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Grant Cardone will keep buying bitcoin using real estate cash flows
Grant Cardone, CEO of Cardone Capital, used this week’s crypto slide to restate the case for his bitcoin-and-property model, saying the structure is designed to keep buying as prices fall.
“We work to improve the cash flow of the real estate and buy more bitcoin as it falls,” Cardone said in a post on X.
Cardone Capital, which has about $5.3 billion under management, uses the income generated from its real estate assets to buy bitcoin at regular intervals regardless of its price, smoothing out the expenditure in a process known as dollar-cost averaging. The largest cryptocurrency has lost 4.7% this week.
Cardone said the model was “inspired by treasury companies but with real assets and real cash flow,” and called his firm the largest real estate-bitcoin hybrid in the world, with no institutional investors shaping its strategy.
I’ve consistently promoted combining BTC to real assets and using cash flow from the real asset to dollar cost average into BTC through its volatility. We work to improve the cash flow of the Real Estate and buy more BTC as it falls.
Cardone Capital BTC hybrid was inspired by…
— Grant Cardone (@GrantCardone) June 26, 2026
His comment draws a distinction with the corporate bitcoin treasury model popularized by Strategy (MSTR), in which companies raise money by issuing stock or debt to buy bitcoin.
That approach has come under pressure this week, with Strategy’s stock trading below the value of the bitcoin it holds and analysts at CryptoQuant arguing the firm has overextended itself.
Japanese giant SBI Holdings to buy Bitbank for $289 million
Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings said it agreed to buy cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank for around $289 million.
The Tokyo-based bank first floated the idea at the start of last month, framing it as part of a broader strategy to expand its crypto business ahead of potential regulatory developments in Japan. It bought crypto exchange Bitpoint in 2022.
Japan is in the process of bringing cryptocurrencies under the umbrella of financial products as authorized by the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which applies to stocks and other securities. This could take effect from early next fiscal year.
Bitbank is among Japan’s top 10 largest crypto exchanges by trading activity, according to CoinGecko, processing 24-hour volume of just under $50 million. Competitors such as Toobit, CoinW, Kraken and Bitmart all process in excess of $1 billion.
SBI said the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is set to close in October in a statement on Thursday.
Binance founder CZ blames crypto’s sour 2026 on mix of AI, global tension, 4-year cycle
CZ acknowledged that there is a gambling component to prediction markets, but he said that is also true in other financial markets.
“With any financial instrument, there’s always some speculators,” he said. “The speculators actually provide the liquidity, so it’s good that you have that speculation.”
Policy futures
The U.S.’s potential signature crypto policy legislation — the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (known as the Clarity Act) — may become a law by the end of the year if lawmakers can work out some remaining issues, including an ethics provision for government officials, chiefly the president.
But he said the Clarity Act and other individual bills are “sort of small, tactical things, which are really important, but those are not gonna impact the growth of crypto longer-term.”
Even if the Clarity Act does not become law this year, CZ said he expected the U.S. would continue to take a leading role in crypto regulation, adding that other countries were continuing to introduce their own regulations governing digital assets.
The U.S. would likely still compete with other countries to introduce rules, and it already has the stablecoin-focused Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, he said.
“I, of course, hope to see it get passed, and then every other country will probably copy it to some extent,” he said. “If it gets delayed … other countries may move forward first.”
Coinbase and OKX try to lure in Binance’s users after it failed to secure a MiCA license
“If you’re looking for a regulated platform built for the long term, we’re excited to welcome you to OKX,” he said. “To celebrate this new chapter, we’re offering one of our biggest welcome campaigns for eligible EEA users, including welcome bonuses and deposit matching of up to 8%.”
Binance emailed its users notifying them the exchange was no longer able to accept new registrations and would restrict services, a spokesperson for the Abu Dhabi-based company told CoinDesk. “Your assets remain safe and secure, and will remain accessible at all times,” the email said.
On Thursday, the company said it withdrew its license application in Greece and would seek authorization in another EU country.
However, in a statement to CoinDesk, Binance said its “ambitions in Europe remain the same, and we are confident we will secure a MiCA licence in the coming months.”
The emails to clients in France, Italy, Poland and Spain come days before a June 30 deadline. Crypto firms must have a MiCA license from at least one EU member state by July 1 to provide services across all 27 member states. Unlicensed firms must wind down their EU activities.
AMLBot Puts Polymarket Phishing Toll at $3.1M Across 11 Wallets, Funds Traced to Ethereum
Blockchain intelligence firm AMLBot has confirmed the Polymarket supply-chain attack total at approximately $3.1 million in PUSD across 11 user wallets, with funds bridged from Polygon to Ethereum and converted to ETH. Polymarket has pledged full refunds but has not named the compromised vendor.
Blockchain intelligence firm AMLBot has fixed the total stolen in Thursday’s Polymarket supply-chain attack at approximately $3.1 million in PUSD, providing the first forensically confirmed on-chain dollar figure and tracing the stolen assets from Polygon to Ethereum. On-chain investigator Specter, which published the first public alert, identified more than 11 victim wallets.
AMLBot posted the revised tally on Saturday, two days after on-chain investigators first flagged the drain. The figure revises earlier estimates upward and, for the first time, pins both the dollar amount to a single on-chain intelligence source. AMLBot said it continues to monitor affected accounts as the investigation proceeds.
From Front-End to Bridge
The attack, covered by The Defiant on Thursday, began when a compromised third-party vendor injected malicious JavaScript into Polymarket’s website. The code targeted user transactions at the front-end layer; Polymarket’s smart contracts on Polygon were untouched. Polymarket confirmed fewer than 15 accounts were affected, consistent with scope described by on-chain security researchers tracking the wallets in real time.
On-chain investigator Specter published the first public alert and identified the attacker’s primary consolidation address on Ethereum: `0xe65b1C586757c5510B60F998Eebb14C1eF71E1eD`. PeckShield confirmed the stolen funds were bridged from Polygon to Ethereum and then swapped into roughly 1,893 ETH. Bubblemaps independently counted fewer than 15 affected accounts and estimated $3 million in losses being refunded.
PUSD is Polymarket’s native collateral token, a Polygon-based ERC-20 minted 1:1 against USDC.e through the platform’s on-chain collateral contracts. Deployed in April 2026 per on-chain records, PUSD operates exclusively within the platform and carries no external exchange listing, so the attacker had to convert it to ETH to exit. The token held its $1.00 peg throughout the incident, per PolygonScan data for the pUSD contract on Polygon.
Refund Commitment, Vendor Still Unnamed
Polymarket posted on X Thursday morning saying it had contained the attack, removed the malicious dependency, and would refund impacted users in full. William LeGate confirmed the repayment would be total, adding in a second post that there were “no user ‘losses.'” The platform has not publicly named the compromised vendor across any channel since the incident was disclosed.
Initial independent estimates put the theft at $2.94 million, based on on-chain wallet tallies by Specter Analyst, while PeckShield and other firms rounded to roughly $3 million. AMLBot’s Saturday update lifts the confirmed total by approximately $160,000 from Specter’s initial read.
TechCrunch reported that a Polymarket spokesperson confirmed the breach but declined to provide further detail. Security researchers at CyberInsider and BleepingComputer both classified the incident as a supply-chain attack, the type where a downstream dependency injects hostile code into a trusted application, rather than a direct protocol exploit.
Platform Context
The platform currently holds $432 million in total value locked on Polygon, per DefiLlama. Security trackers cataloguing Q2 2026 DeFi incidents have counted the June 25 Polymarket attack among a sustained wave of supply-chain and front-end compromises targeting DeFi infrastructure in 2026.
Polymarket has committed to refunding affected users in full but has set no public timeline for completion and has not disclosed the identity of the third-party vendor whose compromise triggered the attack.
Polymarket hack updated to $3.1 million days after the platform promised users full refunds
On Thursday as well, Specter Analyst, another blockchain intelligence platform, said on Thursday that “It appears there may be a phishing attack targeting Polymarket users, with estimated losses of $2.94M so far.”
One of the victims of the hack, Ash, on X wrote that his wallet had been hacked and had no idea why at the time. Ash also shared his and the attacker’s wallet addresses.
Polymarket has suffered other security breaches recently. In March, blockchain investigator ZachXBT highlighted a suspected security breach. He said over $520,000 was reportedly drained from two smart contracts on the Polygon blockchain. Polymarket then said the funds were safe.
In December, the platform confirmed a security incident on its Discord channel after users reported missing funds and suspicious login attempts. It blamed an unidentified third-party login provider for those account breaches.
The news of the phishing attack follows reports that Polymarket is under federal investigation following a Wall Street Journal article into the prediction markets platform deceptive social media promotion of users boasting winnings.
50K BTC Flow Adds Pressure To Bitcoin Price: Will The Sell-off Deepen?
Bitcoin (BTC) is showing fresh signs of short-term holder capitulation after roughly 50,000 BTC moved to exchanges at a loss over the past day. At the same time, the market capitalization of short-term holders fell to $237.7 billion, its lowest level since October 2024.
The rise in loss-driven selling comes as tighter monetary conditions and weakening institutional demand continue to weigh on Bitcoin, as analysts underlined a “deeply unfavorable” environment for BTC.
Short-term Bitcoin holders show renewed stress
CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha said Bitcoin’s short-term holder (STH) market capitalization fell to $237.7 billion on June 26, its lowest level since Oct. 2, 2024, when it stood near $239.7 billion.
BTC STH realized market cap. Source: CryptoQuant
The metric tracks the market value of coins held by investors who bought Bitcoin within the past 155 days. The latest reading shows the cohort’s market value is below its realized value, indicating many recent buyers are holding more unrealized losses.
A similar decline appeared during the October 2024 correction, which later aligned with an important Bitcoin bottom. The latest reading serves as a measure of stress rather than confirmation of a market low.
Exchange activity adds another layer to the picture. Around 50,000 BTC from short-term holders moved to exchanges at a loss during the past 24 hours, marking the largest loss-to-exchange flow since June 4. Binance alone received roughly 9,500 BTC under similar conditions, its highest reading since June 3.
This indicates that near-term sell-side pressure has increased as newer investors react to lower prices.
BTC short-term holder profit/loss to exchanges in 24-hours. Source: CryptoQuant
However, long-term holders’ activity provided a positive development. Bitcoin inflows into accumulation addresses climbed to a record 181,000 BTC on Thursday, almost doubling the previous high of 94,700 BTC recorded in February 2022. These wallets typically receive coins with little spending history, suggesting the surge signals that long-term investors are absorbing supply while short-term holders exit positions.
BTC inflows to accumulation addresses. Source: CryptoQuant
Related: Bitcoin may fall lower but BTC power-law frames crash to $58K as ‘normal’
Macro headwinds weigh on BTC buyers
Market analyst Darkfost said institutional demand has continued to weaken, with the Coinbase Premium Index staying below zero for 40 consecutive days since May 15.
Bitcoin Coinbase premium index. Source: CryptQuant
The indicator compares Bitcoin prices on Coinbase Advanced and Binance. A persistent discount on Coinbase points to heavier selling from professional investors than from retail traders.
US macro data also added to the cautious tone. Headline PCE inflation came in at 4.1% against expectations of 4.0%, while Core PCE printed 3.4% versus the 3.3% forecast. GDP also exceeded estimates at 2.1%, keeping expectations for easier monetary policy subdued. Commenting on the current outlook, the analyst said,
“This dynamic is a perfect reflection of the current macro backdrop, which remains deeply unfavorable for risk assets such as BTC.”
Asset management firm Bitwise said that last week’s Federal Reserve meeting accelerated the hawkish shift after policymakers removed their easing bias and raised the median 2026 Fed funds projection to 3.8% from 3.4% in March.
The firm added that tighter financial conditions coincided with continued outflows from crypto exchange-traded products such as the spot ETFs.
The attention has also shifted toward Strategy, which has accumulated 174,300 BTC in 2026. Bitwise estimates that roughly 96,000 BTC, or 55% of those purchases, were financed through STRC preferred equity issuances, with another 77,500 BTC funded through MSTR common stock offerings.
Now, CryptoQuant noted that STRC traded at a record 17.5% discount to its $100 par value after falling to $82.5 last week, before slipping to around $73 in premarket trading on Friday. Strategy’s cash reserve has dropped 38% since the start of 2026, following the repurchase of a $1.5 billion convertible note.
Strategy: Cash reserve and dividend coverage data. Source: CryptoQuant
Annual dividend obligations linked to STRC have also increased to $1.2 billion from $300 million, while dividend coverage has reduced to 14 months, down from as long as seven years.
The figures point to tighter funding conditions for one of Bitcoin’s largest institutional buyers, adding another layer of pressure amid rising loss-driven exchange inflows.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs post June’s biggest daily outflows as BTC falls below $60K
Why a selloff in gold and silver is dragging bitcoin down
The ongoing artificial intelligence stock frenzy has pulled in capital from across the market, from traditional metals, considered the safest assets, to crypto, considered the riskiest.
Gold dropped below $4,000 for the first time since November earlier this week, silver has lost more than half its value from its high, and bitcoin has slipped to nearly $58,000.
The three selloffs are not a coincidence. For much of the past two years, they have been, to a large degree, the same trade, and now the same forces are unwinding it.
That trade even has a name, the “debasement” trade. It is the bet that heavy government spending and rising national debt will slowly erode the value of paper money, which pushes investors toward scarce assets that no government can print more of.
Gold and silver are the oldest versions of that bet, while bitcoin, with a supply capped at 21 million coins, got marketed as the digital version. Through 2025, as the dollar looked vulnerable, money poured into all three, and they were treated as one basket.
What Robinhood’s recent layoffs say about the current state of crypto investments
Robinhood says layoffs aren’t being driven by AI integration
According to a Forbes report published on June 4, 2026, AI has been the top reason cited for tech layoffs during 2026. Robinhood, however, seems to be taking a different tack.
Unlike BitGo, attributing its cuts to AI, Robinhood hasn’t indicated these layoffs were driven by AI adoption. The company’s stated reason is that it’s reducing management layers and streamlining operations to improve efficiency. And at this point, there is no clear evidence that Robinhood is replacing laid-off employees with AI.
That said, AI is likely part of the broader trend affecting how companies think about staffing. Rather than completely replacing employees, AI is often used to make existing teams more productive. Tasks involving research, customer support, coding, analysis and administrative work can frequently be handled faster and with fewer people than in the past.
As for service quality, users should probably expect the core user experience to remain largely unchanged. Functions such as trade execution, portfolio tracking, market data and charting are already highly automated.
The areas to watch are customer support and specialized assistance. AI can handle many routine questions effectively, but more complex issues, such as account restrictions, tax-related questions or crypto transfer problems, still benefit from human expertise.