Liquidated: ‘All your Bitcoin are belong to us’

A shade under 4000 Bitcoin worth $319 million has been taken from Liquid Network — with purported “white hat” hackers claiming responsibility. An unverified OP_RETURN message read: “we are whitehats. contact us on chain.”  

The Blockstream-run Bitcoin sidechain has been paused as the team attempts to identify the security hole and negotiate the return of funds. The Liquid explorer shows the balance of its federation wallet dropped from 4,200 BTC down to just 207.275 BTC, with 3,998.5 Bitcoin withdrawn.

Under normal Liquid mechanics, LBTC is burned on the sidechain before Bitcoin is withdrawn. The transaction needs to be authorized by an 11 of 15 multisig, and funds are sent to an approved whitelist.    

Liquid Network posted earlier today that: “the funds were withdrawn via the SideSwap PAK (Peg-out Authorization Key), but that key was not compromised, nor were any others.” 

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“Bridge nodes have been temporarily disabled, so no new transactions can be submitted to the network. Effectively, the Liquid sidechain is paused until this issue is resolved.”

Crypto analyst DBCrypto noted that: “the coins aren’t running and they’re just sitting on Bitcoin and haven’t been mixed. That’s more consistent with a whitehat extraction than a theft.” But he said the incident raised some big questions about security on the sidechain. “Either 11 of 15 functionaries signed this off, or the whitelist built to prevent exactly this didn’t hold. Neither answer makes Liquid look good.”

So far Blockstream and Adam Back have not posted about the incident on X.  This is a developing story.

Source: Liquid Network

Bitcoin ETF inflows hit $3.8B in strongest three-week stretch of 2026

While Bitcoin is yet to hold above the 50-week moving average that would confirm a bull market, there are other signs bull market conditions are returning. The US spot Bitcoin ETFS have just recorded their strongest three-week inflow stretch of 2026 as Bitcoin trades just above $80,000.

The funds attracted $986.9 million in the week ending Friday, bringing net inflows over the past three weeks to $3.8 billion, according to SoSoValue data.

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Total net assets across the funds stood at $101.3 billion on Friday, while cumulative net inflows reached $55.6 billion. On Thursday the Bitcoin ETFs recorded $730.9 million in net inflows, for the strongest showing since Jan. 14.

AMC boss cracks it over Robinhood’s tokenized stocks

Robinhood has been a stunning success so far, leading chains for daily fees and flipping Solana’s 24 hour DEX volume. It’s token launchpad PONS even broke into the Top 100 coins this week with a stunning 140% gain. Part of the interest has been in the Ethereum L2’s pairing of memecoins with tokenized stocks like AMC.

But while crypto degens love it, AMC’s CEO Adam Aron is less than impressed and has threatened to send in the lawyers over the chain’s “outrageous” decision to tokenize AMC stock without his express permission. He wrote on X:

“I find this practice to be contemptible, outrageous, disgusting, detestable, inexcusable, vile. How can it possibly be legal? We have no connection to this at all, and do not condone it in any way. “

Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev trolled him by asking blithely: “What’s the concern?” which sent Aron off on another rant about Robinhood’s “shocking and shameful” conduct. He called on them to “CEASE AND DECIST (sic)” and said the SEC could not possibly support Robinhood’s “sham ignoring of US securities laws. You can be sure we will be asking them.”

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Robinhood’s chief legal officer Dan Gallagher — a former SEC commissioner — wrote back:

“We know a little something about the U.S. securities laws and will not “DECIST.” Send your lawyers and we’ll educate them.”

What a savage.

Source: Dan Gallagher

BofA, Citi, Goldman Sachs among 21 institutions planning stablecoin launch

A group of 21 major financial institutions plans to establish a new company to develop and issue stablecoins.

The consortium, announced Tuesday, includes Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Santander, MUFG and Fidelity Investments. It plans to launch a US dollar-denominated stablecoin in the first half of 2027, subject to the company’s formation and other conditions.

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According to the announcement, the group ultimately plans to expand into stablecoins denominated in other G7 currencies, with a euro offering identified as its next priority.

In other news that crypto is playing with the big boys now, the G20 member nations put out a joint statement supporting crypto as a transformative way to bring about “broad-based economic growth.” It committed member nations to “advancing responsible and effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks that preserve financial stability, support economic growth, and establish clear pathways for sound digital financial and digital assets innovation.”

Kalshi bans Santos for life as New Jersey attempts to ban Kalshi for life

Prediction market platform Kalshi has banned ousted Republican lawmaker George Santos for life for allegedly using insider information for trading on event contracts. It’s one of the first lifetime bans the company has imposed since its launch in 2021. Kalshi said that Santos had been betting on markets involving his own actions, and stated he had “engaged in trading activity in certain markets related to his attendance at the State of the Union address” in February 2026.

In response to the ban, Santos called Kalshi an “unserious company.” 

Meanwhile New Jersey’s Attorney General officially petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear a case aimed at resolving whether state authorities or federal agencies have jurisdiction over prediction market companies. Officials cited civil cases brought by gaming authorities in “at least 20 states” that required the court to decide if state laws or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s rules took precedence.

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“These companies have no right to offer their sports bets without following state law, which is why dozens of States across the ideological spectrum have opposed them […] We’re calling on the Supreme Court to resolve this issue and recognize that Congress did not silently make the sports-betting industry immune from state law.”

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is up 2.6% to trade at $80,234, Ethereum (ETH) is up 2.3% to trade at $2,513 and XRP (XRP) is up 3% to $1.42. The total market cap is at $2.72 trillion according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin winners of the week are Pons (PONS) with a 140% gain, Arbitrum (ARB) on 116%, and Dash (DASH) on 66%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Pump.fun (PUMP) which was down 13.2%, Canton (CC) down 6.9% and Official Trump (TRUMP) down 4.1%.

Top Prediction of the Week

BTC will hit $1M by 2030… but Arthur Hayes is buying ETH instead

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes told Cointelegraph the collapse of the AI bubble, “massive” money printing, and potential US yield curve control are among some of the reasons why Bitcoin could go to $1 million by 2030. “We have the ingredients. The time is now. So I think the $58,000 was probably the bottom in Bitcoin, and now it’s going to grind higher in this hate fuck rally,” the 41-year-old billionaire said.

But he added the best risk reward adjusted bet in crypto right now wasn’t Hyperliquid, but ETH and he’s been amassing a sizeable position. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that Hyperliquid won’t rise in price. I just don’t think it’s poised for a 5x, and like where I think Ethereum could do, you know, 3x to 5x pretty quickly,” he said.

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Top FUD of the Week

El Salvador’s post-review Bitcoin accumulation used no public funds: IMF

El Salvador used no public resources to accumulate Bitcoin after the first review of its International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing program in June 2025, according to reports this week.

The IMF reportedly said documents supplied by Salvadoran authorities verified that the accumulation came from private donations. That would mean the increase in El Salvador’s holdings did not reflect additional Bitcoin purchases financed with government resources. 

The IMF also said majority ownership and operational control of the Chivo wallet had been transferred to a private operator, while the government retained a minority stake and custodial responsibilities.

But President Nayib Bukele called the story “fake news” and said the claim that El Salvador had transferred its Bitcoin returns to a private party was “TOTALLY FALSE.” He pointed to this IMF link as evidence:

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“Read it. It clearly says the opposite: that the only thing that was transferred were Chivo shares, something that was offered a year and a half ago, and NOT the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.”

Fake Claude desktop app spreads crypto-stealing malware

A fake Claude desktop application is reportedly being used to distribute RevStealer, a Windows malware strain built to steal crypto, password and browser data.

According to a Monday report by cybersecurity company Morphisec, RevStealer was previously distributed through GitHub repositories and game-cheat-themed sites but the most notable is a fake “Claude Opus 5 Free Desktop” project that impersonates AI developer Anthropic and promises free access to Claude.

The researchers noted that the malware is designed to leave few traces and searches browser databases, cookies, password-manager records, VPN and remote-access settings, messaging data, screenshots and selected documents. RevStealer also targets over 50 cryptocurrency wallets.

Hyperscale Data ends Michigan BTC mining as holdings fall 79%

Hyperscale Data has ended all Bitcoin mining operations at its Michigan facility as it prepares the site for an artificial intelligence data center customer. 

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On Wednesday, the company said that all Bitcoin miners at the facility were switched off and that it intends to sell the associated mining equipment. 

Hyperscale said the AI customer has contracted for 20 megawatts (MW) of computing capacity under a 10-year master services agreement with two optional five-year extensions. The agreement may generate more than $1.2 billion over the maximum 20-year term. An additional 32 MW option could lift potential revenue above $3 billion, while the site is expected to support 340 MW. 

Hyperscale has also reduced its Bitcoin holdings sharply while funding the AI buildout. It’s holdings have dropped from 1006 Bitcoin at the end of July to around 215 BTC today.

Top Magazine Stories of the Week

The million dollar question is what prompted a Bitcoin OG to send 20 BTC to a custodian, retrieve it back, and then deliberately burn it?

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Crypto is showing signs of life again, but its biggest wins look different from what early believers imagined. After a decade of building, has it all been worth it?

Crypto projects are spending hundreds of millions buying their own tokens. But are buybacks creating lasting value — or just making tokens look more valuable than they really are?

Crypto recovery specialists reveal how lost wallets, passwords and seed phrases can sometimes be recovered — but that’s of no help if the money was never there in the first place.

Cointelegraph publishes long-form journalism, analysis and narrative reporting produced by Cointelegraph’s in-house editorial team with subject-matter expertise. All articles are edited and reviewed by Cointelegraph editors in line with our editorial standards. Some articles contain affiliate links, from which Cointelegraph may earn a commission. These relationships do not influence which products we review or our editorial conclusions. Content published in here does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals where appropriate. Cointelegraph maintains full editorial independence.

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Two of the three meme coins to watch surged more than 370% since Aug. 31, then reversed sharply on Sunday. Bonk (BONK) is the exception, closing higher and near its recent highs.

The three setups now sit at very different distances from their nearest support. That gap, rather than the size of the rally, defines the risk heading into the week ahead.

Bonk Breaks Its Downtrend

Bonk broke above the descending trendline that had capped it since the May 11 high near $0.00000800. The Aug. 21 breakout came on the heaviest volume of the past five months.

BONK has since confirmed $0.00000273 as support, retesting it in early September. The token trades near $0.0000035, up 5.59% in 24 hours, with a market cap of $308 million.

Immediate resistance sits at the Aug. 21 swing high around $0.00000375, followed by $0.00000400. Above those, $0.00000485 lines up with the declining 200-day moving average near $0.00000490, roughly 38% higher.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) reads 67 and continues to rise. However, BONK still prints lower highs on the higher timeframe until $0.00000485 gives way.

Useless Coin Rejects Resistance After a 373% Run

Useless Coin (USELESS) rallied 373% from its Aug. 31 low near $0.0668 to a Sept. 5 peak of $0.316. That run stalled at the $0.262 to $0.278 resistance zone.

USELESS now trades near $0.2225, down 24.43% in 24 hours, with a market cap of $222 million.

The gap below current levels is the concern. Its 21-day exponential moving average sits at $0.1231, about 45% under spot, while the $0.093 to $0.100 support shelf is roughly 55% lower. Only the $0.20 level stands in between.

That shelf capped USELESS through June and July before the surge reclaimed it. Meanwhile, RSI at 74.2 has started to turn toward its signal line.

MarsCoin Is the Riskiest of These Meme Coins to Watch

MarsCoin (MARSCOIN) has the shortest history of the three, with about five weeks of trading since late July. It climbed about 745% from $0.030 on Aug. 21 to a $0.253 high on Sept. 6.

The token then rejected the $0.240-$0.248 zone and closed the session at $0.1832, down 23.76% for the day.

MARSCOIN shows the widest gap to support of the three meme setups. Its 21-day EMA sits near $0.092, about 50% below, and the $0.060 to $0.066 zone is roughly 67% lower.

Volume peaked on Sept. 4 and has contracted since. In contrast, RSI has slipped only to 71 from 78, with no bearish divergence yet.

The post Top 3 Meme Coins to Watch in the Second Week of September appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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NVIDIA boss Jensen Huang says artificial intelligence just crossed a line experts thought was years away. He also sells the computers that got it there.

On Sunday he posted that OpenAI’s newest ChatGPT model trained on his chips. Then he added four words no AI lab would say.

What He Actually Claimed

AGI stands for artificial general intelligence. It means software that can handle most thinking work a person can. Nobody agrees on when that arrives. Huang just called it.

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NVIDIA used to sell its chips eight to a board. Then it changed the design. Now 72 sit in one box, wired to act as one giant brain.

That switch cost billions. It pays off only if somebody builds something enormous.

OpenAI’s new model is that something. Huang says about 100,000 of the boxes trained it.

One oddity. His first post said 300,000. He deleted it and reposted the smaller figure. NVIDIA has not said why.

The Money, and What’s the Catch?

NVIDIA sold $89 billion of AI computers in three months. More than double a year earlier. Huang put it simply on the earnings call.

“Now, compute is revenue,” Huang said on the earnings call.

OpenAI itself has not said AGI arrived. Its president, Greg Brockman, stopped short. The only man calling it gets paid when people believe him.

The partnership is smaller than it sounds. A $100 billion deal the two firms announced in 2025 was never signed. BeInCrypto reported in June that OpenAI was quietly buying fewer NVIDIA chips.

Huang ended his post with a promise. Another 400,000 chips, switching on soon. Markets will surely watch that number, not the AGI talk.

“Achieving AGI by 2026 is wild, it was supposed to be 2029+,” remarked one user.

The post Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AGI Has Arrived With OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Crypto holders relied more on loans backed by digital assets as market conditions weakened in 2026, according to research from CryptoQuant.

The report analyzed data from crypto lender CoinRabbit. It found higher borrowing activity among both retail and high-net-worth users.

Borrowing Activity Rises

Crypto-backed loans allow holders to access cash without immediately selling their digital assets. Borrowers usually pledge more collateral than they receive, but falling prices can trigger liquidation or require more collateral.

According to the report, retail users recorded the biggest change in borrowing activity during the period. Their average number of loans rose 74%, from 30.8 per user in 2025 to 53.5 in 2026, while high-net-worth users rose 18%, from 16.5 to 19.4.

Repeat borrowing also became more common across the platform. The share of users taking multiple loans increased from 61.9% to 65.1%. Retail borrowers waited an average of 21 days between loans, compared with 11 days previously.

Beyond borrowing activity, collateral preferences also shifted, particularly among wealthier users.  Bitcoin’s share of pledged assets among high-net-worth users fell from 57.8% to 30.5%, while Zcash reached 24.2% after not appearing among the previous top 10.

CryptoQuant linked part of Zcash’s rise in collateral use to its sharp price rally. Zcash climbed from about $50 in late 2025 toward $800, while Monero, Chainlink and Cardano also gained larger shares among high-net-worth collateral.

Shifting Asset Preferences

Retail users continued to rely heavily on XRP as collateral during the period. However, its share fell from 41.7% to 35.2%, while Bitcoin remained close behind. TRON, Stellar, BNB, Kaspa, and Velo also entered the mix.

Meanwhile, the assets users traded most frequently changed during the period as market conditions shifted. Tether and Bitcoin remained the two largest assets by volume, while USD Coin moved into third place. Flare, Ether, and Ondo also entered the top 10.

Solana, Stellar, and Shiba Inu dropped out of the top 10 by trading volume. Together, these changes show that users adjusted both their borrowing and asset preferences during the weaker market period.

The post Crypto Holders Turn to Loans as Markets Cool in 2026: CQ appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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Peter Schiff reopened the Bitcoin-backing debate this weekend, arguing that the energy consumed by miners leaves nothing behind to support the asset.

Schiff answered Bitcoin maximalist Jeff Swanson, who had called the asset the future of money. Their exchange revived crypto’s oldest argument about what gives money value.

Peter Schiff Rejects the Bitcoin Backing Argument

Swanson listed three pillars in his original post. Energy expenditure came first. A fixed issuance schedule and record computing power followed.

Schiff dismissed that premise outright. Energy vanishes the moment miners consume it, he wrote, so nothing survives to support the network. In his framing, mining destroys value rather than storing it.

The gold advocate has run this line for years. Gold still exists after miners pull it from the ground, he argues. Electricity does not.

The timing helps him. Hash rate has slipped for months as operators redirected power toward artificial intelligence, and many miners left the network this year.

Schiff never touched the supply cap, though. That leaves the Bitcoin backing case resting on its hardest number rather than on watts.

A $39 Trillion Figure That Already Slipped

Swanson pegged US government debt at $39 trillion. Treasury data disagrees. Total public debt outstanding crossed $40 trillion on Aug. 18 and reached $40.10 trillion on Sept. 3, according to the department’s daily figures.

That gap matters, because the debt comparison carries the rest of his argument. The $40 trillion debt record arrived in August, and borrowing has not slowed since.

Swanson also tied his case to confidence in the institution issuing the dollar. Schiff ignored that half. He targeted only the energy claim.

Meanwhile, price action offers neither man much comfort. Bitcoin (BTC) changed hands near $79,600 on Sunday, down roughly 1.5% over 24 hours.

Schiff has bent slightly before. Last month, he admitted to missing out on Bitcoin gains, while insisting that long-term holders fared worse than they claim.

Neither side conceded anything here. Still, the question of Bitcoin backing returns every time a debt record falls.

The post Bitcoin Is Backed by Nothing? Peter Schiff Revives Old War appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Someone pulled $319 million in Bitcoin (BTC) out of Blockstream’s Liquid network on Sunday. It cost 21 cents in fees. Then they left a note on the blockchain saying they were the good guys.

While the internet calls it a heist, the chain says something stranger. Liquid’s remaining coins are still fully covered, down to the fourth decimal place.

$320M Crypto Reserve Moves, But the Wallet Left a Strange Message

The first move cleared at 14:06 UTC, releasing 3,996 coins to an address nobody had ever used before. That was 95% of everything the network held.

Four hours later the money moved again. The sender paid 269 satoshis, about 21 cents, and attached a message anyone can read.

Then they sent 0.00001 back to Liquid’s own address. The other 3,998.49 coins have not moved since.

“It looks like ~4,000 BTC just moved from the Liquid Network bridge all at once with an OP Return saying, “we are whitehats. contact us on chain”,” one user noted.

The Part Everyone Missed

Liquid runs on one rule: To take coins out, you destroy the matching tokens inside the network first. So when the reserve shrank, the tokens it backs shrank with it. Both landed in nearly the same spot.

The peg holds, with 0.22 coins to spare. Nobody still holding L-BTC is short a satoshi. That kills the insolvency story. However, it leaves a worse one. Add what left to what remains, and the network held about 4,193 coins on Saturday. Nearly all of them were burned to make this move work.

Blockstream is clear about who can do that. Only a federation member can burn the tokens. Fifteen companies hold the keys, and 11 must sign before coins leave.

Its documentation calls the destination list a safeguard.

Whitelisted addresses are used as a failsafe to ensure that the federation always remains in full control of the BTC held by the Liquid Network,” the team said in its documentation.

The coins went to a brand new address. Blockstream has not explained that, or said anything at all.

Traders have seen this before, particularly with Ronin bridge attackers who gave back $10 million and took a bounty in 2024.

The money sits still, in daylight. Whoever holds it asked to be contacted. Nobody has answered.

The post Attackers Leave On-chain Message After $320 Million Exits Liquid Network appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Kalshi settled its Western Michigan versus Michigan market before the game ended, paying traders who backed the losing team. The exchange then clawed that money back.

The market had traded $18.6 million by the time the result became final. Traders on both sides watched their balances move twice in the space of minutes.

How Kalshi Settled the Michigan Game Too Early

Michigan trailed 12-7 with the clock reading zero after an incomplete Hail Mary attempt. Western Michigan players had already run onto the field to celebrate.

Officials then reviewed the play and ruled that a Western Michigan defender touched the ball from out of bounds. One second still showed on the clock.

That second was restored and quarterback Bryce Underwood threw a 47-yard touchdown to JJ Buchanan, and Michigan won 13-12.

Kalshi had already treated the zeroed clock as the final state. It paid the Western Michigan side, then reversed those payouts. It reimbursed the wrongly marked losers and paid Michigan holders last.

Kalshi’s own sports account had spotlighted one $2,265 Western Michigan position during the game. It stood to pay $93,201.

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“Kalshi confirms they wrongly and prematurely settled the “Western Michigan vs. Michigan” market, as if Michigan lost. They clawed back payments to initial incorrect “winners,” reimbursed the initial “losers,” and then paid the right people. (This market saw $18.6m volume.)” Marshall Cohen of CNN noted.

Why the Settlement Error Matters for Prediction Markets

The result Kalshi eventually paid out on is itself disputed. NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay questioned how officials arrived at one second.

“The ball isn’t even close to touching a player when it goes to zero,” CBS reported, citing Terry McAulay, NBC rules analyst.

BeInCrypto flagged a similar failure in July. Coinbase pushed an AI-generated World Cup result to users before kickoff. Coinbase routes its prediction product through Kalshi.

The timing is also awkward, coming after a Michigan judge barred Kalshi from offering sports contracts inside the state on September 1. That order carries a $500,000 daily penalty.

Five days later, the exchange misfired on a Michigan football market. Prediction markets are already colliding with sports law, and critics now have a concrete settlement failure to cite.

Kalshi fixed the payouts within hours, but whether it publishes the source and timing rule that failed will matter more than the refund.

The post Kalshi Paid the Wrong Winners $18.6 Million Before Michigan's Miracle Comeback appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Given the nature of its blockchain, bitcoin was long considered to move around within a broader four-year cycle prompted by the halving, which takes place in general every four years. However, the pattern has been rejected in the past year or so, and popular on-chain analyst Willy Woo took the same approach in his latest opinion on the matter.

He suggested that BTC may be transitioning toward a six-to-eight-year cycle, increasingly influenced by the same debt and liquidity conditions that drive traditional financial markets.

From Halving to Liquidity?

Woo’s reasoning begins with the cryptocurrency’s diminishing supply shock. Following the latest halving in April 2024, new BTC issuance dropped to approximately 0.8% of the existing supply per year. The next event, scheduled to take place in early 2028, will reduce that figure to roughly 0.4%.

As newly mined supply becomes increasingly insignificant relative to the existing market, Woo argued that the halving’s ability to dictate BTC’s broader price cycle weakens. Instead, the asset may begin moving more closely with TradFi’s six-to-eight-year short-term debt cycle.

The halving framework worked remarkably well for much of bitcoin’s history. Now, though, the market structure has changed dramatically, perhaps mostly from the US spot Bitcoin ETFs. Current data shows that these financial products hold close to 1.3 million BTC, which is over 6% of the circulating supply. Public companies with at least 1,000 BTC currently own over a million units.

Together, ETFs and those corporate treasuries controlled almost 12% of circulating BTC – vastly more than miners now create annually.

Others who have supported the narrative that the four-year cycle is dead include Arthur Hayes, who claimed in 2025 that traders focus too heavily on it, and Fidelity Digital Assets. In a report from last year, the analysts questioned whether BTC’s maturing market could produce more gradual rallies and corrections rather than the violent boom-and-bust cycles of the past.

Not Everyone Is Convinced

Galaxy Research examined the same question in June this year, but concluded something different – BTC’s four-year cycle remains visible in the data. The researchers noted that bitcoin again peaked in October 2025, roughly 18 months after the April 2024 halving – precisely within the historical window.

The difference is that each cycle is becoming less extreme. Bitcoin’s previous bear markets produced drawdowns of approximately 85%, 84%, and 77%, while the decline to the July 1 low was considerably milder at just over 53%.

The post Bitcoin’s 4-Year Cycle Could Be Changing: Willy Woo Reveals What Could Replace It appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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