Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT said it has invested $100 million in Anchorage Digital, a federally regulated digital asset bank.
Anchorage, which holds a national banking charter in the U.S., offers custody, staking, settlement and stablecoin issuance services to institutional clients.
The two companies already had a working relationship, with Anchorage serving as the banking partner behind Tether’s USAT stablecoin, designed specifically for the U.S. market to comply with local regulations.
The investment gives Tether a foothold in the fast-growing U.S. stablecoin infrastructure, which is moving towards regulated players after the GENIUS Act was written into law last year. Tether, headquartered and regulated in El Salvador, traditionally focuses on offshore users and emerging markets with its $185 billion USDT token.
“Tether exists to challenge the status quo and build global infrastructure for freedom,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said in a statement. “Our investment in Anchorage Digital reflects a shared belief in the importance of secure, transparent, and resilient financial systems.”
OKX is widening its push into CeDeFi by adding support for Ethereum and Arbitrum to its in-app onchain trading rails.
“CeDeFi” is a hybrid model that lets users tap decentralized liquidity while staying inside a centralized exchange workflow.
The crypto exchange said customers can now trade tokens native to Ethereum and Arbitrum directly from their OKX balance, with the platform handling wallet creation, gas and routing behind the scenes. OKX framed the update as a bid to shorten the gap between when tokens first trade on decentralized exchanges and when they eventually list on centralized venues, a lag that often determines who captures the earliest — and typically most volatile — price moves.
“When we talk to customers, the message is consistent: they want access to onchain opportunities early, without complexity,” OKX said in a statement shared with AlexaBlockchain.
OKX’s CeDeFi now supports Ethereum, Arbitrum, Solana, Base and X Layer
OKX said its CeDeFi feature now spans Ethereum, Arbitrum, Solana, Base and its own X Layer network under a “one balance” experience, aiming to remove the operational steps that have historically defined DeFi usage — separate wallets, seed phrases, gas management and cross-chain bridges.
The exchange is charging a flat 0.85% fee per trade, while subsidizing or abstracting away gas costs, and it says trades are routed across 100+ liquidity pools to optimize execution. The product also creates a self-custody wallet “instantly” and secures it with passkey technology rather than seed phrases, according to OKX.
OKX’s broader strategy has been to blur the line between centralized and decentralized trading inside its main app. In November 2025, OKX integrated DEX trading across Base, Solana and X Layer.
Why Ethereum and Arbitrum matter to the CeDeFi bet
OKX is anchoring the expansion on the networks where DeFi liquidity and activity are deepest — and where new “narratives” (from tokenized real-world assets to onchain derivatives) typically surface first.
Ethereum’s DeFi footprint remains the largest, around 68% of total DeFi TVL and around $70 billion locked (figures vary by methodology and whether L2s are included).
Arbitrum, as a major Ethereum layer-2, has positioned itself as an execution layer for higher-throughput activity. DefiLlama’s chain dashboard shows Arbitrum with $8.32 billion in bridged TVL and roughly $772.9 million in 24-hour DEX volume at the time of publication.
For CeDeFi products, that liquidity depth matters because the pitch hinges on giving centralized-exchange users “DEX-like” access without forcing them to learn the full operational stack of self-custody and cross-chain settlement.
The competitive landscape: exchanges and fintechs are going “DeFi in the back”
OKX isn’t alone in trying to productize DeFi as an embedded service.
Coinbase has been using DeFi protocols as backend infrastructure for consumer products. It launched crypto-backed loans powered by Morpho (a DeFi lending protocol) and later expanded Morpho integrations to products such as USDC lending, keeping the experience inside Coinbase while routing activity onchain.
Binance has pushed “keyless” wallet designs that remove seed phrases using MPC/ keyless approaches — a similar usability wedge for bringing more users into onchain activity.
More broadly, “CeFi front, DeFi back” model is expected to be on-ramp for the next wave of users and institutions. GSR, for example, has argued that this “mullet” pattern could become a standard as regulatory frameworks firm up and institutions seek DeFi yield or efficiency without DIY self-custody operations.
That shift is also being reflected in market structure data: one datapoint from 2025 research noted decentralized venues handling a growing share of spot activity relative to centralized platforms. This supports the idea that exchanges risk losing flow if they don’t integrate onchain liquidity directly into their consumer funnels.
The article “Ethereum and Arbitrum Join OKX’s CeDeFi Onchain Trading” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/ethereum-arbitrum-join-okx-cedefi-onchain-trading/
Read Also: Fear, Liquidations, Fed Reset: Why Bitcoin Is Stuck Near $78K
Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump’s family, is facing scrutiny from House Democrats over a reported $500 million investment by an entity linked to an Abu Dhabi royal in the UAE.
California Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat who has criticized public officials’ exposure to the crypto market, said on X on Thursday that he has launched an investigation into the UAE investment in WLFI.
“This is about public trust and transparency,” Khanna said, linking to a Wall Street Journal report detailing that he urged a US attorney to probe the deal as well.
The investigation comes after Trump denied knowledge of the $500 million stake on Monday. “My sons are handling that — my family is handling it,” he said.
Khanna has argued that the deal may violate multiple US laws
According to the WSJ, the investment was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Emirati politician who has been serving as the National Security Adviser of the UAE since 2016.
By investing $500 million in WLFI, Tahnoon acquired a 49% stake in the platform. The report noted that he pushed the US for access to advanced artificial intelligence chips.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US President Donald Trump in the White House on March 18, 2025. Source: Truth Social
As part of the probe, Khanna sent a letter to WLFI CEO Zach Witkoff, requesting answers to 16 questions and documents related to the investment agreement with Tahnoon. He also sought records detailing WLFI’s revenue and profit distribution, as well as its policies on conflicts of interest tied to the transaction.
Related: Trump’s Fed nomination a ‘mixed’ signal for Bitcoin, US liquidity: Analyst
“These arrangements are not just a scandal, but may even represent a violation of multiple laws and the US Constitution,” Khanna wrote, adding: “Our ability to successfully outcompete the Chinese Communist Party depends on the integrity of our policymaking process.”
Khanna backed legislation to ban officials from trading crypto last year
Khanna’s latest investigation into WLFI marks another effort to address potential conflicts of interest stemming from government officials’ involvement in the crypto market.
In October, the California Democrat introduced legislation seeking to prohibit the president, members of Congress and their immediate families from trading cryptocurrency, citing concerns over conflicts of interest and the influence of foreign investment.
Source: Ro Khanna
The controversy underscores broader tensions in Washington over crypto regulation amid delayed progress with the US CLARITY Act, which aims to create a clear federal regulatory framework for digital assets, including stablecoins and spot crypto trading.
Magazine: How crypto laws changed in 2025 — and how they’ll change in 2026
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. Read our Editorial Policy https://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy
German lender Deutsche Bank (DB) says bitcoin’s BTC$71,091.27 latest slide is less about a single macro shock and more about a slow erosion of conviction across institutional and regulatory fronts.
In a Wednesday note, the bank argued that three forces are weighing on the asset: sustained institutional outflows, a breakdown in bitcoin’s traditional market relationships, and a loss of regulatory momentum that had previously supported liquidity and volatility compression.
The current phase marks a reset rather than a collapse, a test of whether bitcoin can mature beyond belief-driven gains and regain support from regulation and institutional capital, the report said.
“While bitcoin’s recent price fall seems stark when viewed against its longer history, it reflects a retreat from highly speculative gains over the past two years, suggesting it still has room to mature,” wrote analysts Marion Laboure and Camilla Siazon.
Despite its long-standing reputation as “digital gold,” bitcoin has diverged sharply from the traditional safe haven this year. While gold has rallied, up more than 60% in 2025 on persistent central bank buying and flight-to-safety demand, bitcoin has struggled, posting multiple monthly declines and underperforming key risk assets. Correlations with both equities and gold have eroded, leaving BTC isolated as broader markets stabilize.
Since peaking in October 2025, crypto markets have entered a sustained downturn, with bitcoin falling more than 40% from its highs and posting its fourth straight monthly decline, a streak not seen since before the pandemic. Unlike previous macro-driven selloffs, this drop has occurred even as equities and gold have rebounded, underscoring weakening demand and fading momentum.
The most immediate pressure, according to the analysts, comes from institutional selling. U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have recorded heavy and persistent outflows since October, including more than $7 billion in November, roughly $2 billion in December and over $3 billion in January. As institutions reduce exposure, trading volumes have thinned, leaving bitcoin more vulnerable to sharp price swings.
Sentiment data reinforces the trend. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has fallen back toward “extreme fear,” while Deutsche Bank’s own surveys show U.S. consumer crypto adoption slipping to around 12%, down from 17% in mid-2025, a sign that enthusiasm is fading beyond Wall Street.
The analysts also highlighted bitcoin’s growing detachment from familiar market anchors. The asset has diverged sharply from gold, which gained 65% in 2025 while bitcoin fell 6.5%, undermining its “digital gold” narrative. At the same time, bitcoin’s correlation with equities has dropped to the mid-teens, far below levels seen in earlier macro-driven selloffs, when it typically moved in lockstep with tech stocks.
Regulatory uncertainty is the third headwind. Progress on the bipartisan Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act has stalled in Congress amid disputes over stablecoin provisions. Deutsche Bank said the pause has reversed earlier gains in market stability, with bitcoin’s 30-day volatility jumping back above 40%, near late-October levels.
Still, the bank cautioned against overreading the decline. Even after the drawdown, bitcoin remains roughly 370% higher than in early 2023, underscoring how much speculative premium had accumulated during the rally.
Wall Street bank Citi (C) said the world’s largest cryptocurrency is trading below key ETF cost levels and is nearing its pre-election price floor as inflows to these vehicles fade and headwinds build, in a Tuesday note to clients.
Bitcoin was trading around $69,500 at publication time.
Read more: Bitcoin nears pre-election floor as ETF flows stall, Citi says
ETHZilla (ETHZ), an Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury firm, is pushing deeper into tokenization, acquiring a $4.7 million portfolio of manufactured and modular home loans.
The company plans to tokenize the 95-loan portfolio on an Ethereum layer-2 network, aiming to turn the loans into cash-flow-generating digital tokens available via Liquidity.io, a regulated broker-dealer and trading system, according to an announcement shared with CoinDesk on Thursday.
The loans, secured by first-lien mortgages, are expected to yield around 10% annually, according to the firm.
“This transaction represents a natural extension of the tokenization strategy we’ve been building,” said McAndrew Rudisill, chairman and CEO of ETHZilla.
“Manufactured housing loans offer predictable cash flows and strong underlying collateral, which we believe makes them well-suited for tokenization within a regulated, transparent structure.”
ETHZilla’s shift toward tokenization comes after a sharp downturn in its core crypto holdings. Its stock has plummeted roughly more than 90% from a spike to $107 in August 2025, and it sold over $110 million in ETH last year to fund buybacks and debt repayments.
The company outlined plans to build a regulated framework for tokenizing everything from aircraft engines to auto loans, in a December letter to shareholders. The newly purchased home loan portfolio comes on the heels on ETHZilla’s earlier investment in Zippy, a manufactured home lender, and follows a similar acquisition of two jet engines the company also intends to tokenize.
Bitcoin is dangling at the edge of a breakdown, not bouncing toward a breakout. In the last hour, its price jittered between $69,049 and $69,546, as $1.40 trillion in market cap faces mounting pressure and $99.42 billion in 24-hour volume suggests panic, not conviction, inside a volatile $69,049–$76,122 trading range. Bitcoin Chart Outlook Bitcoin‘s 1-hour […]
Richie Santosdiaz gives an overview of the recent Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) fifth General Assembly that was held in Kuwait.
The fifth General Assembly of the DCO was held 4-5th February and attended by its 16 member states with their various ministers and government officials, the over 60 observers (which included organizations both in the public, private and semi-government sector), and the wider growing partnership network.
“Exclusive prosperity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI)” was the major theme of the Assembly.
Opening ceremony and sessions during the General Assembly
First, country host Kuwait kicked off the opening of the General Assembly with opening remarks from H.E. Omar Saud Al-Omar, Minister of State for Communication Affairs of the State of Kuwait and Chairperson of the DCO Council for the current term; he also chaired the Assembly during the two days.
The State of Kuwait hosted the fifth General Assembly of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO)
After H.E. Al-Omar, other welcoming remarks were made by H.E. Deemah AlYahya – Secretary General of the DCO (who last year was reappointed for another four-year term), and, afterwards, previous fourth General Assembly host and DCO presidency of the Kingdom of Jordan, were done by H.E. Eng. Sami Smeirat – Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship.
Later, further opening remarks were made by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s H.E. Shaza Fatima Khawaja – Federal Minister for IT & Telecommunications. Pakistan will take over the current chair role from Kuwait and also plans to host the seventh General Assembly 2027. Finally, welcoming remarks were made by H.E. Eng. Abdullah Amer Alswaha – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and, virtually through video message, by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He said, “I look forward to working with the Digital Cooperation Organization and all partners to build guardrails and accountability, advance shared standards and bridge the AI divide, so the benefits of AI are shared by all.”
The day further progressed with various open and closed doors meetings.
Key announcements, initiatives and agreements
A few of the many highlights during the DCO’s General Assembly the past two days included:
H.E. Al-Omar announcing the launch of a DCO campaign to combat online misinformation, through creating a platform for member states and partners aiming to commit strong cooperative and legislative actions.
Kuwait handing over the presidency council of the DCO to Pakistan for the current year; 2027 plans to go to Saudi Arabia
Various partnerships and/or memorandum of understandings (MoUs); some of the MoUs announced include those with DCO and the following individual organizations: International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), TikTok, and Edraak (an online platform offering free Arabic massive open courses launched in 2014 by Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan as an initiative of the Queen Rania Foundation)
The International Digital Cooperation Forum Discussing Key Aspects to Bring Digital Inclusion
Kuwait hosted the fifth General Assembly of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO). The second edition of the International Digital Cooperation Forum (IDCF) ran in conjunction with the Assembly. Pictured – John Hoffman, CEO of the GSMA
In parallel and complimenting the General Assembly two-day program, the second edition of the International Digital Cooperation Forum (IDCF) kicked off, starting with opening remarks from DCO’s Director General Dr. Hajar El Haddaoui; later other remarks came from various partners included John Hoffman, CEO of the GSMA.
The forum as a whole was attended by various people from around the world – from the public sector such as regulators to the private sector – both large companies and startups.
There was a flagship stage for the main forum, as well as various side events such as workshops, different areas for closed door meetings for participants of the General Assembly, as well as an area for startups that have worked with the DCO to showcase their solutions. The strategic partner for the IDCF this year, with its own showcase area, was Zaintech.
Throughout the two-days, some of the panel sessions at the flagship stage included: ‘Shaping the Digital Economy Future: Insights and Action Pathways from the DCO DEN 2025 and DET 2026,’ ‘Operationalizing Responsible & Trustworthy AI: Moving Beyond Ethics Manifestos to Functional Compliance and Risk Management,’ ‘Digital Banking and Fintech as Enablers of an Inclusive Digital Economy,’ ‘Women Shaping the Future of Technology,‘ and ‘Fueling Growth: Innovation and Investment as Catalysts for Digital and Social Prosperity.’ The latter I had the opportunity to moderate.
From left – Ahmad Bhinder, H.E. Dr. Kamal Shehadi, Dr. Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, H.E. Dr. Abdel Razzaq Natsheh, Hon. William Kabogo Gitau and H.E. Vandeth Chea
The panels had an array of world-renowned experts and partners. One to highlight, for example, was day two’s kickoff panel ‘AI Safety and Systemic Risk,’ which included the Republic of Lebanon’s H.E. Dr. Kamal Shehadi – Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence, the Kingdom of Morocco’s Dr. Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni – Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in Charge of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, the State of Palestine’s H.E. Dr. Abdel Razzaq Natsheh – Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Economy, the Republic of Kenya’s Hon. William Kabogo Gitau – Minister of ICT and Digital Economy, and the Kingdom of Cambodia’s H.E. Vandeth Chea – Minister of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC); the moderator was Ahmad Bhinder from the DCO.
Overall, the latest Assembly showcased the wider strategic vision and implementation of the various member states and their partners – both in the public sector and private sector – towards wider digital economic development.
Secure Digital Markets (SDM) has completed a $1 million Bitcoin transaction over the Lightning Network in a pilot settlement with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, marking what the firms say is the largest publicly reported Lightning payment to date.
The transaction, executed on Jan. 28 and valued at $1 million at the time, settled nearly instantly and with minimal fees.
It was facilitated using enterprise Lightning infrastructure from Voltage, a Bitcoin payments and infrastructure provider focused on institutional clients.
Lightning is a second-layer network built on Bitcoin that enables faster and cheaper payments by moving transactions off the base blockchain.
While it has been widely used for small consumer payments, its suitability for large institutional settlements has remained an open question. The SDM-to-Kraken pilot was designed to test whether the network can support high-value transfers between regulated counterparties.
“Moving $1 million to Kraken over the Lightning Network marks a definitive shift in the architecture of global settlement,” said Mostafa Al-Mashita, co-founder and director of sales and trading at SDM in a note to Bitcoin Magazine. “We have moved past the era of questioning Bitcoin’s institutional capacity.”
Lightning transactions without delays
Traditional Bitcoin transactions can take minutes or longer to confirm and are subject to fluctuating fees, factors that complicate treasury operations and inter-institution settlements.
SDM said the pilot demonstrated that Lightning could support use cases such as internal treasury movements, large-value settlements, and transfers between trading venues without the delays associated with on-chain settlement.
Kraken, one of the longest-operating crypto exchanges, has supported Lightning for retail payments for several years. The firm said the transaction reflects growing demand from institutional clients for faster settlement options.
“Milestones like this demonstrate what’s possible when innovation meets real-world demand,” said Calvin Leyon, head of on-chain at Kraken. “By dramatically reducing settlement times, the Lightning Network unlocks Bitcoin’s potential at global scale.”
The transaction relied on Voltage’s managed Lightning infrastructure, which provides liquidity management, node uptime, and operational guarantees designed to meet institutional requirements. Voltage said the pilot highlights how Lightning has matured beyond experimental use cases.
“A $1 million Lightning transfer highlights the maturity of the network and its ability to meet enterprise requirements,” said Graham Krizek, founder and CEO of Voltage.
SDM operates an institutional trading and lending desk offering execution through graphical interfaces, APIs, and request-for-quote systems.
The firm said integrating Lightning infrastructure allows it to explore faster settlement options for clients without relying solely on traditional payment rails.
Institutional attitudes toward bitcoin yield are beginning to shift and there is now renewed interest in BTC rewards after years of skepticism driven by smart-contract risk, leverage, and opaque strategies, GlobalStake co-founder Thomas Chaffee told CoinDesk on Thursday.
Products that allow users to earn a return on their bitcoin holdings often require wrapping BTC into protocols, involving smart contract risk or strategies that don’t scale, so institutions didn’t see “a risk-return profile that made sense,” according to Chaffee.
That reluctance is starting to change, Chaffee said, not because institutions suddenly want more risk, but because the types of strategies available to them have evolved. Rather than protocol-based yield or token incentives, allocators are increasingly gravitating toward fully collateralized, market-neutral approaches that resemble traditional financial strategies already familiar to hedge funds and treasuries, he said.
“The behavior change we’re seeing isn’t institutions chasing yield,” Chaffee said. “It’s institutions finally engaging once the strategies, controls, and infrastructure look like something they can actually deploy capital into at scale.”
The renewed interest comes after years of failed or short-lived attempts to generate yield on bitcoin, many of which unraveled during the 2022 market downturn as prominent lenders froze withdrawals and ultimately collapsed amid liquidity stress, most notably when crypto lending service Celsius Network indefinitely paused withdrawals and transfers citing “‘extreme market conditions’” in mid-2022 and later entered bankruptcy.
Chaffee is not the only one seeing renewed institutional interest in bitcoin yield. “People holding bitcoin, — whether on balance sheet or as investors — increasingly see it as a pot just sitting there,” Richard Green, director of Rootstock Institutional, told CoinDesk recently. “It can’t just sit there doing nothing; it needs to be adding yield.” Green said professional investors now want their digital assets to “work as hard as possible” within their risk mandates.
Chaffee explained that GlobalStake, which provides staking infrastructure across proof-of-stake networks, began hearing the same question repeatedly from clients over the past several years: whether similar institutional-grade yield opportunities existed for bitcoin.
GlobalStake unveiled its Bitcoin Yield Gateway on Thursday, a platform designed to aggregate multiple third-party bitcoin yield strategies behind a single onboarding, compliance, and integration layer.
The co-founder explained the company expects roughly $500 million in bitcoin to be allocated within three months. “We expect the bitcoin to be allocated during the gateway’s first-quarter roll-out period, sourced from a custodial partner based in Canada, demand generated by parties through our partner MG Stover, and our clients, which include family offices, digital asset treasuries (DATs), corporate treasuries, and hedge funds.”
Other firms are approaching the problem from the infrastructure layer. Babylon Labs, for example, is developing systems that allow native bitcoin to be used as non-custodial collateral across financial applications, an effort aimed at expanding BTC’s utility rather than generating yield directly.
The bitcoin price slid to $69,000 in Asian trading Thursday as a deepening selloff in global markets spilled into crypto markets. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 9% over the past 24 hours, touching lows at $69,031 before trimming losses.
Bitcoin price has now wiped out all gains since its previous $69,000 all-time high in 2021. BTC is now down nearly 30% over the past 12 months and about 45% below its October peak, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data.
The move came alongside sharp declines in Asian equities. MSCI’s Asia technology index fell for a fifth time in six sessions, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped about 4% as major AI-linked names faced renewed pressure.
Investors have grown uneasy about the durability of the artificial intelligence investment boom that lifted tech stocks through 2025, with concerns building around stretched valuations, slowing earnings momentum, and the possibility that corporate AI spending may crest sooner than expected.
Bitcoin price sell-off
The risk-off tone spread into other markets, with silver plunging as much as 17% and gold falling more than 3%, signaling broad deleveraging across speculative and commodity-linked trades.
Bitcoin price’s decline also reflected fading institutional demand. U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of roughly $545 million on Wednesday, marking a second consecutive day of withdrawals.
BlackRock’s IBIT led the selling with about $373 million in net outflows.
CryptoQuant research highlighted the reversal in ETF-driven demand. At this point in 2025, spot ETFs had purchased about 46,000 bitcoin on a net basis.
In early 2026, they have instead become net sellers, reducing holdings by roughly 10,600 BTC year-to-date, creating a demand gap of about 56,000 BTC versus last year.
The decline leaves the bitcoin price down about 20% year-to-date and roughly 45% from its October peak near $126,000. Market veterans have warned that the pattern of consecutive lower highs and lower lows resembles sustained distribution rather than isolated retail panic.
Strategy’s ($MSTR) losses and bitcoin mining difficulty
Attention now turns to Strategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings report Thursday. The company holds about 713,502 BTC, and investors are watching for any changes in its balance-sheet posture.
Strategy shares have collapsed more than 70% from their 2025 high, recently trading near $120, levels last seen in September 2024. The decline has weighed on public pension funds with exposure to the stock, with reported paper losses in the hundreds of millions.
Despite price dips, Chairman Michael Saylor has made it clear that Strategy won’t be selling its Bitcoin — and in fact is doubling down on purchases even as the market dips, signaling his intent to keep accumulating more.
Earlier this week, Strategy said it purchased 855 bitcoin for about $75.3 million, paying a bitcoin price of $87,974 per BTC, according to a Monday filing.
Stress has also emerged in the mining sector. Bitcoin’s price near $71,000 sits below estimates of all-in production costs near $87,000, compressing margins.
CryptoQuant data shows network hashrate has fallen about 12% from October highs, while daily mining revenue briefly dropped to $28 million. A difficulty adjustment expected on Feb. 8 could cut mining difficulty by roughly 14%, offering relief to operators still online.
U.S. government can’t ‘bail out’ bitcoin
Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the House Financial Services Committee that the U.S. government has no authority to “bail out” bitcoin or direct banks to buy BTC.
Rep. Brad Sherman pressed him on whether regulators could intervene like they did during the 2008 financial crisis, but Bessent rejected the idea outright.
He said that the government’s only bitcoin price exposure comes from law enforcement seizures, not taxpayer-funded investments.
Per BM Pro data, Bitcoin price fell 9% over the past 24 hours to $69,402 on $101 billion in trading volume, pulling its market cap down to $1.39 trillion as it trades near its seven-day low with 19.98 million BTC in circulation.
