What this means: Strategy CEO Phong Le said the company has adjusted its approach after discovering that preferred stock investors put a premium on cash liquidity.

• Strategy now holds $4.75 billion in cash, providing about 2.7 years of dividend coverage, Le said in an interview on CoinDesk’s Public Keys with Jennifer Sanasie.
• Le said he initially assumed investors would value bitcoin highly because it is liquid and has appreciated significantly over time.
• But institutions and investors putting shorter-term money into Strategy’s products “value cash more,” he said.

The context: The cash cushion is part of Strategy’s push to evolve beyond simply buying and holding bitcoin into a broader digital credit business.

• Strategy has developed preferred-stock products such as STRC for investors seeking bitcoin-linked returns with less volatility.
• Le described a spectrum ranging from investors seeking amplified bitcoin returns to those looking for lower-volatility yields closer to traditional credit or money-market products.
• “Would I rather hold Bitcoin? Perhaps,” Le said. But making Strategy’s preferred products work ultimately supports MSTR and its bitcoin strategy, he argued.

Reading between lines: Le is pitching Strategy as a financial platform built around bitcoin rather than merely a leveraged bitcoin proxy.

TRON, the layer-1 blockchain founded by Justin Sun, ended the second quarter with $87.9 billion in circulating USDT (USDT), surpassing Ethereum (ETH) while processing $2.1 trillion in USDT transfers during the period.

According to a Messari report, USDT accounted for 98.5% of TRON’s stablecoin market, which grew 4.1% quarter-over-quarter to a record $89.2 billion. Average daily USDT transfer volume also returned to growth, rising 4.3% to $22.8 billion after declining in the first quarter. 

The increase coincided with record network usage. TRON averaged 11.8 million daily transactions during the quarter, up 8.7%, while average daily active addresses climbed 11.7% to 3.6 million. The network processed a record 14.6 million transactions on June 15, the report said.

State of TRON Q2 2026 report. Source: Messari

Higher activity also helped reverse a two-quarter decline in network fees. Fees rose 15.9% to $699.4 million, their first quarterly increase since an August 2025 governance change cut the network’s energy unit price. 

Growth was uneven elsewhere. DeFi TVL slipped 1.9% to $4.4 billion, while average daily DEX volume fell 21.7% to $49.3 million, marking a fourth consecutive quarterly decline. TRX supply also remained inflationary despite higher activity, with circulating supply increasing by 87 million tokens during the quarter as issuance continued to outpace burns.

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TRON expands institutional access

Institutional access to TRON widened during the quarter, with Securitize launching Hamilton Lane’s tokenized Senior Credit Opportunities Fund on the network, its first TRON-issued asset. The fund launched with about $4.3 million under management. 

Asset manager Grayscale also added TRX (TRX), the native token of the TRON blockchain, to its list of assets under consideration, while a proposed staked TRX exchange-traded product from Canary Capital remained in registration.

Meanwhile, TRX saw broader market access during the quarter. Bitnomial launched spot TRX trading in the United States, while OKX Europe introduced MiFID-regulated TRX expiry perpetuals and Binance.US restored trading in the token.

That trend continued after the quarter ended, with Anchorage Digital adding native TRX staking and custody for TRC-20 assets in July, allowing institutional clients to stake TRX directly from its custody platform.

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Ethereum staking has reached a record 41.7 million ETH, locking more than one-third of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply despite a sharp decline in its market price.

Ethereum staking climbs despite price decline

A CryptoQuant chart shared by cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex on Aug. 10 showed that the amount of Ethereum (ETH) committed to staking had reached an all-time high of 41.7 million ETH.

The figure represents roughly one-third of Ethereum’s circulating supply. CoinMarketCap data places the asset’s supply near 120.7 million ETH, meaning approximately 34.5% is now staked.

“Staked ETH has climbed to a record 41.7 million, a third of all ETH in existence, while price fell from $3,400 in January to $1,900,” Bitfinex wrote.

The chart shows that staking deposits remained near 36 million ETH through late 2025 before beginning a sustained increase in February. Growth continued through the second quarter and accelerated again between June and August.

The increase comes despite ETH losing about 44% of its value from its January level. Ethereum traded near $1,900 when Bitfinex published the chart, showing that validators and long-term holders continued locking tokens even as spot-market conditions weakened.

crypto.news reported in January that 36.2 million ETH, or nearly 30% of the supply, had been staked. The latest figure represents an increase of approximately 5.5 million ETH in less than seven months.

Reinvested rewards keep staked ETH growing

Ethereum validators receive newly issued ETH for proposing blocks, attesting to transactions, and supporting network consensus. They may also collect priority fees and maximal extractable value.

Part of that income can be returned to staking, creating a compounding effect even when ETH’s dollar price falls. However, returns decline as more validators join because Ethereum distributes issuance across a larger staked balance.

Corporate treasury companies have become a major part of this trend. BitMine had approximately 4.9 million ETH staked as of July 12, equal to about 85% of its Ethereum holdings.

The company generated $45.7 million from staking and validation during the quarter ended May 31. Chairman Tom Lee projected that annual rewards could reach $284 million if BitMine stakes its entire ETH treasury, although returns depend on yields and validator conditions.

SharpLink has also committed most of its Ethereum treasury to staking. Its strategy continued generating ETH rewards even as lower market prices contributed to a $394.3 million second-quarter loss.

Record staking renews Ethereum issuance debate

The continued increase has renewed questions about how much ETH should be committed to network security and whether Ethereum’s reward curve encourages excessive staking.

EIP-8363, known as Tapered Issuance Burn, would burn a growing share of consensus-layer rewards as the staking ratio rises. The mechanism would remove issuance-based rewards when approximately half of Ethereum’s supply is staked.

As crypto.news previously reported, the proposal’s authors argue that the current system continues rewarding additional deposits even after they provide limited security benefits. EIP-8363 remains under review and has not been approved for an Ethereum upgrade.

SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom has opposed the plan, arguing that native yield supports Ethereum’s institutional appeal and acts as a benchmark for returns across decentralized finance.

US institutions expand access to ETH yield

Staking has also become more accessible through regulated investment products in the United States. Grayscale distributed about $9.4 million in ETH staking proceeds to eligible ETHE shareholders in January, marking the first such payout by a U.S.-listed Ethereum product.

Morgan Stanley has also added staking provisions to its proposed Ethereum ETF. Its filing showed that 3.64 million ETH was waiting to enter validation as of May 18, implying an activation delay of approximately 63 days.

Continued institutional participation could remove more ETH from liquid markets. However, staking does not guarantee price appreciation, and the divergence between record deposits and ETH’s decline shows that supply constraints can be outweighed by broader selling pressure.

Wallets tied to crypto payments platform Coinsbuy were reportedly drained of more than $7.9 million in funds spanning Ethereum and TRON on Sunday, according to blockchain investigator SpecterAnalyst.

In a Telegram post, SpecterAnalyst said the attacker began routing the stolen assets into Monero via exchanges. The investigator also reported that ChangeNOW helped freeze a six-figure portion of the funds during the incident.

Key takeaways

• SpecterAnalyst alleges attackers moved stolen Ethereum and TRON funds into Monero through exchanges.
• ChangeNOW is reported to have frozen part of the assets, reducing what the attacker could immediately keep.
• Coinsbuy paused deposits and withdrawals after the incident, then restored both services.
• Coinsbuy says it covered all affected client funds from its own reserves, without client losses.
• The company offered a $100,000 reward for information identifying the responsible parties.

Reported theft and fund movement

SpecterAnalyst’s report claims the compromise involved multiple wallet addresses connected to Coinsbuy. The investigator identified three addresses associated with the stolen activity: two Ethereum addresses and one TRON address.

Rather than leaving the funds on-chain, the alleged operator reportedly initiated transfers aimed at increasing privacy. SpecterAnalyst stated that the attacker routed the proceeds into Monero through exchanges, a path commonly used in laundering attempts where the goal is to obscure fund trails across networks.

The investigator further indicated that ChangeNOW played a role in limiting the damage by freezing a portion of the stolen assets—described as a six-figure amount—after the incident began.

Coinsbuy confirms incident and compensates clients

Coinsbuy acknowledged the security incident in a statement shared with Cointelegraph, saying unauthorized withdrawals affected several platform wallets. The company said the impact was handled internally: all affected client funds were “fully covered… from our own reserves,” according to Coinsbuy’s statement, meaning users did not suffer financial losses.

Coinsbuy also stated that operations were restored and that the platform is “back to operating normally,” with deposits and withdrawals available again. In the immediate aftermath of the reported hack, the platform had temporarily paused those functions, a step that typically aims to stop further outflows while incident response teams assess wallet activity and implement controls.

While SpecterAnalyst reported a theft of more than $7.9 million, Coinsbuy did not confirm or dispute that figure. The company said it is investigating the event, but will refrain from disclosing technical details until the investigation is complete and its findings have been verified.

Reward program and what to watch next

Beyond compensating users, Coinsbuy said it is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to identification of those responsible. It also added that there would be an additional bonus for help recovering the stolen funds.

For affected users and monitoring communities, the most important open questions now center on how the compromise occurred and what controls failed—or were circumvented. Coinsbuy’s decision not to publish technical details yet means observers will need to watch for later disclosures that can clarify whether this was primarily a custody issue, an operational security lapse, a smart contract problem (if applicable), or something else entirely.

Given SpecterAnalyst’s claim that stolen funds were moved toward Monero via exchanges, the timeline for additional enforcement and tracing will likely depend on how quickly exchanges and compliance partners can identify related transactions and block further conversion or withdrawal routes. The reported freezing of a portion of funds highlights that intervention can matter during the early hours of such incidents, but it does not automatically indicate how much remains recoverable.

How this fits the broader crypto payments risk picture

Incidents like this underscore a persistent challenge for crypto payments and custody-adjacent businesses: even when clients are made whole, platform wallets become an attractive target because they concentrate balances, enable faster movement, and can provide an immediate payout surface if access controls are breached.

Coinsbuy’s statement that it covered client funds from reserves is a useful data point for users evaluating risk around payment providers—compensation reduces direct losses, but it still signals that operational disruptions can happen and that recovery efforts may be complex. The temporary halt in deposits and withdrawals also reflects the standard incident-response pattern: contain outflows, assess exposure, and then reopen services once systems are deemed stable.

Investors and builders in the sector may also want to pay attention to what controls Coinsbuy says it will improve later. The lack of technical disclosure right now makes it difficult to assess whether similar weaknesses could affect other platforms using comparable wallet management, exchange integrations, or withdrawal workflows.

Next, readers should look for updates from Coinsbuy’s investigation—especially any verified technical findings—and for additional reporting on whether more of the stolen funds can be traced, frozen, or recovered as the laundering path into Monero and off-chain exchange activity unfolds.

Coinsbuy has offered a $100,000 reward for information identifying those behind unauthorized withdrawals that reportedly drained more than $7.9 million from its Ethereum and TRON wallets.

Coinsbuy launches $100K identification bounty

Coinsbuy announced the reward after confirming that unauthorized withdrawals affected several platform wallets on Aug. 9. The Panama-incorporated crypto payments company did not confirm or dispute the $7.9 million loss estimated by blockchain investigators.

The $100,000 reward will go to anyone who provides information leading to the identification of those responsible. Coinsbuy also promised an additional, unspecified bonus for assistance in recovering the stolen assets.

Coinsbuy said it is investigating the incident but will withhold technical details until its findings are complete and independently verified. No suspect or attack method has been publicly identified.

Blockchain investigator SpecterAnalyst initially reported that Coinsbuy-linked wallets lost more than $7.9 million across Ethereum and TRON at around 13:00 UTC on Sunday.

PeckShield later traced parts of the funds through ChangeNOW, FixedFloat, and BingX. ChangeNOW reportedly froze a six-figure amount before it could be moved further.

Coinsbuy covers affected customer balances

Coinsbuy temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals after detecting the activity. Both services have since resumed, and the company said the platform is operating normally.

“All affected client funds have been fully covered by Coinsbuy from our own reserves, so our users have not experienced any financial losses.”

The company added that all services were fully available. Separate reporting indicated that Coinsbuy replenished the affected wallets to within 0.05% of their balances before the incident within 24 hours.

Around 282 ETH, valued at approximately $542,000 at the time, remained unmoved across five addresses in the latest reported on-chain review. Coinsbuy has not disclosed how much of the remaining cryptocurrency has been recovered or frozen.

The attacker reportedly routed portions of the assets through exchanges for conversion into Monero (XMR), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that makes subsequent fund tracing more difficult.

Bounty follows other crypto recovery offers

Coinsbuy’s fixed identification reward differs from the percentage-based vulnerability bounties sometimes offered directly to exploiters in exchange for returning stolen assets.

In July, a TrustedVolumes attacker returned about $2 million in Ethereum while retaining another $2 million as a self-declared bounty. TrustedVolumes had previously invited the attacker to negotiate a vulnerability reward and return the funds.

Coinsbuy’s offer instead targets information that could identify those responsible, while providing a separate bonus for recovery assistance. The company has not published eligibility rules, a deadline, or payment terms for the reward.

The incident comes after crypto platforms lost approximately $110 million to hacks in July, according to Immunefi. The security platform also reported that confirmed and paid bug reports increased by 18% during the month.

Coinsbuy has not disclosed the attack vector

GoPlus Security said the cross-chain withdrawals appeared consistent with compromised hot-wallet keys or administrator access. This assessment remains unconfirmed, and moving funds across Ethereum and TRON does not, by itself, establish how the attacker entered Coinsbuy’s systems.

No U.S. authority has publicly announced involvement in the Coinsbuy investigation. However, a recent Bybit case showed that affected platforms may use American courts to obtain records and freeze assets passing through services with U.S. connections. Bybit recently secured U.S. court support to trace stolen funds from its $1.5 billion breach.

Coinsbuy said it would disclose further technical information only after completing and verifying its investigation. Until then, the reported loss, precise attack vector, and amount recovered remain unresolved.

Mysten Labs has introduced Tessera, a business-to-business settlement prototype that hides payment amounts while preserving controlled access for counterparties, regulators, and auditors.

Tessera brings private B2B settlement to Sui

In an Aug. 10 X thread, Sui presented Tessera as a closed settlement network for businesses. Approved members can settle invoices using a confidential stablecoin without publishing the value of each transaction onchain.

The blockchain continues to show who paid whom and when the payment occurred. However, the amount appears encrypted to outside observers.

“Institutions won’t settle on rails where competitors can see pricing and volume,” Sui said.

A company can see the amount attached to its own transactions, while a competitor viewing the same activity cannot. This design aims to prevent public blockchains from exposing supplier pricing, trading volumes, treasury movements, and other commercially sensitive information.

Membership is gated through know-your-customer checks. Network operators can onboard and fund members, freeze individual accounts, or pause the settlement network when necessary.

Tessera supports one-time transfers and recurring payment channels. If a transaction enters dispute, the network can temporarily give an arbiter access to the relevant payment.

Seal MPC controls who can view payment amounts

Tessera combines Sui’s confidential-transfer technology with Seal, Mysten’s system for encrypted data and programmable onchain access.

Seal uses threshold encryption to distribute control of decryption keys across multiple parties. Its policies can determine who receives access, what information they can view, and how long that permission remains valid.

Under the Tessera demonstration, a prudential regulator could receive visibility across the network. A tax authority could be limited to records involving one member, while an arbitrator could view only a disputed transaction and only while the case remains open.

These mandates are scoped, time-limited, and revocable. None of the authorized viewers can move the underlying money, according to Sui.

The prototype expands on confidential transfers opened for public testing in June. That system encrypts token balances and transferred amounts while leaving addresses, token types, and timestamps visible.

Sui’s confidential transfers use Twisted ElGamal encryption and zero-knowledge proofs to confirm that payments are valid without revealing their value. The network can therefore prevent overdrafts or unauthorized token creation while keeping amounts private.

Blockchains compete for institutional privacy

Public visibility has become a major obstacle for companies considering blockchain settlement. Businesses may not want competitors to monitor their payroll, supplier terms, trading positions, or treasury activity.

Other networks are addressing the same problem. XRP Ledger validators are considering confidential transfers aimed at a tokenized-asset market worth more than $530 million.

Circle has also introduced Arc Privacy for confidential institutional smart contracts. Like Tessera, Arc’s model seeks to hide sensitive financial activity while preserving access for audits and compliance reviews.

Tessera differs from anonymity-focused privacy coins because it does not conceal every part of a payment. Identified participants and authorized oversight remain central to its design.

For U.S. institutions, those controls could support internal compliance and reporting processes, but the announcement did not identify a stablecoin issuer, regulatory approval, or commercial launch jurisdiction.

SUI shows no clear reaction to prototype

SUI traded around $0.69 following the announcement, within a 24-hour range of approximately $0.684 to $0.704, according to CoinGecko. The token showed no clear price move tied specifically to Tessera.

Mysten has described Tessera as a prototype rather than a production network. Sui did not provide a public launch date, participating companies, or deployment schedule.

The next step will be determining whether the model can move beyond a controlled demonstration and support regulated businesses with different privacy, reporting, and dispute-resolution requirements.