Strategy’s long streak as one of Bitcoin’s most consistent institutional buyers may be ending, according to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan. Speaking Thursday, Hougan suggested the company’s dominance as a “one-way” source of demand is likely to shrink in the next market cycle, after volatility around Strategy’s principal perpetual preferred stock product, Stretch (STRC).

The reassessment comes after STRC broke sharply from its $100 par value to below $75 late last month, a move that undermined investor confidence in the sustainability of Strategy’s dividend-style model. The timing also overlapped with broader market stress, when Bitcoin fell to a 21-month low of $58,190 on June 25.

Key takeaways

• Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said Strategy’s era as Bitcoin’s dominant buyer may be over, with other institutional allocators expected to play a larger role next cycle.
• STRC’s move away from $100 par value below $75 fueled concerns about whether Strategy’s yield structure can hold up through “end-of-cycle” dynamics.
• Despite the STRC shock, Hougan argued Strategy is not facing near-term liquidity risk based on liquid asset coverage.
• Strive CEO Matt Cole pushed back, calling the STRC episode overblown and noting Strategy’s Bitcoin holdings are about 4% of total supply.

Strategy’s buyer dominance questioned after STRC turmoil

For years, Strategy has been widely viewed as a steady, high-conviction buyer of Bitcoin—helping provide consistent demand even when broader sentiment weakened. Hougan framed Thursday’s comments around a shift in what investors should expect from that demand profile.

“For years, Strategy has been the most dominant Bitcoin buyer in the world and a one-way source of Bitcoin demand. Those days are likely over,” Hougan said in a CIO memo, adding that he expects the company to be “less important” than it was in the previous cycle. In his view, banks, asset managers, pensions, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds may replace Strategy as Bitcoin’s primary demand engine as the next upcycle develops.

Hougan’s concern centers on how STRC behaved during a period when markets were already under pressure. The STRC incident raised fears that the structure underpinning dividend payments could be strained when conditions tighten—particularly in late-cycle environments where risk appetite falls and funding costs rise.

Why Hougan sees STRC as “end-of-cycle dynamics”

Hougan characterized the STRC drop as a pattern he associates with late-cycle stress. He compared the situation to a prior example in 2021: the collapse of Grayscale’s GBTC premium.

His argument is essentially about fit. According to Hougan, “money searching for high yields and low volatility was used to buy Bitcoin, which offers neither.” In that framing, the market eventually needs to “clear out” capital that was attracted by yield characteristics that Bitcoin itself does not reliably provide, before a more durable bottom can form.

This perspective matters for traders and longer-term investors because it reframes Strategy’s recent volatility away from a single-company solvency story and toward a broader liquidity-and-demand composition story—one where the source of marginal demand changes as the cycle matures.

Strategy responds: funding dividends and increasing reserves

In the aftermath of the STRC disruption, Strategy said it would sell Bitcoin when necessary to fund dividends, according to coverage earlier published by Cointelegraph. The company also expanded its US dollar reserve to $2.55 billion, easing some immediate concerns about operational coverage.

Even with those steps, Hougan said Strategy’s role as an aggressive buyer has weakened. The implication for market participants is that reserve moves and occasional Bitcoin sales can stabilize the dividend narrative in the short term, but may also reduce the consistency of net buying during turbulent periods.

Hougan nonetheless said he still expects Strategy to be a “net buyer” in the next bull run—suggesting the firm’s long-term posture may persist, even if its influence on price dynamics is likely to be less dominant than in the last cycle.

Debate over materiality and liquidity risk

While STRC became the focal point, Strategy leadership pushed back on how much attention the incident deserves. Strive CEO Matt Cole argued that the episode has been overemphasized by media and that Bitcoin’s selloff may have been driven more by the broader market than by any single factor.

Speaking with NovaDius Wealth Management president Nate Geraci, Cole noted that Strategy’s 847,363 Bitcoin represents about 4% of total supply. He also referenced US Securities and Exchange Commission standards for materiality, stating that a 4% stake would not be considered material under SEC thresholds, which he described as starting at 5%.

“If one person owned 4%, you don’t even have to report that publicly to the SEC because the SEC deems 4% to be immaterial. They start to view a position to be material at 5%.”

Hougan, meanwhile, addressed liquidity in a more quantitative way. He said Strategy has $52 billion worth of liquid assets marked against $7 billion of debt. In his assessment, Bitcoin would need to fall another 70%—to roughly $18,500—for Strategy to face risk. He also added that if the company began selling Bitcoin immediately, it could cover dividends from STRC and other perpetual preferred stock offerings for the next 28 years.

Taken together, the two positions highlight a tension that investors should watch: one view suggests the STRC mechanism is a late-cycle stress test that affects demand composition and price, while the other emphasizes reserve coverage and argues that the company’s balance sheet prevents an immediate liquidity threat.

For now, the key question is not whether Strategy can operate through the current strain, but whether the market’s next wave of Bitcoin buying will be driven by the same yield-seeking, vehicle-based demand—or by a broader set of long-term allocators that Hougan expects to take a bigger share.

As conditions evolve, investors should monitor whether STRC stabilizes relative to par and whether Strategy’s net buying pace remains consistent enough to reassert influence—while also tracking if incremental demand truly shifts from Strategy-style products to the wider institutional categories Hougan cited.

Riot Platforms transferred another 500 BTC to NYDIG Custody, according to Arkham data cited by onchain trackers. 

The transfer was worth about $30.72 million at the time of the report and was shared through an Onchain Lens post.

The move may signal that Riot is preparing to sell part of its Bitcoin holdings. Transfers to custody or execution partners do not always confirm a sale, but similar Riot transfers this year have often come before reported selling activity.

Ether and solana led crypto higher on Friday as a squeeze on bearish traders pushed bitcoin toward $62,000, capping the market’s first genuinely strong week since mid June.

Bitcoin traded around $61,360, up 2.5% over seven days, per CoinDesk data. Ether rose 4.2% in 24 hours to about $1,702 and is up 9.7% on the week, while solana held near $80 with a weekly gain of 18.6%, the strongest among the majors. XRP added 5.7% over the week to $1.09 and Hyperliquid’s HYPE rose 5.1% on the day.

Traders betting against crypto lost $281 million to liquidations over the past 24 hours, against $159 million in longs, out of $440 million in total forced closures across 95,690 traders, according to Coinglass data.

When shorts are forced to close, they buy back the asset, and that buying pushes prices into the next tranche of shorts, the loop that turns a modest bounce into a squeeze.

The largest single liquidation was an $18.2 million ether position on Hyperliquid, fitting a day when ether led the damage to bears at $157 million in wiped positions against bitcoin’s $103 million in an unusual flip.

The U.S.-listed bitcoin BTC$61,701.80 ETFs pulled in $221.7 million on Thursday, their largest inflow in two months, according to SoSoValue.

Fidelity’s FBTC led the charge with a hefty $165.96 million inflow, followed by ARKB at $91.84 million and HODL at $4.35 million. BlackRock’s IBIT, the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF, was the outlier with a $40.43 million outflow.

The cumulative inflow ends a painful 10-day outflow streak that saw investors pull $2.73 billion from the funds. Even so, the year-to-date picture remains ugly, with net outflows still sitting at a hefty $5.4 billion.

Thursday’s bounce is therefore a drop in the ocean compared to the selling we’ve seen this year. Still, it’s a welcome sigh of relief for the bulls. At the very least, it helps validate bitcoin’s rebound to around $61,700 after hitting 21-month lows under $58,000 earlier this week.

For a real recovery, though, these inflows need to turn into a consistent trend. Historically, steady money flowing into Bitcoin ETFs has been a hallmark of bull runs.

Binance is reportedly set to lead a new funding round for Mesh, a crypto payments and settlement company, at a valuation of up to $2 billion. 

The deal was reported by Axios, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said demand for digital asset-to-fiat transfer tools, payment systems, and settlement infrastructure is rising. 

Meanwhile, that demand comes as stablecoin rules become clearer and tokenization moves deeper into financial markets. The round has not been formally announced by Binance or Mesh.

Mesh valuation could double

The reported round would mark a sharp rise in Mesh’s valuation. As crypto.news reported, Mesh raised a $75 million Series C in January at a $1 billion valuation. That round was led by Dragonfly Capital, with backing from Paradigm, Moderne Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, SBI Investment, and Liberty City Ventures.

Mesh was formerly known as Front Finance. The company builds payment infrastructure that connects wallets, exchanges, digital assets, and fiat rails. It aims to make crypto payments easier for users while letting merchants receive stablecoins or fiat without handling complex blockchain steps.

Stablecoin rules lift demand

Stablecoins have become a major focus for payment companies, exchanges, and banks. Banking Circle launched regulated stablecoin settlement services after receiving approval in Luxembourg. The bank now supports USDC, USDG, and its own EURI for institutional fiat and crypto conversion.

The market is also moving toward tokenized bank deposits. As crypto.news reported, major U.S. banks are backing a tokenized deposit network through the Clearing House, with a launch targeted for early 2027. That system would let banks settle tokenized deposits around the clock while keeping customer deposits inside regulated banking channels.

Funding race turns to settlement

Mesh sits in the middle of this shift because it focuses on the movement of value between assets, wallets, and payment systems. Its model addresses a common issue in crypto payments: users may hold one asset, while merchants or platforms may want settlement in another asset or in fiat currency.

The company has also worked to expand access through partnerships. Moreover, Mesh partnered with Italy’s crypto wallet Conio in 2024, giving Conio users access to several crypto exchanges and withdrawal options through Mesh’s connection layer.

A Binance-led round would show that large exchanges still see payment and settlement infrastructure as a core growth area. It would also place Mesh closer to the center of the stablecoin and tokenization race, where firms are trying to connect crypto rails with everyday payments, institutional transfers, and fiat settlement.

The reported valuation also reflects a wider shift in crypto funding. Investors have moved beyond trading apps and tokens toward systems that can support regulated payments, cross-border transfers, and asset settlement. 

If the round closes near the reported level, Mesh would have doubled its valuation in about six months, showing continued demand for infrastructure that links digital assets with traditional money.

TLDR:

• Ironwood testnet activates with two independent consensus implementations built by separate teams.
• Zcash reduced ten-note wallet migration times from around 15 minutes to about 2.5 minutes.
• Multi-transaction signing now supports more than 11 transactions through a single QR code.
• Mainnet activation could occur around July 21 as audits and ZIP specifications near completion.

Zcash is moving forward with its Ironwood network upgrade after confirming a scheduled testnet activation. The update introduces new consensus changes and major wallet performance improvements ahead of a planned mainnet deployment. 

Development teams have also completed two independent consensus implementations for the upgrade. The work marks one of the most advanced testnet preparations recorded for a Zcash network upgrade.

Zcash Ironwood Testnet Upgrade Brings Dual Consensus Implementations

Zcash developer Dev announced that the Ironwood testnet upgrade would activate on July 4. The release includes two independently developed consensus implementations.

One implementation came from Valar Group, while the other was built by the Zcash Foundation. According to Dev, the Valar Group version has already entered the audit process.

The teams also released a desktop wallet fork that supports migration testing on the testnet. Users with Keystone development devices can update firmware and test migration functions before the mainnet launch.

The upgrade introduces multi-transaction signing through a single QR code. Dev said the feature required extensive work behind the scenes and represented a major technical milestone for the testnet.

Contributors from zodl also participated in the process. The group worked on technical specifications, wallet libraries, circuit updates, and application programming interfaces supporting Ironwood.

Zcash Wallet Performance Improves Ahead of Mainnet Activation

Development updates shared by Dev showed major gains in wallet migration performance. The time needed to complete a ten-note migration fell from around 15 minutes to approximately two and a half minutes.

Inbound QR scanning dropped from three minutes to one minute. Loading and transaction review declined from two minutes to 45 seconds.

The signing process posted the largest improvement. Signing time fell from roughly nine minutes to about 37 seconds.

Outbound QR scanning also became faster. The process now takes about 10 seconds compared with roughly one minute previously.

In a separate update, Zcash developer Sean Bowe said all Ironwood consensus rule changes had been implemented and were undergoing audits. 

He added that the specifications and Zcash Improvement Proposals, known as ZIPs, were approaching their final state.

Bowe also said developers expected readiness for a mainnet activation around July 21. He confirmed that the official testnet activation was scheduled for the following day and noted that the Zebra release supporting Ironwood should become available around the same time.

According to Bowe, sufficient mining hash rate already signals technical readiness for the mainnet upgrade. He noted that some wallets may not support Ironwood immediately, although alternative options and testnet preparation time remain available before activation.

XRP is starting to build a higher base above $1 following last week’s sell-off. The token edged higher through the U.S. session, held $1.08 on repeated tests and pushed toward $1.10 before sellers slowed the move. That keeps the setup constructive, but still unfinished, with traders watching whether the latest accumulation turns into a clean breakout.

News Background

• XRP wallet creation rose to 4,941 daily addresses, the strongest single-day growth in 14 weeks.

• Bullish social sentiment reached a three-month high, with positive comments outnumbering bearish ones by 3.7 to 1.

• Ripple completed its scheduled 1 billion XRP escrow unlock without a meaningful price shock.

• XRP’s move tracked the broader crypto market closely, with idiosyncratic variance against CD5 staying well below the level that would suggest a major asset-specific catalyst.

Price Action Summary

• XRP rose from $1.0611 to $1.0894 during the 24-hour session, gaining 0.62%.

• The token established higher lows at $1.0552, $1.0589 and $1.0799, showing buyers stepped in at progressively higher levels.

• Volume rose 26.92% above the seven-day average, pointing to steady participation around the move.

• The strongest push came at 13:00 UTC, when volume reached 117.5 million XRP, about 142% above the 24-hour average.

Russia’s central bank says the digital ruble is ready for a Sept. 1 rollout, keeping the country’s central bank digital currency plan on schedule. 

Governor Elvira Nabiullina said “everyone is ready” for the launch, according to a July 2 report by RIA Novosti.

The digital ruble will circulate alongside cash and non-cash rubles, not replace them. The Bank of Russia has said people will be able to open digital wallets through banking apps connected to its platform. It has also said individuals will not pay fees on digital ruble transactions.

The rollout begins with banks and large merchants

The Bank of Russia’s timeline requires major banks to offer digital ruble services from Sept. 1, 2026. Large retailers with annual revenue above 120 million rubles must also accept digital ruble payments from that date.

The rules will expand in stages. Banks with universal licenses and retailers with annual revenue above 30 million rubles must join from Sept. 1, 2027. Other banks and smaller retailers will follow from Sept. 1, 2028, while very small merchants will remain exempt.

Sanctions pressure frames the rollout

The launch comes as the European Union has already moved against Russia-linked digital finance. In its 20th sanctions package, the EU Council banned transactions involving RUBx and all EU support for the development of the digital ruble. It linked the measures to Russia’s war against Ukraine and wider concerns over sanctions evasion.

In addition, the EU also proposed broader restrictions on foreign crypto services tied to Russian sanctions evasion. That plan followed growing scrutiny of ruble-linked crypto rails, including platforms and tokens that authorities say may support cross-border payments outside Western controls.

Russia has tested digital ruble use cases for more than a year. As previously reported, the Central Bank of Russia piloted digital ruble smart contracts in Tatarstan, including tests on conditional spending for public funds. The latest timeline shows that Moscow now wants to move the project from testing into broader payment use.

U.S. policy moves in the opposite direction

Russia’s CBDC push contrasts with U.S. policy, where lawmakers have moved toward a temporary ban on a Federal Reserve digital dollar. As crypto.news reported, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would block the Fed from creating a CBDC or similar asset through 2030 if it becomes law.

The U.S. debate reflects concerns over privacy, state control, and the role of private stablecoins. The Russian approach is different. Moscow is building a state-run digital currency while also testing other digital asset rules for trade and financial access under sanctions.

A February report by Jack Jarmon for the Australian Institute of International Affairs said Russia could face limits if it relies on Bitcoin or other proof-of-work assets to bypass sanctions. The report pointed to old power infrastructure and limited access to foreign technology. Those limits may explain why the digital ruble remains central to Moscow’s state-led payment strategy.

The Sept. 1 launch will test whether Russia can drive adoption among banks, merchants, and users. Nabiullina said the central bank wants the digital ruble to be “in demand by people and businesses” and “convenient.” 

For now, the rollout places Russia among the countries pushing CBDCs forward while sanctions and U.S. policy debates keep digital state money under close review.

eToro has led a $12.5 million strategic funding round in Extended, an onchain exchange for perpetual futures.

Extended announced the round in a July 2 post on X, saying eToro led the investment and Jump Crypto also joined the deal.

Meanwhile, the funding is tied to a partnership between Extended and Zengo, the self-custody wallet eToro acquired earlier this year. The companies plan to work on access to global financial markets through onchain infrastructure. eToro said the partnership will explore ways to connect traditional financial assets with decentralized trading venues.

Self-custody becomes part of the plan

Zengo gives eToro a direct route into self-custody products. The wallet uses multi-party computation technology, which removes the need for seed phrases while still giving users control over assets. It also supports swaps, staking, and access to decentralized applications.

eToro completed its Zengo acquisition on April 30 while reporting a sharp drop in crypto trading profit. The company said at the time that Zengo would support its plan to connect traditional financial products with onchain systems. The Extended deal now gives that plan a derivatives-focused path.

Extended builds onchain perps market

Extended was founded by former Revolut employees and opened trading to all users in late 2024. In its public launch announcement, the company said it planned to add unified margin with technical support from StarkWare.

The exchange is built on StarkWare’s StarkEx scaling engine. It focuses on perpetual futures, a type of derivative contract that has no expiry date. Extended says its model supports self-custody trading while aiming to keep execution fast enough for active traders. That structure places it between centralized crypto futures venues and fully decentralized trading platforms.

Perps growth draws larger firms

Perpetual futures remain one of the largest crypto trading markets. As crypto.news reported, CoinGecko’s 2026 Crypto Perpetuals Report found that perp DEX open interest share rose from 3.6% in early 2025 to 13.5% in 2026. The same report showed Binance and OKX still leading centralized perps trading, even as decentralized venues gained share.

That growth has drawn more attention from brokers and trading apps. Previously, crypto.news reported that Robinhood launchedperpetual futures tied to commodities, ETFs, and currencies for eligible European users. The rollout showed how crypto-style trading tools are moving into traditional markets.

Deal follows weaker crypto trading income

The investment comes after eToro reported lower crypto-related trading profit in the first quarter of 2026. As reported by crypto.news, crypto generated $13 million in profit during the quarter, or about 5% of eToro’s total net trading profit of $258 million. That was down from $46 million in the same period in 2025.

The Extended round shows that eToro is still building around digital assets despite weaker short-term crypto revenue. The company is using Zengo to strengthen its self-custody stack and Extended to enter onchain derivatives more directly. 

Moreover, the move also places eToro closer to a market where trading apps, crypto exchanges, and decentralized platforms are competing for users who want faster access, direct asset control, and broader exposure to global markets.