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Twenty One Capital CEO Raphael Zagury said Bitcoin is experiencing its first “hashrate bear market” as network computing power remains below its late 2025 record and listed mining companies redirect infrastructure investment toward artificial intelligence.

Summary

Raphael Zagury called Bitcoin’s prolonged computing power decline its first ever hashrate bear market publicly. Bitcoin hashrate fell roughly 22% to 24% from its late 2025 peak, presentation materials showed. Zagury said artificial intelligence creates a competing use for miners’ power capacity and infrastructure today worldwide. Public miners increasingly pursue AI computing, though several companies continue operating substantial Bitcoin mining fleets. Lower network hashrate can increase surviving miners’ revenue share after Bitcoin adjusts mining difficulty downward. Zagury presented the argument at Bitcoin Asia in Hong Kong on Aug. 28. Twenty One Capital subsequently filed the prepared transcript with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bitcoin hashrate approached 1.3 zettahashes per second late last year before entering a prolonged decline, Zagury said. His presentation materials calculated a drawdown of approximately 22% to 24% from the peak.

“Hashrate bear market” is Zagury’s description of the current cycle rather than an official Bitcoin network classification. It refers to the unusually long period during which estimated computing power has failed to return to its previous record.

Bitcoin hashrate decline differs from the 2021 shock Bitcoin’s hashrate measures the estimated computing power miners contribute to securing the network and competing for block rewards. A higher figure generally means more machines or more efficient equipment is operating.

Twenty One Capital CEO: Bitcoin Is Experiencing Its First-Ever Hashrate Bear Market; Nearly All Miners Are Moving From Bitcoin Mining to AI

Tether-backed Bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital CEO Rapha Zagury said at Bitcoin Asia 2026 that Bitcoin is experiencing its… pic.twitter.com/cw8WiyROll

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 2, 2026 Zagury contrasted the current decline with the disruption caused by China’s 2021 mining ban. Hashrate fell rapidly during that episode as companies shut down Chinese facilities, but recovered as machines moved to North America, Central Asia and other regions.

The present cycle has developed more gradually. Rather than relocating the same machines, operators are reconsidering whether new electricity and data center capacity should be allocated to Bitcoin mining at all.

“This has been the longest period that we’ve seen from an all-time high until recovery,” Zagury said.

Network estimates vary because Bitcoin does not publish an exact count of active machines. Analysts infer hashrate from block production rates and mining difficulty, which means daily readings can fluctuate sharply.

CoinWarz estimated hashrate at about 829 exahashes per second on Sept. 2, after readings moved above one zettahash during several days in late August. Longer moving averages provide a clearer measure than daily estimates.

Previous analysis found that Bitcoin mining difficulty had fallen 19.9% from its November peak by late July. Hashrate had remained in a downward trend for approximately 287 days, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data cited in that report.

AI gives miners another use for scarce power Bitcoin miners and AI data centers compete for several of the same resources. Both require large power connections, cooling systems, land, data center buildings and access to capital.

AI facilities require different chips, networking equipment and construction standards from Bitcoin mines. Converting a mining site is therefore more complicated than replacing ASIC machines with graphics processors. Sites with secured power and fiber access can nevertheless provide a starting point for high performance computing development.

Zagury said this option changes the hashrate cycle because miners can now direct capital toward another computing market instead of automatically expanding their Bitcoin fleets.

“If you look at the public mining companies out there, there really isn’t anybody staying the course to mine Bitcoin at scale,” he said. “Pretty much everybody is leaving the industry right now.”

The statement describes a broad trend but should not be read literally. MARA, CleanSpark, Riot, Bitdeer and other publicly traded companies continue operating large Bitcoin mining fleets, even as some explore or build AI infrastructure.

The shift is most advanced at companies such as TeraWulf, IREN, Core Scientific, HIVE and Cipher. TeraWulf reported $21 million in AI and high performance computing hosting revenue during the first quarter, exceeding its Bitcoin mining revenue for the first time as its AI business became its largest revenue source.

Cipher has also obtained a $200 million revolving credit facility to finance its expansion into long-term AI data center contracts.

Low cost miners could gain network share Zagury rejected the idea that Bitcoin mining is inherently a poor business. He argued that profitability depends on where an operator sits on the industry’s cost curve.

A miner with efficient equipment and low electricity costs can remain profitable under conditions that force a higher-cost competitor to shut down. Capital structure also matters because heavy debt and short repayment schedules can create pressure even when a facility remains operationally competitive.

Hash price, which measures expected miner revenue for a unit of computing power, remains low compared with historical levels. That puts pressure on operators using older machines or expensive electricity.

However, declining network hashrate can benefit miners that remain active. Bitcoin adjusts mining difficulty every 2,016 blocks, or approximately every two weeks, to keep average block production close to ten minutes.

When computing power leaves the network, a downward difficulty adjustment can make it easier for remaining miners to find blocks. Each surviving operator can then control a larger share of the network without adding machines.

“The beautiful thing about Bitcoin mining being in a bear market of hashrate is that, for those that stay around, they naturally get a higher share of the market,” Zagury said.

That benefit does not guarantee higher profits. Revenue still depends on Bitcoin’s price, transaction fees, electricity costs, equipment efficiency and the amount of competing hashrate.

Bitcoin price must outpace hashrate growth Zagury said mining has the best chance of outperforming Bitcoin when the asset’s price increases faster than network hashrate.

If Bitcoin rises by 50% while hashrate remains flat, a miner’s revenue can increase without an equivalent rise in competition. If computing power grows faster than Bitcoin’s price, each operator’s network share and revenue per machine can decline.

Zagury recommended buying Bitcoin directly before investing in mining for someone allocating only a small amount of capital. He said investors considering larger, diversified allocations could combine Bitcoin with mining exposure.

“If you only have $1, buy Bitcoin first,” Zagury said. “I think that’s the best way to express your view.”

His position reflects Twenty One Capital’s stated approach of measuring potential investments against Bitcoin. The Tether-backed company treats the cryptocurrency as its main benchmark and argues that an operating business must justify its additional risks by offering a credible path to outperforming BTC.

Mining companies face construction, electricity, equipment, management and financing risks that do not arise from holding a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. They can also offer operating leverage when Bitcoin rises faster than their costs and network competition.

Energy flexibility remains mining’s main advantage Zagury also defended Bitcoin mining against criticism that it wastes electricity. He argued that energy use supports economic development and that mining offers a flexible source of demand.

ASIC machines can shut down and restart faster than heavy industrial facilities. Miners can therefore reduce consumption when electricity demand rises and resume operations when unused capacity becomes available.

The ability to curtail operations has led miners to participate in grid stabilization programs, particularly in energy markets with variable renewable generation. Financial and environmental results depend on the underlying power source and the terms of each arrangement.

AI data centers generally require steadier power than Bitcoin mines because customer workloads cannot be interrupted as easily. Bitcoin mining may therefore retain a role at sites where electricity is abundant but unreliable or cannot be transmitted economically.

Zagury said mining now provides four forms of optionality: flexible energy demand, increased network share when competitors leave, proximity to Bitcoin’s protocol and reusable data center infrastructure.

Whether miners capture those benefits will become clearer through upcoming difficulty adjustments and public company results. Filings will show how much capital miners direct toward new ASIC equipment compared with AI construction.

The sector’s direction is unlikely to be uniform. Some operators will retain Bitcoin mining, others will combine mining with AI hosting, and companies controlling the most attractive power sites may shift more aggressively toward high performance computing.

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According to an announcement by Japanese listed firm Remixpoint (ticker: 3825), the company sold all its altcoins on September 1—including Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, and Dogecoin (DOGE)—for a total of 878.8 million yen, generating a profit of 117.8 million yen. Post-sale, Remixpoint’s only remaining cryptocurrency holding is Bitcoin (BTC), with approximately 1,506 BTC in reserves. Breakdown of the altcoin sales: 901.4467 ETH sold for 353.4 million yen, yielding a 60.2 million yen profit; 13,920.0726 SOL sold for 227.9 million yen, with a 49.3 million yen profit; roughly 1.1912 million XRP sold for 260.4 million yen, netting a 11.52 million yen profit; and approximately 2.8023 million DOGE sold for 37.08 million yen, incurring a 3.26 million yen loss. The company plans to recognize the ~118 million yen in sale proceeds in its second quarter results for the fiscal year ending March 2027. Remixpoint stated the portfolio adjustment is designed to further consolidate its crypto asset holdings, formalize its Bitcoin-centric investment and operational strategy, and boost capital efficiency. The sale proceeds will be considered for use in expanding assets in growth sectors such as grid-scale energy storage, strengthening its financial foundation, and other initiatives to enhance corporate and shareholder value. Additionally, the firm disclosed that between February 24, 2026, and August 31, it earned BTC lending income of 14.92055902 units, equivalent to approximately 164.2 million yen. As of August 31, its staking income from ETH and SOL combined totaled roughly 29.875 million yen.

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OCEAN Mining, the decentralization-focused Bitcoin mining pool, has named Bob Burnett as its new chairman of the board. The appointment fills a leadership vacuum that opened when co-founder Luke Dashjr stepped down from his roles as chairman and CTO on August 29, 2026.

Burnett isn’t exactly a newcomer to OCEAN’s orbit. As CEO of Barefoot Mining, he’s directed over 90% of his company’s hashrate to the pool, making him one of its most significant contributors and loudest advocates.

From biggest customer to boardroom leader Burnett’s elevation follows what appears to have been a deliberate pause in succession planning. After Dashjr’s departure, OCEAN initially chose not to name an immediate replacement, instead emphasizing its commitment to continuing transparent, permissionless operations.

Burnett brings operational credibility to the role, having publicly championed OCEAN’s model and participated in performance studies that he says demonstrate better financial returns compared to traditional FPPS (full pay-per-share) pools.

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OCEAN launched in November 2023 with roughly $6.2 million in seed funding led by Jack Dorsey, and has since grown to represent between 2.45% and 2.88% of recent Bitcoin blocks. Its hashrate estimates range between 13 and 25 EH/s, depending on the measurement window.

Why OCEAN operates differently Most Bitcoin mining pools function like middlemen. Miners contribute hashpower, the pool finds blocks, and the pool distributes rewards, often holding custody of funds during the process. OCEAN takes a different approach.

The pool uses a proprietary system called DATUM that lets individual miners build their own block templates. In plain terms, miners get to choose which transactions go into the blocks they’re working on, rather than handing that decision to a centralized pool operator. Payouts are non-custodial, meaning the pool never holds miners’ Bitcoin.

OCEAN also employs what it calls the TIDES system to ensure payout transparency. The entire setup is designed to address a concern that’s been brewing in Bitcoin circles for years: that mining pool consolidation undermines the decentralization Bitcoin was built to provide.

OCEAN achieved SOC 2 Type 1 compliance in November 2025 and added SOC 1 Type 1 certification in March 2026.

The Dashjr departure and what it signals Luke Dashjr’s resignation from OCEAN wasn’t a quiet exit. A longtime Bitcoin Core developer and one of OCEAN’s co-founders, Dashjr left citing evolving internal visions and protocol debates.

What this means for Bitcoin mining’s competitive dynamics The broader question is whether OCEAN’s model can scale without compromising the principles that differentiate it. Non-custodial payouts and miner-built block templates add complexity. OCEAN’s counter-argument, supported by Burnett’s own data, is that the economics actually favor its approach through the TIDES system compared to conventional FPPS arrangements.

The risk, of course, is concentration of a different kind. When your new chairman also runs the operation contributing the largest share of your hashrate, the line between customer and controller gets blurry. OCEAN will need to demonstrate that Burnett’s dual role doesn’t create the same centralization dynamics the pool was founded to prevent.

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

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has reaffirmed Bitcoin’s role as a portfolio diversifier following a significant market correction. The firm published new research analyzing how Bitcoin’s volatility and risk-return profile affect diversified portfolios after Bitcoin’s value fell approximately 50% from its October 2025 high.

In its report, BlackRock evaluated the performance of traditional 60/40 equity and bond portfolios both with and without a Bitcoin allocation. Over a rolling 10-year period ending May 29, 2026, the classic 60/40 portfolio delivered an annualized return of 9.9% and annualized volatility of 10.1%. Adding 1% Bitcoin increased the annualized return to 10.9% and volatility to 10.3%. A 2% allocation raised the return to 11.8% with volatility at 10.6%.

The analysis indicated that a 2% Bitcoin allocation improved the Sharpe ratio from 0.81 to 0.96, while portfolio drawdown only changed marginally from -20.3% to -20.9%. BlackRock highlighted that the incremental risk from Bitcoin was modest compared to the return enhancement, challenging concerns around Bitcoin’s high standalone volatility.

Portfolio AllocationAnnualized ReturnAnnualized VolatilitySharpe RatioMaximum Drawdown60/40 (no BTC)9.9%10.1%0.81-20.3%60/39/1 (w/ 1% BTC)10.9%10.3%0.90-20.7%60/38/2 (w/ 2% BTC)11.8%10.6%0.96-20.9%BlackRock explained that Bitcoin’s risk and return traits are structurally different from other assets, stemming from its fixed supply and decentralized nature. These features, according to the research, cause Bitcoin’s correlations with traditional asset classes to be episodic rather than persistent.

Rationale behind the 1–2% allocation rangeBlackRock’s latest research echoes earlier findings, identifying a 1–2% allocation as a balanced range for investors capable of handling Bitcoin’s risk. The firm noted that at these levels, Bitcoin’s share of total portfolio risk is similar to that of a single mega-cap tech stock within a standard allocation. Exceeding 2% may increase risk disproportionately relative to return.

The improved Sharpe ratio with 1–2% Bitcoin suggests that the historical reward justified the additional volatility. Nevertheless, BlackRock clarified that these figures do not set 1–2% as an optimal or recommended exposure. Appropriate levels should be based on individual investment goals, liquidity needs, and risk preferences, rather than a single rule.

In BlackRock’s analysis, a small Bitcoin allocation enhanced historical returns without importing excessive risk, even after accounting for sharp market declines.

Institutional adoption and IBIT’s growthBlackRock’s practical experience also shapes its perspective. In January 2024, the company launched the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), an exchange-traded product providing spot Bitcoin exposure. Within one year, IBIT grew to over $50 billion in assets, making it the largest-ever ETF launch by that metric and reaching the milestone five times faster than the previous record holder.

By 2025, IBIT became BlackRock’s top revenue-generating ETF, standing out in a lineup of more than a thousand products. The fund now holds around 775,000 BTC, representing more than 60% of the Bitcoin managed within U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. In total, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs control about 1.25 million BTC, nearly 6% of Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million supply.

Mini dictionary: IBIT, the iShares Bitcoin Trust, is BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF in the US, providing institutional and retail investors a regulated vehicle to gain direct exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements via traditional brokerage platforms.

Resilience of the investment thesis through volatilityBlackRock’s update comes as Bitcoin recovers from a steep drawdown attributed to deleveraging and weakening demand from institutional buyers and companies. Despite these headwinds, the firm described this downturn as a positioning correction rather than a structural weakness in Bitcoin’s investment proposition.

The report pointed to Bitcoin’s limited supply, global liquidity, and lack of sovereign control as qualities that could become increasingly relevant for long-term investors, especially given ongoing monetary and geopolitical uncertainties. However, BlackRock emphasized that neither past performance nor IBIT’s growth guarantee future results or recommend specific allocation targets.

Bitcoin is no longer evaluated solely as an unconventional asset but is increasingly reviewed with the rigorous standards of capital allocation applied across global portfolios, including risk contribution, correlation, drawdown, and expected return.

Guidance for corporate treasurers and boardsFor corporate treasurers, board members, and executives, BlackRock’s analysis may represent a shift in perspective. The research showed that even a small allocation could meaningfully affect historical returns without causing a similar surge in portfolio risk.

Rather than debating whether to fully embrace Bitcoin or avoid it, the firm suggests that disciplined, incremental exposures can be effectively managed as part of broader capital allocation strategies. Companies are encouraged to carefully define investment goals, assess risk tolerance, and periodically review underlying assumptions as conditions evolve.

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Strategy, the Nasdaq-listed bitcoin treasury company led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, acquired 4,603 bitcoin for $369.7 million last week, its first purchase since late June, lifting its total position to 845,050 BTC, according to a Form 8-K filing dated August 31, 2026 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The disclosure, part of the company’s regular weekly update, ends a roughly two-month pause in accumulation and arrives as bitcoin trades near $78,000 following its strongest month in nearly two years.

The filing shows Strategy bought the coins between August 24 and August 30 at an average price of $80,318 each. The aggregate purchase price of $369.7 million, inclusive of fees and expenses, brings the company’s cumulative holdings to 845,050 bitcoin acquired for $63.73 billion at an average cost of $75,412 per coin. The new coins were added at a price about 6.5 percent above that long-run cost basis, a reminder that the company is still willing to pay up to expand its position after pausing for two months. Strategy remains the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the asset.

Funding the Purchase Through Stock Sales The acquisition was financed through Strategy’s at-the-market, or ATM, offering program. The 8-K reports that the company raised $602.8 million in net proceeds from sales of Class A common stock during the week, splitting the deployment into four pieces: $369.7 million toward the bitcoin purchase, $151.8 million to repurchase shares of its variable-rate STRC preferred stock, $50.7 million to cover dividends on that preferred stock, and $30.0 million added to its cash account. The STRC repurchases continue a buyback program Strategy announced on June 29 that still has about $364.8 million of remaining capacity, according to the filing.

The company also reported a U.S. dollar reserve of $5.10 billion and a separate cash balance of $1.61 billion as of August 30. Strategy has funded its bitcoin accumulation since 2020 through a combination of equity, preferred shares and convertible debt, and the latest tranche follows that same playbook rather than drawing down the company’s existing bitcoin or cash reserves.

Ending a Two-Month Pause in Accumulation The purchase ends a stretch in which Strategy did not add to its position, with its previous bitcoin acquisition reported in late June. The return to buying follows the company’s largest single week of accumulation, when it acquired roughly $1 billion of bitcoin in April, and it indicates that management still sees room to expand the treasury even with the asset trading well above the company’s average cost basis.

Saylor has repeatedly framed the company as a long-term holder rather than a trader, telling investors to measure the strategy in years and recently describing a four-year minimum holding period for MSTR investors. Resuming purchases at current prices is consistent with that stated posture, and it reopens a debate among investors about how aggressively the company should keep adding exposure.

Market Context and What Remains Unsettled The disclosure lands in the middle of a broad crypto rally, with bitcoin up more than 30% in August and on track for its best month since November 2024, while MSTR shares moved higher in premarket trading after the announcement. Because Strategy’s purchases and financing activities are closely watched across the sector, the return to buying is likely to be read by other treasury-style holders as a signal of continued institutional conviction.

The filing does not commit the company to future purchase amounts or a schedule, and the pace of accumulation will continue to depend on how much capital Strategy can raise through its ATM program and other instruments. Saylor has argued the treasury can absorb prolonged price weakness, pointing to models suggesting the company could last for decades even at zero bitcoin returns, but the decision to buy rather than hold cash reflects a continued bet on the asset at today’s levels. Investors will now watch whether Strategy sustains purchases in its next weekly filing and whether the pace of ATM share sales accelerates to fund additional buying.

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Bitcoin’s ability to extend its August rally has come under a fresh test as analysts have pointed to sustained spot ETF demand as a key requirement for overcoming rising expectations of a September Federal Reserve rate hike.

Summary

Bitcoin is trading near $78,700 after retreating from last week’s high above $81,000. Bitfinex analysts say spot buying and relatively contained leverage suggest the market is not showing signs of overheating. CoinEx’s Jeff Ko sees $80,000–$83,000 as a major supply zone where real capital allocation will be tested. BTSE’s Jeff Mei says ETF demand needs to remain strong across multiple funds, while softer inflation could ease pressure from the Fed. U.S. labor and inflation data will be closely watched before the Fed’s Sept. 15–16 meeting. According to Bitfinex analysts in an Aug. 31 market report shared with crypto.news, Bitcoin’s latest advance has relied increasingly on spot demand rather than excessive leverage, leaving the market in a stronger position to absorb selling even as U.S. monetary conditions become less supportive.

According to data from crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) price was trading around $78,700 at the time of writing, down about 0.4% over the past 24 hours. The asset briefly climbed above $81,000 last week before falling to a low of $76,857 after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh used his Jackson Hole address to signal that interest rates may still need to rise.

The decline interrupted a rally that had carried Bitcoin from below $65,000 in mid-August to above $80,000. As previously covered by crypto.news, Bitcoin gained about 24% during the previous week as Treasury buybacks, ETF demand, and forced short covering helped fuel the recovery.

Bitcoin ETF demand now faces a tougher test Bitfinex analysts said the derivatives market has not shown the kind of rapid leverage build-up that typically accompanies an overheated rally. Bitcoin open interest stood at $55.6 billion, more than 20% above its level at the start of August, but the increase has been gradual while basis levels have remained relatively low.

“We are in a market driven by spot buying and, notwithstanding large short liquidations, open interest has only gradually increased, while basis has remained relatively low and at healthy levels historically,” the analysts said.

Holding $77,100, which Bitfinex identified as an important lower-timeframe support level, alongside continued spot buying would indicate that the market remains relatively balanced, according to the report.

ETF flows provide another measure of whether that demand can continue.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed about $3.04 billion during nine consecutive positive sessions from Aug. 17 through Aug. 27, according to Bitfinex. Friday then produced the first net outflow in 10 sessions, with investors withdrawing $201.9 million as Bitcoin reversed from above $81,000.

Despite Friday’s redemptions, the funds still finished the week with $924.5 million in net inflows, while inflows across the previous two weeks reached about $2.8 billion.

BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for only $33.4 million of Friday’s withdrawals after collecting roughly $2.3 billion during the preceding nine sessions. ARKB and BITB together recorded $164.6 million in outflows.

Institutional demand has also been absorbing Bitcoin sold by larger holders, Bitfinex said. Whale addresses holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC have reduced their balances by 50,500 BTC since the end of June, while institutional custodial holdings associated with exchanges and ETF platforms increased by 59,100 BTC.

During the latest August advance alone, custodial balances rose by 31,500 BTC, a move the analysts said closely tracked ETF inflows.

“While whales took profits during the rally, institutional demand absorbed that supply, indicating that assets moving into these regulated vehicles may be less prone to sudden liquidation on the basis of short-term macroeconomic news.”

$80K–$83K could test whether real buyers remain Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, told crypto.news that part of Bitcoin’s August rally came from Treasury buybacks pushing yields and the dollar lower at the same time that traders had built large short positions.

Ko said the mechanical part of the resulting squeeze has now “largely played out,” leaving spot demand as a more important factor around $80,000.

“Treasury buybacks pushed yields and the dollar lower, and that impulse collided with crowded short positioning to produce the squeeze,” Ko said. “What matters from here is whether spot buyers keep absorbing supply around $80K.”

The Treasury catalyst had already produced a sharp response earlier in August. On Aug. 19, the department announced that it would at least double the maximum size of liquidity-support buybacks for 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year nominal coupon securities from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation from Sept. 9 through Nov. 4.

The change helped compress long-term yields as Bitcoin surged. An Aug. 20 analysis of the buybacks found that BTC jumped 8.2% from an intraday low of $64,100 to $69,500 within 12 hours of the Treasury announcement, while $1.44 billion in short positions were liquidated.

Ko now sees $80,000–$83,000 as more than a technical resistance area because the zone could show whether new investment can replace the buying pressure previously created by forced short covering.

“It is a major supply zone, and the point at which the rally stops being a short squeeze and becomes a test of real capital allocation.”

Ether could provide another signal. Ko said ETH had traded near $2,490 heading into Jackson Hole but subsequently lagged Bitcoin on price. If Treasury yields and the dollar remain elevated while Ether starts outperforming Bitcoin on both price and investment flows, he would view the move as evidence of stronger crypto risk appetite.

Bitfinex also pointed to Ether ETFs as a possible gauge of demand. U.S. spot Ether products took in $815.7 million last week and extended their positive run to 10 sessions, according to the firm. Nearly 12.3% of cumulative Ether ETF inflows since launch arrived during August, while demand adjusted for the relative size of the assets was roughly four times as intense as Bitcoin ETF demand during the past week.

Fed rate hike risk threatens the liquidity support The pressure on Bitcoin now comes from a less favorable interest-rate outlook.

Warsh’s Jackson Hole remarks pushed the market-implied probability of a September rate increase to about 57%, according to Bitfinex. Ko similarly said CME-implied odds had risen from 39.9% on Aug. 21 to 57% following the speech, while the two-year Treasury yield moved to around 4.31% and the dollar returned toward a two-week high.

Bitfinex analysts said persistent inflation remains one of the main constraints on easier monetary policy. Headline Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation stood at 3.7%, with core inflation at 3.3%, while private domestic demand expanded at a 4.2% annualized pace during the second quarter.

Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of BTSE, told crypto.news that Warsh’s speech had raised the hurdle for Bitcoin because higher interest rates could reduce the amount of liquidity available for crypto assets.

“For a sustained rally, we need a few things to happen. First, ETF demand has to stay strong across all ETF products, and not just BlackRock’s IBIT ETF. Second, we need better inflation data for the Fed to back off and keep rates steady.”

Mei also cautioned that the boost associated with Treasury buybacks could fade quickly.

Earlier in August, Bitcoin broke above $76,000 as ETF inflows accelerated alongside improving U.S. liquidity conditions. Spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $606 million on Aug. 20 alone, extending a run of institutional demand that accompanied the recovery from the mid-August lows.

Bitcoin needs U.S. data to ease the rate pressure Attention now turns to a run of U.S. economic releases that could alter expectations before the Federal Reserve meets in September.

Ko identified Friday’s August payroll report as the most important immediate event and the final jobs report before the FOMC decision. July payrolls fell by 23,000 against an 80,000 consensus estimate, while May and June were revised lower by a combined 103,000 jobs, according to figures cited by Ko. The unemployment rate currently stands at 4.1%.

Before payrolls, ISM Manufacturing and JOLTS data are due Tuesday, followed by ADP employment figures and the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book on Wednesday and ISM Services on Thursday. Bitfinex analysts also identified the August labor-market and inflation releases as the next major tests for rate expectations.

The August inflation report is scheduled for Sept. 11, putting another major data point immediately before the Sept. 15–16 FOMC meeting.

Ko also pointed to the CLARITY Act as a crypto-specific U.S. catalyst, with a Senate procedural vote currently scheduled for Sept. 15. In his view, the vote represents one of the largest asset-specific events on the September calendar, while the Fed meeting will determine the monetary backdrop facing Bitcoin and other risk assets.

For price, Mei sees $87,000 as the next level that would materially strengthen the bullish case after Bitcoin clears the nearer resistance areas.

“If we break the $87k mark and hold, $100K becomes the real target, and we could be looking at a bull market.”

Russia has approved new regulations set to take effect on September 1, 2026, creating a stricter framework for the use of digital assets by both individuals and businesses. The regulations focus on distinguishing between digital assets used for payments and those treated as securities, aiming to limit the accessibility of most altcoins to the general public.

Retail access tightly restrictedUnder the incoming rules, Russian retail investors will be restricted to purchasing only Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT). The annual purchase limit for individuals will be capped at 300,000 rubles, or approximately $3,632. This restriction includes purchases made through brokers, crypto exchanges, and asset managers.

Individuals must also undergo a formal assessment that tests their ability to understand and manage the risks associated with trading digital assets. Those who meet the requirements may qualify for advanced investor status, which would allow access to a broader selection of cryptocurrencies beyond BTC, ETH, and USDT.

Retail investors in Russia face a 300,000 ruble yearly limit on crypto purchases, applying even if funds are transacted via brokers, exchanges, or other intermediaries; only those passing a special evaluation can access a wider range of digital assets.

Rules for businesses and exceptionsFor Russian businesses, the regulations specify that only companies listed in a designated registry will be permitted to conduct transactions involving digital assets. In early August, President Vladimir Putin signed the law codifying these rules, which continue to prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method for domestic transactions.

However, select exceptions apply. Digital assets may be used to settle certain foreign trade contracts, and the legalization of income from crypto mining remains in place. The framework also accommodates security settlements and the circulation of digital rights tied to digital assets.

One key area of focus is stablecoins. Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, has asked authorities to evaluate the potential use of USDT as a settlement layer for select operations, highlighting growing institutional interest in stablecoins for cross-border trade and settlements.

Mini dictionary: Sberbank, Russia’s largest banking institution and a state-owned enterprise, is a major player in the country’s financial sector, providing banking, investment, and payment services for individuals and businesses.

Central Bank prioritizes investor protectionThe Central Bank of Russia emphasized that these measures aim to shield non-qualified investors from the unpredictable volatility associated with cryptocurrency prices. Liquidity remains a primary consideration for asset approval, which is why major tokens such as XRP and Solana (SOL) have not been made widely available to retail investors in the initial phase. The restrictions are intended to prevent retail investors from exposure to assets with low liquidity and greater price swings.

For institutional lenders such as Sberbank, the inability to use USDT for legal settlements could increase risk in the event of borrower defaults. Meanwhile, retail holders of XRP in Russia face similar obstacles, as they must successfully pass the special evaluation procedure before being able to purchase beyond the prescribed limit.

CryptocurrencyRetail Purchase LimitRequires Special EvaluationBitcoin (BTC)300,000 rubles/yearNoEthereum (ETH)300,000 rubles/yearNoTether (USDT)300,000 rubles/yearNoOther cryptocurrenciesBlocked unless advanced statusYesLiquidity and future prospectsOn the Moscow Exchange (MOEX), leveraged XRP trading is available, but daily volumes remain subdued at just a few thousand dollars, reflecting low demand and liquidity. American-developed cryptocurrencies generally see limited participation from Russian investors due to current regulatory preferences.

Looking ahead, proposed amendments in 2027 may increase the number of cryptocurrencies accessible to retail investors, potentially broadening the range of digital assets available for purchase in Russia.

The crypto market has posted sharp gains across Bitcoin and several major altcoins, but Cryptex Finance data covering 36 assets and roughly 92% of the digital asset market shows that capital remains heavily concentrated in Bitcoin and Ethereum despite prices rising across the market.

Summary

Cryptex’s 36-asset index gained just 1.92% over the trailing seven days, even as several major cryptocurrencies posted much larger gains from their recent lows. Joe Sticco said low price dispersion suggests cryptocurrencies are moving together rather than investors rotating capital between assets and sectors. Sticco said roughly nine out of every ten dollars entering regulated crypto products during one recent session went to Bitcoin and Ethereum. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows provide evidence of institutional demand, although Sticco said rising asset values should not be confused with fresh capital entering the funds. Cryptex Finance co-founder Joe Sticco told crypto.news that participation in the recent rally had spread across the market, but the allocation of capital had not followed at the same pace, leaving cryptocurrencies trading more like a single group than a market in which investors are selecting individual winners.

Cryptex’s market index stood at 1,199.69, almost 20% above the base level of 1,000 set on Feb. 20. The index tracks 36 assets across five sectors using Coinbase pricing, giving Sticco a larger sample than Bitcoin or a handful of major altcoins alone.

Over the trailing seven days, however, the index had risen only 1.92%. Sticco said the figure matters because much of the rally that produced large percentage gains from recent lows took place within roughly 72 hours between Aug. 19 and Aug. 21, followed by several days of relatively flat trading.

“Measure from the low, and you get a rally. Measure the trailing week, which is what most readers think they’re being told, and you get almost nothing,” Sticco said.

Bitcoin’s acceleration during that period followed a major derivatives flush alongside renewed spot demand. Earlier market coverage showed BTC jumping from below $65,000 to around $69,500 on Aug. 19 as more than $1 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated within an hour.

Crypto market gains show little separation between assets Price dispersion within Cryptex’s index provides another reason Sticco is reluctant to describe the rally as a full capital rotation.

On the day measured by Cryptex, the strongest constituent gained 6.71%, while the weakest declined 1.49%. Despite covering 36 cryptocurrencies from five sectors, the entire range between the best and worst performers amounted to roughly eight percentage points.

“That is not a market sorting winners from losers. That’s a market moving as one block,” Sticco said.

According to Sticco, such low dispersion indicates that a common market factor is lifting cryptocurrencies together instead of investors moving money between assets based on individual fundamentals.

Major tokens nevertheless produced very different headline returns when measured across the rally. Sticco put Bitcoin’s seven-day increase at roughly 14%, XRP’s at 28%, and Solana’s at about 19%.

Capital allocation did not match the apparent spread in price performance. Bitcoin dominance remained around 57% to 60%, depending on the market universe used, while Sticco cited an Altcoin Season Index reading below 40, far under the 75 level generally used by the index to signal an altcoin season.

Solana also remained more than 50% below its October 2025 level despite gaining about 19% during the week, according to Sticco.

“Participation broadened. Allocation didn’t,” he said.

Institutional flows remain concentrated in Bitcoin and Ethereum Regulated investment products give Sticco another way to separate rising cryptocurrency prices from the destination of new capital.

During one recent Wednesday session, Sticco said U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs received about $232 million, while Ether ETFs attracted roughly $192 million. XRP products brought in around $28 million, compared with approximately $15 million for HYPE products and $9 million for Solana.

By his calculation, close to nine dollars out of every ten went into Bitcoin and Ethereum. Weekly figures showed a similar concentration, with Bitcoin receiving about 71% of flows and Ethereum another 26%.

The concentration comes even as U.S. spot products have helped support Bitcoin’s recovery. A previous report on ETF demand found that U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had taken in approximately $1.9 billion across five consecutive inflow sessions by Aug. 24, while analysts said continued spot buying would be needed after forced short covering helped accelerate the initial breakout.

Sticco said the subsequent streak had reached eight consecutive sessions of net Bitcoin ETF inflows totaling about $2.8 billion, while Ether ETFs had also recorded eight positive sessions and more than $1 billion in inflows.

August Bitcoin ETF inflows had exceeded $3 billion by the time of his comments, making it the strongest month of 2026, according to Sticco. He said BlackRock had absorbed a large portion of the demand, including around $1.3 billion during the previous week.

“Eight straight sessions of regulated spot creations is not what a short squeeze produces,” he said.

The ETF numbers, however, require another distinction when assessing how much new institutional money has entered Bitcoin.

Sticco said net assets held by the funds had climbed from roughly $77 billion in mid-August to just above $99 billion by Tuesday, an increase of about $22 billion. Actual net inflows during the eight-session streak totaled only around $2.8 billion.

Much of the difference came from Bitcoin’s rising price increasing the value of assets already held by the funds, he said, rather than investors supplying another $22 billion in fresh capital.

Earlier in August, five consecutive inflow sessions had brought approximately $853.5 million into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs between Aug. 3 and Aug. 7, reversing withdrawals recorded during the preceding week.

Sticco also cautioned against viewing August in isolation. He said spot Bitcoin ETFs lost roughly $5.4 billion during the first half of 2026 and remained about $2.5 billion in negative territory for the year despite the latest inflows.

ETF demand is clearer than derivatives positioning Separating institutional buying from leverage requires looking at different parts of the market, according to Sticco.

ETF flows and market depth measure demand, while funding rates, futures basis, and open interest give more information about trader positioning. Sticco said falling open interest alongside rising prices can indicate shorts are closing rather than new buyers entering.

He declined to characterize current open interest as either bullish or bearish because publicly available readings differed. Some datasets quote open interest in Bitcoin while others measure its dollar value, which can produce different trends when BTC itself moves sharply.

Market depth presents a similar problem. Sticco described depth as one of the most useful measures for institutional participation because it shows how much capital can enter or exit without materially moving the market.

“Price tells you what the last trade cleared at. Depth tells you what the next big one will cost.”

Available public depth figures were not current enough for Sticco to say confidently how much liquidity had recovered. He pointed instead to the damage following the October 2025 deleveraging event, when he said an estimated $10 billion to $20 billion in leveraged positions were erased and Bitcoin’s top-of-book depth on major venues fell more than 90% intraday.

Market makers subsequently reduced resting liquidity after getting caught with inventory while hedges were force-closed, according to Sticco, leaving order books at their thinnest since 2022.

For Sticco, the institutional side of crypto has therefore developed faster than the liquidity supporting the underlying market.

U.S. policy and Treasury conditions remain part of the rally Macroeconomic conditions have also played an important role in the latest advance, according to Sticco, who pointed to the U.S. Treasury’s Aug. 19 decision to increase long-dated debt buybacks as an important catalyst.

The Treasury doubled the maximum size of certain long-end liquidity support buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The Treasury announcement was followed by falling long-term yields and an 8.2% Bitcoin advance from an intraday low around $64,100 to approximately $69,500 in less than 12 hours.

Sticco said Bitcoin’s close relationship with software stocks during the move shows how crypto has become more connected to U.S. macro conditions. As interest-rate expectations later changed and short-term yields rose, Bitcoin surrendered some of the gains even though the legislative situation in Washington had not materially changed.

Congress presents another variable for U.S. investors. Sticco pointed to the CLARITY Act, which would establish a statutory division of responsibilities between the SEC and CFTC for parts of the digital asset market and create a federal framework affecting exchanges, brokers, dealers, and custody.

The Senate Banking Committee advanced the legislation 15-9 in May, with Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks joining Republicans. Sticco, who attended the markup as part of Cryptex’s policy work, said both Democrats made clear at the time that their committee votes did not guarantee support on the Senate floor without progress on unresolved provisions.

A Sept. 15 cloture vote requires 60 votes to move the legislation forward. Previous coverage of the negotiations identified ethics rules, stablecoin rewards, and financial-crime provisions among the issues still unresolved ahead of the procedural vote.

For regulated index products, Sticco pointed in particular to provisions covering CFTC registration of digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers. Capital, asset-segregation, surveillance, and customer-protection requirements could increase the number of regulated venues capable of supporting assets used in exchange-traded products, he said.

Sticco also cited custody provisions and changes affecting financial holding companies as potentially important for institutions, while arguing that statutory classification of digital assets would give index providers more certainty than relying on agency interpretations that future regulators could change.

Policy expectations, however, have weakened even as cryptocurrency prices have risen. Sticco said Polymarket odds for the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 had fallen from roughly 82% in February to around 25% in late August, while Galaxy Research placed the probability closer to 10%.

The Sept. 15 vote will also fall on the first day of the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 15-16 meeting, leaving two major U.S. policy events scheduled within the same period.

Unresolved Senate negotiations include ethics and conflict-of-interest rules involving government officials, possible secondary enforcement authority for state attorneys general, illicit-finance provisions and banking-industry objections to crypto exchanges paying yield on stablecoin balances, according to Sticco.

TLDR: StarkWare’s Avihu Levy completed Bitcoin’s first confirmed quantum-safe transaction on mainnet. QSB adds a hash-based lock to Bitcoin without requiring any soft fork or consensus change. Signature grinding lets QSB work without a private key, costing $75 to $150 per transaction. Starknet already runs post-quantum accounts, ahead of StarkWare’s full three-phase quantum roadmap. StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy has executed the first quantum-safe Bitcoin transaction on the network’s mainnet, confirmed on August 26, 2026.

The method, called Quantum-Safe Bitcoin or QSB, needed no soft fork or change to Bitcoin’s consensus rules. StarkWare engineer Tomer Giladi helped carry the project to a working mainnet result, with MARA Slipstream supplying the mining path.

Avihu Levy’s QSB Method Explained Levy built QSB on his own time, after years of work inside the Bitcoin ecosystem, and published the research in April 2026.

Bitcoin’s existing signatures depend on elliptic curve cryptography, a system Shor’s algorithm could eventually break using a sufficiently powerful quantum computer. Once that happens, any exposed public key becomes a private key waiting to be recovered.

Most Bitcoin addresses hide their public key behind a hash until the owner spends from that address. The signature then reveals the key, and the transaction sits exposed in the mempool until a miner confirms it. A quantum adversary could use that window to read the key and spend the coins first.

Speaking on the project, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said Levy He framed the achievement as proof that quantum protection does not require waiting on a network upgrade.

QSB closes the exposure gap by adding a second lock built on hash functions instead of elliptic curves. Shor’s algorithm cannot break hash functions, and the only known quantum shortcut merely speeds up brute-force guessing.

Levy’s method relies on signature grinding, a technique that produces a valid Bitcoin signature without requiring a private key.

Why the Mainnet Transaction Matters The sender spends computational effort off-chain searching for a transaction hash that also qualifies as a properly formatted signature.

That search currently costs between $75 and $150 in GPU computation. The approach draws heavily on Binohash, a technique developed by BitVM creator Robin Linus.

QSB transactions use nonstandard formats, so they cannot travel through Bitcoin’s ordinary mempool today. Senders need a direct path to a cooperating miner, which is why MARA Slipstream took part in the transaction. The method only protects addresses whose public key has not already been published before broadcast.

QSB does not change Bitcoin’s protocol, and the network itself remains untouched after the transaction. Ben-Sasson added that he still expects Bitcoin to pursue a soft fork eventually, noting He said the mainnet result reassures holders while that process plays out.

StarkWer’s own technology, built on ZK-STARKs, already rests on hash-based assumptions rather than elliptic curves.

Starknet’s native account abstraction lets accounts switch signature schemes without a network-wide protocol change, and post-quantum accounts are already active on Starknet mainnet.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, plans to accept Ethereum and Tether alongside Bitcoin as loan collateral once Russian regulators permit their public circulation, according to TASS.

The bank is preparing to offer crypto-backed loans to corporate clients after successfully testing the model with mining firm AO Intelion Data last year. It is also working on crypto custody services as digital assets take on a larger role in Russia’s financial system and cross-border trade.

Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of Sberbank’s management board, said the bank is prepared to adapt its existing products once the legislation comes fully into force.

Popov said Sberbank had anticipated the regulatory changes and already gained practical experience working with crypto. The bank plans to gradually expand its digital-asset products under the new rules, including lending secured by crypto holdings.

Bitcoin will be part of the bank’s collateral offering, while Ethereum and Tether could be added in the future. Popov said those assets would become eligible after the Bank of Russia authorizes them for public circulation and the remaining provisions of the new regulation take effect.

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

Stacks [STX] is up more than 23%, leading all top 100 cryptos by market cap in terms of daily gains. The altcoin broke from a descending channel last week, thanks to a broader crypto market rebound.

Stacks, a Bitcoin [BTC] Layer 2 solution, is benefiting from the surge in prices of BTC. Bitcoin broke the $80,000 wall, prompting market-wide strength.

The continuous expansion of Bitcoin’s utility, especially the staking feature, has driven Stacks’ prices. In fact, the social mentions of STX increased by 31.7% this week, as per LunarCrush. Here is why:

Decoding Stacks’ network usage Recently, Stacks announced that self-custodial Bitcoin staking would go live with the Genesis Bond on the 10th of September. The upgrade allows holders to earn BTC-denominated yield while their coins stay in Bitcoin’s base layer under their own keys.

Thus, Bitcoin holders will finally get productive capital without giving up custody or leaving BTC’s security models.

As a result, network usage has spiked as participants embrace this BTC utility. The Total Value Locked (TVL) slowly increased from $83 million to $102 million in six days.

However, DEX volume more than doubled in the same period. It grew from $960K to $2.18 million, as per DefiLlama.

Source: DefiLlama To reinforce this spike in network usage, Chain Fees told a story. They increased by almost 10x, from $339 to $3,139, indicating network congestion.

On top of the fundamental upgrades, chain activity data indicates STX prices may continue rising. Is the technical outlook in agreement?

Can STX bulls print a new YTD high soon? After the trend channel breakout, the uptrend hinged on staying above $0.2260, which is the support level coinciding with the 200-day EMA. Usually, staying above it means that the market structure is bullish.

However, previous STX crypto price prediction analysis indicated that $0.26 was a crucial level for STX’s rally. It stood as a key supply zone but has been truly tested by bulls who are determined to breach it. The previous $0.17 supply zone was easily taken out.

For STX to surpass this year’s peak at $0.4019, which is 38% away from current prices, it needs to clear the $0.26-$0.30 zone. Interestingly, the momentum is present and growing, with a reading of 0.1497.

Source: STX/USDT on TradingView Otherwise, if bears at the $0.30 supply zone outweigh bulls, STX may revert to its current mean position at $0.2260. If the 200-day EMA breaks down, it may invalidate the current bullish market structure shift.

Final Summary Stacks rallied over 23%, leading daily gains among the top 100 cryptos by market cap, thanks to the expanding utility of Bitcoin.   STX flipped the 200-day EMA into support, but bulls were struggling to break the $0.30 supply zone. 

The U.S. government has transferred a small amount of Bitcoin seized from Alameda Research’s Binance.US accounts three years ago, renewing attention on how federal agencies will handle the remaining assets.

Summary

The transferred Bitcoin came from Alameda-linked accounts seized from Binance.US three years ago. Arkham reported the transaction but did not identify it as a sale. Earlier Alameda-linked transfers sent nearly $2.9 million in seized crypto through government-controlled wallets. Federal rules generally restrict sales of Bitcoin placed in the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Arkham Intelligence reported the transaction on Aug. 26, describing the amount as small and tracing the Bitcoin to Alameda accounts on Binance.US that U.S. authorities seized three years earlier.

The blockchain analytics firm did not publish the amount in its indexed post or identify the receiving address. Arkham also did not say that officials had sold the Bitcoin, leaving the transaction’s purpose unconfirmed.

“The US Government just moved a small amount of Bitcoin that had been seized from Alameda accounts on Binance US, 3 years ago,” Arkham said.

Arkham then asked whether the government would begin liquidating the remaining Bitcoin connected to Alameda. The question was not tied to an announcement from the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, or another federal agency.

The Bitcoin transfer does not confirm a sale Moving Bitcoin between addresses records a change in custody or location on the blockchain, but the transaction alone does not show whether the asset has been sold. A transfer to another government wallet may involve custody, accounting, or security management, while movement to an exchange can make a future sale possible without proving one occurred.

The destination is especially important because federal agencies have regularly used Coinbase Prime to store and manage seized digital assets. Coinbase’s institutional platform offers both custody and trading services, meaning a deposit there can support several purposes.

In July, U.S. government-linked wallets transferred nearly $297 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime. The transaction included about 3,940 BTC and 30,014 ETH tied to separate enforcement cases, according to earlier transaction coverage.

Bitcoin connected to Ryan Farace, an online drug dealer known as “Xanaxman,” and the closed BTC-e exchange formed part of the July transfer. Ether linked to a separate money laundering case also moved to Coinbase Prime.

No public blockchain record can show whether an exchange deposit resulted in an executed trade unless additional evidence reveals a conversion or movement of the sale proceeds. The same limitation applies to the latest Alameda-linked Bitcoin transaction.

Alameda assets have moved several times in 2026 Federal wallets have processed other seized assets tied to Alameda and FTX during 2026, providing a record of how authorities have handled smaller token holdings.

In May, Arkham said the government moved about $1.89 million in Render, Uniswap, The Sandbox, Mask Network, and Axie Infinity tokens to Coinbase Prime. The analytics firm traced the tokens to approximately $13 million in Alameda assets seized from Binance accounts more than three years earlier.

Another transaction followed in June, when government-controlled wallets transferred nearly $984,000 in FTX- and Alameda-linked cryptocurrency. At least $768,000 of the total went to Coinbase Prime, as crypto.news reported at the time.

Arkham said the June assets would go to the FTX estate to help repay creditors. The transaction included Chainlink and several smaller tokens, while the remaining amount moved through addresses connected to the same seized asset group.

Federal wallets had also moved more than $33 million in Alameda-linked cryptocurrency in December 2024. According to an Arkham report, the batch included about $18 million in Ether, $13 million in BUSD, and smaller amounts of Wrapped Bitcoin, Shiba Inu, and Axie Infinity.

Arkham said the 2024 assets moved to a newly created address and noted that no official purpose had been announced. The firm presented creditor distributions, wallet consolidation, and asset management as possible explanations rather than confirmed reasons for the transfers.

U.S. reserve rules limit some Bitcoin sales President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order established the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and directed the Treasury Department to fund it with Bitcoin finally forfeited through criminal or civil proceedings.

Under the order, Bitcoin deposited into the reserve cannot be sold and must remain a U.S. reserve asset. A recent Bitcoin reserve explainer estimated that the federal government held approximately 198,000 BTC as of mid-2026, although public trackers produce different totals based on the addresses and legal categories they include.

The White House order does not place every seized coin under an absolute ban on disposal. It allows agencies to return assets to verified victims, comply with court orders, support law enforcement operations, and meet requirements under federal forfeiture laws.

Legal status, therefore, determines how a particular holding can be handled. Bitcoin that has been finally forfeited and transferred into the reserve receives different treatment from property still involved in a court case, creditor recovery process, or victim compensation plan.

The White House also created a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile for forfeited assets other than Bitcoin. Treasury has more room to manage or sell tokens held in the stockpile, while the order gives Bitcoin placed in the reserve a general no-sale policy.

No federal agency has said whether the Bitcoin moved on Aug. 26 had entered the reserve, remained assigned to the FTX recovery process, or fell under one of the order’s exceptions.

FTX creditors remain tied to the seized assets Alameda Research operated as the trading firm associated with FTX before the exchange collapsed in November 2022. Federal prosecutors later said FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried used customer deposits to finance Alameda’s operations, investments and loan repayments.

The Justice Department said Bankman-Fried misappropriated billions of dollars deposited by FTX customers and gave Alameda access to the funds. A federal jury convicted him in November 2023 on seven counts, including wire fraud, securities fraud conspiracy, commodities fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.

In March 2024, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison. The Justice Department said the sentence included forfeiture of more than $11 billion, while prosecutors placed FTX customer losses at more than $8 billion.

Bitget Chief Executive Officer Gracy Chen has expressed strong skepticism that the United States government will actively purchase Bitcoin on the open market to expand its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve before the end of President Donald Trump’s current term.

In a recent interview, Chen described such acquisitions as improbable from a policy standpoint, saying she does not expect them to materialize within the next two years.

The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was formalized through an executive order signed on March 6, 2025.

That directive primarily capitalizes the reserve with Bitcoin federal authorities already obtained through criminal and civil asset forfeiture proceedings.

It does not authorize using taxpayer funds for market purchases.

Instead, any additional acquisitions must follow budget-neutral approaches that impose no extra costs on American taxpayers.

The order also generally prohibits selling Bitcoin held in the reserve, creating a one-way mechanism where seized assets can enter but do not routinely exit through auctions or liquidations.

Public estimates place current US government Bitcoin holdings associated with the reserve in the range of roughly 198,000 to over 300,000 BTC, depending on the tracker used, stemming largely from law enforcement actions rather than deliberate sovereign accumulation.

Before the order, authorities sold substantial quantities of forfeited Bitcoin; the new framework ends that practice for assets designated for the reserve.

Chen’s assessment aligns with the practical constraints of the current setup.

Actively purchasing Bitcoin, she noted, would represent a significantly larger policy decision requiring extensive debate among lawmakers, political parties, and other stakeholders—far beyond simply retaining assets already under government control.

While the administration has maintained a relatively crypto-friendly stance, turning the reserve into an active buying program is not straightforward.

This structure means the reserve functions more as a long-term holding vehicle for existing government-controlled Bitcoin than as an active accumulation program.

The no-sale provision removes a potential source of future supply pressure on the market, which could offer some stability.

However, it does not create the ongoing demand that scheduled government purchases might.

Chen also indicated that if the US did begin accumulating Bitcoin, the impact could be substantial and not fully priced in, potentially driving prices higher as other jurisdictions and US states take notice.

Yet she maintains that, based on policy realities observed over the past year, such a move remains unlikely under the current framework through at least the next couple of years.

For market participants, the takeaway is tempered expectations: the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve solidifies the government’s role as a long-term holder of forfeited coins but is unlikely to emerge as a major buyer in the foreseeable future. Further developments would hinge on successfully identifying truly budget-neutral methods or on new congressional action.

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 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.

Bitcoin

24 August 2026 | 00:19 Bitcoin Core developers are currently debating whether to keep support for CJDNS, an encrypted peer-to-peer routing protocol, after automated network checks revealed a surprisingly small population of active nodes.

While no code has been removed and no final decision has been made, the low adoption metrics have forced contributors to re-examine the practical security and engineering trade-offs of maintaining legacy overlay networks inside the main Bitcoin client.

Key Takeaways A recent seeder database check found only seven “good” CJDNS nodes, highlighting minimal active adoption on the network. Thin peer pools undermine security by making it dramatically easier for malicious actors to isolate and manipulate CJDNS-only nodes. Developers are weighing code complexity and bug risks against keeping an alternative routing network available during emergencies. The proposal concerns node networking and transport protocols only; it does not affect block validation, transaction rules, or core consensus. Seven “good” nodes trigger a broader infrastructure audit The technical discussion began in an open GitHub issue when developers questioned whether Bitcoin Core should continue supporting an encrypted routing layer that sees almost no documented real-world traffic. The core objective of adding alternative network transport layers to Bitcoin is to guarantee redundancy, preventing any single point of network-level failure or censorship. However, redundant routes only function if there is an active mesh of peers participating on the underlying network.

During automated testing of a CJDNS-only node setup, Core developer Marco Falke reported that his instance was unable to establish connections with more than three or four distinct peers at any given time. Following up on the observation, another contributor queried an established network seeder database containing 25 known CJDNS addresses. Out of the 25 addresses tested, 22 responded to basic handshakes, but only seven met the technical criteria required to be classified as reliable, “good” peers for active block and transaction propagation.

It is important to understand that a single seeder query does not represent an absolute census of every operating node across the entire CJDNS ecosystem. Private, non-advertised nodes and unindexed peers may still exist outside public seeder lists. Nevertheless, the low numbers underscore a serious practical reality: an overlay network with fewer than a dozen accessible routing targets fails to provide the operational redundancy required for a resilient production node.

Understanding CJDNS: Encrypted IPv6 routing vs. consensus rules CJDNS is an encrypted IPv6 mesh-network overlay that uses public-key cryptography for address allocation and distributed routing. Bitcoin Core added native CJDNS support in version 23.0 in 2022, letting node operators route peer traffic over CJDNS alongside IPv4, IPv6, Tor and I2P.

Bitcoin Core’s documentation says CJDNS encrypts traffic end to end and can make traffic analysis and filtering harder. It is not an anonymity network in the same sense as Tor, however: intermediate CJDNS routers can still see the cryptographic source and destination addresses of packets they forward.

The proposal concerns only how Bitcoin Core finds and connects to peers. Removing CJDNS support would not change block validation, mining, script rules or transaction formats; nodes would continue enforcing the same Bitcoin consensus rules.

The security mechanics of an eclipse attack In Bitcoin node security, network transport and peer selection are directly tied to data integrity. Encryption hides packet contents from third parties, but it does not protect a node from being fed false or delayed information if its selection of peers is too restricted.

A primary threat to isolated nodes is an eclipse attack. In an eclipse attack, an adversary compromises or controls all of the peer connections established by a target node. By surrounding the target node completely, the attacker effectively partitions it from the legitimate global Bitcoin network. From this vantage point, the attacker can manipulate the victim’s view of the blockchain by delaying block announcements, censoring specific incoming transactions, or attempting double-spend attacks against unconfirmed transactions.

Under standard IPv4, IPv6, or Tor routing, Bitcoin Core mitigates eclipse attacks by establishing multiple independent connections across diverse netgroups and network ranges. But when a node operates exclusively over a network with only seven reliable peers, the total pool of available connections is far too small. An attacker needs very few resources to monopolize all incoming and outgoing connections of a CJDNS-only node, turning an intended security fallback into a significant single-point failure vector.

Code complexity and the case for deprecation In addition to low adoption figures and security concerns, developers advocating for removal emphasize the ongoing maintenance burden that CJDNS code imposes on the overall Bitcoin Core software repository.

Unlike standard protocol handlers, CJDNS integration is not completely isolated from standard IPv6 connection logic. Because CJDNS uses specially formatted IPv6 addresses, the codebase requires custom handling logic, dedicated launch arguments like -cjdnsreachable, and specialized edge-case workarounds. Over time, developers have noted that these custom logic paths introduce bug risks and complicate routine refactoring of the networking stack.

Several Core contributors have offered a “Concept ACK” toward deprecating the protocol. In open-source Bitcoin Core development terminology, a “Concept ACK” indicates that a contributor agrees with the high-level goal of a proposal; it does not constitute a final vote, a code merge, or an immediate commitment to remove the feature.

The case for long-term emergency reserves On the other side of the issue, developers urging caution argue that node utility should not be judged exclusively by current traffic metrics. Contributor Jon Atack pointed out that automated CJDNS peer discovery was only integrated into Core in early 2025. Prior to that update, node operators had to manually configure peer addresses, a process that created a significant barrier to entry compared to single-click Tor or I2P setups.

Proponents argue that CJDNS’s low usage numbers stem from a lack of user awareness and limited integration in popular turn-key node software distributions, rather than a lack of underlying value. If major public anonymizing networks like Tor or I2P were to experience centralized blocking, infrastructure outages, or nation-state level filtering, alternative mesh protocols like CJDNS could provide a vital emergency fallback channel for maintaining peer connections.

Furthermore, Atack volunteered to personally maintain the CJDNS integration code, addressing concerns regarding developer overhead. Core contributors must now decide whether to preserve an alternative transport route for edge-case emergencies or streamline the codebase by removing low-usage network logic.

What a potential removal means for node operators If Bitcoin Core ultimately decides to remove native CJDNS integration in a future release, the software will simply stop managing CJDNS peer connections internally within the application tier. The change would not prevent operators from running CJDNS externally at the operating system level, nor would it alter how the broader Bitcoin network processes transactions.

For the vast majority of node operators who rely on standard IPv4, IPv6, Tor, or I2P connections, the removal of CJDNS would pass completely unnoticed. The ongoing discussion simply reflects Bitcoin Core’s rigorous engineering philosophy: every line of code must justify its existence through proven security and active utility.

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

Author

Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.

Tether’s two Uruguay mining sites cost an estimated $120 million. A dispute with state utility UTE centered on how much electricity the sites could draw. UTE disconnected both facilities in July 2025 after bills went unpaid. Tether has continued pursuing Bitcoin mining elsewhere in South America. Tether’s attempt to establish Uruguay as a launchpad for a larger South American Bitcoin mining business ended with two abandoned facilities after a contractual dispute with state-owned electricity provider UTE. The sites, estimated by a person with direct knowledge to have cost about $120 million, lost power in July 2025, according to documents and interviews reviewed by Reuters, turning what began as a renewable-energy mining expansion into a costly example of how electricity contracts can determine the economics of industrial-scale Bitcoin production.

A Power Contract Became the Project’s Central Problem When Tether announced its Uruguay expansion in 2023, the country appeared well suited to the company’s mining ambitions. Uruguay offered political stability, a reliable electrical grid and a power system with substantial renewable generation.

The two facilities were built in the department of Florida, with a former contractor estimating investment of roughly $60 million in each site. Uruguay was intended to serve as a testing ground before Tether expanded further into countries including Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Operations initially generated revenue, according to former contractors interviewed by Reuters. The problem emerged as electricity requirements increased.

Tether and UTE interpreted a critical part of their electricity agreement differently. Tether understood the contracted power figure as a minimum allocation that could eventually be expanded. UTE regarded it as the maximum amount of electricity available to Tether’s local entity, Microfin.

That distinction became increasingly important as the mines scaled. Bitcoin mining facilities need a large and predictable electricity supply because their economics depend heavily on keeping specialized machines operating continuously. According to Reuters, insufficient supply sometimes left the sites without enough electricity for days.

Key stages in the Uruguay project May 2023
Tether announces Bitcoin mining operations in Uruguay.

November 2024
The electricity supply dispute is documented by UTE.

May 2025
Microfin stops paying its electricity bills.

July 25, 2025
UTE disconnects electricity to the mining sites.

November 2025
Tether notifies authorities that operations will cease and most employees will be laid off.

Why Negotiations Failed Despite a Revised Electricity Deal The disagreement did not immediately end the project. UTE and Tether attempted to renegotiate the arrangement, and the utility’s board approved both a memorandum of understanding and revised contract documents.

The agreement was never completed.

According to minutes cited by Reuters, Tether representatives did not attend the planned signing. By that stage, Microfin had already stopped paying electricity bills and had informed UTE in June that it intended to terminate the contracts.

With the revised agreement unsigned and bills outstanding, UTE cut electricity to the facilities on July 25, 2025. Microfin subsequently settled its outstanding debt in December, UTE told Reuters.

The chronology matters because the shutdown was not simply the result of Uruguay lacking enough renewable electricity. The underlying problem was whether Tether could secure sufficient power under terms that made expanding its mining operation commercially workable.

Uruguay Exposed the Economics Behind Tether’s Mining Strategy Bitcoin miners effectively convert electricity and computing capacity into BTC. That makes the cost and reliability of power fundamental to profitability.

The April 2024 Bitcoin halving made that calculation harder by reducing the block subsidy from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Unless higher Bitcoin prices, transaction fees or improved mining efficiency compensate for the reduction, miners earn fewer coins from the same amount of computational work.

Uruguay offered extensive renewable generation, but renewable electricity is not automatically cheap electricity.

Crypto mining specialist Nicolas Ribeiro told Reuters that Uruguay’s relatively high power costs make the country less competitive for Bitcoin mining, while its stable grid and internet infrastructure may be better suited to AI data centers. Mining operators have fewer reasons to remain in a particular jurisdiction when electricity becomes uneconomical because much of their computing hardware can be relocated.

That flexibility helps explain why the collapse of the Uruguay project has not ended Tether’s broader energy strategy.

Tether Has Already Shifted Mining Investment Elsewhere The failed project also needs to be viewed against the scale of Tether’s wider expansion.

CEO Paolo Ardoino said in June 2025 that Tether had invested more than $2 billion in energy and mining infrastructure across 15 sites in Uruguay, Paraguay and El Salvador, according to The Block. The company has pursued mining infrastructure as one component of a much broader investment portfolio.
Brazil has become one of the next areas of focus.

In July 2025, Tether and agricultural and renewable-energy producer Adecoagro signed a memorandum of understanding to explore using renewable electricity for Bitcoin mining. The proposed model centers on monetizing surplus electricity from Adecoagro’s renewable-energy portfolio rather than reproducing the same arrangement used in Uruguay.

Tether had previously acquired a controlling stake in Adecoagro, giving it a more direct connection to the underlying energy assets.

The distinction could prove significant. Greater control over energy generation may reduce some of the contractual dependency that affected the Uruguay sites, although it does not eliminate mining’s exposure to

Bitcoin prices, network difficulty, equipment efficiency and local electricity economics.

What Changes Next for Tether’s Bitcoin Mining Plans The Uruguay exit leaves Tether with a more fragmented South American mining strategy than originally envisioned. Instead of using one country as a regional testing ground and then replicating the model, the company is pursuing different energy arrangements across individual markets.

For the mining industry, the episode reinforces why headline renewable-energy capacity is not enough when evaluating potential jurisdictions. Large operators need contractual certainty over both electricity prices and how much power they can consume as facilities expand.

Tether’s next South American projects will therefore provide a clearer test of whether greater involvement in energy production can improve those economics. Its partnership with Adecoagro is particularly relevant because the companies plan to examine whether surplus renewable electricity can be converted into Bitcoin mining revenue, giving Tether a different operational model from the one that failed in Uruguay.

In brief In an interview with Decrypt, Bitcoin Red Team member Calle said Chinese AI models are used far more than U.S. models for security research because American models often block cybersecurity-related requests. The group has proactively scanned much of Bitcoin's significant open-source ecosystem and works directly with projects to identify and fix vulnerabilities. Calle warned that AI allows people without advanced security expertise to carry out exploits from beginning to end. AI is putting powerful hacking capabilities in the hands of people with little cybersecurity expertise, forcing crypto developers into a race to find vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them.

One group taking on that challenge is the Bitcoin Red Team, whose pseudonymous member and Bitcoin software developer Calle said formed as an emergency effort to find AI-assisted security threats across the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Myriad: Bitcoin price next move? Click to make your prediction."At this point, it is a question about time,” Calle, who helps maintain the open-source protocol Cashu, told Decrypt. “The reason why the Bitcoin Red Team exists right now is because we need to get ahead of the attackers as fast as possible.”

The Bitcoin Red Team consists of about 20 to 25 volunteers, according to Calle, many of whom prefer to remain pseudonymous, such as Bitcoin privacy protocol developers Stu, Talip, and fellow Cashu dev thesimplekid. Others in the group include Bitcoin developers Ben Carmen, Daniela Brozzoni, and James O'Beirne, and Vinteum Bitcoin R&D Center board member Bruno Garcia.

Bitcoin Red Team Update:

We have been working around the clock, with ~$20,000 of spend up to this point across different services. Funding is secured, I appreciate all the gestures for donations but it is not necessary. The bill is taken care of.

We have done over a dozen…

— Rob Hamilton 🟥 (@Rob1Ham) August 4, 2026

Calle said the Bitcoin Red Team began taking shape after CEO of Bitcoin Insurance firm AnchorWatch Rob Hamilton started examining Bitcoin projects following the Coldcard air-gapped wallet hack.

While Calle stressed that the group has found no issues in the Bitcoin protocol itself, the concern he said instead lies with applications, wallets, services, and other software built around Bitcoin.

"Although Bitcoin itself is secure, the software that we're using to transact with Bitcoin may not be, and that is what most people interface with anyway," Calle said.

The Coldcard exploit, attacks on other Bitcoin services, and the release of more powerful Chinese AI models pushed Calle and other security researchers to join the effort and move quickly.

"I think the arrival of Kimi K3 has also caused a lot of chaos in the cybersecurity realm because it gave attackers as well as defenders unprecedented power," he said.

As Calle explained, the Red Team receives requests from Bitcoin projects seeking security scans but also searches for vulnerabilities on its own.

"We get a bunch of inbound requests from projects that want to be scanned, but we act proactively, and we've covered almost the entire significant open-source ecosystem by our own sweeps already," Calle said. "So even if you come and ask us to scan your project, we've probably scanned it already."

The group shares its findings with affected developers and uses their feedback to improve its vulnerability classifications and severity ratings.

Chinese models fill the gap

Chinese AI models are used far more than their U.S. counterparts for the group's security work because guardrails on American models can block cybersecurity research, Calle said.

“It's not even close," he said.

In February, Anthropic accused Chinese AI labs DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax of using roughly 24,000 fraudulent accounts to extract more than 16 million Claude exchanges through model distillation, while the Trump administration warned in April that Chinese entities were conducting similar campaigns on an “industrial scale.”

Myriad: When will OpenAI release GPT-6? Click to make your prediction.While Calle said U.S. frontier models remain arguably more capable overall, their restrictions can limit their usefulness for security-sensitive work.

"Although U.S.-based frontier models are still arguably more intelligent than any other models out there in the world, they all come with heavy guardrailing, which limits their use, especially in the cybersecurity realm," he said.

Calle encountered those restrictions before joining the Red Team. He said U.S. models sometimes refused to help find vulnerabilities and, in some cases, would not assist with fixing vulnerabilities that developers had already identified, leading him to switch to Chinese AI models.

'Bitcoin is burning'

Earlier this month, Calle described the growing security threat facing Bitcoin software as "Bitcoin is burning," referring to the wider ecosystem of wallets, exchanges, Lightning implementations and other software built around it.

Calle believes attackers are already using AI to find and exploit vulnerabilities, but avoids discussing their methods in detail out of concern that doing so could give malicious hackers ideas.

He also warned that AI is eroding the information advantage that once kept some software vulnerabilities out of reach of less-skilled attackers.

"I think that there are no secrets anymore in software," Calle said. "There is no information asymmetry that was previously being used to kind of create security theater or security through obscurity. Those times are over."

AI has also lowered the technical barrier to exploiting vulnerable software, he said.

"Simple exploits can now be completed end to end by someone who doesn't know how to do it without AI," Calle said. "So AI gave people a form of power that has completely changed the playing field."

Bitcoin may be confronting that shift earlier than other industries because attackers have a direct financial incentive to target cryptocurrency, Calle said.

"The first thing that, as an attacker, you would want to attack is internet money," he said. "So we are the beginning of a larger change in society or in computer systems in general, and I'm convinced that other industries will experience the same thing as we do right now later."

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Key Highlights Bitcoin climbed approximately 25% this week, reaching nearly $80,000 following expanded U.S. Treasury buyback operations on long-term bonds Approximately $4 billion worth of short positions in cryptocurrency markets faced forced liquidation amid the price surge U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.6 billion in net inflows over the past week Strategy’s 840,447 BTC position has returned to profitability with more than $2 billion in unrealized gains Market analysts attribute the rally partially to a historic short squeeze alongside improving macroeconomic factors Bitcoin experienced a significant rally this week, climbing approximately 25% to surpass $78,000 and briefly touching $79,500, following a strategic policy adjustment by the U.S. Treasury that helped ease long-term government bond yields from nearly two-decade peaks.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price The Treasury Department revealed plans to expand its buyback program for longer-maturity government securities, increasing the purchase amount to $4 billion per operation—double the previous $2 billion level. This policy change contributed to a decline in the 30-year Treasury yield from 5.34% to approximately 5.19%.

BREAKING: US Treasury Secretary Bessent says Treasury buybacks announced yesterday could now MORE than double, exceeding $4 billion per operation.

Bessent said buybacks will increase “by at least double,” adding, “we have a big toolkit, so we’ll see.”

This comes just hours… https://t.co/SLNs0MfTgD

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 20, 2026

The announcement catalyzed significant forced buying activity as bearish market participants faced liquidation. Approximately $4 billion in short cryptocurrency positions were forcibly closed during Thursday and Friday trading sessions.

Market observers provided perspective on the price movement. Shawn Young, chief analyst at MEXC Research, remarked that “The Treasury opened a pressure valve, and crypto priced it like a regime change.” He cautioned that Bitcoin’s advance toward $70,000 may be premature considering Treasury yields remain near 5%.

Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, characterized the buyback announcement as “a signal, a soft policy put on the long end,” emphasizing that it doesn’t represent a fundamental transformation in financial conditions and shouldn’t be confused with quantitative easing.

Spot ETF Demand Surges U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds registered $1.6 billion in net inflows throughout the week. BlackRock’s IBIT fund alone attracted $503 million on Thursday. Total ETF assets under management increased above $85 billion, up from approximately $70 billion in June.

Market analyst Ted Pillows highlighted on X that ETFs accumulated $1.92 billion worth of BTC this week—representing the strongest weekly inflow since October 2025. He emphasized that Bitcoin successfully breached multiple significant resistance levels, with the $78,000–$80,000 zone emerging as the crucial range to monitor. Sustained trading above this level, according to Pillows, would signal the conclusion of the bear market.

$BTC weekly candle is just insane.

Breaking above every resistance level like it's nothing.

Now, Bitcoin is moving towards its $78,000-$80,000 resistance zone.

A reclaim of this will confirm the end of this bear market. pic.twitter.com/lxvivlLMkb

— Ted (@TedPillows) August 21, 2026

Financial research firm Bernstein connected the price recovery to enhanced market liquidity, renewed ETF demand, and a more favorable regulatory environment. Their analysts anticipate expedited SEC and CFTC regulatory development in areas including tokenized securities and prediction markets.

Strategy’s Bitcoin Position Returns to Profit Strategy maintains a position of 840,447 BTC bought at an average cost basis of $75,385. With Bitcoin trading near $78,000, the company’s holdings show an unrealized gain exceeding $2 billion.

The company recently divested approximately 0.8% of its Bitcoin holdings to fund dividends and repurchase programs for its STRC preferred shares. Bernstein analysts project that Strategy will resume acquisition activity as STRC approaches its $100 nominal valuation.

Ko identified Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average, positioned near $69,000, as a critical technical benchmark. Bitcoin has successfully cleared this threshold and must maintain support above it while competing against government bonds offering nearly 5% yields to investors.

Pakistan has announced a new regulatory framework for crypto after banning the asset class for close to a decade, 

Announcing the news in an X post Friday, Bilal Bin Saqib, the special assistant to the prime minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency, invited foreign businesses to come to the country and set up shop.  

Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Act introduces the country’s first comprehensive legal framework for overseeing virtual assets and the businesses that operate in this space. 

8 years of prohibition end today.

Chairman PVARA @BilalBinSaqib announces the notification of the Licensing Regulations and the opening of the licensing portal, and sets out what licensing requires of providers and what it guarantees consumers.

Get licensed. Get compliant. Come… pic.twitter.com/STVPsoX1so

— Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (@PakistanVARA) August 21, 2026 “For approximately a decade, Pakistan’s answer to virtual assets was complete permission and complete ban — but history tells us that technology never waits for permission,” Bin Saqib said. 

He added: “To the companies watching Pakistan from outside, the front door is open for you. Come, get licensed. Come, get banked. Come, build here under rules that are clear, public and enforceable.” 

In a separate post, Bin Saqib said that the country now has “the rules, the regulator and the licensing framework to bring virtual assets into the formal economy, protect consumers and build the foundation for the next generation of financial infrastructure.”

Pakistan’s virtual Assets Act was approved by the senate earlier this year and then signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari. Friday’s announcement indicates that licensing regulations are now in place. 

Pakistan has made a crypto-friendly pivot in recent years. In 2025, plans to launch a national strategic Bitcoin reserve were announced at the Bitcoin 2025.

Before that, the country announced that it was allocating 2,000 MW of surplus electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers in an initiative aimed at generating revenue, creating jobs, and attracting foreign investment, according to the Pakistani government.

The country has played an important part as a mediator between the U.S. and Iran. A relationship started forming between the two after it became an affiliate of Trump-backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial. 

Weeks after President Donald Trump’s return to power last year, WLF leaders went to Islamabad to meet with Pakistan’s prime minister. 

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.

In brief Coinkite released new Coldcard firmware after a seed-generation flaw exposed users to more than $100 million in Bitcoin thefts. Coldcard now requires users to add randomness through key presses, dice rolls, or coin flips when generating new seeds. A three-week review also uncovered issues involving transaction signing, USB connections, backups, and other wallet functions. Coldcard maker Coinkite has released a security overhaul for its Bitcoin hardware wallets after a seed-generation flaw allowed attackers to steal more than $100 million in Bitcoin.

In a blog post on Thursday, Coinkite urged Coldcard Mk4, Mk5, and Q users to upgrade to firmware 5.6.1 or 1.5.1Q. The release follows a three-week review of Coldcard's systems that included outside security researchers and AI models including Kimi.

Myriad: Bitcoin price next move? Click to make your prediction.“We are grateful to the security researchers who went above and beyond over the past weeks, reporting issues, reproducing edge cases, and reviewing our fixes,” the company wrote. “Their work put this firmware under intense, sustained scrutiny and made this release stronger.”

In July, attackers began draining Bitcoin from air-gapped Coldcard wallets after exploiting a firmware flaw dating to 2021 that generated some wallet seeds with too little randomness, making their private keys easier to guess. The first attack drained 594 BTC, worth about $38 million, from roughly 500 wallets in 25 minutes.

Coinkite suggested that the attackers may have used AI to examine older versions of its open-source firmware and uncover the flaw.

By early August, Galaxy Research had tracked roughly $88.6 million stolen across 4,585 addresses and said the attacks appeared deliberate, programmatic, and potentially orchestrated using a large language model.

The research company continued tracking losses and by August 14 said attackers had stolen more than 1,778 BTC, worth roughly $112 million at the time, across three major attack waves and dozens of smaller incidents.

All told, the Coldcard exploit has now resulted in roughly $130 million in stolen Bitcoin and raised questions about entropy—the randomness used to generate wallet keys. On some affected devices, the flaw reduced security from 128 bits of entropy to roughly 40 bits, making wallet seeds easier for attackers to guess without physical access to the device.

Coinkite said it fixed issues involving transaction signing, USB data handling, firmware validation, Delta Mode, and wallet backups. Coldcard now also requires users to add randomness when generating a wallet seed using at least 65 key presses, 50 dice rolls, or 128 coin flips, which the device combines with its own randomness.

The hardware wallet maker also replaced its Yasmarang backup pseudo-random number generator with SHA-256 Hash_DRBG and added checks intended to catch failures in the hardware random number generator. Users who may have generated seeds on affected versions between 2021 and July 2026 must create a new seed using updated firmware and move their Bitcoin, the company said.

More than seed generation

Coldcard now checks a partially signed Bitcoin transaction, or PSBT, immediately before signing it. Previously, a compromised computer connected over USB could theoretically change a transaction after the user reviewed it but before the Coldcard signed it.

The updated firmware stops the signing process and displays a warning if the transaction has changed. Coinkite described the issue as theoretical and did not say it had been exploited.

Coinkite also tightened USB data access, hardened Delta Mode, and changed how Coldcard handles wallet backups.

While AI has played a role in patching vulnerabilities, it also plays a role on both sides of cybersecurity and cryptography.

Myriad: Will Strategy hold over 1M BTC? Click to make your prediction."We're treating this as a serious reminder of how the whole security model of a hardware wallet lives or dies on randomness," Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet told Decrypt. "Cryptography is hard and implementing it securely is harder. This week's Coldcard incident made that visible in the most expensive way possible."

Earlier this month, swap service Boltz suspended operations after saying AI-assisted attackers were finding bugs faster than its developers could fix them. A volunteer Bitcoin Red Team also used AI agents to identify thousands of potential vulnerabilities across hundreds of Bitcoin projects.

Coinkite said the investigation into the thefts remains ongoing as affected customers continue moving funds to new wallets.

“Law enforcement authorities continue investigating the thefts and are working to identify those responsible,” Coinkite said. “We remain available to assist, and authorities are keeping us informed of material developments,” adding that the company “remain committed to supporting every customer working through their migration until it’s done.”

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The SEC has opened a public comment period on Cboe BZX Exchange’s proposal to list six daily 3x leveraged Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETFs.

The proposal, filed under SR-CboeBZX-2026-065, would cover commodity-pool products sponsored by Volatility Shares. The funds would seek three times the daily performance of front-month and next-month CME Bitcoin and Ethereum futures contracts, using daily reset mechanics.

That is a very different product from a spot ETF.

A 3x leveraged futures ETF is built for short-term tactical exposure. It is not a simple buy-and-hold wrapper for Bitcoin or Ethereum, and its daily reset structure can create performance drift over time.

The SEC’s move opens the proposal for public comments. It does not mean the products have been approved.

TL;DR The SEC opened comments on Cboe’s proposal for 3x leveraged BTC and ETH futures ETFs. The proposed products would be sponsored by Volatility Shares. The filing is under review and has not been approved. Why Leveraged Crypto ETFs Matter Leveraged ETFs are popular because they give traders amplified exposure without directly using margin or futures accounts.

In crypto, that can be especially attractive because Bitcoin and Ethereum already move sharply. A 3x daily product would magnify those moves, creating potential for larger gains and larger losses in a traditional brokerage format.

That is exactly why regulators pay attention.

Leveraged products can be misunderstood by retail investors. They are designed to track daily performance, not long-term cumulative returns. Over multiple sessions, compounding and volatility can cause results to diverge from what investors might expect.

That risk becomes more important when the underlying asset is already volatile.

Futures, Not Spot The proposal concerns futures-based products, not spot Bitcoin or spot Ethereum ETFs.

That distinction matters because the funds would use CME futures exposure rather than directly holding BTC or ETH. Futures-based exposure can behave differently from spot assets because of roll costs, margin, contract structure, and futures-market dynamics.

Investors may see “Bitcoin ETF” or “Ethereum ETF” and assume direct asset exposure.

That would be inaccurate.

These would be leveraged futures products tied to daily movements in futures contracts.

The Comment Period Is Only One Step A public comment period gives market participants, investors, issuers, competitors, and other stakeholders a chance to respond to the SEC.

Comments may address investor protection, market manipulation, disclosure, suitability, volatility, liquidity, and exchange-listing standards.

The SEC can approve, reject, delay, or request changes.

So the current development is procedural but important. It shows the proposal is formally in the review pipeline, but it does not indicate the regulator has accepted the structure.

Crypto ETF Market Keeps Expanding The proposal also shows how quickly the crypto ETF market is moving beyond plain spot products.

Bitcoin spot ETFs opened the door. Ethereum followed. Now issuers are testing leveraged, inverse, staked, altcoin, and multi-asset structures.

That expansion is natural in traditional ETF markets.

Once a base asset category becomes accepted, issuers compete by offering more specialized exposures. Crypto is now entering that phase, and regulators are being asked to decide how much complexity is appropriate.

What Traders Need To Understand If products like these eventually launch, they will not be suitable for every investor.

Daily 3x leveraged funds are typically tools for active traders. Holding them over longer periods can produce unexpected results because the fund resets exposure each day.

For Bitcoin and Ethereum, that risk may be magnified by extreme volatility.

The SEC’s review will likely center on whether disclosures, exchange rules, and product design are sufficient to protect investors.

For now, Cboe’s proposal is another sign that crypto ETF experimentation is accelerating. Approval, however, is still an open question.

This article is based on the SEC’s self-regulatory organization filing notice for Cboe BZX Exchange.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

MANTRA (MANTRA) slid to an all-time low of $0.0041 as the project froze its blockchain and said an attacker was targeting a vulnerability in an upstream dependency.

The record low came as the rest of the market climbed, extending a rally that accelerated on Wednesday.

Why MANTRA Halted Its ChainMANTRA Chain, a Layer 1 blockchain built for tokenizing real-world assets, was halted earlier today. Its initial notice said all endpoints and transactions were frozen.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens

We're aware of an incident affecting MANTRA Chain and have halted the chain as a precaution while we investigate. All endpoints and transactions are currently frozen.

This means deposits and withdrawals to/from MANTRA Chain are temporarily affected. If you're unsure how this…

— MANTRA | The EVM L1 for RWAs (@MANTRA_Chain) August 21, 2026
A later update named the cause. The team pointed to an attacker exploiting a vulnerability in an upstream dependency, meaning third-party code the chain relies on rather than software it wrote itself.

“Earlier today, we detected an attacker exploiting a vulnerability in an upstream dependency used by the chain and halted the network as a precaution,” the update read.

MANTRA said it has identified the vulnerability and is now preparing a patch. Its validators and infrastructure remain offline until the upgrade is ready. 

“Resuming the network will require a coordinated restart with the wider validator set — we will not resume until the patch is verified and that coordination is in place,” it added.

The team is also tracing where funds moved and has contacted exchange partners. Deposits and withdrawals remain paused at affected venues, and the total scope of the impact remains unconfirmed. The team also warned holders to ignore anyone offering recovery help.

MANTRA Misses a Market-Wide Rally The incident has also impacted the token. MANTRA changed hands at $0.0044 at press time, down 8.5% on the day. 

MANTRA Token Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsThat slide ran against the broader market. Bitcoin (BTC) topped $75,000 earlier today as short liquidations reached $1.06 billion. Other major cryptocurrencies also traded higher, lifting the total crypto market capitalization by nearly 4% over the past day.

The incident marks the network’s second major crisis in 16 months. Its token, then known as OM, lost nearly 90% of its value in April 2025, wiping out about $5.5 billion in market value in less than an hour.

The project retired the OM ticker this March. A non-dilutive 1:4 split at block 13,000,000 converted each OM into four MANTRA, and the token posted a 37% launch-day rally.

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The US government’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is looking more like a trophy case than a war chest. Bitget CEO Gracy Chen has said she does not expect Washington to make any open-market Bitcoin purchases before the end of President Donald Trump’s current term.

That view is grounded in how the reserve was actually built. The executive order establishing it, signed on March 6, 2025, explicitly limits the reserve to Bitcoin seized or forfeited through criminal and civil asset proceedings. No taxpayer money goes in. No market orders get placed.

What the reserve actually is The US holds a substantial amount of Bitcoin accumulated through law enforcement actions, and the executive order simply formalizes the decision to keep it rather than sell it.

The order also prohibits the government from selling its holdings, which creates an interesting one-way door. Bitcoin goes in when courts rule against defendants. It does not come back out.

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As of mid-2026, no additional Bitcoin has been acquired through any purchase mechanism, and the administrative focus has stayed on building the legal and custodial infrastructure needed to manage existing holdings. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has voiced support for Bitcoin as a strategic asset but has stopped well short of announcing any acquisition plans.

Administration officials have privately acknowledged the reserve’s limited scale, describing its current importance as largely symbolic.

Why Chen’s read matters Gracy Chen runs one of the larger centralized crypto exchanges by trading volume. Her skepticism about near-term purchases aligns with what the executive order’s text actually says, rather than what Bitcoin advocates hoped it might eventually enable.

When the executive order dropped in March 2025, some corners of the crypto market priced in the possibility that government purchasing would follow. It has not.

Chen’s comment that purchases are unlikely before Trump’s term ends resets that expectation more explicitly. The term concludes in January 2029, and the implication is that even within a four-year window friendly to Bitcoin, the structural constraints of the current order make large-scale acquisition a low-probability event.

Open-market purchases would require Congressional authorization, budget allocation, and a public debate about using taxpayer funds to buy a volatile digital asset. None of those conversations have gained serious legislative traction.

What this means for the market The prohibition on sales does remove some supply-side uncertainty. Bitcoin held in the reserve stays there, reducing the risk that a future administration could liquidate holdings and depress prices.

Several proposals have circulated on Capitol Hill that would authorize direct purchases, funded through mechanisms that avoid direct taxpayer exposure. None have cleared committee as of mid-2026.

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

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JPMorgan Chase grew its position in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust to roughly 10.4 million shares, worth about $355.7 million as of June 30, according to the bank’s second-quarter 13F filing with the SEC, filed Aug. 12. That is up from about 8.3 million shares, valued near $162 million, the prior quarter.

The crypto positions remain a small fraction of JPMorgan’s total reportable holdings, which the same filing pegs at $1.807 trillion across more than 34,000 positions, but the direction of travel points to deeper exposure to regulated crypto products.

Ether and altcoin exposure JPMorgan’s stake in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust rose more than fourfold to about 1.17 million shares, valued near $14.3 million, up 338% from the first quarter. The bank also established a new position in the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF of roughly 47,500 shares.

The filing showed a return to XRP after the bank had exited the asset entirely in Q1. The new exposure is small, spread across the Bitwise XRP ETF, the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF and a stake in Armada Acquisition Corp II, a blank-check company pursuing a deal tied to the Ripple ecosystem.

The bitcoin position still exceeds the ether stake by a wide margin, and the XRP holdings are nominal in dollar terms, but the return to the asset after a zero position is the more notable signal in the filing.

Context: institutions via ETFs 13F filings offer a quarterly snapshot of institutional holdings of U.S.-listed equities and ETFs, and banks’ crypto exposure through these vehicles reflects client-driven demand for regulated access rather than a direct endorsement of the underlying tokens. The holdings can shift between quarters as client flows and market conditions change.

What to watch next JPMorgan’s next 13F, due in mid-November, will show whether the bank continued adding to its bitcoin, ether, XRP and solana positions through the third quarter or pared back after Q2’s build-up. The filing arrives as spot bitcoin ETFs have seen volatile flows, making the bank’s positioning a useful signal of institutional sentiment. Morgan Stanley also increased its crypto ETF holdings in the same reporting period, underscoring a broader trend among large banks.

AUTHOR

Entrepreneur and freelance writer based in Nakuru, Kenya. I cover cryptocurrency, the Blockchain technology, and financial topics. It’s my joy to transform the simplest phrases in a way they reach a reader’s heart to help them discover how crypto is disrupting the world as we have known it. I believe in transforming the world, one word at a time.