Institutional investors are gradually increasing crypto exposure as Bitcoin leads allocation preferences amid rising fund inflows and improving market sentiment.
Ethereum surpassed Bitcoin in July, driven by $365.17 million in US spot ETF inflows and increased corporate holdings by BitMine. Despite the rally, valuation metrics suggest the advance is a recovery from depressed levels rather than a confirmed cyclical floor against Bitcoin.
BNB Chain is taking legal action against a former employee who allegedly used unauthorized access to a wallet, originally for a tutorial, to launch the memecoin Asteroid Shiba (ASTEROID) and sell tokens worth $638,000.
Smaller Bitcoin transfers reached levels not seen since FTX collapse, with 39,600 BTC moved on Friday, amid an ongoing suspected Coldcard hack. The incident, which has drained 1,367 BTC ($88.6M) from 4,585 addresses, reignites debate over Bitcoin self-custody vs. third-party platforms.
SBI Crypto ceased operations of its Bitcoin mining pool in Japan on July 31, following a 64% drop in its seven-day average hashrate. This shutdown led to a temporary shift in block attribution, with Foundry USA, AntPool, and F2Pool collectively holding 60% of recent blocks, though the full impact remains unmeasured.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong expects a consolidation of corporate blockchains, predicting that network effects will force weaker platforms to combine or retreat despite initial growth. He compares this to the stablecoin market, with Coinbase exploring a Base token to enhance neutrality.
Russia has expanded its cryptocurrency mining restrictions to Moscow, the Moscow Region, and parts of the Kursk Region, with the ban taking effect on August 15, 2026, and lasting until December 31, 2032, citing growing electricity demand.
