The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit over its investigations into Ethereum, according to a joint status report filed July 22.

History Associates Inc. and the SEC asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case after reaching a settlement deal. Under the agreement, the agency will produce the remaining responsive documents and pay the flat fee to cover the plaintiff’s legal fees.

History Associates, which provides professional historical research, writing and archival services to government agencies, filed the lawsuit in June 2024. Working on behalf of Coinbase, the firm had submitted three public records requests the year before. Those filings sought documents on SEC investigations into Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC, along with records on how Ethereum shifted to a proof-of-stake system.

The lawsuit compelled the SEC to hand over thousands of documents, with the court explicitly ordering the agency to prioritize all records and communications sent, received or evaluated by then SEC Chair Gary Gensler concerning Ethereum’s migration from a proof-of-work blockchain to a proof-of-stake network.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has backed the CLARITY Act even as seven Senate Democrats oppose its latest draft and banking groups fight its stablecoin reward rules.

Politico reported that Solomon was “very supportive” of moving the bill forward so the United States could establish a crypto market structure and advance digital asset development. Although he acknowledged that the proposal was imperfect and open to debate, the Goldman chief argued that passing a framework remained more important than resolving every disagreement first.

Solomon told the publication that the legislation could create a level playing field, strengthen market stability and let digital asset markets develop under clearer rules. His endorsement places the head of one of Wall Street’s largest banks alongside crypto executives who have urged Congress to complete the bill, even as banking trade groups seek tighter limits on stablecoin rewards.

The comments separate Goldman’s public position from the campaign led by banking associations against the current draft. Solomon did not directly endorse its reward provisions, but his support for advancing the full legislation contrasts with groups warning that the text could pull deposits from traditional lenders.

Stablecoin rewards keep banks opposed

Under the latest Republican draft, crypto companies could offer rewards tied to customer activity, while payments on stablecoins held in idle balances would remain prohibited. Banking associations argue that this distinction lets crypto platforms compete for deposits through incentives, creating a risk that money moves away from community banks.

In a May letter to Senate Banking Committee leaders, several banking trade groups called for stronger safeguards against deposit flight. The groups argued that funds leaving banks for stablecoin products could reduce credit available to households and businesses, particularly in communities that depend on smaller lenders.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has also criticized the legislation, adding a prominent Wall Street voice to the industry’s objections. Solomon’s support therefore does not suggest that banks have reached an agreement; it shows that major executives differ over whether the reward dispute should stop the bill.

Earlier this week, the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce sent Senate leaders a letter supporting the banks’ concerns. The USHCC warned that deposit losses could hurt small-business lending, community development and economic opportunities in Hispanic communities. It also cited analyses that, according to the chamber, showed net outflows connected to crypto activity at community banks.

Republican concerns have resurfaced despite a compromise negotiated earlier in 2026. Punchbowl News reported that Senators John Curtis and John Cornyn shared the banks’ concerns about deposit flight, while Senator Thom Tillis opposed the current ethics provision. Their objections add internal Republican pressure as party leaders seek enough votes to pass the measure.

Democratic resistance blocks an easy vote

Seven Democratic senators, Catherine Cortez Masto, Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Ruben Gallego, John Hickenlooper, Mark Warner and Raphael Warnock, have rejected the latest text while keeping negotiations open. In a joint statement, they said provisions covering ethics, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity required more work.

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren also criticized the draft, arguing that its ethics language did not adequately address President Donald Trump’s crypto business interests. Warren further maintained that the bill lacked sufficient investor and national security protections.

Republicans added restrictions on crypto activity by senior elected officials after Democrats made an ethics clause a condition for continuing talks. Trump accepted the provision earlier this week, but the agreement left enforcement to the Department of Justice and failed to settle Democratic concerns.

Alsobrooks objected to making the DOJ the sole enforcer and described the arrangement as “unserious,” according to reports cited by crypto.news. She said she would oppose the legislation if the language reached the Senate floor unchanged. Her position carries added weight because she was one of two Democrats who helped advance the bill through the Senate Banking Committee in May.

Democratic resistance has cut the bill’s estimated 2026 passage odds by 15 percentage points from their July 21 peak, according to crypto.news. Republicans need Democratic support to reach the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, leaving Solomon, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pressing lawmakers to act before the August recess.

Garlinghouse endorsed a similar argument from Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty on July 22. Alderoty described the CLARITY Act as a consumer protection measure that would strengthen anti-money laundering and customer-verification rules while giving law enforcement and state authorities clearer tools against misconduct.

With the vote count still short, Goldman’s endorsement gives the legislation another powerful supporter but does not resolve either dispute holding back a Senate agreement.

Kazakhstan has approved a strategic crypto mining framework that grants large-scale miners regulated electricity access in exchange for contributing part of their mined digital assets to a state-backed reserve.

According to Kazakhstan-based news outlet Zakon.kz, the government approved the new rules on July 18 through Government Resolution No. 638, published in the PRG.kz legal database. 

The framework introduces a new category known as strategic digital mining, allowing qualifying companies to receive electricity quotas at regulated tariffs after agreeing to transfer a portion of their mined cryptocurrency to Astana Hub, a government-backed technology cluster.

The measure adds another layer to Kazakhstan’s effort to tie its digital asset industry more closely to state-backed infrastructure rather than treating mining as a standalone commercial activity. The rules will take effect on Aug. 1, 2026.

Large mining operators face strict eligibility requirements

Only miners meeting extensive infrastructure standards will qualify for strategic status under the new framework.

As reported by Zakon.kz, applicants must own a digital mining data center with at least 150 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity. Mining equipment deployed at those facilities must also provide a minimum computing power of 150 terahashes per second (TH/s) per unit.

Beyond hardware requirements, companies must employ qualified technical personnel, maintain repair facilities within their mining sites, secure contracts with multiple internet service providers and remain current on taxes and other mandatory payments before receiving approval.

Once approved, operators will be required to sign agreements with Astana Hub’s autonomous cluster fund and purchase electricity from eligible power generation companies designated under the framework.

The resolution also requires participating miners to contribute part of their mined cryptocurrency to a reserve mechanism administered through Astana Hub. Although the government document does not specify the percentage, several local media outlets have reported that the contribution could be set at 10%. Cointelegraph, however, said it could not independently verify that figure.

The arrangement links electricity access directly to participation in Kazakhstan’s state-backed digital asset reserve, creating an incentive for miners willing to commit part of their production under government-approved terms.

Policy builds on Kazakhstan’s digital asset strategy

The latest mining rules arrive after several initiatives that have expanded Kazakhstan’s involvement in regulated cryptocurrency markets.

As crypto.news previously reported, the country launched the state-backed Alem Crypto Fund in September 2025 to build long-term digital asset reserves. Its first investment involved BNB through a partnership with Binance Kazakhstan, giving the fund an initial exposure to digital assets.

Earlier this year, Reuters also reported that Kazakhstan’s central bank planned to allocate up to $350 million from its roughly $69 billion in gold and foreign exchange reserves into crypto-linked investment products. 

Instead of directly purchasing Bitcoin or Ethereum, the National Bank said it would invest through funds, index products and digital asset infrastructure companies, making Kazakhstan one of the few countries to dedicate part of its sovereign reserves to the sector.

Regulated crypto payments have also moved forward. Earlier in July, Alatau City Bank partnered with Binance Kazakhstan to launch Crypto Pay, allowing users to make purchases with cryptocurrency through QR codes and point-of-sale terminals connected to the bank’s acquiring network. The rollout formed part of the government’s effort to expand regulated financial services tied to digital assets.

At the same time, Kazakhstan has continued tightening oversight of the industry.

In January, authorities blocked access to more than 1,100 unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange platforms, according to government reports cited by crypto.news. The enforcement campaign directed users toward licensed exchanges while reinforcing the country’s regulated digital asset market.

Kazakhstan strengthens its position as a mining destination

Kazakhstan remains one of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining jurisdictions following the migration of miners after China’s crackdown on the industry in 2021.

The Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report published in April 2025 ranked Kazakhstan fifth globally by Bitcoin mining activity, underscoring the country’s continued importance within the mining sector.

Rather than simply expanding mining capacity, the newly approved framework links access to electricity with participation in government-backed digital asset initiatives, placing state reserve development alongside industrial mining policy.

The direction is consistent with other technology projects announced over the past year. Earlier this month, Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan to establish a new campus focused on education, artificial intelligence, startups and technology research. 

The agreement came as the organization encountered regulatory challenges in Malaysia and added another international technology initiative to Kazakhstan’s digital economy plans.

BitMEX has announced it will shut down on September 23, following “a strategic review of the business and the broader crypto industry.”

The Arthur Hayes-founded exchange revealed earlier today that it was closing down, but didn’t expand on what exactly caused the closure. Users were encouraged to withdraw their funds and close any positions they may hold.

BitMEX stressed that assets are safe and remain in users’ control, and explained that it’s simply giving a timely warning to “ensure a smooth withdrawal process for everyone.”

At time of writing, the exchange holds over $739 million worth of customer assets, along with an insurance fund with $239 million worth of BTC and $31 million worth of USDT.

The exchange is the 35th most active crypto derivatives exchange and 65th largest crypto exchange overall.

The exchange’s BMEX token was also unstaked for every user, and has collapsed 97% across the last four hours. BMEX was already down 99.87% from its 2022 all-time high. 

BitMEX’s shuttering coincides with a crypto bear market that’s seen multiple crypto firms lay off staff. Since January 2026, the company’s trading volume has only crossed $1 million 14 times. 

Read more: Crypto firms cut jobs as bear market and AI shift bite

Going forward, no new BitMEX accounts can be created, with all services due to be closed in September (except withdrawals). Accounts with funds remaining will be charged monthly at “USD50 equivalent or 1% per annum (whichever is greater).”

BitMEX hasn’t commented on plans for its $270 million insurance fund after September 23. Protos reached out to BitMEX regarding its plans for its insurance fund but did not receive a response prior to publication time.

The insurance fund has grown over time, mostly due to BitMEX profits from trading fees and liquidations. Although some people have called it ‘one of the best performing funds of all time,’ its outperformance partially came at the expense of exchange-affiliated marketmakers trading against BitMEX customers.

BitMEX warned that winding down a company can allow criminals to take advantage of uncertainty. “Be vigilant for phishing attempts using this news, or promising priority or accelerated withdrawals – no such expedited service is available,” it told users.

It added, “While this news is difficult to share, we are proud of everything that has been built at the company since its launch as a pioneer of crypto derivatives.”

BitMEX was bad at stopping money laundering

BitMEX was founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed. Together they created the 100x leverage perpetual swap, which BitMEX claimed at one point to have been “the most traded product in the crypto industry.” The holding company of BitMEX has been 100x Group, named after that product.

In February 2022, Hayes and Delo pled guilty to breaking the Bank Secrecy Act and violating anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Reed pled guilty one month later to similar charges.

For a time under their stewardship, the exchange had limited KYC or AML checks. This resulted in a Department of Justice enforcement action for compliance failures.  

Q. Not all tokenized equity products are the same. What is the most important distinction to understand?

The central question is what the token actually represents. In the strongest model, the token is the share itself, meaning ownership, voting rights and dividends travel with it. In a synthetic wrapper, the investor owns a contractual claim against another entity, not the underlying share, introducing counterparty risk, tracking risk and the possibility that corporate actions do not pass through correctly.

Two tokens with the same ticker can represent very different instruments. The SEC’s January 2026 staff statement drew this distinction explicitly. For advisors evaluating these products, the structure is not a technical detail. It determines what rights the holder actually has.

Q. How developed is the regulatory framework at this point?

More developed than most people realize, but with gaps remaining. In the past eight months, the SEC issued a no-action letter for DTC tokenization services, published a staff statement establishing ownership taxonomy and approved Nasdaq’s proposal to trade tokenized securities alongside conventional shares. DTCC completed its first live production transactions this month.

Despite the progress, uncertainty still exists. Tokenized equities remain largely restricted to non-U.S. or accredited investors, the CLARITY Act has not been enacted, and third-party synthetic models carry more legal uncertainty than issuer-sponsored structures. The framework is building in a clear direction, but there is still much to accomplish to drive confidence and adoption.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy has joined eight financial firms in pledging $15 million over three years to protect Bitcoin, starting with preparations for potential quantum-computing threats.

Strategy announced the Bitcoin Security Consortium in a press release, naming Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets and Galaxy Digital as its other founding members.

Drawn from several parts of the institutional Bitcoin market, the coalition includes exchange-traded fund issuers, custodians and infrastructure companies. BlackRock, Fidelity and ARK Invest issue spot Bitcoin ETFs, while Anchorage Digital and Coinbase provide custody services. Block, Blockstream and Galaxy Digital operate businesses tied to Bitcoin infrastructure and financial products.

Rather than combining the $15 million under a central fund, each founding member will choose which developers, researchers and organizations receive its share, according to Strategy. The model allows the companies to finance different projects while coordinating their security work through the consortium.

Brink Executive Director Mike Schmidt will coordinate the consortium’s daily operations in a volunteer capacity, Strategy stated. Addressing concerns about his independence, Schmidt wrote on X that he will receive no compensation and will continue running Brink separately from the founding firms.

“I continue to run Brink, independent of any Consortium member. I’ve committed to a year in this role, maybe I’d do two, but ultimately I see it as a seat that should rotate to other participants over time. My commitment is to Bitcoin, and that doesn’t change.”

Wall Street funding targets Bitcoin security research

Under its initial plan, the consortium will support developers and researchers already working on Bitcoin security, with quantum readiness serving as its first focus, according to Strategy. Schmidt added that the group could finance other security projects if the initial program proves effective.

Protocol decisions will remain outside the consortium’s control. In his X post, Schmidt stated that the group will not adopt collective positions on Bitcoin upgrades, leaving members to direct their funding independently while developers use the network’s existing review process.

Galaxy Digital had committed separate funds to the field before joining the consortium. As crypto.news reported earlier this week, the company opened applications for a $5 million Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative supporting quantum-resistant signatures, wallet migration tools and independent security audits.

According to Galaxy, introducing post-quantum protections would require years of cooperation among Bitcoin Core developers, exchanges, wallet providers, infrastructure companies and users. Its grant program also invites other institutions to contribute money and research to the effort.

Galaxy’s initiative and the consortium pledge have placed $20 million behind the two disclosed programs. The commitments remain separate, however, as Strategy’s consortium allows every member to control its own grants.

Bitcoin’s quantum exposure carries a market cost

Future quantum computers could threaten Bitcoin if they become capable of breaking the elliptic curve cryptography that protects its wallets, according to the companies and researchers behind the programs. Galaxy noted that current machines cannot perform such an attack and most experts do not expect an immediate danger.

Despite the uncertain timeline, Galaxy argued that preparations must start early because deploying new protections across Bitcoin could take years. The company has prioritized alternative signature algorithms, tools that help users transfer funds into safer wallets and audits that test proposed defenses.

CryptoQuant research cited by Galaxy estimated that around 6.9 million BTC could become exposed if a sufficiently powerful quantum computer broke Bitcoin’s existing cryptography. Using market prices from its announcement, Galaxy valued those potentially vulnerable holdings at about $461 billion.

Citi has reached a similar estimate, according to an earlier crypto.news report. The bank calculated that between 6.5 million and 6.9 million BTC may already have public keys visible on-chain, creating a pool of coins that researchers consider more vulnerable to a future quantum attack.

Lost wallets pose another problem because their owners cannot transfer the coins to addresses protected by updated cryptography. Quantus warned in a previously reported assessment that quantum development may be advancing faster than earlier estimates, which could leave dormant and inaccessible holdings without a practical migration route.

Concern over the issue has also entered Bitcoin valuation models. As crypto.news reported in early June, Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards estimated that Bitcoin was trading at a 28% “quantum discount” compared with his projected valuation path toward $120,000.

Bitcoin traded near $62,099 following a sharp selloff when Edwards presented the model. He attributed the discount to investor concern over what he described as slow progress among Bitcoin Core developers on post-quantum signature planning.

Prediction-market traders remain less worried about the immediate timeline. Polymarket data placed the probability of quantum computing breaking Bitcoin by December 2027 at 14%.

With Strategy coordinating institutional participation and Galaxy already accepting grant applications, the funding gives researchers additional resources before quantum computers pose a proven threat. The consortium’s first test will be whether independently directed grants produce usable security tools without influencing Bitcoin’s protocol governance.

Bernstein reiterated that it is still overweight on Bitcoin mining, arguing that the sector’s expanding partnerships are increasingly tied to the power needs of AI data centers. In a Thursday research note shared with Cointelegraph, the firm pointed to a steady stream of AI-related deals throughout July—evidence, it said, that access to electricity is becoming the decisive constraint for AI infrastructure buildouts.

According to Bernstein’s Bitcoin mining industry deal tracker, the number of AI-related transactions recorded in July averaged at least one per week. Combined, those deals total more than 7.5 gigawatts of capacity, or the contracted equivalent of $150 billion across multi-year agreements.

Key takeaways

• Bernstein says Bitcoin miners’ third-party computing capacity remains valuable as AI growth is constrained more by power availability than by software or hardware supply.
• In July, Bernstein’s tracker recorded AI-related deal flow at roughly a weekly pace, totaling over 7.5 GW and the equivalent of $150 billion in multi-year contracted value.
• Recent announcements from Hut 8 and IREN linked mining firms to large-scale AI infrastructure and cloud revenue models.
• Bernstein also highlighted political pushback in the US that could slow new data center construction—making contracted capacity sourced from miners and other providers harder to replicate.

Why Bernstein still favors miners

The core of Bernstein’s argument is that AI data center development is increasingly bottlenecked by electricity access. As power becomes harder to secure, miners and other third-party computing providers—already operating energy-intensive facilities—may be better positioned to supply the incremental capacity AI companies need.

Bernstein’s note framed this as a structural opportunity rather than a short-term market trade. The firm linked the attractiveness of the mining sector to the growing number of partnerships that allow AI-focused operators to secure power and compute capacity through contracted arrangements.

July deal momentum and what it signals

Public market interest in the “AI-miner” theme accelerated after Bitcoin mining companies announced major infrastructure and cloud deals. On Monday, shares tied to AI infrastructure moves posted double-digit gains, following announcements from Hut 8 and IREN.

Hut 8 disclosed a 15-year, $9.8 billion lease for its AI data center campus. IREN, meanwhile, announced $2.8 billion in cloud services contracts with AI developers. Bernstein’s upbeat framing aligns with a broader investor focus on miners converting their physical capacity into more predictable, contract-based revenue streams.

As Seeking Alpha contributor The Curious Analyst wrote in a Thursday commentary, IREN appears to be turning an infrastructure advantage into “contracted and more predictable revenue,” while noting execution risk as the key potential downside.

Beyond those two names, other publicly traded miners also expanded their AI ambitions. Earlier in July, MARA Holdings said it planned to acquire a Texas site with up to 2 gigawatts of capacity to support its AI and digital infrastructure business. TeraWulf signed a 20-year data center lease with AI startup Anthropic, which the company said could generate roughly $19 billion in contract revenue. Bitdeer has also moved into AI cloud services and high-performance computing.

Bernstein’s ratings, as reported in the research note shared with Cointelegraph, include an outperform stance on all of the stocks it discussed except MARA, which it rates as market perform. Sector performance reflected the same narrative: CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF (WGMI) was up ahead of the Nasdaq open, with several miner stocks also higher in premarket activity.

US political friction could raise the value of contracted capacity

Bernstein’s analysis also tied the AI-miner alignment to a policy environment that could complicate new data center construction. The firm said bipartisan political pushback is increasingly shaping the timeline and feasibility of building additional facilities, especially amid concerns about local impacts such as water use and electricity costs.

In Texas, a report by the Houston Chronicle said a proposal backed by Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico would strengthen local approval processes and repeal certain tax breaks for AI data centers. In Oregon, US Senator Ron Wyden has publicly raised concerns about water scarcity during drought conditions, arguing that large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water per day and asking operators to explain how they would reduce groundwater withdrawals to protect local supplies.

At the federal level, the Trump administration published a “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” aimed at expanding AI infrastructure without increasing electricity bills for households and small businesses. Separately, state governors released plans to expand the grid to meet rapidly growing AI data center demand, while emphasizing that new facilities should bear the costs they create instead of shifting them to existing residential and small business customers.

For investors, the implication is straightforward: if political and infrastructure constraints delay new capacity coming online, the market may increasingly reward entities that already have power access and can lock in compute demand through multi-year contracts.

What to watch next

With Bernstein pointing to both deal volume and policy headwinds, the next signal for the sector is whether miners can sustain the rate of AI-linked contracting and translate that into longer-term revenue visibility—especially as regulators and local communities continue to scrutinize data center construction.