Crypto World
Strategy is selling stock to pay dividends on stock
The company raised $544.5 million in one week by issuing common shares, bought no bitcoin with it, and put it in a reserve whose stated purpose is covering preferred dividends. The obligation runs $1.76 billion a year. The flywheel that made Strategy famous now turns in the opposite direction, and the coverage is calling it bullish.
Summary
- An SEC filing covering the week ended July 26 shows Strategy sold nearly 5.43 million Class A common shares through its at-the-market programme for $544.5 million in net proceeds.
- No bitcoin was purchased with those proceeds. Holdings stayed flat at 843,775 BTC at an average cost near $75,476, a total cost basis around $63.69 billion.
- The money went into a dedicated USD Reserve, now at $3.75 billion, whose board-approved purpose is paying preferred stock dividends and interest expenses as they come due.
- Those obligations run approximately $1.76 billion annually across five preferred series, and the STRC rate rose from 11.5% to 12.00% effective July 1.
- Strategy reports second-quarter results after the close today, having already disclosed an $8.32 billion quarterly loss on digital assets and a bitcoin position carried roughly $14 billion below cost.
For four years Strategy ran the most-copied machine in corporate finance, and its logic was simple enough to fit on a slide. Issue equity at a premium to the value of the bitcoin you hold, use the proceeds to buy more bitcoin, watch bitcoin per share rise, and let the premium justify the next issuance. Every digital asset treasury company that followed copied that loop, and this publication documented what happened when the premium compressed and the loop stalled. What has happened since is different and considerably less discussed. The loop has not stalled. It has reversed. In the week ended July 26, Strategy sold nearly 5.43 million common shares for $544.5 million, bought no bitcoin at all, and placed the money in a reserve dedicated to paying dividends on the preferred stock it issued to buy bitcoin in the first place. The company now raises equity from common shareholders to service instruments held by preferred shareholders, against a bitcoin position carried roughly $14 billion below what it cost. One outlet covered the same filing under a headline about an analyst seeing $570 a share. The arithmetic underneath deserves its own reading.
What the filings show
The weekly disclosures are the most useful documents Strategy produces, because they report activity, not strategy, and the last several tell a consistent story.
For the week ended July 26, the company sold approximately 5.43 million Class A common shares through its at-the-market offering programme, generating $544.5 million in net proceeds. Bitcoin holdings were unchanged at 843,775 BTC, acquired at an average cost of roughly $75,476 per coin for a total cost basis near $63.69 billion.
The USD Reserve rose to $3.75 billion, which the company describes as covering approximately 2.1 years of preferred dividends and interest.
Set that beside the quarter it just closed. The 8-K filed on July 6 disclosed an $8.32 billion loss on digital assets for the three months ended June 30, of which $8.31 billion was unrealised, against a carrying value of $49.67 billion and an aggregate purchase price of $63.94 billion. Because cost basis exceeded fair value at quarter end, the company recorded a valuation allowance fully offsetting the deferred tax benefit associated with the unrealised loss.
The same filing disclosed sales. Strategy sold 1,363 BTC between June 29 and June 30 for $80.8 million at an average of $59,256, then 2,225 BTC between July 1 and July 5 for $135.2 million at an average of $60,773. Both tranches went for roughly $15,000 per coin below the company’s average purchase price.
The stated use of proceeds was funding preferred stock distributions and replenishing the USD Reserve.
And the enabling authority was created days earlier. On June 29 the board approved a BTC Monetization Programme permitting up to $1.25 billion of bitcoin sales for reserve purposes, alongside a $2 billion buyback split between common stock and the preferred securities, and an increase in the STRC dividend rate to 12.00%.
The obligation, sized
The reason any of this is happening is a fixed annual cash cost that most coverage of Strategy treats as a footnote.
The company has issued five preferred series, and each carries a dividend rate. STRK pays 8.00%. STRF pays 10.00%. STRD pays 10.00%. STRC, the variable-rate series, moved to 12.00% effective for record dates from July 1, payable semi-monthly. A euro-denominated series trades in Luxembourg. Together with interest expense, those obligations total approximately $1.76 billion a year.
That figure is the fulcrum of the entire situation, and three properties of it matter.
It is cash, and it is contractual. Bitcoin appreciation does not pay a preferred dividend. Only dollars do, and the company holds an asset that produces none. Every dollar of that $1.76 billion must come from somewhere other than the bitcoin, unless the bitcoin is sold.
It is senior to the common. Preferred holders receive their distributions before common shareholders receive anything, which is the ordinary structure of preferred equity and is worth stating because it determines who bears the cost of servicing it.
And it is not collateralised by the bitcoin. Strategy’s own disclosures state plainly that the preferred securities are not collateralised by the company’s bitcoin holdings and hold only a preferred claim on residual assets. The 12% yield on STRC is not a claim on 843,775 bitcoin. It is a claim on whatever is left after everything else, funded in practice by whatever the company can raise or sell.
Put those together and the machine’s current operation becomes legible. The obligation is fixed and in dollars, the asset produces no dollars, so the dollars come from issuing shares, and the shares are issued by the common holders whose claim sits behind the obligation being paid.
The inversion
It is worth putting the old flywheel and the new one side by side, because the same activities appear in both and they mean opposite things.
The original loop. Strategy trades at two to three times the market value of its bitcoin. It issues equity into that premium. Because it pays roughly a third to a half of net asset value for each dollar raised, the issuance is accretive: bitcoin per share rises even as share count grows. Existing holders benefit from the dilution. Reflexively, the rising bitcoin-per-share figure supports the premium that permits the next raise.
The current loop. The premium has compressed to roughly one times net asset value, from historical levels of two to three. At that multiple, issuing equity is no longer accretive; each new share buys approximately its own proportional share of bitcoin, and existing holders gain nothing from the dilution. The proceeds do not buy bitcoin at all. They fund a reserve that pays preferred dividends. Bitcoin per share falls, because the count rises and the holdings do not.
Same at-the-market programme, same filings, opposite economics. Under the original loop, dilution was the mechanism by which common holders got richer. Under the current one, dilution is the mechanism by which preferred holders get paid.
The company’s own framing does not dispute the mechanics, and its case is a liquidity case, not an accretion case: a reserve covering 2.1 years of obligations removes the risk of a forced bitcoin sale at a bad price and requires no recovery in the bitcoin price to function. That is a real argument, and it is a different argument from the one that made the stock famous.
The dilution fight, both sides
Two camps have formed around exactly this question, and both deserve their strongest version.
The critics’ case, argued most publicly by Peter Schiff, is that repeated issuance at or near one times net asset value dilutes common shareholders while the bitcoin position sits underwater relative to cost. The sharper version notes that Strategy had signalled restraint on dilution once the premium compressed, and then kept selling shares anyway to prioritise the cash buffer. On this reading, common holders are being diluted to guarantee a 12% coupon to a different class of security, and the company is choosing preferred solvency over common value.
The defenders’ case, argued by Benchmark’s Mark Palmer among others, is that near-term dilution is outweighed by the removal of refinancing and dividend-payment risk. A balance sheet with 2.1 years of coverage cannot be forced into distressed bitcoin sales, which protects the asset base for a recovery. On this reading the dilution buys optionality, and a company that survives a drawdown intact captures the upside that a forced seller does not. Palmer’s price target sits at $570; the consensus across fourteen analysts is near $321.
Both are internally coherent, and the disagreement is really about time horizon. The critics are pricing the next several quarters, in which dilution is certain and recovery is not. The defenders are pricing a cycle, in which survival is the precondition for everything else. Neither side disputes the arithmetic, which is unusual and clarifying.
What both sides skip is the third party. The preferred holders are receiving 8% to 12% on instruments explicitly not secured by the bitcoin, funded by equity issuance from a company whose asset is carried $14 billion below cost. That is a good deal while the equity market remains willing to buy the shares. It is a claim on residual assets if it stops.
What the market has already said
Prices are the compressed version of all of the above, and they have moved.
The common has fallen sharply, down roughly 68% over a twelve-month period at one point during this stretch, and traded near $101 around the time the buyback was announced. Management repurchasing common at that level was read as a signal that the company considered its own shares cheap relative to their bitcoin content even at a one-times multiple, which is a defensible reading and also an admission about where the multiple is.
The preferred has its own signal. STRC traded below its $100 par value ahead of the rate increase, which is the market pricing dividend-coverage risk, not dividend generosity. Raising the rate to 12.00% and moving to semi-monthly payments are both responses to that: a higher coupon and more frequent cash make the instrument easier to hold at par. The reserve build is the third response, and the most expensive.
There is also a legal overhang. A law firm announced an investigation in late June, and the announcement coincided with pressure on the shares. Investigations of this kind are common for companies whose stock has fallen steeply and frequently produce nothing, and they also raise the cost of every capital markets decision while they run.
The copycats have no buffer
The reason this matters beyond one company is that Strategy’s template was copied across dozens of listed vehicles, and almost none of them have the balance sheet to run the manoeuvre currently underway.
The template as copied had three components: raise capital, buy a token, trade above net asset value so the next raise is accretive. Most imitators skipped the fourth thing Strategy built, which was a capital structure deep enough to survive the premium disappearing. Strategy has a $21 billion equity offering authorisation, an at-the-market programme capable of moving half a billion dollars in a week, five preferred series across two exchanges, a $2 billion buyback authorisation, a $1.25 billion monetisation programme, and a $3.75 billion cash reserve. That is not a treasury company. It is a capital markets operation with a treasury attached.
The vehicles that copied the visible half face the same arithmetic with none of that. A listed treasury company at one times net asset value cannot issue accretively, and one below it cannot issue at all without visibly destroying value. If it also carries fixed obligations, the only remaining source of cash is selling the asset, which is the outcome Strategy has spent $3.75 billion specifically to avoid. Our audit of an XRP treasury vehicle arriving at its listing gate with holdings more than fifty percent below cost describes what that position looks like before any buffer exists.
There is a further asymmetry worth naming. Strategy’s preferred instruments trade, which gives the market a continuous read on whether coverage is believed. STRC below par is a signal, and the company has responded to that signal twice, with a rate increase and a reserve build. Most imitators have no comparable instrument and therefore no comparable signal, which means their solvency questions surface later and more abruptly.
So the sector reading is not that Strategy is in trouble. It is that Strategy is executing an expensive, visible, well-capitalised response to a problem every vehicle built on its template shares, and that most of them cannot execute the same response. What the archetype does with a $3.75 billion buffer is what the imitators will have to do without one.
What tonight’s print should answer
Strategy reports second-quarter results after the close today, with a webinar following. The headline loss is already public, so the useful content is elsewhere.
Whether the equity issuance continues at this pace. Half a billion dollars in a single week is a rate that, sustained, would add several billion in dilution over a year. Guidance on the reserve target relative to the $3.75 billion already held is the number that matters.
Whether the BTC Monetization Programme gets used. The $1.25 billion authorisation from June 29 remains largely available. Drawing on it would mean choosing bitcoin sales over further dilution, which is a real strategic choice with a visible constituency on each side.
Whether the preferred stack grows. New issuance in the preferred tier would raise the annual obligation above $1.76 billion, which is the number every other decision here is measured against.
And what management says about accretion. For four years the company reported bitcoin per share as its central metric because the loop made it rise. It now falls with every issuance. How that is addressed on the call, or whether it is addressed, is the clearest available signal about how the company understands its own position.
Where the reserve came from matters
One more distinction deserves drawing, because “building a cash reserve” sounds prudent in a way that obscures who paid for it.
There are three ways a company can fund a dollar reserve. It can generate operating cash flow, which Strategy’s software business does at a scale immaterial against a $1.76 billion obligation. It can borrow, which adds interest expense to the very cost it is trying to cover and requires a lender comfortable with the collateral. Or it can sell claims on itself, either equity or the asset.
Strategy has chosen the third, in both forms. Roughly $544.5 million came from selling common shares in a single week. Roughly $216 million came from selling bitcoin at prices about $15,000 below cost. Both transfer value out of the existing common holders’ claim: the first by dividing the same asset base across more shares, the second by shrinking the asset base itself at a realised loss.
That is not a criticism of prudence. A reserve genuinely removes forced-seller risk, and forced selling during a drawdown is how treasury companies die rather than merely disappoint. The point is narrower: the reserve is not new value created by the company. It is existing value converted from a volatile form into a liquid one, at a cost borne by one class of shareholder for the benefit of another, and the conversion happened at prices the company itself would have called unattractive eighteen months ago.
The version of this that would change the assessment is operating cash flow large enough to cover the obligation, which would make the preferred coupon self-funding and the entire discussion moot. Strategy does not have that and has never claimed to. What it has is an asset that appreciates sometimes and a coupon that comes due every fifteen days.
What to watch after
The weekly filings. They are the highest-frequency disclosure Strategy produces and they report the actual activity: shares sold, proceeds, bitcoin bought or sold, reserve balance. Read them as a series rather than individually; the trend in bitcoin per share is the whole story in one line.
The reserve against the obligation. Coverage of 2.1 years is comfortable. What matters is the direction: whether the reserve grows faster than the obligation, and at what cost in dilution.
STRC against par. The preferred trading at or above $100 means the market believes coverage. Below par means it does not, and the company has already raised the rate once in response.
Bitcoin’s price relative to $75,476. That is the average cost basis. Above it, the position is profitable and every argument here softens. Roughly $15,000 below it, which is where recent sales executed, every sale realises a loss and every dilution decision gets harder.
Whether the sector follows. Strategy is the archetype, and the treasury companies built on its template face the same arithmetic with less capital and shorter histories. Our coverage of one such vehicle arriving at its listing more than fifty percent underwater describes what this looks like without a $3.75 billion buffer.
The metric that stopped working
One detail deserves separate treatment because it is the cleanest illustration of what has changed, and it is a metric Strategy invented.
For years the company reported bitcoin per share as its headline performance measure, and it was the right measure for the strategy it was running. If you issue equity at a premium and spend the proceeds on bitcoin, the number rises, and it rises specifically because of the dilution that would ordinarily be a cost. Bitcoin per share made the loop legible: it converted an unconventional capital structure into a single figure that either went up or did not. Investors learned to watch it, imitators learned to report it, and it became the sector’s standard.
That metric now moves the wrong way by construction. Issuing shares while holdings stay flat reduces bitcoin per share mechanically, and the current programme does exactly that at a rate of roughly half a billion dollars a week. Selling bitcoin to fund dividends reduces it twice, through both the numerator and, if paired with issuance, the denominator. There is no configuration of the present strategy in which the company’s own signature metric improves.
Which creates a communication problem with no clean answer. Abandoning the metric invites the observation that it was only ever reported while it flattered. Retaining it means publishing a declining number every week. Reframing it, toward liquidity coverage or years of dividend runway, is the most likely path and is also an admission that the measure of success has changed from accumulation to survival.
Watch which of those three the company chooses, because it is the most honest available indicator of how management understands its own position. Metrics get retired when strategies do, and the retirement usually precedes the acknowledgment by several quarters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Strategy’s latest filing actually disclose?
For the week ended July 26, 2026, the company sold approximately 5.43 million Class A common shares through its at-the-market programme for $544.5 million in net proceeds, purchased no bitcoin, held holdings steady at 843,775 BTC at an average cost near $75,476, and lifted its dedicated USD Reserve to $3.75 billion, described as roughly 2.1 years of preferred dividend and interest coverage.
Why is Strategy issuing shares if it is not buying bitcoin?
To fund a cash reserve whose board-approved purpose is paying preferred stock dividends and interest as they come due. Those obligations total approximately $1.76 billion annually across five preferred series and must be paid in dollars, while bitcoin produces no cash flow. The alternatives are selling bitcoin or issuing equity, and the company has chosen mostly the latter.
How is this different from Strategy’s original strategy?
It is the inverse. The original loop issued equity at two to three times net asset value, making each raise accretive because proceeds bought more bitcoin per share than the dilution cost. With the multiple compressed near one times, issuance is no longer accretive, and the proceeds fund dividends rather than purchases, so bitcoin per share falls with each raise.
Are the preferred dividends secured by the bitcoin?
No. Strategy’s own disclosures state that the preferred securities are not collateralised by its bitcoin holdings and hold only a preferred claim on residual assets. The 8% to 12% yields are claims on the company generally, funded in practice by capital raising and, when authorised, bitcoin sales.
Has Strategy sold bitcoin?
Yes. It sold 1,363 BTC between June 29 and June 30 for $80.8 million, and a further 2,225 BTC between July 1 and July 5 for $135.2 million, roughly $216 million in total at average prices around $15,000 below its own cost basis. Proceeds funded preferred distributions and replenished the reserve. A $1.25 billion monetisation authorisation remains largely unused.
What is the argument that this is bullish?
That a reserve covering 2.1 years of obligations eliminates the risk of forced bitcoin sales at distressed prices, requires no recovery in bitcoin to function, and preserves the asset base for an eventual upcycle. On this view, near-term dilution buys survival, and survival is what allows a treasury company to capture a recovery. Benchmark’s price target is $570 against a consensus near $321.
What is the argument that it is not?
That issuing equity at or near one times net asset value transfers value from common shareholders to preferred holders, that the company signalled restraint on dilution once the premium compressed and then continued selling shares anyway, and that bitcoin per share, the metric the company itself made central, now declines with every raise.
What should investors watch tonight and afterward?
Whether the pace of equity issuance continues, whether the bitcoin monetisation authorisation gets used, whether the preferred stack grows and raises the annual obligation above $1.76 billion, how management addresses bitcoin per share, and in the weekly filings afterward, the direction of the reserve relative to the obligation and of STRC relative to its $100 par. This is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Disclaimer: This article is for information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Figures reflect regulatory filings and reporting available at the time of writing and change with each disclosure. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or asset. Always do your own research. Information is accurate as of July 30, 2026.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has introduced legislation aimed at creating a dedicated US anti-corruption bureau, arguing that existing oversight is not designed to stop presidents from profiting while in office—an accusation he ties directly to President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency-related investments.
Schumer’s proposal, the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act, would establish a new federal agency with authority to “investigate, enforce, and prevent executive branch corruption,” according to a Thursday announcement from Schumer’s office. The bill also seeks to consolidate key ethics and enforcement bodies under one roof—an approach lawmakers supporting the measure say could strengthen accountability more than the current “patchwork” of watchdogs.
Key takeaways
- Schumer’s bill would create a new federal anti-corruption bureau with investigative, enforcement, and preventive powers focused on executive branch conduct.
- The legislation points to reported Trump earnings from investments, including cryptocurrency exposure, as part of a broader argument for tighter safeguards.
- The proposed bureau would incorporate the Federal Election Commission, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Office of Special Counsel into a single structure.
- Supporters are also pushing the measure alongside continued negotiations over the Senate’s crypto market-structure effort, the CLARITY Act, which still lacks a scheduled vote.
- Even if the bureau legislation clears Congress, Trump could veto it; overriding a veto would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
A new enforcement model pitched as a response to crypto-related conflicts
In a statement released with the bill introduction, Schumer said he had introduced the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act to address executive branch corruption more directly. The proposal is built around Congress’ findings—stated in the bill text—that Trump disclosed earning more than $2 billion from investments in 2025, including $1.4 billion associated with cryptocurrency, and that his family holds more than $1 billion in a crypto fund tied to foreign governments.
Schumer framed the new agency as having “real teeth,” emphasizing that it would include enforcement authority rather than acting only as a monitor. He also said the bureau would be staffed by a bipartisan group of seven members confirmed by the Senate.
To address remedies for wrongdoing, the bill includes mechanisms allowing private citizens and state authorities to pursue recovery of funds that Schumer described as stolen from Americans “through corruption.”
“This new bureau is one where these institutions work in symbiosis, strengthening each other and eliminating barriers between them which often got in the way,” Schumer said. “It replaces a broken patchwork of watchdogs, none of which were built for this moment, with one, powerful anti-corruption agency, ready to act anywhere, anytime corruption strikes.”
White House pushes back on conflict claims tied to investment accounts
The anti-corruption push arrives amid persistent Democratic criticism of Trump’s involvement in the crypto industry while in office. Schumer’s office noted concerns that have also hovered over the Senate’s broader crypto policy effort, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act.
While the White House agreed to certain ethics provisions in CLARITY, many lawmakers have argued those changes do not adequately address potential conflicts of interest.
In a statement to Cointelegraph, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly reiterated the administration’s position that there were “no conflicts of interest” related to Trump’s investments. Kelly said the investments were “held in fully discretionary accounts managed by independent third-party financial institutions.”
Consolidating ethics and enforcement under one “roof”
A notable feature of Schumer’s bill is its plan to reorganize parts of the federal oversight landscape. The proposal would place the US Federal Election Commission, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Office of Special Counsel “under one roof” within the new bureau.
The intent, as described in Schumer’s remarks, is to reduce the friction between agencies and streamline action when corruption is alleged—an argument he made by contrasting the proposed bureau with what he characterized as outdated or mismatched oversight structures.
Schumer introduced the bill with cosponsors Andy Kim, Alex Padilla, and Jeff Merkley.
What’s happening with the Senate’s CLARITY Act remains uncertain
Schumer’s anti-corruption initiative is moving alongside a separate, more technical fight in the Senate: whether and when the CLARITY Act will advance.
The article notes that the Senate has just over a week before lawmakers break for a month-long state work period. That calendar pressure is heightening uncertainty for pending legislation, including CLARITY, especially as lawmakers face the prospect of competing priorities ahead of the 2026 midterms.
As of Thursday, the Senate had not scheduled a vote on the CLARITY Act, despite encouragement from some Republican lawmakers and industry figures. Former Securities and Exchange Commission official John Reed Stark said the situation is difficult to predict, describing “enormous drama” surrounding the bill and stating that experts he spoke with could not confidently forecast what would happen that week.
Industry leaders have also signaled confidence while acknowledging timing risks. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the bill was at the “one-yard line,” while Senator Cynthia Lummis continued pushing for a vote, according to posts cited in the report.
Legislative math: momentum doesn’t eliminate veto risk
Even if Schumer’s anti-corruption bureau legislation gains traction, it still faces major hurdles. The bill would require Republican support in both chambers to pass, with the party holding only a slim majority in the Senate. If it clears the Senate and House before 2028, President Trump could still veto the legislation.
Overriding a presidential veto would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, leaving the outcome dependent on whether Democrats can sustain enough cross-party backing.
For crypto watchers, the near-term focus is likely to split: whether the Senate can find a path forward on the CLARITY Act before its schedule runs out, and whether Schumer’s anti-corruption bureau proposal gains enough bipartisan traction to survive both legislative and veto thresholds—especially given the ongoing dispute over how (or whether) current ethics arrangements address potential conflicts tied to crypto.
Samsung SDS has identified stablecoin infrastructure as the first major collaboration area under its investment in Dunamu, outlining plans to combine blockchain, AI and cloud technologies as part of its digital asset strategy.
Summary
- Samsung SDS said its investment in Dunamu is part of a strategy to build digital asset infrastructure rather than a financial investment.
- The company is discussing stablecoin infrastructure, AI powered payments and virtual asset financial systems with Dunamu.
- Samsung SDS reported 17% cloud revenue growth and a 75% jump in external cloud business during the second quarter.
- The company plans to expand its AI infrastructure from 110 MW today to more than 800 MW by 2031.
According to Samsung SDS during its second-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, the company has been discussing stablecoin infrastructure, AI-powered next-generation payments and virtual asset financial system integration with Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit.
Samsung SDS has outlined how its Dunamu investment will be used
Samsung SDS President Lee Joon-hee said the company’s stake in Dunamu was made to enter the digital asset infrastructure business rather than as a financial investment. He said Samsung SDS intends to combine Dunamu’s blockchain operating experience with its own IT services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cybersecurity capabilities to strengthen digital financial infrastructure.
Lee added that the companies are considering business opportunities spanning stablecoin infrastructure, AI-based payment systems and system integration services built around virtual assets. According to Samsung SDS, discussions are continuing as both sides work toward developing concrete business models.
The comments provide the clearest description yet of Samsung SDS’s plans after it invested in Dunamu earlier this year.
In May, Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card agreed to acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu for 612.8 billion won, or about $408 million, by purchasing 1.39 million shares from Kakao-linked entities. Samsung SDS acquired a 1% stake, while Samsung Securities purchased 2% and Samsung Card acquired the remaining 1%.
At the time, Samsung SDS said it planned to combine its AI, cloud, security and data management services with Dunamu’s blockchain expertise, while Dunamu said it expected cooperation on blockchain investment products, payment infrastructure and AI-related blockchain applications.
Stablecoin plans extend Samsung’s digital asset push
The latest comments come less than a week after Samsung Electronics disclosed plans to bring stablecoin support to Samsung Wallet.
During the Galaxy Unpacked event on July 24, Samsung Electronics said the wallet application will support stablecoins alongside payments, rewards and digital assets, although it did not disclose launch dates, supported tokens, blockchain networks or regional availability.
Product manager Lee Dinham said at the event that Samsung Wallet would expand beyond conventional payment functions to include stablecoins, allowing users to transfer digital value directly from compatible Galaxy devices.
Together, the wallet announcement and Samsung SDS’s latest remarks indicate that Samsung’s digital asset initiatives now extend from consumer payment products to the infrastructure supporting blockchain-based financial services.
The direction also differs from Samsung’s response to Open Standard’s proposed OUSD stablecoin consortium earlier this month. According to South Korean newspaper Chosun, Samsung said it had not held formal consultations with Open Standard and did not know what role it was expected to play after being listed as a founding consortium member. Dunamu, Shinhan Bank and K-Bank also told the newspaper they were still reviewing the proposal and had not approved participation.
Cloud growth has supported Samsung SDS results
Samsung SDS disclosed alongside the conference call that second-quarter revenue increased 5.9% year over year to 3.7178 trillion won, while operating profit rose 0.7% to 231.8 billion won. Net profit climbed 4.6% to 184.1 billion won.
IT services revenue reached 1.7625 trillion won, up 5% from a year earlier.
Cloud operations remained the fastest-growing segment. Revenue from the cloud business increased 17% to 779.4 billion won, while external cloud business revenue jumped 75% year over year.
According to Samsung SDS, cloud service provider revenue grew 24% as demand for Samsung Cloud Platform increased and GPU-as-a-Service deployments expanded across public-sector and enterprise customers. Cloud management services revenue also rose 17%, supported by AI transformation projects in the financial sector and enterprise resource planning deployments within South Korea’s shipbuilding industry.
AI infrastructure expansion will also support blockchain services
Alongside its blockchain plans, Samsung SDS said it continues expanding AI infrastructure and enterprise AI offerings.
The company said it was recently selected as a core operator under South Korea’s government-backed GPU infrastructure program and launched an NPU-as-a-Service product based on FuriosaAI’s Renegade neural processing chip. It has also secured AI-related projects with Woori Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea while maintaining partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Cloud for generative AI services.
Samsung SDS currently operates about 110 megawatts of AI infrastructure and plans to expand capacity to 230 megawatts by 2029. According to the company, that figure is expected to exceed 800 megawatts by 2031 when design, construction and operational projects are included.
The infrastructure buildout accompanies Samsung SDS’s strategy of pairing its cloud and AI capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain platform as the companies continue discussions around stablecoin infrastructure, digital asset payment systems and virtual asset financial technology services.
The Bank of Korea has successfully completed live cross-border payment tests using tokenized central bank reserves under the Bank for International Settlements-led Project Agora, processing transactions across six currencies and multiple payment scenarios.
Summary
- Bank of Korea completed live Project Agora payment tests using tokenized reserve funds across six currencies.
- South Korean banks tested cross border settlements including a 20 million won transfer using tokenized reserves.
- The trial linked Project Hangang with the BIS platform to validate real world payment workflows.
- The central bank plans additional Project Agora tests covering more payment scenarios and transaction types.
According to the Bank of Korea, the central bank participated in the latest round of Project Agora real transaction testing alongside 27 other central banks and private financial institutions, confirming that the platform’s core functions and operating processes worked reliably in an environment designed to mirror real-world payment operations.
The exercise covered the Korean won, U.S. dollar, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Japanese yen. South Korea’s participating commercial banks included KB Kookmin Bank, NongHyup Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank and Hana Bank.
Participating institutions processed transactions worth about 800,000 Swiss francs across 17 payment scenarios.
The Bank of Korea said the tests successfully handled several cross-border payment use cases, including single- and dual-currency settlements between companies and banks, payment-versus-payment foreign exchange settlements and fund transfers within the same financial group.
Project Agora has linked tokenized reserves with cross-border payments
For its domestic test, the Bank of Korea worked with NongHyup Bank and Shinhan Bank to transfer 20 million won between the two lenders using tokenized reserve funds. According to the central bank, it received payment instructions from both banks before issuing, transferring, and redeeming tokenized reserves on the Project Agora platform.
The process also included a manual connection between Project Hangang, the Bank of Korea’s wholesale central bank digital currency platform, and the central bank’s existing financial network to validate interoperability during the transaction.
Separately, KB Kookmin Bank became the first South Korean commercial bank to complete a deposit token payment test with an overseas lender after conducting a yen-based settlement trial with Japan’s MUFG Bank. The bank said the results would support its participation in future phases of Project Agora.
The Bank of Korea said additional live transaction tests would follow as the project expands to cover payment types and operational scenarios that were not included in the latest exercise.
Project Hangang has supported South Korea’s digital payment plans
The latest cross-border testing builds on South Korea’s efforts to extend Project Hangang beyond institutional pilots and into commercial payment infrastructure.
As previously reported, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency launched a 9.6 billion won program earlier this month to connect Project Hangang with the country’s existing payment network. The initiative is led by the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute and includes nine commercial banks, payment gateway providers and large merchants testing deposit token payments for everyday retail transactions.
Instead of replacing existing payment terminals, the project allows banks to issue deposit token wallets while merchants continue using current point-of-sale systems. Government agencies also plan to test deposit tokens for public-sector payments before integrating the technology with South Korea’s digital public finance platform.
The Bank of Korea has consistently distinguished deposit tokens from stablecoins. Deposit tokens represent commercial bank deposits issued through a wholesale CBDC framework operated by the central bank, while stablecoins are separate digital assets backed by reserve assets under their own regulatory model.
Bank of Korea has continued to prioritize CBDCs alongside Project Agora
The successful testing also follows Governor Shin Hyun-song’s digital finance agenda announced after he took office in April.
In his inaugural speech, Shin said the Bank of Korea would continue expanding Project Hangang while participating in international initiatives such as Project Agora to strengthen cross-border payment infrastructure and support the Korean won in digital finance.
Although lawmakers have continued drafting stablecoin legislation under the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, Shin’s speech focused on wholesale CBDCs and tokenized bank deposits rather than privately issued stablecoins.
His earlier work at the Bank for International Settlements argued that multiple privately issued stablecoins could fragment payment systems, though later reports indicated he had become more open to stablecoins operating alongside CBDCs under an appropriate framework.
South Korea has advanced stablecoin legislation separately
While the central bank continues testing tokenized reserves and deposit tokens, lawmakers and financial regulators have been developing a separate legal framework for stablecoins.
The Financial Services Commission recently told the National Assembly that it intends to consolidate ten pending digital asset proposals into a single Digital Asset Basic Act covering stablecoin issuance, exchanges, disclosures, governance and operational resilience. The regulator has not published a final draft or announced a submission date.
Separately, a policy report published by Hashed Open Research and the Solana Policy Institute recommended introducing interim licensing guidance for won-backed stablecoins before the full legislation is completed. Participants at the June symposium cited in the report argued that temporary rules could help regulated businesses prepare for stablecoin issuance and payment services while lawmakers continue negotiating the final framework.
The Bank of Korea has maintained that banks should play a leading role in any future stablecoin model because of monetary policy, foreign exchange and financial stability considerations. Ownership rules for stablecoin issuers, however, remain under discussion, with lawmakers and regulators continuing consultations before the proposed legislation moves forward.
Bitget Wallet will launch Assetback on Aug. 1, allowing eligible card users to convert purchase rewards automatically into Bitcoin, tokenized gold, U.S. equity tokens, an exchange-traded fund token or USDC.
Summary
- Seven reward assets include Bitcoin, tokenized gold, three U.S. stocks, an ETF, and USDC options.
- Eligible cardholders receive 2% base rewards, while qualifying users can unlock 3% during booster periods.
- Rewards become redeemable seven days after transactions and require at least one USDC before withdrawal.
The company said users can select one of seven assets: BTC, Tether Gold, tokenized Nvidia, Tesla and Alphabet shares, an S&P 500 product, or USDC. Rewards will be generated from qualifying purchases made with the Bitget Wallet Card.
Bitget Wallet replaces cash rewards with seven assets
Assetback provides a 2% base reward for cardholders. New users and customers who meet a monthly spending threshold can receive up to 3% through a booster tier. Once unlocked, the higher rate applies during that calendar month and the next one.
Users may change their selected reward asset once each month. USDC rewards are credited to the card balance, while other rewards can be moved to a rewards account after reaching at least one USDC in accumulated value. Redemption becomes available seven days after the underlying transaction.
However, the advertised rate does not apply to every payment. Bitget Wallet says monthly caps, merchant-category exclusions and risk reviews apply. Refunded, reversed or cancelled transactions do not qualify. The model also replaces the card’s previous zero-fee rewards program, so users should review regional fees and limits.
Tokenized stocks provide exposure, not standard shares
The stock and ETF rewards will use xStocks, which issues blockchain tokens backed by securities held in custody. Available choices include Nvidia, Tesla, Alphabet and an S&P 500-linked product. xStocks says each token is backed one-for-one by underlying securities.
However, tokenized equities are not identical to holding shares through a conventional brokerage account. Rights, redemption access, trading availability and investor protections depend on the issuer, platform and user’s location. Bitget Wallet also describes the rewards as available only to eligible users.
As previously reported, Bitget Wallet added more than 130 xStocks products in May, allowing users to access tokenized equities through its self-custodial application. In related coverage, crypto.news explained how tokenized stocks work, including issuer, custody, liquidity and regulatory risks.
Card access still depends on each user’s region
Bitget Wallet says the card serves markets across Europe, Asia and Latin America, with availability also expanding in Africa. Its official card page states that cards may operate through Visa or Mastercard depending on the regional issuing partner. The product supports Apple Pay and Google Pay in eligible markets.
The card converts selected crypto assets to fiat when users pay merchants. Official terms state that customers must complete identity checks and live in supported jurisdictions. The terms also permit applicable conversion, foreign-exchange and other charges, meaning Assetback should not be treated as a guaranteed net return.
Bitget Wallet says it has more than 100 million users and that spending through its card nearly tripled during the first half of 2026. It also cited monthly crypto-card payment volume of $656 million in May, up from $271 million one year earlier. Those figures are company-provided and have not been independently audited.
The Aug. 1 rollout will test actual demand
Users will need Bitget Wallet app version 9.5.3 or later to access the updated card. After selecting an asset, eligible cashback will be converted automatically, creating small recurring purchases rather than requiring a separate trade after every card payment.Bitget Wallet describes the process as applying “dollar-cost averaging” to routine spending. That is a company characterization, not a promise that the selected assets will gain value. Bitcoin, tokenized gold and equity-linked products can rise or fall after rewards are credited.
There is no verified market reaction because Bitget Wallet is not publicly traded and the announcement does not introduce a new token. The next measurable updates will be redemption activity, reward volumes and whether regional cardholders adopt non-cash rewards after Aug. 1.
South Korea’s KOSPI index surged by double digits on Friday morning. The rebound follows back-to-back circuit breakers on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as sharp monthly losses.
Stronger-than-expected cloud results from Microsoft and Amazon revived confidence in AI spending, sparking a chip rally across Seoul and Tokyo.
KOSPI Rebound Triggers Buy-Side Sidecar in Seoul
According to Google Finance, KOSPI stood at 6,440.14, up 15.13% at press time. The index gained 846.58 points from Thursday’s close of 5,593.56 by 10:30 a.m. local time.
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A buy-side sidecar was triggered at 9:06 a.m., suspending program trading for five minutes. The KOSDAQ saw a similar curb after touching an intraday high of 693.81. At press time, it was up by 8.91%.
The rally was carried by index heavyweights. SK Hynix jumped 27.69% to 1,688,000 won, while Samsung Electronics climbed 21.74% to 252,000 won.
The bounce comes after days of turmoil. Circuit breakers halted both markets on July 28 and 29, forcing an emergency government meeting after 864.5 trillion won evaporated in two sessions.
Before this session, July ranked as the market’s worst crash ever, with the KOSPI down over 33% for the month.
US Cloud Earnings Reignite the AI Trade
The catalyst came from Wall Street overnight. Microsoft rallied 16% Thursday after Azure growth beat forecasts, and Amazon jumped over 9% in extended trading on stronger-than-expected second-quarter revenue.
The Nasdaq climbed 2.78%, and the S&P 500 added 1.66%. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia semiconductor index soared 8.2%, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) gained more than 8%.
The rally spilled into Tokyo. Advantest surged 17.92%, and Tokyo Electron climbed 9.67%. SoftBank Group rose 15.12%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 5.35%, and the broader Topix gained 2.32%.
Whether the rebound holds is the next test. Even after Friday’s surge, the KOSPI trades roughly 31% below its June record of 9,385.59.
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The post KOSPI Snaps Back 15% as Asia’s AI Chip Rally Returns appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
The latest Duel.com referral code, DUEL5, offers new users access to instant rakeback rewards and enhanced RTP benefits on eligible Duel Originals.
Summary
- Duel.com updated its DUEL5 referral code, offering new users 50% instant rakeback and access to 100% RTP Duel Originals.
- New Duel.com users can unlock 50% instant rakeback and permanent 100% RTP Duel Originals with the DUEL5 referral code.
- DUEL5 referral code gives Duel.com players permanent rakeback and Duel Originals rewards.
Looking for the latest Duel.com referral code? The current working code is DUEL5. New players who enter DUEL5 during registration unlock 50% instant rakeback on eligible casino games and gain permanent access to 100% RTP Duel Originals, making it one of the most valuable long-term offers available on the platform.
Unlike traditional welcome bonuses that expire after a wagering requirement is met, the DUEL5 referral code improves your account permanently. Every eligible wager earns instant rakeback, while Duel’s in-house Originals are designed to operate at a full 100% return to player (RTP), meaning there is no built-in house edge within the stated limits of those games.
Launched in July 2025 by Nevis-registered Immortal Snail LLC, Duel.com is the crypto casino created by Ossi “Monarch” Ketola, founder of the well-known CS skin betting platform CSGOEmpire. Today, Duel offers more than 5,000 casino games, live dealers, Duel Originals, and a full cryptocurrency sportsbook.
What is the Duel.com referral code?
The current Duel.com referral code is: DUEL5
Entering DUEL5 during registration permanently activates:
- 50% instant rakeback on eligible casino wagers.
- Access to Duel Originals with 100% RTP.
- Leaderboard eligibility with daily and monthly prize pools.
- Rewards that continue for as long as the account remains active.
Because referral codes cannot be added after an account is created, new users should enter DUEL5 during the sign-up process.
How to sign up on Duel.com with referral code DUEL5
- Go to the official Duel.com website.
The first and most important step to the genuine platform. New players can either use the trusted link or type Duel.com directly into their browser. Stay vigilant against phishing scams — plenty of fake sites try to pass themselves off as the real Duel online casino. - Click the Register button.
This can be found in the top-right corner of the website. Once it is clicked, a pop-up window will open containing the registration form.
- Create a username and password.
Both fields are required. The username is public, showing up in Castle Roulette chat and on leaderboards, so pick something you are happy being seen under. Use a password unique to this account, and turn on two-factor authentication in settings before making a deposit. A crypto balance has no bank behind it to reverse an unauthorized withdrawal.
Track live Castle Roulette results
For those who regularly play Castle Roulette, it’s worth keeping an eye on recent results using the DuelRewards.io Castle Roulette Tracker. Available at Duel Castle Roulette website, the tracker records every completed spin in real time, making it easy to review recent history without manually logging outcomes.
The tracker displays live Castle Roulette results, recent multiplier history, streaks, droughts, and historical statistics, giving players a clear overview of how the game has unfolded over time. Whether you’re checking which multipliers have appeared recently or reviewing previous sessions, everything is available in one place.
Because Castle Roulette is a provably fair game, each spin is generated independently of the last. This means no tracker can predict future results or increase your chances of winning. Instead, the DuelRewards.io tracker is designed as an informational tool, allowing players to monitor live data, analyze historical results, and follow the game’s activity as it happens.
For those who are already using the DUEL5 referral code to unlock 50% instant rakeback and 100% RTP Duel Originals, pairing it with the DuelRewards.ioCastle Roulette Tracker gives them a convenient way to stay up to date with every Castle Roulette spin while they play.
- Decide whether to add an email.
Email is optional here, part of Duel’s no-KYC approach. Tick the Email box to reveal the field. Adding one gives you an account recovery path. Skipping it keeps things more private, but recovery becomes much harder if you lose access.
- Tick the Referral code box and enter DUEL5.
This is the step that decides whether you get the offer. Ticking the checkbox below the email option reveals an input field. Type DUEL5 in manually, and read it back before you move on. Duel will not add a code after registration, so missing this field permanently forfeits the rakeback and 100% RTP on that account.
- Accept the Terms & Conditions and click Create Account.
Worth an actual read rather than a reflex tick, particularly the restricted-jurisdiction list and the withdrawal terms.
- Deposit and start playing.
Duel is crypto-only, accepting BTC, ETH, USDT, SOL, LTC, and more than 10 other assets, with deposits usually confirming within minutes. Rakeback accrues from your first wager and credits as bets settle, and the Duel Originals section is where the 100% RTP applies.
What does DUEL5 unlock?
Most crypto casinos focus on offering large one-time deposit bonuses that often come with high wagering requirements. Duel takes a different approach by rewarding every qualifying wager instead.
50% instant rakeback
With DUEL5, half of the house edge is returned instantly on eligible games including many slots, live dealer tables, and game shows.
Unlike a traditional casino bonus:
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- Rewards are credited automatically.
- Rakeback is available immediately after eligible wagers settle.
- There is no expiry on the benefit.
For players who wager regularly, ongoing rakeback can provide significantly more long-term value than a one-time welcome bonus.
100% RTP Duel originals
One of Duel’s biggest selling points is its collection of Duel Originals.
Games including Crash, Dice, Mines, Plinko, Blackjack, and Castle Roulette are designed to operate at 100% RTP, meaning there is no built-in house edge within the game’s published mechanics.
Castle Roulette has become one of the platform’s signature games, featuring multipliers from 2x up to 48x alongside provably fair verification, allowing players to independently verify every completed round.
Duel.com referral codes for 2026
| Code | Benefit | Wagering | Expiry |
| DUEL5 | 50% instant rakeback + 100% RTP on Duel Originals | None | Permanent |
Rather than rewarding only your first deposit, DUEL5 continues providing value every time you play.
Is the Duel.com referral code worth using?
For players planning to use Duel regularly, DUEL5 is one of the platform’s strongest available sign-up offers because it provides permanent benefits instead of temporary promotional credits.
Instead of relying on a single welcome bonus, the referral code continually reduces the effective cost of eligible wagering through instant rakeback while also unlocking Duel Originals that operate at 100% RTP.
Important things to know
While the referral code improves the value of your account, gambling always involves risk. A game with 100% RTP does not guarantee profit, and short-term results remain unpredictable.
Duel currently accepts cryptocurrency only, with support for assets including BTC, ETH, SOL, USDT, and others.
The platform is licensed by the Anjouan Gaming Authority. Availability varies by jurisdiction, and users should ensure Duel is legal where they live before registering. Duel’s terms also state that attempting to access restricted regions through a VPN may result in account action.
Bottom line
If you’re searching for the latest Duel.com referral code, DUEL5 is the current working code for new players.
By entering DUEL5 during registration, you permanently activate 50% instant rakeback, gain access to 100% RTP Duel Originals, and qualify for Duel’s leaderboard rewards. Unlike most casino promotions, these benefits aren’t tied to a one-time deposit or lengthy wagering requirement, making DUEL5 one of the most valuable long-term offers currently available on Duel.com.
FAQ
What is the Duel.com referral code?
The current working Duel.com referral code is DUEL5. New players can enter it during registration to unlock 50% instant rakeback and permanent access to 100% RTP Duel Originals.
What does the DUEL5 referral code give you?
DUEL5 permanently enables 50% instant rakeback on eligible casino wagers, access to Duel Originals with 100% RTP, and qualification for Duel leaderboard promotions.
Can I add the Duel referral code after signing up?
No. The referral code must be entered when creating your account and cannot normally be added later.
Does 100% RTP mean I cannot lose?
No. A game operating at 100% RTP removes the theoretical house edge over the long run but does not eliminate short-term variance, so individual sessions can still result in losses.
Does Duel.com accept fiat currency?
No. Duel currently operates as a cryptocurrency-only platform and supports several major digital assets for deposits and withdrawals.
Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has responded to Russia’s latest legal actions by accusing authorities of trying to impose mass surveillance and censorship on the messaging platform, while also claiming the state has moved to restrict his ability to publish online.
Speaking in a Telegram post on Thursday—one day after Russia announced new charges—Durov said Russian authorities labeled him a “terrorist” following his refusal to comply with government demands related to monitoring and restricting content on Telegram.
Key takeaways
- Durov says Russia designated him a “terrorist” after he resisted demands tied to mass surveillance and censorship of Telegram.
- He also claims Russian authorities barred him from publishing information on the internet.
- Russia’s Federal Security Service alleges Telegram failed to remove channels linked to terrorist groups and Ukrainian intelligence services.
- The Russian case follows a separate, ongoing investigation in France tied to accusations that Telegram inadequately moderates illegal content and does not sufficiently respond to law enforcement requests.
- Additional legal pressure is reportedly building in Australia through court proceedings over alleged failures to remove terrorism-related content.
Russia escalates allegations against Durov
According to the timeline reported earlier by Cointelegraph, the comments came a day after Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Durov of facilitating terrorist activity. The FSB’s allegation centers on a claim that Telegram did not remove channels used by terrorist organizations and by what Russia described as Ukrainian intelligence services.
Durov’s response on Telegram frames the situation as part of a broader conflict over how governments seek control of online communication. He told Telegram users that Russia had also blocked him from “publishing information on the Internet,” and added that authorities appeared to be “confused about who can ban whom from the Internet.”
How the Russian investigation started
The current escalation builds on a criminal investigation Russia launched in February, as previously detailed by Cointelegraph. At the time, regulators accused Telegram of leaving nearly 155,000 channels, chats, and bots online despite Telegram’s position that such content did not violate relevant Russian law.
The investigation was tied to a wide range of alleged violations, including rules covering extremist material, terrorism, drug trafficking, and other illicit activity categories—suggesting that Russian authorities are treating Telegram’s moderation and compliance as a central issue rather than targeting isolated incidents.
Broader legal challenges in Europe and beyond
While Russia’s charges are the latest development, Durov’s legal problems extend beyond the country. Cointelegraph previously reported that Durov was arrested in France in August 2024 and remains under judicial investigation over allegations that Telegram facilitated criminal activity by failing to adequately moderate illegal content and respond to law enforcement requests.
Durov has denied wrongdoing, saying French authorities did not follow due process in efforts to obtain information from Telegram. His arrest also sparked an organized public push from the TON community, which—according to Cointelegraph—raised more than 9 million signatures on an open letter urging French authorities to release him.
The case has also involved changes to how restrictions on his movement were handled. Cointelegraph reported that French authorities allowed Durov to return temporarily to Dubai in March 2025, before lifting travel restrictions entirely later in 2025.
New pressure reported in Australia
Alongside Europe and Russia, Telegram is facing further legal scrutiny in Australia. Cointelegraph reported that Australian regulators this week launched court proceedings alleging Telegram failed to remove terrorism-related content.
For Telegram and Durov, these separate legal tracks underscore a recurring theme in cross-border platform enforcement: different jurisdictions are asking the same underlying question—how much responsibility a messaging provider should bear for removing content and supporting law enforcement access.
Durov’s privacy-and-surveillance messaging
Durov has portrayed himself as a defender of free speech and digital privacy, using recent statements to argue that compliance efforts can drift into broader surveillance. Cointelegraph noted that in April he warned the European Union’s proposed age-verification app could open the door to wider online monitoring.
That same month, Cointelegraph also reported that Durov linked alleged tax data leaks to a wave of crypto-related kidnappings in France, and said Telegram would leave the country rather than grant authorities access to users’ private messages.
In the current dispute with Russia, his public framing follows the same pattern: he positions government demands as attempts to expand control over messaging infrastructure rather than as targeted enforcement of specific legal obligations.
As Russia’s case develops and other jurisdictions—such as France and Australia—pursue their own enforcement actions, investors and builders in crypto-adjacent ecosystems may want to watch for any tangible changes in platform moderation, legal compliance requirements, and cross-border cooperation that could affect how TON and Telegram-related services operate in practice.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has issued a restriction notice freezing assets worth up to HK$125.247 million in a client account at Futu Securities International Limited as part of an ongoing investigation into suspected IPO share manipulation.
Summary
- Hong Kong’s SFC has frozen HK$125.2 million linked to a suspected IPO share manipulation scheme.
- The restriction applies to a client account at Futu, while the brokerage itself is not under investigation.
- Futu must obtain the SFC’s approval before handling the restricted assets and report any related instructions.
- The investigation remains ongoing as the regulator seeks to protect investors and the public interest.
According to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the restriction applies to assets held by a certain entity suspected of participating in a fraudulent scheme designed to create a false or misleading appearance of demand for shares in an initial public offering.
The regulator said Futu is not the subject of its investigation and stressed that the restriction notice will not affect the brokerage or any of its other clients. The action targets a specific customer account and prevents the assets from being moved while the investigation continues.
SFC has restricted access to the assets
Under the notice, Futu must not dispose of, transfer, process, or otherwise deal with the assets held in the affected customer account without first obtaining written consent from the SFC. The restriction covers assets up to HK$125,247,000.
The regulator also instructed the brokerage to immediately notify it if it receives any instructions relating to the restricted assets. In addition, Futu must not assist, encourage, or cause another party to deal with those assets unless the regulator has given prior written approval.
Explaining the decision, the SFC said issuing the restriction notice is desirable in the interests of investors and the public. The investigation into the suspected scheme remains ongoing.
According to the regulator, the restriction notice was issued under Sections 204 and 205 of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Ordinance.
Futu has not been accused of wrongdoing
While the restriction notice involves an account maintained at Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited, the SFC made it clear that the brokerage itself is not under investigation.
The regulator also stated that the order will not affect the firm’s day-to-day business or the accounts of its remaining customers.
Futu is licensed under Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Ordinance to conduct multiple regulated activities, including securities dealing, futures contracts dealing, leveraged foreign exchange trading, advising on securities, advising on futures contracts, providing automated trading services, and asset management.
The latest regulatory action therefore relates only to the suspected conduct of a single client entity rather than the firm’s licensed operations.
Although the regulator disclosed the value of the restricted assets and the suspected nature of the scheme, it did not identify the customer entity involved or provide further details about the alleged conduct.
No enforcement action has been announced against Futu, and the SFC has not indicated when its investigation may conclude.
For now, the restriction notice remains in effect, preventing the affected assets from being handled without regulatory approval while investigators continue examining the suspected attempt to create artificial demand for IPO shares.
Futu has expanded its crypto services in Hong Kong
The restriction notice comes after Futu expanded its digital asset business under Hong Kong’s regulated virtual asset framework.
In June 2026, the brokerage received approval from the SFC to expand its Type 1 licensed activities, allowing eligible clients to use securities-backed financing for virtual asset trading. The approval made Futu the first brokerage in Hong Kong to provide financing for cryptocurrency transactions backed by traditional securities.
Under that arrangement, qualified investors became able to use securities held in conventional margin accounts as collateral to obtain financing for crypto trades, removing an earlier limitation that prevented such credit facilities from being used for digital asset transactions.
The approval followed another crypto-related rollout completed in May 2025, when Futu launched deposit services for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether. Eligible investors were allowed to deposit those digital assets through the firm’s trading platform and trade them alongside Hong Kong, U.S., and Japanese stocks, exchange-traded funds, options, bonds, and other investment products from a single account.
At the time, Futu said the service allowed users to move more easily between virtual assets and traditional financial products through the same trading interface. The brokerage had already introduced cryptocurrency trading in 2024 after securing regulatory approval to offer virtual asset services to retail and professional investors.
Hong Kong authorities have continued expanding the city’s regulatory framework for digital assets through new licensing proposals covering virtual asset advisory and portfolio management services, alongside the existing oversight of trading platforms, custody providers, and stablecoin issuers.
OpenAI cut prices on two GPT-5.6 models on July 30, slashing Luna by 80% and Terra by 20%, as businesses grow more cautious about ballooning AI bills.
The cuts land three weeks after GPT-5.6’s launch. They reflect mounting pressure from cost-conscious enterprises. Cheaper Chinese rivals, including Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 and Z.ai’s GLM-5.2, add to that pressure.
A Pricing Squeeze With High Stakes
Luna’s input price fell to 20 cents per million tokens from $1. Its output price dropped to $1.20 from $6. Terra’s rates fell to $2 and $12 per million tokens, down from $2.50 and $15. Sol, OpenAI’s flagship model, kept its price.
The discounts follow years of unrestrained corporate AI spending. Workers called the trend tokenmaxxing, using AI freely without tracking cost. Finance teams now want clearer returns before approving new AI budgets.
Cutting Costs to Make Money?
OpenAI framed the move as an efficiency gain, not a defensive one. Open AI explained:
“Our strategy remains focused on advancing both capability and efficiency so each generation of intelligence can accomplish more work at a lower cost.”
The timing still matters. Chinese AI models gained ground on Anthropic and OpenAI this year. They undercut both labs on cost. Anthropic’s mid-tier Claude Sonnet 4.6 still costs more per token than the discounted Terra.
Analysts say cheaper pricing could lift usage of OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s models. It could also thin the margins investors watch as both companies pursue anticipated initial public offerings. Winning cost-sensitive customers and proving profitability to future shareholders pull in opposite directions.
IPO Pressure Mounting
Cutting prices could cut both ways for OpenAI’s IPO ambitions. Wider adoption strengthens the growth story bankers will pitch to investors. Usage and revenue growth tend to matter more than near-term margins in a pre-IPO narrative, and locking in cost-sensitive enterprise customers now, before they defect to cheaper Chinese rivals, protects the market share on which any IPO valuation depends.
It also lets the company point to efficiency gains (lower cost per task) as evidence that their technology is maturing rather than just getting more expensive to run.
However, IPO investors will eventually want to see a credible path to profitability, and shrinking per-token revenue on already thin-margin inference businesses makes that path harder to show on a prospectus.
If Terra’s and Luna’s usage doesn’t grow enough to offset the lower prices, the cuts show up as reduced revenue rather than reduced cost, exactly the kind of number that gets picked apart in IPO due diligence.
Whether the discounts ease that tension or simply delay it stays unclear for now. OpenAI’s next earnings update, once usage data from Terra and Luna appears, should offer an early answer.
The post Amid Rising AI Costs and IPOs, OpenAI Slashes Prices for Customers appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Bitcoin price remained trapped near $64,600 on July 30 as renewed US-Iran fighting, a hawkish Federal Reserve, and another CLARITY Act delay prevented buyers from extending the recovery.
Summary
- Bitcoin price recovered from $62,383, but it remains inside a range capped near $66,500.
- The Fed held rates at 3.5%–3.75%, while three policymakers favored a rate increase.
- US-Iran fighting and a 6.6% oil surge revived inflation and risk-off concerns.
- Gold held near $4,062, but available data does not confirm a broad crypto-to-gold rotation.
Bitcoin price struggles to leave its consolidation range
According to data from crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) price traded near $64,600 at the time of writing after briefly falling to $62,383 following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The rebound returned BTC above $64,000, but the asset has yet to break the range that has controlled its price for several days.
The daily chart shows Bitcoin trading almost directly above the Bollinger Band midpoint at $64,512. The upper band near $66,348 remains the immediate ceiling, while the lower band around $62,676 marks the first major support area.
Momentum also remains neutral. The daily relative strength index stood at 51.69, slightly below its signal average of 53.18. That setup suggests buyers have stabilized the market but have not gained enough strength to confirm a breakout.
Bitcoin’s resistance to the wider risk-off move remains notable. US stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, with the Dow losing 2.2%, the S&P 500 dropping 1.5% and the Nasdaq sliding 1.7%. BTC, by comparison, recovered most of its post-FOMC decline instead of extending losses below $62,000.
However, the repeated inability to clear $65,000–$66,500 shows that defensive buying has been enough to prevent a breakdown, not enough to restart the broader rally.
War and Fed policy weigh on Bitcoin momentum
Renewed fighting between the United States and Iran has added another source of pressure. US forces launched a fresh wave of strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets after Iran fired missiles toward a US base in Jordan.
Jordanian air defenses intercepted five Iranian missiles on Thursday, while concerns grew that the conflict could threaten Persian Gulf energy supplies and shipping through the Red Sea.
Crude oil held above $84 after surging 6.6% in the previous session. Higher energy prices can raise inflation expectations, keep Treasury yields elevated and reduce the appeal of speculative assets, including cryptocurrencies.
That problem was reinforced by the Fed’s July meeting. Policymakers maintained the federal funds rate at 3.5%–3.75%, as expected, but Chair Kevin Warsh rejected the idea of a flexible inflation objective.
Warsh said there was no “soft target” for inflation and reaffirmed that the central bank remained committed to 2%. Three FOMC members voted for a quarter-point rate increase, leaving another hike possible if oil-driven inflation persists. The Federal Reserve’s statement confirmed the 9–3 decision.
For Bitcoin, steady rates provided little relief because the accompanying message reduced expectations of easier financial conditions. Higher-for-longer borrowing costs could continue limiting demand for risk assets ahead of the next inflation readings.
CLARITY Act delay removes another potential catalyst
The US Senate’s decision to postpone action on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has added regulatory uncertainty to the macro pressure.
Lawmakers shifted their attention toward a Russia sanctions package and federal nominations, narrowing the time available to advance the crypto market structure bill before the Aug. 8 recess. The delay does not create an immediate operational change for Bitcoin, but it removes a potential catalyst that could have improved institutional confidence.
The legislation is intended to divide oversight responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Its passage could give US exchanges, token issuers and investors clearer federal rules.
Senate Republicans released updated text on July 22, combining Banking and Agriculture Committee proposals into a single framework. However, unresolved ethics language and the need for Democratic support remain obstacles.
The delay alone did not cause Bitcoin’s decline, but it left the market without a policy-driven reason to challenge resistance while geopolitical and monetary risks increased.
Is capital rotating from crypto into gold?
Cross-asset performance shows defensive positioning, but there is not enough evidence to conclude that investors are directly moving capital from cryptocurrencies into gold.
Spot gold held near $4,062 an ounce on Thursday, while US gold futures gained 0.7%. Gold had also risen about 2% following the Fed announcement. However, investment demand remained subdued, and silver traded slightly lower.
That mixed performance weakens the argument for a broad flight into precious metals. Gold has retained safe-haven demand, but rising Treasury yields and expectations of another rate increase are limiting its upside because bullion does not pay interest.
The clearer defensive move has been into oil-linked exposure and away from equities sensitive to interest rates and economic growth. Bitcoin’s recovery toward $64,600 also suggests capital has not abandoned the asset entirely.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $32.1 million in net inflows on July 29, with BlackRock’s IBIT attracting $89.8 million, according to Farside Investors. That inflow is modest, but it shows institutional demand continued during the sell-off rather than moving entirely toward traditional havens.
Crypto sentiment nevertheless remains weak. The Fear and Greed Index stood at 28, down from 29 and still inside the “fear” category.
Bitcoin downside targets remain near $63K and $60K
The 4-hour chart places Bitcoin against a rising trendline near $64,600. A confirmed move above this area could open a retest of $65,000, followed by the upper daily Bollinger Band between $66,300 and $66,500.
The 24-hour liquidation heatmap shows concentrated leverage around $64,900–$65,200. A move into that zone could trigger short liquidations and briefly accelerate the recovery. Further liquidity sits near $66,000 and $67,000.
On the downside, another large concentration appears around $63,000–$63,300. Losing the 4-hour trendline could attract price toward that liquidity before opening the way to $62,000 and the psychological $60,000 level.
Crypto trader Lennaert Snyder said Bitcoin was attempting to hold $64,000 following the FOMC meeting but remained vulnerable after generating substantial liquidity below Tuesday’s $62,800 low. He identified $64,800 and $65,800 as possible areas for renewed short positions.
Ali Charts offered a longer-term bullish interpretation, arguing that a decline toward $60,000 could complete an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern. Under that scenario, a confirmed break above $66,500 would place $74,000 in play.
For now, the Aroon Up reading of 57.14 remains above Aroon Down at 21.43, while the 4-hour ADX of 25.29 points to a developing but only moderate trend. Bitcoin must hold above $64,000 and clear $66,500 to turn its resilience into a confirmed breakout. Failure to do so would leave the market exposed to another liquidity sweep as war risks, inflation concerns, and regulatory delays continue to weigh on sentiment.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
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