Bitcoin (BTC) hit $65,000 after Tuesday’s Wall Street open as US stocks rebounded in spite of geopolitical pressure.

Key points:

• Bitcoin reaches $65,000 for the first time since Aug. 10 as risk assets navigate fresh US-Iran signals.
• Analysis warns of surging US 30-year bond yields, which hit 29-year highs of 5.34%.
• BTC price analysis flags decision time on a head-and-shoulders bottoming structure.

Bitcoin diverges from US stocks as Trump says Strait of Hormuz “open”

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD building on the week’s gains as the S&P 500 bounced from 7,696, its lowest level since Aug. 4.

BTC/USD four-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

This came after US president Donald Trump posted a map of the closed Strait of Hormuz oil route to Truth Social where it was labeled “new US territory.”

Both the US and Iran lay claim to control of Hormuz, with Trump threatening US ally Oman with military action over its plans to work with Iran on charging tolls to shipping traffic. In a subsequent post, Trump confirmed that further diplomacy with Iran was not on the agenda.

“There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated,” he wrote.

S&P 500 one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

As on Monday, oil avoided major volatility, with WTI crude down 1% at the time of writing at $84 per barrel. US government bonds continued to show strain, with the 30-year yield hitting 5.34%, its highest since January 2007.

“Bond prices are sending warnings,” BNY Mellon analyst Geoff Yu wrote in a research note quoted by the New York Times. Yu said that the surge came as “investors demand more compensation for inflation risk,” while also attributing the upside to government borrowing. 

US 30-year bond yields one-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

BTC price faces crunch rebound test

Updating X followers on BTC/USD, trader and analyst Aksel Kibar eyed the culmination of a potential reverse head-and-shoulders pattern at $62,300. 

Related: Bitcoin price spike to $64.5K was ‘low-volume liquidity trap’: Analysis

“If $BTCUSD is going to rebound, it has to come from here,” he argued on Monday.

Kibar offered a $53,000 target in the event of the head-and-shoulders structure failing, with $76,000 a potential upside target should the rebound sustain. 

BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Aksel Kibar on X.com

Previously, Cointelegraph reported that underwater investors were contributing to Bitcoin’s inability to break higher. Its rebound to $64,500 also stopped short of an overhead trend line, the 50-month exponential moving average (EMA). This moving average is now in place as resistance at $65,827.

Bitcoin has held above its $63,200 median realized price as Bitfinex analysts identified $67,176 as the breakout level that could raise the chances of an upside volatility expansion.

Bitfinex analysts told crypto.news that Bitcoin’s prolonged defense of its median realized price has increased the probability that its next large move could favor buyers, although weak ETF demand and falling stablecoin supply have left the potential rally without fresh liquidity.

Bitcoin’s $63,200 support has held through repeated tests

Bitcoin (BTC) was trading near $64,500 at the time of writing after spending almost three months in a contracting range, according to Bitfinex analysts. The analysts identified $63,200 as the median realized price, an on-chain cost-basis level that has served as support during repeated tests over the past two weeks.

The level has acted as support during repeated tests over the past two weeks. Bitcoin finished the week ending Aug. 16 down 3.1% at $62,921, but it later recovered and returned to the $63,000–$64,000 range.

“Price has sustained over the Median Realised Price despite repeated tests and signals hinting at late bear market conditions,” the analysts said. “This combination suggests higher odds that volatility expansion breaks to the upside.”

At $67,176, the short-term holder realized price remains the main level Bitcoin must recover, according to the analysts. A move above it would return recent buyers to an average unrealized profit while placing BTC against the next area of overhead supply.

Failure to hold $63,200 would weaken that setup. Bitfinex identified $57,803, near Bitcoin’s June and bear-market lows, as the next major downside area if sellers break the median realized price. Farther below, the aggregate realized price at $52,699 represents the analysts’ long-term market floor, where the average holder base would approach an underwater position.

Bitcoin had already tested comparable support at the start of August. As crypto.news previously reported, BTC traded near $63,000 on Aug. 1 after US spot ETF outflows reached $265 million in one day. The daily chart placed the price close to its $63,150 Fibonacci support, while four-hour money flow remained negative.

Low Bitcoin activity could magnify the next move

Compressed volatility has coincided with exceptionally weak trading and network activity, according to the Bitfinex Alpha report. Coin-adjusted spot exchange volume has fallen to levels last recorded in early 2019 when measured across major platforms.

Binance-only volume, which removes some distortions caused by the exchange’s introduction of zero-fee trading in 2022, has approached depths associated with the 2023 bear market. Bitcoin transfer velocity has also reached a seven-year low, indicating that coins are changing hands less frequently.

“Minimal flows exert disproportionate influence on price action,” Bitfinex analysts said. “Modest bidding can spark a rally just as readily as minor selling triggers a breakdown.”

Depressed participation cannot establish the direction of the next move by itself. Instead, the analysts said the thin market allows limited capital to have an unusually large effect in either direction. A small return of spot demand could push BTC through resistance, while another round of selling could force the price below support.

Historical periods of low volume and extended volatility compression have often preceded sharp price moves, according to Bitfinex. In the current setup, the analysts give an upside break higher odds because Bitcoin has continued to recover from tests of its median realized price rather than accepting sustained trading below it.

Institutional demand has yet to support that outcome. US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted net outflows on four of the five sessions between Aug. 10 and Aug. 14, losing about $385.2 million for the week, according to Farside Investors data cited by Bitfinex.

Corporate treasury demand also turned negative after Strategy recorded a third consecutive week of divestment, including the sale of 1,690 BTC. Bitfinex’s “Two-Complex Spot Bid,” which tracks ETF and corporate treasury activity, produced its first fully negative reading as both groups became net sellers during the same week.

The weakness extends to a difficult period for US-listed Bitcoin funds. An Aug. 13 report on the institutional ETF rotation found that spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $5.4 billion during the first half of 2026. July brought $205 million in net inflows, ending the run of monthly losses but remaining well below the pace recorded during early 2025.

Crypto liquidity has not followed easier US conditions

July inflation data improved two conditions that Bitfinex considers supportive for crypto: lower expected interest rates and loose financial conditions. Fresh capital entering digital assets, the third condition in the analysts’ framework, has not followed.

US consumer prices increased 0.1% in July after falling 0.4% in June, leaving annual inflation at 3.4%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures cited in the report. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.2% for the month and 2.5% from a year earlier.

Cooling inflation reduced the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate increase from about 52.2% before the consumer price report to 30.1% after the producer price release, Bitfinex said. Two-year Treasury yields fell from 4.25% on Aug. 10 to 4.15% on Aug. 13, while the 10-year yield declined from 4.70% to 4.64%.

US equities responded faster than Bitcoin. The S&P 500 closed at record highs on Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, while BTC ended the week lower. An earlier report on Bitcoin’s CPI reaction examined the same split after the 3.4% inflation reading failed to produce a sustained crypto rally.

Bitfinex attributed the difference to how each market processes monetary policy expectations. Lower expected rates can lift equity valuations because stocks price future cash flows, while crypto depends more heavily on capital that has actually entered spot funds, stablecoins or on-chain markets.

Financial conditions were already loose before the inflation releases. The Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions Index stood at minus 0.549 for the week ending Aug. 7, its fifth consecutive weekly decline and the loosest reading in the current run, according to the report.

Long-dated Treasury debt presented a less supportive signal. Although shorter maturities rallied, the 30-year yield closed at 5.21% on Aug. 13 after reaching 5.25% three days earlier. Bitfinex interpreted the steepening yield curve as evidence that investors remained concerned about fiscal and duration risk even as expectations for another Fed increase declined.

ETF inflows and stablecoin growth would confirm renewed demand

Stablecoin supply offers another measure of capital available within digital-asset markets. Bitfinex said total supply peaked at $315 billion in mid-May before falling about 4.5% to $300.7 billion.

The decline means easier US financial conditions have not yet produced an increase in capital held on-chain. July coverage of the stablecoin supply contraction found that the market had lost about $10 billion from its May record, including a $7.7 billion decline during June.

“The central question is therefore shifting from whether monetary conditions are improving to whether that improvement begins producing actual crypto inflows,” Bitfinex analysts said.

In their view, sustained spot Bitcoin ETF inflows combined with an expanding stablecoin supply would show that the link between easier financial conditions and crypto demand had resumed. Until both measures improve, the analysts consider the monetary setting increasingly supportive, but the potential Bitcoin rally “unfunded.”

Inflation relief has also remained uneven for US households. Bitfinex noted that July’s energy index fell 1.5%, led by a 2.9% drop in gasoline, while services inflation stayed firm. Producer prices for electronic components and accessories were 28% higher than a year earlier, and electronic computer prices rose 3% during July after eight months of little movement.

Consumer sentiment weakened at the same time. The University of Michigan’s preliminary August index fell 7.6% from July to 51, while one-year inflation expectations increased from 4.2% to 4.3%. Real average hourly earnings declined 0.2% between July 2025 and July 2026, according to labor data cited by Bitfinex.

The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet on Sept. 15–16 after receiving another round of employment and inflation figures. Bitfinex said its rate outlook would face a challenge if the implied probability of an increase returned above 60%, while two consecutive initial jobless claims readings above 230,000 would weaken its labor-market assessment.

Why are Mangione’s lawyers arguing that the state case should be dropped?

Kraken’s payment app, Krak, has launched a multi-asset debit card in the US, allowing customers to spend crypto and fiat while earning up to 2% cashback in dollars or Bitcoin (BTC).

The card supports more than 600 currencies and assets, with holdings converted into US dollars at point of sale. A single purchase can draw from multiple balances, with users setting the order in which assets are spent, according to an announcement Tuesday.

The card is issued by Lead Bank on Visa’s network and powered by Stripe Issuing, with physical and virtual versions available to eligible US customers. The company said cashback rates depend on average assets held across Krak, Kraken and Kraken Pro.

Krak is positioning the card as an alternative to credit-based rewards programs. A Morning Consult survey of 2,001 US adults commissioned by Krak found that 42% of credit card holders worry about paying off their monthly balance, while 60% of respondents said they would switch to a debit card offering rewards without taking on debt.

Kraken’s consumer money and payments app has issued more than 135,000 multi-asset cards across the UK and European Economic Area since launching there in December 2025, the company said.

Related: Kraken opens Jersey Mike’s IPO to retail investors through tokenized shares and direct allocations

Payward eyes broader financial services push

Payward has set its sights on expanding its financial services product line.

Co-CEO of Kraken’s parent company, Arjun Sethi, discussed the broader strategy Tuesday at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, including its push into additional asset classes and financial services.

“As you start expanding into multiple asset classes, you’re just generally gonna be less susceptible to very specific markets,” Sethi said.

He added that Payward now offers banking services and described tokenization as “a large part” of the company’s broader effort to expand its financial offerings. 

He also compared the company’s ambitions with those of major traditional financial institutions, saying the company needs to build products and services “not too different to a JP Morgan or a financial institution.”

Sethi’s comments come as major crypto exchanges broaden their businesses beyond spot crypto trading, with Coinbase and others expanding into equities, derivatives, prediction markets, tokenized assets and pre-IPO products.

Separately, Kraken on Tuesday launched trading in more than 7,000 US-listed stocks for customers in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Magazine: ‘Fabricated rumors’ about BitMart founder, Binance bStocks dominate: Asia Express

Asset manager Neuberger has launched its first tokenized fixed-income fund through Securitize, offering an actively managed high-yield strategy across four blockchains, Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI).

The Neuberger Securitize High Income Tokenized Fund (HINC) will invest primarily in high-yield bonds, with additional exposure to collateralized loan obligations and leveraged loans, according to an announcement Tuesday.

The launch comes as investors are demanding higher yields amid heated competition for corporate and government funding.

“The previous market regime rewarded investors for assuming that capital would remain cheap and plentiful,” Saxo chief investment strategist Charu Chanana said in a Tuesday client note. “The emerging regime may reward investors for recognising that capital has a price again.”

The new fund is available to qualified investors, with Securitize providing the infrastructure to issue and manage tokenized shares across the four blockchain networks.

Neuberger will serve as subadvisor to a tokenized fund for the first time. Its fixed-income platform manages more than $230 billion in assets, while the firm manages about $613 billion overall.

Securitize has about $4.96 billion in distributed asset value across 26 tokenized real-world assets, according to RWA.xyz data. Its products include BlackRock’s $2.7 billion BUIDL fund, a $355 million tokenized AAA CLO fund and a $95 million Apollo diversified credit fund.

The company’s shares rose around 5% in Tuesday morning trading, giving the company a market capitalization of about $838 million. Despite the gain, the stock remains down more than 50% from levels reached shortly after its public debut in July.

Securitize’s distributed asset value. Source: RWA.xyz

Magazine: ‘Fabricated rumors’ about BitMart founder, Binance bStocks dominate: Asia Express

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

An address associated with Justin Sun-owned exchange HTX is causing controversy on X after it sent out a variety of so-called “dust” transactions.

Purported users are claiming that transactions sent from 0xa03400E098F4421b34a3a44A1B4e571419517687 were sent to their deposit addresses on other exchanges, provoking review of their accounts.

These other exchanges are apparently reviewing these accounts because these transactions suggest links to the sanctioned HTX.

Read more: European Union sanctions Justin Sun’s HTX

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The sanctions on HTX from both the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the European Union have led exchanges including Bybit, OKX, and Binance to announce that they will either no longer process transactions with HTX or will review accounts that do transact with HTX.

More recently, 0xa03400E098F4421b34a3a44A1B4e571419517687, which is labeled as “HTX 48” on Etherscan and is also included in the HTX proof of reserves, has been “dusting” various addresses.

The fact that it is included in HTX’s own proof of reserves means we can be absolutely confident that this is an HTX address.

Many of these small transactions are using USDT.

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孙哥是不是在报复社会。。

htx疯狂的往外转小额，污染其他地址。。

我的coinbase收到孙哥的7.5u投毒。。

目前coinbase说不解释清楚，就关户。。。 pic.twitter.com/Qz49RxTGOL

— 紫夜 (@0xZiye) August 18, 2026

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This has led users to claim that they’ve received additional scrutiny because of these transactions, something Sun denies.

Despite the fact that this address is included in HTX’s own proof of reserves according to a machine translation, X user “HTX_Molly,” who is verified as part of the HTX organization, has claimed:

“HTX’s official channels have not initiated any related transfers or testing activities. As for the specific sources and reasons behind these transfers, we’re conducting further verification and don’t rule out various possibilities such as address tagging, on-chain transfer source identification, and more. We will refrain from speculation until the facts are confirmed.”

It’s not clear what this explanation could possibly mean when HTX includes this address in its own disclosures.

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Protos reached out to HTX for clarification, but it didn’t immediately respond.

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.

An effort by Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, to convince a federal court to vacate his 12-year sentence for fraud and market manipulation faces pushback from US prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

In a Friday filing, SDNY Attorney James McDonald and Assistant US Attorney Allison Nichols said that the court should deny Mashinsky’s petition to vacate his conviction and sentence, saying that many of his legal arguments were “without merit” and pushing back against claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. 

The former Celsius CEO informed the court in May that he would be proceeding pro se — that is, representing himself in the case — and filed a motion to vacate, including claims about cryptocurrency exchange FTX and his former colleague, the company’s chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon.

“Mashinsky has not even submitted a sworn declaration in support of these baseless allegations, and his petition should be denied without a hearing or further fact-finding,” said prosecutors, adding:

“[…] He presents a litany of complaints, blaming others for problems at Celsius and rehashing the evidence presented at his sentencing hearing. Though Mashinsky stops short of claiming that he is factually innocent, he blames his lawyers for failing to press certain arguments on his behalf.”

As of Tuesday, the judge overseeing the case had not responded to the federal prosecutors’ filing. Mashinsky was sentenced in May 2025 to 144 months in prison, having pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud related to “manipulative and deceptive devices” at Celsius. Cohen-Pavon, who according to the government provided “substantial assistance” to the prosecutors case again Mashinsky, was sentenced to time served in May.

Related: Celsius co-founders Leon, Goldstein to pay FTC over $6M

Celsius was one of a slew of crypto companies to file for bankruptcy in 2022 amid a market downturn starting with the collapse of Terraform Labs. Authorities indicted Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon in 2023 and both subsequently pleaded guilty. The former CEO was ordered to pay $48 million in forfeiture at sentencing and agreed to pay $10 million as part of a separate settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission.

Mashinsky banned from commodities markets trading

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced in June that the former Celsius CEO was permanently banned from trading in markets within the commodities regulator’s purview.

The CFTC case was one of the last against Mashinsky and Celsius to be resolved following the company’s collapse in 2022. However, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil action against the co-founder, first filed in 2023, was still ongoing despite the court reaching a judgment against the platform months after the initial complaint.

As of July 30, the SEC reported that its attorneys and Mashinsky were “engaged in settlement discussions.“ The regulator asked the court for 60 days to file a status report on the matter, pushing any potential resolution to the end of September.

Magazine: ‘Fabricated rumors’ about BitMart founder, Binance bStocks dominate: Asia Express