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A Bitcoin strategic reserve is a government-held stockpile of Bitcoin treated as a national asset alongside gold, oil, and foreign currency reserves. The United States signed an executive order creating one in March 2025, and at least a dozen other countries are now exploring the same idea.

Summary

A Bitcoin strategic reserve is a nationally held stockpile of Bitcoin managed by a government entity and treated as a sovereign asset, similar in concept to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or the gold held at Fort Knox. President Trump signed Executive Order 14178 on March 6, 2025, directing the creation of a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve seeded with approximately 200,000 BTC already held by federal agencies from criminal forfeitures and civil seizures, valued at roughly $17 billion at the time of signing. The executive order prohibits selling Bitcoin from the reserve and directs the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin, meaning the government must find ways to buy more without drawing on taxpayer funds. At least 12 countries and several US states have introduced legislation or executive proposals to create their own Bitcoin reserves, including Brazil, the Czech Republic, Poland, Japan, and the US states of Texas, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma. Critics argue that Bitcoin is too volatile to serve as a reserve asset, that government holdings concentrate systemic risk, and that taxpayer exposure to a speculative asset violates fiduciary principles. Proponents counter that Bitcoin is the only reserve asset with a fixed supply, that it is uncorrelated with traditional reserve assets over long horizons, and that early adoption creates a strategic advantage that late movers cannot replicate. Every country holds reserves. The composition of those reserves has changed slowly over centuries, from silver to gold, from gold to dollars, from dollars to a basket of currencies and sovereign debt. The question that the Bitcoin strategic reserve forces into the open is whether digital scarcity belongs in that basket, and whether a government that ignores it risks falling behind those that do not.

This guide explains what a Bitcoin strategic reserve is, how the US version was created, what other governments are doing, what the reserve actually holds, and what the strongest arguments for and against it look like. It does not advocate for or against the policy. The facts are contentious enough without opinion.

How the US strategic Bitcoin reserve was created The US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve exists because of Executive Order 14178, signed by President Trump on March 6, 2025. The order directed the Secretary of the Treasury to create a reserve capitalized with Bitcoin already in government possession. It also created a separate entity called the US Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin digital assets held by the government.

The initial reserve was seeded with approximately 200,000 BTC, most of which came from criminal forfeitures and civil asset seizures conducted by the Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. The largest single source was the Silk Road seizure, which yielded roughly 69,000 BTC in November 2020 and an additional 50,676 BTC in January 2022. Smaller quantities came from dozens of other federal cases involving fraud, money laundering, and sanctions evasion.

The executive order included two provisions that distinguish it from a simple accounting reclassification. First, the order prohibits selling any Bitcoin held in the reserve. This is a break from prior practice, where seized crypto was routinely auctioned by the US Marshals Service. The government had already sold an estimated 195,000 BTC before the order was signed, at prices far below current market value. The no-sale provision is designed to prevent that from happening again.

Second, the order directs the Treasury and Commerce departments to develop “budget-neutral strategies” for acquiring additional Bitcoin. Budget-neutral means the acquisition cannot come from new appropriations or increased taxes. The mechanisms under discussion include revaluing the gold certificates held by the Federal Reserve, which are currently booked at the statutory rate of $42.22 per ounce, and using the difference between that rate and the market price to fund Bitcoin purchases.

What the reserve actually holds As of mid-2026, the US government holds approximately 198,000 BTC in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The exact figure fluctuates slightly as new forfeiture proceedings conclude and transfer seized assets into the reserve. At current prices, the reserve is valued at roughly $13 billion, making it the largest known government Bitcoin holding in the world.

The Bitcoin is held in cold storage wallets managed by the Treasury Department in coordination with custody providers. The specific custody arrangement has not been fully disclosed for security reasons, though the Treasury has confirmed that the holdings are verifiable through proof of reserves audits conducted quarterly.

The separate Digital Asset Stockpile holds non-Bitcoin digital assets seized in federal cases, including Ethereum, stablecoins, and various altcoins. The executive order treats this stockpile differently from the Bitcoin reserve. While Bitcoin cannot be sold, the non-Bitcoin assets may be liquidated at the government’s discretion, and the proceeds can be used to acquire additional Bitcoin for the reserve.

El Salvador remains the only other country with a confirmed, operational Bitcoin reserve at the national level. President Nayib Bukele began purchasing Bitcoin in September 2021 when the country adopted it as legal tender. El Salvador holds approximately 6,100 BTC, though the country’s purchases have slowed since the International Monetary Fund conditioned a $1.4 billion loan agreement on limiting new Bitcoin acquisitions.

Why governments are interested The argument for a Bitcoin strategic reserve rests on three pillars: supply scarcity, sovereignty, and diversification.

Supply scarcity is the simplest argument. Bitcoin has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins, enforced by code that no single entity controls. Approximately 19.7 million of those coins have already been mined, and the issuance rate halves every four years through a mechanism called the halving. Gold has a finite but unknown total supply that increases by roughly 1.5% per year through mining. The US dollar has no supply cap and has expanded its monetary base by more than 40% since 2020. For governments concerned about long-term purchasing power preservation, an asset with a mathematically fixed supply offers a guarantee that no fiat currency or commodity can match. The scarcity argument gains additional force when measured against sovereign debt levels. Global government debt exceeded $100 trillion in 2024. Every dollar, euro, or yen of that debt represents a future claim on currency that does not yet exist. Bitcoin cannot be inflated to service debt, which is precisely why some governments view it as a hedge against the monetary expansion that their own fiscal policies require.

Sovereignty is the geopolitical argument. US dollar reserves held in foreign central banks are ultimately claims on the US financial system. Those claims can be frozen, as the US demonstrated by immobilizing approximately $300 billion in Russian central bank reserves after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Bitcoin held in self-custody cannot be frozen by any foreign government. For countries seeking to reduce dependence on dollar-denominated reserves, Bitcoin offers a form of sovereign insurance that no other asset provides.

Diversification is the portfolio argument. Central bank reserves are typically concentrated in US Treasuries, gold, and a small number of foreign currencies. Adding an uncorrelated asset to a reserve portfolio reduces overall portfolio risk, even if that asset is individually volatile. Research from ARK Invest and Fidelity Digital Assets has argued that a 1% to 5% Bitcoin allocation in a sovereign reserve portfolio would have improved risk-adjusted returns over every five-year period since 2014. The diversification case does not require Bitcoin to outperform every year. It requires Bitcoin to behave differently from existing reserve assets during the periods that matter most. During the banking stress of March 2023, Bitcoin rallied while regional bank stocks collapsed. During periods of dollar weakness, Bitcoin has historically appreciated in dollar terms. These correlation properties are what portfolio theory says a reserve manager should want, even if the asset itself is more volatile than any single holding in the existing portfolio.

The legislation wave: who else is moving The US executive order triggered a wave of similar proposals around the world. The dynamics vary by country, but the pattern is consistent: one branch of government introduces a Bitcoin reserve proposal, public debate follows, and the proposal either advances or stalls depending on the political environment.

Brazil introduced a bill in November 2024 to create a Sovereign Strategic Bitcoin Reserve holding up to 5% of the country’s international reserves. The Czech National Bank governor stated publicly that the institution was considering a Bitcoin allocation. Poland’s presidential candidate included a strategic reserve proposal in his campaign platform.

In Asia, Japan’s parliament debated a Bitcoin reserve proposal in late 2024, though the government initially declined to pursue it. Hong Kong legislators have proposed adding Bitcoin to the Exchange Fund, the territory’s sovereign wealth vehicle.

In the United States, the action at the state level has moved faster than at the federal level in some cases. Texas introduced legislation to create a state-level Bitcoin reserve funded through voluntary Bitcoin donations and seized assets. New Hampshire signed a Bitcoin reserve bill into law, becoming the first US state to do so, authorizing the state treasurer to allocate up to 5% of certain public funds to Bitcoin and other digital assets with a market capitalization above $500 billion. Arizona and Oklahoma have advanced similar proposals. The state-level reserves are typically smaller in scope and funded through existing investment authorities, but they represent a parallel adoption track that does not require Congressional approval.

The competitive dynamic between countries is worth understanding. Game theory suggests that if one major economy builds a Bitcoin reserve, others face a choice between accumulating at current prices or potentially accumulating at higher prices later, after the first mover has already captured the advantage. This is the logic behind what Bitcoin proponents call “the Nash equilibrium argument”: once one sovereign begins accumulating, rational self-interest pushes others to follow. Whether this dynamic plays out in practice depends on whether government decision-makers treat Bitcoin as a legitimate reserve asset or as a speculative experiment that carries more political risk than strategic benefit.

The connection between Bitcoin treasury companies and government reserves is worth noting. Companies such as MicroStrategy (now Strategy) demonstrated the corporate treasury model starting in 2020, accumulating more than 200,000 BTC on their balance sheet. The corporate adoption provided a proof of concept that governments are now adapting to a sovereign context.

What the reserve does not do The strategic reserve does not make Bitcoin legal tender in the United States. Legal tender status would require separate legislation and would mean that merchants would be required to accept Bitcoin as payment, which the executive order does not contemplate.

The reserve does not directly affect the Bitcoin ETF market. The government’s holdings are in cold storage, not in ETF wrappers, and the no-sale provision means the reserve Bitcoin will not enter the open market through government liquidation. However, the reserve’s existence has been cited by institutional analysts as a signal of legitimacy that supports long-term ETF demand.

The reserve does not generate yield. Unlike Treasury bonds or even gold leasing arrangements, Bitcoin held in cold storage produces no income. The opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset is a recurring criticism, particularly from economists who argue that the same capital deployed in Treasury securities would generate billions in annual interest income. At current interest rates, $13 billion in Treasury securities would generate roughly $500 million to $600 million per year. The Bitcoin reserve generates zero. Proponents respond that gold also generates no yield in vault storage, yet no serious economist argues that the US should liquidate its gold reserves to buy Treasuries. The yield argument, they contend, misunderstands the purpose of a reserve asset, which is to preserve value across decades, not to produce income in any given year.

The reserve does not protect against Bitcoin price declines. If Bitcoin drops 50%, the reserve loses 50% of its value. There is no insurance, no backstop, and no rebalancing mechanism described in the executive order. The implicit assumption is that Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory will be upward, but the order does not address what happens to the reserve in a prolonged bear market.

The opposing case at full strength The strongest arguments against a Bitcoin strategic reserve deserve their full weight.

Volatility is the most immediate objection. Bitcoin has experienced drawdowns exceeding 50% four times in its history. A reserve asset that can lose half its value in months introduces a form of balance sheet risk that gold and Treasuries do not carry. The counterargument that Bitcoin recovers from every drawdown is true historically but is not a guarantee, and it does not address the political consequences of a reserve losing billions in value during a single quarter.

Concentration risk is the systemic concern. If the US government holds 200,000 BTC and the no-sale provision is ever reversed, the mere possibility of government selling could depress the market. The government becomes both a holder and a potential source of supply overhang, which creates a reflexive dynamic where the reserve’s existence affects the value of what it holds. The same dynamic exists with gold, where central bank sales have historically moved the gold price, but Bitcoin’s market is far smaller and more sensitive to large holders. The US reserve represents roughly 1% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist. Any change in the no-sale policy would be a market moving event before a single coin was transferred.

Fiduciary duty is the governance objection. Government reserves are ultimately public assets. Allocating public assets to a volatile, speculative instrument raises questions about whether officials are meeting their fiduciary obligations to taxpayers. The budget-neutral acquisition strategy partly addresses this, since it avoids direct taxpayer funding, but the opportunity cost argument remains.

Environmental concerns, while less prominent in 2026 than in prior years due to Bitcoin mining’s increasing renewable energy share, are still raised by critics who argue that government endorsement of Bitcoin implicitly endorses the energy consumption of proof of work mining. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimates that the Bitcoin network consumes roughly 150 terawatt hours per year, comparable to the energy consumption of some mid-sized countries. Proponents counter that an increasing share of that energy comes from renewable or stranded sources, and that the network’s energy consumption is the cost of maintaining a decentralized monetary system that no government can shut down.

What this does not cover This guide does not cover the mechanics of Bitcoin mining or the proof of work consensus mechanism that secures the network. It does not cover the tax treatment of government-held Bitcoin or the accounting standards that apply to sovereign digital asset holdings. It does not cover the separate question of central bank digital currencies, which are government-issued digital currencies that are conceptually distinct from holding Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Practical checks for tracking the reserve Check on-chain holdings. The US government’s known Bitcoin addresses are tracked by blockchain analytics firms including Arkham Intelligence and Glassnode. Movements from these addresses are published in real time and can signal policy changes before official announcements.

Check legislative status. The executive order created the reserve, but Congressional legislation could modify, expand, or eliminate it. Track bills related to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve through Congress.gov or crypto policy trackers such as the Blockchain Association’s legislative dashboard.

Check other countries. Government Bitcoin adoption is a competitive dynamic. If major economies begin accumulating, the game-theory pressure on non-holders increases. Monitor central bank announcements, parliamentary debates, and presidential campaigns in major economies for reserve-related proposals.

Check the gold certificate revaluation debate. The budget-neutral acquisition strategy most discussed involves revaluing the Fed’s gold certificates from $42.22 per ounce to market price. This would release hundreds of billions in paper value that could theoretically be used to purchase Bitcoin. The revaluation requires legislative action and faces significant opposition, but it remains the most plausible path to expanding the reserve beyond seized assets.

How much Bitcoin does the US government hold? Approximately 198,000 BTC as of mid-2026, valued at roughly $13 billion at current prices. The holdings come primarily from criminal forfeitures and civil seizures, including the Silk Road cases, the Bitfinex hack recovery, and numerous smaller enforcement actions.

Can the government sell the Bitcoin in the reserve? The executive order prohibits selling Bitcoin from the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. However, executive orders can be revoked or modified by any sitting president. Permanent protection would require Congressional legislation, which has been proposed but not yet enacted.

How does the Bitcoin reserve compare to the gold reserve? The US holds approximately 8,133 metric tons of gold, valued at roughly $700 billion at current market prices. The Bitcoin reserve at $13 billion represents less than 2% of the gold reserve’s value. Gold has served as a reserve asset for centuries with lower volatility, but its supply increases through mining while Bitcoin’s supply is fixed.

Does the reserve affect Bitcoin’s price? The creation of the reserve was initially bullish for Bitcoin’s price because it signaled government legitimacy and removed approximately 200,000 BTC from potential market supply. The no-sale provision is the key mechanism: those coins will not be sold, which permanently reduces the available supply. Long-term price effects depend on whether other governments follow with their own reserves.

Which US states have Bitcoin reserves? New Hampshire was the first state to sign a Bitcoin reserve bill into law. Texas, Arizona, and Oklahoma have advanced similar legislation at various stages. State reserves are typically smaller and operate under existing state investment authority, and they do not require federal approval.

What is the Digital Asset Stockpile? The Digital Asset Stockpile is a separate entity created by the same executive order. It holds non-Bitcoin digital assets seized by federal agencies. Unlike the Bitcoin reserve, assets in the stockpile may be sold, and proceeds can be used to acquire additional Bitcoin for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Could a future president eliminate the reserve? Yes. An executive order can be revoked by a subsequent executive order. A future president could direct the Treasury to liquidate the reserve and convert the proceeds to dollars or other assets. This is one reason proponents have pushed for Congressional legislation to codify the reserve into law, which would require an act of Congress to undo.

What happens if Bitcoin goes to zero? The reserve would be worthless, and the US government would have foregone the interest income it could have earned by holding equivalent value in Treasury securities. Proponents argue that Bitcoin going to zero is extraordinarily unlikely given its network effects, adoption trajectory, and 15-year track record. Critics argue that unlikely is not impossible, and that reserve assets should not carry existential risk.

Disclaimer This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or policy advice. Government reserve policies are subject to change through executive action, legislation, or judicial review. Bitcoin is a volatile asset and past performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions. Information accurate as of August 6, 2026.

Strategy’s version, according to Michael Saylor, is not that story.

The executive chairman of Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, has publicly stated that even a collapse in Bitcoin’s price to $5,000 would leave the company’s collateralization position intact. The reason, he argues, is straightforward: most of that capital was never borrowed in the first place.

Why overcollateralization matters here Strategy has issued Bitcoin-backed preferred securities with reported overcollateralization rates as high as 6x. In plain terms, for every dollar of obligation attached to those instruments, there are roughly six dollars of Bitcoin sitting behind it.

At a $5,000 price level, which would represent a drawdown of more than 90% from recent highs, most leveraged Bitcoin players would have been wiped out long before reaching that floor.

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Strategy has structured its exposure primarily through equity and preferred stock raises, not through debt that carries margin-call mechanics.

The numbers behind the conviction Strategy currently holds approximately 842,138 BTC, making it the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin on the planet. The average cost basis sits near $75,000 per BTC, which means the total outlay exceeds $64 billion.

Early 2026 was not kind to that position. Bitcoin price declines generated paper losses estimated between $8 billion and $12 billion during the first quarter.

Paper losses on an equity-funded position are uncomfortable, but they’re not the same thing as a margin call. No one is forcing an asset sale because the price moved against you.

The firm updated its capital framework in mid-2026, introducing a provision that allows limited Bitcoin sales to cover dividends and liquidity needs. The framing from Strategy was careful: the company still describes itself as a net buyer over time.

That rebranding, from MicroStrategy to Strategy, accompanied these updates. The company is, in its own telling, a Bitcoin treasury company with a capital strategy built specifically around long-term accumulation and yield generation from Bitcoin-backed securities.

What this means for investors watching Strategy Paper losses in the $8 billion to $12 billion range are real costs to shareholders, even if they don’t trigger forced selling. The average cost basis of roughly $75,000 per BTC means the position was underwater at various points in early 2026.

The preferred securities Strategy has issued carry yield obligations. The 6x overcollateralization ratio provides a deep buffer, but the company still needs to generate enough capital to service those instruments over time. That’s where the new permission to sell limited Bitcoin holdings comes in.

The $5,000 floor claim is worth taking seriously as a stress test reference rather than a price prediction. If Strategy’s collateral remains solid at that level, it removes a major tail risk that has historically hung over the stock: the fear that a severe Bitcoin drawdown could force distressed asset sales. Saylor is essentially arguing that Strategy has been deliberately de-risked against that scenario through its capital structure, and the overcollateralization numbers, at least as reported, support that reading.

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

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) drew $244.4 million in net inflows on Wednesday, bolstering their momentum as August began.

Bitcoin ETF inflows intensifySpot Bitcoin ETFs in the US started the month with a strong performance, locking in a combined $626 million in net inflows across three consecutive sessions, according to data from SoSoValue.

Among these, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), a product from leading asset manager BlackRock, led the sector with $479 million in net inflows during the three-day span. Cumulative net inflows for IBIT have now reached nearly $61 billion, Farside Investors reported.

The surge in ETF inflows followed Bitcoin’s price moving above $64,920 at one point on Wednesday. Bitcoin was last recorded at $64,744.53, representing a 0.7% increase over the last 24 hours, based on CoinGecko figures.

Market sentiment and price movementDespite strong inflows and a positive price trend, sentiment among cryptocurrency investors remained cautious. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which monitors the emotional state of the broader crypto market, held steady in the “Extreme Fear” zone with a score of 25, falling from 27 the previous day.

Many investors and analysts view sustained ETF inflows as an indicator of growing institutional interest in Bitcoin. However, persistent fears about market volatility and security risks have kept overall sentiment restrained.

BlackRock, headquartered in New York, is the world’s largest asset manager. Its iShares ETFs play a significant role in the development of crypto-backed products for institutional and retail investors.

Mini dictionary: Crypto Fear & Greed Index, a tool that aggregates various market indicators to gauge the prevailing sentiment among cryptocurrency investors. Scores below 25 are considered “Extreme Fear,” potentially signaling undervalued market conditions or pessimism among participants.

Ethereum and XRP ETFs move in opposite directionsOn Wednesday, spot Ether and XRP ETFs exhibited diverging trends. Spot Ether ETFs registered $60.9 million in net inflows, marking the second consecutive day of positive net flows. This brought total inflows for Ether ETFs over the two-day period to $114.6 million.

Meanwhile, XRP ETFs recorded $3.58 million in net outflows. These withdrawals reduced net assets in XRP ETFs to $993.4 million, while cumulative net inflows for the asset class stayed at $1.51 billion.

ETFLatest Net Inflows/Outflows2-3 Day Total InflowsCumulative Net InflowsTotal Net AssetsSpot Bitcoin ETFs+$244.4 million (Wed)+$626 millionN/AN/AiShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)N/A+$479 million~$61 billionN/ASpot Ether ETFs+$60.9 million (Wed)+$114.6 million (2 days)N/AN/AXRP ETFs-$3.58 million (Wed)N/A$1.51 billion$993.4 millionPerformance data for Wednesday underscores the varied investor appetite for different cryptocurrency-backed ETFs, highlighting divergent patterns for Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US accumulated $626 million in net inflows over three consecutive days, led by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which contributed $479 million and raised cumulative net inflows to nearly $61 billion.

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.

Grayscale has completed CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF’s (GDLC) quarterly rebalancing, increasing XRP, Solana (SOL), and Bitcoin (BTC) allocations. The crypto asset manager also announced weightings of Ethereum (ETH) and BNB in the large-cap digital assets fund.

XRP, Solana & Bitcoin Holdings to Rise in Grayscale’s GDLC ETF Grayscale Investments Sponsors finished its quarterly portfolio review and rebalanced the GDLC ETF in line with the CoinDesk 5 Index Methodology. The index provider determined that Bitcoin, Ethereum (Ether), XRP, Solana (SOL), and BNB continued to meet the inclusion criteria.

As a result, Grayscale has adjusted the fund’s portfolio by purchasing and selling some existing fund components in line with their weightings. Thus, no new tokens were added to or removed from the GLDC ETF during rebalancing.

The crypto components’ weighting in the fund is adjusted to 75.54% Bitcoin, 13.30% Ethereum, 4.64% BNB, 3.98% XRP, and 2.54% SOL. Each share represented almost 0.0003 Bitcoin, 0.0021 Ether, 0.0023 BNB, 1.0633 XRP, and 0.0099 SOL.

Notably, the earlier allocations were 75.53% BTC, 13.43% ETH, 4.64% BNB, 3.88% XRP, and 2.52% SOL. The latest update shows a slight increase in XRP, Solana, and Bitcoin weightings, whereas a small cut in Ethereum. Meanwhile, BNB’s allocation remains stable at 4.64% in the Grayscale GDLC ETF.

Meanwhile, Grayscale XRP ETF (GXRP) sold over $180 million worth of Ripple’s XRP. It also reported massive depreciation in net asset value due to XRP price downturn.

Price Action Mixed amid Rising Uncertainty Bitcoin price holds advance towards $65K amid pause in US-Iran war for diplomatic deal between the US, Iran and Oman. BTC currently trades at $64,722, up almost 1 % over the past 24 hours, but trading volume remains low due to broader crypto market uncertainty.

Meanwhile, XRP price dropped more than 2% in the past 24 hours as Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn’t file cloture on the Clarity Act. XRP is currently trading at $1.05, with a 24-hour low and high of $1.04 and $1.07, respectively.

However, trading volume has increased by 33% over the last 24 hours as traders await Clarity Act’s progress in the Senate. Analyst Ali Martinez predicted a fall to $0.80 if XRP price fails to hold above $1.

Check out the best crypto copy trading platforms to closely track the moves of experienced traders amid crypto market uncertainty.

The United States government is sitting on 328,372 BTC, worth approximately $25 billion, making it the single largest sovereign holder of Bitcoin on the planet. Not bad for a collection that was never actually purchased.

Every last satoshi in that reserve came from criminal and civil asset forfeitures, including seizures tied to the Silk Road marketplace and the Bitfinex hack. The government essentially stumbled into becoming a Bitcoin whale through law enforcement, then decided to keep the coins instead of auctioning them off like it used to.

From evidence locker to strategic asset The pivot happened on March 6, 2025, when President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14233, formally establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The order did two important things: it consolidated all federally seized Bitcoin under a single framework, and it explicitly prohibited the sale of any coins in the reserve.

The Treasury Department now manages the reserve alongside a separate entity called the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, which handles other forfeited tokens that aren’t Bitcoin. The distinction matters because the executive order treats Bitcoin differently from every other digital asset, essentially giving it a privileged tier in the government’s balance sheet.

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Congress wants to go bigger The executive order was just the opening move. Two pieces of legislation are working their way through Congress with the goal of making the reserve permanent and potentially expanding it dramatically.

The BITCOIN Act and the American Reserve Modernization Act, or ARMA, are both pending. These bills aim to codify the reserve’s existence into law, meaning a future president couldn’t simply reverse it with a new executive order. They also explore frameworks for acquiring additional Bitcoin beyond what’s seized through law enforcement.

Some legislative proposals envision the US eventually holding up to 1 million BTC. That would represent nearly 5% of Bitcoin’s hard-capped 21 million supply. As of July 2026, those expanded holding targets remain unresolved due to inter-agency coordination challenges that have slowed progress.

The current 328,372 BTC reserve already accounts for roughly 1.5% of Bitcoin’s total supply cap. And because the executive order prohibits sales, those coins are effectively removed from the liquid market.

What this means for investors Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million coins is its defining feature. When a sovereign government locks away 1.5% of that supply with no intention of selling, it creates a structural reduction in available coins.

The signal to other nations may matter more than the direct supply impact. When the world’s largest economy formally treats Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset, it provides cover for other governments to do the same. Several countries have already begun exploring similar frameworks, and the US move gives them a template to follow.

Traders should watch the legislative calendar closely. If either the BITCOIN Act or ARMA passes with provisions for active Bitcoin acquisition beyond seizures, it would represent a fundamentally different demand dynamic than anything the market has priced in.

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

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/24/world/gallery/vladimir-putin/index.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a landmark law that establishes a regulatory framework for crypto exchanges, digital depositories, and market participants, as reported by TASS. While the law introduces regulation for these entities, it maintains a ban on using cryptocurrency for domestic payments within Russia. The Bank of Russia is set to be the main regulator for this framework, with a transition period extending through July 2027. The regulation aims to create a legalized infrastructure for buying, selling, and storing digital currencies through licensed intermediaries.

Crypto markets appear to have interpreted the development as a mixed indicator for Bitcoin’s future price, especially in speculative markets. The introduction of regulatory clarity is seen as potentially positive for institutional engagement. However, the continued ban on using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment could dampen broader retail enthusiasm, which may be impacting market sentiment regarding Bitcoin’s ability to reach high price targets.

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Current market odds for Bitcoin reaching $200,000 by December 31, 2026, remain low, with pricing reflecting a 2% probability. The regulatory framework seems to have led to a moderate decrease in optimism for such high price levels, as suggested by the slight downtrend in odds for Bitcoin achieving significant price hikes.

Key Takeaways The new Russian law appears to provide regulatory clarity for crypto exchanges and digital depositories. Market pricing suggests that while regulatory clarity could encourage institutional participation, the ban on crypto payments may limit retail enthusiasm. Current odds for Bitcoin reaching $200,000 by the end of 2026 are at 2%, reflecting limited market confidence in achieving this price level. What to Watch Observers should monitor how the Bank of Russia implements the new regulatory framework and its impact on institutional engagement within the crypto market. Developments in international crypto regulations, particularly regarding the use of cryptocurrencies in cross-border trade, could influence market sentiment. Watching for any further legislative changes in Russia that might affect the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method will also be pivotal in assessing future market movements.

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Term Structure

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Sixteen security researchers walked into 390 open-source Bitcoin codebases and, in slightly more than a day, found nearly 5,000 things wrong. The result of an audit sprint by the Bitcoin Red Team, a volunteer group that delivered one of the most thorough security sweeps the Bitcoin ecosystem has ever seen.

The numbers are bracing: 4,962 total security findings across 390 projects, logged in a 27.5-hour window spanning August 4 to 5, 2026. Of those, 85 were classified as critical and 635 as high-severity. That works out to roughly 2.31 findings per researcher per hour.

What triggered the audit The sprint was a direct response to vulnerabilities recently discovered in the COLDCARD hardware wallet, one of the most widely trusted cold storage devices in Bitcoin’s self-custody culture.

Funding came from OpenSats, a nonprofit that supports open-source Bitcoin development, which contributed nearly $40,000 to support the effort. The volunteer model and AI-powered tooling stretched every dollar considerably further.

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How AI changed the math The Bitcoin Red Team leaned heavily on AI-driven analysis tools to scan codebases at a speed no manual review could match. The team averaged 180 findings per hour collectively.

The Red Team is reportedly planning to open-source the tools they used, which could set a new baseline for how the broader crypto community approaches security auditing.

Responsible disclosure, not reckless exposure The Bitcoin Red Team followed a strict responsible disclosure process, reproducing critical issues locally before informing project maintainers privately.

Prior to this sprint, the group had already conducted scans of roughly 150 repositories that resulted in over a dozen private disclosures. The August audit was a dramatic escalation in both scope and urgency, driven by the COLDCARD fallout.

What this means for investors and the broader ecosystem The Bitcoin ecosystem has long prided itself on its open-source ethos. In practice, most projects don’t receive meaningful security review unless they’re high-profile enough to attract attention or well-funded enough to pay for it.

The existence of vulnerabilities doesn’t mean funds were stolen or that Bitcoin itself is compromised. Bitcoin’s core protocol wasn’t the target here. The projects audited were the surrounding ecosystem of tools and applications that people use to interact with Bitcoin.

The costs of remediation will fall on individual project maintainers, many of whom are themselves volunteers or small teams.

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

Bitcoin has entered the national-security debate again as the Pentagon drafts a nuclear strategy centered on potential regional conflicts with China or Russia.

Summary

The Pentagon is reportedly considering shorter-range tactical nuclear weapons for regional conflicts. US military officials previously confirmed operational Bitcoin testing and classified crypto-related work. Washington’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve holds forfeited BTC under a no-sale policy. Bitcoin traded near $64,500, with no clear price reaction to the Pentagon report. Pentagon drafts new nuclear strategy Defense Department policy chief Elbridge Colby is drafting a classified nuclear framework that could expand the role of shorter-range tactical weapons, NBC News reported on Aug. 5, citing five people familiar with the plans.

The emerging strategy would prepare Washington for a possible regional war involving China or Russia. It reportedly seeks to give the US president more limited nuclear options during a crisis instead of relying mainly on long-range strategic weapons.

The approach would mark a departure from decades of US doctrine built around the threat of a large retaliatory strike. Tactical weapons have shorter ranges and are designed for more limited military targets, although any nuclear use would still carry a severe risk of escalation.

The framework has not been adopted as official US policy. Its reported objectives include preventing a conventional conflict from becoming a full nuclear exchange and stopping one adversary from exploiting Washington while it confronts the other.

Why Bitcoin has entered the security debate The nuclear review does not formally include Bitcoin. However, the focus on China and Russia overlaps with separate US military discussions about decentralized networks, cybersecurity and digital financial infrastructure.

In April, US Indo-Pacific Command chief Admiral Samuel Paparo told lawmakers that the military was operating a Bitcoin node and testing the network in an operational setting, according to a statement from Rep. Lance Gooden’s office.

Paparo described Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer, zero-trust system with potential military applications. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later told Congress that classified digital-asset initiatives could give the US leverage across multiple scenarios.

Those disclosures do not mean Bitcoin forms part of US nuclear planning. They show that defense officials are assessing the network independently as a possible cybersecurity, communications or value-transfer tool as competition with China expands.

Crypto commentators have connected the NBC report with those earlier disclosures. The resulting discussion has focused on whether Bitcoin’s decentralized structure could become more valuable during sanctions, cyberattacks or disruptions to traditional payment systems.

US Bitcoin reserve adds a sovereign dimension President Donald Trump established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve through a March 2025 executive order. The reserve is capitalized with BTC forfeited through criminal or civil proceedings rather than direct market purchases.

Bitcoin placed in the reserve “shall not be sold,” according to the executive order published in the Federal Register. Treasury and Commerce may also explore budget-neutral ways to acquire more BTC without imposing additional costs on taxpayers.

The White House estimated in 2025 that the federal government controlled roughly 200,000 BTC, but no complete public audit was available at the time. That makes exact current holdings difficult to confirm, particularly because seized assets may be returned to victims or transferred between agencies.

The reserve and the Pentagon’s network tests remain separate initiatives. Still, together they show that parts of the US government increasingly view Bitcoin through strategic and operational lenses, not solely as a speculative asset.

Bitcoin shows no clear reaction to the report Bitcoin traded near $64,500 on Aug. 5, within an intraday range of roughly $63,860 to $64,650. The price action showed no obvious response to the nuclear strategy report.

Any long-term market effect would likely depend on concrete policy changes, including additional congressional testimony, defense authorization language, or disclosures about how the military uses Bitcoin infrastructure.

For US investors, the report does not create a direct new demand catalyst. It instead adds to the broader case that Bitcoin is being examined as part of sovereign reserves and national-security planning. The connection remains indirect unless the Pentagon announces a formal procurement, reserve, or operational policy involving BTC.

Strategy has announced a new employee benefit that will provide annual contributions to Trump Accounts for eligible children of its U.S. workforce. The Bitcoin treasury company said the program will begin after the U.S. Treasury issues final guidance and employer contribution systems become available.

Strategy Expands Employee Benefits With Trump Accounts Strategy said it will contribute $250 each year to Trump Accounts for every eligible child under 18 of its U.S. employees. The company also plans to make a one-time $1,000 contribution that matches the U.S. government’s seed contribution for eligible children.

The company joins Coinbase, Circle, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and other firms that have pledged support for the Trump Accounts initiative. The program is designed to encourage long-term investing for children through tax-advantaged accounts linked to U.S. equity index funds.

Strategy said employer contributions will begin only after the U.S. Treasury completes its implementation process. The company noted that participation depends on the release of final guidance and the required infrastructure.

Strategy Chief Executive Officer Phong Le said, “Trump Accounts and the Invest America initiative can help build a stronger financial future for America’s children.” He added, “These accounts can encourage financial education, long term thinking, and a culture of saving and investing from an early age.”

Company Continues Bitcoin Treasury Operations The announcement came as Strategy continued making adjustments to its Bitcoin treasury. An SEC filing showed the company sold 1,638 BTC during the past week at an average price of $63,957. Following the transaction, Strategy held 842,138 BTC acquired for $63.51 billion at an average purchase price of $75,419.

On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain also reported that a wallet linked to Strategy transferred 1,030 BTC, valued at more than $66 million. Arkham data showed several transfers ranging from $6 million to $21 million, following another transfer of about 300 BTC earlier in the week. Strategy has not confirmed that the latest wallet movements represented additional Bitcoin sales.

Executive Chairman Michael Saylor addressed recent discussion surrounding the company’s Bitcoin transactions. He said, “Strategy is a public company, not my wallet.” Saylor also stated that the company has disclosed since 2020 that it “may buy or sell $BTC to manage capital,” adding, “Our shared conviction in Bitcoin remains unchanged.”

Trump Accounts Target Long-Term Investing Trump Accounts are individual retirement accounts created for children to encourage long-term investing. Children born between 2025 and 2028 qualify for a $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Treasury under the program.

The accounts are expected to invest in mutual funds or exchange-traded funds that track the S&P 500 or another index focused mainly on U.S. equities. Coingape previously reported that several financial firms have committed to supporting the initiative through employer contribution programs.

Strategy has also previously supported President Donald Trump’s political initiatives. The company, formerly known as MicroStrategy, donated $1 million to the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. political action committee in January 2025, while Coinbase and Circle each contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

For cryptocurrency trading platforms, this move reflects growing participation by major corporations in investment-focused financial programs.

Three Missouri men were charged over an alleged August 2024 plot to kidnap a Bitcoin holder and steal his holdings.

Sedric Louis, John Davis and Martel Williams were allegedly hired to kidnap and force a Bitcoin holder to transfer cryptocurrency to accounts controlled by organizers, according to a Tuesday press release by the US Attorney’s Office. They traveled from St. Louis to Connecticut, where they rented vehicles and obtained air rifles to stake out the victim.

After staking out the intended target for two days, they abandoned the plan for fear of being caught on home security cameras. Shortly afterward, another crew from Florida arrived to carry out the plan.

The three were charged with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery under the Hobbs Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Louis and Davis have been detained since their arrest on June 25, 2026. Williams was released on bond. All three pleaded not guilty.

Home invasions were the most common type of physical attack targeting cryptocurrency investors in the first half of 2026, according to blockchain security company CertiK. Crypto home invasions rose to 20 reported incidents in H1, up from a single case a year earlier.

Magazine: Inside the ‘fake police raid’ that forced a $1M Bitcoin transfer

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Canadian digital asset manager 3iQ Corp. will work to manage some of the Bitcoin reserves of Bhutan’s Gelephu Mindfulness City project. 

3iQ, Canada’s biggest and oldest digital asset fund manager, will not only manage the 10,000 Bitcoins pledged to build the new region, but also invest in local talent and establish a long-term physical presence in Gelephu as the region positions itself as Bhutan’s new offshore digital financial hub, according to a statement. 

Bhutan last year said it would use 10,000 Bitcoins to fund a special administrative region called the Gelephu Mindfulness City. First announced in 2023, the GMC will be “a world-class economic hub in southern Bhutan.”

“From the very inception we were aligned with GMC’s vision to create a next-generation economic hub that attracts global talent while being committed to Bhutan’s cultural values and environmental principles,” 3iQ’s director and CEO, Pascal St-Jean, said in a statement. 

The GMC’s Board Director, Jigdrel Singay, added: “Beyond their institutional expertise and global track record in digital asset management, what stood out to us was their genuine commitment to investing in people, transferring knowledge and building local capabilities.”

Bhutan has been buying Bitcoin for years, and the GMC project is a way of using its stack to 

Bhutan started quietly mining Bitcoin in 2019. Then, in 2024, it announced it held a reserve of the digital coins before in January 2025 saying it would hold other cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet.

According to Bhutan’s government, the GMC, will be “a new economic hub in southern Bhutan designed around mindfulness, sustainability, and innovation,” and is central to Bhutan’s broader effort to diversify its economy beyond hydropower and tourism. 

The plan is similar to El Salvador‘s crypto ambitions. The tiny Central American nation also announced plans in 2021 for a smart city dubbed “Bitcoin City” — a tax-free economic hub aimed at attracting the nomadic wealthy and tech entrepreneurs, funded via Bitcoin-backed tokenized bonds.

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.

Some reports claimed that the stolen money is somewhere around $130 million already. And, it's still increasing.

Just a few days after admitting to a key vulnerability that left millions and millions worth of BTC in jeopardy, the team behind the self-proclaimed ‘best bitcoin hardware wallet’ published a key message urging users to migrate their funds.

Coldcard’s official X account informed customers that they should “treat this as urgent” and move their funds. The posts added that they have to follow the advisory of their models, upgrade their devices, generate a new seed, and “carefully” move their funds.

Please treat this as urgent. Migrate your funds. Follow the advisory for your model, upgrade your device, generate a new seed, and carefully move your funds.

Help spread the word, especially to people who are less online and may not see this update.

The threat is still ongoing. https://t.co/cbJxJles8x

— COLDCARD (@COLDCARDwallet) August 4, 2026

The Coldcard saga unraveled at the end of July. Some users first issued warnings online that their funds, stored on the hard wallet, had disappeared before the team admitted to a critical vulnerability in the code.

According to the latest estimations by Galaxy Research, the confirmed amount stolen is over $100 million. Some reports noted that the actual number could be around $130 million.

Market commentator Joe Consorti argued earlier that the attacker may struggle to spend a large portion of the swiped BTC since every BTC is being tracked on the public blockchain.

Tags:

About the author

Jordan got into crypto in 2016 by trading and investing. He began writing about blockchain technology in 2017 and now serves as CryptoPotato's Assistant Editor-in-Chief. He has managed numerous crypto-related projects and is passionate about all things blockchain.

PANews, August 4 — According to Cointelegraph, Bernstein analysts said that Texas’s suspension of approvals for data center projects connecting to the state grid is expected to have no significant impact on most bitcoin mining companies, because most Texas mining sites already have approved power capacity contracts.

Previously, Texas Governor Greg Abbott asked the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and grid operator ERCOT to review all data center projects applying to connect to the grid, in response to the power strain and public backlash caused by the rapid expansion of data centers.

Bernstein believes the review will limit speculative data center projects, while projects with a development history and already approved power resources will become more valuable. Bitcoin mining companies, with their long construction cycles, self-built infrastructure, and local operating experience, may benefit from this.

Analysts pointed out that companies such as Cipher Mining (CIFR), Core Scientific (CORZ), and CleanSpark (CLSK) may face some approval pressure for their future expansion plans, while IREN (IREN) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) may have a stronger competitive advantage because they already have power capacity approved by ERCOT.

Bernstein stated that as approvals for new data center projects tighten, approved power capacity (MW) will become an increasingly scarce asset.

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banking group, has significantly changed the composition of its crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) holdings, according to its latest mandatory disclosure to US regulators.

Sharp reduction in Bitcoin ETF exposureAccording to the Form 13F filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 31, the bank’s common shareholding in the iShares Bitcoin Trust fund fell dramatically between March and June. The reported position decreased from 646,809 shares on March 31 to 40,723 by June 30, marking an approximate 94% reduction.

Intesa Sanpaolo also reduced its exposure through call options. The underlying share count tied to these positions fell steeply, from 2,496,500 to 18,000, which reflects a drop of over 99%. Additionally, the June filing introduced a new put option tied to 500,000 underlying shares, a position that did not appear in earlier disclosures.

Asset/PositionMarch 31 HoldingsJune 30 HoldingsChange (%)iShares Bitcoin Trust (Common Shares)646,80940,723-93.7%iShares Bitcoin Trust (Call Options)2,496,50018,000-99.3%iShares Bitcoin Trust (Put Options)0500,000New PositionThe Form 13F report, a quarterly filing required by institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management, only reveals positions held as of the end of the reporting period. It does not specify strike prices, expiry dates, or whether options were sold short, leaving the bank’s precise strategy and risk exposure open to interpretation.

Intesa Sanpaolo is Italy’s leading financial institution, with operations spanning commercial banking, asset management, and insurance in Europe and beyond.

Ethereum positions surge as Solana holdings all but disappearWhile reducing its Bitcoin ETF exposure, Intesa Sanpaolo increased its stake in the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust fund. The bank tripled its holding, from 116,200 shares on March 31 to 349,600 shares at the end of June.

Meanwhile, its investment in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF was almost entirely eliminated, dropping from 2,817 shares to just seven between quarters. Holdings of the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF remained steady at 712,319 shares, showing little to no movement after accounting for possible trading activity that left the quarter-end balance unchanged.

ETFMarch 31 SharesJune 30 SharesChangeiShares Staked Ethereum Trust116,200349,600+201%Bitwise Solana Staking ETF2,8177-99.8%Grayscale XRP Trust ETF712,319712,3190% Intesa Sanpaolo reported a sharp reduction in both its Bitcoin ETF and call option positions, while increasing its staked Ethereum fund exposure more than threefold. The bank’s Solana holdings nearly vanished, with XRP balances remaining unaltered over the quarter.

Form 13F filings reveal only a snapshot at the end of each quarter, presenting limited insight into daily trading or rationale behind trades. The filings do not capture written or short option strategies and lack detail concerning strike prices or expiration dates.

Due to these disclosure gaps, outside observers cannot definitively calculate the bank’s net exposure to any crypto asset based only on publicly available records.

Nevertheless, the data show Intesa Sanpaolo’s declared crypto investments now favor staked Ethereum over Bitcoin, with dramatically reduced exposure to Solana and steady XRP holdings.

Mini dictionary: Form 13F, a quarterly report that US institutional investment managers managing at least $100 million in certain securities must file with the SEC, disclosing their equity holdings as of the quarter’s end.

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.

The ETF managed approximately $14.7 million as of July 30.

Key Dates Aug 17: Last trading day on NYSE Arca After Aug 17: Fund will stop accepting creation orders and will be delisted Around Aug 28: Remaining shareholders will receive a cash liquidation distribution after the fund sells its bitcoin holdings QUICK CONTEXT: Crypto ETF Competition IntensifiesHashdex’s decision underscores how difficult it has become for smaller spot Bitcoin ETFs to compete in an increasingly concentrated market. Since U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs debuted, asset gathering has largely favored the biggest issuers, with investors gravitating toward funds offering deep liquidity, tighter spreads and lower costs.

With just $14.7 million in assets, the Hashdex Bitcoin ETF remained well below the scale typically needed to cover operating expenses and attract sustained trading activity. Fund closures are a common outcome for ETFs that fail to reach critical mass, even when the underlying asset class remains popular.

The liquidation does not signal Hashdex’s exit from the U.S. market. The firm said it continues to manage more than $200 million in assets for U.S. investors and regularly reviews its product lineup to ensure each fund aligns with its broader index-based strategy. The move highlights the growing importance of scale in the crypto ETF industry, where investor flows have increasingly concentrated in a handful of dominant products.

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Strategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor breaks silence on personal Bitcoin holdings amid relentless criticism.

Billionaire Michael Saylor-led Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) again sold Bitcoin (BTC) last week as the leading cryptocurrency's price failed to recover.

The world's largest Bitcoin treasury company sold 1,638 BTC for $104.73 million during July 27–Aug. 2.

This is the third time the company has sold Bitcoin this year. Earlier, it sold 32 BTC for about $2.5 million during May 26–31 and 3,588 BTC for $216 million during June 29–July 3.

The firm previously extended its Bitcoin acquisition pause to five weeks ending July 26.

With 843,138 BTC on its balance sheet, Strategy is still the world's largest Bitcoin treasury.

Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:Cathie Wood trims Ethereum exposure on 11th anniversaryAfter Coldcard exploit, crypto billionaire issues stark warningMajor crypto exchange eyes IPO amid market slumpWhat Michael Saylor said on personal Bitcoin holdings However, the Bitcoin sales have provoked sharp reactions from within the crypto industry, who questioned Saylor about violating his creed of never selling Bitcoin.

In February last year, he most famously posted on X, "Sell a kidney if you must, but keep the Bitcoin."

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After the latest Bitcoin sale, Saylor finally broke his silence and said in an Aug. 3 post that the "never sell your Bitcoin" creed only applied to individual savers, not a public company like Strategy.

"I have never sold mine. Not one satoshi," Saylor disclosed.

On the other hand, Strategy disclosed in 2020 itself that it may buy or sell Bitcoin to manage capital, he added the disclaimer.

"Our shared conviction in Bitcoin remains unchanged," the billionaire entrepreneur seemed to double down on his faith in the cryptocurrency in the face of relentless public criticism.

Last week, Strategy reported its financial results for Q2 2026, and it posted a net loss of $8.22 billion. The company attributed almost all of the operating loss to an $8.32 billion unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings.

It posted a diluted loss of $24.45 per share, much higher than the estimated loss of $2.19 per share.

BTC/USD, Source: Decibel

BTC was trading at $63,900 at the time of writing, around 50% lower than its all-time high (ATH) of $126,080 it hit on Oct. 6, 2025.

The non-custodial swap service said attackers now iterate faster than its team can patch, leaving wallets including Aqua and Bull Bitcoin racing to restore Lightning and Liquid swaps.

Boltz, the non-custodial bridge that routes swaps between bitcoin's mainchain, the Lightning Network and Liquid, disabled its service indefinitely on Monday, saying months of automated, AI-assisted attacks on its infrastructure have outpaced its ability to ship fixes.

Boltz first took its swap services offline at 5:54 am ET on Aug. 3 without explanation. In a follow-up statement about six hours later, the team said the suspension will last "until further notice" and described a months-long pattern of intrusions.

"Over the past months we have seen a steady rise in automated, AI-assisted probing of our infrastructure, and we have dealt with several exploits," the team wrote. "Each was contained, but the pattern is clear: attackers now iterate faster than a team our size can find and patch."

The shutdown cuts off the swap rails behind Lightning and Liquid payments in wallets such as Bull Bitcoin and Aqua, and it attaches a name to a fear that has been building among open-source developers: small teams defending public codebases against attackers armed with AI tooling.

The team said the pressure intensified in recent days as it found itself "actively targeted by what appear to be multiple resourceful groups," and that after reviewing its own security scans it "cannot responsibly re-enable Boltz swaps."

"What we are seeing is a major paradigm shift for Bitcoin services operating on an open source stack, and it needs careful analysis," the statement said. "Do not expect swap services to resume shortly."

'The Losses Were Ours Alone'Boltz said the exploits it contained cost the company money but never put user funds in danger, since its atomic swap design leaves users in control of their coins throughout a swap.

"To be explicit: no user funds were ever at risk. Boltz is non-custodial by design. And as a fully bootstrapped company, the losses were ours alone," the team wrote.

The Boltz API remains online to process refunds for in-flight swaps cooperatively, and the team noted that unilateral refunds work without its infrastructure.

The disclosure recasts an Aug. 1 notice in which Boltz disabled its EVM swaps — USDT, USDC, TBTC, WBTC and RBTC — citing "a bug in our EVM integration" while assuring users that Lightning, Liquid and onchain BTC swaps were running normally.

Boltz launched in April 2019 and grew into becoming the default swap plumbing across bitcoin's layers, adding Rootstock, chain swaps between Liquid and the mainchain, a BTCPay Server plugin, and stablecoin swaps on Tron, Solana and EVM chains.

Wallets Scramble for RailsWallets that lean on Boltz as a backend moved within hours. Francis Pouliot, CEO of Bull Bitcoin, said the company is "immediately shifting our priorities" to restore Lightning payments and Liquid-to-bitcoin swaps for its wallet users, warning that until then those functions will fail without explanation. Because Bull Bitcoin is a member of the Liquid federation, he said, no user funds will be stuck on Liquid.

"I will not let this situation linger. I will fix it, no matter what it takes," Pouliot wrote.

Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, the firm behind the Aqua wallet, said restoring Liquid and Lightning swaps is the team's top priority and that Aqua has "offered to help Boltz address issues in their infrastructure." User funds on Aqua remain safe and under user control, he said.

Lightning wallet ZEUS, which runs its own instance of Boltz's open-source stack, took it offline as well. "We're following suit with our instance at swaps.zeuslsp.com," the team wrote.

Bitcoin educator BTC Sessions summed up the immediate damage: wallets using Boltz for Lightning swaps "will not function as expected now," while Liquid transactions themselves keep working.

'The Token War'The suspension lands in the middle of the worst week for bitcoin security in years. An exploit of Coldcard hardware wallets, traced to a 2021 firmware bug that made seed phrases guessable, has drained roughly $114 million in BTC since July 30, with a fourth wave of thefts hitting Monday.

Pouliot drew the line between the two events directly: "First, the Coldcard exploit. Now, a critical piece of Lightning infrastructure goes offline. We are undoubtedly on the losing end of the Token War."

Lucas Ferreira, executive director of bitcoin research and development nonprofit Vinteum, said the episode shows the resource gap facing bitcoin's infrastructure builders. "Boltz has a brilliant team, but it's a small team facing increasingly sophisticated, AI-powered groups of hackers," he wrote. "We'll need more funding for the open-source space if we want our infrastructure to remain secure and resilient."

12h37 ▪ 6 min read ▪ by Evans S.

Summarize this article with:

Bitget has upgraded BGBTC, its yield-bearing Bitcoin asset, with daily BTC rewards, faster large-volume redemptions and stronger risk controls. The exchange has also selected Chainlink CCIP as its main cross-chain infrastructure. The move places BGBTC at the center of a wider shift: Bitcoin is increasingly expected to remain liquid, productive and usable across several financial activities.

In brief Bitget has upgraded BGBTC with daily BTC rewards and faster redemptions. Chainlink CCIP will support BGBTC’s secure cross-chain distribution. Gauntlet will provide independent oversight of the underlying yield strategies. Bitget turns idle Bitcoin into a more flexible capital asset Bitget developed BGBTC around a simple problem. Bitcoin holders often have to choose between keeping BTC untouched or moving it into separate yield strategies that add complexity and risk. The new model follows the same capital-efficiency logic seen when Bitget expanded tokenized equities into broader margin and yield use cases.

BGBTC is backed 1:1 by Bitcoin and distributes daily rewards denominated in BTC. Users therefore keep exposure to Bitcoin while receiving a return generated through the product’s underlying strategies. The structure is designed to make long-term holdings more productive without converting rewards into a separate token or fiat currency.

The asset also has uses beyond passive holding. Bitget says BGBTC can serve as futures margin, lending collateral and an eligible asset for Launchpool and PoolX. This means the same Bitcoin-backed position can support several activities instead of remaining isolated inside an earn account.

That flexibility changes the economic role of BTC on the platform. BGBTC is not merely a wrapped representation designed for transfers. It becomes working capital. A holder can maintain Bitcoin exposure, earn BTC rewards and deploy the asset elsewhere within the Bitget ecosystem.

Chainlink CCIP expands distribution while Gauntlet watches risk The most technical part of the upgrade is Bitget’s adoption of Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol. CCIP will act as the canonical infrastructure for moving BGBTC across supported networks. Bitget already uses Chainlink Proof of Reserve, which provides an additional transparency layer around the assets backing the product.

Cross-chain distribution matters because yield-bearing Bitcoin becomes less useful when it remains trapped on one platform or blockchain. CCIP is intended to give BGBTC a standardized route into a wider multi-chain environment. This could increase its potential use in lending, collateral management and decentralized applications.

Chainlink has already positioned CCIP and Proof of Reserve as core tools for connecting tokenized assets across networks. Its growing role in institutional infrastructure was also visible as Chainlink strengthened its technical position in the real-world asset market.

Bitget is pairing that infrastructure with an independent Curator framework. Gauntlet, a quantitative risk-management company active in decentralized finance, will oversee the strategies supporting BGBTC’s yield. The arrangement separates strategy monitoring from asset custody and introduces outside review into the product’s operation.

This distinction is important. A 1:1 Bitcoin reserve explains what backs BGBTC, but it does not by itself explain how rewards are produced. The Curator is expected to assess portfolio exposure, monitor risk and support the sustainability of the yield strategies. That oversight does not eliminate risk, but it creates clearer responsibility around how the underlying capital is managed.

Bitget pushes Bitcoin from passive ownership to active yield BGBTC reflects a broader change in the Bitcoin market. Holding BTC was once treated as the final strategy. Today, exchanges, asset managers and DeFi platforms increasingly want Bitcoin to generate income, secure loans or support derivatives positions without being sold.

Bitget is building around that demand. Large-volume fast redemption is meant to improve liquidity for bigger users, while daily BTC rewards make performance easier to track. Futures margin and lending utility also give BGBTC several sources of practical demand inside the platform.

However, active yield introduces questions that passive custody does not. Users need to understand where returns come from, how redemption works under stress and what happens if an underlying strategy performs poorly. Proof of reserves confirms backing, but it should be accompanied by clear reporting on yield sources, fees and risk exposure.

The upgrade therefore represents more than a new Bitcoin product. It connects centralized custody, decentralized infrastructure and professional risk management within one structure. That matches the wider direction already visible as Bitget combines crypto and traditional markets through its Universal Exchange strategy. BGBTC gives that model a Bitcoin-focused layer, where the asset can generate rewards while remaining available for trading and collateral. The real test will not be the initial yield. It will be whether Bitget can preserve liquidity, transparency and reliable redemptions when market conditions become difficult. Active Bitcoin is attractive when markets are calm. Its credibility is built when volatility returns.

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Evans S.

Fascinated by Bitcoin since 2017, Evariste has continuously researched the subject. While his initial interest was in trading, he now actively seeks to understand all advances centered on cryptocurrencies. As an editor, he strives to consistently deliver high-quality work that reflects the state of the sector as a whole.

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Key Highlights Table of Contents

Key HighlightsRecent Acquisition Pushes Holdings Beyond Previous Month’s LevelAverage Acquisition Cost Exceeds Current Market ValuationCredit Facilities Enable Ongoing Digital Asset Accumulation Smarter Web Company purchases 11.89 Bitcoin, expanding treasury reserves to 2,712 BTC total.

Accumulation strategy continues following complete settlement of Smarter Convert debt in July.

Average acquisition cost reached approximately $63,328 per coin during the August 3 transaction.

Current holdings place the firm 28th among global corporate Bitcoin treasury holders.

Share dilution and debt financing remain key factors influencing per-share Bitcoin exposure.

Smarter Web Company has acquired an additional 11.89 Bitcoin, pushing its corporate treasury to 2,712 BTC. This August 3 transaction marks the resumption of strategic accumulation following a temporary reduction in holdings to resolve financing obligations. The purchase aligns with the organization’s multi-year Bitcoin acquisition framework outlined in its 10 Year Plan.

Recent Acquisition Pushes Holdings Beyond Previous Month’s Level According to the company, the purchase price averaged £47,052 per Bitcoin, equivalent to approximately $63,328. This transaction elevated the treasury from precisely 2,700 BTC to its current 2,712 BTC level. BitcoinTreasuries.NET currently positions the organization as the 28th largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally.

This acquisition comes after the firm completed early settlement of its $11.7 million Smarter Convert financing arrangement in July. To fulfill that commitment, management liquidated 177.8909127 BTC at an average price of $65,762 per coin. The transaction eliminated debt obligations ahead of the scheduled maturity date while temporarily decreasing Bitcoin reserves.

Retiring the convertible instrument also eliminated 7,718,551 contingent ordinary shares from the fully diluted share calculation. Investment firm TOBAM along with associated parties facilitated the early settlement arrangement. Nevertheless, company leadership maintained its broader Bitcoin accumulation strategy unchanged despite settling the financing vehicle.

Average Acquisition Cost Exceeds Current Market Valuation Management reports the firm’s net average purchase price at £82,886 per Bitcoin, translating to roughly $111,548 per coin. Bitcoin was trading around $63,000 at the time of this most recent purchase. Therefore, the treasury maintains a substantial unrealized loss based on current market valuations versus historical acquisition costs.

Total gross Bitcoin investments have accumulated to £233.5 million, while net investments stand at £224.8 million following historical disposals. This variance accounts for previous sales, including the July liquidation for convertible settlement. The recent purchase demonstrates management’s commitment to rebuilding reserves after that strategic reduction.

During the second quarter of 2026, the organization recorded a negative 4.80% Bitcoin yield metric. This calculation measures Bitcoin holdings relative to the company’s fully diluted share base. The negative reading indicated declining per-share Bitcoin exposure throughout the quarter.

Credit Facilities Enable Ongoing Digital Asset Accumulation Current borrowing from a Coinbase credit line totals £18.5 million at a floating 6% annual interest rate. This leverage equates to roughly 17% of the firm’s Bitcoin position value. Market price fluctuations and borrowing expenses substantially impact overall treasury performance metrics.

August 3 also saw the company generate £1.016 million through combined share placements and warrant conversions. During this capital raising activity, warrant holders converted 2.875 million instruments into ordinary shares. These transactions brought the total outstanding share count to 374.84 million.

Smarter Web Company initiated systematic Bitcoin acquisitions in 2025 as part of its treasury diversification strategy. Holdings reached 2,470 BTC by September following a 30 BTC purchase and expanded custody arrangements with Coinbase Institutional. An October transaction adding 100 BTC subsequently increased reserves to 2,650 BTC under the same strategic framework.

Oliver Dale

Editor-in-Chief of Blockonomi and founder of Kooc Media, A UK-Based Online Media Company. Believer in Open-Source Software, Blockchain Technology & a Free and Fair Internet for all. His writing has been quoted by Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Investopedia, The New Yorker, Forbes, Techcrunch & More. Contact [email protected]

Coinbase increased its Bitcoin holdings during the first half of 2026 even as the overall value of its digital asset portfolio declined. The latest figures show the exchange continues to strengthen its Bitcoin treasury while slightly reducing its Ethereum exposure, signaling a cautious shift in its balance sheet strategy as market conditions remain volatile.

Bitcoin Holdings Rise While Ethereum SlipsAs of June 30, Coinbase held 17,311 BTC, up 12.5% from 15,389 BTC at the end of 2025. The company added 1,922 BTC during the first six months of the year, reinforcing its long-term confidence in Bitcoin.

Ethereum holdings, however, moved in the opposite direction. Coinbase ended the period with 150,279 ETH, down 0.6% from 151,175 ETH at the end of last year. While the reduction is relatively small, it highlights a noticeable divergence in the company’s allocation between the two largest cryptocurrencies.

Despite accumulating more Bitcoin, the fair value of Coinbase’s crypto portfolio dropped from $1.99 billion to $1.47 billion, reflecting the broader decline in digital asset prices during the first half of 2026.

Stronger Treasury, But Business Faces PressureCoinbase recently reported its second-quarter financial results, offering more insight into the company’s performance before entering August.

Revenue came in at $1.22 billion for the quarter ended June 30, down 14% quarter-over-quarter and 19% year-over-year as crypto trading activity slowed across the industry.

The company posted a GAAP net loss of $359 million, although much of the loss stemmed from non-operating items, including a $209.5 million non-cash markdown on crypto assets, $52.4 million in restructuring charges, and $238 million in stock-based compensation.

On an adjusted basis, Coinbase remained profitable, reporting Adjusted EBITDA of $208 million.

Although overall crypto trading activity weakened, Coinbase continued gaining market share. Its share of global crypto trading volume increased to 10.3%, up from 9.1% in the previous quarter, setting a new company record.

The exchange also continued expanding beyond trading. Subscription and services revenue reached $555 million, accounting for 48% of total net revenue. Coinbase noted that 88% of its net revenue now comes from businesses outside Bitcoin spot trading, including staking, stablecoins, subscriptions, derivatives, and other products.

August Remains a Key TestOn the other hand, Coinbase stock entered August after gaining 6.76% in July, recovering from June’s weakness. However, August has historically been its weakest month since listing on Nasdaq.

The stock fell 19.28% in August 2023, 18.27% in August 2024, and 19.38% in August 2025, making this month another important test for investor sentiment.

Wall Street also remains divided. Rosenblatt maintained an Outperform rating with a $240 price target, expecting growth from derivatives and prediction markets. Meanwhile, JPMorgan lowered its target from $283 to $196, citing concerns that Coinbase’s revenue-sharing agreement with Hyperliquid could reduce future income from USDC reserves.

With Bitcoin holdings increasing and Ethereum exposure remaining largely unchanged, Coinbase’s treasury strategy is showing a stronger preference for Bitcoin. Whether that allocation trend continues through the second half of 2026 could become an important development for the market.

Story Ends Here

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Whale Alert reported two major Bitcoin transfers from Kraken totaling 2,957 Bitcoin [BTC], worth approximately $186.6 million, into unknown wallets. The first transaction moved 1,800 BTC valued at $113.56 million, while the second transferred 1,157 BTC worth $73.06 million. 

Such withdrawals historically reflected coins leaving exchange custody, reducing immediately available trading supply instead of preparing assets for liquidation. Therefore, the latest movements revived discussion around institutional accumulation rather than short-term distribution. 

Large investors often preferred self-custody or custodial wallets after acquiring significant positions, especially during periods of market uncertainty. However, exchange outflows alone never guaranteed sustained upside because broader market participation still determined price direction. 

Even so, the combined size of these transfers highlighted renewed confidence among large holders and shifted attention toward whether tightening exchange balances would eventually support Bitcoin’s next directional move.

Why are Binance’s top traders still buying? Derivatives positioning continued favoring buyers despite Bitcoin’s recent pullback from higher levels. 

At press time, Binance’s top trader accounts recorded 69.33% long positions against 30.67% shorts, producing a long-to-short ratio of 2.26 over the previous 24 hours. Those figures showed experienced participants maintained bullish exposure instead of aggressively rotating into defensive positions. 

However, leveraged conviction alone rarely dictated price because futures traders frequently adjusted positions during volatile sessions. The persistent imbalance suggested many sophisticated traders still expected the broader trend to recover after the recent correction. 

Retail sentiment often followed institutional positioning during similar market phases, making these metrics particularly relevant. If spot demand strengthens alongside bullish derivatives exposure, buying pressure could expand further. Otherwise, heavily long positioning could also increase the risk of liquidations during another sharp decline.

Source: CoinGlass Scarcity signals remained firmly intact Bitcoin’s long-term supply metrics continued supporting the broader scarcity narrative despite recent price weakness. The Stock-to-Flow Ratio stood at 917.24K as of writing, although it declined 28.57% over the past 24 hours. 

Meanwhile, the Stock-to-Flow Reversion reached 1.6893 after rising 40.47% during the same period. Those daily changes reflected shifts in the model’s readings rather than fundamental changes in Bitcoin’s supply dynamics, indicating that Bitcoin remained a scarce asset relative to its annual issuance. 

When combined with the latest 2,957 BTC leaving Kraken, the metrics continued supporting the view that long-term supply conditions remained constructive. However, investors would likely seek confirmation from price action before treating the accumulation narrative as the start of a sustained rally. 

Source: CryptoQuant Bitcoin support under pressure? BTC failed to preserve its recovery structure after breaking below the ascending channel that had guided price higher since late June, shifting attention toward the $62,162 support level. 

The rejection beneath $66,835 confirmed that sellers regained control before the breakdown accelerated. Parabolic SAR dots also flipped above the daily candles as of writing, reinforcing the bearish shift and indicating the previous uptrend had ended. 

Meanwhile, the RSI declined to 46.23, slipping below its signal line at 51.22 and reflecting weakening buying strength without reaching oversold territory. This reading suggested bearish pressure remained dominant, although sellers had not yet reached exhaustion. 

If Bitcoin reclaims $65,799 and closes back inside the former channel, buyers could target $66,835 before challenging $70,000. However, losing $62,162 would likely strengthen bearish control and increase the probability of a decline toward the $60,000 psychological support.

Source: TradingView Final Summary Kraken withdrawals reduced exchange-held Bitcoin while traders continued favoring long positions over shorts. Bitcoin’s scarcity metrics continued supporting the long-term outlook despite mixed 24-hour indicator changes. 

Trump Media-linked wallets transferred 2,628 Bitcoin, valued at about $165 million, to Crypto.com on Aug. 2, according to on-chain analysts Lookonchain.

Summary

2,628 BTC moved to Crypto.com, but no company filing has confirmed an outright sale yet. Trump Media reported 9,542.16 BTC in March, including 4,260.73 BTC pledged as secured convertible-note collateral. Lookonchain estimates realized and unrealized Bitcoin losses at $555 million after seven months of transfers. The movement reportedly reduced the wallets’ remaining balance to about 4,261 BTC.Lookonchain described the movement as another sale and estimated that Trump Media had disposed of 7,281 BTC over seven months. However, neither Trump Media nor an SEC filing had confirmed the latest coins were sold as of Aug. 2. An exchange deposit can precede a sale, custody change, collateral arrangement or another internal transaction.

Trump Media transfer is not a confirmed sale Lookonchain said the company originally acquired 11,542 BTC for about $1.37 billion, averaging $118,522 per coin. Its post stated, “It looks like Trump Media sold another 2,628 BTC,” wording that reflects uncertainty about the final transaction.

EmberCN separately traced the 2,628 BTC to Crypto.com and estimated that the linked wallets had transferred out about 7,281 BTC. The Arkham entity page identified two recent movements totaling roughly 2,628 BTC, including transfers of about 2,429 BTC and 198.9 BTC.

Source: Akham

Remaining Bitcoin nearly matches pledged collateral Trump Media’s latest quarterly filing provides the strongest company-confirmed baseline. The company reported 9,542.16 BTC at March 31, with a cost basis of $1.131 billion and a fair value of $647.1 million. It recorded no change in the number of coins during the first quarter.

The SEC filing also said 4,260.73 BTC served as collateral for convertible notes and could not be withdrawn or distributed unless indenture requirements were met. The restrictions are scheduled to end no later than May 29, 2028.

The reported post-transfer balance of about 4,261 BTC almost exactly matches that pledged amount. This suggests the tracked wallets may now mainly contain restricted collateral, but the on-chain labels do not prove the accounting or legal status of each coin.

The $555M loss remains an outside estimate Lookonchain calculated that the 7,281 BTC left the linked wallets at an average price of $74,855, generating about $545 million. It then estimated Trump Media’s combined realized and unrealized Bitcoin loss at approximately $555 million.

Those figures are not company-confirmed. The calculation assumes exchange transfers became sales near the observed market prices. It also combines estimated losses on transferred coins with the paper loss on the remaining balance. Trump Media’s March filing confirmed a lower fair value, but said the company had not realized material digital-asset losses at that reporting date.

Trump Media transferred 2,650 BTC worth about $205 million to Crypto.com on May 22. The coins remained in an exchange-linked wallet when that report was published, showing why a transfer should not automatically be reported as a completed sale.

Truth API launch adds separate regulatory scrutiny The Bitcoin movement followed Trump Media’s Aug. 1 launch date for Truth API, a paid service providing institutional customers with low-latency access to influential Truth Social posts. The company said the product delivers posts in milliseconds and could create a recurring revenue stream. Its revenue expectations remain forward-looking claims.

U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren asked the SEC to investigate whether the service could violate federal securities laws. Their letter raised concerns that paying firms could receive market-moving presidential posts faster than ordinary users. The request is not an SEC finding, and the agency had not publicly announced an enforcement action.

Crypto.news reported that Trump Media posted a $405.9 million first-quarter net loss, partly reflecting unrealized markdowns across Bitcoin, Cronos and securities.

The company’s next quarterly filing should clarify whether the May and August transfers were sales, custody movements or transactions linked to hedging and financing arrangements. No verified Bitcoin or DJT price movement can be attributed solely to the Aug. 2 transfer.

Strategy's CEO warned on Friday that the company might sell up to $5 billion in BTC.

It was precisely six years ago when a rather unknown company in the cryptocurrency industry at the time made a revolutionary change to its asset reserve strategy and adopted Bitcoin. The entity in question, called MicroStrategy back then, started to accumulate BTC en masse and only accelerated its purchases after the 2024 presidential elections in the US.

The community became accustomed to hearing about new acquisitions made by the company, some of which were worth billions of dollars. Its total stash grew exponentially and currently sits at 843,775 units. Within this timeframe, BTC bulls consistently heard that the company (and its former CEO) would never sell… until they did. And then everything changed.

During the most recent earnings call, the company hinted that it has plans to sell up to $5 billion in bitcoin, which is significantly higher than the previously claimed $1.25 billion.

The Latest Shift Strategy (as it is called now) has gone five consecutive weeks without purchasing BTC, marking its longest acquisition pause in years. Instead of deploying capital into BTC, the firm has steadily increased its cash reserve through recent fundraising activities. As we previously reported, Strategy has been rebuilding its USD position while continuing to explore financial options tied to its expanding portfolio of preferred stock offerings.

In the most recent official change, CEO Phong Le took to X to announce the company’s new primary corporate objective, which reads:

“Our corporate objective is for STRC to trade at $99-$100 over time.”

In the earnings call, he was more specific:

“Our intent is to sell bitcoin for three reasons when we think it’s appropriate for the company. One, fund the U.S. dollar reserve up to $1.25 billion. Additional reasons include funding dividend and interest payments of $1.76 billion a year and funding up to $2 billion in common and preferred stock repurchases,” Le said, according to a FactSet transcript.

The tweet and comments garnered immediate reactions from some well-known industry commentators as well as constant critic Peter Schiff, who was quick to determine that: “In other words, common shareholders are screwed.”

You may also like: Coldcard Mk3 Users Warned of Risk After 594 BTC Swept From 500 Addresses The Most Unpredictable FOMC Meeting in Years Is Here: What Bitcoin Investors Should Know Strive Buys Another 79 BTC, Bringing total to 20,000 Crypto Kaleo, though, a popular analyst who recently argued that Strategy would have to sell at least 50,000 BTC in the next couple of years to fund dividend payments, wasn’t so kind. In one tweet, he ironically asked whether the CEO remembers when the company’s primary corporate objective was to increase Bitcoin per share before adding: “It was only two months ago, so shouldn’t be difficult!”

In another post, though, he brought the bashing to a higher level, claiming that Strategy is no longer a BTC company. Instead, it operates as a credit company, and its credit rating is “atrocious.”

Strategy went from having a primary objective of increasing Bitcoin per share to trying to make sure their preferred shares trade back to $100… in just two months.

They’re no longer a BTC company.

They’re a credit company.

And their credit rating is atrocious. https://t.co/fHoXr376QY

— K A L E O (@CryptoKaleo) July 31, 2026

The comments below his post were split. Some agreed that Strategy is increasingly resembling a leveraged financial organization rather than a straightforward BTC holding company. Others defended the firm’s approach, noting that maintaining confidence in STRC is essential if Strategy wants to continue raising capital efficiently and safely for future crypto purchases.

STRC Matters The Saylor-co-founded company launched STRC as part of its growing suite of preferred stock offerings designed to finance its long-term BTC accumulation strategy. However, it needs to trade at its par price of $100 to function properly, and it hasn’t been able to for months. It dumped below $75 at one point, before the company shifted its focus to rebuilding its USD reserve. It has since recovered to almost $90.

As such, some investors view Le’s comments as a tactical, short-term objective rather than believing Strategy has abandoned its Bitcoin-focused vision. Still, the timing has fueled questions about the firm’s evolving identity and strategy, especially given the ongoing market uncertainty.

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Strategy’s co-founder, Michael Saylor, has clarified that his company’s plan to sell up to $5 billion of Bitcoin was what they authorized under the previously announced BTC monetization program. This follows reports today that the Bitcoin treasury firm had authorized a BTC sale of up to $5 billion after it posted a quarterly loss of $8.22 billion in the second quarter of this year.

Michael Saylor Clarifies Strategy’s Authorization of Up to $5B BTC Sale In an X post, Saylor noted that they announced their BTC Monetization Program in June before their Q2 results and not after posting a loss. He added that they never had a “never sell” policy and that the program does not require them to sell any Bitcoin.

Correction: Strategy announced its BTC Monetization Program on June 29—31 days before our Q2 results, not after posting a loss. We have never had a “never sell” policy. The program does not require any BTC sale, and we expect to remain a net buyer of Bitcoin over time.

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) August 1, 2026

“We have never had a “never sell” policy. The program does not require any BTC sale, and we expect to remain a net buyer of Bitcoin over time,” the Strategy co-founder said. This followed a claim that his company authorized up to $5 billion in BTC sales after posting an $8.22 billion loss in the second quarter of the year.

As CoinGape reported, Strategy also missed earnings estimates in the second quarter, with the company recording revenue of $122 million, below estimates of $124.48 million. The Bitcoin treasury firm’s EPS were -$24.45, well below estimates of $3.07.

Meanwhile, Saylor’s clarification comes as the Bitcoin treasury firm has paused its conventional weekly BTC purchases for five consecutive weeks. During this period, they have focused on building their USD reserve and also buying back the STRC stock.

Pause On Bitcoin Purchases Likely To Continue Crypto traders are betting that Strategy did not buy any Bitcoin last week and has continued its pause on buying BTC weekly. Data from the top crypto prediction platform Polymarket shows only a 21% chance that the Bitcoin treasury firm will announce another BTC purchase by Monday.

Source: Polymarket Strategy currently holds 843,775 BTC that was purchased for a total of $63.69 billion, averaging $75,476 per BTC. Notably, earlier this year, crypto traders favored the Bitcoin treasury company holding up to 1 million BTC by the end of the year.

However, these traders are now betting against that happening, as the company has paused its BTC buys and sold some BTC this year. Polymarket data shows only a 10% chance that they will announce holding 1 million BTC or more by the end of this year.

Bitget has upgraded its Bitcoin-backed BGBTC asset with daily BTC-denominated rewards, cross-chain transfers through Chainlink CCIP, and independent oversight from Gauntlet.

Summary

BGBTC holders will receive daily rewards denominated in Bitcoin following the upgrade. Chainlink CCIP will serve as BGBTC’s canonical cross-chain infrastructure. Gauntlet will independently oversee the asset’s underlying yield strategies. BGBTC remains backed by Bitcoin at a 1:1 ratio, according to Bitget. Bitget said the upgraded BGBTC will distribute daily rewards denominated in BTC to token holders. The asset is designed to maintain a 1:1 peg with Bitcoin while allowing users to earn yield without selling their underlying exposure.

BGBTC just got a major upgrade.

Backed 1:1 by BTC, it now offers daily BTC rewards, fast redemption at scale, and utility across trading, margin, loans, Launchpool, and PoolX.

— Bitget (@bitget) July 31, 2026 The exchange is positioning BGBTC as an alternative to holding idle Bitcoin or moving BTC into separate yield strategies. Those strategies can require users to transfer assets between platforms, manage additional protocols, or accept reduced liquidity.

BGBTC already has several uses within the Bitget ecosystem. Holders can use the asset as futures margin, lending collateral or for participation in the exchange’s Launchpool and PoolX products.

The upgrade also introduces support for large-volume and faster redemptions, according to Bitget. The company said it has added institutional-grade risk controls and greater transparency, although specific reward rates and redemption thresholds were not provided in the announcement.

Rewards remain tied to the performance and sustainability of the underlying yield strategies. A Bitcoin-backed token can also carry platform, custody, smart-contract and liquidity risks that differ from holding BTC directly.

Chainlink CCIP supports cross-chain BGBTC transfers Bitget selected Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol as the canonical infrastructure for distributing BGBTC across multiple blockchain networks.

CCIP provides the messaging layer needed to move the asset between supported chains. The integration could allow holders to access decentralized applications and financial services outside Bitget’s centralized platform while retaining exposure to the Bitcoin-backed token.

Bitget already uses Chainlink Proof of Reserve to verify the assets supporting BGBTC. Proof of Reserve provides on-chain data intended to help users assess whether sufficient collateral exists behind the issued supply.

Combining Proof of Reserve with CCIP addresses two separate functions. The reserve system focuses on collateral verification, while CCIP handles communication and token transfers across blockchains.

Bitget did not identify every blockchain that will initially support BGBTC through CCIP or provide a schedule for additional network deployments.

Gauntlet will oversee BGBTC yield strategies Gauntlet has been appointed as BGBTC’s independent curator and will supervise the strategies used to generate rewards for holders.

The quantitative risk-management firm will monitor the underlying portfolio, assess risks and help determine how capital is deployed. Bitget said the framework is intended to support the long-term sustainability of BGBTC’s yield rather than relying on an unmanaged set of strategies.

Independent curation adds another layer of oversight, but it does not eliminate losses. Reward levels may change based on market conditions, available strategies, and the performance of the assets or protocols involved.

Bitget is also working with infrastructure providers, including Chainlink and Morph, as it seeks to connect centralized and decentralized financial services through a broader Bitcoin yield network.

The company cited USDGO Holderyield as another part of its effort to let users earn returns from assets that would otherwise remain idle.

What the upgrade means for Bitcoin holders BGBTC combines Bitcoin exposure, daily rewards and cross-chain utility in a single token. Users can potentially earn BTC-denominated returns while deploying the asset as collateral, margin or capital in supported decentralized applications.

For US investors, access to BGBTC and related Bitget services may depend on geographic and product restrictions. Users should confirm whether the exchange, token, and associated yield products are available in their jurisdiction before transferring funds.

Yield paid in BTC may also create tax-reporting obligations for US holders, depending on how the rewards are classified and when users gain control of them. Bitget did not announce any US-specific rollout or regulatory approval alongside the upgrade.

Future adoption will depend on the reward rate, redemption performance, supported networks, and transparency around the underlying strategies. Bitget has not yet disclosed a fixed annual yield or a complete cross-chain deployment timeline.