US Capitol, 1997 archive. Architect of the Capitol (public domain; crop).

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Architect of the Capitol / Wikimedia Commons (1997 archive; public domain; crop).

Cryptocurrency companies head into Tuesday’s congressional elections having contributed $233 million to super PACs and similar political committees this cycle, according to an October 29 analysis of federal filings by Public Citizen. The money gives the industry a large financial stake in who writes the next set of U.S. digital-asset rules, with a major market-structure bill still stalled in the Senate.

The watchdog’s analysis, covering Federal Election Commission data through October 23, puts crypto ahead of online betting and the technology businesses it groups with artificial intelligence and data-center development. Those sectors contributed $85.2 million and $73.1 million, respectively. Together with crypto, they account for more than half of the $737.3 million in corporate contributions Public Citizen identified for the 2026 midterms.

These are contributions to political committees, not a count of advertising already bought or money given directly to candidates. Public Citizen counted contributions of $5,000 or more from for-profit companies to super PACs and hybrid PACs. Its $233 million figure describes that defined corporate category, rather than every donation by a person who works in crypto.

Fairshake is a central vehicle for the industry’s effort. The committee says it supports candidates committed to making the United States a home for blockchain innovators and argues that clearer legal and regulatory rules are needed for that business to grow. It is an independent-expenditure-only committee, meaning its candidate support takes place through independent political activity rather than contributions to a candidate’s campaign.

Fairshake’s FEC summary shows $138.2 million in receipts and $169.5 million in disbursements from January 1, 2025, through October 14, 2026. Of those disbursements, $139 million was transferred to affiliated committees. That distinction matters: adding those transfers to the recipients’ later advertising spending would count the same money twice.

The FEC’s summaries for the same reporting period list $19.4 million in independent expenditures by Fairshake, $88.3 million by Defend American Jobs and $29.2 million by Protect Progress. Those figures are a separate measure of candidate-related spending, not additional amounts to stack on top of the industry’s corporate contributions. They also stop short of Election Day: the FEC says these summary totals exclude the separate 24- and 48-hour independent-expenditure reports.

The companies supplying the money are not all sending it to one organization. Public Citizen’s detailed table lists $37.2 million in corporate contributions from Coinbase, including $33.1 million to Fairshake, and $49.6 million from Ripple Labs, including $48.5 million to Fairshake and affiliates. It lists $39 million from Crypto.com, including $35 million to President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. The different recipients show why the broader industry total and Fairshake’s own accounts are not interchangeable.

The unfinished legislative fight helps explain the stakes. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act would create a regulatory system involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. But a September 15 Senate vote to end debate on the motion to take up the bill failed, with 49 senators voting yes and 50 voting no, short of the required three-fifths. Congress’s bill record still lists it as having passed the House, not become law.

That leaves voters choosing a Congress that will inherit an unresolved argument over how crypto markets should be supervised. The industry’s money can finance an electoral push. It cannot itself supply the Senate votes needed to move the legislation or determine the rules a future Congress will ultimately accept.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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The Binance logo displayed on a smartphone.

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Matt Slocum / AP, file, February 28, 2023 (crop).

Binance said Sunday that about $3.64 billion more left the cryptocurrency exchange than came in during the first nine and a half hours after it began restoring withdrawals, putting a figure on the movement of customer funds as access reopened.

The exchange processed $4.649 billion in withdrawals and $1.01 billion in deposits between 06:00 and 15:30 UTC on November 1, according to Binance’s update posted Sunday. That reporting window ran from 1 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Binance said withdrawal volumes had declined after an initial spike and were stabilizing, while deposits remained substantial.

The net outflow is the difference between money withdrawn and money deposited. It is not a new theft loss, and the gross withdrawal figure does not mean that all of that money permanently left the exchange without any funds coming back. Binance’s figures describe transfers during a set period, rather than the amount stolen in the earlier security incident.

Binance put the net outflow at 2.1% of its $171 billion in total assets under management. The company said that asset figure came from its latest available Proof of Reserves data, dated October 28. The comparison therefore uses a reserve figure from before Sunday’s reopening, not a new measurement taken at the end of the withdrawal window.

The numbers are Binance’s own account of activity on its platform, not independently audited figures. A Proof of Reserves snapshot is also different from a full financial audit: showing assets at a particular time does not, by itself, provide a complete picture of an exchange’s liabilities or financial condition.

Binance said withdrawals had resumed for all 15 networks and assets covered by the initial phase by 12:36 UTC, or 7:36 a.m. Eastern, on Sunday. That does not mean every network and asset on the platform was back online. The company said its team was still testing the remaining networks and assets and would announce details of the next phase when ready.

The update follows the phased withdrawal restart that JBizNews reported earlier Sunday. The new figures show how much customers moved during the reopening, while the continuing tests leave some customers waiting for access beyond the initial group.

Binance said it had taken a fresh reserve snapshot at 00:00 UTC on October 31 and had begun the zero-knowledge proof calculations used for its reserve report. It expected the updated report to appear on its Proof of Reserves website Monday, November 2. That report will give customers a newer reserve snapshot than the October 28 data used in Sunday’s outflow comparison, though it will still describe a point in time rather than continuous, real-time balances.

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Archive photo of a physical bitcoin token.

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Photo: AntanaCoins, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Binance said it would restart customer withdrawals in phases beginning early Sunday, the exchange said in its fourth recovery update since a hack drained roughly $6.3 billion from the platform.

The first phase, running from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. UTC, covers bitcoin, ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana and XRP among other networks, the update said. Binance said about 95 percent of the impacted amount is now covered, up from 90 percent in its previous update, and that all bitcoin, ether, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC balances are fully backed. A full post-incident report is forthcoming, the exchange said.

Bitcoin traded near $77,800 on Sunday morning, up about 0.6 percent over 24 hours, while ether held near $2,260, according to Coinbase exchange data.

The restart follows a partial reopening of Ethereum and BNB Chain withdrawals and comes as the exchange works through the aftermath of the theft, which the FBI has blamed on North Korean hackers.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Binance has restored withdrawals for Ether and two major dollar-linked stablecoins on the Ethereum network, along with BNB and the same stablecoins on BNB Smart Chain, as the exchange reopens access after the cryptocurrency theft U.S. investigators blamed on North Korea.

Binance said Sunday that withdrawals are back for USDC, USDT and ETH on Ethereum, and USDC, USDT and BNB on BNB Smart Chain. Its latest update follows the reopening of Bitcoin-network withdrawals in the first stage of the restart.

This is an actual reopening for those named assets and networks, rather than another timetable. It does not mean all Binance withdrawals have resumed. The company said additional assets and networks will return in phases after security checks are completed.

The update moves beyond the earlier withdrawal-restart window, which called for the first phase to begin between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. Eastern on Sunday. Binance had said 15 networks were included in that phase, with access returning progressively rather than all at once.

Binance has also said it replaced about 95% of the affected assets using company resources. That replacement is separate from recovering cryptocurrency from the thieves. The exchange said losses would not be passed on to users and that deposits remained open.

The U.S. stakes extend to stopping the stolen money from moving through the digital-asset system. The FBI attributed more than $6 billion in stolen cryptocurrency to North Korea and urged digital-asset businesses to block transactions linked to the funds.

The latest reopening notice concerns Binance. It does not establish that Binance.US services are affected or changing. Users still need to check availability for their exact token and blockchain network rather than treating the announcement as an all-clear for every withdrawal.

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Archive: Vault door at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, August 11, 2006. Cropped. Photo: Spamguy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Archive photo: Vault door at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, August 11, 2006. Photo: Spamguy at English Wikipedia. Cropped. Photo source; CC BY-SA 3.0.

As Binance works to reopen withdrawals Sunday after a breach of roughly $6.3 billion, one document keeps doing the reassuring: its proof of reserves. The exchange took a new snapshot of its holdings at midnight UTC on October 31 and says the full cryptographic proof should be ready by Tuesday. In a Saturday update, Binance said it had covered 90% of the amount stolen, using replacement assets rather than announcing recovery of the stolen cryptocurrency. What that proof-of-reserves document actually proves, when it arrives, is narrower than most customers assume.

Proof of reserves is a voluntary method for showing evidence of assets held at a particular moment. The scope and methods vary: some reports involve an outside firm, while platforms may also offer cryptographic tools that let customers check inclusion of their balances. Neither approach by itself is an audit of the business.

The distinction matters to the people who scrutinize audits. “PoR engagements are not audits and, consequently, the related reports do not provide any meaningful assurance to investors or the public,” the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Office of the Investor Advocate wrote in an advisory. Its advisory, a staff view rather than a Board rule, warns that the procedures may not cover what the platform owes, whether assets were borrowed to look flush for the snapshot, or what happened to the assets the day after.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s investor office goes further in its alert on crypto asset securities: the platform’s own management often sets the terms – which wallets get checked, how often, and whether the results are even made public. A proof of reserves also does not tell customers where they would stand in a failure: whether they get paid first or “stand in line” behind other creditors.

Then there is the question of insurance. Covered deposits at an FDIC-insured bank generally have protection up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each ownership category. Crypto assets do not have that protection. In its fact sheet on crypto companies, the FDIC states that deposit insurance does not apply to crypto assets, does not cover losses from theft or fraud, and does not protect against the bankruptcy of an exchange, broker, custodian or wallet provider. When a platform like Binance pledges to cover losses from an emergency fund – its Secure Asset Fund for Users – that is a company promise backed by company money, not a government guarantee.

So what can a customer actually check? Whether a platform publishes full audited financial statements, not just reserve snapshots. Whether its proof of reserves includes customer liabilities and how those are measured. Which legal entity holds the account, what protections apply to that service, and what the terms say about customer ownership in a failure. A processed withdrawal shows access to funds at that moment, but does not establish the solvency of the whole company.

Binance’s Saturday statement gives Sunday, November 1, as its target for resuming withdrawals and Tuesday, November 3 UTC, as the estimate for its full cryptographic proof. Targets are not completed outcomes. Even a published proof would remain narrower than a financial-statement audit: evidence about specified balances at a moment in time, not a guarantee about the company.

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Hardware security key and cryptocurrency tokens beside a laptop.

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Binance said Saturday it has replenished 90% of the cryptocurrency assets affected by its security breach, up from about 80% in its previous update, while keeping Sunday as its target for reopening withdrawals.

In its third recovery update, published at 10:30 a.m., the exchange said it would continue buying the remaining affected tokens through market transactions and over-the-counter channels until all were fully covered.

The announcement is a further step beyond Binance’s earlier pledge to cover losses from the roughly $6.3 billion incident. Replenishment means replacing assets backing customer balances, not recovering that proportion of the cryptocurrency taken by attackers.

Binance said bitcoin, ether, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD and ZEC were now fully backed. The outstanding 10% consists of other, less-liquid tokens that may take longer to buy in the quantities required, it said.

The exchange said the funding sources include its corporate treasury, a portion of its Futures insurance fund and a partial deployment of its Secure Asset Fund for Users, or SAFU. It said the SAFU deployment was expected over the following 24 hours.

Binance also said it took a new proof-of-reserves snapshot at midnight UTC on October 31. But the full cryptographic proof was not yet available: the company estimated it would be ready by Tuesday, November 3, citing the time needed to generate it.

The reserve-backing figures remain Binance’s claims. Saturday’s update did not say withdrawals had reopened; the exchange said it remained on track for Sunday, November 1, and would confirm details in a further announcement.

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Photo: Isokivi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Bitcoin held near $77,300 on Saturday morning, steadying at the end of a week that knocked it to a one-month low, even as the world’s largest crypto exchange worked through a security incident it estimated at $6.3 billion.

Bitcoin last changed hands at $77,334, little changed over 24 hours, according to Coinbase exchange data. Thursday’s slide to $76,301 was its weakest level in a month. Ether traded at $2,244, up slightly on the day, the data showed.

Binance said in a security incident update that the estimated total impact sits at around $6.3 billion, that about $3 billion has been frozen on-chain, and that it will cover all losses from its SAFU fund and company funds, adding that user funds are safe. The exchange said its initial investigation points to a compromised employee laptop, found no evidence of a wallet private-key leak, and said withdrawals remain temporarily suspended while deposits operate normally.

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Server racks in a 2015 archive photograph illustrating computer infrastructure. Not identified as Chainalysis systems or the equipment involved in the incident.

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Server racks in a 2015 archive photograph illustrating computer infrastructure. Not identified as Chainalysis systems or the equipment involved in the incident.
Photo: Carl Lender / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0.

Chainalysis disclosed Friday that an external attacker gained unauthorized access to its systems and internal tools, exposing some customer user IDs, full names, email addresses and organization-role labels.

In its October 30 security notice, the company said it detected the activity this month and described the attacker as using “offensive agentic techniques.” It did not give a detailed account of how the intrusion worked or identify the attacker.

Based on its investigation so far, Chainalysis said it had found no evidence of unauthorized access to investigation content or authentication credentials and session tokens. Its customer notice specifically listed investigation graphs, notes and cases; transaction or query results; passwords in clear text; multifactor-authentication secrets; and user session tokens among the data for which it had found no indication of access.

That assessment is provisional. The company said it was still determining which records belonging to individual customer organizations had been accessed and would provide a detailed breakdown once that analysis was complete.

Chainalysis said the incident is unrelated to the recent cryptocurrency theft at Binance. Its notice did not state how many customers or users were affected, disclose a financial loss or say that cryptocurrency had been stolen in this incident.

The company said it had notified all customers, engaged outside cybersecurity specialists, patched vulnerabilities and begun a broader security review extending beyond the vulnerabilities used in the attack. It also said it was using large language models to support that review.

Chainalysis urged users to remain alert for unexpected password-reset requests and authentication prompts. It recommended enabling two-factor authentication for organizations that had not already done so.

The company said it would provide customers with further updates as its investigation progresses.

JBizNews Desk | Cybersecurity
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Two hardware wallets and a physical Bitcoin medallion in July 2019. Archive photo, not Binance equipment.

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Two hardware wallets and a physical Bitcoin medallion, July 2019. Archive photo, not Binance equipment: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped, adapted photo under the same license.

Binance’s estimated $6.3 billion security breach left the exchange working to replace assets and restart withdrawals Friday, while Bitcoin traded near $77,000, making operational security and access to funds central to the digital world’s week.

The immediate developments were separate but concurrent: a company recovery effort after unauthorized transactions and a decline in cryptocurrency prices. Price data alone cannot measure how much of the market move the breach caused.

Bitcoin near $77,000

Bitcoin traded at $77,078.97, down 3.72% over 24 hours, in a Coinbase snapshot checked at approximately 9:31 a.m. Eastern Friday.

The figure is a point-in-time price, not a closing level or a weekly return. It supports the current market-pressure story without establishing a new all-time or multimonth low.

Withdrawals paused while Binance rebuilds security

In its 12:36 a.m. Eastern service update Friday, Binance said withdrawals remained paused while its team completed a security revamp of the withdrawal service and related addresses. It expected to resume within 48 hours and said deposits continued to operate normally.

That is an expected restart window measured from the update, not a guarantee or a statement that withdrawals had already been frozen for two days. The post did not give the original pause’s start time.

The company said the incident involved multiple factors and promised a comprehensive root-cause report. Its official notice described a preliminary investigation into a compromised DevOps laptop and unauthorized withdrawals, while saying it had found no evidence of a wallet private-key leak.

The funding plan is not the same as recovered money

In a later 6:55 a.m. Eastern update, Binance said it had reserved more than $6.34 billion of company funds to cover the incident. It said $5 billion was already held in the tokens affected and it was buying the remainder through market and over-the-counter channels.

The company said those figures excluded frozen or protected assets. It separately reported about $3 billion frozen with partners’ help, still subject to recovery and verification.

Reserving company funds, acquiring replacement tokens, freezing assets and returning funds to users are different stages. Binance said it had begun recovery, not that every stage was complete.

When the theft began

TRM’s own blockchain investigation places the first observed theft transfers at approximately 4:05 p.m. Eastern Thursday. The firm traced about $6.36 billion across ten blockchains, most moving in about 20 minutes.

That is TRM’s traced-transfer estimate, distinct from Binance’s approximate $6.3 billion impact estimate. The start of the observed theft also does not establish when the company’s systems were first compromised.

For this week’s digital-market picture, the verified contrast is between the speed of asset movements and the slower work of security checks, token purchases, settlement and recovery. The sources do not establish that all cryptocurrency platforms share the same exposure or that users at other exchanges face the same restrictions.

JBizNews Markets Desk | NEWS ANALYSIS
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Archive photo: a physical bitcoin token rests on a laptop keyboard

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Archive: Satheesh Sankaran, CC BY 2.0.

Bitcoin fell toward $77,000 Friday morning, with the largest cryptocurrency down more than 3% over 24 hours as digital assets remained under pressure.

Bitcoin traded at $77,314.27, down 3.49%, in a Coinbase price snapshot checked at approximately 9:11 a.m. Eastern time. Ether was also lower, trading at $2,243.59, down 3.37% over 24 hours, according to Coinbase’s Ether price page checked during the same morning update.

The decline came as Binance responded to a security breach with an estimated $6.3 billion impact, adding uncertainty for cryptocurrency investors.

The prices are a point-in-time snapshot rather than a fixed level for the trading day. The percentage changes measure the preceding 24 hours, not the move since midnight or the U.S. stock-market open.

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 Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, said a security breach had resulted in an estimated $6.3 billion impact that analysts said could amount to the biggest crypto heist ever and might make investors rethink the risks of owning digital assets.

Binance said it had worked with partners to freeze the affected assets, with about $3 billion located so far. It gave no update on the status of the remaining $3.3 billion as Binance co-founder Yi He said the company would cover “all hacking losses.”

An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of its engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorized withdrawals, Binance said.

Markets reacted immediately in early Asian trading on Friday.

Bitcoin dropped more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368 and ether fell more than 3% to a two-month low of $2,178. BNB, a token originally launched as Binance Coin that can be used to pay Binance fees, was down 5% over the past 24 hours at $709.70, according to market aggregator CoinGecko.

Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global slid 4.8% while those of bitcoin buyer Strategy fell nearly 6% in extended US trading.

The incident could be the world’s biggest crypto heist, according to analytics firm Chainalysis and other industry experts.

“It’s the biggest hack in history,” said Aravind Srinivasan, head of large crypto market maker GSR’s systematic OTC business.

Beyond the potential loss of assets, the security breach was likely to have wider ramifications for crypto, which had already been under pressure lately due to higher US interest rates and softer demand from exchange-traded fund buyers, analysts said.

“It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralized exchanges, as well as counterparty, solvency and liquidity risks,” said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, based in Hong Kong.

Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about $162.8 billion in assets under custody as of the exchange’s 2025 annual report.

“User funds remain safe,” Binance said in a statement. “As a precaution, all deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended while our security teams conduct checks, secure wallet infrastructure, and trace affected assets, with the close support of our law enforcement and industry partners.”

 Binance has secure asset fund

Binance runs a secure asset fund for users, according to its website, which is a reserve held entirely in bitcoin that is intended to protect user assets in cases of security breaches.

“It’s becoming very hard to counter hacks as AI can find vulnerabilities faster than you can fix them, said Bernardo Brites, CEO of Trace Finance, a payments and stablecoin infrastructure company.

“My view is that users will move away from smaller and medium-sized exchanges, (it is) becoming too risky to park your money somewhere that couldn’t cover a hack of meaningful size.”

Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than $800 million.

World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said on Thursday it had worked with cryptocurrency custodian BitGo to freeze funds stolen in what it described as a Binance hack. Binance’s Yi said $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen.

Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly $200 million in funds, Yi said. Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, said the company was closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance and was freezing affected funds and coordinating with relevant parties.

Incident adds to string of crypto thefts

Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor, though the exact cause had not been confirmed. Morel said the incident began around 4:30 p.m. EDT and appeared to be ongoing.

The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. Last year, attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks, according to researchers at TRM Labs. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said roughly $350 million in crypto had been stolen from its platform, underscoring the industry’s vulnerability to hackers.

Authorities have warned that organized crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders outside the traditional financial system.

Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident.

Coinbase said it was unaffected and was monitoring the situation.

In an unrelated incident earlier on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading after a security incident involving a third-party provider. It later resumed trading and said it would fully reimburse affected traders.

This post was originally published on here. 

Archive crypto-security concept image of a hooded figure at a laptop beside a Bitcoin medallion. Not a photograph of the Binance incident.

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Archive crypto-security concept image, not the Binance incident: edwinchuen / Bybit, CC BY 2.0; cropped. Source.

Binance has reserved more than $6.34 billion of company funds to cover its security breach, the cryptocurrency exchange said Friday, with $5 billion already held in the same tokens affected and purchases underway to fill the remaining gaps.

Binance said in a service update posted at 12:36 a.m. Eastern time Friday that it expected to resume withdrawals within 48 hours while its team completed a security revamp of the withdrawal service and related addresses. That was the company’s expected restart window at the time of the post, not a guarantee that service would resume by a fixed deadline. Deposits remained unaffected and continued to operate normally, it said.

In a 6:55 a.m. Eastern update, Binance said it was buying the outstanding token assets through market and over-the-counter channels so the replacement holdings matched the assets involved.

The funding plan follows a security incident the company estimates had an approximately $6.3 billion total impact. Friday’s update explains how Binance intends to cover the shortfall, rather than announcing a second breach.

Buying the tokens needed to cover losses

Binance said $5 billion of the company money reserved for the incident was already held in the exact token assets affected. It was still completing purchases for the remainder.

That process can take longer when tokens have limited liquidity, the company said. Over-the-counter trades also require settlement time. The exchange did not give a completion deadline for those purchases in the update.

“We will continue to use company resources to cover confirmed shortfall and will provide further verified updates as recovery efforts progress,” Binance said.

The company pledged that user funds would ultimately be verified publicly through its Proof of Reserves. That is a future verification commitment, not a statement that the process is already complete.

Frozen assets are separate from company reserves

The more than $6.34 billion in company funds does not include frozen or protected assets, Binance said. It separately reported that about $3 billion had been frozen with help from industry partners.

Those frozen assets remain subject to recovery and verification. A freeze can restrict an asset’s movement without establishing that it has been returned to customers.

Binance said it had begun recovering affected assets for users and was working with law enforcement, issuers, blockchain-intelligence firms and other partners to trace, freeze and recover additional funds.

The company’s approximate $6.3 billion impact estimate, more than $6.34 billion corporate-funding commitment and approximately $3 billion frozen-asset tally are different measures. They should not be added together as a single loss or recovery figure.

Withdrawals remain paused; deposits are normal

Binance’s official security notice says withdrawals were temporarily suspended while checks were completed. Its updated note clarifies that deposits remain unaffected and continue to operate normally.

The exchange said it had revoked the affected address authorization and engaged law enforcement and blockchain-intelligence partners. It committed to cover losses through its Secure Asset Fund for Users, known as SAFU, and company funds.

The company said its initial investigation suggested a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop may have allowed an attacker to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. It said it had found no evidence of a wallet private-key leak and would publish a technical report after the investigation was complete.

The company statements reviewed for this report do not name a perpetrator. Binance’s promises to cover losses and its statement that user funds are safe remain company assurances while security checks, purchases and recovery efforts continue.

JBizNews Markets Desk | NEW YORK
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Archive: New York Stock Exchange, April 2012. Jean-Christophe Benoist / CC BY 3.0, cropped.

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Archive: New York Stock Exchange, April 2012. Jean-Christophe Benoist, CC BY 3.0, cropped.

Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, agreed Thursday to work with Trade[XYZ] on bringing Hyperliquid-based perpetual futures markets into a U.S.-regulated framework, expanding its push toward individual traders.

The definitive agreement announced October 29 includes a strategic minority investment by ICE in Trade[XYZ]. The companies intend to seek regulatory approvals for a new retail market and clearing structure. They have not announced that U.S. customers can begin trading the products.

The proposed business would target people seeking short-duration, around-the-clock exposure to markets including crypto, equities, commodities and foreign exchange. ICE says its current participation is more than 99% institutional, making the retail audience a new market opportunity rather than a replacement for its existing commercial-hedging business.

A proposed U.S. venue, not a trading launch

ICE would exclusively operate Trade[XYZ]’s regulated markets under the agreement. Trade[XYZ] currently offers eligible users outside the United States access to perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid, with Hyperliquid supplying underlying infrastructure and Trade[XYZ] designing the products.

A perpetual contract has no expiration date. The companies describe the products as a way to obtain market exposure, rather than to lock in a price for a particular future delivery date. A contract referencing a stock should not be confused with owning the stock itself.

The partners plan to seek the approvals needed for leveraged trading as part of the U.S. structure. The release does not supply a launch date, a list of final approved products or a timetable for obtaining those approvals. The announcement is therefore a plan to build a regulated venue, not evidence that the proposed products have already been cleared for U.S. retail use.

Separate from ICE’s institutional franchise

ICE says the retail perpetuals business would operate through a dedicated regulatory and clearing structure, separate from its institutional futures and clearing franchise. Its existing commercial hedgers would continue to use traditional futures, forward-curve price discovery and centrally cleared physical or cash settlement.

The company describes that separation as a way to keep its existing institutional customers from bearing the retail platform’s trading and counterparty risk. That is the company’s explanation of its intended structure, not a claim that trading on the proposed venue would be risk-free for its own users.

Once approvals are obtained, customers who satisfy know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks are expected to access the market through futures commission merchants that become platform members.

OKX is one planned distribution route

The agreement also connects with ICE’s earlier investment in OKX. A joint venture between those companies is intended to link OKX’s retail customer base with ICE-operated markets, providing another possible distribution channel for Trade[XYZ]’s regulated contracts.

That channel has its own approval conditions. ICE says the joint venture’s U.S.-registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant subsidiaries still require regulatory approvals. Those approvals are separate from the proposed market and clearing framework.

ICE did not disclose the size or financial terms of its minority investment in Trade[XYZ]. It said the position is not expected to materially affect its 2026 adjusted financial results, capital returns or debt-reduction plans.

For now, the milestones to watch are regulatory applications and approvals, the final market structure and a confirmed opening date. None should be assumed from the signing of the commercial agreement alone.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Archive photo: a physical Bitcoin coin held between two fingers

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Archive: Satheesh Sankaran, CC BY 2.0.

Bitcoin slid below $79,000 on Thursday evening, reaching its lowest level in more than a month, as a selloff in U.S. technology stocks spread to digital assets.

The largest cryptocurrency changed hands at $78,551 on Coinbase’s exchange at 7:31 p.m. Eastern, down 3.3% over the previous 24 hours, after falling as low as $78,177, according to Coinbase’s price data. The exchange’s daily data show Thursday’s low was the weakest reading since at least late September. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, traded at $2,263, down about 4% over the same period.

The drop came as technology shares led Wall Street lower: the Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.4%, and Alphabet shares tumbled 12.6%, according to Nasdaq’s closing data. Digital assets extended a slide that began after the Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, a decision that drew dissents from two policymakers who preferred a quarter-point rate increase, the central bank’s statement showed.

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Archive photo: SEC headquarters in Washington, October 13, 2009.

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Archive photo: SEC headquarters in Washington, October 2009. AgnosticPreachersKid / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged BG Wealth Sharing Ltd and DSJ Exchange Pty Ltd on Thursday with running an alleged crypto-investment fraud that raised more than $130 million from tens of thousands of retail investors, using false regulatory filings to make the operation look legitimate.

The two entities are incorporated in Colorado but operated from abroad, the SEC said in its October 29 announcement. Its civil complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The allegations have not been established by a court, and the amount the SEC says the program raised is not a finding of investor losses.

False filings used as a sales pitch

According to the complaint, the defendants recruited investors from at least October 2025 through June 2026 into what they called a “wealth-sharing program.” Investors were promised extraordinary, risk-free returns from purported trading signals for crypto assets. Many participants were in more than 40 U.S. states and multiple U.S. territories.

BG Wealth claimed to be the world’s largest hedge fund, registered with the SEC as an investment adviser and partnered with a licensed, secure crypto-trading platform called DSJ Exchange, the agency said. The SEC says those claims were false.

The complaint alleges the defendants submitted false Form ADV and Form D filings that were publicly visible on the SEC’s website, then shared those filings with investors as supposed evidence that the regulator had licensed or approved the businesses. The SEC said the filings have since been removed from its website.

The case draws a distinction between a document appearing in a regulatory filing system and the regulator endorsing the person or investment behind it. The alleged scheme used the first to suggest the second, according to the agency.

What the SEC is seeking

Laura D’Allaird, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, said the defendants reached investors through social media, encrypted messaging channels, weekly live videoconferences and a mobile app.

They also displayed fake certificates carrying the SEC’s seal and made periodic payments to some investors while misappropriating remaining funds, she said. D’Allaird described those payments as a “Ponzi-like tactic.” Those statements are part of the SEC’s allegations, not a court judgment.

The complaint charges both entities with violating antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It also charges BG Wealth with violations of Sections 204(a) and 207 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

The agency is asking for permanent injunctions, disgorgement with prejudgment interest and civil penalties against both defendants, as well as conduct-based injunctions against BG Wealth. Those are requested remedies, not amounts already awarded or a promise that investors will recover their money.

The SEC also pointed to investor alerts about scammers using exempt reporting adviser filings to create a false impression of legitimacy. It encouraged investors to check the background of anyone offering or selling an investment through Investor.gov.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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Bitcoin slipped back below $80,000 on Thursday morning, giving up the modest bounce that followed the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates steady.

Bitcoin changed hands at $79,940 on Coinbase’s exchange at 8:34 a.m. Eastern, down about 0.8% over the previous 24 hours, after trading between $79,586 and $81,715 in that span, according to Coinbase’s price data. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, traded at $2,316, down about 0.9%.

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, as expected. Bitcoin briefly climbed above $81,000 after the decision before easing back overnight.

Bitcoin has hovered near $80,000 for more than a week, after sliding from about $84,900 on October 21.

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Bitcoin ticked higher Wednesday morning, holding comfortably above $80,000, as cryptocurrency traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Bitcoin changed hands at $80,779 on Coinbase’s exchange at 8:32 a.m. Eastern, up about 0.7% over the previous 24 hours, after trading between $79,744 and $81,694 in that span, according to Coinbase’s price data. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, traded at $2,345, up about 0.6%.

The move extended a quiet stretch for bitcoin, which has held near $80,000 since sliding from about $84,900 on October 21.

The Fed’s October meeting calendar lists the rate decision for 2 p.m. Eastern, followed by a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Crypto prices often track interest-rate expectations, since lower rates tend to draw investors toward riskier assets.

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Robinhood’s cryptocurrency revenue fell 55% in the third quarter, while revenue from event contracts rose more than sixfold, a sharp shift in the brokerage’s trading business as it reported record overall revenue but lower profit.

The company’s October 27 earnings release put cryptocurrency revenue at $120 million for the quarter ended September 30. Event contracts generated $173 million, while options revenue rose 31% to $399 million and equities revenue increased 41% to $121 million.

The contrast matters because the gains in event contracts and other trading products helped offset a steep drop in crypto activity. Total transaction-based revenue increased 19% to $867 million, even as crypto notional trading volume fell 38% to $50 billion. Event contracts traded increased more than sevenfold to 16.4 billion.

Total revenue rose 12% from a year earlier to $1.42 billion. Net income declined 14% to $476 million, and diluted earnings per share fell 16% to 51 cents. The company said earnings included $67 million, or 7 cents a diluted share, in unrealized losses primarily related to its Robinhood Ventures Fund I investment.

On Robinhood’s newly introduced adjusted measures, which exclude certain non-operating items, adjusted net income fell 3% to $550 million and adjusted earnings per share declined 3% to 60 cents. Those are non-GAAP figures, separate from the company’s reported profit.

Operating expenses increased 16% to $739 million. Robinhood cited higher credit-loss provisions as its credit card loan book grows, costs related to Trump Accounts and Rothera, and marketing and growth spending.

The company’s customer and asset base continued to expand. Funded customers rose 7% to 28.7 million, Robinhood Gold subscribers increased 34% to 5.2 million, and total platform assets climbed 19% to $396 billion. Net deposits were $15.7 billion during the quarter.

The results show why Robinhood’s business cannot be read through crypto trading alone. Revenue from event contracts exceeded crypto revenue in the quarter, while options remained the largest of the transaction-revenue categories listed in the release. But broader revenue growth did not prevent a decline in reported profit.

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Archive photo: Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, November 2023. Troutfarm27 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The venue is not the location of the product launch.

Crypto.com and OG.com began rolling out cryptocurrency perpetual contracts for eligible U.S. traders Tuesday, adding a product that lets customers bet on rising or falling digital-asset prices without a scheduled expiration date.

The companies said the contracts offer leverage of up to five times a trader’s margin and will be available through the Crypto.com App and Exchange. The expansion brings a more complex form of crypto trading to retail app customers as well as institutional and advanced exchange users, with a different set of costs and risks from simply buying coins.

A price contract, not ownership of a coin

A perpetual contract follows the price of an underlying asset. It does not give the trader ownership of that asset, Crypto.com’s help center explains. A customer can take a position that gains when the price rises, or one that gains when it falls. Moving in the opposite direction produces a loss.

Unlike a futures contract with a fixed end date, a perpetual has no scheduled expiry. That does not mean a position can stay open regardless of losses. Crypto.com says a position remains open until the customer closes it or it is closed because its margin has been used.

The companies are offering around-the-clock trading and up to 5x leverage. Leverage means a smaller amount of posted margin supports a larger market position. It can increase gains when a trade goes the customer’s way, but it also magnifies losses when prices move against the position.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s investor guidance warns that leverage amplifies the risks of virtual-currency futures. A regulated trading venue does not eliminate the price risk of a volatile asset or make a leveraged position equivalent to holding cash.

How the U.S. rollout is structured

The announcement describes a CFTC-regulated trading framework. North American Derivatives Exchange Inc., affiliated with Crypto.com, operates under the OG.com Prediction Markets and Crypto.com Derivatives North America brands and is registered as a designated contract market and derivatives clearing organization, according to the companies.

Crypto.com said Foris DAX Inc. is registered with the National Futures Association as an introducing broker. The introducing broker connects customers to the derivatives trading infrastructure; it is a different role from the exchange and clearinghouse.

The rollout begins Tuesday across the app and exchange, but access is limited to eligible users in approved jurisdictions. The announcement did not provide a complete list of available tokens, state-by-state access or each contract’s margin and liquidation parameters.

Funding costs still apply

Crypto.com’s launch-offer help page says it is waiving trading fees on eligible perpetual contracts from October 27 through November 26. It also makes clear that standard funding payments still apply.

Those periodic payments pass between holders of long and short positions to help keep the contract’s price aligned with the underlying market. They are separate from trading fees, so a fee waiver is not the same as cost-free trading.

The companies also list take-profit and stop-loss orders and isolated margin among the product’s controls. Customers still need to check the specific contract terms and the amount of money exposed before opening a position. Tuesday’s change is broader U.S. access to leveraged, continuous crypto contracts, not a reduction in the underlying market’s risk.

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Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s chief executive, in an August 2014 file photo. Photo: Christopher Michel / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0. Resized.

Ripple and Robinhood announced a partnership Tuesday that will bring Ripple’s dollar-linked stablecoin into more of Robinhood’s trading business and put Ripple software behind the brokerage’s own cash management.

The companies said Ripple USD, known as RLUSD, is already live on Robinhood Chain and on Bitstamp by Robinhood. Availability in the Robinhood app is expected later this year, so Tuesday’s announcement does not mean ordinary app customers can all use the token immediately.

The agreement reaches beyond adding another cryptocurrency to a trading screen. Robinhood plans to use RLUSD on the XRP Ledger for institutional settlement, the process of completing transactions between financial firms. It will also integrate Ripple Treasury to manage cash, liquidity, payments and financial risk across its global operations.

A dollar token for trading and settlement

A stablecoin is a digital token designed to track a reference asset, in this case the U.S. dollar. That makes its intended role different from a cryptocurrency bought mainly in the hope that its price will rise. Here, the companies are positioning RLUSD as a tool for moving and settling money within a broader trading network.

Bitstamp is the institutional part of that expansion. Under the partnership, its clients gain a connection between the exchange’s trading services and Ripple’s financing and settlement tools. For Robinhood’s retail customers, the immediate distinction is timing: the infrastructure and Bitstamp availability are live, while the main app rollout is still planned.

Ripple said RLUSD has grown to more than $2.5 billion in market capitalization since its December 2024 launch. The companies put Robinhood’s global funded customer count at 28.6 million. Those figures describe the potential reach of the businesses, not the number of customers already using RLUSD.

Financing on one side, corporate cash on the other

The agreement also builds on an existing relationship through Ripple Prime. Ripple said that business provides Bitstamp by Robinhood with lending and margin financing across roughly 20 digital assets, while Ripple Prime clients can access spot trading on Bitstamp. Spot trading involves buying or selling the asset itself.

Support for perpetual futures trading on Bitstamp is expected later this year, according to the announcement. That is another planned step rather than a service the companies said launched Tuesday.

Robinhood’s own treasury integration addresses a different need: keeping track of money across accounts, currencies and subsidiaries. The stated scope includes cash-flow forecasting, payments, risk management and intercompany netting, which offsets amounts owed between parts of the same company.

For businesses considering similar systems, the partnership shows how stablecoin services are being packaged with the less visible financial work behind a trading platform. It does not establish how much money Robinhood will route through RLUSD or how quickly customers will adopt it. The announcement did not disclose a contract value or set a specific date for the app and futures launches.

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Michael Novogratz speaking at RISE in Hong Kong in July 2018.

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Galaxy founder and CEO Michael Novogratz at RISE in Hong Kong in July 2018. Photo: Seb Daly / RISE via Sportsfile, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Resized.

Galaxy Digital returned to profit in the third quarter as gains in its investment portfolio combined with a larger contribution from the company’s expanding artificial-intelligence data-center business.

The company reported $323 million in net income Tuesday, compared with an $85 million loss in the second quarter. Diluted earnings were 66 cents a share, according to its results announcement.

The figures show how Galaxy is trying to build a second source of earnings alongside its digital-asset trading and investment operations. Its Helios campus in Texas is now hosting AI computing for CoreWeave, bringing a business tied to long-term infrastructure into a company still exposed to swings in cryptocurrency and investment values.

Investment gains drive much of the rebound

The company’s treasury and corporate segment produced $419 million in adjusted gross profit, compared with a $42 million adjusted gross loss in the preceding quarter. That was the largest contribution among Galaxy’s three reporting segments. Chief Executive Mike Novogratz cited significant appreciation in the investment portfolio as one reason for the stronger results.

The digital-assets segment generated $71 million in adjusted gross profit, up from $66 million in the second quarter. It still recorded a $9 million adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, compared with an $11 million loss on that measure in the prior quarter.

Trading volumes rose 12% from the second quarter, Galaxy said. Its average loan book reached $1.8 billion, up 27%, while combined assets under management and assets under stake reached $10.4 billion. The latter figure includes assets committed to blockchain transaction validation, and should not be read as ordinary cash deposits.

AI data centers add earnings, and construction costs

Data centers produced $79 million in adjusted gross profit, up from $20 million in the second quarter. The segment’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased to $69 million from $11 million.

This was the first full quarter of revenue-generating operations under the first-phase Helios lease. Galaxy had delivered all 133 megawatts of critical computing load to CoreWeave by the end of the second quarter.

The expansion also requires substantial spending. Quarterly data-center capital expenditure rose to $757 million from $448 million. Segment liabilities reached $5.3 billion, compared with $1.5 billion at the end of June. Galaxy completed a $3.5 billion senior secured note offering to finance the second phase of Helios I.

That phase is fully financed and under construction, the company said, with data-hall deliveries scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2027. An additional 830 megawatts of approved capacity at Helios II is not yet leased; discussions with prospective tenants are not completed customer agreements.

Adjusted gross profit and adjusted earnings are company-defined, non-GAAP measures. They exclude certain costs and are not substitutes for net income. Galaxy also described the results information as preliminary and subject to normal quarterly accounting adjustments.

The board authorized another $200 million of share repurchases after the previous $200 million program was completed on October 15. The new authorization does not require Galaxy to buy shares and can be suspended or discontinued.

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Bitcoin held near $80,000 on Tuesday morning, steady after a week of declines, as cryptocurrency traders joined stock and bond investors in waiting for the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision on Wednesday.

Bitcoin changed hands at $80,132 on Coinbase’s exchange at 8:32 a.m. Eastern on October 27, little changed from $80,203 a day earlier. Over the previous 24 hours it traded between $79,300 and $80,710. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, traded at $2,324, also little changed on the day.

The quiet morning follows a losing week. Bitcoin climbed as high as $84,856 on October 21 before sliding for four straight days back to about $80,000, a drop of roughly 6 percent from that peak. Ether has fallen from about $2,470 to $2,320 over the same week.

The Federal Reserve’s October calendar lists its two-day policy meeting for October 27-28, with the rate decision due Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern and a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Crypto prices tend to move with interest-rate expectations, because lower rates push investors toward riskier assets while higher rates pull them back toward cash and bonds.

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A physical Casascius bitcoin token

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Photo: Tiberiandusk, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Image resized.

Strategy made no bitcoin purchases last week and instead spent $204.9 million buying back shares of one of its preferred stocks, according to a securities filing released Monday. The update leaves its bitcoin holdings unchanged at approximately 848,517 coins.

The company said it neither bought nor sold bitcoin during October 19-25 and did not sell shares through its at-the-market offering program in that period. Its accumulated bitcoin cost $64.02 billion, including fees and expenses, at an average of approximately $75,446 per coin.

Cash goes toward preferred shares

Strategy repurchased 2,068,459 shares of STRC, its variable-rate Series A perpetual preferred stock, for $204.9 million. It reported no repurchases of its other listed preferred stocks or its Class A common stock during the week.

Preferred stock is a different investment from owning bitcoin or ordinary company shares. It carries its own dividend terms and risks. In this case, the company used cash to retire part of an outstanding security rather than add more bitcoin to its treasury. The filing does not announce a permanent end to bitcoin buying.

Following the repurchases, Strategy said $956.8 million remained available under its preferred-stock repurchase program. Another $1 billion remained available for repurchases of its common stock. These are authorizations for potential purchases, not amounts the company says it has already spent.

Two separate cash balances

Strategy reported a $4.83 billion U.S. dollar reserve as of October 25. It describes that reserve as intended to support preferred-stock dividends and interest on outstanding debt.

Separately, the company held $242.4 million of what it calls USD Cash, which management may deploy for bitcoin purchases, additions to the reserve and other capital-management purposes. The $204.9 million used for the STRC repurchases came from that separate cash balance.

For investors, the distinction matters: cash set aside to support payments on securities is not the same as cash management may choose to put into additional bitcoin. Nor is the company’s historical average bitcoin purchase price a current market quote or a guarantee of what its holdings could be sold for.

The weekly filing records a change in where Strategy deployed cash. It does not by itself establish why bitcoin’s market price moved, and the company made no bitcoin-price forecast in the update.

JBizNews Desk | Tysons Corner, Va.

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Asia’s young, self-made billionaires are a decade younger than their American and European peers. Having made their fortunes in tech and crypto—and with larger risk appetites than the “old money” rich—Asia’s nouveau riche manage their wealth very differently.

“What if somebody comes with $100 million of stablecoin? You can’t take them to a local bank,” Chi-Man Kwan, founder and CEO of Singapore and Hong Kong-headquartered Raffles Family Office (RFO), tells Fortune. 

Younger billionaires are also more likely to store their wealth on the blockchain, via “newer currencies” like Bitcoin and Ethereum. “Even if their assets are U.S.-denominated, it’s going to be in stablecoins,” he says. Yet Kwan adds that most traditional-finance institutions don’t accommodate these digital currencies. 

In 2022, RFO started Revo, Asia’s first digital assets-focused multi-family office. In February, Revo secured licenses from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission that allow it to offer professional portfolio management services for digital assets alongside traditional investments. 

A 2026 survey by fund administration provider Ocorian found that family offices are increasingly seeking out digital assets. Eighty-six percent of family-office principals and senior executives are including crypto in their investment strategies. Yet, Wealth Briefing Asia notes that regulatory and reporting challenges often stop family offices from fully embracing crypto assets.

“Ten years from now, people may transact mostly in stablecoins,” Kwan says. “Are wealth managers or family offices like us ready?”

‘Upside down’

Greater China is minting billionaires at an unprecedented pace. According to the 2026 Hurun Global Rich List, 1,110 of the world’s 4,020 billionaires now hail from China, making it the country with the largest billionaire population. (The U.S. comes a close second, with 1,000 billionaires.)

Kwan, who served Chinese clients at banks like Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas, saw China’s growing wealth take shape by the early 2010s. “There were many Chinese entrepreneurs who were turning private companies public, and becoming billionaires almost overnight,” Kwan recalls. “They turned Hong Kong’s wealth management sector upside down.”

Over the years, Kwan and his team also learned to work with a new breed of younger billionaires. “It’s easy to speak to someone in their 50s or 60s about legacy planning, because they’re generally married, with children of a certain age,” he explains. “But if you talk to a billionaire who is 35, they may not even be married yet, so how you cater to them is very different.”

Next stop, Africa

RFO now serves high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) across six Asian cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Bangkok. 

Kwan’s push to expand the family office’s geographical footprint correlates with global wealth flows, as HNWIs worldwide look to diversify their assets across different geographies. According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, global offshore financial wealth jumped 8.4% to $15.7 trillion in 2025.

But RFO’s expansion has taken it somewhere unexpected: Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.

In March, RFO co-hosted the inaugural Rwanda Family Office Symposium alongside national economic entities like the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the Kigali International Financial Center. Then last month, Kwan appointed former Rwandan Minister of State for Infrastructure Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye as RFO’s principal of emerging markets and business development to drive investment flows between Asia and Africa. 

On Oct. 22, RFO signed a strategic capital mobilization agreement with the RDB, in an attempt to “expand private sector participation in Rwanda”.

Kwan points out that by 2050, potentially a quarter of people will be African. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they someday overtake Asia as the fastest-growing continent in the world,” he says. “They’ll be the ones with the highest earning—and spending—power.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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A group of 109 economists, business leaders, high-tech entrepreneurs, and former senior public officials issued a strongly worded statement expressing “deep anxiety and concern” over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct, warning of irreversible damage to Israel’s economy if international sanctions are imposed.

The letter followed an interview in which Netanyahu made clear that he was not concerned about sanctions, said that US military aid “is not something that will last forever and will eventually end,” and revealed that he had requested a plan to circumvent banking sanctions using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

“The prime minister’s remarks demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding and ignorance in the face of Israel’s collapsing standing in the international arena,” the 109 signatories charged in their letter. “Netanyahu is knowingly leading the State of Israel toward an international economic boycott and isolation, and all he has to offer is a bizarre solution commonly used by criminal organizations that will be of no help whatsoever.”

The economists warned that restrictions on Israel’s banking system would lead to soaring unemployment, the complete disappearance of foreign investment, and the paralysis of the economy’s primary growth engine, the high-tech sector.

They also warned of severe consequences for Israelis’ daily lives, including the inability to use credit cards, the loss of access to online shopping platforms such as Amazon and AliExpress, the departure of foreign workers, and serious difficulties for the healthcare system in purchasing medicines and medical equipment.

The signatories compared the potential scenario to countries that have faced severe sanctions, including South Africa, Iran, and Russia, warning of a dramatic decline in living standards and devastating damage to Israel’s ability to finance its defense needs.

The statement was signed by a long list of prominent figures, including two Nobel Prize laureates, Prof. Joel Mokyr (Economics) and Prof. Aaron Ciechanover (Chemistry).

Other signatories include Israel Prize laureate and former Bank of Israel governor Prof. Jacob Frenkel; former deputy governors Prof. Zvi Eckstein and Dr. Nadine Baudot-Trajtenberg; and former supervisors of banks Yair Avidan and Rony Hizkiyahu.

The list also includes many former senior Finance Ministry officials, including former directors-general Yarom Ariav, Prof. Avi Ben-Bassat, David Brodet, Haim Shani, and Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, who also previously chaired the National Economic Council.

Also signing were former chief economist Shira Greenberg and former budget director Udi Nisan.

Prominent figures from the high-tech industry and business community include CyberArk founder Alon Cohen, Check Point co-founder Marius Nacht, G City founder Chaim Katzman, BIG Shopping Centers CEO Hai Galis and chairman Eitan Bar Zeev, high-tech entrepreneur Gigi Levy-Weiss, Fireblocks co-founders Idan Ofrat, Dov Moran, and Roy Vermus, and many others.

Bank of Israel emphasizes importance of maintaining economic relations

The wave of economic criticism followed an unusual response from the Bank of Israel, which clarified over the weekend that “cryptocurrencies cannot serve as a means of circumventing sanctions on Israel.”

The central bank emphasized that “the right thing for Israel’s economy is to preserve our economic relations with our main trading partners and focus on preventing sanctions.”

Netanyahu responded to the remarks in an interview with Channel 14, saying, “I thank the Bank of Israel for its advice, but I do what I think is right.”

Bank of Israel. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

The business sector also strongly rejected the proposal.

Galit Miran, CEO of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, warned against “adopting financial models characteristic of isolated and excluded countries,” noting that such mechanisms could undermine investor confidence and Israel’s credit rating.

The Manufacturers Association of Israel emphasized that the Israeli economy is built on free trade and the free movement of capital, and that maintaining these conditions is the only way to ensure economic resilience.

Netanyahu’s election opponents condemn economic plan

The economic controversy quickly became a central issue in the election campaign, which will culminate on Tuesday.

Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot issued his own stark warning: “If Netanyahu continues, there will be no savings, no international investments, and you will not be able to pay by credit card online or abroad. For Netanyahu, the conversation has shifted from prosperity to survival. After another term under him, we will long for the days of austerity.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid also attacked Netanyahu, saying, “Netanyahu admits in his own words that if his government is reelected, military aid will be finished and sanctions will be imposed, leading to insane price increases and irreparable damage.”

B’Yachad party chairman Naftali Bennett said he was appalled by Netanyahu’s vision. “This means the destruction of Israeli high-tech, the loss of livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of families, poverty for millions of Israelis, and a threat to security. Netanyahu is placing Israel in the same category as Iran, North Korea, and Russia.”

This post was originally published on here. 

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October 18, 2026 | JBizNews | Markets & Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin could collapse to $10,000 if the U.S. stock market suffers a sustained 20% decline, according to Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone, who warns that a broader financial-market downturn could trigger devastating losses across cryptocurrencies.

The warning comes as Wall Street faces growing concerns over artificial intelligence valuations, rising borrowing costs and weakening investor confidence in technology stocks.

With Bitcoin recently trading around $82,000, a decline to McGlone’s target would represent a loss of nearly 88%, potentially wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in cryptocurrency market value.

Why a 20% Stock Market Decline Could Crush Bitcoin

McGlone’s forecast centers on Bitcoin’s relationship with the broader stock market, particularly the S&P 500.

According to the strategist, Bitcoin and the S&P 500 have delivered roughly comparable returns over the past five years, but Bitcoin has experienced nearly three times the volatility.

That difference becomes particularly dangerous when markets fall.

McGlone believes a sustained 20% decline in the S&P 500 could drive Bitcoin toward $10,000 as investors sell riskier assets and move money into safer investments.

He also points to weakening technical indicators, rising Treasury yields and restrictive monetary policy as factors that could accelerate the decline.

AI Stock Selloff Raises Concerns

The warning arrives during a difficult period for technology and artificial intelligence stocks.

Investors are increasingly questioning whether companies spending billions of dollars on AI infrastructure will generate enough revenue to justify their investments.

Higher interest rates are making those projects more expensive to finance, while concerns about debt exposure have placed additional pressure on companies tied to the AI expansion.

Because Bitcoin often trades alongside speculative technology investments, a major selloff in AI-related stocks could spread into cryptocurrency markets.

McGlone’s forecast does not mean an AI crash is inevitable. Rather, it highlights how a sustained stock market downturn could magnify losses in Bitcoin.

Other Analysts Disagree With the $10,000 Forecast

Not all cryptocurrency analysts believe Bitcoin could fall that far.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju argues that Bitcoin’s growing institutional ownership provides considerably more support than during previous market crashes.

He points to approximately $58 billion in Bitcoin ETF inflows and roughly 1.3 million Bitcoin held by corporate treasury investors.

Based on blockchain valuation data, Ju suggests Bitcoin could find support closer to $30,000 even under severe market stress.

That would still represent a substantial decline from current levels, but nowhere near the collapse predicted by McGlone.

What This Means for Investors

The central question is whether Bitcoin can withstand a significant Wall Street correction without suffering disproportionately larger losses.

McGlone’s warning suggests that investors who view Bitcoin as protection against traditional financial-market instability may face an uncomfortable reality: during major selloffs, cryptocurrencies can behave like highly volatile risk assets rather than safe havens.

For now, the $10,000 target remains a conditional bearish scenario, not a certainty.

But with AI-related stocks under pressure, borrowing costs elevated and investor confidence showing signs of strain, the relationship between Bitcoin and the broader stock market is becoming increasingly important.

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Higher U.S. inflation, renewed concerns over Federal Reserve interest rates and forced selling across cryptocurrency markets are putting pressure on digital assets.

NEW YORK — Bitcoin briefly fell below $80,000 Thursday as a wave of selling swept through cryptocurrency markets, extending losses fueled by hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation and fears that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates elevated or raise them further.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to approximately $79,700 on some major trading platforms before recovering above the psychologically important $80,000 threshold. The decline followed several days of weakening prices and reflected growing investor caution across global financial markets.

The selloff has also spread beyond Bitcoin, with Ether and other cryptocurrencies suffering sharper percentage losses as traders reduce exposure to volatile assets.

Inflation reignites pressure on cryptocurrencies

The latest selling intensified after U.S. consumer inflation accelerated to 3.7% annually in September, above economists’ expectations of 3.6%.

The report showed consumer prices rising 0.6% from the previous month, with higher gasoline costs accounting for much of the increase.

The unexpected acceleration raised concerns that the Federal Reserve may need to maintain restrictive monetary policy for longer than investors anticipated.

Higher interest rates generally increase the appeal of interest-bearing assets and raise financing costs, making speculative investments, including cryptocurrencies, less attractive.

Bitcoin has increasingly traded alongside other risk-sensitive investments, particularly technology stocks, rather than consistently behaving as a safe haven during periods of financial stress.

Forced liquidations deepen the selloff

The downturn has been amplified by leveraged cryptocurrency trading.

When Bitcoin falls sharply, exchanges may automatically close positions held by investors who borrowed heavily to increase their exposure. Those forced liquidations can accelerate selling and push prices lower.

Industry market data indicated that approximately $483 million in leveraged Bitcoin and Ether futures positions were liquidated over a recent 24-hour period.

The selling coincided with substantial declines across Asian equity markets, including sharp losses in South Korea and Japan, as investors reacted to inflation concerns and weakness in technology stocks.

A sharp reversal from last year’s record

Bitcoin’s latest decline comes one year after the cryptocurrency climbed above $126,000 in October 2025.

At $80,000, Bitcoin is approximately 37% below that record, underscoring the volatility that continues to define the cryptocurrency market despite growing institutional participation.

Digital assets have gained broader acceptance through regulated investment products, financial institutions and corporate holdings. However, those developments have not insulated Bitcoin from broader shifts in investor sentiment.

The latest decline also raises questions about whether Bitcoin can sustain investor demand when inflation remains elevated and borrowing costs are high.

What investors are watching

The immediate focus is whether Bitcoin can stabilize around $80,000 or whether continued selling will drive prices lower.

Investors are also monitoring the Federal Reserve’s October 27–28 policy meeting, where officials will assess inflation, employment and broader financial conditions.

A decision to maintain interest rates could provide some relief if investors had anticipated another increase. Conversely, renewed signals of tighter monetary policy could prolong pressure on cryptocurrencies and other speculative assets.

For investors, the latest selloff illustrates a familiar reality: Bitcoin’s long-term institutional growth has not eliminated its sensitivity to inflation, interest rates and rapid changes in global market sentiment.

The next test is whether buyers return around $80,000 or whether the latest retreat develops into a broader correction across digital assets.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Crypto spent years trying to become part of mainstream American finance. Tuesday afternoon, Washington slammed on the brakes.

The Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, the sweeping legislation designed to finally establish federal rules governing how cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are bought, sold and regulated in the United States.

The vote was 49–50 — well short of the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward.

Markets reacted immediately.

Bitcoin fell roughly 4% to around $75,900, while shares of Coinbase and Circle, two of the companies with the most to gain from clearer federal crypto rules, dropped about 9%.

That reaction tells the bigger story.

For crypto companies, this was never simply another Washington regulatory bill. It was supposed to provide the legal foundation that could make banks, asset managers, brokers and other traditional financial institutions more comfortable building large businesses around digital assets.

Right now, one of the industry’s biggest problems is that companies still do not always know whether a digital token will ultimately be treated as a security overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission or a commodity falling largely under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The CLARITY Act was designed to draw those lines much more clearly.

That matters to Wall Street because regulatory uncertainty has a price.

A bank deciding whether to offer crypto products, an investment firm building a digital-asset platform or a company considering issuing a token has to calculate not only whether the business will make money, but whether regulators could later decide that the product violated securities laws.

Clear rules reduce that risk.

Without legislation, much of the framework will continue to depend on rules and interpretations coming directly from the SEC and CFTC. Those agencies can still move forward, but regulations created administratively can be changed by future administrations or challenged in court more easily than legislation passed by Congress.

The bill’s defeat also shows how far apart Washington remains despite crypto’s growing presence inside traditional finance.

The industry spent heavily lobbying for the legislation and arguing that the United States risks pushing digital-asset businesses and jobs overseas without a permanent regulatory framework.

Critics raised a different set of concerns, including money laundering protections, financial stability and whether the legislation gave crypto companies too much freedom compared with banks and traditional securities firms.

Those disagreements ultimately prevented supporters from finding the 60 Senate votes required Tuesday.

The timing makes the defeat particularly important. Congress is approaching its pre-midterm election break, sharply reducing the amount of legislative time available this year.

That means companies that spent 2026 preparing for the possibility of a comprehensive federal crypto framework may now have to keep operating under the same regulatory uncertainty they hoped Congress was finally about to resolve.

Crypto has already made substantial progress onto Wall Street through Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, institutional trading platforms and growing involvement from major financial companies.

But Tuesday’s vote showed the difference between Wall Street accepting crypto as an investment and Washington permanently defining the rules under which the industry operates.

The first has already happened.

The second will have to wait.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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Zcash is emerging as one of the stars of the sudden broad-based rally in crypto assets that went into high gear last week. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency has surged 66% over the past week, hitting an eight-year high of $841 on Monday.

Its surge came after investment manager Grayscale filed an amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday to convert its existing Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund. If approved, the fund would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ZCSH.

Zcash’s strong performance comes amid a broader rally across the crypto market. Cryptocurrencies have risen sharply since Wednesday, posting gains not seen in nearly a year. The Treasury Department’s bond-buyback announcement helped spark the move, while renewed political support for the industry and a wave of short-position liquidations pushed prices even higher. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, continued to climb and was trading just below $80,000 on Monday.

For Zcash, Grayscale’s proposed ETF came as an additional catalyst. If approved, the fund would give investors a regulated way to gain exposure to ZEC, Zcash’s native token, through their brokerage accounts, without having to buy or hold the token directly.

Its outperformance has revived discussion of whether Zcash can emerge as a more prominent alternative to Bitcoin for investors seeking financial privacy. Unlike Bitcoin, Zcash allows users to shield transaction details, such as the sender, recipient, and transaction amount, using zero-knowledge cryptography. 

Zcash supporters say that it improves on Bitcoin by offering Bitcoin’s fixed supply without the public ledger. As artificial intelligence grows, proponents argue that so will the risk of government surveillance. 

“Many are calling it ‘perfect Bitcoin,’” Arjun Khemani, a cryptographer and engineer, wrote on X. 

Influential crypto voices have also been speaking out about Zcash’s use cases. During a meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Innovation Advisory Committee on Friday, Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss pointed to Zcash as an example of how developers can use artificial intelligence to identify vulnerabilities in complex blockchain code and strengthen networks before malicious actors exploit them.

But Zcash’s strongest feature is also its greatest limitation. Its privacy features make it harder for exchanges and law enforcement to trace illicit funds, potentially making Zcash a more attractive vehicle for money laundering or sanctions evasion.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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President Donald Trump and top financial regulators hosted key figures in the cryptocurrency and digital assets industries at the White House on Wednesday as a major legislative priority for the administration and those industries nears the finish line.

Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber, attended the meeting and said in an interview with FOX Business that the “main takeaway was that the U.S. is not going to slow down in its objective of becoming the crypto capital of the world.”

“There was a lot of talk about the CLARITY Act, this legislation that’s in front of us, and that there was a desire and need to get this done,” Carbone said, noting there is bipartisan support for the bill and that President Trump indicated he hopes to sign it into law in September.

“It was very clear from the president’s comments and from the discussion that the U.S. government and the Trump administration are not going to wait, necessarily, for legislation,” he said. “The SEC and the CFTC have been given the authority from this White House and the mandate to move very quickly.”

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The CLARITY Act would establish legal definitions for digital assets, network tokens, digital commodities and more, while also creating mandates for regulatory agencies, including the SEC and CFTC, to regulate the sector without creating overlapping or contradictory rules.

“The biggest thing that the bill will do is durability. People need to understand that the regulatory framework that is going to be created by the CLARITY Act is not just going to be here for decades and decades to come,” Carbone said, noting it will help builders, issuers and platforms certainty about regulatory compliance.

“It’ll give retail investors, institutional investors more consumer protections, more disclosures,” he said. “When you pass clear rules of the road, like we saw with the GENIUS Act, the market responds immediately. The stablecoin market in the post-GENIUS Act world in the first year almost doubled overnight in the U.S. – CLARITY will do that for the rest of the market.”

TRUMP-LINKED WORLD LIBERTY CRYPTO VENTURE GETS PRELIMINARY APPROVAL FROM CURRENCY COMPTROLLER

The Senate is expected to begin the procedural process of considering the CLARITY Act in mid-September, when the upper chamber is scheduled to be in a three-week session before a lengthy recess in October ahead of the midterm elections this November.

“There is a ton of motivation, not just from the administration as we saw [Wednesday], but from Republicans and Democrats in Congress to get this done – especially before the election. It just becomes too hard to legislate after September: then you’re in the October recess, then it’s the election, and then it’s the lame duck,” Carbone said.

“We don’t want to leave this up for chance. This is the time. We’ve never been closer to enacting a market structure bill,” he said.

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Carbone said that if the CLARITY Act stalls in September with no path forward, the focus is likely to shift to agencies like the SEC and CFTC. He noted that SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig indicated they would look to implement many of the bill’s provisions through the regulatory process.

“They all want to see CLARITY done, just like we do. But if the ultimate fate of CLARITY over the next six weeks is that it will not pass, and we’re hoping that’s not the case, then I would imagine the SEC and the CFTC will get even more active very, very quickly, shortly thereafter,” he said.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from more traditional corners of the finance sector, including exchanges, and included an overarching theme of American innovation and technological leadership spanning not just digital assets and blockchain but also artificial intelligence (AI).

“This was pretty remarkable to hear the president double- and triple-down that it’s not just about the U.S. being the crypto capital of the world, but we need to be the envy of the entire world on all innovation,” Carbone said. “That’s pretty amazing to hear.”

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“It was a breath of fresh air and almost a sigh of relief,” Carbone said, explaining that while there “may be some disappointment about where the legislation stands right now, that this administration is not going to let up. They’re going to do everything that they can to make sure that U.S. entrepreneurs feel very, very comfortable, U.S. investors feel very, very comfortable, that they can continue to build wealth and to invest in new products right here in the U.S.”

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Bitcoin climbed above $70,000 and Ether rose more than 3% after President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass legislation that would establish long-awaited rules for the American cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin gained 3.4%, while Ether advanced 3.3%. The rally spread across the industry: Coinbase, Strategy and major crypto-mining companies rose between 3% and 10%, while equipment maker Canaan surged roughly 20%.

Trump delivered the message alongside crypto and financial executives at the White House, renewing his pledge to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world.”

The Clarity Act would answer the question that has hung over the industry for years: when is a digital asset a security regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and when is it a commodity overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission?

That distinction determines how tokens may be issued, traded and offered to customers. Clearer rules could make banks and institutional investors more willing to enter the market without fearing that regulators will later classify an asset differently.

The bill remains stalled amid disagreements over ethics provisions intended to prevent presidents and other senior officials from profiting through personal cryptocurrency ventures. The Senate is expected to revisit the legislation in September.

Crypto also benefited from the Treasury Department’s expanded purchases of long-term government debt, which pushed bond yields lower and increased investor demand for riskier assets. Even after the latest rally, however, Bitcoin remains roughly 18% lower for the year.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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The U.S. Treasury has begun turning the new federal stablecoin law into operating rules, moving the industry from years of debate over whether digital dollars should be regulated to the much harder question of exactly who will be allowed to issue and distribute them.

The proposed rule implements key provisions of the GENIUS Act, the new federal framework governing payment stablecoins — digital tokens designed to maintain a fixed value, typically $1.

The first major deadline comes January 18, 2027.

After that date, companies generally will not be permitted to issue payment stablecoins in the United States without an appropriate federal or state license.

A second and potentially more disruptive restriction arrives July 18, 2028.

At that point, crypto exchanges, wallet providers and other digital-asset service companies generally will not be allowed to offer stablecoins to U.S. customers unless the tokens were issued by properly licensed entities.

That means the rules will eventually affect far more than the companies creating stablecoins.

Exchanges will have to decide which tokens can remain listed. Fintech firms will need to review which digital dollars they can legally integrate into payments. Banks and custodians will need compliance systems capable of distinguishing approved issuers from unapproved ones.

Foreign stablecoins will face their own requirements.

Treasury’s proposal establishes standards for determining when an overseas-issued token is effectively being offered into the U.S. market and therefore must comply with American rules.

That could become one of the most consequential parts of the framework.

Stablecoins are inherently global. A token issued abroad can move between digital wallets almost instantly, making traditional geographic boundaries much harder to enforce than they are with conventional banking products.

The government is now trying to build those boundaries into the legal infrastructure.

The significance for businesses is growing quickly.

Stablecoins are no longer used only by crypto traders.

They are increasingly being considered for international payments, remittances, corporate treasury functions, settlement between financial institutions and faster movement of dollars across borders.

Supporters argue that regulated stablecoins could reduce payment costs and allow money to move around the clock rather than waiting for conventional banking systems to settle.

Regulators see the same scale as a reason for stricter oversight.

A stablecoin only works if customers believe the dollar promised by the token will actually be there when they redeem it. That puts enormous importance on reserves, custody, liquidity and the financial condition of the issuer.

The GENIUS Act was designed to move those responsibilities into a formal regulatory framework.

Now Treasury has to define how that framework works in practice.

The department is accepting public comments for 60 days, giving banks, crypto companies, payment processors and investors an opportunity to challenge or reshape parts of the proposal before final rules are issued.

That process will determine who can issue digital dollars, which tokens American customers can legally use and how much of today’s stablecoin market survives once licensing requirements fully take effect.

The political argument over stablecoins is largely over.

The compliance race has begun.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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Bitcoin’s largest investors are buying again, reversing months of heavy selling and quietly absorbing billions of dollars worth of the cryptocurrency even as prices remain well below their previous highs.

Large Bitcoin holders — commonly known as “whales” — have added roughly $2.9 billion worth of Bitcoin over the past 60 days, according to on-chain market data tracking major wallets. The shift marks a notable reversal from earlier this year, when large holders were among the sources of selling pressure weighing on the market.

The change matters because whales control enough Bitcoin to influence the amount of supply available for trading. When those investors sell, large quantities of Bitcoin can hit the market and pressure prices. When they accumulate instead, coins effectively move out of circulation and into longer-term holdings.

The buying is occurring during an unusual period for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has spent more than two months trading largely sideways, while trading volume has weakened and many smaller investors have reduced their exposure.

At the same time, institutional demand has begun showing signs of recovery. U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recently recorded their strongest weekly inflows since April, attracting more than $850 million in a single week.

That creates a potentially important change in Bitcoin’s supply-and-demand equation: some of the market’s largest holders are accumulating at the same time that fresh institutional money is returning.

There are still significant sources of selling pressure. Bitcoin miners, corporate holders and some investment funds have sold coins this year, while U.S. Bitcoin ETFs remain in net outflow territory for 2026 despite their recent rebound.

But the end of sustained whale selling removes one major headwind.

For everyday investors, the $2.9 billion accumulation does not guarantee Bitcoin prices will rise. It does, however, suggest that some of the market’s biggest players increasingly view current prices as an opportunity to accumulate rather than an opportunity to exit.

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World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture backed by President Donald Trump and his family, has moved a major step closer to becoming a federally chartered financial institution after U.S. regulators granted preliminary approval for its proposed national trust bank.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the application Friday for World Liberty Trust Company, a new national trust bank that would operate from Florida and bring several of the company’s most important cryptocurrency functions directly under federal banking supervision.

The approval is preliminary, not final.

World Liberty cannot begin operating the bank until it satisfies a series of pre-opening requirements and passes an OCC examination. The regulator retains the authority to modify, suspend or rescind the approval before the bank opens.

If those conditions are met, however, World Liberty would gain something considerably more valuable than another crypto license.

It would receive a national bank charter.

The proposed bank plans to issue and redeem World Liberty’s dollar-backed USD1 stablecoin, maintain the reserves supporting it and provide digital-asset custody services to institutional clients across the United States.

USD1 is designed to maintain a value of $1 and has grown to more than $4 billion in circulation, making it one of the larger stablecoins in the market.

Currently, BitGo handles the issuance and custody of USD1. Under World Liberty’s plan, those operations and the reserve assets supporting the stablecoin would eventually move into the new federally chartered trust bank.

That would give World Liberty considerably more control over the economics surrounding its own token.

Instead of relying on an outside institution to issue and safeguard USD1, the company could bring issuance, redemption, reserves and institutional custody together inside its own regulated banking subsidiary.

The charter would not turn World Liberty into a traditional retail bank.

The trust company would not operate like JPMorgan Chase or Bank of America by taking ordinary consumer deposits and making conventional loans. Its activities would be limited largely to trust, custody, stablecoin and related digital-asset services.

But a national charter carries another important advantage: scale.

Federal supervision can provide a clearer framework for serving institutional customers nationwide rather than navigating a patchwork of individual state regimes.

The OCC placed substantial conditions around that privilege.

World Liberty Trust must maintain at least $20 million in Tier 1 capital, with at least $10 million or half of its Tier 1 capital — whichever is greater — held in qualifying liquid assets.

The bank must also maintain enough additional liquid assets to cover at least 180 days of operating expenses during its first three years.

Major changes to its business plan will require OCC review, and senior executives and directors will face additional regulatory scrutiny during the bank’s early years.

The decision also arrives amid political scrutiny surrounding the Trump family’s financial interest in World Liberty.

Critics, including Democratic lawmakers, have questioned whether a federal agency under the Trump administration should approve a banking charter connected to a business in which the president’s family has an economic interest.

World Liberty and the administration have rejected suggestions that the company receives improper treatment, while the OCC said it evaluated the application under its existing chartering and supervisory standards.

From a business standpoint, the larger development is what the approval says about cryptocurrency’s continuing move into the regulated financial system.

Stablecoin companies once operated largely outside traditional banking.

Increasingly, they are seeking national charters, federal supervision and direct control over the reserves and custody infrastructure behind their tokens.

World Liberty is now one step closer to joining that group.

The OCC has given it a preliminary green light.

The next test is whether it can satisfy the regulator’s conditions and turn a Trump-backed crypto venture into an operating federally chartered trust bank.

JBizNews Desk | Washington

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The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Friday granted preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank tied to World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture partially owned by President Donald Trump‘s family.

The decision, announced in a letter posted on the OCC’s website, advances World Liberty Financial’s plans to establish a national trust bank focused in part on issuing and managing the USD1 stablecoin.

World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, would be based in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, and plans to issue and redeem USD1, maintain reserves backing the stablecoin and provide digital asset custody and related services to institutional customers.

In its letter, the OCC said it granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company’s application for a national trust bank charter, which was submitted in January.

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The firm welcomed the decision, calling it a “milestone” in its efforts to open the bank.

“A national trust bank brings USD1 issuance, custody and reserve management together under OCC supervision, examined on the same standards that have governed banks for generations,” World Liberty Trust President and Chairman Zach Witkoff said in a statement. 

“We welcome continuous scrutiny from federal regulators for many years to come.”

Witkoff is the son of Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Zach Witkoff said in an X post that the proposed national trust bank would have a clear objective.

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“Our ambition is clear: to build the most trusted and widely used digital dollar in the world while strengthening the role of the U.S. dollar across the global economy.”

The bank cannot begin operating yet and must satisfy a series of requirements before opening and receiving final approval from the OCC.

A significant portion of the OCC’s letter addressed objections raised by commenters over potential Trump family conflicts, foreign investment, stablecoin regulation, FDIC insurance and regulatory favoritism.

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On its website, World Liberty Financial states that it is 38% owned by “an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members.”

The OCC rejected those objections as grounds for denying the charter and said staff reviewed the application under established procedures.

“Career OCC staff reviewed the application for consistency with the statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements and factors for approval of a de novo application,” the OCC wrote.

An OCC official emphasized the importance of de novo banks in a statement to FOX Business, saying a robust pipeline of new banks is crucial to a healthy financial system.

The official said new entrants bring new ideas, products and services that increase competition, drive innovation and expand consumer choice, contributing to a strong and diverse banking system that supports a modern economy.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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A firmware flaw dating back to 2021 has allowed attackers to steal tens of millions of dollars in Bitcoin from vulnerable hardware wallets, and security researchers warn the campaign may not be over. Anyone who generated a wallet seed on an affected Coldcard device is being urged to move their Bitcoin immediately to a newly created wallet rather than simply installing updated firmware.

Researchers at Galaxy Research traced the first coordinated attack to July 30, when 1,196 Bitcoin addresses were drained in just 41 minutes, stealing approximately 1,082.65 BTC worth about $70 million at the time. Additional waves of theft have since pushed the preliminary total to roughly 1,367 BTC—valued at about $88 million—across more than 4,500 addresses, with investigators cautioning that additional compromised wallets may still exist.

The vulnerability originated in firmware released in March 2021. Instead of generating recovery seeds using the hardware wallet’s dedicated random number generator, certain Coldcard firmware versions mistakenly relied on a predictable software-based process, allowing attackers to reproduce wallet seeds offline without ever touching the physical device. Engineers at Block identified the configuration error while investigating the thefts.

Coinkite, the Canadian company behind Coldcard, has acknowledged the flaw. Chief Executive Rodolfo Novak apologized publicly and accepted responsibility for the bug, saying the company’s review process failed to detect the issue before release. Emergency firmware updates have since been issued for affected Mk3, Mk4, Mk5 and Coldcard Q devices.

Installing those updates alone does not protect existing funds. If a wallet’s recovery seed was originally created using vulnerable firmware, the private keys remain compromised even after updating the device. Coinkite instructs affected users to generate an entirely new seed using patched firmware and transfer all Bitcoin to the new wallet. Restoring an older seed simply carries the vulnerability forward. Users who are unsure how their seed was created should migrate to a newly generated wallet regardless.

Not every customer is exposed. Users who added a BIP-39 passphrase or introduced at least 50 dice rolls during setup created additional randomness that attackers cannot reproduce. Tapsigner, Opendime and Satscard use different codebases and are not affected.

Researchers say the most important concern is that the attacks may not be over. Because the vulnerability allows attackers to recreate private keys, any affected wallet that still holds funds could remain a target. On the blockchain, the thefts appear identical to an owner voluntarily moving Bitcoin, making it impossible to determine how many compromised wallets remain.

Curiously, much of the stolen Bitcoin has not yet been moved and remains concentrated in a small number of attacker-controlled addresses. No individual or organization has been publicly identified.

For businesses holding Bitcoin on their balance sheets, the incident demonstrates that hardware wallets alone are not a complete custody strategy. The compromise did not rely on phishing emails, malware or employee mistakes. Instead, it originated from a trusted firmware configuration that remained undiscovered for years before attackers exploited it. Companies that view hardware wallets as the end of the security conversation rather than one layer of a broader custody policy may need to reassess their approach.

Researchers have also noted that advances in AI-assisted code analysis are likely to shorten the time required to uncover dormant software flaws, reducing the window between a bug being introduced and someone discovering it.

Anyone who generated a Bitcoin wallet using an affected Coldcard device should compare their firmware history with Coinkite’s advisory and, if there is any uncertainty, create a brand-new seed using updated firmware and transfer their Bitcoin immediately. Updating firmware without moving funds does not eliminate the underlying risk.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Minnesota’s ban on cryptocurrency ATMs took effect Saturday after state officials said residents had reported losing nearly $1 million in scams involving the machines since 2023.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed legislation on May 4 banning the installation of crypto ATMs, also known as kiosks, which are commonly found in gas stations and convenience stores. Existing machines must be removed from the state by Dec. 31.

The ATMs were being used by criminals to disproportionately target seniors, according to state officials.

Scammers often impersonate law enforcement officers and pressure elderly victims into using nearby crypto ATMs to send money for a loved one’s supposed release from jail, according to Paul Haas, an investigator with Minnesota’s Department of Commerce.

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“When victims call our office after a crypto kiosk scam, you can hear the panic and shame in their voices,” Haas said. “By the time victims realize they were deceived, the emotional and financial damage can be devastating.”

Officials also said many of the thefts go unreported because the victims are embarrassed at having been tricked.

Last year alone, there were 70 cases of people falling victim to these kinds of fraud schemes, investigators said. More than $540,000 was lost and the average loss per transaction was nearly $6,800, according to state officials.

Crypto ATM transactions cannot be reversed and are often difficult to trace once the funds reach a scammer’s digital wallet, according to officials in several other states that have reported similar problems.

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Transactions made with cryptocurrency are generally irreversible because once they are made, they are recorded on a decentralized blockchain, meaning no central institution can simply cancel them or recover the funds.

Traditional bank transactions, by contrast, pass through centralized financial institutions that may be able to freeze, dispute or reverse certain payments.

U.S. consumer-protection laws also require banks to investigate certain unauthorized electronic transfers, while credit-card customers generally have the right to dispute unauthorized charges through the chargeback process.

Crypto transactions generally do not carry comparable consumer protections, though Congress is attempting to bring digital currency under more stringent federal regulation.

The crypto ATM ban in Minnesota comes as the state faces broader scrutiny over allegations of widespread fraud involving government-funded programs, prompting a growing federal crackdown and renewed criticism of Walz’s oversight of state agencies.

On July 21, the Trump administration froze more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding to California and Minnesota over suspected fraud.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), led by Mehmet Oz, is withholding more than $200 million from Minnesota while federal officials review what they described as high-risk Medicaid claims and documentation deficiencies.

Days after that announcement, the Department of Justice said four Minnesota men pleaded guilty to stealing $2.2 million from the state’s program to help homeless people. The program was primarily funded through Medicaid.

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Visa announced on Thursday that it is launching the Visa Stablecoin Platform, an enterprise system that lets banks, fintechs, and crypto firms issue, hold, move, and redeem dollar-backed digital tokens inside Visa’s own payment and treasury infrastructure. Rubail Birwadker, Visa’s global head of growth, said the point is not giving institutions access to stablecoins — it is making stablecoins work inside the money-movement systems those institutions already run.

That distinction is the entire product. Banks have been able to touch stablecoins for years. What they have not been able to do is plug them into existing treasury settlement without building blockchain plumbing from scratch.

What the platform actually does

The platform, which Visa refers to as VSP, gives clients a single environment to mint, burn, hold, transfer, and redeem stablecoins. It includes a Wallet-as-a-Service stack for institutions that do not have wallet infrastructure, along with connections for those that already do. Clients link bank accounts and configure who inside the organization can initiate or authorize a transaction.

Visa built controls into it that look more like a bank compliance department than a crypto exchange: dual-approval workflows, audit logs, and transfer allow lists. The stablecoin flows connect to Visa’s existing network, risk, and fraud systems rather than sitting beside them.

The platform launches with Open USD, a dollar-backed token introduced roughly two weeks ago by Open Standard, a newly formed consortium of financial firms. It is rolling out to a select group of beta customers first, and Visa said feedback from those deployments will shape broader availability.

The scale is the story

Visa settles roughly $15 trillion in payment volume a year. Its network reaches about 15,000 financial institutions and more than 200 million merchants. The company already processes several billion dollars in stablecoin settlement.

Put those numbers next to the stablecoin market and the significance becomes clear. A payment network that touches a fifth of global card commerce just built a front door for blockchain settlement and handed the key to every bank on its network.

Why merchants care

For a merchant, the appeal of a stablecoin is not ideology. It is that the money arrives instantly and costs almost nothing to move. Card settlement takes days and carries interchange. A stablecoin transfer settles in seconds on a blockchain, which also produces a clear, tamper-resistant record of the transaction — useful for reconciliation, disputes, and audits.

That matters most to businesses with thin margins and slow cash conversion. A restaurant group waiting three days for card settlement, an importer paying a supplier across a border, a payroll processor moving money on a Friday afternoon — those are the use cases that make instant settlement worth the switching cost.

The competitive fallout

Circle shares fell about 5% on the announcement. Visa’s decision to launch with Open USD rather than an established token put a well-capitalized rival directly into a market Circle has largely defined.

Visa stock rose 1.9% on a day when the broader market fell. The company’s market capitalization stands near $687.53 billion.

Where this fits

Visa’s stablecoin work is not new. The company has been settling in stablecoins and connecting them to card rails for some time. What changed Thursday is the direction: instead of Visa using stablecoins on behalf of clients, clients now use stablecoins through Visa.

The broader shift is what Birwadker was pointing at. Stablecoins spent their first several years as a trading instrument — a way to park value between crypto positions. Their growth over the past year has come from payments, cross-border transfers, and settlement, which is a different business with different customers and very different regulatory expectations.

Banks, payment networks, and regulators have all had to decide whether to build compliant paths into that business or watch it develop outside their reach. Visa has now made its choice, and it made it at a scale that pressures everyone else on the network to follow.

Visa reports fiscal third-quarter results on July 28.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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Bitcoin surged above $65,000 on Wednesday, July 15, after a series of softer-than-expected U.S. inflation reports prompted investors to sharply reduce expectations for another Federal Reserve interest-rate increase, fueling a broad rally across cryptocurrencies and other risk assets.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency climbed as high as $65,500 after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that producer prices fell 0.3 percent in June, reinforcing Tuesday’s unexpectedly weak Consumer Price Index report and strengthening the view that inflation continues to move in the Federal Reserve’s favor.

Ether also advanced about 5 percent to $1,873, while XRP and most other major cryptocurrencies posted solid gains as investors rotated back into risk assets.

Inflation Changed the Conversation

Markets had spent weeks positioning for the possibility of another Federal Reserve rate increase.

That outlook changed quickly.

Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index showed prices fell 0.4 percent in June, the largest monthly decline since April 2020, while annual inflation slowed to 3.5 percent, below economists’ expectations.

Wednesday’s Producer Price Index added further evidence that inflation pressures are easing, with wholesale prices falling 0.3 percent and core producer inflation increasing only 0.2 percent.

Later in the afternoon, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book reported that price growth was the same or slower across all 12 Federal Reserve districts, providing another indication that inflation pressures are moderating across the country.

Together, the reports significantly strengthened investor confidence that the Federal Reserve may not need to tighten monetary policy as aggressively as markets had anticipated only days earlier.

Markets Responded Immediately

Interest-rate expectations shifted almost as soon as the data was released.

According to CME FedWatch, the probability of another Federal Reserve rate increase by September dropped to roughly 48 percent, down from nearly 70 percent just one week earlier.

The two-year Treasury yield fell about 7 basis points to 4.12 percent, the U.S. dollar weakened, and investors moved back into higher-risk assets including cryptocurrencies and technology stocks.

Earlier Wednesday, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said there were encouraging reasons to believe inflation had peaked and projected a gradual return toward the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target over the coming years.

Short Sellers Added Fuel

The rally accelerated as traders betting against Bitcoin were forced to cover losing positions.

Between $209 million and $230 million in leveraged cryptocurrency short positions were liquidated over two sessions, including approximately $107 million tied directly to Bitcoin.

Those forced purchases amplified an already strong move driven by improving economic data.

Institutional Money Remains Active

Institutional investors continued directing money into digital assets through spot exchange-traded funds.

BlackRock’s IBIT led Bitcoin ETF inflows, while Fidelity’s FBTC also attracted fresh capital. Spot Ether ETFs continued adding assets as institutional demand remained resilient despite recent market volatility.

Although ETF flows have alternated between inflows and outflows throughout July, institutional participation remains one of the strongest long-term supports for the cryptocurrency market.

Why This Rally Was Different

Perhaps the biggest takeaway is what didn’t drive Bitcoin higher.

Despite continuing geopolitical tensions and conflict in the Middle East, investors focused overwhelmingly on inflation, interest rates and Federal Reserve policy rather than global events.

That reflects how dramatically Bitcoin’s trading profile has evolved since the launch of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Increasingly, Bitcoin trades alongside growth assets, responding to monetary policy, Treasury yields and liquidity conditions more than geopolitical headlines.

What Comes Next

Attention now turns to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on July 28–29, where policymakers will determine whether recent inflation improvements justify pausing additional rate increases.

Markets will also closely watch the next Consumer Price Index report for confirmation that June’s improvement was not a one-month anomaly.

For businesses and investors alike, the message is becoming clearer.

If inflation continues cooling, financial conditions could gradually ease, supporting equities, cryptocurrencies and other growth-oriented assets.

If energy prices rebound or inflation begins accelerating again, markets could quickly reverse course.

For now, investors are increasingly betting that the Federal Reserve is approaching the end of its tightening cycle—and Wednesday’s surge in Bitcoin reflected that growing confidence.

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A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation on Tuesday that would force Congress to hold an up-or-down vote on a plan to fix Social Security’s finances, with Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat and Democratic whip who co-authored the bill, saying in a statement that the longer lawmakers wait, the harder the program’s shortfall becomes to solve. The bill is named the Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone Act — the PROMISE Act.

Durbin, who is retiring at the end of his term, is joined by Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina on the Republican side, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia on the Democratic side, and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine. Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, and Sen. Alan Armstrong, an Oklahoma Republican, signed on just before the bill was filed.

What the bill actually does

The PROMISE Act does not cut benefits, raise taxes or lift the retirement age. It builds a procedure. Under the bill, the Social Security Advisory Board — an independent, bipartisan panel that already exists — would collect public input and send Congress a base bill. That measure would then move under expedited floor rules, ending in a straight yes-or-no vote on a plan that keeps Social Security solvent for at least 50 years. A final bill would still need 60 votes in the Senate.

The legislation would also trigger a solvency review every 10 years, restarting the same fast-track process any time a shortfall is projected. A fact sheet released with the bill states plainly that it does not bypass regular order, does not predetermine a policy outcome and does not create a fiscal commission — three things that have killed similar efforts before.

The numbers behind it

The Social Security Board of Trustees annual report released in June found the retirement trust fund is on track to run short in 2032, a year earlier than the previous projection. At that point the program could pay only about 78% of scheduled retirement benefits — a roughly 22% cut arriving automatically, without a single vote in Congress. The 75-year funding gap widened to 4.42% of payroll from 3.82%, a jump that led the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget to say the program’s outlook had substantially worsened. The group supports the PROMISE Act.

More than 71 million Americans collect a monthly Social Security check. The trustees attributed the deteriorating math to lower projected birth rates, reduced immigration and lower trust fund revenue tied to the cost of the tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed last summer.

Why employers should be watching

Social Security is funded by a 12.4% payroll tax, split evenly between employer and employee at 6.2% each. The self-employed pay both halves. For 2026, that tax applies to the first $184,500 of wages, up from $176,100 in 2025.

That cap is where the fight will land. Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, published a New York Times op-ed calling for the cap to be raised. Any increase lands directly on employers with high-wage staff — professional firms, medical practices, engineering shops — and on every owner filing as self-employed, who absorbs the full 12.4% alone. A business with ten employees earning above the cap pays more the moment the ceiling moves, with no change in headcount.

Americans for Tax Reform organized a detailed rebuttal to the bill with comments from dozens of conservatives. The group has beaten this kind of proposal before: a 2024 House effort to create a federal debt commission covering Social Security and Medicare collapsed after aggressive lobbying by the organization and its president, Grover Norquist.

A closing window

The last real reform came roughly 40 years ago, when the retirement age was raised from 65 to 67 on the recommendation of a commission led by Alan Greenspan. Since then, both parties have avoided the subject — Republicans resisting tax increases, Democrats resisting a higher retirement age.

Two of the bill’s sponsors are on the way out. Durbin is retiring, and Cassidy lost his primary. Cassidy told CNBC.com in June that he wants the issue settled before he leaves. He has floated creating a separate investment fund for Social Security, modeled on changes made to the federal Railroad Retirement system under President George W. Bush. Other proposals on the table include raising the retirement age or increasing taxes on high earners. The PROMISE Act would simply guarantee those ideas get a hearing and a vote.

The stakes reach beyond retirees. A 22% benefit cut in 2032 would pull tens of billions of dollars a year out of consumer spending, hitting grocery stores, pharmacies, landlords and every small business serving older customers. Some analysts have warned that an approaching depletion date, left unaddressed, could unsettle the bond market well before the deadline arrives.

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The Department of Justice is planning to drop the charges against a Colorado man accused of running cryptocurrency fraud that allegedly netted him $722 million in ill-gotten gains.

Matthew Goettsche, along with several others, was indicted in 2019 over claims he defrauded investors with his crypto mining firm, BitClub Network. He rewarded investors for recruiting new members, prosecutors said, the classic structure of a Ponzi scheme.

In a sharp reversal, the deputy attorney general’s office in Washington ordered the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office to dismiss the case with prejudice, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg Law.

The first public sign that the prosecution was no longer being pursued came on Wednesday, when Goettsche’s attorneys filed a motion informing the judge they had “reached an agreement in principle to resolve the pending charges.”

FBI SEIZES $8 BILLION IN CRYPTO AMID INTERCONTINENTAL ‘SCAM COMPOUND’ CRACKDOWN

According to the people who spoke with Bloomberg Law, Goettsche assembled a team of lawyers who had connections to the Trump administration that could lobby for relief from the DOJ.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment. 

Emily Covington, a DOJ spokesperson, denied that the decision to drop the charges had anything to with “any alleged pressure by Goettsche’s attorneys,” in a statement to Bloomberg Law.

She also said that the DOJ routinely evaluates pending cases and that the government is in the process of recovering “a substantial amount owed to investors.”

This marks a stunning shift since February, when prosecutors sent the court a letter saying that a jury trial was necessary.

TEXT JOB SCAM COST HIM $10K IN CRYPTO

“The Indictment concerns a global fraudulent scheme based on false promises that the victims’ hundreds of millions of dollars in investments would be used to generate returns from cryptocurrency mining,” prosecutors wrote in the letter, which was signed by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

In 2015, when BitClub Network was just getting off the ground, Goettsche allegedly said to his co-conspirators, “We are building this whole model on the backs of idiots,” according to the indictment.

Bitcoin mining is a process that requires “miners” to use computers to solve complicated math problems in order to be rewarded with newly-minted bitcoin.

MINNESOTA BANS CRYPTO ATMs AFTER SCAM SURGE

BitClub Network, as others were doing at the time, purported to pool investors money together to buy hardware and computer chips to build a better mining system. The idea was to then distribute the profits.

Prosecutors argued that BitClub Network reported fake profits and misled their investors.

“Real stats on fake numbers,” Goettsche said in a January 2015 message to a colleague that was included in the indictment. “We will slowly introduce real numbers.”

The indictment, which charged Goettsche with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and selling unregistered securities, was returned during the first Trump administration, and three of Goettsche’s co-defendants pleaded guilty.

The second Trump administration has been much more friendly to crypto, with Donald Trump’s family having their own crypto ventures. The House of Representatives also passed the Clarity Act last year, the first attempt by Congress to provide an updated framework to regulate crypto.

Fox News Digital reached out to Goettsche’s defense attorneys for comment. 

This post was originally published here. 

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Bitcoin rebounded Monday after President Donald Trump publicly embraced cryptocurrency during the rollout of the new Trump Accounts savings program, helping reverse an earlier selloff and lifting prices back above $63,000.

Speaking at a White House event, Trump said he has become “a big crypto guy,” arguing that the United States must remain competitive with China in the rapidly growing digital asset industry.

“If we don’t have it, China is going to have it,” Trump said, adding that he believes cryptocurrency “has a lot of life” ahead.

His comments helped improve investor sentiment after Bitcoin had fallen more than 2% earlier in the day.

The cryptocurrency’s recovery came despite fresh selling pressure from Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), one of the world’s largest corporate holders of Bitcoin.

In a regulatory filing Monday, Strategy disclosed it sold approximately $216 million worth of Bitcoin between June 29 and July 5, marking its second round of Bitcoin sales this year. The company still owns approximately 843,775 Bitcoin, making it by far the largest publicly traded corporate holder of the cryptocurrency.

The sales surprised investors because Strategy and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor had long promoted a strategy of accumulating Bitcoin rather than selling it.

Some Wall Street analysts viewed the move as a negative signal for crypto markets, while others said the sales appear to be part of the company’s broader capital management strategy rather than a loss of confidence in Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, Trump’s crypto-friendly remarks added another layer to an administration that has increasingly embraced digital assets.

The comments came during the launch of Trump Accounts, a new tax-advantaged savings program established under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The program provides eligible children born between 2025 and 2028 with a $1,000 federal seed investment, while families can contribute additional money annually.

Although asked whether Bitcoin could eventually become an investment option inside the accounts, Trump stopped short of making any commitment.

Under current law, the accounts invest in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund, and adding cryptocurrency would likely require congressional approval rather than an administrative change.

Trump’s position on digital assets has shifted dramatically over the past several years. In 2019, he criticized cryptocurrencies, saying they were “not money.” Since returning to office, however, he has positioned the United States as a supporter of digital asset innovation and has repeatedly argued that America should lead the industry rather than allow China to dominate it.

Bitcoin remains one of the world’s most volatile financial assets, frequently moving thousands of dollars in a single trading session as investors react to economic data, government policy, institutional buying and selling, and regulatory developments.

For investors, Monday’s trading highlighted how quickly sentiment can change. A corporate Bitcoin sale pushed prices lower early in the session, while a few supportive comments from the president helped reverse much of the decline only hours later.

As cryptocurrencies continue moving further into the financial mainstream, investors can expect government policy, institutional activity and political developments to remain major drivers of Bitcoin prices.

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Governments and organizations under international sanctions moved roughly $104 billion through cryptocurrency in 2025, a nearly sevenfold increase that made sanctions evasion the single largest driver of illicit digital-asset activity, according to the 2026 Crypto Crime Report published by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The firm found that total illicit crypto flows reached approximately $154 billion for the year, up 162% from 2024, with the surge driven overwhelmingly by state and state-linked actors seeking to maintain access to global markets despite Western sanctions.

The report, released earlier this year and reinforced by a parallel study from analytics firm TRM Labs, points to a structural shift rather than a one-time spike. Chainalysis concluded that cryptocurrency is no longer a fringe workaround for sanctioned governments but has become a core component of their financial infrastructure, supporting international trade settlements, weapons procurement and cross-border money transfers. Roughly 84% of illicit transaction volume flowed through stablecoins—digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies and valued for maintaining price stability while funds move across borders.

Russia sits at the center of the findings. Chainalysis identified a ruble-backed stablecoin known as A7A5, which processed approximately $93.3 billion in transactions in less than one year, effectively serving as a settlement network for sanctioned Russian businesses. The activity was linked to the cryptocurrency exchange Garantex and its successor, Grinex—entities that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned alongside a Kyrgyz-issued token and a network of associated companies. According to the report, when one exchange is shut down, operators increasingly establish a replacement. Grinex was created by former Garantex personnel after law enforcement action disrupted the original platform.

Iran’s use of cryptocurrency appears more operational. The report found that networks associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accounted for more than half the value flowing into Iranian cryptocurrency services during the second half of 2025, with total transfers reaching approximately $3 billion. The funds were used to support regional proxy groups while facilitating arms and oil transactions. North Korea experienced its largest cryptocurrency theft year on record, stealing more than $2 billion, including approximately $1.5 billion during a single cyberattack against the Bybit exchange—the largest crypto theft reported to date. Investigators concluded that the proceeds helped finance the regime’s weapons programs.

For the broader cryptocurrency industry, the findings present two competing narratives. Supporters point out that illicit transactions still represent less than 1% of total cryptocurrency activity and argue that public blockchains are inherently transparent, allowing investigators to trace transactions in ways impossible with cash. That transparency has fueled demand for compliance software from firms such as Chainalysis and TRM Labs, which now sell blockchain monitoring tools to governments, banks and digital-asset exchanges.

The headline figures nevertheless present a significant challenge for an industry still working toward mainstream financial acceptance. A $104 billion sanctions-evasion network is precisely the type of statistic that strengthens the resolve of regulators and makes traditional financial institutions more cautious about working with cryptocurrency firms. It raises compliance expectations—and compliance costs—for legitimate exchanges and stablecoin issuers, which increasingly face pressure to identify sanctioned wallets, monitor transactions and freeze suspicious assets or risk losing access to the traditional banking system. Enforcement has likewise evolved, with OFAC, the European Union, and the United Kingdom’s sanctions authorities increasingly identifying specific cryptocurrency wallet addresses directly in their sanctions lists.

The role of stablecoins deserves particular attention from the business community. As dollar-backed digital tokens move closer to mainstream financial adoption, the report’s conclusion that stablecoins now carry the majority of illicit transaction volume places issuers in a difficult position. Their future growth depends on being viewed as safe, regulated financial products closely connected to the banking system, yet those same characteristics also make them attractive tools for sanctioned governments seeking efficient cross-border payments.

The findings also arrive against an active geopolitical backdrop. With global energy markets already under pressure from conflict involving Iran, the report’s conclusion that Tehran increasingly relies on cryptocurrency to move oil revenue and finance regional proxy groups underscores how digital assets have become an important pressure valve for governments facing international sanctions. For banks, exchanges and payment companies, the message is increasingly clear: the primary illicit-finance risk surrounding cryptocurrency is no longer dominated by scams and ransomware attacks. It is increasingly driven by nation-states—and measured in the tens of billions of dollars.

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Bitcoin sank below $59,000 this week, its weakest level since September 2024, capping a brutal stretch that has cut the price in half despite a Washington that has never been friendlier to digital assets. On Wednesday, Citigroup slashed its 12-month Bitcoin target to $82,000 from $112,000 and its Ethereum target to $2,240 from $3,175, blaming vanishing demand, a wall of fund outflows and stalled crypto legislation.

The drop is striking because it comes under a president who campaigned as crypto’s champion. President Donald Trump promised to make the United States the crypto capital of the world, installed regulators friendly to the industry, and backed efforts to write digital assets into federal law. Yet Bitcoin has fallen roughly 50% from its record high of about $126,000, reached in October 2025, and the coins that rode Trump’s endorsement into the mainstream are now leading the market lower.

The clearest culprit is money leaving the exchange-traded funds that were supposed to make crypto safer and more mainstream. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost about $4.5 billion in June, according to industry fund-flow data, marking their worst month since launching in early 2024 and pushing total 2026 flows into negative territory for the first time. Those funds were major buyers on the way up. Now the same mechanism is working in reverse, amplifying each new wave of selling.

Citigroup analysts outlined the shift in their research note. The bank cut its assumption for net ETF inflows over the coming year to zero, down from an earlier forecast of $10 billion, warning that the pipeline of new institutional money has largely dried up. One reason, the bank said, is that the CLARITY Act—legislation designed to provide regulatory certainty for institutional crypto investors—remains stalled in the Senate. In a more pessimistic scenario involving continued fund outflows and a weakening economy, Citi sees Bitcoin falling to approximately $53,000.

Investor confidence also took a hit from an unexpected source.

Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, which built its reputation on continuously accumulating Bitcoin, sold a portion of its holdings for the first time since 2022. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor previously indicated the company might sell assets to cover dividend obligations and demonstrate financial flexibility if necessary. Even so, the move unsettled investors who had viewed Strategy as Bitcoin’s most unwavering corporate supporter. The company remains the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, owning approximately 843,700 coins.

The broader economic backdrop has done little to help.

The Federal Reserve, under Chair Kevin Warsh, has maintained benchmark interest rates in the 3.50% to 3.75% range, keeping financial conditions relatively tight and making speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies less attractive. At the same time, investor enthusiasm has shifted toward artificial intelligence, with much of Wall Street’s risk capital flowing into semiconductor companies, AI infrastructure and data centers instead of digital assets.

The weakness extends beyond Bitcoin.

Ethereum has fallen to around $1,600, its lowest level since April 2025, while many smaller cryptocurrencies have suffered even steeper losses. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, a closely watched measure of investor sentiment, has dropped to 11, deep inside “extreme fear” territory. Blockchain data also indicates that more than half of all Bitcoin currently in circulation is being held at a loss, a condition that has historically appeared only during periods of severe market stress.

For everyday investors, the lesson remains familiar.

Political support and favorable headlines do not override the basic forces that ultimately drive financial markets: interest rates, investor demand and capital flows. A supportive White House may have provided the cryptocurrency industry with greater legitimacy and regulatory access, but it cannot create buyers or eliminate the effects of higher borrowing costs.

Some analysts believe Bitcoin is approaching a market bottom and argue that much of the recent selling has already been priced in. Others warn that if the $58,000 support level fails, the next leg lower could come quickly.

What appears increasingly clear is that cryptocurrency’s direction over the remainder of 2026 will depend less on politics than on market fundamentals—whether ETF inflows return, whether the Federal Reserve begins easing monetary policy, and whether investors regain confidence in digital assets.

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President Donald Trump reported more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency-related income in his latest annual financial disclosure, underscoring how digital assets have become a major part of his business portfolio.

The 2025 filing, released Tuesday by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, spans more than 900 pages and covers the first year of Trump’s second non-consecutive term in the White House.

Trump reported more than $500 million from sales by World Liberty Financial, a crypto company co-founded by members of his family. 

The president also reported $635 million in royalties tied to what the disclosure described as “Celebration Coins,” which were reportedly connected to CIC Digital LLC, Trump’s meme coin business, according to Bloomberg.

TRUMP PUSH TO MAKE US ‘CRYPTO CAPITAL OF THE WORLD’ GAINS STEAM AS CRYPTO BILL NEARS SENATE MARKUP

The filing showed Trump’s real estate, golf and club holdings continued to generate substantial revenue. Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, brought in more than $77 million, according to the disclosure.

Trump also earned millions from branded merchandise, including sneakers, Bibles and watches. The watch deal alone brought in $4.7 million, according to the filing.

The disclosure also listed more than $86 million in legal settlements involving ABC, CBS, Meta, YouTube and X.

TRUMP ADMIN PROPOSES OPENING 401(K)S TO PRIVATE EQUITY, CRYPTO

Trump’s net worth has climbed to $6 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2024, according to Forbes.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly dismissed conflict-of-interest concerns in a statement to FOX Business and said that the administration’s crypto policies are aimed at promoting U.S. innovation and economic growth.

“Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest,” Kelly said. “President Trump proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world through executive actions, supporting legislation like the GENIUS Act, and other commonsense policies to drive innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans.”

ANDREW CUOMO WARNS CONGRESS IS RUNNING OUT OF TIME ON BLOCKCHAIN REGULATION, SAYS FAMILIES COULD SAVE ON FEES

She also argued that criticism of the president’s business interests amounts to a “false narrative.”

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“All actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in the best interest of the American people – and any so-called ‘reporters’ pushing otherwise are recycling the same, tired, false narrative that Democrats and the legacy media have been pushing for a decade,” Kelly added.

This post was originally published here. 

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On Monday, Strategy Inc., the company led by Michael Saylor and the world’s largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, announced a sweeping change to how it manages its capital—including, for the first time, authority to sell some of its Bitcoin. By Tuesday, Bitcoin had fallen more than 3% toward $58,000 as investors reversed an initial wave of optimism over Strategy’s financing overhaul, rattling a crypto market already on edge.

Under what it calls the Digital Credit Capital Framework, Strategy revised its capital structure to allow fundraising through Bitcoin sales of up to $1.25 billion—roughly 21,082 Bitcoin, or about 2.5% of its holdings of 847,363 Bitcoin. The company emphasized that the framework does not require it to sell any Bitcoin. But for the first time, it has formally given itself the option.

For years, Strategy followed a simple playbook: raise money by issuing stock or bonds, then use the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin. Investors came to expect that every capital raise meant additional Bitcoin purchases. Monday’s announcement altered that assumption. Once traders realized one of Bitcoin’s largest and most consistent buyers could also become a potential seller, market sentiment shifted quickly.

The reversal was dramatic. On Monday, Strategy shares surged about 12.6% to roughly $92.70, while its STRC preferred shares climbed more than 12%, and Bitcoin briefly moved back above $60,000. By Tuesday, however, much of that enthusiasm had evaporated. Strategy shares dropped nearly 10% at one point, erasing most of the previous day’s gains, while Bitcoin slipped back below the psychologically important $60,000 level.

Part of the concern centers on Strategy’s own valuation. The company now trades for less than the market value of the Bitcoin it owns, with its mNAV falling below 1, meaning investors value the company at less than its digital assets. Strategy purchased its Bitcoin at an average price of roughly $75,646 per coin, leaving the company sitting on an unrealized loss of approximately $13 billion with Bitcoin trading near current levels. When the stock trades below the value of its holdings, issuing new shares to buy additional Bitcoin becomes far less attractive.

Technical analysts also see warning signs. Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co., said Bitcoin’s chart remains weak after breaking below key technical support earlier this year and failing to reclaim those levels. Another significant decline, he warned, could reinforce a bearish trend.

Bitcoin has already endured a difficult year. The cryptocurrency has lost more than half its value from last year’s peak above $126,000. Investor demand has weakened as well. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have recorded more than $5.1 billion in net outflows this year, while BlackRock’s IBIT is reportedly on pace for its largest month of withdrawals since launching, with more than $3 billion leaving the fund during June.

The latest selloff has also revived debate over Strategy’s business model. Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse argued that Strategy’s debt-financed Bitcoin strategy magnifies volatility across the cryptocurrency market. Longtime Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff warned that continued weakness in Strategy’s stock could eventually pressure the company to sell Bitcoin to meet financial obligations, potentially adding further downward pressure to prices.

Not everyone shares that view. Crypto analyst Ran Neuner argued that the new framework could ultimately strengthen investor confidence because it removes uncertainty over how Strategy would respond if liquidity became necessary. Citi maintained its buy rating on the stock with a $260 price target. Meanwhile, Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at Arca, suggested the company may eventually need to sell between $2 billion and $3 billion of Bitcoin to ease ongoing market pressure.

For his part, Michael Saylor insisted the company’s long-term strategy remains unchanged. Bitcoin continues to serve as Strategy’s primary treasury reserve asset, he said, while adding that “Digital Credit requires liquidity, discipline, and active capital management.”

For now, Bitcoin remains locked in a tense battle around the $60,000 level that traders have watched closely for weeks. The next move may depend on whether buyers regain confidence—or whether the possibility of Strategy becoming a seller turns into reality.

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Dogecoin’s (CRYPTO: DOGE) official X account put a playful spin on a classic Benjamin Franklin quote on Thursday to describe Japan’s initiative of rewarding tax payments with in-game cosmetics.

DOGE In Japan?

Dogecoin quoted a Dexerto report on how players of the popular game, “Final Fantasy 14,” in Japan can now receive a Shiba Inu mount for redirecting a portion of their income taxes to a municipality rather than to the central government.

“3 things guaranteed when you live in Japan: death, taxes, and a giant doge,” Dogecoin joked, in what was a clever twist to the original quote by Franklin, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

Full story available on Benzinga.com

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The U.S.-Iran deal “undercut” Benjamin Netanyahu’s position on Iran and exposed the limits of his influence with a U.S. president widely seen as pro-Israel, according to a report published on Thursday.

Iran Deal A Setback For Israel?

Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz deemed the agreement a strategic “catastrophe” that ended up “legitimizing” the Iranian regime Israel wanted to overthrow, Reuters reported.

The 14-point deal includes U.S. commitments to terminate all sanctions on Iran, including oil exports, a minimum $300 billion aid and reconstruction package, lifting the naval blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries respecting each other’s sovereignty.

And while Iran reaffirmed that it will not build or acquire nuclear weapons, details on material removal are pending further talks.

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Leading cryptocurrencies fell, while stocks rebounded on Thursday as investors parsed the hawkish pivot in the Federal Reserve’s policy.

Cryptocurrency 24-Hour Gains +/- Price (Recorded at 9:25 p.m. EDT)
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) -2.49% $63,012.93
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH)
               		 -2.49% $1,713.17
XRP (CRYPTO: XRP)                          -3.39% $1.14
Solana (CRYPTO: SOL)                          -3.49% $69.83
Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE)              -2.88% $0.08369

Crypto Market Dips Further

Bitcoin fell to the early $62,000s, while Ethereum tumbled to an intraday low of $1,670, extending the broader market declines. XRP and Dogecoin also traded in the red.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks also fell, with Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) closing down 3.46% and 1%, respectively. 

Long liquidations surged, accounting for 80% of the total cryptocurrency liquidations in the last 24 hours, according to Coinglass data. 

Bitcoin’s open interest fell by 2.38% over the last 24 hours. That said, the majority of retail and whale derivatives traders on Binance maintained significantly higher long positions in the apex cryptocurrency

“Extreme Fear” sentiment persisted in the market, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.

Top Gainers (24 Hours) 

Cryptocurrency (Market Cap>$100 M) Gains +/- Price (Recorded at 9:25 p.m. …

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Meme coins have fallen about 82% from their November 2024 record as of June 2026, according to market data from CoinGecko, a collapse that stands in sharp contrast to a U.S. stock market setting fresh highs. The split was on full display Tuesday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record near 52,000 even as the tokens built around internet jokes, mascots, and online communities kept sliding. After a frenzy that pulled billions in retail money into thinly traded coins late in the last cycle, traders are sitting on steep losses.

The reversal marks a clean break from the upbeat mood across traditional markets. The S&P 500 is trading just below its own record after a nine-week run of gains, and Nasdaq technology shares have kept drawing buyers tied to artificial intelligence and big-company earnings. Crypto traders have gone the other way, pulling back from the most speculative tokens and parking what money remains in Bitcoin and a smaller group of higher-quality coins. The meme-coin sector, worth close to $150 billion at its peak, has since shrunk to a fraction of that.

The damage points to a divide inside the digital-asset market itself. Bitcoin still holds the dominant share of total crypto value, while smaller tokens tied to social-media hype face far deeper losses and far fewer buyers and sellers. That thinness leaves meme coins prone to sudden price gaps, especially when traders cut risk or when an online promotional push fails to bring fresh money into a market already crowded with near-identical coins.

Conditions have grown harsher since the late-2024 peak. Kaiko, a crypto-data firm, has noted that trading tends to cluster around the biggest tokens when sentiment weakens — a pattern that makes the smaller corners fall faster. In meme coins, that has become a downward spiral: falling prices cool social-media interest, fewer participants thin out the trading, and that thinness makes each new wave of selling hit harder.

The slide has come even though the backdrop might normally help speculative bets. Federal Reserve policy and the path of interest rates remain front of mind for investors, and futures tied to those expectations still trade actively on CME Group. But crypto buyers have grown choosier, and neither rate optimism nor record stock prices have spilled over into broad token buying the way they did earlier in the cycle. Much of the retail money that once chased meme coins has rotated into stocks and newer bets such as prediction markets.

For everyday investors, the selloff has laid bare the danger of tokens with no real earnings behind them, shaky developer support, and a heavy dependence on going viral. The cooldown reaches the companies that serve them, too. Coinbase Global has told the Securities and Exchange Commission that crypto volatility and customer trading activity can swing its revenue — a reminder that when high-turnover categories like meme coins go quiet, the exchanges that profit from the churn feel it.

Part of the problem is simple oversupply. Ecosystem data from the Solana network and dashboards like Dune show that new token creation has sped up, making it cheap and easy to launch yet another meme coin. More coins chasing the same attention makes it harder for any single one to hold momentum, especially as traders jump from theme to theme and abandon whatever stops trending.

Big institutions have not filled the gap. BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, and other firms have pulled money into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, according to fund filings, giving Bitcoin a steady source of demand. Meme coins sit outside those regulated structures and get none of that support. The takeaway is that investors are now drawing a sharp line between general appetite for risk and pure gambling. Record stock prices, it turns out, are not enough to lift every corner of crypto — and the coins with no revenue, no clear ownership rules, and no real use are the ones left fighting for whatever speculative cash is still willing to play.

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