Tokyo-listed bitcoin BTC$63,856.93 holder Metaplanet isn’t dumping its bitcoin BTC$63,856.93 bags.

Company CEO Simon Gerovich moved quickly to dismiss reports of a massive sale, clarifying that Wednesday’s large BTC transfer, flagged by blockchain trackers, was merely a “routine custody transfer” and not a liquidation.

“We transferred 5,014 BTC between Metaplanet custodial addresses over the past 24 hours. This was a routine custody operation. No bitcoin was sold, and our holdings remain 43,000 BTC,” Gerovich said.

On Wednesday, data tracking firms flagged the movement of 5,014 BTC, worth $320 million at the going spot price, from wallets linked to the firm. That sparked a speculation that the firm was preparing to sell those coins.

These so-called digital asset treasury firms, led by industry giant Strategy, has come under the microscope recently as investors watch for any sign of these major corporate holders trimming their positions to lock in gains or manage balance sheet risk.

Strategy has been selling portions of its BTC holdings to fund dividends on its preferred stock, repurchase STRC preferred shares and replenish its U.S. dollar reserve.

ASX shareholder Rosherville Pty Ltd has notified the Australian Securities Exchange that it plans to seek Federal Court permission to pursue certain former officers and directors over the failed CHESS replacement project. 

ASX disclosed the proposed statutory derivative action on Aug. 12, less than six weeks after the exchange was ordered to pay an A$20.5 million penalty in a separate regulatory case over the same project.

The exchange said Rosherville alleges breaches of directors’ duties connected with the previous project. ASX stressed that the proposed action contains no allegations against the company itself. Its announcement does not identify the former officials, detail their alleged breaches or state what remedies Rosherville intends to pursue.

ASX shareholder must clear five court conditions

Rosherville proposes to proceed under sections 236 and 237 of Australia’s Corporations Act. A statutory derivative action allows an eligible shareholder or officer to bring proceedings on a company’s behalf, but only after receiving court permission.

Under the law, the court must be satisfied that the applicant is acting in good faith, that granting leave is in the company’s best interests and that there is a serious question to be tried. The court must also be satisfied ASX probably will not pursue the proceedings itself. Written notice generally must be provided at least 14 days before an application, although the court can excuse that requirement in appropriate circumstances.

The disclosure therefore represents an intended court action rather than an approved lawsuit. ASX has not announced a hearing date, and the Federal Court has not yet determined whether Rosherville can proceed against the unidentified former officials.

A$20.5 million penalty already settled ASX’s own case

The shareholder move adds a potential individual accountability question to a project that has already resulted in corporate penalties. On July 3, Justice Markovic ordered ASX to pay A$20.5 million and another A$3 million toward ASIC’s costs after the exchange admitted misleading conduct.

The case centered on ASX’s February 2022 statement that the replacement project was “progressing well.” Court records show the project was internally rated red, was no longer on its critical path toward an April 2023 launch and had opened testing environments with reduced scope or performance. The court found the representation was misleading.

ASX later paused the distributed ledger project and derecognised approximately A$245 million to A$255 million in pretax project costs. ASIC’s June release also confirmed the exchange had admitted breaches of Australia’s ASIC Act.

The governance questions extend beyond the court case. An ASIC inquiry published in April found weaknesses across ASX governance, risk management and technology oversight. Regulators are now supervising a broader reform program, including changes to clearing and settlement governance and a A$150 million capital charge scheduled by June 2027.

Failed blockchain project had a U.S. technology link

The failed system also had a direct U.S. connection. ASX selected Digital Asset Holdings to develop the distributed ledger technology, and Digital Asset currently maintains an office in New York. The Federal Court judgment records that ASX confirmed in 2017 that Digital Asset would develop the replacement system.

As crypto.news reported during the project’s earlier stages, the exchange partnered with Digital Asset and VMware as it worked toward a distributed ledger based clearing and settlement platform. Earlier reporting also documented a six month delay to the blockchain rollout as industry participants raised concerns about the implementation timetable.

Digital Asset remains active in U.S. institutional blockchain infrastructure and announced a $355 million funding round in June 2026. The current shareholder dispute, however, concerns alleged duties of former ASX officials. ASX’s Aug. 12 notice makes no allegation against Digital Asset.

What happens next for ASX and Rosherville

ASX has already abandoned the original blockchain architecture and moved to Tata Consultancy Services’ BaNCS platform. Release 1, covering clearing services, went live on April 20. The exchange says that service continues to operate normally.

Release 2 will handle settlement and subregister services and is currently planned for 2029, with ASX targeting completion of its primary technology build by the end of 2027. The latest project update says further Release 2 testing and development remained underway in July and August.

For Rosherville, the immediate step is obtaining Federal Court leave. Until that happens, the claims against former officers and directors remain allegations and have not been tested by a judge. ASX said it will provide further market updates under its continuous disclosure obligations.

A new federal lawsuit challenges Truth Social’s paid service for early access to presidential announcements. The service charges trading firms as much as $100,000 monthly. Meanwhile, plaintiffs argue that the system gives paying users faster access to public government information.

Lawsuit Targets Truth Social’s Paid Feed

The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. The complaint names President Donald Trump and seeks restrictions on his participation in Truth API. It also targets White House employees who may use the service to distribute official announcements.

Truth API gives subscribers faster access to selected posts from Trump and other Truth Social accounts. However, the plaintiffs argue that presidential messages should reach the public without paid delays. They say the service creates a separate information channel for customers who can afford its fees.

Trump Media launched Truth API on August 1 after announcing the service in July. The company designed the product for financial institutions and trading firms seeking faster information. Therefore, the service could give trading companies an advantage when presidential posts affect financial markets.

Constitutional Claims Raise Public Access Issues

The lawsuit argues that Truth API violates First Amendment protections by favoring paying subscribers. According to the complaint, news organizations and members of the public should receive equal access. The plaintiffs also challenge the government’s role in providing special access through a private platform.

The complaint further raises a Fifth Amendment claim over the financial condition attached to access. The plaintiffs argue that the government cannot require large payments for access to a public benefit. However, the court has not ruled on either constitutional claim.

Trump frequently uses Truth Social to announce decisions involving trade, foreign policy, and federal appointments. Some announcements can move markets because they reveal major policy changes or government actions. As a result, faster access can hold significant value for companies that trade financial assets.

Trump Media Ownership Adds Financial Dimension

The plaintiffs also point to Trump’s financial interest in Trump Media as part of their case. The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust owns about 41.43% of Trump Media shares. Trump remains the trust’s sole beneficiary, and that holding has carried a value above $1 billion.

Trump Media launched Truth Social in 2022 after Trump founded the company in 2021. Since then, the platform has become a major channel for Trump’s direct public communication. The company has therefore gained importance as presidential announcements increasingly appear on the platform.

The lawsuit asks the court to stop Trump and White House employees from providing preferential access. It specifically targets the delivery of official announcements through Truth API’s paid system. The plaintiffs are represented by several legal groups, including the Yale Law School Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic.

The case now places Truth Social’s premium information model under federal scrutiny. Its outcome could influence how public officials distribute time-sensitive information through private platforms. Meanwhile, the dispute raises broader questions about equal access when presidential statements can affect markets.

Trump Media and the White House now face legal arguments over the service’s structure and public role. The court will determine whether the plaintiffs can establish the constitutional violations alleged in the complaint. Until then, Truth API remains a paid service that offers faster access to selected Truth Social posts.

Crypto valuations could at least double as protocols increasingly use revenue to fund token buybacks and burns, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan. 

On Wednesday, Hougan said crypto outside of Bitcoin is becoming a revenue-driven market in which network activity feeds into native-token value. He said investors have not priced in that change, leaving some crypto assets undervalued.

Hougan pointed to Hyperliquid, Uniswap, Aave, Pump.fun and Lighter, protocols that use fees to repurchase or remove tokens from circulation. He said he expects decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and layer-1 networks to adopt similar revenue-capture mechanisms over the next 12 to 24 months. 

Stronger links between protocol revenue and token value could give investors conventional valuation metrics, Hougan said, adding that token holders lack shareholders’ legal claims to cash flow and that community-set tokenomics can change.

DeFi protocols turn fees into token demand

Hyperliquid, the decentralized exchange that generated over $800 million in revenue last year, uses about 99% of this to buy and burn HYPE. On Aug. 6, Hyperliquid reported $169 million in second-quarter revenue and directed $141 million toward HYPE buybacks.

Uniswap also linked revenue to its token after its “UNIfication” overhaul approved the activation of protocol fees to fund UNI burns on Dec.22, 2025. Under the mechanism, collected fees can be claimed by burning UNI, linking protocol activity to reductions in the token’s supply.

Related: Uniswap founder rejects claims v4 fees reduce LP earnings

Meanwhile, Aave DAO’s buyback program purchased more than 205,000 AAVE during its first 10 months. On June 25, Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the team was designing an automated, non-discretionary buyback mechanism. 

“100% of Aave Protocol and GHO revenue goes to the $AAVE  token. This was established in the Aave Will Win proposal,” Kulechov wrote. 

Hougan attributed the shift to a more permissive regulatory environment in the US after years in which projects avoided revenue-sharing features over securities-law concerns. On Aug. 5, he said that regulatory guidance could allow crypto to keep expanding even without the CLARITY Act. 

Magazine: Inside the fake crypto startup that fooled North Korean IT workers

More than three dozen bitcoin and crypto companies have asked the largest AI labs to give open-source security researchers early access to their most capable models, arguing that the people defending a trillion dollars of infrastructure are working with weaker tools than the people attacking it.

The letter, organised by the Bitcoin Policy Institute and published earlier this week is signed by Coinbase, Block, BitGo, Blockstream, Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Bitwise, Foundry, Casa, Exodus and others, alongside nonprofit developer funds including Brink, Chaincode and Btrust.

Its central complaint is specific that Bitcoin Core developers, the small group maintaining the software that runs the network, cannot get into the programs labs run for trusted security partners.

When they turn to publicly available models instead, the safety filters designed to stop people writing malware also block the work of finding flaws before criminals do.

That leaves them on open-weight models, which are freely downloadable and generally less capable.

Attackers face none of those constraints. The letter said the labs and a handful of partners can see new offensive capabilities months before anyone else, while those capabilities spread anyway through public models, stolen access to corporate systems and purpose-built hacking tools.

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire NEOS Investments in a deal worth up to $2.25 billion. The transaction combines cash and equity, and final terms depend on performance benchmarks. This move strengthens Goldman’s position in the fast-growing active ETF market.

Deal Structure And Expected Timeline

Goldman Sachs will pay through a mix of cash and equity for NEOS Investments. The final payout remains tied to service and performance commitments over time. Regulators must still approve the transaction before it becomes final.

The companies expect the deal to close during the first quarter of 2027. This timeline allows both firms to complete regulatory reviews and integration planning. Goldman will fold NEOS into its existing asset management structure once approved.

NEOS currently manages nineteen systematic options-based income ETFs for its clients. The firm held roughly $30 billion in assets under management as of June. Some reports suggest that figure has since grown closer to $32 billion.

Neos Brings Scale To Goldman’s Options-Based Fund Lineup

NEOS launched in 2022 and quickly built a reputation in options-income investing. Its strategies focus on generating steady income while managing market exposure. This approach appealed to both individual and institutional investors seeking balance.

This acquisition follows Goldman’s earlier purchase of Innovator Capital Management, another options-focused firm. Innovator specializes in defined-outcome and buffer ETFs for risk-conscious investors. Together, these deals show Goldman’s clear strategy of expanding options-based offerings.

Co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management as partners. The broader NEOS team is also expected to transition into Goldman’s structure. Goldman’s leadership described the acquisition as complementary to its buffer, income, and outcome-based strategies.

Combined ETF Platform Surpasses $130 Billion In Assets

After the deal closes, Goldman’s total ETF platform will exceed $130 billion in assets. Active ETFs alone will account for roughly $80 billion of that total. This scale places Goldman among the largest active ETF providers in the industry.

Morningstar data ranks Goldman as the eighth-largest active ETF provider as of June. That ranking reflects steady growth across the firm’s broader asset management division. The NEOS acquisition should push Goldman further up that competitive ranking.

Options-based income ETFs have expanded rapidly across the wider market in recent years. The category now holds about $180 billion in total assets industry-wide. Annualized growth has topped seventy percent since 2021, according to Morningstar figures.

Broader Market Context And Industry Trends

Demand for options-income strategies has grown steadily among everyday and institutional investors alike. These products aim to generate income while limiting downside exposure to market swings. That balance has made them increasingly popular within traditional ETF structures.

Goldman’s acquisitions of NEOS and Innovator reflect a broader shift toward specialized ETF products. Large asset managers continue consolidating smaller, innovative firms to diversify their offerings. This pattern suggests further consolidation may follow across the active ETF sector.

Once the deal closes, Goldman plans to operate NEOS alongside its current ETF lineup. The firm aims to expand its overall product range and total assets under management. Goldman’s latest move signals continued ambition within the actively managed ETF space.