🔥 XRP Holders Can Now Borrow Ripple's RLUSD on Ethereum Without Selling Their Crypto.
Image: Shutterstock/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief Flare's FXRP is now accepted as collateral in Sentora's RLUSD vault on Morpho. XRP holders can borrow Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin on Ethereum without selling their XRP. The integration is the first time an XRP-based asset has been approved as collateral in an institutionally curated Ethereum lending vault. Announced on Monday by layer 1 blockchain developer Flare, the integration lets users convert XRP into Flare's FXRP token, bridge it to Ethereum, deposit it as collateral on the Morpho lending protocol, and borrow RLUSD.
Because the loan is backed by collateral rather than a sale, borrowers retain exposure to XRP's price while accessing dollar-pegged liquidity. XRP is one of the largest assets in crypto and one of the least used in DeFi. That gap came down to infrastructure, co-founder and CEO of Flare, Hugo Philion, said in a statement. XRP is now collateral that an institutional risk team underwrites on Ethereum mainnet, which is a stronger form of recognition than another bridge listing. The model is similar to Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), which lets Bitcoin holders use their BTC in Ethereum-based decentralized finance without selling it.
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It documents protective uses including civilian access under sanctions, corporate confidentiality and defense against physical coercion. The report also cites TRM Labs putting 2025 illicit inflows at $158 billion, with 84% of fraud proceeds moving over stablecoin rails. Crypto privacy tools serve essential protective functions that restore a measure of financial privacy that has always existed in TradFi, according to a new report from non-custodial crypto platform ChangeNOW and digital asset management platform CoinRabbit.
Building on data from sources including TRM Labs, Chainalysis, RAND Corporation and the authors own internal research, the report highlights the risks of data exposure on conventional public blockchains. They include financial access under economic sanctions and authoritarian governance, corporate sovereignty as firms transition to blockchain infrastructure, and individual security in the face of scam attempts and wrench attacks. Sanctions fall hardest on the people least able to influence the conduct being punished, the report argues. When Iran was cut off from SWIFT, ordinary citizens lost the ability to receive foreign payments, buy imported goods and collect family remittances, while the political class kept alternative rails.
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🔥 Solo Bitcoin Miner Hits Jackpot, Scoring $200K BTC Reward.
Image: Shutterstock/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief A solo miner solved Bitcoin block 960,804 overnight, taking a reward worth close to $200,000. The payout was 3.16 BTC, the 3.125 BTC subsidy plus 0.03 BTC in fees from 4,243 transactions. It was the 317th solo block found through CKPool. A solo Bitcoin miner solved block 960,804 at 02:11 UTC on Monday, netting a reward worth about $200,000.
The block paid 3.15689830 BTC, made up of the 3.125 BTC subsidy and 0.032 BTC in fees from the 4,243 transactions it carried. It was the 317th solo block found through CKPool, the pseudonymous developer known as Dr -ck said, naming the winning address as bc1qdyqjq9qccp34pyv3kxmsrkn7p0amnsqqy8kdeq. Congratulations to miner bc1qdyqjq9qccp34pyv3kxmsrkn7p0amnsqqy8kdeq with a wildly variable - presumably rental - hashrate peaking at 100PH for solving the 317th solo block at Despite the chaos from the hardware wallet exploit, bitcoin just keeps on doing Bitcoin mining pits machines against each other to solve a cryptographic puzzle, with the winner taking the block rewardcurrently 3.125 BTC, a figure that halves roughly every four years. This one was less of a lottery ticket than most.
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🔥 Trump Familys American Bitcoin Tops 8,000 BTC After Record Mining Quarter.
Photo: Token2049/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief American Bitcoin grew its treasury to about 8,002 BTC after mining a record 932 Bitcoin in Q2. Mining revenue climbed to $67 million while the cost to mine each Bitcoin remained largely unchanged. The company narrowed its quarterly net loss despite a weaker Bitcoin price during the period. The Trump family-backed American Bitcoin said Monday it expanded its Bitcoin reserve to more than 8,000 BTC, worth roughly $512 million, during the second quarter after producing a record 932 Bitcoin, underscoring its strategy of pairing large-scale mining with long-term accumulation.
According to American Bitcoin, the company ended June with approximately 8,002 BTC, up about 14% from roughly 7,021 BTC at the end of March. The increase came as the company generated its highest quarterly Bitcoin production since launching in September. Our view of the world is simple: Bitcoin is a growing capital asset, and we believe its long-term compounding will outperform our cost of capital, CEO Mike Ho said in a statement. 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. Mining revenue rose to $67 million from $62.1 million in the first quarter, while the company's cost to mine a Bitcoin held relatively steady at about $36,500 despite higher energy costs.
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🔥 The Coldcard Bitcoin Hack Nears $114 Million in Potential Losses.
Morning Minute: The Coldcard Bitcoin Hack Nears $114 Million in Potential Losses Price data by DecryptNewsOpinionMorning Minute: The Coldcard Bitcoin Hack Nears $114 Million in Potential LossesSelf-custody is under attack, and it's becoming increasingly clear that AI is one of crypto's leading threats.By Tyler WarnerEdited by Stephen GravesAug 3, 2026Aug 3, 20265 min readBitcoin. Source: Shutterstock/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. The Coldcard Hack Passed $89 Million Before Fourth Wave Coldcard is one of the most trusted hardware wallets in Bitcoin, the kind of air-gapped, offline device serious holders use to keep coins in deep cold storage. Last week, it became the center of one of the largest self-custody thefts ever.
Attackers began systematically draining Bitcoin from Coldcard wallets, exploiting a flaw that let them regenerate users private keys without ever touching the physical device. The cause is a firmware flaw, not phishing. A March 2021 Coldcard update drew wallet seeds from a weak software fallback instead of the hardware random generator, collapsing an Mk3s key security to about 40 bits from the intended 128. That made the keys guessable, which is why coins that sat untouched for years are being swept from wallets that never connected to the internet. One Canadian victim lost 18.25 BTC from keys kept in a safety deposit box, writing that the hardest part was that he did everything right. The theft grew all weekend.
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🔥 Strategy Sells $105M in Bitcoin as Dollar Reserve Hits $4B.
Image: DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief Strategy sold 1,638 BTC for $104.7 million in the week to Aug 2, leaving 842,138 coins. Half the proceeds funded preferred dividends and half an $81 million STRC buyback. The company has not bought Bitcoin since June. Strategy sold 1,638 BTC for $104.7 million in the week to Aug 2, according to an 8-K filed Monday, cutting its Bitcoin stack to 842,138 BTC from the 843,775 it had held since early July. The coins went at an average of $63,957, net of fees.
The sales leave Strategy with an aggregate cost basis of $63.51 billion, or $75,419 per Bitcoin$11,462 more than it took for this week's coins. Strategy said $52.4 million of the sale proceeds funded dividends on its preferred stock and $52.3 million went toward repurchasing STRC shares. The repurchase came to $81.2 million, or 912,143 STRC shares, with the remaining $28.9 million funded out of common stock sales. It is Strategy's second buyback under a $1 billion program announced June 29 and first used last week with a $25 million purchase, leaving $893.8 million of authorization outstanding. The company said the week's moves extended what it calls its USD duration by 57 days, to 2.3 years, and tightened STRC's Bitcoin credit spread by five basis points.
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🔥 Coldcard Bitcoin Exploit Balloons to $88 Million as Attackers Keep Draining Wallets.
Galaxy's Alex Thorn described the sweeps as deliberate and likely LLM-orchestrated, warning that every single-sig Coldcard address created after the March 2021 firmware flaw will eventually be drained. The breach has spurred an unusual reversal of the not your keys, not your coins ethos as users move Bitcoin back to exchanges. The theft of Bitcoin from compromised Coldcard hardware wallets is still underway, with researchers now tracking losses of roughly $88 million and warning that every vulnerable device will eventually be emptied.
Galaxy Research said Saturday it has identified a third wave of thefts, in which 207.73 BTC was drained, lifting its observed tally to about 1,367 BTCaround $88.6 millionacross 4,585 addresses. The firm called the exploit ongoing and urged anyone holding single-signature funds on a Coldcard to move them at once. Galaxy said it has flagged roughly 600 suspected attacker addresses to federal investigators, compliance firms and cross-industry cyber investigators, crediting victims who shared transaction details for helping map the on-chain patterns.
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🔥 CZ Warns Bitcoin Holders After $70 Million Wallet Exploit: 'Nothing Is 100%'.
Source: DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief CZ warned on X that even hardware wallets and long-established wallets can have bugs, suggesting holders split their funds across several wallets to mitigate risk while noting no setup is fully foolproof. The warning follows a Coldcard exploit stemming from a March 2021 firmware build error that drew seeds from a software fallback instead of the hardware generator, making private keys far easier to guess. Galaxy Research, mapping the fund flows from a pattern identified by Block engineers, now pegs losses at about 1,082.65 BTC (~$70.2 million) across 1,196 addressesnearly double the original $38 million estimate.
Binance founder Changpeng CZ Zhao is warning crypto owners not to place blind faith in hardware wallets, following an exploit that drained tens of millions of dollars in Bitcoin from Coldcard devices. In a Saturday post on X, Zhao cautioned that even hardware wallets can carry bugs, and that older wallets with long histories are not immune. He suggested holders consider spreading their funds across several wallets as one way to reduce exposure, while acknowledging the approach carries its own trade-offs and that no setup is entirely foolproof.
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Treasuries, repo agreements, and more than 146 metric tons of gold.By Jason NelsonEdited by Guillermo JimenezJul 31, 2026Jul 31, 20262 min readTether CEO Paolo Ardoino at Bitcoin 2025. Image: Tether/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief Tether reported approximately $1.5 billion in net operating profit for Q2 2026. The company said its reserves exceeded liabilities by $4.11 billion and USDT in circulation reached $184.6 billion. Tether added 14 metric tons of gold during the quarter, bringing its holdings to more than 146 metric tons. Tether reported $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the second quarter, a nearly 50% increase against Q1 2026, as the stablecoin issuer increased USDT in circulation, expanded its reserve surplus to more than $4 billion, and added to its gold holdings despite a weaker stablecoin market.
The company reported the results Friday in its latest quarterly attestation. Tether said that as of June 30 it held about $187.75 billion in assets against approximately $183.64 billion in liabilities, leaving a reserve surplus of roughly $4.11 billion. Without a doubt, Tether continues to deliver financial inclusion in the developing world like no other company or organization ever has in the history of humanity; we're all incredibly proud of this achievement, CEO Paolo Ardoino wrote on X. According to the report, USDT in circulation reached approximately $184.6 billion at the end of the quarter, up about $446 million from the end of March. Although the overall stablecoin market shrank during the quarter, Tether said USDT's market share increased to more than 60%.
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🔥 Circle Lands New York Trust Charter as Stablecoin Issuer Expands Regulatory Footprint.
Image: Shutterstock/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief Circle received a limited-purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services. The charter allows Circle to operate a New York trust company that can provide digital asset custody but cannot accept deposits or make loans like a traditional bank. The approval follows Circle's recent federal banking charter approval and its acquisition of IBM's blockchain patent portfolio. Circle has received a limited purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), giving the USDC stablecoin issuer another regulatory approval as it expands its operations.
The company said Friday that under the charter Circle will do business as Circle New York Trust, noting that the charter builds on the BitLicense it received in 2015. Earning a New York trust charter has been a longstanding objective for Circle, CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a statement, calling the approval an important milestone for the company. This charter reflects over a decade of regulatory commitment and positions USDC within a strong, respected framework as digital dollars become central to the global financial system. The charter places Circle New York Trust under the supervision of the New York Department of Financial Services.
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🔥 US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Firms Taking Bitcoin for Hormuz Passage.
Image: Shutterstock/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief OFAC sanctioned two Iranian firms behind a scheme requiring vessels to buy IRGC-approved insurance to transit the Strait of Hormuz. One of them, Hormuz Safe, accepts Bitcoin and other digital assets to evade sanctions, Treasury said. Blockchain analysts told Decrypt in April they saw no evidence crypto was being used at scale for Hormuz tolls. Iran is accepting Bitcoin from commercial shipping in exchange for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.S.
Treasury, whose Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two firms behind the scheme on Wednesday. Vessels crossing the chokepoint, which carries a fifth of the world's oil, are required to buy maritime insurance approved by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The cover protects against risks Iran itself creates, Treasury said, chiefly the seizure of vessels. Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company, set up by Iran's insurance regulator, brokers the policies.
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🔥 Crypto Kiosk Scams Cost Texans $57M as Lawmakers Weigh a Ban.
Image: Shutterstock/DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief Texans reported $56.8 million in crypto kiosk losses in 2025, more than any other state, across 1,179 FBI complaints. National losses rose 58% to $389 million from 13,460 complaints. Indiana, Tennessee and Minnesota have banned Bitcoin ATMs outright. Texans lost $56.8 million to cryptocurrency kiosks last year, more than any other state, according to FBI figures put before a legislative committee on Thursday. The state accounted for 1,179 of the 13,460 complaints the bureau logged nationally in 2025, a year in which reported losses to the machines rose 58% to $389 million.
The kiosks take cash and convert it to crypto, and sit in gas stations and convenience stores. The Texas Tribune counts about 4,000 across the state. Scammers persuade victims to withdraw money from their bank accounts and feed it into a machine. The House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans' Affairs took invited testimony on foreign financial influence and turned quickly to crypto. In my career, I've never seen a more efficient, cleaner way to steal money, Rep.
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🔥 $38M in Bitcoin Drained by Coldcard Key Flaw Its Maker Thinks AI Found.
Image: DecryptCreate an account to save your articles.Add on GoogleAdd Decrypt as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.In brief Coinkite says a build error meant seeds on its Coldcard hardware wallets were drawn from a software fallback instead of the hardware generator. It believes an attacker used AI on its open-source code, and says its own AI review weeks earlier found nothing. Every current model is affected to some degree, and updating the firmware does not repair a seed already created. Coinkite believes an attacker used AI to find a flaw that has cost owners of its Coldcard hardware wallets tens of millions of dollars in Bitcoin, and says its own AI review of the same code weeks earlier turned up nothing.
The hardware wallet manufacturer published an advisory for its Mk3 and a technical breakdown on Thursday, after learning that seeds generated by its devices were far more guessable than intended. If you generated a seed on a Mk3 after firmware 4.0.1, your funds may be at risk. Mk4, Q and Mk5 are not affected based on our early analysis. COLDCARD (@COLDCARDwallet) July 30, 2026 The losses to the flaw, which was exploited early Friday, are estimated at 594 BTC, around $38 million.
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S&P Global has launched its first cryptocurrency index based on fundamentals rather than price, marking a significant shift in how institutional investors evaluate digital assets. Under the new methodology, Bitcoin was excluded because it is not considered a revenue-generating protocol, according to the firm's CEO.
The benchmark tracks 18 blockchain networks, with Ethereum (ETH), BNB, Solana (SOL), and TRON (TRX) leading the pack. Key metrics include protocol revenue, on-chain activity, utility, and ecosystem expansion. This approach reframes institutional evaluation toward measurable blockchain fundamentals.
The index is not yet accompanied by an investment product, but the fundamentals-based approach signals growing institutional maturity in crypto markets. As traditional finance embraces blockchain data, expect more sophisticated benchmarks.
🔥 Crypto Outlook 2026: Selective Growth Over Speculation
The crypto market is transitioning out of the post-halving surge and deeper into institutional participation, with 2026 framed as a year where capital favors select assets over broad speculation. Projections outline distinct trading ranges for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, BNB, Dogecoin and TRON, while stablecoins are expected to grow primarily through supply and settlement activity.
The overarching theme is disciplined capital allocation, where performance is tied to clear demand, regulatory clarity and real-world usage. This marks a maturation shift from the explosive 2024-2025 bull runs toward a more measured, fundamentals-driven cycle.
❓ Which assets do you think will outperform in this disciplined capital environment?
Crypto markets rebounded sharply after a massive short liquidation wave of $445.68 million forced a widespread positioning reset across major assets. Bitcoin reclaimed the $60,000 psychological level as a softer U.S. ADP employment report weakened the dollar index and supported risk-on flows into digital assets. The total cryptocurrency market cap climbed back to $2.19 trillion, signaling strong buyer demand following the recent correction.
MiCA's full enforcement is accelerating EU liquidity consolidation into licensed CASPs, reshaping stablecoin rails and driving deeper institutional participation. Major milestones include Standard Chartered's USDC integration and Securitize's public market debut, demonstrating how traditional finance infrastructure is embracing digital assets. Altcoins also posted gains as ETF flows stabilized and whale activity returned to pre-selloff levels.
What are your price targets for BTC and ETH as we head into July? Share your analysis below.
Bitcoin Near $88K Anchors Crypto Market Cap at $2.96T as Altcoins Stall
The crypto market is consolidating near $2.96 trillion, with Bitcoin trading just below $88,000 as the anchor asset preventing a deeper correction. After an extended advance, the market is pausing to digest gains, with traders reassessing risk instead of chasing higher prices. The CMC20 index tracking leading digital assets is also slightly lower, signaling broad-based softness rather than isolated token weakness.
Ethereum mirrors Bitcoin's tone, trading near $2,960 after a mild 24-hour decline. As the second-largest asset by market cap, ETH continues to influence overall market direction, though enthusiasm has cooled compared with earlier rally phases. Neither BTC nor ETH is currently providing a clear catalyst for acceleration.
Among large-cap altcoins, Solana trades around $124 and XRP hovers near $1.88, both showing relative resilience but lacking the momentum needed for decisive bullish continuation. The Fear and Greed Index stands at 29 in fear territory, while the average crypto RSI sits at 44.6 - a neutral-to-weak reading that does not suggest oversold conditions. The Altcoin Season Index is at 16 out of 100, confirming Bitcoin dominance and a defensive capital posture.
What's your take - is this healthy consolidation or the start of a deeper pullback?
🔥 Analysts see Bitcoin correction toward $70K as cycle reset, with paths to $300K by 2029.
Analysts say Bitcoin's recent weakness could extend into the $65,000$75,000 area, but they view a potential move to $70,000 as part of a broader macro reset rather than the start of a new bear market.
Traders are tracking a possible three-day bullish divergence and past recoveries after oversold RSI readings, while long-term models still outline a potential price path toward $300,000 by 2029. In this view, deeper pullbacks are interpreted as building the base for the next structural uptrend.
❓ What's your take is this the start of a bigger move or just noise? Drop it below.
Bitcoin declined roughly 26% over the past three months to around $86,000, yet it has still outperformed nearly every major cryptocurrency sector, according to Glassnode. Ether has dropped approximately 36% since mid-September to below $3,000, while AI tokens have fallen 48% and memecoins have plunged 56%.
The real-world asset tokenization category is down 46% over three months, and DeFi tokens have declined 38%, per CoinGecko data. Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, noted that capital inflows continue to favor Bitcoin, reflecting strong investor preference for BTC's stability.
Glassnode's analysis reveals that the average return across nearly all crypto sectors has underperformed Bitcoin, indicating that capital continues to concentrate in the leading cryptocurrency. This underscores Bitcoin's dominant position, leaving altcoins struggling to maintain relevance.
This trend suggests investors are treating Bitcoin as digital collateral and a macro hedge. What's your take — will altcoins break out from Bitcoin's shadow, or is this dominance here to stay?
For the week ending March 14, 2026, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their first five-day inflow streak of the year, pulling in approximately $767.3 million and lifting total ETF assets to $90.89 billion. BlackRock's IBIT dominated the flow, capturing roughly $600 million - about 78% of the weekly total - as institutional investors treated recent price consolidation in the $65,000-$70,000 band as a buying opportunity while retail participation remained cautious. Daily flows showed $167.1 million on March 9, $251 million on March 10, $115.2 million on March 11, and $180.4 million on March 13, effectively offsetting February's net outflows.
Ethereum and Solana ETFs posted only modest inflows of $42 million and $15 million respectively, underscoring the continued underweight allocation to altcoin products among institutional players. BlackRock launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) on March 12, attracting $15.5 million on its first trading day - a structural shift toward yield-bearing crypto ETFs.
From a technical standpoint, Bitcoin is testing resistance at $71,000-$74,000, with a decisive break opening the path toward $80,000-$90,000. Standard Chartered revised its 2026 year-end target to $100,000, while some strategists see potential for a March peak between $110,000 and $120,000.