“Very unlikely.”

That’s how Goldman Sachs described the chances of a September Federal Reserve interest-rate increase, which provides a potential major tailwind for bitcoin BTC$63,611.71, which has traded in a narrow range since early July.

The cryptocurrency is currently priced around $63,500, a 1% gain since midnight UTC. The price has remained firmly locked within the $62,000–$66,000 range that has been in play for over a month.

Goldman lowered the odds in response to a string of soft economic data, specifically retail sales, a key barometer of consumption, and employment figures alongside slowing inflation, Chief Economist Jan Hatzius told clients, according to Bloomberg.

“Under our baseline economic forecasts, the inflation news is more likely to improve further than to deteriorate anew as the year progresses,” Hatzius wrote in a note Sunday. “We still think market pricing for the funds rate is too hawkish.”

Ripple minted 10 million Ripple USD tokens on the XRP Ledger on Aug. 17, completing another large issuance transaction as the stablecoin’s circulating supply reached approximately 1.711 billion.

Public data cited by XRPScan showed that Ripple’s issuer account transferred the tokens to a designated RLUSD destination account. The transaction cost 0.000405 XRP, used two authorized signers and recorded a maximum delivery amount of 10 million RLUSD.

Ripple did not identify the receiving customer or disclose the tokens’ intended use. The transaction confirms issuance, but it does not independently support claims that “institutional demand grows.”

RLUSD mint does not confirm customer demand

A stablecoin mint creates tokens on a blockchain. It does not prove that the tokens immediately entered exchanges, payment channels or institutional portfolios. Newly issued RLUSD can remain in controlled accounts until an approved customer completes a transaction.

The ledger entry also does not establish that $10 million entered the broader crypto market. Ripple Mint allows customers to issue, redeem and transfer RLUSD for settlement, liquidity and treasury operations. Some issuance can therefore reflect inventory management rather than new investment.

Ripple completed another 10 million token mint on Aug. 10. As crypto.news reported, the transaction occurred while RLUSD’s supply remained below earlier summer levels. Ripple did not name the customer behind that issuance either.

A separate post by the BankXRP community account reported that 5 million RLUSD had been burned on Ethereum. Burns remove tokens from circulation and can accompany customer redemptions. Available records do not show whether the burn and the Aug. 17 XRPL mint were connected.

Greenlane Holdings’ BERA-focused digital asset treasury has fallen to $16.4 million in fair value at the end of the second quarter, leaving the portfolio about 76.6% below its $70 million cost basis.

According to Greenlane’s latest regulatory filing, the Nasdaq-listed company held about 81.3 million BERA and BERA-equivalent tokens as of June 30, up from roughly 77.7 million at the end of the first quarter despite a continued decline in the token’s market price.

The difference between the portfolio’s acquisition cost and quarter-end fair value stood at about $53.8 million. Greenlane recorded a $19.1 million noncash fair-value loss on its digital assets during the three months through June, which contributed to a net loss of $24.8 million for the period.

At the same time, the company continued putting its holdings to work across the Berachain ecosystem. Its digital asset operations generated about $309,000 in staking and yield revenue during the quarter, providing income in BERA and other assets while the value of the underlying treasury declined.

Greenlane’s exposure has increased since the start of the year. The company reported 77.7 million BERA and equivalent tokens at the end of March, meaning its holdings grew by about 3.6 million tokens during the second quarter.

Greenlane’s BERA treasury has grown despite falling valuations

Greenlane entered the crypto treasury business in October 2025, transforming a company previously known mainly for cannabis accessories and consumer products into a publicly traded holder of Berachain’s native token.

The strategy followed a $110.7 million private placement backed by digital asset investors. As previously reported by crypto.news, the October 2025 financing was led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Blockchain.com, Kraken, North Rock Digital, CitizenX and dao5.

Greenlane said at the time that proceeds would support its BERA treasury, with tokens acquired through open-market and over-the-counter purchases. The company also established BeraStrategy as its digital asset management operation as part of the transaction.

By the end of February, Greenlane’s holdings consisted of its initial 54.2 million BERA position, another 14.9 million tokens bought in the open market and additional BERA obtained through staking, validator participation and structured token trading agreements, according to company disclosures.

Greenlane’s first-quarter filing later showed how quickly falling BERA prices were affecting the strategy. For the three months ended March 31, the company reported a net loss of $18.2 million, while its balance sheet had become heavily tied to digital assets, cash and dollar-pegged stablecoins.

Management said in that filing that its financial condition and operating results had become significantly influenced by digital asset market conditions, particularly the fair value of its BERA holdings.

The company has continued its legacy lifestyle accessories business through vapor.com and related channels, although Greenlane said the operation was reduced after its 2025 strategy change. Warehouse operations were substantially exited, and the remaining commerce business moved toward an asset-light drop-ship model.

BERA price decline has cut into Greenlane’s holdings

The valuation losses have come as BERA continued a steep decline from levels reached earlier in 2026.

Berachain was trading at about $0.146 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko, leaving the token down roughly 75.9% since the start of the year. BERA had briefly traded above $1.20 earlier in 2026 before falling toward the $0.15 area.

The decline followed a period of extreme volatility in February. BERA briefly surged as high as $1.43 after an unusual imbalance in perpetual futures markets triggered heavy short liquidations.

During that move, BERA rallied 82% within 24 hours to about $0.94, while futures volume jumped 632% to $2.94 billion and open interest increased 102% to $142.8 million. Funding rates had swung between deeply negative and positive levels as traders repositioned after a Feb. 6 token unlock involving 63.75 million BERA.

The rally did not develop into a sustained recovery. By July 15, BERA was trading around $0.187, with the token already down more than 30% over the preceding month. Its price has since moved closer to $0.15, further reducing the dollar value of large BERA-denominated positions such as Greenlane’s treasury.

BERA’s current price also sits far below levels recorded soon after Berachain launched in February 2025. Following listings across several major exchanges, including Crypto.com, Upbit, MEXC and Bithumb, BERA reached an all-time high near $15 before beginning a prolonged decline.

Token supply has also increased since the network’s early trading period. A May 2025 Boyco Vaults release brought additional assets and BERA into circulation, with the token falling 21% over a seven-day period around the event. The release involved $2.7 billion in locked assets and included about 2% of BERA’s total supply.

Greenlane is earning yield from its Berachain position

While Greenlane’s treasury valuation has fallen, the company’s strategy involves more than holding BERA on its balance sheet.

Greenlane participates in staking, validator operations, liquidity provisioning, and other Berachain activities designed to generate additional tokens or yield. Those activities accounted for the $309,000 in digital asset segment revenue reported for the second quarter.

Berachain uses a Proof-of-Liquidity model that links network incentives to liquidity supplied across its decentralized finance ecosystem. BERA serves as the network’s native gas token, while BGT is used for governance and HONEY operates as its collateral-backed stablecoin.

Changes to that system have also expanded the role of BERA as a yield-producing asset. A Proof-of-Liquidity upgrade proposed in 2025 directed one-third of protocol incentives toward a BERA rewards model, creating a protocol-level source of yield for token holders.

The network had expanded its rewards beyond Berachain’s BEX pools in March 2025, allowing additional applications and vaults to participate in Proof-of-Liquidity incentives.

Greenlane’s strategy uses similar network mechanics to add to its token holdings over time. Its February disclosure said the treasury had accumulated BERA not only through purchases but also through staking and validator participation, while the company cautioned that protocol reward rates could change with network conditions, validator changes, reward schedules, and market volatility.

As of June 30, those activities had helped increase Greenlane’s BERA and BERA-equivalent position to 81.3 million tokens even as the fair value of the portfolio fell to $16.4 million.

Capital B purchased another five Bitcoin for €280,000, lifting its strategic Bitcoin treasury to 3,145 BTC as the Euronext Growth Paris-listed company continued using equity issuance to fund its accumulation strategy.

The Aug. 17 release shows the latest Bitcoin was acquired at an average €55,882 each. Capital B now reports a total acquisition cost of €284.2 million, or €90,352 per BTC.

Capital B raises Bitcoin treasury to 3,145 BTC

The purchase followed €301,460.25 of capital increases completed through Capital B’s ATM-type agreement with French asset manager TOBAM. The company issued 647,110 ordinary shares at an average rounded price of €0.47 between July 27 and Aug. 7.

Duquesne Family Office has disclosed a $23 million position in Hyperliquid Strategies Inc., giving Stanley Druckenmiller’s investment office indirect exposure to HYPE through the Nasdaq-listed digital asset treasury company.

The SEC filing for the second quarter of 2026 showed Duquesne held shares of Hyperliquid Strategies, which trades under the ticker PURR, as of June 30, with the position appearing in the family office’s portfolio for the first time.

The disclosure adds Duquesne to the institutional investors gaining exposure to Hyperliquid through publicly traded shares instead of purchasing the protocol’s HYPE token directly. Hyperliquid Strategies operates as a digital asset treasury company built around accumulating and managing HYPE.

Fintel data based on the filing also lists PURR as a new Duquesne position, accounting for roughly 0.44% of the investment manager’s reported portfolio.

Duquesne adds Hyperliquid Strategies to its portfolio

Hyperliquid Strategies has built one of the largest corporate HYPE holdings since establishing its digital asset treasury business.

As crypto.news previously reported in February, the Nasdaq-listed company purchased another 5 million HYPE for about $129.5 million at an average price of $25.90 per token. The acquisition increased its holdings at the time to 17.6 million HYPE while leaving the company with about $125 million in cash.

Its holdings later increased substantially. Artemis data cited in a June treasury report showed Hyperliquid Strategies controlled about 23.7 million HYPE and was sitting on more than $1.1 billion in unrealized gains at the time.

The report found HYPE-focused treasury companies were among the few major digital asset treasury groups still carrying sizeable paper profits during the June market downturn. Bitcoin, Ether and Solana treasury companies, by comparison, were recording substantial unrealized losses as prices fell.

Duquesne’s $23 million PURR holding gives the family office exposure to that treasury structure through a regulated U.S. equity. The 13F does not show whether the firm bought the shares in a single transaction or accumulated them at different points during the quarter, since the filing only reports holdings as of June 30.

Form 13F reports are required from institutional investment managers that exercise investment discretion over at least $100 million in certain securities. The disclosures provide a quarterly snapshot of reportable holdings but do not show positions purchased or sold after the reporting date.

Hyperliquid Strategies has accumulated millions of HYPE

Institutional interest in Hyperliquid Strategies came as HYPE recorded large price swings during the second quarter.

HYPE reached a record of about $73.7 on June 1 after gaining more than 70% over the preceding month. At the time, Hyperliquid Strategies was already one of the largest publicly identified corporate holders of the token.

Demand for HYPE had also expanded through regulated investment and derivatives products. In June, Kalshi launched CFTC-regulated HYPE perpetual futures for U.S. traders, after which HYPE futures open interest rose to $2.48 billion and briefly surpassed XRP open interest, according to a June 11 report.

Institutional exposure has not been limited to listed treasury companies. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said in May that HYPE had gained 77% since the start of 2026 while Hyperliquid processed about $170 billion in monthly trading volume.

Bitwise also said it would direct 10% of management fees collected from its BHYP Hyperliquid exchange-traded fund toward purchasing and holding HYPE on its own balance sheet, as detailed in May.

Hyperliquid’s token model sends a large share of protocol trading fees toward HYPE purchases through its Assistance Fund. The mechanism has provided another source of demand alongside corporate treasury purchases and investment products.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh previously worked with Duquesne

Duquesne’s newly disclosed PURR investment also comes with a connection to Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, who worked with the family office before returning to the central bank.

The Federal Reserve’s official biography says Warsh served as a partner at Duquesne Family Office after leaving the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2011. Warsh had previously served as a governor from 2006 to 2011 and returned to the central bank as chairman on May 22, 2026.

Before his confirmation, financial disclosures filed as part of the nomination process provided more detail about his relationship with Stanley Druckenmiller’s investment office.

Warsh disclosed assets worth well over $100 million, according to his April financial disclosure, although government ethics forms report investments in ranges and do not always provide precise valuations.

Two positions in the Juggernaut Fund LP were each listed at more than $50 million. The disclosure did not identify the underlying investments because of pre-existing confidentiality agreements, while Warsh committed to divesting the positions if confirmed.

The same filing showed that Warsh had received $10.2 million in consulting fees from Druckenmiller’s investment office during the period covered by the disclosure. His overall consulting income exceeded $13 million across several financial firms.

Warsh also agreed to dispose of assets required under Federal Reserve ethics rules before assuming the chairmanship. Fed investment rules introduced in 2022 place restrictions on the securities that senior officials and their immediate families may hold, including crypto-related assets.

After completing the confirmation process, Warsh took office as Federal Reserve chairman on May 22 for a four-year term ending May 21, 2030. He also became chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee and holds a separate term as a member of the Board of Governors through January 31, 2040.

BitMart users and employees have demanded that the crypto exchange disclose its reserves, explain reported withdrawal restrictions, and publish a repayment plan by Aug. 19 as questions continue over customer funds and unpaid staff compensation.

A public statement posted on X and addressed to BitMart founder Sheldon Lee and Yi Li said a large number of users remained unable to withdraw their assets, while some employees had not received their previous month’s salary or compensation owed to them.

The statement called for BitMart to provide verifiable information on its wallets, assets, liabilities and reserves available to meet customer withdrawals. It also asked the exchange to accept independent third-party scrutiny of the figures instead of relying on company statements about its financial position.

In a translated version of the statement, the group called on BitMart to “disclose the wallets,” “disclose the assets,” “disclose the liabilities” and “disclose the actual usable reserves.”

The demands come weeks after BitMart announced plans to wind down its trading platform after nine years of operation. On July 26, the exchange said it would stop new registrations, deposits and new trading activity while allowing customers to withdraw funds during the shutdown process.

BitMart said at the time that all trading services would end on Aug. 26 before the company ceased operations on Jan. 31, 2027. The exchange attributed the decision to its operating conditions, market environment, and future strategy without identifying a specific financial or operational event behind the closure.

BitMart users seek answers over withdrawal restrictions

Alongside the request for reserve information, the open letter asked BitMart to explain why users were reportedly still unable to complete withdrawals normally and when management first became aware of the problems.

The statement asked who decided to restrict withdrawals, when the decision was made, and whether BitMart continued encouraging customers to deposit, trade or leave assets on the platform after management became aware of withdrawal or funding issues.

BitMart had addressed separate withdrawal complaints before announcing its shutdown. In a statement published in June, the exchange said reports of users being unable to withdraw or facing account restrictions were mainly connected to risk controls targeting what it described as an organized scheme designed to exploit platform activity subsidies.

Following the July shutdown announcement, BitMart said withdrawals would remain available but could be subject to additional checks involving identity verification, devices, IP addresses, withdrawal destinations, sources of funds and sanctions screening. The exchange also warned that a large number of requests could increase processing times.

The current open letter disputed whether the shutdown notice alone addressed the problems reported by users and employees, arguing that customers needed an accounting of the assets available to meet their balances.

Such disclosures would require information beyond a list of wallet holdings to establish a complete picture of an exchange’s finances. A proof-of-reserves report can verify crypto held in identified wallets against customer balances at a particular time, but it does not necessarily reveal off-chain liabilities, borrowed assets or other obligations.

Recent exchange disclosures show how those figures can be presented. In July, crypto.news reported that Binance reserve data showed customer Bitcoin holdings increasing by 7,715 BTC during June, with the report based on a July 1 snapshot. The same report noted that reserve snapshots do not constitute complete financial audits.

Open letter calls for investigation of related accounts

The BitMart statement also sought an investigation into accounts, affiliated companies, trusts and other arrangements that may have handled funds connected to users.

Yi Li was specifically asked to explain the source and ownership of funds held in accounts allegedly associated with her. The open letter said materials awaiting further verification indicated that accounts linked to Li may have held assets worth tens of millions of dollars and showed records of withdrawals conducted in batches.

The statement did not present the unverified information as proof of wrongdoing and explicitly said no criminal characterization should be applied to any individual before the evidence was established.

Instead, the authors asked Li to confirm whether the accounts existed and, if so, identify who owned the assets, where the funds originated, why they entered the accounts, where withdrawals were sent and whether any of the money had a connection to BitMart customer assets.

“If these records are fake, please publicly clarify,” the statement said.

The open letter also referred to social media posts showing luxury purchases associated with Li but acknowledged that such spending was not evidence of a crime. Its authors argued that questions about the source of funds should be answered because of the allegations surrounding BitMart’s finances.

Any funds potentially connected with customer assets should be traced across accounts, companies and ownership structures, according to the statement, which called for an independent investigation into the relevant transactions.

Employees demand unpaid salaries and compensation

Employee payments form a separate part of the demands, with the statement claiming that some BitMart staff had not received their previous month’s salaries or compensation owed following the exchange’s decision to wind down.

The authors argued that ordinary employees were not responsible for decisions about company finances or the shutdown and should not bear losses resulting from management decisions.

“Work done deserves pay. Compensation owed must be paid,” the statement said.

BitMart’s closure came after the exchange had maintained a sizeable presence in crypto trading. Previous coverage in December 2025 found that BitMart showed higher order-book depth across observed Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual markets than several competing centralized exchanges during the measured period.

The exchange also suffered a major security breach years before its current wind-down. In December 2021, hackers compromised BitMart hot wallets and removed roughly $196 million in crypto assets, after which the exchange said affected customers would be compensated.

BitMart repayment plan sought by Aug. 19

The open letter set Aug. 19 as the deadline for BitMart to provide both a verifiable asset disclosure and a detailed repayment plan for users.

Under the requested plan, BitMart would disclose the value of remaining assets and total liabilities, estimate how much customers could recover and explain the order in which repayments would be processed.

Users also requested dates for the beginning and completion of repayments, details of the party responsible for overseeing the process and confirmation of whether BitMart would submit to an independent third-party audit.

Reserve disclosures have become common among major centralized exchanges, although the scope of reporting differs between platforms. June reserve reports from Bybit and OKX showed higher customer Bitcoin balances at both exchanges, while their reported USDT holdings declined. The snapshots provided wallet and customer-balance information but did not establish the companies’ complete financial positions.

For BitMart, the open letter sought a disclosure specifically tied to its ability to meet outstanding customer claims during the wind-down, including the amount of usable reserves and liabilities remaining on the platform.

If BitMart does not provide a complete and verifiable response by Aug. 19, the authors said they would consider submitting available materials, transaction leads and other evidence to law enforcement agencies, regulators, lawyers and media organizations in multiple jurisdictions.

The statement also called on crypto companies, industry figures, researchers and media organizations to follow the dispute and support independent examination of the fund flows. Its authors said they were not asking third parties to accept the allegations in advance and instead wanted the underlying evidence made public.

“If BitMart’s core management thinks there’s any misunderstanding in the above questions, they can absolutely address them one by one with public, verifiable evidence,” the statement said.