Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Bitcoin cold-wallet attack spreads to 4,500 addresses as losses near $89 million

The attacker working through Coldcard-generated keys is now emptying wallets worth a few thousand dollars each.　　Galaxy Research flagged a third wave of sweeps early Sunday, roughly 208 bitcoin drained from 1,912 addresses between Friday midday and Saturday morning UTC.　　That is just over a tenth of a bitcoin per victim. The July 30 opening wave averaged close to a full coin, 1,083 bitcoin from 1,196 addresses in 41 minutes.　　Observed losses across all three waves now total 1,367 bitcoin, nearly $89 million, from 4,585 addresses.　　Wave three sends each victims coins to its own destination rather than the handful of shared collector addresses that made the first two easy to map, and parks them in pay-to-witness-script-hash outputs, a format that can carry multisignature or timelock conditions, instead of the plain single-key outputs used before.　　It batched an average of six victims into each sweep where wave one took exactly one at a time, and it scanned only the default derivation path, the standard branch of the key tree a wallet checks first, instead of testing several branches per seed.

08-01Industry

Strategy to increase Bitcoin sales to $5B – Will the 4X selling pressure affect BTC？

The world‘s largest Bitcoin treasury firm, Strategy, plans to increase its Bitcoin sales fourfold to $5B. During its earnings report call on Thursday, Strategy’s President and CEO Phong Le reiterated that,　　Our intent is to sell Bitcoin for three reasons when we think its appropriate for the company.　　First, theyll increase their U.S dollar reserve by up to $1.25B to bring the total cash buffer to $5B or about 3 years of coverage.　　This is the coverage target initially recommended by JPMorgan analysts. But the bank urged use of MSTR sales, not BTC.　　Source: Yahoo　　Secondly, it will fund annual dividend payments, linked to Stretch [STRC] and other preferred stocks. For this, Strategy is eyeing $1.76B funding from BTC sales. Finally, Phong Le said theyll use an extra $2B to drive the repurchase programs of its stocks.　　Collectively, this brings the planned crypto sales to $5.01B-A 4X increase from its initial Bitcoin monetization program set at $1.25B earlier in July.　　Will Strategy‘s sales affect BTC’s price？　　Worth noting, the firm had previously sold $216M to fund dividend obligations. At that time, the market was pricing only the $1.25B sales program. In fact, Grayscale said that the plan would “restore confidence” in Strategys financing structure and help BTC form

08-01Industry

Tethers Reserve Buffer Cut In Half As Undisclosed Comprehensive Loss Exceeds $4 Billion

The latest reserve attestation from Tether, the issuer of the worlds dominant stablecoin, reveals a shrinking financial cushion at a time when lawmakers in Washington debate the contours of stablecoin regulation. Excess reserves that stood at a record $8.23 billion at the end of March collapsed to $4.11 billion by June 30, a 50% drop detailed in a disclosure first reported by WuBlockchain. The halving of this buffer removes a layer of protection that many traders and protocols count on.　　Tethers income statement appears healthy on the surface. The company booked $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the second quarter. But the comprehensive financial result for the first six months — a metric that folds in unrealized gains and losses — landed at negative $3.17 billion. Paired with the previously reported Q1 net profit of about $1.04 billion, the arithmetic points to a comprehensive quarterly loss that comfortably exceeded $4 billion. Tether offered no breakdown of what drove the swing beyond the existence of unrealized losses, leaving the composition of those paper losses opaque.　　Collateral Mix Under the Microscope　　The sharp drop in excess reserves puts the quality and liquidity of Tether‘s backing assets back into focus. While the firm has gradually

08-01Industry

Crypto Wallet Security: Lessons from Coldcard Seed Flaw

Changpeng Zhao says even the most trusted names in hardware storage cant guarantee full protection, and a newly discovered Coldcard flaw is proving his point. “Nothing is 100%,” the Binance founder wrote on X on August 1, urging crypto holders to stop relying on a single device or seed phrase. His warning followed a Bitcoin theft that exploited predictable key generation inside some Coldcard wallets, a case that has reopened a hard conversation about crypto wallet securityand whether offline storage alone is enough to keep funds safe.　　The incident didnt involve stolen devices, phishing links, or careless owners handing over recovery phrases. Instead, it traced back to a flaw buried in firmware that generated wallet seeds using predictable data instead of true randomness. That distinction matters: the failure happened at the moment a wallet was created, long before any transaction was ever signed.　　Key takeawaysChangpeng Zhao said no crypto wallet is fully safe after a Coldcard seed flaw was exposed, urging users to split funds across multiple wallets.A firmware bug caused some Coldcard devices to generate predictable seeds instead of using true hardware randomness.Attackers stole roughly 594 BTC from about 500 wallets in a 25-minute window; Across 1,196 addresses, Galaxy Research subsequently

08-01Industry

Strives Joe Burnett points to institutional custody after Coldcard exploit

The Vice President of Bitcoin Strategy at Strive, Joe Burnett, described the past week as “possibly one of the worst weeks in the history of Bitcoin.” 　　The statement suggested that large holders ought to trust institutional custodians more than hardware wallets.　　Why did Strive‘s VP of strategy call out the worst week in Bitcoin’s history？　　A firmware exploit led to the loss of ~1,082 BTC, worth about $70 million, from Coldcard hardware wallets.　　The theft caused Burnett to warn large holders about hardware wallets, encouraging institutional custodians instead. The thief pounced on weak seed randomness before carting away users funds.　　The flaw was found in version 4.0.0. Coinkite shipped that version from a code commit on March 1, 2021, and patched it in version 4.21. Coinkite is the company behind Coldcard.　　The price of Bitcoin stayed more or less the same, hovering around $63,000 through the weekend. Although Santiment recorded the most negative Bitcoin social sentiment ever, a reaction that could be traced to the horror of watched-over keys failing.　　Why Burnett says the setup was more critical than the mistake　　What caused Burnett to be uneasy wasnt carelessness per se. According to Burnett, victims of the attack purchased a genuine device, generating their seed offline and

08-01Industry

BOJ intervenes to defend yen near 160, holds rates steady

Japans central bank held interest rates steady at 1.0% on Friday after a reported major intervention in the yen.　　Key points:Japan holds interest rates at 1.0%, following market expectations.Both Japan and South Koreas central banks reportedly engage in currency interventions, as the JPY briefly gains 3.5% overnight.Bank of Japan warns of incoming CPI inflation headwinds in the second half of the year.　　Yen rises up to 3.5% as Korea joins intervention　　In its latest statement, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) revealed broad consensus among officials for holding rates at current levels — an outcome that markets had anticipated in advance.　　“The Bank will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 1.0 percent,” it confirmed.　　Eight out of nine members of the banks Policy Board voted for the outcome, with only Hajime Takata proposing a 0.25% rate hike.　　Japans benchmark rate remains at its highest levels since 1995, with the BoJ meeting result coming just hours after the yen saw snap volatility. Against the US dollar, the currency rose by as much as 3.5% on Thursday, per data from TradingView, in a move that has widely been attributed to central bank intervention　　The BoJ did not officially comment on the latest moves, which coincided with

08-01Industry

Japan, US Plot Yen Rescue as Speculators Face Reckoning

Key TakeawaysJapan and the U.S. may unveil a joint yen policy next week, Kyodo News and CNBC reports.Japan sold up to $58.97 billion on July 30 in its largest one day yen move since 2022.Bessents notepad showed plans to buy $5-10 billion in yen, Reuters photographed.　　Japan Strikes First, Buying Nearly $59 Billion in a Day　　The move follows a dramatic week of currency action. On July 30, Japan‘s Ministry of Finance sold as much as $58.97 billion to buy yen in a single day, according to central bank data, marking the currency’s largest one-day gain against the dollar since 2022. The yen jumped from near 164 per dollar toward the upper 150s.　　Treasury Steps In Behind Tokyo　　A day later, the U.S. Treasury told major banks to prepare for possible intervention of its own, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Financial Times (FT) later reported that the New York Federal Reserve had sold euros to buy yen through banks including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.　　It would be Washington‘s first direct move to support the yen in more than a decade, since coordinated Group of Seven action after Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami.　　Bessents Notepad Confirms the Plan　　A Reuters photograph added visual

08-01Industry

How bitcoin cold wallets lost $70 million in an attack that never touched the devices

Every step of that runs on the attackers machine. The victims device is not involved at any point and could be powered off in a safe on another continent.　　Galaxys breakdown shows the process running. Of the drained wallets, 1,183 used the modern native segwit address format, seven used an older standard and six an older one still. Nobody targets a specific victim across three address formats at once.　　That is systematic enumeration, checking each candidate seed against every path it might have produced. The operator can widen the search, refine it and return whenever they choose.　　Galaxy warned further waves are likely if owners do not move their funds.　　The victims span three address formats, which is what a scanner looks like. (Shaurya Malwa/CoinDesk)　　Nor can an owner determine whether they are exposed. There is no test to run against your own wallet that reveals whether your seed sits inside the reproducible range.　　Attack might not be fully finished　　Coinkite, Coldcards maker, has warned Mk3 owners and says its newer devices are unaffected, while Blocks report places the Mk2, Mk4, Q and Mk5 in scope as well. Until that is resolved, anyone who generated a seed on the affected firmware has to assume the worst rather

08-01Industry

Tether claims $1.5B profit, but hidden math reveals a $4.2B hit that halved its safety cushion in 90 days

Tether‘s second-quarter materials report $1.5 billion in net operating profit, earned mainly from Treasuries and repo activity. However, the attached reserve report shows a negative $3.17 billion first-half financial result, and the company’s materials do not reconcile the two figures.　　Subtracting the first quarters positive $1.04 billion financial result from that first-half figure implies a negative $4.211 billion result for the second quarter alone.　　After an $89 million net capital offset, the implied hit reduced the cushion above roughly $184 billion of liabilities from $8.23 billion to $4.11 billion in three months.　　Reconstructing the missing number　　Tethers implied financial result is negative $4.211 billion for the second quarter, followed by an implied net capital movement of positive $89 million. The total is roughly $4.110 billion, matching the reported June 30 figure, given the Mar. 31 cushion of $8.23 billion.　　Total assets fell from nearly $191.8 billion to $187.7 billion over the same stretch, the primary source of the cushion compression. Total liabilities moved only slightly higher, from $183.5 billion to $183.6 billion, over that same period.Line itemQ1 Mar. 31H1 Jun. 30Implied Q2 movementWhy it mattersFinancial result+$1.0B-$3.17B-$4.21BImplies a large Q2 hit despite reported operating profitNet capital movement+$854M+$943M+$89MSmall offset to the financial-result declineEquity cushion above liabilities$8.23B$4.11B-$4.12BReserve buffer

08-01Industry

PUMP gains 10% as Pump.fun revenue rises – Will $0.002245 break？

Pump.fun [PUMP] extended its recent momentum into the new month.　　The Solana-based memecoin launchpads token surged 10% over 24 hours, approaching the $0.002245 resistance level. Buyers remained in control as PUMP formed higher highs and held above its key moving averages.　　Interestingly, stronger protocol activity supported the move, improving the case for continued momentum.　　Is Pump.fun revenue supporting PUMP？　　Pump.funs protocol activity accelerated over the past month. The platform generated $32.84 million in Revenue over 30 days, approximately $6 million above the previous monthly total.　　Meanwhile, daily protocol Fees increased 22.6% month over month, indicating higher activity across the platform.　　Source: DeFiLlama　　Improving Revenue suggested that Pump.fun‘s usage was strengthening alongside PUMP’s rally. That alignment made the price advance more notable as network activity began supporting the bullish technical setup.　　Can PUMP break $0.002245？　　On the daily chart, PUMPs price action reflected the improving sentiment.　　The token traded above its key Exponential Moving Averages, preserving the bullish structure developed over recent weeks. Each pullback attracted buyers, allowing PUMP to climb steadily toward the $0.002245 resistance level.　　Source: TradingView　　A decisive daily close above this level could strengthen the case for another bullish move.　　By contrast, another rejection could trigger short-term profit-taking following the recent rally.　　For now, buyers appear to hold the advantage. Rising

08-01Industry

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