Sign has partnered with Bhutan's sovereign wealth fund to create a sovereign digital identity and verifiable credential system.
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The SIGN Foundation is collaborating with Sierra Leone Communications and Bhutan NDI to advance the development of a national digital identity system.
According to Foresight News , the Ministry of Communications Technology and Innovation (MoCTI) of Sierra Leone, the National Digital Identity Company of Bhutan (Bhutan NDI), and the SIGN Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the design, development, and implementation of a national digital identity platform for Sierra Leone. This platform will utilize open-source technology and W3C-standard verifiable credentials, emphasizing privacy, security, and data sovereignty. It aims to help citizens securely manage and verify their identities and improve the efficiency of public services. MoCTI will be responsible for strategic leadership, policy development, and coordination with government agencies; Bhutan NDI will provide its mature national digital identity architecture experience and open-source identity framework; and the SIGN Foundation will be responsible for system design, solution architecture, and technical implementation.
Asset management giant Vanguard Group is hiring a head of digital assets to drive the encryption and tokenization of its personal wealth management business.
PANews reported on July 7 that asset management giant Vanguard Group is hiring a "Head of Digital Assets, Personal Wealth" to develop and execute the overall digital asset strategy and multi-year roadmap for the personal wealth sector, covering product design, operating models, risk and compliance frameworks. This position will lead the evaluation and development of digital asset products and services for self-investment, investment advisory, and high-net-worth clients, including access models, pricing, custody/wallets, settlement and reporting processes, and coordinating cross-departmental implementation across technology, operations, legal, and compliance departments.
M1X, a platform for tokenizing sovereign debt, has raised $5.5 million in seed funding, led by Paradigm.
ChainCatcher reports that M1X Global, a startup specializing in tokenized sovereign debt, has raised $5.5 million in seed funding, led by Paradigm with participation from Breed VC and others. M1X Global previously partnered with the Republic of the Marshall Islands to assist in the issuance of the on-chain sovereign debt instrument USDM1. This product is a USD-denominated, 1:1 backed by US Treasury bonds, and natively issued by the sovereign nation on a public blockchain. USDM1 was initially issued on Stellar and is currently also available on Canton and Solana. Jordan Goldman, President and COO of M1X, stated that sovereign debt is one of the largest asset classes globally, but prior to USDM1, it did not exist in a native on-chain form. The company aims to establish USDM1 as on-chain sovereign collateral and expand its use in regulated financial markets. The initial application scenario for USDM1 is the disbursement of domestic government aid. Marshall Islands citizens can receive funds through the Lomalo wallet, enabling payments to be completed within seconds without relying on traditional correspondent banking networks. M1X also stated that the recent integration with Bank of Guam, an insurance bank under the U.S. FDIC, further connects USDM1 to regulated banking infrastructure.
Bank of America: US equity funds experienced their largest weekly outflow since March, and "sell signals" have persisted for six weeks.
According to BlockBeats, Bank of America's latest weekly report, released on July 3, showed that US equity funds experienced a net outflow of $17.2 billion in the week ending July 1, marking the largest weekly net redemption since March 2026 and the second consecutive week of net outflows. Meanwhile, the Bank of America Bull/Bear Indicator rose from 9.1 to 9.5, remaining in the "extremely bullish" zone. Michael Hartnett, Bank of America's chief investment strategist, stated that the "sell signal" triggered by the indicator on May 20 remains in effect. Bank of America data shows that since 2002, the indicator has triggered "sell signals" 17 times, with global stock markets subsequently experiencing an average decline of 2% to 3% over the following 2 to 3 months, resulting in an accuracy rate of approximately 60% and a historical maximum drawdown of 15% to 20%. In terms of fund flows, investment-grade bonds attracted $17.2 billion in inflows this week, marking the 13th consecutive week of net inflows; high-yield bonds saw inflows of $3.4 billion, the largest weekly inflow since May 2025. Technology funds saw inflows of $14.3 billion this week, with year-to-date inflows potentially reaching a record $152 billion. Meanwhile, Japanese equity funds attracted $1.9 billion this week, the largest weekly inflow in nearly seven weeks. Amid outflows from US stocks, the semiconductor sector faced significant pressure, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index falling 11% over the past two trading days. JPMorgan strategists pointed out that the extreme overperformance of US semiconductor stocks relative to AI and hyperscale cloud computing companies has created an unsustainable valuation gap, which is expected to eventually narrow. Commodities and gold continued to be under pressure, with gold seeing outflows of $3 billion this week, marking the 7th consecutive week of outflows; cryptocurrencies saw outflows of $2 billion, the largest weekly outflow since November 2025.
Guangdong: By the end of 2027, the province's urban digital infrastructure support capabilities will be significantly enhanced.
According to Mars Finance, 11 departments, including the Guangdong Provincial Government Service and Data Management Bureau, recently issued the "Guangdong Provincial Action Plan for Promoting the Digital Transformation of Cities and Building Smart Cities." The plan emphasizes using cities as comprehensive carriers for the construction of Digital Guangdong, promoting infrastructure connectivity, data integration, platform interoperability, business integration, and a smooth ecosystem. It also aims to actively explore future-oriented smart city management models and achieve high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area smart city cluster. By the end of 2027, the province's urban digital infrastructure support capabilities will be significantly enhanced, the level of efficient digital governance will be greatly improved, digital public services will be more efficient and convenient, the momentum of digital economic development will be fully released, and the digital ecosystem will be comprehensively and collaboratively guaranteed. A number of effective and replicable typical application scenarios for digital transformation will be implemented, with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Dongguan taking the lead in building efficient smart governance systems and implementing a number of advanced, usable, and independently controllable large-scale urban models. By 2030, no fewer than 10 cities will have achieved full-area digital transformation, achieving an overall leap in the digital transformation of cities throughout the province, forming a number of new smart city benchmarks and digital China city models with regional competitiveness and national influence. (Cailian Press)
Data: Signa platform users have created 854 World Cup-related prediction markets.
According to Foresight News , Signa's latest data shows that the popularity of the 2026 FIFA World Cup-themed prediction market continues to rise as the World Cup knockout stages unfold. To date, platform users have created 854 World Cup-related prediction markets. The cumulative trading volume has reached $788,400, with 6,200 trades completed. The number of participating users has increased to 3,620, and the total value locked (TVL) has reached $755,100. Signa stated that the World Cup is becoming a significant catalyst for the growth of the prediction market, and that more innovative marketing and interactive activities centered around the tournament and trending events will be launched in the future to bring users a richer experience.