Bitcoin

Bitcoin Magazine Coinbase and Better Mortgage Announce General Availability of Bitcoin-Backed Mortgages Coinbase and Nasdaq-listed Better Mortgage have announced the availability of Bitcoin-backed mortgages for Americans. The crypto exchange and lender said Wednesday that the service was designed in accordance with the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae. Coinbase and Better announced the funding of the first Bitcoin-backed mortgage in June. The service now hopes to cater to younger wannabe homeowners who have Bitcoin holdings. JUST IN: Coinbase announces the expansion of their Bitcoin-backed mortgages "Borrowers in the US can now use Bitcoin as collateral for a down payment – without having to sell it or face margin calls." pic.twitter.com/PXNojVSVrl — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 26, 2026 “In 2025, high interest rates, record home prices, and limited inventory pushed the median age of a first-time homebuyer to 40,” Chief Technology Officer at Better Mortgage, Ziggy Jonsson, said. “Coinbase counts millions of monthly users worldwide, and by allowing Coinbase One members to pledge crypto as collateral without selling their holdings, we’re opening a new path toward homeownership for a generation of borrowers whose wealth increasingly lives onchain.” Ben Shen, head of financial services and loyalty products at Coinbase, added: “By enabling borrowers to pledge their digital assets in the mortgage underwriting process, we are allowing crypto to be more useful and powerful in the real-world — expanding the pathways to homeownership while preserving long-term investment positions.” The announcement added that Coinbase One members will be eligible for a rebate equal to 1% of the mortgage value, up to a maximum of $10,000. The debut loan by Coinbase and Better was closed by a married Michigan couple, Joe and Amy, in June. The couple used their Bitcoin holdings as collateral to fund their down payment rather than liquidating their position, the companies said at the time. Crypto-backed lender Milo said earlier this year that it had surpassed $100 million in digital asset mortgages, including a record $12 million loan, as more high-net-worth and institutional clients were using Bitcoin as collateral for home financing. Bitcoin-backed loans are still a niche product but one of the biggest lenders in the space, Ledn, has released research claiming that the space could grow from its current size of $3 billion to $1 trillion in the next 10 years. This post Coinbase and Better Mortgage Announce General Availability of Bitcoin-Backed Mortgages first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine SEC Sends Proposal to White House To Modernize Crypto Custody The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent a proposal to the White House aiming to “clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets” for investment advisers and companies. In a rule change sent Tuesday, the regulator said it wanted to “improve and modernize the regulations” surrounding custody for the crypto space. The proposal comes after a vote was delayed on the long-awaited Clarity Act. Despite the delay, regulators like the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have said they will still proceed with trying to shape crypto policy. JUST IN: SEC has sent a new proposal to the White House concerning "amendments to the custody rules" to "clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets" pic.twitter.com/c45BK1tlok — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 26, 2026 “This rulemaking would clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets for investment adviser and investment companies, as well as make other modernizations needed to remove burdens from certain outdated provisions that are no longer needed to provide investor protection given the evolution in the markets and security trading and holding practices,” the proposal read. Pro-crypto lawmakers had hoped to pass the Clarity Act before Congress broke for August recess, but the vote slipped to September after Democrats balked at the latest draft. Some Republican senators — like Senator Cynthia Lummis — accused some of deliberately holding it back. Still, pro-crypto regulators want to press ahead. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig has said he will proceed with rulemaking whether or not the Clarity Act is enacted, aiming to finalise rules before the administration’s term is out. And earlier this month, the SEC proposed its own framework to allow token issuers to raise money in the U.S. without falling foul of securities laws. President Donald Trump campaigned on a ticket to help the crypto industry and received major backing from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Since taking office, regulators have taken a remarkably different approach to watchdogging the digital asset space. The president last week urged lawmakers to get the Clarity Act over the line. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has said he is “committed to supporting Congress in advancing” the bill. This post SEC Sends Proposal to White House To Modernize Crypto Custody first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Is Bitcoin Out of Its Bear Market? These Analysts Think So Bitcoin is out of its bear market. But expect a possible pullback. That’s according to analysts at crypto research firm CryptoQuant, who say the coin is behaving like it has done in the past. CryptoQuant founder, Ki Young Ju, wrote on X Tuesday that the asset had “entered into the early bull phase.” Ju Pointed to movements bitcoin made in its last cycle before entering a bull market, and said the coin was currently doing the same thing. JUST IN: Bitcoin is currently having its 3rd best August EVER, currently up 25% this month pic.twitter.com/q45AHHpK4e — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 24, 2026 CryptoQuant research shows that bitcoin flows to derivative exchanges have started again, confirming that traders have entered “risk-on” mode, which “has marked the start of a new bull cycle” in the past. And another analyst at the firm, Theophiluspep, wrote that while the coin was entering a bull market, “spot demand, ETF flows, and market momentum have turned decisively bullish, but elevated profit-taking, exchange inflows, and overbought conditions suggest a potential near-term cooldown.” He added: “This looks increasingly like a genuine regime shift into the early phase of a new bull market, driven more by improving spot demand and institutional ETF buying than by excessive leverage.” Bitcoin started surging last week. It is currently up 22% over a seven-day period and was recently priced at $78,716. It briefly touched $81,160 on Monday. Its rise comes after a sluggish June and July when it mostly traded below $65,000. U.S. investors last week reversed course and bought up shares in the bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which had their best week since October — the same time bitcoin notched its record of $126,080. Data from Farside Investors shows that the funds — managed by the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and Morgan Stanley — received $1.9 billion in new cash. The change in sentiment comes after the Treasury Department’s announcement last week to at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks. Since the Treasury made the announcement, yields have gone down, while bitcoin and gold have shot up. The dollar last week was trading at a three-month low and on track for its worst week of August. Bitcoin, on the other hand, had its best week since 2023. Positive regulatory news coming out of the White House also helped: President Donald Trump held a meeting with crypto executives earlier last week, and urged lawmakers to get the Clarity Act over the line. This post Is Bitcoin Out of Its Bear Market? These Analysts Think So first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Breakout Could Be Around the Corner as Asset Is No Longer Oversold: Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton Bitcoin is no longer oversold but there’s still time to buy, according to Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton. Speaking on Tuesday to CNBC, the financial research firm’s managing partner said that Bitcoin cleared its 200-day moving average back in May, meaning that a potential breakout could be coming. Bitcoin started rallying last week on news that the Treasury would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buyback operations. It’s up over 22% over a seven-day period, and was recently trading for $78,915. The coin traded above $81,000 on Monday. JUST IN: Fairlead Strategies founder tells CNBC Bitcoin is "not over bought yet, so that's the good thing." "We're looking for more upside from gold…maybe it won't be quite as long lived as what we expect from Bitcoin" pic.twitter.com/lXly8WRO3Y — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 25, 2026 “It’s not overbought yet, so that’s the good thing,” said Stockton. “Whenever you see a breakout above a resistance level, it’s always better to have that immediate follow-through to essentially confirm the breakout.” Bitcoin was trading under $65,000 for most of June and July and experiencing its lowest volatility in its 17-year history. Its recent rally has some analysts saying that the so-called debasement trade could be hot again. The debasement trade is when investors buy assets when they think fiat money is losing value. And losing value it is: The dollar slid following the Treasury’s announcement last week. Gold and bitcoin have since rallied. Bitcoiners have long argued that the biggest cryptocurrency can work as a hedge against government printing, along with precious metals. U.S. investors last week piled back into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds; the investment vehicles had their best week since October, with nearly $2 billion in inflows. Bitcoin’s price was also helped after President Trump last week gathered with crypto executives at the White House and said that getting the Clarity Act over the line would keep the U.S. ahead of China. Lawmakers were hoping to get a vote on the crypto market structure bill, or Clarity Act, in August. A vote will now go ahead in September. The bill will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins. This post Bitcoin Breakout Could Be Around the Corner as Asset Is No Longer Oversold: Fairlead Strategies’ Katie Stockton first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Kraken Says ‘Dust Attack’ From Sanctioned HTX Wallet Locked Out Customers Crypto exchange Kraken clients were reportedly locked out of their accounts after receiving tiny amounts of sanctioned digital coins. In a statement to Bitcoin Magazine, Kraken said the coins were transferred in what is known as a “dust attack” — when small quantities of cryptocurrency is sent to numerous wallet addresses to track and de-anonymize them. Kraken said the aim of the transactions was to trigger compliance checks by spreading sanctioned funds onto other platforms. Bloomberg first reported the news. “We don’t know who is behind these attacks, but they likely expect that if sanctioned funds land in a client account, it triggers a full account lock, causing operational disruption for a large number of users,” a Kraken spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that its customers were briefly locked out of their accounts but its “compliance team mobilized quickly to restore access while continuing to hold the sanctioned funds as required.” “We are working with authorities to ensure these attacks don’t have their intended impact,” the statement added. A total of 12,000 such transfers were sent from the wallet to addresses linked to Kraken between this month, Bloomberg reported, citing Arkham Intelligence. Arkham identified the wallet as linked to HTX based on addresses the exchange has publicly disclosed as part of its proof of reserves. Chinese exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi, is one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges. The European Union sanctioned it in July because it has, according to European authorities, helped ​Russians evade sanctions. “Recent dust attacks from HTX-owned wallets appear to be an attempt to spread UK- and EU-sanctioned funds to other platforms in order to discredit the broader industry,” the Kraken spokesperson continued. Dusting has been happening for years. Back in 2022, someone sent celebrities Ethereum from a Tornado Cash wallet one day after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the coin mixing app used by North Korean state-sponsored hacking groups. Celebrities targeted in the 2022 dusting attack included comedian Jimmy Fallon, YouTuber Logan Paul and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. The feds said they wouldn’t prosecute the celebrities hit with sanctioned crypto. This post Kraken Says ‘Dust Attack’ From Sanctioned HTX Wallet Locked Out Customers first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine US Opens a New Front Against Iran’s Crypto Economy The U.S. this week closed in on Iran, further targeting its crypto-related methods of dodging sanctions in a new economic campaign against the country. In a Monday announcement, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said it had placed Iran’s digital asset sector under the same sanctions authority it has long used against the country’s oil, banking and metals industries. .@SecScottBessent: "This is a sustained campaign to collapse every last option for Iran. Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States: an economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American… pic.twitter.com/tlx2gcNs1d — Treasury Department (@USTreasury) August 24, 2026 The move, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign against the Islamic Republic dubbed “economic D-Day,” is a first, and a significant escalation in exposure for crypto businesses worldwide. With the new action, the Office of Foreign Assets Control can sanction any person, regardless of where they are located. “The Iranian regime increasingly turns to cryptocurrency as a tool of choice for sanctions evasion, supporting transactions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian regime insiders,” OFAC said in a statement. Foreign exchanges, OTC desks, payment processors and infrastructure providers that knowingly facilitate transactions supporting Iran’s digital asset sector are now exposed to designation themselves, along with the loss of access to the U.S. financial system that typically follows. OFAC also designated members of a group within the Ministry of Intelligence and Security accused of hacking U.S. critical infrastructure on the regime’s behalf and published their wallets. Group co-leader Behzad Mesri and members Keyvan Fayyaz Ghareh Blagh and Arman Kahzadian each had bitcoin, and other crypto addresses added to the Treasury’s sanctioned list. The three belong to a larger MOIS contingent that has pursued U.S. targets through data theft and intrusions against corporations and government offices. Bloomberg first reported in May that Iran had started a bitcoin-backed insurance service for Iranian shipping companies. The U.S. in July said that it had frozen crypto linked to the Iranian regime, mostly in the form of the Tether stablecoin. Stablecoins like Tether’s USDT can be frozen by the company that issues the asset but bitcoin, being decentralized and having no single issuer, cannot. This post US Opens a New Front Against Iran’s Crypto Economy first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine The Human Rights Foundation Announces Support for 16 Projects Worldwide The Human Rights Foundation has announced support for more projects around the globe, this time giving over 600 million satoshis — worth $472,807 at today’s prices — in grants to 16 projects based in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Coming from the HRF’s Bitcoin Development Fund, the grants will help projects that want to strengthen the Bitcoin protocol, expand practical Bitcoin access and facilitate secure messaging and community infrastructure for dissidents, among other things, according to the NGO. The grants are the second round of funding to come in 2026, after the NGO announced it had supported 26 projects in April. HRF said the funding works to reinforce Bitcoin’s role as a tool for financial freedom, enabling journalists, nonprofit organizations, and activists to more securely communicate, organize, and receive support globally through Bitcoin. Bitcoin Payments BitSpenda Across Africa, cross-border money transfers are often slow, costly and rely on intermediaries. BitSpenda, a mobile money-to-bitcoin bridge, offers a non-custodial, account-free tool that lets people in Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda, and Ghana send bitcoin from a Lightning wallet directly to a mobile money account, where it is received in local currency. With HRF’s support, BitSpenda plans to expand its payment tools to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper, and more accessible in the region. Project Island Resilience In parts of the Caribbean, power outages and authoritarian repression can cut people off from both communication and access to money. Project Island Resilience builds on Flash, a Bitcoin and Lightning wallet created by Jamaican developer Dread. After Hurricane Melissa devastated Jamaica in late 2025, the app raised and distributed more than $10,000 in bitcoin within 72 hours. Now, the project plans to add offline payments to Flash using Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC), and ecash, creating a model for how Bitcoin can continue working in adversarial conditions. HRF’s grant will support this next phase, helping build practical Bitcoin infrastructure that can be used during protests and internet shutdowns. Bitzed In Zambia, mobile money is commonly used, but buying bitcoin still usually requires banks or centralized exchanges that maintain identity records and control individuals’ assets. Bitzed, created by Bitcoin educator Humphrey, is an account-free platform that connects mobile money networks directly to Bitcoin in Zambia. Users can buy bitcoin using existing mobile money accounts and receive it straight to their own Lightning wallet. HRF’s funding will help expand this self-custodial path into Bitcoin for Zambians excluded from traditional banking and subject to financial repression. Bitcoin Development Libbitcoinkernel Many Bitcoin applications have to rebuild the protocol’s most complex security rules from scratch, which increases the risk of catastrophic errors. Libbitcoinkernel is a software project pulling the core security and transaction rules directly from Bitcoin’s original code and turning them into reusable software modules. This will allow freedom tech developers to build more secure and independent wallets, services, and infrastructure without having to duplicate Bitcoin’s critical code. Support from HRF will help developer yuvicc continue this foundational work, strengthening the foundations of Bitcoin tools on which people under financial repression rely. A Node in Every Wallet: Utreexo Wallet Integrations Most Bitcoin wallets still rely on centralized servers to access balance and transaction history, compromising user privacy. Floresta is a lightweight version of a Bitcoin node that embeds directly into wallet apps, reducing the storage needed to verify Bitcoin transactions, so wallets can then check data locally and privately. This grant will support developer Luis Schwab in ensuring that wallets cut out the middlemen and interface directly with the Bitcoin network. BDK-Dart In many authoritarian countries, mobile wallets are the most practical way to access Bitcoin. But building apps that give users full control of their funds without relying on a central authority remains a challenge. BDK-Dart is a toolkit that gives developers pre-built Bitcoin wallet-building blocks for Flutter, a popular framework to build apps for any device. The toolkit allows developers to more easily build secure, custodial Bitcoin wallets using a single, shared codebase across platforms. Supported by HRF, software developer John Osezele will make a major release of this software and a reference wallet, lowering barriers for developers to build self-custodial Bitcoin apps worldwide. WalletScrutiny Most Bitcoin users have no way to check whether a wallet app actually matches the open-source code it claims to run. WalletScrutiny is a project that audits Bitcoin wallets for transparency and verifies that the distributed software matches its source code. Funding will support expanded review of wallet dependencies and third-party frameworks, helping activists, journalists, and changemakers choose trustworthy Bitcoin applications in authoritarian contexts. HRF has supported WalletScrutiny before, and this grant continues that work as the recent Coldcard hack underscores the importance that the software running on a Bitcoin wallet is actually the software users expect. Nostr Vector Privacy: Privacy by Principle In high-risk environments, private messaging requires more than just encryption; it also means avoiding account creation, metadata trails, and censorship. Vector is an open-source messenger built on Nostr (a decentralized communications protocol) that is permissionless and uses end-to-end encryption. HRF’s grant will help Vector launch on iOS and desktop, release encrypted voice and video calls, and provide journalists, activists, and whistleblowers with a stable, censorship-resistant tool to communicate and coordinate without fear of being tracked or silenced by dictators. Flotilla Chat Civil society groups and communities often rely on centralized communications platforms that can delete forums, remove users, or shut down networks with little warning. Flotilla Chat, built by the Nostr client Coracle, is a Discord-style platform built on Nostr that separates a user’s identity from the hosting provider. On Flotilla, organizers control their own infrastructure. Meanwhile, members keep portable identities across the network, reducing censorship risks. HRF’s funding will help develop features such as role-based access control, voice chat, and Bitcoin-native funding tools to make online assembly more resilient under autocratic regimes. OpenAlert: Decentralized Critical Alerts for Nostr Critical emergency alerts often depend on centralized push notification services — such as those run by Apple or Google — which can be easily blocked, monitored, or fail during a crisis. OpenAlert, created by software developers Fernando Diego Pergolini and Jorge Carlos Franco, is an alternative notification platform to deliver urgent alerts. Its main layer uses the decentralized Nostr network to issue alerts via anonymous text and audio messages, with end-to-end encryption and programmed self-destruction, protecting user identity from censorship and repression. HRF’s support will cover hardware and personnel costs to develop a tool that helps human rights defenders receive urgent alerts about what is going on around them. 0xchat Activists and journalists need private, reliable communication tools, but many existing apps still expose users to surveillance and censorship. 0xchat, created by software developer water783, is a messaging app built on Nostr that offers fully encrypted chat, file transfer, voice, and video calls. It features an integration with Tor, a technology that masks internet traffic to protect a user’s physical location and identity. 0xchat also includes a built-in Cashu wallet for private Bitcoin payments. HRF’s support will help advance this communication tool so people can coordinate more safely without relying on platforms vulnerable to authoritarian intervention. Bitcoin Mining 256 Foundation Bitcoin mining hardware is still dominated by a few manufacturers using proprietary technology, which can limit participation and the way the network is secured. The 256 Foundation is a nonprofit working to break this oligopoly by open-sourcing every part of a Bitcoin miner: from the hardware to the software that runs them. Making mining tools more accessible and transparent reduces the network’s reliance on centralized manufacturers. Backing from HRF will strengthen network decentralization while also supporting one of the most private ways to acquire bitcoin under a dictatorship. Bitcoin Education My First Bitcoin Financial education is often shaped by state institutions, leaving little room to question how monetary systems work, let alone to explore alternatives. My First Bitcoin is an educational initiative providing free, open-source educational resources through a global education node network: a group of independent educators active in more than 40 countries, including India, Uganda, and Indonesia. HRF’s support will help grow the educators trained through their Educator Training Program, from roughly 60 to 120, with a focus on communities living under authoritarian rule achieving financial freedom. Agora: Bitcoin Lightning Activation & Civic Infrastructure Pilot In Venezuela, activists, independent journalists, and civic organizers face blocked platforms, surveillance, and difficulty receiving international support. Agora is a decentralized activist platform built on Nostr and Bitcoin that supports coordination, censorship-resistant communication, and peer-to-peer financial support for communities under authoritarianism. Agora includes a non-custodial Bitcoin fundraising component that enables people anywhere in the world to support individuals and causes directly, with contributions sent directly to recipients’ wallets. Developed in part through an HRF-supported hackathon, this grant will support Agora’s 9-month pilot deployment in Venezuela, demonstrating how Freedom Tech functions as practical civic infrastructure in an authoritarian environment. HODL: Hands On Design Lab Many Bitcoin tools remain hard to use because their interfaces do not clearly guide users through the critical steps of self-custody, privacy, and security. HODL: Hands On Design Lab is an education initiative that runs structured cohorts for early-career designers in India. HODL prepares them to contribute to apps, projects, and tools across the Bitcoin ecosystem. This will help close a usability gap in Bitcoin by training UI and UX designers to directly improve how people interact with it in practice. Funding will support personnel and three cohorts over 12 months to help make Bitcoin easier for everyone to use. Hack4Freedom Women in Africa and Latin America often face exclusion from the education and technical training needed to contribute to freedom tech. Hack4Freedom, created by Evento founder Brianna Honkawa d’Estries, is a two-week developer education program that trains women in Africa and Brazil to build on Bitcoin and other open-source freedom tech projects. With cohorts in cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, and São Paulo, HRF’s grant will cover event and travel costs, creating new opportunities for women to participate in developing tools for financial and digital freedom. This post The Human Rights Foundation Announces Support for 16 Projects Worldwide first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Tops $81,000 — Is the Debasement Trade Back? Bitcoin soared past $81,000 for the first time since January on Monday before dropping slightly. The recent moves have market observers asking if the debasement trade is back. The biggest cryptocurrency was recently trading for $79,098 on Tuesday morning in New York after hitting $81,160 the evening before. Over a 24-hour period, the coin now sits unmoved. But zoom out seven days and it has jumped by 23%. Bitcoin has benefited from news that the Treasury would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buyback operations. The announcement last week hurt the dollar but non-yielding assets have benefited. JUST IN: $80,834 Bitcoin! pic.twitter.com/1Ouoi92RmA — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 25, 2026 This has some asking whether 2025’s much talked about debasement trade is back. The strategy — when investors buy an asset as a way to hedge against a currency losing value — has in the past benefited Bitcoin along with precious metals because such assets cannot be endlessly printed. Analysts frequently touted the trade last year but following Bitcoin’s decline since October, it became less talked about as traders turned their attention to stocks related to artificial intelligence. Though since the dollar has become increasingly weaker, Bitcoin could be attracting longer-term and “smart money” investors, market observers have said. U.S. investors last week piled back into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds; the investment vehicles had their best week since October, with nearly $2 billion in inflows. Bitcoin notched a new record of $126,080 in October before the biggest liquidation event in crypto history hurt its price. It continued to dip in 2026 on negative macroeconomic headwinds and fears that the Federal Reserve would not lower interest rates. Still, it has become increasingly less volatile and so far has suffered from its shallowest bear market, according to analysts. This post Bitcoin Tops $81,000 — Is the Debasement Trade Back? first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Cypher Tank Returns to Lugano, Expanding Its Bet on Bitcoin Founders Cypher Tank is back. Applications for 2026’s Bitcoin-focused pitch competition are now open after last year’s event drew over 4,000 participants from 64 countries. Like 2025’s event, the format, promoted and funded by the Plan ₿ VC Fund and the Plan ₿ Foundation, pairs a “Shark Tank”-style negotiation format with a documentary-style production, filming real pitches, deals and judge deliberations for release as an online series. This year’s edition expands the finalist field to 12 projects — eight for-profit and four nonprofit — up from last year’s eleven, with founders competing to negotiate direct investment from a panel of judges known as the “honey badgers” and to win one of three $100,000 prizes in incubation, acceleration, or relocation services. Finalists are chosen by committee against three criteria: alignment with the values of individual freedom, privacy, decentralization, and resilience; execution ability, sustainability, and market feasibility; and integration within the broader Plan ₿ ecosystem. The competition unfolds in four phases. Applications opened August 13 and close September 25, after which finalists are notified starting September 30. The finals themselves run October 25–27 at PoW Space Lugano, immediately following the Plan ₿ Forum — beginning with a coaching day where finalists rehearse pitches with communication experts, followed by two days of live pitching and negotiation split into batches on October 26 and 27. Winners are selected at the close of the second day. The recorded episodes then go into post-production through the end of the year, airing online in January 2027, with the winners’ incubation and acceleration support kicking off at the end of February once their NDAs lapse. The show’s first season launched in 2025 with similarly high stakes — over $850,000 in total prizes and a judging panel that included Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, Blockstream’s Adam Back, Ten31’s Matt Odell, Lightning Ventures’ Mike Jarmuz, and Ego Death’s Preston Pysh. It rode the momentum of a record-breaking Plan ₿ Forum, which drew more than 4,000 attendees from 64 countries and upward of 800,000 livestream viewers, before its episodes premiered at Plan ₿ Forum El Salvador in January 2026 and winners were formally honored in Lugano that March. With season two now underway, Cypher Tank is betting that a bigger finalist pool and a tighter four-phase structure can build on that first-season visibility — continuing its push to position Lugano as a global hub for Bitcoin and freedom-tech innovation. For more information and applications, founders can visit the application portal. This post Cypher Tank Returns to Lugano, Expanding Its Bet on Bitcoin Founders first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine UK Banks Still Blocking Bitcoin, Policy Group Tells Parliament Bitcoin Policy UK has slammed British banks for applying blanket restrictions to lawful bitcoin activity. The organization said in an announcement Friday that it had submitted evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG’s parliamentary inquiry into banking access, revealing that no improvements had been made over the past three years in how banks treat bitcoin activity. The issue: UK policy treats “crypto” as one thing, so bitcoin is caught by rules written for unbacked tokens and issuer-dependent stablecoins. The British government has said since 2023 that banks should assess case by case rather than restrict by sector. The group says practice has not followed, and that the gap is widening as the UK moves toward full implementation of its cryptoasset regime in 2027. Almost three years after we first raised blanket banking restrictions with the City Minister, our evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG inquiry shows the problem hasn’t improved. Roughly 40% of bank-to-exchange transfers in the UK are currently blocked or delayed. We’re… — Bitcoin Policy UK (@bitcoinpolicyuk) August 23, 2026 Bitcoin Policy UK called on British banks to give reasons for rejecting bitcoin-related activity. “Almost three years after we first raised blanket banking restrictions with the City Minister, our evidence to the Crypto and Digital Assets APPG inquiry shows the problem hasn’t improved,” Bitcoin Policy UK said in a Sunday post on X. “Roughly 40% of bank-to-exchange transfers in the UK are currently blocked or delayed.” The organization filed evidence with the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group’s inquiry into banking access. A joint survey by Startup Coalition, the UK Cryptoasset Business Council and Global Digital Finance, published in January 2025, found that half of the UK fintech and crypto firms it canvassed had been refused a bank account or had one closed, and that only 14% had opened and kept an account with one of the country’s nine largest banks. Most were UK-based operations rather than firms with no domestic presence. Virgin Money, Metro Bank, Starling Bank, TSB and Chase UK block transfers and card payments outright, while Barclays and HSBC cap transfers at £2,500 ($3,400) per transaction, Bitcoin Policy UK said. It added that 80% of the exchanges said restrictions had increased over the previous year. None reported an improvement. An IG Group survey from August 2025 found 40% of active crypto investors had a payment blocked or delayed by their own bank. The submission makes four requests: a regulatory statement that bitcoin activity through an FCA-registered exchange should not face blanket restriction; a duty on banks to give specific reasons and an appeals route; confirmation that FCA registration can serve as a risk basis, as in Hong Kong; and a published periodic measure of restriction levels. In December, City Minister Lucy Rigby said that Britain can “without a doubt” compete with the United States and become an international hub for cryptoassets. This post UK Banks Still Blocking Bitcoin, Policy Group Tells Parliament first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Strive Stock Soars After 1,110 Bitcoin Buy Strive, Inc. bought 1,110 bitcoin last week, the Dallas-based company’s largest single-week purchase in months, lifting its treasury to 21,356 coins, according to Monday filing. The company’s stock (Nasdaq: ASST) soared following the news, with shares trading over 7% higher on Monday. Strive is an asset manager which rebranded in 2025 as the first publicly traded asset-management bitcoin treasury company. In January 2026, Strive completed the acquisition of Semler Scientific in an all-stock deal — the first instance of a publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company acquiring another publicly traded Bitcoin treasury company. An 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed Strive made the buys from August 17 through August 21 at an average price of about $73,409 per bitcoin, including fees and expenses, for a total near $81.5 million. More than 1 out of every 1,000 Bitcoin that will ever exist is now owned by Strive. And we’re just getting started. $ASST pic.twitter.com/R43EuOfoqp — Strive (@Strive) August 24, 2026 The buy raised Strive’s holdings roughly 5.5% from the 20,246 coins it reported in mid-August, and it lands at prices well above the low-$60,000 range the firm paid through most of the summer. Strive funded the purchase with proceeds from at-the-market offerings of its ASST and SATA shares. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $171.9 million, up from the $154.1 million the company reported in July. A faster pace as prices climb Monday’s filing marks a sharp change in cadence. Strive bought 147 bitcoin between August 3 and 7 at an average of just over $64,800, then another 79 the following week at $63,231. Last week’s total exceeds those two rounds combined by a factor of five. The acceleration tracks a rally in the underlying asset. Bitcoin rose nearly 25% last week, closing Friday at $77,387, and traded near $80,000 on Monday. ASST closed Friday at $18.22, up almost 13%, and gained more than 5% in premarket trading Monday. SATA preferred shares held near their $100 par value. Strive now ranks as the seventh-largest public corporate holder of bitcoin, behind Strategy’s 840,447 coins, Twenty One Capital, Metaplanet, MARA and Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company. Strategy, by contrast, has sat out the market for close to two months while rebuilding its dollar reserve. Chief executive Matt Cole said Sunday he holds “very strong” conviction that the bitcoin bear market has ended, pointing to breakouts against both the dollar and gold. This post Strive Stock Soars After 1,110 Bitcoin Buy first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Rally Accelerates, With $80,000 in Sight After ETFs Have Stellar Week Bitcoin’s price surged further on Monday, flirting with $80,000 after U.S. exchange-traded funds had their best week since October. The leading cryptocurrency was recently trading more than 2% higher over a 24-hour period after flying past $79,155. It earlier on Monday morning in New York reached as high as $79,954. Over the past week, the coin has risen 25%. Its rise comes after a sluggish June and July when it mostly traded below $65,000. Last week, U.S. investors reversed course and bought up shares in the Bitcoin ETFs, which had their best week since October, when bitcoin notched its record of $126,080. Data from Farside Investors shows that the funds — managed by the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and Morgan Stanley — received $1.9 billion in new cash. “This is one of the benefits of a commodity in a constant state of supply shock,” Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X on Monday. Bitcoin ETFs took just about $2b last week- their best week since the Good Ol Days of Oct 2025 as price went from $64k to $77k in a New York minute (that counts as God candle yeah?). Anyway, this is one of the benefits of a commodity in a constant state of supply shock. pic.twitter.com/B63AUp3G8k — Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 24, 2026 The surge in interest in bitcoin’s was triggered by the Treasury Department’s announcement last week to at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks. Since the Treasury made the announcement, yields have gone down, while bitcoin and gold have shot up. The dollar last week was trading at a three-month low and on track for its worst week of August. Bitcoin, on the other hand, had its best week since 2023. Positive regulatory news coming out of the White House also helped: President Donald Trump held a meeting with crypto executives earlier last week, and urged lawmakers to get the Clarity Act over the line. Lawmakers will vote on the long-awaited crypto legislation, which the digital asset industry has long called for, in September. The proposed law will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins. Bitcoin notched an all-time high in October but was hurt later that month after the biggest liquidation event in crypto history saw over $19 billion in bets closed. The coin continued its plunge after the Federal Reserve made it clear it was in no hurry to lower interest rates and investors increasingly threw money at artificial intelligence-related stocks. This post Bitcoin Rally Accelerates, With $80,000 in Sight After ETFs Have Stellar Week first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Strategy Again Skips Bitcoin Buy And Establishes USD Cash Dollar Reserve Bitcoin treasury Strategy has established a new cash reserve that it will use to buy Bitcoin, according to a Monday filing. The Nasdaq-listed company said it not only had increased its typical cash buffer to $5.1 billion but also created another pot of $1.59 billion which it may use to buy bitcoin and stock. Strategy has not bought bitcoin since June, instead focusing on stock buy-backs and creating a cushion — as well as occasionally selling bitcoin. Strategy increased USD Reserve to $5.10B, established additional USD Cash of $1.59B, and repurchased $136M of $STRC. As of 8/23/26: Strategy holds ~4% of Total BTC Supply and has ~0% Net Leverage. $MSTR https://t.co/WZ9GFtJBXh — Michael Saylor (@saylor) August 24, 2026 “USD Cash is a separately designated pool of U.S. dollar liquidity that the Company may retain for future deployment for general Bitcoin Treasury Company purposes, which may include acquiring bitcoin, paying declared cash dividends on Strategy’s preferred stock and interest on its outstanding indebtedness, repurchasing Strategy’s MSTR Stock or preferred stock, repaying, repurchasing or redeeming Strategy’s outstanding convertible notes, increasing the USD Reserve, and other similar Bitcoin Treasury Company purposes,” the filing stated. Strategy has said that its buyback plan — approved in July — is about balance-sheet strength rather than retreat. President and CEO Phong Le has said that Strategy intends to remain a long-term bitcoin buyer. Shares of Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) were trading higher Monday morning in New York. The company’s stock rallied last week as the price of bitcoin rose. Strategy said in the filing that it sold about $2 billion in common shares last week, and also repurchased $136.4 million of its Stretch preferred shares. Corporate software company Strategy — formerly MicroStrategy — started buying bitcoin in 2020 as a way to protect shareholder returns. It has since spent nearly $64 billion on the cryptocurrency largely using leverage and now holds 840,447 BTC worth $66.4 billion at today’s prices, making it the largest corporate holder of the digital coin. Investors can get exposure to Bitcoin via stock and dividend-paying instruments that Strategy has issued. Bitcoin’s price recently stood at $79,031, up 25% over a seven-day period. This post Strategy Again Skips Bitcoin Buy And Establishes USD Cash Dollar Reserve first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Smart Money Helping Support Bitcoin Rebound, Says Pantera Capital American investment firm Pantera Capital’s portfolio manager has said “smart money” is helping push bitcoin’s price higher. Cosmo Jiang, portfolio manager at the firm, said in a Friday CNBC interview that the next resistance for the coin’s price could be around $80,000 and that while small pullback was possible, “smart money” was now flooding into the space. Bitcoin surged this week on positive regulatory news coming out of the U.S. and news that the Treasury Department would at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks. JUST IN: $3.8 billion Pantera Capital tells CNBC the Bitcoin price is starting to “reverse” to the upside "There's smart money now coming in, and there's real fundamentals to support the rebound in prices.” pic.twitter.com/278fR8t9vx — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 21, 2026 “From everything we see, positioning is starting to reverse,” Jiang said. “People are going from very much on the sidelines and even net short positioning to now realizing they want to be long, for what could be a very big technology.” Bitcoin was recently priced at $77,412 after surging more than 23% over the past week. The biggest cryptocurrency touched as high as $79,319 earlier on Friday. While spending most of June and July below $65,000, bitcoin has benefited from news that came out of the White House this week. President Donald Trump held a meeting with crypto executives earlier in the week, and urged lawmakers to get the long-awaited Clarity Act over the line. The crypto legislation, which aims to make it clear which digital assets the SEC and CFTC will watchdog, has been called for by industry bigwigs for years. A vote will now go ahead on the proposed law in September. Bitcoin surged on Trump’s comments. On the same day, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department would at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks. Non-yielding assets including bitcoin and gold jumped on the news. Jiang added that a slew of positive fundamentals in the crypto space — including stablecoin adoption, prediction markets, perpetual futures, and “the crossover of AI” — would help push bitcoin’s price higher. “It’s really hard not to be bullish,” he said. This post Smart Money Helping Support Bitcoin Rebound, Says Pantera Capital first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Legendary Investor Ray Dalio Touts Bitcoin — With Gold — To Hedge Against Incoming Debt Crisis Top investor Ray Dalio has again sung Bitcoin’s praises. But only a little bit. The billionaire hedge fund boss said in his latest essay that he expected “non-government-produced monies like gold and bitcoin to do relatively well” as government debt grows. Dalio, who founded one of the world’s largest hedge funds, Bridgewater Associates, has long warned investors about the size of America’s debt. U.S. national debt passed the $40 trillion mark this week. JUST IN: Billionaire Ray Dalio suggests diversifying into gold, bonds, "and a bit of Bitcoin." pic.twitter.com/Z0TCviiTBV — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 21, 2026 “As general advice, I suggest diversifying well in asset classes and countries that have strong income statements and balance sheets and are not having great internal political and external geopolitical conflicts, underweighting debt assets like bonds, and overweighting gold and a bit of Bitcoin,” Dalio wrote. He added that major economies like the U.K., U.S., Europe, and Japan all have similar debt and deficit problems and therefore assets like bitcoin — which are not issued by governments — could end up benefiting. Dalio has gone from saying he wouldn’t invest in Bitcoin over the years to finally admitting it was in his portfolio. Last year, Dalio said that bitcoin only made up 1% of his investments. He reiterated that point this year, and warned that although no one can print more bitcoin, it can be hurt by quantum computing advances. Back in 2020, the billionaire investor said that the cryptocurrency was too volatile to use as money but that it was worth holding a little bit. Gold, on the other hand, should be held by all investors, he added. Dalio’s latest essay explains that when governments over-borrow and central banks respond by printing money to cover the gap between debt supply and demand, the value of the currency gets debased. Bitcoiners have long argued that the oldest cryptocurrency can work as a hedge against government printing, just like gold. And Bitcoin has in the past benefited from governments expanding their money supplies. This post Legendary Investor Ray Dalio Touts Bitcoin — With Gold — To Hedge Against Incoming Debt Crisis first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Has Its Best Week Since 2023 as Shortsellers Continue To Get Wiped Out Bitcoin continued its rise on Friday, having its best week since 2023 as over $1 billion in shortsellers’ positions got ruined and exchange-traded funds received billions in new cash. The leading cryptocurrency on Friday was recently trading 23% higher over a seven-day period after flying past $77,542. It earlier in the day reached as high as $79,319. Bitcoin’s rise comes after the American investors fast piled into exchange-traded funds, with the vehicles so far this week taking in over $1.6 billion, according to Farside Investors data. CNBC analysts said that the coin’s rise is its best performance since 2023 and was triggered by the Treasury Department’s Wednesday announcement to at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks. The announcement has helped send yields down lower, while assets like bitcoin and gold have shot up. The dollar is trading at a three-month low and on track for its worst week of August. Why? Because lower long-term yields reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets, and generally supports risk-on sentiment. Those betting on the price of the cryptocurrency to fall also got hit hard: Data from Coinglass shows that over $1 billion in shorts positions were closed. In a note Friday, Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrick, said that Thursday was the largest liquidation of Bitcoin shorts ever when $1.1 billion in bets were closed. Bitcoin’s volatility had dropped significantly over June and July and had mostly been trading below $65,000. Investors have this week frantically bought shares of Bitcoin ETFs, with the funds on Thursday receiving $606.3 million — one of their biggest trading days this year. Positive regulatory news coming out of the White House is also helping: President Donald Trump held a meeting with crypto executives earlier in the week, and urged lawmakers to get the Clarity Act over the line. A vote will go ahead on the long-awaited crypto legislation, which the digital asset industry has long called for, in September. This post Bitcoin Has Its Best Week Since 2023 as Shortsellers Continue To Get Wiped Out first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Pakistan’s Crypto Pitch: “Come Build Here” as Virtual Assets Act Moves Forward Pakistan has announced a new regulatory framework for crypto after banning the asset class for close to a decade, Announcing the news in an X post Friday, Bilal Bin Saqib, the special assistant to the prime minister on blockchain and cryptocurrency, invited foreign businesses to come to the country and set up shop. Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Act introduces the country’s first comprehensive legal framework for overseeing virtual assets and the businesses that operate in this space. 8 years of prohibition end today. Chairman PVARA @BilalBinSaqib announces the notification of the Licensing Regulations and the opening of the licensing portal, and sets out what licensing requires of providers and what it guarantees consumers. Get licensed. Get compliant. Come… pic.twitter.com/STVPsoX1so — Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (@PakistanVARA) August 21, 2026 “For approximately a decade, Pakistan’s answer to virtual assets was complete permission and complete ban — but history tells us that technology never waits for permission,” Bin Saqib said. He added: “To the companies watching Pakistan from outside, the front door is open for you. Come, get licensed. Come, get banked. Come, build here under rules that are clear, public and enforceable.” In a separate post, Bin Saqib said that the country now has “the rules, the regulator and the licensing framework to bring virtual assets into the formal economy, protect consumers and build the foundation for the next generation of financial infrastructure.” Pakistan’s virtual Assets Act was approved by the senate earlier this year and then signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari. Friday’s announcement indicates that licensing regulations are now in place. Pakistan has made a crypto-friendly pivot in recent years. In 2025, plans to launch a national strategic Bitcoin reserve were announced at the Bitcoin 2025. Before that, the country announced that it was allocating 2,000 MW of surplus electricity to Bitcoin mining and AI data centers in an initiative aimed at generating revenue, creating jobs, and attracting foreign investment, according to the Pakistani government. The country has played an important part as a mediator between the U.S. and Iran. A relationship started forming between the two after it became an affiliate of Trump-backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial. Weeks after President Donald Trump’s return to power last year, WLF leaders went to Islamabad to meet with Pakistan’s prime minister. This post Pakistan’s Crypto Pitch: “Come Build Here” as Virtual Assets Act Moves Forward first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Price Roars Towards $80,000 Following Positive Regulatory News, US Buyback Pledge Bitcoin roared past $79,000 Friday, sustaining the biggest run in years following positive regulatory news and an announcement from the U.S. Treasury. The leading cryptocurrency hit as high as $79,319 before dipping slightly. It was recently priced at $77,584, a more than 7% rise over the past day. Over a seven-day period, the coin has shot up by close to 23%. Bitcoin had spent most of July and June trading below $65,000. Some analysts had said that the bottom was likely in. JUST IN: Standard Chartered bank says Bitcoin could surge back to $100,000 this year, ending the "shallowest" bear market so far pic.twitter.com/IpyESe931E — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 21, 2026 And it may just be in: Writing in a note Friday, Standard Chartered’s Global Head of Digital Assets Research, Geoffrey Kendrick, said that a $100,000 price forecast by year-end was too low. “Once investors remember how quickly prices can accelerate to the topside, and we get past the 6 October date (12 months after the all-time high) an overshoot towards the all-time high (USD126k) before year-end may be possible,” he said. He added that bitcoin’s bear market so far has been the shallowest on record. Analysts have pointed out that the coin’s volatility has been dampened this year. Bitcoin notched a record last year of $126,080 but plunged soon after following the biggest liquidation event in the history of crypto. Over $19 billion in leveraged bets were closed, sending shockwaves through the market. Since then, a number of factors have hurt bitcoin’s price, including the Federal Reserve being reluctant to lower interest rates and geopolitical headwinds such as war in the Middle East. But recent positive regulatory news has helped the coin. While a vote on the long-awaited crypto Clarity Act has been delayed until September, President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the bill was a “very, very powerful” piece of legislation, and urged lawmakers to get it over the line. The proposed law will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins — legislation that the crypto industry has long called for. And earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the department would at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks. The news sent yields down lower; lower long-term yields reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like bitcoin and gold, and generally supports risk-on sentiment. This post Bitcoin Price Roars Towards $80,000 Following Positive Regulatory News, US Buyback Pledge first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Could Attract More Buyers As Fast Money Is Washed Out, Says Lyn Alden Macroeconomist and author Lyn Alden has said that while sentiment for Bitcoin has been low in recent months, there are “not a lot of downside catalysts” for the asset left. Speaking in a Thursday interview with CNBC, Alden said that the “fast money” has been washed out and market observers are not expecting Bitcoin treasury Strategy to sell anymore. Alden’s comments come after Bitcoin shot up this week. The leading cryptocurrency was recently trading for $72,660 — a more than 6% 24-hour rise — after reaching $72,890 earlier on Thursday. “By almost every metric, Bitcoin is near the low end of its valuation and sentiment range,” Alden said. “Even relatively small upside gains at this point can attract new types of buyers — once people see that the chart doesn’t look bad anymore, you can get technical traders coming back in; if you get further momentum, say months from now, you could get more momentum traders back in.” Bitcoin shot up following President Trump held a meeting at the White House with crypto executives and urged lawmakers to pass the long-anticipated crypto market structure bill, the Clarity Act. The president said Wednesday that the Clarity Act was a “very, very powerful” piece of legislation and urged lawmakers to pass it. Crypto industry companies have long been waiting for the crypto legislation. The Clarity Act was passed by the House of Representatives last year but has largely remained in deadlock this year. Some lawmakers were hoping for a vote in August but that will now go ahead in September. Alden added that while Bitcoin isn’t necessarily “out of the woods yet,” hard assets like Bitcoin that are “under-owned” will come out winning over the long-run. Bitcoin notched a record in October of $126,080 but has been in a bear market in 2026 as traders have increasingly pivoted to artificial intelligence-related tech stocks, and the Federal Reserve has hinted that interest rates will not come down anytime soon. This post Bitcoin Could Attract More Buyers As Fast Money Is Washed Out, Says Lyn Alden first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Open Source vs. Source-Available: What the Coldcard Failure Teaches About Bitcoin Software Incentives Closed versus Open Source code has divided the Bitcoin and broader crypto industry for well over a decade. Bitcoin advocates have long argued that the financial infrastructure of the world should be built in public. Transparency and auditability, they say, are non-negotiable when real money is at stake. Yet the app and legacy layers of finance often disagree. Yet the recent Coldcard hack, a popular self-custody hardware wallet where users lost over $100 million worth of bitcoin (more than 1,500 BTC), cast doubt over what “Open Source” actually means. It revealed that perhaps most people, even many hardcore bitcoiners, are poorly educated on the Open Source software development philosophy and when it fails. The Principles and Terminology The language around Open Source can be complicated. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) refer to software that meets formal definitions of user freedom. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) defines free software through four essential freedoms: Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose. Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (access to the source code is a precondition for this). Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others. Freedom 3: The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (access to the source code is a precondition for this). The FSF emphasizes that “free” refers to liberty, not price, in a common quote heard from FOSS advocates: “‘free’ as in ‘free speech,’ not as in ‘free beer.’” The Open Source Initiative’s Open Source Definition adds ten practical criteria. These include free redistribution without royalties, availability of source code in the preferred form for modification, the right to create and distribute derived works, and no discrimination against persons, groups, or fields of endeavor — including commercial use. A license must meet all ten criteria to qualify as Open Source under the OSI standard. “Source available” or “source viewable” is different. Code may be publicly readable while the license restricts the right to sell it. Coldcard’s firmware, for example, is released under MIT terms plus the Commons Clause. The Clause specifically removes the right to “Sell” the software — defined as providing it to third parties for a fee or other consideration in a product or service whose value derives entirely or substantially from the software itself. In other words, Coldcard’s firmware could not be used commercially. The Commons Clause’s own FAQ states the difference explicitly: “Is this ‘Open Source’? No.” It notes that applying the clause means the software meets many elements of the Open Source Definition but not all of them, and therefore should not be called Open Source. These distinctions matter. Publishing source code creates the possibility of inspection. Granting the full set of rights defined by the Free Software Definition or the Open Source Definition is what makes software FOSS or FLOSS. But having the badge of approval, being able to wave a FOSS or FLOSS flag, is not the point. Commercial liberty in FOSS unlocks third-party incentives to test and review code that might otherwise not be there, critics argue. The four freedoms form the philosophical core of Open Source. In practice they rest on an economic assumption: that enough motivated people will actually examine the code. When that assumption fails, the system produces a classic tragedy of the commons, a situation where a shared resource is overused or neglected because individual users act in their own short-term self-interest rather than in the long-term interest of the group. Each person has an incentive to take more (or contribute less) than is sustainable, and the resource degrades as a result. This happens when there is misalignment between the short-term self-interest of the individual and the long-term interest of the group. Sometimes alignment exists; sometimes it does not. One Bitcoin developer put the problem bluntly: “Using mocks and stubs of Open Source code in tests is irresponsible and shortsighted. Open Source code is considered safe because anyone can verify it. If you aren’t willing to do the bare minimum of testing the features you actually depend on, then you are behaving like a leech.” As a result, Open Source does not create safety by itself. It creates the possibility of verification. Whether that verification occurs depends on incentives, skill, and attention. Historical FOSS is believed to harden over time as vulnerabilities are discovered, disclosed and patched, creating solid foundations others build on top of. The Linux kernel is a great example of such hardened FOSS; it powers the vast majority of the world’s servers, cloud infrastructure, Android devices, and embedded systems, making it one of the most widely deployed pieces of software in history. Open Source as Demonstrated by Bitcoin Core Bitcoin Core, the reference implementation of Bitcoin, is another prescient large-scale example of pure open-source functioning in the wild. The software, which runs behind most Bitcoin-related infrastructure, is released under the MIT license. Its development process is broadly public by design. Anyone can open a pull request. Code review is the primary filter and the recommended entry point for new contributors. Reviewers use a formal vocabulary—Concept ACK (acknowledgment and agreement with the goal), Approach ACK (agreement with the goal and method), ACK with a specific commit hash (tested and approved for merge), or NACK (disagreement, which should be accompanied by technical reasoning). Maintainers weigh consensus among contributors and the technical merits of a change before merging. Consensus-critical changes face a still higher bar and usually require a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal and extensive multi-year discussions on the bitcoin-dev mailing list and IRC. There is no privileged caste of “Bitcoin Core developers.” Trust is earned through demonstrated competence over time. Maintainers exist for practical reasons—auditing and merging code, managing releases, and basic moderation—but the work produced is pure open-source code that anyone can inspect, build, fork, or run. Developers who get code ‘commits’ merged into Bitcoin Core are broadly called Bitcoin Core Contributors. Calle, a long-time open-source Bitcoin developer, summarized the reality recently: “People who think that core is some sort of intransparent institution operating in the shadows are either too lazy or too dumb to go have a look for themselves. Literally everything they do is public, anyone can chime in, and the result of their work is pure Open Source code.” Funding for this work comes largely through nonprofit and grant structures such as Brink, OpenSats, Spiral, and others rather than a traditional company product roadmap. Technical discussion and debate take place publicly on the bitcoin-dev mailing list and in the #bitcoin-core-dev IRC channel on Libera Chat, where proposals are scrutinized before and during the pull-request process. GitHub issues and pull requests often carry comment histories stretching back a decade. The result is a development culture optimized for correctness and auditability rather than speed or commercial feature velocity. The Economics of Open Source Most users of open-source or source-available software never read the code themselves. They rely on the assumption that others are examining it. In the Coldcard case, a critical entropy flaw remained in publicly available firmware for roughly five years before it was exploited and thus discovered. The bug entered the codebase during a major 2021 rewrite that also removed remaining GPL-derived code from Trezor, the first hardware wallet and now the second largest in the self-custody industry. The library at the center of the entropy failure, which replaced trezor-crypto, is called libngu and had minimal external scrutiny, with only 7 stars and fewer than 20 forks in over 5 years of being used in production. Compare that to the 512 stars worn by the trezor-crypto library alongside 212 forks, or the 793 forks and 1.8k stars of the more modern trezor-firmware. Source availability alone did not produce the review that mattered, because other for-profit, well-funded companies were restricted from using it, or so critics would argue. The stakes are higher in Bitcoin than in most software domains. A critical flaw can be converted directly into liquid funds on the open market. While the first half of the Coldcard funds stolen are still held in a handful of addresses and the hacker may one day be caught, copycat hackers that followed were more careful, and some have stolen more bitcoin and laundered it successfully, per Galaxy Research. Bitcoin’s censorship resistance and immutable transactability create both a powerful incentive for attackers and a Darwinian filter; only projects that continuously attract competent review, and users and companies that take serious precautions, tend to survive long-term. Licensing choices shape those incentives according to FOSS advocates who criticized Coinkite’s licensing decisions for years. Pure open-source licenses maximize the pool of potential reviewers and forks. Restricted “source available” licenses can reduce commercial free-riding but also shrink the circle of people with both the legal right and the economic motive to invest deep attention. Alas, the burden of code review falls back on the company under a restrictive license, placing it in some sense closer to closed source than open. How AI Changes Open and Closed Source Development Artificial intelligence is now also altering the balance between FOSS and Closed source. After the Coldcard incident, a volunteer effort known as the Bitcoin Red Team—led by developers including Calle and Rob Hamilton of AnchorWatch, and supported by OpenSats—used frontier AI models to scan hundreds of open-source Bitcoin repositories. In one intensive period, the team filed thousands of findings, including dozens classified as critical or high severity, across hundreds of projects. Responsible disclosures were made to maintainers before broader publication. The exercise demonstrated that systematic AI-assisted review can surface issues at a scale and speed previously impractical for purely human teams. On this front, it is worth noting that the Red Team found Chinese open-weight models far more reliable than closed-source American models, which, even with cyber permissions and top-line access, refused to answer Red Team queries, a trend that the American developers lament. At the same time, the flood of AI-generated code has created a new denial-of-service pressure on FOSS maintainers. Reviewing AI output often takes longer than generating it. Some open-source projects outside Bitcoin have restricted issue trackers or imposed strict anti-AI contribution rules simply to stay functional. On the closed-source side, the traditional advantage of security through obscurity is eroding. Modern AI models can read, de-obfuscate, probe endpoints and reason about code at high speed. The practical difference between open and closed source is now mostly relegated to back-end code that never gets shared online. Closed-source code, as a result, stands only on the quality of professional audits, the speed of patch deployment, and the incentive structure that keeps competent people with access looking. Bitcoin and the broader crypto industry are applying unusual pressures to free and open-source software. The combination of real monetary value at risk, adversarial economics, and now AI-scale analysis is forcing the software models to evolve. Returning to analog pre-digital systems is hardly an option for infrastructure that holds up modern society. Only the most audited projects are likely to survive the pressures of AI-aided hackers and the weight of digital-first finance. This post Open Source vs. Source-Available: What the Coldcard Failure Teaches About Bitcoin Software Incentives first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Iranian Hacking Crew Charged in Sprawling Theft Case — Including $6M Bitcoin Ransom Feds have hit 17 Iranians with criminal charges for allegedly conducting a years-long campaign of cyber attacks — including trying to extort HBO for $6 million in bitcoin. The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that the 17 individuals were working with the Mabna Institute, which carried out hacking campaigns on ​behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian ​government and university clients. Hundreds of U.S. and ⁠international universities, dozens of companies, and at least five ​state and federal government agencies were targeted in the campaign. Part of the indictment mentioned Behzad Mesri, who was previously charged with hacking entertainment giant Home Box Office — HBO — and stealing proprietary data. The crime then saw Mesri try and extort approximately $6 million worth of Bitcoin. Prosecutors added that five other defendants — Saeid Houshyar, Manouchehr Hashemloo, Keyvan Fayaz, Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh, and Arman Kahzadian — were directly involved in the hack. The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is now offering up to $10 million for information on the location of the defendants. “Today’s charges, which include eight additional defendants, reveal the broader network allegedly behind a sweeping, state-sponsored campaign to steal research and intellectual property from American universities, businesses, and government institutions,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. Founded around 2013 by Gholamreza Rafatnejad and Ehsan Mohammadi, the Mabna Institute allegedly worked at the behest of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian clients. The stolen research didn’t just go to Tehran’s intelligence services. Prosecutors say it was resold through two websites, Megapaper.ir and Gigapaper.ir, the latter renting out hijacked professor logins so Iranian customers could walk straight into foreign university libraries. U.S. institutions had spent some $3.4 billion acquiring the material in the first place. Separate victims racked up more than $20 million cleaning up the breaches. This post Iranian Hacking Crew Charged in Sprawling Theft Case — Including $6M Bitcoin Ransom first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin ETFs Add Over $1B as Investor Sentiment Turns Bullish Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have taken in over $1 billion in fresh cash over the past three days, helping propel the leading cryptocurrency to nearly $73,000. Just on Wednesday, investors bought over $500 million worth of shares in the funds managed by BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale, according to data from Farside Investors. Bitcoin’s price has surged this week, and on Thursday reached $72,659 before dropping slightly. It was recently priced at $72,606, a 10% 24-hour rise. Bitcoin is currently a little over 40% below its October record of $126,080. JUST IN: Bitcoin is now officially out of the "Fear" in the Fear & Greed Index pic.twitter.com/x3yWLQ8hpy — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 20, 2026 President Trump on Wednesday held a meeting at the White House with crypto executives like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, as well as regulators like Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins. At a press conference after, the president said that the Clarity Act was a “very, very powerful” piece of legislation and urged lawmakers to pass it. The crypto market structure bill was passed by the House of Representatives last year but has largely remained in deadlock this year. Some lawmakers were hoping for a vote in August but that will now go ahead in September. Crypto businesses have long called for clear rules in the industry; the Clarity Act aims to establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins. The lion’s share of this week’s investment has been taken in by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, which has received $588.5 million since Monday. Other funds, like Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin Trust, also experienced significant trading action. The flurry of buying comes after investors last week cashed out over $385 million from the U.S. funds after tensions in the Middle East started to escalate again. The price then mostly remained flat, despite the ETF redemptions. Investors may be feeling bullish after the Treasury Department announcing on Wednesday that it would more than double the size of its government debt repurchases. Lower long-term yields reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like bitcoin and gold, and generally supports risk-on sentiment. Both soared as the dollar weakened following the announcement. This post Bitcoin ETFs Add Over $1B as Investor Sentiment Turns Bullish first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Says Bitcoin Will Likely Hit $400,000 By 2030 Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said that it’s “very likely” Bitcoin will hit between $300,000 to $400,000 by 2030. Speaking on Fox Business Thursday, the crypto entrepreneur also said that the U.S. was moving in the right direction with crypto legislation following a meeting at the White House. President Donald Trump on Wednesday hosted crypto executives and traditional finance bigwigs at the White House and urged for lawmakers to move forward with the Clarity Act. Bitcoin surged following the news and was recently up 10% over the past day after blowing past $72,000 per coin. JUST IN: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tells CNBC: "I think there's a good chance we're on the cusp of the next bull market" "Looking at this September 15 vote for the Clarity Act and then traditionally, following the Bitcoin halving cycles like October. November, December,… pic.twitter.com/WBMlAW9ERt — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 20, 2026 “I think over the next couple of years — if I say 2030 — I think it’s very likely we’ll see $300,000 and $400,000 Bitcoin and we’ll see how it goes,” Armstrong said. He added: “Just yesterday, we had this meeting with the president and the top regulators at the SEC and CFTC and that was the big topic of conversation — there was a big sense of urgency from this administration: let’s get Clarity done, let’s get it over the line.” A number of lawmakers were hoping to vote on the Clarity Act in August but after a delay, a vote will now go ahead in September. The long-awaited bill will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins — legislation that the crypto industry has long called for. Trump on Wednesday called for lawmakers to get the bill over the line, calling it a “very, very powerful” piece of legislation. The Clarity Act has been in deadlock for much of 2026 as the banking lobby clashed with crypto executives over the topic of stablecoin yield. Some banks warned that they could lose their deposit base if crypto companies pay their clients too generous rewards on the stablecoins they hold. But Armstrong shrugged off concerns banks may have, and said that a number of banks had praised the legislation. “There’s actually a number of banks who’ve come out and endorsed the Clarity Act,” he said. “Most banks recognize that it gives them new powers that allow them to grow their business with this new technology, which is great. There’s still a few holdout banks, I would say, that are against it.” This post Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Says Bitcoin Will Likely Hit $400,000 By 2030 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Rockets Past $72,000 After Trump Pushes For Clarity Act Bitcoin’s price surged further on Thursday, blowing past $72,000 the day after President Trump held a meeting with crypto executives and urged lawmakers to get the long-awaited Clarity Act over the line. The leading cryptocurrency was trading for $71,758 at 8am in New York, after jumping nearly 12% over a 24-hour period. It touched as high as $72,344 earlier in the day. Bitcoin was last trading this high at the beginning of June. The coin has spent most of July and August priced under $65,000. JUST IN: $72,066 Bitcoin! pic.twitter.com/g06u7ntlJR — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 20, 2026 The surge comes after President Trump held a meeting at the White House with crypto bigwigs, including Kraken and Coinbase CEOs, where he said that getting the Clarity Act over the line would keep the U.S. ahead of China. “Now we need Congress to take the next step by passing the Clarity Act — a fair version of the Clarity Act — and this landmark structure legislation,” he said at a Wednesday press conference, and even hinted that the U.S. may be open to accumulating bitcoin. “It’s taken a lot of pressure off the dollar, it’s been very, very good for the dollar, and I think if [regulators] came in with recommendations, I would certainly listen,” Trump added when asked about adding to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. A number of lawmakers were hoping to vote on the Clarity Act in August but after a delay, a vote will now go ahead in September. The bill will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins — legislation that the crypto industry has long called for. Bitcoin’s price has also benefited from the Treasury Department announcing on Wednesday that it would more than double the size of its government debt repurchases. Lower long-term yields reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like bitcoin and gold, and generally supports risk-on sentiment. Both soared as the dollar weakened following the announcement. Bitcoin’s price has suffered in 2026 despite notching a new all-time high of $126,080 in October. Geopolitical headwinds, including the U.S.-Iran war, rising oil prices and a Federal Reserve reluctant to lower interest rates have all weighed on the coin’s price. This post Bitcoin Rockets Past $72,000 After Trump Pushes For Clarity Act first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст

Bitcoin Magazine Trump Urges Senate to Pass Crypto’s CLARITY Act, Teases More Bitcoin Buys U.S. President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to pass the Clarity Act on Wednesday — and also hinted that the government may accumulate more bitcoin. After gathering with crypto executives at the White House, President Trump said that getting the Clarity Act over the line would keep the U.S. ahead of China. Lawmakers were hoping to get a vote on the crypto market structure bill, or Clarity Act, in August. A vote will now go ahead in September. The bill will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins. BREAKING: President Trump when asked if the U.S. plans to accumulate sizable amounts of Bitcoin: "Certainly it's been talked about. It's take a lot of pressure off the dollar. It's been very, very good for the dollar. and I think if you came in with recommendations I would… pic.twitter.com/NnWFHi51nT — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 19, 2026 “We’re ensuring that America remains the undisputed leader in not only Bitcoin and crypto, but also technologies like prediction markets, artificial intelligence and much more,” President Trump said. He added: “Now we need Congress to take the next step by passing the Clarity Act — a fair version of the Clarity Act — and this landmark structure legislation. It’s a very, very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China, and keep us ahead of everyone else.” When asked if the U.S. government would be accumulating bitcoin, President Trump said: “It’s been talked about — it’s taken a lot of pressure off the dollar, it’s been very, very good for the dollar, and I think if [regulators] came in with recommendations, I would certainly listen.” President Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve last year. The order states that the U.S. cannot sell any of the bitcoin it has, most of which has been seized in law enforcement operations. But the EO does not commit to buying the asset. Nevertheless, the president has recently spoken highly of bitcoin: Just last week, Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that “you see people paying with bitcoin and they don’t even know about cash anymore.” Despite being passed by the House of Representatives last year, the Clarity Act has been in a deadlock for most of this year after the banking lobby clashed with lawmakers and crypto businesses over whether platforms like Coinbase should be able to pay customers yield. Some lawmakers have sought to change wording in the bill regarding ethics. A new bill started circulating in July, banning government officials from promoting and making money from crypto. Other lawmakers said it still fell short, and a number of pro-crypto Republicans accused Democrats of deliberately playing politics and delaying the bill. This post Trump Urges Senate to Pass Crypto’s CLARITY Act, Teases More Bitcoin Buys first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo. Переглянути повний текст