Bitcoin’s price has fallen about 50% since its peak near $126,000 in October 2025, prompting several digital‑asset treasury companies to sell Bitcoin to repay debt, fund operations or invest in artificial‑intelligence infrastructure.

The digital‑asset treasury (DAT) model, introduced by Strategy in 2020, led a wave of publicly listed firms that borrowed heavily to purchase Bitcoin as the price rose. Since the decline, multiple companies have announced sales of their Bitcoin holdings.

Satsuma Technology shareholders approved the liquidation of 668 BTC and the company’s delisting from the London Stock Exchange, returning capital to investors.

Smarter Web Company sold 178 BTC to repay a convertible instrument, and its CEO Andrew Webley said the firm no longer views Bitcoin‑denominated convertible instruments as the appropriate capital solution.

Sequans Communications sold 1,025 BTC before disposing of nearly 80% of its remaining holdings to repay convertible debt, and has ruled out further purchases while planning to monetize the remaining 658 BTC.

Nakamoto, whose shares have dropped 99% since its May 2025 SPAC deal, sold around 284 BTC to raise $20 million for working capital and sold roughly 40 BTC from a derivatives program. About 70% of its remaining 5,342 BTC are pledged against a Kraken loan maturing in December.

MARA Holdings and Bitdeer, both Bitcoin mining companies, have sold Bitcoin to finance debt repayment and to repurpose energy and computing resources for AI data centers.

Empery Digital has sold nearly half of its Bitcoin to fund buybacks and debt repayment, while Strategy has sold about 3,620 BTC in recent weeks and authorized additional sales to support its U.S. dollar reserves. Strategy remains the largest publicly listed holder with more than 840,000 BTC, and CEO Michael Sayler said the company may sell some Bitcoin to fund a dividend.

Leadership changes and a failed merger also reflect sector volatility: Jack Mallers stepped down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, and Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company’s proposed merger with Adam Back’s firm was abandoned due to market conditions.

Market data show Binance held about 55% of user funds and 24% of spot assets in early July, drawing net inflows while the broader market experienced outflows.

The shift underscores uncertainty about the longevity of DAT strategies as Bitcoin’s price remains volatile and regulatory and market conditions evolve.

The Senate has four working days to pass the CLARITY Act, a comprehensive crypto market‑structure bill, after Galaxy Digital lowered its estimate of passage to about 30%. Senate Republicans released an updated 616‑page bill on July 24 that merges prior committee measures with new ethics restrictions, law‑enforcement provisions and revisions to the GENIUS Act. The legislation expands fraud and illicit‑finance provisions, strengthens CFTC registration and custody requirements, and modifies stablecoin oversight. Seven Democratic senators, including Mark Warner, Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, John Hickenlooper and Raphael Warnock, said the proposal still falls short. They called for stronger ethics, consumer safeguards, illicit‑finance protections, conflict‑of‑interest rules and market‑integrity measures. Republicans control 53 seats and need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. Galaxy Digital estimates roughly 50 Republican votes are likely, based on public statements rather than a confirmed whip count. Galaxy Digital said an agreement by July 30 is needed to permit cloture filings, procedural votes and floor debate before senators leave Washington. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he would like to begin consideration of the bill but will wait to see the vote count. The Digital Chamber, Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association sent a joint letter to Senate leaders urging priority floor consideration. They said the revised bill strengthens tools to combat illicit finance and creates broader consumer safeguards for digital‑asset markets. They argued the legislation could support innovation while enhancing national security. The National Fraternal Order of Police, representing more than 382,000 officers, endorsed the revised legislation. President Patrick Yoes said the changes address the group’s concerns and preserve authorities needed to investigate financial crimes involving digital assets. The group highlighted provisions covering state and local enforcement, anti‑money‑laundering compliance, sanctions adherence, fraud involving crypto kiosks and seizure of illicit assets. The National Black Church Initiative, representing 150,000 faith communities with 27.7 million members, urged Thune and Schumer to pass the bill before the August recess. President Rev. Anthony Evans said the church cannot afford to be late to the future of finance and must protect its members from digital‑asset fraud. The group said clearer oversight could expand access to financial services, entrepreneurship and investment. Jake Chervinsky, chief executive of the Hyperliquid Policy Center, said the bill’s compromises remove serious objections and called for a floor vote to force senators supportive of crypto to take a public position. Senate leaders say they will assess the remaining disputes and decide whether to begin floor proceedings before the August recess, leaving the final outcome of the CLARITY Act uncertain.

Mirae Asset has completed a 97.15% acquisition of South Korea’s oldest crypto exchange, Korbit, and will rebrand it as Digital X to launch an integrated investment platform. Mirae Asset, one of Asia’s largest independent financial groups with about $1 trillion in assets under management, announced the deal on July 24, 2026, after receiving approval from South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission. The rebranded platform will combine real‑world assets, security tokens, stablecoins, traditional securities and digital assets under a single infrastructure, focusing on investor education, research, anti‑money‑laundering and know‑your‑customer compliance, and institutional‑grade technology. Mirae said it will not seek to overtake existing exchanges such as Upbit or Bithumb but will aim to support sustainable growth of the digital asset market in Korea and abroad. Korbit currently holds less than 1% of South Korea’s domestic crypto market, far behind the market leaders Upbit and Bithumb. Mirae Asset’s strategy emphasizes education and compliance rather than market share, and it plans to develop Digital X as an infrastructure layer for diverse asset classes. Digital X’s ability to integrate multiple asset types and meet regulatory requirements will determine its impact on South Korea’s crypto ecosystem.

The European Union added crypto exchange HTX to its Russia sanctions regime, prohibiting transactions with the platform by EU persons and companies beginning Aug. 23. The regulation, published in the Official Journal, lists HTX (HUOBI GLOBAL SA) as a third‑country entity that is hindering sanctions enforcement related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. EU operators will be barred from direct or indirect transactions with HTX, though they may apply to withdraw funds or close accounts within three months of the ban. The measure does not constitute a full asset freeze. The EU’s 21st sanctions package, adopted July 23, designates 218 individuals and entities and expands transaction restrictions to 14 crypto‑related service platforms, including EXMO, Rapira and others, all effective Aug. 23. The action follows UK sanctions on Huobi Global S.A. and a recent allegation by TRM Labs that HTX rotated wallet addresses across multiple blockchains. HTX said it treats regulatory compliance as a top priority and characterized the wallet movements as routine security operations. The EU mechanism allows future sanctions on crypto service providers in jurisdictions that systematically fail to prevent sanctions evasion, though the list of such countries is currently empty.

Poolin, a Singapore‑based bitcoin mining pool, filed for Chapter 11 protection in New Jersey on July 22, with liabilities of about $173 million, TheEnergyMag reported. The pool once held 18‑20 % of global hashrate in 2019 but its share has been near zero for several years. Liquidity problems surfaced in 2022, causing withdrawal delays and the issuance of $163.7 million in IOU tokens to roughly 11,700 customers in September 2022, according to a WeChat post by co‑founder Kevin Pan. Pan said user funds were safe while acknowledging liquidity problems. A $52 million bid from Thor CALAP LLC for two West Texas mining sites, representing most of the company’s assets, is the only recovery proposal for creditors, the report said. The filing includes its U.S. affiliates Lonestar Dream and Lonestar Taproot, which together list estimated liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. Poolin did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment. The ultimate outcome remains uncertain as creditors assess the bid and the remaining assets.

BitMart announced a phased shutdown of its cryptocurrency exchange, ending all trading services on August 26, 2026, and completing the wind-down of its platform by January 31, 2027. The exchange, founded in 2017 and valued at more than $300 million after a 2021 series-B round, suspended new registrations, deposits and orders on July 26, 2026. New registrations, cryptocurrency deposits and fiat deposits, and spot orders were halted at 01:30 UTC on July 26, 2026. Futures accounts entered reduce-only mode, and copy, grid, API and other automated trading services were wound down. All spot, futures and additional trading services will cease at 01:00 UTC on August 26, 2026. Withdrawals will remain available, but users were advised to close positions before 01:00 UTC on August 26 and to submit withdrawal requests by 05:00 UTC the same day; processing times may increase during periods of high demand or network congestion. The native token BMX fell about 63% over the 24 hours surrounding the announcement, dropping to roughly $0.164 and reducing its market capitalization from more than $100 million to approximately $55.6 million, according to CoinGecko. BitMart said the decision was based on a review of its operating conditions, market environment and future strategic direction and did not link the shutdown to the 2021 hack that resulted in the loss of roughly $150 million in digital assets. Earlier service changes included the suspension of an automated market-making bot on July 24, the termination of spot margin trading on July 26 with forced liquidations, and a compliance review that required U.S.-linked users to close positions by August 8. Other crypto platforms have also announced closures, including BitMEX, which plans to shut its derivatives exchange on September 23, and Odos, which intends to cease operations on July 30. Users will retain limited account access after January 31, 2027 to review records and submit withdrawals, and BitMart has stated it will provide further details on the post-shutdown process; the company will not charge expedited withdrawal fees or request passwords, private keys or recovery phrases.

Robinhood Markets is in talks with Crypto.com to add the exchange’s prediction market contracts to its brokerage platform, potentially increasing competition with Kalshi. The discussions, reported by The Wall Street Journal, could allow Robinhood customers to trade yes‑or‑no contracts without leaving the app.

Robinhood currently sources event contracts from Kalshi, Interactive Brokers’ ForecastEx, and Rothera, a CFTC‑licensed exchange and clearinghouse in which Robinhood and Susquehanna International Group hold stakes. The parties have not confirmed a deal, and Robinhood said it intends to continue working with multiple exchanges to provide a broad and resilient marketplace.

The talks follow Robinhood’s recent routing of World Cup and professional baseball contracts to Rothera, a move that occurred less than two months ago. Robinhood reported that more than 16 billion event contracts have traded on its platform in 2026, compared with over 12 billion in the previous year. Analysts noted that Robinhood’s share of Kalshi’s trading volume has been shrinking since Rothera launched.

Adding Crypto.com would represent a hybrid approach rather than a full shift away from third‑party exchanges. Rothera provides an affiliated exchange and clearinghouse for selected contracts, while external venues can broaden the range of markets available and reduce reliance on any single provider. Bernstein analysts said consumer platforms are moving to own more exchange and clearing infrastructure so that revenue previously paid to outside venues remains in‑house.

Crypto.com launched its standalone prediction market platform, OG, in February. Its U.S.-focused product is powered by Crypto.com Derivatives North America, a CFTC‑registered exchange and clearinghouse. The company reported weekly activity in its prediction market business grew roughly 40‑fold in the six months before launch and has used its regulated derivatives infrastructure to support offerings for other consumer brands, including a planned integration with Truth Social that has not yet launched and partnerships with Fanatics.

Kalshi remains one of the largest U.S. operators, with World Cup‑related contracts generating about $27 billion in trading volume and Super Bowl contracts about $1 billion. Sports contracts accounted for roughly 80% of Kalshi’s and Polymarket’s trading volume during the tournament. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said in June that he views Robinhood as a leading competitor, even though Kalshi continues to supply contracts to the brokerage. Competition is also expanding beyond crypto exchanges, with Cboe Global Markets launching all‑or‑nothing S&P 500 options that Charles Schwab plans to offer, and Coinbase, DraftKings and other consumer platforms seeking their own regulated infrastructure or exchange partners.

The outcome of the Robinhood‑Crypto.com talks remains uncertain, and it is unclear how the arrangement will affect market dynamics among the major prediction market operators.

Binance conducts monthly phishing simulations on its employees and may terminate those who repeatedly fail the tests, according to chief security officer Jimmy Su. The internal red‑team unit runs the exercises to evaluate and improve the company’s security hygiene.

Su said the simulations are used to identify vulnerabilities and to determine whether security practices are strengthening over time. The red‑team attacks, which have been carried out for three to four years, sometimes involve impersonating job recruiters to lure staff into providing credentials. Employees receive performance feedback based on their results; repeated failures can lower their ratings and, in severe cases, lead to dismissal.

The practice highlights the growing emphasis on social‑engineering defenses within the crypto industry. AMLBot estimated that 65 % of crypto security incidents in 2025 were driven by social engineering, and a $285 million hack of Drift Protocol in April followed a long‑term campaign. Binance serves 323 million registered users and holds an estimated $137.7 billion in assets, according to DefiLlama.

Su noted that early security hygiene was weak but has improved significantly, and that the simulated attacks are intended to reinforce vigilance among staff.

Wise intends to file a fresh application for a national trust bank charter using the GENIUS Act framework after the OCC rejected its earlier request. The company said it aims to reduce the cost of cross‑border transactions, independent of any specific stablecoin rail. The OCC denied Wise’s original application on July 22, stating that the firm could not demonstrate an effective anti‑money‑laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) compliance program and that it posed “other illicit finance activity risks.” Investment banking group William Blair commented that Wise is unlikely to alter its position on payment stablecoins despite the charter denial. The GENIUS Act requires stablecoin providers to meet specific regulatory standards before the law’s provisions take effect in January 2027, but agencies missed a deadline last week to issue implementation guidance. Since the law’s passage, the OCC has approved charter applications for Circle, Ripple Labs, Crypto.com and Coinbase. Wise’s resubmission will focus on meeting the OCC’s compliance requirements, though the company has not detailed how it will address the previously identified gaps. Regulators have until January 2027 to finalize implementation rules, and the outcome of Wise’s charter request may influence how payment stablecoins are offered in the United States.

Dango Blockchain announced it will halt trading on its perpetual decentralized exchange on Wednesday and shut down its network on August 13. Dango said it has concluded there is no viable path to lasting commercial success. The project raised $3.6 million in a January 2024 seed round led by Hack VC and Lemniscap and launched its mainnet in January. The perpetual DEX launched in April, suffered a roughly $410,000 exploit days later, and the attacker returned the funds in exchange for a bug bounty. DefiLlama data show total value locked fell from a peak of about $4.5 million in early May to roughly $1.6 million before the announcement, and open interest was under $391,000. The perpetual DEX market is dominated by a handful of platforms; Hyperliquid held more than $11 billion in open interest, while Aster and Variational each exceeded $1 billion. CoinGecko reported that Hyperliquid became the second‑largest perpetual exchange by open interest on July 1, behind Binance. The shutdown adds to a series of crypto platform closures in July, including BitMEX, and reflects structural pressures such as liquidity concentration among the top five exchanges and rising regulatory compliance costs, according to restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia. Other recent closures include DEX aggregator Odos Protocol and perp DEX Satori Finance. The case highlights the challenges smaller decentralized exchanges face as liquidity concentrates and regulatory costs rise.

LMAX, an institutional crypto trading platform based in London, is evaluating strategic options such as a sale, SPAC merger or initial public offering that could value the firm at up to $5 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions. The company has engaged Morgan Stanley and KBW, a unit of Stifel, as advisers, and has not disclosed any decision. LMAX operates regulated foreign‑exchange and digital‑asset venues under the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and has expanded its 24/7 multi‑asset platform to include tokenized securities and commodities. The potential transaction values the company at as much as $5 billion, though the firm is not moving quickly because crypto market conditions remain soft and its foreign‑exchange business provides stability. A spokesperson said LMAX declines to comment on speculation, while Morgan Stanley and Stifel declined to respond to inquiries. The firm’s previous financing rounds include a $150 million investment from Ripple in 2022 to promote institutional adoption of the RLUSD stablecoin and a 2021 acquisition of a 30 % stake by J.C. Flowers for $300 million. The exploration of a sale or public listing reflects broader consolidation trends in the institutional crypto sector as firms seek to build capabilities in custody, settlement and tokenization, though no definitive timeline has been set.

Deribit's Bitcoin options open interest is heavily concentrated at the $70,000 and $72,000 strike prices, accounting for about $5 billion, or 18%, of the platform's total $28 billion open interest as of July 24, 2026.

Call options give the buyer the right to purchase Bitcoin at a specified price, while put options grant the right to sell. The concentration of calls at $70,000 and $72,000 indicates that traders are betting the price will rise above those levels.

Laevitas reported that the $70,000 strike has roughly 39,000 active call contracts compared with 3,800 puts, and the $72,000 strike shows about 37,900 calls versus 1,200 puts.

These ratios mean that calls outnumber puts by a wide margin at both price points.

Large trades have contributed to the concentration. A bull call spread at the $70,000 level, which buys the $70,000 call and sells the $72,000 call, accounts for roughly 49% of calls at the $70,000 strike and 50% at the $72,000 strike, according to Laevitas.

Other positions include calendar spreads that profit from changes in volatility between short‑ and near‑term expirations.

One trader paid $3.4 million in premium to buy calls at the $70,000 level, securing upside exposure.

Jimmy Yang, co‑founder of Orbit Markets, said earlier in July that demand for calls at the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes was driven by expectations that the Clarity Act could be passed before the end of the month. In the past 24 hours, he added, those expectations have faded, leading some traders to reduce their positions.

Polymarket estimates the chance of the Clarity Act being signed into law this year at 38%, down from 51% earlier in the week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he does not expect the Senate to pass the bill before the August recess.

Since June, Binance has held about 55% of user funds and 24% of spot trading volume, while the broader market has experienced outflows.

The concentration of open interest at $70,000 and $72,000 reflects ongoing bullish bets, but the likelihood of the Clarity Act being enacted this year has fallen, leaving the future direction of Bitcoin’s price uncertain.

Ten cryptocurrency networks collectively hold a market value of $12.06 billion, trading at an average of 97.13 percent below their all‑time highs. The funding model for these networks depends on token issuance, validator rewards and treasury spending. When token prices fall, the amount of funding generated from issuance declines, which can dilute holders and reduce the ability to pay security and development costs. A Taurex report calculated that recovery multiples range from about 21.5 times for Avalanche, with a market cap of $2.91 billion, to roughly 323 times for Internet Computer, which is 99.7 percent below its peak. The subsidy coverage ratio—user‑paid fees divided by token rewards and incentives—indicates whether a network can sustain itself without additional subsidies. A ratio below 1.0 signals a funding gap. Algorand earned 6.93 million ALGO in staking rewards in May 2026 while collecting only 50,000 ALGO in fees, resulting in a fee‑to‑reward ratio of roughly 0.7 cents per ALGO. Internet Computer must convert node‑provider rewards into ICP based on a 30‑day price average, so a weaker token price increases the number of tokens required to cover costs. Filecoin’s July 17 Solstice proposal seeks to shift rewards toward paid storage usage. Polkadot began reducing issuance in March 2026 and will continue to do so every two years until a hard cap is reached, using a dynamic allocation pool to direct fees and coretime sales. Cosmos Hub releases about 0.153 percent of its supply in weekly rewards, a rate higher than Near and Ethereum, and is considering demand‑linked emission adjustments. Avalanche burns transaction fees but funds validators through newly minted AVAX, meaning fee burns do not directly compensate validators. Flare’s FIP.16, approved in April 2026, restructured fee burning and reward mechanics, lowering net inflation to 2.66 percent after a 300 million FLR burn. Ethereum Classic reduces block rewards by 20 percent every 5 million blocks, with the next cut scheduled for July. Worldcoin’s daily community token release fell 50 percent in July, cutting total unlocks by 43 percent. Pi Network allocates 65 percent of its supply to mining rewards, relying on app and payment usage to justify continued distribution. The next two years will test whether increased user activity or fee capture can replace the declining token issuance. If demand does not grow, foundations may cut grants, smaller validators could exit, and networks may become more dependent on speculative price movements.

President Donald Trump joked about running for a fourth term during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, while $16.9 million worth of his namesake memecoin, TRUMP, moved toward exchanges. He displayed a red “Trump 2028” hat and said he intended to run again, noting he had won three times previously.

Polymarket assigned a 4% probability to a contract asking whether the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidential terms, would be repealed or altered this year, with less than $20,000 in trading volume. The 22nd Amendment prevents individuals from being elected president more than twice.

Lookonchain reported that wallets associated with the Official Trump memecoin transferred 10.84 million TRUMP tokens, valued at approximately $16.91 million, likely through crypto custodian BitGo before reaching exchanges. No sale has been confirmed. The transfers are part of a broader pattern in which project-linked wallets have moved 48.25 million TRUMP tokens, worth about $172.4 million, over three batches in the past five months.

The price of TRUMP has declined more than 66% since its January 2025 peak and traded around $1.55, down about 3% in the last 24 hours. The declines are not directly linked to the transfers, which can serve purposes such as liquidity provision, market making, or distribution. Earlier this month, the TRUMP team said development focused on market depth, new trading venues, and ecosystem expansion, including a Kamino campaign that distributed 114,000 TRUMP tokens as incentives for liquidity providers and the creation of TRUMP‑SOL and TRUMP‑SOL pools on decentralized platforms.

The project has disclosed plans to selectively deploy, sell, or distribute portions of unlocked inventory to fund partnerships and other initiatives. A rewards program called the Trump Coin Club ties token holdings to access to major sporting events, with top holders qualifying for experiences such as a three‑day suite at the FIFA World Cup final and a similar event at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix in October. Rankings will be locked on September 30.

The structure gives the token utility beyond trading while tying high‑value perks to continued ownership, a factor that may become more relevant as the price remains low and additional supply moves through the market.