Ctrl Wallet has announced the permanent shutdown of its services after a recent security exploit, giving users until Aug. 3 to move their crypto assets before core wallet functions go offline.

Ctrl Wallet said in a blog post published Tuesday that it will disable sending, receiving, swapping and all other wallet functions from Aug. 3, leaving users with only the ability to export their recovery phrases.

The company also confirmed it will immediately stop new downloads and remove the application from browser extension and mobile app stores as part of the shutdown process.

The decision comes just weeks after Ctrl Wallet disclosed a security incident affecting some Cardano wallets. On June 23, the wallet provider said it had placed parts of its platform into temporary maintenance mode while engineers investigated the issue and worked to protect user assets.

Users have one month to transfer assets

Ahead of the shutdown deadline, Ctrl Wallet has strongly advised customers to move their funds to another wallet or exchange instead of waiting until services are disabled.

According to the company, users who do not transfer assets before Aug. 3 will still be able to access their funds by importing their 12-word or 24-word recovery phrase into another compatible wallet.

Ctrl Wallet identified MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Phantom as compatible alternatives for importing recovery phrases. The company stressed that users should securely back up their seed phrases before attempting any migration.

Alongside the shutdown notice, Ctrl Wallet warned that there will be no migration token, token swap, or airdrop linked to the closure. The wallet provider urged customers to ignore social media posts or websites claiming to offer compensation or rewards tied to the shutdown, cautioning that such offers are likely to be scams.

Formerly known as XDEFI Wallet, Ctrl Wallet lists more than 650,000 monthly users and a workforce of between 11 and 50 employees on its LinkedIn profile. The wallet supported more than 2,500 blockchain networks, including Cardano and Midnight.

Security incidents continue across crypto platforms

The shutdown follows a transition announced on April 29, when Ctrl Wallet said it had come under the Emurgo umbrella and that its multichain technology would continue through the SecondFi wallet. SecondFi, a self-custodial wallet developed by Emurgo after rebranding from Yoroi in April 2026, later suffered its own security incident.

On June 24, attackers exploited a vulnerability in SecondFi that resulted in the theft of about 16 million ADA, worth roughly $2.4 million at the time.

SecondFi later said it had secured about 129 million ADA through emergency measures, transferred those funds to an independent third-party custodian, and introduced a recovery process covering the 374 affected wallet addresses.

The latest shutdown also comes during a series of security breaches affecting crypto infrastructure. As previously reported by crypto.news, blockchain security firm Blockaid detected an active exploit against the DeFi platform Summer.fi that had drained about $6 million before the attack was disclosed.

Separately, Taiko urged users to withdraw assets from all bridges on its network after confirming its chain state verification mechanism had been compromised, while Blockaid estimated losses from the related ERC20 Vault attack at more than $1 million.

Days earlier, interoperability protocol Axelar disabled its Secret Network bridge connections after an exploit led to the loss of roughly $4.7 million in bridged assets.

According to Axelar, early findings indicated the issue originated in the Secret Network’s ICS-20 smart contract rather than Axelar’s core infrastructure, prompting the protocol to suspend affected connections while its investigation continues.

EDX Markets, an institutional cryptocurrency trading platform, said it raised $76 million in a Series C funding round led by SBI Holdings.

The company plans to use the funds to develop new products and grow internationally. EDX operates an institution-only crypto marketplace that separates trading from custody and settlement through a central clearinghouse. The model is designed to reduce counterparty risk and mirrors the structure used in traditional financial markets.

SBI Holdings has been one of Japan’s most active financial groups in crypto. Its SBI VC Trade unit offers access to Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin in Japan, while SBI Shinsei Trust Bank recently issued JPYSC, a yen-denominated stablecoin developed with Startale Group.

Last month, SBI agreed to acquire crypto exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen ($289 million), adding to its existing SBI VC Trade platform.

EDX has been moving beyond spot trading. The firm earlier this year introduced FlowConnect, a crypto-as-a-service product that allows financial firms to offer crypto trading to their customers.

The AI trade, which incorporates semiconductors and memory stocks, is showing signs of fatigue as investors reassess whether the extraordinary spending boom on chips and data centers can be sustained.

Semiconductor and memory stocks such as Micron Technology (MU) and Sandisk (SNDK) came under heavy pressure on Tuesday, after Samsung Electronics (005930) reported record second-quarter earnings but missed revenue estimates.

Shares still fell nearly 7%, extending a broader selloff across AI-linked chipmakers. Concerns are growing that hyperscalers could slow AI infrastructure spending.

Meanwhile, rival SK Hynix is down 25% from its all-time high ahead of its U.S. listing this week, a deal that is also drawing investor capital away from existing chip stocks.

Adding to the changing narrative, China’s Zhipu AI, one of the country’s leading artificial intelligence startups, is exploring a custom AI chip as demand for its open-source GLM models surges, highlighting the rise of lower-cost AI ecosystems built around domestic hardware rather than cutting-edge US chips.

The shift comes just weeks after SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO and amid elevated valuations across AI-related stocks. Investors are increasingly questioning whether the next phase of AI will require ever more GPUs and high-bandwidth memory, or whether more efficient models will reduce demand for the infrastructure that has powered the AI rally.

Over the past year, bitcoin and the broader crypto market have suffered from the AI trade, and if investor enthusiasm for AI continues to fade, crypto bulls could see capital rotate back into digital assets.

Wall Street analysts have begun coverage of SpaceX (SPCX) following the expiration of the 25-day quiet period after the company’s June initial public offering (IPO), with nearly every major brokerage launching their coverage with a bullish rating.

The aerospace and satellite company, which held 18,712 bitcoin BTC$62,843.65 as of March 31, went public in June, raising $75 billion in one of the year’s largest IPOs. Shares were priced at $135 in the offering. The stock was trading at $150.93 on Tuesday, down more than 6% from recent post-listing highs but still above its IPO price.

The two lead underwriters, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, both initiated coverage with buy-equivalent ratings. Goldman analyst Eric Sheridan set a price target of $205, while Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas assigned a $300 target.

They were joined by analysts at Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Macquarie, RBC Capital Markets, UBS and Wells Fargo, all of which launched coverage with buy or equivalent recommendations.

The most optimistic forecast came from Raymond James, where analyst Brian Gesuale initiated coverage with a Strong Buy rating and an $800 price target.

Vanguard has opened the search for a head of digital assets, creating a senior role that would oversee the firm’s strategy for cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based financial technology.

The position, listed within Vanguard Personal Wealth, calls for an executive to develop the firm’s digital asset vision, identify business opportunities and lead execution across product, technology, operations, legal and compliance teams. The candidate will also advise senior leadership on changes in digital asset markets, represent Vanguard in discussions with regulators and industry groups and help shape the firm’s long-term approach.

It also highlights other areas of the ecosystem, including tokenization, stablecoins, digital wallets, custody, blockchain-enabled settlement and operating models as areas the executive will evaluate, as well as determining whether Vanguard should build new capabilities internally, partner with third parties or delay entering certain parts of the market.

The search marks another step in Vanguard’s gradual shift toward digital assets after years of resisting the sector. The asset manager, which oversees roughly $10 trillion, remained one of crypto’s largest institutional skeptics while peers such as BlackRock, Fidelity and Franklin Templeton rolled out spot bitcoin ETFs and other blockchain initiatives.

The growing Bitcoin supply held at a loss suggests that the crypto market is nearing its cycle bottom, according to digital asset brokerage company K33.

Over 50% of all Bitcoin (BTC) is currently held at a loss, K33 said in a report published Tuesday.

K33 added that because the past year’s bull market was less extreme than previous cycles, the current downturn could also be less severe.

Historically, when more than half of the circulating supply has been underwater, Bitcoin has tended to be in the late stages of a bear market, making the metric one of several indicators analysts use to assess whether selling pressure may be nearing exhaustion.

Percent of the circulating BTC supply in loss. Source: K33

Past Bitcoin cycles bottomed within weeks of the signal

K33 said previous bear markets typically bottomed within weeks of more than half of Bitcoin’s supply being held at a loss.

During the 2017 bear market cycle, Bitcoin bottomed 31 days after over 50% of the BTC supply was held at a loss. Similarly, Bitcoin bottomed 23 days after half the supply was held at a loss in November 2018 and about 13 days after the same development in November 2022.

The 2014 cycle was an outlier, as Bitcoin only bottomed 101 days after half the supply was held at a loss. It was also the only cycle in which Bitcoin was lower one year after the signal, falling 25%.

Bitcoin during periods when 50% of the supply was held at a loss and its annual returns table for the following years. Source: K33

However, the report noted that large sellers, such as spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) holders, could make this cycle behave differently from previous ones because of their impact on price.

The spot Bitcoin ETFs registered two consecutive days of inflows, with $265 million on Monday, but saw $4.51 billion in net outflows in June, marking their worst month on record, according to Farside Investors data.

Related: Strategy sells 3,588 Bitcoin for $216M to fund dividends, keeps $2.55B reserve intact

Bitcoin risk appetite signals imminent bottom: Block Scholes

Other indicators are also suggesting an imminent bottom, such as the Block Scholes Risk Appetite Index, which measures bullish and bearish momentum in digital assets.

BTC risk appetite index and spot BTC price. Source: Block Scholes

Bitcoin’s risk appetite fell to a low of -1.27 on July 3 and has since bounced higher, which historically preceded a median spot return of 12% over the following 100 days, according to the eight prior instances identified by Block Scholes.

“Historically, such a move has preceded a more bullish outperformance in spot prices and could lead to further allocation towards risk assets such as crypto,” a spokesperson for Block Scholes told Cointelegraph. 

Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves

Richard Heathcote, who until March was Tether’s chief investment officer, is planning to sell part of his 1.26% stake in the stablecoin giant, according to a Bloomberg report.

Heathcote is working with PJT Partners to sell his holding in the San Salvador, El Salvador-based company, Bloomberg said, citing sources close to the matter. The sources said discussions with potential buyers were ongoing. They declined to comment on the company’s potential valuation.

Heathcote took on a non-executive advisory role at the issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, in March, and was replaced by his deputy Zachary Lyons.

In February, Tether scaled back from plans to raise as much as $20 billion after facing investor resistance to a proposed $500 billion valuation that would rank the stablecoin issuer among the world’s most valuable private companies. Tether advisers then followed up with plans to raise $5 billion. Tether reported a full-year profit of more than $10 billion for 2025.

Tether did not respond to a CoinDesk request for comment. PJT Partners declined to comment. Heathcote could not be reached.