutiny, not less, and the SCOTUS ruling means every ethics inquiry now runs through executive-controlled agencies. Expect journalists, congressional Democrats, and independent watchdogs to keep pulling the thread.

Sixth, Strategy’s STRC dividend hike to 12% is aggressive. It reassures preferred shareholders but adds meaningful cash obligations at a moment when the company has just barely rebuilt its reserves. Any weakness in Bitcoin next week directly pressures the numerator of that dividend coverage ratio. Watch STRC price action closely.

And keep watching the Tornado Cash + THORChain pipeline. Three of this week’s four exploits went through it. Until DeFi teams either integrate real-time monitoring or the mixer stack faces meaningful regulatory pressure, this pattern will keep happening.

Also Read: CLARITY Act Stalls: Why Senate’s August Recess Puts US Crypto Rules at Risk

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Scarlett Johansson’s Voice Roles | MarkMeets Media

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Scarlett Johansson’s Voice Roles | MarkMeets Media

Scarlett Johansson is widely recognized for her powerful performances in live-action films, particularly within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, her extraordinary abilities also shine through in a series of remarkable voice roles that showcase her distinctive vocal talent. Johansson has taken on diverse characters, from animated animals to advanced AI systems, proving that her artistry transcends traditional acting boundaries. In this article, we will explore and rank Scarlett Johansson’s voice roles, celebrating the impact she has made in the realm of voice acting while highlighting her range and emotional depth.

The Landscape of Voice Acting: A Unique Art Form

Voice acting is a unique discipline that requires actors to convey emotions, character traits, and narratives without the use of physical presence. In many ways, it presents an even more challenging acting space, demanding a profound understanding of inflections, tones, and pacing. Johansson’s voice roles exemplify how effective articulation and vocal nuance can create unforgettable characters.

Emotional Depth Through Voice

In voice acting, the delivery of lines becomes paramount, as the audience cannot rely on physical gestures or facial expressions. This makes Johansson’s ability to evoke feelings simply through her voice even more impressive. Whether she’s voicing a romantic AI or a quirky animated character, she consistently brings depth and authenticity to her performances.

A Range of Characters

Throughout her career, Scarlett Johansson’s voice roles have spanned various genres, including animation, science fiction, and even musical projects. This versatility demonstrates her adaptability and willingness to explore different character types, making her contributions noteworthy.

Ranking Scarlett Johansson’s Voice Roles

7. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) – Mindy

In the beloved animated comedy The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Scarlett Johansson lends her voice to Mindy, a compassionate mermaid who aids SpongeBob and Patrick in their quest to recover King Neptune’s stolen crown. Although her role is relatively minor, Johansson’s portrayal of Mindy as an encouraging and supportive character adds warmth to the film. Her compassionate delivery resonates well, making Mindy a memorable figure even amidst the hilarious antics of the titular sponge and his sidekick.

Release Date: November 19, 2004Runtime: 87 minutesWatch on: Max

6. Transformers One (2024) – Elita-1

In Transformers One, set to release in September 2024, Scarlett Johansson plays Elita-1, a significant character and love interest to Optimus Prime. In this latest installment of the iconic franchise, the narrative explores the deep bond between Optimus and Megatron, showcasing their evolution from brothers to enemies. Johansson’s interpretation of Elita imbues the character with strength and tenderness, successfully weaving warmth into a traditionally action-driven universe. Audiences can look forward to her dynamic chemistry with fellow voice actor Chris Hemsworth, adding another layer to the film.

Release Date: September 20, 2024Runtime: 104 minutesWatch in Theaters

5. Sing (2016) – Ash

In the vibrant, animated world of Sing, miniaturized animals inhabit a bustling city as they join a singing competition to save a struggling theater. Scarlett Johansson shines as Ash, a punk-rock porcupine with dreams and ambitions. This role marks a significant showcase for her vocal talents and the themes of determination and vulnerability. As Ash navigates her way through the ups and downs of competition, Johansson’s powerful performances in multiple songs play a vital role in the character’s development, making Ash one of the standout figures within the film.

Release Date: November 23, 2016Runtime: 110 minutes

4. Sing 2 (2021) – Ash

With the success of the first film, Johansson reprises her role as Ash in Sing 2. Her character experiences significant growth in this sequel, and Johansson’s voice work reflects Ash’s development as both a performer and an individual. The film explores complex themes of ambition, friendship, and self-acceptance, depicting Ash’s journey with heartfelt precision. Johansson’s performances resonate throughout the movie as she masterfully captures the essence of her character and delivers memorable musical moments alongside Bono.

Release Date: December 22, 2021Runtime: 110 minutes

3. Isle of Dogs (2018) – Nutmeg

Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs presents a dystopian future where dogs are exiled due to a canine flu outbreak. In this richly animated film, Johansson voices Nutmeg, a show dog with a complicated past. While her on-screen time is limited, Johansson’s nuanced performance adds significantly to the emotional core of the story. Nutmeg’s character becomes a source of inspiration and emotional support for the film’s protagonist, Atari. Johansson’s subtlety captures the complexities of her character beautifully. This role highlights her capability to convey a wide array of emotions, making Nutmeg resonate with audiences despite limited dialogue.

Release Date: March 23, 2018Runtime: 101 minutes

2. The Jungle Book (2016) – Kaa

In Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book, Scarlett Johansson portrays Kaa, the hypnotic python who plays a pivotal role in young Mowgli’s journey through the jungle. Johansson’s sultry voice lends an air of danger and allure to Kaa, making the character both memorable and captivating. Her delivery captures Kaa’s seductive charm and ominous intent, elevating the character beyond mere comic relief. Although Kaa doesn’t have extensive screen time, Johansson’s performance leaves a lasting impression, embodying the power of her vocal work in this reimagined classic.

Release Date: April 7, 2016Runtime: 105 minutesWatch on: Disney+

1. Her (2013) – Samantha

Arguably the most significant of Scarlett Johansson’s voice roles, her performance in Spike Jonze’s Her stands out as a landmark achievement in voice acting. In this romantic sci-fi narrative, Johansson voices Samantha, a highly advanced AI operating system designed to meet all the emotional and pragmatic needs of Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix. The film addresses profound themes of love, isolation, and the evolution of technology in human relationships. Johansson’s vocal performance conveys an extraordinary range of emotions, allowing audiences to connect with Samantha on a deeply emotional level. Her ability to express longing, affection, and growth showcases her mastery of voice acting, making this role deeply impactful within her body of work.

Release Date: December 18, 2013Runtime: 120 minutes

The Impact of Scarlett Johansson’s Voice Roles

Expanding the Boundaries of Animation and Voice Acting

Scarlett Johansson has shown that voice acting can evoke genuine emotional responses and convey complex narratives without physical expression. Her works in animated films and voice roles in various genres have expanded the boundaries of traditional voice acting, allowing for deeper character connections.

Each of the Scarlett Johansson voice roles discussed above reflects her ability to adapt and portray multifaceted personalities, breathing life into characters that resonate vividly with audiences. Additionally, her talent ensures these characters remain memorable, reinforcing the idea that voice acting deserves equal recognition alongside live-action performances.

A Lasting Legacy

As the animation and voice acting landscapes evolve, Johansson’s contributions stand as a testament to her versatility as an artist. Her ability to effortlessly transition between genres and character types has established her as a unique voice in the entertainment industry.

Conclusion: Encouraging Exploration of Voice Works

In conclusion, Scarlett Johansson’s voice roles reveal the depths of her talent and ability to engage with audiences on an emotional level. Each of the characters she has created adds to her rich legacy and underscores the power of voice in narrative storytelling. As viewers venture into the fields of animation and voice acting, exploring her various works, they may discover the immense artistry involved in bringing these characters to life.

Whether she’s voicing a rebellious porcupine in Sing, a mystical snake in The Jungle Book, or a complex AI in Her, it’s clear that Scarlett Johansson continues to shape and redefine the landscape of voice acting. As viewers seek out her past projects, her performances are sure to resonate and entertain, solidifying her position among the industry’s most talented voice actors.

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Top headlines for this week

MiCA enforcement goes live, reshapes the European crypto map

SCOTUS hands Trump SEC and CFTC control, spares the Fed

Trump family crypto empire crosses $1B

Bitcoin rebounds 6%, MSTR surges 23%, Strategy boosts reserve to $2.55B

CLARITY Act picks up law-enforcement backing

Hinkal drained for $820K, more DeFi exploits pile up

India moves in three directions at once

Ondo debuts tokenized securities; Google, BlackRock, Coinbase back Open USD

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The Landscape of Voice Acting: A Unique Art Form

Emotional Depth Through Voice

A Range of Characters

Ranking Scarlett Johansson’s Voice Roles

7. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) – Mindy

6. Transformers One (2024) – Elita-1

5. Sing (2016) – Ash

4. Sing 2 (2021) – Ash

3. Isle of Dogs (2018) – Nutmeg

2. The Jungle Book (2016) – Kaa

1. Her (2013) – Samantha

The Impact of Scarlett Johansson’s Voice Roles

Expanding the Boundaries of Animation and Voice Acting

A Lasting Legacy

Conclusion: Encouraging Exploration of Voice Works

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