Security incidents and corporate balance-sheet decisions are reshaping how mainstream investors think about Bitcoin, even as regulated products pull in fresh capital. A reported $116 million hardware wallet exploit has reignited the debate over self-custody, while US spot Bitcoin ETFs notched their strongest weekly inflows since April—suggesting demand is returning alongside renewed concern about holding funds directly.
Meanwhile, major industry players are making moves on the edges of the Bitcoin ecosystem: Strategy is signaling a return to accumulation after a period of small sales, Riot Platforms is reportedly lining up long-term power for a large AI compute deal, and Trump Media is revisiting how it manages a crypto-linked treasury after a steep quarterly loss.
Key takeaways
A Coldcard-related hardware wallet vulnerability tied to roughly $116 million drained in Bitcoin has pushed attention back toward self-custody risks.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw about $1 billion in net inflows for the week, marking their strongest performance since April.
Strategy CEO Phong Le says the company intends to resume Bitcoin accumulation later this year after scrutinized, smaller sales this year.
Riot Platforms is reportedly securing a 20-year, 191 MW power arrangement tied to a major “frontier AI” customer identified by Bloomberg as Anthropic.
Trump Media disclosed large unrealized losses tied to its crypto and securities holdings and said it will revamp its digital asset treasury strategy.
Strategy signals renewed Bitcoin accumulation
Strategy CEO Phong Le told FOX Business that the company plans to resume Bitcoin accumulation later this year, aiming to reassert its long-term treasury approach after a stretch of relatively small sales drew public scrutiny. Le said Strategy has “bought” roughly 175,000 BTC and sold about 7,000 BTC this year—roughly 25 times more buying than selling.
Even with that imbalance, the company’s willingness to sell periodically has remained a point of focus. Le said Strategy now holds more than 840,000 BTC and remains the largest institutional Bitcoin holder, but has sold Bitcoin on four occasions since May. The most recent sale referenced in the report was the unloading of 1,690 BTC to fund preferred dividends, buybacks, and its dollar reserve.
Analysts note that the issue is not just whether a company sells, but what those sales mean for capital efficiency. According to Novaque Research, when corporate treasuries trade below Bitcoin net asset value, raising additional capital can be increasingly dilutive—making the financing cycle harder to sustain. In that context, Strategy’s stated intent to accumulate again may be interpreted as an attempt to reduce the long-term friction created by repeated sales for shareholder and reserve needs.
ETF inflows strengthen as self-custody concerns resurface
While Bitcoin’s spot price has remained subdued, US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted roughly $1 billion in net inflows for the week, according to Cointelegraph’s reporting referenced to data on weekly ETF flows. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas described the period as the third-best week since October, using the term “silent IPO” to explain how early supply dynamics can keep price action muted even as institutional demand grows.
The renewed inflow momentum has also come as attention returns to a major self-custody failure: a Coldcard hardware wallet exploit linked to faulty key generation that reportedly drained about $116 million in Bitcoin. Balchunas said the incident could ultimately enhance the appeal of ETFs for investors concerned about self-custody risks, pointing to the post-hack rebound as a possible—though not proven—connection.
In his comments, Balchunas also cautioned that correlation does not imply causation. Still, his broader point was that if security scares continue to surface, some investors may decide that regulated products better match their risk tolerance—particularly those who want exposure without managing key storage themselves. What remains uncertain is whether inflows will persist beyond a short-term narrative effect, or whether the ETF market will return to a more typical pattern as memories fade and wallets fix vulnerabilities.
Riot’s reported 191 MW AI power deal highlights capacity constraints
Bitcoin miners are increasingly positioning their infrastructure for demand outside traditional hash-rate competition. Riot Platforms is reportedly negotiating a major compute-adjacent arrangement: a 20-year contract for 191 megawatts of capacity from Riot’s Texas campus. The report identifies the customer as “a leading frontier AI” company, with Bloomberg naming Anthropic.
According to the coverage, Riot said the agreement was tied to a long-term supply of power from its Rockdale campus. The timing matters because data center expansion has faced persistent constraints, and power availability is often the limiting factor for large-scale AI deployments. In that sense, miners with energy access can present themselves not only as Bitcoin producers, but also as suppliers of the physical capacity AI builders require.
The broader trend is visible across the sector. The report lists several Bitcoin miners that have expanded or announced AI-adjacent efforts, including Bitdeer, CleanSpark, MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, Hut 8, and IREN. Riot’s stock performance also reflected investor appetite for this shift: shares fell 5.4% Monday before rising 21% overnight and were up roughly 50% year-to-date at the time of the report.
Trump Media revises crypto treasury approach after large quarterly loss
Corporate exposure to crypto remains a sensitive balancing act, and Trump Media’s latest disclosures underline how quickly valuation changes can hit financial results—even without selling. The company said it will revamp its digital asset treasury strategy after unrealized losses contributed to a $238 million second-quarter net loss, emphasizing the risks of holding digital assets and related securities on a balance sheet.
Trump Media reported $190.4 million in unrealized losses across its digital assets during the quarter and pledged digital assets and equity securities in the period. It also disclosed that it held 9,477.16 Bitcoin as of June 30, down from 9,542.16 in the prior quarter. In July, the company sold $159.6 million in Bitcoin-related securities and used proceeds to buy more Bitcoin, increasing its holdings to about 14,139 BTC worth $890.5 million by July 31.
Beyond the mark-to-market impact, the company warned that generating additional income from its Bitcoin holdings could introduce counterparty risk. It noted the possibility that a counterparty could default or become insolvent, potentially limiting recovery of Bitcoin committed under unsecured arrangements. The company also indicated that it plans to redirect more resources toward Truth Social, Truth+ and other media operations as part of broader capital allocation changes.
Going forward, investors should watch whether Strategy’s renewed accumulation language translates into measurable buy activity, whether ETF inflows remain resilient beyond the immediate post-hack period, and how corporate treasuries adjust their risk controls as more security incidents and valuation swings test the durability of different Bitcoin exposure models.
This article was originally published as Bitcoin’s $116M Self-Custody Push Signals a Shift in Crypto Custody on Crypto Breaking News – your trusted source for crypto news, Bitcoin news, and blockchain updates.