Executive brief
The cryptocurrency market is currently navigating a significant security crisis as the Coldcard wallet exploit enters its fifth day, with total estimated losses climbing toward $114m. This incident has triggered a notable shift in holder behaviour, as small investors move bitcoin back to exchanges for safety, a trend that reverses the self-custody surge seen after the FTX collapse. Market sentiment is further strained by macroeconomic uncertainty, as coordinated US and Japan intervention to support the yen has reignited fears regarding the unwinding of the yen carry trade, which could increase pressure on liquid risk assets.
In Washington, the regulatory landscape remains fraught with tension as the Clarity Act faces a final five-day window for Senate floor action before the August recess. Prediction markets currently place the odds of the bill passing this year at just 30 per cent, hampered by disputes over stablecoin rewards and ethics provisions related to existing crypto ventures. Corporate treasury activity has also introduced volatility, with Strategy reporting the sale of 1,638 bitcoin to fund dividends and stock repurchases, while trackers identified a $165m bitcoin move from wallets linked to Trump Media. Despite these headwinds, institutional maturation continues as BlackRock expands its tokenised money market offerings to support stablecoin reserves.
Key drivers for the coming sessions include the potential for a peace deal in the Middle East, which has already seen oil prices fall sharply. While the Solana capacity boost of 66 per cent offers a technical opportunity for parallel transaction growth, the ongoing hardware wallet vulnerability remains a critical risk cue that could undermine investor confidence in long term cold storage.
1) Top 20 news headlines
- Coldcard wallet losses may near $114 million; a suspected fourth sweep of 448 bitcoin has pushed total observed losses to nearly $114m.
- Senate enters final week for Clarity Act; prediction markets show a 30 per cent chance of the bill passing as negotiators face ethics disputes.
- Trump Media moves $165m in bitcoin; trackers spotted a 2,628 BTC transfer that leaves the company with a remaining liquid balance of just 3.43 BTC.
- Strategy sells $105 million of bitcoin; the firm trimmed its holdings by 1,638 coins to fund dividends and repurchase $81.2m of preferred stock.
- BlackRock expands tokenised money market funds; the new offerings aim to qualify as eligible reserve assets for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act.
- Bitmine increases ether holdings; chairman Tom Lee noted that ether fundamentals are strengthening after the asset outperformed the Nasdaq in July.
- US-Japan intervention revives carry trade fears; coordinated action to support the yen has sparked concerns regarding a broader de-risking event for bitcoin.
- Bithumb targets 2028 IPO; the South Korean exchange has scheduled a preliminary listing review for 2027 following an internal overhaul.
- Bitget to exit Japan by year end; the platform has stopped new registrations and plans to close all remaining positions by 31 December.
- Kenya puts 30 million credentials on Avalanche; a new digital platform will use the blockchain to verify academic records and reduce forgeries.
- Solana boosts block capacity by 66 per cent; the limit was raised to 100 million compute units to increase parallel transaction capacity.
- XRPL adds 489,739 new accounts; the ledger reached a total of 8.4 million accounts in the first half of 2026, driven by stablecoin activity.
- Kraken begins liquidation of delisted tokens; the exchange is force-selling seven assets, warning that low liquidity could result in zero proceeds.
- Solo bitcoin miner nets $200,000; a single miner successfully processed a block while broader market sentiment remains rattled by wallet exploits.
- Robinhood secures UK registration; the firm’s UK arm was added to the FCA list of registered cryptoasset companies on 31 July.
- Hashdex to shut spot Bitcoin ETF; the fund will sell its remaining 225 BTC after failing to attract more than $18m in net assets.
- ZeroStack warns of survival risk; the company reported an $82.5m loss as its 0G holdings were valued 91 per cent below recorded costs.
- Circle slides on Morgan Stanley downgrade; the bank cut its price target, citing slower USDC growth and competition from tokenised funds.
- Ripple invests in tokenised capital markets; the firm made strategic investments in Zilo and Licuido to support the use of tokenised funds as collateral.
- Russia bans Moscow crypto mining to 2032; the ban was expanded to the Moscow region due to power supply concerns.
2) BTC and ETH ETF flows
| Metric | BTC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| Net inflow | -$265.4m | $9.0m |
| Value traded | $2.67b | $630.4m |
| Net assets | $76.3b | $10.2b |
| Cumulative net inflow | $51.3b | $11.2b |
3) X trending news
- S&P 500 surges above 7,600; the index reached a new milestone and is currently just 20 points from a record high.
- Record tech fund inflows; global technology equity funds saw $15.7b in weekly inflows, the third-largest on record.
- Saylor never sold personal bitcoin; Michael Saylor clarified that while his company sold coins, his personal wallet remains untouched.
- Jim Cramer sells all bitcoin; the CNBC host has reportedly exited his entire bitcoin position.
- Iran peace deal rumors; US futures rose as President Trump claimed the perimeters of a deal were reached, sending oil prices down 10 per cent.
- Central banks buy 345 tonnes of gold; year to date gold acquisitions have surged, led by Poland with 82 tonnes.
- Strategy stock down 41 per cent; MicroStrategy stock has declined significantly this year despite its bitcoin treasury strategy.
- OpenAI Astra solves 10 math problems; the next major model reportedly solved open problems in quantum complexity and theoretical computer science.
