Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Bitcoin Loses $80,000 as Critics Swarm Treasury's $950 Billion Buyback Plan

TLDR: The Strive Bitcoin treasury reached 21,356 BTC after the company bought 1,110 coins for $81.5 million at an average $73,409. Cash increased to $171.9 million during the purchase week, showing Strive continued raising capital while expanding its Bitcoin balance. Class A shares rose by 3.65 million, making Bitcoin growth per diluted share the key measure for assessing treasury execution. Bitcoin reclaimed the 1,130-day moving average above $74,000, although continued support and spot demand remain necessary for confirmation. Strive expanded its Bitcoin position after buying 1,110 BTC for about $81.5 million between August 17 and August 21. The Strive Bitcoin treasury now holds 21,356 BTC, up from 20,246 BTC one week earlier. The company paid an average $73,409 per coin, including fees and expenses, its latest SEC filing shows. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin traded near $79,400 on Monday after approaching $80,000, according to Coingecko data. That price placed the new coins above their reported acquisition cost. The purchase arrived after Bitcoin reclaimed a watched long-term moving average. 

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Strive Bitcoin Treasury Expands With 1,110 BTC Purchase Strive funded the latest acquisition while its cash balance increased. Cash and equivalents rose from $154.8 million on August 14 to $171.9 million on August 21. The change suggests capital raising outpaced spending during the reporting window. It also gives management liquidity for operations, financing costs, or further purchases.

The Strive Bitcoin treasury uses several funding channels. Class A shares outstanding climbed by 3,646,300 to 79,890,888 during the week. SATA preferred shares increased by 441,313 to 8,270,815. Assumed fully diluted shares reached 92,949,226, the filing said.

Strive’s SEC filing Those numbers create a clear test for shareholders. More Bitcoin does not automatically produce more Bitcoin exposure per share. Management must add corporate Bitcoin holdings faster than equity issuance expands the ownership base. Otherwise, headline treasury growth can coexist with weaker per-share economics.

Strive also held 505,000 shares of Strategy’s STRC preferred stock. Their fair value increased by $707,000 to $48.57 million. That investment and the larger cash balance add financial capacity beyond Bitcoin. Yet the Strive Bitcoin treasury remains the main driver of market attention.

The company says its operating platform manages almost $3 billion across exchange-traded funds and direct indexing. Fee income can support its wider financing model. Its balance sheet approach aims to capture the gap between preferred-stock costs and Bitcoin’s potential long-term return. That spread becomes less favorable if financing costs rise or the Bitcoin price falls.

Bitcoin Reclaim Strengthens the Broader Market Setup Bitcoin’s move improves the valuation of Strive’s purchase.  Bitcoin price near $79,400 values the 1,110 coins at $88.1 million. That sits about $6.6 million above the disclosed purchase cost. The entire Strive Bitcoin treasury would carry a market value near $1.70 billion.

The technical picture turned constructive. Analyst Ali Martinez said Bitcoin reclaimed its 1,130-day simple moving average after moving above $74,000 on August 20. The asset had traded below that average for 80 days after losing it on June 1

BITCOIN: ANOTHER BULLISH SIGNAL$BTC has just reclaimed its 1,130-day simple moving average as support, a level that has consistently marked the end of previous bear markets.

Over the past four market cycles, Bitcoin began a new bull market shortly after reclaiming this moving… https://t.co/a5vYLsH6GP pic.twitter.com/Re8TYnDe5o

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) August 24, 2026

Martinez argues that similar recoveries preceded new bull markets across four earlier cycles. Still, historical repetition does not guarantee another advance. A moving-average reclaim needs continued closes above the level, sustained spot demand, and controlled leverage to retain value.

Coingecko data shows Bitcoin  reached an intraday high near $79,934. The price action gave the Strive Bitcoin treasury immediate upside against its latest entry. It also lifted the market value of the company’s broader corporate Bitcoin holdings.

Strive’s January acquisition of Semler Scientific had already added about 5,048 BTC. That transaction accelerated the treasury’s scale before the latest open-market purchase. The new buying now places more capital behind the same directional exposure.

Investors therefore have two separate variables to track. The first is whether the Bitcoin price can hold the reclaimed long-term average. The second is whether Strive can increase Bitcoin per diluted share.

A rising coin balance may attract attention, but the funding structure determines shareholder results. The latest filing shows both sides clearly: 1,110 more BTC and 3.65 million additional Class A shares. Future updates will show whether Strive Bitcoin treasury growth stays ahead of dilution.

Strive purchased 1,110 Bitcoin for about $81.5 million last week, bringing its total holdings to 21,356 BTC. According to a Monday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company paid an average of $73,409 per Bitcoin (BTC), including fees and expenses, for purchases made between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21.

Strive’s cash and cash equivalents rose by $17.1 million to $171.9 million over the period, while its Class A shares outstanding increased by 3.65 million to 79.89 million. Bitcoin was trading near $79,000 on Monday, about 8% above the average price Strive paid for its latest purchase.

The purchase lifted Strive to the seventh-largest publicly traded corporate BTC holder, behind Bullish and ahead of SpaceX, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET data. Its Nasdaq-traded ASST shares were up more than 11% in Monday morning trading, poised to extend their roughly 36% year-to-date gains, according to Yahoo Finance data.

“The upside is not simply Bitcoin going higher. It is Bitcoin becoming the fastest horse inside an expanding scarcity trade while $ASST is structured to amplify that outcome as much as we can responsibly support,” CEO Matt Cole said in a post on X ahead of Monday’s market open.

Strive operates a Bitcoin treasury strategy alongside an asset management business that manages nearly $3 billion across exchange-traded funds and a direct-indexing platform, according to the company.

It also held 505,000 shares of Strategy’s STRC preferred stock valued at $48.6 million as of Aug. 21.

Strive’s SATA returns to $100 parSATA closed at $100.01 on Friday, returning to management’s targeted $99-to-$101 trading range after falling as low as $83.30 in late June. Strive narrowed the range from $95-$105 to $99-$101 in March and said it would not issue SATA through at-the-market or follow-on offerings below $100.

Strive launched SATA in November 2025, initially selling 2 million shares at $80 each for $160 million in gross proceeds. The variable-rate perpetual preferred stock has a stated amount and initial liquidation preference of $100 per share.

Top 10 publicly traded companies by Bitcoin holdings. Source: BitcoinTreasuries.NET

Unlike Strive’s common stock, SATA is designed as an income product, with a variable dividend rate intended to help keep the shares trading near $100. Strive raised the annualized dividend rate to 13% in April and switched from monthly to daily dividend payments beginning June 16.

SATA is similar to STRC, the variable-rate perpetual preferred stock issued by Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder. STRC was trading near $97 on Monday, below Strategy’s $100 target, while Strategy reported no Bitcoin purchases for the week ended Aug. 23.

Magazine: Bitget CEO isn’t buying the Bitcoin rally — She’s waiting for $50K

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.

Bitcoin has recovered above $79,000 after briefly falling toward $78,200 as President Donald Trump threatened 50% tariffs on Canadian vehicles, automotive parts and steel from Jan. 1, 2027.

Summary

Trump said tariffs on several Canadian automotive and steel imports would rise to 50%. Bitcoin briefly fell toward $78,200 before recovering to about $79,300. U.S.-Canada trade negotiations ended without an agreement after three days of talks. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs drew about $1.92 billion during the latest five-session rally. Trump tariffs target Canadian vehicles and steel A Truth Social post published by Trump on Aug. 24 said the United States would raise tariffs on all Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel to 50% at the start of 2027.

“Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS,” Trump wrote before criticizing Canada’s approach to trade with the United States.

The announcement followed the collapse of negotiations between Washington and Ottawa on Aug. 21. According to Reuters, the proposed agreement would have reduced the main U.S. tariff on Canadian cars and light trucks from 25% to 15%. Duties on Canadian aluminum and steel would also have fallen from 50% to 25%.

Negotiators did not resolve several points, including whether tariff relief would cover medium- and heavy-duty trucks. With no agreement in place, Trump increased the pressure on Ottawa through his latest tariff threat.

Canada, for its part, plans to impose retaliatory tariffs on selected U.S. products from Sept. 8 in response to existing 50% U.S. duties on about $20 billion of Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney described the dispute as a trade war after the talks failed.

“You’re at war when you get attacked,” Carney said on Aug. 22.

Trump also claimed Canada conducts 95% of its business with the United States, although official trade figures cited by Reuters show Canada sends more than three-quarters of its goods exports to the U.S. and receives almost half of its goods imports from its southern neighbor.

U.S. goods and services trade with Canada totaled $872.3 billion in 2025, making the country one of America’s two largest trading partners. The high level of integration means parts can cross the border several times before a finished vehicle reaches a dealership.

Bitcoin price has recovered from its tariff-driven dip Bitcoin initially moved lower after Trump published the tariff announcement, falling from above $79,000 to around $78,200. Buyers soon absorbed the decline, helping BTC return above the psychological $79,000 level.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin traded near $79,300, up more than 2% over the previous 24 hours. The cryptocurrency also came within roughly $500 of the $80,000 level after reaching an intraday high close to $79,900.

The limited reaction contrasts with Bitcoin’s behavior during earlier tariff disputes. In February, BTC lost the $65,000 support level as new U.S. global duties approached, while the total crypto market value fell as traders reduced exposure to risk assets. Earlier crypto.news coverage of that decline recorded a roughly 5% Bitcoin drop from a previous high of $66,465.

Monday’s price move has been smaller because Bitcoin entered the announcement with strong upward momentum. BTC climbed from about $62,679 on Aug. 17 to a three-month high near $79,500 on Aug. 21, adding almost 27% between the weekly low and high.

After pulling back toward $76,600 over the weekend, the asset resumed its advance on Aug. 24. The latest tariff news briefly interrupted that recovery but did not erase the day’s gain.

Treasury buybacks have supported Bitcoin’s rally Behind Bitcoin’s recent advance, the U.S. Treasury has expanded its liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated government securities. The department raised the maximum size of each operation from $2 billion to at least $4 billion for bonds in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year maturity ranges.

Scheduled to take effect on Sept. 9, the revised program will also increase the number of long-end operations from two to four per quarter through Nov. 4. No money has been deployed under the expanded schedule yet.

The announcement prompted a rapid repricing in the bond market. The 30-year Treasury yield fell from a 19-year high of about 5.34% to 5.19%, while the 10-year yield declined to around 4.65%.

As earlier buyback coverage detailed, Bitcoin jumped 8.2% from an intraday low near $64,100 to $69,500 in less than 12 hours after the Treasury disclosed the change. About $1.44 billion in short positions was liquidated across major crypto exchanges during the move, including $1.29 billion within one hour.

The buyback program does not amount to Federal Reserve quantitative easing. The Treasury purchases older and less liquid bonds using proceeds from newly issued debt, changing the composition of government liabilities without reducing the total federal debt stock.

Continued demand through regulated U.S. investment products has provided another source of buying. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted approximately $1.92 billion across five sessions during the latest rally.

On Aug. 20 alone, the funds recorded about $606 million in net inflows after drawing roughly $517 million during the previous session. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for a large portion of the demand, while the combined assets held by U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs rose above $90 billion.

Canadian tariffs carry risks for U.S. prices For American consumers and investors, the proposed duties could affect vehicle prices and the earnings of automakers with supply chains spanning the U.S.-Canada border. Canadian plants supply engines, transmissions and other components to assembly facilities in the United States, while U.S.-made parts also move north for vehicle production.

Flavio Volpe, president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, told Reuters that U.S. assembly plants depend on specific Canadian components and could face production stoppages if the tariff threat disrupts their supply.

Auto industry executives also questioned whether the 50% rate would take effect as announced, noting that Trump has previously withdrawn or revised tariff threats during negotiations. More than four months remain before the planned Jan. 1 implementation date, leaving time for Washington and Ottawa to restart discussions.

Canada’s retaliatory measures are scheduled to begin sooner. Starting Sept. 8, Ottawa plans to apply duties to selected American products in response to tariffs already ordered by the Trump administration, while the White House has not released the detailed rules governing the proposed 2027 automotive levies.

Bitcoin has climbed nearly 24% from below $64,000 toward $80,000 as U.S. spot ETF inflows and forced short covering have fueled its strongest weekly advance since March 2023.

Summary

Bitcoin reached a three-month high near $79,550 after rising almost 24% in one week. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted approximately $1.9 billion across five consecutive inflow sessions. Analysts said continued spot demand must replace forced buying for Bitcoin to hold above $80,000. A confirmed breakout could bring $85,000–$90,000 into view, while rejection may trigger another correction. Nansen senior research analyst Nicolai Søndergaard told crypto.news that Bitcoin has probably established an important local bottom, although he wants more evidence from U.S. spot markets before treating the rally as a confirmed cycle turn.

Bitcoin traded close to $80,000 on Aug. 24 after advancing from below $64,000 on Aug. 19. The asset reached approximately $79,550 during the run, its highest price since May, according to recent market coverage.

Søndergaard said selling pressure has eased, some whales have resumed selective accumulation, and ETF flows have improved. However, he noted that recent readings still showed weak U.S. spot demand, a price below important holders’ cost bases, and derivatives positions recovering before clear confirmation from cash-market buyers.

“I view Bitcoin’s latest rally as a meaningful improvement in market structure, but not yet as confirmation that the cycle has definitively turned,” Søndergaard said.

Under his base case, Bitcoin is passing through the final stages of a bottoming process rather than beginning a confirmed market-wide advance. Sustained trading above $80,000, once leverage settles, would provide stronger evidence that buyers can support the move without relying on forced position closures.

Bitcoin’s $80K test requires sustained ETF demand Bitget Wallet research analyst Lacie Zhang said ETF purchases, favorable macro conditions and progress on U.S. crypto regulation have given the rally genuine support. Yet she also attributed part of its speed to traders buying Bitcoin to close leveraged bearish positions.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs collected about $1.9 billion during the week ending Aug. 21, including roughly $606 million on Aug. 20, according to figures cited by the analysts. The funds recorded five straight trading days of inflows, providing a source of spot demand as Bitcoin moved through several resistance levels.

Zhang said the market’s next test will arrive after forced covering loses momentum. ETF buyers would need to keep absorbing available supply while lower yields and a softer dollar maintain a supportive setting for risk assets.

“The latest move looks real, but it is also very fast,” Zhang said.

“For the rally to sustain above $80K, we need to see fresh spot demand continue after the forced covering fades.”

Separate Bitfinex analyst comments also pointed to a combination of spot buying and short covering rather than a rally built mainly on new leveraged longs. During the first part of the breakout, Bitcoin gained between 10% and 11% while aggregate open interest increased by about 4%, according to the firm.

Bitfinex analysts said the difference between price growth and open-interest growth suggested that new leverage played a smaller role. Open interest rising faster than underlying demand would present a less stable setup, particularly if Bitcoin stopped advancing while traders continued adding futures positions.

Søndergaard wants to see a positive Coinbase premium and spot-led trading volume alongside continued ETF inflows. He also said funding should remain moderate, while open interest must not rebuild faster than demand in the underlying market.

Short liquidations accelerated Bitcoin’s rise The first stage of the rally developed as Bitcoin cleared resistance around $65,000 and moved through liquidation clusters above $67,000. Exchanges then closed short positions that no longer had enough collateral, generating market buy orders that pushed prices higher and triggered additional liquidations.

An earlier liquidation event analysis found that more than $3 billion in leveraged shorts were closed across crypto derivatives markets on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20. Short positions accounted for approximately $2.77 billion, or 92% of the total, while about $1.29 billion was liquidated within a single hour.

Bitcoin shorts made up roughly $1.37 billion of the total, while Ethereum shorts accounted for around $1.01 billion. Binance recorded approximately $518 million in liquidations, Hyperliquid handled about $513 million, and Bybit registered close to $303 million.

Forced buying can increase prices quickly, but each purchase created by a liquidation closes an existing position rather than establishing continuing demand. Søndergaard said a return of rising funding and rapidly expanding open interest during another test of $80,000 would make the advance appear increasingly squeeze-led.

“If $80,000 rejects again while open interest and funding continue to rise, I would interpret the rally as increasingly squeeze-led, leaving room for another correction at some point.”

U.S. spot demand, therefore, remains important for American investors using exchange-traded funds to gain exposure without directly holding Bitcoin. Persistent net inflows would show that investment products are still adding BTC after most of the bearish leverage has already been removed.

Bitcoin could target $90K after a confirmed breakout Zhang said a clean close above $80,000 followed by a successful defense of the level could open a move toward $85,000–$90,000 over the following weeks. An accelerated run toward $95,000–$100,000 is also possible under her scenario if ETF inflows remain strong and liquidity conditions continue improving.

Still, Zhang described the market as stretched after a weekly gain of about 20%. Rising funding rates, weaker ETF flows, or a failure to retain $80,000 after crossing it could lead to a reset before another advance, she said.

Søndergaard also expects any recovery outside Bitcoin to remain selective. In his view, investors are directing more capital toward assets with measurable use, fee income, token burns, buybacks, or another clear method of returning value to holders.

Under that framework, he described Bitcoin as institutional macro exposure while naming HYPE, selected decentralized finance protocols, and real-world asset infrastructure as candidates for crypto-native capital. He cautioned that higher Bitcoin prices would not automatically lift most altcoins.

“HYPE has a stronger value-accrual case than most tokens because of its protocol activity and buyback-linked economics, but its large open interest also makes it vulnerable to crowded positioning,” Søndergaard said.

ETH and SOL could signal whether the rally is spreading Zhang expects Ethereum and Solana to receive the first rotation of capital if Bitcoin’s advance starts extending into other parts of the market. Their liquidity makes them more likely to move before infrastructure projects, DeFi tokens, and assets with higher sensitivity to risk appetite, according to her assessment.

Bitcoin dominance would provide one of the main indicators. Zhang said a stalled or declining dominance rate, combined with a rise in the total cryptocurrency market capitalization excluding Bitcoin, would offer evidence that demand is reaching more assets.

Movements in the ETH/BTC and SOL/BTC pairs could supply further confirmation because both measure whether Ethereum and Solana are gaining value against Bitcoin rather than merely rising in dollar terms.

Macroeconomic data may also affect spot demand. A report on upcoming U.S. data noted that July Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation and revised second-quarter gross domestic product figures are due on Aug. 26, followed by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole address on Aug. 28.

June core PCE inflation stood at 3.3%, above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, while the advance estimate showed annualized U.S. economic growth slowing to 1.5% in the second quarter from 2.1% in the first. Zhang said traders should also monitor stablecoin supply, decentralized exchange volumes, perpetual-futures funding, and whether spot volume leads the next round of gains.

Strive, a US-based investment management company, increased its Bitcoin holdings by 1,110 BTC last week, bringing its total Bitcoin treasury to 21,356 BTC. The purchase, made for $81.5 million at an average price of $73,409 per coin, was disclosed in the company’s latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Strive’s expanding Bitcoin strategyThe acquisition took place between August 17 and August 21, during which time Strive’s cash reserves grew from $154.8 million to $171.9 million. This increase indicates that the firm continued to raise capital even as it allocated significant resources to expand its Bitcoin position. The higher cash balance also provides Strive with liquidity to support ongoing operations and potential future purchases.

To fund these acquisitions, Strive relies on a mixture of equity and preferred share offerings. Over the reporting week, Strive’s Class A shares outstanding rose by 3,646,300 to 79,890,888, while its SATA preferred shares increased by 441,313 to 8,270,815. Assuming full dilution, the total share count reached 92,949,226 by the end of the week.

This growth in outstanding shares creates a balancing act for the company. While adding more Bitcoin to the treasury may suggest higher exposure, the real impact for individual investors depends on how much Bitcoin is held per diluted share. If new Bitcoin holdings are acquired at a slower pace than shares are issued, per-share exposure can be diluted despite headline growth metrics.

MetricAugust 14August 21BTC holdings20,24621,356Cash & equivalents$154.8 million$171.9 millionClass A shares76,244,58879,890,888SATA preferred shares7,829,5028,270,815Apart from Bitcoin, Strive also holds 505,000 shares of Strategy’s STRC preferred stock, which increased in fair value by $707,000 to reach $48.57 million. This position, alongside the larger cash balance, gives the company more flexibility, but the Bitcoin treasury remains its primary draw for investors.

According to Strive, its broader operations manage nearly $3 billion in assets across exchange-traded funds and direct indexing. The company’s strategy is to use fee income to help offset costs arising from preferred stock issuance, aiming to capture the spread between financing costs and long-term potential returns from Bitcoin. If financing costs were to rise or Bitcoin’s value were to fall, this spread could shrink.

Mini dictionary: Strive, an investment management company based in the United States, manages a range of financial products including publicly traded exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and direct indexing solutions, with a particular recent focus on large-scale Bitcoin accumulation as part of its corporate treasury strategy.

Bitcoin rally supports recent acquisitionOn the day Strive disclosed its purchase, Bitcoin was trading near $79,400, giving the new 1,110 BTC holdings a market value of $88.1 million. This value exceeds the acquisition cost by roughly $6.6 million, further strengthening the company’s position. Overall, the total Bitcoin in Strive’s treasury would now be valued near $1.70 billion at those prices.

Technical analysts observed positive signals for the broader market. Ali Martinez, an independent crypto analyst, noted that Bitcoin’s price reclaimed its 1,130-day simple moving average after moving above $74,000 on August 20. Bitcoin had traded below this long-term average for nearly three months, a period associated with broader market uncertainty.

Martinez highlighted that, across past cycles, Bitcoin began new bull markets after recovering this long-term average. However, he cautioned that a sustained rally depends on further closes above this level and stable spot demand.

During the recent session, Bitcoin reached a high close to $79,934, which provided further upside to Strive’s latest purchase. This price momentum also supported the market value of the company’s Bitcoin holdings acquired in previous quarters. In January, Strive’s acquisition of Semler Scientific added approximately 5,048 BTC to its books, helping scale the treasury quickly ahead of the latest round of buying.

Investors monitoring Strive’s performance now face two key variables: whether Bitcoin’s price can maintain support above the reclaimed moving average and whether Bitcoin per diluted share can continue to grow despite higher equity issuance.

Rising BTC holdings may grab attention, but according to Strive’s latest filing, shareholder returns depend on whether treasury growth can outpace dilution caused by increasing the number of shares outstanding.

Future company disclosures will reveal if Strive’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy continues to increase actual exposure per share or if further equity raises dilute these gains.

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 crypto markets have showed no signs of slowing down this new week. Major assets have retained their gains after Bitcoin delivered one of its strongest rallies in years. $BTC climbed from roughly $63,000 to nearly $80,000 over 7 days, gaining about 25%, marking Bitcoin's strongest weekly performance since March 2023.

Several catalysts combined to drive the move. President Donald Trump backed the CLARITY Act ahead of its September vote and held a White House meeting focused on crypto, while the U.S. Treasury expanded its long-term bond buyback operations to $4 billion. Those developments improved expectations around liquidity and regulatory clarity. Leverage amplified the rally. According to Coinglass data, the week ended August 22 saw a total of almost $7 billion worth of liquidations with 5.2 billion of those coming from short positions. That forced traders who bet against crypto assets to buy back their positions, adding another source of demand.

Spot ETF demand returned heavily during the rally. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted roughly $1.92 billion last week, their strongest weekly inflow of 2026.

Notably, Strategy took a more defensive stance. The Bitcoin treasury company added $1.59 billion to its USD Cash reserve, taking total reserves to $5.1 billion, while making no Bitcoin purchases last week. Strategy still holds 840,447 $BTC, sitting on an unrealized profit of about $3.3 billion at current prices.

Solana Pushes Back Above $100 Solana also delivered a major rebound, climbing from around $75 to above $100 over the weekend. $SOL reached roughly $102.50, its highest level since February 2026, before pulling back toward its current price of $96. The token gained about 27% over the past 7 days.

U.S. spot Solana ETFs added about $28 million in net inflows last week, marking their strongest weekly inflow in 14 weeks. August inflows have reached $38.74 million with 6 trading sessions remaining.

Altcoins Catch the Rotation Capital also rotated further down the risk curve. Hyperliquid's $HYPE reached an all-time high of $83.27 on August 23, while Zcash gained more than 60% over 7 days as markets reacted to Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF filing.

Within the Solana ecosystem, $PUMP and $TRUMP led the rebound. Both tokens gained more than 100% during the week before settling at roughly 70% weekly gains.

Can Jackson Hole Become the Next Catalyst? Attention now shifts to the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, which runs August 27 to 29 under the theme "Financial Innovation: Implications for Payments and Policy." Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will make his debut at the event, putting his comments on inflation, rates and financial conditions at the center of the week's macro outlook.

Market sentiment has moved sharply with prices. CoinMarketCap's Fear & Greed Index now stands at 81, up from greed yesterday into extreme greed today. At this time last week, it was ‘Neutral’ at 40.

Before entering any trades, market participants will do well to ask themselves whether fresh ETF and spot demand can keep the rally moving.

Read More on SolanaFloor SGP-003 Critics Argue Resource Fees are “Damaging to Solana”
$14.59M Flows Into Solana ETFs as $SOL Breaks $90: Are We Back?

Can You Safely Store Your Own Crypto?

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented on former President Donald Trump’s announcement to raise tariffs on Canadian autos and steel to 50%. Bessent said Trump wants Canada to engage in sincere negotiations. Trump posted earlier that Canada has long taken advantage of the U.S., imposing ridiculously high tariffs on American farmers and agricultural products, leaving these producers struggling to make ends meet, and creating a $60 billion trade deficit between the two nations over time. “This situation is unsustainable and will not continue!” Trump wrote. Starting January 1, 2027, tariffs will be hiked to 50% on all cars, trucks (large and small), auto parts, and steel. Goods manufactured in the U.S. will be fully exempt from tariffs. “Canada will no longer be treated as a state,” Trump added. “Whether in trade or other areas, Canada is among the world’s most difficult countries to deal with. They believe they deserve special treatment, but the truth is: we don’t need Canada—they need us! 95% of Canada’s business is conducted with the U.S., while our relationship with Canada is the exact opposite!”

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Bessent discusses the US Treasury bond repurchase plan: No bonds have been purchased yet, and the next operation is scheduled for September 9.

US Treasury Secretary Bessent discussed the US Treasury bond repurchase program, noting: "We have not purchased any bonds yet, and the next operation is scheduled for September 9." The US Treasury Department earlier announced that starting September 9, it will raise the size of its long-end liquidity support repurchase operations from a maximum of $2 billion per operation to at least $40 billion. Additionally, market sources indicate the US Treasury may draw on nearly $1 trillion in funds from its Treasury General Account (TGA) to finance the recently unveiled expanded US Treasury bond repurchase program.

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Multicoin Capital-associated address transferred 1,061,100 HYPE tokens to Coinbase.

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In brief U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs added $2.6 billion in net inflows for the week ending August 21, their best week since October 2025, while total assets under management jumped roughly $23 billion. Bitcoin ETF assets rose 25.4% to $96.1 billion and Ethereum ETF assets rose 35.9% to $14.3 billion, according to SoSoValue data. Bitcoin gained about 24% and Ethereum about 30% during the week after the Treasury doubled a bond-buyback program and a short squeeze wiped out billions in bearish bets. U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs picked up roughly $23 billion in total value last week. Only $2.6 billion of that came from new money. Everything else came from Bitcoin and Ethereum simply getting more expensive.

That distinction may get lost in the euphoria of a market rally. A crypto fund's total value—what's called assets under management, or AUM—grows for two separate reasons: fresh cash coming in the door, or the coins already sitting inside becoming worth more. Last week, almost all of the growth was the second kind.

Myriad: Bitcoin next price move? Click to make your prediction.Spot Bitcoin ETFs added $1.92 billion in net inflows for the week ending August 21, while Ethereum funds took in $697.2 million. Combined, that $2.6 billion was the strongest week for both fund categories since October 2025, when Bitcoin was closing in on its all-time high.

The AUM side moved much further. Bitcoin ETF assets climbed 25.4% to $96.1 billion from $76.6 billion. Ethereum ETF assets jumped 35.9% to $14.3 billion from $10.5 billion.

Add those together and total assets rose about $23.3 billion for the week. Strip out the $2.6 billion investors actually put in, and roughly $20.7 billion of that increase was pure price appreciation—Bitcoin and Ethereum becoming worth more while sitting exactly where they already were.

Why the coins got more valuableBitcoin ran from around $62,000 to briefly above $79,000, a roughly 24% weekly gain and its best week since 2023. Ethereum climbed from under $1,900 to above $2,500, up about 30%.

Three separate forces pushed prices that hard. The clearest was the U.S. Treasury's move to double its long-bond buyback program—purchases of the government's own debt meant to support demand and lower borrowing costs—which weakened the dollar and pushed investors toward assets often used as inflation hedges, Bitcoin included.

Myriad: Ethereum next price move? Click to make your prediction.President Donald Trump also met crypto executives at the White House and pressed Congress on the Clarity Act, a bill meant to settle which regulator oversees which crypto assets. The third force did the most damage to skeptics: as prices broke through resistance, traders who had bet on Bitcoin falling got forced to buy back in at a loss to close those bets, a short squeeze that wiped out roughly $3 billion in bearish positions within 24 hours, with another $1 billion liquidated the day after. Each forced purchase pushed the price higher and triggered the next round of liquidations.

BlackRock's IBIT captured the largest share of the new money, at one point taking in 83 cents of every dollar that flowed into Bitcoin funds in a single day. XRP funds also drew fresh demand, pulling in $39.78 million and setting a record weekly volume of $271.74 million.

The rally hasn't erased 2026's damage. Bitcoin ETFs are still down in net outflows for the year, and Ethereum ETFs remain negative, narrowing the combined year-to-date deficit from $5.7 billion to $3.1 billion.

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Stablecoin issuer Tether has halted a nearly $120 million project in Uruguay as part of its plans to expand Bitcoin mining operations in South America. The project was cancelled due to a contract dispute between Tether and Uruguay’s state-owned electricity company, UTE.

The project was seen as one of the first steps in Tether’s strategy to expand its presence in South America. The company planned to operate two separate Bitcoin mining facilities in Uruguay, but the parties disagreed on the amount of electricity to be supplied to the facilities.

At the heart of the dispute was how the electricity capacity specified in the contract should be interpreted. Tether considered the agreed amount of electricity as the minimum capacity to be supplied initially. According to the company’s interpretation, a higher amount of electricity could be supplied if demand increased.

UTE, however, interpreted the amount of electricity in question as an upper limit and argued that the capacity specified in the contract could not be exceeded. The parties subsequently held negotiations to modify the contract terms in order to resolve the resulting disagreement.

However, because Tether representatives were not present at the meeting held to sign the amended contract, no agreement could be reached on the new terms. As a result, the Bitcoin mining project, worth approximately $120 million, was halted.

The termination of the project is considered a significant development in terms of Tether’s plans to expand its energy infrastructure-based Bitcoin mining investments globally. While the company has recently taken steps to diversify its Bitcoin mining and energy investments, the suspension of the Uruguay project stands out as a major obstacle to its expansion plans in South America.

It remains unclear whether Tether will develop a new project or alternative energy agreement related to its operations in Uruguay.

*This is not investment advice.

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Bitcoin’s price surged further on Monday, flirting with $80,000 after U.S. exchange-traded funds had their best week since October. 

The leading cryptocurrency was recently trading more than 2% higher over a 24-hour period after flying past $79,155. It earlier on Monday morning in New York reached as high as $79,954. 

Over the past week, the coin has risen 25%. Its rise comes after a sluggish June and July when it mostly traded below $65,000. 

Last week, U.S. investors reversed course and bought up shares in the Bitcoin ETFs, which had their best week since October, when bitcoin notched its record of $126,080. Data from Farside Investors shows that the funds — managed by the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and Morgan Stanley — received $1.9 billion in new cash. 

“This is one of the benefits of a commodity in a constant state of supply shock,” Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X on Monday. 

Bitcoin ETFs took just about $2b last week- their best week since the Good Ol Days of Oct 2025 as price went from $64k to $77k in a New York minute (that counts as God candle yeah?). Anyway, this is one of the benefits of a commodity in a constant state of supply shock. pic.twitter.com/B63AUp3G8k

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 24, 2026 The surge in interest in bitcoin’s was triggered by the Treasury Department’s announcement last week to at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks.

Since the Treasury made the announcement, yields have gone down, while bitcoin and gold have shot up. The dollar last week was trading at a three-month low and on track for its worst week of August. Bitcoin, on the other hand, had its best week since 2023. 

Positive regulatory news coming out of the White House also helped: President Donald Trump held a meeting with crypto executives earlier last week, and urged lawmakers to get the Clarity Act over the line. 

Lawmakers will vote on the long-awaited crypto legislation, which the digital asset industry has long called for, in September. The proposed law will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins. 

Bitcoin notched an all-time high in October but was hurt later that month after the biggest liquidation event in crypto history saw over $19 billion in bets closed. The coin continued its plunge after the Federal Reserve made it clear it was in no hurry to lower interest rates and investors increasingly threw money at artificial intelligence-related stocks. 

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.

Zcash (ZEC) Explodes Past $800, Bitcoin (BTC) Reclaims $77K: Market Watch

Bitcoin sahipleri açısından gündeme gelen eCash fork süreci, 23 Ağustos’ta kalıcı ağ ayrışması yerine test aşamasıyla devam etti. eCash projesi, Bitcoin sahipleri için 1:1 oranında ayrı bir ECX varlığı oluşturmayı planlıyor. Ancak 23 Ağustos’taki Alpha zinciri kalıcı ECX dağıtımını başlatmadı; asıl Mainnet hedefi Bitcoin 973.728 numaralı blok civarında, 31 Ekim olarak belirlendi.

Bu nedenle 23 Ağustos tarihi yatırımcılar için bir dağıtım gününden çok teknik prova niteliği taşıdı. Bitcoin sahipliği değişmedi ve test amacıyla üretilen pECX, kalıcı ECX ile aynı varlık olarak değerlendirilmedi.

Alpha Zinciri Ne Gösterdi? eCash Alpha ağı, 23 Ağustos’ta 963.648 blok yüksekliğinden itibaren blok üretmeye başladı. Explorer verileri zincirin en az 963.650 seviyesine ilerlediğini gösterirken, başlangıç noktasında eski bir rakip blok da görüldü. Bu durum, ağın henüz üretim aşamasına geçmemiş genç bir test ortamı olduğunu ortaya koydu.

Bitcoin ağı ise aynı blok numarası nedeniyle farklı bir kayda sahipti. Mempool.space, Bitcoin’in 963.648 numaralı bloğunu … hash’iyle ve 23 Ağustos 2026 01:48:47 zaman damgasıyla gösterdi.

Dolayısıyla iki zincirin aynı blok yüksekliğinde bulunması, Bitcoin’in yerini alan kalıcı bir fork gerçekleştiği anlamına gelmiyor. Burada paralel çalışan bir Alpha test ağı söz konusu.

Bitcoin Forkunda Sıradaki Tarihler Hangileri? Projenin güncellenen takvimi üç farklı aşamadan oluşuyor. Alpha aşaması yaklaşık 963.648 blokta 23 Ağustos’ta başladı; Beta aşamasının 967.680 civarında 20 Eylül’de, kalıcı Mainnet’in ise yaklaşık 973.728 blokta 31 Ekim’de devreye girmesi planlanıyor.

Alpha ve Beta dönemlerinde ortaya çıkan pECX birimleri, kalıcı ECX tahsisiyle karıştırılmamalı. Proje, test birimlerinin Mainnet başladığında gerçek ECX ile değiştirilebileceğini belirtiyor. Kurucu Paul Sztorc’un verdiği örneğe göre 1.000 pECX, 10 ECX karşılığında kullanılabilecek.

Ancak mevcut bilgiler, Alpha bakiyelerinin veya işlem geçmişinin otomatik olarak Beta ya da Mainnet’e taşınacağını kanıtlamıyor. Bu nedenle kullanıcıların pECX’i erken dönemde alınmış kesin bir ECX tahsisi olarak görmemesi gerekiyor.

Borsa Ve Blok Zinciri Entegrasyonu Hazır Mı? Forkun teknik tarafında da tamamlanması gereken noktalar bulunuyor. 11 Ağustos’ta güncellenen entegrasyon rehberi hâlâ ön lansman durumunda ve 963.648’i üretim fork noktası olarak gösteriyor. Ayrıca bazı kritik değerler drynet4 parametreleri olarak işaretlenirken nihai fork hash’i, kullanılacak yazılım dalı veya etiketi ve replay mekanizmasının daha sonra açıklanacağı belirtiliyor.

Mevcut coin-splitting yaklaşımında ECX işlemleri için isteğe bağlı nLockTime değeri 499999999 olarak kullanılıyor. Bununla birlikte entegrasyon yapan tarafların lansmandan önce nihai yöntemi doğrulaması gerekiyor.

Borsalar tarafında ise 23 Ağustos öncesindeki duyurular Bitcoin hizmetlerinin genel olarak devam edeceğine işaret etti. GMO Coin, Coincheck, SBI VC Trade ve Zaif benzer şekilde Bitcoin işlemlerinde süreklilik planlarını açıkladı.

Buna karşılık yeni dijital varlık konusunda yaklaşım daha temkinli. GMO Coin, Alpha ve Beta dönemlerinde pECX veya ECX işlemlerini desteklemeyeceğini duyurdu. Coincheck, SBI VC Trade ve Zaif ise ECX’in ileride hesaba geçirilmesi, listelenmesi veya işlenmesi konusunda kesin bir karar açıklamadı.

23 Ağustos’taki Alpha süreci Bitcoin sahipleri açısından düşük etkili olsa da geliştiriciler, madenciler, cüzdan sağlayıcıları ve kripto borsaları için önemli bir test fırsatı sundu. Asıl kritik eşik ise 31 Ekim’deki Mainnet hedefi olacak.

Özellikle nihai yazılım sürümü, fork hash’i ve replay koruması açıklanmadan kesin işlem planı yapmak risk taşıyor. Bitcoin kullanıcıları, ECX dağıtımının koşullarını ve destekleyen platformların resmi duyurularını takip etmeli.

Bu içerik kesinlikle yatırım tavsiyesi niteliği taşımamaktadır. Piyasalar yüksek risk içermektedir ve yatırım kararlarınızı almadan önce kendi araştırmanızı yapmanız önemlidir.

Son Dakika kripto para haberleri için hemen tıkla.

Konu ile ilgili yorumlarınızı bize yazabilirsiniz. Ayrıca, bu tarz bilgilendirici içeriklerin devamının gelmesini isterseniz, bizleri Telegram, Youtube ve Twitter kanallarımızdan takip edebilirsiniz.

This Week’s Big Events Are Priced In for Stocks: Will Bitcoin Agree?

US crypto-related stocks show mixed performance in pre-market trading, with PURR rising over 3%.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), U.S. pre-market crypto-related stocks were mixed, with: CRCL down 1.59%, MSTR down 0.36%, MARA down 1.15%, COIN down 1.37%, RIOT down 0.66%, BMNR up 0.51%, and PURR up 3.12%.

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Unitree Robotics has over 20 billion yuan wiped off its market cap in a single day.

C Yushu-W opened lower and trended downward today. By the close of trading, it was priced at 603.08 yuan, down over 10%, with a total market capitalization of 243.9 billion yuan. Calculated based on the previous trading day's closing price, Yushu Technology's market cap evaporated by more than 20 billion yuan intraday, and by over 200 billion yuan compared to its opening on the first day of listing.

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The Treasury just doubled its bond buyback program while national debt crossed $40 trillion. Bitcoin responded with its best week since March 2024, gaining 27% as institutional money poured into spot ETFs at a record pace.

Summary

Bitcoin surged from $62,679 to $79,500 between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21, a 27% gain that coincided with U.S. national debt crossing $40 trillion for the first time. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled the maximum per-operation buyback size from $2 billion to $4 billion for 10-to-30-year securities, effective Sept. 9, and hinted the ceiling could rise further. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) pulled in $606 million in a single session on Aug. 20, capturing 82% of all spot Bitcoin ETF inflows that day. Short liquidations across crypto derivatives exchanges totaled $3 billion in 24 hours, affecting more than 170,000 traders in the largest squeeze since November 2021. Ray Dalio warned that a U.S. debt crisis could arrive “in three years, give or take two” and recommended investors hold gold and “a bit” of bitcoin as hedges against fiscal deterioration. On the morning of Aug. 19, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it would at least double the size of its long-end liquidity support buyback operations. Within 12 hours, bitcoin had gained 8.2%, blowing through its 200-day moving average for the first time in nine months. By Friday, it was knocking on $80,000.

The surface narrative is simple: falling yields make non-yielding assets more attractive. But the rally that followed was not just a rate-trade reaction. It was a statement about what investors now believe the United States government will do when its borrowing costs become unmanageable. And the answer, delivered by the Treasury itself, was: print more liquidity.

That interpretation turned bitcoin from a speculative risk asset into a fiscal-fear trade, a bet that the world’s reserve currency issuer has entered a debt spiral it cannot exit through austerity alone. The mechanism connecting Treasury buybacks to bitcoin’s price is more direct than most investors realize.

What the Treasury actually did On Aug. 19, the Treasury Department raised the maximum per-operation size for its liquidity support buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. The change applied to securities in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year maturity sectors. The number of long-end operations also increased from two to four per quarter, with the new schedule taking effect on Sept. 9.

Bessent told CNBC on Aug. 20 that “there is every indication that the buybacks could exceed” the $4 billion ceiling. The phrasing was deliberate. The Treasury secretary was signaling that bond market intervention would scale as needed, with no preset upper bound.

This is not quantitative easing in the formal sense. The Treasury is not creating new reserves or expanding its balance sheet the way the Federal Reserve did between 2020 and 2022. Instead, it is buying back older, less liquid bonds and replacing them with newly issued debt. The mechanical effect, however, is similar: long-term yields fall, the dollar weakens, and risk assets rally.

The 30-year Treasury yield dropped 9 basis points in the hours following the announcement. The dollar index fell to its lowest level since June. Gold climbed 2.1%. Bitcoin did all of that and more.

The $40 trillion backdrop The timing of the buyback expansion was not coincidental. U.S. national debt crossed $40,047,425,768,420.22 on Aug. 18, 2026, one day before the announcement. That milestone arrived just five months after the debt passed $39 trillion in March, making it the fastest trillion-dollar increase in the country’s history.

The numbers paint a picture of structural deterioration. The federal government is spending roughly 40% more than it collects in revenue, with annual income near $5.5 trillion and expenses near $7.5 trillion. Interest payments on the debt have surpassed Medicare to become the second-largest line item in the federal budget, trailing only Social Security.

Total debt has more than doubled from the approximately $19.95 trillion outstanding when President Trump first took office in January 2017. The Congressional Budget Office projects annual deficits exceeding $2 trillion through at least 2034, assuming no recession intervenes. Each trillion now arrives faster than the last, a compounding dynamic that bond markets have begun to price with increasing urgency.

The day the debt clock ticked past $40 trillion, the Treasury held its regularly scheduled 20-year bond auction. Demand was tepid. The bid-to-cover ratio fell to its lowest level since February, forcing a higher yield to clear the sale. One day later, the buyback announcement arrived. The sequence was not subtle: the government struggled to sell new debt on Monday, then announced it would buy back old debt on Tuesday. The market drew its own conclusions.

For bitcoin holders, this arithmetic is the thesis. A government that cannot balance its books and cannot politically tolerate the austerity required to do so will eventually monetize its obligations. Whether that monetization arrives through formal quantitative easing, yield-curve control, or the quiet expansion of buyback programs does not change the destination. It only changes the pace.

How buybacks became a bitcoin catalyst The transmission mechanism from Treasury buybacks to bitcoin runs through three channels.

First, when the Treasury buys back older bonds, it compresses long-term yields. Lower yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold and bitcoin. Before the buyback announcement, the 30-year Treasury was offering 5.12%. After it, 5.03%. That 9-basis-point move may sound trivial, but in a market where trillions of dollars in capital allocation are benchmarked against the risk-free rate, it shifts the entire cost-of-capital equation.

Second, the buyback program injects liquidity into the bond market. Dealers who sell older bonds to the Treasury receive cash, which they redeploy into other assets. Some of that cash flows into equities. Some flows into crypto. The pathway is indirect but measurable: on the same day as the buyback announcement, spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed $517 million in net inflows, their strongest daily result since May.

Third, and most importantly, the buyback expansion signals a policy preference. The Treasury is telling the market that it will intervene to prevent long-term yields from rising to levels that threaten fiscal sustainability. That signal, more than any single operation, is what reprices bitcoin. It tells investors that the government will choose inflation over austerity when forced to pick.

The ETF plumbing underneath the rally The week of Aug. 17 to 21 produced one of the most concentrated bursts of institutional bitcoin buying since spot ETFs launched in January 2024.

On Aug. 20 alone, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $606 million in net inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT captured $497 million of that total, an 82% market share that underscores its dominance as the vehicle of choice for institutional allocation. IBIT’s cumulative net inflows reached $62.43 billion, and total spot bitcoin ETF assets climbed above $90 billion.

The four-day stretch from Monday through Thursday saw approximately $1.9 billion flow into spot bitcoin funds. Eight of 12 listed products attracted positive flows, suggesting the buying was broad-based rather than concentrated in a single fund.

21Shares senior strategist Matt Mena argued that expectations of a weaker dollar helped drive institutional capital toward scarce assets. The framing is significant. When an ETF strategist at a major issuer describes bitcoin as a “scarce asset” in the same sentence as dollar depreciation, the narrative has shifted from speculation to macro allocation.

Tudor Investment disclosed an additional 109,446 shares of IBIT during the same period. UBS raised its IBIT position to $90 million. These are not retail traders chasing momentum. They are multi-billion-dollar allocators repositioning around a fiscal thesis.

The composition of the buying matters as much as its volume. When ETF inflows are dominated by a single product and concentrated in a two-day window, the pattern often reflects a macro catalyst triggering allocation model changes at large institutions. A retail-driven rally tends to spread across smaller funds and arrive over weeks, not hours. The Aug. 19-20 pattern looked institutional from the first print.

Sizing the buyback against bitcoin’s market Here is arithmetic that most coverage of the rally has overlooked.

The Treasury plans to execute at least four long-end buyback operations per quarter at $4 billion each, for a minimum quarterly volume of $16 billion. Annualized, that is $64 billion in long-end bond purchases.

Bitcoin’s total market capitalization at $78,000 is approximately $1.55 trillion. The $64 billion in annual buyback volume represents 4.1% of bitcoin’s entire market cap. That does not mean 4.1% of buyback proceeds flow into bitcoin. But it does mean the liquidity injection from this single program is large enough to move bitcoin’s price if even a small fraction of the freed-up capital rotates into crypto.

Compare that to spot bitcoin ETF inflows. In the 12 months through July 2026, U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed approximately $28 billion in net inflows. The Treasury’s buyback program is injecting 2.3 times that amount into the broader financial system every year. If just 5% of buyback-related liquidity ultimately reaches bitcoin markets, through ETFs, futures, or direct spot purchases, that would equal $3.2 billion per year in incremental demand, roughly equivalent to a full month of average ETF inflows.

This is a back-of-the-envelope calculation, not a precise forecast. But it illustrates why the market’s reaction was so violent. The buyback program is not a one-time event. It is a recurring liquidity injection that compounds over time, and its scale is large relative to bitcoin’s absorptive capacity.

Consider the comparison from the other direction. Bitcoin’s daily spot volume averaged roughly $35 billion during the rally week. The Treasury’s $4 billion per operation is 11.4% of a single day’s trading volume. Spread across a quarter with four operations, that is $16 billion in fresh liquidity entering a system where marginal price is set by a much thinner order book than headline volume suggests. The effective float, the coins actually available for sale at any given price, is a fraction of total supply. Most bitcoin sits in long-term holder wallets and does not move.

The Dalio endorsement and what it signals On Friday, Aug. 21, Ray Dalio published a LinkedIn post that amounted to the most explicit bitcoin endorsement of his career. The Bridgewater Associates founder warned that the U.S. government’s financial condition had reached “an inflection point” and recommended investors reduce bond exposure while holding 10% to 15% of their portfolios in gold and “a bit” of bitcoin.

Dalio’s framing was specific. He linked the Treasury’s buyback expansion directly to the broader debt trajectory, arguing that Bessent’s move was “a sign that a debt crisis is getting closer.” If the U.S. government were a business, Dalio noted, its debt service payments would total approximately $11 trillion, roughly 200% of annual revenue.

JUST IN: Coldcard wallets affected by security issue with reported losses

Roughly 594 $BTC valued at $38 million has been stolen from certain dormant single sig wallets pic.twitter.com/f3fk7kYXzM

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) August 1, 2026 The significance is not that Dalio likes bitcoin. It is that the most prominent macro investor of the past four decades now treats bitcoin and gold as complements in the same hedge. When Dalio says sell bonds and buy scarce assets, the audience is not retail. It is sovereign wealth funds, pension allocators, and family offices managing multi-generational capital.

The bitcoin-gold correlation rose to approximately +0.7 during the rally week, a level described by analysts as a return to “digital-gold-era” pricing. Both assets rose together because both were responding to the same signal: the United States government will choose monetary expansion over fiscal discipline.

The White House factor The Treasury buyback was not the only policy catalyst that week. On Aug. 19, the same day as the buyback announcement, President Trump convened a White House meeting with crypto executives and regulators to discuss the CLARITY Act, the most ambitious attempt at comprehensive crypto legislation in U.S. history.

The meeting produced no binding commitments, but it sent a signal that the administration views crypto as a policy priority. Bitcoin jumped more than 5% to trade above $68,600 within hours of the meeting’s conclusion. By Thursday, BTC had cleared $72,000 for the first time since early June.

The SEC added its own accelerant. On Aug. 18, the commission published its Regulation Crypto Assets notice of proposed rulemaking, offering the first formal framework for token offerings under existing securities law. The CFTC opened its inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee session on Aug. 20. Three regulatory bodies, all moving in the same direction during the same week, created a policy convergence that the market had not seen before.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the CLARITY Act before the August recess, setting up a procedural vote for Sept. 15. If the bill clears that hurdle, it would create the first statutory line between digital commodities overseen by the CFTC and investment contract assets under the SEC. Bitcoin, along with ether, XRP, SOL, and DOGE, would be permanently classified as non-securities under the bill’s ETP grandfather clause.

The opposing case: why this rally could reverse Not everyone agrees that bitcoin has become a fiscal hedge. Several structural risks could undermine the thesis.

The CLARITY Act faces long odds despite the White House push. Polymarket traders give the bill only a 16% chance of becoming law in 2026, down from an 82% peak in February. The core sticking point is an ethics provision targeting presidential crypto income. If the September 15 cloture vote fails, analysts have warned of a 15% to 30% market correction as the industry faces another year of regulation by enforcement.

The rally itself was heavily amplified by leverage. More than $3 billion in short positions were liquidated across crypto derivatives exchanges, affecting 170,237 traders. Binance alone processed over $1 billion in liquidations. When that much of a move is driven by forced buying from liquidated shorts rather than organic demand, the price can reverse just as violently.

Bitcoin also remains 37% below its all-time high of $126,198 set on Oct. 6, 2025. The rally brought BTC back to levels last seen in May, but it has not yet proven it can sustain prices above $75,000 during a period of thinner weekend liquidity.

There is also the question of bitcoin’s own supply dynamics. The 2024 halving reduced block rewards to 3.125 BTC, tightening new issuance. But Strategy, the largest corporate bitcoin holder, has been a net seller in recent months. If large holders use the rally as an exit opportunity, supply could overwhelm the ETF bid.

Finally, the fiscal-hedge narrative requires bitcoin to behave differently than it has during prior stress events. In the first half of 2026, gold outperformed bitcoin by a wide margin, gaining roughly 32% while bitcoin fell nearly 46% from its August 2025 levels. Central banks continued to accumulate gold, not bitcoin, as their reserve hedge of choice. No central bank has added bitcoin to its official reserves. The correlation may be rising, but the track record is still mixed.

The week’s real lesson The most revealing aspect of this week was not bitcoin’s price. It was the market’s interpretation of why it moved.

In 2020, bitcoin rallied on stimulus checks and retail euphoria. In 2024, it rallied on ETF approval and halving-cycle anticipation. In August 2026, it rallied because the U.S. Treasury signaled it would absorb long-duration bond risk to keep yields from spiraling, and the market read that as a confession that the fiscal trajectory is unsustainable.

That is a different kind of rally. It suggests that bitcoin is beginning to price not as a technology bet or a speculative vehicle but as an instrument of fiscal dissent, a way for capital to express the view that sovereign debt is no longer risk-free.

Whether that view proves correct depends on variables that no one can forecast with precision: the path of interest rates, the outcome of the CLARITY Act vote, the willingness of Congress to address structural deficits, and the Federal Reserve’s response at Jackson Hole and beyond. But the fact that $1.9 billion in ETF inflows arrived in four days tells you something about where institutional conviction is landing.

The bitcoin price prediction models that project a base-case target of $75,929 by year-end now look conservative. If the buyback program expands further, if the CLARITY Act clears its September vote, and if the Fed signals rate cuts at Jackson Hole, the conditions for a sustained rally above $80,000 are in place.

The conditions for a reversal are also in place. That tension is what makes this a trade, not a certainty.

What to watch Sept. 9 buyback launch: The expanded Treasury buyback schedule takes effect. Watch whether the Treasury increases operation sizes beyond $4 billion, which would confirm Bessent’s hint and likely push yields lower.

Sept. 15 CLARITY Act cloture vote: A successful vote would remove the largest regulatory overhang on crypto markets. A failure would likely trigger the 15% to 30% correction analysts have warned about.

Jackson Hole commentary: The Federal Reserve’s annual symposium in late August will signal whether rate cuts are on the table for Q4. A dovish tilt would reinforce the fiscal-fear trade.

Weekly ETF flow data: Sustained inflows above $500 million per day would indicate the institutional bid is structural, not reactive. A sharp reversal in flows would suggest the rally was leverage-driven and vulnerable.

30-year Treasury yield: If yields fall below 4.90%, the opportunity cost of holding bitcoin drops further and the fiscal-hedge narrative strengthens. If yields climb back above 5.20%, the buyback program is failing to contain the bond market and risk assets face pressure.

Why is bitcoin rallying in August 2026? Bitcoin gained 27% between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21 after the U.S. Treasury doubled its long-term bond buyback program from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation. The move compressed yields, weakened the dollar, and triggered $3 billion in short liquidations across crypto derivatives exchanges. Spot bitcoin ETFs absorbed $1.9 billion in four days.

What is the Treasury buyback program? The Treasury’s liquidity support buyback program involves purchasing older, less liquid government bonds and replacing them with newly issued debt. On Aug. 19, 2026, the Treasury doubled the maximum per-operation size to $4 billion for 10-to-30-year securities and increased the number of quarterly operations from two to four.

How much money flowed into bitcoin ETFs during the rally? U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $1.9 billion in net inflows from Aug. 18 through Aug. 21. BlackRock’s IBIT captured the largest share, pulling in $606 million on Aug. 20 alone, an 82% market share. IBIT’s cumulative net inflows reached $62.43 billion.

What did Ray Dalio say about bitcoin and the debt crisis? On Aug. 21, 2026, Ray Dalio warned that a U.S. debt crisis could arrive “in three years, give or take two.” He recommended investors hold 10% to 15% of their portfolios in gold and “a bit” of bitcoin, calling the government’s financial condition “at an inflection point.”

How large is the U.S. national debt? U.S. national debt crossed $40 trillion on Aug. 18, 2026, just five months after passing $39 trillion. Interest payments have surpassed Medicare as the second-largest federal budget item. The government spends approximately 40% more than it collects in revenue.

Is bitcoin a better hedge than gold? Bitcoin and gold rose together during the August rally, with their correlation reaching approximately +0.7. However, gold has outperformed bitcoin over the trailing 12 months by a significant margin, and central banks continue to favor gold for reserve allocations. The two assets serve complementary roles in a fiscal-hedge portfolio.

What is the CLARITY Act and why does it matter for bitcoin? The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act would create the first comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto in the United States, dividing oversight between the SEC and CFTC. A cloture vote is scheduled for Sept. 15, 2026. Passage would remove a major regulatory overhang; failure could trigger a 15% to 30% market correction.

How many traders were liquidated during the bitcoin rally? More than 170,000 traders were liquidated across crypto derivatives exchanges during the Aug. 19-20 rally, with total liquidations exceeding $3 billion. Short-position holders accounted for $2.74 billion in losses. Binance led with over $1 billion in liquidations, followed by Hyperliquid at $701 million. This is educational analysis, not investment advice.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk, including the potential loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions. Published Aug. 23, 2026.

Fed Study Shows Crypto Investors Driven by Extreme Optimism – Unlike Stock, Bond or Gold Holders

TLDR Bitcoin starts the week near $77,000 after gaining about 23% over the previous seven days. U.S. PCE inflation and Q2 GDP data arrive Wednesday, giving markets fresh signals on inflation and economic growth. Nvidia reports fiscal Q2 earnings on August 26, with investors watching its data-center outlook and broader risk-market reaction. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh speaks at Jackson Hole on Friday, with traders focused on inflation, interest rates and the September policy outlook. Crypto-specific events add to the packed calendar, including BNB Chain’s Pasteur hard fork, BitMart withdrawal deadlines and Bitcoin Asia 2026. Bitcoin starts the August 24–30 crypto week ahead near $77,000 after gaining about 23% over seven days. Treasury buybacks, ETF demand, regulatory optimism and short covering supported the rebound. Attention now shifts to inflation data, Nvidia earnings, Jackson Hole and crypto events that could shape trading before September.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release July personal income and spending data on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. The report includes the PCE index, an inflation measure watched by the Federal Reserve. The second estimate of second-quarter GDP arrives at the same time.

Nvidia will report fiscal second-quarter results after Wednesday’s market close. The company previously guided for about $91 billion in revenue. Its earnings call starts at 5:00 p.m. ET. Traders will watch data-center demand because technology shares and crypto have responded to shifts in risk appetite.

Jackson Hole Puts Fed Policy in Focus The Kansas City Fed will hold its Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium from August 27 to 29. This year’s theme covers financial innovation, payments and policy. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will deliver keynote remarks on Friday at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Markets will watch his comments on inflation, interest rates and the policy outlook before the next FOMC meeting. Bitcoin’s recent rally followed improving liquidity expectations. Any change in rate expectations could therefore directly affect the dollar, Treasury yields and demand for risk assets.

BNB Chain and BitMart Deadlines Arrive BNB Chain will activate the Pasteur hard fork on BNB Smart Chain at 02:30 UTC on August 25. Mainnet node operators must upgrade to client version v1.7.7. The changes strengthen bridge checks, improve validator key handling, and increase transaction capacity.

BitMart will stop trading services at 01:00 UTC on August 26. The exchange recommends users submit withdrawal requests before 05:00 UTC that day. BitMart has discussed a possible restructuring, but its published wind-down schedule remains in place.

Bitcoin Asia Adds Another Market Event Bitcoin Asia 2026 runs August 27–28 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event includes sessions on Bitcoin businesses, mining, policy and corporate adoption.

LayerZero is reducing support for several low-activity chains. LayerZero advises users on affected routes to move or redeem supported assets before service ends. Token unlocks scheduled during the week may add asset-specific volatility.

TLDR The “Rich Dad Poor Dad” author issued a fresh recommendation to accumulate Bitcoin, precious metals, and select property Kiyosaki characterized the Treasury’s enhanced bond repurchase initiative as money creation and “fake dollars” Treasury representatives clarify the initiative serves liquidity purposes and differs fundamentally from Federal Reserve QE operations Bitcoin hovered around $76,000 following a substantial 20% weekly surge fueled by exchange-traded fund capital and forced position closures American spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted approximately $1.92 billion in aggregate inflows over a five-day period The prominent financial educator Robert Kiyosaki has issued another recommendation for Bitcoin accumulation. On August 22, the author of the bestselling personal finance book posted on X, encouraging his audience to safeguard their financial positions through strategic purchases of Bitcoin, gold, silver, and carefully chosen real estate investments.

PRINTING MORE FAKE $

US Treasury announces another round of QE (Quantatative Easing) aka printing fake $.

DXY (index of purchasing power of dollars) CRASHES, which means INFLATION Booms….which means savers of fake $ are the biggest losers.

Don’t be a Loser.

As stated in my…

— Robert Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki) August 22, 2026

His reasoning centered on the behavior of sophisticated investors who shift capital toward limited-supply assets while those holding fiat currency experience erosion of buying power through inflationary pressures.

Additionally, Kiyosaki asserted that the United States Treasury Department was engaged in creating “fake dollars” through the expansion of its bond repurchase program. His assessment framed the development as another iteration of quantitative easing policy.

The Reality of the Treasury’s Policy Shift This interpretation doesn’t align with official facts. The Treasury Department disclosed on August 19 that it would increase the ceiling for its longer-maturity bond repurchase operations from $2 billion to a minimum of $4 billion per transaction, effective September 9.

Treasury officials framed this adjustment as a mechanism to enhance market liquidity for securities spanning 10 to 30 years in maturity, explicitly stating it was not monetary expansion. The Federal Reserve holds exclusive authority to implement quantitative easing, which involves growing the money supply through asset acquisitions.

Bond buyback programs from the Treasury constitute debt management strategy. These operations swap existing obligations through standard government financing channels without increasing the overall monetary base.

Kiyosaki’s framing of this initiative as manufacturing “fake dollars” reflects ideological positioning rather than an accurate technical interpretation of the policy announcement.

This Week’s Bitcoin Price Movement Bitcoin experienced significant appreciation during this timeframe. The cryptocurrency advanced over 20% throughout the week, approaching $79,500 before retreating to approximately $76,000 by August 23.

Multiple catalysts powered this upward movement: declining yields on long-duration Treasury securities, depreciation of the U.S. dollar, and cascading liquidations of bearish positions. American spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds subsequently amplified the momentum.

These investment vehicles accumulated nearly $1.92 billion in net positive flows across five trading sessions, demonstrating genuine buying interest beyond the mechanics of short covering.

While the timing coincides with the Treasury’s announcement and bond market dynamics, it doesn’t necessarily validate Kiyosaki’s comprehensive inflation thesis.

Examining Kiyosaki’s Forecasting History His Bitcoin price projections have consistently proven inaccurate. During June 2024, he forecast Bitcoin would reach $350,000 by August of the same year. That prediction failed to materialize. Subsequently, he has suggested price objectives of $500,000 and $1 million without supplying supporting analytical frameworks.

Notably, Kiyosaki has liquidated Bitcoin holdings while maintaining public optimism. In November 2025, he divested $2.25 million worth at approximately $90,000 per unit, redirecting the capital toward medical facility investments and outdoor advertising ventures.

He has cautioned investors against purchasing Bitcoin purely based on market enthusiasm, which provides context to his current acquisition recommendation.

Bitcoin’s upcoming challenge involves determining whether sustained institutional demand through ETF channels can maintain current valuations after short-squeeze dynamics subside. The Treasury’s revised buyback parameters become operational on September 9.

Key Findings Table of Contents

Cryptocurrency holders anticipated 22% yearly gains compared to non-holders’ 7% projection in 2021 research Displaying Bitcoin’s trailing 12-month performance increased desired cryptocurrency holdings by approximately 2 percentage points Real cryptocurrency acquisitions climbed about 2.5 percentage points when participants received Bitcoin performance information Return expectations proved more predictive of crypto ownership than demographic factors including age, earnings, or sex Bitcoin appreciation may drive household expenditures on durable items such as electronics and home appliances Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland demonstrates that exposing individuals to historical Bitcoin performance data can significantly alter their cryptocurrency investment preferences and purchasing behavior.

JUST IN: Fed study finds crypto investors swayed by returns, with beliefs diverging on risk; mention of Bitcoin’s past gains can lift both desired allocations and actual purchases. $BTC pic.twitter.com/CgQqKGMzPF

— Bpay News (@bpaynews) August 23, 2026

Released on July 14, 2026, the research was conducted by Michael Weber, Bernardo Candia, Olivier Coibion, and Yuriy Gorodnichenko. The analysis examined repeated survey responses from as many as 25,000 American households during each survey cycle.

A randomized trial was conducted during the second quarter of 2025. Survey participants received information regarding Bitcoin, the S&P 500 index, GameStop stock, or inflation projections.

Participants who viewed Bitcoin’s prior 12-month gain of 14.3% raised their preferred cryptocurrency allocation by approximately 2 percentage points. This represented a 47% increase relative to the control group’s baseline desired allocation of 4.3%.

Tangible purchasing activity confirmed the shift. Genuine cryptocurrency acquisitions increased by roughly 2.5 percentage points among households exposed to Bitcoin performance metrics.

Prior to the trial, approximately 11% of survey respondents owned cryptocurrency. The study authors determined the information treatment elevated the probability of cryptocurrency purchase by roughly 23%.

The effect was most pronounced among individuals who cited insufficient information as their reason for avoiding crypto. Those who already held negative views about cryptocurrency as an investment demonstrated minimal behavioral changes.

Divergent Return Expectations Between Owners and Non-Owners The analysis revealed substantial disparities in expected returns between cryptocurrency holders and non-holders.

In 2021 survey data, cryptocurrency owners who provided projections anticipated average annual returns of 22%. Non-owners forecast merely 7%.

Both cohorts exhibited considerable uncertainty. Approximately 87% of non-holders reported they could not estimate expected returns. Among holders, 54% expressed similar uncertainty.

By 2025, expectations declined in both categories. Owners projected 13.8%, whereas non-owners anticipated 4.7%.

Expected returns emerged as a more powerful ownership predictor than demographic variables like age, income, gender, or total wealth. Every additional percentage point in expected returns correlated with a 0.8 percentage point rise in cryptocurrency ownership probability.

This distinguishes cryptocurrency from traditional stocks and bonds, where demographic characteristics typically explain ownership patterns more effectively than return expectations.

Price Appreciation and Potential Feedback Dynamics The study authors outlined a potential cycle whereby robust historical performance elevates future expectations, stimulates buying activity, and attracts additional investors.

“Positive returns attract new participants, which raises the price further,” the researchers noted. They characterized this as a theoretical bubble mechanism rather than a definitive forecast.

Cryptocurrency Appreciation and Consumer Spending Patterns The research also examined whether Bitcoin price increases influenced household consumption decisions.

A doubling of Bitcoin’s value increased the probability that a household with complete cryptocurrency exposure would purchase a durable good by approximately 1.4 percentage points. This translates to roughly a 7% rise in the likelihood of such acquisitions. The impact was most significant for purchases like computers and major appliances.

The study found minimal impact on routine expenditures. The authors proposed that cryptocurrency gains might be perceived similarly to windfall income rather than permanent wealth increases.

The research indicates that cryptocurrency volatility may result partially from investor disagreement and information updating processes, beyond purely fundamental market factors.

US crypto-related stocks show mixed performance in pre-market trading, with PURR rising over 3%.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), U.S. pre-market crypto-related stocks were mixed, with: CRCL down 1.59%, MSTR down 0.36%, MARA down 1.15%, COIN down 1.37%, RIOT down 0.66%, BMNR up 0.51%, and PURR up 3.12%.

6 minutes ago

He Yi Reminds: CZ Does Not Use WeChat, Beware of Scams

Binance co-founder He Yi has issued a statement noting that CZ does not use WeChat. The highly active "Binance Mall" WeChat groups and the fake CZ accounts within them are run by scammers promoting pyramid schemes. Please alert one another to guard against fraud.

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Analysis: Bull-Bear Indicator Reaches Bullish Inflection Point, Signals of Market Recovery Strengthen

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost has published a post noting that the bull-bear market indicator has just shifted into the early phase of a bull market. Though the indicator is not a flawless market signal, this shift confirms that market conditions have improved notably. This trend warrants close monitoring in the weeks ahead.

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Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson stated, "We have not yet received an invitation to join the Mecca Agreement, but we have put forward a dialogue proposal to these countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Turkey) regarding regional security issues."

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Hong Kong-listed large language model concept stocks continue to decline, with Zhipu AI falling more than 11%.

According to Bitget market data, Hong Kong-listed large language model concept stocks have continued to slump. Zhipu fell over 11% intraday, while MINIMAX dropped more than 10%.

6 minutes ago

Unitree Robotics has over 20 billion yuan wiped off its market cap in a single day.

C Yushu-W opened lower and trended downward today. By the close of trading, it was priced at 603.08 yuan, down over 10%, with a total market capitalization of 243.9 billion yuan. Calculated based on the previous trading day's closing price, Yushu Technology's market cap evaporated by more than 20 billion yuan intraday, and by over 200 billion yuan compared to its opening on the first day of listing.

6 minutes ago

© AFP via Getty Images
Despite now having been around for almost two decades, bitcoin is still struggling with use cases beyond money laundering, sex trafficking, drug selling, ransomware and number-go-up, as Jamie Dimon has acerbically noted. But at least the blockchain allows us a peek at the first of those categories.

The National Bureau of Economic Research has just published a new paper that uses on-chain bitcoin transactions, wallet creation and off-exchange records around the time of World Bank aid disbursals to estimate how much aid money is embezzled in the recipient countries and laundered through bitcoin.

As Sumit Agarwal, Peiyi Jin, Eswar Prasad and Daniel Rabetti write:

Good question! So what is the answer? The paper studied crypto flows around the time of 328 aid tranches paid by the World Bank totalling $238bn across 93 countries in 2018-24. From this, the authors estimated that the “leakage” amounted to about 2-6 cents per aid dollar.

As they concluded:

Depending on your priors, this is either a surprisingly small or surprisingly large proportion.

It’s actually a smidgen lower than the 7.5 cent-per-aid-dollar that a 2022 World Bank paper estimated based on offshore banking data. But Agarwal, Jin, Prasad and Rabetti note that their estimate is only derived from bitcoin, and stablecoins have become an increasingly popular tool for money-laundering. The real sum is therefore probably larger.

The details are quite fun, if you’re into these things. Alphaville’s emphasis in bold below.

The leakage isn’t uniform across aid flows though. Money that went into transportation was particularly prone to seeping out, while aid for healthcare “produces no detectable on-chain response”.

For the World Bank — which gave almost half its money to the four most leakage-prone sectors even after the period studied in the paper — this seems like pertinent information when it next designs an aid package.

For the rest of us, maybe the fact that we are blithely tolerating and in some cases even embracing a technology that enables many of the worst forms of crime should also be pertinent?

Further reading:

— Hodlers: an apology for the apology (FTAV)

— “Still Right. Still Poor” (FTAV merch shop)

Bitcoin

24 August 2026 | 11:08 eCash block production has begun, but Bitcoin holders haven't received permanent ECX. The August 23 launch generated temporary test coins ahead of the planned Mainnet split in late October.

Key Takeaways The live Alpha chain produces practice tokens (pECX), not permanent ECX. Mainnet splits at Bitcoin block 973,728 (estimated around October 31). Real-world dates will shift depending on Bitcoin’s hash rate. Replay protection and ticker confusion (XEC vs. ECX) remain unresolved. Custodial users won’t see split coins unless their platform explicitly supports the fork. The August 23 Launch Created Test Coins The eCash chain kicked off its Alpha phase at Bitcoin block 963,648 on August 23. While the network is running, this is not the permanent hard fork being marketed to Bitcoin holders. Alpha generates practice tokens (pECX). The actual one-for-one allocation happens during Mainnet.

According to the eCash roadmap, the deployment covers three phases: Alpha (block 963,648), Beta (near block 967,680), and Mainnet (near block 973,728). The targeted finale date is October 31.

Bitcoin itself is completely unaffected. The Alpha chain functions as a testbed for developers, miners, and early adopters to stress-test code before the official balance allocation.

Track Block Heights over Calendar Dates The October 31 date depends entirely on block production speeds. Because Bitcoin block generation varies with network hash rate, the actual calendar timing will shift.

This timing impacts infrastructure readiness across the market. Wallet developers require verified code before block 973,728 hits, exchanges must decide on customer credits, and custodians need operational freezes ready for execution.

The accurate metric to watch is Bitcoin block height 973,728.

Running a Test Chain Does Not Guarantee Safety pECX reflects planned ECX functionality, but it carries no market value and will not transfer to the final chain. Active mining activity proves block creation, but it does not evaluate software reliability.

An operational test chain leaves core operational questions open, including whether client software is secure, split documentation is complete, or transactions can execute without exposing underlying funds.

Until final production code and verification tools publish, pECX remains an isolated testing environment.

Unresolved Replay Vulnerabilities Because the new network copies Bitcoin’s transaction history, it introduces transaction replay risks. Without dedicated protection mechanisms, a transaction signed on the BTC chain could execute on the ECX chain.

Recent technical examinations by CryptoSlate identify replay security as a key open issue. Mainnet deployment requires proving that users can move BTC without broadcasting identical signatures to eCash.

Self-Custody vs. Exchange Holdings A chain split does not translate to immediate access across all platforms. Holders controlling their private keys can claim ECX directly once allocation software releases. Exchange accounts depend entirely on third-party platform policy.

Key operational decisions pending from major exchanges include:

Deposit and withdrawal freeze windows around block 973,728. Direct support for 1:1 token distribution credits. Address separation protocols to prevent accidental cross-deposits between BTC and ECX. Access to forked tokens ultimately depends on who holds the private keys and whether individual custodians integrate the new network.

Ticker Confusion and Phishing Risks The fork uses the ticker ECX while marketing under “eCash”, a brand already used by an existing cryptocurrency trading as XEC. This naming collision increases the risk of user confusion, fake wallet releases, and malicious claim portals.

Never enter a Bitcoin recovery phrase into unverified fork-claiming software. Legitimate network splits do not require exposing private keys to third-party web forms.

Pre-Mainnet Requirements Open-Source Production Code: Fully audited software ready for public verification. Enforced Replay Protection: Protocol-level safeguards to block cross-chain transaction mirror attacks. Testnet Transition Rules: Clear procedures detailing how pECX environments sunset. Exchange Integration Schedules: Clear statements from major custodians regarding credit distribution and trading pairs. Key Management Documentation: Verified guidelines for claiming split balances without exposing BTC keys. A fork is not complete when it begins producing blocks; it is complete when users can safely separate, custody, and spend both assets independently.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.

Author

Alexander Zdravkov is a market analyst and crypto journalist with interests in economics, broader financial markets and digital assets. His journey into crypto began more than four years ago, driven by a fascination with the rapid evolution of blockchain technology and the transformative potential of decentralized finance. He began analyzing market cycles and identifying emerging trends before they reach the mainstream. He holds a degree in International Relations - a background that helped shape his broader perspective on global economics, geopolitics, and the interconnected nature of modern financial markets. Whether covering the latest developments in the crypto sector or exploring broader macroeconomic themes, Alexander focuses on giving readers context rather than simply repeating headlines. During his career, he has authored more than 5,000 articles covering cryptocurrencies, traditional finance, and global market developments. His work spans everything from Bitcoin and altcoins to macroeconomic trends influencing risk assets worldwide.

COINDESK: Live updates: Bitcoin holds $77,000 as XRP, Zcash pull back after a big weekly rally