Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Bitcoin price action got a reality check this week. On September 14, Santiment Insights described extreme FOMO across the crypto community as bullish narratives surged around expectations for a favorable CLARITY Act outcome. The warning was about euphoria itself, regardless of how the decision eventually turned out.

Bitcoin FOMO Collapsed After CLARITY Act SetbackThe mood changed quickly. On September 15, the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, and Bitcoin fell as regulatory optimism unwound.

FOMO traders were suddenly dealing with lower prices instead of the bullish outcome they had positioned for. Then another risk-off catalyst arrived.

Fed Rate Hike Adds More PressureOn September 16, the Fed raised rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00% and signaled that additional tightening may follow.

After both events, crypto sentiment cooled back near neutral. Santiment’s view is that enthusiasm has been flushed out and fear is rebuilding, creating a different market backdrop from the extreme FOMO seen at the start of the week.

Bitcoin Hashrate Trend Offers Another SignalMeanwhile, CryptoQuant’s analysis points to a potentially constructive development for Bitcoin. The Bitcoin hashrate has ended its downward trend and is gradually increasing again.

Higher miner activity can act as a positive factor for Bitcoin price, according to the analysis. Historically, Bitcoin has shown bullish trends when hashrate increases, although the relationship also works in reverse because miners tend to increase activity when price rises.

There’s another piece to the argument. Rising hashrate means higher mining costs, which the analysis associates with increasing Bitcoin value.

For Bitcoin price, the market is therefore balancing a cooled sentiment backdrop against a recovering hashrate trend. The next move will show whether that shift in miner activity can matter after this week’s FOMO flush.

Story Ends Here

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One week. That’s all it took for Bitcoin’s most-watched sentiment indicator to swing from confidently bullish to firmly bearish. CryptoQuant’s Bull Score Index cratered from 80 to 30 after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points on September 16, bringing the target range to 3.75%-4.00%.

It was the Fed’s first rate hike since 2023, and the crypto market’s reaction was about as warm as you’d expect when cheap money gets more expensive again.

What the Bull Score Index is actually telling us CryptoQuant’s Bull Score Index aggregates multiple on-chain and market signals to gauge the overall health of Bitcoin’s trend. Readings above 60 indicate bullish conditions, while anything below 40 signals bearish sentiment.

The timing is striking. In late August, the index had surged toward 80 as Bitcoin pushed above $80,000, riding a wave of optimism that the macro environment would remain accommodative. That optimism evaporated the moment the Fed signaled it was willing to tighten again.

Bitcoin is currently trading around $76,000, having shed roughly 4% over the past week. Intraday moves have been modest, ranging between -0.4% and -1%, but the broader direction is clearly downward.

The Fed’s pivot changes the math For context, the Fed spent much of 2024 and 2025 cutting rates after its aggressive tightening cycle peaked in 2023. Markets had grown accustomed to the easing trajectory. The September 2026 hike represents a philosophical reversal, not just a policy tweak.

The 25 basis point increase to the 3.75%-4.00% range was widely anticipated, which makes the market’s reaction more notable. Traders had time to price this in, yet the Bull Score Index still collapsed by 50 points.

Projections indicate at least one additional rate hike is expected before the end of the year. If the Fed follows through, the target range could push toward 4.25%.

On-chain signals reinforce the bearish read Short-term holder sentiment has weakened, suggesting that recent buyers are sitting on losses or slim margins and growing anxious.

ETF outflows have also become notable. After months of inflows that helped prop up prices during the summer rally, the flow has reversed direction.

CryptoQuant’s analysis suggests that for a sustained bullish market to reassert itself, two conditions need to be met simultaneously: the Bull Score Index must climb back above 60, and Bitcoin’s closing price needs to exceed $83,000. Neither of those thresholds looks particularly close at current levels.

The gap between Bitcoin’s current price of roughly $76,000 and the $83,000 level represents about a 9% move.

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

CleanSpark stock jumped by almost 5% on Thursday following the company’s announcement of a proposed $2.227 billion senior secured notes offering. CLSK closed near $13.40 as investors evaluated the financing to support expansion of the Sandersville data center.

CleanSpark Plans $2.227B Senior Secured Notes Offering CleanSpark said its wholly owned subsidiary, CSDC Finance I, will issue $2.227 billion in senior secured notes. The notes are due in 2031 and will be offered through a private placement.

The proceeds will primarily be used to finish construction of the Sandersville Facility. Some of that money will also be used to pay back prior equity investments and establish debt service reserves.

The notes will be guaranteed by CSRE Properties Sandersville, another CleanSpark subsidiary. Additionally, they will receive the first lien on most assets associated with the property company and the issuer.

If proceeds of the offering are not sufficient to complete the facility, CleanSpark will guarantee completion. The transaction is subject to, among other things, market conditions, the company said.

CLSK Stock Rises as Investors Assess Financing Structure After the announcement, the CLSK stock closed at about $13.395 today, up 4.73 coinciding with the company’s debt financing.

The offering is organized as senior secured debt as opposed to an equity sale, hence it cannot be exchanged for CleanSpark shares on the terms announced.

That distinction garnered interest when some investors wondered if the financing would result in a dilution of their shares later. Instead, as per the report, the repayment would be through the debt structure that was attached to the data center assets.

Meanwhile, Meta also came up as the Sandersville tenant. However, the financing announcement itself focused on the notes, collateral, and construction funding.

CleanSpark Expands Beyond Bitcoin Mining The data center will be built in the midst of CleanSpark’s ongoing operation of a major Bitcoin mining firm. In August, the company mined 593 Bitcoin, which is slightly less than the 586 BTC it had mined in July.

As of August 31, CleanSpark’s holdings stood at 13,703 BTC compared to 13,931 BTC at the end of July. The shift was due to selective sell-offs of Bitcoin during the period.

The company sold 229 BTC at spot prices and 350 BTC under call options in July. The average realized price of those transactions, including option premiums, was $66,133 per bitcoin.

CleanSpark had already mined 4,310 BTC through July, while August production pushed its 2026 total above 4,900 BTC. With the new financing, it comes with another major capital project in addition to Bitcoin.

In brief The Fed raised its benchmark rate 25 basis points to 3.75%-4% on a unanimous 12-0 vote Wednesday, its first hike since July 2023, after traders priced in a 93% chance of the move. Bitcoin briefly touched $76,499 after the announcement before settling near $76,300, roughly flat on the day as the broader crypto market held above $2.6 trillion. Zcash surged as much as 23% toward $1,425 after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed his firm's ZEC stake, calling the token "a private complement to Bitcoin." Bitcoin traded near $76,300 on Thursday, largely unmoved a day after the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest rate hike since July 2023.

The Fed lifted its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75% to 4%, a move all 12 Federal Open Market Committee members backed. Traders had priced in a 93% probability of the hike heading into the decision, per CME's FedWatch tool.

Myriad: Where does Bitcoin go next? Click to make your prediction.Wall Street's reaction ran hotter than crypto's. The Dow sank about 1.2% and the S&P 500 slid 0.4% to 0.5% on Wednesday, while the 10-year Treasury yield had topped 5% earlier in the week, its highest since 2007, as oil pushed above $100 a barrel amid the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Higher rates make Treasurys and cash more attractive relative to assets like Bitcoin and gold that pay no yield, and a hawkish hike tends to strengthen the dollar, a double headwind for risk assets broadly.

Those moves eased by Thursday morning, which helps explain crypto's calm. Long-end Treasury yields dropped roughly two basis points and equity futures turned higher after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's inflation-fighting message reassured bond markets that no disorderly yield spike was coming, while oil retreated slightly from its highs.

The broader crypto market capitalization sat at $2.63 trillion at last check, with the Crypto Fear and Greed Index reading 50, exactly in “neutral” territory, which marks a significant drop from the “extreme greed” readings the index marked just three weeks ago.

Zcash breaks from the packOne crypto asset moved far more than the rest. Zcash jumped as much as 23% to trade near $1,425, a multi-year high, after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed on X that his venture firm holds ZEC and has invested in the Zcash Open Development Lab.

Huang called Zcash "a private complement to Bitcoin" and argued its inflation-funded developer fund deserves continued backing as AI-driven cyber threats and quantum computing advance.

Zcash jumped 37% in May after Multicoin Capital's Tushar Jain revealed a position built since February, calling the token "the cleanest way" to express a privacy thesis rooted in wealth-seizure fears.

ZEC has gained roughly 160% over the past month, compared with Bitcoin's 18.2% climb in the same stretch, and is up nearly 3000% in the last 365 days. That makes it the standout performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap this week.

The rest of the majorsGains were more modest elsewhere among the top 50. BNB traded near $724 (up 2%), Solana held just above $100 for a 3.3% spike, and XRP lagged at $1.29, up 2% today but still down more than 6% for the week after crypto's Clarity Act failed its Senate cloture vote days earlier.

The crypto bill would have legalized most crypto activity in the United States and would have meant more meaningful clarity for altcoins such as Solana and XRP than for Bitcoin, which is widely recognized to stand apart from a regulatory perspective.

Roughly $373 million in crypto liquidations hit the market over 24 hours, with short positions accounting for the larger share as prices ground higher into the rate decision.

The Fed's median projection puts the federal funds rate at 4.1% by the end of 2026, leaving room for one more quarter-point move. Its next meeting is scheduled for October 27-28.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved tokenized stocks trading in a move indicating that the regulator will push ahead with rulemaking despite the Clarity Act not moving forward. 

Wall Street’s top regulator said Thursday that it was offering a five-year exemption to platforms that facilitate trading of tokenized stocks. Major crypto companies have long wanted to get such assets on the blockchain. 

Lawmakers blocked the Clarity Act in a procedural vote on Tuesday. Regulators had said before the vote that regardless of whether the landmark legislation passed, they’d still start regulating the crypto industry. 

Today, we are taking a significant step forward, within our statutory authority, to bring America’s capital markets into the digital age by facilitating onchain trading of certain tokenized stocks through the "Innovation Exemption." 🇺🇸 https://t.co/BQK0cS70lH

— Paul Atkins (@SECPaulSAtkins) September 17, 2026 “Congress was unsuccessful in advancing the Clarity Act despite the tireless efforts of many,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement. 

“So today, the Securities and Exchange Commission is taking a significant step forward, within its statutory authority, to bring America’s capital markets into the digital age by facilitating onchain trading of certain tokenized stocks.”

Jamie Selway, Director of the SEC Division of Trading and Markets, added: “Today’s approval of exemptive relief for on-chain secondary trading on a TSV–known as the ‘Innovation Exemption’–marks an important milestone for the Commission’s work to open our capital markets for tokenized securities.”

The SEC’s move is the latest by regulators pushing ahead despite major crypto legislation stalling. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig on Wednesday said that the top regulator would use its powers to advance crypto legislation despite the Clarity Act being blocked. 

The Clarity Act aims to formally divide oversight between regulators, distinguishing which digital assets are securities, commodities or stablecoins. 

President Donald Trump last month urged lawmakers to pass it but senators mostly voted against advancing the legislation — 49 for and 50 against — that the digital asset industry has long called for.  

Republicans for months have accused Democrats of deliberately holding back the bill. Some lawmakers had issues with Trump’s family making money from crypto ventures. Trump and the White House have always denied any conflicts of interest. 

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.

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CleanSpark shares have gained 4.73% to close near $13.40 after the Bitcoin miner proposed a $2.227 billion secured notes offering to finance construction at its Sandersville data center campus.

Summary

CleanSpark plans to issue $2.227 billion of senior secured notes due in 2031. Proceeds would fund Sandersville construction, reimburse earlier investments and establish debt reserves. The proposed debt cannot be converted into CleanSpark shares under the announced terms. CleanSpark produced 593 Bitcoin in August and held 13,703 BTC at month-end. CleanSpark said on Sep. 17 that its wholly owned subsidiary, CSDC Finance I LLC, plans to sell $2.227 billion of senior secured notes through a private placement.

The notes would mature in 2031, with most of the proceeds directed toward completing CleanSpark’s Sandersville data center in Georgia. According to the company, the financing would also reimburse certain equity investments already made in the project and create debt-service reserve accounts.

Rather than issuing the debt directly, CleanSpark has placed the proposed transaction within a subsidiary tied to the Sandersville project. CSRE Properties Sandersville LLC, another wholly owned unit, would guarantee the notes.

CleanSpark said the debt would also receive a first-priority lien on most assets belonging to the issuer and the property company. Under the proposed structure, the Sandersville assets would therefore serve as collateral for the financing.

CleanSpark debt plan avoids announced share conversion For CleanSpark investors, the structure differs from a convertible bond or new share sale because the announced notes carry no right to be exchanged for CLSK stock. The company’s proposal therefore does not create direct share dilution through conversion under the terms disclosed on Thursday.

Debt financing still places repayment and interest obligations on the borrower, while pledged assets may be available to creditors if the issuer defaults. CleanSpark has not yet disclosed the notes’ interest rate, issue price, or final closing date in its public announcement.

Completion of the private placement remains dependent on market conditions and other customary requirements, according to the company. CleanSpark also said there was no assurance that the transaction would close under the proposed terms or at all.

If the amount raised is insufficient to finish the Sandersville facility, CleanSpark will provide a customary completion guarantee. Under that agreement, the Nasdaq-listed parent would supply the issuer with the additional money needed to complete the project, subject to the guarantee’s final terms.

The guarantee adds a direct obligation for CleanSpark even though CSDC Finance I would issue the notes. Investors will need the final offering documents to assess the interest cost, covenant package, construction timetable, and conditions governing access to the reserve accounts.

For U.S. shareholders, the financing adds project-level debt exposure to a company whose common shares trade on Nasdaq under the CLSK ticker. Since the placement is private, the notes will not be offered through a general public securities sale under the announced structure.

CleanSpark stock finished Thursday at approximately $13.40, gaining 4.73% during the session. The move followed the financing announcement, though the trading data alone does not establish that the notes proposal caused the advance.

Sandersville funding supports a long-term data center lease Construction financing for Sandersville follows CleanSpark’s July announcement of a 20-year infrastructure lease with an unnamed investment-grade global technology company. CleanSpark said at the time that the agreement covered 175 megawatts of compute capacity at the Georgia campus.

Under CleanSpark’s July announcement, the initial lease term could generate $6.6 billion in contracted revenue. Two optional five-year extensions could increase the total contract value to $11.6 billion if the tenant exercises both options.

The company expects the initial Sandersville capacity to become available beginning in the fourth quarter of 2027. CleanSpark has not publicly identified the customer, meaning reports naming Meta as the tenant remain unconfirmed by the company’s financing announcement or its original lease disclosure.

CleanSpark acquired the Sandersville Bitcoin mining facility from Mawson Infrastructure Group in October 2022. At the time, the purchase included nearly 6,500 mining machines representing about 560 petahashes per second of computing power.

The company said in 2022 that the Georgia site had a planned capacity of 230 megawatts. Its later data center agreement assigned 175 megawatts to high-performance computing, placing the campus at the center of its expansion beyond revenue generated from Bitcoin mining.

CleanSpark’s corporate website now describes the company as a large-scale digital infrastructure developer with a U.S. portfolio serving Bitcoin mining and compute-intensive workloads. The revised description follows several quarters in which management discussed using the company’s land and power holdings for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

For former mining sites, access to power and grid connections can reduce part of the preparation needed for data center development. CleanSpark’s disclosures, however, show that converting Sandersville still requires more than $2 billion in proposed financing and a completion commitment from the parent company.

CleanSpark’s Bitcoin production rose in August Alongside its data center plans, CleanSpark has continued to operate one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining businesses in the United States. Its August operational update showed production of 593 BTC, up from 586 BTC in July rather than slightly lower, as stated in the original report.

August output lifted CleanSpark’s 2026 production to 4,903 BTC through the end of the month. The company had reported 4,310 BTC produced through July, with an average daily output of 18.91 BTC during that month.

CleanSpark held 13,703 BTC as of Aug. 31, according to its latest operational figures. Its treasury had contained 13,931 BTC at the end of July, producing a monthly decline of 228 BTC even as the company mined another 593 BTC.

The July update said CleanSpark sold 229 BTC on the spot market and delivered 350 BTC under call-option contracts. Including option premiums, the company reported an average realized price of $66,133 per Bitcoin for the transactions.

Bitcoin was trading near $76,300 on Sep. 17 after recovering from a decline toward $75,000, according to recent market coverage from crypto.news. The report placed nearby resistance around $77,000 and $78,000 while daily momentum remained under pressure.

Mining economics had already weakened earlier in the summer as the value produced by each unit of computing power declined. In June, miner profitability fell as hashprice dropped by nearly 18% over 30 days to about $30.77 per petahash per second.

CleanSpark reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $198.6 million for the three months ended June 30, up from $104.1 million a year earlier. According to its quarterly results, the company recorded a net loss of $236.2 million, compared with net income of $379.4 million in the same period of 2025.

The quarterly filing attributed much of the loss to changes in the fair value of the company’s Bitcoin holdings. CleanSpark also reported $933.3 million in cash and Bitcoin as of June 30, while total debt stood at $1.8 billion before the newly proposed Sandersville notes offering.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) trades above $76,000 on Thursday as crypto markets absorbed the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate hike since 2023.

The muted move puts the focus on what comes next—whether Wednesday’s hike was a one-off adjustment or the start of a longer tightening cycle that could pressure liquidity across crypto markets.

Why BTC Isn’t Selling Off?Santiment Intelligence data noted on Thursday that Bitcoin’s ability to stay above $76,000 could reflect how heavily markets had positioned for tighter policy before the announcement.

Instead of reacting to the 25-basis-point hike itself, traders are now assessing whether inflation forces the Fed into a more aggressive tightening cycle.

Trending

The Fed raised its 2026 PCE inflation forecast to 3.7% from 3.6%, with core inflation seen at 3.4%. Inflation is not expected to return to the Fed’s 2% target until 2029.

For crypto, inflation remains key:

Cooling inflation and stable Treasury yields could ease pressure on Bitcoin. But persistent inflation, higher energy prices or rising yields could increase expectations for more Fed tightening. Why Next Fed Hike Matters More For BTCSantiment cautioned that the bigger risk for crypto could be what happens after September.

The Fed’s latest projections show a median federal funds rate of 4.1% at the end of 2026, effectively pointing to another quarter-point increase from the current range.

16 of 18 policymakers expect at least one more hike this year.

That leaves Bitcoin facing a liquidity test even as it absorbs Wednesday’s widely anticipated decision.

Higher rates increase the appeal of cash and government bonds while raising financing costs and tightening financial conditions, potentially create a tougher backdrop for Bitcoin and higher-risk altcoins like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP)

What’s Next For CryptoSantiment Intelligence sees the near-term crypto outlook as "uncomfortable."

The strong dollar, high Treasury yields and prospect of another Fed hike remain headwinds for crypto.

But September’s hike removed some uncertainty, shifting focus to upcoming inflation, energy and economic data for clues on whether further tightening is needed.

Crypto-specific catalysts can also outweigh macro pressures.

Bitcoin’s next major move may depend on both Fed policy and U.S. crypto regulation. The CLARITY Act setback highlighted BTC’s strength in responding to regulatory developments.

"The September hike is therefore neither automatically catastrophic nor secretly bullish," noted Santiment.

Image: Shutterstock

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Bitcoin logo (public domain), by Grayliptrot via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have announced plans to establish cryptocurrency regulations independently of Congress. This move highlights the agencies’ commitment to a proactive regulatory framework for digital assets, particularly XRP and Bitcoin. In March 2026, both XRP and Bitcoin were classified as digital commodities, placing their regulatory oversight mainly under the CFTC. This classification suggests a commodity-style regulatory approach, although the SEC maintains authority over transactions involving investment contracts. The markets appear to be responding to this regulatory development with varied expectations for Bitcoin’s future price movements.

Key Takeaways The announcement by the SEC and CFTC suggests a proactive regulatory approach towards cryptocurrency. Markets are interpreting this development as potentially supportive of Bitcoin’s price, with some pricing reflecting increased confidence. Current market pricing implies skepticism about Bitcoin reaching higher price targets by the end of 2026, with low percentages for reaching $200,000. What to Watch Market participants will be closely observing any further regulatory announcements or guidelines from the SEC and CFTC, which could influence confidence in cryptocurrency markets. Additionally, developments such as potential legislative actions by Congress and Federal Reserve decisions on interest rates could impact Bitcoin price expectations. Observers should also watch for any significant institutional adoption or technological advancements that could affect market sentiment.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 1.1% 0.0¢ $754 View market → December 31 1.5% +0.1¢ $175 View market → December 31 2.5% 0.0¢ $615 View market → December 31 3.9% 0.0¢ $283 View market → December 31 5.5% 0.0¢ $2K View market → January 1 2027 19% 0.0¢ $10K View market → January 1 2027 6.5% -0.5¢ $107K View market → January 1 2027 1.7% 0.0¢ $5K View market → January 1 2027 1.1% 0.0¢ $4K View market → January 1 2027 1.5% 0.0¢ $38 View market → January 1 2027 3% 0.0¢ $400 View market → January 1 2027 4.9% 0.0¢ $1K View market → January 1 2027 9.5% -0.5¢ $4K View market → January 1 2027 18.5% +2¢ $38K View market → January 1 2027 4.5% 0.0¢ $5K View market → January 1 2027 0.9% 0.0¢ $26 View market → January 1 2027 1.9% 0.0¢ $2K View market → January 1 2027 13% +0.5¢ $6K View market → January 1 2027 6.5% 0.0¢ $348 View market → January 1 2027 3.5% 0.0¢ $2 View market → January 1 2027 1.9% 0.0¢ — View market → January 1 2027 2% 0.0¢ $231 View market → January 1 2027 1.4% 0.0¢ $5 View market → January 1 2027 0.4% -0.1¢ $256 View market → January 1 2027 0.4% -0.1¢ $2K View market → January 1 2027 26.5% 0.0¢ $9K View market → January 1 2027 62.5% +2.5¢ $7K View market → January 1 2027 64% +1.5¢ $28K View market → January 1 2027 41.5% 0.0¢ $1K View market → Updated 4min ago

The US stock market’s CPU sector continues to rally, with Intel’s gains expanding to 10% and AMD rising more than 7%.

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the US CPU sector continues to rally, with Intel’s gains expanding to 10%, AMD rising over 7%, Arm up more than 8%, Qualcomm advancing over 3%, and Nvidia increasing by more than 2%.

1 hours ago

2026 U.S. Federal Reserve terminal rate outlook: The probability of another 50 basis point rate hike stands at 37.2%, while the likelihood of keeping rates unchanged at current levels is 13.3%.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch data, after the U.S. Federal Reserve implemented its first interest rate hike in three years, market focus has shifted to whether this move is a policy "recalibration" or the start of a new consecutive rate hike cycle. The two remaining FOMC meetings in 2026 are scheduled for October and December respectively. Currently, the probability of holding interest rates steady at the October meeting is 49.1%, while the chance of a 25 basis point hike is 5.9%. For the period through December, the probability of rates remaining unchanged from current levels is 13.3%, a cumulative 25 basis point hike has a 49.6% probability, and a cumulative 50 basis point hike carries a 37.2% chance.

1 hours ago

Lobster token’s market cap briefly surpassed $246 million, hitting an all-time high, with a 13.5% rise in the past 24 hours.

According to GMGN market data, the Chinese Meme coin "Lobster" briefly hit a market capitalization of over $246 million, setting a new all-time high. The token has a 13.5% 24-hour price increase, with its current market cap at $237 million and 24-hour trading volume at $5.8 million. BlockBeats reminds users that prices of related tokens are highly volatile, so investors should exercise caution.

1 hours ago

UNI breaks through $7.3; Uniswap founder says v4 pools are a new gateway for compliant on-chain US stock trading.

According to HTX market data, UNI has surged past $7.3, gaining over 15.6% in the 24-hour period. Today, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams stated that for Automated Market Makers (AMMs), the most critical point is not the main text of the SEC’s "innovation exemption" but the accompanying opinion from Commissioner Hester Peirce. This means the general permissionless Uniswap is not included in this regulatory sandbox and does not need to apply for an exemption in the first place. The exemption applies to permissioned liquidity pools on Uniswap v4, a path that can be chosen when assets and users require compliant channels. Hayden Adams believes that permissioned Uniswap v4 pools are the new entry point for compliant on-chain US stock trading.

1 hours ago

Artificial Inu (AI) hits an all-time high market cap of over $360 million, surging 32.1% in 24 hours.

According to GMGN data, the crypto meme coin Artificial Inu (AI) on the Robinhood Chain has hit a new all-time high, with its market cap exceeding $360 million, a 24-hour gain of 32.1%, and trading volume of $23.9 million. Artificial Inu was launched via Long.xyz, a launchpad on the Robinhood Chain, and uses tokenized Nvidia stock as its liquidity pool, with liquidity provided via the AI/NVDA trading pair. BlockBeats Note: Stock Meme is an emerging concept that combines traditional meme coins with tokenized U.S. stocks. Unlike standard meme coins that pair with USDT or ETH, Stock Memes are directly paired with on-chain U.S. stock tokens (such as NVDA, TSLA, AAPL, etc.). This model retains meme coins’ high volatility and community-driven speculative traits while leveraging the popularity and narratives of real stocks. A portion of transaction fees is typically funneled back to the community treasury to accumulate the corresponding U.S. stock tokens, forming a dual-driven model of "sentiment-driven speculation + real asset anchoring". BlockBeats reminds users that token prices are highly volatile, so investment should be approached with caution.

1 hours ago

Backpack platform’s token BP surges past $0.53, with a more than 18.4% gain in the last 24 hours.

According to HTX market data, Backpack’s platform token BP has surged past $0.53, logging a more than 18.4% gain in the past 24 hours. The price movement is mainly driven by news that the SEC has approved limited trading of tokenized stocks on on-chain platforms. On July 10 this year, Backpack announced the launch of a 24/7 real US stock trading market for international investors, allowing eligible users to trade and hold actual US stocks around the clock rather than synthetic derivatives. Backpack stated that the platform provides actual equity ownership, leverages liquidity from traditional trading platforms, and supports instant settlement, continuous price discovery, as well as fiat and stablecoin settlements.

1 hours ago

BlackRock’s latest wallet activity points to a sizable repositioning across its Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] holdings, with $62 million moving through Coinbase Prime.

The transfers involved 656.71 BTC worth about $49.79 million and 5.15K ETH worth roughly $12.28 million. Most Bitcoin moved in two 300 BTC transfers, valued at $22.87 million and $22.64 million, while another 56.71 BTC added $4.28 million.

Source: Arkham Meanwhile, its tracked portfolio holds 787.349 K BTC with a total value of $60.15 billion and 3.556 million ETH worth $8.68 billion. As such, the recent Bitcoin transaction represents a very minor percentage of BlackRock’s overall stated holdings of Bitcoin.

Source: Arkham Similarly, the recent ETH transaction represents a relatively minor increase to BlackRock’s previously stated holdings.

While the aforementioned transactions do not demonstrate whether the assets are supporting ETF operations or longer-term custodial services. Subsequent wallet transactions will better indicate how BlackRock intends to utilize the funds.

BlackRock’s ETF holdings hold firm BlackRock’s overall ETF holdings show the broader position BlackRock had behind the transfers it made with IBIT and ETHA. IBIT holds about 795K BTC, while ETHA holds roughly 3.6 million ETH. Both funds have retained substantial holdings despite major price declines.

Source: CryptoQuant IBIT’s holdings fell only 9% from nearly 800K BTC in 2025 to the July 2026 low, while Bitcoin lost more than 50%. Since then, the holdings in IBIT have increased to be near the highest level previously seen.

Similarly, ETHA’s holdings decreased by 30% from their peak of 4 million ETH to 2.8 million ETH when Ether decreased by over 60%. However, those holdings have now increased back to 3.6 million ETH.

Source: CryptoQuant These results demonstrate that BlackRock’s overall ETF exposure has remained resilient through the downturn.

These two funds represent approximately 4% of Bitcoin’s total circulating supply and approximately 3% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply. Therefore, these positions give BlackRock a sizable presence in both markets.

Institutional demand loses momentum The trend of flow-shifting was made clear as ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum had enjoyed August demand in the month of August. In the weeks ending 4 September, Bitcoin-based ETFs brought in $986.85 million, while Ethereum-based ETFs brought in $218.41 million.

Source: SoSoValue Bitcoin then recorded $462.73 million in weekly outflows by the 11th of September, while Ethereum still attracted $197.11 million. The divergence narrowed after the 15th of September, when Bitcoin lost $450.33 million and Ethereum shed $141.47 million.

Source: SoSoValue On the 16th of September, both assets suffered greater losses than they did previously, with Bitcoin losing $295.90 million and Ethereum losing $224.11 million. The timing of these losses occurred as investor sentiment worsened due to a Senate setback regarding the CLARITY Act.

Together, the flows show institutional demand weakening across both assets, limiting ETF-driven support for prices.

Final Summary BlackRock’s Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings remain resilient despite market volatility. Rising BTC and ETH ETF outflows now weaken institutional demand and buying support.

In This Article Key Takeaways From the American Reserve Modernization Act and What Does it Mean for America's BTC USD Strategic Reserve?Policy Mechanics: How the Proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Would WorkWhy the 20-Year Holding Rule Matters for BTC USD CustodyRisk & Counterargument: Volatility, Flexibility and Implementation Risks Rep. Nicholas J. Begich (R-AK) introduced H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, on May 21, 2026. The proposal would establish a Treasury-managed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and impose a minimum 20-year holding period on BTC USD placed in it, according to the bill text published on Congress.gov.

The timing of that holding period depends on when the Bitcoin is acquired and deposited. Under Section 5, Bitcoin acquired and deposited before enactment would be subject to a 20-year period measured from the date the act becomes law. Bitcoin acquired and deposited after enactment would be subject to a 20-year period measured from its date of deposit in the reserve.

The measure remains introduced and was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services on May 21. It has not passed the House or Senate and has not been signed into law, so its proposed requirements do not currently bind Treasury or other federal agencies.

Watch: @RepBryanSteil in support of H.R. 8957:

"We cannot allow Bitcoin to be held by the federal government to languish in fragmented and inconsistent custody. It poses unacceptable, unacceptable cybersecurity risks and fails to give an adequate accounting of what the federal… pic.twitter.com/Zrhno96V1v

— Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) September 16, 2026

Key Takeaways From the American Reserve Modernization Act and What Does it Mean for America’s BTC USD Strategic Reserve? Reserve structure: Treasury would have 180 days after enactment to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin assets. Initial deposits: Qualifying Bitcoin the federal government acquires would have to be deposited in the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Holding period: The 20-year clock would run from enactment for Bitcoin acquired and deposited before enactment, and from deposit for Bitcoin acquired and deposited afterward. Custody and oversight: The Treasury Secretary would oversee monitoring, auditing, physical security, and cybersecurity, with consultation involving Defense, Homeland Security, and industry experts. Status: The bill is a proposal, not current law. Policy Mechanics: How the Proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Would Work The bill mandates the Treasury Secretary to establish a secure Bitcoin storage facility for qualifying Bitcoin holdings, defined as Bitcoin forfeited in legal proceedings or received as civil monetary penalties. All qualifying Bitcoin must be deposited in this reserve, while other digital assets go into a separate Digital Asset Stockpile.

Treasury has the authority to manage the non-Bitcoin stockpile through sale or conversion, with proceeds directed solely to increasing Bitcoin Reserve holdings or reducing national debt. The bill also requires a public cryptographic proof-of-reserve system, quarterly reports, and oversight by an independent auditor.

Additionally, the bill requires accounting for and proper storage of assets from BTC USD forks or airdrops, with restrictions on their sale or disposal in the first five years unless authorized by law.

EXCLUSIVE: Trade BTC and Earn $10 USDC Via Binance Sign-Up

Why the 20-Year Holding Rule Matters for BTC USD Custody

(SOURCE: CoinGecko)

The bill outlines a policy rationale for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, viewing Bitcoin as a decentralized, scarce digital asset that can enhance national reserves and bolster the dollar’s global standing.

The central constraint is a holding requirement, during which Bitcoin cannot be sold or transferred. Before the holding period ends, the secretary must advise Congress on whether to continue holding or gradually release some assets.

After the holding period, Congress may sell up to 10% of reserve assets every two years. Additionally, a study is mandated within a year of enactment to explore conditions for early sales based on national security and financial stability.

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Risk & Counterargument: Volatility, Flexibility and Implementation Risks A long holding requirement presents a trade-off: supporters see it as essential for a long-term reserve strategy, while critics question government flexibility if conditions change. The bill addresses this by requiring a study of early-sale conditions and exceptions.

Implementation will require the Treasury to set up custody arrangements, security measures, accounting procedures, public reporting, and interagency coordination. Treasury has 180 days to establish the reserve, and federal agencies have 60 days to report their Bitcoin and digital assets.

Until the new facilities are operational, agencies will retain custody under current law. During this interim period, the sale, swap, or other disposition of Bitcoin will generally be prohibited, with exceptions for national security, court orders, and victim returns.

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Zcash leads altcoin rally (CoinDesk data)Summary

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis in its first increase since July 2023, and projected a median rate of 4.1% at the end of both 2026 and 2027, implying only one more move in the period.Bitcoin trades at $76,621, up 0.88% over 24 hours, with 94 of the 100 CoinDesk 100 constituents higher and the small-cap CoinDesk 80 up 4.7% against 1.2% for the CoinDesk 5.Zcash climbed 23% to a record near $1,369 after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed the firm owns ZEC, with futures open interest up 37.84% and funding negative.Bitcoin BTC$76,840.63

pushed up to $76,621 on Thursday, a gain of 0.60% since midnight UTC and 0.88% over 24 hours, as risk assets focused on the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate projections rather than the first increase in more than three years. Ether ETH$2,469.18

added 1.1% to $2,444.36 and solana (SOL) rose 2% to $100.57.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to lift the target rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4%. Chair Kevin Warsh told reporters that inflation had been "too high … for too long" and that recent months’ readings did not suggest underlying trends had meaningfully improved.

What reassured traders was the committee's “dot plot” forecast, with a median policy rate of 4.1% at the end of both 2026 and 2027, implying just one further 25 basis-point move and no sustained tightening cycle.

Risk assets rallied, with the Dollar Index losing 0.17% while Nasdaq 100 index futures gained 1.04%, S&P 500 futures 0.81%, gold 1.02% and silver 1.52%. The two-year Treasury yield slipped 2 basis points to 4.71% after touching the highest level since 2024 in the previous session.

Crypto joined the move rather than led it, a change from earlier in the week, when the asset class traded independently of equities. The sector’s recovery is broad-based, but more pronounced at the speculative end, with 94 of the CoinDesk 100 constituents higher over 24 hours and the small-cap CoinDesk 80 advancing 4.7% compared with 1.2% for the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5.

Fund flows have yet to turn, however. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs shed $295.98 million on Wednesday after losing $450.33 million the day before, according to SoSoValue, taking the running total since Sept. 8 to more than $1 billion across seven sessions and total net assets down to $95.19 billion.

Bitcoin remains 6.9% below the $82,284 monthly high it set on Sept. 4.

Derivatives positioningAggregate open interest across crypto futures climbed to $64.4 billion from $59.7 billion on Monday, on $112.6 billion of 24-hour volume, with $214.3 million liquidated over the past day, according to Coinalyze. The movements imply traders have been adding exposure into the rally rather than covering short positions.Bitcoin open interest rose 1.41% to $26.6 billion and ether open interest added 1.39% to $16.7 billion. Ether accounted for $60.7 million of liquidations against bitcoin's $42.4 million.Zcash (ZEC) tells the most compelling story, with open interest climbing 37.84% to $2.2 billion over 24 hours, $28.9 million liquidated and the funding rate at -0.0253%, meaning shorts were paying longs even as the token set new highs. Traders have spent the month trading against this rally and being constantly squeezed as a result.Bitcoin funding is positive and rising, with the aggregated rate at 0.0070% and the predicted rate at 0.0082%, though the spread across venues is wide, from Kraken at 0.0153% to Huobi at -0.0003%.Coinalyze’s long/short ratio is showing a skew towards bullish traders, with a ratio of 1.13. It has now been positive for eight straight days after a three-week period in the negative.Token talkPrivacy token zcash (ZEC) jumped 23% over 24 hours to around $1,369, its highest level on record, after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed in an X post that the investment firm owns ZEC and described it as "a private complement to Bitcoin," backing continued funding for its developers. The move follows a governance vote this week in which holders supported cutting block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds while preserving the bitcoin-style halving schedule, and leaves zcash with a market cap of $23.2 billion.Rival privacy coin Monero (XMR) failed to catch any of the gains, slipping 0.97% to $494.14 and 1.6% over 24 hours. The gap between the two has become a gulf, with zcash now worth twice as much as its rival.Leading the 24-hour board among the mid-caps is NEAR Protocol NEAR$2.9960

, up 16% to $2.82 over 24 hours, 7.6% of that since midnight UTC, while Venice Token VVV$24.86

has recovered 14% in 24 hours to $25.45, taking the AI platform's token back above where it stood before Tuesday's Clarity Act vote.Pump.fun PUMP$0.003883

tops the CoinDesk 80 index on the day at 7.9%, with perpetuals exchange token lighter (LIT) adding 7% to $4.92 and fartcoin 6.4% higher, signs that speculative traders are returning after a focus on bitcoin since the August short squeeze.CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator has ticked up as a result, now at 39/100 after spending much of the week around 32/100.Related Assets

12345678910The Definitive Stablecoin Landscape Series: Asia Pacific

The Definitive Stablecoin Landscape Series: Asia Pacific

As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.

Sep 15, 2026

As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.

Why it matters:

As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.

In brief ZEC reached $1,388 following the NU7 sentiment polls, whose results landed on Sunday. Coinholders voted 98.9% to preserve halvings, with 2.4 million ZEC cast, a record 66% of the eligible pool. The privacy coin has tripled since July's Ironwood upgrade and is up more than 2,500% over a year that brought a Grayscale ETF. Zcash surged double digits to $1,388 Thursday, after the community settled the shape of its next network upgrade. ZEC is currently trading at $1,368, up 10.9% on the day and 168% over 30 days, making it the ninth-largest asset by market cap at $22.9 billion, per CoinGecko data.

The privacy coin's move up the rankings signals that "the market is redefining the value of privacy," according to Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey, with Zcash "the leading front-runner in this wave of narratives."

Roxana Nasoi, a core contributor at privacy network Logos, framed its appeal more bluntly, arguing that, "Privacy denies everyone else the knowledge that makes you a target."

NU7, ETF and privacyFive questions on the NU7 upgrade went to a coinholder vote whose results were published on Sunday, on a turnout of 66%. Eligibility was fixed by spendable shielded ZEC held in the Ironwood pool at block 3,459,350 on August 24, one coin to one vote, and ballots were encrypted and split into 16 unlinkable pieces so totals could be counted without revealing who voted or how much they held. Holders voted 98.9% to keep Bitcoin-style halvings rather than smooth issuance, and also chose faster 25-second blocks, immediate deprecation of the legacy Sprout pool, and a cut in scope to whatever is ready by September 30.

One question divided the community. On when the network sustainability mechanism should start recycling fees back to miners, coinholders picked February 2031 by 96.6%, while the advisory panels favored "as soon as possible."

Myriad: Where does crude oil go next? Click to make your prediction.Shielded Labs, Project Tachyon, ZODL, the Zcash Foundation and Valar Group have since said they are aligned on the February 2031 date as "the most conservative interpretation of the results," with another poll able to revisit it.

ZEC is up more than 2,500% over the past year, a rise Nasoi put down partly to the launch of Grayscale's ETF last month, giving institutions "a route to Zcash that didn't exist before."

Privacy coins have drawn attention since that fund launched in August, said Sun, which "alleviated regulatory concerns" and coincided with a shift in the pitch for the sector.

The case has moved "from pure anonymity to financial privacy and confidentiality," he added, a distinction sharpened by AI "rapidly reducing the cost of identifying address behaviors, counterparties, and asset changes."

"The world is waking up to the need for on chain privacy," argued Joe Andrews, chief executive of Aztec Labs. He pointed to three months in which Zcash has "dealt with a critical bug, shipped post quantum upgrades to harden the protocol" and seen the token treble.

Zcash’s Ironwood upgrade activated in July after researchers found a four-year-old flaw that could have allowed counterfeit ZEC to be minted. Disclosure sent the price down 38%. The upgrade trapped any counterfeit coins in the retired pool and added quantum-resistant transaction records.

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Table of contents

Quick Take 1. 89 of the QC 100 constituents advanced against 10 decliners, with the index up 3.68%, the strongest breadth reading this site has recorded since it began tracking the series in August.

2. All ten tracked sectors are green, led by memes at plus 6.13% and DeFi at plus 3.59%, after a stretch where every sector was red.

3. Bitcoin gained just 1.05% and remains down 2.03% on the week, meaning the recovery is happening below the largest asset rather than through it.

Crypto market breadth has reversed completely in seven sessions. The QC 100 index rose 3.68% with 89 constituents advancing, 10 declining and 1 unchanged, against a reading of 27 advancers and 71 decliners a week ago.

Total crypto market capitalization sits at $2.60 trillion on $128.77 billion of daily volume, with Bitcoin dominance at 58.34% and Ethereum at 11.31%. Bitcoin trades at $76,607.60, up 1.05% on the day, per CoinGecko.

What is market breadth and why does it matter? Market breadth measures how many assets are participating in a move, counting advancers against decliners rather than following any single price.

It matters because an index or a headline price can rise while most of the market falls, and the reverse. Reading breadth alongside price tells you whether a move has participants or just a leader.

This site has been recording the daily reading since late August, and the series now shows the full shape of this cycle:

DateAdvancingDecliningAugust 251684August 26793September 101288September 152771September 178910 The August 26 reading came the day after Bitcoin’s 15-week peak, when we wrote that the squeeze driving that rally could not repeat while ETF inflows could, and that the breadth reading suggested the market had already started choosing. What followed was three weeks of narrowing participation. This is the first session that reverses it.

Is this a genuine recovery? The participation is real, the leadership is not Bitcoin, and those two facts sit awkwardly together.

Every sector is positive, led by memes at plus 6.13%, DeFi at plus 3.59%, metaverse at plus 3.49% and platform tokens at plus 3.28%. A broad advance with the speculative sectors leading is what risk appetite returning looks like.

The complication is the top of the market. Bitcoin added 1.05% and is still 2.03% lower on the week. Ethereum gained 1.79% and remains 1.11% down over seven days. So the assets driving today’s breadth are not the ones that drove August’s rally, and the weekly numbers for both majors are still negative.

The boundary worth stating: one session of strong breadth reverses nothing on its own. The pattern that would confirm a change is consecutive days of broad participation with rising volume, and today is day one of that count. Volume at $128.77 billion is higher than the $114 billion recorded during the narrowest sessions, which is supportive but not decisive.

Which assets are leading? Uniswap and Zcash, for entirely different reasons, and both are continuations rather than new stories.

UNI rose 10.42% to $6.9145 and is up 17.34% on the week, making it the strongest large cap on both timeframes. That takes the token roughly 102% above the $3.43 level at which this site argued in August that its live fee switch and 100 million token burn were unpriced. Founder Hayden Adams said last week that the seven-day annualized burn rate had crossed $250 million, a figure checkable against protocol fee tables on DefiLlama.

ZEC gained 16.55% to $1,373.30 after an intraday high near $1,385, extending a run driven by Grayscale’s ZCSH ETF and its three-week inflow streak of $358.6 million.

Elsewhere, XLM added 4.99%, LTC 3.99%, LINK 3.82% and HYPE 3.68% to reclaim $80. The visible decliners are few: Monero fell 1.67% below $500, RAIN dropped 13.51%, and LEO slipped 0.09%.

Why is Bitcoin lagging? Its August move came first and has been consolidating since, while capital rotated down the risk curve.

Bitcoin ran roughly 25% in the week to August 25 on Treasury buyback expansion, record ETF inflows tracked at Farside Investors, and $2.7 billion of short liquidations. Assets further out the risk curve did not participate then and are participating now, which is the normal sequence rather than a warning.

Bitcoin dominance at 58.34% has drifted lower from the 59.25% recorded on August 25, consistent with that rotation. Bitcoin dominance is Bitcoin’s share of total crypto market capitalization, and a falling reading during a broad advance is the standard signature of an altcoin rotation.

What should traders watch? Consecutive sessions, not this one.

If breadth holds above 60 advancers for several days with volume climbing, the rotation has substance. If it collapses back toward 20 tomorrow, today was a relief bounce inside a downtrend and the three weeks of narrowing participation remain the operative pattern. Bitcoin reclaiming positive weekly performance would resolve the awkwardness between broad participation and a lagging leader.

Bottom line Crypto market breadth flipped from 12 advancers to 89 in seven sessions, with all ten sectors green and Uniswap and Zcash leading, while Bitcoin gained just 1.05% and remains down 2.03% on the week.

The market has stopped narrowing, which is the first genuinely constructive signal since August 26. Whether it has started broadening is a question one session cannot answer, and the series this site maintains will show it either way within a week.

Written by the BlockchainReporter editorial desk. Our editors have covered crypto markets since 2018 and track every price level named in our coverage against its outcome.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice. Crypto assets are extremely volatile and you can lose your entire stake. Always do your own research.

Table of contents

Russia’s Moscow Exchange (MOEX) said on 16 September that it will begin trading perpetual futures on five cryptocurrency indices on 22 September, widening a crypto derivatives line that has so far been limited to a single Bitcoin contract. The new instruments, covering Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, Ripple’s XRP and Tron, will be open only to qualified investors and are cash-settled with no delivery of the underlying asset, according to the exchange’s announcement.

Five contracts with auto-rollover and ruble settlement The perpetual contracts are listed as BTCUSDF, ETHUSDF, SOLUSDF, XRPUSDF and TRXUSDF, each tracking a corresponding MOEX index under the codes MOEXBTC, MOEXETH, MOEXSOL, MOEXXRP and MOEXTRX. They are quoted in U.S. dollars as the value of the underlying index but settle in Russian rubles, with funding calculated using parameters of K1 equal to 0% and K2 equal to 0.35%. The exchange described the instruments as cash-settled daily futures with automatic rollover, meaning they carry no expiry date and no physical delivery of the digital assets. Perpetual futures, it added, give professional participants and their clients an additional way to diversify within the crypto-assets market.

Exchange cites demand and its legal framework Maria Patrikeeva, managing director of the derivatives market at Moscow Exchange, framed the launch as a milestone for Russia’s derivatives market and said the exchange sees high demand from investors for derivative instruments on digital assets. Providing access within the Russian legal framework is essential, she added, because the exchange’s infrastructure guarantees settlement reliability, transparent pricing and protection of traders’ rights. Since the first crypto futures debuted last summer, more than 72,000 qualified investors have traded them, with total volume exceeding 600 billion rubles, the exchange said.

A widening line of institutional crypto products The new contracts join the 31 perpetual futures already offered by MOEX across currencies, indices, precious metals and securities. The exchange first entered crypto derivatives in June 2025, when it listed Bitcoin futures for qualified investors under the IBIT ticker. Its derivatives market is the leading venue for trading derivative instruments in Russia and Eastern Europe, and the expansion arrives as perpetual futures have become a defining venue for crypto speculation globally, a trend reflected in BlockchainReporter’s look at how exchanges use perpetual contracts to trade assets around the clock.

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The Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX), Russia's largest securities exchange, has announced it will launch perpetual crypto futures trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Tron.

While regulations for Bitcoin and altcoins continue in Russia, the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX) has made a new move.

Accordingly, the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX), Russia’s largest securities exchange, announced that it will launch crypto perpetual futures trading for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Tron.

MOEX Launches Perpetual Futures for 5 Cryptocurrencies! According to the official announcement, the Moscow Exchange will launch perpetual futures trading linked to BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and TRX on September 22nd. These new products will only be available to investors defined as “qualified investors” under Russian legislation.

Contracts Indexed to the Dollar, to be Reconciled with the Ruble! According to MOEX’s announcement, the new contracts will be traded under the ticker symbols BTCUSDF, ETHUSDF, SOLUSDF, XRPUSDF, and TRXUSDF, respectively.

The announcement stated that BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and TRX will be priced in US dollars, while payments will be processed in Russian rubles. The underlying crypto assets will not be physically delivered to the investor during these transactions.

Interest in Crypto Derivatives is Growing! MOEX announced that more than 72,000 qualified investors have traded in its first digital asset-linked futures contracts since their launch last summer. Total trading volume has exceeded 600 billion rubles.

At this point, the exchange stated that the new products represent a significant step towards expanding the cryptocurrency derivatives market in Russia.

*This is not investment advice.

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State-linked hackers accounted for roughly two-thirds of new activity each quarter as the number of times attackers stored malware instructions or infrastructure information on public blockchains rose 420% over the past 12 months, according to a Chainalysis report. 

Chainalysis identified North Korea and Iran-linked operators among the state actors adopting the technique. In one of the report’s findings, the analytics firm connected previously unattributed activity spanning Tron, Aptos and BNB Smart Chain (BSC) to UNC5342, a North Korea-linked group tracked by Google Threat Intelligence. 

Encoded pointers in Tron and Aptos transactions directed infected devices to the same BSC transaction, with Tron serving as the first route and Aptos as a fallback, Chainalysis reported. The BSC transaction contained encrypted server addresses and configuration data that connected compromised devices to offchain infrastructure used for remote access and data theft. 

Chainalysis said using public blockchains increases the durability of malware campaigns because the stored information remains accessible after domains, servers or code repositories are taken down. In 2025, North Korean hackers used a similar technique called EtherHiding to place crypto-stealing code in smart contracts.

Quarterly share of attributed blockchain dead drop payload writes by threat actor type. Source: ChainalysisAI tools accelerate malicious writesThe company also recorded a 440% increase in malicious blockchain writes since July 2025, when it said high-capacity open-source Chinese artificial intelligence models became capable of producing malicious code with limited safeguards.

Eric Jardine, cybercrimes research lead at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that they found a “clear point-in-time association,” but could not prove that the actors publishing the malicious transactions and contracts had used the models to increase their output.  

Iran-linked actors put malware directions on BitcoinChainalysis also identified threat actors it suspects are linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence writing encoded command-and-control routing data onto the Bitcoin blockchain. 

The company said its assessment was based on the malware family, decoding method, timing and server infrastructure associated with previously reported Iranian operations, rather than the blockchain activity alone.

Attacker-controlled wallets sent small payments to a well-known Bitcoin address with historical ties to Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, according to the report. Chainalysis said the address had no connection to the attackers and served as a permanent public location that infected devices could check for updated directions.

The attackers could change their server infrastructure by publishing another Bitcoin transaction, after which infected devices would automatically retrieve the new information. Once the malware obtained those instructions, the operation moved offchain for activities that could include remote access, credential theft and the delivery of additional malware. 

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Two House committees advanced crypto legislation on Wednesday, approving a bill to establish a Strategic Bitcoin (BTC) Reserve and a separate measure setting federal tax rules for digital assets.

The votes arrived one day after the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the CLARITY Act. The vote stalled a key effort to establish a clearer regulatory framework for the crypto industry.

Two Committees, Two Separate TracksThe Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act failed to advance in the US Senate on September 15. House Financial Services Chairman French Hill and House Agriculture Chairman Glenn Thompson said afterward that Congress still needs to set rules for the sector.

The next morning, two separate bills cleared committee, evidence that work on digital assets has continued on other tracks.

The House Financial Services Committee approved H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act, by 28-21. Representative Nick Begich introduced the bill in May.

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The American Reserve Modernization Act (ARMA) just cleared the House Financial Services Committee.

We built support with members of Congress, subject matter experts, Commerce, and Treasury. Significant effort was made by committee staff on this important legislation, and for… https://t.co/U7qq3dMFMc

— Congressman Nick Begich (@RepNickBegich) September 16, 2026
The measure would place federally forfeited Bitcoin in a Treasury reserve and hold it for at least 20 years. A separate stockpile would cover other digital assets.

“We cannot allow Bitcoin to be held by the federal government to languish in fragmented and inconsistent custody… It directs the Treasury Department to centralize the custody of all Bitcoin and other digital assets seized through the final criminal and civil forfeiture…” Representative Bryan Steil said.

According to Arkham Intelligence, the US government is estimated to hold 324,527 Bitcoin worth $24.8 billion at the time of writing.

Lawmakers Advance Crypto Tax BillThe House Ways and Means Committee passed H.R. 10357, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, by 38-5. Chairman Jason Smith introduced the bill on September 14.

PASSED: The Ways and Means Committee just passed the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act — a historic step toward establishing a clear tax framework for digital assets.

Through strong bipartisan collaboration, Republicans and Democrats came together to modernize outdated tax rules… pic.twitter.com/g5aUK7TVNL

— Ways and Means Committee (@WaysandMeansGOP) September 16, 2026
The bill seeks to establish a clear tax framework for digital assets. It also extends wash-sale rules to digital assets.

“This legislation would be the first-ever federal law to address the substantive tax treatment of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets – affecting the one in four Americans that currently hold some form of cryptocurrency, more than 67 million people,” Chairman Smith stated.

Each now needs a House floor vote, Senate passage, and a presidential signature, with the 119th Congress ending in January.

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A growing number of Bitcoin miners are moving away from their traditional business to focus on artificial intelligence (AI) computing. New research by CoinShares, a digital asset firm known for its industry analytics, reveals that AI compute leases currently generate significantly higher revenues compared to mining Bitcoin.

AI compute outpaces Bitcoin mining returnsAccording to the CoinShares report, leasing infrastructure for AI operations typically brings in about $1.5 million per megawatt each year. This figure is roughly three times greater than the $500,000 per megawatt that miners earn from Bitcoin mining.

These earnings differentials have prompted several publicly listed mining companies to reevaluate their strategies. Some firms are exiting Bitcoin mining entirely, while others are integrating AI compute services alongside existing mining operations.

AI leasing now produces three times as much revenue per megawatt as Bitcoin mining, driving industry players to ramp up their focus on AI infrastructure.

Core Scientific, a major Bitcoin mining company, recently paid approximately $42 million to cancel its order for next-generation mining hardware. The order had committed the company to 15 exahash of mining capacity, which it is now scrapping in favor of alternative business lines.

Earnings SourceAnnual Revenue per MWAI Compute Lease$1,500,000Bitcoin Mining$500,000Keel, formerly known as Bitfarms, and Cipher Mining have both liquidated portions of their Bitcoin holdings to expand AI and data center infrastructure. Keel fully exited the Bitcoin mining business in June, and IREN has announced plans to do the same by December 2026.

Other operators, such as Mara Holdings, are transitioning more gradually, adding AI services while maintaining existing mining operations.

Mini dictionary: Mara Holdings, previously known as Marathon Digital Holdings, is a US-based cryptocurrency mining company focused on Bitcoin and now expanding into AI infrastructure.

CoinShares estimates that by the end of 2026, up to 35 exahash of mining power will leave publicly listed mining companies. The firm pointed to long-term AI facility leasing agreements, some lasting up to 15 years, as a factor making a return to exclusive Bitcoin mining unlikely—even if Bitcoin prices rebound.

Profit squeeze drives transformationRising costs have made Bitcoin mining less attractive. CoinShares reported that the average cost to mine a single Bitcoin reached $75,500 in the second quarter of 2026.

During the same period, Bitcoin’s price dropped as low as $58,400, pushing mining operations into negative territory for many participants. Monthly mining revenues have plunged from about $60 million at the end of 2025 to around $20 million by mid-2026.

PeriodAverage Mining RevenueBTC Price LowCost to Mine One BTCLate 2025$60 million>$125,000–Mid-2026$20 million$58,400$75,500The decline in profitability has led to reduced hashrate across the network, with total mining power falling by more than half as many operators scale back or exit the industry.

CoinShares noted that the current reduction in hashrate resembles similar downturns following historical Bitcoin halving events. The company suggested hashrate could recover ahead of the next halving, but this view is not universally accepted.

Some analysts warn that mining may have already peaked, with further declines possible as block rewards are cut in 2028.

Economist Saifedean Ammous underscored that the upcoming decrease in block rewards from 3.125 to 1.56 Bitcoin in 2028 could make mining even less viable. Mara Holdings CEO Fred Thiel has expressed related concerns about the future of mining-only business models, given the shrinking returns.

For now, AI compute services appear to offer a more profitable path for miners with access to substantial power resources. Limitations on new data center construction and the value of existing energy hookups are shaping this industry transition.

TLDR The Celsius bankruptcy estate sued five BitMEX-linked companies on Sept 12 in New York bankruptcy court. The estate alleges BitMEX wrongfully liquidated and seized 6,360 BTC during the March 2020 crash. The Bitcoin at stake is worth close to $490 million at current prices. The estate claims BitMEX controlled the prices, the liquidation engine and the insurance fund involved. The lawsuit lands just 11 days before BitMEX shuts down its exchange services on Sept 23. The Celsius bankruptcy estate has filed a lawsuit against five companies linked to BitMEX. The estate accuses the crypto exchange of fraud, market manipulation and wrongful liquidations tied to the March 2020 market crash.

The complaint was filed on Sept 12 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. It was brought by Celsius entities acting through estate representative Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium.

The named defendants are HDR Global Trading, ABS Global Trading, Shine Effort, 100x Holdings and HDR Global Services. All five are connected to BitMEX.

The estate says BitMEX wrongfully liquidated and seized 1,325.84 BTC in collateral from Celsius on March 12, 2020. It also seized 5,034.33 BTC from investment fund JST the next day.

JST later assigned its related claims to the Celsius estate. That is how both amounts ended up in the same filing.

The lawsuit seeks the return of Bitcoin worth close to $490 million at current prices. It comes just 11 days before BitMEX is set to stop exchange services on Sept 23.

Cointelegraph reached out to both the Celsius estate and BitMEX for comment. Neither had responded by the time of publication.

How the liquidations allegedly happened The estate claims BitMEX controlled three parts of the process at once. That includes the prices used to trigger liquidations, the engine that carried them out, and the insurance fund that collected proceeds from some of the liquidated positions.

The complaint states that some liquidation sell orders were placed more than 24% below the next best asking price on the platform. It also claims Bitcoin traded lower on BitMEX than on other exchanges as the liquidation cycle sped up.

Timing of the March 2020 outage The estate points to a BitMEX service disruption on March 13, 2020, as part of its case. It alleges liquidation orders stopped once the platform went offline, and that Bitcoin’s price recovered soon after.

The estate argues this timing shows forced selling on BitMEX had been pushing the price down. BitMEX said at the time that it faced two separate denial-of-service attacks that day, at 02:16 UTC and 12:56 UTC.

The estate is asking for actual damages of at least 6,360.16 BTC, or the current market value of that amount. It also wants the Bitcoin returned directly, or its equivalent value paid instead.

The filing also seeks statutory damages, punitive damages, and any profits BitMEX made from the liquidations. Legal fees and court costs are included in the request too.

The complaint does not put a number on these additional claims. It states the amounts would need to be set at trial.

This is not the first legal action of its kind against BitMEX this year. On July 23, BKX Services and David Namdar filed a separate proposed class action.

That case claims the pair lost a combined 622.66 BTC through forced liquidations. It also alleges an internal trading desk could see private customer data and kept trading during server freezes.

A BitMEX spokesperson responded to the July lawsuit by calling it an opportunistic claim with no basis. The company said it would defend itself in that case, though that statement did not address the newer Celsius complaint.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

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Updated Published

2 min read

Record diesel prices. (TradingView)Summary

U.S. diesel prices surged nearly 80% this year to a record $6.29 a gallon, driven by Middle East tensions and tight global refinery capacity.The price jump reinforces expectations for additional Federal Reserve interest rate hikes in the coming months.Central banks seem determined to raise rates into an oil supply shock, ignoring warnings that hikes cannot fix a fuel shortage.U.S. diesel prices have surged to an all‑time high, marking the latest flare‑up in a broader energy shock that is reigniting inflation fears across global markets.

The national average price for a gallon of diesel hit a record $6.29 this week, up nearly 80% year to date, according to TradingView. Bitcoin BTC$76,511.13

is down nearly 12% at $76,400 for the year while gold is largely unchanged, having retraced from the record high of $5,600 reached early this year.

Diesel is rising mainly because of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, including the ongoing U.S.–Israeli conflict with Iran, which has disrupted crude flows and raised risk premiums on refined products. Tight refinery capacity and strong demand from both freight and industrial users have amplified the move, turning a regional supply shock into a global price spike.

Such spikes in pump prices typically feed through to transport costs, supply chains and, ultimately, consumer prices.

“Higher diesel prices can show up in inflation through business costs first, then potentially affect consumer prices over time depending on pass-through and demand,” JPMorgan said in a note Tuesday.

The timing could hardly be worse. Central banks are already on high alert and inclined to hike interest rates, making credit more expensive even though higher rates are unlikely to address the key source of inflation: disruptions to oil supplies from the wars in Iran and Ukraine.

On Thursday, the Fed hikes rates by 25 basis points, lifting the benchmark borrowing cost to the 3.75%-4% range. The hike is an evidence of how policymakers are biased toward using rate increases to tackle inflation stemming from oil‑supply shocks, a mistake, as per some observers.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley expect another 25 bps hike in October. Other central banks are also tightening. The European Central Bank recently raised rates, and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is expected to do the same on Friday.

Record diesel prices therefore present a headwind for gold, bitcoin and technology stocks. Like gold, bitcoin is widely seen as a store of value and sovereign hedge. However, historically, higher borrowing costs have weighed on the cryptocurrency’s market value, as seen during the 2022 Fed tightening cycle.

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12345678910The Definitive Stablecoin Landscape Series: Asia Pacific

The Definitive Stablecoin Landscape Series: Asia Pacific

As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.

Sep 15, 2026

As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.

Why it matters:

As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.

9h35 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.

Summarize this article with:

Is the bear market coming to an end? Many signals observed during previous reversals are beginning to reappear in the market. Denny Galindo, from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Global Investment Office, identified six of them, from the cycle calendar to bitcoin mining difficulty. However, not all are green. Some indicators remain far from the levels reached during past lows. Between historical similarities and persistent anomalies, the market might be entering a renewal without having fully left the bear market yet.

In brief Six historical signals suggest the bear market could be nearing its end. Bitcoin’s cycle calendar is approaching previous recovery phases. Several indicators remain incomplete, including the drawdown, mining difficulty, and thermocap. The next cycle could be different, as AI emerges as the dominant narrative over crypto. The crypto market calendar approaches previous bear market exits Across the four complete cycles observed so far, cryptos have followed a sequence of about four years, with three years of bull market followed by a bear market lasting 12 to 14 months. Galindo describes this succession as four seasons of crypto.

The current calendar specifically approaches the period when spring appeared during previous cycles. Historically, this started 17 months before the next halving, or 12 to 14 months after the previous peak. September of this year is therefore 17 months prior to the next halving and 11 months after the last peak.

Another important marker concerns tensions affecting exchanges as a cycle change approaches. Large platforms have closed or failed just before previous crypto springs. This time, BitMEX announced in July a planned closure for this September. Since the low point, a 50% rebound has historically coincided with previous market lows.

In total, the analysis identifies six signals to watch to know if the market is truly changing season :

The cycle duration, measured relative to the previous peak and the upcoming halving ; Tensions on exchanges and institutional players, observed leading up to previous crypto springs ; Bitcoin’s pullback, compared to corrections during past bear markets ; Mining difficulty, whose decline then rebound have accompanied past cycle changes ; Thermocap multiple, measuring bitcoin capitalization relative to the cumulative mining-attributed value of BTC ; Price evolution, with the historic threshold of a 50% rebound from the low point. Various indicators remain far from levels seen in the past When shifting analysis to bitcoin metrics, the picture becomes less uniform. Previous bear markets led to pullbacks between 77% and 84% below previous peaks. Bitcoin has only lost 53% between October 6, 2025, and June 30, 2026. Galindo believes this correction should be enough to constitute a signal, while remaining significantly less deep than those of prior cycles.

The same caution applies to mining difficulty mining. It has indeed decreased, following historically observed behavior at bear market ends, yet it has not yet rebounded. A similar observation is made for the thermocap multiple. This indicator compares bitcoin capitalization to the cumulative dollar value attributed to BTC at mining time.

Previous bear markets ended with a ratio under 10. During this cycle, its point has only reached 13 times. Various pieces of the historical scenario are thus visible without exactly reproducing past lows.

The next bitcoin cycle could follow a different scenario Such divergence raises a new question highlighted by Galindo: must bitcoin necessarily repeat its old cyclical mechanics? During the 2012-2016 and 2016-2020 cycles, crypto exceeded the prior cycle peak only after the halving. However, the 2024 precedent broke this sequence. Bitcoin thus surpassed its 2021 record one month before the April halving.

In 2020 and 2021, crypto was among the most visible expressions of speculation around disruptive technologies in a high-liquidity environment. Since 2024, artificial intelligence has become the dominant growth narrative. Therefore, Galindo poses a question likely to accompany the next cycle: has AI replaced crypto as the main speculative and technological market theme?

The six metrics thus do not provide a uniform verdict. The calendar shows similarities with previous bear markets, while the pullback, mining difficulty, and thermocap remain out of sync with some past patterns. Two unknowns add to this: bitcoin’s behavior before the next halving and the role now held by AI. The crypto spring may be taking shape; however, Galindo’s analysis chiefly encourages watching for signs rather than announcing its arrival.

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Luc Jose A.

Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.

DISCLAIMER

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

Bitcoin’s post-quantum migration debate has moved toward wallet security and dormant-coin handling after Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet argued that choosing a new signature scheme may prove easier than moving Bitcoin users and existing funds safely.

Summary

Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet says Bitcoin faces a migration challenge, not an immediate quantum crisis. SHRINCS combines stateful signatures with a stateless fallback while relying on SHA-256 for security today. Current SHRINCS signatures range from 548 bytes to 5,777 bytes, depending on the signing path. Reusing one stateful signing slot can enable forged signatures, creating serious wallet-level fund theft risks. Bitcoin BIPs 360 and 361 remain drafts, leaving post-quantum migration policy unresolved across the network. Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet said in a technical analysis published by Ledger that “Bitcoin does not have a quantum computer problem today,” while warning that migration research, software implementation, hardware-wallet changes and user adoption could take years. He said no cryptographically relevant quantum computer capable of breaking Bitcoin’s current signatures is known to exist today, while the timing of such a machine remains uncertain.

His review focuses on SHRINCS, a draft Bitcoin-specific post-quantum signature proposal that combines a smaller stateful signing mechanism with a larger stateless recovery path. The specification remains unfinished, carries no assigned BIP number and states that its formal “security proof is TODO.”

⚛️ Bitcoin does not have a quantum computer problem today. It has a migration problem, and migrations could take years to get right.

SHRINCS is the first Bitcoin-specific post-quantum proposal I have seen that makes a serious end-to-end trade-off, and it deserves to be read…

— Charles Guillemet (@P3b7_) September 16, 2026 Bitcoin migration involves more than choosing cryptography Guillemet divided the transition into three problems: selecting a post-quantum signature scheme, adapting Bitcoin wallets and protocol infrastructure to that scheme, and deciding how existing BTC should move to quantum-resistant outputs. The final problem includes coins whose owners may have lost their keys or have not moved funds for many years.

Bitcoin’s current transaction authorization relies heavily on ECDSA and Schnorr signatures built on elliptic-curve cryptography. A sufficiently capable quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could theoretically recover private keys from exposed public keys, but no publicly demonstrated machine can perform that attack against Bitcoin today.

Guillemet said migration cannot be judged solely by the cryptographic strength of a replacement scheme because wallets, hardware devices, backup systems and multi-device setups must implement it safely. He described reaching social agreement over vulnerable legacy coins as one of the harder unresolved questions.

A similar position has emerged from other cryptographers. Stanford cryptographer Dan Boneh has argued that Bitcoin should prepare for quantum risk while avoiding a rushed migration that could introduce severe software failures.

SHRINCS trades smaller signatures for wallet state The current SHRINCS draft specification describes a hash-based system built around SHA-256, the same hash family already used extensively by Bitcoin. Its designers target approximately 128 bits of classical security and 64 bits of quantum security under their chosen parameters.

Its 48-byte public key commits to two signing paths. The compact route uses Flexible XMSS and WOTS+C, producing stateful signatures from 548 bytes up to 4,619 bytes. A stateless fallback based on SLH-DSA concepts produces a 5,777-byte signature.

NIST standardized SLH-DSA as FIPS 205 in August 2024. The standard itself is stateless and based on SPHINCS+, while the SHRINCS draft uses a custom parameter configuration alongside its separate stateful component.

The newer numbers are important because an earlier version of SHRINCS produced a frequently cited 324-byte stateful signature. Guillemet said that figure no longer describes the current Bitcoin draft. The September specification starts at 548 bytes for its stateful route.

Blockstream Research has argued that hash-based signatures offer conservative cryptographic assumptions and relatively cheap verification. Its May research noted that standardized post-quantum signatures are much larger than Bitcoin’s current 64-byte Schnorr signatures, creating pressure on block space and transaction throughput.

Blockstream has already demonstrated SHRINCS verification on the Liquid sidechain through Simplicity, but that experiment does not mean the scheme is active on Bitcoin mainnet. The Bitcoin specification remains research work requiring review and consensus before any network deployment.

Stateful signatures create a new wallet failure mode The compact SHRINCS path requires every one-time signing key to be used only once. A wallet therefore maintains a counter identifying which signing slot should be used next, and that counter must move forward permanently before a signature leaves the device.

If a wallet uses the same signing slot for two different messages, information exposed by the signatures may let an observer forge a valid signature. Guillemet wrote that the attacker does not necessarily recover the entire private seed, but the affected user’s funds can still become stealable.

Backups create another problem. Restoring a wallet from an older copy could restore an outdated counter. Two hardware devices initialized from the same seed could face the same risk if they independently use the stateful path without coordinating which one-time keys have already been consumed.

An independentProject Eleven review of SHRINCS reached a similar conclusion. Researchers Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan said the scheme transfers a security-critical state requirement into wallets and custodial systems, where backup restoration or state rollback could lead to reuse of a one-time key.

SHRINCS provides a fallback when the state is lost or uncertain. The original seed can still derive the stateless signing key, allowing funds to move using the 5,777-byte signature. The wallet must permanently stop using the compact stateful route for that key once its counter can no longer be trusted.

Guillemet described this property as one of SHRINCS’ stronger design choices because losing state affects efficiency without automatically making the coins unspendable.

Current wallet features would not transfer cleanly The move from elliptic-curve signatures to hash-based signatures would change several wallet tools Bitcoin users rely on today. Non-hardened BIP32 derivation lets an extended public key generate child public keys without exposing private keys, supporting common watch-only wallet designs. Guillemet said an efficient equivalent does not naturally carry over to hash-based signatures.

Threshold signing presents a related problem. Schnorr-based systems can combine participants efficiently, while known hash-based alternatives tend to require larger signatures, more storage or communication, or different trust assumptions. Guillemet said SHRINCS should not be expected to provide a compact drop-in replacement for current Schnorr threshold systems.

Hardware performance remains another constraint. Ledger’s analysis says post-quantum key generation and the stateless SHRINCS path can take minutes on some secure hardware because the process performs many SHA-256 operations and requires more memory than Schnorr signing.

Blockstream’s research frames the tradeoff differently, arguing that SHRINCS verification is dominated by SHA-256 calculations and can therefore remain computationally manageable even when signatures consume more bytes. The current draft claims its worst-case verification cost per signature byte is below that of BIP340 Schnorr.

Bitcoin has no adopted post-quantum migration yet SHRINCS is only one part of the current Bitcoin quantum-security discussion. BIP 360, called Pay-to-Merkle-Root, is a separate Draft proposal designed to remove Taproot’s quantum-vulnerable key-path spend and protect users against long-exposure attacks.

BIP 360 does not itself introduce a post-quantum signature algorithm. Its authors state that short-exposure attacks, where an attacker derives a private key after a transaction reveals its public key but before confirmation, may require a future post-quantum signature scheme.

BIP 361 addresses the migration problem more directly. The Draft proposal describes a phased sunset of legacy ECDSA and Schnorr spending after a post-quantum output mechanism becomes available. Its proposed schedule includes an initial migration period followed later by tighter restrictions on legacy signatures.

As crypto.news reported in its BIP 360 and BIP 361 review, one unresolved issue is what should happen to vulnerable BTC that never migrates. Possible approaches can affect coins believed lost, abandoned or controlled by owners who cannot participate in a future upgrade.

Coinbase’s independent cryptography advisory board has separately called for migration planning to begin before a quantum attacker exists.The board supported preparation while leaving questions over freezing or handling legacy coins to the Bitcoin community.

The official Bitcoin BIP repository still lists both BIP 360 and BIP 361 as Draft as of Sept. 17. SHRINCS itself remains an unnumbered draft specification, with its authors warning that the cryptography is prototype work requiring further peer review and a completed security proof.

FAQs Is Bitcoin vulnerable to quantum computers today? No publicly demonstrated quantum computer can currently recover Bitcoin private keys from its elliptic-curve public keys. Guillemet describes the immediate challenge as preparing a migration before such hardware becomes practical.

Has Bitcoin adopted SHRINCS? No. SHRINCS is an experimental draft specification without an assigned BIP number. It is not activated in Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin consensus rules.

What happens if a SHRINCS wallet loses its signing state? The current design allows the seed to recover a stateless signing path, producing a larger 5,777-byte signature. The wallet should not resume compact stateful signing when its previous counter cannot be trusted.

Why is reused SHRINCS state dangerous? Its compact route relies on one-time signing keys. Reusing the same slot for different messages can expose enough information to permit forged signatures and possible fund theft.

Are BIP 360 and BIP 361 active? No. The canonical Bitcoin BIP repository currently lists both proposals as Draft. Neither has been activated as a Bitcoin consensus change.