Bitcoin held above $63,000 after starting the day under pressure from a security exploit and institutional selling. BTC fell as low as $62,227 before improving risk appetite on Wall Street helped it recover toward $63,800 by around 10:00 p.m. Türkiye time.
Ethereum did not fully participate in the rebound. ETH traded near $1,868, down about 0.3% for the day. Solana recorded a modest gain near $74, while XRP remained flat at around $1.08.
The crypto market’s recovery also lagged behind the rally in US equities. The Nasdaq gained about 2% during the same period, while Bitcoin’s daily increase remained below 1%.
Coldcard exploit losses approach $114 million
The first major source of pressure came from an exploit targeting Coldcard hardware wallets. Researchers estimate that the attacker has moved approximately 1,816 Bitcoin from more than 5,200 addresses since July 30.
At current Bitcoin prices, the stolen assets are worth close to $114 million. During the first wave alone, 1,083 BTC was drained from 1,196 addresses in just 41 minutes.
Researchers linked the exploit to a random number generation flaw in a firmware version released in March 2021. The vulnerability made the private keys of some users predictable enough for attackers to reproduce them.
Coldcard manufacturer Coinkite released an emergency firmware update for affected models. The company also urged users with single-key wallets created using the flawed software to move their assets to newly generated addresses.
Some transactions from the fourth wave are still awaiting confirmation. These transactions use Bitcoin’s replace-by-fee feature, giving affected users a limited opportunity to pay a higher fee and move their funds before the attacker.
Strategy sold $105 million in Bitcoin
The second source of pressure came from Strategy, widely known as the market’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder. The company sold 1,638 Bitcoin last week at an average price of $63,957, raising $104.73 million.
The sale reduced Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings to 842,138 BTC. The company paid a total of $63.51 billion for these assets, resulting in an average purchase price of $75,419.
Strategy also sold 3.01 million MSTR shares during the same period, raising another $290.6 million. The company used part of the proceeds to increase its US dollar reserve by $250 million and repurchase its high-yielding STRC preferred shares.
Strategy bought back 912,143 STRC shares for $81.2 million. Its total cash reserve consequently reached $4 billion.
MSTR shares initially fell in premarket trading following the Bitcoin sale. However, the stock reversed course alongside the broader Wall Street rally, gaining more than 2% to trade near $95 by around 10:00 p.m. Türkiye time.
Cautious optimism in derivatives markets
The derivatives market did not produce a clear directional signal. Open interest in Bitcoin futures climbed to a one-month high of 772,000 BTC.
The annualized funding rate remained positive at around 4%. This suggests that traders are still willing to pay a premium to maintain bullish positions.
However, sell-side positions accounted for more than 52% of taker volume in the futures market. The aggressive behavior of sellers showed that traders remained cautious despite Bitcoin’s recovery above $63,000.
The 30-day implied volatility index held near 37%. On Deribit, call options with strike prices of $68,000 and $70,000 attracted the highest trading activity.
Regulatory risks return to focus
Uncertainty surrounding the Clarity Act also returned to the market’s agenda. Bernstein analysts said the Senate’s limited schedule had reduced the chances of the bill passing in 2026.
The brokerage expects another crypto sell-off if lawmakers fail to pass the legislation. However, faster rulemaking by the SEC and CFTC could shorten the duration of any negative market reaction.
Bitcoin is absorbing the negative headlines while holding above $63,000. Still, its inability to reclaim $65,000 and weakening institutional demand continue to limit the strength of the recovery.
