Sep 28, 2026
Chainalysis' latest report shows Latin America emerging as a global stablecoin hub, with Brazil leading worldwide in crypto adoption and value received. Stablecoin use grew significantly across the region, driven by Mexico and Venezuela, even as global crypto market cap fell 50%.
Zcash price surged close to $1,600, while developers target November 5 for the NU7 upgrade that would cut block times to 25 seconds from 75 seconds. Grayscale announced a 3-for-1 forward share split for its Zcash ETF to improve accessibility.
Venture capital investment in crypto and blockchain companies reached $5.68 billion across 384 deals in the second quarter of 2026, representing a 31% increase from Q1 and a 10% rise in deal count, according to Galaxy Research.
Zcash gained about 20% over 24 hours after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed that the crypto investment firm made an unspecified purchase of ZEC. The rally came as Zcash holders voted to preserve Bitcoin-style halvings and speed up block times to 25 seconds.
CoinEx announced it will wind down operations, citing prolonged market downturn, declining trading volumes and liquidity, and rising regulatory costs. The exchange will halt new registrations and begin phasing out services.
Brazil's largest banks including Itaú, Nubank, and Banco do Brasil have expanded their cryptocurrency offerings to as many as 28 assets after the country's crypto market reached R$505.5 billion ($98.7 billion) in 2025, up more than fivefold from 2020. The expansion comes as new regulations take hold in Latin America's largest economy.
US spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $987 million in net inflows for the week ending September 5, with BlackRock's IBIT capturing roughly 70% of flows. The week capped a three-week streak totaling $3.8 billion in inflows, signaling recovering institutional demand.
Robinhood Chain posted $3.7 billion in 24-hour decentralized exchange volume on September 5, a new all-time high for the Arbitrum-based Layer 2 network launched in July 2026. Weekly DEX volume reached approximately $10.47 billion.
Zcash (ZEC) jumped approximately 20% to briefly top $1,000 on September 4, reaching its highest level in nearly a decade and lifting its market cap to roughly $17 billion. The rally was fueled by strong inflows into Grayscale's ZCSH ETF, which has crossed $400 million in assets.
Bitcoin rallied approximately 5% to break above $81,000 on September 3 after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller signaled support for holding rates steady in September. The move triggered over $415 million in short liquidations and marked Bitcoin's highest level since May.
Hyperliquid Strategies increased its committed equity facility with Chardan Capital Markets from $1 billion to $2.5 billion, giving the HYPE treasury company additional capacity to raise capital through at-the-market stock sales.
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted $3.8 billion in net inflows over three consecutive weeks ending September 5, marking the strongest inflow streak of 2026. The final week alone saw $986.9 million in inflows as Bitcoin traded around $80,000.
Strive purchased 1,800 Bitcoin for approximately $143 million at an average price of $79,431, bringing total holdings to 23,156 BTC worth about $1.76 billion and making it the fifth-largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company.
CME Group introduced two new multi-asset cryptocurrency benchmarks developed with CF Benchmarks, including a 10-token index that excludes Bitcoin and Ether while tracking assets like XRP, Solana, BNB, and Hyperliquid. The indices are free-float market-cap weighted with real-time pricing and multiple settlement variants.
BlackRock lowered the minimum bitcoin required for direct conversion into its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF shares from $25 million to $1 million in July 2026. The firm has processed over $5 billion in direct bitcoin-to-ETF conversions, while competitor Bitwise also reduced its threshold from $100 million to $3 million.
Copper, a cryptocurrency custody firm that was previously seeking a sale at $500 million, now has two or three acquisition offers at approximately $200 million amid depressed market conditions.
Grayscale converted its Zcash Trust into the first US exchange-traded fund offering direct exposure to the privacy-focused cryptocurrency, listing on NYSE Arca under ticker ZCSH with a 2.5% annual fee. The launch comes as ZEC has rallied 70% over the past month to eight-year highs.
MANTRA Chain, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on real-world asset tokenization, halted network operations following an unspecified security incident. The native token dropped 18.5% to an all-time low before partially recovering.
Intercontinental Exchange, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, is weighing further investment in prediction market platform Polymarket's upcoming funding round, which would value the company at more than $20 billion. ICE has already committed up to $2 billion in equity to Polymarket.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks rallied sharply after President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act at a White House summit. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) rose 6.9% to $111.14, erasing a two-month decline, while broader crypto stocks surged 11%.
Bitcoin rallied to around $70,000 after the U.S. Treasury announced it would at least double its long-end bond buybacks to $4 billion per session starting September 9. The intervention caused the 30-year Treasury yield to fall 9 basis points and triggered $1.44 billion in short liquidations.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed $517.2 million in net inflows on Wednesday, the largest single-day haul since May, with BlackRock's IBIT contributing $143.6 million as institutional appetite returned amid the broader market rally.
President Trump indicated US efforts to bring the Hyperliquid crypto platform under domestic regulation, while evidence emerged that Kraken may be testing a compliant decentralized exchange on Hyperliquid's testnet. The developments sparked significant trading activity in crypto markets.
President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass the Clarity Act during a White House meeting with crypto and finance executives, framing the market structure legislation as essential to maintaining U.S. technological leadership over China. Bitcoin and crypto-related stocks surged following the announcement.
U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $517 million in net inflows on Wednesday, marking the largest single-day influx since early May and signaling renewed investor appetite following a week of outflows that totaled nearly $390 million.
Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet unveiled a continuous bond issuance program called BitBonds, completing its first sale with four private investors for approximately $1.3 million. CEO Simon Gerovich denied rumors that recent BTC transfers were sales.
Digital assets market maker Wintermute Trading Ltd. intends to invest approximately $1 billion over the next five years in high-frequency trading and AI data center infrastructure as it diversifies into traditional markets amid a crypto slump.
Bitwise Asset Management has laid off approximately 14% of its staff, reducing headcount from nearly 180 to around 155 employees, as the crypto market downturn continues. CEO Hunter Horsley stated the San Francisco-based firm remains well-positioned for future growth despite the reduction.
Hashdex will close its U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF (DEFI) by August 17, 2026, marking the first closure of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. The fund has logged only six inflow days since launch and lost 25% of its shares since August 7, despite broader market inflows of $865 million into other Bitcoin ETFs.
Flowdesk Omega FZE, the Dubai subsidiary of French digital asset firm Flowdesk, has been granted a full broker-dealer license by the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The BlackRock-backed liquidity provider and trading technology firm can now offer crypto broker-dealer services in the UAE.
Keel Infrastructure, formerly Bitfarms, has powered down all US bitcoin mining sites and sold 1,085 BTC for $75 million as part of its transition to high-performance computing and AI data center infrastructure. The company disclosed the moves in its second-quarter earnings.
An unidentified cryptocurrency holder has offloaded more than 7,500 BTC (approximately $486 million) since mid-July 2026, including a recent transfer of 1,019 BTC. The sustained selling activity has been tracked by on-chain analytics firms as Bitcoin consolidates between $64,000 and $65,000.
U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted $853.54 million in net inflows during the week ending August 7, 2026, marking their best weekly performance since mid-April. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) dominated with approximately $693 million of the total inflows.
MARA Holdings swung to a $611.3 million net loss in Q2 2026 despite record production, driven by a 28% decline in Bitcoin's average price and markdown of holdings. CleanSpark also reported significant revenue drops, with MARA's revenue falling 27% year-over-year to $174.9 million and CleanSpark posting $138 million in quarterly revenue.
Bitcoin miners MARA Holdings and CleanSpark posted second-quarter revenue declines of 27% and 30.5% respectively as both companies continue pivoting toward AI infrastructure, with MARA awaiting its first commercial AI contract.
Bitcoin miners MARA Holdings and CleanSpark reported heavy Q2 losses totaling $851 million, with MARA's net loss at $611.3 million and CleanSpark's at $239.8 million, driven by falling Bitcoin prices and non-cash valuation losses.
Bitcoin fell to around $64,300 and Ethereum dropped to approximately $1,904 on August 7, 2026, as the broader cryptocurrency market slipped 0.5% amid a sharp 38.7% decline in the DeFi sector. Despite the downturn, BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF saw $170 million in inflows.
Grayscale Investments rebalanced its Smart Contract Fund in Q2 2026, giving BNB the largest allocation at 30.6%, ahead of Ethereum (29.47%) and Solana (29.15%). This marks BNB's first inclusion in the fund.
Bitcoin traded between $62,200 and $65,000 during August 5-6, 2026, showing modest gains of around 0.9% as investors monitored potential U.S.-Iran negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz. Ethereum rose above $1,900 while Pi Network surged over 10% on protocol upgrades.
Ark Invest acquired 273,343 shares of Circle Internet Group worth approximately $17.3 million and additional SpaceX shares worth around $20 million on August 6, following positive Q2 earnings from Circle and SpaceX's first earnings report since its June 2026 IPO. The purchases came after Ark had already bought $9.4 million in Coinbase and Circle shares earlier in the week.
Ethereum is trading near $1,900-$1,910 in early August 2026 after recovering from June lows, with analysts monitoring whether the cryptocurrency can break through resistance levels between $1,900-$1,950 to potentially reach $2,000-$2,500. Whale accumulation has increased while bearish dominance persists in perpetual markets.
Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies remained range-bound near $64,000 and failed to participate in broader market rallies driven by US-Iran diplomatic progress and renewed AI optimism, while crypto-backed congressional candidate Shri Thanedar lost his primary despite $2 million in industry support.
Strategy Inc. (formerly MicroStrategy) sold 1,638 Bitcoin for $104.7 million at an average price of $63,957—below its acquisition cost—ending a four-week buying pause. The company used proceeds to repurchase $81 million of STRC preferred stock, fund dividends, and boost USD reserves to $4 billion, while also raising $290.6 million through common stock sales.
Hashdex Asset Management announced it will close and liquidate its spot Bitcoin ETF (DEFI) on August 17, 2026, after the fund struggled with weak demand and held only $14.7 million in assets as of July 30. The fund's approximately 225 BTC holdings will be sold and cash distributed to shareholders around August 24.
Prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket recorded a combined $50.59 billion in trading volume during July 2026, setting a new monthly record driven by strong interest in FIFA World Cup betting markets and sports contracts.
South Korea saw 560.3 billion won ($367 million) in net stablecoin outflows to overseas exchanges in June, extending the country's streak of monthly outflows to 18 consecutive months according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Tether posted $1.5 billion in net operating profit for Q2 2026, down from $4.9 billion in Q2 2025. The company's excess reserves dropped from $8.23 billion to $4.11 billion, while USDT supply reached $184.6 billion and gold holdings increased by 14 tons.
Robinhood Markets reported second quarter 2026 revenues of $1.31 billion, up 32% year-over-year, with diluted earnings per share rising 48% to $0.62. The trading platform also recorded $22 billion in net deposits and reached 4.8 million Gold subscribers.
MicroStrategy (MSTR), the world's largest corporate bitcoin holder, reported an $8.2 billion loss in Q2 2026 due to declining bitcoin prices. The company stated it has built a cash reserve covering over two years of dividend payments amid investor concerns about its growing preferred securities stack.
Institutional investors represented a record 72% of spot trading volume on Wintermute's OTC desk during the first half of 2026, signaling Wall Street's growing presence in cryptocurrency markets and contributing to reduced market volatility.
Traders using perpetual futures contracts—the dominant price discovery mechanism for bitcoin and ether—applied the same tools to value SpaceX as a private company, producing a more accurate valuation for what became the biggest IPO in history than traditional Wall Street estimates, though the stock subsequently diverged from their pricing.
Traders using perpetual futures contracts—the dominant price discovery mechanism for bitcoin and ether—applied the same tools to value SpaceX as a private company, producing a more accurate valuation for what became the biggest IPO in history than traditional Wall Street estimates, though the stock subsequently diverged from their pricing.
Digital Currency Group-owned cryptocurrency exchange Luno announced layoffs affecting approximately 20% of its global workforce on July 28, 2026, as CEO James Lanigan restructures operations to focus on automation, institutional clients, and financial infrastructure amid weakening retail trading activity.
Strategy (MSTR) added $525 million to its cash reserve through equity sales, bringing the total to $3.75 billion, while declining to purchase Bitcoin for the fifth straight week. The company also bought back $25 million of its STRC preferred stock, with the reserve now covering 2.1 years of preferred dividends and debt obligations.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies purchased 9,946 ETH last week, increasing its total Ethereum holdings to 5.787 million ETH valued at approximately $11.2-11.8 billion, representing 4.8% of Ethereum's circulating supply. The company's stock (NYSE: BMNR) surged 5-13% following the announcement, which also included share repurchases of 6.1 million shares.
Decentralized cloud storage provider Storj Labs filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 26, 2026, citing legacy obligations. The company's STORJ token fell approximately 16-20% following the announcement, though Storj says operations will continue.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $8.05 billion in trading volume during the five sessions ending July 24, their lowest total for a full trading week since October 2024. The funds still posted $33.8 million in net weekly inflows, even though a $225.2 million outflow on July 23 ended a seven-session daily inflow streak and was followed by another $240.1 million outflow on July 24. Spot Ether ETFs attracted $103.9 million, more than three times the Bitcoin funds' weekly total, for their third consecutive positive week.
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted approximately $930 million in net inflows across six consecutive trading days through July 21, 2026, marking their longest inflow streak since April. Bitcoin climbed above $66,000 during the streak. BlackRock's IBIT led the inflows, and Crypto Briefing said its disproportionate share suggested that institutional investors were returning after June's $4.7 billion outflow.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies added 7,430 ETH during the week ending July 19, 2026, worth approximately $14 million at the then-current market price—one of its smallest weekly additions since launching its Ethereum treasury strategy in June 2025. Chairman Tom Lee said the reduced purchasing pace reflected the company’s repurchase of approximately 5.5 million common shares for nearly $86 million under its $4 billion buyback program. The purchase brought Bitmine’s total Ethereum holdings to 5,777,468 ETH.
Citadel Securities has made a $400 million strategic investment in Crypto.com, valuing the cryptocurrency exchange at $20 billion in what marks the platform's first institutional funding round since its founding in 2016.
Coinbase executive Jesse Pollak handed Base app leadership to trader 'Cobie' after publicly acknowledging the network's push into on-chain social and creator coins 'was wrong,' refocusing Base on becoming 'the blockchain for global finance.'
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $424.66 million in net outflows on July 13, with BlackRock's IBIT losing $186.1 million and Fidelity's FBTC shedding $246.3 million, erasing the previous week's inflows as trading activity hit cycle lows.
US-listed spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded combined net inflows of approximately $282 million in the week ending July 12, 2026, breaking an eight-week streak of outflows dating back to early May. However, the positive momentum was short-lived as Bitcoin ETFs recorded $425 million in outflows the following Monday.
The cryptocurrency market is experiencing renewed activity with legislative progress on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, while crypto exchanges increasingly serve as distribution platforms for tokenized stocks and real-world assets from Wall Street.
Cryptocurrency projects lost approximately $972 million across 207 hack incidents in the first half of 2026, marking the highest number of attacks ever recorded despite total losses remaining below the $1 billion threshold, according to Immunefi's report.
Robinhood's Layer-2 blockchain recorded over $690 million in decentralized exchange trading volume within a 24-hour period, representing a 10x increase from previous levels. The surge was reportedly driven by retail trading activity around a memecoin named Cash Cat, despite the chain being originally positioned for real-world asset tokenization.
Arbitrum announced that all Layer 2 chains built with its technology that settle outside of Arbitrum One or Nova will pay 10% of net protocol revenue to the Arbitrum ecosystem. Robinhood Chain, which has seen $568M in trading volume, is among the chains affected by this new revenue-sharing arrangement.
Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume reached a record $1.79 trillion in June 2026, up 63% from May's $1.1 trillion, according to Visa data. Circle's USDC accounted for approximately 70% of the volume, extending its lead over Tether's USDT.
A consortium of over 140 major financial and technology companies including Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, Coinbase, and Bank of New York Mellon launched Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin that shares reserve earnings with participants. The announcement caused Circle Internet Group shares to tumble 15% as the initiative directly challenges existing stablecoin leaders.
The National Business Enterprise Pension Fund, a Japanese corporate pension fund covering approximately 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses, announced plans to allocate roughly 1% of its assets to cryptocurrency during fiscal year 2026.
Investment firm Bernstein analysts forecast the 2026 FIFA World Cup, kicking off in North America, will generate between $5-10 billion in consumer sports betting and prediction market trading volume, calling it a 'watershed moment' for the prediction markets sector.
Nasdaq-listed Fold Holdings sold approximately $45 million worth of Bitcoin at an average price of $71,000, using $20 million to pay off all secured debt and allocating $25 million for growth initiatives. The company's stock surged between 140-162% following the announcement.