CLARITY Act failure could send crypto valuations lower: Bernstein

The odds of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Acts (CLARITY) passage are dwindling as the US Senate is scheduled to begin summer recess at the end of this week, threatening another leg down for cryptocurrency valuations, according to wealth manager Bernstein.  Bernstein said that the Senates failure to pass the legislation could trigger an immediate negative “industry knee-jerk reaction,” which may result in another leg down for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.  “From a tactical standpoint, we expect the crypto market to bottom and start showing momentum towards late Q3 and early Q4 prior to the mid-terms,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a Monday report shared with Cointelegraph.  At the same time, however, the analysts said that Senate failure to pass the legislation may bring more proactive policy support from regulators, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which may accelerate rulemaking initiatives under Project Crypto.  Project Crypto is a regulatory initiative first announced by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins in July 2025, which was later expanded into a joint staff initiative between the SEC and CFTC in September 2025. The initiative aims to create a workable regulatory framework for digital assets using existing agency authority while Congress

08-03Industry

Strategy Sells $105M in Bitcoin as Dollar Reserve Hits $4B

In briefStrategy sold 1,638 BTC for $104.7 million in the week to Aug 2, leaving 842,138 coins.Half the proceeds funded preferred dividends and half an $81 million STRC buyback.The company has not bought Bitcoin since June.  Strategy sold 1,638 BTC for $104.7 million in the week to Aug 2, according to an 8-K filed Monday, cutting its Bitcoin stack to 842,138 BTC from the 843,775 it had held since early July. The coins went at an average of $63,957, net of fees.  The sales leave Strategy with an aggregate cost basis of $63.51 billion, or $75,419 per Bitcoin—$11,462 more than it took for this weeks coins.  Strategy said $52.4 million of the sale proceeds funded dividends on its preferred stock and $52.3 million went toward repurchasing STRC shares.  The repurchase came to $81.2 million, or 912,143 STRC shares, with the remaining $28.9 million funded out of common stock sales. It is Strategys second buyback under a $1 billion program announced June 29 and first used last week with a $25 million purchase, leaving $893.8 million of authorization outstanding.  The company said the weeks moves extended what it calls its USD duration by 57 days, to 2.3 years, and tightened STRCs Bitcoin credit spread by five

08-03Industry

Robinhood wins UK crypto registration before new regulatory regime kicks off

SummaryRobinhood is now registered to offer cryptocurrency services in the U.K.An existing registration with the FCA means the company meets the regulators requirements where it comes to anti-money laundering.Winning permission to offer crypto services has added significance ahead of the inception of the more comprehensive framework for crypto regulation, which comes into force in October 2027.  Crypto-friendly trading platform Robinhood (HOOD) is now registered to offer cryptocurrency services in the U.K.  Robinhood‘s U.K. arm was added to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) list of registered cryptoasset companies as of July 31.  The company‘s existing FCA registration means it meets the regulator’s requirements where it comes to anti-money laundering (AML). A regime for crypto firms has been in effect since 2020 and now numbers over 50 approved companies, including Ripple, Kraken and traditional finance (TradFi) giants like BlackRock and BNY.  Winning the regulators permission to offer crypto services has added significance ahead of the inception of the more comprehensive framework for crypto regulation in the U.K. The authorization process opens at the end of September and closes at the end of February next year, ahead of the full regime coming into force in October.  The relatively brief window for companies to register and obtain full regulatory

08-03Industry

Bitcoin, ether decline as Coldcard exploit enters a fifth day

SummaryBitcoin and ether fell as the $114 million Coldcard hardware wallet hack shook confidence in self-custody and pushed some holders back to exchanges.Derivatives markets showed mixed signals, with BTC futures open interest at a one-month high, a slightly bearish long-short skew, and options volatility steady as call bets cluster around $68,000 and $70,000.NEAR Protocol reported more than $24 billion in lifetime volume for its Intents system and rolled out quantum-safe cryptography, dynamic resharding and AI compute staking.  Bitcoin and ether (ETH) are under pressure as the multimillion-dollar hack of the hardware wallet Coldcard enters a fifth day, raising questions over the safety of direct custody as a holding strategy.  The incident has rocked sentiment on crypto social media, with numerous small holders complaining of losing long-term holdings and reassessing their faith in crypto.  “Worse for sentiment, it [the hack] has spooked holders into sending coins back to exchanges, the opposite of the self-custody trend crypto is built on,” analysts at Marex said. “When the thing wobbling is cold storage itself, a cheaper barrel does not fix it.”  Given the gravity of the situation and the $114 million of bitcoin stolen, the price reaction of the largest cryptocurrency appears relatively restrained. BTC was recently 1.5%

08-03Industry

South Africa proposes reporting rules for cross border crypto transfers

South Africa has proposed new rules requiring cross-border crypto transfers to pass through authorized providers and be reported to the central bank, expanding the countrys effort to bring digital assets under its financial control framework.  According to local media, South Africa‘s National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Monday released a draft Crypto Asset Manual setting out when crypto transactions become regulated cross-border events and how they must be handled. The proposal forms part of the country’s ongoing overhaul of its capital flow rules first introduced in April.  South Africa has defined when crypto transfers become reportable  Under the draft, moving crypto offshore will only qualify as a cross-border transaction in specific situations. A report to the SARBs Financial Surveillance Department (FinSurv) would be required when crypto assets move from a locally authorized Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) to an offshore CASP or into a privately controlled non-custodial wallet.  The proposal says people who wish to transfer crypto abroad would have to use an authorized provider instead of sending assets directly through unregulated channels. FinSurv would receive reports of those transactions as part of the countrys foreign exchange monitoring process.  Domestic crypto activity would remain outside those reporting requirements. Buying or selling

08-03Industry

The reverse bridge: Crypto meets Wall Street using perps

Jan said Binance had extended a system that already allowed customers to use crypto as collateral to include traditional assets.  “We have also copied what the U.S. market did in over 40 years in two weeks,” Jan said. “But now thats expanded to TradFi assets.”  Large funds are not yet placing much long-term risk on decentralized exchanges. Ilag said funds would need clear rules for custody and clearing, protections comparable to central clearing and custody services designed for institutional investors.  “That will take years,” Ilag said. “Near term, Im skeptical of inflows to decentralized venues.”  He expects licensed centralized exchanges that settle through crypto systems to attract more institutional business in the near term. Hacks and concerns about smart-contract security remain barriers for decentralized platforms, he said.  “What most people want isnt the ideology of decentralization but a strong product, like a perp on a traditional index, with a license and guarantees behind it,” Ilag said.  Crypto exchanges still need benchmark data, licenses, banks, custodians and market makers to offer traditional products.  “The assets are why people show up, as everyone wants the exposure,” Ilag said. “The lasting advantage is what this does to market structure.”

08-03Industry

Solo Bitcoin miner nets $200,000 as Coldcard hardware wallet drains rocks sentiment

The number of BTC sending addresses spiked on Friday to levels not seen since early 2024, according to CryptoQuant. The BTC exchange reserve has risen to 2.718 million BTC from 2.706 million BTC on July 30, the day the incident began.  Other analytics firms argue that holders are moving coins to other wallets rather than exchanges. “The data indicates holders are migrating their coins to new wallets rather than sending to exchanges,” Glassnode said.  Finally, rising Treasury yields, including mortgage rates, pose a potential headwind to risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.  On the regulatory front, the news is equally uninspiring. Reports say the Senate left the Clarity Act off Monday‘s agenda. With the chamber’s summer recess set to begin around Aug. 10, that leaves just five days of scheduled session time remaining before lawmakers depart. Stay alert!  Read more: For analysis of todays activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesks “Crypto Week Ahead.”  Whats trendingColdcard wallet losses may near $114 million as possible fourth sweep emerges (CoinDesk): A fourth wave of sweeps against bitcoin addresses generated by the Coldcard wallet began Monday and was still running hours later. However, this time transactions can

08-03Industry

Bithumb now targets 2028 IP after major internal restructuring

SummaryBithumb, South Koreas largest crypto exchange, said it is preparing for an initial public offering in 2028 following a major internal reorganization.The company aims to complete risk management assessments and align with domestic and international accounting standards by the end of 2026, then seek a preliminary listing review in 2027.The IPO timeline, which follows regulatory scrutiny after a $40 billion transfer blunder and internal control failures, could shift depending on market conditions and regulators reviews.  South Koreas largest crypto exchange Bithumb said Monday it is preparing for a 2028 initial public offering (IPO) following a major internal reorganization to strengthen control and adoption of international account standards.  Seoul-based Bithumb did not reveal where it plans to launch the IPO. However, it did say it is working with domestic and international securities, law and account firms on the IPO process. Last year, Bithumb was said to be considering a NASDAQ listing, and later changed its plans to a listing on South Koreas Kosdaq first.  CoinDesk approached Bithumb via email for more information, including where it plans to list its IPO, but had not received a response as of press time.  The crypto trading platform also said it plans to complete its risk management systems assessments

08-03Industry

Ripple invests in ZILO and Licuido to deepen tokenized capital markets push

Quick TakeRipple announced Monday strategic investments in ZILO and Licuido as it deepens its push into capital markets.Ripple said the deals are expected to bring regulated transfer agency, issuance, and collateral mobility to its infrastructure on the XRP Ledger.  Ripple announced Monday strategic investments in ZILO, which focuses on transfer agency solutions, and Licuido, an FCA-regulated tokenization platform, as it deepens its push into capital markets.  Ripple said in a statement that the deals are expected to bring regulated transfer agency, issuance, and collateral mobility to its infrastructure on the XRP Ledger.  ZILO provides transfer agency and fund administration technology for asset managers, custodians, and transfer agents, and supports tokenized share classes as investment funds move onchain.  Licuido focuses on the issuance and distribution of traditional financial assets, enabling them to be used as digital collateral through onchain atomic settlement infrastructure, according to the statement.  Nigel Khakoo, Ripples SVP for trading and markets, said that the latest deals build on its existing partnerships with Aviva Investors, Franklin Templeton, and DBS, which “demonstrate how asset managers are focused on deploying tokenized fund structures at scale.”  “ZILO and Licuido provide core capabilities that are essential to further scaling this shift: regulated digital transfer agency infrastructure and liquidity for

08-03Industry

South Korean stablecoin outflows top $367M in June: Report

South Korea saw 560.3 billion won ($367 million) in stablecoin outflows to overseas exchanges in June, extending the countrys streak of monthly net stablecoin outflows to 18 consecutive months.  The figure comes from Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) data obtained by Yonhap News Agency through People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-wook. South Koreas five major crypto exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — transferred 2.7 trillion won ($1.81 billion) in stablecoins offshore in June and received 2.2 trillion won ($1.44 billion) from foreign platforms.  Market participants cited by Yonhap attributed the transfers to demand for products restricted or unavailable on domestic exchanges, such as overseas derivatives, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), decentralized finance and staking products.  Lee has called on the government to reassess how it protects investors and supervises cross-border crypto activity as stablecoin outflows continue. “The government must comprehensively examine its investor protection and supervisory frameworks again and move swiftly to improve regulations,” he said, according to The Korea Times.  South Korea weighs tighter rules for offshore activity  The outflows come as South Korea works to complete a broader legal framework for digital assets. On Thursday, a policy report recommended that authorities introduce interim licensing guidance and phase in stablecoin regulations before the

08-03Industry
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