Bitcoin’s $80,000 rebound lifts crypto stocks as Circle, Strategy and Solana show how capital markets, stablecoins and onchain growth are driving crypto’s recovery. Bitcoin’s return above $80,000 is exposing just how much the crypto industry now runs through traditional capital markets. Michael Saylor’s Strategy needs a receptive market to finance its Bitcoin machine (BTC), Circle’s outlook increasingly resembles a bet on the growth of dollar-denominated financial infrastructure and Treasury bond buybacks helped provide the backdrop for the latest surge in crypto equities. This week’s Crypto Biz looks at how that relationship is reshaping the companies, balance sheets and networks behind the market’s rebound. Bitcoin’s rally above $80,000 lifted crypto stocks as miners and digital asset tr…
Following a similar lawsuit filed by the Digital Chamber in July, two digital asset advocacy groups challenged Illinois’ 0.2% crypto tax on constitutional and due process grounds. The Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) and Blockchain Association (BA) filed a lawsuit against Illinois officials regarding the state’s 0.2% tax on cryptocurrency, expected to be enforced starting in January 2027. In a lawsuit filed Friday in the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit for Sangamon County, lawyers for the two crypto advocacy groups challenged Illinois’ digital asset tax on the grounds it violated the US Constitution, the state’s constitution, federal and state due process laws and the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the measure into law as a “privile…
Bitcoin rallied as Treasury bond buybacks fueled the “not-QE” trade, while Metaplanet expanded to the US and Cypherpunk made a $33 million Zcash mining bet. Bitcoin and the broader digital asset market got a taste of “not-QE” this week — and liked it. The price of Bitcoin (BTC) jumped more than 23% toward $79,000 and Ether’s price crossed $2,400 after the US Treasury moved to double certain long-dated bond buybacks, adding fuel to an increasingly important question for digital asset markets. If Washington keeps finding new ways to support liquidity without technically embarking on quantitative easing, could Bitcoin and other risk assets become some of the biggest beneficiaries? That question is already shaping business decisions across crypto. Standard Chartered sees Bitcoin heading toward…
While Webull reported a record $198 million in second-quarter revenue, cryptocurrency trading only generated about $2.25 million of the quarter’s revenue stream. Webull said Wednesday that cryptocurrency trading accounted for $2.25 million, or a little over 1% of the platform’s record $198 million revenue for the second quarter of 2026. Revenue for the period was up 51% year-over-year, according to online brokerage and digital trading platform’s Wednesday earnings release. That’s as equity and options trading generated $112 million of the quarterly income, or about 56% of the total $198 million.
Bitcoin approached $72,000 in a second day of upside as crypto short liquidations passed $3.1 billion. Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins are breaking records as short position liquidations pass $3 billion over two days. Key points:
A Fairshake spokesperson said that the PAC was “just getting started“ on its expenditures as part of efforts to fill US Congress with lawmakers friendly to the crypto industry. Update (Aug. 19, 8:27 pm UTC): This article has been updated to clarify that Lois Frankel won the Democratic primary in Florida’s 23rd congressional district and not re-election. Four of the five candidates supported by ads funded by the cryptocurrency-aligned political action committee (PAC) Fairshake won their primaries or otherwise advanced on Tuesday, potentially a bellwether for the industry’s influence in the 2026 midterm elections. On Tuesday, Democratic and Republican candidates supported by media funded by the Fairshake-affiliated PACs Protect Progress and Defend American Jobs, respectively, notched wins ac…
A $116 million Bitcoin wallet exploit puts self-custody under scrutiny as ETF inflows rebound, Strategy eyes more BTC and miners chase billions in AI deals. A $116 million hardware wallet exploit has reopened one of Bitcoin’s oldest debates: Is holding your own keys worth the risk? Days later, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their strongest inflows since April, prompting Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas to wonder whether security scares could eventually push more investors away from self-custody and toward ETFs. Elsewhere, Strategy is preparing to resume Bitcoin purchases after a rare bout of selling, Riot Platforms is reportedly turning its mining infrastructure into a $9 billion AI deal, and Trump Media is rethinking its crypto treasury strategy after a $238 million quarterly loss. Strateg…
Crypto acceptance was just 0.2% online and remained below 1% at physical points of sale, while mobile payments gained ground. Crypto remains a marginal payment option among euro area businesses even as other forms of digital payments gain ground, according to a new European Central Bank (ECB) report. Just 0.2% of companies selling goods and services online accept crypto assets, the ECB said in its survey on companies’ cash use, published Thursday. Cash remains the most widely accepted payment method, with 92% of companies with physical points of sale accepting it. The ECB surveyed 8,205 businesses across the 21 euro area countries, covering retail, restaurants and cafes, hotels, and arts, entertainment and recreation. Market research firm Ipsos conducted the telephone interviews from Feb.…
The Blockchain Association argues the Fed should not have broad discretion to deny eligible state-chartered banks direct access to its payment system. The Blockchain Association urged the US Supreme Court to hear Custodia Bank’s challenge to the Federal Reserve’s denial of its application for a master account, which would give the crypto-focused bank direct access to the Fed’s payment system. In an amicus brief filed Wednesday, the industry group argued that federal law requires the central bank to make its payment services available to eligible nonmember banks and that the Fed should not have broad discretion to deny access. The association said the appeals court’s decision effectively gives the Fed veto power over state-chartered banks by allowing it to withhold services needed to operat…
Bitwise’s Matt Hougan expects revenue-capture mechanisms to spread across DeFi applications and layer-1 networks over the next 12 to 24 months. Crypto valuations could at least double as protocols increasingly use revenue to fund token buybacks and burns, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan. On Wednesday, Hougan said crypto outside of Bitcoin is becoming a revenue-driven market in which network activity feeds into native-token value. He said investors have not priced in that change, leaving some crypto assets undervalued. Hougan pointed to Hyperliquid, Uniswap, Aave, Pump.fun and Lighter, protocols that use fees to repurchase or remove tokens from circulation. He said he expects decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and layer-1 networks to adopt similar revenue-c…
The Bitcoin Policy Institute and other industry participants urged AI companies to offer early access to their frontier models to aid Bitcoin and open-source developers in their cybersecurity efforts. A group of cryptocurrency companies has urged frontier artificial intelligence (AI) labs to give Bitcoin developers early access to their most capable models. The letter, published by the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) on Monday, said many digital asset defenders, including Bitcoin Core developers, lack access to lab cyber programs and can be blocked by guardrails on publicly available frontier systems, leaving them to rely on less capable open-weight models. The signatories urged frontier AI labs to “establish or expand standing trusted-access programs for qualified defenders of open-source…
Bad actors with access to a cryptography-breaking quantum computer probably won’t try to announce it to the world by hacking Satoshi Nakamoto’s high-profile Bitcoin wallets, crypto executives say. The first sign that quantum computing has broken modern cryptography probably won’t be a splashy theft of Satoshi Nakamoto’s dormant Bitcoin. It could just be a wave of unrelated crypto wallet breaches with no trace of how an attacker did it, according to the founder of blockchain startup Quantus. “When someone cracks your key, you don’t get a memo saying how they did it,” Christopher Smith, CEO and co-founder of Quantus Network, told Cointelegraph. A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could derive a private key from public keys exposed onchain, allowing an attacker to move funds without com…
The president’s company will unwind an agreement with Crypto.com to create a multibillion-dollar CRO treasury and reportedly not integrate prediction markets onto Truth Social. US President Donald Trump’s company, the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), is pulling back from a deal with the Crypto.com exchange to instead focus on a merger with energy company TAE. First reported by Axios on Friday, TMTG interim CEO Kevin McGurn said that the company would pull back from two Crypto.com deals aimed at creating a $6.4 billion CRO treasury and integrating prediction markets into its Truth Social platform. The Trump media company, crypto exchange, and special purpose acquisition company Yorkville Acquisition Corp said “prevailing market conditions and shifting business and stakeholder priori…
Crypto business is converging with banking as stablecoin reserves, tokenized funds, Treasury income and balance sheet management become key profit drivers. At first glance, this week’s biggest business stories could have come straight from Wall Street. BlackRock launched tokenized money market funds for stablecoin reserves. Tether generated another $1.5 billion in profit from its US Treasury holdings. Tokenized gold continued gaining traction, though its use in decentralized finance remains limited. Even Bitcoin (BTC) mining was defined by production costs, profitability and balance sheet management rather than the price of Bitcoin. The digital asset industry’s business model is increasingly converging with traditional finance. Stablecoin reserves, tokenized money market funds and onchain…
Wintermute said the registration allows the firm to position itself for the growth of tokenized securities in the US. Wintermute’s US arm has registered as a broker-dealer, enabling the crypto trading firm to expand into traditional financial services in the US. On Thursday, Wintermute announced its affiliate Wintermute USA LLC has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The registration allows Wintermute USA to trade stocks and stock options and act as an authorized participant for exchange-traded products “including those tied to digital assets.” Wintermute said the registration allows the firm to position itself for the emerging tokenized securities landscape.
While only 12 of 46 documented attempts resulted in payment, data leaks and attacks on relatives are widening the physical risks facing crypto holders. Criminals stole more than $30 million through physical attacks on crypto holders in the first half of this year, putting the year on pace to surpass the record $58 million stolen in 2025. In a Chainalysis report released Thursday, the blockchain analytics firm said that 46 violent crypto-related incidents had been documented globally through late June, up from 40 during the same period in 2025. The incidents include kidnappings, home invasions and hostage situations, collectively known as “wrench attacks.” The findings suggest wrench attacks are increasing, expanding the risks facing crypto holders beyond custody and asset management to th…
Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP whales increased balances during market weakness, as CryptoQuant said large holders are absorbing supply ahead of a possible bottom. Large cryptocurrency holders are accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as valuations approach levels associated with the final stage of a bear market, according to CryptoQuant. Rising whale balances during price weakness can reduce available supply and concentrate ownership among larger holders, the blockchain analytics company said in its latest Smart Money report seen by Cointelegraph. Bitcoin whale holdings, excluding exchanges and mining pools, rose to about 3.06 million BTC from 2.87 million BTC in December 2025, with accumulation accelerating after Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 in June.
Crypto executives say restricting powerful AI models may initially be justified, but it doesn’t make sense as open-source alternatives become more capable. Many of crypto’s biggest players are still waiting to gain access to powerful new AI models to strengthen their code from attacks, with only a select few having been able to get it. US crypto exchange Coinbase said in June that it had secured access to Anthropic’s restricted Mythos model and Zcash’s Zooko Wilcox said Anthropic used the model to audit the Zcash protocol at the request of Shielded Labs, while other major crypto players are seemingly yet to get access. “That’s one advanced frontier model that hasn’t been made available to crypto just yet,” Binance’s chief security officer Jimmy Su told Cointelegraph. “We have been trying…
The Nasdaq-listed company relies largely on staking rewards to fund operations, while its 0G holdings were valued 91% below their recorded costs. Nasdaq-listed crypto treasury company ZeroStack warned that substantial doubt exists about its ability to continue operating over the next year, reversing its assessment from three months earlier. In a Form 10-Q filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, ZeroStack reported $2.6 million in cash, negative working capital of $600,000 and an accumulated deficit of $339.1 million as of June 30. The company also posted an $82.5 million fair value loss on digital assets and a net loss of $61.3 million for the first half of 2026. ZeroStack said its 75.1 million Zero Gravity (0G) tokens had an aggregate cost of $163.3 million a…
Michigan incumbent Shri Thanedar’s re-election bid against other Democratic candidates is getting more about crypto with an infusion of ads funded by an industry-aligned PAC. An affiliate of a political action committee (PAC) funded largely by contributions from cryptocurrency companies Ripple Labs and Coinbase has poured more cash into ads for next week’s primary race in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings as of Thursday, the Protect Progress PAC had spent more than a combined $2 million on media to support Michigan Representative Shri Thanedar in the state’s 13th district and oppose his Democratic challenger, Donavan McKinney. The most recent filings effectively doubled what the PAC had reported spending a week prior, with an ad…
