News Brief
Published Aug 1, 2026 11:27
News Brief

Bitcoin News - August 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM

Bitcoin News Aug 1, 2026 11:00 Scheduled 11 outlets
120Articles 120Extracted 0Failed 27.6mRuntime

Top of Mind

The Coldcard hardware wallet exploit is the week's most operationally urgent Bitcoin story. A firmware bug in Coldcard Mk3 (and likely Mk4/Mk5/Q) caused seed generation to fall back to a weak software PRNG with ~40 bits of entropy instead of 128, enabling brute-force theft. Galaxy Research confirmed 1,196 addresses drained for 1,082.65 BTC (~$70M) in a 41-minute window on July 30. Coinkite CEO NVK accepted full responsibility and suggested AI-assisted code review may have uncovered the flaw. Bitcoin Optech's #416 confirms Mk2 is also affected. Any PM with self-custody exposure or custody counterparties using Coldcard needs immediate confirmation of seed generation method.

Market Structure

  • BTC fell 3.5% to ~$62,400 Friday, the lowest since July 14, driven by CLARITY Act stall, Coinbase/Strategy earnings misses, semiconductor contagion from Asia, and month-end risk-off. The 50-month EMA at $65,820 continues to cap rallies after two failed breakouts.
  • Spot Bitcoin ETFs ended July with $172M net inflows — reversing two months of outflows — but Friday logged a $265M single-day outflow, the largest since July 13. YTD flows remain -$5.3B. IBIT led Thursday's $233M inflow day (78% of total).
  • VanEck flags derivatives positioning as fearful, not capitulatory: 1-month put/call skew at 83rd percentile, funding near +4.5% vs. +8.4% long-run average. Spot volume ~$2.2B/day in July, lowest since 2023 per K33. True bottom signals — skew >+15 or negative funding — have not appeared.
  • RWA perp volume on Hyperliquid/Binance reached 99% of Bitcoin perp volume over the past week ($61.7B), with tokenized equities at 58% of that total. Structural shift in derivatives mix is ongoing.

Policy and Institutions

  • CLARITY Act effectively shelved before August recess. Senate Majority Leader Thune said it lacks votes. Polymarket odds at ~38% for 2026 passage. Key sticking points: ethics enforcement mechanism (DOJ vs. state AGs), Trump family crypto conflicts, stablecoin yield. Treasury Secretary Bessent publicly demanded a vote and quoted Satoshi; SEC Chair Atkins said the agency will write rules unilaterally if Congress fails.
  • Strategy posted an $8.22B Q2 loss (vs. $10B profit a year ago) on BTC price decline; holds 846K BTC. Management has paused buying for five straight weeks, building a $3.75B USD reserve. Focus has shifted to returning STRC preferred stock to par (~$100). Saylor explicitly walked back "100% BTC allocation" language. TD Cowen and Benchmark maintain Buy ratings; Benchmark cut price target to $435.
  • Circle received NYDFS limited-purpose trust charter, paired with its OCC national trust bank approval from July 10. Dual federal/state regulatory footing positions USDC competitively ahead of GENIUS Act implementation. Shares rose 8.4% on the news.
  • OFAC sanctioned two Iranian maritime firms — Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe — for running an IRGC-backed scheme accepting Bitcoin to control Strait of Hormuz transit. Confirms Bitcoin's appeal to sanctioned actors given its uncensorable nature vs. USDT (which OFAC froze in April).

Network and Industry

  • Coldcard exploit (see Top of Mind): Coinkite confirms Mk3 firmware 4.0.1+ affected; Mk4/Mk5/Q seeds also below intended security level per Block's analysis. Hotfix released but does not protect existing seeds. Funds should be migrated to new seeds on unaffected devices immediately.
  • Binance changed its law enforcement cooperation policy in April 2025, routing most requests through UAE regulators, per NYT. Five European countries flagged slowdowns at a Netherlands conference. US state prosecutors also affected in some cases. Binance denies it slowed cooperation; sources say it has hindered investigations.
  • Coinbase Q2 miss: Revenue $1.22B vs. $1.29B expected; net loss $359M vs. ~breakeven expected. Transaction revenue -21% QoQ. Subscription/services missed at $555M. Bright spots: record 10.3% global trading market share, prediction market revenue +106% QoQ. COIN -11% Friday; Robinhood posted its best quarter ever ($1.31B revenue, $573M net income) in direct contrast.
  • BitMEX will shut down in late September after 11 years. CryptoQuant puts its BTC futures market share at 0.08%. Class action lawsuit filed same week. CME crypto derivatives hit $3T notional in 2026; perps and tokenized equities are migrating to regulated venues.

Macro Linkages

  • Asia semiconductor selloff drove Tuesday's $510M crypto long liquidation cascade: KOSPI -10.8% (SK Hynix -14.8%), Kioxia -18.3%; concern over AI capex sustainability at $725-730B combined 2026 guidance from hyperscalers spread to US markets and BTC. KOSPI rebounded 17.9% Thursday — the largest single-day gain on record — but US stocks didn't follow, and BTC closed the week lower.
  • Fed held rates at 3.50-3.75% (9-3 vote), the most hawkish dissent bloc of Warsh's tenure. PCE came in at 3.7% YoY in June (first monthly decline since 2020) but remains nearly double the 2% target. CME FedWatch prices ~50% odds of a September hike. Long rates continuing to spike post-Fed meeting were cited by FalconX as a direct driver of Friday's crypto selloff.
  • Iran war/Strait of Hormuz: US airstrikes drove oil up ~15% over five sessions; WTI near $79-85. Iran sanctions and BTC-denominated insurance scheme now confirmed by OFAC. Oil-driven inflation expectations are constraining the Fed's path and weighing on risk assets including BTC.

Standouts

  • Tether Q2: $1.5B operating profit but excess reserves fell $4.1B to $4.1B; full H1 shows a net loss >$4B on mark-to-market BTC/gold declines. Solvency optics matter for USDT confidence.
  • Anthropic's Claude Mythos broke a weakened AES variant 200-1,000x faster than prior human research; post-quantum cryptography candidate HAWK also cracked — neither deployed on Bitcoin but accelerates timeline pressure.
  • BIP459 (DahLIAS full Schnorr signature aggregation) draft posted by Fabian Jahr; enables cross-input signature aggregation as a potential fee-reduction path for multi-input transactions.
  • New York sued Kalshi seeking $36B in damages for allegedly running unlicensed gambling; CFTC filed a countermove seeking to block state enforcement, setting up federal vs. state jurisdiction battle over prediction markets.
  • Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City appointed 3iQ to manage part of its Bitcoin treasury; custody arrangements and yield strategy undisclosed — sovereign BTC treasury management going institutional.