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South Korea’s Crypto Cleanup Hits 29 Exchanges
At least 29 overseas cryptocurrency exchange apps are no longer available for new downloads through South Korea’s Google Play Store. The affected platforms include OKX, Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin, Gemini, Backpack and BitMEX.Data compiled by local news outlet Digital Asset shows that the restrictions affect nearly 60% of the 50 largest foreign derivatives exchanges listed by CoinMarketCap.Why did Google introduce the VASP requirement?The restrictions stem from a policy change that Google introduced in January. Cryptocurrency exchanges and custodial wallet apps must now register with South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU, as Virtual Asset Service Providers.Developers must submit proof of registration through the Google Play Console. Apps that cannot provide the required documents lose access to new installations and updates in South Korea.Previously installed versions may continue to operate for some time. However, the lack of security updates could gradually expose users to vulnerabilities.When the rule took effect on January 28, only 27 platforms had secured registration in South Korea. The list included major local exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb.For global platforms such as Binance, Bybit and OKX, completing the registration process remains extremely difficult. Applicants typically need to establish a local company, build a compliant anti-money laundering system and obtain national information security certifications.The cost and bureaucracy involved have kept most major overseas exchanges outside the country’s registered market.Which exchanges are affected?According to Digital Asset’s list, the 29 affected apps are:OKX, Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin, BingX, XT.COM, Gemini, LBank, CoinW, BitMart, Pionex, BTCC, Ourbit, KCEX, ZoomEX, CoinEx, OrangeX, Phemex, CoinUp.io, Phemex Wallet, WEEX, MGBX, WhiteBIT, Bitrue, BitradeX, Backpack Exchange, CoinChief, BTSE and BitMEX. The outlet’s table also distinguishes between apps that Google has completely blocked from new downloads and those facing location-based restrictions.Restrictions currently apply only to Google PlayThe policy currently covers Google Play rather than the exchanges’ websites or Apple’s App Store. Android users can still attempt to download APK files directly or use a VPN, although these methods carry additional security risks.Users who already have the apps installed may also continue trading. The main problem will emerge over time, as outdated versions could become vulnerable to security flaws and compatibility issues.How could the market change?South Korea has more than 10 million active cryptocurrency users, equivalent to nearly one-fifth of the country’s population. According to data from the Financial Services Commission, the local crypto market has reached a value of 95 trillion won.Analysts believe tighter access to foreign exchange apps could redirect more trading activity toward local platforms such as Upbit and Bithumb. That shift could strengthen the domestic exchanges’ influence over token listings and trading fees.Some users may instead move toward decentralized exchanges and non-custodial wallets. These services can fall outside Google’s licensing requirement, particularly when they do not hold customer assets or operate as traditional centralized exchanges.The Google Play restrictions form part of a broader regulatory campaign. South Korea previously introduced the Travel Rule, requiring service providers to share sender and recipient information for transfers above a specified threshold.The latest policy shows that South Korean authorities are continuing to tighten oversight of the crypto sector. While overseas platforms remain accessible through other channels, losing direct access to Android users could significantly reduce their reach in one of the world’s most active cryptocurrency markets.
Bitcoin Eyes $70,000 as Options Traders Make Record Bullish Bet
Bitcoin was trading at $64,834 as activity in Deribit’s options market clustered around two key price levels: $70,000 and $72,000. The positioning points to a clear expectation among traders that Bitcoin could climb above these levels.Options contracts at the $70,000 and $72,000 strikes have accumulated approximately $5 billion in notional open interest. That represents around 18% of the total $28 billion in Bitcoin options open interest on Deribit.Since each contract represents one Bitcoin, these two strikes have become the most heavily traded contracts on the exchange.The figures reinforce the bullish picture. According to data from Laevitas, the $70,000 strike has roughly 39,000 call contracts, compared with only 3,800 puts. The picture is even more one-sided at $72,000. Traders hold approximately 37,900 calls at that strike, against just 1,200 puts. The wide gap between calls and puts reflects the strength of the market’s upward bias.A call option gives its buyer the right, without the obligation, to purchase Bitcoin at a predetermined price before or on a specified date. In this case, traders are betting that Bitcoin will rise above $70,000 or $72,000.A put option works in the opposite direction. It gives the buyer the right to sell at a predetermined price and is commonly used to hedge against losses or speculate on a price decline.Bull call spread takes center stageThe concentration at these two strikes is no coincidence. Laevitas identified a large bull call spread involving the purchase of $70,000 calls and the simultaneous sale of $72,000 calls.As its name suggests, the strategy targets a measured increase in Bitcoin’s price, with maximum gains reached if the asset climbs to $72,000. It allows traders to reduce the upfront cost of the bullish position, although it also caps their potential profit.According to Laevitas, this single structure accounts for 49% of the total call open interest at $70,000 and 50% of the call open interest at $72,000. In other words, roughly half of the enormous positioning at both strikes comes from one strategy.Calendar spreads were also among the notable trades. These strategies seek to profit from differences in volatility and pricing between options with different expiration dates.In another major transaction, a trader or group of traders purchased a large number of $70,000 calls to gain direct exposure to an upward Bitcoin move. The position cost approximately $3.4 million in premiums.Jimmy Yang, co-founder of institutional digital asset liquidity provider Orbit Markets, also highlighted similar trading activity. According to Yang, optimism over the possible passage of the CLARITY Act helped drive the positioning.Earlier this month, Orbit Markets saw strong demand for $70,000 and $72,000 calls expiring on July 31. Yang said much of that demand came from expectations that Congress could pass the CLARITY Act before the end of the month.That optimism has weakened over the past 24 hours. Yang noted that traders have started scaling back their expectations, prompting some bullish positions to be unwound.CLARITY Act expectations lose momentumPolymarket data reflects the shift in sentiment. The probability of the CLARITY Act becoming law this year has fallen from 51% at the beginning of the week to 38%.The reason for the decline is clear. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he did not expect the Senate to vote on the bill before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess.The performance of the July 31 options during their final days will therefore depend heavily on further developments from Washington.
Bitcoin May Be Facing the Toughest Test in 17-Year History
Data and analyst/writer Omkar Godbole suggests that Bitcoin is confronting a market environment unlike anything it has faced before. This time, the pressure is coming from the bond market.The yield on the U.S. Treasury’s 30-year inflation-protected security, known as TIPS, is currently close to 3%, its highest level in 17 years. As TreasuryBonds.com puts it, investors can lock in a return of roughly 3% above inflation for the next 30 years, backed by the U.S. government. What does the yield pressure mean for Bitcoin?Bonds have traditionally been viewed as safe-haven assets. When a relatively secure investment offers a return three percentage points above inflation, the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as gold or Bitcoin increases. At least, that is how the argument works on paper.The crypto community sees the issue differently. Bitcoin’s decentralized and censorship-resistant structure, supporters argue, makes it a stronger store of value. That argument is not entirely unfounded. When housing prices are measured in Bitcoin rather than U.S. dollars, the resulting picture appears to support this view.It remains unclear whether high TIPS yields will place lasting pressure on Bitcoin or whether the market will largely ignore them. For now, the second scenario appears more likely.Spot Bitcoin ETFs have attracted approximately $1 billion over the past seven trading days, suggesting that institutional capital is returning. However, if rising bond yields trigger a broader sell-off in technology stocks, it would hardly be surprising to see that pressure spread to the crypto market.The historical context behind TIPS yieldsThe yield on 30-year TIPS remained low for years following the 2008 global financial crisis. At times, real yields even fell below zero as central banks pursued expansive monetary policies.Real yields have risen again over the past few years as central banks reduced their bond purchases and concerns grew that inflation could remain elevated for longer. The latest move toward 3% signals a reversal of that prolonged downward trend and shows that safe assets are becoming attractive again.At the same time, continued inflows into Bitcoin ETFs suggest that this theory has yet to gain much traction in the crypto market.Other developmentsA series of attacks on protocols connected to Bitcoin and Ethereum resulted in combined losses of $35 million. According to blockchain data, three separate bridge protocols were targeted within a six-hour period.Oil prices also climbed following reports of attacks on tankers near Saudi Arabia and new U.S. threats against Iran. Brent crude futures rose 4.6% to $98.44 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude gained 3.8% to $90.14.In foreign exchange markets, the U.S. dollar climbed to a 40-year high against the Japanese yen. It edged slightly lower against the euro ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting on Thursday.
BlackRock, Coinbase and Seven Industry Giants Build a $15 Million Shield Around Bitcoin
Some of the biggest names in Bitcoin have joined forces. The Bitcoin Security Consortium has launched with a combined pledge of $15 million over the next three years. Its founding members include Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, Galaxy and Strategy.The group brings together nearly every corner of the Bitcoin ecosystem, from custodians and exchanges to payment companies and asset managers.Mike Schmidt, executive director of Brink, a nonprofit organization that supports open-source Bitcoin developers, will oversee the consortium’s day-to-day operations on a volunteer basis.How serious is the quantum threat?The key point is simple: no quantum computer can break Bitcoin’s cryptography today, and credible estimates suggest that such technology remains years away. Still, post-quantum protection is already on the Bitcoin technical community’s agenda, and the consortium aims to fund that work.Its goal extends beyond financial support. The consortium also wants to become a reliable source of information for investors, the media and the wider public.Each member will manage its contribution independently and choose which developers or researchers to support. The consortium will not interfere with protocol development, advocate for specific changes or speak on behalf of Bitcoin or its developers.Strategy CEO Phong Le said that long-term Bitcoin holders have a direct interest in keeping the network secure. He added that funding the people working on its security and improving public understanding of the issue was a natural step for the company.Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s global head of digital assets, said Bitcoin Core developers perform critically important work. He noted that BlackRock and the other companies involved will now provide substantial additional funding to meet that need.Inspired by the open-source modelThe structure resembles a model long used by technology companies to support the open-source software they rely on: provide funding and visibility while leaving the work itself to independent developers.Bitcoin’s development will remain in the hands of a decentralized global community of contributors.Over the coming months, the consortium plans to publish and regularly update educational material about Bitcoin security. It will also continue funding the developer community.The profiles of the founding members underline the scale of the initiative. Anchorage Digital owns Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., the first federally chartered digital asset bank in the United States.Blockstream was founded by Adam Back in 2014 and says its Liquid Network secures more than $8.5 billion in value. Galaxy Digital trades on Nasdaq under the ticker GLXY and is expanding its data center operations through the 1.6-gigawatt Helios campus in Texas.The involvement of Coinbase and Fidelity Digital Assets, which serve major institutional clients, also shows that the initiative has support from some of the industry’s largest pools of capital, rather than being limited to Bitcoin’s technical community.
Crypto Exchange Ends Its 11-Year Journey: Shutting Down on September 23
BitMEX, the exchange that introduced 100x-leveraged perpetual swaps to the crypto derivatives market, has announced that it will permanently shut down on September 23. The platform has immediately stopped accepting new account registrations and given users two months to withdraw their assets.Sale talks failed to produce a dealThe exchange’s operator, HDR Global Trading Limited, appointed Broadhaven Capital Partners in February 2025 to explore a potential sale. According to a statement released on Thursday, the board decided to close the platform following a strategic review of both the company and the broader crypto industry.BitMEX did not explain why the sale process failed or disclose whether it had received any offers.A pioneer of crypto derivativesArthur Hayes founded BitMEX in 2014 with the goal of making professional-grade crypto derivatives available to retail traders. The perpetual swap developed by the exchange has since become one of the most widely traded products in the crypto market, with similar versions now offered across thousands of platforms.Legal troubles and presidential pardonsBitMEX pleaded guilty in 2024 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The exchange received an additional $100 million fine in January 2025 over shortcomings in its anti-money laundering program.President Donald Trump pardoned Hayes and the exchange’s other co-founders in March 2025.Two-month wind-down scheduleUsers have two months to close their positions. Beginning at 07:00 TRT on August 26, BitMEX will introduce risk limits that prevent traders from opening new positions while allowing them to reduce existing ones.Any positions still open when the platform shuts down will be forcibly closed by the exchange. BitMEX said it will not accept responsibility for losses resulting from users failing to close their positions before the deadline.All staked BMEX tokens have already been unstaked and returned to user accounts.Fees after the shutdownKYC-verified users who fail to withdraw their funds before the shutdown will be charged a monthly fee. The fee will be either at least $50 or 1% of the account balance per year, whichever is higher.BitMEX said the fee may increase over time with prior notice.Withdrawals will remain available after the platform closes. Users will also be able to log in to view their balances and transaction histories.BitMEX warned that Bitcoin block confirmations can sometimes take up to an hour. Withdrawal speeds may also be limited because the exchange uses a restricted pool of addresses.The company also warned users about phishing attempts seeking to exploit the shutdown. It stressed that it does not offer any expedited withdrawal service.Reserve claimsAccording to its proof-of-reserves and proof-of-liabilities page, BitMEX holds more assets than it owes to users. The exchange also said it has never lost customer funds in a hack since launching.The company has provided no further details about the findings of its strategic review or whether it received any offers during the sale process that began last year.
Trump’s Approval of Ethics Provision Lifts Crypto Market, Bitcoin Rises
The crypto market gained strong momentum today following reports that the final obstacle blocking the long-awaited US crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, may have been removed.Eleanor Terrett, host of the Crypto in America program, said on X that President Donald Trump had agreed to a critical ethics provision in the bill. According to Terrett, the language was sent to a group of Republican senators. This marks tangible progress in negotiations that have remained stalled for months.Why was the ethics provision so important?The ethics issue was the main obstacle preventing the CLARITY Act from advancing through the Senate. The bill aims to distinguish digital assets classified as commodities from those treated as securities, draw clearer regulatory boundaries between the SEC and CFTC, and end years of uncertainty shaped by enforcement actions and lawsuits.At the center of the debate is the extent to which serving politicians should be allowed to profit from crypto. Trump’s own meme coins and his family’s stake in World Liberty Financial have intensified scrutiny. Financial disclosures released last month showed that these investments had generated millions of dollars for him.The provision was discussed during a July 16 meeting involving Trump, Republican Senators Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis, and White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt. A source speaking to CoinDesk said a preliminary agreement had been reached with Trump.However, Democrats have not yet seen the proposed language, and no draft has been made public. The White House and the offices of the senators involved declined to comment. The source said the draft was expected to be released shortly. The Senate needs to vote on the legislation by early August.Market reaction came quicklyBitcoin climbed above $66,000 following the reports. The cryptocurrency gained roughly 3% to 3.5% over the past 24 hours, reaching its highest level in more than a month. Ethereum, BNB and XRP posted even stronger gains. Another factor supporting the rally came from Asian markets. Selling pressure on semiconductor stocks, which weighed on crypto prices last week, began to reverse. The rebound helped strengthen broader risk appetite.Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, pointed to the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level of the May–June decline, located below $68,000. He said a sustained move above this area would provide further confirmation of a bullish trend reversal.Prediction markets also changed directionOn prediction platform Polymarket, the implied probability of the CLARITY Act becoming law this year jumped from 32% on Friday to 43% on Monday. The increase marked a sharp recovery from the market’s lowest level since trading began in January.The rally continued during the European session on Tuesday morning. Bitcoin traded near $66,300, with its 24-hour gain approaching 3%. Ethereum and XRP rose by around 4%.Market participants, however, pointed to the recovery in artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks, led by memory chip manufacturers such as Samsung and SK Hynix, as the main driver of the move. Reports concerning the ethics provision were viewed as an additional factor strengthening risk appetite.The bill’s fate now rests with the Senate. Until the proposed language is officially released, it remains uncertain how long the market can maintain its current optimism.
Kimi K3 Shock Pulls Bitcoin Down to $63,000
Bitcoin, Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies fell on Friday. The sell-off was mainly attributed to Beijing-based Moonshot AI releasing a free artificial intelligence model that outperformed Anthropic’s best model in coding tasks.Moonshot unveiled Kimi K3 on Thursday. By Friday morning, AI and semiconductor stocks were falling across Asian markets. Market participants dubbed the event the “Kimi moment,” a reference to the DeepSeek shock that erased nearly $600 billion from Nvidia’s market value in a single session 18 months ago.What does the model do?Moonshot’s model has 2.8 trillion parameters and a context window of one million tokens. That makes it roughly four times larger than the previous version.K3 uses a mixture-of-experts architecture. For each task, it activates only 16 of its 896 internal experts. This keeps operating costs relatively low despite the model’s size. According to information shared in the company’s technical blog, the architectural changes provide around 2.5 times greater scaling efficiency than the previous model.K3 ranked first on Arena’s Frontend Code leaderboard with a score of 1,679. Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 followed with 1,631 points, while OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 scored 1,618.K3 led six of the seven categories. Moonshot’s previous model ranked 18th on the same leaderboard, meaning the company climbed 17 places with a single release. However, K3 still trails the top configurations from Claude and OpenAI in general knowledge and reasoning tests. Its advantage is therefore concentrated in a specific field rather than extending across every category.The licensing terms are causing more concern in markets than the pricing itself. K3 is an open-weight model, and Moonshot plans to make the full version publicly available on July 27. Anyone will be able to download the model and run it on their own hardware free of charge.Anthropic released Fable 5 last month, while OpenAI launched GPT-5.6 a week ago. Both are closed-source, paid models. The assumption supporting hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure spending was that the most advanced models would remain scarce, expensive and primarily American. A free Chinese model taking the top spot in a coding leaderboard directly challenges that premise.Moonshot’s domestic rivals were among the hardest hit. Shares of Z.ai fell 27%, while MiniMax dropped around 16%.Domino effect across marketsBitcoin fell to around $63,000 on Friday. The cryptocurrency lost 1.7% over the previous 24 hours and 2.2% on a weekly basis.According to market data, ETH held near $1,836 and maintained a weekly gain of 2.4%. Hyperliquid suffered the steepest decline, falling 8% over 24 hours and 12% for the week. Bitcoin price Nasdaq 100 futures declined 1.8%, while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.9%. A semiconductor exchange-traded fund lost 3% in premarket trading. Taiwan’s stock market entered correction territory, while Asia’s main benchmark fell to its lowest level in two months. European markets proved relatively resilient because of their lower exposure to the technology sector.The central question behind the sell-off has been hanging over markets since the beginning of the month: Will the hundreds of billions of dollars invested by AI companies generate sufficient returns? TSMC’s results this week failed to provide a clear answer.The crypto market has been caught in the same current throughout the quarter. Softer inflation data pushed Bitcoin toward $65,000 earlier this week, although that move was driven by macroeconomic conditions. The sell-off in semiconductor stocks is now pulling prices in the opposite direction. The Federal Reserve will meet on July 28–29.The miners’ fragile betThe most tangible risk for the crypto sector lies in the business models of mining companies rather than in on-chain data. Over the past two years, Bitcoin miners have increasingly transformed themselves into landlords for AI data centers. They signed long-term contracts with model developers based on the assumption that demand for computing power used in training and inference would continue to rise.This strategy relies on scarcity. If advanced AI capabilities can be obtained for free through an open-source model that requires fewer resources, tenants may have less reason to sign these contracts. That could undermine the miner-to-AI transformation strategy that has supported the valuations of many publicly traded Bitcoin companies.DeepSeek’s release delivered the same lesson 18 months ago. The market reaction was sharp but brief. Nvidia recovered, Bitcoin rebounded and capital expenditure continued to rise.The difference this time may lie in how crypto is positioned. In January 2025, Bitcoin fell alongside technology stocks because it was treated as a risk asset during a risk-off session. In July 2026, it is behaving more like a leveraged reflection of the AI capital cycle. One week, it rises on the back of a Korean chip listing; the next, it falls after a new model announcement from China.K3’s model weights will become publicly available in ten days. That is when the market will find out whether its leaderboard performance holds up under broader scrutiny.
BTC, XRP and SOL ETFs See Inflows as $28 Million Exits Ether Funds
The picture across US spot crypto ETFs was mixed on July 16. Bitcoin funds recorded $79.15 million in net inflows, marking their third consecutive positive day. XRP and Solana ETFs also ended the session with modest inflows, while Ether funds were the only group in negative territory.Bitcoin ETFs had suffered a sharp $424.66 million outflow on July 13. Since then, the funds have steadily recovered, attracting $181.1 million on July 14, $107.7 million on July 15 and $79.15 million on July 16. The daily amount is shrinking, but the positive streak remains intact.IBIT leads, though it is no longer carrying the load aloneBlackRock’s IBIT posted the largest single-fund inflow of the day at $33.44 million. Fidelity’s FBTC followed closely with $30.73 million, while the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust attracted another $10 million. The remaining funds reported no net movement.This differs from the pattern seen in recent sessions. On July 14, IBIT alone accounted for $138.9 million, nearly all of the day’s total inflows. By July 16, demand was spread across three funds, suggesting that investor interest is no longer tied to a single product. It is a small but meaningful shift.The gap becomes even wider when cumulative figures are considered. IBIT has attracted $60.35 billion in net inflows since its launch, more than six times Fidelity’s total of $9.97 billion. Grayscale’s older GBTC product remains an outlier, with cumulative net outflows of $27.33 billion since launch.Ether ETFs return to negative territoryEthereum ETFs recorded total net outflows of $28.04 million. Grayscale’s spot ETH fund posted the largest withdrawal at $14.3 million. Fidelity’s FETH lost $11.2 million, while Grayscale’s ETHE saw $4.8 million leave the fund.ETHW delivered the only positive result, attracting $2.3 million. BlackRock’s ETHA recorded no net movement.The picture had been entirely different one day earlier. Ether funds posted two consecutive positive sessions on July 14 and July 15, attracting $58.3 million and $53.9 million, respectively. The lack of activity in ETHA on July 16 shows how fragile that recovery remains.XRP and Solana post small but steady inflowsXRP ETFs attracted $6.78 million, while Solana ETFs recorded $1.66 million in net inflows. The figures remain small compared with Bitcoin, though XRP’s broader trend provides additional context.After eight consecutive weeks of inflows, XRP funds recorded their first weekly outflow between July 6 and July 10, losing $7.18 million. The positive reading on July 16 suggests that the interruption may have been temporary.Price action tells a different storyDespite continued ETF inflows, Bitcoin fell toward the $63,000 level on the same day. The market sentiment index also remained in the “Fear” zone.Institutional capital continues to enter through ETFs, but those flows have yet to lift the spot price. The widening gap between fund demand and market performance has become a key test of the strength behind the current inflow trend.
90-Year-Old Asset Management Giant Launches ETF Covering 9 Cryptocurrencies
U.S. asset management giant T. Rowe Price entered the crypto sector on Thursday with the launch of a cryptocurrency ETF trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker TKNZ. The company initially filed for the product in October last year, meaning the launch process took around nine months to complete.The Baltimore-based company has been managing assets for nearly 90 years and oversees close to $1.9 trillion in client assets. T. Rowe Price describes TKNZ as the market’s first actively managed multi-token spot cryptocurrency ETF. The key difference lies in how the fund is managed. Rather than tracking a fixed index, fund managers can adjust portfolio weightings based on the company’s own research and market outlook. This structure separates TKNZ from existing passive spot crypto ETFs, which generally track a single asset or a predetermined index.Portfolio includes nine crypto assetsWhen the fund began trading, its portfolio was allocated as follows:• Bitcoin (BTC): 40.75%• Ethereum (ETH): 18.42%• BNB: 11.01%• Solana (SOL): 9.44%• XRP: 9.37%• Hyperliquid (HYPE): 6.45%• Stellar Lumens (XLM): 3%• Dogecoin (DOGE): 1.28%• USD Coin (USDC): 0.16%• Cash and cash equivalents: 0.11%What analysts are saying?Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented on the allocation in a post on X. He described the Bitcoin weighting as low while viewing the allocations to the remaining assets, particularly HYPE, as relatively high.According to Balchunas, the fund launched with approximately $15 million in assets and charges a 0.75% management fee. That rate is higher than the fees applied by some passive Bitcoin and Ether ETFs currently available in the market.HYPE’s relatively large portfolio weighting may appear unusual at first, but the token has recently become one of the stronger performers in the cryptocurrency market. Its price reached an all-time high of around $74.50 last month. It is currently trading near $65.60 and has gained 38% over the past year.Bitcoin, by comparison, has lost 45% during the same period. This divergence in performance may partly explain the difference between their portfolio weightings.The fund will be permitted to invest in proof-of-stake networks, but it will not initially use any of its holdings to generate staking income. The prospectus does not completely rule out staking and notes that the practice could be introduced in the future.This cautious approach reflects a broader trend among fund managers offering products involving staked crypto assets, as regulatory uncertainty surrounding staking has yet to be fully resolved.The fund will be led by Blue Macellari, head of T. Rowe Price’s digital assets unit, who will serve as lead portfolio manager. Four associate portfolio managers will support her.TKNZ’s price performance and potential inflows and outflows during its first weeks of trading will offer an important indication of how much institutional demand exists for actively managed, multi-token cryptocurrency ETFs.
US Government Sends $288 Million in BTC and ETH to Coinbase
Wallets linked to the US government transferred more than $288 million worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime on Monday. The assets moved through several transactions executed within short intervals, according to real-time tracking by onchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence.Arkham data shows that the wallets transferred a total of 3,800.5 BTC and 30,007 ETH. At current market prices, the combined value exceeds $288 million. Bitcoin has gained 1.38% over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum has risen 3.05%, increasing the dollar value of the transferred assets. Who were the assets seized from?A significant portion of the transferred cryptocurrencies came from assets seized in separate criminal investigations. Wallets labeled by Arkham were linked to cases involving Ryan Farace and Brian Krewson.Farace was convicted of selling counterfeit Xanax pills on darknet marketplaces. His case had previously attracted attention after US authorities announced plans to dispose of $117 million worth of Bitcoin seized from a drug dealer linked to the Silk Road marketplace.The allegations against Krewson were different. Authorities accused him of helping conceal and launder $54 million in cryptocurrency generated through drug trafficking.Some of the transferred assets were also connected to BTC-e, an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange that was shut down in 2017. During its years of operation, BTC-e allegedly facilitated billions of dollars in illicit financial activity.Legal proceedings linked to the exchange continued for years after its closure. Alexander Vinnik, one of the most prominent figures associated with BTC-e, was recently returned to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.What does the Coinbase Prime transfer mean?Coinbase Prime provides custody and trading services to institutional clients. Moving assets to the platform could precede a sale, although the transfer alone does not confirm that liquidation is imminent.Similar transfers from government-controlled wallets have produced different outcomes in the past. Some assets remained untouched for months after reaching institutional platforms, while others were gradually sold.There is also another factor to consider. An executive order signed by Donald Trump in March 2025 called for seized Bitcoin to be transferred into the country’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The order also instructed federal agencies not to sell Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture proceedings.The latest transfer may therefore represent an administrative custody or reserve-management transaction rather than preparation for a sale. At this stage, the government’s intention remains unclear, and the market’s interpretation of the movement may become more visible in the coming days.The broader pictureAccording to Arkham, wallets associated with the US government hold more than $20 billion in cryptocurrency, with most of the assets originating from law enforcement seizures.The portfolio reportedly includes 324,552 BTC, a figure that places the US government among the world’s largest known Bitcoin holders. The wallets also contain Ethereum, USDT, BNB and ZEC.This diversified portfolio shows that government seizures are no longer limited to Bitcoin. US authorities have accumulated assets across several blockchain networks through investigations involving criminal organizations, darknet markets and money-laundering operations.
Strategy Skips Bitcoin This Time, Sells $466 Million Worth of Shares
Strategy did not touch its Bitcoin holdings last week. Instead, it sold 4.8 million MSTR shares. According to an 8-K filing submitted to the SEC on Monday, the company sold 4,818,781 shares between July 6 and July 12, raising $466.7 million.The proceeds did not go toward purchasing Bitcoin. They were added to the company’s dollar reserve, which increased by $450 million to reach $3 billion.According to co-founder Michael Saylor, Strategy’s Bitcoin position remained unchanged at 843,775 BTC. At current prices, the holdings are worth approximately $53 billion. The company acquired them at an average price of $75,476 per Bitcoin, bringing its total cost basis to $63.7 billion. That amount represents around 4% of Bitcoin’s maximum supply of 21 million coins. However, Strategy is currently carrying an unrealized loss of approximately $10.7 billion.Bitcoin remained relatively stable near $63,000 after the announcement. MSTR shares fell 2.6% in premarket trading. Over the whole of last week, MSTR declined 6.5% and closed Friday at $94.64, while Bitcoin gained 1.7% during the same period.Saylor’s familiar pattern did not repeat this timeSaylor once again shared a Bitcoin chart on Sunday, writing that “the orange dots tell only part of the story.” In the past, these weekly posts often signaled that a new Bitcoin purchase was coming.That pattern has changed in recent weeks. On June 28, Saylor said, “We’re going to need more charts.” What followed was not another Bitcoin purchase, but the announcement of a new capital framework.After his July 5 post, Strategy completed the largest Bitcoin sale in its history. The company sold 3,588 BTC for $216 million.Gabe Selby of CF Benchmarks said the company’s short-term solvency is not currently in question. The numbers appear to support that view.Strategy’s annual financing costs equal around 3.4% of the value of its Bitcoin holdings. Its existing cash reserve can cover those costs for 17.4 months. When the company’s authorized reserve-expansion capacity is included, that period rises to 25.9 months.Selby nevertheless drew a clear line. The real problem would begin when selling Bitcoin was no longer a choice and instead became necessary to keep the capital structure functioning.New framework: Bitcoin is now being used like collateralUnder Strategy’s new Digital Credit Capital Framework, the dollar reserve can only be used to fund preferred-stock dividends and interest payments.The company also approved a $1 billion repurchase program for its digital credit securities, with STRC given priority. A more flexible dividend policy was introduced for STRC as well. Even if the share price falls below its $100 par value, the dividend will no longer increase automatically.Strategy separately launched a $1 billion common-share repurchase program. It also introduced a plan allowing the sale of up to $1.25 billion worth of Bitcoin to fund reserves, dividends, interest payments and securities repurchases.Matthew Sigel of VanEck highlighted an important detail. The 3,588 BTC sold last week was not counted under the new program. This suggests Strategy may have additional selling capacity beyond the publicly stated $1.25 billion limit.The rest of the sector tells a different storyAccording to Bitcoin Treasuries, 197 publicly traded companies now follow some form of Bitcoin accumulation strategy.Strategy remains at the top of the list. It is followed by Twenty One, a Tether-backed company holding 43,514 BTC; Metaplanet with 43,000 BTC; MARA with 36,303 BTC; and Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company, backed by Adam Back and Cantor Fitzgerald, with 30,021 BTC.However, the shares of many companies in this group remain far below their summer 2025 peaks.MSTR itself is down 79% from its record high. Its market value now stands at only 1.03 times its net asset value, meaning the premium that once supported the stock has almost completely disappeared.Standard Chartered maintained its $100,000 Bitcoin forecast for the end of 2026 on Friday.According to the bank, Strategy’s shift from an “I will never sell” position to using Bitcoin as backing for preferred-stock obligations represents a communication problem rather than a solvency issue.Grayscale analysts offered a different interpretation. They argued that Strategy’s stronger financing position could reduce the risk of a severe negative scenario originating from the company, helping Bitcoin establish a more durable price floor.
Bitcoin Whale Wakes Up: Holdings Increase Tenfold in Value
A Bitcoin wallet that had remained inactive for nearly seven years and nine months suddenly came back to life over the past few hours. The wallet transferred its entire balance of 2,931 BTC, worth approximately $188 million at current prices, to a new address in a single transaction.According to Onchain Lens, citing Arkham data, the wallet ending in “356my...BAsmK” moved all of its funds yesterday evening to an unlabeled address ending in “bc1qn...8gp25.” The receiving address has not made any further transactions since the transfer, and the funds remain untouched.Bitcoin rises from $6,500 to $63,000The wallet was last active on October 23, 2018. Bitcoin was trading at around $6,475 at the time. Since then, the price has increased almost tenfold.Bitcoin is currently trading at $63,376, down 1% over the past 24 hours.The difference alone highlights a striking reality. Someone who bought Bitcoin in 2018 at roughly one-tenth of today’s price could have multiplied the value of their portfolio simply by holding onto it.It is perhaps one of the clearest examples of the “patient investor” stories often told in the crypto market. However, that same patience becomes a separate discussion when it comes to deciding when to sell.The reason behind the transfer remains unknown. Still, when large wallets that have been dormant for years suddenly move their funds, market participants often interpret it in the same way: the owner may be preparing to sell. Experienced on-chain observers closely monitor such transactions. When a wallet becomes active after nearly a decade of silence, speculation usually centers on profit-taking or a potential change in ownership.Similar movements have happened beforeA similar wave of dormant wallet activity emerged last year as Bitcoin approached record highs. In July 2025, a wallet that had been inactive for 14 years transferred $8.7 billion worth of Bitcoin to another address in a single transaction.It was never confirmed where those funds ultimately went, and speculation surrounding the movement continued for a long time.These so-called “sleeping wallets” attract significant attention from analysts. Many are believed to belong to early Bitcoin investors who accumulated coins when BTC was worth only a few dollars and never sold them.Some observers link these wallets to forgotten private keys. Others suggest inheritance proceedings or old hardware wallets that were recovered years later. In most cases, no definitive explanation ever emerges.When one of these addresses becomes active after several years, it serves both as a technical signal for on-chain analysts and as a small clue for market participants attempting to assess investor sentiment.There is currently no concrete evidence linking the receiving address to a cryptocurrency exchange. It is also unclear whether the funds will remain in a private wallet or have been moved to an institutional custody service.
Bitcoin Holds $64,400: Is This the Time Resistance Finally Breaks?
The cryptocurrency market saw a second wave of gains on Friday. Bitcoin has climbed 2% since midnight, reaching $64,400 and returning to the same level it failed to break on Monday. If this resistance gives way, attention will shift to the June 15 high of $67,250. Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin this time. It rose 2.6% to $1,790 and is attempting to break the lower highs and lower lows pattern that has been in place for weeks.There was also notable activity across altcoins ahead of the weekend, despite weekends typically being associated with lower liquidity and fewer sharp price moves. Zcash and Aave both gained around 5%. Market appetite, which had been subdued for months, appears to be gradually returning to more speculative bets.Meanwhile, crypto diverged from U.S. equities. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.4%.What the derivatives market is signalingSpeculative trading activity is easing in derivatives markets, while longer-term positioning continues to build. Twenty-four-hour trading volume fell 7% to $140 billion, while open interest increased 3% to $110.52 billion. That suggests the current recovery is being driven by investors holding positions rather than short-term traders moving in and out of the market.Across major exchanges, total open interest in Bitcoin USD- and USDT-margined futures rose from 262,000 BTC to 272,000 BTC as the spot price moved above $64,000. Combined with positive funding rates and a positive cumulative volume delta, the data suggests bullish positioning is strengthening.Ethereum has yet to see the same trend. Futures open interest remains largely unchanged, indicating traders are still hesitant to increase leverage.Across the broader market, most tokens are showing a positive cumulative volume delta, meaning buyers are executing market orders instead of waiting with passive limit orders. That is generally viewed as a supportive signal for continued price appreciation.Implied volatility indexes tied to both Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to decline, a pattern often associated with steady bullish markets. Bitcoin’s volatility index, BVIV, fell to 38.5 on Friday, its lowest level since June 6.On Deribit, demand for put options is weakening as rising prices reduce downside concerns. The most actively traded contracts include $62,000, $65,000, and $67,000 call options, along with a $56,000 put option. Call options are typically favored by traders expecting further upside.Tokens in focusLighter remains one of the standout tokens of recent weeks. The token gained more than 5% on Friday and has rallied over 200% since May 16. Lighter is a decentralized derivatives exchange that recently signed a partnership with Robinhood Chain, aiming to bring its product to the brokerage's 28 million customers.Rival Hyperliquid has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the perpetual futures trading boom in 2026. After reaching a record high of $76 last month and pulling back, the HYPE token climbed 2.8% on Friday to $68. The series of higher lows suggests buyers remain firmly in control.AI-related tokens, on the other hand, have lagged behind after their strong performance during the first half of the year. Bittensor traded flat on Friday even as the broader crypto market moved higher.
Bitcoin Slips Slightly Ahead of Fed Minutes
The U.S. Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its June 16-17 meeting today, Wednesday, at 2:00 p.m. ET. For those expecting a rate hike in September, the text may offer less than they hope.Chair Kevin Warsh did not share his own rate projection during this period. The post-meeting statement was only 130 words long, and forward guidance was removed entirely. That leaves the minutes as the only detailed record available on the debate inside the committee.A committee split between hawks and dovesThe FOMC held rates steady at a range of 3.50% to 3.75% on June 17. It was the fourth consecutive hold. Nine of the 18 members projected at least one rate hike for 2026, while Warsh did not put forward his own forecast.The committee held this meeting before the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the June jobs report. The report showed only 57,000 new jobs, marking the weakest reading in four months. Any hawkish tone in the minutes may still reflect a labor market that looked strong at the time. The weaker picture emerged only days later.The CME FedWatch tool currently prices the probability of a September rate hike in the 50% to 55% range. Before the weak employment data, that probability stood at 66%. Warsh addressed the issue directly at his press conference. He said inflation had remained above the Fed’s 2% target for more than five years and that this was a burden for the American people, while also adding that the recent past does not have to determine the future.Silence itself becomes the storySince taking office, Warsh has pushed for a simpler communication style. In his view, forward guidance makes the Fed more dependent on markets than on the data it is supposed to respond to.This preference makes Wednesday’s release unusually important, because there is no previous statement text to compare it with. Speaking at the Sintra forum in July, Warsh clarified his stance on inflation: investors should not expect the Fed under his leadership to become comfortable with inflation above 2%.Bitcoin feels the weight of rate uncertaintyCrypto markets are already reacting to this uncertainty. Bitcoin recently slipped to $61,766, losing close to 1%. Ethereum, XRP and Solana also fell between 1% and 2.3%. The sell-off is not driven by rate uncertainty alone. WTI crude futures rose more than 2% to $72.27, while the dollar index held above the 101 level. A stronger dollar and rising inflation expectations are pushing investors toward safer assets such as bonds, while drawing them away from riskier instruments like Bitcoin.If the minutes show how close the hawkish wing came to supporting a rate hike in June, this cautious mood in the crypto market may continue. Signals on the September rate decision will matter not only for bond and currency markets, but also for Bitcoin investors.A Fed led by a chair who prefers silence may leave both stock and crypto investors waiting for real clarity even after Wednesday.
Vanguard, Managing $12 Trillion, Builds Crypto Department
Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, has started looking for an executive who will build its cryptocurrency strategy from the ground up. According to a job posting published on the company’s careers page on July 6, the role will be responsible for creating a digital asset roadmap for Vanguard’s personal wealth management clients.For the company, which manages a $12 trillion portfolio, this marks the first example of a senior-level appointment specifically focused on crypto. The posting was listed under job code 179858 and offers a hybrid working model across Vanguard’s Malvern, Dallas, Scottsdale and Charlotte offices. Executive Will Engage With RegulatorsThe person hired for the role will work as a senior subject matter expert on digital assets within Vanguard’s personal wealth division. The scope of responsibility will not be limited to product development. Risk management and communication with regulatory authorities will also be part of the job description. According to internal sources, the executive’s main goal will be to build a scalable, end-to-end strategy.The move stands in contrast to Vanguard’s previous stance on crypto. When spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024, the company did not allow these products to be traded on its own platform. For a long time, executives described crypto assets as speculative.Shift Began After New CEO Took OverThe picture changed in December 2025. Vanguard opened its platform to third-party crypto ETFs and mutual funds. The decision gave more than 50 million brokerage clients access to funds that include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Solana.Behind this shift was Salim Ramji, who became CEO in July 2024 and was the first person appointed to lead the company from outside Vanguard. Ramji previously ran BlackRock’s iShares unit, which launched the iShares Bitcoin Trust. That fund had reached nearly $54 billion in assets under management as of March 31. Vanguard also became the largest shareholder of Strategy, the biggest Bitcoin treasury company, last year.No Plan Yet for Its Own ETFStill, Vanguard has not yet filed for its own crypto ETF. The company’s published investment guidance continues to prioritize assets with transparent cash flows and offers crypto exposure only through third-party products, similar to gold. BlackRock and Fidelity, meanwhile, operate their own spot Bitcoin funds. Competition among issuers has pushed fee rates down to as low as 0.14%.Client demand is also supported by concrete data. U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs reached $74.37 billion in net assets as of July 2. On the same day, the funds recorded $221.72 million in inflows after a 10-day outflow streak. At the time of writing, total net assets had risen to $77.32 billion.
