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Crypto Briefing
India's export duty hike on fuels may tighten global supply, potentially escalating inflation and impacting interest rates and crypto markets.
The post India nearly doubles export duties on diesel and jet fuel as US-Iran tensions rattle oil markets appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Circle's challenges highlight the risks of over-reliance on a single revenue stream amid increasing competition and market skepticism.
The post Circle shares fall nearly 4% after Morgan Stanley downgrade appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Open Farm's IPO could invigorate the Canadian IPO market, highlighting investor interest in ethical consumer brands and boosting TSX activity.
The post Open Farm plans IPO at $1B valuation on Toronto Stock Exchange appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Banks' shift to stablecoin rails highlights a transformative trend in finance, promising faster, cost-effective global transactions and new revenue streams.
The post Coinbase executive discusses banks’ shift to stablecoin payment rails appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Design Arena's crowdsourced model could redefine AI visual evaluation, emphasizing human aesthetic judgment over technical metrics globally.
The post Design Arena creators raise $8M to build the ‘Hot or Not’ for AI-generated visuals appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Bitcoin Magazine
Bitcoin Magazine
American Bitcoin Reports Quarterly Loss But Boosts Bitcoin Stash
Publicly traded Bitcoin treasury and mining company American Bitcoin’s stock jumped on Monday following news that the firm’s crypto holdings had increased.
The company (NASDAQ: ABTC) reported a second-quarter loss on Monday due to the decline in Bitcoin’s price but still added the largest cryptocurrency to its holdings, boosting its stack from 7,021 to 8,002 coins. Its stock was trading over 5% higher Monday afternoon in New York.
American Bitcoin now has a reserve worth over $510.6 million today’s prices, after the company’s “highest quarterly production on record.” It now has the 16th largest Bitcoin treasury, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.
JUST IN:
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 3, 2026Eric Trump’s ‘American Bitcoin’ increases their Bitcoin holdings by 300 BTC
They now hold 8,300 bitcoin!pic.twitter.com/LhaxsSkgad
“Our conviction in Bitcoin remains absolute, and our goal is simple: to deliver relentless growth, quarter after quarter, and build the preeminent American Bitcoin powerhouse for the long haul,” Eric Trump, American Bitcoin Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, said.
American Bitcoin’s CEO Mike Ho added: “Despite Bitcoin headwinds in Q2, we stayed focused on what we can control: we delivered our highest quarterly production on record, grew our strategic reserve to over 8,000 Bitcoin, and strengthened the foundation of our business.”
“Looking ahead, we are focused on deepening that infrastructure advantage, strengthening our balance sheet position, and compounding Bitcoin per share so that the work we do today translates into durable value for our shareholders across market cycles,” Ho continued.
The company, a majority-owned subsidiary of Hut 8 Corp fronted by President Donald Trump’s sons, said that its focus on mining pushed quarterly production to a record, with about 932 Bitcoin mined in the second quarter.
Net loss in the second quarter of 2026 was $57.2 million, compared with a profit of $3.4 million in the same period last year.
Bitcoin miners have faced headwinds this year — and last — as the price of the largest cryptocurrency has dropped in price but the costs and difficulty to mine the coin have grown.
A lot of publicly traded Bitcoin miners have pivoted to the high-powered computing space, providing electricity to the artificial intelligence industry and in turn becoming a more attractive option for a broader swath of tech investors.
American Bitcoin is yet to make the pivot, instead focusing on minting the cryptocurrency and holding it on its balance sheet.
This post American Bitcoin Reports Quarterly Loss But Boosts Bitcoin Stash first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
Bitcoin Magazine
Crypto Clarity Act Risks More Delay As Recess Looms
The long-awaited crypto Clarity Act may be further delayed as August recess fast approaches.
Despite optimism last week from top crypto companies — like Coinbase — and backing from top financial institutions, lawmakers appear to be prioritizing other bills to vote on before their five-week break starting Thursday or Friday.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren was even quoted saying in a Sunday Punchbowl News report that “more people in the Senate are beginning to question crypto’s electoral invincibility.”
Pro-crypto Republicans, such as Senator Cynthia Lummis, have blasted Democrats for deliberately holding back the bill after members of the party said that the current bill falls short.
Crypto critic Warren has claimed that the bill will allow criminals and cartels to move money and further enrich President Donald Trump — despite the proposed law banning government promotion of crypto.
The Clarity Act, which was passed last year by the House of Representatives with support from both parties but has been in a deadlock this year, will set in stone digital asset regulation in the U.S.
A new bill draft started circulating in July addressing concerns around ethics. The language would ban government officials and their families from issuing or promoting crypto.
The bill has stalled this year as the banking lobby has raised concerns over stablecoin yield, claiming they could lose their deposit base if crypto exchanges pay attractive rewards to customers.
Another sticking point some lawmakers have with the crypto industry is President Trump’s business interests: some have alleged conflicts of interest as his family has made money from meme coins and the decentralized finance protocol, World Liberty Financial.
Despite slow movements on the bill, top Wall Street firms such as Fidelity and Goldman Sachs, as well as law enforcement organizations, have backed the bill in its current form.
And Kristin Smith, president of the Solana Institution and former Blockchain Association CEO, said on X Monday that bipartisan work on the bill was continuing, with Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Ruben Gallego working together to draft new language on ethics for the act.
Coinbase, which has been hashing out the bill with lawmakers, struck an upbeat tone regarding the bill last week, with the company’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad, saying that Democrats and Republicans had worked hard to draft the legislation.
This post Crypto Clarity Act Risks More Delay As Recess Looms first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
Bitcoin Magazine
Strategy Sells Bitcoin After Five Weeks Without Buying
Bitcoin treasury Strategy on Monday announced that it had again sold a slice of its Bitcoin holdings, offloading 1,638 BTC for roughly $104.7 million.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the sale took place between July 27 and August 2, at an average price of $63,957 per coin.
Proceeds were split to cover two obligations: $52.4 million went toward dividend payments on Strategy’s preferred stock, and $52.3 million funded buybacks of its Stretch (STRC) preferred shares.
It marked the latest in a string of weeks where Strategy has chosen to trim Bitcoin rather than add to it, continuing a pattern that began earlier this summer as the company leaned more heavily on stock sales and cash management to fund its obligations.
The same filing disclosed that Strategy sold 3,011,361 shares of its MSTR common stock through its at-the-market program during the period, generating $290.6 million in net proceeds. Of that, $250 million was added to the company’s USD Reserve — a cash cushion set aside to support preferred dividends and debt interest — which now stands at $4 billion.
Strategy also repurchased 912,143 shares of STRC for $81.2 million during the week, continuing a buyback program the company kicked off in late June. No shares of its other preferred products — Strife (STRF), Strike (STRK), or Stride (STRD) — were bought back or sold under the ATM program this period.
The company still holds 842,138 Bitcoin on its balance sheet, worth roughly $54 billion at Monday’s price of around $64,000 per coin, acquired at an aggregate cost of $63.51 billion.
Strategy’s board also kept the dividend rate on STRC steady at 12% annually, declaring $0.50-per-share payments for the periods ending August 31 and September 15. Management has said it does not intend to recommend a lower rate until STRC trades sustainably near its $100 stated value.
Despite the sale, Strategy has maintained that its long-term posture toward Bitcoin hasn’t changed. CEO Phong Le has said the company plans to remain a long-term buyer of Bitcoin despite its recent sales.
Strategy — formerly MicroStrategy — began buying Bitcoin in August 2020 as a treasury strategy to boost shareholder returns during the pandemic. It has since spent more than $63.5 billion accumulating the asset and remains by far the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin in the world. Its approach spawned a wave of copycat companies that have since adopted similar crypto-treasury strategies of their own.
This post Strategy Sells Bitcoin After Five Weeks Without Buying first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
Bitcoin Magazine
Coldcard Bitcoin Theft Continues, Now Estimated Over $114 Million In Total Stolen
Hackers continue to drain Coldcard Bitcoin wallets, with the total amount stolen now estimated to be standing at over $114 million.
A fourth wave of attacks likely started on Sunday evening, according to Galaxy Research’s Alex Thorn. Posting at around 7:50pm in New York, he revealed then that 388.9 Bitcoins worth over $29 million had been moved in new transactions that were highly likely to be part of the theft.
Hackers started by taking over $35 million in Bitcoin from wallets on Thursday. Coinkite, which makes Coldcard, said that a firmware bug in Coldcard Mk3 devices — starting with version 4.0.1 in March 2021 — caused seed generation to fall back to a weak software Pseudorandom Number Generator instead of the hardware true random number generator, allowing hackers to essentially guess investor seedphrases.
The theft continued throughout the weekend while Coinkite and other Bitcoiners urged Coldcard users to immediately move their funds.
Posting on X on Monday, Trezor’s Josef Tětek wrote that the biggest transaction in the ongoing theft so far was 51 Bitcoins.
Coinkite has since admitted all of its models were vulnerable following more thefts. Engineers have warned that all Bitcoin addresses related to Coldcard could be at risk eventually.
The company said Sunday that it was asking “hard questions about our company.”
“The last three days have been some of the hardest in this company’s history, and for a lot of the people reading this, they’ve been something much worse,” Coinkite said.
“Money that took years to save, gone. Trust that took years to build, broken. That impact is real, and for some, the damage is permanent.”
The company added that it had destroyed its remaining Coldcard inventory manufactured with the vulnerable firmware, and shipments of the product have been halted.
Coinkite makes a number of Bitcoin products, including the popular cold storage hardware wallets.
Engineers at payments company Block investigated the hack and reported that the hackers used a top blockchain services provider for help in moving the funds, and that they’ve contacted the provider and federal authorities with their findings.
This post Coldcard Bitcoin Theft Continues, Now Estimated Over $114 Million In Total Stolen first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
Bitcoin Magazine
Coldcard Bitcoin Thief Likely Used Top Blockchain Services Provider: Report
Since over $70 million in Bitcoin was stolen yesterday by an attack that exploited a fault in the Coldcard’s system, it has been reported that the thief used a top blockchain services provider for help.
Writing on X Friday, engineer at payments company Block, Clay Garrett, said that the provider — who he did not name at the request of the services provider — had been contacted after finding blockchain movements matched the “suspected workflow” of the attacker.
“During our investigation of the Coldcard drain yesterday, we identified an unusual pattern in the sweeps,” Garrett said.
“That pattern led us to a hypothesis that has since been confirmed: the operator used a paid account at a well-known blockchain-services provider to query the source addresses and perform other related activity during the sweeps,” Garrett continued, adding that the authorities had been notified.
Galaxy Digital’s research arm also wrote on X that the thief had an unusual pattern of moving the coins.
“The pattern tells us these were all the same attacker — it does not capture the attack itself, which looks the same as if a coin owner chose to move coins,” the company said, adding that Bitcoiners should move funds out of single-signature Coldcard addresses and into secure custody.
After over $35 million in Bitcoin was drained from wallets on Thursday, Coinkite said that a firmware bug in Coldcard Mk3 devices — starting with version 4.0.1 in March 2021 — caused seed generation to fall back to a weak software Pseudorandom Number Generator instead of the hardware true random number generator.
This allowed private keys for many single-signature wallets (especially those created without dice rolls or a strong BIP-39 passphrase) predictable enough for attackers to brute-force.
Later on Friday, Coinkite admitted all of its models were vulnerable following more thefts. Over $70 million has so far been swiped and engineers have warned that more Bitcoin addresses could be at risk.
The company makes a number of Bitcoin products, including cold storage hardware wallets.
This post Coldcard Bitcoin Thief Likely Used Top Blockchain Services Provider: Report first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
CryptoSlate
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banking group, cut the underlying-share amount of its reported iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF call position by 99.3% in the second quarter, while a 500,000-share-equivalent held put row appeared and its staked Ethereum ETF balance roughly tripled.
The changes mark a reset in the Italian bank’s disclosed quarter-end crypto ETF positions. They do not, by themselves, show that Intesa adopted a net bearish Bitcoin strategy.
The bank’s July 31 Form 13F captures positions held on June 30. Its May 15 filing provides the March 31 comparison point, making the figures quarter-end snapshots rather than a record of trades made on the filing dates.
The two holdings tables show Intesa’s common IBIT position falling from 646,809 shares to 40,723, a 93.7% reduction. The underlying-share amount in its held-call row dropped from 2,496,500 to 18,000, or 99.3%, according to the June 30 disclosure.
That later table also included a held IBIT put row representing 500,000 underlying shares, while no IBIT put row appeared in the March table.
Those option rows are incomplete measures of economic risk. Form 13F instructions express held options in terms of the underlying security and do not provide strike, expiration, premium, delta, or counterparty details.
SEC guidance also says written or short options are not reported or subtracted from long positions. The filing therefore cannot establish Intesa’s net Bitcoin-options exposure or determine whether the put was a hedge, a directional position or part of another strategy.
The shift in reported balances extended to Ethereum and Solana. Intesa’s iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF position rose from 116,200 shares to 349,600, slightly more than tripling, while its Bitwise Solana Staking ETF position fell from 2,817 shares to seven.
XRP was the exception. Intesa reported 712,319 shares of the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF at both quarter ends. That shows no net increase in the disclosed balance and means the full Q2 position cannot be confirmed as a new purchase, although offsetting trades within the quarter remain possible.
Overall, the filings show a much smaller common IBIT and held-call footprint alongside a newly disclosed put row, a larger staked Ethereum position, unchanged quarter-end XRP shares, and almost no remaining Solana ETF balance.
The holdings changed markedly, though Intesa’s complete net Bitcoin-options position and motive remain undisclosed.
The post Italy’s biggest bank just slashed its Bitcoin ETF call position by 99% to triple down on staked Ethereum appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Armada Acquisition Corp. II, the SPAC seeking to take XRP treasury operator Evernorth Holdings public, has borrowed $135,000 from Arrington XRP Capital Fund. Arrington is both Armada’s sponsor and the subscriber behind a major XRP commitment to the transaction.
The unsecured note was signed July 27 and drawn July 31. Its proceeds may be used for ordinary administrative expenses, and Armada can seek more funding subject to Arrington’s discretion. The note matures when the business combination closes or terminates, whichever comes first. The disclosed use and terms are consistent with a working-capital bridge for the SPAC process and do not, on their own, signal distress at Evernorth.
Evernorth’s July 29 amended registration statement was still preliminary as of Aug. 3, with its shareholder record date and meeting date blank. SEC filing feeds showed no later effectiveness notice or definitive proxy by that date.
Filed subscription agreements can terminate at the earliest of three events: termination of the business-combination agreement, mutual written agreement, or 12 months after each subscription agreement’s own date.
Arrington’s Series C agreement, dated Oct. 19, 2025, therefore reaches its conditional 12-month point on Oct. 19, 2026 unless an earlier event or signed change intervenes. Other subscriber exhibits show placeholder execution dates, so their individual points remain undisclosed.
What is exposed if the deal does not close
Advance subscribers committed $214.05 million in cash and 600,000 XRP. The amended filing says $214 million of the aggregate cash proceeds purchased about 84.4 million XRP, with those tokens and the contributed XRP held in conditional pre-closing custody.
Under the filed subscription forms, a failure to close by the business-combination agreement’s Outside Date, its contractual closing cutoff, without a written extension starts a return process for each advance subscriber’s share of custody XRP and residual cash.
Delayed subscribers’ $10.5 million and 200,000 XRP are due only at closing. A Ripple affiliate placed another 50 million XRP in pre-closing custody under a separate subscription. RippleWorks supplied Arrington with $500,000 and about 211.3 million XRP, and Arrington is required to invest that same token amount through the Series C agreement.
The filing says RippleWorks may withdraw that combined investment if the business combination is not completed.
Ripple’s direct contribution sits outside those subscription pools. Its agreement calls for about 126.8 million XRP in exchange for Pathfinder units that would convert into Evernorth shares at the business-combination closing.
The agreement becomes void if the combination terminates, but the filed text does not establish the same custody-return process described for advance subscribers.
Evernorth can still complete the listing before Arrington’s disclosed termination point. As of Aug. 3, however, there was no public vote timetable.
An effectiveness notice, definitive proxy, financing amendment or waiver would change the timing analysis; until then, Oct. 19 is an Arrington-specific contractual marker rather than a universal deadline for the deal.
The post Over 400 million locked XRP face a quiet October deadline as the Evernorth SPAC takes a $135,000 lifeline appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Simulating transfers using safety tools inside crypto wallets can show a small gain even when the final transaction sends the user's deposit to an attacker, according to a July 30 arXiv preprint that links the technique to 5,742 victim addresses and about $3.48 million in historical losses.
The authors used SimGuard, a contract-bytecode detector, to identify 4,224 transaction-simulation phishing contracts across Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Avalanche and Polygon.
The study associated them with 6,223 victim transactions but called the loss estimate an upper bound because some attacker test activity may have been misclassified. It attributed 91.5% of the losses to Ethereum and about 83% of the cross-chain total to its largest inferred cluster.
The findings have not been peer reviewed. The paper also gives inconsistent figures for its Avalanche contract count and conflicting endpoints for the observation period, leaving its per-chain breakdown and exact time window unresolved.
How a safe-looking preview can diverge
Transaction simulation takes a pre-signing snapshot of what a transaction is expected to do. The contracts described in the paper contain branches that can produce one result during that check and another when the transaction executes on-chain.
In a storage-control example, the simulation returns the user's deposit plus a tiny reward. An attacker can then change the contract's state, such as by blacklisting the user's address, before the transaction lands. The executed branch sends the deposit to an attacker-controlled address instead.
Timestamp-based contracts can exploit the later block time, while gas-control contracts can behave differently when the simulator and final transaction use different gas limits. Not every variant therefore requires an attacker to alter stored on-chain data after the preview.
In a controlled test, the authors sent an account's balance to a contract that returned as little as 1 wei, the smallest unit of ETH. They reported that several tested previews displayed a positive estimate and most did not clearly show the full outgoing amount.
The paper does not identify the wallet versions, settings, or simulation backends used by the historical victims. MetaMask's current documentation calls estimated balance changes predictions and warns that the final outcome is not guaranteed.
A Jan. 8, 2025 Etherscan transaction cited by the study records a Claim() call moving about 143.45 ETH through a contract Etherscan labels as phishing. The on-chain record supports the transfer described in the paper, although it cannot show what appeared in the user's wallet preview.
The authors recommend re-running simulations when relevant contract state or gas fields change, using the gas limit and gas price in the actual request, and testing current and future block-number and timestamp inputs. Their UI findings also support showing the gross amount leaving a wallet alongside an accurate net balance change, so a negligible refund cannot be mistaken for a profit.
The preprint describes historical activity, not a live July or August attack wave. Its detector evaluation covered 44 contracts, including 30 generated with Gemini, and the linked code-and-data repository returned HTTP 401 when checked.
The aggregate results therefore remain the authors' findings rather than an independently reproduced measurement.
The post Researchers just uncovered 4,200 malicious smart contracts that successfully tricked 5,700 victims into signing away their crypto appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Trump Media & Technology Group moved 2,628 BTC on Aug. 2, bringing the sum of two recently reported Bitcoin movements to within 3.43 BTC of the portion of its March holdings not identified as convertible-note collateral.
The near-match puts the latest wallet activity at the center of a question about what remains of Trump Media’s quarter-end Bitcoin treasury once note collateral is separated out.
Trump Media reported 9,542.16 BTC as of March 31, including 4,260.73 BTC serving as note collateral. Subtracting those figures produces 5,281.43 BTC, though the company did not label that difference liquid or unencumbered.
The same filing separately said Trump Media had pledged 2,000 BTC under covered-call arrangements on 4,000 BTC. The counterparty could reuse that collateral, and the options had a June 30 expiry date. The collateral’s post-expiry status remains undisclosed.
CryptoSlate reported that about 2,650 BTC moved from Trump Media-linked wallets on May 22 in two deposits to a Crypto.com-linked address.
The second data point came on Aug. 2, when Lookonchain, a blockchain analytics account, said Trump Media appeared to have sold another 2,628 BTC for about $165.07 million.
Together, the two reported movements total 5,278 BTC, producing an arithmetic remainder of 3.43 BTC against the 5,281.43 BTC March figure.
Why the numbers do not yet prove a sale
The reconciliation describes Trump Media’s holdings only if the tracker attributions are correct, both blocks came from the March 31 arithmetic residual, the company relinquished control of the coins, and no purchases, sales, collateral changes, or custody reclassifications intervened.
Although social media may suggest otherwise, the Lookonchain post does not provide evidence of trade execution or identify the full transaction path, final destination, or post-transfer control.
Arkham Intelligence’s Trump Media entity cluster is also an analytics-company attribution, not a corporate custody record. Wallet labels and visible balances cannot show every asset held through custodians or determine whether transferred coins remain under the company’s control.
Trump Media said in 2025 that Crypto.com and Anchorage Digital would provide custody for its Bitcoin treasury. That makes a Crypto.com-linked destination insufficient on its own to distinguish a sale from a custody transfer or another treasury movement.
Interim CEO Kevin McGurn said on May 26 that treasury movements generally reflected account diversification for security and efforts to earn yield. He did not connect that explanation to specific coins or provide an updated Bitcoin count.
The filing-to-tracker comparison therefore answers only the arithmetic question: 3.43 BTC remains unmatched. Trump Media’s current liquid balance, the disposition of both reported blocks, and the status of its separate hedge collateral require a company or custodian reconciliation.
The post Where did Trump Media’s 5,278 BTC go? Trackers spot $165 million Bitcoin transfer leaving just 3.43 BTC appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Solana raised the maximum computation allowed per block from 60 million to 100 million compute units on July 29, a 66.7% jump that gives unrelated transactions more room without changing the separate cap governing its busiest accounts.
Compute units, or CUs, measure computational work performed by transactions. The block limit caps the aggregate CUs a leader can include before the block is full.
The on-chain feature account identifies SIMD-0286 as active at slot 435,888,000, at the start of epoch 1009, while the activation block timestamps that slot to July 29. The change raised the block limit by 66.7% mathematically, which the Solana Foundation presents as 66%.
The Solana Foundation said 11.2% of blocks produced between the July 22, 2025 activation of the 60 million-CU limit and the latest increase used at least 56 million CUs.
Why a hot account can still hit its cap
SIMD-0286 changed only the overall block limit. The maximum compute that can write to any single account within a block remains 12 million CUs, while the maximum block accounts-data size delta remains 100MB. In this context, a hot account is shared writable state that many transactions try to update, not necessarily one trader's wallet.
That creates more parallel capacity. Transactions touching unrelated accounts can use the additional 40 million CUs, allowing a busy account to crowd out less of the rest of the block. Under the former ceiling, one account's 12 million-CU allowance represented 20% of the block. It now represents 12%.
The same math does not give a congested market more capacity. If many trades need to write to the same account, they still compete within the 12 million-CU allowance. A state-heavy workload can also encounter the separate 100MB data-delta limit even when block compute remains available.
That distinction carries through to fees. Solana's fee documentation says an optional prioritization fee depends on a transaction's requested CU limit and CU price and raises its likelihood of being scheduled. The higher block ceiling alone does not show that priority fees fell for transactions targeting the same hot state.
More capacity also does not equal measured performance. The technical proposal warns that larger blocks can take longer to execute, slow network progress and validator catch-up, and may cause unforeseen issues for infrastructure beyond validators. Those are design risks, not reports of a current incident.
One Aug. 2 block recorded 25,373,012 consumed CUs, 1,328 processed transactions, and 1,069 successful transactions. One block cannot establish network-wide outcomes or a before-and-after change.
The official upgrade materials offer no post-activation before-and-after measurements for transaction inclusion, fees, block propagation, or replay. The upgrade therefore establishes a higher theoretical ceiling for aggregate work. It does not, by itself, demonstrate 66% more observed throughput or eliminate the local bottleneck that traders encounter when demand converges on the same account.
The post Solana just boosted block capacity by a massive 66%, but the one bottleneck infuriating traders hasn’t budged appeared first on CryptoSlate.
CryptoTicker.io
Crypto news today is dominated by macro. The US ISM Manufacturing PMI came in at its strongest level in more than four years, oil crashed after Washington called off strikes on Iran, US equities opened sharply higher, and Bitcoin pushed back above $63,800. On the policy side, Bernstein published a note on what happens to crypto if the CLARITY Act dies in the Senate.
Here is everything moving the crypto market today.
Where is the crypto market today?
The market is broadly green, but this is a grind higher rather than a melt-up.
$Bitcoin trades around $63,780, up roughly 1.1% over 24 hours, after defending support near $62,500 over the weekend and reclaiming the $63,800 area during US hours. $Ethereum sits near $1,850, $XRP around $1.08 and Solana close to $73. $Cardano is the standout of the week, trading near $0.187 after a gain of more than 14%.
Two things are capping the move. Bitcoin is still trading below its 50-day, 100-day and 200-day EMAs at roughly $64,680, $67,200 and $73,000, so this remains a recovery inside a downtrend. And sentiment took a hit from the Coldcard hardware wallet exploit over the weekend, in which roughly 1,367 BTC was stolen, reopening the self-custody security debate.
Why did the ISM PMI print move markets?
The July ISM Manufacturing PMI registered 55.6, up 2.3 points from June's 53.3 and comfortably above the 54 consensus. That is the highest reading since May 2022 and the seventh consecutive month of expansion in US manufacturing.
The internals backed up the headline. Production surged to 58.5 from 52.2, New Orders rose to 56.7, New Export Orders returned to expansion at 53.0 from 48.5, and Employment moved back above the line at 52.8 from 49.7. Only Inventories slipped, by 0.2 points.
The number crypto traders should care about most is Prices Paid, which eased to 71.1 from 73.0. Strong growth with cooling input costs is the mix risk assets like best: expansion that does not immediately force the Fed to turn hawkish again.
Crypto X was quick to note that this is the seventh straight print above 52, a streak last seen in Q4 2020, right as the biggest bull run in crypto history began. Worth flagging, but treat it as context rather than a signal. The 2020 setup also came with zero rates and mass stimulus that simply do not exist in 2026.
What did the oil crash do to stocks and yields?
Energy was the bigger driver of Monday's risk-on tone. President Trump said over the weekend that he had called off planned strikes against Iran and that talks would resume Monday, with a focus on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Crude repriced hard. WTI fell close to 8% at the lows, trading down through the mid-$78s before stabilising near $79.60, while Brent dropped more than 5% into the low $83s. OPEC+ added pressure by approving another production increase of roughly 188,000 barrels per day from September. Context: Brent rallied around 25% in July on war risk, so this is a geopolitical premium unwinding rather than a demand collapse.
Equities took the handoff. The Dow climbed 600 to 700 points in morning trade, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained over 1%, Amazon crossed $3 trillion in market value for the first time, and the 10-year Treasury yield fell roughly 6 basis points to about 4.69%.
That chain is what matters for crypto: cheaper oil leads to lower inflation expectations, which leads to lower yields, which leads to more room for the Fed to cut.
What is Bernstein saying about the CLARITY Act?
This is the piece of today's crypto news being spun hardest on social media, so worth stating plainly.
Bernstein's research team, led by Gautam Chhugani, said in a Monday note that the odds of the CLARITY Act passing in 2026 are fading, with the Senate holding only the coming week before recess to move what the analysts describe as the most consequential crypto market structure bill in US history. Galaxy Research recently cut its odds of passage to 30%, and Polymarket traders now price it near 31%, down 9 points on the month.
Bernstein's base case if the bill fails is not bullish in the near term. The analysts expect an immediate negative reaction across digital assets and see room for another leg lower in valuations.
The constructive part is what follows. Bernstein expects the SEC and CFTC to accelerate rulemaking under Project Crypto regardless, moving faster on token taxonomy, DeFi guidance, self-custody rules and an innovation exemption for token issuance. CFTC Chair Michael Selig has warned publicly that regulators would end up writing all the rules if Congress does not act, and SEC Chair Paul Atkins has said his agency stands ready to fill the gap. Bernstein also sees the current downturn bottoming in late Q3 or early Q4, ahead of the midterms.
The honest read: crypto clarity is coming either way, but the legislative route is faster and more durable, and the regulatory route may cost the market a drawdown first.
What should crypto traders watch next?
- $64,100. CoinGlass liquidation data shows a cluster of leveraged shorts between roughly $63,800 and $64,100, with further liquidity near $64,300, $64,800 and $65,000. A decisive break through $64,100 could squeeze them. On the downside, the largest nearby band sits at $61,900 to $62,200.
- The Senate calendar. One week remains before recess. Silence into the break is effectively a no on the CLARITY Act this year, and Bernstein expects that to be sold before it is bought.
- Friday's nonfarm payrolls. Consensus looks for roughly 87,500 jobs in July versus 57,000 in June, with unemployment ticking up to 4.3%. A soft print alongside cheaper oil strengthens the rate-cut case crypto bulls are leaning on.
Strong growth, falling energy prices, falling yields and regulatory movement in one direction or another is the best macro mix crypto has had all summer. It is still not the same thing as a bull run starting today.
$XRP is trading at $1.0662 on the Bitstamp daily chart as of 3 August, down 1.75% on the session after opening at $1.0858 and printing a low of $1.0618. That is roughly 43% lower on the year and about 70% below last summer's high near $3.65. Every conversation about buying XRP at these levels starts from the same place: the chart is cheap relative to 2025, and cheap relative to 2025 has been a losing argument for eight months straight.
So the question is not whether XRP looks discounted. It is whether the technical structure and the macro calendar give a buyer anything to work with. Here is what both are saying.
XRP Price Analysis: Good Technicals Shaping up
The single most important line on the chart is the 200-day EMA at $1.39699. Price is 31% below it, and the average itself is sloping down. That is the definition of an established downtrend, and it means every rally since June has been a rally inside a bear structure, not a recovery from one.
Below that, the levels stack up cleanly:
- Resistance: $1.15, then $1.20, then $1.30, with $1.45 and $1.50 marking the May breakdown zone
- Support: $1.00, the green line that has been tested repeatedly since late June and has not given way
Between those two clusters is where XRP has spent the last nine weeks. The June collapse took price from $1.30 down to the dollar in a matter of days. Since then the token has chopped between roughly $1.00 and $1.19 with a series of slightly lower highs, which is compression rather than accumulation until proven otherwise.
RSI (14) reads 46.51 with its signal line at 43.83. Both sit below the 50 midline. That is not oversold, which matters: the June low pushed RSI toward 30 and produced a bounce. At 46 there is no coiled spring here, just a market with no momentum in either direction.
Has XRP Coin Broken Its Downtrend or Just Paused?
This is the one mildly constructive detail on the chart. The descending trendline drawn from the May high near $1.50 has been sloping down through every bounce since, capping rallies in June and again in mid July. As of the start of August, price has moved above it.
The problem is what happened next, which is nothing. A trendline break that is not followed by expanding volume and a higher high is not a reversal signal, it is a lapsed constraint. XRP has broken the line and then immediately drifted back toward the middle of its range on a red daily candle.
For the break to mean anything, buyers need to close the token above the $1.15 shelf and then reclaim $1.20. Analysts tracking the same structure have converged on that zone as the real trigger. BeInCrypto's analysis puts the bullish threshold at a three-day close above $1.22, roughly a 10% move from here, and argues that this is the level that would pull ETF desks back into the market.
Until that happens, the more honest read of the chart is a range with a firm floor and a heavy ceiling.
Why Is the $1.00 Level the Whole Story?
Because it is the only support left that has been proven. There is no meaningful horizontal structure between the dollar and the mid $0.80s on this timeframe, which means a decisive daily close below $1.00 opens a fast move toward $0.95 and then $0.85.
That asymmetry is what a buyer at $1.06 is actually taking on. Upside to the first real resistance at $1.15 is about 8%. Downside to the first real target below the range is about 20%. The reward-to-risk only improves if you are buying much closer to the dollar, which is exactly why most desks are treating $1.00 to $1.02 as the accumulation zone rather than current spot.
What Macro Events Are Driving XRP In August?
Three things, and none of them are helping right now.
- The Fed has taken itself off the table. The FOMC held rates at 3.50% to 3.75% on 29 July, the fifth consecutive hold, on a 9-3 vote with the dissenters pushing for a hike rather than a cut. Chair Kevin Warsh again declined to offer forward guidance, leaving September's path unclear. A restrictive Fed with no cut priced in means liquidity stays tight and leverage stays expensive, which is a structural headwind for altcoins specifically.
- Bitcoin is not providing a bid. BTC closed July around the $63,000 level, up roughly 7% for the month but still pressing against a descending trendline from its October 2025 peak, with all major weekly EMAs sloping down above price. Support at $60,000 to $62,000 has held since the June low. XRP has never sustained a rally while Bitcoin trades below its own long-term averages, and analysts widely flag BTC holding $60,000 as the precondition for any altcoin strength in August.
- Seasonality is genuinely bad. August is the flattest month in XRP's history at a 0.43% average return, and the token has closed the month red four years running, the longest active losing streak of any month. Analyst ChartNerd notes that in US midterm election years the picture is worse: August 2014 fell 5.7%, 2018 dropped 23%, and 2022 lost 13.7%, averaging around a 14% decline. 2026 is a midterm year. Seasonality is not a trading signal on its own, but it is a reason not to expect a catalyst to arrive out of nowhere.
Demand data matches the mood. Per BeInCrypto, US spot XRP ETF flows registered exactly zero on 10 of July's 17 trading days, with net monthly demand of roughly $12.4 million against a fund complex holding about $997 million. Daily value traded fell about 37% across the month. Institutional desks are not selling XRP, they have simply stopped showing up.
Does the CLARITY Act Still Matter For XRP?
It matters more to XRP than to any other major token, and its odds are getting worse.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act would write XRP's commodity classification into federal statute and move oversight from the SEC to the CFTC. The SEC and CFTC already named XRP a digital commodity in a joint action on 17 March 2026, but that was interpretive guidance, not law, and a future set of regulators could withdraw it. Pension funds, bank trust desks and asset managers have been waiting on permanence, not interpretation.
The bill passed the House 294-134 in July 2025 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9 on 14 May 2026. It has sat on the Senate floor calendar since 1 June without a scheduled vote. In late July the Senate formally shelved it to prioritise a Russia sanctions bill and nominations. The Senate returned on 3 August with roughly five working days before recess until 14 September, and Polymarket odds for 2026 passage have slid to around 30%.
This is the crux of the bull case and the bear case at the same time. Standard Chartered's conditional $8 target requires full Senate passage plus $4 billion to $8 billion in fresh ETF inflows. Without a floor vote, that number is theoretical and the primary institutional catalyst for XRP disappears until at least late 2026, plausibly 2027 given the midterm calendar.
There is real progress on the technology side. The XRP Ledger's v3.3.0 release targets institutional onboarding, a validator vote is pending on an amendment package covering batch transactions, confidential transfers, sponsored fees and permission delegation, and Ripple Swell runs 27 to 29 October in New York. None of that has moved price in eight months, which tells you what the market is actually waiting for.
So Is XRP Coin a Good Buy At Current Prices?
At $1.06, XRP is a fair buy for a patient position and a poor buy for a trade.
The case for buying is that the downtrend line has broken, the dollar floor has held through five separate tests, exchange supply is reportedly at a seven-year low, sell volume is thin rather than accelerating, and the CLARITY Act remains a live catalyst that would re-rate the asset quickly if it passes. Consensus forecasts cluster around a $1.00 to $1.20 August range with a month-end print near $1.10, which is a market with a floor.
The case against buying now is the reward-to-risk. You are paying 6% above the level where the real support sits, into the weakest month in the token's history, with the 200 EMA 31% overhead and sloping down, RSI below its midline, ETF flows at zero, and the single catalyst that matters priced at 30% odds and running out of legislative calendar.
The practical read: scale in near $1.00 to $1.02 rather than chasing here, treat a daily close below $1.00 as the invalidation, and require a three-day close above $1.20 to $1.22 before treating any bounce as the start of a trend rather than another lower high. If the Senate schedules a floor vote before recess, that timeline compresses fast. If it does not, September is the earliest the story changes.
At the end of July 2026, one of the most closely watched funds in global markets lost roughly three quarters of its assets in a matter of days. Situational Awareness, the artificial intelligence fund founded by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, was forced to sell its entire public equity book to Ken Griffin's Citadel at a discount after prime brokers issued margin calls it could not meet.
The story matters to crypto readers for reasons that go well beyond schadenfreude at a leveraged blow-up in another asset class. The collapse ran on mechanics that anyone who traded through 2022 will recognise instantly, it involves a figure whose career began inside the FTX orbit, and it arrived in the same weeks that Bitcoin quietly broke its correlation with the AI trade. Several crypto-native companies are now carrying AI infrastructure risk directly on their balance sheets.
Who is Leopold Aschenbrenner?
Aschenbrenner is a German investor and former AI researcher, born in 2001 or 2002 to parents who were both doctors, and educated at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. He entered Columbia University at 15 and graduated as valedictorian in 2021 at the age of 19, with a degree in economics and mathematics-statistics.
His early career included a stint at the FTX Future Fund, the philanthropic arm of Sam Bankman-Fried's exchange, where he helped run a charitable operation from the Bahamas. He then joined OpenAI's Superalignment team, the group tasked with controlling systems more capable than humans.
OpenAI dismissed him in April 2024 over an alleged information leak. Aschenbrenner disputes that account. He has said he shared a largely non-confidential planning document with outside researchers for feedback, and that his dismissal followed tensions over warnings he had raised about the company's security practices. OpenAI has said those concerns were unrelated to his departure.
In June 2024 he published "Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead," a 165-page essay arguing that artificial general intelligence was arriving faster than almost anyone understood, and that the resulting demand for compute, energy and hardware would be historic. The essay became required reading across Silicon Valley. The following month, he turned it into a fund of the same name.
The trade was the essay. If AI capability scaling continued, then semiconductors, memory, data centres and power infrastructure were the bottleneck, and owning that bottleneck with leverage was the highest-conviction expression of the thesis. Backers included Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and investor Daniel Gross. Jane Street was also an investor. The Wall Street Journal reported gains of more than 1,000% since inception.
Reported peak assets vary by source. CNBC put the fund's high-water mark at around $45 billion, while other reporting has cited roughly $20 billion in assets under management at peak. Either figure represents an extraordinary amount of capital for a manager who had never run money before founding the fund at 22.
What exactly happened to Situational Awareness?
The unwind ran over roughly two weeks in late July.
The fund's concentrated positions in AI infrastructure names, reported to include SK Hynix, CoreWeave, Nebius, Micron and Bloom Energy, fell between 35% and 47% during the month. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 28.6% from its 22 June peak as investors began questioning whether hyperscaler capital expenditure could ever generate adequate returns. A separate short position against software stocks reportedly went against the fund at the same time, compounding the damage from both directions.
Then the leverage did what leverage does. Reports put the fund's gearing at as much as 400%. At four times leverage, a 25% decline in the underlying positions is mathematically sufficient to erase an investor's entire equity contribution. The positions fell considerably further than 25%.
Prime brokers Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America issued margin calls. The fund attempted several escape routes: a capital raise letter to existing investors, discussions with lenders, and negotiations with Millennium Management and Jane Street Group. According to reporting in the Financial Times, all of them failed. Citadel stepped in and bought the entire public book at a discount.
Assets fell from roughly $45 billion to around $10 billion. Reporting since suggests the fund may still be forced to liquidate further holdings.
There is a revealing postscript. Once Citadel had absorbed the position, the Nasdaq gained 3.30% and the semiconductor index rose sharply. Much of the late-July decline in AI infrastructure names had been the market pricing in a large, visible, forced seller. Removing him removed the discount.
The timing was unusual in one further respect: Aschenbrenner married Avital Balwit, chief of staff to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, in California the same weekend the fund was being unwound.
Why does an AI fund blow-up matter for crypto?
Three reasons, in ascending order of importance.
The first is that this is a familiar story with different tickers. A young quantitatively gifted manager builds a totalising thesis about the future, expresses it through extreme concentration and heavy leverage, produces spectacular returns that attract enormous capital, and then discovers that leverage is symmetrical. Crypto has run this experiment repeatedly. The specific detail that closes the circle is that Aschenbrenner's first significant job was at the FTX Future Fund, and that Jane Street, where Bankman-Fried himself trained, appears in this story both as an investor and as a failed rescue counterparty.
The comparison should not be pushed too far. There is no allegation of fraud, no customer funds, no missing assets. Situational Awareness appears to have been a legitimate fund that took a directional view and lost, which is a categorically different thing from what happened at FTX. But the underlying behavioural pattern, that of narrative conviction plus leverage minus risk management, is the same one that has cost crypto investors more money than any hack.
The second is that the mechanics are identical to a liquidation cascade. Concentrated leveraged longs, a price decline, a margin call, a forced seller who must sell into a falling market, and a well-capitalised buyer waiting to take the other side at a discount. Crypto traders watch this happen on-chain and on exchange liquidation feeds constantly. On 13 July, when the Kospi fell 8.95% and SK Hynix dropped 15.37% in its worst session on record, $253 million in leveraged crypto positions were force-liquidated in parallel, with long positions accounting for 76% of the total. Same physics, different venue.
The third, and most consequential, is what crypto did not do.
Why did Bitcoin not follow AI stocks down this time?
For most of 2026, crypto traded as a high-beta expression of the AI trade. It rose when chip stocks rallied and fell when they slipped. That relationship broke in July, and it broke twice inside five sessions.
When roughly $797 billion came off the largest US technology stocks in a single Thursday session in late July, $Bitcoin barely moved. On 29 July, as Asian equities suffered one of their worst two-day stretches of the year and SK Hynix fell nearly a fifth despite growing quarterly profit more than sixfold, Bitcoin rose about 1% to $63,800. Ether added 1% to $1,899, XRP gained 2% to $1.07, and Solana held around $73. When Citadel absorbed the Situational Awareness book and AI infrastructure names rebounded sharply, crypto markets were largely unmoved in the other direction as well.
Across July as a whole, Ether gained 16.29% and Bitcoin 5.61%, while the AI infrastructure complex was being repriced downward.
The interpretation matters. One reading is that Bitcoin is regaining independence as an asset class, driven now by rate expectations, ETF flows and its own regulatory calendar rather than by sentiment toward Nvidia's supply chain. Analysts increasingly describe crypto as behaving like a liquidity sponge, expanding and contracting with global money supply and real rates rather than with any individual equity narrative. Research has attributed roughly 45% of weekly Bitcoin price movement in 2026 to ETF flows alone.
A more cautious reading is that two weeks is not a trend, and that decoupling claims have been made and abandoned repeatedly since 2020. The honest position is that the correlation has weakened materially and visibly, and that the next genuine risk-off event will test whether that is structural or coincidental.
Which crypto companies are actually exposed to the AI trade?
This is where the story stops being an analogy and becomes direct exposure. A significant portion of the Bitcoin mining industry has spent two years converting itself into AI infrastructure, and it is now priced accordingly.
Miners owned the two things AI companies most needed: large contracted power capacity and physical data centre real estate. After the 2024 halving compressed mining economics, pivoting that capacity toward high-performance computing and AI hosting became the sector's dominant strategy. Leasing activity grew from 95 MW in the first quarter of 2026 to 1.19 GW in the second, with a further 928 MW announced in the third quarter through 27 July, bringing the year-to-date total to 2.21 GW. TeraWulf signed a $19 billion lease with Anthropic. Hut 8, IREN and Applied Digital accounted for the bulk of capacity signed this year.
That pivot worked in both directions. When AI infrastructure sentiment cracked in July, these names fell harder than the underlying asset they were named after. IREN dropped 33% over a month, TeraWulf 38% and Applied Digital 36%, against a 13% decline in the broader Global X Data Center and Digital Infrastructure ETF. Over July specifically, MARA Holdings fell 18.14%, IREN 19.40% and Riot Platforms 23.08%, while spot Bitcoin gained. Their beta figures explain the sensitivity: IREN carries a five-year monthly beta of 4.28, TeraWulf 4.26 and Applied Digital 5.68.
Analysts at KBW made the sharpest observation about what was actually repriced. The selloff, they argued, primarily removed the value that markets had assigned to future AI and HPC leases rather than repricing completed projects. In other words, the market stopped paying for pipeline and started paying only for signed contracts with creditworthy tenants. KBW downgraded Core Scientific to Market Perform and flagged a new category of danger it called model-layer risk: if an AI lab tenant fails to meet expectations, the developer holding the lease is exposed.
CoreWeave, one of Aschenbrenner's reported core positions, illustrates the whole loop. It began life as an Ethereum mining operation before becoming an AI cloud provider, attempted a merger with Bitcoin miner Core Scientific that failed, and has since fallen 61% from its mid-year high of $187, shedding roughly $33 billion in market value in six weeks amid short-seller criticism and doubts about GAAP profitability. A company born from crypto mining became the most crowded position in the AI trade and then one of its largest casualties.
What should crypto investors take from this?
- Leverage is the mechanism, never the thesis. Aschenbrenner's core argument about AI compute demand may still prove correct over a decade. It did not matter. Four times leverage meant a 25% drawdown ended the position regardless of whether the ten-year view was right. Being early and levered is indistinguishable from being wrong.
- Concentration risk compounds narrative risk. The fund held a handful of names expressing a single idea. When the idea was questioned, every position moved together and there was nothing to sell that was not already falling. Crypto portfolios built entirely around one cycle narrative carry the same structure.
- Watch the miners as the transmission channel. If the AI infrastructure repricing continues, it reaches crypto through mining equities before it reaches spot Bitcoin. The KBW distinction between contracted revenue and speculative pipeline is the most useful analytical frame currently available for that sector.
- Treat the decoupling as provisional. Bitcoin's independence through two separate AI routs is real and measurable. It is also recent. The immediate calendar offers a test: US payrolls on 7 August and CPI on 12 August, with a September rate decision that markets price at 61.4% for a hike. If Bitcoin trades on those numbers rather than on the semiconductor tape, the case strengthens considerably.
Consolidation phases are where positioning happens. Prices stop trending, volume thins out, retail attention drifts elsewhere, and the assets that will lead the next expansion quietly change hands. That is roughly where the crypto market sits in early August 2026.
Bitcoin trades at $63,043, down roughly 28% year to date and compressing between support at $62,000 and a descending trendline that has capped every rally since 21 July. Most large-cap altcoins are 32% to 44% lower on the year. The screen below focuses on tokens priced under $5, with modest market capitalisations and deep drawdowns, but the selection is driven by identifiable catalysts rather than by price weakness alone. A token being cheap is not a thesis.
Why is the crypto market consolidating right now?
Bitcoin trades at $63,043 as of 13:11 UTC on 2 August, up a marginal 0.12% on the session, and the three-hour chart shows a textbook compression pattern.
The structure has four defined boundaries:
- Descending trendline resistance. Since the $66,803 high printed on 21 July, Bitcoin has produced a clean sequence of lower highs. That trendline has rejected every rally attempt for nearly two weeks.
- The 200-period EMA at $63,969. It supported price through most of July and flipped to resistance around 30 July. Bitcoin has traded beneath it since.
- Horizontal resistance at $65,000, a level lost in late July that now sits above both the EMA and the trendline.
- Support at $62,000, where selling was absorbed on both 25 July and 1 August, with major support far below at $58,000, the base of the early-July advance.
The RSI reads 44.83 against its own 41.50 average. That is below the neutral 50 line, but turning up from the lows rather than deteriorating. Sellers are largely exhausted, buyers are absent, which is the definition of consolidation.
The important detail is that this range is closing. The descending trendline is falling toward the $62,000 horizontal support, which means the two boundaries converge over the coming fortnight and force a resolution rather than allowing an indefinite drift. A break above the trendline and the $63,969 EMA opens $65,000 and then the 21 July high at $66,803. A loss of $62,000 puts $58,000 in play, roughly 8% lower, and altcoins would almost certainly fall harder than that.
Three features define this phase. Volatility has compressed, with Bitcoin absorbing a hawkish Fed, a $70 million wallet exploit and a stalled regulatory bill in a single week while declining only about 2%. Institutional flows have stabilised without turning positive, as July closed with $172.4 million of net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs, ending two months of outflows but nowhere near the pace that drove previous advances. And altcoin dispersion has widened, with Cardano up 12.36% over the past week while Hyperliquid fell 11.02%, which is characteristic of a market trading on individual catalysts rather than a single directional impulse.
That last point matters most for this article. When correlation breaks down, token-specific developments start to determine returns.
Which macro forces are actually driving altcoin prices?
- Monetary policy is the dominant variable. The FOMC held rates at 3.50% to 3.75% on 29 July, but split 9-3, with Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan all voting for a 25 basis point hike. It is the sharpest committee split since September 2016. CME FedWatch now assigns a 61.4% probability to a September hike, up from 50.6% a month earlier. Higher real yields compress valuations across long-duration risk assets, and altcoins sit at the far end of that spectrum.
- Geopolitical risk is persistent but increasingly discounted. The conflict involving Iran that escalated with joint US and Israeli strikes in late February remains unresolved, and Brent crude has carried a geopolitical risk premium throughout 2026, trading above $90 in July. The Russia-Ukraine war continues into its fifth year and is currently occupying Senate floor time through a sanctions bill. The important nuance is that markets have largely adapted. Analysts increasingly describe crypto as behaving like a liquidity sponge, expanding when global money supply and risk appetite rise and contracting when real rates climb, largely regardless of the headline conflict situation. War headlines produce sharp intraday moves that tend to mean-revert. Rate expectations produce trends.
- Regulatory clarity has been deferred. The CLARITY Act has cleared the House and the Senate Banking Committee, but no floor vote is scheduled, and Majority Leader John Thune does not expect one before the recess beginning around 7 August. Polymarket odds on 2026 passage have fallen from above 80% in February to roughly 35%. For altcoins specifically, this is the most consequential of the three, because the bill would have resolved the token classification question that keeps most regulated institutions away from anything other than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Security risk has repriced. An attacker drained 1,082.65 BTC, worth roughly $70.2 million, from 1,196 Coldcard-generated addresses on 30 July, exploiting a firmware flaw that allowed seeds to be reconstructed offline. Blockaid reported that crypto projects lost more than $1 billion to hacks in the first half of 2026. This raises the risk premium across the sector, and it disproportionately affects protocols holding large amounts of user capital.
What are the top 5 altcoins to watch in August 2026?
1. Ondo (ONDO)
Price: around $0.38 to $0.41 | Market cap: approximately $1.9 billion | Down roughly 81% from its $2.14 all-time high
$Ondo has the most concrete institutional pipeline of any token on this list. Its DTCC-linked tokenization initiative went live in July 2026, involving BlackRock, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs in tokenizing Russell 1000 equities and Treasury bills. A separate cross-border settlement pilot with J.P. Morgan's Kinexys platform, Mastercard and Ripple completed in under five seconds. The protocol expanded tokenized securities on Solana with round-the-clock minting and redemption, and launched Ondo Perps for perpetual futures tied to equities and commodities. Total value locked sits near a record $3.5 billion across more than 205,000 holders. A governance vote to permanently burn 100 million ONDO, equal to 10% of total supply, concluded on 25 July.
The risk: Ondo is the clearest example in this market of platform growth failing to translate into token performance. TVL hit record highs while the price stayed flat, a documented disconnect. Roughly half the 10 billion total supply is still to enter circulation, which means dilution remains a structural headwind regardless of adoption.
2. Sui (SUI)
Price: around $0.72 to $0.78 | Mid-cap | Well below its all-time high
$Sui recorded a genuine institutional milestone on 23 July when Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala tokenized a $75 million private markets fund directly on the network. In the same week, Hashi launched a Bitcoin lending testnet targeting institutional BTC-backed credit markets built on Sui. The pattern suggests a network positioning for regulated financial products rather than retail DeFi activity. Price action has been more constructive than the broader altcoin picture, with SUI reclaiming a key technical level in late July alongside rising on-chain activity.
The risk: the technical picture is a recovery attempt off cycle lows, not a confirmed trend reversal. Sui also tends to track broader altcoin liquidity and Bitcoin dominance more closely than it moves on its own news, which limits how much the Mubadala headline can do in a flat tape.
3. Stellar (XLM)
Price: around $0.18 | Roughly 79% below its 2018 all-time high of $0.94
$Stellar has assembled an unusually credible institutional validator set. MoneyGram, Figure Markets and Range all joined as Tier 1 validators in July. Tradable has committed to bringing up to $1 billion in tokenized private credit to the network. Most significantly, the DTCC has confirmed plans to connect its tokenized securities platform to Stellar, with $XLM expected to serve as the settlement asset. The network activated Protocol 27 following a 8 July vote, introducing authentication delegation, and reported more than $2 billion in real-world assets issued in Q1 2026 alone. Stablecoin supply on the network has grown almost 300% over two years.
The risk: the DTCC rollout is targeted for the first half of 2027. That is a long wait, and long-dated catalysts are precisely what a market with a 61.4% probability of a September rate hike discounts most heavily. XLM has also repeatedly failed to hold above the $0.20 resistance level.
4. Arbitrum (ARB)
Price: around $0.08 | Market cap: approximately $517 million | Roughly 97% below its $2.39 all-time high
$Arbitrum presents the sharpest divergence between network usage and token price in this group. Robinhood Chain launched its mainnet in early July using Arbitrum's technology, generating over $500 million in daily trading volume at peak, 17 million transactions in its first week and 350,000 addresses. The network surpassed Hyperliquid to reach eighth place among all chains by total value locked at approximately $1.2 billion, and leads all Layer 2 networks in Aave v3 borrowing and lending activity with $728 million in TVL. Usage has held up through a period of severe token weakness.
The risk: the reason for that divergence is dilution, and it is ongoing. Arbitrum unlocked approximately 92.65 million tokens in mid-July, most going to team, advisors and investors, with further unlocks scheduled through the remainder of 2026. Sustained selling pressure from vesting is the direct explanation for the price performance, and nothing in the schedule changes before year-end.
5. Ethena (ENA)
Price: around $0.083 | Market cap: approximately $790 million | Roughly 94% below its $1.52 all-time high
$Ethena is the highest-risk name here and belongs on the list for one reason: the institutional distribution is real. BlackRock integrated Ethena's USDe into its Aladdin risk management platform. Janus Henderson took a position in ENA and plans to use staked USDe for treasury cash management, adding to existing relationships with Anchorage Digital and Securitize. The potential fee-switch activation would convert ENA from a pure governance token into a cash-flow-linked asset by directing protocol revenue to stakers, which is the single change most likely to re-rate the token.
The risk, and it is substantial: the fundamentals are deteriorating, not improving. Gross protocol revenue fell 32% quarter over quarter to $65.06 million in Q1 2026. USDe supply has fallen from a $14.5 billion peak to roughly $5.92 billion. Daily active users have dropped to around 1,200. Ethena completed a 172 million token unlock on 4 July with further releases scheduled for August, and roughly 40% of the 15 billion maximum supply remains to be distributed. Ethena's model is also funding-rate dependent, meaning its yield compresses precisely when market sentiment turns negative. This is a speculative position on the fee switch and institutional distribution outrunning a shrinking protocol, not a bet on current performance.
Comparing where to trade these? Fees and spreads matter more in a range-bound market than in a trending one. 👉 See our crypto exchange comparison
What are the risks of buying altcoins during consolidation?
Consolidation does not guarantee an upside resolution. Ranges break in both directions, and a Bitcoin close below $62,500 would likely drag every token on this list lower regardless of individual catalysts, since altcoin correlation to BTC rises sharply during drawdowns.
Three risks deserve specific attention this month. Token unlocks affect three of the five names here, with ARB, ENA and ONDO all carrying active or imminent dilution schedules. The September rate decision is a binary event that markets currently price at 61.4% for a hike, and altcoins are the highest-beta expression of that outcome. And a deep drawdown is not automatically an entry point, since roughly 94% of major tokens launched since 2024 now trade below their launch price, with a median return around -95.7%. Most assets that fall 90% continue falling.
The immediate calendar is dense: US payrolls on 7 August, the Senate recess the same day, and CPI on 12 August. All three land before any of the catalysts described above have time to develop.
The week of 27 July to 2 August delivered an unusually dense run of catalysts: a hawkish hold from the Federal Reserve, the largest hardware wallet failure in Bitcoin's history, a month-end ETF redemption wave and a market structure bill running out of legislative runway.
$Bitcoin absorbed all of it and closed the week down roughly 2%, trading at $63,153 as of midday Sunday. That muted reaction is arguably the week's most informative data point, and it suggests a market that has already discounted a substantial amount of negative news.
The following is a breakdown of what moved, why it matters, and the scheduled events most likely to drive prices over the coming week.
What was the biggest crypto news this week?
Four developments carried material weight:
- The Fed held rates, but three officials voted for a hike, lifting September tightening odds above 60%.
- A firmware flaw in Coldcard hardware wallets was linked to approximately $70 million in stolen Bitcoin.
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs closed the week negative following a heavy month-end redemption day.
- The CLARITY Act reached the Senate recess window with no floor vote scheduled.
Secondary items, including Tether's quarterly profit and Solana's tokenized equity volumes, sit beneath those four in terms of market impact.
Why was the Fed's hold actually hawkish for crypto?
On 29 July the FOMC left the federal funds target range at 3.50% to 3.75%. The decision itself was expected. The vote was not. The committee split 9-3, with three regional presidents dissenting in favour of a 25 basis point hike: Beth Hammack of Cleveland, Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis and Lorie Logan of Dallas. It marks the sharpest FOMC split since September 2016.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reinforced the hawkish signal at the press conference, telling reporters there is no soft inflation target and no soft implicit target on this committee's watch.
Markets repriced immediately. CME FedWatch now assigns a 61.4% probability to a 25 basis point September hike, up from 50.6% a month earlier. Odds of a 50 basis point move have collapsed to zero, and a rate cut carries no probability at all. Prediction markets are aligned but less emphatic: Kalshi prices a hike at 53% against 44% for no change, and Polymarket at 52% versus 46%.
The implication for digital assets is direct. A tightening cycle resuming in September implies higher real yields, a firmer dollar and reduced appetite for long duration risk. Notably, Bitcoin held near $64,000 on the day of the decision while the S&P 500 fell about 1.5%, the Nasdaq 1.7% and the Dow 2.19%. Crypto outperformed equities on the announcement, which is an atypical response and worth monitoring.
How did $70 million in Bitcoin vanish without anyone touching a device?
An attacker drained 1,196 Bitcoin addresses in 41 minutes on 30 July, taking 1,082.65 BTC worth approximately $70.2 million. Galaxy Research attributed the sweep to a firmware flaw in Coldcard, the Bitcoin-only hardware wallet manufactured by Canadian firm Coinkite.
The mechanism distinguishes this incident from a conventional exploit. A March 2021 firmware integration error routed seed generation to a deterministic software pseudorandom number generator rather than the STM32 hardware random number generator. An attacker able to constrain the device UID, timer state and prior RNG-call history could therefore reproduce candidate seeds offline, without ever accessing the physical device. Candidate keys were then validated against public blockchain data and swept remotely.
The transactions carried identical 30 sat/vB fees with no change outputs and clustered across blocks 960,183 to 960,191, indicating full automation rather than manual execution. The proceeds currently sit in four addresses and have not moved.
Coinkite has acknowledged the failure. CEO Rodolfo Novak issued an apology and stated that the company took full accountability for the firmware bug, conceding that its review process had failed to identify it. Emergency firmware has been released for every affected model: version 4.2.0 or later for Mk3, 5.6.0 or later for Mk4 and Mk5, and 1.5.0Q or later for the Coldcard Q.
One detail is critical for affected holders. Updating firmware alone does not secure existing funds, because the private keys derived from a compromised seed remain unchanged. Affected users must generate an entirely new recovery phrase on the corrected firmware and migrate their BTC to it. Galaxy further warned that future attacks remain possible against any Coldcard-generated address, and that such attacks need not match the transaction pattern observed on 30 July.
The incident lands in an already difficult year for security. Blockchain security firm Blockaid reported that crypto projects lost more than $1 billion to hacks in the first half of 2026.
Still storing serious size on a single device? Compare hardware wallets side by side before you migrate your seed. 👉 See our wallet comparison
What are ETF flows telling us about institutional demand?
Institutional positioning remains mixed, with an increasing tilt toward Ethereum.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of $61.53 million for the week ending 31 July, while spot Ethereum ETFs added $27.42 million and Solana ETFs took in approximately $2.82 million. HYPE products saw around $14.75 million in net outflows, consistent with the token's 11% weekly decline.
The Bitcoin damage concentrated in a single session. Funds shed $265.4 million on 31 July, reversing a $233.1 million inflow the previous day. BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $122.7 million of the outflow, Fidelity's FBTC $54.8 million and Grayscale's GBTC $52.6 million.
The monthly picture is more constructive. July closed with $172.4 million of net inflows for Bitcoin ETFs, ending two consecutive months of outflows after nearly $7 billion left the category across May and June. June alone was the worst month of 2026 at roughly $4.5 billion.
Ethereum products extended their run to four consecutive weeks of net inflows and finished July with $365.2 million, the second positive month of the year. They nonetheless remain approximately $1.1 billion in net outflows for 2026 overall, which frames the move as a recovery rather than a structural reversal.
The aggregate reading: institutions have largely stopped selling, but have not resumed buying with conviction.
Where do Bitcoin and the majors stand right now?
Prices as of midday Sunday 2 August, excluding stablecoins:
| Asset | Price | 24h | 7d | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin ($BTC) | $63,152.94 | +0.13% | -1.98% | -27.84% |
| Ethereum ($ETH) | $1,867.56 | +0.03% | -0.70% | -37.06% |
| $BNB | $583.35 | -0.43% | +2.16% | -32.42% |
| $XRP | $1.07 | +1.68% | -1.74% | -41.34% |
| Solana ($SOL) | $73.18 | +0.30% | -2.35% | -41.21% |
| TRON ($TRX) | $0.3272 | -0.07% | -1.05% | +15.11% |
| Hyperliquid ($HYPE) | $52.03 | -0.59% | -11.02% | +104.60% |
| Dogecoin ($DOGE) | $0.0700 | +0.26% | -4.59% | -40.31% |
| Zcash ($ZEC) | $473.79 | +1.62% | -3.64% | -7.55% |
| Cardano ($ADA) | $0.1853 | +7.31% | +12.36% | -44.31% |
| Monero ($XMR) | $360.45 | -1.16% | -0.35% | -16.80% |
Cardano is the clear weekly outperformer at 12.36%, with a 7.31% daily gain suggesting the move is still developing. BNB is the only other major in positive weekly territory. Hyperliquid is the week's largest decliner at 11.02%, though it retains a 104.60% year-to-date gain, and TRON remains the sole large-cap asset positive on the year alongside HYPE.
The year-to-date column is the more significant read. Bitcoin is down 27.84% in 2026 and trades well below the highs above $126,000 recorded earlier this year, while most large-cap altcoins sit 32% to 44% lower.
Technically, Bitcoin is now trading just beneath the 200-week moving average near $63,300, a level Marex analysts identified as the pivot for the current range. A sustained loss of $62,500 opens a path toward the $60,000 liquidation target. To the upside, the 20-day EMA near $64,288 and the 50-day EMA near $64,891 form the immediate resistance band, with the 100-day at $67,481 and the 200-day at $73,133 keeping the medium-term trend corrective.
Trading this volatility? Fees and spreads matter more in a chop than in a trend. 👉 Compare crypto exchanges
Is the CLARITY Act finished for 2026?
Not formally, but the timeline is close to exhausted. As of late July, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has cleared the House and the Senate Banking Committee, yet there is no floor vote, no cloture motion and no date on the calendar. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated he does not expect the bill to reach the floor before the summer recess begins around 7 August, with the chamber prioritising nominations and subsequently a Russia sanctions bill.
Marex analysts characterised the delay as the removal of the market's one crypto-specific support, noting that the catalyst intended to unlock institutional buying is now parked. Prediction markets reflect the same assessment. Polymarket odds on 2026 passage fell from above 80% in February to a record low near 24% in mid-July, before settling around 35% as the ethics deadlock hardened.
The legislative groundwork remains in place. The House passed its version on 17 July 2025 by 294 to 134, and the Senate Banking Committee advanced it 15 to 9 on 14 May 2026. Should the bill miss the recess window, most observers treat early August as the practical cutoff, given that a fall vote would compete with appropriations negotiations and the election calendar.
What crypto events are coming next week?
The following dates fall between 3 and 12 August:
- Monday 3 August: ISM survey data. Consensus anticipates a recovery to 54.0 for July, with the prices paid component the relevant line for inflation trajectory.
- Wednesday 5 August: ADP private payrolls and services survey data.
- Friday 7 August, 8:30 AM ET: US non-farm payrolls for July. The week's primary catalyst, and the Fed's key labour input ahead of the September meeting. June printed at 57,000 jobs against forecasts of 110,000, following a downwardly revised 129,000 in May. A strong reading raises September hike odds and pressures risk assets; a weak one has the opposite effect.
- Friday 7 August: The Senate summer recess begins around this date, effectively closing the CLARITY Act's 2026 window absent rapid movement.
- Next week, exact day to be confirmed: The xrpld 3.3.0 release for the XRP Ledger is expected, carrying five proposed amendments, including two features previously withdrawn after researchers identified bugs.
- Tuesday 11 August: Pi Network mainnet upgrade deadline.
- Wednesday 12 August, 8:30 AM ET: US CPI for July. Combined with payrolls, this pair effectively determines the September decision.
- Wednesday 12 August: Aptos unlocks approximately 11.31 million APT, around 0.54% of total supply, at 2 AM UTC.
Further out, the next FOMC decision is scheduled for Wednesday 16 September at 2:00 PM ET.
What should traders watch?
Three variables, in order of significance.
- Friday's payrolls print. It is the largest single input into the September hike question, which is in turn the dominant driver of crypto direction. A softening labour market strengthens the case against tightening and relieves pressure on risk assets. A resilient one validates the three dissenters.
- The $62,500 level. Bitcoin has spent the week defending the low $60,000s and now sits marginally below the 200-week moving average. Losing $62,500 opens a retest of $60,000, while reclaiming the 50-day EMA near $64,900 would represent the first credible sign of returning momentum.
- ETF flows on Monday and Tuesday. The 31 July outflow was partly attributable to month-end rebalancing. Continued redemptions into the new month would indicate genuine repositioning rather than a calendar effect.
The broader setup is unchanged. Market commentary describes an asset class that absorbed sustained negative news through July but remains cautious into a historically choppy August, with rate hike expectations and labour data the principal risks. Bitcoin's ability to withstand a hawkish Fed, a $70 million wallet exploit and a stalled regulatory bill within a single week while declining only 2% is the strongest evidence available that current levels reflect substantial existing pessimism.
Decrypt
BlackRock launched a tokenized money market fund for stablecoin reserves that uses Solana alongside Ethereum.
Flare's FXRP has been approved as collateral in a $280 million RLUSD lending vault, allowing XRP holders to tap Ethereum's lending markets.
Authoritarian oppression, corporate treasuries and “wrench attacks” make up the privacy case in a new report from ChangeNOW and CoinRabbit.
CKPool's developer put the winner's hashrate at a “wildly variable” peak of 100 PH, noting that it was probably rented.
The Hut 8 subsidiary increased its Bitcoin holdings by 14% in the second quarter even as Bitcoin’s price fell.
U.Today - IT, AI and Fintech Daily News for You Today
Mastercard completes the acquisition of XRP supporter BVNK to push into the $309 billion stablecoin market.
Michael Saylor is still boosting his company's cash reserves after it stopped buying Bitcoin for about six weeks amid the prolonged crypto market downturn.
Canadian billionaire investor Frank Giustra has blasted Michael Saylor following Strategy's latest $102.3 million Bitcoin sale.
BlackRock's IBIT liquidates $122 million in Bitcoin via Coinbase as annual returns plunge 45.62%.
XRP community put on notice as security warnings surface.
Blockonomi
TLDR
- Apple shares fell 1.30% as an early rally reversed during mid-morning trade.
- PlasmaSolve gives Apple software to simulate coatings before factory testing.
- The deal could support thinner, stronger finishes across future Apple devices.
- Digital simulations may reduce testing costs and improve manufacturing yields.
- The acquisition extends Apple’s push to control more hardware technologies.
Apple (AAPL) shares fell 1.30% to $304.89 after an early rally reversed during mid-morning trading. The decline followed a weak quarterly outlook that pressured shares before Monday’s acquisition disclosure. Meanwhile, Apple bought PlasmaSolve to strengthen its control over advanced materials and production methods.
Apple Inc., AAPL
Apple Adds Plasma Simulation Tools
The European Commission disclosed that Apple acquired PlasmaSolve through a subsidiary in April. Apple purchased the Czech company’s entire issued share capital and offered jobs to selected employees. However, neither party disclosed the purchase price or other financial terms.
PlasmaSolve develops software that models plasma-based manufacturing processes before factories begin physical testing. Its MatSight platform combines physics, chemistry, materials analysis, and machine learning within detailed digital simulations. Therefore, engineers can test coating methods without repeatedly changing production equipment or factory settings.
The software models physical vapor deposition and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition processes. Manufacturers use these methods to create thin and uniform layers across device surfaces. These coatings can improve appearance, scratch resistance, durability, and protection without adding significant thickness.
Deal Could Improve Device Production
Apple could use PlasmaSolve’s tools to shorten material testing cycles across its hardware operations. Engineers can compare coatings through simulations before ordering tools, adjusting suppliers, or changing assembly lines. As a result, Apple may reduce development costs and improve production yields across several product categories.
The technology could support thinner finishes for iPhones, Macs, Apple Watches, and future devices. It could also help Apple maintain consistent colors, textures, and protective layers across large production volumes. However, the acquisition should not materially change Apple’s near-term revenue or earnings.
Instead, the deal gives Apple another specialized engineering capability inside its organization. Apple often acquires smaller companies that provide useful software, talent, patents, or production knowledge. That approach allows the company to develop key features without relying entirely on outside technology providers.
Apple Expands Manufacturing Control
Apple has continued investing in chips, materials, software, and production systems that support its hardware business. The company recently announced a Broadcom agreement expected to exceed $30 billion. That agreement will support more than 15 billion chips produced in the United States.
Apple also completed several smaller acquisitions during 2026 before buying PlasmaSolve. Those purchases included Rabbit 3 Times, SigScalr, and Final Cut Pro plugin developer MotionVFX. Together, the deals show Apple’s continued interest in targeted technologies and experienced engineering teams.
Earlier reports linked Apple with possible acquisitions involving chip designers and semiconductor startups. Apple has discussed potential transactions with bankers and approached several young chip companies. Still, PlasmaSolve gives Apple an immediate tool for improving materials research and manufacturing decisions.
The post Apple (AAPL) Stock: Drops as PlasmaSolve Deal Targets Thinner and Stronger Devices appeared first on Blockonomi.
TLDR
- Backblaze highlights AI storage platform and B2 Overdrive at Ai4 2026 event.
- BLZE showcases scalable AI storage services during North America’s largest AI event.
- Backblaze expands AI infrastructure presence with Ai4 2026 product demonstrations.
- Backblaze presents enterprise AI storage platform and partner ecosystem at Ai4.
- BLZE features AI data storage innovations and expert session during Ai4 2026.
Backblaze (BLZE) shares will showcase its AI storage platform during Ai4 2026 in Las Vegas. BLZE stock traded at $14.97, up 9.12%, during market hours. The company will participate as a Platinum sponsor while presenting storage technologies for AI and data-intensive workloads.
Backblaze, Inc., BLZE
Backblaze Expands AI Storage Presence at Ai4 2026
Ai4 2026 will take place from August 4 through August 6 at The Venetian Las Vegas. The conference gathers nearly 12,000 attendees focused on applied artificial intelligence. It also covers generative AI, agentic AI, AI infrastructure, physical AI, and world models.
Backblaze will exhibit at Booth 1248 throughout the event. The company plans to demonstrate how its object storage platform supports large AI workloads. The showcase will explain how high-throughput storage keeps GPUs supplied with data.
The event provides another opportunity for Backblaze to strengthen its presence within the AI infrastructure market. The company will engage with technology providers and enterprise customers. It will also highlight storage performance across cloud and on-premises environments.
Company Highlights B2 Overdrive and Partner Services
Backblaze will feature Powered by Backblaze during the conference. The service allows technology companies to integrate B2 Cloud Storage into their own platforms. Consequently, partners can provide enterprise storage without operating their own infrastructure.
The platform also supports account management, reporting, and customer billing through the Backblaze Partner API. This approach enables software providers and cloud companies to offer branded storage services. As a result, organizations can scale storage operations more efficiently.
Backblaze will also demonstrate B2 Overdrive during the event. The platform supports multi-petabyte datasets and demanding AI workloads. It delivers throughput of up to one terabit per second with predictable monthly pricing.
The company launched B2 Overdrive less than six months before receiving recognition in the 2025 TechForward Awards. The platform complements Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage with always-hot, S3-compatible object storage. Several organizations already use the service for production AI workloads.
Backblaze listed CoreWeave, Mirage, Decart, and Segmed among customers using B2 Cloud Storage. These deployments support AI applications requiring reliable and scalable object storage. The company continues expanding its presence across enterprise AI infrastructure.
Expert Session Adds Industry Perspective
Backblaze Director of Applied AI Jeronimo De Leon will lead a technical session during Ai4 2026. The presentation focuses on storage, provenance, and pipelines for generative AI media workloads. It will examine how organizations manage data across multiple infrastructure environments.
The session will discuss movement between cloud platforms, GPU resources, and on-premises systems. It will also explain how changing AI models influence storage strategies. Organizations can better understand long-term infrastructure planning.
Backblaze stated that storage architecture has become increasingly important for evolving AI workflows. The presentation will address operational costs and data movement across large deployments. It will also examine practical approaches used for modern AI pipelines.
Besides the technical presentations, Backblaze will sponsor the Women in AI Reception during the conference. The reception will take place on August 4 before the speaking session. Attendees can also schedule meetings with the Backblaze team during the event.
Backblaze has developed cloud storage technologies for more than two decades. Today, the company serves more than 500,000 customers across 175 countries. Its platform supports businesses handling large volumes of data while powering AI and other data-intensive applications.
The post Backblaze (BLZE) Stock: Company to Showcase AI Storage Solutions at Ai4 2026 appeared first on Blockonomi.
TLDR
- Edible Garden extends its Midwest herb supply agreement through December 2028.
- The expanded deal covers more than 20 fresh herbs and specialty products nationwide.
- Midwest facilities will support year-round supply and faster regional distribution.
- GreenThumb 2.0 helps manage crop quality, output, and operating efficiency.
- The contract strengthens Edible Garden’s wider Farm-to-Formula growth plan.
Edible Garden (EDBL) shares fell 1.89% to $2.2860 by 2:42 p.m. EDT after an early advance lost momentum. The company separately announced an expanded supply agreement with a major Midwest big-box retailer. The contract runs through December 31, 2028, and broadens Edible Garden’s private-label fresh herb program.
Edible Garden AG Incorporated, EDBL
Edible Garden Expands Midwest Herb Program
The agreement covers more than 20 fresh herbs, specialty products, culinary herbs, and living plants. It also expands distribution across the retailer’s Midwest operations under a multi-year supply structure. Edible Garden said the program strengthens its role as a year-round supplier of sustainably grown produce.
The company did not identify the retailer or disclose the agreement’s financial terms. However, the longer contract gives Edible Garden greater visibility across its private-label business. It also supports continued product placement within a large regional retail network.
Edible Garden has focused on deeper retail partnerships and wider product penetration across strategic United States markets. The company sells branded and private-label products through controlled growing and distribution operations. Therefore, the agreement extends an existing relationship rather than creating a new retail channel.
Midwest Network Supports Year-Round Supply
Edible Garden plans to serve the expanded program through its Midwest production and distribution network. Its operations include facilities in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Webster City, Iowa. Those locations help shorten delivery routes and support consistent service across the retailer’s regional footprint.
The company uses controlled environment agriculture to manage production throughout the year. This system helps maintain product quality, freshness, food safety, and predictable supply levels. Strategic grower relationships also allow Edible Garden to meet larger retail orders without relying on one location.
Edible Garden also operates its GreenThumb 2.0 software platform across its growing network. The platform uses data analysis to manage crop conditions, production planning, and operating efficiency. Consequently, the system supports tighter control over output while reducing waste and resource use.
Farm-to-Formula Strategy Adds Another Growth Path
The supply agreement also supports Edible Garden’s broader Farm-to-Formula strategy. That plan extends the business beyond fresh produce into shelf-stable nutrition products. The company expects those products to carry higher margins than its traditional herb and produce lines.
Edible Garden is developing the Prairie Hills facility to support ready-to-drink nutrition production. It has partnered with Tetra Pak on processing systems for the planned product range. The project gives the company another commercial route alongside retail herbs and living plants.
The company follows its Zero-Waste Inspired approach across production, packaging, and resource planning. That model aims to reduce unused materials while improving efficiency across each operating stage. The extended contract provides a longer commercial base as Edible Garden develops these additional products.
The post Edible Garden AG Incorporated (EDBL) Stock: Multi-Year Herb Deal Runs to 2028 appeared first on Blockonomi.
TLDR
- RCAT stock gains 9.03% as Blue Ops upgrades its V7 autonomous maritime drone boat.
- Blue Ops adds Volvo Penta’s D4-320 engine to widen V7 marine propulsion choices.
- The V7 keeps its autonomy stack while adding proven marine power and support.
- Volvo Penta’s global service network boosts V7 deployment and support readiness.
- Red Cat broadens its defense robotics push across air, land, sea, and space.
Red Cat Holdings stock rose 9.03% to $8.21 by 2:25 p.m. EDT after a strong post-open rally. The move followed Blue Ops’ first V7 integration with Volvo Penta’s D4-320 diesel engine and DPI drive. The addition expands propulsion choices for defense, homeland security, and allied maritime customers.
Red Cat Holdings, Inc., RCAT
Blue Ops Adds Volvo Penta Power to V7
Blue Ops integrated the 320-horsepower engine with the V7 vessel’s autonomous navigation and remote operations systems. The package also connects with mission planning, payload management and the platform’s wider control architecture. Customers can select established marine power without changing the vessel’s core autonomy systems.
The D4-320 uses a 3.7-liter, four-cylinder common-rail diesel design for demanding marine operations. Volvo Penta paired the engine with its DPI DuoProp drive for handling, durability, and efficient performance. The setup gives Blue Ops another production-ready option for missions requiring dependable propulsion and rapid maintenance support.
Volvo Penta also provides a global network for parts, servicing, and technical support across major maritime markets. That coverage supports customers deploying uncrewed vessels far from domestic repair facilities or established military bases. As a result, Blue Ops can provide wider operational support alongside the V7’s autonomous mission capabilities.
V7 Targets Defense and Security Missions
Blue Ops designs and assembles the V7 in the United States for American and allied defense operations. The vessel supports surveillance, force protection, coastal security, contested logistics, and other adaptable maritime missions. Its modular design lets customers adjust systems without replacing the complete vessel platform.
The V7 follows Modular Open Systems Architecture principles across propulsion, sensors, communications, payloads, and mission equipment. Operators can configure the boat for different environments, threats, and command requirements. The open structure also helps Blue Ops add new technologies as defense needs change.
The latest engine integration preserves the V7’s existing autonomy, control, and mission management framework. Therefore, customers gain another propulsion choice while retaining common software and operating procedures. This approach reduces integration complexity and supports faster deployment across varied fleets and mission profiles.
Red Cat Expands Its Autonomous Systems Portfolio
Blue Ops recently moved the V7 into full-rate production as demand for autonomous maritime systems expands. Defense agencies increasingly seek vessels that can perform dangerous, repetitive, or remote missions with fewer personnel. The V7 addresses that demand through scalable manufacturing and flexible mission configuration.
Red Cat operates across aerial, maritime, land, and space-based autonomous technologies for national security customers. Blue Ops strengthens that portfolio by adding production-ready uncrewed surface vessels to the company’s existing capabilities. The V7 also gives Red Cat exposure to expanding defense spending on distributed autonomous platforms.
The Volvo Penta integration supports Red Cat’s plan to offer adaptable systems using a common operational architecture. Volvo Penta’s established global service capacity also strengthens the new propulsion option. Meanwhile, RCAT stock’s rally followed the latest expansion of the V7’s production-ready capabilities.
The post Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (RCAT) Stock: Surges as Blue Ops Expands V7 Drone Boat Power appeared first on Blockonomi.
TLDR
- Nature’s Sunshine appoints Janine Weber to lead North America growth efforts.
- NATR names Janine Weber as EVP to strengthen North American operations.
- Nature’s Sunshine expands leadership with Janine Weber appointment.
- Janine Weber joins Nature’s Sunshine to oversee North America business.
- NATR stock gains as Nature’s Sunshine appoints new North America chief.
Nature’s Sunshine Products Inc. appointed Janine Weber as Executive Vice President and President of North America. NATR stock traded at $21.01, up 4.27%, during market hours. The appointment becomes effective on August 10, 2026, and supports the company’s long-term expansion plans.
Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc., NATR
Janine Weber Takes Charge of North America Business
The company selected Weber to oversee its operations across the United States and Canada. She will guide commercial strategy and improve consultant engagement across the region. She will also strengthen customer experience while supporting future business growth.
Weber brings more than 25 years of leadership experience to the role. Her background includes direct selling, customer experience, sales enablement, and business development. She has also managed organizational growth across several consumer-focused businesses.
Before joining Nature’s Sunshine, Weber served as Regional President for North America at LifeWave. Earlier, she spent more than ten years in senior leadership positions at Rodan + Fields. During that period, the skincare company exceeded $1 billion in annual sales and earned recognition from Euromonitor as North America’s leading skincare brand.
Leadership Appointment Supports Long-Term Growth Strategy
Nature’s Sunshine stated that Weber will lead efforts to expand the company’s North American business. Her responsibilities include improving consultant relationships and strengthening commercial execution. She will help enhance customer engagement across key markets.
Chief Executive Officer Ken Romanzi welcomed Weber to the executive leadership team. He said her leadership experience and strategic approach align with the company’s long-term business objectives. He also noted that her experience building high-performing teams supports the company’s growth plans.
Weber said she looks forward to working with employees, consultants, and customers across North America. She noted that Nature’s Sunshine has built a strong foundation in health and wellness. She added that the company’s community and mission provide opportunities for continued business development.
Company Builds on Established Wellness Business
Nature’s Sunshine operates as a manufacturer and marketer of herbal, nutritional, and personal care products. The company distributes its products in more than 40 countries worldwide. It also produces most products through its own manufacturing facilities to maintain quality and safety standards.
The latest executive appointment follows previous leadership changes within the company. Nature’s Sunshine has continued strengthening its management team while pursuing operational growth. The company remains focused on expanding its commercial presence across major markets.
Weber’s appointment adds another experienced executive to Nature’s Sunshine’s leadership structure. Her experience in direct selling and customer-focused operations matches the company’s business model. As a result, the leadership transition provides additional support for future execution across the North American region.
Nature’s Sunshine has operated in the health and wellness industry for decades. The company has built its business around nutritional supplements and personal care products. It continues expanding its international footprint while maintaining manufacturing control over most product lines.
The company relies on consultants and customer relationships to distribute products across multiple markets. Leadership with direct selling experience remains an important part of its operating strategy. Weber’s previous roles reflect extensive experience managing those types of business models.
The appointment comes as Nature’s Sunshine continues refining its leadership structure. The company aims to improve operational performance while supporting sustainable growth across North America. Weber will play a central role in executing those priorities after assuming the position on August 10, 2026.
The post Nature’s Sunshine (NASDAQ: NATR) Stock: Company Appoints Janine Weber as EVP and North America President appeared first on Blockonomi.
CryptoPotato
Bitcoin mining has long become a massive business niche in which the individual miner has been sidelined, but there are occasional exceptions.
A single miner managed to mine block number 960804, which secured them the 3.125 BTC prize, worth roughly $200,000 at today’s prices.
Pseudonymous software developer at CKPool, Dr -ck, was among the first to congratulate the miner. However, they explained that the miner’s hashrate peaked at 100 PH, which is significantly higher than that of so-called hobby miners.
Consequently, Dr- ck determined that the miner in question had probably rented the equipment. In addition, popular market observer going under the X moniker Bitcoin Archive described the miner as “not the average Joe,” but still admitted the substantial luck needed to succeed given the current miner environment.
This development comes amid the Coldcard saga, in which many investors using the hardware wallet lost millions of dollars worth of BTC as the wave of attacks continues. Dr -ck noted that the chaos has not deterred the Bitcoin network from operating as intended.
The post Lucky Solo Bitcoin Miner Lands $200K BTC Reward: But There’s a Catch (Flash News) appeared first on CryptoPotato.
The primary cryptocurrency has experienced another pullback over the past few days.
Potential reasons for the negative performance include the Coldcard exploit, waning institutional interest, and Strategy’s latest sell-off. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Coldcard Drama
Last week, Coinkite, the company behind the Colcard hardware wallet, warned users that their Bitcoin funds could be at risk if their seed phrase was generated on certain affected firmware versions. This alert came shortly after reports that almost $40 million worth of BTC had been drained from such devices.
The attacks continued with two more waves, and at one point the total amount of embezzled coins reached 1,367.05 (equaling around $88.6 million). Alex Thorn (head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital) spotted a fourth organized wave, saying:
“These are likely Coldcard victims – they match the shape of Coldcard vulnerable UTXOs, and the elevated transaction pattern gives me high confidence they are another wave of attacks.”
He also advised all users to move their funds off their wallets as soon as possible. Somewhat expected, the exploit affected market mood, with Santiment saying it pushed Bitcoin’s positive-to-negative commentary ratio on X, Reddit, Telegram, and other platforms to its lowest level since its modern social tracking began.
The ETF Front
Unlike June, which emerged as the worst month for spot BTC ETFs, July started on the right foot and attracted nearly $200 million in net inflows during the full first week.
Interest faded toward the middle of the month, but it picked up again. In fact, there were seven consecutive green days between July 14 and July 22, something unseen since April. Since then, though, outflows have dominated, while SoSoValue has not yet presented data on how August has kicked off.
Investing in spot BTC ETFs is generally favored by more conservative players, such as pension funds and hedge funds, who seek regulated exposure and would rather skip steps like managing private keys themselves. Some of the financial giants that have introduced such products over the years include BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, and many others.
Strategy Sold Again
Just a few hours ago, Michael Saylor (co-founder and Executive Chairman of Strategy) revealed that the entity has increased its USD Reserve by $250 million and repurchased $81 million of STRC shares.
At first glance, that was it, yet a closer look at the announcement showed that the company has also sold 1,637 BTC for approximately $105 million between July 27 and August 2. After all, its total stash stood at 843,775 coins, while the current number is 842,138 units.
BTC Price Outlook
The aforementioned news has been among the main factors suppressing BTC’s valuation over the past few days. As of this writing, it trades at around $63,600 (per CoinGecko), translating into a 1% weekly decline.
Meanwhile, August can cause even more pain to the bulls. The month has historically been a poor period for the cryptocurrency, with the price ending in red territory 9 out of 13 times.
The post Bitcoin (BTC) News Today: August 3 appeared first on CryptoPotato.
After the highly expected weekend in which supporters of the bill expected some sort of an advancement, Eleanor Terrett reported that the White House has failed to respond to a key counterproposal.
The popular journalist noted a few days ago that Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Ruben Gallego had pushed for stronger ethics provisions, indicating that state attorneys general should enforce laws against federal officials.
However, she updated on Monday that the White House has failed to respond to the counterproposal after citing a source familiar with the matter.
“A deal on the CLARITY Act’s biggest outstanding issue has yet to materialize heading into the week of a potential vote,” she added.
The odds for approval of the legislation continue to decline as there’s no real progress made. Current data from Washington experts and prediction markets show that the percentage is down to 28%. It used to be at roughly 70% earlier this year.
The post Another Setback for CLARITY Act as White House Stays Silent (Flash News) appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Michael Saylor, co-founder, former CEO, and current Chairman of the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, spoke after the company announced its third BTC sale in the past few months.
He weighed in on a statement he had made countless times in the past: “Never sell your bitcoin,” but noted that it was meant for “savers.”
Saylor assured that he, as an individual investor, has never sold a single BTC, but Strategy is a public company, “not my wallet.”
“Since 2020, it has disclosed it may buy or sell BTC to manage capital. Our shared conviction in Bitcoin remains unchanged.”
Strategy disposed of another 1,638 BTC in the past week, which builds on the 3,588 units sold at the end of June.
The company also used the capital to repurchase more of its own STRC shares. This reinforced the asset’s price, which has climbed to $92. Although it’s still below its par price of $100, it has rebounded swiftly from the recent lows of $75.
The post Michael Saylor Breaks Silence After Strategy’s Third BTC Sale (Flash News) appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Cardano’s native token is among the best-performing cryptocurrencies (from the top 10 club) over the past week.
Its renewed momentum has naturally drawn more attention, with some market observers now projecting further gains.
The Rally Goes on?
ADA experienced a sudden and rather unexpected revival this weekend, rising to a monthly peak of around $0.19. As of this writing, it trades just south of that mark, representing a 13% increase on a seven-day scale.
The most probable catalyst for the upswing seems to be the accumulation from whales, with Ali Martinez revealing that these big investors have purchased more than 240 million tokens in just five days.
Meanwhile, X user JAVON MARKS believes that ADA’s recent performance resembles that of 2020-2021, which was followed by a massive bull run towards an ATH. That said, the analyst set a target of $2.90, which is currently 1,300% away.
Leon Voss Official also chipped in, claiming that ADA has broken above a long-term descending trendline that had acted as persistent resistance.
“Daily candle comes on stronger side and now obvious touch the support for further confirmation to hold above $0.17. That’s connected to Cardano TVL surge by some +9% over the past week, reclaiming a level of nearly $68 million,” the X user added.
For their part, Crypto Tony said they will look for a short position upon a potential rejection of the recent rally or go long if the price flips the $0.22 zone.
Entering a Dangerous Territory
ADA’s pump is more than evident, yet one should keep in mind the unfavorable condition of the broader crypto market, meaning the bears can regain control at any time and quickly erase the gains.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) should serve as another warning. Its ratio briefly spiked above 80, easing back to 65, which still keeps it hovering near overbought territory and signals a potential short-term correction.
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