Crypto news

Ethereum ETFs attracted $103.9 million in the week ending July 24, marking their third straight week of inflows and leading all cryptocurrency ETFs. Most other major crypto ETFs also saw inflows, though much smaller, with XRP and Solana posting their best weeks in recent months. Hyperliquid ETFs stood out with $8.6 million in outflows, their second consecutive weekly decline. The diverging patterns highlight steady demand for established crypto products like Ethereum versus caution toward newer offerings like Hyperliquid.

Chainlink saw over $7 billion in token value migrate to its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) in Q2 as security concerns drove projects away from older bridges following a wave of hacks that caused $650 million in losses this year. Major migrations included Mantle ($2.5B), KelpDAO ($1.5B), and Lombard Finance ($1B). CCIP handled $4.9 billion in quarterly volume, up 353% year-over-year. Institutional adoption also grew, with DTCC, Fidelity International, and State Street using Chainlink for tokenized asset and collateral management. Chainlink Reserve added 1.44 million LINK, and exchange supply of LINK fell 12%, suggesting accumulation.

US-listed spot Ethereum ETFs saw $70.62 million in net outflows on Friday, ending a five-day inflow streak. The funds still recorded $103.9 million in net inflows for the week, extending their weekly inflow streak to three consecutive weeks. Bitcoin ETFs also ended their week with net outflows, while a report forecasts Japan's potential Bitcoin ETF market could reach $18.4 billion.

Bitcoin fell below $65,000 as oil prices surged above $100 a barrel after attacks on Saudi oil tankers, prompting President Trump to threaten Iran. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.7%, and equity markets declined. Higher oil prices are fueling inflation concerns, reducing the Fed's room to ease policy. Traders now see a 40% chance of a rate hike at the July 28-29 meeting. Bitcoin's spot demand has weakened, and US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $225.2 million in outflows on July 23, ending a seven-day inflow streak. Further escalation in the Red Sea could keep oil elevated, with JPMorgan estimating an additional $7-$8 per barrel per month of disruption. This would sustain pressure on risk assets, including Bitcoin.

Several bitcoin treasury companies, including Strategy, Satsuma, Smarter Web Company, Sequans, Nakamoto and Empery Digital, have sold bitcoin to repay debt, fund operations, or bolster cash reserves amid a 50% drop in bitcoin's price from its October 2025 record of $126,000. Bitcoin miners MARA and Bitdeer have also sold holdings to finance AI infrastructure. Satsuma Technology shareholders approved liquidating all 668 BTC and delisting from the LSE, while Smarter Web Company sold 178 BTC to repay a convertible instrument. Sequans Communications sold 1,025 BTC and plans to monetize its remaining holdings, and Nakamoto sold 284 BTC for working capital. Strategy, the largest publicly listed holder with over 840,000 BTC, has sold about 3,620 BTC recently but remains bullish. Management changes include Jack Mallers stepping down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, and Adam Back's BSTR failed to complete a merger due to unfavorable market conditions.

Bitcoin mining company Poolin, once the world's largest mining pool with an 18-20% share of global hashrate in 2019, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey alongside its U.S. affiliates. The Singapore-based firm owes approximately $173 million to creditors, including $163.7 million in frozen funds to 11,700 customers since suspending withdrawals in September 2022. A $52 million bid from Thor CALAP LLC for Poolin's two West Texas mining sites represents the primary asset recovery for creditors. The company's liquidity crisis began in late 2022 amid a market downturn, with co-founder Kevin Pan acknowledging liquidity problems. An attempted expansion in Texas stalled due to delayed grid connection approvals. Poolin's hashrate share has since dropped to near zero.

Michael Saylor's Strategy announced the formation of the Bitcoin Security Consortium, a group pledging $15 million over three years to fund developers working to protect Bitcoin from quantum computing threats. Founding members include Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Galaxy. The consortium's work will be coordinated by Mike Schmidt of Brink. This follows Galaxy Digital's earlier pledge of up to $5 million for quantum-security grants. Opinions on the timeline of quantum risk vary: Blockstream CEO Adam Back sees no threat for 20-40 years, while Bernstein warns of a 3-5 year window. BlackRock's Robert Mitchnick praised the initiative as supporting Bitcoin's long-term security.

The Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan will announce interest rate decisions next week, with markets expecting both to hold. Bitcoin is trading near $64,000 ahead of the events. Fed rate hike odds rose to 34.2% as oil prices surged above $100 per barrel, despite June inflation declining. The July meeting includes no economic projections, making the statement and press conference key. The Bank of Japan is expected to hold rates at 1%, but the yen's weakness near 40-year lows has raised intervention risks. A stronger yen could unwind carry trades, potentially triggering selling in Bitcoin, as seen in August 2024.

In a six-hour span, three crypto bridges and cross-chain protocols lost over $35 million to attacks that exploited logic flaws and compromised keys, not broken cryptography, according to blockchain data and security firms. The Verus-Ethereum bridge was drained of about $7.54 million using the same contract path and bug as a May hack, underscoring how unresolved flaws and redeposited funds left the system vulnerable again. Verus's total value locked has fallen from near $100 million to about $9 million. B² Network lost roughly $3.86 million after an attacker seized its staking contract’s upgrade authority, highlighting that compromised keys and permissions remain the primary cause of major crypto thefts. B² has suspended staking and said it will fully compensate users.

Coinbase announced on Thursday that its business customers can now accept USDC payments from autonomous AI agents via the x402 payment standard, introduced in May 2025 for stablecoin payments over HTTP. The company also unveiled AI trading tools and a software development kit for agent-powered applications, aiming to support the growing 'agentic economy' where AI agents handle payments and finance on behalf of users. Coinbase noted that agent-generated traffic recently surpassed human traffic on its Base documentation pages, highlighting the need for financial infrastructure designed for AI agents. This move reflects a broader industry trend of using stablecoins and blockchain payments as foundations for AI agent transactions.