Morning crypto market digest: Cardano hard fork, Allbridge hack, and stablecoin adoption in Japan
The market started the day with sideways movement. Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $64,671, with a daily range of $64,250–$65,037. Ethereum (ETH) holds at $1,874. However, the key events of the morning are less about price and more about fundamental changes in blockchain infrastructure and corporate adoption.
Cardano: van Rossem Hard Fork and Preparation for Scaling
The Cardano team has successfully activated the hard fork named van Rossem, upgrading the mainnet to version 11. This is an important step that reduces the cost of executing smart contracts and lays the technical foundation for Ouroboros Leios — a major scalability upgrade expected in late 2026. According to Cardanoscan, the network has transitioned from protocol version 10 to version 11. In addition to Plutus improvements, the update paves the way for the next hard fork, Dijkstra, which will implement Leios. The goal is to dramatically increase transactions per second without compromising network security.
Allbridge Core: Another Cross-Chain Bridge Hack
Allbridge, the company behind the cross-chain stablecoin bridge Allbridge Core, has paused the protocol following a "security incident." On Sunday, $1.65 million was drained from the project. The attack affected the Allbridge Core deployment on the Solana network. The attacker managed to move the stolen funds from Solana to Ethereum and deposit them into private pools. Users with liquidity in the affected pools were urged to withdraw it urgently. Analysts note that the attacker took a flash loan of $1.12 million in USDC, distorted the exchange rate in the Allbridge Core stablecoin pool through a series of rapid USDC/USDT swaps, withdrew liquidity at the fabricated rate, repaid the loan, and kept the difference. This is at least the sixth attack on a cross-chain bridge since May 2026.
Japan: JPYC Adopted in Logistics
Major Japanese logistics company AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings will begin using the JPYC stablecoin for settlements with business partners. According to Nikkei Asia, the company plans to pay fees and rewards in the stablecoin to approximately 2,300 partners and contractors, including truck drivers. This will be the first major corporate application of JPYC — the first officially registered stablecoin in Japan, pegged to the yen. The company is also considering a partnership with JPYC Inc. and an investment of 1 billion yen (about $6.16 million). Through JPYC, the company aims to attract more partners and address the labor shortage caused by an aging workforce and stricter overtime regulations for drivers.
My analysis: The morning of July 20 shows polarizing trends: on one hand, mature blockchains like Cardano are betting on long-term scalability and fee reduction, which is critical for DeFi. On the other hand, the Allbridge Core incident once again highlights the fragility of cross-chain solutions — a systemic vulnerability that will haunt the market until security standards for bridges emerge. The adoption of JPYC in Japan is a landmark step: corporate stablecoins are beginning to solve real economic problems, rather than just speculating on exchange rates.