Crypto World
The Strange Reason You May Suddenly Feel Dizzy

If you’ve ever sat up quickly or rolled over in bed abruptly and felt like the room was spinning or whirling around you when you’re actually still, you may have experienced a condition called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) without knowing what it was. This vestibular disorder—one that affects the inner ear—is one of the most common causes of vertigo, and it can make people feel very dizzy, unsteady, sweaty, even nauseous. Individual bouts tend to be brief—usually lasting 15 to 60 seconds at a time—but they can recur with certain head movements, make it difficult to function, and increase the risk of falling.
“The term ‘benign’ is the first part of the phrase—it does not feel benign when you experience it,” says Dr. Nedim Durakovic, an associate professor of otolaryngology and neurotology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Before the condition was well understood, “people thought that patients were having strokes when they had vertigo, [but] this is not the stroke form of vertigo.”
Here’s what to know about BPPV.
What causes BPPV?
With BPPV, tiny calcium carbonate crystals—called otoconia—that usually sit on hair cells in the inner ear get dislodged from where they belong and travel into one of the three semicircular canals of the inner ear. A change in head position, such as while rolling over in bed or tipping your head back in the shower, is what usually triggers BPPV symptoms.
It’s natural for these crystals to be in the ear. “They are part of your normal anatomy for your balance function,” says Dr. Gail Ishiyama, a professor in the departments of neurology and head and neck surgery and director of the Vestibular Clinical Laboratory at the UCLA School of Medicine. With BPPV, “they’re just in the wrong place, and that can cause vertigo.”
BPPV affects twice as many women as men, and it’s particularly common between the ages of 40 and 70. It can happen anytime, but head trauma or dental procedures involving drilling are two of the more common triggers, Ishiyama says.
People who have Menière’s disease (a chronic inner ear disorder), diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, hypothyroidism, migraine, anemia, osteoporosis, or peripheral neuropathy are particularly susceptible to BPPV, research has found. And research increasingly suggests that low vitamin D levels are a risk factor for BPPV.
How is BPPV diagnosed?
Getting the right diagnosis for BPPV isn’t always straightforward. “One of my frustrations with patients who experience this is they’ll go to the ER or they’ll get an MRI scan or a head CT scan—this whole [expensive] workup—when somebody just needed to lay them down and look at their eyes,” says Durakovic.
That, he says, is the easiest way to diagnose BPPV. Using something called the Dix-Hallpike maneuver, a health care provider will have the patient move between a seated and supine position and move their head in different directions while the provider examines their eyes. If the person’s eyes rapidly, repetitively, and involuntarily move up and down or in a twisting motion, these are signs of nystagmus, a condition involving sudden eye movements. Nystagmus often accompanies vertigo caused by BPPV, and if it does, the diagnosis is clear. If the patient doesn’t exhibit nystagmus, other diagnostic maneuvers may be used to trigger telltale symptoms.
What’s the treatment for BPPV?
The first-line treatment for BPPV uses a different maneuver called the Epley maneuver, which involves a series of specific head and body movements to remove the wayward crystals from the semicircular canal in order to relieve symptoms of vertigo. Sometimes the maneuver needs to be repeated several times, notes Durakovic. But research has found that it does the trick in more than 80% of people with BPPV.
There are other repositioning maneuvers, too, depending on which of the semi-circular canals is affected. “The positional maneuvers move the crystals along the pathway out of the canal and back to where they belong,” explains Dr. Cameron Wick, an associate professor of otolaryngology and neurotology at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. If the maneuvers don’t provide immediate relief, people are advised to do them one to two times per day while they’re symptomatic, according to Wick.
In the instances when repositioning maneuvers don’t effectively relieve BPPV, the condition may resolve on its own over time. Other treatment options may include vestibular rehabilitation therapy—which is designed to treat dizziness, vertigo, and balance disorders—or surgery, which involves inserting a plug to block the part of the inner ear that crystals are flowing into.
Sometimes doctors prescribe vestibular suppressant medications, such as benzodiazepines or antihistamines, to calm the vertigo associated with BPPV. But Durakovic and Wick advise against these because they don’t address the underlying cause; they simply mask the symptoms temporarily. What’s more, these drugs are linked with an increased risk of falls when they’re used to treat dizziness.
Even when BPPV is successfully treated, recurrences occur in about 20% of people who’ve experienced it. “If you take vitamin D supplements, you’re less likely to get a recurrence of BPPV,” says Ishiyama. Staying hydrated and doing regular aerobic exercise can help, too, she says.
If, despite these measures, you find yourself experiencing recurrences of unexplained vertigo, it’s a good idea to see a neurotologist, an otolaryngologist, or a vestibular therapist to make sure that you are getting the right diagnosis.
Crypto World
NEAR adds 20 tokenized US stocks and ETFs via Ondo
NEAR has partnered with Ondo Finance to give eligible users access to 20 tokenized U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds, and commodity-linked products through near.com and NEAR Intents.
Summary
- 20 tokenized assets will initially include Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, QQQ, SLV, and IAU.
- More than 30 connected blockchains can route supported crypto assets into Ondo Stocks through NEAR Intents.
- Eligible users can fund purchases with assets including Bitcoin and USDC without opening a separate brokerage account.
- U.S. persons cannot access Ondo Stocks under the product’s current securities restrictions.
Ondo Finance said the integration would let eligible near.com users exchange supported crypto assets for tokenized securities while keeping the entire process within one account. Availability will depend on each user’s location and compliance with the platform’s eligibility requirements.
NEAR users can access 20 Ondo tokenized assets
Rather than limiting the service to crypto-native assets, the first release will provide tokenized exposure to several of the largest U.S.-listed companies. Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon are among the initial stocks named by the companies.
The selection also includes the Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq-100, and precious-metals funds such as the iShares Silver Trust and iShares Gold Trust. QQQ, SLV, and IAU trade on U.S. exchanges, allowing the integration to cover technology stocks, a major equity index, and commodity-linked products.
Users can purchase the tokens with supported assets already held in their near.com accounts. Bitcoin and USDC are among the funding options, removing the need to first move the assets to a traditional brokerage account. After completing a purchase, users can hold the tokenized product or exchange it back into USDC or another supported crypto asset.
“Bringing financial markets onchain should give people more control over their money and more choice in how they transact,” said Alex Shevchenko, CEO of Defuse Labs, the developer behind NEAR Intents.
Access will also extend beyond near.com. Wallets, decentralized finance protocols and applications connected to NEAR Intents can route eligible users toward Ondo Stocks, although each participating service may apply its own interface and compliance procedures.
NEAR Intents handles routing across 30-plus chains
Instead of requiring users to choose bridges and transaction paths manually, NEAR Intents allows them to state the result they want. Independent solvers then compete to complete the request by finding and executing a route between the relevant networks and assets.
The system connects more than 30 blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, NEAR, Tron and BNB Chain. A user holding an asset on one supported network can therefore request a tokenized security without manually completing every transfer involved in the transaction.
NEAR has also developed a private version of the system for financial transactions. In September, the protocol crossed $70 million in confidential total value locked, triggering the first snapshot for an incentive program tied to Confidential Intents.
Confidential Intents routes transactions through a private NEAR shard, according to the project. NEAR says the design keeps transactions away from public mempools and can reduce exposure to front-running, strategy leaks, and certain forms of maximal extractable value.
Ondo Stocks will use the standard cross-chain distribution system described in the latest announcement. The partners did not state that purchases of the 20 tokenized assets would receive the privacy functions offered by Confidential Intents.
“Our goal is simple: investors should be able to reach these assets from the networks and accounts where they already hold their capital,” said Armand Khatri, head of ecosystem at Ondo Finance.
Ondo expands distribution for its tokenized securities
The NEAR agreement adds another distribution channel for a platform that has already deployed tokenized securities on Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain. According to Ondo, its securities platform holds more than $1 billion in total value locked and has processed over $26 billion in cumulative trading volume.
In June, Ondo connected 35 assets to Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM through infrastructure built with LayerZero. The supported products included tokens linked to SPY, QQQ, Nvidia, Tesla, Alphabet, Netflix, and Alibaba, giving HyperEVM applications access to stock and ETF exposure.
Another LayerZero-based product had previously allowed users to move more than 100 tokenized stocks and ETFs between Ethereum and BNB Chain. NEAR Intents takes a different route by connecting users and applications across its network of solvers rather than asking them to transfer a token through a dedicated bridge.
Ondo has also sought regulatory clearance to bring parts of its tokenized securities business into the United States. The company asked the SEC to permit registered on-chain distribution of securities through Ethereum and other public blockchains.
U.S. users remain restricted from Ondo Stocks
Although the underlying shares and ETFs are listed in the United States, Ondo’s product disclosures state that Ondo Stocks have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933. The tokens may not be offered or sold in the United States or to U.S. persons unless they are registered or qualify for an exemption.
Eligibility rules also differ elsewhere. Ondo’s disclosures say that users in jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Singapore may need to qualify as professional clients or investors before gaining access.
The restriction separates the NEAR integration from the SEC’s new five-year pathway for tokenized National Market System stocks. As crypto.news previously reported, products admitted under the exemption must carry the same economic, voting, dividend, and liquidation rights as the corresponding conventional shares. Tokens offering only synthetic price exposure do not qualify.
Under the SEC order, an issuer can object when an unrelated party seeks to tokenize its stock. Approved trading venues must also stop trading a tokenized security when the underlying stock is halted, while limits apply to the number of supported symbols and their trading volume.
Separate from the offshore Ondo Stocks service, Ondo’s U.S.-registered broker-dealer subsidiary, Oasis Pro Markets, has received FINRA authorizations connected to tokenized equities and funds. Oasis Pro Markets is registered with the SEC as a broker-dealer and alternative trading system, while Oasis Pro TA operates as a registered transfer agent.
Oasis Pro Markets recently joined DTCC’s Fund/SERV network, which connects broker-dealers and other financial firms with fund companies for order processing, settlement, and recordkeeping. The membership gives the company standardized links to mutual fund providers, wealth platforms, and other financial service firms using DTCC infrastructure.
Crypto World
BitMEX enters final shutdown hours after removing all trading services
BitMEX has removed its remaining spot, conversion, and derivatives markets ahead of its Sep. 23 shutdown, ending more than 11 years of exchange operations.
Summary
- BitMEX will end all exchange services at 04:00 UTC on Sep. 23.
- Remaining positions will be force-closed using the relevant contract settlement price.
- Customers can withdraw after closure, although account fees and new verification steps will apply.
- The exchange failed to secure a buyer after reportedly seeking a valuation near $1 billion.
BitMEX said HDR Global Trading Limited, its owner and operator, approved the closure after a “strategic review of the business and the broader crypto industry.” New account registrations stopped when the company announced the decision on July 23.
The exchange has since dismantled its services in stages. Major Bitcoin and Ethereum derivatives were settled on Sep. 16, all remaining spot pairs stopped trading on Sep. 21, and the Convert service ended for every supported token at 04:00 UTC on Sep. 22.
BitMEX shutdown reaches its final stage
BitMEX will formally end exchange operations at 04:00 UTC on Sep. 23, equivalent to 9:30 a.m. in India. Any positions still open at that time will be closed by the system using the relevant settlement price or index under the exchange’s standard procedures.
As crypto.news reported in July, BitMEX initially gave customers two months to close positions and remove their funds. Risk limits introduced on Aug. 26 prevented users from opening new positions while allowing them to reduce existing exposure.
During July and August, the exchange began removing markets with limited trading activity. BitMEX delisted 35 derivatives contracts on July 30 and another 18 on Aug. 11, followed by several spot pairs, perpetual swaps, and Convert-supported tokens.
The final derivatives round included XBTUSD, XBTUSDT, ETHUSD and ETHUSDT perpetual swaps. BitMEX also settled the XBTU26, XBTZ26, XBTH27 and ETHUSDU26 futures contracts on Sep. 16.
Although the formal closure is set for Sep. 23, the removal of the remaining spot pairs and Convert service means users can no longer access the exchange’s main trading products. BitMEX’s limited post-closure interface will support withdrawals, transaction records and wallet-balance checks rather than trading.
Deposits will be credited only until the closure time. BitMEX warned that funds sent to its deposit addresses after 04:00 UTC on Sep. 23 will not appear in customer accounts and may be unrecoverable.
Withdrawals remain open under tighter conditions
Customers who have not removed their assets will retain account access after the exchange closes. BitMEX said its post-closure website will display balances, transaction histories and withdrawal pages, while the trading interface and other discontinued services will disappear.
From Sep. 23, verified accounts containing funds will face a monthly charge based on the higher of $50 or an annual rate of 1%. BitMEX will deduct the charge from the remaining account balance without taking it below zero.
If a balance is lower than the minimum withdrawal amount, the fee may reduce it to zero. The company also reserves the right to raise the charge after providing advance notice.
General application programming interface access will end when the exchange closes, but API withdrawals will remain available until 04:00 UTC on Sep. 28. Institutional withdrawal connections involving Fireblocks and Copper will stop working after that deadline, leaving the BitMEX website as the only withdrawal channel.
At the same time, BitMEX will remove its multi-network withdrawal option for USDT, USDC, and ETH. From Sep. 28, customers will only be able to withdraw the three assets through the Ethereum network.
Returning customers may also need to update their know-your-customer information before withdrawing funds. BitMEX said some users could face a test-transaction requirement and a security cooldown, while minimum withdrawal limits will apply separately to each asset.
The company has warned customers about phishing attempts linked to the closure. BitMEX said it does not offer priority withdrawals and advised users to reject messages claiming they can provide faster access to funds.
BitMEX also said customer assets remain fully backed and pointed to its proof-of-reserves and liabilities records. According to the exchange, no customer funds have been lost through a hack during its 11 years of operation.
Failed buyer search preceded the BitMEX closure
Before approving the shutdown, BitMEX reportedly spent about two years discussing a sale with potential buyers. Rival exchanges and wallet company Exodus were among the parties linked to the talks, while Broadhaven Capital Partners reportedly advised BitMEX during the process.
A later report on negotiations said BitMEX sought a valuation of about $1 billion, though it remained unclear whether any prospective buyer made a formal offer. The discussions ended without an agreement before HDR Global Trading completed its review.
Founder ownership reportedly complicated the proposed transaction. Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed left management after U.S. authorities filed criminal charges in 2020, but the three continued to control most of the company’s equity, according to the report.
Declining activity also weighed on buyer interest. BitMEX’s monthly futures volume had topped $100 billion during parts of 2021 but fell to between $25 billion and $30 billion by late 2024, according to figures cited in the report.
Trading activity moved to larger centralized platforms and decentralized perpetual exchanges during the same period. Hyperliquid recorded about $2.6 trillion in notional volume during 2025, according to Artemis data, compared with approximately $1.4 trillion for Coinbase.
Reuters separately cited Kaiko data showing BitMEX with roughly $400,000 in daily trading volume and a market share below 0.01% when the closure was announced. Kaiko analyst Thomas Probst said the exchange’s small share meant its exit was unlikely to have a major effect on the market.
BitMEX helped establish perpetual swaps as a central crypto derivatives product through its XBTUSD contract. Unlike standard futures, perpetual swaps have no expiry date and use recurring funding payments to keep their prices close to the underlying asset.
U.S. cases follow BitMEX into its final days
BitMEX’s U.S. legal history remains relevant as the company shuts its exchange. American authorities accused the platform of serving U.S. customers without sufficient anti-money-laundering and customer-identification controls.
The company pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and received a $100 million penalty in January 2025. A federal judge also imposed two years of unsupervised probation on HDR Global Trading.
President Donald Trump later pardoned Hayes, Delo and Reed, along with former BitMEX executive Gregory Dwyer and the corporate entity. Earlier coverage of the pardons noted that the founders had admitted to federal violations linked to the exchange’s failure to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering program.
Separate civil claims are still moving through U.S. courts. On Sep. 12, the Celsius bankruptcy estate sued five BitMEX entities in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York over liquidations during the March 2020 market crash.
The Celsius estate lawsuit seeks the return of 6,360.17 Bitcoin, valued in the complaint at about $495 million. Its claims include fraudulent transfer, conversion, breach of contract, breach of the implied duty of good faith, and unjust enrichment.
“BitMEX intentionally designed its platform and liquidation procedures to cause liquidations of collateral and defraud its own customers,” the complaint alleges.
The filing claims BitMEX controlled both the liquidation system and the insurance fund that received assets from some closed positions. It further alleges that the exchange kept excess Bitcoin collateral after settling Celsius-linked accounts.
BitMEX has not been found liable for the alleged conduct. The complaint remains at an early stage, and the amount recovered by the Celsius estate will depend on the court’s findings and any relief it grants.
A separate proposed class action filed in July accuses BitMEX of retaining 622.66 BTC that should have been returned to customers after liquidations. Plaintiffs BKX Services and David Namdar seek to represent eligible U.S. traders who used BitMEX Bitcoin perpetual products in transactions dating from July 23, 2018.
Crypto World
Bitcoin Targets $86K as Oil Slips Below $90 and Support Firms
Bitcoin traded in a narrow range around $86,000 on Tuesday, pausing after Monday’s push toward 33-week highs. The move came as broader risk sentiment appeared steady, while crude oil slid to levels not seen in nearly three weeks—an easing in energy markets that can still ripple into crypto through macro expectations.
At the same time, developments in geopolitics added a layer of uncertainty. US President Donald Trump told the United Nations that an agreement to end the US-Iran war could arrive after November’s midterm elections, a timeline that kept traders weighing the odds of near-term escalation versus delayed diplomacy.
Key takeaways
- Bitcoin consolidated near $86,000 after testing fresh 33-week highs at $87,350 on Monday, according to TradingView data.
- US WTI crude fell to around $89 per barrel—its lowest level since late 2024—before bouncing toward $92.
- Glassnode said Bitcoin’s MVRV ratio has crossed above its 365-day moving average, a pattern historically seen at the start of past bull markets.
- CryptoQuant highlighted momentum in the MVRV 30-day moving average and suggested a break above key levels could signal an end to prolonged accumulation.
BTC holds near $86,000 as oil weakens under $90
Following Monday’s rally, TradingView data showed BTC/USD volatility cooling. Bitcoin reached $87,350—its highest level since Jan. 29—before easing back into a tighter band near $86,000. For traders, this kind of consolidation after a local high often matters as a test of whether momentum can persist or whether the market needs to reset expectations.
In parallel, US stocks moved sideways as Trump addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York. While he reiterated the intention to reach a deal with Iran, he suggested the timing would be tied to the US midterm election cycle.
Oil’s immediate weakness appeared linked to supply developments. WTI crude dipped as low as $89.16 per barrel, cited as its weakest since early September, before rebounding toward the low $90s. Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia had reopened the East-West Pipeline, a key route for moving oil, and quoted three anonymous sources saying it would take six to eight weeks to reach full capacity. That report helped reinforce the idea that supply constraints may be loosening, at least gradually.
On-chain momentum: MVRV ratio crosses a long-term trend
Beyond price action, on-chain data pointed to improving market structure. Glassnode said Bitcoin’s market value to realized value (MVRV) ratio—an indicator comparing BTC’s market cap to the cumulative price basis of its circulating supply—has moved back above a key long-term benchmark.
According to Glassnode, the MVRV ratio has crossed above its 365-day moving average. In commentary posted to X, Glassnode described the specific “cross” as one it had seen previously in 2019 and 2023 near the beginning of each bull market cycle.
Glassnode frames the MVRV ratio as a way to gauge whether Bitcoin is trading above or below what it calls “fair” value for the supply. In broad terms, higher readings correspond to larger unrealized profits across holders’ wallets.
At the time of the update, Glassnode put the MVRV ratio at 1.62. It had risen from 1.19 on Aug. 16, signaling that the market was, at least by this measure, shifting away from a deeper discount to realized cost. Still, Glassnode noted that the ratio remained well below a commonly cited 3.7 level associated with profitability peaks in earlier bull-market tops.
CryptoQuant watches MVRV MA30 for confirmation of a reversal
While Glassnode focused on the 365-day moving average cross, CryptoQuant emphasized another part of the same on-chain picture: the behavior of the MVRV ratio’s 30-day moving average. In a blog post, CryptoQuant said the MVRV MA30 had broken out from a multi-month resistance area below 1.5, characterizing that move as the kind of shift that can mark the transition out of an extended accumulation phase.
CryptoQuant argued that achieving such a breakout for the first time since January would represent a meaningful inflection—effectively signaling the end of a longer period in which investors accumulated rather than broadly exited at scale.
In its analysis, CryptoQuant added that if the MVRV ratio moves above its current reading of 1.62, it would “confirm the reversal of ongoing bear market.” The firm also referenced Bitcoin’s all-time highs of $126,200 as an upside target under that scenario.
What investors should watch next
With Bitcoin pausing near $86,000 after a sharp test of recent highs, the next signals likely hinge on whether on-chain indicators continue to improve alongside price. Traders and long-term investors will probably look for follow-through that keeps the MVRV momentum intact—while macro drivers such as oil’s ability to hold above or slip below the $90 area remain an additional variable for risk appetite.
Crypto World
CLARITY Vote Failure May Boost Crypto PAC Spending in Key Races
The U.S. Senate’s decision last week to let the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act stall has quickly turned into more than a legislative setback for crypto. Industry political groups are already recalibrating their midterm strategy with the 2026 election just weeks away, betting that lawmakers’ voting records will shape who receives financial support—or faces opposition.
On Sept. 15, senators voted 49 in favor and 50 against advancing the CLARITY Act, sharply reducing the odds that Congress will pass the bill before its current window of session time closes and the next Congress convenes in 2027. While some advocates have floated the possibility of another vote during a later phase of the legislative calendar, at least one major crypto-aligned PAC is acting as though the fight will shift to election season.
Key takeaways
- The Senate voted 49–50 against advancing the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15, leaving limited time for passage before 2027.
- Fairshake—backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs—plans to spend $30 million opposing Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s 2026 Senate race.
- Stand With Crypto says lawmakers’ CLARITY votes could have “consequences” in the 2026 midterms based on how they voted.
- As of Monday, multiple major crypto-aligned PACs had not disclosed new spending with the Federal Election Commission following the CLARITY vote.
CLARITY stalls—and the electoral clock starts ticking
The CLARITY Act’s failure to move forward in the Senate is being treated by crypto stakeholders as a clear signal about which members of Congress are reliable allies on market-structure policy and which are not. Steve Gannon, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, told Cointelegraph that the vote “provided the industry with a very clear picture of who are long-term reliable supporters and who are not,” adding that it will be “difficult” for those who opposed CLARITY to argue that the industry should support them financially in the midterms.
That interpretation matters because the U.S. elections ecosystem often translates legislative alignments into fundraising and ad-buy decisions. With the 2026 midterms approaching—an election year widely expected to influence control of both chambers—crypto groups are signaling that voting outcomes on market structure will not be forgotten once campaigns start.
Fairshake targets Sherrod Brown as a test case
One of the clearest indications of how quickly the politics may intensify comes from Fairshake. The PAC, backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs, announced plans to put $30 million toward opposing Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s Senate race.
Brown previously chaired the Senate Banking Committee when Democrats held the majority. According to the reporting, he has also supported policies that are broadly described as hostile to crypto—positioning his potential return as a threat to efforts to advance CLARITY later.
Fairshake’s move also echoes what happened during Brown’s last campaign cycle. The former Ohio senator lost his 2024 reelection bid to Republican Bernie Moreno after Fairshake spent about $41 million opposing the Democrat. The PAC also deployed more than $130 million on ads across the 2024 election cycle, giving a preview of the scale of advertising and pressure it may bring if it believes CLARITY has a realistic path only with the right Senate composition.
Cointelegraph requested comments from Brown’s campaign but did not receive an immediate response.
Crypto-aligned groups warn members of Congress could face consequences
Beyond Fairshake’s spending plans, industry-backed advocacy initiatives are also preparing to translate the CLARITY vote into electoral pressure. Stand With Crypto—an initiative launched by Coinbase in 2023—warned that lawmakers who did not advance the CLARITY Act could face “consequences” in the 2026 midterms based on their voting behavior.
Stand With Crypto is positioned to influence both campaign messaging and PAC targeting, because it is designed to rate politicians based on their stance toward crypto. In a highly contested election year, those ratings can help shape where money goes and which candidates receive priority support.
“The results of [the CLARITY Act] vote make it clear which officials are with our community, and which are against us — and we’ll make sure our advocates are ready to cast their ballots accordingly in this and future elections,” said Stand With Crypto executive director Mason Lynaugh.
That framing suggests crypto groups believe the Senate vote itself will become campaign material: a concrete record that can be highlighted during fundraising appeals, voter outreach, and debate preparation.
What filings show—and what remains uncertain
While the political response is already in motion, there is still a timing and disclosure gap that readers should watch. As of Monday, Fairshake and affiliate PACs Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress had not disclosed expenditures to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) following the CLARITY vote.
FEC filing data cited in the reporting also indicated no post-CLARITY spending by other crypto-aligned PACs, including Fellowship—funded by Cantor Fitzgerald and Anchorage Digital—and the Digital Freedom Fund, described as backed by Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
That doesn’t necessarily mean spending won’t follow; political groups may delay disclosures depending on filing cycles, contract timing, or when expenditures are finalized. But it does reinforce that the real impact of the CLARITY vote—beyond messaging—may unfold in stages as campaign finance paperwork catches up.
Meanwhile, some advocates have suggested the CLARITY bill could still return for another vote during later congressional periods. Still, the narrow margin in the Senate—just one vote separating supporters and opponents—highlights how precarious any future attempt could be without a shift in the coalition.
Closing perspective
For crypto participants, the immediate question is not whether CLARITY failed to advance once—it already did—but whether lawmakers who opposed the bill will face sustained electoral pressure and whether that pressure changes the math for future market-structure legislation. With spending plans forming and FEC disclosures still pending for some groups, the next few weeks of campaign developments should offer the clearest clues about how aggressively the industry intends to convert a legislative vote into political leverage.
Crypto World
Suspicious Kalshi bot shuts down amid wash trading claims
A trading bot making cheap uniform trades on a Zohran Mamdani Kalshi market has stopped trading after it raised suspicions that the prediction market was wash trading its perp volume.
The wash trading allegations began last weekend when “Beni,” a pseudonymous quant analyst, claimed Kalshi’s 24-hour trading volume of ether perpetual contracts was $539 million, while open interest was just $3.1 million.
They also flagged a series of $5,500 trades that supposedly made up for 58% of Kalshi’s ETH perp volume across four days.
Kalshi’s crypto lead, IcoBeast.eth, aggressively rebuffed Beni’s claims, and now Kalshi has posted its own article in which it attempts to debunk the argument and claim the “wash trading rumors are false.”
Read more: Kalshi won’t let you bet on its Supreme Court outcome
Kalshi bot is no longer making strange uniform trades
One specific bot was reportedly trading the 2028 Democratic Presidential Nominee market, specifically on Mamdani’s ticker. This is despite the fact that Mamdani can’t be the presidential nominee due to him not being born in the USA.
Prediction market analyst TickerTracker compared the bot’s activity to a metronome as it bought shares for two tenths of a cent before selling them for one tenth of a cent repeatedly every four seconds across almost two months.
Today, analysts noted that it stopped trading after the continuous back-and-forth trades.
Read more: CFTC orders Kalshi to continue operations amid New York lawsuit
Prediction market tool firm Resolve even claimed to have made around $30 a day counter-trading the metronome bot.
Some users have suggested that the trades might just be a bug, while others suggested that the bot might be “someone farming volume for a higher rate limit tier.”
TickerTracker noted that notional volume within prediction markets can often be inflated, and automated trading can be an ordinary occurrence.
They added that while these trades might break Kalshi’s rules, “Maybe there’s a simpler explanation for these anomalies that we’re overlooking?”
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Crypto World
Bitwise NEAR ETP Passes $100M: Institutional Demand or Price Rally?
Bitwise says its NEAR fund has passed $100 million. The fund holds 25.2 million NEAR tokens. At Tuesday’s price those tokens are worth about $116 million. A month ago the same pile was worth half that.
The token did the work, with NEAR price up 135% in 30 days. Bitwise needed no new investors at all to cross the $100 million line.
NEAR’s Rally Did Most of the Lifting
The Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP listed in Frankfurt in July 2025. Europeans buy it like a share. It holds NEAR for them and stakes it, which means locking tokens to help run the network in return for newly issued ones.
Each unit is a claim on about 5.18 NEAR. Units are the honest measure of demand. Token values rise and fall with the market. Unit counts only rise when somebody buys.
An independent administrator counted 4,882,271 units on September 17. Bitwise’s page showed 4,912,271 on Tuesday. That is 30,000 new units, a rise of 0.6%, worth about $639,000.
Over the same month the value of each unit rose 107%. NEAR itself gained 135% in 30 days, according to NEAR market data.
“A milestone for another of our European products: the Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP has passed USD 100 million in assets under management.,” Bitwise Europe shared.
What Investors Pay and What They Were Promised
The fund charges 0.85% a year. Bitwise also keeps 33% of the staking rewards. Investors take the other 67%.
At launch Bitwise advertised a net staking return of 5.5%. The current factsheet shows 3.01%. Network rewards fell. The cut did not. Bitwise’s recent inflows have leaned on products that pay a yield.
“100m in NEAR Bitwise ETP. Gud milestone since launching it a year ago in Frankfurt,” said Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol.
A US version is still waiting. A September 16 filing names the Bitwise NEAR ETF, ticker NRR, for NYSE Arca. Regulators have not approved it.
The post Bitwise NEAR ETP Passes $100M: Institutional Demand or Price Rally? appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
What We Tell Our Kids About AI
What is changing is not simply the tools available to help us make predictions about human biology. It is the speed of the discovery process itself: propose an idea, build it, test it in the physical world, learn from what happened, and begin again. The scientific method itself is beginning to accelerate, and the number of scientific inquiries, opportunities to advance health per dollar spent, is beginning to scale.
Last month, Merck and Moderna reported that a personalized cancer vaccine for melanoma significantly delayed the disease from spreading. The result is remarkable on its own, and studies are already underway in other settings. What we find particularly exciting is how this growing clinical evidence, combined with AI tools and automated labs, can open the field to more competitors. The evidence reduces uncertainty about the approach, while these tools can lower the cost and time required to pursue it. Together, they can bring more teams and more capital into our fight against cancer and expand the number of promising ideas that will be tested at an unprecedented rate.
Crypto World
MicroStrategy CEO Says Jamie Dimon Is a Bitcoiner Behind the Scenes
Strategy CEO Phong Le says JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon privately supports Bitcoin, despite years of public attacks on it. Le made the half-joking claim on Natalie Brunell’s Coin Stories podcast.
Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, is a US software firm that became the biggest corporate owner of Bitcoin (BTC). The company holds about 846,000 coins, roughly 4% of all Bitcoin in existence.
Why Phong Le Calls Jamie Dimon a Bitcoin Believer
Brunell asked what Dimon would think of MicroStrategy’s goal to become the “JPMorgan of Bitcoin.” Le laughed before answering.
“I think Jamie Dimon is a Bitcoiner behind the scenes, but he’ll say what he needs to say externally. I think everyone is a Bitcoiner privately once they learn and understand Bitcoin,” he said.
Le said he does not want MicroStrategy to become a bank. Instead, he wants it at the center of Bitcoin-based finance, building and selling investment products the way JPMorgan does on Wall Street.
He also pushed back on the idea that Bitcoin will replace banks. In his view, it will improve the current system, and the US dollar will stay. Le added that Bitcoin and artificial intelligence (AI) are the two most important technologies of this century.
What Jamie Dimon Has Said About Bitcoin
Dimon’s public record points the other way. In 2024, he dismissed Bitcoin as a “pet rock” that does nothing.
In January 2025, he compared buying Bitcoin to smoking, saying people have the right but should not.
“We are going to have some kind of digital currency at some point. I’m not against crypto. You know, Bitcoin itself has no intrinsic value. It’s used heavily by sex traffickers, money launderers, ransomware…I just don’t feel great about Bitcoin. I applaud your ability to wanna buy or sell it. Just like I think you have the right to smoke, but I don’t think you should smoke,” Dimon said in the interview.
Yet his bank has moved closer to crypto. In October 2025, JPMorgan said institutional clients could use Bitcoin as collateral for loans, with third-party firms holding the coins.
In the same way, JPMorgan has been involved in the cryptocurrency space. The financial giant currently holds a substantial position in Bitcoin ETFs, reflecting the firm’s interest in digital assets. Its investments in crypto ETFs suggest that the bank recognizes the potential of digital assets.
Donald Trump suggested in July last year that Jamie Dimon has softened his earlier harsh stance on Bitcoin. Trump also briefly supported Dimon for Treasury Secretary.
“Jamie Dimon was, you know, very negative and now all of a sudden he’s changed his tune a little bit,” Trump said.
However, Dimon’s most recent comments indicate he remains critical of Bitcoin, despite Trump’s suggestion of a shift in his views.
Dimon still fights crypto firms that act like banks. In May 2026, he said US banks would fight the CLARITY Act, a bill setting rules for US crypto markets. His objection centers on rewards paid to holders of stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to the dollar.
Brunell closed the exchange by citing MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor’s view that everyone is against Bitcoin before they are for it.
The post MicroStrategy CEO Says Jamie Dimon Is a Bitcoiner Behind the Scenes appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
Strategy paid $100M extra to buy back the bitcoin it sold
Strategy has spent recent weeks rebuying 5,553 of the BTC it sold over the summer. After selling low in the summer and re-buying high this autumn, the opportunity cost of its roundtrip trade exceeds $100 million.
Despite years of promises that he’d never sell, Michael Saylor’s company sold 6,948 BTC between May and August for an average of $62,150 apiece, then repurchased 5,553 coins at an average $80,207.
In other words, Strategy ended up with the same 5,553 coins it started with, but spent $445.4 million to replace those it sold for $345.1 million.
Its rebuy was 29% more expensive, foregoing a $100.2 million investment gain for being out of the market during a BTC rally.
In addition to that realized opportunity cost, the pain for shareholders goes even deeper.
The point of the sale was essentially for media purposes — not even because the company was short on cash. Indeed, on a May 5 call with analysts, Saylor said the company would sell BTC “just to inoculate the market” and send the message for news publications that it had done so.
He told Fortune, “the skeptics and the short-sellers don’t recognize that we’re just selling a BTC derivative, and we have the option to sell the BTC.”
Saylor and CEO Phong Le appeared on numerous TV interviews and podcasts, explaining that Strategy’s initial BTC sale was for messaging purposes.
Official SEC filings for the sales claimed that proceeds funded dividends, despite the company holding plenty of cash to cover those dividends without selling BTC.
Read more: Every time Michael Saylor said he’d never sell bitcoin
Strategy’s first re-buy this year arrived during the week ending August 30, when Strategy bought 4,603 coins at $80,318 each for $369.7 million.
It was the company’s first purchase in 10 weeks, funded with newly issued stock that diluted common shareholders.
Last week, it repurchased another 950 BTC at $79,670 apiece, this time with cash instead of outright stock dilution.
Every coin came back about $18,000 more expensive than its average sale price.
Worse, the replacement is incomplete. Strategy has paid $445 million to reacquire 5,553 coins, but 1,363 coins remain missing. Today, Strategy holds 846,000 BTC, but it held 847,363 as recently on June 21.
Rebuying those missing 1,363 coins would require another $100 million at current BTC prices.
Unfortunately, nobody at Strategy is apologizing for any of this.
Saylor has been unapologetic, and Le posted on the day of Strategy’s fourth sale of the year, “This is the Digital Credit Capital Framework at work.”
He’s since told Bloomberg that it was “the right trade at the time to sell BTC.”
“It’s a two-way strategy,” he added, unfazed by criticism. “There will be times when it makes sense to sell bitcoin.”
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Crypto World
Bitcoin treasury stocks have gone ice cold
Over the past 18 months, the vast majority of publicly traded companies that pivoted to a BTC treasury strategy have lost money since their initial purchase announcement.
Globally, nearly 200 public companies hold BTC, according to monitoring service Bitcoin Treasuries, although most have small market capitalizations.
Many adopted their digital asset treasury DAT during a brief mania in the summer of 2025.
By late July 2025, every new BTC treasury stock was trading below its highest price of the year, and the median drawdown was -52%. Things have only deteriorated since.
Many stocks have now declined more than 90% to date, and some are even delisted from trading entirely.
Even Protos’ generous analysis below, charting the 20 largest BTC treasury stocks which have disproportionate positive performance among their far more numerous peers, shows 12 losses.
The top 20 bitcoin treasury stocks since March 2025

Relative to 18 months ago, the majority of non-mining BTC treasury stocks have negative returns. Mining stocks are excluded here due to their continuous acquisition of BTC through energy-intensive operations and consistent sales of BTC to pay for their power, infrastructure, and personnel.
The price of BTC itself is roughly flat, up less than 3% over the same time span, which allows the chart to speak for itself.
The median 18-month return of this cohort of 20 stocks is roughly -18%.
Five of the 20 have lost more than half their starting value, including several nearly “pure play” BTC treasuries like Remixpoint and Genius Group that planned minimal business operations aside from BTC acquisition during their initial optimism.
If someone had invested an equal amount of money into all 20 stocks 18 months ago, their portfolio would be worth less than its starting value today.
Pure play BTC treasuries
Worse, the returns would be even more negative for pure play BTC stocks, given that the best performers of the cohort — Tesla (+59.8%), Galaxy Digital (+114%), and Norwegian industrial conglomerate Aker (+181%) — have diversified business operations that aided their outperformance for reasons unrelated to BTC.
As a general rule, the more the company-focused on BTC, the worse the stock performed.
Heavily BTC-focused companies like Fold Holdings lost 91% since March 2025, Exodus Movement lost 83%, and Strategy, Semler, Metaplanet, Remixpoint, and Genius Group each lost more than 40%.
Even Michael Saylor’s $85 billion Strategy, the market leader, has shed half of its common stock price over the past year.
The biggest winner over the past 18 months, Aker ASA, is up 182% despite its BTC unit, Seetee, holding just 0.4% of Aker’s total assets.
Read more: CHART: mNAV down across bitcoin treasury companies
Recalculating since initial announcement is (slightly) better
When Protos zoomed out to personalize the returns according to the date each of the 20 companies initially announced their first BTC buy, the picture tilted slightly more positive.
MicroStrategy (now Strategy) started the trend six years ago on August 11, 2020, with a $250 million BTC purchase.
Its common stock hit a split-adjusted high of $14.54 that day, and is up over 1,000% since, the group’s largest winner.
Boyaa Interactive disclosed its first 1,100-BTC purchase on January 26, 2024, and its stock up 456% in dollar terms since.
Over in Japan, hotel operator Metaplanet approved a BTC pivot in April 2024, and its stock is up 476% in dollar terms since.
Of the 20 largest stocks, the post-announcement math splits almost evenly once currencies are converted. Exactly half of the 20 stocks have positive returns, and the median return is -15% across the cohort.
In summary, buying BTC with borrowed money and hoping the stock market would bid up the stock price has not proven to be a reliable strategy.
Although early rallies from Strategy and Metaplanet proved that there’s some speculative interest, most imitators have not been able to replicate their performances.
Protos has previously found that most new 2025 BTC treasury stocks were already down at least 50% within a few weeks of their initial announcements. The premium investors pay for these stocks has continued to fall over the past 18 months.
Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news and investigations, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
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