Bitcoin rises amid Fed inflation talks: Bull trap or $65K next?

Bitcoin (BTC) reacted positively to US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s remarks on stubborn inflation. Despite the gains on Wednesday, traders fear that incentives for fixed-income investments and strong earnings momentum in tech stocks will continue to pressure non-yield-bearing assets like cryptocurrencies.

(Michael van de Poppe)

The US five-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.22%, meaning traders demanded higher returns to hold government bonds. Even as inflation eventually eases and WTI crude oil prices fell to a 4-month low, investors anticipate monetary expansion.

Regardless of how the Fed manages interest rates and its balance sheet, the US Treasury dictates debt issuance trends.

Bitcoin bounces off 21-month low, but leverage data signals caution: Was $57K the bottom?

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $61,490 at the time of publication after falling to a 21-month low of $57,737 earlier on Wednesday.

Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) also gained, up 3% and 4.85%, respectively.

The bounce took place amid deep investor caution, with sentiment trackers gauging the balance of fear and greed in crypto markets currently reading around 11 out of 100, which is in “Extreme Fear” territory. Despite the rebound from the yearly low, Bitcoin remains down roughly a third since the start of the year. 

Investors’ cautious stance shows up clearly in the institutional products. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have hemorrhaged funds in recent weeks, including a reported $4.5 billion total outflow in June, the largest since the ETFs launched.

Related: Bitcoin price taps new July high above $62K on weak US jobs data

Analyst warns BTC could drop further after worst June since 2022

Bitcoin could face further downside pressure after ending June below its 200-week moving average while still trading above its realized price, a combination that crypto analyst PlanB says suggests the market has yet to reach a bear market bottom.

Bitcoin fell 20.5% in June to close the month at $58,526 — its worst monthly performance since June 2022 — below its 200-week moving average of $62,000 but above its realized price of $52,000.

Bitcoin is down 8.80% over the past 30 days. (CoinMarketCap)

“ALL previous bear market bottoms were below realized price,” said PlanB, the creator of the stock-to-flow pricing model. He added in a separate post that Bitcoin could drop to $52,000.

Ether treasury Sharplink bought $16M ETH last week

Crypto treasury company Sharplink, which resumed buying Ether last week after an eight-month pause, has bought a total of $16 million worth of Ether since June 25.

Onchain data from Arkham shows that after Sharplink bought 5,000 ETH on June 25, it bought another 5,000 ETH (worth $8.5 million) on June 26.

Ether is down 10.73% over the past 30 days. (CoinMarketCap)

The company confirmed the ETH purchases in an announcement, adding it bought it at an average price of $1,611 per ETH.

The two-day buying spree adds to evidence that Sharplink has revived its active Ether accumulation strategy, with its total Ether holdings now at 866,725 ETH. The crypto treasury company was once a close competitor to Bitmine as the world’s largest ETH treasury company, but has fallen far behind.

“The Company’s ETH purchases reflect its continued commitment to growing its ETH treasury as a long-term reserve asset,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Crypto enters Q3 with thinner liquidity but less leverage after Q2 reset: Talos

Cryptocurrency markets entered the third quarter of 2026 with less leverage but thinner liquidity after a wave of liquidations cleared speculative positions while major sources of demand weakened during the second quarter.  

According to a market update from institutional data provider Talos, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) long liquidations totaled $8.35 billion in Q2. The data provider pointed out that the deleveraging coincided with spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows, reduced Bitcoin buying by Strategy and a contraction in stablecoin supply. 

While the reset left the market more stable heading into Q3, Talos said reduced order-book depth weakened its ability to absorb renewed selling pressure. This means the market could be less vulnerable to a chain reaction of forced selling, but prices may still swing sharply because there’s less trading activity to absorb large orders. 

Features: Has Strategy’s capital overhaul put an end to ‘death spiral’ fears?

Stablecoin supply contracted in the second quarter of 2026, undoing almost three years of consistent quarterly growth and underscoring a growing split between crypto-native yield products and offerings backed by traditional reserves. According to a Q2 2026 stablecoin report published by crypto exchange CEX.IO, the category fell 15% in Q2—by more than $3.5 billion—marking the first quarterly decline since Q3 2023.

The shift was driven by reductions in yield-bearing, crypto-issued tokens, even as treasury-backed stablecoin yield products gained ground. CEX.IO’s figures point to a total stablecoin supply of $312 billion in Q2 and an adjusted transaction volume decline of 5.5%, alongside meaningful weakness in overall transaction counts.

Key takeaways

• Stablecoin supply fell more than $3.5 billion in Q2 2026, according to CEX.IO’s Q2 report, reversing nearly three years of quarterly growth.
• Crypto-native yield stablecoins shrank sharply: Ethena’s sUSDe supply dropped 52% (nearly $2 billion) and Sky’s sUSDS declined 16%.
• Treasury-backed products expanded while crypto-native contraction accelerated, including BlackRock’s BUIDL (+2%), Circle’s USYC (nearly +16%), and Ondo Finance’s USDY (up over 66%).
• Activity deteriorated at the transaction-count level: CEX.IO reports stablecoin transaction counts fell by 530 million to 4.48 billion, the largest quarterly drop on record.
• Smaller transfers looked relatively more resilient: transfers under $250 rose 5% to $19.39 billion, even as overall usage weakened.

Crypto-native yield tokens lose traction

CEX.IO’s report centers on a clear divergence in the stablecoin yield landscape. During Q2, yield-bearing stablecoin supply declined significantly as crypto-native products contracted. Ethena’s sUSDe stood out as the largest contributor to the downturn, losing 52% of its supply—shedding nearly $2 billion. Sky’s sUSDS also declined, down 16% over the same period.

The implication for users is straightforward: when demand for crypto-native yield strategies weakens, supply can retract quickly because these products are tightly linked to onchain activity and the availability of capital within crypto trading and hedging structures. In practice, that means stablecoin “yield” is not a uniform category—different issuers and reserve models can experience very different supply dynamics in the same quarter.

Treasury-backed products pick up share

While crypto-native yield tokens shrank, treasury-backed offerings moved in the opposite direction. CEX.IO reported that BlackRock’s BUIDL rose 2% in Q2, Circle’s USYC increased by nearly 16%, and Ondo Finance’s USDY climbed by more than 66%. Taken together, the data suggests investors may have shifted toward products perceived as more directly tied to traditional reserve mechanisms rather than crypto activity.

For market participants, this matters because treasury-backed expansion can stabilize parts of the stablecoin ecosystem even when broader crypto-native demand softens. However, the data also highlights an unresolved question: whether treasury-backed growth will fully offset crypto-native contraction, or whether the overall decline in supply signals that stablecoin usage itself is cooling.

First quarterly contraction since late 2023

CEX.IO frames Q2 as a turning point. The category recorded its first quarterly contraction since Q3 2023, with total stablecoin supply reaching $312 billion. The report also notes that adjusted transaction volume declined by 5.5%—a sign that not only did supply shrink, but the underlying flow of stablecoin-related activity also moderated.

Transaction data adds further detail on what changed. CEX.IO said total stablecoin transaction counts fell by 530 million to 4.48 billion, described in the report as the largest quarterly decline on record. At the same time, the report found that smaller transfers—below $250—rose 5% to $19.39 billion. That combination suggests that smaller peer-to-peer or retail-style use may be holding up better than transaction-heavy activity associated with larger automated or trading flows.

It’s an important nuance for traders and builders: the headline supply decline doesn’t necessarily mean everyday transfers disappeared. Rather, the weakness appears concentrated in higher-frequency, larger-dollar, or more automation-dependent segments of stablecoin utilization.

Weaker signals in Q1 preceded the Q2 drop

The slowdown didn’t arrive without warning. In Q1 2026, stablecoin supply still increased by about $8 billion to a record $315 billion, according to reporting referenced by CEX.IO. However, the report also points to earlier signs that organic demand was softening.

During Q1, retail-sized transfers declined by 16%, while automated activity made up roughly 76% of stablecoin transaction volume. By Q2, these patterns were more pronounced: transaction counts fell sharply, yet sub-$250 transfers increased. Together, the data suggests a market where the “type” of stablecoin activity shifted—away from larger, automation-heavy usage and toward smaller transfers, even as overall activity and supply eventually contracted.

Broader crypto demand concerns weigh on stablecoin dynamics

Stablecoin contraction in Q2 also aligns with concerns about weaker momentum across broader crypto markets. Earlier in the week, institutional data provider Talos identified declining stablecoin supply alongside spot Bitcoin ETF outflows and slower Bitcoin purchases by Strategy as three demand channels that weakened in Q2.

In comments relayed to Cointelegraph, Talos’s Tanay Ved argued that a recovery in stablecoin supply would be a useful signal of “fresh capital coming back into the ecosystem more broadly,” potentially supporting onchain liquidity. Ved also emphasized that spot ETF flows remain among the most important channels to watch, since they tend to reflect more durable shifts in institutional appetite.

Crucially, Ved noted that ETF flows, corporate Bitcoin purchases, and stablecoin supply often move together when market momentum changes. That observation frames stablecoins as more than a settlement tool: when capital rotates out of crypto exposure, stablecoin issuance and onchain usage can weaken as well—especially in segments dependent on active trading and capital deployment.

For readers tracking the next phase, the key question is whether Q2’s contraction represents a temporary reset or the start of a longer decline. CEX.IO’s data shows a sharp internal reshuffle—crypto-native yield tokens losing supply while treasury-backed products gain—so investors should watch both overall stablecoin issuance trends and the relative growth of different reserve models as new quarterly figures arrive.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 134 cryptocurrency wallet addresses identified as belonging to ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), which has been a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since September 2015.

The wallet addresses were added to the OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on Wednesday, which includes individuals, entities and digital asset addresses linked to terrorism, narcotics trafficking and other illicit activity.

Stablecoin issuer Tether has frozen the balances associated with 131 Tron addresses, while the remaining three sanctioned addresses were on the Monero network, blockchain forensics company Chainalysis said in a Wednesday report.

The development comes over a week after the OFAC’s previous round of sanctions against ISIS-supporting financiers using cryptocurrency. On June 22, the OFAC sanctioned three individuals and six entities across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa, including Syria-based MSB Bitcoin Xchange and Turkish MSB Spider.

OFAC said the previous round of sanctions targeted “key facilitators who enable ISIS to move funds among its regional affiliates.”

OFAC update to SDN list, new wallets included. Source: OFAC

131 wallets linked to ISIS-K received $1.4 million in donations

ISIS-K has historically solicited crypto through donation campaigns on various websites and messaging platforms, Chainalysis said.

The report said that the 131 Tron addresses in the latest round of sanctions received over $1.4 million in crypto donations since 2023 and sent over $880,000.

Network of ISIS-K funding entities sanctioned by OFAC. Source: Chainalysis

Chainalysis identified multiple such donation addresses used by the group on Tron, Monero and the Bitcoin network. It found significant exposure to mainstream services, including some wallets that sent funds to Syria-based cryptocurrency exchanges.

Related: US sanctions Sinaloa cartel-linked Ethereum addresses

Blockchain analytics tools are playing an increasingly prominent role in financial sanctions targeting illicit activity.

Earlier in April, blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs said that onchain evidence was key to securing the conviction of three individuals for terrorism financing in Indonesia in 2024 and 2025.

“Indonesian courts have demonstrated that cryptocurrency evidence — wallet addresses, transaction histories, on-chain flows — is not only admissible but can anchor a terrorism financing prosecution,” TRM said in a statement.

Magazine: Are DeFi devs liable for the illegal activity of others on their platforms?

In 2011, $2.7 billion of inflows sent Bitcoin up more than 55,000%. This cycle, $697 billion produced 689%. A leading analyst says the math has changed so much that the next parabolic run needs a trillion dollars. Here is the case, and the case against.

Bitcoin just posted the worst month in the history of its exchange-traded funds, bounced modestly into July, and is trading more than 50% below its October 2025 record. Into that gloom, one of the most-watched analysts in crypto dropped a statistic that reframes the entire debate about where Bitcoin goes next.

On July 1, CryptoQuant chief executive Ki Young Ju laid out the numbers behind a claim that is now spreading fast: Bitcoin’s next parabolic bull run may require it to absorb more than $1 trillion of fresh capital. That is not a price target; it is a statement about how much harder it now is to move Bitcoin at all.

This piece breaks down the number behind the claim, what Ju is really arguing, and the serious case on both sides of whether a trillion-dollar bull run is a bullish invitation or a bearish warning.

The number behind the claim

The heart of Ju’s argument is a single, striking comparison of how much money it has taken to move Bitcoin across cycles. In 2011, in Bitcoin’s earliest days, roughly $2.7 billion of net capital inflows drove a price increase of more than 55,000%. In the current cycle, by contrast, about $697 billion of inflows produced a return of only around 689%.

Put those side by side, and the ratio of dollars in to price gain has compressed by something on the order of 80x across the life of the asset. Each successive cycle has demanded far more capital to generate far smaller percentage moves.

The metric underneath this is realized capitalization, which measures the total capital actually invested in Bitcoin by valuing every coin at the price it last moved on-chain, instead of at today’s market price.

Realized cap is the closest thing Bitcoin has to a measure of real money committed to it, and Ju frames the whole question in those terms: the next parabolic run, he argues, likely requires Bitcoin to absorb more than $1 trillion of new realized cap. That is the concrete threshold behind the headline, and it is why the claim is about capital absorbed, not about a price level reached.

This is not a doom call from a permabear. Ju has spent much of the past year as one of the more constructive voices among top analysts, and his July 1 post explicitly says Bitcoin likely has another parabolic cycle ahead of it. The trillion-dollar figure is his estimate of the price of admission for that run, not a declaration that it cannot happen.

Understanding that distinction is essential, because the same numbers can be read as a reason for optimism or a reason for caution, and the rest of the debate flows from which reading you find more convincing.

What Ki Young Ju is actually arguing

Ju’s full thesis is more nuanced than the headline stat suggests, and it rests on a claim about what kind of asset Bitcoin needs to become. In his telling, the shrinking capital efficiency is a symptom of Bitcoin outgrowing its old drivers. The retail-led, exchange-traded-fund-driven demand that has powered recent moves is, he argues, not enough to fuel another parabolic run at Bitcoin’s current size.

For that, Bitcoin needs to graduate into a core macro asset held by institutions and allocators as a serious portfolio holding, not traded as a speculative vehicle by retail investors chasing momentum.

That shift, Ju stresses, is still in its early stages and has not been invalidated by the current downturn. He points to the gap that still exists between Bitcoin and the assets it aspires to sit alongside: gold carries a market value of roughly $27 trillion, dwarfing Bitcoin’s, which leaves enormous room for growth if institutional and macro capital genuinely rotates in.

If Bitcoin can absorb more than $1 trillion in realized cap, he argues, another parabolic bull run remains firmly on the table. The trillion dollars, in this framing, is not an impossible barrier but the scale of adoption required to prove Bitcoin has become what its supporters say it is.

So the argument is really two claims bundled together. The first is descriptive: capital efficiency is declining, and it now takes vastly more money to move Bitcoin than it once did. The second is conditional and hopeful: if the right kind of capital, deep institutional and macro allocation, shows up at sufficient scale, the next parabolic run can still happen. The disagreement in the market is not mostly about the first claim, which the numbers support, but about the second, about whether that $1 trillion is realistically coming, and about what it means for Bitcoin if it does or does not.

Why the math changes as Bitcoin grows

To weigh the claim, it helps to understand why capital efficiency declines in the first place, because the mechanism is not mysterious. It is a straightforward consequence of Bitcoin getting bigger. When Bitcoin was a tiny, obscure asset in 2011, a small amount of new money represented an enormous percentage of its total value, so modest inflows produced explosive percentage gains.

As the asset has grown into the hundreds of billions and, at its peak, past $2 trillion in market value, the same percentage move requires vastly more absolute capital. Moving a large asset by a given percentage simply costs more than moving a small one.

A second force compounds this: the pool of holders willing to sell cheaply keeps shrinking. Over time, a growing share of Bitcoin has moved into the hands of long-term holders and institutions who are not eager to part with their coins at low prices, which Ju and others have described as a structural change in the market. That is usually framed as bullish, because it reduces available supply, but it also changes the market’s rhythm.

With fewer coins available to absorb and fewer sellers to flush out, price action becomes less about violent boom-and-bust cycles and more about how much new capital can be coaxed in against a supply that increasingly sits still.

The result is a maturing asset whose returns compress even as its stability grows. This is the same pattern seen in other assets as they scale: the earliest investors capture the largest percentage gains, and returns moderate as the asset becomes mature and widely held.

For Bitcoin, that means the days when a few billion dollars could produce a 50,000% move are almost certainly gone for good. What replaces them, and whether it is still attractive, is exactly where the bull and bear cases diverge.

The bull case: maturation with huge headroom

The optimistic reading takes the collapsing capital efficiency as a sign of health, not decline. In this view, declining percentage returns are simply what happens when an asset succeeds and grows up, and they say nothing bad about the absolute gains still available. A move that is small in percentage terms for a multi-trillion-dollar asset can still represent enormous absolute wealth creation, and a maturing Bitcoin that trades with less violence is more, not less, attractive to the large, cautious pools of capital that were always going to be needed for the next leg higher.

The headroom argument is the bull’s strongest card. Gold’s market value sits around $27 trillion, and Bitcoin, even near its peak, was a fraction of that. If Bitcoin is genuinely on a path to becoming a macro store of value alongside gold, the total addressable market is measured in tens of trillions, which makes $1 trillion of fresh absorption ambitious but far from absurd.

The infrastructure to deliver it is also further along than ever: spot ETFs, whatever their recent outflows, opened a regulated on-ramp for institutions, corporate treasuries have accumulated well over 1 million coins, and traditional banks have built custody and trading services. The pipes for institutional capital exist in a way they never did in prior cycles.

Kooc Media has launched dedicated PR support for AI agents, chatbots, and machine learning platforms. The aim is to help the companies behind these products win press, reach the right people, and earn trust in a market that fills up more every day.

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PR Made for AI Agents, Chatbots and ML

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Guaranteed Coverage, Not Hope

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Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.

Ripple executive chair Chris Larsen has been reported as one of the backers of a financial venture launched by Theodore Gillibrand, the son of US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, according to a Politico report dated Thursday. The development lands in parallel with ongoing Senate negotiations over the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act—US crypto market-structure legislation that lawmakers say could reshape how digital-asset businesses operate.

Politico reports that American Perpetuals Exchange Corp. (APEC), founded by Theodore Gillibrand, raised $30 million, with most investors contributing between $5,000 and $10,000 apiece. Larsen’s reported involvement was noted by Politico, though the report did not specify Larsen’s exact contribution.

Key takeaways

• Politico reports Chris Larsen was among investors backing APEC, Theodore Gillibrand’s derivatives-focused venture.
• APEC’s funding is described as totaling $30 million, with typical contributions reportedly in the $5,000–$10,000 range.
• The investment is unfolding while Senator Kirsten Gillibrand negotiates ethics provisions in the CLARITY Act.
• Democratic lawmakers are pressing Republicans to include ethics language, with questions framed around conflicts involving lawmakers and government officials.
• The Senate schedule—returning July 13 and then breaking again for an extended state work period—narrows the time left for CLARITY to advance.

APEC funding and the Larsen connection

In its Thursday coverage, Politico said Larsen was one of a small set of investors supporting APEC, the company created by Theodore Gillibrand. The report emphasizes that while APEC attracted a broader group of investors, individual stakes cited in the coverage were relatively modest, with “the majority” contributing between $5,000 and $10,000.

However, Politico did not publish Larsen’s exact amount. For readers tracking the intersection of finance and policy, the more relevant takeaway is not the dollar figure itself, but the timing: the reported investment is occurring while Gillibrand’s office and other lawmakers work to finalize provisions of a bill widely expected to influence the regulatory environment for crypto exchanges, issuers, and derivatives markets.

Ethics provisions in the CLARITY Act are front and center

The reported APEC backers’ list is becoming part of a broader political debate because the CLARITY Act is in active negotiation, and Gillibrand has publicly tied her support to ethics reforms.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, Gillibrand said in May that lawmakers would not be voting for the bill unless ethics concerns were addressed—specifically, the risk that members of Congress or senior administration figures could benefit financially from the crypto industry due to their government roles. In that context, she characterized such outcomes as an unacceptable form of “pay for play.”

“[T]he truth is, is that we cannot allow members of Congress, senior administration officials, presidents or vice presidents, to get rich off of these industries because of their insider status. It is the worst form of pay for play.”

A spokesperson for Gillibrand told Cointelegraph that her son was “a grown adult starting his own independent business” and that the senator had “no involvement in it whatsoever.” Politico’s report does not resolve the underlying political dispute, but it intensifies scrutiny of how lawmakers’ personal or family-adjacent business ties are perceived while ethics language is being negotiated for a major policy package.

Cointelegraph also reported that it reached out to APEC for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Republicans expect movement—Democrats push harder on ethics

CoinShares data is not referenced in the reporting provided here; instead, the key developments revolve around how Congress plans to handle CLARITY’s legislative path. Democratic lawmakers have been urging Republicans, who hold a majority in Congress, to adopt ethics language in the act. Their calls cite concerns that involve the current administration’s ties to the crypto industry.

On the Republican side, leaders have signaled they expect the bill to move through the Senate in July. Senator Cynthia Lummis, according to Cointelegraph reporting from June, said lawmakers were “working a little bit on ethics,” along with other topics raised in negotiations, including decentralized finance and illicit transactions.

That mix matters because CLARITY is not just a single-issue bill—it is positioned as market-structure legislation. If ethics provisions end up changing the compliance burdens, definitions, or governance expectations for firms operating in the US, those downstream impacts could affect everything from how trading and derivatives products are offered to what internal controls businesses must maintain.

At the procedural level, the Senate’s thin margin means Republicans will need at least some Democratic support to reach the 60-vote threshold for CLARITY to pass.

The legislative timetable is tightening

Even as the debate continues, lawmakers’ calendars are becoming an additional constraint. The Senate is currently in its Independence Day holiday period. Per the schedule described in Cointelegraph’s reporting, the chamber is set to return to session on July 13 and then head into another month-long state work period in August.

That means the practical window for crypto market-structure action is shrinking well before the US election season—an environment that often leads to renewed legislative delay and reprioritization. For crypto firms and investors, the key watch item is whether negotiations on ethics provisions keep the bill on track through July, or whether the calendar effectively pushes momentum into a later legislative session.

While the APEC funding story may appear at first glance to be separate from CLARITY policy talks, it is the simultaneous timing that’s likely to influence political attention. As ethics language becomes part of the bill’s final shape, stakeholders will want to monitor not only the bill’s progress, but also how the Senate frames conflicts-of-interest concerns and whether those discussions drive any substantive changes to the bill text.

What to watch next is the Senate’s ability to reconcile ethics negotiations with broader market-structure provisions before the July vote window narrows—alongside any further disclosure or clarification about the reported involvement of industry figures in private-sector activity during an election-adjacent legislative crunch.

SBI Crypto, a cryptocurrency-focused division of Japanese financial conglomerate SBI, is shutting down its Bitcoin mining pool after a five-year run.

The company announced Wednesday that it will end mining pool operations on July 31 and will stop accepting mining shares at the same time. It did not provide its rationale for closing the pool.

SBI Crypto said miners should keep directing hashrate to the pool until the cutoff so final payouts can be calculated correctly before operations end. “We would sincerely appreciate your continued support by mining with us until the final day of operation,” it said.

The shutdown marks the end of one of Japan’s better-known corporate mining pool operations and is the latest sign of SBI’s intentions to expand its broader cryptocurrency strategy beyond mining.

SBI Crypto’s BTC mining pool ranks No. 12 globally

SBI Crypto launched its Bitcoin mining pool in March 2021, entering a market that at the time was dominated by operators such as Poolin, F2Pool and Binance Pool.

Data from SimpleMining shows SBI Crypto currently ranks as the 12th largest Bitcoin mining pool globally, with about 21.46 exahashes per second (EH/s) of hashrate and roughly 2.24% of total Bitcoin network share.

Source: SimpleMining

That places it far behind leaders like Foundry USA, which controls about 24.49% of the network, and AntPool at around 19.05%. Mid- and lower-tier mining pools such as ViaBTC and MARA Pool account for about 8.55% and 5.15% of the global Bitcoin mining hashrate, respectively.

Miner migration to alternative pools

SBI Crypto directed miners toward several alternative Bitcoin mining pool operators as it prepares to shut down its service, including Braiins, Luxor and NeoPool.

Among them, Braiins and Luxor are established mid-tier mining infrastructure providers, each controlling around 2%-3% of global Bitcoin hashrate, according to SimpleMining data. NeoPool is not included in the top-ranked pools by hashrate.

Source: Braiins

“Some operators may offer special programs or preferential conditions for clients transitioning from SBI Crypto,” the company said, adding that customers are encouraged to contact each operator directly for details.

Related: Bitcoin mining difficulty drops 10% in 11th largest downward adjustment

The shutdown comes as SBI Holdings continues to expand its broader cryptocurrency strategy beyond mining.

The company recently agreed to acquire full control of crypto exchange Bitbank in a 46.7 billion Japanese yen ($289 million) deal, aiming to create Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

SBI has also been increasing its focus on stablecoins, backing JPYSC, a new trust bank-backed Japanese yen stablecoin, and supporting Ripple’s rollout of the Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in Japan.

Magazine: Bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI, so why is the hashrate near ATHs?

Binance has returned to the Philippine market through a regulatory sandbox route, while its European operations face new limits. The exchange gained access through BlockShoals Technologies, which secured approval from the Philippine SEC. However, Binance also restricted some services in several EU countries after MiCA rules fully took effect.

Binance Re-Enters Philippines Through SEC Sandbox

The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission approved BlockShoals Technologies to test crypto-related services under its regulatory sandbox. The approval allows the company to operate its Stratbox model with selected products for local users. As a result, Binance gains a regulated pathway back into the Philippine market.

The sandbox approval followed an earlier clearance granted in November 2025, after BlockShoals met the remaining compliance requirements. The SEC said the company will operate under a crypto-asset intermediary model. Therefore, Philippine users can access selected services through a global crypto-asset service provider partner.

Binance acts as the global partner in the approved testing framework. BlockShoals will connect its systems with a local virtual-asset service provider partner during a 90-day rollout. After that, the company will continue testing user onboarding and product access under regulatory supervision.

Philippine Crypto Rules Tighten As Binance Returns

The approval comes as the Philippines continues to tighten its crypto market rules. Regulators have moved to strengthen listing standards and restrict assets that raise oversight concerns. Earlier, the country also pushed restrictions on privacy coins under its broader compliance approach.

This background gives Binance’s return a narrow but important regulatory angle. The exchange does not re-enter through a full open-market relaunch. Instead, it enters through a controlled sandbox with defined products, safeguards, and testing limits.

The structure also gives regulators more room to monitor user access and platform activity. It allows the SEC to test how offshore crypto services connect with local rules. Therefore, the Philippine market becomes a measured entry point for Binance in Southeast Asia.

Binance Limits EU Access After MiCA Deadline

While Binance gains room in the Philippines, it faces tighter conditions in Europe. The exchange has suspended new user registration, deposits, and Earn products in several EU markets. These restrictions affect users in Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Belgium, and Sweden.

The changes followed the end of the European Union’s MiCA transition period on July 1. MiCA created a unified licensing framework for crypto-asset service providers across the bloc. However, exchanges must secure authorization in an EU member state to continue full operations.

Binance had planned to seek authorization in Greece, but later withdrew that application before the deadline. The company said it will now pursue licensing in another EU member state. Meanwhile, it continues to work with regulators to restore compliant services across the region.

Withdrawals Remain Open As Binance Adjusts

Binance said affected users can still withdraw and transfer their assets. The exchange also said product access will vary by country, account status, and available services. Therefore, some users may face broader limits than others, depending on local restrictions.

The company has told users to rely on official communication channels for updates. It also said customer support will handle product access and withdrawal-related questions. This approach aims to reduce confusion as service limits take effect across affected markets.

The contrast between the Philippines and Europe shows Binance’s uneven regulatory path. In one market, the exchange gains access through supervised testing and local partnerships. In another, it pulls back while seeking a license under stricter regional crypto rules.