OpenAI Paying $3,200,000 In DOJ Settlement Over Hiring Discrimination

OpenAI is handing over $3.2 million to settle federal allegations that it favored foreign workers on temporary visas ahead of American job seekers.

The company and its subsidiary, Statsig Inc, reached the agreement with the Justice Department after investigators uncovered recruitment tactics that limited opportunities for US citizens, reports Politico.

Officials allege that certain roles went unadvertised on public websites while late-night postings and paper-only applications deterred US candidates during the recruitment process.

The settlement requires a $1.2 million civil penalty payment plus a $2 million fund for back pay to compensate “victims of the companies’ discriminatory practices,” along with mandatory training and ongoing oversight of hiring practices.

A spokesperson for OpenAI says global recruitment remains essential to its goals yet consented to the resolution to advance its immigration support efforts without further legal dispute.

“While we disagree with the DOJ’s findings, we reached this agreement to resolve the matter and move forward with our PERM program, which is critical for employees and candidates requiring immigration support.”

The PERM program gives employers a pathway to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency when they are unable to find qualified US workers after completing a good-faith recruitment process.

Even so, federal rules prohibit employers from favoring foreign workers over qualified US applicants or discriminating against American workers based on their citizenship during the hiring process.

The probe examined fewer than ten positions and represents the 13th enforcement action under a revived Justice Department program targeting citizenship discrimination in employment.

Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram

Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox

&nbsp

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any assets including cryptocurrencies, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Generated Image: Midjourney

The post OpenAI Paying $3,200,000 In DOJ Settlement Over Hiring Discrimination appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Go to Source

Binance sues RedotPay over alleged $473 million user losses: Report

Binance-linked companies sued RedotPay, accusing it of diverting more than 470,000 Binance Card users under a commercial deal and seeking nearly $473 million in damages.

Binance-affiliated companies have sued the founders of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency payments company RedotPay, alleging they diverted more than 470,000 users from Binance Card in breach of their commercial agreement.

The plaintiffs seek nearly $473 million in damages, alleging the conduct contributed to RedotPay’s valuation as it considers a potential initial public offering, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing a Hong Kong court filing it obtained.

According to the report, Binance Holdings affiliates Nest Trading, DistributedTechnologies and Chaintecs Consulting Singapore filed the petition against RedotPay co-founders Gao Zhangpeng, Chan Wa Choi and Yao Chao.

Read more

Go to Source

Circle Q2 revenue falls short of Wall Street estimates

Stablecoin issuer Circle reported $701 million in Q2 revenue, missing Wall Street estimates of about $713 million.

Stablecoin issuer Circle reported $701 million in revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 on Wednesday, narrowly missing preliminary Wall Street estimates.

Circle reported $701 million in total revenue and reserve income, up 7% year-over-year, according to its announcement. It also reported net income from continuing operations of $48 million, marking a $530 million year-on-year increase.

Circle also reported $668 million in reserve income, which increased 5% year-on-year, primarily due to a 25% increase in average USDC (USDC) circulation.

Read more

Go to Source

Bitcoin ETFs log inflows as cold wallet hack reignites custody debate

US spot Bitcoin ETFs drew $382 million in two-day inflows, with Galaxy’s Bitcoin ETF returning to gains as the Coldcard incident renewed custody concerns.

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are attracting fresh capital as a high-profile cryptocurrency custody incident puts renewed focus on digital asset security.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $211.5 million in net inflows on Tuesday, adding to Monday’s $170 million, according to data from SoSoValue.

The inflows came as the ongoing Coldcard hack drew attention from analysts, with Galaxy Research estimating that the attack may have affected as many as 7,300 addresses and resulted in about $130 million in suspected Bitcoin (BTC) losses from users of the hardware wallet.

Read more

Go to Source

S&P gives BlackRock tokenized reserve fund top stability rating

The rating recognizes the fund’s ability to maintain a stable net asset value, while S&P separately reaffirmed USDT among the lowest-rated stablecoins under its existing assessment framework.

S&P Global Ratings assigned its highest principal stability fund rating to BlackRock’s new tokenized money market fund.

The ratings provider assigned an “AAAm” rating to the BlackRock Daily Reinvestment Stablecoin Reserve Vehicle (BRSRV) on Monday, citing the creditworthiness of its investments and counterparties, its maturity structure and management’s ability to maintain a stable net asset value.

S&P said it identified “no weaknesses” in its qualitative assessment of BlackRock Advisors’ management and organization, credit research and analysis, risk management and compliance.

Read more

Go to Source

Ethereum (ETH) Price: Whale Stakes 112,000 ETH Worth $208 Million

TLDR

  • ETH is trading near $1,865.96, with a 24-hour volume of $7.53 billion and a market cap of $225.18 billion.
  • Ethereum has held a bullish structure since June but remains stuck between $1,850 and $1,950.
  • A wallet moved 19,000 ETH ($35.44 million) off Gemini and staked all of it.
  • The same whale has pulled 112,000 ETH (about $208 million) off exchanges over three weeks.
  • A break above $1,950 could open the path to $2,100; a drop below $1,850 risks $1,750.

Ethereum is trading at $1,865.96 at the time of writing. The token has a 24-hour trading volume of $7.53 billion and a market cap of $225.18 billion.

ETH has kept a bullish structure since June, but the climb has slowed. The price has spent weeks stuck in a narrow range.

Crypto analyst Daan Crypto Trades pointed this out in a post on X. He said Ethereum keeps printing higher lows, but buyers have not managed to push through resistance.

According to his post, ETH has traded between $1,850 and $1,950 for several weeks. Both levels are being watched closely by traders right now.

Whale Staking Activity

On-chain tracker Lookonchain shared data from Nazoku showing a wallet address, 0x2e80, moved 19,000 ETH off the Gemini exchange. That amount is worth close to $35.44 million.

The wallet staked the full amount right after the withdrawal. No portion of it was sold or moved elsewhere.

This move is part of a larger pattern. The same whale has withdrawn 112,000 ETH, worth roughly $208 million, from exchanges over the past three weeks.

Every batch of that ETH has gone straight into staking. None of it has returned to an exchange since.

Staking on this scale pulls tokens out of active circulation. Traders often read this as a sign of long-term holding rather than short-term trading.

Key Price Levels to Watch

$1,850 is currently acting as the main support level for ETH. $1,950 sits above it as the resistance ceiling traders are watching.

Ethereum Price on CoinGecko
Ethereum Price on CoinGecko

A move above $1,950 could open the door toward $2,100, based on the current price structure. A drop below $1,850 could expose the $1,750 level instead.

Bitcoin is also sitting in neutral territory at the moment. This is keeping the wider crypto market cautious rather than trending strongly in either direction.

ETH itself has moved little over the past 24 hours despite the whale activity. The price action remains flat even as staking numbers climb.

The most recent transfer, tracked by Lookonchain, moved 19,000 ETH off Gemini before it was staked. That single transaction pushed the three-week whale staking total to 112,000 ETH.

The post Ethereum (ETH) Price: Whale Stakes 112,000 ETH Worth $208 Million appeared first on Blockonomi.

Go to Source

On-chain options close in on crypto’s $21B-a-day perp market to deepen liquidity everywhere

A Bitcoin holder who wants less downside exposure today usually sells the asset or shorts a perpetual futures contract, taking on funding costs and liquidation risk. On-chain options offer a third path consisting of paying a fixed premium, keeping the Bitcoin, and handing the crash risk to whoever is willing to price it.

Crypto built deep markets for owning assets and for leveraging directional bets, leaving mostly untouched an equally deep market for managing the risk of holding them.

Options exchange Deribit has 85% market dominance for BTC and ETH options, and registered $2.5 billion in options volume in the past 24 hours, according to Coinbase, which closed its acquisition of the exchange that August. Open interest sits at $27.3 billion.

The picture looks different on-chain: OAK Research estimated in March 2026 that on-chain options trading accounts for roughly 0.2% of on-chain perpetual futures volume.

Spot and perpetual futures already give crypto investors the tools to own BTC or ETH outright or to take a directional bet with borrowed exposure. Options let an investor do something neither can, choosing which risk to keep and which to hand off.

A long-term holder can buy a put to protect against a crash without selling, while a fund can cap its maximum loss on a new bullish position by buying a call. A trader can buy a straddle to profit from volatility itself, and a treasury holding assets it has no plan to sell can collect income by selling a covered call.

Options convert risk that used to be all-or-nothing into something with a price, a date, and a buyer on the other side.

Market Main function How risk is reduced Main trade-off
Spot Own BTC or ETH outright Sell the asset Gives up upside and removes capital from the market
Perps Take leveraged long or short exposure Short the market Adds funding costs, margin pressure and liquidation risk
Options Transfer specific risk Buy protection or sell defined upside Requires paying or pricing an option premium
Structured options products Package risk management into vaults or notes Use preset hedges or income strategies Less control, product and counterparty design matter

How a deeper options market pulls in new capital

Without a deep options market, reducing risk usually means selling spot or shorting perps, both of which can pull capital out of the market or add liquidation-prone leverage. A put lets an investor keep the asset while paying someone else to hold part of the downside.

That keeps capital in the market through drawdowns while investors remain exposed to the asset and someone else prices the transferred downside.

Options market makers manage their own directional exposure by trading the underlying asset or its futures as prices move, which ties options liquidity directly to spot and perpetual markets.

Cheaper hedging lets those market makers quote tighter options, and tighter spreads draw more trading volume, which feeds more hedging flow back into spot and perps.

Spot activity depends on investors wanting to own the asset, and perp activity often depends on a directional bet. Options can attract different types of capital, as players such as volatility funds, market-neutral desks, insurers, income sellers, arbitrage desks, and structured-product issuers can all enter when volatility is mispriced, protection is expensive, or event risk is tradable. Those conditions exist even in a flat or falling market.

On-chain options also price uncertainty across strikes and dates, showing how much investors will pay for protection, where upside demand concentrates, and which dates the market expects to produce the largest moves.

That turns options into a forward-looking readout of how uncertain crypto is, beyond the price at any given moment.

Why on-chain options need the rails perps already built

DeFiLlama’s 2025 DeFi report put weekly perp volume at $250 billion to $300 billion in 2025, up from roughly $50 billion in 2024, while open interest nearly tripled to close to $90 billion.

Newer perp venues added exchange-grade matching, deeper order books, unified collateral and institutional-style risk engines on-chain.

When a trader buys an option, the market maker typically manages the resulting directional exposure by trading the underlying asset or its perp as the price moves. Market-structure research ties option spreads to how easily a market maker can hedge in the underlying market.

Perps can become the hedging engine that makes on-chain options viable.

DeFiLlama’s options dashboard shows on-chain options venue Derive crossing $1.2 billion in open interest, with on-chain options premium volume hitting a record above $51 million in March 2026.

Measured against roughly $21.4 billion in average daily on-chain perp volume, DeFi’s options market remains small enough that OAK Research put its share at about 0.2% of perp volume over the same period.

What on-chain perps already built Why options need it
Deep directional liquidity Market makers need cheap hedges
Fast execution Delta hedges must update as price moves
Always-open markets Crypto options need weekend and overnight hedging
Unified collateral Options books need efficient margin
Risk engines and liquidations Short-option exposure needs robust controls
Professional market makers Tight options markets need continuous quoting
Order books and RFQ infrastructure Options require pricing across many strikes and expiries

What an on-chain options boom could build

Protective puts would let long-term holders stay invested through a crash and cap the downside without having to sell into it.

Covered-call vaults would let holders earn income on assets they already planned to keep, while cash-secured puts would pay treasuries to buy assets at a lower price if the market gets there.

Liquidation would no longer be DeFi’s only downside backstop, with explicit protection available before a position is ever margin-called.

A 2026 paper on on-chain options argues that automated market makers transformed decentralized spot trading, but an equivalent standard has yet to emerge for options. Reliable options infrastructure needs high-frequency price oracles and dependable liquidation engines that most chains still lack, the paper says.

Block Scholes published a recent report on on-chain options that traces the sector’s early failures to thin liquidity, difficult hedging, weak market-maker participation and rough user experience.

The report says newer infrastructure such as central limit order books and request-for-quote systems is helping market makers quote specific strikes and expiries more reliably.

The more realistic path runs through vaults and structured products that hide the mechanics: a protected-BTC position, a fixed-yield note, or an embedded insurance policy that users never have to price themselves.

Dealer hedging can just as easily sharpen a move as soften one. Market makers who are short gamma around a crowded strike may need to sell as the price falls and buy as it rises, amplifying the swing already underway.

Product or market User it serves What changes on-chain Main risk
Protective puts Long-term BTC/ETH holders Users hedge crashes without selling spot Protection may be expensive during stress
Covered-call vaults Holders seeking income Upside is sold for premium Users cap gains in rallies
Cash-secured puts Treasuries and dip buyers Buyers get paid to enter lower Losses still occur if the market falls hard
Volatility vaults Yield seekers and market makers Volatility becomes a tradable DeFi asset Short-volatility strategies can blow up
Event-risk options Traders and funds CPI, Fed, ETF, and unlock risks can be priced directly Liquidity may concentrate around few dates
Embedded protection Retail and DeFi users Insurance-like hedges can be built into wallets, vaults or lending positions Users may not understand the hidden cost

What would have to go right for options to catch up

The bull case has perp liquidity, portfolio margin and market-maker participation deepening enough to support tight options pricing across more strikes and expiries.

Funds, treasuries and hedgers start using on-chain options the way they already use Deribit. They stay invested through volatility while someone else prices the downside. DeFi gains native hedging, volatility trading, and insurance-like products that do not require selling the underlying asset to manage risk.

The bear case has options staying too complex and spreads too wide for the liquidity to consolidate.
Strikes and expiries stay fragmented across chains and venues, and market makers, wary of thin hedging, keep quotes defensive.

On-chain options remain a niche market for professional desks, and most users continue to manage risk as they do now, through perps or by selling spot when volatility spikes.

Perps already made crypto leverage portable, and now options are what would make its risk portable too.

The post On-chain options close in on crypto’s $21B-a-day perp market to deepen liquidity everywhere appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Go to Source

If Ethereum’s proposed 54% reward cut passes, DeFi’s favorite loop threatens to become a daily loss machine

A newly proposed Ethereum staking reward cut, outlined in Ethereum Improvement Proposal 8361 (EIP-8361), would lower validators’ yield from 2.6% to about 1.2%, a 54% reduction phased in over 18 months. The mechanism is a burn: validators lose a larger share of their consensus reward as the total amount of staked ETH climbs, and the burned ETH disappears from supply.

At the proposal’s saturation point of 60.25 million ETH staked, roughly half of supply, the burn would cancel the consensus issuance a correctly performing validator would otherwise earn.

Priority fees and MEV sit outside it: the authors put that income at up to 0.20% today, against a consensus issuance that covers at least 93% of current staking yield.

That reward funds a chain of products that includes liquid staking tokens like stETH, whose yields are priced off it, leveraged staking loops that borrow against it, and lending markets from Aave to Pendle that set their rates around it.

Cutting the base forces every layer above to reprice.

Item Current setup Under EIP-8361 full curve Why DeFi users care
Consensus yield ~2.6% ~1.2% Base return for staking-linked products falls
Reduction ~54% Yield assumptions across LSTs and loops reset
Phase-in 18 months DeFi markets must adjust before the cut fully lands
Saturation point No burn cap 60.25M ETH staked Consensus issuance is canceled at roughly 50% staked
Priority fees + MEV Outside consensus issuance Still outside the burn Remaining return becomes more variable
Main trade-off Higher yield, more dilution Lower issuance, lower yield ETH becomes scarcer but less income-producing

Aave founder Stani Kulechov has warned that unpredictable or near-zero consensus yield could weaken institutional ETH demand, solo staking, ETH borrowing, and ETH-denominated DeFi.

Mike Silagadze from ether.fi has gone further, arguing that the proposal threatens staking-linked DeFi broadly and confidence in Ethereum’s ability to set its own monetary policy. Both reactions point to the leveraged ETH loop.

Why Kulechov says the Ethereum staking reward cut could erase ETH borrowing

A user deposits wstETH or another liquid staking token as collateral on Aave, borrows WETH against it, converts that WETH into more staked ETH, and deposits it again.

Aave’s case study on Lido describes this structure, and its E-Mode setting makes the loop capital-efficient by treating stETH and WETH as correlated assets.

Galaxy Research noted that debt grows faster than collateral once WETH borrowing costs exceed staking yield, raising the odds of liquidation.

At today’s 2.6% consensus yield and a WETH borrow rate near 1.5%, the unlevered spread runs about 1.1 percentage points positive. Drop the yield to 1.2% under the EIP’s full curve, and the same spread turns negative by roughly 0.3 points before any leverage applies.

At five times leverage, a trade that used to add income starts to cost the user money every day it stays open.

Kulechov added that the proposal removes one of DeFi’s largest recurring sources of demand for ETH borrowing. If loopers unwind their positions and repay WETH debt, borrowing utilization on Aave, Morpho and Spark falls, and lender APYs compress with it.

Lower utilization should also pull down WETH borrowing costs, which could eventually restore a smaller positive spread. Those borrowing costs would need to fall well below today’s levels before a 1.2% staking yield makes leveraged staking worth the risk again.

Step Before EIP-8361 full curve After EIP-8361 full curve
User deposits LST collateral wstETH / stETH earning ~2.6% wstETH / stETH earning ~1.2%
User borrows WETH Borrow cost near ~1.5% Borrow cost initially still near ~1.5%
Unlevered spread +1.1 percentage points -0.3 percentage points
5x loop effect Positive carry magnified Negative carry magnified
User incentive Add leverage or keep position open Unwind, repay WETH, or seek riskier yield
Lending-market result WETH borrow demand supports APYs Utilization falls, lender APYs compress

How the Ethereum staking reward cut could reach beyond Aave

Silagadze’s post argued that liquid staking tokens like Lido’s stETH and Rocket Pool’s rETH would see their headline yield fall alongside consensus issuance. Meanwhile, restaking tokens such as ether.fi’s weETH would lean harder on incentive and points programs to hold their edge.

Pendle, which lets users trade fixed and floating ETH yield directly, would reprice its PT and YT markets around the lower floating rate.

Automated ETH vaults that run loop strategies would need to cut leverage or take on more risk to defend their advertised returns, and Curve pools that support LST redemptions could see thinner secondary liquidity if loopers exit in size.

Solo stakers face a narrower version of the same math: their operating costs stay fixed while the reward covering them shrinks.

Silagadze’s claim that seven of the top ten DeFi protocols would face a capital exodus is his own assessment, not an independently modeled outcome. But the products he names, such as Aave, Morpho, Pendle, Lido, and ether.fi, all price a return that traces back to the same consensus reward EIP-8361 would burn.

Kulechov pointed to a smaller staking return that could push yield-seeking ETH holders toward stablecoins. If that happens, DeFi activity moves from ETH-denominated lending into stablecoin lending and fixed-yield products, while ETH-native staking and LST demand lose relative share within the same protocols.

The Ethereum staking reward cut reduces issuance, which benefits passive ETH holders by reducing dilution, while a lower yield pushes out investors who value ETH as a productive, income-generating asset. The available data does not show whether scarcity or income would have the greater effect on ETH’s price.

Why builders call the rollout rushed

EIP-8361 sits on GitHub as an open Core EIP awaiting editor review, and the authors posted it to the Ethereum Magicians forum roughly 48 hours before the Hegotá Proposed for Inclusion deadline.

One forum participant called that window inadequate for reviewing a monetary-policy proposal of this scale.

Jérôme de Tychey rejected the rushed-process framing. He said that “Proposed for Inclusion” opens debate, and that the proposal still needs a separate step to enter an upgrade.

Ethereum’s issuance debate has run since 2023, and an 18-month phase-in, combined with normal upgrade scheduling, gives the market roughly two years to adjust.

He also noted that the validator entry queue has been running near its cap. If entry stays saturated while few validators exit, staked ETH could pass 70 million, above 55% of supply, by Jan. 1, 2028.

In Tychey’s framing, acting now lets the market settle below the 50% saturation point on its own terms. Waiting risks a larger, more disruptive adjustment later.

DeFi segment Link to staking yield Bull-case adjustment Bear-case outcome
LSTs stETH/rETH yields track validator rewards Demand stabilizes at lower yield Headline yields fall and deposits slow
LRTs Restaking yield stacks on top of ETH staking Incentives and AVS rewards offset part of the cut Products lean harder on points or riskier rewards
Aave / Morpho / Spark ETH loops create WETH borrow demand Borrow rates fall enough to restore smaller spreads Loopers repay debt and lender APYs compress
Pendle PT/YT markets price fixed vs. floating ETH yield Markets reprice smoothly around lower base yield Floating-yield demand weakens sharply
ETH vaults Strategies automate looped staking exposure Vaults reduce leverage and returns Vaults chase riskier yield to maintain APYs
Curve / LST liquidity Secondary liquidity supports entries and exits Liquidity rotates but remains deep Exits thin LST pools and widen discounts
Solo stakers Rewards offset fixed operating costs Efficient operators remain viable Smaller operators face tighter margins

Two ways the leverage trade could settle

The bull case rests on timing working in the market’s favor. As loopers unwind, WETH utilization and borrowing costs fall quickly enough to rebuild a smaller positive spread of roughly 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points over the borrowing costs that larger loopers reportedly target.

Lower issuance attracts ETH buyers who value scarcity over yield, and DeFi lending markets settle around the new, lower floor without losing much ETH-denominated activity.

The bear case has the yield cut landing sooner than borrowing costs can catch up. Loops turn unprofitable before WETH utilization has time to fall and reprice lending rates, and LST and LRT demand drops as loopers exit for good.

Yield-seeking capital rotates into stablecoins and other chains. Ethereum ends up with a smaller, less ETH-native DeFi market than the one the proposal was written to protect.

Once the Ethereum staking reward cut activates, the burn schedule runs on a fixed timeline. WETH borrowing costs will adjust at whatever pace the market sets. That gap determines whether the leveraged-staking trade that fueled activity on Aave, Morpho, and Pendle survives the transition or disappears with it.

The post If Ethereum’s proposed 54% reward cut passes, DeFi’s favorite loop threatens to become a daily loss machine appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Go to Source

Coldcard’s $130 million crisis is pushing Bitcoin back into Wall Street’s hands

The Coldcard hardware wallet exploit has resulted in the theft of at least 1,596 BTC from about 7,300 addresses as users continue moving funds from potentially vulnerable wallets.

Galaxy Research said the confirmed losses came from three major attack waves and 14 smaller incidents.

The firm has also identified a possible fourth wave that could increase the total to 2,055 BTC, worth about $130 million, but has kept those addresses outside its confirmed estimate pending additional victim reports.

Coldcard Wallet Exploits Fund Movement
Coldcard Wallet Exploits Fund Movement (Source: Galaxy Research)

At least 73 victims have contacted Galaxy’s head of research, Alex Thorn, for help tracing their Bitcoin. Those reports helped researchers identify additional attack patterns and conclude that at least 15 attackers may now be exploiting the vulnerability.

About 90% of the stolen Bitcoin has not moved, while all coins linked to the first three confirmed waves remain at their initial attacker-controlled addresses.

Galaxy has shared the identified addresses with US law enforcement agencies, cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain investigation firms so the funds can be flagged if the attackers attempt to move them through centralized platforms.

The thefts stem from a flaw in Coldcard firmware dating to March 2021. A coding error caused some devices to generate recovery seeds using a weaker software process instead of drawing sufficient randomness from the hardware random-number generator.

The error left some seeds with far fewer possible combinations than intended, allowing attackers to reconstruct private keys remotely without obtaining the device or the owner’s recovery words. Updating the firmware prevents the creation of additional weak seeds, but it cannot protect a wallet whose recovery phrase was already generated through the flawed process.

Coldcard’s manufacturer, Coinkite, has urged users to install the security update, create a new seed, and transfer their Bitcoin. The threat remains active because every affected wallet remains exposed until its funds are moved to an address generated from a secure seed.

Coldcard migrations push Bitcoin activity to multi-month highs

That race to replace exposed seeds is now visible across the Bitcoin network, where activity has climbed to levels last seen during earlier periods of market stress.

Santiment data showed 712,000 active Bitcoin addresses over the past seven days, the highest in three months. Transactions worth more than $100,000 reached 61,800 during the same period, a five-month high.

Coldcard fear drives spike in Bitcoin network activity (Source: Santiment)

CryptoQuant said the Coldcard crisis was the main catalyst behind the increase as affected users moved coins into newly generated wallets, consolidated balances, or transferred funds to custodial platforms.

In a report shared with CryptoSlate, the firm stated that transactions valued below $100,000 reached $3.2 billion, their highest level since November 2024.

At the same time, spending by long-term holders outside exchanges rose to 406,000 BTC on a 30-day basis as of Aug. 3—up from 269,000 BTC before the exploit and the highest level since January.

Bitcoin Spending by Long-Term Holders (Source: CryptoQuant)

Those movements do not necessarily indicate that holders are selling. A transfer from a vulnerable Coldcard address to a newly secured wallet appears on-chain as spent Bitcoin even when ownership remains unchanged.

Notably, the rush also congested the network. Transactions waiting in Bitcoin’s mempool increased from about 33,000 to roughly 96,000, the highest level since June 20, as thousands of holders attempted to move funds at the same time.

Exchange inflows rise as phishing targets wallet migrations

Part of the migration has flowed into centralized exchanges as users seek an immediate destination for Bitcoin removed from vulnerable wallets.

CryptoQuant said deposits from smaller holders reached their highest level since Feb. 6. Some users appear to have moved funds into existing custodial accounts while deciding whether to create another self-custody wallet or switch hardware providers.

According to the firm’s data, total exchange reserves increased by about 17,500 BTC between July 28 and Aug. 3, rising from roughly 2.702 million BTC to 2.719 million BTC. Binance received about 51% of the net increase, with its reserves climbing by approximately 9,000 BTC to 659,000 BTC.

Bitcoin Exchange Reserve (Source: CryptoQuant)

The inflows increase the amount of Bitcoin immediately available for trading and could add to short-term sell-side pressure. However, they do not establish that holders intend to sell.

This is because some of the deposits may represent temporary custody arrangements while users replace exposed seeds and test new wallets.

Meanwhile, other holders are trying to retain direct control by generating fresh recovery phrases and transferring their Bitcoin into new self-custody wallets. That process has created another opening for criminals distributing fraudulent migration instructions and impersonating wallet support teams.

Trezor, a rival hardware wallet maker, warned that phishing attempts had increased following disclosure of the Coldcard flaw.

The firm told users never to share their recovery seeds or enter them into websites, applications or forms supplied through unsolicited messages.

The company said recovery words should only be entered directly on a Trezor device during wallet restoration. It also urged users to ignore migration instructions received through email, messages or phone calls and confirmed that its devices were not affected by the Coldcard incident.

The warning reflects the difficulty facing affected users. They must move their Bitcoin before attackers reconstruct their private keys while avoiding scammers attempting to obtain the recovery words directly.

Importing an existing weak seed into another device does not remove the vulnerability. Users must generate an entirely new recovery phrase and transfer the funds to an address derived from it, a more complex process than installing a firmware update or restoring an ordinary wallet.

Scammers can exploit that complexity by directing users to fraudulent applications, requesting recovery words for a supposed security check or providing an address they claim is safe.

ETFs gain an opening in Bitcoin’s custody debate

The movement toward exchanges and the growing risk surrounding wallet migrations have strengthened the argument for holding Bitcoin through regulated investment products.

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the Coldcard breach could encourage some investors, including long-term holders, to migrate toward spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Bitcoin supporters have traditionally criticized ETFs because investors do not control the underlying coins or private keys. Instead, institutional custodians hold the assets on behalf of the funds.

Balchunas said that arrangement may now appear more attractive when compared with relying on a small hardware wallet manufacturer. ETF issuers and their custodians are large financial institutions with decades of experience safeguarding client assets, while Coldcard is operated by a Canadian company with a small workforce.

Institutional custody does not eliminate the possibility of theft or operational failure. Balchunas said a successful attack on an ETF custodian would probably trigger an immediate regulatory investigation and a coordinated response involving the fund manager, custodian and law enforcement agencies.

There is no evidence that Coldcard users have directly purchased ETF shares as a result of the exploit. The increase in exchange deposits may also prove temporary as holders create new wallets and return to self-custody.

The breach has nonetheless changed the calculation for investors deciding where to keep their Bitcoin. Self-custody removes dependence on a bank, exchange or fund manager, but it also leaves users responsible for the hardware and software that create their private keys.

For holders now trying to escape weak seeds while avoiding phishing attacks, the institutional structure once criticized for placing Bitcoin in Wall Street’s hands may offer the simpler option.

The post Coldcard’s $130 million crisis is pushing Bitcoin back into Wall Street’s hands appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Go to Source

After suffering a brutal $265 million mass exit, seven different Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously roar back to life

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows rebounded to $170.1 million on Aug. 3 after a $265.4 million net outflow in the previous trading session on July 31. Seven of the 12 listed funds attracted cash, while five were flat. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total. The Bitcoin ETF inflow rebound reached more funds while remaining heavily concentrated.

Farside Investors’ daily flow table showed IBIT at $111.4 million and Fidelity’s FBTC at $33.4 million. EZBC added $9.2 million, while BTCO took in $6.7 million and HODL drew $4.5 million. BITB and ARKB added $2.8 million and $2.1 million, respectively.

BRRR, BTCW, MSBT, GBTC and BTC were flat. None of the 12 fund columns reported a net outflow, and the seven positive entries add exactly to Farside’s $170.1 million daily total.

The spread across seven funds marks broader participation for the session. Its concentration sets a tougher threshold for calling the move a durable recovery. IBIT accounted for about 65.5% of the total, while the other six positive funds combined for $58.7 million. BlackRock’s fund therefore remained the main source of net inflows even as more issuers participated.

Related Reading

BlackRock put $209M behind Bitcoin’s rebound but can it last?

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in roughly $266 million on July 6, with IBIT supplying about $209 million, making the next few sessions a test of whether ETF demand can keep supporting BTC.
Jul 7, 2026
·
Liam ‘Akiba’ Wright

The July 31 selloff reached across five funds. IBIT posted $122.7 million of net outflows, FBTC lost $54.8 million, GBTC recorded $52.6 million of redemptions, ARKB lost $17.5 million, and BITB lost $17.8 million. No fund reported a net inflow that session.

Related Reading

Bitcoin ETFs just bled $265M in a brutal 24 hours, and Ethereum’s supposed rescue is another BlackRock illusion

ETHB alone kept Ether funds positive, leaving the $9 million gain too concentrated to confirm broad rotation.
Aug 2, 2026
·
Liam ‘Akiba’ Wright

The Bitcoin ETF inflow rebound broadened, then vanished in one session

The same breadth appeared one trading day before the rout. On July 30, seven funds reported positive net flows, none reported a net outflow, and the group attracted $233.1 million. The positive-fund count then fell to zero on July 31 before returning to seven on Aug. 3.

That sequence shifts attention to persistence across complete sessions. Aug. 3 shows cash reaching beyond IBIT, while IBIT’s 65.5% share shows that the distribution remained top-heavy. Repeated positive contributions from multiple funds would provide stronger evidence of broadening than a single green row.

Related Reading

Bitcoin’s $64,000 rebound is outrunning ETF demand despite a $197 million inflow

Bitcoin rose above $64,000 during the week, while analysts said one week of ETF inflows was too little to establish a broader demand recovery.
Jul 12, 2026
·
Oluwapelumi Adejumo

The post After suffering a brutal $265 million mass exit, seven different Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously roar back to life appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Go to Source

The crypto project trying to replace the US banking system just pulled its 10 trillion token filing

American CryptoFed withdrew its second attempt to register the Locke governance token after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff found numerous material failures in its disclosure filing.

The Wyoming organization submitted the withdrawal request on Aug. 3, preventing its Form 10 registration statement from becoming effective automatically on Aug. 15 while the staff’s concerns remained unresolved.

American CryptoFed operates as a Wyoming nonprofit unincorporated association and describes itself as the successor to American CryptoFed DAO LLC.

Related Reading

Wyoming to recognize DAOs as legal entities under newly passed law

The bill recognizes the blockchain-related aspects of DAOs and has attracted praise from several members of the crypto industry.
Mar 8, 2024
·
Mike Dalton

The organization says its network is designed to address what it considers structural weaknesses in fractional reserve banking.

It argues that the US monetary system depends on extensive supervision from agencies including the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, alongside deposit insurance provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

American CryptoFed proposes replacing that structure with a token-based monetary system intended to operate without inflation, deflation, or transaction costs while supporting maximum employment.

Its constitution assigns Locke a governance role within that system, while Ducat would function as the payment token.

Locke is intended to operate on the Ethereum blockchain with a maximum supply of 10 trillion tokens. No Locke tokens had been issued, granted, or sold when American CryptoFed withdrew the filing.

On the other hand, Ducat would only have been launched if Locke’s value reached and sustained a value equivalent to $0.10 USD per token. However, American CryptoFed stated that there was no guarantee that Locke tokens would have any value.

Locke’s next route depends on unfinished SEC rules

The withdrawal leaves American CryptoFed without a current route to register Locke and without a ruling on whether the token falls under federal securities law.

American CryptoFed first sought to register Locke in 2021 through American CryptoFed DAO LLC, its now-dissolved predecessor. It attempted to withdraw the filing in July 2022 after the SEC opened administrative proceedings over alleged disclosure deficiencies.

The Commission dismissed those proceedings in February 2026 after determining that the withdrawal had been effective. However, it expressed no view on whether Locke or Ducat qualified as securities.

Related Reading

SEC makes huge U-turn, declares crypto tokens are ‘digital commodities’ after years of legal battles

A token can exit securities status when issuer promises end, but only if the original sale was registered or exempt.
Mar 18, 2026
·
Gino Matos

American CryptoFed said it could submit another filing under a potential SEC crypto framework identified as RIN 3235-AN38. The initiative was still classified as an economically significant proposed rule undergoing White House review as of Aug. 4, with no legal deadline for completion.

The SEC’s regulatory agenda says staff is considering recommending rules governing crypto-asset offerings that could include exemptions and safe harbors. No proposal had taken effect, and the agenda does not establish that Locke would qualify for any eventual exemption.

Indeed, SEC Chair Paul Atkins had also described a possible future framework where the safe harbor would provide crypto innovators bespoke pathways to raise capital in the US, while providing appropriate investor protections

Related Reading

The SEC just gave crypto its clearest win in years, but much of it could still be reversed

The agencies drew bright lines on tokens, staking, airdrops, mining, and wrapped assets, then warned they can revise it.
Mar 23, 2026
·
Gino Matos

However, the initiative remains a proposed rule rather than an operative exemption.

Therefore, any renewed Locke effort would require American CryptoFed to submit a new registration statement addressing the staff’s concerns or wait for a regulatory pathway that has been formally adopted and applies to its token model.

The post The crypto project trying to replace the US banking system just pulled its 10 trillion token filing appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Go to Source

Korea’s Stock Market Crashed 33%, Then Jumped 18%: Crypto Traders Still Broke

KOSPI performance over the last 30 daysSouth Korea’s KOSPI crashed more than 33% in July, its worst monthly drop on record, then reversed it with an 18% single-day surge on the last day of the month. A Historic Crash, Triggered by a Chip Shock The KOSPI’s July decline surpassed the single-month drops recorded during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the […]
Go to Source

Bitcoin Hovers Near $64,000 While Coldcard Losses Top $116M

Bitcoin is holding near $64,000 after a week that delivered a $116 million Coldcard wallet hack, fresh Strategy selling and a stalling Clarity Act. A Week of Very Bad News for Bitcoin By any normal standard, bitcoin should be falling. The Coldcard hardware wallet theft has topped $116 million, with waves of drains continuing since […]
Go to Source

Musk’s SpaceX Tops Forecasts But Bitcoin Stash Sheds $540 Million

Elon Musk’s SpaceX beat Wall Street revenue estimates in its first earnings report since June’s initial public offering (IPO), but the value of its 18,712 BTC treasury dropped $540 million in six months. Revenue Beats, Losses Narrow SpaceX delivered its first earnings report as a public company on Tuesday, and the headline numbers cleared Wall […]
Go to Source

Democrats Move to Block CLARITY Act Due to Stalled Ethics Talks

Senate Democrats plan to deny cloture on the Clarity Act, Punchbowl News reported, leaving the landmark crypto market structure bill short of 60 votes just days before the Aug. 7 recess. ‘They Don’t Want This to Happen’ Senate Democrats intend to deny cloture on the Clarity Act. The reason seems to be no visible progress […]
Go to Source

Please enter CoinGecko Free Api Key to get this plugin works.
Exit mobile version