Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

8h10 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.

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U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $292.5 million in net inflows during the first two sessions of October. The initial total of $134.4 million was incomplete because it did not yet include the $158.2 million allocated to BlackRock’s IBIT fund on October 2.

In Brief U.S. Bitcoin ETFs attracted $292.5 million during the first two sessions of October. BlackRock largely dominates flows with $353.8 million captured by IBIT in two days. Inflows coincided with a weaker-than-expected U.S. employment report. Bitcoin briefly exceeded $87,000 before returning around $85,000. Bitcoin ETFs come off a strong September marked by $2.65 billion in inflows. Bitcoin ETFs start October with two positive sessions The funds attracted $102.7 million on October 1st, then $189.8 million the next day once data from all issuers were integrated. This second estimate replaces the provisional total of $31.7 million announced before BlackRock’s flow release.

The start of the month thus reverses the movement observed during the last session of September. The updated data summarize the sequence :

$148.7 million were withdrawn on September 30 ; $102.7 million entered on October 1 ; $189.8 million were added on October 2 ; The total for the first two sessions reaches $292.5 million ; ETFs now show two consecutive days of inflows. The figure of $134.4 million came from adding $102.7 million from Thursday and a partial total of $31.7 million for Friday. This was not a calculation error but a snapshot taken before receiving IBIT’s data.

This difference reminds that daily flows can evolve several hours after close. Some funds publish their creations and redemptions later than others, making initial totals provisional.

BlackRock still dominates Bitcoin ETF flows On October 1st, IBIT attracted $195.6 million. This gathering offset outflows seen at several competitors, including $60.7 million for Fidelity’s fund and $31.4 million for Grayscale’s GBTC.

Bitwise lost $6.9 million, while ARK 21Shares, Invesco, and VanEck also ended in the red. Conversely, Morgan Stanley’s fund received $7 million and Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust $14.6 million.

The October 2 session was much more concentrated. IBIT collected $158.2 million, Fidelity $29.3 million, and Morgan Stanley $2.4 million. Other products recorded no significant net movement.

Over the two days, BlackRock received $353.8 million. This amount exceeds the overall positive flow of $292.5 million, as part of IBIT’s subscriptions served to offset withdrawals recorded in other ETFs.

This concentration tempers market reading. Investors are returning to Bitcoin ETFs, but they largely favor BlackRock’s product. The movement does not translate into uniform progress across all managers.

The employment report supports bitcoin The flow return coincided with a weaker-than-expected U.S. employment report. The U.S. economy added 29,000 jobs in September, against about 90,000 expected. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2%.

These figures reduced expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike in October. Lower or stable rates tend to improve the attractiveness of risky assets by reducing the yield offered by bonds.

Bitcoin briefly exceeded $87,000 after the release before returning toward $85,000. This reaction shows investors welcomed the employment slowdown without triggering a sustained break above September’s peak.

ETF flows can support spot demand, as managers generally buy bitcoins to cover new shares creation. However, they alone do not explain the price, which also depends on the dollar, bond yields, and positions in derivatives markets.

ETFs come off a strong September Bitcoin ETFs had received about $2.65 billion in September, their best monthly total in several months. A series of nine positive sessions starting September 17 notably generated more than $3 billion before the September 30 withdrawal.

The third quarter ended with nearly $6.34 billion in inflows. This gathering allowed 2026 flows to return slightly positive after a deficit close to $5.8 billion observed in mid-July.

The positive start to October fuels the narrative of “Uptober”, a nickname for the month due to bitcoin’s historical performances. “Traders currently estimate that the upside potential exceeds the downside,” said Stephen Wundke, strategy director at Algoz.

However, this seasonality does not constitute a forecast. The next test will come on October 14 with U.S. inflation, then on October 28 with the Fed decision. Continued inflows will depend as much on these data as on the month’s favorable reputation.

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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.

Peter Schiff says MicroStrategy has pulled its Stretch (STRC) preferred stock back toward its $100 par value. However, he argues the company has lost the issuance channel that funded its Bitcoin purchases.

Even so, Strategy has kept adding Bitcoin, funding its latest purchase with proceeds from common stock sales.

Schiff Credits Buybacks and a Bitcoin Rebound for STRC’s RecoverySchiff, a longtime Bitcoin critic, made the case on his October 2 podcast. He said STRC trades near $99.4, a recovery he admitted surprised him.

MicroStrategy Stretch (STRC) Stock. Soure: TradingViewHe credited Strategy’s weekly STRC buybacks and Bitcoin’s rally for the move. Schiff said that rally may have restored some confidence in the stock or triggered short covering.

The preferred stock had sunk to about $75 earlier this year, which CEO Phong Le blamed on unexpected leverage.

Referring to Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, Schiff argued that the rebound has not reopened Strategy’s key funding route.

“There’s no way that he’s going to be able to start selling more Stretch; that means he’s not going to be able to raise money to really start buying more Bitcoin,” Schiff said.

He added that Strategy has raised enough cash to keep paying STRC dividends a little longer before it runs out. However, he said the company no longer has the machinery to buy more Bitcoin.

Saylor, for his part, pointed to calmer trading in the stock. He said STRC’s 30-day historical volatility stood at 9% as of October 2. That put it below the 10% reading for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

A milestone for Digital Credit: $STRC’s 30-day historical volatility is now 9%, below $SPY. We’re harnessing the power of Bitcoin while reducing price volatility for income investors. This is what financial engineering should do. pic.twitter.com/Jka7oOesa1

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) October 3, 2026
Common Stock Has Funded Most of Strategy’s Bitcoin Buys Since MayStrategy’s weekly filings support part of Schiff’s argument. The company last sold STRC through its at-the-market program between May 11 and 17, raising about $1.95 billion.

Its remaining STRC capacity has held at about $17.51 billion in every filing since, meaning no further shares were sold.

Strategy then paused Bitcoin buying for 10 weeks over the summer, selling coins instead to fund dividends and STRC buybacks. When it resumed in late August, it relied on other funding sources.

It sold class A common stock (MSTR) to fund 4,603 BTC that week and 1,665 BTC in late September. In between, it spent $75.7 million from its USD Cash account on 950 BTC.

Common stock proceeds also flow back into STRC. Between September 21 and 27, Strategy used $103.5 million from MSTR sales to repurchase STRC shares.

Strategy also held a $5.02 billion USD Reserve as of September 27. The company says the pool is meant to support preferred dividends and debt interest.

Schiff expects Bitcoin to roll over once tech stocks pull back. Strategy usually reports purchases on Mondays, so its next filing will show whether common stock sales keep funding its buys.

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The International Monetary Fund approved the immediate disbursement of about $138 million to El Salvador under the country’s $1.4 billion financing program, despite some performance criteria being missed.

The IMF’s Executive Board completed the second and third reviews under El Salvador’s 40-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement on Thursday, it said in a press release.

While certain performance criteria were not met, including on the Bitcoin accumulation front, the IMF granted waivers “based on strong corrective measures and renewed commitments.”

The agency noted that El Salvador has made progress in financial sector reforms, fiscal transparency, AML/CFT reforms and the transfer of majority ownership and control of the government Chivo Bitcoin wallet to a private operator.

“Efforts will continue to reduce the state’s involvement in Bitcoin-related activities, strengthen crypto‑asset regulation and governance, and enhance transparency regarding public-sector crypto‑asset holdings,” the IMF said, adding: “No further Bitcoin accumulation is envisaged beyond the documented donations.”

Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 4 that El Salvador used no public resources to accumulate Bitcoin after the first review of its IMF financing program in June 2025, according to the lender. 

The IMF said documents supplied by Salvadoran authorities verified that the accumulation came from private donations. According to the lender, the increase in El Salvador’s holdings therefore did not reflect additional Bitcoin purchases financed with government resources. 

The IMF also said majority ownership and operational control of the Chivo wallet had been transferred to a private operator, while the government retained a minority stake and custodial responsibilities.

The explanation addressed how El Salvador’s holdings grew after the first review, when the country said in November 2025 that it had acquired 1,090 BTC worth $100 million, renewing questions about compliance with its $1.4 billion IMF program. 

Magazine: Exchanges reporting crypto gains to IRS becomes tax nightmare

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

BlackRock has expanded its position in the cryptocurrency market by adding $1.57 billion in Bitcoin to its portfolio over the past month, bringing its total holdings to 801,769 BTC. This increase follows a series of substantial inflows into the company’s flagship spot Bitcoin ETF.

Strategic accumulation amid positive momentumRecent data from Arkham Intelligence indicates that BlackRock has consistently acquired Bitcoin during most ETF trading sessions in the last month. The latest addition of $195.6 million worth of BTC followed a sharp rebound in Bitcoin’s price, which climbed above $84,000. This market uptick appears to have reignited institutional demand for the asset.

In light of this surge, a sequence of large transactions was observed, with Bitcoin moved in batches of 300 BTC from a Coinbase hot wallet to an address linked to BlackRock. These transfers were highlighted as part of BlackRock’s effort to bolster its Bitcoin reserves.

Arkham Intelligence data highlights that after the latest $1.57 billion in purchases, BlackRock’s Bitcoin holdings rose to 801,769 BTC, now valued at about $67.87 billion based on current market prices.

Bitcoin dominance in BlackRock’s crypto portfolioBlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has continued to attract substantial capital, further strengthening the company’s role as a major player in the Bitcoin ETF landscape. The firm’s aggressive Bitcoin acquisitions reflect growing investor confidence in the asset class during recent market rallies.

The firm’s tracked crypto portfolio is dominated by Bitcoin, which makes up more than 87% of its total holdings. According to current data, Ethereum is the next largest component, accounting for $10.06 billion of BlackRock’s $77.93 billion in digital assets.

Bitcoin now represents the most significant portion of BlackRock’s holdings, while Ethereum trails as the second-largest position in its expansive crypto portfolio.

Efficiency and institutional demand shape new investor toolsAs institutions increase their exposure to crypto with moves like BlackRock’s latest purchases, rapid price changes driven by events such as central bank decisions or the listing of popular alternative coins reinforce the need for efficient portfolio management tools. In this environment, smart investors are seeking unified platforms to stay ahead. In a market where a single Fed decision or a sudden altcoin listing can change everything in seconds, jumping between different apps for charts, news, and portfolio tracking is costing investors money. Smart traders are now utilizing privacy-first tools like CryptoAppsy to consolidate everything. Without even the hassle of creating an account, you get real-time charts, smart price alerts, coin-specific news, and critical macro data all on one screen.

With major players like BlackRock significantly increasing their exposure to Bitcoin, the wider market’s focus has increased on tools that offer a comprehensive and real-time overview of crypto assets, enabling both institutional and individual participants to navigate this rapidly evolving landscape efficiently.

U.S. Bitcoin ETFs recorded provisional net inflows of $82.9 million for Sep. 28–Oct. 2, while Ethereum ETFs posted $118 million in net outflows, according to Farside Investors. Bitcoin’s reported weekly intake fell sharply from $2.39 billion in the preceding week.

Summary

Bitcoin ETFs added $82.9 million, with Friday’s BlackRock IBIT entry still pending. Ethereum ETFs lost $118 million after attracting $689.8 million in the previous week. Solana ETFs recorded $800,000 in net inflows, down from $188.1 million a week earlier. Hyperliquid ETFs added $3.4 million, while Zcash’s tracked fund lost $77.6 million. Farside Investors’ data showed Bitcoin ETFs recording inflows on four of the five trading days. Wednesday’s withdrawals reduced the weekly total, while Thursday’s intake was the largest positive session of the period.

Friday’s figures remained incomplete when checked on Oct. 3. Farside showed blank entries for BlackRock’s IBIT, ETHA and ETHB, so the Bitcoin and Ethereum weekly totals remain provisional.

Bitcoin ETF inflows fall from $2.39 billion Bitcoin funds opened the week with $31 million in net inflows on Monday, followed by $66.2 million on Tuesday. Wednesday brought $148.7 million in withdrawals before investors added $102.7 million on Thursday and a reported $31.7 million on Friday.

BlackRock’s IBIT recorded $292 million in net inflows across Monday through Thursday. Its largest intake was $195.6 million on Oct. 1, following $9.5 million in withdrawals a day earlier.

Fidelity’s FBTC posted $167.9 million in weekly net outflows, despite receiving $29.3 million on Friday. Bitwise’s BITB lost $38.6 million, while Grayscale’s GBTC recorded $54.6 million in withdrawals.

ARKB added $25.5 million over the week, and Grayscale’s BTC fund attracted $24.9 million. Morgan Stanley’s MSBT recorded $9.4 million in inflows.

The preceding week, Sep. 21–25, delivered five consecutive positive sessions, including $999 million on Monday and $714.7 million on Tuesday.

Ethereum ETFs reverse the previous week’s inflows Ethereum funds began Monday with $17.1 million in net inflows before recording withdrawals during each subsequent session, according to Farside’s Ethereum figures.

Tuesday’s outflow was $2.8 million. Withdrawals then reached $59.6 million on Wednesday and $55.4 million on Thursday, followed by a provisional $17.3 million on Friday.

Fidelity’s FETH accounted for $74.1 million in weekly net outflows. Its largest withdrawal was $26.6 million on Wednesday, followed by $23.5 million on Thursday.

Grayscale’s ETHE lost $27.9 million, while its ETH fund recorded $11.2 million in net withdrawals. VanEck’s ETHV and Franklin’s EZET lost $6.9 million and $6.1 million, respectively.

BlackRock’s ETHA recorded $6.5 million in net inflows through Thursday, while ETHB showed zero flows over those four sessions. Both Friday entries remained blank.

The reversal followed $689.8 million in Ethereum ETF inflows during Sep. 21–25, when every session finished positive. Monday’s $270 million intake led that earlier week.

Solana ETF inflows shrink to $800,000 Solana ETFs finished the week with $800,000 in net inflows, according to Farside’s table, compared with $188.1 million in the preceding week.

Monday and Tuesday brought inflows of $7.7 million and $5.4 million. Funds then lost $12.5 million on Wednesday and $1.1 million on Thursday before adding $1.3 million on Friday.

Bitwise’s BSOL recorded $1.3 million in weekly net inflows. Grayscale’s GSOL added $5.4 million, while FSOL attracted $2.8 million.

VSOL posted $6.8 million in withdrawals, and MSOL lost $1.9 million. TSOL and SOEZ recorded zero flows throughout the week.

BSOL’s $9.7 million Monday intake was its largest positive session, while its $8.9 million Wednesday withdrawal was its biggest outflow.

Hyperliquid gains $3.4 million as Zcash loses $77.6 million Hyperliquid ETFs recorded $3.4 million in net inflows, Farside reported. Monday and Tuesday showed zero flows, followed by a $5 million Wednesday withdrawal and inflows of $5 million on Thursday and $3.4 million on Friday.

HYPG attracted $8.4 million over the week, offsetting $5 million in withdrawals from BHYP. THYP recorded zero flows. The group had received $9.3 million during Sep. 21–25.

Farside’s Zcash data showed $77.6 million in withdrawals from ZCSH, reversing the previous week’s $35.2 million intake.

The fund lost $8.1 million on Monday, recorded zero flows on Tuesday, and posted $30.2 million in withdrawals on Wednesday. Further outflows reached $12.4 million on Thursday and $26.9 million on Friday.

Bitcoin buyers have removed a major sell wall at $85,000, reducing near-term resistance as the market’s attention increasingly shifts toward the next halving and institutional flows. According to recent order book data, the absorption of sell orders on Binance marks an important shift in short-term market structure.

Bitcoin’s Halving Cycle Shapes Market NarrativeThe fifth Bitcoin halving is estimated to occur around April 2028 at block 1,050,000, halving the block subsidy from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC. This event will slow the introduction of new Bitcoin into circulation. Historical cycles show that buying 500 days before and selling 500 days after each halving has produced strong returns in previous eras, although outcomes have varied.

Bitcoin completed four halvings since 2012, with the next event’s date largely dependent on the pace of block production. Analysts such as CryptoGoos continue to monitor performance data from these 1,000-day windows, while platforms like Bitbo offer detailed tracking of similar models. However, analysts caution that historical patterns do not guarantee future results, especially as new market participants drive changes in supply and demand.

The rising influence of spot Bitcoin ETFs represents a new dynamic in this cycle. These products open participation to a wider range of investors and could amplify the market impact of the programmed reduction in BTC supply during the next halving.

BTC’s on-chain performance between halving cycles has generated considerable interest, with variations in returns reflecting changing market and liquidity conditions from one era to the next.

Institutional Flows Boost Demand via BlackRock ETFInstitutional interest in Bitcoin remains strong, highlighted by single-day inflows of $195.57 million into BlackRock’s ETF, as reported by Whale Insider. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, known as IBIT, has provided traditional investors with new ways to access Bitcoin exposure, further diversifying market demand.

Glassnode research indicates that US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $1 billion in net inflows on two consecutive days in late September, before inflows slowed as the market moved sideways. The firm noted the importance of consistent inflows across several sessions to assess the durability of institutional demand.

The emergence of ETFs as a major market entry point for large investors means that both programmatic supply reductions and regulated product flows are likely to influence Bitcoin price trajectories.

Short-Term Resistance Clears as $85K Sell Wall FadesBuyers on Binance have effectively absorbed a significant sell wall between $85,000 and $85,500, an area identified as one of the market’s notable resistance levels according to Glassnode analytics. With these sell orders removed, less resting supply sits immediately above the spot market, altering the dynamic for future advances.

Glassnode’s latest market report states that Bitcoin’s True Market Mean remains near $77,200, and the short-term holder cost basis stands close to $73,300. Bitcoin continues to trade above both metrics, setting these values as reference points in the event of another pullback.

The firm observed that while overhead resistance has eased, trading volumes are subdued, suggesting that any sustained move upward would require greater market participation beyond the recent thinning of sell-side liquidity.

Recent buy-side activity above $85,000 reduces resistance and changes the order book dynamic, but broader volume will be essential for more significant upward movement.

Meme Token Activity and Technical Market MonitoringAs technical analysts monitor price consolidation between $84,000 and $86,000 and potential breakout formations, parallels emerge in other volatile corners of crypto. In the meme token sector, rapid internet-driven trends can drive multi-million-dollar trades virtually overnight.

Fomo App data highlights a notable case where a “Niu Lai” token trade turned a $99 investment into $370,000. This underscores the importance of tracking not only price levels but also investor behavior and timing. Fomo App aggregates token discovery, trading tools, social features, investor rankings, and trade notifications in a single service, allowing for closer observation of meme token momentum and investor strategies.

BTC’s Position Relative to Equities and On-Chain IndicatorsBitcoin has regained strength relative to the S&P 500, with Glassnode reporting that daily sessions where BTC outperforms the index rose above 50% in late September. This marks a recovery from June, when that figure fell to its lowest level in six years. The move signals renewed asset-specific demand, but analysts note that a persistent trend will be needed to confirm BTC’s independent momentum.

On-chain valuation metrics remain in focus as well. CryptoQuant analyst TraderGemin notes that Bitcoin’s MVRV Z-Score stands above its 365-day moving average. This indicator compares current market value to realized value and, when above the yearly average, suggests long-term support for the market structure. A drop below this threshold could challenge current trends, so it remains an important reference for technical outlooks.

Outlook: What’s Next for Bitcoin’s Price?Bitcoin’s outlook hinges on interactions between enduring narratives—such as the 2028 halving and ETF adoption—and nearer-term shifts like the recent clearing of the $85K sell wall. Analysts and traders continue to watch whether increased spot-market volumes or further institutional inflows will provide momentum for a durable advance toward higher ranges, especially as technical signals around $90,000 attract attention.

If institutional flows strengthen and volumes increase, Bitcoin could resume its uptrend. Conversely, a loss of on-chain support or weakening participation from large buyers could curtail recent gains. With the next halving approaching and market structure evolving, a combination of liquidity trends, investor behavior, and technical milestones will shape Bitcoin’s price path in the coming months.

Tether-backed fintech firm Utexo is preparing to introduce USDT stablecoin transfers on the Bitcoin network in the coming weeks, bringing the world’s largest dollar-pegged cryptocurrency back to its original blockchain after years of rapid expansion elsewhere.

Utexo receives license for Bitcoin-based USDT issuanceUtexo co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk confirmed the company recently obtained a commercial license permitting the issuance of USDT on Bitcoin using the Tether trademark. Founded in 2025, Utexo raised $7.5 million earlier this year to build out its Bitcoin payments infrastructure.

The platform is designed to serve exchanges, wallets, and payment providers with a suite of APIs, SDKs, and cloud-based solutions, enabling seamless integration with the Bitcoin network. USDT transfers will be fully supported, with added functions such as direct BTC-USDT swaps and BTC-backed collateralized lending, eliminating the need to wrap native bitcoin.

Ihnatiuk has described Tether’s historic commitment to the Bitcoin ecosystem, stating,

Tether has always been a Bitcoin company, viewing Bitcoin as a haven of stability alongside gold. Making USDT as accessible on Bitcoin as on other networks is a major priority for Utexo.

In mid-August, Tether held approximately 100,000 BTC valued at $8.4 billion, according to data from Bitcoin Treasuries. USDT was first launched on Bitcoin via the Omni protocol in 2014, though its main usage later shifted to Ethereum and Tron. USDT now boasts a market capitalization nearing $190 billion.

Privacy and compliance driven by RGB and UTXO modelUtexo’s core infrastructure is built on the RGB protocol and utilizes Bitcoin’s UTXO (unspent transaction output) model. This approach allows for private USDT transfers by leveraging client-side validation, which keeps most transaction information off the Bitcoin public ledger. Bitcoin’s UTXO architecture anchors digital asset ownership while preserving the privacy of individual transactions.

Unlike Ethereum and Tron, which operate on an account-based model publicizing balance and transaction updates, Utexo’s system ensures cryptographic proof of ownership without exposing user data. However, while RGB assets cannot be frozen at the address level as on Ethereum, Utexo will enforce compliance by blacklisting UTXOs involved in illicit or sanctioned activity, effectively rendering those tokens unredeemable. The list will be shared with exchanges and payments partners to support compliance.

Ihnatiuk explained that once a UTXO is blacklisted, it can no longer be returned to any bridge or redemption tool, thus upholding both privacy and regulatory standards.

USDT to expand utility on Lightning NetworkFollowing its official launch on Bitcoin, Utexo intends to expand USDT support to the Lightning Network, a prominent layer-2 solution designed for rapid, low-cost Bitcoin transactions. This step could introduce USDT as a fee token on Lightning, mirroring approaches such as Circle’s Arc network, which leverages USDC for its own gas fees.

Alongside these technical enhancements, monitoring investor behavior and token launches has become critical in the digital asset sector. In the meme token space, rapid trends can create million-dollar surges in a matter of days. Fomo App recently highlighted a case where an investor parlayed a $99 trade into about $370,000 by participating early in “Niu Lai.” Tracking not just price but also investor choices and timing is increasingly important. Fomo App offers a unified platform combining token discovery, trading, social feeds, investor rankings, and trade alerts, allowing users to follow meme tokens and investor activity in real time.

The cryptocurrency market advanced early Friday evening, with Bitcoin climbing to $86,688—up 3.38% over 24 hours—after the latest US Non-Farm Payrolls data showed job growth of just 29,000, missing forecasts of 84,000 to 90,000. Unemployment edged higher to 4.2%, and total crypto market capitalization kept within the $2.94 to $3.03 trillion range as traders took stock of macroeconomic signals and sector developments.

Institutional flows and ETF performance reinforce market momentumBitcoin’s move was echoed by positive trends among institutional products. SoSoValue reported that spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $103 million. BlackRock’s IBIT performed strongly with $196 million in new capital, counterbalancing an outflow of $61 million from Fidelity’s FBTC. In contrast, Ether ETFs saw daily net outflows totaling $55 million.

Ethereum itself broke out from a prolonged sideways price range, increasing 1.69% to $2,749.47, mirroring wider optimism driven by new market catalysts and infrastructure changes.

The total value locked across major cryptocurrencies reflected these shifts, as capital rotated between key assets aligned with developing headlines in Washington and on global exchanges.

AssetPrice24h ChangeMarket ShareBitcoin (BTC)$86,688+3.38%59.10%Ethereum (ETH)$2,749+1.69%11.39%Solana (SOL)$122.62+4.18%N/AXRP$1.5444+3.57%N/A“It’s coming home”: Tether launches USDT on Bitcoin with UtexoTether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, is returning USDT to the Bitcoin blockchain through Utexo, a platform specializing in integrating USD-backed tokens on Bitcoin-based networks. Utexo completed a $7.5 million seed funding round, co-led by Tether, alongside Portal Ventures and Big Brain Holdings.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino actively supported the initiative, referencing the launch with the phrase, “It’s coming home.” Utexo seeks to expand USDT’s reach by leveraging Bitcoin’s native infrastructure, combining technologies such as RGB and Lightning Network.

Backers expect Utexo’s RGB implementation in October 2026 to transform Bitcoin into a settlement channel for dollar-denominated transactions, shifting its role beyond a store of value.

Utexo’s co-founder Viktor Ignatyuk stated that the company is in discussions with Morgan Stanley to facilitate broader integration into mainstream banking custody. Hundreds of exchanges and wallet providers have shown interest in the development.

Currently, nearly $184 billion USDT circulates, representing about 60% of the global stablecoin market, while much of the remaining supply resides on Ethereum and Tron. By comparison, tokenized USDT activity on Bitcoin has been minimal due to technological limitations on legacy networks such as Omni Layer. The new initiative could address Bitcoin’s tiny share of stablecoin volume and restore its relevance in this segment.

Mini dictionary: Utexo is a technology company specializing in deploying stablecoins and digital assets on Bitcoin using the RGB protocol and Lightning Network, which enables the issuance and transfer of digital tokens on top of Bitcoin in a scalable manner.

Regulatory shifts, M&A activity, and Solana’s RWA milestoneUS regulators are signaling an easing of the policy climate for digital asset firms. On her last day in office, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce joined new SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda in proposing new rules for digital asset custody. The reforms would allow registered investment advisers and funds to use state-chartered trust firms and some degree of self-custody, provided robust cybersecurity standards are met.

Simultaneously, the SEC and CFTC are drafting joint rules to supersede the stalled CLARITY Act. Paul Atkins acknowledged the maturation of crypto assets into a trillion-dollar market. Other regulatory measures, including the Federal Reserve’s GENIUS Act and the Innovation Exemption for NMS, remain in force until at least 2031.

Utexo’s seed raise and Armada’s Nasdaq debut capped a week of major US policy and market structure changes, creating new opportunities for institutional participation.

The merger of Armada Acquisition Corp. II and Evernorth received shareholder approval, and the combined entity will debut on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN on October 8. The firm will hold 473 million XRP, valued at about $730 million. As anticipation built, XRP rose 3.57% to $1.5444.

Concurrently, Solana reached a record 1.2 million wallets holding tokenized stocks, with 775,000 new unique addresses added in September. This surge brought Solana’s market share of on-chain real-world asset (RWA) activity to 95%. The SOL token rallied by 4.18% to $122.62.

By contrast, AI-themed crypto assets—such as NEAR, Bittensor (TAO), and Render—underperformed, while Quant (QNT) dropped 16% to $250 following the realization that its integration into The Clearing House system did not require the asset itself, impacting investor sentiment. SHIB coin continued to trade within a tight range, showing minimal reaction to market trends.

Mini dictionary: The Clearing House is a US-based entity that operates payment systems for banks and financial institutions, providing critical infrastructure for interbank transactions.

Derivatives market squeeze and key trading levelsHigh volatility dominated the crypto derivatives market, as total liquidations hit $362.77 million in 24 hours. Nearly $269.87 million of these losses affected short positions, signifying a challenging environment for bearish traders. Around 79,443 traders saw positions forcibly closed in this liquidation cascade.

Open interest in Bitcoin futures reached 653,000 BTC, equating to $56 billion, amid a tripling of funding rates—a sign of increased leveraged bullish bets rather than direct spot purchases.

Key LevelBTC ValueETH ValueSupport$82,600$2,635–$2,660Resistance$87,200–$87,600$2,740–$2,800Critical liquidation trigger$75,800 (>$6.7B long liquidations)$2,420 (>$4.17B long liquidations)On-chain data from CryptoQuant indicated a 40% spike in monthly stablecoin inflows to Binance from addresses holding over $1 million, providing fresh buying power for possible price corrections.

The macroeconomic outlook, centered around weaker jobs growth and unemployment at 4.2%, lessens expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in October, while the ISM PMI price index at 77.9 adds potential inflationary pressure. Citigroup’s year-end price targets remained key psychological reference points with $113,000 for Bitcoin and $3,028 for Ethereum, supporting sentiment in the wake of today’s developments.

Bitget’s attacker has moved much of the exchange’s $387.5 million theft toward Bitcoin through cross-chain services, while only around $840,000 had been publicly frozen five days after the Sept. 24 breach.

Summary

Bitget says attackers moved $387.5 million from hot and warm wallets across blockchains in September. BlockSec estimates attackers still controlled roughly $342 million five days after the Bitget theft began. Tether, Circle and NEAR Intents froze roughly $840,000, equal to only 0.2% of stolen funds. THORChain handled about $269 million in pass-through value, while Bitcoin became the main consolidation asset. North Korea remains suspected, but BlockSec says current onchain evidence does not establish attacker identity. BlockSec reported that the stolen funds followed three main paths: quickly converting assets that issuers could freeze, consolidating value from several chains into Bitcoin and gradually sending BTC into CoinJoin transactions.

The security firm based its analysis on addresses published through Bitget’s tracking dashboard and a Sept. 29 snapshot, meaning the balances and laundering totals can continue changing as funds move.

How did the Bitget hacker move the stolen money? Bitget said the breach began at 18:31 UTC on Sept. 24 with unauthorized transfers from portions of its hot and warm wallet infrastructure.

BlockSec found that the first transactions involved tiny test transfers of 0.84 ETH and 93 TRX. Larger withdrawals started at 18:58 UTC, while Bitget’s reconciliation system detected a discrepancy seven minutes later and blocked ordinary customer withdrawals.

The attackers were not relying on the normal customer withdrawal process, according to Bitget. The exchange said a vulnerability in a third-party security product gave the attackers high-level internal credentials, which were then used to submit forged withdrawal commands directly into its wallet system.

Private keys were not compromised, Bitget said, while its cold wallets remained unaffected. Independent investigations by Mandiant and SlowMist later confirmed that compromised third-party security software enabled unauthorized access to the exchange’s wallet environment.

The loss was initially estimated at $351.6 million before Bitget expanded the figure to roughly $387.5 million after accounting for Zcash and Tron transfers. BlockSec counted 13 stolen assets across 12 chains, with XRP representing the largest single-chain loss.

Assets that could be frozen were moved first. BlockSec found roughly $75.48 million in USDT, USDC and USDT0, plus 3,000 XAUt tokens, were converted into ETH or AVAX within 41 minutes of their theft.

Uniswap, UniswapX, 1inch and MetaMask’s built-in swap service appeared among the routes used. BlockSec said all those conversions were completed before Bitget CEO Gracy Chen publicly disclosed the breach.

Why has only $840K of Bitget’s $387M been frozen? Once the assets had been converted, the attacker began moving value between chains and toward Bitcoin.

BlockSec estimated that around $269 million in pass-through value moved through THORChain across 7,804 transactions by its Sept. 29 snapshot. Chainflip handled roughly $37.27 million, while USDT0/LayerZero, Circle’s CCTP, Across and Stargate appeared in other routes.

Those figures cannot be added together as separate stolen amounts. BlockSec cautioned that the same funds can move through more than one protocol while traveling between chains.

Nearly five days into the laundering process, BlockSec estimated attacker-controlled wallets still held approximately $342 million, equal to 88.3% of the original stolen amount. Bitcoin accounted for around 83.7% of that balance, or roughly 3,386 BTC.

Publicly visible freezes were much smaller.

Tether and Circle had immobilized around $340,000 in stablecoins. Much of that money became vulnerable to freezing because it remained at addresses long enough for the issuers to respond.

NEAR Intents separately said its SHIELD risk system caught attempts to route more than $50 million through the service. BlockSec’s review of the disclosure found roughly $503,000 was stopped during execution, while around $166,000 passed through.

The NEAR Intents figures carry an estimated error margin of up to 10%, according to the service’s own disclosure.

Earlier coverage of NEAR Intents blocking Bitget-linked transfers found that some funds were left in pending transactions after being flagged during the swap process.

Combined, the Tether, Circle and NEAR Intents actions put publicly visible frozen funds near $840,000, just 0.2% of the amount stolen.

Why did so much Bitget crypto move through THORChain? THORChain became the largest cross-chain route identified by BlockSec, drawing criticism from Bitget as stolen ETH continued to be converted into BTC.

Chen publicly asked THORChain to reject known attacker addresses, arguing that “decentralization is a design principle, not a shield” for stolen funds.

THORChain rejected the request and said its emergency halt functions are designed to protect the protocol as a whole, not selectively censor individual transactions.

The network said an emergency halt “is not a selective freeze” of a specific transaction or user.

A Bitget-linked wallet later swapped about $6.3 million of ETH into Bitcoin through THORChain, completing 27 swaps that produced approximately 75.2 BTC.

Other stolen funds reached Bitcoin mixers. BlockSec counted about $3.94 million entering CoinJoin transactions by Sept. 29.

One Sept. 27 CoinJoin transaction contained 356 inputs and 401 outputs. Four inputs, each containing 2.5 BTC, came from addresses Bitget’s tracker identified as belonging to the attacker.

Separate tracking of Bitget funds entering Wasabi CoinJoin previously found a route starting on Tron, passing through Ethereum and THORChain, then reaching Bitcoin before mixing.

Did North Korea carry out the Bitget hack? North Korean involvement remains an assessment, not a confirmed attribution by law enforcement.

Chen has said IP behavior and onchain patterns were “consistent with techniques used by DPRK-linked hacker groups.” Bitget said some IP addresses matched VPN infrastructure previously associated with a North Korean group, but the technical evidence behind that comparison has not been made public.

BlockSec found other possible links, including overlap with laundering methods used in attacks attributed to TraderTraitor and the use of THORChain to convert assets into Bitcoin.

Researcher ZachXBT identified several Chinese-speaking underground money launderers that he said were handling funds for the attacker. One had reportedly appeared in laundering activity connected with an earlier exploit.

Arkham separately pointed to the use of a peel-chain technique frequently associated with North Korean-linked operations.

BlockSec cautioned against treating those similarities as proof of attacker identity. Money-laundering services can work for different clients, while protocols such as THORChain and CoinJoin are available to unrelated users.

The security firm said the evidence points more directly to possible reuse of laundering groups than proof that the same hackers carried out earlier North Korean-linked attacks.

The comparison has centered partly on the 2025 Bybit theft. U.S. authorities formally attributed that $1.5 billion attack to North Korea’s TraderTraitor operation, while THORChain was heavily used to move the stolen Bybit funds.

No law-enforcement agency has publicly attributed the Bitget breach to North Korea as of the latest verified updates.

What happens next for Bitget and the stolen funds? Bitget continues to trace wallets and is offering a bounty for recoveries. The exchange offers qualifying participants 5% of funds they directly help freeze and another 5% for funds successfully recovered.

The Bitget recovery bounty was launched while Mandiant, SlowMist, exchanges and blockchain investigators continued tracking attacker addresses.

Bitget has already restored Bitcoin, Ether and USDT withdrawals in phases. Its published schedule places other tokens, fiat withdrawals and P2P services at 08:00 UTC on Oct. 2, although the exchange’s official incident page had not yet posted a separate confirmation of that final reopening when checked.

Bitget says the exploited vulnerability has been fixed and user balances remain unaffected. Its forensic investigation, law-enforcement work, fund tracing and recovery effort remain open, while the exchange says further material findings will be published through its official security updates.

Congress is considering a legislative proposal that would allow banks and credit unions to hold cryptocurrencies and issue stablecoins, according to a report. This development comes amid ongoing efforts to integrate digital assets into the financial sector through the GENIUS Act, which established a framework for payment stablecoins in the U.S. The proposal would mark a shift from the current guidance-based approach to statutory permission, potentially broadening institutional participation in the crypto market. The decision could have significant implications for the financial sector, as it would enable federally insured institutions to engage more directly with digital currencies.

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Key Takeaways The proposal appears to reflect a shift towards statutory permission for banks and credit unions to engage in cryptocurrency activities. Market behavior suggests participants may see this development as supportive of increased institutional adoption of digital assets. Pricing in relevant markets indicates a potential rise in confidence regarding Bitcoin’s future price trajectory. What to Watch Observers should monitor any legislative progress on this proposal, as its advancement could be consistent with scenarios where Bitcoin’s price increases. Key dates include congressional sessions where this proposal might be debated or voted on. Additionally, developments regarding related regulations and announcements from major banks and credit unions about their intentions could further influence market expectations.

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What Price Will Bitcoin Hit Before 2027

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 1% — — View market → December 31 1.4% — — View market → December 31 2.9% — — View market → December 31 3.8% — — View market → December 31 10.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 43% — — View market → January 1 2027 4.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 1% — — View market → January 1 2027 1.1% — — View market → January 1 2027 1.9% — — View market → January 1 2027 3.2% — — View market → January 1 2027 5.2% — — View market → January 1 2027 18.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 9% — — View market → January 1 2027 2.4% — — View market → January 1 2027 0.8% — — View market → January 1 2027 0.8% — — View market → January 1 2027 6.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 3.1% — — View market → January 1 2027 2.1% — — View market → January 1 2027 1.6% — — View market → January 1 2027 0.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 0.7% — — View market → January 1 2027 0.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 0.2% — — View market → January 1 2027 58% — — View market → January 1 2027 29.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 19.5% — — View market → When Will Bitcoin Hit 150k

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31, 2026 2.4% — — View market →

Bitcoin O.G. Peter Todd has joined the MARA Foundation as lead maintainer of Slipstream, the miner’s private Bitcoin mempool service. 

Announced by the foundation on Thursday, the new role will see Todd responsible for developing and running the service.

Slipstream lets users send bitcoin transactions straight to MARA Pool, the company’s mining pool, without going through Bitcoin’s public peer-to-peer network. It was useful after hackers exploited Coldcard hardware wallets in July, stealing over $115 million in user funds. 

Because transactions sent through Slipstream stay private until they’re confirmed in a block, the service helps to keep key information hidden before confirmation — protecting exposure of their public keys. 

“I most look forward to seeing what’s possible on Bitcoin — using Slipstream as a proving ground for experimental development and protocol innovation,” Todd said. 

Todd added: “Working with Slipstream is a natural complement to my work on Libre Relay, and my mempool policy work more broadly. I’ve always believed that Bitcoin is better when we design protocols with economic demand in mind. This is also a good opportunity to build bridges between Bitcoin Core developers and miners.”

MARA’s Slipstream first drew attention in 2024 for publishing large Ordinals inscriptions. More recently it has been used for research projects like Quantum Safe Bitcoin and Binohash, a way to emulate covenants without a soft fork.

Todd is a longtime Bitcoin Core contributor, who co-authored BIP 125 (replace-by-fee), created OpenTimestamps, and in 2024 launched Libre Relay, a Bitcoin Core fork with looser relay rules for non-standard transactions. 

He argues that mempool policy should follow what the market wants miners to mine, rather than restrict how people use Bitcoin.

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.

The U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds' nine-day, $3.1 billion net inflow streak came to an end on Wednesday, with a combined $148.7 million in net outflows, according to data compiled by The Block.

BlackRock's usually dominant IBIT product ended its own nine-day, $1.6 billion inflow run, with $9.5 million exiting the fund. Fidelity's FBTC led the day's net outflows with $125.6 million, followed by Bitwise's BITB with $13.6 million. The remaining funds all registered zero flows.

Spot bitcoin ETF flows. Image: The Block. The nine-day streak had marked one of the most positive runs for the bitcoin funds this year, taking cumulative flows back into positive territory for 2026.

"Here's a nice look at the lifetime cumulative flows for the Bitcoin ETFs… getting really close to a new high water mark, which is arguably astonishing given what they've been through over the past 11months," Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas said ahead of the latest daily figures.

However, the funds remain about $5 billion away from their cumulative flow peak on Oct. 10 last year, fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted.

Cumulative flows into bitcoin ETFs. Image: Bloomberg. Overall, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have generated over $57 billion in cumulative net inflows since their debut in January 2024 and $970 million year-to-date, with over $100 billion in assets under management, per The Block's Bitcoin ETF Tracker page.

Last week, the newest Bitcoin ETF from Morgan Stanley, which launched in April this year, topped 10,000 BTC in assets under management for the first time, according to the firm's MSBT fund page.

Spot Bitcoin ETF AUM. Image: The Block. Meanwhile, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs saw $59.6 million in net outflows on Wednesday, led by $26.6 million exiting Fidelity's FETH fund. That extends their net outflow streak to two days, following a prior seven-day, $850 million inflow streak. Total net inflows for the Ethereum funds, which launched later in July 2024, currently stand at around $14 billion.

Spot Ethereum ETF flows. Image: The Block. Bitcoin whipsaws as soft PCE cools October Fed rate hike bets Bitcoin whipsawed around the $84,000 level on Wednesday, as a softer-than-expected reading of the Federal Reserve's preferred PCE inflation gauge reduced expectations for another interest rate hike in October.

"A 0.2% monthly rise in core PCE prices is welcome news for the Fed," said Brendan Ma, head of investment strategy at the Arbitrum Foundation. "If September CPI points the same way, the pressure for an October hike eases."

Bitcoin closed positive for September, up 6.4%. It is currently trading at around $83,950 on Thursday, per The Block's (BTC) price page.

BTC price chart. Image: The Block.

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Citigroup raised its 12-month bitcoin forecast to $113,000 from $82,000 and its ether target to $3,028 from $2,240, citing renewed exchange-traded fund inflows and favorable economic conditions.Citi expects cryptocurrency investment products to attract $5 billion over the next year as advisers and brokerages gradually increase bitcoin allocations.Bitcoin rose more than 10 percent after the Senate rejected the Clarity Act on Sept. 15, while subsequent SEC announcements and Treasury bond buybacks helped ease negative sentiment and revive the broader cryptocurrency market.Financial services giant Citigroup (C) has raised its outlook for bitcoin BTC$83 921,58 and ether ETH$2 705,54 on account of exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows resuming and supportive macroeconomic conditions, in a note on Wednesdy.

Citi raised its 12-month forecast for bitcoin from $82,000 to $113,000 and for ether from $2,240 to $3,028. The targets represent increases for BTC and ETH of around 35% and 12% respectively based on their current prices.

Citi expects “slower but stickier” inflows into products like ETFs as advisers and brokerages favour gradual increases in bitcoin allocations, forecasting $5 billion of inflow over the next 12 months.

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs had experienced year-to-date net outflows of $5.8 billion as of July 13. This has been reversed in the months since though, with net inflows for 2026 reaching $800 million as of late September.

Despite the U.S. Senate failing to advance the Clarity Act in the middle of last month, Citi says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s subsequent rule announcements dampened negative sentiment, referring to them as “a temporary but meaningful positive.”

“At this stage of the electoral cycle stage, rulemaking clarity may substitute for a durable Clarity Act,” Citi said. “However, we see risk that a 2028 administration change could roll back agency-promulgated rules, albeit this concern lies outside our forecast horizon.”

The cryptocurrency market showed resilience in the aftermath of the Clarity Act’s rejection by the Senate on Sept. 15, with bitcoin gaining more than 10% by the end of the month.

Citi cited the U.S. Treasury’s move to buy back longer-dated bonds which revived momentum across the crypto market and helped it break out of a months-long slump of trailing other risk assets.

UPDATE (Oct. 1, 12:00 UTC): Removes Reuters attributions and adds additional detail from Citi’s note.

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.

PANews reported on October 1 that the Bitcoin Policy Institute released a report titled "Wall Street's Invisible Committee," questioning MSCI's proposed changes to index inclusion rules that could exclude certain Bitcoin treasury companies (Digital Asset Treasury Companies, DATCOs). The institute stated that MSCI-managed indices involve roughly $21 trillion in benchmark assets, and when index rules change, funds tracking the relevant indices may need to adjust their holdings, triggering large-scale capital reallocation.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute said that MSCI had previously proposed in 2025 to exclude digital asset treasury companies (i.e., enterprises with at least 50% of assets in digital assets), but suspended the move after encountering opposition. This year, MSCI reintroduced a broader classification standard targeting "non-operating companies," and simulations showed that the rule could exclude companies such as Strategy and Metaplanet. The institute found an internal file path containing "Projects/DATCOs/Operating vs Non Operating" in the metadata of MSCI's public consultation documents, which it said raised questions about whether the rule was designed to target digital asset companies. However, the institute also acknowledged that metadata alone cannot prove that MSCI predetermined the exclusion outcome.

In addition, the Bitcoin Policy Institute noted that MSCI published an article titled "Creeping Crypto" in 2021 discussing the impact of crypto assets entering the stock market, and examined companies' crypto asset exposure from an ESG perspective. At the same time, the institute pointed out that MSCI's management has publicly supported ESG investment principles in the past.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute believes that the "operating assets" standard MSCI intends to adopt lacks a sufficiently clear classification framework and could affect companies in emerging industries, and called for greater transparency and reproducibility in the index-setting process. The report represents the views of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, and MSCI has not yet responded to the report.

Dutch people could soon be paying tax on their bitcoin gains — if they sell. 

The Dutch government on Tuesday announced that it was planning to introduce a capital gains tax starting from 2028. 

If approved, gains on investments would be paid when they are realized, rather than imposing levies on assumed returns or unrealized increases in value, a Tuesday the Dutch cabinet to the House of Representatives read.

“The earning capacity of the Dutch economy calls for a way of taxing wealth that facilitates investment,” the letter read. 

It added that most financial instruments would be taxed from 2028 while remaining assets would transition two years later. The letter wasn’t clear whether digital assets would be taxed in 2028 or from 2030. 

Bitcoin and digital assets in the Netherlands are currently taxed based on an assumed annual yield rather than your actual or realized profits. Tax authority currently assumes assets earned a notional 4% return, regardless of what you actually earned.

Regulations in Europe regarding crypto and taxes are mixed but on the whole stricter than the U.S. 

Since January, the European Union’s DAC8 directive has required crypto exchanges to collect detailed data on their users and transactions and report it to national tax authorities, much like banks already do for ordinary accounts.

But not all countries within the trading bloc are strict: Germany still exempts crypto held for more than a year, and Portugal does the same after 365 days.

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.

Lion funded its latest HYPE purchase by exiting SOL and reducing Bitcoin. SUI had already been fully converted into HYPE in September 2025. Future purchases should be judged by both HYPE accumulation and what Lion sells to finance it. Lion Group is financing its latest Hyperliquid purchase from inside its own crypto portfolio.

The Nasdaq-listed company sold all of its remaining Solana and part of its Bitcoin holdings on Sept. 29, directing the proceeds into HYPE. The transaction added approximately 38,102 HYPE and brought Lion’s total position to about 232,900 tokens, valued at $20.1 million when the company announced the reallocation.

The source of that capital is more revealing than the purchase itself.

Lion is not simply putting additional cash into crypto. It is deciding which digital assets deserve space on its balance sheet, and Hyperliquid is increasingly winning that competition.

Lion’s Treasury Has Been Narrowing for More Than a Year The shift did not begin this week.

Lion launched its digital-asset treasury in June 2025 around three assets: HYPE, SOL and SUI. HYPE was designated the primary reserve asset, but the strategy was initially presented as a broader bet on next-generation Layer-1 networks.

By September 2025, that structure had already started disappearing.

Lion first announced plans to rotate its SOL and SUI holdings toward Hyperliquid, citing the availability of institutional HYPE custody through BitGo. Three days later, it completed the conversion of its entire SUI position, leaving a disclosed treasury of 194,726 HYPE and 6,707 SOL.

The latest transaction effectively completes the SOL side of that transition while bringing Bitcoin into the reallocation for the first time.

Lion Group Treasury

From crypto basket to HYPE concentration

JUNE 2025

Lion launches a multi-asset treasury strategy.

HYPE
SOL
SUI

SEPTEMBER 2025

Strategy shifts toward converting
SOL
and
SUI
into HYPE.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2026

Lion sells all remaining SOL and part of its
BTC position to buy more HYPE.

+38,102 HYPE

Resulting HYPE position

232,900

HYPE tokens

Approximately $20.1 million at the time of the announcement

Lion Group is reducing other crypto positions while increasing its exposure to Hyperliquid.

The progression changes how Lion’s future crypto purchases should be interpreted. Buying HYPE with new capital expands its digital-asset exposure. Buying HYPE by selling another cryptocurrency primarily changes the composition of exposure already on the balance sheet.

That is a different treasury decision.

Hyperliquid Has Given Lion More Reasons to Stay Lion’s increasing commitment comes as Hyperliquid expands beyond the perpetual futures market that established the protocol.

In its latest announcement, the company pointed to the introduction of manual borrowing, where supported assets can be supplied as collateral to borrow stablecoins, as well as record open interest and broader infrastructure around the network.

HYPE’s market access has expanded too, including a Binance spot listing and staking access through Gemini for eligible U.S. customers.

Those are Lion’s stated reasons for remaining bullish, rather than independent evidence that concentrating the treasury will improve shareholder returns. The distinction is important because the strategy ties a growing portion of Lion’s digital-asset exposure to the performance and development of a single ecosystem.

There is also a useful historical benchmark in Lion’s SEC disclosures.

On Sept. 21, the company reported approximately 195,000 HYPE worth $18.2 million and said it had not sold any tokens from the position. The latest reallocation raises the token balance substantially without reversing that holding strategy.

What Lion Sells Next May Matter More Than What It Buys The next treasury announcement now has two sides worth watching.

One is straightforward: how much additional HYPE Lion acquires.

The other is the funding source.

If future purchases come from new financing or available cash, Lion would be expanding the capital committed to its crypto strategy. If they are financed by further Bitcoin sales or disposals of other digital assets, the company would instead be continuing the internal rotation that has gradually reshaped the portfolio.

That distinction also puts Lion’s original $600 million treasury announcement into perspective. The figure referred to a financing facility secured in June 2025, not $600 million of cryptocurrency immediately deployed. The first closing under that facility was $11 million, while Lion’s initial HYPE acquisition was $2 million at an average price of roughly $37.30 per token.

The treasury has therefore developed incrementally rather than through a single $600 million deployment.

Its direction, however, has become progressively clearer.

SUI was removed first. SOL has now followed. Bitcoin has begun funding additional HYPE purchases.

For Lion’s next treasury update, the asset leaving the balance sheet may be just as informative as the HYPE entering it.

Alex is a financial markets journalist and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, and he's spent close to ten years trying to answer one stubborn question: what's really driving this? It started in 2016, when Bitcoin refused to make sense to him - and rather than shrug, he stayed with it until it did. That patience became his method. He's less interested in what an asset is doing today than in the plumbing behind it: how liquidity flows, where risk hides, what a chart is quietly telling you that the headline isn't. That lens eventually stretched well past crypto into traditional markets, because the same forces - fear, leverage, incentives, timing - show up everywhere once you know how to look. Most coverage, in his view, insults the reader by stopping at the surface. Price up, price down, moving on. He'd rather leave someone genuinely understanding a move than merely informed that it happened. His path into markets ran through a Tourism degree at New Bulgarian University - proof, maybe, that curiosity beats credentials. With more than 200 deep analyses and over 10,000 articles behind him, he still walks away from most trading days having learned something he didn't know that morning.

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Volmex Finance has listed perpetual futures contracts based on its Bitcoin Volmex Implied Volatility Index (BVIV) on Hyperliquid, creating what amounts to the first onchain market dedicated to trading Bitcoin’s expected volatility as a standalone asset.

Think of it as crypto’s answer to the VIX, the Wall Street “fear gauge” that tracks expected S&P 500 volatility. Except instead of being locked behind institutional brokerage accounts, this one lives on a decentralized exchange and comes with up to 5x leverage.

How the BVIV contract works The BVIV index captures Bitcoin’s 30-day expected implied volatility by pulling real-time options data from Deribit and OKX, two of the largest crypto options venues. Recent index readings have sat in the mid-to-high 30s, which gives a rough sense of the market’s current anxiety level about near-term BTC price swings.

The perpetual futures contract uses a linear payout model. For every 1.00 point the index moves, a trader gains or loses $1 USDC. So if you’re long BVIV at 35 and it spikes to 50 during a market panic, that’s a $15-per-contract gain, no options Greeks required.

Contracts are USDC-collateralized with isolated margin, meaning a blown position on your volatility trade won’t cannibalize your other holdings on the platform. Funding is calculated hourly rather than the more typical eight-hour intervals seen on most perp markets, reflecting the unique dynamics of a volatility index that can gap sharply.

The initial open-interest cap is set at $2 million, a deliberate guardrail as the market finds its footing. Trading is accessible through the Markets by Kinetiq frontend under the ticker mkts:BVIV.

Why trade volatility instead of price Volmex CEO Cole Kennelly framed the launch in those terms, calling it a significant opportunity for crypto traders and investors to access hedging and speculation strategies without the barriers typically associated with options trading.

Hyperliquid’s expanding menu The choice of Hyperliquid as the listing venue is notable. The platform has established itself as the dominant decentralized perpetual futures exchange, processing billions in daily trading volume with a valuation that has exceeded $90 billion. Adding a volatility-specific product diversifies the exchange beyond straightforward crypto price speculation.

Still, the product comes with documented risks. Volatility indices can exhibit gap behavior, where the index jumps sharply between calculation intervals rather than moving smoothly. For leveraged traders, those gaps can mean the difference between a manageable drawdown and a liquidation. The isolated margin structure helps contain that risk, but it doesn’t eliminate it.

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

Riot Platforms has fully repaid its Coinbase Credit borrowing and closed the $200 million Bitcoin-backed facility, releasing the lender’s claims on pledged assets after settling principal and accrued interest on Sep. 21.

Summary

Riot terminated the Coinbase facility after paying all outstanding principal and interest through Sep. 21. Coinbase’s security interests were released, alongside the termination of its commitment to provide further loans. Riot held 5,821 BTC as collateral as of June 30, roughly 51% of its Bitcoin reserves. The facility carried a fixed 6.15% annual interest rate following an April amendment. Riot Platforms’ Form 8-K, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sep. 25, disclosed that the company voluntarily prepaid its outstanding borrowing under the agreement signed on April 21, 2026.

After receiving Riot’s repayment notice, Coinbase Credit was paid the remaining principal and all accrued, unpaid interest through Sep. 21, according to the filing. The payment discharged Riot’s obligations under the agreement and ended the lender’s commitment to make further loans.

Riot Platforms repayment releases pledged assets Under the terminated agreement, Coinbase Credit served as lender, collateral agent and administrative agent, the SEC filing stated. The facility allowed multiple drawdowns up to an aggregate principal amount of $200 million, backed by financial assets held with Coinbase Custody Trust Company.

Eligible pledged assets included Bitcoin, USDC, and cash, according to the disclosure. Alongside the repayment, Coinbase’s security interests under the collateral documents were released.

No early-termination fee or penalty applied, the filing said, because Riot repaid after the four-month anniversary of the agreement’s original maturity date. The day-count fraction used to calculate the termination charge was therefore zero.

In its June-quarter financial disclosure, Riot reported holding 11,380 BTC, including 5,821 BTC pledged as collateral. At the June 30 valuation of $58,527 per coin, the pledged holdings were worth approximately $340.7 million and represented about 51% of the company’s Bitcoin inventory.

Across its entire Bitcoin balance, Riot reported a value of approximately $666 million at quarter-end. Its August earnings release also listed $548.9 million in cash, including $77.5 million classified as restricted cash.

April amendment set a 6.15% fixed borrowing rate According to Riot’s first-quarter Form 10-Q, the Coinbase borrowing arrangement began as a $100 million facility on April 22, 2025. An amendment on May 20, 2025 doubled the lender’s commitment to $200 million.

By the first-quarter disclosure, Riot had drawn the entire facility, the company reported. It identified strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes among the intended uses, including capital spending associated with developing data centers.

Before the April 2026 amendment, the agreement charged interest based on the federal funds rate, subject to a minimum base rate, plus 4.5 percentage points. Riot reported an applicable interest rate of 8.3% as of March 31.

Under the second amended agreement, the company extended maturity to April 20, 2027 and replaced the previous pricing with a fixed annual rate of 6.15%, according to the quarterly filing.

Using that disclosed rate, a $200 million balance outstanding for a full year would incur approximately $12.3 million in interest. The figure is an annualized calculation from the loan terms, rather than the amount Riot paid when it settled the facility.

For U.S. shareholders, Riot’s disclosures concern a Nasdaq-listed company trading under RIOT. Its August earnings announcement identified Bitcoin mining and data center operations in Texas and Kentucky, alongside engineering and fabrication facilities in Denver and Houston.

Riot’s Bitcoin sales accompanied data center revenue In a May 1 report, crypto.news covered Riot’s first-quarter financial results, which showed revenue of $167.2 million, compared with $161.4 million a year earlier.

The company disclosed selling 3,778 BTC during the quarter for $289.5 million, while producing 1,473 BTC. According to the report, mining revenue fell to $111.9 million from $142.9 million, a decline Riot attributed to lower average Bitcoin prices and increased global network computing power.

Alongside mining, Riot reported its first quarter of data center revenue at $33.2 million, including $0.9 million from operating leases and $32.2 million from tenant fit-out services. The May report also noted that AMD exercised an option for another 25 megawatts, bringing its contracted capacity to 50 megawatts.

On July 3, a separate report documented Riot’s 500 BTC custody transfer to NYDIG, valued at approximately $30.72 million at the time. The report attributed the transaction to on-chain information shared by Onchain Lens.

For the second quarter, Riot’s earnings release reported total revenue of $174.2 million, up 14% from a year earlier. The company recorded $23.2 million in data center revenue and produced 1,587 BTC, compared with 1,426 BTC in the same quarter of 2025.

Other miners disclosed Coinbase borrowing and refinancing An Aug. 9 report detailed how MARA Holdings secured new Bitcoin-backed loans after pledging 18,750 BTC worth approximately $1.2 billion as initial collateral.

According to MARA’s SEC disclosure cited in that report, the arrangements provided $600 million in fresh borrowing through Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending. Coinbase’s $450 million facility included $300 million of new funding and the refinancing of an existing $150 million credit line.

Two Prime separately provided a fully drawn $300 million term loan at a fixed annual rate of 7.65%, the report stated. MARA said the proceeds could support general corporate purposes, including part of the cash consideration for its planned Long Ridge Energy & Power acquisition.

Earlier, a May 4 report covered Hut 8’s replacement of Coinbase financing with a $200 million FalconX credit agreement. Hut 8 said the new facility carried a fixed 7% annual rate, compared with 9% under the previous Coinbase arrangement.

Under that refinancing, Hut 8 said approximately 3,300 BTC would move out of pledged collateral once the transaction was completed. The company valued those coins at approximately $260 million using Bitcoin’s May 1 market price.

In brief BTC traded around $84,000 Tuesday, up 0.9% on the day, while spot Bitcoin ETFs notched eight consecutive sessions of inflows totaling around $3 billion. The 10-year Treasury yield is at its highest since 2007, while Brent crude has eased from Monday's peak. Futures markets put the odds of an October Fed hike at 70.3%, up from 55.4% a week ago. Bitcoin was trading at around $84,000 on Tuesday, up 0.9% over 24 hours but down 2% across the week, according to CoinGecko data, holding a range it has occupied for a fortnight while the assets around it move against it.

The pressure is coming from outside crypto. Treasury yields are sitting near multi-year highs, driven largely by oil. The 10-year peaked at 5.274% on Monday, its highest since June 2007, and the 30-year at 5.583%, a level last seen in 2002. Both eased slightly on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, as crude turned lower. Brent moved back above $100 a barrel on Monday after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's seven-day plan to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lifting the dollar with it. Brent then fell below $104, down about 1.7% on the day after topping $108 on Monday, as US and Iranian officials continued indirect contacts through Qatar and Saudi Arabia restored roughly half the flows through its East-West pipeline, an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz. Gold has fallen to a seven-week low.

"The rise in crude prices is capping non-yielding assets, so Bitcoin's rally has taken a bit of a pause," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, who expects Bitcoin to struggle for upside momentum while the energy risk persists. He reads the charts more favorably, describing price action as consolidation within a short-term uptrend.

Thahbib Rahman, research analyst at Block Scholes, made a similar point about how little Bitcoin has given up, in a note shared with Decrypt. It has held between $82,000 and $84,000 for a week and a half despite the macro backdrop and the Senate's failure to advance the Clarity Act, he said, with institutional demand behind that resilience.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have now taken in money for eight straight sessions, per Farside Investors data, a run Rahman put at roughly $3 billion. Monday's contribution was slight: a net $31.07 million, according to SoSoValue, with $54.84 million into BlackRock's IBIT and $10.32 million into Grayscale's mini trust offsetting outflows of $23.19 million from GBTC and $10.90 million from Fidelity's FBTC. The funds now hold $107.82 billion, equal to 6.42% of Bitcoin's market capitalization.

Myriad: When will Bitcoin reach a new all-time high? Click to make your prediction.Options traders are hedging their optimism. The 25-delta put-call skew for seven to 30-day tenors is close to neutral, Rahman said, which he reads as traders moving between buying downside protection and positioning for a rally.

Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy has kept buying. The company disclosed purchasing 1,665 BTC for about $142.7 million between September 21 and 27, taking its holdings to 847,666 BTC and past the 847,363 it held in June, a record.

This week's U.S. data will settle the Fed argument either way. August core PCE lands on Wednesday, alongside the third estimate of second-quarter GDP. The measure ran at 3.3% year-on-year in July, and the Fed lifted its own 2026 projection for it to 3.4% at this month's meeting. Friday's September jobs report is forecast to show payroll growth of about 90,000, down from August's 162,000, with unemployment holding at 4.1%, though Barclays chief U.S. economist Marc Giannoni puts September closer to 50,000. The Fed meets on October 27 and 28, three weeks after its first rate rise since 2023. Futures markets put the chance of another quarter-point increase at 70.3%, up from 55.4% a week ago and 17.7% a month ago, according to CME's FedWatch tool. Traders on Myriad, a prediction market owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, price the same outcome at 69%, also up over the past week.

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Quant Soars on Clearing House Partnership$QNT surged 30% in 24 hours to $241.83 on $1.54 billion in trading volume, extending a weekly gain of 262%. The catalyst was a headline-grabbing announcement on Thursday: The Clearing House selected Quant, a provider of programmable money infrastructure, to power the On-Chain Money Initiative, a new interoperable payments network for US banks.

Quant will supply the interoperability, orchestration and transaction-management layer, linking the network to existing fiat rails like RTP and CHIPS. The initiative is designed to create new opportunities across corporate treasury, liquidity management, cross-border payments and digital asset settlement. For banks without their own tokenized deposit capability, Quant has also been contracted to provide a commercial bank-side solution through its Tokenised Deposits-as-a-Service offering. The Clearing House's networks clear and settle more than $2 trillion each day, putting the partnership at the core of the US banking system.

The network is expected to become available to participating institutions in the first half of 2027, with additional details on participation and use cases to be announced as development progresses.

Hedera Rides Its Own Wave$HBAR was not far behind, climbing 26% to $0.1202 over the same 24-hour window. Its daily volume jumped more than 14-fold to $1.18 billion, lifting its market cap to $5.26 billion. The primary catalyst was a September 23 announcement from Switzerland's Hashgraph Group, which said its IDTrust identity platform, built on Hedera, had been validated by IBM and listed in the IBM Cloud Catalog. The Hashgraph Group also received IBM Silver Partner status and signed a global Embedded Solution Agreement covering IBM Cloud and AI technology, giving Hedera a commercial connection to one of the world's largest enterprise technology ecosystems.

Together, the two tokens stood out as the top performers among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies on an otherwise difficult day for the market. Bitcoin fell 1.7% and the total crypto market cap slipped 1.7% to $2.86 trillion, per CoinMarketCap data.

Sources:
The Clearing House: On-Chain Money Initiative announcement
The Clearing House Partners with Quant to Advance the On-Chain Money Initiative (PR Newswire)
The Clearing House Selects Quant for Tokenized Deposit Interoperability (Ledger Insights)

In brief Strive bought 1,107 BTC between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25 at an average of $85,396, bringing its stash to 27,462 BTC worth about $2.3 billion. SATA preferred stock supplied 85% of the capital raised, including $12.4 million from warrant exercises, per CEO Matt Cole. Strive remains the fifth-largest public Bitcoin holder and would need roughly 1,235 BTC a week to catch Twenty One by year-end. Strive kept its Bitcoin shopping streak alive last week, though its cart was a bit lighter.

The Dallas-based asset manager bought 1,107 BTC for about $94.5 million between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25, paying an average of $85,396 per coin including fees, according to a Form 8-K filed Monday with the SEC.

Its holdings now total 27,462 BTC, worth about $2.3 billion at Friday's closing price of $83,943, the company said.

That's a step down from the prior week, when Strive's stash grew by 1,355 BTC, based on its previous filings.

Once again, preferred stock footed most of the bill. "Warrant exercises generated another $12.4M. Including those proceeds, 85% of total capital raised came from SATA," CEO Matt Cole wrote on X.

Strive acquired 1,107 $BTC for $94.5M at an average cost of $85,396 per bitcoin, bringing total holdings to ₿27,462.

Warrant exercises generated another $12.4M. Including those proceeds, 85% of total capital raised came from SATA.$ASST $SATA pic.twitter.com/duihTtFKrm

— Matt Cole (@ColeMacro) September 28, 2026

SATA is Strive's variable-rate perpetual preferred stock, which pays dividends and lets the company raise money with less dilution for common shareholders. Its share count rose by roughly 1 million during the week to 12.2 million, the filing shows. At its $100 stated amount, that puts SATA's notional value at about $1.22 billion. Class A common shares rose by about 649,000.

Strive's cash pile also grew by $19.2 million to $248.8 million.

Strive leans heavily on SATA to fund its buys. Its 469 BTC purchase earlier this month, which lifted holdings to an even 25,000 coins, was paid for entirely with the preferred stock. A $109 million purchase in early September split funding 70/30 between SATA and common stock.

Strive ranks fifth among public Bitcoin holders, behind Strategy, Twenty One Capital, Metaplanet and MARA, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data. To catch Twenty One's 43,514 BTC by year-end, it would need about 16,050 more coins, or roughly 1,235 a week.

Rival treasury firms also disclosed purchases Monday. Strategy added 1,665 BTC for $142.7 million, pushing its holdings to a record 847,666 BTC. Tom Lee's Bitmine picked up 17,362 ETH worth about $47 million, bringing it to 4.9% of Ethereum's supply.

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Breez, a Bitcoin software provider focused on payments infrastructure, has introduced a new feature in its Breez SDK that allows users to receive stablecoin payments from more than 30 different networks directly into their bitcoin or dollar balance. The update addresses common usability issues with stablecoins, which usually require separate wallets and work on various blockchains, posing challenges for both crypto newcomers and seasoned users.

New cross-chain payments capabilityThrough the enhanced Breez SDK, applications can now enable users to accept payments sent in leading stablecoins USDT and USDC, supporting networks such as Ethereum, Base, Solana, and Tron. Recipients with a bitcoin balance can select both the sender’s network and the desired payment amount. After making a selection, the SDK generates a deposit address, calculates the incoming value, and notifies the sender, who simply pays from their existing wallet.

Payments are converted in the background by Flashnet, a payment conversion platform. The resulting funds are deposited either as bitcoin or as stable, dollar-denominated balances in the recipient’s non-custodial wallet, depending on user preference.

Mini dictionary: Breez SDK is a developer toolkit that enables applications to integrate bitcoin and Lightning Network payments using minimal code, eliminating the need for developers to build and manage the payment infrastructure themselves.

The rollout of stablecoin receiving follows the June launch of the send USDT/USDC function, offering developers a unified solution for moving stablecoins in either direction across most major blockchain networks.

FeatureBefore UpdateAfter UpdateStablecoin Payment DirectionSend onlySend and receiveSupported NetworksLimited30+ networksIntegrationManual for each chainSingle unified integrationFocus on usability and securityBreez has prioritized making bitcoin-powered apps feel familiar to regular fintech users by implementing features such as passkey login in place of seed phrases, instant onboarding through Cash App, and dollar-denominated balances. The latest stablecoin integration is part of ongoing efforts to break down barriers for mainstream use of bitcoin apps.

Breez’s reference application, Glow, launched in August, showcases the SDK’s functionality and demonstrates how multiple features can be layered for an improved user experience. Users can navigate between stablecoin and bitcoin payments within a single app to support a wide variety of everyday transactions.

Collaboration with Turnkey and broader adoption goalsIn July, Breez announced a partnership with Turnkey, a security infrastructure provider. This collaboration allows developers to implement non-custodial bitcoin services, even when running application wallets from their own servers. The solution addresses custody roadblocks that have deterred major consumer platforms from integrating bitcoin payments to date.

The non-custodial approach ensures that users retain full control over their funds, a key consideration for both compliance and security-conscious projects.

Users can now receive USDT or USDC from over 30 networks, including Ethereum, Base, Solana, and Tron, directly to a single bitcoin or USD balance, with no need to integrate a new blockchain. The value is transferred seamlessly through a streamlined process that feels like a regular payment app.

These enhancements further establish Breez as an innovator in the open-source Bitcoin ecosystem, pushing for a broad adoption of bitcoin and stablecoin payments through accessible developer tools and integrated solutions.

Capital B, a Paris-listed Bitcoin treasury company, bought 13 Bitcoin (BTC) for €0.97 million. The purchase lifts its total holdings to 3,538 BTC.

The firm also reported a BTC Yield of 2.20% for the year so far. That metric tracks how much Bitcoin the company holds per fully diluted share.

Capital B Bitcoin Buy Lands Below Average CostThe company paid an average of €74,364 per coin this time. That sits well under its €87,805 average cost across the whole treasury, which cost €310.6 million to build.

That stash ranks second among European public companies, according to Bitcoin Treasuries. Only Germany’s Bitcoin Group SE holds more, with 3,605 BTC.

However, the market value tells a different story. The company’s own figures put the holdings’ net asset value at about €259.9 million, based on the previous day’s closing price. As a result, the treasury carries a paper loss of roughly €50.8 million.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin trades near $82,800, down 2.29% on the day, according to BeInCrypto data. Over the past month, it has gained about 7%.

Earlier in September, Capital B added 376 BTC for about €25.3 million, its largest purchase this year. Blockstream CEO Adam Back also put €7.6 million into Capital B that month.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto MarketsParis-based asset manager TOBAM supplied the cash through an at-the-market (ATM) agreement. Under this deal, Capital B issues new shares whenever the fund requests them.

Between September 14 and 22, three TOBAM funds took 172,978 shares at about €5.68 each. That price was a 3.8% premium to the prior closing price, the company says.

Blockstream Capital Partners remains the largest shareholder with 18.67% of ordinary shares. Back personally holds another 17.54%.

Swissquote Bank Europe executed the trade and holds the coins. The bank is licensed under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules and acts as Capital B’s sole custodian.

Other firms have used similar share-funded buying strategies this year. In addition, treasury firms kept accumulating coins through a volatile September.

For now, Capital B keeps adding coins below its cost basis. Consequently, each purchase slowly pulls that average lower. How fast it falls may depend on how much appetite TOBAM keeps showing for new shares.

Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), posted a new Bitcoin (BTC) chart on Sunday with the caption “Even more orange.” Posts like this one have often come a day before the company reports new Bitcoin purchases.

Strategy is the largest public company holding Bitcoin. It reports its purchases in filings with US regulators, usually on Mondays.

Last Sunday’s Orange Post Came a Day Before a 950 BTC BuyOrange is Bitcoin’s brand color. Each orange dot on Saylor’s chart marks a purchase, and bigger dots mean bigger buys.

Michael Saylor Bitcoin Buy Signal. Source: Saylor on X “Even more orange,” Saylor indicated.

Last Sunday, he posted a similar chart captioned “A little more orange.” That evening, BeInCrypto reported Saylor’s buying hint and said Monday’s update would settle it.

It did. The next day, MicroStrategy disclosed a 950 BTC purchase worth about $76 million, or $79,670 per coin, according to its ledger. That brought its holdings to 846,000 BTC.

Notably, however, the signal does not always lead to a buy, though. The week before, Strategy’s filing showed no Bitcoin bought or sold.

Why MicroStrategy’s Next Bitcoin Move MattersStrategy has not only been buying this year. Its ledger lists four sales between June 30 and August 10, totaling 6,916 BTC.

Last week it also spent $174 million buying back STRC, a preferred share that pays holders a monthly dividend. That was more than twice what it spent on Bitcoin.

Right now, Bitcoin trades near $84,974, up 1% over 24 hours. That puts the price about 13% above Strategy’s average cost of roughly $75,416 per coin. Earlier this month, the company sat 2% above cost.

Monday’s filing will show whether last week’s 950 coins restarted steady buying or set a slower pace.

Capital B is converting traditional capital-market funding into direct Bitcoin purchases, including through ATM equity issuance. The U.S. reserve primarily changes potential sell-side supply because its initial BTC came from government forfeitures rather than market purchases. Corporate BTC can look structurally scarce until financing conditions change, making dilution, conversion terms and refinancing risk part of Bitcoin’s supply story. Bitcoin’s supply cap has not changed. The financing structures competing for that supply have.

Capital B is using equity and convertible instruments to build a Bitcoin treasury. The U.S. government has placed forfeited BTC into a strategic reserve governed by a no-sale policy. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong continues to argue that Bitcoin could reach $400,000 by 2030 as institutional adoption expands.

These developments are often grouped together as institutional adoption, but their market mechanics are different. A corporate treasury creates new demand when it raises capital and buys BTC. A government reserve can restrict potential supply without purchasing coins on the open market. Meanwhile, derivatives allow investors to create large amounts of Bitcoin exposure without permanently absorbing the underlying asset.

The question is no longer simply who owns Bitcoin, but how those holdings are financed and what could eventually bring them back onto the market.

Capital B Is Turning Securities Into Bitcoin Capital B CEO Alexandre Laizet sees listed companies as a bridge between BTC and investors whose capital largely remains inside conventional securities markets.

Capital B’s own financing history shows how that bridge works.

The Euronext Growth Paris-listed company reported 3,525 BTC in strategic holdings as of September 14, acquired for approximately €309.7 million at an average cost of €87,854 per BTC. Its latest four-Bitcoin purchase followed a €250,000 capital increase under an ATM-type agreement with TOBAM.

A much larger transaction one week earlier provides a clearer example. Capital B raised €1.44 million through its ATM program and another €28.7 million through a private placement with warrants, then acquired 376 BTC for €25.3 million.

The company’s financing has not been limited to common equity. Capital B reported raising €127.2 million through equity operations and €151.1 million through Bitcoin-denominated convertible bonds during 2025. It has also renewed a €300 million ATM-type program with TOBAM.

That makes the treasury strategy partly a capital-markets trade.

An investor can buy or subscribe to a conventional security while Capital B ultimately converts part of the proceeds into BTC. Bitcoin demand is generated downstream from activity occurring in equity and debt markets.

ATM Equity and Convertibles Carry Different Risks Those funding mechanisms behave differently when markets turn.

An ATM program allows a company to issue new shares progressively rather than raising all of its capital in one transaction. It can be attractive when the company’s stock trades at valuations that make issuing equity economically favorable.

The cost is dilution.

Capital B’s September 14 disclosure shows 38.29 million issued shares and 47.84 million shares on a fully diluted basis. The company explicitly measures its strategy partly by BTC per fully diluted share, making dilution central to whether additional Bitcoin purchases actually improve the exposure of existing shareholders. actusnews.com

Convertible debt creates another set of trade-offs.

A convertible bond can become equity when its conversion conditions are attractive. If the share price does not support conversion, however, the instrument retains characteristics of debt rather than automatically disappearing into the equity base. Depending on the specific bond terms, that can leave the issuer facing repayment, refinancing or other contractual obligations.

Capital B has already adjusted conversion prices on some of its instruments. In May, for example, it reduced the conversion price of convertible bonds subscribed by Adam Back from €5.174 to €2.59 per share and amended the instruments to include warrants upon conversion.

Other convertibles have converted into equity. In August, 14.2 million OCA B-01 instruments held by Blockstream Capital Partners were converted into roughly 28.7 million ordinary shares.

This is where the corporate Bitcoin scarcity thesis becomes more complicated. BTC itself has no maturity date, but the securities used to finance its acquisition can carry conversion terms, dilution or refinancing requirements.

Washington Removes Supply Without Becoming the Same Kind of Buyer The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve operates through a different mechanism.

President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order capitalized the reserve with Bitcoin already owned by the Treasury following completed criminal or civil forfeitures. It states that BTC deposited into the reserve shall not be sold and should be maintained as a U.S. reserve asset, subject to applicable law and specified exceptions.

Treasury and Commerce were also directed to develop strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin, but only when those methods are budget-neutral and impose no incremental cost on taxpayers. The administration’s subsequent digital-assets report reiterated that framework.

There is therefore an important difference between Washington and a treasury company such as Capital B.

Capital B can raise capital and enter the market to acquire BTC. The federal reserve began primarily by changing the treatment of Bitcoin the government already controlled.

One creates active demand. The other can reduce a source of potential future selling.

Armstrong’s $400,000 Call Is a Different Bet Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has put a much larger number on Bitcoin’s potential destination.

Armstrong said this month that $400,000 by 2030 remains a “reasonable target,” while arguing that Bitcoin may have already passed the bottom of its latest cycle. He pointed to Bitcoin’s historical cycle behavior and longer-term adoption as part of his reasoning.

The forecast remains just that: a forecast.

It is more useful here because of what such a scenario would require from Bitcoin’s market structure. Sustained institutional demand would have to compete with coins held by investors, companies and potentially governments that have increasingly different incentives to sell.

That is a different proposition from simply assuming every institutional Bitcoin holding is permanently removed from circulation.

$55.26 Billion in Open Interest Shows the Other Side At the time of writing Bitcoin it trading at $84,750.52 on September 27, up 0.38% on the day. The asset had recently climbed above $86,000 after trading around $76,000 earlier in the month.

Bitcoin holds near $84,750 after retreating from a late-September high above $86,000. Source: TradingView Daily Chart The derivatives market surrounding that spot price remains substantial.

Coinglass data from September 27 shows Bitcoin open interest of approximately 651,500 BTC, worth $55.26 billion. Open interest was 0.49% higher over 24 hours.

That exposure behaves very differently from BTC held in a corporate treasury or government reserve.

Futures positions can expand without an equivalent quantity of Bitcoin being permanently removed from liquid supply. Leverage can also unwind quickly, making derivatives a source of short-term price pressure even when some underlying BTC is held with a much longer time horizon.

The market therefore contains two different forms of scarcity at once: Bitcoin’s fixed protocol-level supply and the smaller, constantly changing amount holders are actually prepared to sell.

The Weak Point in the Scarcity Trade Is the Balance Sheet Treating every corporate Bitcoin as permanently locked away misses the financing behind it.

A company issuing shares to acquire BTC can continue doing so while investors are willing to absorb the dilution and the economics remain attractive. A convertible-funded strategy depends on another set of variables, including the issuer’s share price, conversion terms, maturity structure and ability to refinance.

A severe Bitcoin bear market can pressure both sides simultaneously.

BTC can fall below a company’s acquisition cost while its stock loses the valuation premium that previously made new equity issuance attractive. Convertibles that investors were once willing to exchange for shares may remain outstanding instead, depending on their terms. Refinancing can also become more expensive precisely when the value of the company’s principal treasury asset has declined.

None of those outcomes automatically forces a Bitcoin sale. They do mean that corporate BTC is only as structurally illiquid as the balance sheet holding it allows.

Capital B’s disclosures make this especially visible because the company reports both its Bitcoin holdings and fully diluted share count. Its stated objective is not simply to own more BTC, but to increase Bitcoin per fully diluted share over time.

That is a harder test than accumulation alone.

Not Every Bitcoin on a Balance Sheet Is Equally Scarce Bitcoin’s 21 million cap describes maximum supply. It says much less about the quantity actually available for sale at a given price.

A forfeited Bitcoin governed by a federal reserve policy has different sell incentives from BTC purchased with newly issued corporate shares. Bitcoin financed through convertible securities introduces another set of obligations. Futures exposure can change again without removing the equivalent amount of spot BTC from circulation.

That is why simply counting institutional holdings can obscure more than it reveals.

The more useful measure is the financing and mandate behind those holdings.

Capital B shows how securities markets can generate new spot demand. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve shows how government policy can alter potential supply. The $55.26 billion derivatives market shows how large amounts of financial exposure can accumulate without producing the same scarcity effect.

At $84,750, Bitcoin’s next scarcity trade is therefore not just about how many coins remain.

It is about who controls them, what financed their purchase and what would have to happen before those holders become sellers.

Alex is a financial markets journalist and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, and he's spent close to ten years trying to answer one stubborn question: what's really driving this? It started in 2016, when Bitcoin refused to make sense to him - and rather than shrug, he stayed with it until it did. That patience became his method. He's less interested in what an asset is doing today than in the plumbing behind it: how liquidity flows, where risk hides, what a chart is quietly telling you that the headline isn't. That lens eventually stretched well past crypto into traditional markets, because the same forces - fear, leverage, incentives, timing - show up everywhere once you know how to look. Most coverage, in his view, insults the reader by stopping at the surface. Price up, price down, moving on. He'd rather leave someone genuinely understanding a move than merely informed that it happened. His path into markets ran through a Tourism degree at New Bulgarian University - proof, maybe, that curiosity beats credentials. With more than 200 deep analyses and over 10,000 articles behind him, he still walks away from most trading days having learned something he didn't know that morning.

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