Institutional investors accounted for 72% of Wintermute’s spot OTC flow in the first half of 2026 as capital clustered in fewer tokens and altcoin rallies became more selective. Crypto’s next altcoin season may produce fewer winners as institutional investors concentrate their activity in a narrower group of digital assets, according to crypto market maker Wintermute. In its over-the-counter (OTC) flow report for the first half of 2026, Wintermute said institutional counterparties generated 72% of spot flow across all tokens on its OTC desk, the highest share on record. That was up from 61% in the second half of 2025 and 59% in the first half of last year.
ARK Invest’s Lorenzo Valente says revenue is becoming increasingly concentrated among a handful of crypto protocols, setting the stage for more mergers, acquisitions and exchange closures. An ARK Invest analyst says the cryptocurrency industry is entering what he describes as its biggest consolidation phase yet, with revenue increasingly concentrated among a handful of dominant protocols. In a Wednesday post on X, Lorenzo Valente, a research associate at ARK Invest, said investors have become increasingly selective, making it harder for crypto projects and exchanges without strong product-market fit to attract capital. As weaker projects struggle or shut down, revenue is becoming concentrated among a small number of dominant protocols, he said. As evidence, Valente said perpetual futures e…
The service is limited to eligible UAE residents and bookings are priced and settled in dirhams. Emirates, the Dubai-based flagship carrier, has launched Crypto.com Pay on its website and app, enabling eligible United Arab Emirates residents make flight bookings with cryptocurrencies, the airline said Tuesday. Mobile users are sent to the Crypto.com app to authorize payment from their wallet, while desktop customers scan a QR code at checkout, the companies said in an announcement. Emirates settles in UAE dirhams rather than holding crypto, with Crypto.com handling the conversion. The move “reflects the rapidly evolving preferences of a younger, digitally fluent generation who manage their money and plan their journeys primarily from their phones,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ deputy presid…
While prediction market companies in the US continue to face legal battles between state and federal authorities, Robinhood is reportedly considering expanding its services. The company behind the cryptocurrency and stock trading app, Robinhood, is reportedly discussing plans to expand its existing prediction markets offering with crypto exchange Crypto.com. According to a Friday Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter, Robinhood was in talks with Crypto.com to place yes-or-no event contracts supplied by the exchange. The trading company launched its prediction markets hub in March 2025, initially facilitated by Kalshi in order to comply with regulatory requirements from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and later using ForecastEx and Rotella. T…
The window for US lawmakers to address a comprehensive crypto market structure bill before the 2026 elections is closing, and industry organizations are calling for action. The Crypto Council for Innovation, Digital Chamber and Blockchain Association wrote to US Senate leaders on Friday calling for the chamber to prioritize “floor consideration” of the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. In a Friday letter to Senator Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the three cryptocurrency advocacy groups urged consideration of the CLARITY Act, which Republican lawmakers have been pushing for a vote before the chamber breaks for state work periods in August. Although the bill has advanced through the Senate banking and agriculture committees, some lawmakers said they p…
Bitcoin ETF inflows, cooling AI momentum and potential regulatory progress under the CLARITY Act are fueling speculation that capital is rotating back into crypto. Crypto markets showed renewed signs of life this week as institutional investors fueled the longest streak of inflows into US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) since April and crypto-linked stocks rallied on optimism over US regulation. But the more intriguing story may be unfolding outside crypto: AI’s grip on speculative capital is beginning to loosen. After dominating markets for nearly two years, the AI trade is becoming more selective as investors distinguish between companies with sustainable earnings and those riding the hype cycle. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, or SOX, recently slipped into a technical be…
The research released by the organization said that crypto companies will directly or indirectly lead to 232,000 jobs across the entire US economy in 2026. Research from the National Cryptocurrency Association (NCA), an organization backed by Ripple Labs, broke down the economic impact of the entire crypto industry on the United States, estimating that salaries, worker spending and output will have contributed $55 billion this year. According to a report released Wednesday by the Pragmatic Policy Group on behalf of the NCA, the total economic contribution was based on direct, indirect and induced employment. Of the sectors to benefit from crypto’s economic contributions, the NCA said that investments in securities and commodity contracts were among the highest at $9.7 billion, while housin…
Donavan McKinney, running against Michigan incumbent Shri Thanedar, said that “the crypto lobby is paying my opponent back for helping Trump“ with the PAC-funded ads. An affiliate of the cryptocurrency-aligned political action committee (PAC) Fairshake is attempting to influence voters in a primary race for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, with about $1 million in media on the line. In filings with the US Federal Election Commission (FEC) as of Tuesday, the Protect Progress PAC had spent more than $986,000 on ads supportive of Democratic incumbent Shri Thanedar and opposing his challenger, Donavan McKinney. The reported expenditures came two weeks before the Democratic candidates were set to face off in an Aug. 4 primary to determine who will stand in the November general election.…
Bitcoin topped $67,000 while crypto stocks rallied on optimism over US crypto legislation and signs investors may be rotating out of AI trades. Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market looked poised for a recovery on Tuesday as progress on landmark US crypto legislation boosted sentiment, with analysts also pointing to a slowdown in the AI trade as a potential catalyst for capital rotating back into digital assets. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly climbed above $67,000 and Ether (ETH) neared $1,950, while crypto-related stocks rallied sharply. Coinbase shares rose 12%, American Bitcoin gained 14% and Cipher Digital jumped 17%. The gains came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said lawmakers were at the “1-yard line” on the long-debated CLARITY Act, which would define the regulatory roles…
Bitcoin topped $67,000 while crypto stocks rallied on optimism over US crypto legislation and signs investors may be rotating out of AI trades. Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market looked poised for a recovery on Tuesday as progress on landmark US crypto legislation boosted sentiment, with analysts also pointing to a slowdown in the AI trade as a potential catalyst for capital rotating back into digital assets. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly climbed above $67,000 and Ether (ETH) neared $1,950, while crypto-related stocks rallied sharply. Coinbase shares rose 12%, American Bitcoin gained 14% and Cipher Digital jumped 17%. The gains came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said lawmakers were at the “1-yard line” on the long-debated CLARITY Act, which would define the regulatory roles…
Institutional due diligence is shifting toward continuous monitoring, signer controls and incident readiness after operational failures accounted for most crypto losses. Institutional investors are looking beyond smart contract audits after traditional trust signals such as prior audits and operating history failed to predict which crypto projects would be exploited, according to Hacken. In its Q2 2026 Security & Compliance Report, Hacken said that only 9% of 1,427 tracked projects had third-party monitoring, while 4% combined monitoring with an active bug bounty and a security audit. The report highlighted that compromised keys, signers and infrastructure accounted for 88.3% of the roughly $764 million stolen during the quarter. Hacken said projects unable to provide ongoing evidence of…
Bolivia moves to recognize USDT amid a dollar shortage, while Bitcoin miners’ AI ambitions face fresh investor scrutiny. Stablecoins have long been pitched as a faster way to move dollars across borders. In Bolivia, they’re increasingly becoming a way to access dollars in the first place. The country’s recent proposal to recognize Tether’s USDt (USDT) for payments underscores how economic instability is driving adoption in many emerging markets. Elsewhere, Bitcoin miners are discovering that pivoting to AI infrastructure may unlock new revenue streams, but it doesn’t shield them from investor scrutiny. Bolivia is considering a regulatory framework that would recognize Tether’s USDT as a payment currency, marking another step in the country’s push to integrate digital assets into its finan…
The launch gives Bybit a locally operated platform in one of Asia’s largest crypto markets, home to more than 21 million crypto exchange users. Crypto exchange Bybit announced Thursday it has launched a locally operated platform in Indonesia after acquiring a majority stake in digital asset firm PT Enkripsi Teknologi Handal, formerly known as NOBI. The deal saw NOBI rebranded as Bybit Indonesia. The crypto exchange said it plans to introduce its services in phases, starting with 500 cryptocurrency trading pairs. The exchange will be led by Lawrence Samantha, who will serve as CEO and Dionisius Evan, who serves as chief operating officer, both formerly senior executives at NOBI.
Crypto exchanges have increasingly positioned themselves as bridges between digital asset markets and traditional finance. Crypto exchange Crypto.com on Thursday announced it has secured a $400 million investment from global market maker Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation. The investment comes amid growing institutional demand for tokenized real-world assets, including stablecoins and tokenized stocks. Crypto exchanges have increasingly positioned themselves as bridges between digital asset markets and traditional finance. The funding is expected to support Crypto.com’s expansion across “all asset classes,” including tokenized securities and derivatives, the company said in a statement Thursday.
AMLA is expanding its crypto oversight as firms complete the transition to the EU’s MiCA licensing regime. Mass user migration following the end of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) transitional period could strain compliance at virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in the European Union, according to Bruna Szego, chair of the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA). “Because we know customers will rush to withdraw, this will put additional pressure on these VASPs,” Szego said during a Wednesday briefing with the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Szego said firms winding down their EU operations could come under pressure as customers rush to withdraw, while licensed crypto companies could face onbo…
Stablecoins are carving out specialized roles as regulation reshapes the market, while Strategy’s Bitcoin sale and Vanguard’s tokenization push highlight crypto’s evolving financial landscape. Crypto’s infrastructure is starting to look a lot more like traditional finance. New data from Dune shows that the world’s stablecoin leaders — Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC — are no longer competing for the same users, with each now dominating a different corner of the market. Meanwhile, demand for MiCA-compliant euro stablecoins is accelerating, hinting that the stablecoin economy is slowly expanding beyond the US dollar. Elsewhere in Crypto Biz, Strategy reignited debate over its “never sell” philosophy after offloading more than $200 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to fund shareholder dividends, while…
Crypto venture firm Paradigm is widening its investment gaze toward AI and other frontier industries with its latest fund. Paradigm has raised $1.2 billion for its fourth fund, which will expand the crypto venture capital firm’s investments into artificial intelligence and related technologies. The company said on Wednesday that its latest fund will invest “first in crypto, and now across AI, robotics and other frontiers.” “We continue investing in crypto and the reinvention of markets and the financial system,” Paradigm added, highlighting its investments in the crypto perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid and the prediction markets platform Kalshi.
The size and scope of the US stock market “gives policymakers a strong incentive to backstop major drawdowns,” said Bitget Wallet COO, Alvin Kan. Crypto markets could benefit from increased liquidity if the US central bank steps in to support the $75 trillion equity market in a bear market, as it is "too big and too important to fail,” according to analysts. The US equity market has grown by 68% over the past five years and has added roughly $6 trillion in market value so far this year. However, analysts and experts, such as goldbug Peter Schiff, have warned that years of rapid growth could be setting up the market for a major correction. Such a correction could see the Fed "break decades of precedent" and buy equity ETFs to support the stock market, Bloomberg's ETF expert Eric Balchunas s…
Crypto exploits rose 59% quarter-on-quarter to $807.5 million in Q2, due partly to the KelpDAO and Drift Protocol exploits, which came at the hands of North Korean hackers. Crypto losses fell 46.8% year-on-year to $1.32 billion in the first half of 2026, but crypto security firm CertiK says the drop is misleading, warning that attackers are becoming more sophisticated and destructive. Phishing drove the bulk of losses in the first quarter, totaling $508.2 million. Wallet compromises were the biggest attack vector in the second quarter, contributing to $807.5 million in losses, CertiK said in a report. More than 70% of the losses in Q2 came from the KelpDAO and Drift Protocol hacks, which are believed to have been carried out by North Korean state-sponsored hackers.
Strategy authorizes Bitcoin sales, Open USD takes on USDT and USDC, Fidelity defends Bitcoin security and crypto ramps up political spending for 2026. For years, Michael Saylor’s Strategy built its brand around a simple mantra: Buy Bitcoin. Never sell. This week, that narrative changed. The company authorized up to $1.25 billion in Bitcoin sales under a new capital framework. At current prices, that equates to roughly 21,000 BTC that could eventually hit the market — a reminder that even Bitcoin’s most committed corporate holder isn’t immune to the realities of capital management. This week’s Crypto Biz explores how the digital asset industry is entering a more pragmatic phase, where ideological purity is giving way to financial discipline. It also examines the intensifying stablecoin ra…
