Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich has publicly denied speculation that the treasury company was selling its Bitcoin holdings after a routine transfer sent rumor mills into overdrive.

Gerovich clarified that the Bitcoin treasury company moved 5,014 BTC, worth around $320 million, between its custodial wallets, not to an exchange.

Metaplanet Shuts Down Bitcoin Sale Speculations

Gerovich confirmed the Bitcoin treasury company’s Bitcoin holdings remain unchanged after blockchain trackers spotted a transfer from wallets linked to the company. The transfer fueled speculation that Metaplanet was following Strategy’s lead and cashing out on some of its holdings. However, Gerovich moved quickly to calm speculation, stating that it was a routine transfer between company wallets.

“We transferred 5,014 BTC between Metaplanet custodial addresses over the past 24 hours. This was a routine custody operation. No bitcoin was sold, and our holdings remain 43,000 BTC. All of our addresses are published, which is why the transfers were observable in real time. Total network fees to move $322 million in bitcoin: approximately $8.”

Metaplanet’s wallet addresses are public, allowing anyone to view transfers on-chain. However, the company’s commitment to transparency around its holdings briefly worked against it, setting off alarm bells in the community. Metaplanet currently holds 43,000 BTC, worth around $3 billion at current prices. With BTC’s steep decline, the company is sitting on an unrealized loss of around $1.4 billion, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

Recent Strategy Sales Increase Scrutiny On Bitcoin Treasury Companies

Strategy’s recent Bitcoin sales have soured market sentiment and increased scrutiny of Bitcoin treasuries. This is why Metaplanet’s routine transfer created significant speculation about an imminent sale, with investors assuming it is following Strategy’s footsteps. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, has been strategically selling BTC to fund dividend obligations on its preferred STRC stock and buy back STRC. It is also selling MSTR to fund its dollar reserve.

Future Bitcoin Acquisitions

Metaplanet’s Bitcoin stash has grown steadily in 2026, despite a substantial decline in BTC’s price. The company added 5,075 BTC during Q1 2026, followed by a 2,823 BTC purchase in Q2, taking its total stash to 43,000 BTC. Metaplanet is the third-largest Bitcoin treasury company in the world and the largest in Asia. It plans to increase its Bitcoin holdings to 100,000 BTC by the end of 2026 and 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027.

The Bitcoin treasury company has also launched BitBonds, a fixed-rate debt program to fund future Bitcoin acquisitions and other corporate obligations. The program allows Metaplanet to raise capital without issuing stock or dipping into its Bitcoin holdings.

The company stated, “The Company intends to continue issuing bonds under the Program in light of market conditions and other factors and, over the medium to long term, as the scale of issuance expands, to put in place the arrangements necessary to enable public bond offerings made under a securities registration statement or similar filing.”

Metaplanet is also expanding beyond Bitcoin accumulation, establishing Metaplanet Ventures in March 2026, and pledging 4 billion yen ($25 million) over two years toward Bitcoin and crypto infrastructure in Japan.

Metaplanet Posts 3.33 Billion Yen Operating Profit

Metaplanet published its revenue numbers for the first half of 2026 on Thursday, reporting 4.94 billion yen ($33 million) in first-half revenue, a 134% increase year-over-year. It also reported a 3.33 billion yen ($20.3 million) operating profit, up 136%, while reporting a 182.8 billion yen net loss ($1.2 billion), driven by a non-cash Bitcoin valuation loss. Metaplanet noted that it sold no Bitcoin in 2026 and added 7,898 BTC during H1 2026, taking its holdings to 43,000 BTC.

The company reported 4.7 billion yen in revenue from its Bitcoin income business and a 4.2 billion yen profit. The majority of this revenue came from Bitcoin derivatives trading, with option premium income accounting for 4.5 billion yen.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Bitcoin moved lower into Friday’s Wall Street open, with traders increasingly focused on whether the market is setting up for a renewed downside break. While broader risk assets managed to hold momentum after encouraging US inflation developments, BTC failed to participate, slipping toward month-to-date lows around the low-$62,000s.

Market attention has now shifted to the next major US macro release: the Aug. 26 Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. QCP Capital said the crypto sector’s muted response to softer inflation so far makes the upcoming PCE print especially important for what comes next.

Key takeaways

• BTC is trading below $63,000 and is nearing new August lows, despite US equities hitting record highs.
• Rekt Capital highlighted $63,220 as a weekly-close threshold, warning that staying below it could encourage a deeper breakdown.
• TradingView data showed BTC down about 1.3% on the day to roughly $62,570, near month-to-date lows.
• QCP Capital pointed to the upcoming Aug. 26 PCE release as the next critical test for whether macro tailwinds can translate into sustained crypto demand.

BTC underperforms as stocks press to new highs

According to TradingView, BTC/USD was down about 1.3% on the day to $62,570, trading close to its lowest levels month-to-date. This comes as US stocks continued to climb, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both posting gains by the time of writing on Thursday’s close—an environment that has typically supported risk-on assets.

The divergence matters because it suggests Bitcoin is not simply tracking the improving equity tape. Earlier coverage noted that inflation relief in the US had reduced expectations for further interest-rate pressure, but Bitcoin still lacked the follow-through traders often look for when macro conditions improve.

$63,220 on weekly close as a decision point

One of the clearest near-term signposts is $63,220. Trader and analyst Rekt Capital warned that the Sunday weekly close needs to be above that level to avoid setting up what he described as “a breakdown.” In a post on X, Rekt Capital also stressed that $63,000 is no longer behaving like reliable support after weakening throughout August.

Rekt Capital further tied the current structure to prior market behavior, noting that a 50-month exponential moving average (EMA) near $65,827 appears to be acting as resistance. He framed this as reminiscent of the 2022 bear-market pattern, emphasizing that BTC has recently struggled to reclaim key levels that would normally help stabilize price action.

For traders, the practical implication is straightforward: the market is approaching a level where confirmation could shift from “range behavior” to “trend continuation lower” if price fails to regain momentum on the weekly timeframe.

Derivatives positioning and liquidation risk remain in focus

The caution around a potential breakdown has also been linked to positioning in derivatives markets. Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph reported increasing odds of a liquidation event as BTC approached an area of liquidity around $61,000, alongside rising open interest (OI) in futures and other derivatives venues.

That setup can amplify volatility when price breaks downward, particularly when leverage is concentrated on one side of the market. In a recent edition of its newsletter, onchain analytics platform Glassnode summarized the broader imbalance: “Traders have added substantial risk, most of it long, into a market that shows no matching demand,” according to The Week Onchain.

In this context, the market’s inability to rally alongside stocks becomes even more notable—if demand doesn’t show up when price is supported by the macro narrative, leveraged long positioning can become vulnerable quickly when technical levels fail.

PCE on Aug. 26 becomes the next macro catalyst

Beyond technical levels, QCP Capital argued that the crypto market’s response to improved inflation conditions has been inconsistent. In its latest analysis, QCP said the phenomenon is “increasingly important,” distinguishing between “resilience” and “momentum.” The firm noted that BTC absorbed several negative headlines without a sustained breakdown last week, but that softer inflation data have only produced a muted response so far.

QCP’s key point for investors is that the market may be waiting for a more decisive macro signal rather than reacting to incremental improvements. The firm said macro traders are now focused on the Aug. 26 PCE index release—widely recognized as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.

According to data referenced by QCP, the PCE “last print” in July marked its first monthly decline since 2020, based on figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That makes the upcoming reading notable: if the data reinforces a cooling inflation trend, traders may look for whether crypto can finally convert the narrative into sustained buying demand rather than staying range-bound or weakening.

At the same time, the key uncertainty is timing and translation. So far, the pattern described by QCP suggests that macro relief hasn’t yet been strong enough to move crypto into a clear uptrend. With BTC sitting below key technical thresholds, the PCE release could influence whether leveraged traders choose to reduce risk or add exposure—potentially affecting volatility regardless of the direction of inflation prints.

Heading into the Aug. 26 PCE report, traders will likely watch both the weekly technical level near $63,220 and whether derivatives positioning continues to build risk on the long side. If BTC remains unable to reclaim that threshold, the market may be setting up for sharper downside moves; if it does recover, investors will want to see whether the macro narrative finally produces sustained momentum rather than a brief relief rally.

AI agents have started executing trades and moving funds without constant human approval, prompting Brickken CEO Edwin Mata to argue that liability must follow the authority granted to the software rather than attach to the AI itself.

Sandmark reported on Aug. 6 that existing laws provide no single answer for losses caused by autonomous financial agents, leaving courts to examine the user, developer, platform, and institution involved in each transaction.

The report said contract law, negligence rules, product liability, and fiduciary duties could all apply, depending on who controlled the agent and what caused the loss. A user may bear the result of an authorized trade, while a developer or platform could face claims if faulty design, weak safeguards, or corrupted information pushed the agent outside its intended role.

Commenting on the issue, Edwin Mata, a lawyer and the CEO and co-founder of tokenization platform Brickken, told crypto.news that responsibility should never be assigned directly to the software.

“Under current law, AI is not a legal person capable of assuming duties or bearing liability. It is a technical system acting on behalf of a natural or legal person.”

According to Mata, an investigation should instead establish who authorized the agent, whose interests it represented, and what powers it received. Such an inquiry would help distinguish a losing decision made within an approved strategy from a transaction that broke the agent’s limits.

AI agent liability follows the granted authority

Mata compared the legal relationship to a power of attorney, under which one party receives permission to act for another within a defined scope. When an issuer, bank, or investor authorizes an agent to transact, he said, the principal would ordinarily bear the consequences of actions that remain within that authority.

Under the same reasoning, an investor could not reject a trade simply because the software produced an unfavorable result. A price loss does not by itself show that the agent acted without permission or that another party failed in its duties.

“An issuer cannot disown an unfavourable but authorised transaction merely because the decision was generated by software,” Mata said.

Responsibility may change when an agent exceeds its mandate. Mata said a developer, platform, or financial institution could face exposure if its design or controls caused or allowed the failure, although the final assessment would depend on the facts and applicable law.

Sandmark cited similar legal distinctions in its report. Chanté Eliaszadeh, founder of Astraea Counsel, told the publication that liability would generally follow control. She said users are usually the starting point when agents act on their behalf, but developers could face risk if a system marketed for autonomous trading failed in a foreseeable way.

The question has gained urgency as agents obtain direct access to wallets and payment systems. In May, a Keyrock report found that AI agents had settled $73 million through 176 million transactions during the previous 12 months, with USDC accounting for 98.6% of the payments examined.

Coinbase has also connected agents to trading, portfolio management, and payments under user-set limits. By July, Chainalysis had counted more than 100 million x402-linked payments on Base, although the analytics firm said meme-coin farming and automated activity contributed to the early transaction totals. The figures therefore did not represent only independent agents buying goods or services.

Human approval needs clear and enforceable limits

While a person may formally approve an agent’s activity, Mata said consent alone does not provide meaningful control if the person cannot understand the authority being granted.

Effective delegation, in his view, requires a list of permitted actions and eligible assets, along with limits for individual transactions and total spending. A mandate should also specify its duration, the conditions requiring human review, the principal’s right to revoke access, and a record of every action taken.

Such controls are already appearing in commercial products. Anchorage Digital introduced agentic banking in May with verified identities, spending limits, and audit controls for autonomous systems accessing crypto and traditional payment rails.

Visa and Wirex have separately tested agent-led stablecoin payments for software subscriptions, marketing budgets, and procurement. According to Wirex, the trials were designed to examine security, reliability, transparency, and consumer control when software initiates payments for a user or business.

A June guide to agentic payments explained how x402 allows autonomous software to pay for data, computing services, and online resources using stablecoins. Because those payments can occur without a person approving each transaction, authorization systems must establish what the agent can buy, how much it can spend, and when its access ends.

ERC-8226 would record AI agent mandates onchain

Mata pointed to ERC-8226, the proposed Regulated Agent Mandate Standard, as one model for making delegated authority verifiable.

Filed as a draft Ethereum standard on April 12, ERC-8226 is designed for AI agents operating with tokenized regulated assets. The proposal was written by Brickken contributors Ludovico Rossi, Dario Lo Buglio, Thamer Dridi, and Nabil El Alami Khalifi.

Known as RAMS, the standard would let a verified principal give an onchain agent permission that is limited by asset, action, duration, and monetary value. A regulated token contract could check the mandate when the agent tries to execute a transaction.

The proposal separates three questions that may arise during an agent-led trade. An identity registry would confirm that the agent exists, a compliance provider would determine whether the principal is eligible to transact in the asset, and the RAMS registry would verify whether the planned action falls within the delegated mandate.

Under the draft specification, a mandate could set a maximum amount for one transaction and a cumulative amount across multiple transactions. It could also include activation and expiry times, allowed assets, approved actions, revocation functions, and records showing how much authority the agent has already used.

Mata said RAMS would not transfer liability to the agent or reimburse a principal for an authorized loss. Instead, the proposed standard would provide evidence showing who granted the authority, what the agent could do, and whether the transaction remained within those limits.

“Its purpose is to make attribution verifiable: who granted the authority, what the agent was permitted to do, whether it remained within those limits and which person or control failed when it did not.”

ERC-8226 remains a draft rather than an adopted Ethereum standard or legal requirement. Its discussion page also lists unresolved questions, including whether tokens purchased by an agent should remain in the agent’s wallet or settle directly into the principal’s wallet.

U.S. rules keep responsibility with regulated firms

For U.S. markets, existing securities rules already place duties on the firms that provide access to exchanges and alternative trading systems.

Under SEC Rule 15c3-5, a broker-dealer providing market access must maintain financial and regulatory risk controls under its direct and exclusive control, subject to limited exceptions. SEC guidance says the broker-dealer remains responsible for the effectiveness of those controls even when it uses technology supplied by an independent third party.

The rule requires automated pre-trade checks designed to stop orders that exceed preset credit or capital thresholds. It also requires controls that restrict trading systems to authorized people, block prohibited securities transactions, and deliver immediate execution reports to surveillance staff.

For consumer payments, Regulation E requires preauthorized electronic fund transfers to carry a written or similarly authenticated authorization from the account holder. CFPB guidance also says the authorization process should demonstrate the consumer’s identity and agreement, while allowing the consumer to stop or revoke future payments under specified procedures.

Current CFPB rules do not directly state how a standing instruction such as “manage my portfolio” should apply when an AI agent independently selects and executes individual transfers. Sandmark reported that lawyers remain divided over whether a manipulated agent payment would resemble an unauthorized transfer caused by stolen credentials or an authorized transaction carried out under previously granted access.

Outside the United States, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said in June that financial oversight frameworks were not designed for autonomous agents and that requiring human approval for every action may be unrealistic. She said regulators were considering stronger safeguards, including circuit breakers or market-wide kill switches if faulty AI models threatened trading systems.

Lynq CEO Jerald David has said institutional finance needs interoperable settlement systems capable of moving cash and collateral 24/7 as firms adopt several forms of digital money.

In comments shared with crypto.news, David said the Bank of England’s latest digital pound experiment gives an early indication of how institutional markets may use several forms of digital money instead of choosing one option.

“I do not expect a single form of digital money to replace all others,” David said.

“Stablecoins, tokenized deposits, tokenized money market funds, potentially CBDCs, and traditional bank money are all likely to have different roles depending on the counterparty, jurisdiction, and type of transaction.”

His comments follow an Aug. 12 report detailing how NOBO Finance, Dun & Bradstreet, and Polygon Labs joined Phase 2 of the Bank of England’s Digital Pound Lab. The consortium is testing whether a stablecoin and simulated digital pounds can handle separate parts of the same cross-border trade-finance payment.

Under the test, an exporter receives an advance through a stablecoin payment system while a UK importer completes the final settlement in simulated digital pounds. Polygon Labs said both parts are coordinated within one transaction flow, allowing the experiment to study whether private and central bank money can operate together without one side waiting for the other.

Separate settlement rails can restrict institutional capital

Rather than treating the experiment as a contest between stablecoins and a central bank digital currency, David focused on the infrastructure connecting different forms of money. Institutions may have enough capital overall, he said, but the funds may not be available in the required form, market, or jurisdiction when a transaction must settle.

“The challenge arises when these different forms of money operate on separate rails. An institution may have sufficient capital available, but not necessarily in the right form or in the right place at the point it is needed.”

According to David, fragmented systems can create problems across funding, collateral management, and settlement. Firms may respond by placing funds in advance at several trading venues or with multiple counterparties, tying up capital that could otherwise remain available for other transactions.

The problem extends beyond converting one digital currency into another. A financial institution may hold bank deposits for regular business, stablecoins for blockchain transactions, and tokenized money market fund shares for managing short-term liquidity. Each instrument can serve a separate purpose, but David said institutions still need a way to move value between them when obligations arise.

Polygon described a similar problem when announcing its involvement in the Bank of England experiment. The company said bank money, stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and a possible digital pound currently operate through systems that do not communicate easily.

Polygon is supplying the stablecoin settlement component and related smart-contract infrastructure through its Open Money Stack. The simulated digital-pound portion remains on the Bank of England’s demonstration ledger rather than moving onto Polygon.

Why 24/7 trading requires continuous settlement

As digital asset markets trade without closing, David said the difference between trading hours and settlement hours has become more important for institutions. Crypto markets operate through nights, weekends, and public holidays, while bank transfers and parts of the traditional settlement system remain subject to operating schedules and daily cut-off times.

“If assets can trade around the clock but cash and collateral cannot move on the same basis, only part of the problem has been addressed,” David said.

An institution facing a margin call outside banking hours may own enough cash or liquid assets to meet its obligation. David’s argument, however, is that the capital offers limited help if the firm cannot transfer it to the required counterparty before traditional payment systems reopen.

Lynq encounters the mismatch in institutional digital asset markets, according to David. The company operates a broker-dealer-run settlement network intended for institutions that need to earn yield, transfer funds, and settle digital asset transactions.

“At Lynq, we encounter this mismatch directly in institutional digital asset markets,” he said. “The practical issue is not so much creating another form of digital money, but ensuring that capital can move to where it is required, at the time it is required.”

U.S. banks are also developing products intended to extend settlement beyond normal hours. An Aug. 4 report on Wells Fargo tokenized deposits said the bank plans to begin with selected corporate clients using a U.S. dollar-to-British pound corridor.

Wells Fargo said its planned service would allow participating clients to transfer, program, and settle funds around the clock on the bank’s blockchain platform. The initial release is expected to expand to additional clients, countries, and currencies during 2027.

Institutions are developing several forms of digital money

David’s expectation that different types of digital money will coexist is also visible in projects under development at major banks. Stablecoin issuers provide tokens backed by reserve assets, while tokenized deposits remain liabilities of the commercial banks that issue them.

During June, major U.S. banks backed plans for a shared tokenized-deposit network scheduled for 2027. The project involves JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo as banks seek to provide blockchain-based payments without moving customer deposits outside the banking system.

According to the participating institutions, a shared network could allow bank-issued digital money to move among participating lenders instead of remaining confined to one bank’s internal system. Such arrangements still require common technical, legal, and compliance standards before deposits issued by separate banks can work together.

Stablecoins provide another route by allowing tokens to move across blockchain networks and jurisdictions. However, David said the form an institution chooses may depend on the counterparty, applicable rules, and transaction type rather than one instrument proving suitable for every use.

Tokenized money market funds add a third option by placing shares in cash-management funds on blockchain systems. Institutions can use the products to hold assets that may earn a return, although transferring a fund share does not always provide the same function as transferring bank money or a payment stablecoin.

Central bank money would carry a different risk structure because a digital pound would represent a direct liability of the Bank of England. Commercial bank deposits remain claims on banks, while stablecoin holders depend on a private issuer and its reserve arrangements.

Bank of England tests a multi-money payment system

The Digital Pound Lab gives private firms access to a simulated environment containing application programming interfaces, wallets, a demonstration ledger, and separate smart-contract functions. According to the Bank of England, the lab uses no real customers or money and is not a regulatory sandbox.

NOBO Finance leads the consortium’s trade-finance design and a second workstream involving a portable credit profile for small businesses. Dun & Bradstreet contributes verified company identity and credit information, while Polygon supplies blockchain infrastructure intended to let the profile travel with the payment.

The trade-finance test uses invoice factoring backed by an electronic bill of lading. Under the proposed process, an exporter can obtain a stablecoin advance rather than waiting for the importer’s final payment, while the UK importer later settles the transaction with simulated digital pounds.

The Bank has not decided to issue a digital pound, and the participants’ designs do not indicate its eventual policy or the final structure of any CBDC. The Bank and HM Treasury are due to decide on the project’s next steps later in 2026, while any introduction of a digital pound would require Parliament to approve primary legislation.

Similar work is taking place at the international level. The Bank for International Settlements said its Project Agorá prototype showed that tokenized commercial bank deposits could settle against tokenized central bank reserves across jurisdictions. The project involves seven central banks and more than 40 financial institutions, with later trials expected to process transactions using real value.

For the Bank of England consortium, Phase 2 remains a controlled test rather than a live payment service. The Bank said participants develop their use cases over three months and share the results to inform its work on digital-pound technology, payment services, and possible business models for intermediaries.

Cue the release of The End of Oak Street, now in theaters. Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under the Silver Lake) and produced by J.J. Abrams (Cloverfield, Super 8), Oak Street follows the Platt family—husband and wife Greg (Ewan McGregor) and Denise (Anne Hathaway), their two children Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery), and their rambunctious dog Starbuck (played by two different pups named Brisket and Buzz)—after a mysterious cosmic event transports their 1980s suburban Michigan neighborhood back to a primitive era. What follows is a brutal fight for survival against aggressive, hungry, and carnivorous dinosaurs who quickly turn the community’s previously idyllic streets into their own personal feeding ground. There’s an absurd scientific explanation for these events, but the movie doesn’t spend too much time on it, which is mostly for the best within the bounds of its sub-100-minute run. Instead, The End of Oak Street is a thriller about suburban unease and domestic tension, with a primeval twist.