The crypto market is consolidating on Thursday, with bitcoin BTC$65,751.27 a modest 0.62% lower since midnight UTC at $65,674 as it settles into a range between $64,000 and $66,800 that has held for the past week.

The price action reflects a market catching its breath. Bitcoin has rallied more than 13% since its July 1 low of $57,750, and after failing to convincingly break above the $66,000 level of resistance on Tuesday, the path of least resistance in the short term appears to be sideways rather than sharply in either direction.

Traditional markets are offering little direction. Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures are both marginally lower by around 0.3%, the dollar index (DXY) is broadly flat, and gold and silver are both pulling back after yesterday’s safe haven rally, leaving crypto without a clear macro catalyst to lean on in either direction.

Derivatives positioning

• Period of stasis: The crypto futures market appears to be in a state of stasis, with 24-hour trading volumes down just 1% at $147 billion and open interest (OI) holding steady around $111 billion. The 24-hour long-short ratio, which tracks taker volume, is nearly balanced. Taker volume refers to buy and sell trades executed immediately at ongoing market prices, and the current equilibrium suggests a lack of aggressive directional conviction among traders.
• Open interest shifts in major assets: Bitcoin’s futures open interest has slipped back to 743K BTC from the highs of over 760K BTC seen early this week. This decline indicates an unwinding of existing bets as the price rally stalls and valuations pull back slightly. A potential silver lining for bulls is that the drop in OI suggests the price weakness is being driven by long liquidations rather than the entry of fresh shorts betting on a deeper decline. In contrast, ETH’s OI has ticked up during the overnight price drop. However, the price action is still being led by buyers using market orders rather than passive limit orders, as evidenced by ETH’s positive 24-hour OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD).
• Mixed sentiment in altcoins: The broader market shows a split in aggressive leadership. Several coins, including ZEC, HBAR, LTC, AVAX, and SUI, are currently posting positive CVDs, indicating taker-buy pressure. However, there are just as many prominent names on the opposite side of the fence showing negative CVDs, including BTC, XLM, DOGE, and SHIB, signaling that aggressive sellers remain active in those specific markets.
• Rising volatility signals potential caution: Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index, BVIV, has now increased for the fifth straight day. Traders may want to keep a close eye on this metric because, since the launch of spot ETFs, the correlation between Bitcoin’s spot price and the BVIV has been consistently negative. Under this regime, an upswing in the BVIV often serves as a warning of an impending price drop. Meanwhile, ether’s volatility index, EVIV, remains relatively stable.
• Options flows and evaporating fear: Flows across the Deribit exchange and the OTC desk Paradigm featured notable demand for the BTC $70,000 call option expiring Aug. 7. While some traders were positioned for upside, others simultaneously picked up longer-duration puts as a downside hedge. Ethereum options have also seen a general demand for upside exposure. Broadly speaking, market fear appears to be evaporating as put-call skews for both BTC and ETH slip toward zero. Notably, ETH’s one-week skew briefly turned negative yesterday, marking a temporary bullish shift in sentiment where calls became more expensive than puts.

Token talk

• WLFI$0.06311 was the standout mover on Thursday, surging 12.18% to $0.063. The Donald Trump family-linked token has now recovered to a $2 billion market cap, though it remains deep in the red from its all-time high.
• MORPHO$1.9912 extended its recent run, rising nearly 4% to $1.989, keeping it among the more consistent AI outperformers of the past fortnight.
• Ethena (ENA) added 2% to $0.092, continuing a quiet rehabilitation that has seen it outperform most DeFi peers over the past week despite sitting more than 90% below its September 2025 peak.
• Lighter (LIT) continued to slide, falling 2.96% as profit-taking weighs on the token for a third consecutive session following its 200%-plus rally between May and early July.
• CoinMarketCap’s altcoin season indicator holds at 51/100 as the market waits for bitcoin to make a decisive move.

Galaxy Digital has launched a planned $3.5 billion high-yield bond sale to help finance the expansion of its Helios data center campus in West Texas.

According to a Bloomberg report, the digital assets and AI infrastructure company intends to use the proceeds from its first junk bond offering to finance part of the Helios Data Center Campus in Dickens County, Texas, while also funding debt service reserves tied to the project.

The planned issuance adds Galaxy to a growing list of infrastructure developers using the U.S. high-yield debt market to fund large artificial intelligence projects. Bloomberg data shows developers have already raised about $28 billion through U.S. junk bond offerings this year to finance AI-focused data center construction.

The transaction is expected to price on July 23, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are leading the sale, while the source said the offering consists of five-year notes issued by a Galaxy subsidiary.

Under the proposed structure, the issuing entity will begin repaying 4% of the original principal each year starting 10 months after construction is completed, according to the same source, who requested anonymity because the information is not public.

CoreWeave contract supports long-term expansion

Earlier this month, Galaxy said CoreWeave had signed 15-year agreements to lease computing capacity at the Helios campus. According to the company’s previous announcement, those contracts are expected to generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue once operational.

The company also said the first phase of the Helios project has already been completed. Construction on the next phase is expected to begin in 2027 as Galaxy continues expanding the campus for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads.

Located in Dickens County, roughly 60 miles east of Lubbock, the Helios campus has regulatory approval for up to 1.6 gigawatts of power dedicated to AI and high-performance computing, according to Galaxy’s previously released figures.

The financing plan follows another large AI infrastructure transaction completed last month. Bloomberg data shows an Applied Digital subsidiary raised approximately $1.59 billion in the U.S. junk bond market to expand computing capacity for CoreWeave at a North Dakota facility.

Before pursuing the current bond offering, Galaxy had primarily relied on convertible note offerings to raise capital for its operations.

AI infrastructure becomes a larger part of Galaxy’s business

Originally known for its digital asset businesses, Galaxy has steadily increased its investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure during 2026 alongside its cryptocurrency operations.

The Helios campus has become one of the company’s largest long-term infrastructure projects as demand for AI computing capacity continues to grow. Its partnership with CoreWeave places the site among several facilities being developed to support large-scale AI training and cloud computing services.

Galaxy has also tied the project to regional partnerships in West Texas. Last week, the company signed a 15-year agreement with Texas Tech University to rename the school’s football venue Galaxy Stadium beginning with the 2026 season.

According to Galaxy’s announcement at the time, the agreement also made the company Texas Tech Athletics’ official digital assets and data center partner. Besides stadium naming rights, both parties said they plan to collaborate on artificial intelligence initiatives, workforce training programs and opportunities involving student-athletes’ names, images and likenesses, although financial terms were not disclosed.

The university partnership links Galaxy’s existing data center operations in Dickens County with one of the region’s highest-profile athletic programs, further strengthening its presence in West Texas as development of the Helios campus continues.

Crypto business continues expanding alongside AI

Even as Galaxy increases spending on AI infrastructure, it has continued expanding other parts of its digital asset business.

Earlier this week, the company introduced a $5 million Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative to support developers working on technologies designed to prepare the Bitcoin network for future quantum computing risks.

According to Galaxy, the grant program will fund research into quantum-resistant signature schemes, wallet migration tools and independent security audits. The company also said it hopes universities, companies and other institutions will contribute funding and technical expertise to accelerate work on post-quantum cryptography.

Galaxy cited research from CryptoQuant estimating that about 6.9 million Bitcoin, worth roughly $461 billion at current prices, could become exposed if future quantum computers become capable of breaking Bitcoin’s existing cryptographic protections. While the company acknowledged that such machines are not expected to pose an immediate threat, it argued that preparing the ecosystem would require years of coordination across developers, exchanges, wallet providers and infrastructure operators.

The company has also expanded its regulated financial services business this year. In May, Galaxy secured both a BitLicense and a Money Transmission License from the New York State Department of Financial Services through its subsidiary GalaxyOne Prime NY, allowing it to provide regulated digital asset trading and custody services to institutional clients in New York.

Earlier in 2026, Galaxy also announced plans to launch a $100 million hedge fund focused on cryptocurrency tokens alongside financial services companies expected to benefit from digital asset adoption and regulatory developments.

With the planned $3.5 billion bond sale, Galaxy is adding another financing milestone to its expanding AI infrastructure business while continuing to invest across digital assets, institutional services and Bitcoin network development.

Home invasions became the most common form of crypto wrench attacks during the first half of 2026, rising to 20 publicly reported incidents from just one a year earlier, according to blockchain security firm CertiK. 

On Thursday, CertiK said it verified 52 wrench attacks worldwide in the first half of 2026, up 33.3% from 39 incidents during the same period in 2025. Kidnappings rose to 16 from 12, while robberies declined from five incidents to one. 

CertiK said the recorded financial exposure linked to the attacks reached about $124.1 million, up from $10.5 million a year earlier. The figure is not limited to confirmed thefts and may include ransom demands, victim transfers, frozen or recovered assets and failed ransom demands. 

The increase in home invasions suggests criminals are increasingly bypassing digital safeguards by physically coercing crypto holders and their families.

Attack type year-on-year, H1 2025 vs. H1 2026. Source: CertiK

France remains center of crypto wrench attacks 

Europe accounted for 39 of the 52 verified incidents, while France alone accounted for 33, or nearly two-thirds of the global total. CertiK said it used a narrower methodology than French authorities, counting only publicly reported incidents it could independently verify. 

Share of wrench attacks by region. Source: CertiK

On July 2, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said authorities had recorded 77 crypto-linked kidnappings, extortion cases or attempted extortion cases during the first half of 2026, up from 45 in the entire year of 2025.

CertiK said the concentration may reflect France’s more visible crypto ecosystem, with data breaches and information connecting identities and home addresses with perceived crypto wealth.

Related: US seeks forfeiture of $25M in crypto tied to romance, investment scams

In response, French authorities launched a dedicated prevention platform and a rapid-alert system for crypto holders and professionals. Nuñez said that emergency measures have resulted in 200 arrests. 

CertiK said the rise in physical coercion challenges conventional self-custody advice. The company recommended multisignature or multiparty computation arrangements, withdrawal delays, spending limits and geographically separated signers so one threatened person cannot immediately release all available assets.

Magazine: Inside the ‘fake police raid’ that forced a $1M Bitcoin transfer

Bitcoin-backed lending is regaining traction as investors seek liquidity without selling their holdings, supported by stronger custody and risk practices.

Bitcoin holders run into the same problem during every market swing. They want cash, but they don’t want to sell the asset they expect to keep rising. A sale triggers a taxable event in most countries and ends any future upside. Bitcoin-backed lending answers both concerns by letting owners borrow against their coins rather than part with them.

The category earned a rough reputation in 2022, when centralized lenders such as Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager, and Genesis failed and locked up billions in customer funds. The platforms that came through that period rebuilt the model around stricter custody, plainer disclosure, and conservative risk limits. Galaxy Research pegged the broader crypto lending market at $73.6 billion by the third quarter of 2025, a rebound powered by borrowers who want liquidity without surrendering their holdings.

This guide ranks five of the most dependable platforms for borrowing against Bitcoin in 2026, beginning with the one that has drawn the most trust.

How a Bitcoin-backed loan works

The mechanics are simple. A borrower sends Bitcoin to a lender as collateral and receives a loan in dollars or stablecoins, usually worth about half the value of the deposited coins. That ratio is the loan-to-value, or LTV. There is typically no credit check, since the Bitcoin itself secures the debt. When the borrower repays, the collateral comes back.

The main risk sits on the price side. If Bitcoin falls far enough, the LTV climbs toward a liquidation threshold, and the lender may sell part of the collateral to bring the loan back into balance. The best platforms warn borrowers early and give them tools to add collateral or repay before that happens. Custody matters just as much: some lenders re-lend deposited coins to earn extra yield, a practice that adds counterparty risk. Others keep the collateral untouched.

1. Ledn

Ledn sits at the top of this list because it pairs the longest clean operating record in the category with a level of disclosure few rivals match. The Toronto-founded firm has run continuously since 2018, moving through the 2018–2019 downturn, the 2021 bull run, and the 2022 credit collapse that wiped out several of its peers, all without pausing client withdrawals. Ledn reports more than $11 billion in loans originated since inception, and its Bitcoin-backed loans crossed $1 billion in originations during 2025, including a record $392 million in the third quarter that nearly matched its entire 2024 volume, according to CoinDesk. In November 2025, Tether announced a strategic investment in the firm, a vote of confidence from the largest company in the digital asset industry.

Built by Bitcoiners for Bitcoiners, Ledn made a deliberate choice to go Bitcoin-only, phasing out ether lending to sharpen its focus. Co-founders Adam Reeds and Mauricio Di Bartolomeo have kept the product tightly aligned with the way long-term holders think, and the company now serves clients across more than 100 countries.

Ledn’s strengths center on protection and honesty. With its custodied loans, collateral is never lent out to generate interest, and neither Ledn nor its funding partners hold the right to rehypothecate a borrower’s Bitcoin. Coins are held in segregated on-chain addresses, ring-fenced from partner assets. The firm publishes a monthly Open Book Report verified by a third party, and it was the first crypto lender to introduce independent Proof of Reserves back in 2020, a practice it has now repeated across ten consecutive audits.

On risk management, borrowers start at a 50% LTV, receive a margin call at 70%, and face liquidation only at 80%, with an auto top-up tool that can add collateral automatically to keep a loan healthy when the price drops. Rates run from 11.49% APR on smaller loans down to 9.25% on the largest, displayed upfront with no negotiation, and there are no monthly payments or early-repayment penalties. Ledn is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.

The challenges are worth naming. Ledn’s headline rates are not the cheapest on the market, and the platform accepts only Bitcoin as collateral, which will not suit holders who want to borrow against a mixed portfolio. Product availability also varies by jurisdiction.

2. Unchained

Unchained takes the opposite approach to custody and appeals to borrowers who refuse to hand their Bitcoin to anyone. Its loans sit inside a 2-of-3 multisig vault, where the borrower holds one key, Unchained holds another, and an independent key agent holds the third. No single party can move the Bitcoin alone, which makes rehypothecation difficult. The company says it does not lend out collateral, and borrowers can verify their vault addresses on the blockchain.

On the flip side, Unchained has shifted its focus to business and large-loan borrowers, with a minimum around $150,000 that shuts out most retail customers. Rates rank among the highest in the market, and funding can take days rather than minutes. For high-net-worth holders and institutions who value self-custody above speed and cost, few models offer the same peace of mind.

3. Nexo

Nexo is one of the largest and best-known names in crypto lending, operating since 2018 with millions of clients across several jurisdictions. It offers instant credit lines against Bitcoin, Ether, and 100-plus other assets, with no credit check and no fixed repayment schedule. Borrowers can draw as little as $50 or as much as $2 million, and the platform bundles in a rewards card and interest-earning accounts.

Nexo’s pricing is tiered and tied to loyalty status. Standard rates range from 1.9% to 18.9% APR, but top-tier members with low LTVs can borrow far more cheaply. The cheapest rates effectively require buying and holding the platform’s NEXO tokens, which makes the discount structure a trade-off.

4. Coinbase

Coinbase reintroduced Bitcoin-backed loans in January 2025, powered by the on-chain lending protocol Morpho and running on the Base network. Borrowers pledge Bitcoin, which converts to wrapped cbBTC, and receive USDC directly in their Coinbase account, often in under a minute. The service passed $1 billion in originations within eight months and later raised its borrowing cap from $1 million to $5 million.

The draw here is cost and convenience. Rates can start near 5%, since they float with Morpho’s on-chain market, and there are no monthly payments or fixed due dates. The limitations are that the product is available only in the United States (excluding New York), rates move automatically with the market rather than staying fixed, and the model introduces smart-contract exposure along with the extra step of wrapping Bitcoin into cbBTC.

5. Strike

Strike rounds out the list with a Bitcoin-focused lending product that starts at 9.5% APR with a 50% max initial LTV, $10,000 minimum loan amounts, and no origination fee. Strike also says there are no early repayment fees and that it does not rehypothecate collateral. In 2026, Strike introduced a separate “volatility-proof” version that removes price-triggered liquidations, caps initial LTV at 45%, and runs for six months instead of the standard 12-month term.

The appeal lies in transparency and low entry cost. Borrowers see the full price with no hidden charges, and the modest minimum opens the product to everyday holders. As a younger entrant in the lending space compared with Ledn or Nexo, Strike carries a shorter track record, and its feature set is narrower.

The bottom line

Choosing a Bitcoin-backed lender in 2026 is a risk-management decision before it is a rate comparison. Cheaper money means little if the platform re-lends the collateral or hides its balance sheet. Ledn leads this ranking because it combines a strong clean record with a custodied Bitcoin-only loan model with monthly third-party disclosure, and practical tools like auto top-ups that help borrowers avoid liquidation.