Cryptocurrency Market on July 28: Hong Kong Banks Prepare for Quantum Risks, X Money Receives Infrastructure, and XAUt Passes Sharia Certification

The cryptocurrency market started on July 28 without confident growth: Bitcoin and Ethereum fell into the red, while the agenda included the quantum security of Hong Kong banks, the launch of banking infrastructure for X Money, and the recognition of the gold token XAUt from Tether as compliant with Sharia norms.

• Hong Kong began assessing how prepared banks are for the threats posed by quantum computing.
• Cross River will provide X Money with banking infrastructure for user transfers, accounts, and Visa cards.
• XAUt from Tether received a Sharia certificate from Amanah Advisors.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Started the Day with Declines

According to TradingView, Bitcoin cryptocurrency faced a decline in the morning. By 07:35 Moscow time, the coin was trading around $63,180. In rubles, one token was valued at approximately ₽4,929,927. Over the past 24 hours, the minimum for Bitcoin was at $63,016, while the maximum reached $65,658.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also started with a drop. At the time of preparing this review, the coin was priced at $1,876, or about ₽146,360 for one token.

In the top ten largest digital assets, the dynamics remained weak, but some coins stood out more than others.

• BNB: the best daily result among the top 10, although the asset still decreased by 1.45%.
• USDC: the most stable result over the week among the top 10, with a change of 0%.
• Hyperliquid: the most significant drop in the top 10 over the day and over seven days --- minus 6.49% and minus 10.31%, respectively.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, a few assets stood out significantly.

• KAITO: the leader of the day and week, with a growth of 9.81% over 24 hours and 34.85% over seven days.
• Audiera: the most notable daily decline, down 16.81%.
• NEAR Protocol: the most significant weekly drop, down 17.68%.

In such a market, investments require particularly careful risk assessment. The same digital asset may appear as a long-term position in a company's accounting but remain a highly volatile instrument for a trader. Therefore, market participants usually look not only at Bitcoin and Ethereum but also at other coins and infrastructure platforms, including Litecoin and Binance. In terms of risk, these instruments differ significantly from classic financial assets, such as shares of a public company.

Briefly About the Cryptocurrency Market: Participants, Assets, and Risks

The cryptocurrency market is a market for digital assets where coins and tokens are bought, sold, stored, and used through exchanges, wallets, payment services, and blockchain infrastructure. It involves private investors, traders, exchanges, token issuers, custodial services, and regulators.

Assets differ in purpose: Bitcoin is often perceived as the base cryptocurrency, altcoins refer to other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins aim to maintain a peg to fiat currency or another asset, NFTs confirm ownership of a unique digital object, and cryptocurrency ETFs provide access to the dynamics of an asset through an exchange fund.

Cryptocurrency risks are higher than those of many classic assets: prices can change sharply, projects may face technical failures, hacks, fraudulent schemes, and regulatory changes. Regulation depends on the jurisdiction, and authorities often focus on licensing platforms, protecting clients, and controlling financial risks. In this context, the example of HKMA is important: the regulator assesses Hong Kong banks' readiness for quantum threats and aims to bring the sector to full readiness by 2030.

Hong Kong to Test Banks' Readiness for Quantum Threats

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has launched a system to assess the banking sector's resilience to risks associated with quantum computing. The regulator presented a white paper and the first Quantum Preparedness Index (QPI).

The initial results were weak: the sector scored only 2.3 out of 10. About half of the surveyed institutional participants currently do not have a formal plan for transitioning to post-quantum protection.

HKMA aims to bring the sector to full readiness by 2030. This topic is becoming increasingly important for Hong Kong as the city actively shifts traditional financial processes to distributed ledgers.

Cross River to Become Banking Foundation for X Money

Cross River will provide banking infrastructure for X Money --- a financial service that integrates into the X social network. Based on this solution, users will be given the ability to send P2P transfers, open interest-bearing accounts with FDIC insurance, and use Visa debit cards.

The company expects that its banking platform and payment mechanisms will help X move towards a universal app format. However, support for cryptocurrencies or stablecoins was not mentioned in the announced capabilities of the service.

XAUt from Tether Recognized as Sharia-Compliant

The gold token XAUt from Tether received a Sharia compliance certificate from Amanah Advisors. For Islamic financial organizations and private investors, this may open a clearer path to investing in physical gold through a digital instrument.

The certification confirmed that the structure of XAUt complies with the fundamental principles of Islamic finance. The token is fully backed by physical gold, does not involve interest or leverage, and reserves must remain transparent.

Each XAUt represents one troy ounce of gold stored in Swiss vaults. Against the backdrop of growing interest in tokenized real assets, such a status may strengthen the product's position among investors oriented towards Islamic finance norms.