Bitcoin is ending the week on a down note after the optimism that pushed the price of the largest digital asset to a one-year high fades amid a flurry of fresh industry turmoil and crosscurrents in global financial markets. 

XRP, the cryptocurrency tied to the XRP Ledger, has recovered from earlier lows but faces challenges as it falls below a crucial uptrend line. Pessimistic price predictions suggest a potential retest of the 200-Day Moving Average, but some anticipate a positive outcome if Ripple prevails in its SEC lawsuit, making XRP one of the top-performing cryptocurrencies in 2023.

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, has shifted his stance on cryptocurrency, now considering it as digital gold and an international asset, which is attributed to institutional demand and BlackRock's close relationship with its largest clients. BlackRock's endorsement of crypto as an asset class is expected to shape the narrative and potentially lead to the creation of an ETF, highlighting Fink's influential position in the global economy.

SlowMist reveals that more than $30 billion worth of cryptocurrency has been hacked in 1,101 incidents from 2012 to the present, with exchange losses accounting for over $10 billion. The most common types of hacks include smart contract vulnerabilities, rug pulls, flash loan attacks, scams, and private key leaks, with notable early Bitcoin attacks including the Mt. Gox hack in 2014 and the Bitfinex hack in 2016.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has expressed confidence in the regulated futures market for cryptocurrency, citing its ability to promote greater price discovery. The CSA has issued guidance to help fund managers comply with legal requirements for investment funds holding crypto assets, emphasizing the importance of ETFs in hedging against price fluctuations. The CSA has named the markets for Bitcoin and Ether as providing the best support for public crypto asset funds without compromising investor protection, while also placing restrictions on the proportion of illiquid assets in the funds. The regulator expects investment funds to determine whether or not the crypto assets they propose to invest in are securities or derivatives, and has outlined minimum expectations for crypto asset custody, including primary storage in cold wallets and segregation of assets.

Researchers from the University of Tsukuba in Japan have developed an AI-powered cryptocurrency portfolio management system called CryptoRLPM. The system uses reinforcement learning to incorporate on-chain data into its model and is made up of five primary units.

George Bachiashvili, the former head of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund, is facing allegations of misappropriation of cryptocurrency and money laundering. The case is being handled by the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Georgia, which claims that Bachiashvili misused a significant amount of Bitcoin in 2015.

Cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius Network has started converting its assets into Bitcoin and Ethereum, with pre-owned altcoins being moved into new wallets. This move follows approval from the US Bankruptcy Court in New York on 1 July.

Bitfinex has received $312,000 in cash and 6.917 BCH ($2,000) recovered from a 2016 theft, thanks to the United States Department of Homeland Security. The recovered funds will be distributed proportionally to owners of Recovery Right Tokens (RRT), which were issued to holders affected by the 2016 hack.

PepeCoin, a popular meme cryptocurrency, has been replaced by a new version called Pepe 2.0. The new coin features the same meme, Pepe the Frog, in a new orange color and was created by blacklisted wallet addresses.