An ongoing attack on the Solana‑based crypto card platform Avici has resulted in more than $1 million being transferred from user collateral accounts, while its AVICI token dropped 49 % to a record low of $0.2175. The suspected attacker held 10,005 SOL and about $11,600 in stablecoins at a checkpoint, according to on‑chain data. Solana transaction logs showed that the wallet repeatedly called functions that added an administrator and then withdrew collateral. First, the wallet submitted a signature through Avici’s authorization program and used Solana’s Ed25519 verification. Next, it executed an AddCollateralAdmin call, registering an additional administrator for the account. Finally, a WithdrawCollateralAsset transaction transferred assets to an address controlled by the attacker, moving 2,346.77 USDT in one instance. The wallet signed 14,672 transactions, of which 2,344 failed. During an 11‑minute window, its SOL holdings rose by roughly 2,595 tokens, worth about $277,000. An anonymous analyst created a live tracker that identified 125 sending accounts with transfers ranging from under $10 to more than $26,000. Avici acknowledged the issue in an X post about 1 hour and 53 minutes after the first transaction, stating that it was monitoring a problem affecting card balance withdrawals and working with partners. The company did not confirm the loss amount, the number of affected users, or whether the activity had ceased. Questions remain about whether the program flaw, compromised credentials, or an exposed signing authority caused the withdrawals. Avici’s self‑custody model, which claims users retain control of funds, was called into question because the ability to add an administrator and remove collateral suggests potential centralization. A technical review will be required to explain why the attacker’s signature submissions were accepted. Avici, a U.S. company incorporated in Delaware with a San Francisco address, raised $3.5 million in a MetaDAO token sale in October 2025. The incident has also drawn attention to broader trends of compromised keys and infrastructure, which accounted for 88.3 % of roughly $764 million stolen in the second quarter of 2026, according to a Hacken report. The attack highlights the risks of upgradeable smart‑contract programs that share a single upgrade authority.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, regulation, and the forces moving digital assets.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act before its September 15 cloture vote, saying that delayed crypto regulations could weaken financial and national security. The House approved the bill 294‑134 in July 2025, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced its market‑structure text 15‑9, with two Democrats joining Republicans. Esper argued that clear rules for digital assets would improve oversight of transactions, preserve the dollar’s role in global finance, and strengthen sanctions enforcement, while offshore activity could hinder U.S. agencies’ ability to track illicit flows. He cited threats from sanctioned networks and North Korean cyber groups such as the Lazarus Group, and warned that China’s development of payment systems independent of U.S. control could diminish Washington’s influence.
The legislation would assign primary oversight of digital commodities to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and securities oversight to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and would give the Treasury expanded authority under the USA PATRIOT Act to restrict transfers tied to foreign jurisdictions posing money‑laundering concerns. Supporters say the measure would make it harder for criminals and foreign adversaries to misuse the U.S. financial system, while industry groups warn that overly strict limits could push customers toward less regulated services. Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad quoted Esper on X, urging lawmakers to act with urgency.
Political and market reactions include banking organizations requesting revisions to Section 404, Circle’s share falling more than 2% in premarket trading, and prediction‑market traders lowering passage odds to about 10% after a decline from 82% earlier in the year. CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the agency can continue developing digital‑asset proposals under existing authority, though any regulations would remain confined to the Commodity Exchange Act and would focus on derivatives, disclosure and market integrity rather than full spot‑market powers.
The bill now faces a 60‑vote threshold for cloture, requiring bipartisan support that has so far been difficult to achieve, and its ultimate passage remains uncertain.
An Abu Dhabi royal and his partners hold a 49% stake in the holding company behind World Liberty Financial’s proposed U.S. trust bank, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The trust bank would manage issuance, redemption and custody of World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin under a federally supervised venture that has received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Aug. 14. If final approval is granted, the bank would operate under OCC supervision.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and chairman of AI company G42, leads the group that owns the 49% stake through StringZ Holding RSC. An entity tied to Donald Trump’s family owns an additional 38% of WLTC Holdings, the people familiar with the matter said.
The investment follows a $500 million purchase of a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial that Tahnoon made previously. Democratic senators have called for hearings to examine the transaction and any potential influence on U.S. policy toward the UAE.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s decision does not identify Tahnoon as the bank’s backer or disclose the size of his investment. The trust bank must satisfy pre‑opening requirements and obtain final OCC approval before it can begin operations.
Cointelegraph contacted the Trump Organization for comment but did not receive a response before publication. The final outcome of the venture remains pending.
An Irish drug dealer’s previously inaccessible Bitcoin wallet transferred 500 BTC valued at about $39.56 million to Coinbase Prime. The coins were moved from a group of wallets linked to Clifton Collins, whose 6,000 BTC stash had been partially recovered by Irish authorities with assistance from Europol. Irish officials reopened one of the wallets in March 2026 after Europol provided technical and decryption support, and sent the recovered 500 BTC to Coinbase Prime. Lookonchain reported the transaction on Aug. 28, valuing the transfer at $39.56 million, or roughly $79,120 per Bitcoin. The report did not include confirmation from the Criminal Assets Bureau, An Garda Síochána, or Europol regarding who authorized the movement. Coinbase Prime, which provides custody and trade execution for institutional clients and handles U.S. seized digital assets, does not indicate that the deposited Bitcoin has been sold. In July 2026, U.S. government wallets transferred nearly $297 million in Bitcoin and Ether to the platform, illustrating its use for asset consolidation and legal obligations. The Collins-linked seizures have increased the known recovered amount to 1,500 BTC by July, with additional 500 BTC movements observed around the same period. The method used to access the private keys has not been disclosed, and no official statement has explained the purpose of the latest transfer.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options expiries returned Monday and Wednesday after MIAX restored them under a new Tier 2 eligibility framework. MIAX had removed IBIT from its third‑quarter list in July, citing eligibility criteria that required more than $50 billion in assets under management and more than 10 million monthly options contracts. The exchange announced on Aug. 13, 2026, that IBIT would be listed under Tier 2, which lowers the asset threshold to $25 billion and the contract threshold to 5 million, and allows only Monday and Wednesday short‑term expiries. IBIT expirations for Aug. 19, 24, 26 and 31 were confirmed, placing the fund back in the third quarter. The fund held about $43.23 billion in assets as of June 30, below the former $50 billion threshold but above the new $25 billion level. MIAX did not state that assets alone caused the earlier removal. The new rule requires a minimum position limit of 250,000 contracts and participation in the Penny Interval Program; IBIT’s contract limit was raised to 1 million contracts in May 2026. The SEC waived the standard 30‑day filing delay, making the rule effective immediately, and set a September 17, 2026, comment deadline. The adjustment enables traders to access additional weekly options, but the impact on trading volume and price movements remains uncertain.
Six Bitcoin wallets that had been inactive since 2011‑2014 moved 553.59 BTC, valued at about $40 million, between August 16 and August 26, according to data from Galaxy Research. Dormant bitcoin activity in the second quarter fell to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2022, indicating that the amount of old coins moving onchain is decreasing, though movement does not automatically signal sales. The six wallets transferred their holdings to addresses without known exchange links, except for one that sent 40 BTC to Boerse Stuttgart Digital, a German custodial and trading platform. Two of the wallets are linked to a New York lawsuit in which a pseudonymous plaintiff, Noah Doe, seeks control of bitcoin held in 39,069 dormant addresses under state lost‑property law; the plaintiff’s filings included small transfers and on‑chain legal notices. Earlier in June, a separate address involved in that case had moved 35.55 BTC after remaining untouched since March 2011. In late July, roughly 210,000 BTC left long‑term holder wallets after a vulnerability in Coldcard hardware wallets was disclosed, prompting some users to move coins to new wallets or custodial accounts. Galaxy Digital’s head of research, Alex Thorn, said that none of the whales he works with cited quantum computing concerns as a motive for selling, despite speculation that exposure of old public keys could make those coins vulnerable to future quantum attacks. He added that the recent decline in dormant‑coin movement suggests less pressure from early holders. The latest movements, while notable, do not confirm that the original holders are liquidating their positions, and the industry continues to monitor whether dormant wallets will see further activity in 2026.
Solana validators approved a plan to accelerate the reduction of new SOL issuance, with the vote ending just before the deadline. The proposal, designated SGP‑0002, received 67 % support, surpassing the two‑thirds majority needed for passage. Participation was 60.7 % of eligible stake, meeting the required quorum. The result hinged on last‑minute switches by validators linked to Kraken and Galaxy, which changed their votes to support the measure. SOL’s price slipped 1.2 % over the prior 24 hours, trading near $106. The vote marked Solana’s first network‑wide governance exercise, presenting three proposals. SGP‑0001, a governance framework, passed with 95.35 % approval. SGP‑0003, a fee‑burn proposal, failed with about 54 % support. Validators now have direct input on core economic parameters of the network.
Ethena plans to expand its USDe basis‑trading strategy into equity perpetual futures, a market whose open interest has risen to $6.2 billion, up from under $1 billion in March. The protocol said the move is intended to provide a return stream less dependent on crypto price cycles as USDe supply fell below $5 billion from a peak near $15 billion. Funding rates on equity perpetual contracts have averaged about 14 % on Hyperliquid and 17.5 % on Binance in recent months, compared with single‑digit rates for Bitcoin, according to Ethena. Median equity funding was 13.9 % versus 3.9 % for Bitcoin. Open interest in equity perpetuals has increased tenfold since March, giving the protocol sufficient liquidity to begin deploying the strategy. Ethena expects to announce its first exchange partners and start deployments in the coming weeks. The protocol also unveiled an overhaul of its token economics, eliminating monthly VC unlocks and adding a vote to direct revenues toward token buybacks. A $1 billion FalconX facility will allow USDe to be used in overcollateralized institutional loans. Real‑world asset perpetuals are projected to exceed crypto derivatives in USDe backing within 12 to 24 months. The expansion could give USDe a yield source less tied to crypto market dynamics, though market conditions and regulatory factors remain relevant.
IREN shares fell 8% in premarket trading after reporting fourth‑quarter results that highlighted substantial costs associated with its transition from bitcoin mining to AI cloud services. The company posted adjusted EBITDA of $19.2 million, a 68% decline from the prior quarter, and recorded a net loss of $684 million, including a $450.4 million non‑cash impairment tied to decommissioned mining equipment. Total quarterly revenue slipped 5% to $137.2 million. AI cloud revenue increased to $70.5 million, more than doubling from the previous quarter and surpassing bitcoin mining revenue of $66.7 million for the first time. AI cloud services represented 51.4% of quarterly revenue versus 48.6% from mining, while mining revenue dropped 40% as power and infrastructure were redirected to support the AI expansion. IREN noted $4 billion of contracted annualized run‑rate revenue linked to its 2026 capacity, of which $1 billion is currently operational. The results mark a significant step in IREN’s shift toward AI cloud services, though the near‑term financial impact remains substantial as the company continues to invest in the transition.
Bitcoin traded near $80,000 after a 2% rise in the last 24 hours, reaching $81,280 overnight. Spot ETFs have absorbed $2.8 billion across eight straight days of buying. U.S. spot cryptocurrency ETFs have drawn record inflows this month, the strongest since the funds launched. Traders are watching Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first keynote at the Jackson Hole symposium for clues on the path of interest rates ahead of the September 16 FOMC meeting. Solana led the major coins with a gain of more than 4%, climbing to about $101 and rising 20% over the past week. Ethereum added just over 1% to roughly $2,492, XRP rose nearly 2% to $1.43, and BNB increased about 1% to $714, while Tron slipped less than 1% to $0.34 and Dogecoin remained flat near 9 cents. HYPE fell under 1% to $82. Weekly performance showed broader gains: Ethereum and XRP were up about 11%, Dogecoin 16%, and HYPE 12%. Ethena’s token ENA rose 6% on the day and 45% for the week after a governance vote to allocate protocol revenue to buybacks and restructure venture unlocks. Oil prices eased, with Brent falling below $90 per barrel, down more than 5% on the week following an agreement between Iran and Oman on the Strait of Hormuz. The 10‑year Treasury yield held at 4.67%, down seven basis points, while the two‑year yield stood at 4.23%. The dollar index hovered just above 99 and gold slipped to $4,587 an ounce. Nvidia reported quarterly revenue of $96.2 billion and a Q3 forecast above $105 billion, sending its share price up 9% and adding $442 billion in market value, which lifted the Nasdaq 1.3%. The company disclosed a pause on some financing deals that provide credit support to AI cloud providers in exchange for revenue share. Analyst Joel Kruger of LMAX Group said setbacks should be limited, noting the May high was just below $83,000. Bitfinex analysts described a squeeze that has run into a defined group of sellers between $77,100 and $80,000, indicating that spot demand is absorbing supply in that range. The market will look to Warsh’s remarks for direction on interest‑rate policy, and a sustained buying streak through the keynote could make August the biggest inflow month since the ETFs launched.
HyENA announced it will shut down its perpetual market platform between August 31 and September 2, after processing more than $4 billion in cumulative trades for roughly 12,000 users. The firm will remove one market per hour during the three‑day window, allowing open positions to settle automatically and returning margin balances to users’ spot accounts. Rewards earned in USDe, totaling about 2.5 million USDe, will be claimable through the Upshift portal at a 1:1 rate, and affiliate rewards are slated for a final payment on September 9. HyENA said user funds are not at risk, though traders may choose to exit positions early. The closure follows a reduction in opportunities for USDe‑backed margin products after changes to Hyperliquid’s stablecoin configuration. The platform, built on Hyperliquid’s HIP‑3 framework, used USDe as margin and earned rewards while leveraging the same capital for derivatives. A JPMorgan research note estimated Hyperliquid held roughly $6 billion in USDC, representing about 8% of the stablecoin’s circulating supply, and indicated that revenue‑sharing terms with Coinbase and Circle could affect their earnings outlooks. HyENA has no token and does not plan to issue one, and its points will remain in their final recorded state without conversion.
Bullish announced on Friday that it has provided USD.AI with a $100 million stablecoin‑based debt facility. USD.AI, an on‑chain financing platform developed by Permian Labs, will use the facility to lend to AI infrastructure operators, with loans secured by GPU hardware rather than the borrowers’ broader corporate assets. The arrangement adds to USD.AI’s expanding GPU financing business, which previously included a $98.1 million loan secured by 2,304 Nvidia B300 GPUs in June and a $34 million loan secured by 768 Nvidia B200 GPUs that was fully funded. Bullish Capital contributed $4 million to USD.AI in September 2025. Bullish said it will list USD.AI’s sUSDai token across multiple trading pairs and will support the token with a dedicated market‑making program intended to increase secondary liquidity and improve price discovery for GPU‑backed debt. Bullish’s shares rose about 10 percent after its Q2 adjusted EBITDA more than tripled, and the stock has gained roughly 45 percent over the past month, trading around $33 after opening at $90 on its August 2025 IPO. The rebound follows gains in other crypto‑related equities, including Strive, which rose about 88 percent, Canaan, which rose about 55 percent, and Circle, which rose about 40 percent over the same period. The new facility underscores growing demand for GPU‑backed financing in the AI sector and may help stabilize liquidity for stablecoin‑linked lending products.
BitGo completed the acquisition of NYDIG’s institutional trading business, adding derivatives, financing and capital markets services for institutional crypto clients. BitGo purchased the trading unit of NYDIG, a Bitcoin infrastructure firm, under a definitive agreement announced Thursday. The transaction includes approximately 30 employees and NYDIG’s institutional client trading relationships. The acquired unit provides derivatives, structured products, financing and capital markets services to asset managers, hedge funds and companies. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said the acquisition will expand the company’s trading and infrastructure capabilities and allow it to serve a broader range of institutional clients. Pete Janney, head of financial infrastructure at BitGo, said the deal enables the firm to maintain its execution quality and client dedication while gaining additional resources. The companies said the transaction will let BitGo concentrate resources on power generation, Bitcoin mining and high‑performance computing data centers. NYDIG’s development pipeline exceeds 3 GW of capacity, with more than 1 GW expected to be delivered in 2027 and 2028. Cointelegraph contacted BitGo for comment and received no response by publication. BitGo reported a Q2 loss of $19 million despite an 80 percent increase in revenue to $4.3 billion. The integration of NYDIG’s trading operations into BitGo’s platform is expected to enhance its institutional offerings, but the timeline for full implementation remains unspecified.
North Korea‑linked Lazarus Group transferred 244.148 Bitcoin valued at about $19.42 million on August 28, according to Lookonchain.
North Korea‑linked Lazarus Group transferred 244.148 Bitcoin valued at about $19.42 million on August 28, according to Lookonchain. The transfer follows a previous movement on August 12 in which Lazarus moved 262.2 Bitcoin, valued at roughly $16.64 million, from an identified wallet to a newly created address. Combined, the two August transactions amounted to more than $36 million in Bitcoin. Lookonchain reported the August 28 movement in a social media post, stating that wallets attributed to Lazarus had been used again. The destination of the August 28 Bitcoin was not disclosed, and Lookonchain did not indicate whether the funds were sent to an exchange, mixer, or another wallet. Because the receiving address has not been identified, the transaction does not demonstrate a sale or cash‑out. Public blockchain records confirm the movement of funds between addresses, but linking those addresses to a specific organization typically requires analysis by blockchain‑intelligence firms. The movement is separate from the Bybit lawsuit filed on August 7 in a Washington, D.C., federal court, in which Bybit seeks to recover assets tied to a $1.5 billion theft that it attributes to North Korean actors operating under the TraderTraitor name. A preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge blocks unidentified defendants from transferring, selling, or disposing of assets linked to the case, though it does not constitute a final ruling on ownership. The FBI has attributed the February 2025 Bybit attack to North Korean actors and said it expected the stolen assets to be moved again and eventually exchanged for government‑issued currency. Chainalysis estimated that North Korean hackers stole at least $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025, an increase of 51 percent from the previous year, and placed cumulative theft at no less than $6.75 billion. North Korean operations accounted for 76 percent of the value lost through attacks on crypto services in the year, according to Chainalysis. In April 2026, attackers associated with Lazarus drained about 116,500 rsETH, valued at roughly $292 million, from KelpDAO’s LayerZero‑based bridge. Chainalysis later said the breach involved compromised infrastructure that supplied verification data to LayerZero, causing an Ethereum contract to release assets without a corresponding token burn on the source network. Rapid intervention prevented a second attempted theft of about $95 million, and the Arbitrum Security Council froze more than 30,000 ETH linked to downstream transactions. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Lazarus Group in September 2019, identifying it along with Bluenoroff and Andariel as state‑controlled hacking groups tied to the Reconnaissance General Bureau. The sanctions prohibit U.S. persons from dealing with Lazarus property and require reporting of any blocked assets. Treasury regulations also bar transactions with sanctioned entities unless authorized. The August 28 transfer’s destination remains undisclosed, leaving the purpose of the movement uncertain.
An accounting flaw in the Cosmos EVM software was exploited for four months before attackers stole nearly $6 million across six blockchain networks, according to a Cosmos security postmortem. The vulnerability, which affected chains using the Cosmos SDK with Ethereum‑compatible functionality, was first reported on April 25, Cosmos Labs said. The firm initially concluded the bug was unlikely to impact production networks because those networks used 18 decimal places while the flaw required six‑decimal networks.
After further research indicated the vulnerability was exploitable regardless of decimal configuration, Cosmos Labs issued a silent public patch on May 15 and released updated versions on August 19. The flaw combined an unsigned‑integer underflow that created an abnormally large balance with an integer overflow that allowed extraction of legitimate balances without increasing total token supply, the postmortem explained.
Attackers moved about 720.9 million MANTRA tokens, valued at roughly $3.6 million, from a burn address and a legacy multisig, Cosmos Labs reported. No new tokens were minted; the exploit increased circulating supply by making previously inert balances transferable.
MANTRA absorbed the largest disclosed hit, with roughly 600 million tokens moved from a burn address and 120.9 million from a legacy genesis‑era multisig. The chain halted 14 minutes after a second unauthorized debit, resulting in an outage of about 30 hours, the postmortem said.
Other networks, including TAC and KiiChain, reported exploitation about 45 hours and shortly after the MANTRA incident, respectively. Cosmos Labs contacted 40 networks and coordinated patches, halts, or mitigations for 13 additional chains before they were compromised, the firm said. Security communications uncovered 11 previously unknown Cosmos EVM deployments, it added.
The Cosmos ecosystem, valued at more than $7 billion according to CryptoSlate data, was affected, though the theft did not directly impact all projects. About 38 million tokens remained immobilized in the attacker’s address while the remainder were traced through exchanges and referred to platforms and law enforcement, Cosmos Labs reported.
The incident prompted Cosmos Labs to revise its vulnerability triage and disclosure procedures after a flaw initially judged unlikely to threaten production chains ultimately reached six networks and forced emergency action across dozens more.
Solana validators voted to adopt proposal SGP-0002, which raises the network’s annual disinflation rate from 15% to 30%. Voting results showed 67% in favor, 25.16% opposed and 7.84% abstaining, with 60.7% of eligible stake participating. The change shortens the time to reach the 1.5% long‑term inflation target from about 5.7 years to roughly 2.8 years and is projected to reduce total SOL issuance by 18.9 million over the next six years. Large validators such as Figment voted against the measure, while Helius and Jupiter supported it; Kraken reversed its position after initially opposing, ultimately contributing more than 90% of its 8.9 million SOL voting weight to the winning side. The proposal forms part of Solana’s first binding governance process, which also approved a Solana Constitution and rejected a separate proposal on resource and inclusion fees. In parallel, Solana‑linked investment products have attracted substantial capital, with Bitwise’s Solana ETF surpassing $1 billion in assets and total net inflows into U.S. Solana ETFs reaching about $1.7 billion.
Evernorth, a San Francisco company backed by Ripple and other crypto investors, is a shareholder vote away from listing on Nasdaq. The SEC cleared its registration to hold XRP on a public balance sheet, leaving a Sept. 30 vote on the merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II. The combined entity would trade under the ticker XRPN. Evernorth plans to increase the amount of XRP backing each share over time by investing in XRP infrastructure, according to the company's announcement. The strategy carries risk because treasury companies that hold a single cryptocurrency can see their share price trade below the value of their token reserves, limiting their ability to raise capital through new stock issuance. Asheesh Birla, Evernorth's founder and chief executive, previously led Ripple's payments business before departing in 2022. The merger with the shell company, which raised capital to go public without a traditional IPO, is expected to close in late September or October. XRP was trading near $1.41 on Thursday, up more than 27% for the week. The outcome of the shareholder vote and the timing of the deal remain unresolved.
Arch Lending has begun offering loans against tokenized gold assets PAXG and XAUT, allowing up to 75% loan-to-value (LTV). The move follows Aave’s $25 million XAUT debt ceiling, which was reached and filled within 24 hours. Tokenized gold represents claims to physical gold held in vaults, with PAXG tied to London Good Delivery gold and XAUT to Swiss‑held gold. The assets operate on blockchains and can be used as collateral in decentralized finance platforms. Arch’s chief technology officer Himanshu Sahay said demand for tokenized gold loans shows investors want to utilize the assets rather than hold them passively. Aave reached its $25 million XAUT debt limit in late January, prompting Chaos Labs to recommend raising the ceiling to $30 million, then to $36 million, $43 million and eventually $50 million as capacity filled rapidly. The largest XAUT position accounted for more than 75% of the debt, with liquidation thresholds set at 75% of collateral value. Aave listed XAUT in isolation mode, restricting borrowing of higher‑volatility tokens. Borrowers retain exposure to the underlying gold while facing interest costs and liquidation risk. Arch now accepts PAXG and XAUT as collateral for loans up to 75% LTV, with Anchorage Digital providing custody in segregated wallets. The company does not rehypothecate the collateral and uses partial liquidations to sell only the amount needed to restore loan health. The platform’s website currently lists BTC, ETH and SOL with up to 60% LTV, while the new product adds the two gold tokens. Competitors such as Nexo, YouHodler, CoinRabbit and Ledn already offer PAXG or XAUT‑backed lending, with Ledn planning a 2026 launch for XAUT. US borrowers must consider tax implications, as the IRS treats asset sales as taxable events, whereas loans do not trigger immediate disposal but may create tax consequences upon collateral sale. Arch operates as ChainFi Inc., holds an NMLS license, and restricts loan availability to residents of certain states, requiring identity verification before collateral transfer. Sahay cautioned that tokenized gold expands borrowing options but does not replace Bitcoin as collateral, emphasizing the need for appropriate LTV limits, custody arrangements and risk controls. The expanding use of tokenized gold as collateral illustrates growing integration of traditional assets into crypto‑native liquidity.
On August 28, a three‑judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed that Nevada may enforce its gaming laws against Kalshi’s sports event contracts. The panel held that the contracts are likely sports bets rather than swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act. Consequently, the CFTC does not have exclusive authority over the contracts. The decision conflicts with an April 6 ruling by the Third Circuit that allowed New Jersey to apply its gaming statutes to Kalshi. Kalshi argued that federal commodities law preempts state regulation, but the panel found that preemption did not apply because the contracts were not swaps and that compliance with both federal and state law was possible. Nevada’s Gaming Control Board issued a cease‑and‑desist after determining that Kalshi operated an unlicensed sports betting platform. The district court had granted a preliminary injunction in April 2025, which was later dissolved after further rulings. The appellate panel sent the dispute over Kalshi’s election contracts back to the district court for further analysis. Legal analysts said the decision could increase the chance of Supreme Court review, though the Court has not indicated it will hear the case. Kalshi has not responded publicly to the ruling.
Ripple has set a four‑stage plan to ready the XRP Ledger for quantum computers before a potential "Q‑Day" when quantum technology could threaten current cryptography. The plan involves assessing which parts of the network would be exposed, testing quantum‑resistant cryptographic methods against existing workloads, running legacy and new security systems in parallel, and establishing an emergency response if quantum threats develop faster than expected.
Senior engineering director Ayo Akinyele said the goal is to evolve critical financial infrastructure well before any immediate quantum threat appears, avoiding disruption to users, assets, and the broader system. He noted that sufficiently powerful quantum computers could eventually break the mathematical protections used by blockchains and banks, allowing attackers to derive private keys from publicly available data.
The XRP Ledger already allows users to replace the keys controlling an account without changing the account itself, and its independent validators would need to coordinate any protocol change. Akinyele emphasized that the upgrade will require more agile infrastructure, stronger key management, clearer upgrade pathways, and systems that can evolve without interrupting financial activity.
The urgency is heightened by the growing use of AI tools to search for cryptographic weaknesses, which could accelerate attacks that combine AI with quantum capabilities. Developers must ensure any new cryptography works at the scale of a financial network, fits within existing hardware and software, and provides users enough time to migrate safely.
The transition is intended to be deliberate and orderly rather than a crisis‑driven response, and the plan calls for coordination among validators and broader infrastructure upgrades.
BitGo will acquire NYDIG's institutional trading business for $42.5 million, consisting of cash and stock plus a $15 million earnout contingent on meeting revenue milestones. The transaction, filed on Friday, includes $7 million in cash and approximately $35.5 million in stock, with potential additional stock. BitGo receives registration rights for the shares it issues and will provide restricted stock units and cash retention awards to transferred employees upon achieving the revenue target. The deal expands BitGo's custody, settlement and wallet services to include derivatives, structured products, financing and other capital markets functions. Andrew Melville, head of research at Block Scholes, noted that the current cycle is driven by institutional capital rather than retail demand, prompting crypto firms to adapt to institutional investor needs such as tokenizing traditional assets and using stablecoins for payment rails. Tejas Shah, CEO of NYDIG, said the trading business is complementary to BitGo's digital asset infrastructure and that the transition will be seamless for clients and employees. BitGo, which completed an IPO in 2026 at a share price of $18 and a valuation exceeding $2 billion, currently trades around $7. NYDIG operates custody, trading, financing and treasury services and runs high-density power facilities for Bitcoin mining and AI.
SBI Holdings plans to acquire a $270 million stake in Indonesian online brokerage Ajaib Group by the end of August. The investment will support the expansion of its yen‑pegged JPYSC stablecoin to Southeast Asia and the development of blockchain‑based settlement infrastructure. SBI previously purchased Coinhako Group, a Singapore‑based crypto exchange, for about $100 million in July, and established a joint venture with DigiFT, a Singapore digital securities platform. Indonesia's consumer market is valued at roughly $375 billion and contains more than 20 million retail investors, according to IMARC Group and The Straits Times. Ajaib provides brokerage, foreign‑exchange margin trading, cryptocurrency and asset‑management services. Analysts note that Indonesia's startup ecosystem raised $340 million in 2025, down from $440 million in 2024 and far below the $9.44 billion raised in 2021, according to Bloomberg. Ajaib's round is the largest technology fundraising in the country in recent years. Yoshitaka Kitao, chairman and president of SBI, said, “In this era of tokenization, the importance of global infrastructure for digital assets is greater than ever.” Japan has announced plans to build blockchain infrastructure for stocks and government bonds, with 24/7 settlement operations potentially starting in the early 2030s. The transaction is expected to support cross‑border stablecoin payments and tokenized‑asset trading in the region. The timeline for Japan's blockchain settlement rollout remains unclear.
Kevin Warsh will deliver his first Jackson Hole keynote on Friday at 10 a.m. ET. The speech is being watched to determine whether the Federal Reserve will support Treasury’s expanded bond‑buyback program, which could influence long‑term Treasury yields and affect Bitcoin and gold prices.
Treasury announced on August 19 that it will increase the size of its purchases of longer‑dated Treasury notes to at least $4 billion per operation beginning September 9, aiming to curb the 30‑year yield that has risen to levels not seen since 2007. The announcement prompted rallies in Bitcoin, which rose from $64,000 to $80,000, and in gold.
Warsh’s remarks are expected to address the extent of potential coordination between the Treasury and the Fed. If he stresses the Fed’s independence and declines to endorse the buyback plan, yields and the dollar may rise, putting downward pressure on Bitcoin and gold. If his language suggests openness to Treasury coordination or leaves room for Fed participation in bond purchases, the rally may continue.
Analysts note that the Treasury’s program alone does not add liquidity to markets, so a sustained decline in yields would likely require the Fed to purchase bonds directly. Some observers expect Warsh to discuss broader policy reforms rather than provide a concrete stance on the buyback initiative.
The market will assess the speech on Friday, and the outcome remains uncertain, potentially affecting the trajectory of the Bitcoin and gold rally.
Capital B, a Bitcoin treasury company, announced a private placement of 36,219,070 shares with attached warrants at €0.58 per unit, raising €21 million gross proceeds that will be used to fund the purchase of 270 additional Bitcoin. The transaction is expected to close no earlier than August 31, and while the shares and Bitcoin are not yet issued, the company says the capital increase could lift its Bitcoin holdings from 3,145 BTC to a potential 3,415 BTC. After the placement, diluted share counts rise to about 457 million, resulting in a marginal decrease of roughly 0.02% in Bitcoin per million shares. Each share carries five warrants exercisable at €0.75, €0.98, and €1.27; full exercise would add 144.9 million shares and €135.8 million, potentially reducing Bitcoin per million shares by 24% under a fully diluted scenario. Investor ownership would fall from 1% to 0.9% on a post‑placement basis and to 0.72% on a diluted basis, declining further to 0.65% and 0.55% if all warrants are exercised. Capital B previously authorized up to €5 billion in capital increases and €100 billion in credit instruments, and the new placement reflects a modest example of its financing strategy while warrant participation remains contingent on investors.
Ripple announced plans to eliminate more than 10,000 lines of unused XChainBridge code from the XRP Ledger as it prepares to launch native lending. The proposal aims to reduce the ledger’s attack surface. The XRPL has experienced repeated security incidents, with more than $1.31 billion lost across 344 breaches in the first half of 2026 according to CertiK. Code vulnerabilities remain the most common attack vector. Ripple said the XChainBridge amendment (XLS‑38) was intended to enable assets to move between the mainnet and sidechains, but demand for private sidechains did not meet expectations. The company estimates that removing the code will lower maintenance burden, contributor complexity, and potential attack surface. The change will first mark the code as obsolete; validators must adopt a software version that stops voting for the amendment before it can be removed in a later release. Ripple left open the possibility of revisiting the change if developers demonstrate continued need for the bridge. The upcoming Lending Protocol V1.1 is undergoing an AI‑only security review by Sherlock’s Audit Engine, which combines multiple AI auditors and specialized models. Sherlock has not disclosed any findings or a completion date. Ripple previously subjected the lending code to independent audits, a $200,000 attackathon, community testing, fuzzing, formal methods, and an AI‑assisted red‑team program that identified seven confirmed bugs between March and May, including an inverted invariant, a fee‑free spam vector, and an integer‑overflow issue. All identified issues have been addressed. The broader security program also uncovered high‑severity issues in other parts of the XRPL codebase earlier in the year, prompting fixes for crash paths, bounds‑checking problems, and cross‑feature interactions. Ripple cautioned that AI tools generate false positives and that human review remains essential for subtle bugs. Ripple aims to streamline the ledger while subjecting the upcoming lending functionality to increased scrutiny, reflecting the industry’s ongoing challenge of balancing innovation with security.
The California Senate passed Assembly Bill 2409 in a 40‑0 vote, according to Legiscan data, and the Assembly later concurred with a 78‑0 vote, sending the bill to the governor for signature. The legislation would bar digital asset service providers from offering California residents memecoins issued after January 1, 2027 that are created by or in partnership with federal, state or local public officials. The bill defines memecoins as digital assets whose value is derived primarily from public interest, speculation or community engagement. Public Citizen reported that investors in the president‑linked Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin have incurred about $3.2 billion in unrealized losses. CoinMarketCap indicated the token’s market capitalization was $688 million, ranking it fifth among memecoins, and its price rose 53 % in the past week after a 67 % decline over the previous year. The Trump family’s crypto activities have complicated passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bipartisan proposal to structure the U.S. crypto market. A bipartisan ethics addendum, not publicly released, is said to allow Trump to defer capital gains taxes on any required divestitures, potentially resulting in millions of dollars in tax savings. A poll found that most Americans consider the Trump family’s crypto investments inappropriate. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature, and its implementation timeline and potential legal challenges remain unresolved.
Bithumb won first‑instance rulings in two of four lawsuits filed to recover Bitcoin that was mistakenly credited to user accounts.
The exchange mistakenly credited 620,000 BTC, valued at more than $40 billion at the time, during a February 2026 promotional event after an employee selected Bitcoin instead of Korean won.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled in Bithumb’s favor on Wednesday and Thursday, ordering the return of 5 million won ($3,600) and 194 million won ($140,000) respectively.
Both cases were served by public notice because the defendants could not be reached directly.
The company said it had recovered 618,212 BTC, about 99.7 % of the erroneous allocation, and that some users had sold 1,788 BTC before the accounts were frozen.
Two additional lawsuits seeking 14.8 million won ($10,700) and 500 million won ($362,000) remain pending.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service opened sanctions proceedings after reviewing the February error and issued an inspection opinion in early August, though no final penalty has been announced.
The company is also under a separate police raid related to alleged hiring favoritism involving a lawmaker and is contesting a six‑month partial business suspension for alleged anti‑money‑laundering violations; a Seoul court stayed the suspension in April.
The rulings advance Bithumb’s effort to retrieve the mistakenly credited funds while the broader regulatory and legal scrutiny of the exchange continues.
Bitcoin fell below $77,000 on Friday, dropping about 4% from its recent peak. The move occurred as Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh warned that inflation remains high and policy may stay tight. Crypto markets entered the session with substantial leveraged positions after Bitcoin rallied above $80,000 earlier in the week. The decline accelerated a deleveraging that erased nearly $488 million from derivatives traders. Warsh said at the Jackson Hole conference that underlying inflation is still above the Fed’s 2% target, citing a 3.7% year‑over‑year personal consumption expenditures price index and a 4.1% annualized six‑month pace. He added that financial conditions were not especially restrictive, noting strong labor markets, robust consumer spending, and solid business investment. Traders revised the odds of a September rate hike to roughly 60% from about 35% before the speech. The two‑year Treasury yield rose to a one‑month high and the dollar strengthened, reflecting heightened expectations for tighter monetary policy. CoinGlass recorded $487.68 million of liquidations across crypto derivatives in the prior 24 hours, affecting 97,691 traders, with Bitcoin and Ethereum accounting for most of the losses. The largest single liquidation was an $11.66 million ETH‑USDT position on Binance. Gold and silver markets reported a loss of more than $700 billion in value following the remarks. Higher Treasury yields and a stronger dollar increased the appeal of dollar‑denominated assets and tightened conditions for speculative crypto positions. Warsh did not commit to a specific September decision, leaving the path of future rate moves to incoming economic data. The episode illustrated how quickly macro‑policy expectations can reshape risk assets such as Bitcoin.
Bitcoin climbed above $80,000 this week, lifting crypto equities and extending its weekly gain past 23%, while ether rose about 30% to trade above $2,500. The rally reflects broader market recovery driven by the U.S. Treasury’s decision to double long‑dated bond buybacks, which lowered yields and increased risk appetite, as well as renewed discussion of regulatory clarity and potential government Bitcoin purchases. Crypto stocks such as Canaan, MARA Holdings, Strive, Coinbase and Robinhood posted double‑digit gains, tracking the price movement. Analysts noted that Circle’s USDC supply rose roughly $2 billion in seven days, expanding its share of adjusted transaction volume from about 40 % in 2025 to more than 60 % in 2026, surpassing Tether’s USDT on that metric; the firm maintained an outperform rating and a $140 price target for Circle shares, which have climbed about 40 % in the past month. Bernstein analysts highlighted the potential for continued growth tied to crypto momentum, regulatory clarity, tokenized capital markets and payments adoption, with early demand from AI agents. Strategy’s holdings of 840,447 Bitcoin, valued at $66.7 billion against a cost basis of $63.36 billion, support $22 billion in debt and preferred claims; the company’s stress tests indicate Bitcoin would need to fall about 96 % to jeopardize its ability to meet annual obligations of $1.76 billion, and its cash reserves equal 2.6 times those obligations. Strategy has sold Bitcoin four times since May while accumulating 25 times more, and the firm plans to resume purchases. A Regime Intelligence report identified capital‑market access as Strategy’s primary risk, not Bitcoin price volatility. Solana processed a record 4.2 billion on‑chain transactions in July, a 40 % price increase that pushed SOL above $100, and tokenized real‑world assets on the network reached nearly $4 billion, up 11.8 % in the past month. The recovery highlights the increasing integration of traditional finance with crypto markets, while the sustainability of the rally will depend on continued macro‑economic conditions, regulatory developments and the pace of institutional participation.
Bullish has provided USD.AI with a $100 million stablecoin‑backed debt facility to fund non‑recourse loans secured by graphics processing units used in artificial‑intelligence infrastructure. USD.AI, developed by Permian Labs, connects stablecoin liquidity with companies seeking financing to purchase high‑performance computing hardware, issuing loans that are collateralized solely by the purchased GPUs rather than the borrowers’ broader balance sheets. The new facility will be used by USD.AI to originate loans for middle‑market AI infrastructure operators, with repayment obligations tied to the income and resale value of the underlying computing equipment, which can decline as newer GPU models are released. USD.AI previously secured $98.1 million and $34 million in financing backed by 2,304 Nvidia B300 GPUs and 768 B200 GPUs respectively, totaling more than $132 million in loans across 3,072 GPUs. Thomas Cowan, Bullish Head of Tokenization, said the company used on‑chain records to assess the facility and that its commitment reflects a longstanding belief that credible real‑world assets belong on‑chain. David Choi, CEO of Permian Labs, noted that compute is emerging as a distinct credit market and that the facility will enable USD.AI to finance additional infrastructure and develop trading markets for compute‑backed debt. Bullish plans to list the sUSDai token on its institutional exchange and to operate a market‑making program that will provide liquidity for the token once trading begins, though specific trading pairs, launch date and budget have not been disclosed. The companies also announced an expansion of a research project that will combine Bullish’s institutional market experience with USD.AI’s lending structure to explore financing for AI capital spending. The transaction adds AI infrastructure lending to Bullish’s NYSE‑listed business, but the terms of the facility, its performance and any impact on Bullish’s results have not been disclosed.
Genius Group said it plans to raise $12.5 million through a perpetual preferred offering to rebuild its Bitcoin treasury, which it targets to reach $827 million by fiscal 2031. The offering would cover 1.51% of the target amount, leaving $814.5 million to be financed in later rounds. Proceeds would be divided among the Bitcoin treasury, an AI investment portfolio and a dollar reserve equal to about 18 months of preferred dividends, according to the company. The dividend rate, allocation percentages, issue price, size, timing, structure and exchange listing have not been determined, and the security is non‑convertible, meaning it will not create new common shares. Preferred holders would rank ahead of common shareholders for dividend and liquidation claims. The cash cost cannot be quantified until pricing details are set. Genius also has a $1.2 billion shelf registration effective July 2025, which permits future securities sales, and an April 2026 supplement set a $8 million public offering under the same registration. Its latest audited filing showed $2.42 million cash at year‑end, while an August update reported unaudited net assets of $106.6 million and no third‑party debt. The next step is to release offering‑specific materials that outline the dividend rate, pricing, size and allocation, which will determine how much of the initial capital can be used to purchase Bitcoin.
Solana governance proposal SGP-0002 was accepted with 176.29 million SOL in favor, 66.19 million against and 20.63 million abstained, according to Validator Info. The vote indicated a direction to increase the annual disinflation rate from 15% to 30% while keeping the 1.5% terminal inflation rate unchanged. The proposal does not immediately change SOL’s monetary schedule; implementation depends on SIMD-0550, client coordination, feature gating and eventual activation. The decisive stake totaled 242.48 million SOL, representing about 72.7% support, which exceeded the two‑thirds threshold of 161.65 million SOL by roughly 14.64 million SOL. Late shifts in validator voting contributed to the outcome; Kraken, representing about 2% of votes, changed from against to for, and Galaxy moved from mostly abstaining to a majority for position. The Helius CEO, Mert Mumtaz, said about 500 calls arrived in the final seconds and the proposal passed by a narrow margin. Solana’s governance model allows validators to vote with delegated stake by default while native stakers can override those choices. Acceptance of the proposal does not yet enact the emission schedule change.
Kalshi suffered a legal setback when a federal appeals court in Nevada ruled that state gaming regulators may oversee its sports event contracts. The panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a unanimous decision on Friday. Judges concluded that the Commodity Exchange Act does not bar Nevada from applying its gambling laws to the contracts, which the court said are not swaps under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s jurisdiction. Kalshi argued that the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, not state regulators, should have exclusive authority because the company operates a federally licensed exchange. CFTC spokesman Zach Fulton said the judges misread the statute and created an atextual exception, asserting that a swap remains a swap regardless of its underlying subject. Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said the ruling vindicates the state’s position that the activity constitutes illegal wagering under Nevada law. Kalshi's spokesperson Dani Lever said the court agreed with another circuit that federal law prevents states from regulating trading on a federally licensed exchange, but the company will seek further review. The ruling follows a separate decision in April in which a federal court told New Jersey it lacked authority over Kalshi, creating a circuit split that may require Supreme Court review. Kalshi and other prediction market firms have faced multiple lawsuits from state regulators, including a recent filing in Connecticut. The American Gaming Association praised the decision as a win for consumer protection and taxpayers, saying it curbs operations that defy state gambling laws.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said at the Kansas City Fed Jackson Hole symposium that the central bank still has work to do to achieve its 2% inflation target after 65 months of elevated price growth. He noted that confidence in underlying inflation moving toward the goal is required before the Fed can be certain its mandate is met. Market participants responded by raising the probability of a September rate hike to 42% from 35% a day earlier, according to CME FedWatch. Bitcoin slipped to $78,700 following the remarks, while U.S. equities fell modestly and bond yields rose slightly. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced last week that he would intervene in the bond market to cap or lower long‑term interest rates, a stance that contrasts with Warsh’s view that market forces should determine rates.
Bitcoin reached $81,455 on Friday, its highest level since May 15, before slipping to about $79,850, a decline of roughly 0.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. Analysts noted that the $82,800 level, where price was rejected in May, is now a key resistance for a potential breakout. The price rally added roughly 26% since the U.S. Treasury’s bond buyback announcement on Aug. 19. Altcoins were generally lower, with most losing between 2% and 3% since midnight, according to market data. The TRUMP memecoin rose 24% on derivatives‑driven momentum, with open interest increasing 57% to $188.72 million, according to Coinglass. Solana fell 2.6% after a weekly gain of 18%, and privacy coin XMR rose 2.2% while Monero gained 12.8% over the past week. The Altcoin Season index stood at 34 out of 100, indicating a bitcoin‑dominated market. Derivatives open interest remained near $140 billion, trading volume rose about 10% to $222 billion, and shorts accounted for 51% of recent flow. SOL futures open interest climbed to 70.88 million tokens, the highest since early July, while XMR’s annualized funding rate reached 67%, suggesting crowded bullish positions. Bitcoin’s 30‑day implied‑volatility index fell to 41%, its lowest since a recent high of 50%, implying limited expected volatility from upcoming speeches. Call volume dominated Deribit options trading, with the $85,000 Bitcoin call expiring Sept. 26 seeing the most activity. The market remains focused on Bitcoin’s potential breakout above $82,000 as altcoins continue to consolidate.
Bitcoin's Coinbase premium indicator turned positive for the first time since May, according to Coinglass data, as Bitcoin traded at a premium on Coinbase relative to Binance. The metric, which measures price differences between the U.S. exchange Coinbase and the global exchange Binance, has historically been observed during bull markets. Bitcoin rose from roughly $63,000 to over $80,000, and U.S. spot bitcoin exchange‑traded funds, led by BlackRock's IBIT, attracted $3.51 billion in inflows, the highest total since October 2025, according to SoSoValue. Analysts noted that the 50‑week simple moving average near $81,000 represents a key resistance level, and that sustained premium is needed for further price advances.
Ethena announced on Aug. 28 that it will extend its USDe basis strategy into equity perpetual futures.
USDe declined from a peak of about $15 billion in 2025 to roughly $4 billion by the end of April, a drop of about one‑third. Funding rates on crypto perpetuals have fallen this year, reducing returns from the original delta‑neutral basis trade that depended on positive funding payments.
Equity perpetual open interest rose to $6.2 billion in March from less than $1 billion in earlier months. Funding rates averaged 14 % on Hyperliquid and 17.5 % on Binance, while Bitcoin perpetual funding averaged 2.2 % through Aug. 11. Founder Guy Young said equity and commodity perpetuals represent a substantial growth area for the protocol.
The expansion would increase the pool of assets backing USDe from roughly $2.5 trillion in crypto markets to more than $120 trillion in equities. Ethena intends to use its existing infrastructure and expects trading volume and open interest to exceed those of crypto perpetuals within two years.
USDe supply recovered to $4.51 billion in May and remained near $4.46 billion in June before slipping again. As of Aug. 28 it stood at about $4.06 billion, roughly $3.5 billion below the $7.5 billion level required for ENA buybacks.
A governance proposal released Aug. 27 proposes directing 95 % of net revenue from USDe savings, white‑label stablecoins and the forthcoming Ethena X service toward ENA purchases once USDe reaches $7.5 billion, with higher allocations at $10 billion, $15 billion and $20 billion.
ENA traded at $0.163 on Aug. 28, up 11.6 % in the prior 24 hours and nearly 99 % over the past month, with daily trading volume over $2 billion. The funding rates on equity perpetuals show limited correlation with crypto funding, potentially making the strategy attractive when crypto conditions weaken.
The approach remains exposed to funding compression and liquidity constraints, especially as equity perpetuals trade on crypto venues even when underlying stock markets are closed.
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, announced that it will sponsor Chelsea Football Club for the 2026/2027 season, placing its name and USDC logo on the team's jerseys. The partnership comes three months after the UK Financial Conduct Authority warned Premier League clubs about sponsorship arrangements with unauthorized financial firms, including crypto companies. Circle UK Trading Limited, the firm’s UK subsidiary, has been authorized by the FCA since 2018 to provide certain financial services. While stablecoins such as USDC are permitted in the United Kingdom, the FCA is preparing a regulatory framework that will apply to digital asset companies, including stablecoin issuers, beginning in October 2027. Circle stated that USDC is issued by regulated affiliates, but the token itself is not issued or regulated under UK law. The FCA declined to comment, and Circle did not respond to a request for comment. A separate UK government report noted 240 crypto millionaires in 2025.
Capital B, a French Bitcoin treasury company, announced on August 28 that it raised €21.0 million (about $24.5 million) through a private share placement at €0.58 per ABSA, which bundles one share with four subscription warrants and contains no pre‑emptive rights. The placement attracted Adam Back, chief executive of Blockstream, and asset manager TOBAM. If all warrants are exercised, the company could receive an additional €135.8 million (about $158 million) by issuing 144,876,280 ordinary shares. Capital B said it will use the proceeds to purchase 270 Bitcoin, increasing its holdings to 3,415 BTC. CoinMarketCap data shows Capital B is the 29th largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury firm, holding 3,139 BTC valued at under $249 million, behind Bitcoin Group SE, which holds 3,605 BTC. The firm also sought shareholder approval in early June for a potential capital increase of up to €5 billion and credit facilities of $116 billion, a proposal that passed with 162,486,459 votes (99.34%) in favor. Smaller treasury companies have been selling their Bitcoin positions. The funding expands Capital B’s Bitcoin holdings during a period of market uncertainty, though its total assets remain far below those of the largest treasury operator, Strategy, which holds 843,775 BTC valued near $67 billion.