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Bank of America (BofA) has expanded its exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Wall Street giant also trimmed its holdings in Strategy (MSTR), American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), and other crypto stocks.

Bank of America Holds Almost $94 Million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP ETFs The Wall Street giant, with a $1.55 trillion investment portfolio, has increased its investments in multiple crypto ETFs in Q2 2026, according to a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bank of America holds $94 million in net exposure in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP ETFs.

Bank of America raised its holdings in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) by 77% in the quarter. It now holds over 1.72 million IBIT shares, up from 972,590 shares earlier.

It also has investments of more than $10 million in Bitwise’s BITB, $2.24 million in Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF, and $1.32 million in FBTC. The bank also holds exposure to GBTC, VanEck’s HODL, and Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bull 2X ETF (BTCU).

Moreover, Bank of America (BofA) has also expanded its BlackRock Ethereum ETF (ETHA) exposure by 2,838%. It now holds 1.98 million shares in ETHA, up from 67,492 shares.

In addition, Bank of America increased its XRP ETF holdings slightly in Q2, after keeping exposure the same as in the last quarter. The Wall Street giant holds 13,260 shares of the Volatility Shares XRP ETF (XRPI).

In contrast, the bank has sold the remaining 10,296 shares of Volatility Shares Solana ETF from its investment portfolio. It has fully exited Solana ETFs after selling 700 Volatility Shares 2x Solana ETF shares last quarter.

These holdings align with broader trends as many institutions build positions in spot crypto products. Notably, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley revealed XRP holdings via ETFs amid tradFi’s push into tokenization, treasury management, and real-time payments.

Bank Trims Strategy (MSTR) Stock Exposure Bank of America (BofA) also revealed 1.17 million MSTR stock holdings worth almost $102 million, down 70% from 3.96 million stocks. BofA trimmed MSTR exposure as the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury started selling BTC holdings to pay dividends and build cash reserves.

The Wall Street giant also sold 3,800 Strike (STRK) perpetual preferred shares. The bank even adjusted positions in Strategy convertible senior notes.

The bank sold all 85,508 shares in Trump family’s American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), while increasing Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) stock holdings by 78% to almost $22 million. It also increased stock holdings in Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (PURR) by 167% to 635,407 shares.

Bank of America has also invested in Circle, Coinbase, and Bitcoin mining crypto companies including MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark shares.

For retail investors looking to follow Wall Street’s lead safely, utilizing fully compliant US crypto exchanges like Coinbase ensures adherence to rigorous security and domestic regulatory frameworks.

Vice President JD Vance took the stage at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on May 28 and made the administration’s position about as clear as it gets: the US government should be leaning into Bitcoin, not away from it.

His reasoning centered on a familiar adversary. “If the communist Republic of China is leaning away from Bitcoin, then maybe the United States ought to be leaning into Bitcoin,” Vance told the conference crowd, framing the world’s largest cryptocurrency as both a strategic asset and a geopolitical chess piece.

From seizures to strategy Vance’s remarks build on a policy foundation the Trump administration laid earlier this year when the president signed an executive order on March 6, 2025, establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve alongside a US Digital Asset Stockpile.

The core idea behind the reserve is straightforward: stop selling seized Bitcoin and start treating it like a long-term national asset. The US government is the largest state holder of Bitcoin in the world, having accumulated hundreds of thousands of BTC through law enforcement seizures over the years. Previous administrations routinely auctioned off those holdings. The current approach flips that playbook entirely.

Vance’s speech highlighted what he sees as Bitcoin’s key attributes: scarcity and security.

Skin in the game The vice president isn’t just talking his book. He’s also holding one. Financial disclosures reveal that Vance personally owns Bitcoin valued between $250,001 and $500,000. That puts him among the most crypto-exposed officials in the administration’s history, and it makes his advocacy less abstract than it might otherwise seem.

Whether you view that as a conflict of interest or proof of conviction probably depends on your priors. Either way, it’s worth noting that the person making the case for government Bitcoin accumulation stands to benefit personally from the policies he’s promoting.

The broader crypto landscape Approximately 50 million Americans now own Bitcoin, representing roughly 15% of the US population. Vance’s appearance at Bitcoin 2025 was as much a political signal as a policy statement. Last year, then-candidate Trump made headlines with his own Bitcoin 2024 appearance.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

The company raised $333.7 million selling MSTR shares last week and spent all of it on preferred dividends, preferred buybacks and its dollar reserve, leaving its 840,447 bitcoin untouched.

Original Image Credits: Gage Skidmore / flickr.com

Posted August 17, 2026 at 9:48 am EST.

“No bitcoin purchases or sales were made this week,” Strategy said in a Form 8-K filed Monday. The company neither bought nor sold bitcoin between Aug. 10 and Aug. 16, and every dollar it raised selling stock went to servicing its preferred shares instead.

The company sold 3,458,866 MSTR shares for $333.7 million in net proceeds, about $96.48 a share after commissions. It sent $52.4 million to dividends on its STRC preferred stock, $132.2 million to buying that same preferred stock back, and $149.1 million into its USD Reserve. Those three uses account for the entire raise. Strategy sold no preferred stock, having halted the STRC issuance that once funded its bitcoin buying.

Eight Weeks Since the Last Buy Strategy last bought bitcoin in the week ended June 21, when it added 520 BTC for $34.9 million at an average of $67,068 a coin. Monday’s filing was the eighth straight to report no purchase, a stretch that has taken in a $216 million bitcoin sale and the start of a financing overhaul. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor had pledged in May to buy 10 to 20 bitcoin for every one the company sold.

Holdings stand at 840,447 BTC bought for $63.36 billion, an average of $75,385 a coin. With bitcoin near $63,530 on Monday, the position is roughly $9.96 billion underwater.

Buying Back Preferred Below Par The week’s repurchase covered 1,388,720 STRC shares at about $95.19 each, close to 5% under the $100 par value and a shade above STRC’s $94.78 close on Friday. Strategy told investors in June that it wanted the security to trade near par. About $653 million of the $1 billion preferred repurchase authorization remains, alongside an untouched $1 billion for common stock.

The USD Reserve finished the week at $4.80 billion, up from $4.65 billion. Strategy’s board set a floor in June of 12 months of expected preferred dividends and interest, which the company put at about $1.76 billion a year. In a post on X, Strategy said the week “increased USD Duration by 41 days to 2.8 yrs and tightened STRC’s BTC Credit by 4 bps to 114 bps.”

Related Listen: Strategy Sells $216M in Bitcoin. Is Saylor a Buyer or a Seller Now?: Bits + Bips

AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.

Strategy, the Nasdaq-listed digital asset company formerly known as MicroStrategy, entered another week without purchasing or selling Bitcoin. The company maintained its Bitcoin holdings unchanged, opting instead to strengthen its cash reserve amid market turbulence.

Cash reserve strategyAccording to a recent regulatory filing, Strategy raised $333.7 million by issuing 3,458,866 shares of its MSTR common stock. The company allocated $149.1 million of this sum to expand its USD reserve, while $52.4 million was used to pay dividends on STRC preferred stock. Additionally, Strategy spent $132.2 million repurchasing its own stock.

Chairman Michael Saylor emphasized the company’s efforts on social media, highlighting the $150 million increase in reserves and the repurchase of $132 million worth of STRC stock. With this move, the USD reserve now sits at $4.8 billion. Saylor also reported that the company extended its USD duration to 2.8 years and narrowed the STRC BTC credit to 114 basis points.

Strategy raised $333.7 million through a stock sale, bolstered its USD reserve by $150 million, and repurchased $132 million of STRC shares, while maintaining its Bitcoin holdings and supporting investor returns.

Mini dictionary: Strategy is a Nasdaq-listed company focused on digital assets and is the largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin investor. Previously named MicroStrategy, it has shifted toward strengthening its cash position through stock offerings alongside its crypto holdings.

ActionAmountShares sold (MSTR)3,458,866Funds raised$333.7 millionUSD reserve addition$149.1 millionSTRC stock buyback$132.2 millionDividend payments$52.4 millionBitcoin holding policyStrategy has refrained from both buying and selling Bitcoin during the latest reporting period, halting all Bitcoin sales after previously reducing its holdings earlier in the year. This marks a shift from its aggressive accumulation strategy that peaked in 2025.

As of August 16, 2026, the company holds 840,447 BTC, worth $53.4 billion at an average acquisition price of $63,357 per coin. Despite volatile market conditions, Strategy continues to present itself as the largest corporate Bitcoin holder.

Strategy initiated its large-scale Bitcoin purchases in 2020, outlining its intention to use the asset as a hedge and a tool for enhancing shareholder value. Since then, it has served as a model for other corporations adopting similar crypto-treasury management approaches.

Stock performance and outlookMSTR shares have faced significant downward pressure throughout 2026. The stock has dropped more than 60% since the start of the year and now trades at just over $95, down nearly 80% from its 2024 peak.

Speaking earlier this month, CEO Phong Le addressed investor apprehension around the company’s strategic direction, citing confidence in their long-term commitment to Bitcoin. Le described Strategy as akin to “the J.P. Morgan of the crypto economy,” suggesting minor sales are negligible compared to their broader holdings and philosophy.

Strategy’s leadership asserts that their commitment to Bitcoin remains unchanged and that recent moves to boost cash reserves do not indicate a shift away from their core digital asset strategy.

Influence on industry peersStrategy’s approach to balancing a large Bitcoin treasury with traditional financial reserves has influenced a wave of companies to adopt similar treasury strategies. As market conditions evolve, many firms look to blend crypto assets with cash holdings to navigate volatility and support long-term objectives.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

SafePal’s latest disclosure hits a less obvious layer of crypto infrastructure: the commerce systems around wallet sales rather than the custody layer itself. The wallet provider confirmed that order information tied to nearly 40,000 customers was exposed, according to the original report.

SafePal has not disclosed whether the records were held on its own systems or by a third-party fulfillment vendor. That detail will matter to customers because a logistics partner breach can be just as dangerous as a compromise of the wallet maker’s internal database.

What did not move is just as important. SafePal said private keys, seed phrases, and crypto assets were not compromised. That distinction defines the risk here: this is not a failure of the signing device or the wallet’s cryptographic design, but of the operational layer that handles purchases and customer data.

Order records can still create a real exposure. Names, shipping addresses, purchase history, and contact details are the kind of data that feeds targeted phishing, fake delivery notices, and social engineering attempts. An attacker does not need a seed phrase if they can convince a customer to enter it into a convincing lookalike interface built from leaked order context.

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Kester is an experienced freelance content writer. His focus is primarily on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. One might even refer to him as a "blockchain enthusiast." He has been following advancements in the crypto and blockchain area for several years, researching and writing his insights in the media. In addition to being a skilled content writer, Mushumir is also knowledgeable in SEO and digital marketing. He aspires to succeed as a content creator in the digital realm, dealing with customers in the finance and tech industries to generate traffic through engaging taglines and content. Mushumir enjoys traveling, reading, and playing cricket when he is not writing. He now works as a news and article writer for BlockchainReporter.

JPMorgan Chase now lets institutional clients pledge Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral for U.S. dollar loans, placing crypto on the same ledger as Treasuries and blue-chip equities. For a bank whose CEO spent years calling Bitcoin a fraud, the reversal rewires how capital moves between Wall Street and decentralized networks, and forces every competitor to answer the same question.

Summary

JPMorgan Chase launched a program in March 2026 allowing institutional clients to pledge Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral for U.S. dollar loans through its Kinexys digital assets platform, with custodians including Fidelity Digital Assets and Coinbase Custody holding the pledged tokens.
The bank applies estimated haircuts of 30% to 50% on crypto collateral, meaning a client pledging $100,000 in Bitcoin may receive only $50,000 to $70,000 in financing, with real-time oracle feeds from providers such as Chainlink adjusting valuations continuously.
This move follows JPMorgan’s filing of bitcoin-backed structured notes tied to BlackRock’s IBIT exchange-traded fund, offering leveraged returns of up to 1.5x and potential gains of 16% if IBIT hits predetermined targets by December 2026.
Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Bank of America are building a tokenized deposit network launching in the first half of 2027, suggesting JPMorgan’s collateral program is the opening act of a broader Wall Street integration.
The cultural shift is stark: CEO Jamie Dimon once called Bitcoin a “hyped-up fraud” and a “pet rock,” yet the bank now treats Bitcoin identically to stocks, bonds, and gold on its collateral schedule.

The pledged assets never leave cold storage at third-party custodians such as Fidelity Digital Assets and Coinbase Custody, but the dollars they unlock are as real as any credit line backed by government paper. JPMorgan Chase opened the program in March 2026 through its Kinexys digital assets platform, and the competitive cascade it triggered is already reshaping the banking industry.

From “pet rock” to pledgeable asset
Jamie Dimon’s public disdain for Bitcoin has been a recurring fixture of earnings calls and conference panels since at least 2017. He called it a fraud, compared it to tulip mania, and warned employees that trading it would be grounds for termination. Yet JPMorgan’s institutional clients kept asking for exposure, and the bank kept quietly building infrastructure to serve that demand. The Kinexys platform, formerly known as Onyx, now processes more than $5 billion in daily transaction volume and has handled over $3 trillion in cumulative settlements since its launch. Adding crypto collateral to that engine was less a philosophical U-turn and more the logical next step for a system already designed to move tokenized value at scale.

The internal evolution at JPMorgan tells a more nuanced story than the public rhetoric suggests. While Dimon was calling Bitcoin a fraud in shareholder letters, the bank’s technology division was hiring blockchain engineers, filing patents on tokenized settlement systems, and building the infrastructure that would become Kinexys. The digital assets team operated with a degree of autonomy that allowed it to build production-grade systems while the CEO continued to express skepticism on CNBC. That dynamic, where the engineering side of a bank runs ahead of the executive messaging, is common in large financial institutions. It happened with derivatives in the 1980s, with electronic trading in the 1990s, and with algorithmic market-making in the 2000s. The public stance catches up to the private investment, usually when a revenue opportunity becomes too large to ignore.

Eric Trump captured the irony at Consensus Miami 2026, pointing out that JPMorgan had gone from “crapping all over bitcoin” to offering mortgage products backed by crypto holdings in roughly 18 months. The timeline matters because it compresses what analysts expected to be a multi-year adoption curve into something closer to a sprint. When the bank that sets the pace for Wall Street lending accepts an asset as collateral, it sends a signal that cascades through compliance departments, risk committees, and boardrooms at every other major financial institution.

How the collateral program works
The mechanics mirror traditional securities lending more closely than most observers expected. A hedge fund or corporate treasury deposits Bitcoin or Ethereum with a third-party custodian, typically Fidelity Digital Assets or Coinbase Custody. JPMorgan never takes direct possession of the tokens. Instead, the bank receives a custodial receipt confirming the deposit, and the Kinexys platform records the pledge on its permissioned blockchain. The client then receives a U.S. dollar loan, with the crypto holdings serving as security.

Real-time price feeds, sourced from oracle providers including Chainlink, continuously update the valuation of the pledged assets. If the value of the collateral drops below a predetermined threshold, the system issues a margin call automatically. The client must either deposit additional collateral or repay part of the loan. If neither happens within the specified window, the custodian can liquidate the crypto position to cover the shortfall. The entire lifecycle, from pledge to margin call to potential liquidation, runs on blockchain rails that operate around the clock, a meaningful upgrade over the batch-processing cycles of traditional collateral management.

One detail that distinguishes this program from crypto-native lending platforms is the separation between custody and credit. On platforms like Aave or Compound, the collateral and the lending pool exist in the same smart contract ecosystem. A bug in the protocol can expose both simultaneously. JPMorgan’s structure intentionally fragments these functions across different entities: the bank underwrites the loan, the custodian holds the tokens, and the oracle provider supplies the pricing. That fragmentation adds operational complexity but creates firebreaks. A failure at any one layer does not automatically cascade into the others.

The initial rollout targets high-net-worth clients and institutional players. Retail access is not part of the current scope, though internal JPMorgan documents referenced by Bloomberg suggest the bank is evaluating a phased expansion that could include qualified retail investors by mid-2027.

The haircut question
Collateral haircuts are where the details reveal how seriously a bank treats an asset class. U.S. Treasuries typically carry haircuts of 1% to 5%, reflecting their low volatility and deep liquidity. Investment-grade corporate bonds sit in the 5% to 15% range. Gold, depending on the form and custodian, attracts haircuts of 10% to 25%.

JPMorgan’s reported haircuts for Bitcoin collateral land between 30% and 50%. That range acknowledges Bitcoin’s realized volatility, which has averaged roughly 50% to 70% annualized over the past five years, while still treating the asset as meaningfully pledgeable. A client depositing $1 million in Bitcoin would receive between $500,000 and $700,000 in loan proceeds. The spread within that range likely depends on the client’s creditworthiness, the loan tenor, and prevailing market conditions.

These numbers are not punitive by historical standards. When Goldman Sachs and other tier-one banks first explored Bitcoin-backed lending through tri-party repo arrangements, internal models suggested haircuts as high as 70%. The compression from 70% to a midpoint of roughly 40% over just a few years reflects both declining realized volatility as the asset matures and growing confidence in custodial infrastructure. If Bitcoin’s annualized volatility continues to fall, as it has with each successive halving cycle, the haircuts will tighten further. A world in which Bitcoin collateral receives a 20% haircut, comparable to high-yield corporate bonds, is plausible within the next three to five years.

What changes when Bitcoin becomes a balance-sheet instrument
The shift from speculative asset to pledgeable collateral rewires incentive structures across the financial system. Consider three immediate consequences.

First, it creates a reason to hold Bitcoin that has nothing to do with price appreciation. A corporate treasurer sitting on $50 million in Bitcoin can now borrow against that position to fund operations, acquisitions, or working capital without triggering a taxable event. The cost of capital for that borrowing, once haircuts and interest rates are factored in, may compare favorably to unsecured corporate debt for many mid-tier firms. Bitcoin becomes a tool for liquidity management, not just a bet on number-go-up.

Second, it introduces a new class of forced sellers. Margin calls on crypto-collateralized loans create liquidation pressure that did not exist when Bitcoin sat entirely outside the banking system. A sharp drawdown that triggers widespread margin calls at JPMorgan and its eventual competitors could amplify selling in a way that the market has not yet experienced at institutional scale. The plumbing that makes collateral possible also makes cascading liquidations possible.

Third, it pressures accounting standards. Under current U.S. GAAP rules updated in late 2024, companies can carry Bitcoin at fair value with changes flowing through earnings. If banks are treating Bitcoin as loan collateral, auditors and regulators will face increasing pressure to harmonize the treatment of crypto assets across the financial system. The gap between how a bank values Bitcoin as collateral and how a corporate borrower accounts for it on its balance sheet creates friction that the system will eventually resolve.

Fourth, it changes how Bitcoin miners and large holders think about treasury management. Companies like MARA Holdings have already used Bitcoin to refinance debt through crypto-native lenders such as Arch Lending. The entry of JPMorgan into this market gives those same borrowers access to cheaper capital, longer tenors, and the reputational cover of borrowing from a systemically important bank. The interest rates on JPMorgan’s crypto-collateralized loans have not been publicly disclosed, but the bank’s cost of funding is significantly lower than any crypto-native lender. That cost advantage will pull borrowing volume away from decentralized platforms and into the traditional banking system, an ironic outcome for an asset class built on the premise of disintermediation.

The competitive cascade
JPMorgan rarely moves first without knowing that competitors are watching. Goldman Sachs has been working on its own crypto-collateral program through tri-party repo structures. Citigroup is building custody rails designed to handle $30 trillion in tokenized assets. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup are jointly constructing a tokenized deposit network that launches in the first half of 2027 and would allow round-the-clock corporate fund transfers. Each of these initiatives is a precondition for accepting crypto collateral at scale.

The pattern echoes what happened with prime brokerage services for hedge funds in the 1990s. Once one bank offered a comprehensive package, every competitor had to match it or risk losing clients. The same dynamic is playing out with crypto services. JPMorgan has already filed to issue bitcoin-backed structured notes tied to BlackRock’s IBIT ETF, offering leveraged returns and conditional principal protection. Goldman Sachs is expected to announce similar products before the end of the third quarter. The question is no longer whether traditional banks will offer crypto-backed financial products, but how quickly the full menu will be available.

Regional banks face a different calculus. They lack the technology budgets and regulatory relationships to build Kinexys-style platforms from scratch. Most will rely on infrastructure partners, likely the same custodians and oracle providers that JPMorgan uses, to offer white-label versions of crypto collateral services. The result is a tiered market in which the largest banks offer bespoke crypto lending directly, mid-tier banks partner with fintechs, and smaller institutions simply refer clients elsewhere. That tiering already exists for foreign exchange and derivatives. Crypto is following the same organizational logic.

The opposing case: why this could unravel
Every structural shift comes with scenarios that could reverse it. The most direct threat is a regulatory crackdown. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has not issued definitive guidance on bank-held crypto collateral, and a change in administration or a major crypto-related loss at a systemically important bank could prompt restrictions that make the economics unworkable.

Volatility remains the fundamental challenge. Bitcoin’s 30-day realized volatility spiked above 100% during the March 2020 crash and exceeded 80% during the May 2021 selloff. A similar spike under the new collateral regime would trigger margin calls at a scale the system has not been tested against. If custodians cannot process liquidations quickly enough during a flash crash, the resulting losses could make banks pull back from crypto collateral entirely.

Custodial risk is the dark scenario. The collapse of FTX in 2022 showed that even large, apparently reputable crypto custodians can fail catastrophically. JPMorgan mitigates this by using regulated third-party custodians with segregated accounts, but the risk is not zero. A breach, hack, or operational failure at a major custodian could freeze collateral and create cascading defaults.

The invalidation criteria are clear: if any G-SIB (global systemically important bank) suspends its crypto collateral program due to losses or regulatory action within the next 18 months, the competitive cascade described above stalls. If two or more suspend simultaneously, the entire thesis reverses and crypto reverts to its pre-collateral status as a purely speculative asset class in the eyes of traditional finance.

Ethereum’s parallel path and the altcoin question
JPMorgan’s program accepts Ethereum alongside Bitcoin, but the two assets occupy different positions in the institutional hierarchy. JPMorgan’s own analysts have argued that Bitcoin has pulled decisively ahead as the institutional base layer, with spot Bitcoin ETFs recovering roughly two-thirds of their October 2025 outflows while spot Ethereum ETFs clawed back only about one-third.

The divergence matters for collateral because it affects how banks model risk. Bitcoin’s correlation structure, its relationship to equities, gold, and real interest rates, is better understood and more stable than Ethereum’s. A risk committee evaluating Ethereum collateral must also consider smart contract risk, network upgrade risk, and the possibility that DeFi activity on Ethereum declines further, reducing the fundamental demand for the token. These factors justify wider haircuts on Ethereum than on Bitcoin, and internal bank models reportedly reflect that asymmetry.

The broader altcoin universe is nowhere near collateral eligibility. Tokens with lower liquidity, shorter track records, and less regulatory clarity will remain outside the banking system’s collateral framework for the foreseeable future. The gap between Bitcoin and Ethereum on one side and everything else on the other is widening, not narrowing, as institutional infrastructure develops. Solana, despite processing JPMorgan’s first public-blockchain commercial paper issuance, is not on the collateral schedule. Neither are any stablecoins, wrapped tokens, or governance tokens. The threshold for collateral eligibility in the traditional banking system is far higher than the threshold for exchange listing, and that distinction will shape capital allocation for years to come.

For Ethereum specifically, the path to tighter haircuts runs through proving sustained network utility. If staking yields stabilize, layer-2 activity grows, and real-world asset tokenization on Ethereum scales meaningfully, risk committees may eventually treat ETH collateral on terms closer to Bitcoin. But that convergence is not guaranteed, and the current data points in the opposite direction.

What the Bitcoin ETF ecosystem means for collateral
The existence of spot Bitcoin ETFs creates a bridge between crypto-native collateral and traditional securities lending. A bank can accept shares of BlackRock’s IBIT as collateral without ever touching Bitcoin directly. The ETF wrapper provides regulatory clarity, custodial simplicity, and a familiar risk framework. JPMorgan’s structured notes tied to IBIT are an early example of this hybrid approach.

The ETF bridge also creates an interesting arbitrage dynamic. If a client can pledge IBIT shares at a 10% haircut through a standard securities lending agreement, or pledge the underlying Bitcoin at a 40% haircut through the crypto collateral program, the economics strongly favor the ETF route. This means that much of the early demand for crypto collateral may flow through ETFs rather than spot crypto, at least until haircuts on direct Bitcoin pledges tighten to competitive levels.

Over time, the two tracks should converge. As banks gain experience with direct Bitcoin custody and the realized loss rates on crypto-collateralized loans become visible, the haircut premium for spot Bitcoin over ETF shares will narrow. The end state is one in which Bitcoin, whether held directly or through an ETF, is treated as a single asset class on the collateral schedule, with haircuts reflecting the underlying volatility rather than the wrapper.

The regulatory dimension reinforces this convergence. The Clarity Act, which JPMorgan publicly backed despite lowering its estimate of the bill’s passage probability to below 50%, would provide a federal framework for digital asset classification. If passed, the act would remove much of the legal uncertainty that currently justifies wider haircuts on spot crypto versus ETF shares. Even without the Clarity Act, the SEC’s approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs has already created a regulatory precedent that treats the underlying assets as legitimate enough to wrap in registered securities. The collateral question is the next logical extension of that precedent.

What to watch
The next 12 months will determine whether JPMorgan’s collateral program is the beginning of a permanent structural shift or an experiment that gets walked back under pressure. Three signals matter most.

The first is competitor entry. If Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and at least one European universal bank launch comparable programs by mid-2027, the shift is durable. If JPMorgan remains alone, something is wrong with the economics or the regulatory environment.

The second is haircut compression. The current 30% to 50% range for Bitcoin reflects uncertainty. If that range tightens to 20% to 35% within a year, it means realized loss rates are low and the bank’s risk models are being validated by actual experience. If haircuts widen, the opposite is true.

The third is a stress test. The program has not yet been through a genuine market dislocation. The first 20%-plus drawdown in Bitcoin while significant collateral is pledged through the system will reveal whether the liquidation mechanisms work as designed. A clean liquidation cycle, one that processes margin calls and sells collateral without systemic disruption, would be the strongest possible endorsement of the program’s architecture.

Beyond these three signals, watch for the accounting and regulatory responses. If the Financial Accounting Standards Board issues updated guidance specifically addressing crypto collateral in banking contexts, it signals that the infrastructure is being built to last. If the OCC publishes interpretive letters clarifying the permissibility of crypto-backed lending for nationally chartered banks, the door opens for institutions that have been waiting on the sidelines. Conversely, if enforcement actions or congressional hearings target bank-held crypto collateral specifically, the expansion timeline extends significantly. The regulatory posture in Washington over the next year will shape the speed of this transition more than any single bank’s internal decision.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk, and readers should conduct their own research before making any financial decisions. Published on August 16, 2026.

Publicly listed / traded Bitcoin mining companies have reportedly reduced their dedicated computational capacity more rapidly than the broader network, as a growing number shift electricity and data-center resources toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications.

This development signals that many operators are prioritizing more predictable income streams over traditional cryptocurrency production.

Three months earlier, analysis had shown a redistribution of power within the sector.

Firms including Core Scientific, IREN, Cipher Digital, TeraWulf, and Keel Infrastructure were scaling back Bitcoin operations, while Bitdeer, MARA, Riot Platforms, and American Bitcoin absorbed much of the displaced share, keeping the overall public cohort roughly stable. Second-quarter results, however, indicate that this equilibrium is eroding.

Operators continuing to reduce exposure kept decommissioning equipment, yet fewer peers expanded sufficiently to offset the losses.

At the same time, colocation and related revenues climbed markedly among those furthest advanced in the transition.Core Scientific recorded $136.7 million in colocation income during the second quarter—nearly five times its $27.5 million from Bitcoin mining—accounting for 83 percent of total sales, up from 67 percent in the prior quarter.

TeraWulf followed a parallel path, with high-performance computing lease revenue reaching $31.9 million, or 71 percent of overall revenue, against $12.8 million from mining.

For these two companies, non-mining activities have already surpassed Bitcoin production as the primary revenue driver.

Elsewhere in the sector the shift remains less advanced: Riot Platforms reported $23.2 million in data-center revenue versus $113.7 million from mining, while Bitdeer generated $14 million from AI cloud services compared with $197.1 million from mining-related operations.

Hut 8 and MARA showed smaller contributions from compute services, and Cipher and Keel Infrastructure had not yet begun recognizing high-performance computing revenue.

Drawing on an expanded set of public miners and updated network data, TheEnergyMag calculates that the tracked cohort delivered a combined realized hashrate of 368.3 EH/s in the fourth quarter of 2025, 344.4 EH/s in the first quarter of 2026, and 319.0 EH/s in the second quarter—a 13.4 percent decline over six months.

The Bitcoin network’s quarterly average fell from 1,071 EH/s to 993 EH/s and then to 957 EH/s, a 10.6 percent reduction.

Public companies therefore contracted faster than the network as a whole.

In the first quarter, expansion by a few operators largely masked the scale of shutdowns elsewhere; by the second quarter those offsets proved insufficient.

Bitdeer provided the largest counterweight, increasing its realized hashrate 44 percent from the fourth quarter to the second quarter to reach 63.0 EH/s.

Excluding Bitdeer, the remaining cohort’s realized hashrate declined 21.2 percent, from 324.6 EH/s to 255.9 EH/s.

Bitdeer’s growth stemmed from its proprietary SEALMINER production line; by June the company reported 73 EH/s of self-mining capacity and 15.9 EH/s of co-mining capacity, producing 990 Bitcoin in the month—388 percent more than a year earlier.

MARA and American Bitcoin also continued to expand, yet their gains could not fully compensate for reductions at Cango, Cipher, Keel, Core Scientific, TeraWulf, and IREN.Cango illustrates the speed of the economic shift.

After entering Bitcoin mining in late 2024 and deploying 50 EH/s during 2025, the firm began decommissioning less efficient machines, leasing hashrate, and relocating capacity to lower-cost regions.

Its realized hashrate dropped from 44.8 EH/s in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 31.3 EH/s in the first quarter; estimates place second-quarter capacity near 16.5 EH/s—a 63 percent reduction in six months.

Keel Infrastructure advanced further, completing the decommissioning of all US Bitcoin mining operations in the second quarter ahead of data-center construction, while Canadian mining continues during the phased transition.

Replacement revenue has yet to materialize fully.Viewed over a longer horizon, the second-quarter data underscores the unwinding of the post-China expansion cycle.

China’s 2021 mining ban temporarily removed roughly half the network’s computing power, with hashrate bottoming at 57.5 EH/s in June 2021 before miners relocated and the network recovered by December.

The United States became the dominant hub, prompting an institutional build-out in which public miners raised capital, secured power sites, and ordered successive generations of ASICs, eventually driving the network past one zettahash per second.

Only one halving has occurred since that expansion.

Now, machines and electrical infrastructure accumulated during the post-China race are being idled, impaired, or depreciated so that power can be reassigned to GPUs.

The industry expanded at substantial cost, only for some of its most prominent operators to begin dismantling capacity after a single halving cycle. Unlike the China ban, the present contraction lacks a single dramatic catalyst; it arises from the combination of weak mining economics and a competing demand for capital and electricity.

58 min ago

2 min read

The Kremlin in Moscow (Artem Beliaikin/Unsplash)Summary

Moscow and parts of Kursk banned crypto mining and pool participation through Dec. 31, 2032, under government decree No. 936 to preserve power grid stability.The Energy Ministry enacted the year-round restriction to mitigate power-capacity shortages as energy-intensive mining facilities continue to strain regional grids.This decision follows Russia's legalization of registered mining in 2024 and subsequent bans in 10 other regions due to rising electricity demand.Crypto mining was banned in Moscow, the surrounding Moscow Region and parts of Kursk, with the restrictions set to run through Dec. 31, 2032.

The measure, established under government decree No. 936, also prohibits participation in crypto mining pools. The decree was signed on July 25 and published on July 31, local media reports.

Russia as a whole accounted for an estimated 175 exahashes per second, or 16.4% of Bitcoin’s global computing power, in the first quarter, according to Luxor’s Hashrate Index. That placed it second behind the U.S., although it’s unclear what capacity was located in the newly restricted region.

The country’s Energy Ministry said a year-round restriction was needed to reduce the risk of power-capacity shortages as energy-intensive mining facilities connect to regional grids. Mining currently consumes roughly 1 gigawatt in the Moscow power system, while the region’s data-center capacity could reach 3.6 GW, or 17% of peak demand, by 2032, Interfax reported after the decree was first signed.

Mining is also linked to the country’s Western sanctions.

Russian companies had been using domestically mined bitcoin in international payments after legal changes designed to counter Western restrictions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in December 2024.

Legislation passed by parliament in July maintained Russia’s ban on domestic crypto payments but preserved exceptions for foreign-trade settlements and transactions involving mined cryptocurrency, keeping the mechanism available as sanctions restrict conventional payment channels.

Adding to that, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned BitRiver and 10 subsidiaries in 2022, saying Russian mining companies helped the country monetize its energy resources and could offset the impact of sanctions.

Russia legalized registered crypto mining back in 2024, before banning the activity in 10 regions through March 2031, citing electricity demand. Year-round restrictions were later extended to southern Irkutsk and most areas of Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai.

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Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Jun 30, 2026

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

Why it matters:

Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, Jump Crypto has continued transferring Bitcoin (BTC) to Binance this week, with total deposits reaching around 1,560 BTC valued at approximately $99.2 million, suspected to be for a sale operation. The latest data shows Jump Crypto transferred an additional 286.83 BTC to Binance just two hours ago, worth roughly $18.01 million. As of now, Jump Crypto’s wallet still holds around 1,410 BTC valued at about $88.58 million. The market will continue to track its subsequent transfers and changes in holdings.

Relevant content

ABFinance officially announced it will shut down in approximately five months and is currently initiating an orderly liquidation.

Crypto finance platform ABFinance, founded by former Bybit co-CEO Helen Liu, announced it will not proceed with its planned launch and is now in the process of orderly shutdown. ABFinance stated on social media that it thanks all team members, community users, and partners involved in its development, adding: "Thank you for your trust, support, and belief along the way." In March this year, after leaving Bybit, Helen Liu announced the launch of her startup ABFinance, which aimed to build a one-stop financial platform connecting fiat and crypto assets, integrating functions such as deposits, yields, trading, and payments, and emphasized that it would be built under the U.S. compliance license framework from day one. According to prior reports, Bybit announced that Helen Liu would step down on April 30, 2026, to embark on her personal entrepreneurial journey. However, just about five months after ABFinance unveiled its project plan, the platform announced it would halt its launch and enter the shutdown process. The specific reason for the shutdown has not been disclosed by officials so far.

17 minutes ago

Morgan Stanley’s holdings of Circle surged nearly sixfold, but the firm cut its rating on the crypto firm to "Underweight" and lowered its target price to $38.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Circle (CRCL) stock rating from "Hold" to "Underweight" on August 3, slashing its price target from $106 to $38. Analysts attributed the rating cut primarily to the contraction in USDC circulation, which exposed Circle’s high sensitivity to reserve-related revenue. Meanwhile, the company’s business structure is shifting toward a transaction-based revenue model with lower profit margins. The report also cut Circle’s USDC size forecasts for 2027 and 2028 by approximately 33% and 44% respectively, and projected the company’s GAAP earnings per share (EPS) to be about 3% and 20% lower than market consensus. However, Morgan Stanley’s latest filed 13F document shows that as of June 30, its holdings of Circle shares surged from around 1.46 million to 8.32 million, marking a clear position increase in the second quarter. This means that while Morgan Stanley publicly downgraded Circle’s rating and price target in early August, signaling a cautious outlook, its disclosed holdings as of the end of Q2 showed a significant position increase. It should be noted that 13F filings reflect holdings as of June 30, and cannot reflect whether positions were adjusted before or after the August rating cut. The market’s focus centers on the stark contrast between the institutional research view and the historical holdings disclosure.

17 minutes ago

Binance Research: Gen Z Prefers ETFs, With Lower Trading Frequency and Leverage Usage Than Other Age Groups

Binance Research data shows that Gen Z investors are gradually shifting to long-term asset allocation tools like ETFs, with lower trading frequency and weaker leverage preference compared to Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. In early August, ETFs accounted for 25% of Gen Z's stock trading volume. In July, ETFs made up 21.9% of Gen Z's net inflows into stocks, up from 18.5% in June; over the same period, the share of individual stock investments dropped from 77% to 74.2%. Binance Research analyzed trading activities including direct stocks, tokenized stocks, and traditional financial perpetual contracts. The data shows Gen Z's trading activity across these three asset classes is lower than that of other working-age groups. Specifically, Gen Z's traditional financial perpetual contract accounts average 13 trades per month, lower than Millennials' 17 and Gen X's 16.5. Among direct stock accounts, 22% of Gen Z users have never sold any stocks, higher than Gen X's 19% and Baby Boomers' 9%. For Gen Z accounts where stocks were purchased but never sold, the top assets by cumulative purchase amount include Broadcom, Tesla, and the Charles Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF. In terms of leveraged products, Gen Z exhibits a lower risk appetite. Data shows 88.2% of Gen Z's traditional financial perpetual contract accounts have never traded leveraged or inverse ETFs, higher than Millennials' 84.5% and Gen X's 85.9%. Additionally, the tokenized stock market continues to expand. Data shows Binance's bStocks recently briefly surpassed Kraken's xStocks to become the world's second-largest tokenized stock issuance platform. As of the latest data, Ondo Finance ranks first with approximately $972 million in tokenized stock value, while xStocks and bStocks stand at around $611 million and $580 million respectively.

17 minutes ago

Serenity responds to "going to zero" rumors by sharing a screenshot, with its year-to-date return standing at 2411.84%.

Serenity released a statement accompanied by photos to address recent market rumors that his trading account has "gone to zero", calling the claims "too exaggerated". He added that despite the sharp correction in the AI sector in July, his year-to-date (YTD) return still stands at 2411.84%. Earlier, Serenity had publicly stated that the slump in AI-related stocks in July led to a roughly 49.4% drawdown in his portfolio at one time, with his positions mainly concentrated in key segments of AI infrastructure—including high-volatility sectors such as storage, optical communications, robotics, and upstream semiconductors. Serenity has long focused on "bottleneck segments" within the AI industrial chain, has conducted multiple researches on memory, photonics, CPO, and semiconductor supply chains, and has drawn market attention for his bets on AI infrastructure-related assets.

17 minutes ago

Talks between Stripe and Advent to acquire PayPal are heating up, with the potential deal valued at up to $53 billion.

Payment giant PayPal’s acquisition talks with Stripe and private equity firm Advent Global Opportunities are heating up, with a potential deal to be finalized in the coming weeks. Back in July, Stripe and Advent proposed acquiring PayPal at $60.50 per share, valuing the deal at roughly $53 billion, but PayPal rejected the offer at the time. However, sources familiar with the matter revealed that negotiations have not broken off and are still ongoing. Neither PayPal nor Stripe has confirmed the reports. PayPal declined to comment, while Stripe said it does not respond to market rumors or speculation. The potential sale comes as PayPal seeks to reverse its growth struggles. Since PayPal CEO Enrique Lores took office in March this year, he has rolled out a restructuring plan splitting the business into three segments: checkout and PayPal core services, consumer financial services (including Venmo), and payment services and crypto operations. Lores has stated that PayPal will return to its identity as a technology company and strengthen its core payment capabilities. Meanwhile, the company plans to boost efficiency through cost cuts, with an estimated 20% workforce reduction over the next two to three years. Founded in 1998, PayPal’s founding team includes Silicon Valley figures such as Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Max Levchin. The company grew rapidly during the pandemic due to the e-commerce boom, but has faced challenges including slowing growth and downward pressure on its stock price in recent years. If the deal is completed, it will be one of the largest acquisitions in the fintech industry in recent years.

17 minutes ago

Duan Yongping has bet on SpaceX for about 20 days, with paper gains exceeding $5.4 million.

According to public information from Xueqiu platform, Duan Yongping recently participated in SpaceX (SPCX) via two transactions: options and common stock. On July 24, he sold 1,000 SPCX put options expiring on December 18, 2026, with a strike price of $115, at a transaction price of approximately $23.26, corresponding to a premium of about $2.326 million. Then, on August 5, Duan Yongping bought 100,000 SPCX shares at a cost of roughly $108.68 per share. Based on SpaceX’s latest closing price of $140, this long stock position has an unrealized gain of around $3.132 million. Combined, Duan Yongping’s round of SpaceX trades has generated an unrealized profit of approximately $5.458 million in about 20 days. However, it should be noted that although the premium from selling the put option has been credited, the option has not yet expired. If SPCX subsequently falls below $115 and is exercised, he will still be obligated to take delivery of the shares at the strike price. SPCX has been highly volatile recently: after its June listing, the stock once surged to above $200, then dropped back to around $105. In August, as the impact of the first batch of restricted stock unlocks was weaker than expected and market risk appetite recovered, the stock price rebounded to the $140 level. As a result, Duan Yongping’s current trade has evolved from "selling puts to collect premiums" to a staged high-probability trade.

17 minutes ago

The Cboe BZX Exchange has filed a proposed rule change to list and trade the first-ever 3x leveraged Bitcoin ETF in the US. The filing, designated SR-CboeBZX-2026-065, was submitted on August 10, 2026, and represents a meaningful escalation in the arms race of crypto-linked investment products available to American traders.

Volatility Shares LLC, the firm behind the product, is sponsoring a suite of 3x leveraged funds covering Bitcoin, Ether, Gold, Silver, Crude Oil, and Natural Gas. For Bitcoin specifically, the fund would aim to deliver daily investment results equal to three times the performance of Bitcoin, achieved through first- and second-month CME Bitcoin futures contracts.

What triple leverage actually means
A 3x leveraged ETF does exactly what it sounds like: it multiplies the daily return of its underlying asset by three. If Bitcoin futures rise 2% in a day, the fund targets a 6% gain. If they fall 2%, you’re looking at a 6% loss.

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That daily reset is the part most people gloss over, and it matters enormously. Over longer holding periods, the compounding effect of daily rebalancing can cause the fund’s returns to diverge significantly from simply tripling Bitcoin’s cumulative return. A volatile, sideways market can eat into returns even if the underlying asset ends up flat. These products are designed for short-term trading, not buy-and-hold retirement portfolios.

The US market already has 2x leveraged Bitcoin ETFs. Europe got ahead of the curve, with 3x Bitcoin exchange-traded products beginning to trade in November 2025. This Cboe filing would bring the US in line with what European investors have already had access to for months.

Structure and regulatory path
One of the more interesting wrinkles in the filing is the fund’s legal structure. Rather than registering under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which governs traditional mutual funds and most ETFs, the 3x Bitcoin fund would be structured as a commodity pool. That’s a meaningful distinction because it places the product under a different regulatory framework, one overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than the SEC’s investment company rules.

The filing also relies on amended generic listing standards that Cboe developed between 2025 and 2026. These standards essentially create a streamlined pathway for listing certain types of derivative-based ETFs without requiring individual SEC approval for each product, provided they meet pre-established criteria.

There’s one important caveat: shares of the fund cannot actually begin trading until the associated S-1 registration statement becomes effective. The exchange approval was granted on the same date as the filing, but that doesn’t mean the fund is immediately available. The SEC still needs to greenlight the registration, and no specific listing date has been confirmed.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

In brief
A reported breach of France’s tax authority exposed data tied to 678,437 people and businesses.
The records allegedly include income figures, addresses, tax identifiers, and family information.
The data could help criminals craft targeted scams against wealthy taxpayers and Bitcoin holders.
A hacker is selling a trove of French tax records that could expose more than 678,000 people and businesses, including Bitcoin holders, to phishing, identity theft, and targeted attacks.

According to a report by French cybersecurity outlet FrenchBreaches, a hacker is selling records allegedly stolen from France’s tax authority, the DGFiP, during a June breach for several thousand euros.

Myriad: Bitcoin's next move? Click to make your prediction.“More bad news for Bitcoiners living in the leading country for wrench attacks,” Chief Security Officer at Bitcoin security platform Casa Jameson Loop wrote on X. “The French tax authority has been hacked, and 678K records leaked.”

FrenchBreaches said the database contains records on 392,867 individuals and 285,570 professionals, including 26,805 people with reference tax income of at least $116,000, 386 above $1.16 million, and eight above $11.6 million; the hacker is reportedly offering the file for several thousand dollars.

FrenchBreaches said a sample of the leaked data included names, birth details, home and email addresses, phone numbers, income figures, withholding tax rates, family status, dependents, and tax-share information.

“There DGFiP officially confirms the intrusion in its information system,” FrenchBreaches wrote in an update. Stolen credentials were used in late June to access and extract taxpayer data, and the number of people affected remains under investigation, the firm added.

According to FrenchBreaches, the attacker used stolen VPN credentials and an internal search tool to extract names, contact details, tax identifiers, income figures, withholding rates, and family information before officials cut off access.

“A scammer with real tax information and knowing of the existence of an old approach to the DGFiP could, for example, construct a fraudulent message that is much more credible than a simple fake generic email,” FrenchBreaches wrote.

While the FrenchBreaches report focused on the data leak, it comes amid a rise in wrench attacks, in which criminals use violence or threats to steal cryptocurrency.

In July, CertiK reported 52 attacks worldwide during the first half of 2026, including 33 in France. Earlier this month, Chainalysis reported 46 attacks through June, including 30 in France, with more than $30 million stolen.

“Criminals have recognized that crypto holders are high-value targets because they possess wealth in an instantly and irreversibly transferable form,” Chainalysis wrote.

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Citigroup, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, has expressed support for the Crypto CLARITY Act and called on the US Senate to advance the new digital asset regulation bill. The endorsement came as Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser emphasized the need for comprehensive legislation governing crypto markets in the United States.

Citigroup’s stance on the CLARITY ActJane Fraser voiced appreciation for current efforts to draft the Crypto CLARITY Act, while also noting that the bank continues to advocate for improvements in the legislation. Citigroup remains a major player in global banking and has increasingly engaged with digital asset markets in recent years.

Fraser stressed the importance of moving forward with the bill, even as discussions about potential amendments persist. “We’re not giving up on pushing to get some improvements made to the bill, but we would like to see a good bill go through. I think it would be excellent for the system,” Fraser stated during an interview with Fox Business.

“We’re not giving up on pushing to get some improvements made to the bill, but we would like to see a good bill go through. I think it would be excellent for the system.”

Citigroup has previously noted that regulatory progress in digital assets could help drive institutional adoption. The bank regards legislative clarity as a potential turning point for both compliance and market participation by large investors.

Market context and legislative aimsThe call for regulatory clarity comes after a difficult period for cryptocurrencies, with the global market capitalization falling by over $2 trillion in the past year. Supporters of the CLARITY Act believe the new legal framework could pave the way for a more stable and trusted crypto sector, contributing to market recovery.

The Crypto CLARITY Act is designed to establish defined rules for digital assets in the US. Its primary goals are to provide regulatory certainty, encourage institutional engagement, and strengthen investor protection.

If enacted, the legislation could help address common concerns about scams and security vulnerabilities that persist in the crypto industry. The promise of greater safeguards may help attract new participants to the market while reassuring existing investors.

Mini dictionary: Crypto CLARITY Act, proposed US legislation aimed at improving regulatory oversight and investor protection in digital asset markets. The act seeks to create clearer legal distinctions for crypto asset classes and establish consistent rules for their use and trading.

Citigroup’s recent outlook on the crypto marketWhile supporting stronger legislation, Citi recently adopted a more cautious view towards digital asset performance. On July 1, the bank reduced its 12-month price target for Bitcoin from $112,000 to $82,000. Citigroup also adjusted its projection for Ethereum, lowering it from $3,175 to $2,240.

AssetPrevious 12-Month TargetNew 12-Month TargetBitcoin$112,000$82,000Ethereum$3,175$2,240Jane Fraser’s positive remarks on the proposed crypto bill follow these cautious adjustments, reflecting Citigroup’s dual approach of backing regulatory clarity while remaining vigilant about sector volatility.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Bitcoin (BTC) long positions are coming under pressure as increased volatility points to an imminent range breakout. Analysts have observed that recent moves in the BTC price are heightening the risk of liquidation for leveraged traders, particularly as the market challenges new monthly lows.

Rising threats for Bitcoin long positionsAnalysts have noted multiple threats to long positions as Bitcoin price action edges closer to the lowest levels seen in August. The combination of declining prices and market-wide shifts in derivative positioning has created an uncertain environment for bullish traders. Community analyst BorisD, writing on onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, pointed out that leveraged long BTC positions are increasingly being liquidated as BTC/USD approaches month-to-date lows.

Recent data show a growing correlation between Bitcoin’s price and open interest (OI) on Binance. As both dropped on Thursday, the correlation reached 0.25. Open interest, which measures the total value of active derivative positions in the market, had been on a steady upward trajectory until recently, peaking at $8.15 billion on Wednesday.

“In the Bitcoin market, the Binance Open Interest (OI) Correlation and liquidation warning signals clearly reveal the process of leveraged positions being flushed out. Initially, as the price fell, the correlation shifted to the negative side, indicating that OI was rising despite declining prices,” BorisD stated.

“The simultaneous drop in both price and OI indicates that leveraged long positions are giving up, getting stopped out, or facing liquidation.”

The current market turmoil is evident in the 24-hour liquidation data, with CoinGlass reporting total cross-crypto liquidations hitting $236 million at the time of publication.

Mini dictionary: Open interest (OI) refers to the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, such as futures or options, that have not been settled. It is a metric widely used to gauge trading activity and market sentiment in derivatives markets.

MetricRecent ValueEarlier ValueBinance Open Interest$8.15 billion(peak) on Wednesday24h Crypto Liquidations$236 million(latest data)Correlation (Price & OI)0.25(Thursday)Binance open interest and leveraged liquidationsThe relationship between price and open interest is a crucial indicator of market sentiment. As the Bitcoin price began to fall, open interest at Binance initially continued to rise, suggesting that traders were increasing positions despite weakening spot prices. This divergence later gave way to a parallel decline in both price and OI, which analysts interpret as a sign of forced closing or liquidation of long positions.

The overlapping drop in both price and open interest has led to speculation that the market is undergoing a “cleanout” of excessive leverage and risk-taking. The swift shift in correlation values highlights this transitional phase, with leveraged traders appearing to exit en masse amid price volatility.

CryptoQuant CEO weighs in: “No bull market yet”CryptoQuant is a leading onchain analytics company that provides data-driven insights for investors and traders in the digital assets space. Its CEO, Ki Young Ju, shared his perspective on the current market conditions via social media. He wrote that a new Bitcoin bull market is yet to materialize, referencing several onchain indicators that remain in what he termed “bear” territory.

The stars haven’t aligned for a Bitcoin bull run just yet, as multiple onchain indicators continue to suggest persistent bearish sentiment.

Multiple composite onchain metrics, including those highlighted by onchain analytics provider Glassnode, reflect a market still in a period of extended capitulation. Glassnode’s indicators are currently registering their longest bearish phase since late 2022.

This ongoing bearish sentiment is reflected across a spectrum of technical measures, suggesting macro market recovery has yet to take hold for Bitcoin.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Verition Fund Management, a Connecticut-based hedge fund overseeing roughly $15 billion in assets, has reportedly increased its Bitcoin ETF holdings by 19%. The move brings the firm’s total position to 3.07 million shares valued at approximately $110M.

The numbers and the nuance
The most recent publicly available 13F filings, covering Q1 2026 and submitted in May, showed Verition holding roughly 238,911 shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) worth about $9.2M. That Q1 figure actually represented an 87% reduction from the prior quarter.

The gap between the Q1 filing and the reported 3.07 million shares is significant. It suggests one of two possibilities: either Verition dramatically reversed course after Q1 and loaded up on Bitcoin ETF shares in Q2, or the position involves a different Bitcoin ETF product entirely, not IBIT.

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Institutional sentiment is anything but uniform
The first quarter of 2026 saw a general decline in professional Bitcoin ETF holdings when measured in equivalent Bitcoin terms. Millennium Management, one of the most closely watched names in the hedge fund world, notably cut its IBIT stake during the same period.

Why Bitcoin ETFs remain the institutional on-ramp
Spot Bitcoin ETFs have fundamentally changed how traditional finance interacts with crypto. Before their approval, institutions that wanted Bitcoin exposure had to navigate custody solutions, prime brokerage relationships, and compliance headaches. ETFs simplified that equation dramatically, with custody handled by established players like Coinbase within a clear regulatory framework.

For perspective, $110M buys roughly 1,000 to 1,200 Bitcoin at recent price levels.

What to watch next
The key date to circle is the next 13F filing deadline. That’s when Verition’s Q2 2026 holdings will become public record, confirming or complicating the reported 19% increase. It will also reveal which specific Bitcoin ETF product the fund is accumulating, whether that’s BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, or another issuer.

As of mid-August 2026, no widespread reports have corroborated Verition’s 19% position increase, suggesting it may mark a breaking development ahead of the forthcoming 13F filing cycle.

Verition was founded in 2008 and has navigated multiple market cycles. The firm operates as a diversified multi-manager platform focusing on absolute returns through strategies including credit, macroeconomic, event-driven, equity long/short, and quantitative.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

JPMorgan, with AUM of $5.1 trillion, has revealed its quarter two (Q2) report with the U.S SEC. Its latest SEC filing shows a sharp rise in Bitcoin exposure and a 338% jump in Ethereum ETF holdings.

The bank also returned to XRP through two ETF positions and added a new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF.

JPMorgan Doubles Down on Bitcoin ETF ExposureAccording to JPMorgan’s Q2 2026 13F filing, the bank held a combined 10.4 million shares of BlackRock’s IBIT, worth about $355.7 million as of June 30. These shares appear across three separate IBIT fund entries in the filing and add up to the reported total. 

That marks a sharp increase from the first quarter, when JPMorgan reported about 8.3 million IBIT shares worth nearly $162 million.

JPMorgan’s options position also shifted during the quarter. IBIT call options increased to 3.94 million, while put options dropped from 4.75 million to about 3.5 million.

The increase comes even as Bitcoin ETF flows have remained unstable. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $131.1 million in net outflows on Aug. 13, following a much larger $61.16 million outflow on Aug. 12.

Ethereum ETF Exposure Jumps 338%JPMorgan’s Q2 filing also showed a much larger position in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). The bank held nearly 1.17 million ETHA shares worth about $14.3 million, marking a 338% increase from the previous quarter.

The ETHA position shows that JPMorgan has increased its exposure to both Bitcoin and Ethereum through U.S.-listed ETF products.

However, the size of the Bitcoin position remains much larger. JPMorgan’s IBIT holdings are more than 20 times the value of its reported ETHA position.

JPMorgan Added XRP Back Through ETFsThe biggest surprise in the filing may be JPMorgan’s return to XRP.

The bank’s Q1 filing showed that its Bitwise XRP ETF position had fallen from 3,870 shares to zero. The latest filing reverses that move, showing fresh exposure through both the Bitwise XRP ETF and Grayscale XRP Trust ETF.

The Bitwise position was worth about $1,356, while the Grayscale XRP ETF holding was valued at roughly $3,763.

JPMorgan also reported 19,894 shares of Armada Acquisition Corp II, worth approximately $207,295. The company is linked to a Ripple-backed deal and trades under the XRPN ticker.

In addition, JPMorgan initiated a new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), holding roughly 47,500 shares.

The next 13F filing, expected in November, will show whether the bank continued adding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP exposure during Q3 or reduced its positions.

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Bitcoin miners are selling. Fast. Publicly traded mining companies have offloaded approximately 28,000 BTC in 2026, a liquidation worth around $1.78 billion at current prices, as the gap between what it costs to produce a coin and what the market will pay for it keeps widening.

Their collective reserves have fallen from 127,000 BTC at the start of the year to roughly 99,000 BTC, a drawdown of about 22% in just a few months.

The cost problem is the whole problem Average production costs for publicly traded miners sit at approximately $74,300 per BTC. With Bitcoin’s price down 27% year-to-date in 2026, a meaningful slice of the industry is running at a loss on every coin it produces. Around 20% of miners are estimated to be operating in the red under current conditions.

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The companies driving the bulk of the sales include some of the sector’s biggest names: MARA Holdings, CleanSpark, Riot Platforms, Cango, Core Scientific, and Bitdeer.

Mining difficulty has dropped roughly 18% since its November 2025 peak, which marks the longest sustained difficulty decline on record. In plain terms: the network has gotten easier to mine because weaker operators are shutting off machines and leaving.

Miners are not the only sellers, but they are consistent ones To put the miner liquidation in context, it is not the largest source of selling pressure on Bitcoin this year. ETF outflows have exceeded $4.4 billion over the same period, dwarfing the $1.78 billion in miner sales by a factor of roughly 2.5.

The AI pivot is reshaping the mining business Many mining companies are not just selling Bitcoin to survive. They are selling it to fund a transition toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing data center operations.

Mining rigs and AI compute infrastructure share a common dependency: cheap power and purpose-built facilities. Companies that have already built out large-scale data center footprints are finding that renting that capacity to AI workloads can be more predictable and more profitable than mining Bitcoin at a loss.

A company like Core Scientific is increasingly less a Bitcoin miner and more a data center operator that happens to mine some Bitcoin on the side. The BTC sales fund that transformation.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Bitcoin sitting idle in a wallet earns nothing. Stacks has a pitch for changing that, and it comes with real BTC attached.

The Stacks network is launching a 90-day incentive program designed to pull users deeper into its Bitcoin-native DeFi ecosystem. The program distributes 1 BTC per month, totaling 3 BTC across the full run, paid directly to participants as rewards for borrowing the stablecoin USDCx or supplying liquidity to USDCx trading pairs.

The program kicks off around September 10, 2026, timed to Bitcoin block 966,350.

What participants actually do to earn rewards Users who borrow USDCx against sBTC or STX collateral qualify for a share of the monthly BTC distribution. So do users who add liquidity to USDCx trading pairs on the network.

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sBTC is a 1:1 Bitcoin-backed asset native to the Stacks ecosystem, meaning one sBTC is always redeemable for one Bitcoin. Using it as collateral to borrow a stablecoin is essentially the same move institutional desks have been running with wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum for years, just executed within the Stacks environment and rewarded with more BTC on top.

STX, the native token of the Stacks blockchain, also qualifies as collateral. That makes the program accessible to users who are already active in the Stacks ecosystem without necessarily holding sBTC.

Two protocol partners are running the operational infrastructure. Zest Protocol handles the lending and borrowing side, processing USDCx loans against collateral. Bitflow, a decentralized exchange built on Stacks, manages the liquidity side, where users pair USDCx with other assets to deepen on-chain trading markets.

The USDCx layer underneath it all USDCx is the stablecoin sitting at the center of this program, and it is relatively new. Stacks launched USDCx in December 2025, building it on top of Circle’s xReserve infrastructure. The backing is USDC, which itself maintains a 1:1 peg to the US dollar.

Rather than creating an entirely novel stablecoin from scratch, Stacks wrapped institutional-grade dollar infrastructure in a form that operates natively within the Bitcoin layer 2 environment. The result is a stablecoin that inherits USDC’s credibility while functioning inside a Bitcoin-secured network.

The strategic logic behind paying rewards in BTC Choosing to pay rewards in BTC rather than STX tokens is a deliberate design choice. Token-denominated reward programs have a built-in problem: the more users farm them, the more sell pressure hits the reward token, which erodes the value of future rewards in a self-defeating loop. Stacks sidesteps that entirely by paying out in Bitcoin, an asset participants presumably already want more of regardless of what the protocol’s native token is doing.

The total reward pool is 3 BTC across 90 days, with 1 BTC distributed every 30 days rather than front-loaded.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Publicly traded Bitcoin miners are cutting mining capacity faster than the Bitcoin network overall, suggesting that more operators are redirecting electricity and infrastructure toward data centers and high-performance computing (HPC), in another sign of the sector’s evolution beyond creating more crypto.

In the latest Miner Weekly newsletter, BlocksBridge Consulting reported that realized hashrate among a cohort of public Bitcoin miners fell from 368.3 exahashes per second (EH/s) in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 319 EH/s in the second quarter of 2026, a 13.4% decline.

The contraction was even sharper when excluding Bitdeer, which continued to expand its mining operations. Without Bitdeer, the cohort’s realized hashrate fell 21.2% over the six-month period, from 324.6 EH/s to 255.9 EH/s. Bitdeer’s realized hashrate, meanwhile, increased 44% to 63 EH/s.

By comparison, the Bitcoin network’s average hashrate declined 10.6% over the same period.

The shift comes as more miners report a growing share of revenue from non-mining activities. Core Scientific generated $136.7 million in colocation revenue during the second quarter, compared with just $27.5 million from Bitcoin mining. TeraWulf reported $31.9 million in HPC lease revenue, compared with $12.8 million from mining.

Core Scientific and TeraWulf are now generating the majority of their revenue from non-mining activities.
Source: TheEnergyMag

Riot Platforms and Bitdeer remain much earlier in the transition, with Bitcoin mining continuing to account for the vast majority of their revenue in the most recent quarter.

Unwinding post-China mining boomBlocksBridge framed the current pullback as an unwinding of the expansion cycle that followed China’s Bitcoin mining ban in 2021, which triggered one of the sharpest declines in network hashrate before a rapid recovery as miners relocated overseas.

In North America, that migration helped fuel an expansion among public miners, which raised capital and acquired new power sites to expand their operations. 

One halving cycle later, the economics have shifted significantly. Weaker mining profitability, coupled with surging demand for AI infrastructure since 2022, has prompted several public miners to repurpose sites and power capacity away from Bitcoin mining entirely.

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As revealed in the latest SEC filing, U.S.-based Riot Platforms will sell 4,300 BTC and direct the proceeds toward expanding its data center network for AI workloads, confirming that the largest miners are moving away from the strategy of passively accumulating cryptocurrency.

The shift in priorities was driven by a prolonged decline in mining income. In the second quarter, the company's mining revenue fell 19.3% due to rising electricity costs and hashprice falling to historic lows.

Bitcoin mining margin pressures are funding the AI pivotThe market situation remains tense. Bitcoin is trading within a narrow range of around $63,500–$63,700, while the average cost of mining it across the market, according to industry models, stands at $76,000–$78,000 per coin.

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As a result, the average miner on the network is currently operating at a loss, as hashprice has fallen to a record low of $30–$35 per PH/s per day. Only operators with extremely cheap electricity and the latest equipment remain profitable.

Bitcoin miners revenue (USD) over the last 6 months, Source: Blockchain.comRiot's figures are better than the market average, but the broader trend has affected the company as well. Its direct cost of mining one Bitcoin rose to $49,912 due to higher energy rates and the expansion of its capacity in Kentucky. 

This forced management to partially liquidate its holdings by selling some of its accumulated coins, while mining revenue stood at $113.7 million.

At the same time, the company maintains a strong balance sheet and a $1.2 billion cushion of liquid assets, including $548.9 million in cash and a reserve of 11,380 BTC.

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However, its business model is shifting toward a more predictable infrastructure business. Riot has already delivered its first capacity for AMD, while its key long-term project is a 20-year contract to lease AI laboratory facilities, with expected revenue of $9.1 billion.

Riot's actions reflect a broader market trend in 2026, as miners gradually transform into operators of computing centers. Other major players, including MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, and Bitdeer, have previously partially or fully liquidated their crypto reserves to fund the construction of AI infrastructure.

Hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor has announced a data breach exposing customer data. 

Writing on X Thursday, the company said that 13,689 customers from the US, UK, Sweden, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, and Portugal who received an order 90 days prior to August 8 were affected. 

We have some difficult news to share. Unfortunately, one of our shipping providers has experienced a data breach that exposed sensitive order data. This affects new customers in the US, UK, Sweden, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, and Portugal who received an order within the 90 days…

— Trezor (@Trezor) August 13, 2026 “Our systems and devices remain secure, but affected customers could experience an increase in phishing attempts,” the Prague, Czech Republic-based company said. “We are deeply sorry to the community and those affected.”

Trezor said that 11,742 customers had their names, emails, phone numbers, and shipping addresses leaked. Another 1,947 customers had just their names, cities and emails exposed. 

SatoshiLabs, the parent company of Trezor, said in an email to Bitcoin Magazine that its third-party fulfillment partner, ShipMonk, had experienced “unauthorized access to their systems containing customer data.”

“Scammers can use the leaked information to send fake emails, make fake phone calls, send fraudulent letters, or potentially impersonate banks, crypto exchanges, or even Trezor,” the company said. 

SatoshiLabs said it was continuing to investigate the incident. 

Trezor is one of the most popular Bitcoin hardware wallet solutions, and also has support for storing other cryptocurrencies. 

Bitcoiners’ personal data has been targeted by cybercriminals in the past: back in 2020, an unauthorized party accessed popular hardware manufacturer Ledger’s e-commerce and marketing database, leaking over 1 million email addresses and the personal contact data of nearly 10,000 customers. 

And at the start of this year, customers reported receiving emails from Global-e, Ledger’s payment partner, that a data breach at its cloud systems leaked sensitive customer data. 

The Bitcoin community is still reeling after hackers targeted Canadian company Coinkite’s popular Coldcard product. 

Hackers started draining $111 million in Bitcoin from the popular Coldcard hardware wallets at the end of last month.The amount stolen could be much higher as investigations continue, with some estimating the real figure to be over $130 million. 

The theft continued, with Bitcoiners — and Coinkite — asking users to move their funds as hackers continued to drain digital coins from the later devices. 

Mathew Di Salvo

Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.

Two of the most famous Bitcoin bulls in the world made the same promise. Here is exactly what happened next, and why the distinction between them matters.

President Donald Trump said it in Nashville in July 2024, standing in front of the largest Bitcoin conference crowd in history. "Never sell your Bitcoin." He said it again at the White House Crypto Summit in March 2025 when Bitcoin was trading near $90,000.

Michael Saylor said it at least five documented times between 2022 and 2026, in interviews, on stage, and on X. The phrase became crypto's most repeated conviction statement.

On August 3, 2026, Saylor posted: "When I say 'Never Sell Your Bitcoin,' I speak as one saver to another. I have never sold mine. Not one Satoshi. Strategy is a public company, not my wallet."

On the same day, Strategy filed with the SEC disclosing it had sold 1,638 BTC between July 27 and August 2 at an average price of $63,957 per coin, roughly 15 percent below the company's average acquisition cost of $75,385.

The Strategy scorecardStrategy has sold Bitcoin several times in 2026. In late May, 32 BTC went first, the smallest sale but the one that broke the psychological barrier. Then 1,363 BTC for $80.8 million at end of June.

Then 2,225 BTC for $135.2 million in early July. Then 1,638 BTC for $104.73 million between July 27 and August 2.

Then 1,690 BTC for $108.6 million between August 3 and August 9. Total Bitcoin sold in 2026: approximately 6,916 BTC for roughly $431 million, all at prices below the company's average cost of $75,385 per coin.

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Current holdings stand at 840,447 BTC. MSTR shares are down approximately 70 percent over the past 12 months and trading near $97.

Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:Cathie Wood trims Ethereum exposure on 11th anniversaryU.S. Treasury attacks Iran's Hormuz 'extortion' networkJPMorgan issues blunt warning on crypto's futureThe Trump distinctionTrump's situation is different and requires accuracy. Trump personally still holds Bitcoin, his financial disclosure confirms a cold wallet position above $50 million, untouched.

The "never sell" promise he made is technically still intact at the personal level. However, Trump Media, his separately managed company, has moved approximately 7,281 BTC to exchange addresses in 2026, though transfers to exchanges do not automatically confirm sales, and Trump Media has denied selling its Bitcoin holdings.

What the phrase actually means nowSaylor's clarification on August 3 drew the line cleanly: his personal Bitcoin remains unsold. Strategy's company Bitcoin is a different calculation, one driven by $1.26 billion in annual preferred stock dividends that require cash the company does not always have without selling something.

The "never sell" message was always directed at retail investors holding their own coins.

The companies built on top of that message operate under different constraints entirely.

Bitcoin ETFs experienced significant outflows, with a combined sale of 966 BTC valued at approximately $61.16 million. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and Fidelity, one of the leading American financial services corporations, led these moves with sizable dispositions from their respective funds.

Major BTC outflows by BlackRock and FidelityBlackRock’s ETF sold 227 BTC, translating to a value of $14.34 million. At the same time, Fidelity’s ETF offloaded an even larger amount, disposing of around 739 BTC for $46.82 million. These decisions indicate a possible adjustment in the allocation strategies of both institutions.

The activity marks one of the larger recent outflows from Bitcoin ETFs and has drawn market attention to the actions of these two financial giants. Both institutions are highly influential in shaping investment trends among traditional and crypto-focused investors.

With BlackRock and Fidelity leading substantial Bitcoin sales, the ETF outflows reflect investor caution in current market conditions.

During the period of these outflows, Bitcoin traded near $63,690, and market sentiment remained characterized by uncertainty and caution. Analysts note that such significant ETF sell-offs can create downward pressure on Bitcoin’s price, especially when combined with a risk-averse investor climate.

Ethereum ETFs record inflowsIn contrast to the Bitcoin ETF outflows, Ethereum ETFs saw inflows amounting to 3,920 ETH, valued at roughly $7.38 million. BlackRock participated in this trend by purchasing the same amount of ETH, indicating a possible shift in investor preference from Bitcoin to Ethereum.

With Ethereum trading around $1,890, the increased inflows into Ethereum ETFs suggest that some institutions and investors are reevaluating its prospects, potentially positioning it more favorably amid current market volatility.

This divergent movement between Bitcoin and Ethereum highlights a growing difference in investor confidence and perceived opportunity between the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

ETF ProviderAsset Sold (BTC)Value ($ million)Asset Bought (ETH)Value ($ million)BlackRock22714.343,9207.38Fidelity73946.8200Total96661.163,9207.38Market observers continue to monitor these ETF movements, as changes in fund allocations by industry leaders such as BlackRock and Fidelity can influence broader trends among institutional and retail investors alike.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

TLDR CEO Simon Gerovich clarified that Metaplanet transferred 5,014 BTC (valued at $322M) between company-controlled custody addresses rather than selling Company Bitcoin reserves stay unchanged at 43,000 BTC after the internal transfers The $322 million transfer incurred approximately $8 in blockchain transaction fees Japanese firm ranks as the world’s third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing Strategy and Twenty One Capital Acquisition roadmap aims for 100,000 BTC by late 2026 and 210,000 BTC by late 2027 On August 13, Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich publicly addressed market speculation surrounding significant Bitcoin movements from the Tokyo-based treasury company’s wallets.

“This was a routine custody operation. No bitcoin was sold, and our holdings remain 43,000 BTC,” Gerovich stated.

His clarification followed observations by blockchain analysts who detected substantial wallet activity associated with Metaplanet during a 24-hour window. Analytics platform Lookonchain identified 3,881 BTC departing from wallets connected to the firm, representing approximately $247 million in value.

We transferred 5,014 BTC between Metaplanet custodial addresses over the past 24 hours. This was a routine custody operation. No bitcoin was sold, and our holdings remain 43,000 BTC.

All of our addresses are published, which is why the transfers were observable in real time.…

— Simon Gerovich (@gerovich) August 12, 2026

The CEO subsequently revealed that the actual amount transferred totaled 5,014 BTC, approximately $322 million at current valuations. He emphasized that all Bitcoin remained within Metaplanet’s controlled custodial infrastructure.

Notably, transferring $322 million worth of Bitcoin across the network required only about $8 in mining fees.

What Triggered the Market Speculation Substantial Bitcoin movements from publicly identified corporate wallets typically generate immediate market scrutiny. Since Metaplanet discloses its wallet addresses, the transfers were immediately observable to blockchain monitoring services.

However, wallet transfers don’t necessarily indicate asset liquidation. Companies routinely move Bitcoin among cold storage solutions, custodial partners, or internal wallets while retaining complete ownership. Wednesday’s onchain activity revealed destination addresses but provided no evidence of conversion to fiat currency.

Similar incidents have occurred previously with Metaplanet. During March, the company relocated approximately 4,986 BTC valued near $368 million following an extended period of wallet dormancy. That movement also proved to be an internal transfer rather than a divestment.

Corporate disclosure records showed no Bitcoin sale announcements from Metaplanet as of August 13. The company’s most recent regulatory filing, dated August 10, pertained to an extraordinary shareholder assembly. Their last documented Bitcoin acquisition filing was submitted July 2.

Metaplanet’s Current Position in Bitcoin Treasury Rankings With 43,000 BTC under management, Metaplanet occupies the third position among publicly traded corporations worldwide in terms of Bitcoin reserves. Strategy dominates the rankings with 840,447 BTC, while Twenty One Capital holds second place with 43,514 BTC. Metaplanet trails Twenty One Capital by merely 514 BTC.

Bitcoin traded around $63,616 on August 13, significantly below Metaplanet’s disclosed average purchase price of approximately $96,191 per coin. Lookonchain calculated the company was holding roughly $1.4 billion in paper losses at current market levels. These represent unrealized losses on the balance sheet, distinct from actual realized losses since no assets were liquidated.

Metaplanet equity traded near 223 yen at 1:14 p.m. JST, showing a modest 0.9% gain for the session. The stock experienced no significant downward pressure after the CEO’s public statement.

Metaplanet Inc., 3350.T

While the company’s primary listing operates on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, American investors can access shares through OTCQX markets under ticker symbol MTPLF.

To reach its stated objective of 100,000 BTC by the conclusion of 2026, Metaplanet must acquire an additional 57,000 Bitcoin. The firm’s most recent confirmed acquisition occurred in July, when it elevated total holdings to 43,000 BTC through a 2,823 BTC purchase during the second quarter.

Beyond treasury accumulation strategy, Metaplanet introduced a 4 billion yen Bitcoin venture program in March focused on financial infrastructure development within Japan. As of August 13, the sole official statement regarding the recent transfers remains Gerovich’s confirmation: a standard custody operation with zero impact on treasury holdings.

The service remains offline while incoming operators work to fix vulnerabilities; Boltz said attacks caused losses to the company.

Boltz’s original founders have stepped down, and an unnamed group of “veteran Bitcoiners” has agreed to take over the suspended Bitcoin swap service, the company said Wednesday.

The incoming operators will provide capital and engineering resources, while work to find and fix vulnerabilities is underway, according to Boltz. The company said it was withholding the group’s names for now and that the goal was to restore swaps “as soon as possible.”

All original founders left the company effective immediately and will have no formal or authoritative role in the project, Boltz said. Any future participation by them in its open-source software would be voluntary.

Boltz said it suspended the service on Aug. 3 after AI-assisted attackers targeted it with increasing frequency, intensity and sophistication over several months. The company said several attacks succeeded and caused losses, but that user funds were never at risk because the service is non-custodial.

In its Aug. 3 outage notice, Boltz said attackers were iterating faster than its team could find and patch flaws. On Wednesday, it described itself as a bootstrapped five-person startup that lacked the resources to withstand the attacks over the long term.

Swaps Remain OfflineAs of Wednesday, the Boltz web app still displayed “Swap Services Disabled.” The outage notice said the API remained available for cooperative refunds and that unilateral refunds did not depend on Boltz infrastructure. Boltz also said its support team remained reachable.

Boltz’s API documentation says clients use its REST API to query supported pairs and to create and monitor swaps. Its official software supports swaps involving Lightning, bitcoin and Liquid bitcoin; a broader reference library also lists RBTC, WBTC, USDT and USDC among supported currencies.

The documentation lists Aqua Wallet, Bull Bitcoin Mobile, Klever Wallet and Misty Breez as users of Boltz-related libraries. New swaps remained unavailable at the reporting cutoff.

Circle National Trust custodies the backing, while published Bitcoin addresses and Chainlink Proof of Reserve provide onchain visibility; Arc support remains forthcoming.

Circle renewed its push for cirBTC as neutral institutional collateral in an Aug. 12 post, but the product is not a new launch. It has been live on Ethereum since June 8 and had only about 40 tokens outstanding at the time of review, compared with more than 116,000 WBTC and 97,000 cbBTC.

cirBTC exists onchain and can be minted and redeemed by eligible institutional participants, but distribution remains limited. An Etherscan page for the contract showed a maximum total supply of 40.01955869 cirBTC and 11 holder addresses. CoinGecko labels the asset “preview only” and says it is unavailable on the centralized and decentralized exchanges it tracks.

Circle says Circle Mint provides the institutional workflow for minting and redeeming cirBTC. Ethereum is currently the only live chain Circle identifies for the token; Arc is the next named deployment, with broader multichain support planned.

How the Backing WorkscirBTC is issued by Circle International Bermuda Limited, which Circle identifies as a Class F digital asset business regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. The underlying bitcoin is held through Circle’s Bermuda affiliate and custodied by Circle National Trust for the exclusive benefit of cirBTC holders, according to Circle. The company describes Circle National Trust as a federally chartered national trust bank and qualified custodian supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Circle’s June launch post also said the underlying BTC is segregated from the company’s corporate assets.

A Circle reserve dashboard timestamped Aug. 11 at 8 a.m. showed 40.02159077 cirBTC in supply against 42.5070808 BTC in reserves. The dashboard lists the BTC reserve addresses and their individual balances, allowing counterparties to inspect the holdings on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Circle says cirBTC uses Chainlink Proof of Reserve rather than a monthly attestation model. Chainlink describes the system as publishing verified reserve data onchain so users and protocols can monitor whether tokenized assets remain collateralized.

Circle’s neutrality claim is commercial rather than a claim of decentralized issuance. The company defines neutrality as not operating a competing centralized exchange, decentralized exchange or lending protocol. Minting and redemption run through Circle Mint, while Etherscan identifies the cirBTC token as a proxy contract.

A Long Way From WBTC and cbBTCCoinGecko put WBTC at 116,132 tokens in circulation and a $7.362 billion market capitalization at the time of review. Coinbase Wrapped BTC had 97,231 tokens in circulation and a $6.162 billion market capitalization.

The incumbents also have broader chain footprints. WBTC’s official site identifies Ethereum, Solana, Tron, BNB Chain, Base, Kava and Osmosis as native networks. CoinGecko lists cbBTC deployments on Ethereum, Base, Monad, Solana and Arbitrum.

cirBTC, by comparison, does not yet have a tracked CoinGecko price or market capitalization. For now, Ethereum is the only live chain Circle identifies, while Arc support is “coming soon,” subject to applicable regulatory approvals.