According to BlockBeats, on July 8th, Strike announced the launch of its "Volatility-Proof" Bitcoin collateralized loan product, eliminating the margin calls and forced liquidation mechanisms triggered by Bitcoin price declines. Jack Mallers stated that regardless of how much Bitcoin prices fall, as long as borrowers repay on time, the collateralized Bitcoin will not be liquidated due to price fluctuations.

The new product has a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 45%, a loan term of 6 months, and an annualized interest rate (APR) of approximately 10.7% to 14.2%, which is higher than Strike's standard loan products.

If a borrower defaults, they must repay the loan or contact the platform within 10 days; otherwise, Strike retains the right to sell a portion of the Bitcoin collateral to repay the debt. Strike states that the product is currently available in most US states and can be used for new loans, refinancing, and debt consolidation.

According to BlockBeats, on July 8th, JPMorgan analyst Rajat Gupta stated that while a Tesla-SpaceX merger "looks plausible on paper," current speculation surrounding the merger underestimates the potential obstacles hindering the deal. These potential obstacles include regulatory approvals across multiple jurisdictions; governance and voting rights symmetry; and the perception that "the merger will be a SpaceX-led acquisition, rather than a merger of equals."

He added, "Overall, we will be watching SpaceX's acquisition currency, regulatory landscape, and Musk's voting rights in Tesla as catalysts for a potential merger." JPMorgan Chase stated that if the deal goes through, the most likely structure would be a SpaceX-led, all-stock acquisition of Tesla.

BlockBeats reported on July 8th that prediction market platform Polymarket announced support for instant, self-custodied deposits via the Bitcoin Lightning Network, powered by the Spark protocol. Compared to previous on-chain deposit methods that required 3 to 6 block confirmations and took approximately 10 to 60 minutes, the new solution achieves instant deposits and reduces the deposit threshold and transaction costs.

According to reports, Spark can perform checks for double-spending risk, fees, and Replace-by-Fee (RBF) during transaction broadcasting, achieving "zero-confirmation" settlement. It also supports on-chain, Lightning Network, and stablecoin payment channels, eliminating the need for the platform to operate its own Lightning Network nodes.

Polymarket stated that this move will further improve the efficiency of Bitcoin users' capital utilization and enhance their competitiveness against rival Kalshi.