Standard Chartered said it is the first major global bank to offer institutional access to spot Bitcoin and Ether trading in the UAE region. London-headquartered multinational bank Standard Chartered has launched spot Bitcoin and Ether trading for institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), through its entity regulated by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The move makes Standard Chartered the first global bank to offer institutional digital asset trading in the region and the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) with a similar offering, the bank said in a Thursday announcement shared with Cointelegraph. Eligible institutional clients will be able to access spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading through Standard Chartered’s electronic trading channels integrated into the bank’s existing platforms. Read more
Ether’s breakout above $2,500 has put the spotlight back on corporate ETH treasuries, with Bitmine now nearing its long-stated accumulation target. Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies continued its accumulation of Ether last week, adding to its holdings as the cryptocurrency staged a sharp breakout following a prolonged downturn. The company disclosed Monday that it purchased 32,447 Ether (ETH) last week, bringing its total holdings to 5,847,611 ETH, or roughly 4.8% of Ethereum’s circulating supply. Bitmine has acquired ETH every week since launching its Ethereum treasury strategy on June 30, 2025, extending its buying streak to roughly 14 months. The company’s NYSE-traded shares were up about 8.7% to open the week, poised to extend their almost 28% gains over the past six months. Bitmine is now 97% of the way toward its stated goal of owning 5% of the ETH supply. It has also staked 5.07 million ETH, representing about 87% of its holdings, and reported combined crypto, cash, securities and other investme...
Bank Leumi customers will be able to buy, hold and sell three major cryptocurrencies directly through the bank’s investment app beginning in early 2027. Israel’s Bank Leumi has partnered with Galaxy Digital to let customers trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL) through the bank’s investment platform, with the service expected to launch in early 2027. The companies said Friday that customers of Leumi and Pepper, its mobile banking arm, will be able to buy, hold and sell the three cryptocurrencies through a dedicated section of the Leumi Trade app. Leumi and Galaxy said the rollout would make Leumi the first Israeli bank to offer digital asset trading services to customers. Leumi will use GalaxyOne Institutional for trading and related services, while Galaxy’s custody infrastructure platform, formerly known as GK8, will support the bank’s digital asset infrastructure. Read more
JPMorgan reported a 25% increase in its Bitcoin ETF position and more than quadrupled its Ether ETF position in the second quarter. JPMorgan’s reported position in BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund increased by about 25% in the second quarter, while its Ether ETF position more than quadrupled, according to its latest securities filing. The Form 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, submitted Wednesday, covers holdings as of June 30 and includes 17 other investment managers across JPMorgan. That makes it difficult to determine whether individual positions reflect a directional market view, Jonatan Randin, senior market analyst at PrimeXBT, told Cointelegraph. Read more
Russia’s central bank proposed allowing Bitcoin, Ether and USDT to trade on regulated exchanges, following a law signed by President Vladimir Putin last week. Russia’s central bank has compiled a proposed list of crypto assets that could be admitted to public trading on exchanges under new rules approved last week. The list includes Bitcoin, Ether and Tether’s stablecoin USDT, the Bank of Russia said Tuesday, adding that the assets meet criteria including market capitalization, average daily trading volume and at least five years of price history on overseas markets. The proposal follows a new law, signed by President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 4, that gives the Bank of Russia authority to determine which digital currencies can be admitted to organized trading and set related rules. Read more
Italy’s largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo increased its staked Ether ETF position to $7.1 million while reducing its holdings in two spot Bitcoin ETFs. Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banking group, tripled its position in an iShares staked Ether exchange-traded fund during the second quarter while reducing its position in the iShares spot Bitcoin ETF. The bank reported holding 349,600 shares of the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) worth $7.1 million as of June 30, according to Friday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That was up from 116,200 shares valued at $3.15 million at the end of March. Intesa retained 3.47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) worth $67.6 million, its largest crypto-linked holding in the filing. The share count was down about 4% from the first quarter. Read more
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $32.1 million in inflows on Wednesday despite Bitcoin dipping below $64,000, ending a four-session outflow streak. US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) ended a four-session outflow streak on Wednesday, recording $32.1 million in net inflows. After posting more than $500 million in combined outflows over four straight trading sessions, spot Bitcoin ETFs returned to positive territory despite Bitcoin briefly falling to around $63,300 during US trading hours, according to data from SoSoValue and CoinGecko. So far this week, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded net outflows of $29.29 million, while monthly net inflows have reached $204.7 million. Cumulative net inflows across the funds stand at $51.36 billion. Read more
The new exchange-traded products track Ether and Solana, offer staking rewards and follow the firm’s Bitcoin fund launched earlier this year. Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched Ether and Solana exchange-traded products, expanding its fund lineup beyond Bitcoin. The Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (NYSE Arca: MSSE) and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (NYSE Arca: MSOL) seek to track the performance of Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL), respectively, using the CoinDesk Ether Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate and CoinDesk Solana Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate. Both funds carry a 0.14% expense ratio and intend to stake a portion of their holdings, with staking rewards passed through to investors. Morgan Stanley said it will not retain any portion of the staking rewards earned by either fund. Read more
The new exchange-traded products track Ether and Solana, offer staking rewards and follow the firm’s Bitcoin fund launched earlier this year. Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched Ether and Solana exchange-traded products, expanding its fund lineup beyond Bitcoin. The Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (NYSE Arca: MSSE) and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (NYSE Arca: MSOL) seek to track the performance of Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL), respectively, using the CoinDesk Ether Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate and CoinDesk Solana Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate. Both funds carry a 0.14% expense ratio and intend to stake a portion of their holdings, with staking rewards passed through to investors. Morgan Stanley said it will not retain any portion of the staking rewards earned by either fund. Read more
The company added nearly 10,000 ETH over the past week, bringing its holdings to 5.79 million Ether, about 85% of which is staked through its validator operations. Bitmine Immersion Technologies said Monday it holds 5.79 million Ether, or about 4.8% of the cryptocurrency’s total supply, after purchasing nearly 10,000 ETH over the past week. Bitmine disclosed that about 4.9 million ETH (ETH), or roughly 85% of its holdings, are staked through its validator operations. The company projected annualized staking rewards of about $299 million once all of its Ether is deployed across its staking infrastructure and partner validators. The company’s crypto holdings, cash and marketable securities total $11.8 billion as of July 26. The latest purchases come as Ether has outperformed Bitcoin (BTC) over the past week. ETH has gained about 2.4% over the past seven days while Bitcoin has fallen roughly 0.7%, according to CoinGecko data. In Monday’s announcement, Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee said the rising ETH/BTC ratio, which...
Ether’s rally faces onchain headwinds, but rising staking demand and Google earnings could spark the push toward $2,100. Key takeaways: Ether (ETH) tested the $1,950 mark for the first time in seven weeks on Tuesday, triggering $62 million in liquidations across leveraged bearish positions. The move delivered 29% gains from the $1,500 low on June 26 and aligned with the broader risk-on mood that drove Bitcoin (BTC) above $66,500. Can ETH push through to $2,100? Read more
The Ethereum treasury firm added 7,430 ETH over the past week, bringing its holdings to nearly 5% of the network’s circulating supply. Top Ethereum treasury company Bitmine said Monday its Ether holdings had reached 5.78 million tokens, representing about 4.8% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, as the company closed in on its stated goal of accumulating 5% of all ETH. According to Monday’s announcement, the company added 7,430 ETH (ETH) over the past week. About 4.9 million ETH, or roughly 85% of its treasury, is currently staked through its validator network and partners. Bitmine valued its crypto, cash and marketable securities at $11.5 billion, including 207 Bitcoin and $385 million in cash and securities. The company also repurchased 5.5 million shares during the week under its previously authorized $4 billion buyback program. Read more
The transfers have raised questions over Trump’s Bitcoin reserve pledge, though deposits to Coinbase Prime do not confirm an impending sale. The US government moved nearly $300 million in seized Bitcoin and Ether to Coinbase Prime on Monday, renewing speculation that the assets could be sold. Data from Arkham shows 3,940 Bitcoin (BTC) (worth $243.95 million) and 30,014 Ether (ETH) (worth $53.09 million) were sent to Coinbase Prime on Monday. The funds were linked to several high-profile US government crypto seizures. “These coin movements were comprised of coins seized from ryan farace (“xanaxman”) and defunct crypto exchange btc-e,” said Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn, referring to the Bitcoin movements. The Ether is linked to Brian Krewson, an Oracle employee implicated in a $54 million crypto storage and money laundering scheme. Read more
ETH charts a path toward $2,000 as TradFi adoption, DAT buying and a long-awaited network upgrade boost investor interest. Key takeaways: Ether (ETH) price rallied 15% in five days, distancing itself from the $1,500 low hit on June 26. Part of the improvement in investor sentiment can be pinned to the final tests on Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade, targeted for later in 2026. Moreover, BitMine Immersion Technologies' continued Ether accumulation helped strengthen the support level. Will $2,000 come next? Read more
Bitmine's big buy contrasts with crypto treasury peer Strategy, which reported selling millions of dollars worth of its Bitcoin holdings on Monday. Bitmine Immersion Technologies, holding one of the largest Ether (ETH) stockpiles as part of its treasury strategy, said Monday it added of $74 million worth of the second-biggest crypto by market cap, in contrast with Strategy, a major Bitcoin (BTC) holder, which offloaded coins to fund its dividend payments. Bitmine said that it held 5,742,237 ETH as of Sunday, marking an increase of 42,197 Ether since it reported on its holdings last week. The ETH holdings were reported when the token was valued at about $1,759, making its most recent buys worth about $74 million. The price of ETH has since increased to $1,792 apiece at the time of publication. Bitmine chair Tom Lee said optimism about the passage of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act in the US was an “important milestone” that could allow “smart contract platforms like ethereum to benefit” among th...
Bitcoin and Ether bounced off multi-year lows as dip buyers finally stepped in, and the spot BTC ETFs saw a $221 million inflow on July 2. Bitcoin (BTC) rallied, $50 short of $63,000, on July 3, and Ether (ETH) outperformed the wider market, pushing to $1,775. The end-of-week rally comes a few days after BTC fell to a 21-month low and ETH sank to fresh year-to-date lows. Highlighting the negative sentiment, the Crypto Fear & Greed index registered “Extreme Fear” at 11 out of 100. Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me Read more
Bitmine purchased about $43 million worth of Ether last week as it entered the Russell 1000 Index, bringing it closer to its goal of owning 5% of ETH’s supply. Ether treasury company Bitmine Immersion Technologies added more than 27,000 Ether to its holdings last week as the firm joined the Russell index tracking the largest 1,000 US companies. Bitmine said Monday that after its latest $43 million purchase, it held just over 5.7 million Ether (ETH) bought at an average price of $1,569 per token and held 4.7% of the ETH supply of 120.7 million tokens, closer to its goal of owning 5% of Ether’s supply. Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said the past week “was a challenging one for crypto investors as ETH fell by 8%, even as Ethereum witnessed notable positive developments such as the creation of Ethlabs, and even the Bank of England softened its stance around stablecoins.” Read more