Crypto World
Coldcard Hack Triggers Largest Sub-1 BTC Shift Since FTX, CryptoQuant
Bitcoin appears to be seeing a renewed pattern of rapid, smaller transfers—an on-chain behavior not observed at similar levels since the immediate aftermath of the FTX collapse. On Friday, transfers below 1 BTC surged to the highest daily level since November 2022, totaling 39,600 BTC, according to research shared by CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno on Saturday.
Moreno’s comparison is stark: the figure sat just 300 BTC under the 39,900 BTC moved on Nov. 16, 2022, days after FTX filed for bankruptcy. “The Bitcoin plebs had not moved this amount of BTC in a day since the FTX collapse,” Moreno said, adding that he viewed the uptick as encouraging activity rather than passive exposure.
Key takeaways
- Daily transfers under 1 BTC reached 39,600 BTC, the highest since November 2022, per CryptoQuant’s Julio Moreno.
- Galaxy Research says the suspected Coldcard hack added a further 207.7 BTC drained from victim addresses, pushing estimated losses higher.
- Galaxy reports cumulative figures of 1,367 BTC estimated losses across 4,585 addresses tied to the incident.
- Executives and researchers are using the event to renew debate over whether self-custody is safer than third-party custody.
Smaller transfers spike as users react
Moreno’s data focuses on movement of less than 1 BTC at a time—a slice of network activity often associated with people reallocating funds quickly rather than executing large, institutional transactions. Reaching levels last seen in late 2022 suggests heightened urgency across segments of the market.
The timing aligns with an ongoing suspected Coldcard hack, which first came into view in late July. As new victims were reportedly identified, the incident has increasingly framed itself as a stress test for how quickly users can respond when self-custody systems are believed to generate compromised receiving addresses.
Galaxy Research tracks additional drained funds
While on-chain movement is one signal, Galaxy Research says the theft itself has continued in identifiable stages. In a report posted Saturday, Galaxy Research said it observed an additional attack wave that drained 207.7 BTC—worth about $13.2 million at the time of reporting.
With that update, Galaxy Research estimated total losses at 1,367 BTC (about $88.6 million), across 4,585 addresses. The firm’s tracking also indicates the attackers’ activity is not a one-off event, but an evolving process with multiple waves that continue to surface as investigators connect addresses to victims.
Galaxy Research’s post also referenced the continuing discovery of new addresses tied to the suspected scheme, reinforcing the idea that the full scope may still be expanding as researchers refine their identification methods.
Attack still ongoing, warning to move funds
Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, warned in an X post on Sunday that the attack was still ongoing. Thorn urged users to move funds from Coldcard-generated addresses immediately if they had not already done so.
Thorn said his team continued to identify both victim addresses and attacker addresses. He also added that reports from users were helping investigators and authorities track the stolen funds—highlighting the role of community reporting alongside on-chain analysis.
The repeated “ongoing” language matters for users because it suggests the situation is dynamic: even if some victims have already moved funds, more affected addresses may still be discovered. That is also consistent with the broader pattern reflected in the day’s spike in small transfers.
Self-custody debate resurfaces
The suspected Coldcard hack has renewed debate over the safety and practicality of Bitcoin self-custody—one of the sector’s foundational principles that allows users to control funds without depending on centralized intermediaries.
Nick Neuman, CEO of Bitcoin security company Casa, pushed back against claims that self-custody is “over.” Neuman argued that self-custody’s distributed nature provides users with time to react once suspicious activity becomes apparent. He also said he “estimated” that potentially 10 times more Bitcoin was protected through self-custody than was stolen and identified so far in the attack.
The exchange also drew responses from people more aligned with traditional finance. Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, argued on X that Bitcoin ETFs may offer a safer and more convenient route for many investors, citing the longer operating history of the ETF industry.
Not everyone agreed with that framing. Other observers suggested the incident should be viewed as a failure attributable to a wallet provider rather than as evidence that self-custody as a concept is fundamentally broken—an important distinction for readers assessing risk.
In practical terms, the disagreement reflects two realities that can coexist: individual wallet implementations can fail, while self-custody still reduces reliance on centralized exchanges. The Coldcard case, as described through public tracking, becomes a test of how resilient users are when compromised address generation is detected and when timely migration is possible.
What investors should watch next
Watch for two signals in the coming days: whether the number of newly identified victim addresses continues to grow (which would imply the blast radius is still being uncovered), and whether the elevated level of small transfers under 1 BTC sustains or fades as affected users complete migration. The more those patterns stabilize, the clearer it will become whether the incident is trending toward containment or still expanding.
Crypto World
XRP Price Prediction: Japan Just Made It Insanely Easy to Get Free XRP with a Credit Card
Japan just handed XRP holders a mainstream on-ramp that many Western markets still cannot match, and it’s bullish for Ripple’s price prediction. However, the pullback tells only part of the story. Tokyo’s latest crypto move could matter more than today’s price action.
Effective July 31, 2026, SBI VC Trade and Orient Corporation launched a first-of-its-kind integration. Orico credit card holders can now convert Orico Points into BTC, ETH, or XRP through the VCTRADE platform. The redemption rate is 1,200 Orico Points for ¥1,000 worth of crypto.
Meanwhile, Orico cards earn points at a 1.0% base rate, rising to 2.0% for new cardholders during their first six months. It marks the first time crypto has become a redemption option within the Orico Points program. The launch expands SBI’s push to connect traditional finance with digital assets.
A loyalty program that turns everyday spending into XRP exposure helps normalize the token for millions of Japanese consumers. That could gradually narrow the gap between retail interest and actual blockchain activity. While price remains volatile, easier access often supports adoption over the long run.
Discover: The Best Token Presales
XRP Price Prediction: Break $2 Again as Japan Adoption Accelerates?
XRP trades near $1.05 after a volatile week, leaving bulls stuck inside another familiar range. Recent weakness reflects cautious market sentiment more than XRP-specific selling. Meanwhile, relatively light volume suggests consolidation instead of heavy distribution.
Support now sits between $1.00 and $1.02, where buyers have repeatedly defended the price. A daily close below $1.00 would weaken the current structure and increase downside risk. Meanwhile, resistance stands between $1.08 and $1.10, where recent recovery attempts have faded.
Over the next two days, XRP is likely to trade between $1.00 and $1.10 unless a fresh catalyst shifts sentiment. A move above $1.10 could open the door to $1.15. However, losing the $1.00 support may trigger another test of the $0.95 region.
Longer term, bullish forecasts above $2.00 still depend on sustained institutional adoption. Japan’s new loyalty to the crypto initiative could strengthen that case over time. Still, investors will likely wait for meaningful user activity before pricing in a lasting breakout.
Trade XRP on Bybit and Get a Chance to Win Our $1,000 USDT Airdrop
Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early Mover Upside as XRP Tests Key Levels
XRP at today’s price is a legitimate hold for exposure to Japan’s institutional adoption story, but the upside math at this market cap requires a multi-month timeline and macro prediction. Traders looking for asymmetric early-stage returns are increasingly eyeing infrastructure plays that haven’t yet priced in their ceiling.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is positioning itself as exactly that kind of infrastructure bet. The project is the first-ever Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, meaning smart contract execution at sub-Solana latency speeds, built on Bitcoin’s security layer. That’s a genuinely different value proposition from anything currently live on-chain.
The presale has raised $32.9 million at a current price of $0.0136839, with staking already live for participants. The combination of a hard technical USP, a nine-figure fundraise still in presale, and BTC’s institutional tailwinds makes $HYPER worth putting on the research list.
Discover: The Best Crypto to Diversify Your Portfolio
The post XRP Price Prediction: Japan Just Made It Insanely Easy to Get Free XRP with a Credit Card appeared first on Cryptonews.
Jay Clayton becomes America’s top intelligence official on Monday. He is the same man who, as SEC chairman, sued Ripple for $1.3 billion.
Bill Pulte announced the handover on Saturday. He has held the DNI job on an acting basis since June.
What Jay Clayton’s DNI Move Means for Ripple
Clayton ran the SEC until December 2020. On his final full day, the agency sued Ripple.
The complaint named two executives as well. It said Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen sold about $600 million of XRP themselves.
Judge Analisa Torres gave each side part of what it wanted. Only Ripple’s sales to large institutions broke the law.
She fined the company $125,035,150. She also ordered it not to repeat those sales.
Both sides gave up their appeals on August 7, 2025. That ended the four-year case, and the fine stood.
Now Clayton leaves finance behind for good. His new job has no power over the SEC, crypto rules, or XRP.
That answers the question BeInCrypto asked at his June DNI nomination. XRP barely moved. It traded near $1.08 on Sunday, up 1.9% on the day.
The token is still down 64% over the past year.
Pulte Returns Full Time to Housing Finance
Pulte held two big jobs at once for about seven weeks. He ran the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). He also stayed in charge of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
However, Pulte spent much of that time cutting staff.
Hours before the Senate confirmed Clayton 51-47, Pulte announced a fifth round of firings on X (Twitter). He called it an “approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago.”
He did not say how many people lost their jobs, Nextgov reported.
In his farewell message, Pulte treated the shrinking as the point of his stint.
“I am eternally grateful to President Trump for the opportunity to serve as Director of National Intelligence, while he completed historic declassifications and we right sized the ODNI,” said Pulte, acting Director of National Intelligence.
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The cuts began before him. Tulsi Gabbard planned to shrink ODNI staff by 40% and its budget by $700 million before she resigned in June.
Congressional aides told the Washington Post that roughly 200 staff left or moved after June 1.
Clayton may not carry on. He told senators he wants a “fairly lean” office, but agreed to look again at some cuts.
“There needs to be a place of oversight, a place to resolve conflict. I look at it as a ‘board of directors’ role,” Clayton said in the hearing.
For crypto readers, Pulte is the name that matters more. He told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to count crypto in mortgage assessments in June 2025.
In March he went further and let crypto reserves back mortgages. From Monday, housing is his only job again.
The post Ripple Lawsuit Architect Takes Over as US Director of National Intelligence appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent of Truth Social, has continued to reduce its reported Bitcoin exposure with another batch of transfers to exchange infrastructure. According to Lookonchain, the company sold 2,628 BTC—valued at roughly $165 million at the time of the transfers—via movements to Crypto.com, based on blockchain data compiled from Arkham.
The latest activity adds to a broader pattern of selling observed over the past seven months, shrinking the company’s reported holdings and feeding into ongoing political scrutiny of Trump-linked crypto projects and the ethics questions surrounding digital asset ownership.
Key takeaways
- Trump Media-linked wallets transferred 2,628 BTC (about $165 million) to Crypto.com, according to Lookonchain’s analysis using Arkham data.
- Over the past seven months, reported Bitcoin sales total 7,281 BTC (about $545 million), per Lookonchain.
- Arkham wallet data shows remaining holdings of 4,261 BTC (worth about $269.8 million at the time of reporting).
- Recent transfers include an Arkham-documented transaction for 2,429 BTC and another for 198.9 BTC moving to Crypto.com.
- The selling comes amid congressional discussion of the CLARITY Act, which targets ethics and digital asset rules but does not compel companies to liquidate existing holdings.
Another Crypto.com-linked transfer reduces reported BTC
In a Sunday post on X, Lookonchain said Trump Media sold 2,628 BTC through transfers to Crypto.com. The analysis was based on on-chain visibility attributed to Trump Media-linked entities, with Arkham used as the data layer for identifying the wallet activity.
Lookonchain further reported that Trump Media had purchased 11,542 BTC at an average price of $118,522 before starting to sell portions of its holdings about seven months prior to the latest transactions.
How much Bitcoin has been sold—and what remains
Lookonchain’s tally places total reported sales over the same seven-month window at 7,281 BTC, valued around $545 million, with an average selling price of $74,855 per BTC based on its methodology.
Arkham’s wallet figures cited by the analysis indicate that Trump Media’s remaining Bitcoin holdings were 4,261 BTC at the time of publication, worth approximately $269.8 million.
The most recent movements to Crypto.com, according to Arkham wallet data referenced in the report, included two notable transfers: one transaction of 2,429 BTC and another of 198.9 BTC. These transfers follow earlier activity that Lookonchain linked to the same selling program, including two movements recorded on May 22 totaling 2,650 BTC (worth about $205 million at the time).
Why repeated selling matters for investors watching disclosures
For market participants, the practical significance of these transactions is less about the immediate price impact of any single sale and more about consistency, transparency, and how quickly a large holder can reduce exposure. When a corporate-linked balance sheet shows continued liquidation of a major volatile asset like Bitcoin, investors often interpret it as a shift in treasury strategy, liquidity planning, or a risk-management decision.
Just as importantly, the reported activity draws attention to how on-chain transfers by identifiable entities can affect expectations around future flows. If more transfers to exchange-linked addresses continue, traders may look for repeated liquidity events that can complicate execution for both spot and derivatives participants—particularly if the market perceives the sales as part of a longer unwinding rather than one-off diversification.
CLARITY Act debate keeps ethics questions in focus
Beyond the on-chain movements, the latest Bitcoin sales land at a time when lawmakers are weighing the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. In the broader debate, attention has turned to ethics provisions, conflicts of interest, and how public officials should handle relationships with digital asset issuers and related ventures.
Critics have pointed to a cluster of Trump-linked crypto interests discussed in policy circles, including the Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania (MELANIA) memecoins, as well as World Liberty Financial’s WLFI governance token and USD1 stablecoin. The issue raised by opponents is the overlap between political influence and private crypto holdings—particularly where governance or issuance incentives could be perceived as benefiting affiliated interests.
While current CLARITY Act discussions have focused on tightening ethics rules—such as restrictions on officials issuing or sponsoring digital assets—the legislation remains under consideration and, according to the report’s framing, does not require companies to sell existing crypto holdings.
That distinction is likely to matter in how the market interprets these developments. Even if policymakers move toward stricter disclosure or conflict-of-interest standards, treasury actions already in motion—like the sell-through described by Lookonchain and supported by Arkham wallet data—may continue on a timetable driven by corporate liquidity decisions rather than by immediate regulatory requirements.
What to watch next
Readers should watch for whether additional exchange-linked transfers continue from the same Trump Media-linked wallets and whether lawmakers’ CLARITY Act deliberations progress in a way that clarifies disclosure and ethics obligations for officials and affiliated entities. Until then, the main signal remains the on-chain pattern: reported Bitcoin balances appear to be shrinking in measured batches, supported by repeated wallet movements documented through Arkham and aggregated by Lookonchain.
Michael Saylor says the $5 billion Bitcoin sale story that tore across X (Twitter) this weekend was never news at all. Every dollar of it, he says, was made public a month ago.
The claim spread fast. MicroStrategy (now Strategy) had just won approval to sell up to $5 billion in Bitcoin (BTC), the posts said. Saylor called it old news in a new wrapper.
Where the $5 Billion Number Came From
MicroStrategy announced a new capital plan on June 29, 2026. Inside it sits a BTC Monetization Program. The program lets the company sell Bitcoin. It never makes it.
The plan set four spending limits.
- $1.25 billion to rebuild its cash reserve
- $1 billion to buy back preferred shares
- $1 billion to buy back common stock
- About $1.76 billion a year in dividend and interest bills
Add them up and you get $5.01 billion. That is the viral number. It went public five weeks ago.
Why did the cash reserve need rebuilding? It had shrunk to $871 million by May 25. MicroStrategy had just spent $1.38 billion of cash clearing debt.
BeInCrypto covered the shift toward active management when the plan landed.
The Never Sell Rule That Never Existed
So why did anyone think MicroStrategy would never sell?
Because Saylor said so. He posted “Never sell your Bitcoin” in February 2025. Followers treated the line as law.
The company had already moved on. Chief Executive Phong Le said on May 26 that selling Bitcoin was part of the toolkit. He said investors heard it on the first quarter earnings call.
That was five weeks before June 29. MicroStrategy’s first sale since 2022 came days later, to cover a dividend.
Saylor now separates his own advice from company policy.
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We have never had a “never sell” policy. The program does not require any BTC sale, and we expect to remain a net buyer of Bitcoin over time.
Watcher Guru, the account behind the viral post, has since deleted it.
What the Numbers Actually Show
Timing is the whole fight. MicroStrategy reported an $8.22 billion loss on July 30. Almost all of it was on paper. Bitcoin fell, so the value of its stack fell too.
Calling a June decision a reaction to a July loss gets the order backwards.
The trading says plenty. MicroStrategy bought 85,296 Bitcoin between April and June. It sold 1,395. That is 61 bought for every one sold. The stack still grew 11% to 846,000 BTC.
Sales this year hit $218.4 million by July 26. All of it paid dividends. That is 0.4% of a stack worth $54.8 billion.
Selling is picking up, though. Roughly $135 million of that came in July alone. That beats the whole second quarter. MicroStrategy has also paused its Bitcoin purchases for five weeks.
Bitcoin traded near $63,378 on Sunday, about half its October record. Staying a net buyer now rests on cheap money, not belief.
The post Michael Saylor Shuts Down Viral $5 Billion MicroStrategy Bitcoin Sale Claims appeared first on BeInCrypto.
A crypto industry-aligned political action committee has pushed its spending above $2 million in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, according to final-week Federal Election Commission disclosures.
Summary
- Protect Progress spending surpassed $2 million backing Thanedar and opposing McKinney before Tuesday’s primary vote.
- $884,240 in new advertisements supported Thanedar, while more than $150,000 targeted McKinney with opposition messaging.
- August 4 voters will decide the Democratic nominee after over one million Michiganders voted early.
Protect Progress is supporting Democratic incumbent Shri Thanedar and opposing challenger Donavan McKinney before the Aug. 4 primary.
Protect Progress is affiliated with the Fairshake network, which has received major funding from companies including Coinbase and Ripple. The latest filings added $884,240 in media supporting Thanedar and more than $150,000 in spending against McKinney. The additions effectively doubled the amount reported about a week earlier.
Crypto PAC spending tops $2M before Michigan vote
Protect Progress is registered with the FEC as an active independent expenditure-only committee, commonly called a super PAC. Its spending supports or opposes candidates but does not represent money transferred directly to their campaigns. The latest expenditure notices are available through the committee’s official FEC filings.
The committee’s processed FEC summary may not immediately show every last-minute purchase. The agency states that its independent expenditure table excludes separate 24-hour and 48-hour notices, which committees use to disclose spending close to an election. One of the latest Michigan notices was filed through this FEC disclosure.
The scale is notable beside the candidates’ own finances. McKinney’s campaign reported $1.23 million in total disbursements through July 15. Protect Progress’s outside spending has exceeded that amount, although the figures cover different reporting periods and forms of political activity.
Thanedar’s crypto votes drew industry support
Thanedar voted for the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act and the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in the House. In an official statement, he described the measures as steps toward clearer rules, consumer safeguards and wider financial access, while acknowledging that the bills were “not perfect.”
The House-approved CLARITY Act remains under consideration in the Senate. Protect Progress has not stated in its FEC notices that any specific vote caused its spending decision. However, the committee generally supports candidates viewed as favorable toward digital asset legislation.
As previously reported, Protect Progress had disclosed more than $986,000 in Michigan spending by July 23. The latest filings pushed the total above $2 million during the final two weeks of the primary.
McKinney makes the spending a campaign issue
McKinney has used the outside funding to criticize Thanedar’s crypto policy record. In a July 21 statement, he alleged that “the crypto lobby is paying my opponent back” for votes that benefited President Donald Trump’s digital asset interests.
That statement represents a campaign allegation. FEC records confirm that Protect Progress paid for independent advertisements, but they do not establish McKinney’s claimed motive or demonstrate coordination with Thanedar’s campaign. Federal rules require super PAC expenditures to remain independent of supported candidates.
The Michigan spending forms part of a broader national strategy by Fairshake and its affiliates. Public Citizen estimated that crypto companies had supplied about $189 million during the 2026 election cycle, with Fairshake-linked groups accounting for more than $82 million in expenditures. Those totals represent the watchdog’s analysis rather than an FEC finding that every dollar came from one industry source.
Aug. 4 result will test the spending strategy
Michigan voters will choose the Democratic nominee on Tuesday, Aug. 4. More than 1.03 million residents had voted by the morning of July 31, according to the Michigan Department of State. Statewide early voting continued through Aug. 2, with some jurisdictions offering voting on Aug. 3. Completed absentee ballots must arrive by 8 p.m. on election day.
The result will offer a near-term test of whether Protect Progress’s final advertising surge helped Thanedar. However, it will not prove that PAC spending alone determined the outcome because turnout, candidate organizations and local concerns also shape congressional elections.
Additional FEC notices or amendments may appear after voting ends. The official canvass will confirm the nominee, while later campaign-finance reports should provide a fuller account of the committee’s total Michigan spending. No verified crypto market reaction has been tied to the race.
Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, has made another major move involving its Bitcoin holdings, extending a series of recent sales.
The company sold 2,628 Bitcoin (BTC) worth about $165 million through transfers to Crypto.com, blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain said in a Sunday X post, citing data from Arkham.
Lookonchain said Trump Media bought 11,542 BTC at an average price of $118,522 before beginning to sell portions of its holdings seven months ago.
The Bitcoin sales come as Trump-linked crypto ventures face broader scrutiny, with lawmakers debating the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act and questions around ethics and digital asset ownership.
Trump Media’s Bitcoin holdings shrink 63%
The latest transfers bring Trump Media’s total reported Bitcoin sales over the past seven months to 7,281 BTC, worth about $545 million, according to Lookonchain’s analysis, which calculated an average selling price of $74,855 per BTC.
According to Arkham, the company’s remaining Bitcoin holdings stood at 4,261 BTC at publishing time, worth $269.8 million.
Source: Arkham
Arkham’s wallet data showed two recent transfers from Trump Media-linked wallets to Crypto.com, including one transaction of 2,429 BTC and another of 198.9 BTC.
The latest transfers follow two earlier Bitcoin movements to Crypto.com recorded on May 22, when Trump Media-linked wallets transferred a combined 2,650 BTC worth about $205 million.
Trump-linked crypto interests face ethics scrutiny
The Bitcoin sales come as lawmakers debate the CLARITY Act, which has drawn scrutiny over ethics rules, digital asset ownership and potential conflicts of interest involving public officials, including concerns raised by critics about US President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures.
Critics have pointed to Trump-linked crypto ventures, including the Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania (MELANIA) memecoins, as well as World Liberty Financial’s WLFI governance token and USD1 stablecoin, in discussions over the overlap between political influence and private crypto interests.
Related: Senator Schumer proposes agency to address corruption, including Trump’s crypto ventures
Recent CLARITY Act discussions have focused on tightening ethics provisions, including rules around officials issuing or sponsoring digital assets, but the legislation remains under consideration and does not require companies to sell existing crypto holdings.
Magazine: Here’s why the CLARITY Act’s ethics deal may be so hard to reach
At least $676 million in crypto moved from an unlicensed Dubai exchange onto Binance since May 2024, Reuters reported. Investigators say the exchange, Shelbit, sits at the center of an Iranian sanctions evasion network.
About $540 million of that moved after Dubai regulators cracked down on Shelbit in January 2025. Binance says it cannot match that number.
The Warning That Changed Nothing
Rich Sanders is an independent blockchain researcher who tracks Iran. He said he warned Binance about Shelbit in October 2025.
The money kept coming. Funds moved from Shelbit to Binance after that warning, the data reviewed by Reuters shows.
Binance did not say what it did about the warning. It said Shelbit never held an account and has never been sanctioned.
“When users associated with Shelbit interacted with our platform, our compliance program operated as it should have: it investigated, froze the relevant accounts, and reported them to law enforcement,” Reuters reported, citing Binance.
The exchange also said an outside analytics firm did not flag the flows as risky. It did not name the firm.
That defense meets an awkward record. Binance pleaded guilty in November 2023 to breaking US money-laundering and sanctions laws. It paid $4.3 billion, one of the largest corporate penalties in US history.
Prosecutors found something specific. Binance had let more than $898 million in trades pass between US and Iranian users. Those trades ran from January 2018 to May 2022.
The deal came with conditions. Binance had to hire an independent compliance monitor for three years.
Shelbit started up about six months into that term. Its cooperation with US investigators has since become a point of dispute.
Watches, an Empty Office and $4 Billion
Shelbit has no website. There is no visible way for the public to trade on it.
Its listed Dubai address sits behind a locked door. The sign reads “Velorix Watches Trading LLC.” That firm belongs to Shelbit’s founder, Siavash Kayvanpour.
A Reuters reporter visited the three-room office in early July. Inside were 13 battered watches, a cash-counting machine and three staff. None had heard of Kayvanpour. The watches were not for sale.
Investigators still traced at least $4 billion through Shelbit since May 2024. Roughly $125 million came straight from Iran’s central bank.
Shelbit also dealt with wallets Israel links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Another counterparty was Nobitex, Iran’s biggest exchange.
Washington sanctioned Nobitex in June, using the legal power reserved for terrorist financiers. Treasury said Nobitex handled over half of Iran’s crypto inflows in 2025. It also helped regime insiders reach global exchanges.
Shelbit is accused of the same job, from outside Iran.
Where the Money Starts
The cash begins with gambling. Shelbit’s biggest customers were more than 2,000 Farsi-language betting sites.
Reuters mapped that network with cybersecurity firm Infoblox. Gambling is illegal in Iran and carries prison and lashes. The law was updated in 2023 to cover online betting.
The sites still plug into Iran’s domestic payment system. Iran’s central bank controls that system.
“When it comes to gambling, the IRGC learned the Islamic Republic’s most lucrative lesson early: declare something illegal, then control both the prohibition and the black market,” the report read, citing Miad Maleki, former associate director at the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Dubai has now acted. A July 24 notice from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) cites the UAE’s anti-money-laundering and terrorism-financing law. It says Shelbit threatens the integrity of the country’s financial system.
The regulator has moved this way before. It ordered KuCoin to halt operations in March.
What Nobody Has Proven
One big question stays open. Reuters could not establish who inside Iran controlled Shelbit.
It also could not say where most of the crypto ended up. Blockchain records showed the route. They did not show the driver.
Pressure is building anyway. Washington already pushed Binance over Iran in May. OFAC listings this year have triggered stablecoin freezes within hours. Treasury says it is taking the Shelbit claims seriously.
Binance did not immediately respond to BeInCrypto’s request for comment.
The post $676 Million Reached Binance From an Iran-Linked Exchange Dubai Had Already Fined appeared first on BeInCrypto.
An analyst argues XRP could help Japan escape its yen carry-trade trap without triggering a disorderly global sell-off, though the proposal faces substantial practical obstacles.
The idea targets liquidity efficiency rather than debt, and that distinction matters enormously.
The Prefunding Problem XRP Claims It Could Solve
The yen carry trade involves borrowing cheap yen to fund higher-yielding assets abroad.
Years of ultra-low rates pushed the currency toward multi-decade lows near 157 against the dollar.
Both governments recently intervened. Washington bought yen for the first time in nearly 30 years, joining the Bank of Japan to stabilize the currency.
The underlying dilemma persists. Japan must either tolerate a weaker yen or risk destabilizing its enormous bond market through aggressive rate hikes or forced capital repatriation.
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Crypto analyst EGRAG CRYPTO outlined an alternative in a detailed thread. His argument centers on payment infrastructure, not monetary policy.
The starting point is prefunding. Japanese institutions park capital in foreign currencies across correspondent banks to ensure payments clear, immobilizing capital that could support the domestic economy.
XRP would function as a neutral bridge asset. A payment moves yen into XRP, crosses the ledger in seconds at near-zero cost, then converts into the destination currency, or reverses for repatriation.
Finality arrives in three to five seconds. That speed sharply reduces counterparty risk, settlement delays, and the need to keep permanent foreign balances idle abroad.
The proposed benefit follows logically. On-demand liquidity, rather than permanent prefunding, would allow Japanese banks and corporations to retain more capital in yen.
“…XRP cannot eliminate the interest-rate differential that created this incentive. However, it could help reduce a different source of structural yen weakness: the need for Japanese institutions to maintain large foreign-currency balances for international settlement…,” EGRAG CRYPTO said on X.
Export revenues, investment income, and remittances could be converted back faster and more cheaply. That continuous settlement flow might gradually support the currency without liquidating hundreds of billions in Treasuries.
Is the XRP Proposal Actually Viable?
Freed working capital could also help. Domestic capacity to absorb Japanese government bonds would improve as the Bank of Japan steps back from its bond-buying program.
The analyst limits his own expectations, and reasonably so. XRP would serve as a transactional bridge, not a reserve currency or legal tender, with exposure lasting only seconds.
“Its contribution would be infrastructural. XRP could improve how money moves, how quickly transactions settle and how efficiently institutions use liquidity. That could give Japan more room to manage its monetary transition. But technology cannot substitute for economic policy…,” the crypto analyst noted.
That framing sidesteps the harder question. Prefunding is a symptom of Japan’s imbalances, not its cause, and faster settlement does nothing to close the interest-rate gap that drives capital abroad.
The technical claims themselves hold up. The XRP Ledger’s speed and cost advantages are documented. Whether that inefficiency matters at this scale is another question.
Japan’s carry trade involves trillions in cross-border positions, while prefunded balances represent a far smaller slice.
The list of prerequisites grows quickly. Deep XRP-to-yen liquidity, clear regulation, licensed providers, custody solutions, and banking integration would all need to arrive first.
None of that exists today. No large-scale Japanese integration is underway, and XRP’s volatility sits awkwardly alongside the stability such flows demand.
Central bank interest offers thin support. The Bank of Japan has explored tokenized settlement through Agorá, but never endorsed XRP, and its research points toward central bank infrastructure instead.
What Comes Next for the Yen?
Washington told several banks to stand ready for further action. Japan’s top currency diplomat said the support went beyond psychological backing, while South Korean authorities reportedly sold dollars alongside Tokyo. The Bank of Japan held short-term rates at 1% on Friday, as expected.
Policymakers warned underlying inflation could exceed the target, signaling further hikes without committing to timing.
Traders now watch one level closely. SBI FX Trade advisor Yuji Saito said the key question is whether authorities keep pushing until the dollar breaks below 155 yen.
Commerzbank expects roughly semiannual hikes, placing the next move around December.
Markets currently price that path, though stronger data could pull it forward.
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Coming sessions will hinge on intervention risk and Fed expectations rather than settlement technology.
Thin liquidity amplifies every move, and even the possibility of official buying keeps traders defensive.
The post Analyst Claims XRP Could Ease Japan’s Yen Crisis: Is It Realistic? appeared first on BeInCrypto.
July was a very eventful month for the company behind XRP, and we will explore some of the major developments, such as growing the stablecoin business, institutional infrastructure, and the XRP Ledger ecosystem, which saw a major milestone that included AI agents.
This article will focus primarily on Ripple, not the native token or its price moves. If you are more interested in XRP, then you should check this article.
RLUSD Enters New Markets
Although this was technically announced at the end of June, it became a major news story in early July. Ripple expanded the reach of its dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD by becoming one of the first partners to integrate OpenUSD. It said that the move reinforces the team’s commitment to multichain infrastructure supporting institutional adoption across the entire crypto industry.
In addition, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (JFSA) approved RLUSD for use in the country through SBI VC Trade. The two developments marked another step in what Ripple has been trying to do for years: to position RLUSD as a regulated stablecoin for global payments and tokenized finance.
The company joined the 4th of July celebrations in the United States by highlighting the Giving4th campaign. It donated RLUSD to nonprofits as part of its broader effort to showcase real-world stablecoin utility.
Earlier this week, one of the execs behind the stablecoin at Ripple noted that RLUSD had launched on the four largest exchanges in South Korea – Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, and Coinone.
The asset continues to grow in terms of usage and market capitalization, with the latter reaching $1.6 billion on August 1.
Expanding Enterprise Infrastructure
The company also introduced a platform designed to help financial institutions issue, manage, and redeem RLUSD more effectively, called Ripple Mint. The launch complements its growing payments ecosystem and reflects the firm’s increasing focus on serving banks, fintech firms, and enterprise clients entering the cryptocurrency space.
Separately, Ripple announced a strategic investment in Notabene, a company specializing in compliance and payment infrastructure. The collaboration aims to improve regulated cross-border payments while supporting broader adoption of Ripple’s stablecoin.
Once again in July, Binance extended support for RLUSD by providing new promotions for the asset and increasing its visibility across the platform.
AI Activity Rises on the XRPL
Data provided by on-chain analytics resources indicated on July 22 that the XRP Ledger had surpassed 1.4 million transactions initiated by AI agents. According to analysts and experts, this highlights the growing experimentation with autonomous applications and machine-to-machine payments.
Although the sector remains in its early stages, the milestone demonstrates that developers are increasingly exploring the XRPL for use cases beyond traditional payments and token transfers.
The post July’s Biggest Ripple (XRP) Stories: RLUSD Expansion, AI, and Institutional Adoption appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Galaxy Research raised its estimate of Bitcoin drained from addresses linked to the Coldcard firmware flaw to 1,367.05 BTC, worth about $88.6 million, on Aug. 1.
Summary
- 1,367.05 BTC was drained across 4,585 addresses in three suspected Coldcard attack waves, Galaxy reported.
- July 30’s first wave removed 1,082.65 BTC from 1,196 addresses in just 41 minutes total.
- Firmware updates fix new seed generation but cannot repair vulnerable seeds created on earlier releases.
The research unit identified 4,585 affected addresses across three suspected attack waves, replacing its earlier estimate of 1,082.65 BTC from 1,196 addresses.
The revised figure means the $70.2 million estimate reported after Galaxy’s first analysis is no longer current. Galaxy described the total as its “estimated observed size,” leaving open the possibility that further transactions could be found. The company has not proved that every address came from a vulnerable Coldcard seed.
Galaxy raises Coldcard estimate after third wave
Galaxy’s first mapped wave occurred between 1:10:20 a.m. and 1:51:26 a.m. UTC on July 30. It traced 1,082.65 BTC from 1,196 addresses across blocks 960,183 through 960,191. The transactions appeared about 30 hours before Coinkite issued its initial public advisory.
A second wave on July 31 drained 76.16 BTC from another 1,478 addresses. Galaxy later identified a third wave that removed 207.7294 BTC from 1,912 addresses. Together, the three groups brought the observed total to 1,367.05 BTC across 4,585 addresses.
The first wave used the same 30 satoshis per virtual byte fee and transactions without change outputs. Those traits helped researchers identify the related movements onchain. Galaxy warned that later attacks might use different patterns, making the complete loss harder to measure.
Three waves used different transaction patterns
Galaxy said the first two waves shared collector addresses, destination types and derivation-path behavior. The events also occurred about 27 hours apart. Those similarities suggested one operator may have conducted both sweeps, although the blockchain cannot establish the attacker’s identity.
The third wave behaved differently. Funds from each victim moved to separate pay-to-witness-script-hash destinations, while several victims were grouped into each sweep transaction. The activity also checked only the default derivation path. Galaxy said it was confident each wave represented one operator, but would not claim that one attacker controlled all three.
Therefore, descriptions of a single hacker remain an inference rather than a confirmed fact. Galaxy called the third group “what we suspect are hacks of Coldcard-generated addresses.” The wording reflects the limits of onchain attribution.
Coinkite said a series of firmware integration errors prevented the intended hardware random-number generator from contributing properly to seed creation. A MicroPython software fallback supplied predictable output after a March 2021 code change. Block’s independent technical report described the same random-number-generator path and said active exploitation was underway.
Coinkite estimated about 40 bits of effective search space for affected Mk2 and Mk3 seeds. Later Mk4, Q and Mk5 models included extra secure-element entropy, but the company estimated roughly 72 bits rather than the intended 128 bits. These figures remain technical estimates and may change as testing continues.
The affected Mk2 and Mk3 range covers firmware 4.0.1 through 4.1.9. Seeds created on Mk4 and Mk5 before standard version 5.6.0, and Q seeds created before version 1.5.0Q, are also affected. Separate fixed Edge releases are available.
Existing seeds require migration, not only updates
Coinkite released hotfixes for every affected model and said it takes “full accountability” for the bug. However, installing new firmware only corrects future seed generation. It cannot add entropy to a recovery phrase that already exists.
The official Coldcard advisory tells users to install the fixed firmware, generate a completely new seed, verify its backup and receiving address, and send a small test transaction before moving the remaining balance. Users should keep the previous backup until the migration is confirmed.
Coinkite said seeds created with at least 50 fair, independent and private dice rolls are not considered exposed by this issue alone. A strong, unique BIP-39 passphrase adds another barrier, but the company still advises migration. Short, reused or predictable passphrases may not provide adequate protection.
However, the 594.48 BTC sweep identified by AnchorWatch’s Rob Hamilton. In related coverage, a later technical review examined how the firmware build error weakened Coldcard seeds for more than five years.
Coinkite’s investigation remains open, and the company has promised a formal technical review. Galaxy may also revise the observed loss again if new address patterns emerge. Until those reviews are complete, $88.6 million is the latest public estimate, not a final confirmed total. No verified Bitcoin price reaction has been attributed to the Coldcard incident so far.
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