'The Government Doesn't Own Our Data': Prosecuted GrapheneOS User
Samuel Tunick, facing five years over a wiped phone, said he was secretly placed on a watch list as a suspected terrorist.
https://decrypt.co/376631/the-government-doesnt-own-our-data-prosecuted-grapheneos-user
Samuel Tunick, facing five years over a wiped phone, said he was secretly placed on a watch list as a suspected terrorist.
https://decrypt.co/376631/the-government-doesnt-own-our-data-prosecuted-grapheneos-user
Bitcoin’s security risk starts when one block gets far more fees than the next
Bitcoin’s security-budget debate usually starts with one total: how much miners collect in transaction fees as the block subsidy shrinks.
A July 2026 NBER working paper by Fabian Schär, Dario Thürkauf, and David Yermack points to a second variable. Using data from 2017 through 2025, the authors report that larger fee differences between adjacent Bitcoin blocks are associated with more competing blocks at the same height and a longer wait for the next block.
The evidence is observational and identifies a network-level relationship, while miner intent and the cause of any individual block race remain unresolved. The finding still gives wallets, miners, and users a measurable signal: Bitcoin security incentives respond to how fees arrive from block to block, as well as how much the network pays over time.
Fee gaps create a different mining incentive Bitcoin currently pays miners a fixed subsidy of 3.125 BTC for each block, plus the transaction fees included in that block. Successive subsidy reductions place more long-run weight on fees as a source of mining revenue.
As of Aug. 26, a daily Glassnode measure put transaction fees at about 0.70% of miner revenue. A BTC.network report covering Aug. 14 through Aug. 21 calculated a 0.67% share for the week. The two snapshots cover different periods, but each places fees below 1%.
Related Reading Bitcoin is getting too expensive to mine profitably: What breaks first? Block-level data can show much sharper variation than those aggregate readings. An Aug. 26 Blockchain.com block snapshot showed 0.0077 BTC in fees in block 964,120 and 0.0536 BTC in block 964,121, an almost seven-fold change between adjacent blocks. The comparison illustrates how sharply fee rewards can vary from one block to the next, while the fee values alone leave miner behavior unresolved.
That prize shapes the choice described by Bitcoin Optech’s fee-sniping reference. A miner can extend the newest block and compete for the transactions currently waiting in the mempool. It can also attempt to recreate a valuable prior block, claim that block’s fees, and then extend the alternative chain.
The attempt begins behind the accepted tip, and its economic appeal rises when fees in the prior block greatly exceed the expected fees in a new tip-extending block. Hash-rate share, propagation, and other miners’ reactions affect the odds, so the incentive is probabilistic. Variable fees can change the payoff calculation even during periods when the network’s aggregate fee revenue is low.
The working paper tests whether that logic appears in historical network behavior. In a co-author explanation of the research, Thürkauf defines a block race as competing blocks at the same height. The authors associate larger adjacent-block fee gaps with more of those races.
They also report a lower probability that the next block appears in the first seconds after a large fee gap, a timing pattern consistent with some hash rate contesting the prior height. Since the analysis is observational, the result establishes an association at the network level and leaves individual miner motives unresolved.
That distinction shifts the measurement focus because monthly or annual fee totals describe Bitcoin’s overall security income, whereas adjacent-block fee gaps isolate brief periods when revisiting the prior height can carry a larger potential payoff.
Signal Security relevance Interpretive limit Fee gap between adjacent blocks Approximates the extra prize in a valuable prior block Miner intent remains unknown Competing blocks at the same height Shows that multiple versions briefly existed Routine network behavior can also produce a race Delay in the next block’s first seconds Matches the timing window highlighted by the study A single delay has multiple possible causes Fee share of miner revenue Measures aggregate reliance on transaction fees Fee distribution remains outside the aggregate measure
Bitcoin’s security-budget debate usually starts with one total: how much miners collect in transaction fees as the block subsidy shrinks.
A July 2026 NBER working paper by Fabian Schär, Dario Thürkauf, and David Yermack points to a second variable. Using data from 2017 through 2025, the authors report that larger fee differences between adjacent Bitcoin blocks are associated with more competing blocks at the same height and a longer wait for the next block.
The evidence is observational and identifies a network-level relationship, while miner intent and the cause of any individual block race remain unresolved. The finding still gives wallets, miners, and users a measurable signal: Bitcoin security incentives respond to how fees arrive from block to block, as well as how much the network pays over time.
Fee gaps create a different mining incentive Bitcoin currently pays miners a fixed subsidy of 3.125 BTC for each block, plus the transaction fees included in that block. Successive subsidy reductions place more long-run weight on fees as a source of mining revenue.
As of Aug. 26, a daily Glassnode measure put transaction fees at about 0.70% of miner revenue. A BTC.network report covering Aug. 14 through Aug. 21 calculated a 0.67% share for the week. The two snapshots cover different periods, but each places fees below 1%.
Related Reading Bitcoin is getting too expensive to mine profitably: What breaks first? Block-level data can show much sharper variation than those aggregate readings. An Aug. 26 Blockchain.com block snapshot showed 0.0077 BTC in fees in block 964,120 and 0.0536 BTC in block 964,121, an almost seven-fold change between adjacent blocks. The comparison illustrates how sharply fee rewards can vary from one block to the next, while the fee values alone leave miner behavior unresolved.
That prize shapes the choice described by Bitcoin Optech’s fee-sniping reference. A miner can extend the newest block and compete for the transactions currently waiting in the mempool. It can also attempt to recreate a valuable prior block, claim that block’s fees, and then extend the alternative chain.
The attempt begins behind the accepted tip, and its economic appeal rises when fees in the prior block greatly exceed the expected fees in a new tip-extending block. Hash-rate share, propagation, and other miners’ reactions affect the odds, so the incentive is probabilistic. Variable fees can change the payoff calculation even during periods when the network’s aggregate fee revenue is low.
The working paper tests whether that logic appears in historical network behavior. In a co-author explanation of the research, Thürkauf defines a block race as competing blocks at the same height. The authors associate larger adjacent-block fee gaps with more of those races.
They also report a lower probability that the next block appears in the first seconds after a large fee gap, a timing pattern consistent with some hash rate contesting the prior height. Since the analysis is observational, the result establishes an association at the network level and leaves individual miner motives unresolved.
That distinction shifts the measurement focus because monthly or annual fee totals describe Bitcoin’s overall security income, whereas adjacent-block fee gaps isolate brief periods when revisiting the prior height can carry a larger potential payoff.
Signal Security relevance Interpretive limit Fee gap between adjacent blocks Approximates the extra prize in a valuable prior block Miner intent remains unknown Competing blocks at the same height Shows that multiple versions briefly existed Routine network behavior can also produce a race Delay in the next block’s first seconds Matches the timing window highlighted by the study A single delay has multiple possible causes Fee share of miner revenue Measures aggregate reliance on transaction fees Fee distribution remains outside the aggregate measure
Bitcoin wallet protections shrink the prize unevenly Bitcoin transactions can reduce the incentive to revisit a prior block through lock fields. A wallet can set a lock so the transaction first becomes mineable in the block after the current tip, which excludes it from a replacement of the current tip.
Widespread use changes the economics of fee sniping because a miner rebuilding the earlier height loses access to some of the newest pending transactions, lowering the revenue available in its alternative block. The protection shrinks the available prize and leaves reorganization attempts technically possible.
Bitcoin Optech’s technical overview says developers see current protections as incomplete. Their effectiveness depends on which wallets and transaction-creation systems set the relevant fields, how consistently they do so, and which transaction types they cover.
BIP 326 describes anti-fee-sniping behavior for Taproot transactions through nLockTime or nSequence. It remains a draft informational proposal, and wallets can adopt the approach gradually under existing consensus rules, leaving real-world coverage dependent on implementation choices.
An open Bitcoin Core issue from April 2026 documents one concrete inconsistency. The issue says the send RPC and GUI wallet flow set nLockTime near the current block height, whereas the createrawtransaction and walletcreatefundedpsbt paths default to zero. The proposed consistency change remains open.
The difference means Bitcoin Core’s anti-fee-sniping default is applied unevenly across transaction-creation paths. Estimating the network-wide effect would require data on how much transaction volume each path represents, which the issue does not provide.
Implementation coverage therefore belongs inside the security-budget discussion because a mitigation can be technically available while its network effect depends on the share of pending transactions that use it. Broader and more consistent lock-field behavior would reduce the fees available to a miner trying to rebuild the previous height.
Miners also face a coordination problem because the return from contesting a block depends partly on whether other miners extend the accepted tip. A broad migration toward protective transaction construction changes the available reward directly and can occur under existing consensus rules, avoiding a miner-coordination requirement.
Signals to watch before the next subsidy cut The next subsidy reduction provides a useful monitoring horizon, though its security effects will depend on fee demand, fee distribution, miner behavior, propagation, and mitigation adoption.
Four signals provide a better view than aggregate revenue alone:
Adjacent-block fee gaps. Persistent or extreme gaps mark the periods when a prior block carries the largest extra prize.
Competing-block frequency. A change in same-height races shows shifting network behavior while leaving the cause open.
Immediate next-block timing. The first seconds after a high-fee block are the interval highlighted by the study.
Lock-field coverage. More consistent use across wallet and automated transaction-creation paths can reduce the revenue available in a rebuilt prior block.
Each signal captures a different part of the incentive because fee gaps describe the prize, block races and timing describe network outcomes, and lock-field use describes a defense.
Bitcoin’s fee market can produce occasional outlier blocks even while fees remain a small share of miner revenue. Those outliers deserve closer attention because mining incentives emerge in each block interval, while monthly revenue charts blur the short-lived extremes.
The post Bitcoin’s security risk starts when one block gets far more fees than the next appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoins-security-risk-starts-when-one-block-gets-far-more-fees-than-the-next/
Widespread use changes the economics of fee sniping because a miner rebuilding the earlier height loses access to some of the newest pending transactions, lowering the revenue available in its alternative block. The protection shrinks the available prize and leaves reorganization attempts technically possible.
Bitcoin Optech’s technical overview says developers see current protections as incomplete. Their effectiveness depends on which wallets and transaction-creation systems set the relevant fields, how consistently they do so, and which transaction types they cover.
BIP 326 describes anti-fee-sniping behavior for Taproot transactions through nLockTime or nSequence. It remains a draft informational proposal, and wallets can adopt the approach gradually under existing consensus rules, leaving real-world coverage dependent on implementation choices.
An open Bitcoin Core issue from April 2026 documents one concrete inconsistency. The issue says the send RPC and GUI wallet flow set nLockTime near the current block height, whereas the createrawtransaction and walletcreatefundedpsbt paths default to zero. The proposed consistency change remains open.
The difference means Bitcoin Core’s anti-fee-sniping default is applied unevenly across transaction-creation paths. Estimating the network-wide effect would require data on how much transaction volume each path represents, which the issue does not provide.
Implementation coverage therefore belongs inside the security-budget discussion because a mitigation can be technically available while its network effect depends on the share of pending transactions that use it. Broader and more consistent lock-field behavior would reduce the fees available to a miner trying to rebuild the previous height.
Miners also face a coordination problem because the return from contesting a block depends partly on whether other miners extend the accepted tip. A broad migration toward protective transaction construction changes the available reward directly and can occur under existing consensus rules, avoiding a miner-coordination requirement.
Signals to watch before the next subsidy cut The next subsidy reduction provides a useful monitoring horizon, though its security effects will depend on fee demand, fee distribution, miner behavior, propagation, and mitigation adoption.
Four signals provide a better view than aggregate revenue alone:
Adjacent-block fee gaps. Persistent or extreme gaps mark the periods when a prior block carries the largest extra prize.
Competing-block frequency. A change in same-height races shows shifting network behavior while leaving the cause open.
Immediate next-block timing. The first seconds after a high-fee block are the interval highlighted by the study.
Lock-field coverage. More consistent use across wallet and automated transaction-creation paths can reduce the revenue available in a rebuilt prior block.
Each signal captures a different part of the incentive because fee gaps describe the prize, block races and timing describe network outcomes, and lock-field use describes a defense.
Bitcoin’s fee market can produce occasional outlier blocks even while fees remain a small share of miner revenue. Those outliers deserve closer attention because mining incentives emerge in each block interval, while monthly revenue charts blur the short-lived extremes.
The post Bitcoin’s security risk starts when one block gets far more fees than the next appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoins-security-risk-starts-when-one-block-gets-far-more-fees-than-the-next/
Solana Treasury Firm Invites Investors to Look 'Beyond the Price of SOL'
Nasdaq-listed SOL treasury company DeFi Development Corp launched a free network dashboard on Wednesday. Its pitch: judge Solana on more than just price.
https://decrypt.co/376619/solana-treasury-sol-data-beyond-price
Nasdaq-listed SOL treasury company DeFi Development Corp launched a free network dashboard on Wednesday. Its pitch: judge Solana on more than just price.
https://decrypt.co/376619/solana-treasury-sol-data-beyond-price
Bitcoin Wallets Dormant for Over a Decade Move $40M in One Week
Six wallets that slept through Bitcoin's entire boom woke up between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26, moving tens of millions in BTC.
https://decrypt.co/376641/bitcoin-wallets-dormant-decade-move-40m
Six wallets that slept through Bitcoin's entire boom woke up between Aug. 16 and Aug. 26, moving tens of millions in BTC.
https://decrypt.co/376641/bitcoin-wallets-dormant-decade-move-40m
A 2,712 BTC treasury company just lost its Bitcoin strategy chief with no successor named
The Smarter Web Company, which reported holding 2,712 BTC earlier this month, said Jesse Myers, Head of Bitcoin Strategy, will leave on Sept. 1 while its Bitcoin Treasury Policy remains unchanged under board oversight.
The Aug. 25 notice did not give a reason for Myers’ departure, name a successor or say how his responsibilities would be reassigned. Those unanswered questions matter because Myers held a documented operational role in the company’s Bitcoin strategy.
In January, Smarter Web identified Myers as part of the senior executive team responsible for day-to-day management of the group. His remit included implementing the treasury strategy, improving Bitcoin per share, managing its data and analytics repository, and producing investor materials and relations work.
The board, however, retains overall authority for management, strategy and risk. Smarter Web said directors regularly review the Bitcoin Treasury Policy and monitor the company’s market value relative to its Bitcoin holdings when considering capital deployment.
Related Reading Bitcoin treasury firms race to buy more BTC, but shareholders may pay the price That leaves the strategic accountability clear but the operating handoff unresolved. Neither the departure notice nor the company’s current team roster identifies who will take over Myers’ duties after Sept. 1. That does not rule out an internal arrangement; it means the company has not disclosed one.
A material balance sheet needs an execution owner Smarter Web’s Aug. 3 treasury update put its net Bitcoin purchases at £224.8 million and its net average purchase price at £82,886 per coin.
The company also had £18.5 million drawn under a Coinbase credit facility, equal to about 17% leverage. The loan carried a 6% variable interest rate and was secured against existing Bitcoin holdings.
Related Reading Why two public companies quietly liquidated 511 Bitcoin in 24 hours to escape $31.7 million in debt Smarter Web does not self-custody its Bitcoin. It uses a group of institutional providers and said allocations are reviewed under its treasury-governance and risk-management framework. That limits direct key-person custody risk, but it does not identify who now owns internal analysis, capital-allocation support and execution coordination.
Financing decisions have already affected the treasury. On July 23, Smarter Web sold 177.8909127 BTC to repay $11.7 million under a financing instrument called Smarter Convert, eliminating 7,718,551 potential shares. The separate Coinbase facility remained drawn in the Aug. 3 update.
Related Reading Bitcoin treasury company erases 7.7M shares after selling 177 BTC – yet Bitcoin per share fell Alliance News reported that Smarter Web shares were down 5.8% at 33.20 pence around noon on Aug. 25, after the 7 a.m. departure notice. The timing does not establish that Myers’ exit caused the decline.
The next governance signal is therefore not whether the policy survives; Smarter Web has said it does. It is whether the company names a successor or explains how Myers’ implementation and analytics duties will be divided while the board retains final accountability.
The post A 2,712 BTC treasury company just lost its Bitcoin strategy chief with no successor named appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/a-2712-btc-treasury-company-just-lost-its-bitcoin-strategy-chief-with-no-successor-named/
The Smarter Web Company, which reported holding 2,712 BTC earlier this month, said Jesse Myers, Head of Bitcoin Strategy, will leave on Sept. 1 while its Bitcoin Treasury Policy remains unchanged under board oversight.
The Aug. 25 notice did not give a reason for Myers’ departure, name a successor or say how his responsibilities would be reassigned. Those unanswered questions matter because Myers held a documented operational role in the company’s Bitcoin strategy.
In January, Smarter Web identified Myers as part of the senior executive team responsible for day-to-day management of the group. His remit included implementing the treasury strategy, improving Bitcoin per share, managing its data and analytics repository, and producing investor materials and relations work.
The board, however, retains overall authority for management, strategy and risk. Smarter Web said directors regularly review the Bitcoin Treasury Policy and monitor the company’s market value relative to its Bitcoin holdings when considering capital deployment.
Related Reading Bitcoin treasury firms race to buy more BTC, but shareholders may pay the price That leaves the strategic accountability clear but the operating handoff unresolved. Neither the departure notice nor the company’s current team roster identifies who will take over Myers’ duties after Sept. 1. That does not rule out an internal arrangement; it means the company has not disclosed one.
A material balance sheet needs an execution owner Smarter Web’s Aug. 3 treasury update put its net Bitcoin purchases at £224.8 million and its net average purchase price at £82,886 per coin.
The company also had £18.5 million drawn under a Coinbase credit facility, equal to about 17% leverage. The loan carried a 6% variable interest rate and was secured against existing Bitcoin holdings.
Related Reading Why two public companies quietly liquidated 511 Bitcoin in 24 hours to escape $31.7 million in debt Smarter Web does not self-custody its Bitcoin. It uses a group of institutional providers and said allocations are reviewed under its treasury-governance and risk-management framework. That limits direct key-person custody risk, but it does not identify who now owns internal analysis, capital-allocation support and execution coordination.
Financing decisions have already affected the treasury. On July 23, Smarter Web sold 177.8909127 BTC to repay $11.7 million under a financing instrument called Smarter Convert, eliminating 7,718,551 potential shares. The separate Coinbase facility remained drawn in the Aug. 3 update.
Related Reading Bitcoin treasury company erases 7.7M shares after selling 177 BTC – yet Bitcoin per share fell Alliance News reported that Smarter Web shares were down 5.8% at 33.20 pence around noon on Aug. 25, after the 7 a.m. departure notice. The timing does not establish that Myers’ exit caused the decline.
The next governance signal is therefore not whether the policy survives; Smarter Web has said it does. It is whether the company names a successor or explains how Myers’ implementation and analytics duties will be divided while the board retains final accountability.
The post A 2,712 BTC treasury company just lost its Bitcoin strategy chief with no successor named appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/a-2712-btc-treasury-company-just-lost-its-bitcoin-strategy-chief-with-no-successor-named/
US Banks Join Forces to Build a Blockchain of Their Own
The BankChain Alliance aims to give smaller financial institutions access to tokenized deposits and blockchain payments through a shared network targeted for 2027.
https://decrypt.co/376644/banks-build-blockchain-bankchain-alliance
The BankChain Alliance aims to give smaller financial institutions access to tokenized deposits and blockchain payments through a shared network targeted for 2027.
https://decrypt.co/376644/banks-build-blockchain-bankchain-alliance
Strategy’s MSTR quietly outperforms Bitcoin’s $80,000 rally as STRC closes in on $100
Bitcoin's sharp two-week recovery, which briefly pushed its value above $80,000, has brought Michael Saylor's Strategy BTC treasury back into profit and lifted its common stock faster than the cryptocurrency.
BTC's price rebound accelerated after the US Treasury moved to expand buybacks of longer-dated government debt, easing pressure on yields and weakening the dollar.
Renewed optimism around US crypto policy, heavy short liquidations, and stronger demand for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds added further momentum to the upward move.
As a result, Bitcoin briefly topped $81,000 on Tuesday, its highest level in more than three months, after spending much of the first half of August near the low-$60,000 range. It has slightly retraced to $78,772 as of press time.
Still, the price recovery has reached a critical point for Strategy, which spent the summer rebuilding liquidity and supporting its preferred securities after falling Bitcoin prices raised questions about its financing model.
The company has not resumed Bitcoin purchases, but the value of its existing holdings has risen enough to put more than $3 billion of unrealized gains back on its balance sheet.
MSTR outruns Bitcoin despite heavy share issuance Strategy's common MSTR stock has rebounded even faster than Bitcoin despite the company continuing to issue large amounts of new equity.
MSTR closed at $92.52 on Aug. 18 before climbing to $126.79 on Tuesday, a gain of about 37%. Bitcoin gained roughly 22% over the same period, rising from about $64,700 to around the $79,000 to $80,000 range.
Strategy's MSTR vs Bitcoin Price Performance (SaylorTracker) That performance marks a reversal from the pressure that surrounded MSTR earlier in the summer, when declining Bitcoin prices and concerns about Strategy's preferred-stock obligations weighed on confidence in the company's capital structure.
Strategy holds 840,447 Bitcoin acquired for $63.36 billion at an average price of $75,385. At Bitcoin prices around $80,000, the position is worth roughly $67 billion, leaving the company with more than $3 billion in unrealized appreciation over its aggregate purchase cost.
However, these gains have come without fresh Bitcoin accumulation. Strategy has not purchased Bitcoin since June and has sold a total of 6,948 Bitcoin for roughly $432.5 million since beginning its new monetization program in May 2026
Instead, Strategy has continued leaning on its common stock for capital.
Between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23 alone, the company sold 18.26 million MSTR shares through its at-the-market program and raised $2.01 billion in net proceeds. Since adopting its Bitcoin strategy, Strategy has sold about 139.45 million common shares and raised approximately $42.12 billion.
Strategy's MSTR Raises (Source: CryptoQuant) The scale of the latest issuance makes MSTR's rally notable because shareholders absorbed substantial new supply as the stock climbed.
It also underlines the trade-off embedded in Strategy's financing model: common-stock sales provide liquidity without requiring Bitcoin sales, but dilute existing shareholders when the proceeds do not immediately increase Bitcoin exposure per share.
Strategy has used that trade-off to reduce balance-sheet pressure. The company now says its net leverage is near zero, a significant change from the conditions that fueled concern during Bitcoin's earlier decline.
Strategy channels equity gains into STRC recovery The stronger equity market has given Strategy another advantage beyond the rebound in MSTR: it has allowed the company to raise fresh capital and use part of it to shore up the preferred-stock structure that came under pressure during the summer.
Of the $2.01 billion raised through MSTR sales last week, Strategy directed $136.4 million toward repurchasing 1.43 million STRC shares and added $300 million to its USD Reserve, lifting that pool to $5.10 billion. Most of the remaining proceeds went into a new $1.59 billion USD Cash pool.
Bitcoin's sharp two-week recovery, which briefly pushed its value above $80,000, has brought Michael Saylor's Strategy BTC treasury back into profit and lifted its common stock faster than the cryptocurrency.
BTC's price rebound accelerated after the US Treasury moved to expand buybacks of longer-dated government debt, easing pressure on yields and weakening the dollar.
Renewed optimism around US crypto policy, heavy short liquidations, and stronger demand for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds added further momentum to the upward move.
As a result, Bitcoin briefly topped $81,000 on Tuesday, its highest level in more than three months, after spending much of the first half of August near the low-$60,000 range. It has slightly retraced to $78,772 as of press time.
Still, the price recovery has reached a critical point for Strategy, which spent the summer rebuilding liquidity and supporting its preferred securities after falling Bitcoin prices raised questions about its financing model.
The company has not resumed Bitcoin purchases, but the value of its existing holdings has risen enough to put more than $3 billion of unrealized gains back on its balance sheet.
MSTR outruns Bitcoin despite heavy share issuance Strategy's common MSTR stock has rebounded even faster than Bitcoin despite the company continuing to issue large amounts of new equity.
MSTR closed at $92.52 on Aug. 18 before climbing to $126.79 on Tuesday, a gain of about 37%. Bitcoin gained roughly 22% over the same period, rising from about $64,700 to around the $79,000 to $80,000 range.
Strategy's MSTR vs Bitcoin Price Performance (SaylorTracker) That performance marks a reversal from the pressure that surrounded MSTR earlier in the summer, when declining Bitcoin prices and concerns about Strategy's preferred-stock obligations weighed on confidence in the company's capital structure.
Strategy holds 840,447 Bitcoin acquired for $63.36 billion at an average price of $75,385. At Bitcoin prices around $80,000, the position is worth roughly $67 billion, leaving the company with more than $3 billion in unrealized appreciation over its aggregate purchase cost.
However, these gains have come without fresh Bitcoin accumulation. Strategy has not purchased Bitcoin since June and has sold a total of 6,948 Bitcoin for roughly $432.5 million since beginning its new monetization program in May 2026
Instead, Strategy has continued leaning on its common stock for capital.
Between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23 alone, the company sold 18.26 million MSTR shares through its at-the-market program and raised $2.01 billion in net proceeds. Since adopting its Bitcoin strategy, Strategy has sold about 139.45 million common shares and raised approximately $42.12 billion.
Strategy's MSTR Raises (Source: CryptoQuant) The scale of the latest issuance makes MSTR's rally notable because shareholders absorbed substantial new supply as the stock climbed.
It also underlines the trade-off embedded in Strategy's financing model: common-stock sales provide liquidity without requiring Bitcoin sales, but dilute existing shareholders when the proceeds do not immediately increase Bitcoin exposure per share.
Strategy has used that trade-off to reduce balance-sheet pressure. The company now says its net leverage is near zero, a significant change from the conditions that fueled concern during Bitcoin's earlier decline.
Strategy channels equity gains into STRC recovery The stronger equity market has given Strategy another advantage beyond the rebound in MSTR: it has allowed the company to raise fresh capital and use part of it to shore up the preferred-stock structure that came under pressure during the summer.
Of the $2.01 billion raised through MSTR sales last week, Strategy directed $136.4 million toward repurchasing 1.43 million STRC shares and added $300 million to its USD Reserve, lifting that pool to $5.10 billion. Most of the remaining proceeds went into a new $1.59 billion USD Cash pool.
Together, the two pools give Strategy about $6.69 billion in dollar liquidity.
The $5.10 billion USD Reserve is earmarked for preferred-stock dividends and interest on outstanding debt, while USD Cash can be used more broadly for Bitcoin purchases, security repurchases, debt management or other treasury purposes.
Strategy said the larger cushion increased its internal USD Duration measure to about 3.9 years, extending the period its dollar resources could cover fixed obligations under its capital framework.
That strengthened liquidity position is particularly important for STRC, Strategy’s flagship variable-rate preferred stock and a security that has already played a significant role in financing its Bitcoin accumulation.
Strategy designed STRC to trade around its $100 stated amount, using a variable dividend policy and repurchases to help keep the security near par. The company currently does not intend to issue new STRC below $100, while proceeds from future issuance can be used for general corporate purposes, including Bitcoin acquisitions.
Restoring STRC toward par therefore has implications beyond the preferred stock itself. A sustained recovery toward $100 could reopen a financing channel Strategy has already used to help fund the acquisition of more than 100,000 Bitcoin, without requiring the company to rely solely on common-stock issuance.
That channel had become less attractive after STRC fell as low as $71.25 during the June market stress. The preferred stock has since recovered to around $97.2, a gain of roughly 35% from its lows and leaving it within about 3% of the level Strategy has been trying to restore.
STRC Price Performance (Source: STRC.live) Strategy has helped drive that recovery directly through its STRC purchases. The company has now spent approximately $483.4 million under its $1 billion Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program, leaving $516.6 million available. Its separate $1 billion authorization to repurchase MSTR common shares remains untouched.
The company said in July that it would buy STRC more aggressively when the shares traded at deeper discounts and taper those purchases as the price approached $100. Its longer-term goal is for STRC to trade consistently near par with greater liquidity and lower volatility.
The combination of Bitcoin’s rebound, stronger MSTR shares, direct STRC repurchases and a $6.69 billion liquidity buffer has therefore eased several of the pressures that weighed on Strategy earlier in the summer.
Rather than immediately using the improved market backdrop to resume Bitcoin purchases, the company has concentrated on reinforcing the financing structure that could support future accumulation.
That leaves the next stage tied partly to whether the recovery holds. A sustained Bitcoin rally that keeps MSTR strong and carries STRC back toward par could restore one of Strategy’s most important funding channels for future Bitcoin purchases.
However, a renewed downturn would instead test whether the cash reserves and preferred-share support built during the summer are sufficient to keep that structure intact.
The post Strategy’s MSTR quietly outperforms Bitcoin’s $80,000 rally as STRC closes in on $100 appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/strategys-mstr-quietly-outperforms-bitcoins-80000-rally-as-strc-closes-in-on-100/
The $5.10 billion USD Reserve is earmarked for preferred-stock dividends and interest on outstanding debt, while USD Cash can be used more broadly for Bitcoin purchases, security repurchases, debt management or other treasury purposes.
Strategy said the larger cushion increased its internal USD Duration measure to about 3.9 years, extending the period its dollar resources could cover fixed obligations under its capital framework.
That strengthened liquidity position is particularly important for STRC, Strategy’s flagship variable-rate preferred stock and a security that has already played a significant role in financing its Bitcoin accumulation.
Strategy designed STRC to trade around its $100 stated amount, using a variable dividend policy and repurchases to help keep the security near par. The company currently does not intend to issue new STRC below $100, while proceeds from future issuance can be used for general corporate purposes, including Bitcoin acquisitions.
Restoring STRC toward par therefore has implications beyond the preferred stock itself. A sustained recovery toward $100 could reopen a financing channel Strategy has already used to help fund the acquisition of more than 100,000 Bitcoin, without requiring the company to rely solely on common-stock issuance.
That channel had become less attractive after STRC fell as low as $71.25 during the June market stress. The preferred stock has since recovered to around $97.2, a gain of roughly 35% from its lows and leaving it within about 3% of the level Strategy has been trying to restore.
STRC Price Performance (Source: STRC.live) Strategy has helped drive that recovery directly through its STRC purchases. The company has now spent approximately $483.4 million under its $1 billion Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program, leaving $516.6 million available. Its separate $1 billion authorization to repurchase MSTR common shares remains untouched.
The company said in July that it would buy STRC more aggressively when the shares traded at deeper discounts and taper those purchases as the price approached $100. Its longer-term goal is for STRC to trade consistently near par with greater liquidity and lower volatility.
The combination of Bitcoin’s rebound, stronger MSTR shares, direct STRC repurchases and a $6.69 billion liquidity buffer has therefore eased several of the pressures that weighed on Strategy earlier in the summer.
Rather than immediately using the improved market backdrop to resume Bitcoin purchases, the company has concentrated on reinforcing the financing structure that could support future accumulation.
That leaves the next stage tied partly to whether the recovery holds. A sustained Bitcoin rally that keeps MSTR strong and carries STRC back toward par could restore one of Strategy’s most important funding channels for future Bitcoin purchases.
However, a renewed downturn would instead test whether the cash reserves and preferred-share support built during the summer are sufficient to keep that structure intact.
The post Strategy’s MSTR quietly outperforms Bitcoin’s $80,000 rally as STRC closes in on $100 appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/strategys-mstr-quietly-outperforms-bitcoins-80000-rally-as-strc-closes-in-on-100/
Galaxy Opens Retail Crypto-Backed Credit Lines on Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana
GalaxyOne clients can borrow cash against Bitcoin, Ethereum, and staked Solana at 8.99% APR without selling a coin.
https://decrypt.co/376646/galaxy-crypto-credit-lines-bitcoin-ethereum-solana
GalaxyOne clients can borrow cash against Bitcoin, Ethereum, and staked Solana at 8.99% APR without selling a coin.
https://decrypt.co/376646/galaxy-crypto-credit-lines-bitcoin-ethereum-solana
What Traders Are Watching for Bitcoin's Next Move
Bitcoin's monster rally just hit its first real test. Here's why each catalyst matters and how it could move the price from here.
https://decrypt.co/376649/what-traders-watching-bitcoin-next-move
Bitcoin's monster rally just hit its first real test. Here's why each catalyst matters and how it could move the price from here.
https://decrypt.co/376649/what-traders-watching-bitcoin-next-move
A hidden Bitcoin node database just shrank by 40 GB, but only if runners rebuild it
Bitcoin Core has merged a redesign of its optional transaction index that cut about 40 GB from the database in one contributor's mainnet test. Operators using -txindex retain their existing indexes through an upgrade; capturing the full saving requires recreating the database.
Pull request #35531, merged into Bitcoin Core's master branch on Aug. 15, reduced the author's rebuilt mainnet txindex from about 66 GB to 26 GB. The roughly 61% reduction is confined to this optional index. Bitcoin's blockchain and the rest of a node's data directory remain outside the measurement.
The code is merged upstream. Stable binaries follow a separate release process, and Bitcoin Core's release index leaves the first version containing the change unspecified. Operators will need the migration notes for the release that ships it.
Related Reading Bitcoin Core considers dropping encrypted routing support as poor node health exposes users to eclipse attacks How the smaller index works Bitcoin Core's -txindex option maintains a database for retrieving transactions by their full transaction ID. The old format stored each 32-byte transaction ID as a database key alongside transaction disk-position data.
The redesign stores a much shorter lookup key: a five-byte prefix derived from a salted SipHash, followed by a six-byte suffix encoding the block sequence and transaction offset. The full transaction ID is still checked before Bitcoin Core returns a match.
That verification step protects against collisions created by the shorter prefix. Bitcoin Core scans entries sharing the prefix, locates candidate blocks through its block index, reads the candidate transactions from disk and compares their full IDs. Bitcoin Optech's technical summary described collisions as extra read and verification work, with full-ID checks preventing false transaction matches.
Performance held steady in the author's test. Lookups took about 0.2 milliseconds. The mainnet rebuild finished in 1 hour 19 minutes versus 1 hour 50 minutes with the prior format. Hardware, storage, chain height and software version can all change those results.
Related Reading Bitcoin has 185 blocks left before BIP-110 rules begin rejecting blocks Existing txindex databases remain readable after an upgrade, avoiding an immediate forced rebuild. Their legacy entries also keep the larger footprint, so realizing the full 40 GB benchmark saving requires recreating the index.
A later downgrade carries a second migration cost. Bitcoin Core's merged release-note fragment says previous releases cannot read entries written in the compact format. Returning to an older release after rebuilding would trigger another txindex rebuild in the old format.
Related Reading Four unpatched bugs, a 5-year quantum clock, and a miner standoff are pushing Bitcoin to a critical crossroad The operator payoff is substantial within its narrow scope: a much smaller optional index and a faster rebuild in the contributor's test. Capturing it requires planned recreation of the database, plus another rebuild if a rollback becomes necessary.
Release-specific notes should control the exact recreation and downgrade procedure once the change reaches a stable Bitcoin Core binary.
The post A hidden Bitcoin node database just shrank by 40 GB, but only if runners rebuild it appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/a-hidden-bitcoin-node-database-just-shrank-by-40-gb-but-only-if-runners-rebuild-it/
Bitcoin Core has merged a redesign of its optional transaction index that cut about 40 GB from the database in one contributor's mainnet test. Operators using -txindex retain their existing indexes through an upgrade; capturing the full saving requires recreating the database.
Pull request #35531, merged into Bitcoin Core's master branch on Aug. 15, reduced the author's rebuilt mainnet txindex from about 66 GB to 26 GB. The roughly 61% reduction is confined to this optional index. Bitcoin's blockchain and the rest of a node's data directory remain outside the measurement.
The code is merged upstream. Stable binaries follow a separate release process, and Bitcoin Core's release index leaves the first version containing the change unspecified. Operators will need the migration notes for the release that ships it.
Related Reading Bitcoin Core considers dropping encrypted routing support as poor node health exposes users to eclipse attacks How the smaller index works Bitcoin Core's -txindex option maintains a database for retrieving transactions by their full transaction ID. The old format stored each 32-byte transaction ID as a database key alongside transaction disk-position data.
The redesign stores a much shorter lookup key: a five-byte prefix derived from a salted SipHash, followed by a six-byte suffix encoding the block sequence and transaction offset. The full transaction ID is still checked before Bitcoin Core returns a match.
That verification step protects against collisions created by the shorter prefix. Bitcoin Core scans entries sharing the prefix, locates candidate blocks through its block index, reads the candidate transactions from disk and compares their full IDs. Bitcoin Optech's technical summary described collisions as extra read and verification work, with full-ID checks preventing false transaction matches.
Performance held steady in the author's test. Lookups took about 0.2 milliseconds. The mainnet rebuild finished in 1 hour 19 minutes versus 1 hour 50 minutes with the prior format. Hardware, storage, chain height and software version can all change those results.
Related Reading Bitcoin has 185 blocks left before BIP-110 rules begin rejecting blocks Existing txindex databases remain readable after an upgrade, avoiding an immediate forced rebuild. Their legacy entries also keep the larger footprint, so realizing the full 40 GB benchmark saving requires recreating the index.
A later downgrade carries a second migration cost. Bitcoin Core's merged release-note fragment says previous releases cannot read entries written in the compact format. Returning to an older release after rebuilding would trigger another txindex rebuild in the old format.
Related Reading Four unpatched bugs, a 5-year quantum clock, and a miner standoff are pushing Bitcoin to a critical crossroad The operator payoff is substantial within its narrow scope: a much smaller optional index and a faster rebuild in the contributor's test. Capturing it requires planned recreation of the database, plus another rebuild if a rollback becomes necessary.
Release-specific notes should control the exact recreation and downgrade procedure once the change reaches a stable Bitcoin Core binary.
The post A hidden Bitcoin node database just shrank by 40 GB, but only if runners rebuild it appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/a-hidden-bitcoin-node-database-just-shrank-by-40-gb-but-only-if-runners-rebuild-it/
Nvidia Shares Surge in After-Hours Trading After Record $96.2 Billion Revenue
The chipmaker doubled quarterly revenue while disclosing $366 billion in future commitments and up to $108.5 billion in guarantee exposure.
https://decrypt.co/376664/nvidia-shares-surge-record-q2-revenue
The chipmaker doubled quarterly revenue while disclosing $366 billion in future commitments and up to $108.5 billion in guarantee exposure.
https://decrypt.co/376664/nvidia-shares-surge-record-q2-revenue
Thailand is rewriting its stock exchange rules to trap billions in Bitcoin ETF wealth strictly inside its own borders
Thailand is proposing a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) framework that would give domestic fund managers, the Stock Exchange of Thailand and locally regulated custodians a structural advantage as the country opens the market to Bitcoin and Ethereum products.
On Aug. 24, Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened public comment on rules that would initially allow passive, single-asset funds focused on Bitcoin or Ethereum. Each fund would need to maintain an average net exposure of at least 80% of net asset value to its chosen asset over an accounting year.
Related Reading Thailand's SEC gives Tether and USDC the green light for digital trades The proposed products would enter a market already validated by the success of crypto ETFs in the United States, where funds have attracted more than $60 billion in net inflows since launch.
Bitcoin ETFs dominate with about $54 billion, followed by Ethereum products with roughly $12 billion, while newer crypto ETF offerings account for the balance.
Thailand’s proposal would bring that model onshore while keeping much of the first-wave value chain inside the country.
Local Thai firms would get the first advantage Locally established crypto ETFs would trade only on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, while their assets would initially need to be held primarily by digital-asset custodians regulated by the Thai SEC.
The proposal does not amount to a ban on foreign crypto products. Mutual and private funds can already invest in overseas crypto ETFs under existing rules, while the SEC is separately consulting on a framework that could eventually allow qualified foreign custodians.
Thailand would also initially restrict some alternative products tied to foreign crypto ETFs, including depositary receipts referencing them and certain securities-company arrangements for customers outside institutional and ultra-high-net-worth categories.
That would make locally domiciled ETFs the most direct retail-facing route under the proposed framework while preserving some existing access to foreign products.
The SEC’s current registry lists Rakkar Digital and Orbix Custodian among licensed custodial wallet providers, while Soberin, Orbix Invest and Merkle are registered digital-asset fund managers. Thailand also has 24 licensed mutual-fund management companies.
Those firms are positioned to compete for roles if the framework is finalized, though the consultation does not identify an ETF applicant, custodian mandate or likely beneficiary.
Investors would also face product-risk education and acknowledgment requirements before trading, while intermediaries would be expected to assess diversification, risk tolerance and financial capacity.
Comments close Sept. 20. The SEC expects related rules to take effect later in 2026, but no ETF launch date has been set.
The proposal therefore opens the door to local Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs while deliberately centering the initial market around Thai-regulated institutions.
The post Thailand is rewriting its stock exchange rules to trap billions in Bitcoin ETF wealth strictly inside its own borders appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/thailand-is-rewriting-its-stock-exchange-rules-to-trap-billions-in-bitcoin-etf-wealth-strictly-inside-its-own-borders/
Thailand is proposing a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) framework that would give domestic fund managers, the Stock Exchange of Thailand and locally regulated custodians a structural advantage as the country opens the market to Bitcoin and Ethereum products.
On Aug. 24, Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened public comment on rules that would initially allow passive, single-asset funds focused on Bitcoin or Ethereum. Each fund would need to maintain an average net exposure of at least 80% of net asset value to its chosen asset over an accounting year.
Related Reading Thailand's SEC gives Tether and USDC the green light for digital trades The proposed products would enter a market already validated by the success of crypto ETFs in the United States, where funds have attracted more than $60 billion in net inflows since launch.
Bitcoin ETFs dominate with about $54 billion, followed by Ethereum products with roughly $12 billion, while newer crypto ETF offerings account for the balance.
Thailand’s proposal would bring that model onshore while keeping much of the first-wave value chain inside the country.
Local Thai firms would get the first advantage Locally established crypto ETFs would trade only on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, while their assets would initially need to be held primarily by digital-asset custodians regulated by the Thai SEC.
The proposal does not amount to a ban on foreign crypto products. Mutual and private funds can already invest in overseas crypto ETFs under existing rules, while the SEC is separately consulting on a framework that could eventually allow qualified foreign custodians.
Thailand would also initially restrict some alternative products tied to foreign crypto ETFs, including depositary receipts referencing them and certain securities-company arrangements for customers outside institutional and ultra-high-net-worth categories.
That would make locally domiciled ETFs the most direct retail-facing route under the proposed framework while preserving some existing access to foreign products.
The SEC’s current registry lists Rakkar Digital and Orbix Custodian among licensed custodial wallet providers, while Soberin, Orbix Invest and Merkle are registered digital-asset fund managers. Thailand also has 24 licensed mutual-fund management companies.
Those firms are positioned to compete for roles if the framework is finalized, though the consultation does not identify an ETF applicant, custodian mandate or likely beneficiary.
Investors would also face product-risk education and acknowledgment requirements before trading, while intermediaries would be expected to assess diversification, risk tolerance and financial capacity.
Comments close Sept. 20. The SEC expects related rules to take effect later in 2026, but no ETF launch date has been set.
The proposal therefore opens the door to local Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs while deliberately centering the initial market around Thai-regulated institutions.
The post Thailand is rewriting its stock exchange rules to trap billions in Bitcoin ETF wealth strictly inside its own borders appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/thailand-is-rewriting-its-stock-exchange-rules-to-trap-billions-in-bitcoin-etf-wealth-strictly-inside-its-own-borders/
Bill Gates Wants a Robot Tax and Jobs Humans Can't Be Fired From
Gates is calling for AI tokens and robots to be taxed so firms think twice before swapping out workers, plus a bracket of "human reserved" roles that stay off-limits to automation.
https://decrypt.co/376663/bill-gates-robot-tax-jobs-humans-cant-be-fired
Gates is calling for AI tokens and robots to be taxed so firms think twice before swapping out workers, plus a bracket of "human reserved" roles that stay off-limits to automation.
https://decrypt.co/376663/bill-gates-robot-tax-jobs-humans-cant-be-fired
Russian Influence Network Used ChatGPT to Masquerade as Academic Experts
The operation promoted a purported Israeli think tank that published copied scholarship under academics’ names and circulated pro-Russian analysis across social media.
https://decrypt.co/376662/russia-chatgpt-influence-campaign
The operation promoted a purported Israeli think tank that published copied scholarship under academics’ names and circulated pro-Russian analysis across social media.
https://decrypt.co/376662/russia-chatgpt-influence-campaign
Avalanche Treasury doubles down on its strategy to build shareholder value after a $44 million hit
Avalanche Treasury Corp approved a $10 million Class A share-repurchase program after reporting a $44.7 million second-quarter loss, with about $35.7 million attributed to losses linked to AVAX.
Management described the program as one tool to create shareholder value while it sees a market disconnect.
The company's Aug. 26 results release discloses the board's approval and contains no disclosure of completed purchases, and its immediate effect is a statement of management intent.
The company said the $35.7 million reflected fair-value changes, realized digital-asset losses, and impairments. That mix includes accounting adjustments and realized losses, making it distinct from a measure of cash expenditure during the period.
Fair-value and impairment charges can move reported earnings without carrying the same cash effect as a realized loss.
At June 30, AVAT held 15,312,363 AVAX with a reported fair value of $99,989,818, according to its quarterly filing. Subsequent price moves and treasury activity can change both the value and the balance, while the filing establishes the scale of the exposure behind AVAT's earnings volatility.
Avalanche Treasury Corp infographic shows a $44.7 million Q2 net loss, 15.3 million AVAX treasury holdings, and a $10 million repurchase authorization. Related Reading Avalanche treasuries line up $1 billion to make AVAX part of the multi-chain finance Staking generated $1.5 million of revenue, net of fees, in the quarter and $3.6 million in the first half of 2026. AVAT also recorded about $15.2 million of one-time costs tied to completing its business combination.
Together, those figures provide operating context around a quarterly loss dominated by AVAX-linked items.
Nasdaq also closed one of the two compliance matters reported earlier this month. The exchange closed the $35 million market-value-of-listed-securities matter after AVAT reported $83.8 million of stockholders' equity.
Nasdaq Rule 5550(b)(2) permits compliance through an alternative threshold of at least $2.5 million of equity.
The Aug. 7 notice gave AVAT an initial compliance period through Feb. 2, 2027. The newer filing addresses only the market-value matter and provides no closure update for the bid-price issue.
The week brought AVAT partial Nasdaq relief and a new capital-allocation signal. Quarterly results still show that management wants the stock to better reflect its strategy, while AVAT's earnings and balance sheet remain heavily exposed to AVAX.
The post Avalanche Treasury doubles down on its strategy to build shareholder value after a $44 million hit appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/avalanche-treasury-doubles-down-on-its-strategy-to-build-shareholder-value-after-a-44-million-hit/
Avalanche Treasury Corp approved a $10 million Class A share-repurchase program after reporting a $44.7 million second-quarter loss, with about $35.7 million attributed to losses linked to AVAX.
Management described the program as one tool to create shareholder value while it sees a market disconnect.
The company's Aug. 26 results release discloses the board's approval and contains no disclosure of completed purchases, and its immediate effect is a statement of management intent.
The company said the $35.7 million reflected fair-value changes, realized digital-asset losses, and impairments. That mix includes accounting adjustments and realized losses, making it distinct from a measure of cash expenditure during the period.
Fair-value and impairment charges can move reported earnings without carrying the same cash effect as a realized loss.
At June 30, AVAT held 15,312,363 AVAX with a reported fair value of $99,989,818, according to its quarterly filing. Subsequent price moves and treasury activity can change both the value and the balance, while the filing establishes the scale of the exposure behind AVAT's earnings volatility.
Avalanche Treasury Corp infographic shows a $44.7 million Q2 net loss, 15.3 million AVAX treasury holdings, and a $10 million repurchase authorization. Related Reading Avalanche treasuries line up $1 billion to make AVAX part of the multi-chain finance Staking generated $1.5 million of revenue, net of fees, in the quarter and $3.6 million in the first half of 2026. AVAT also recorded about $15.2 million of one-time costs tied to completing its business combination.
Together, those figures provide operating context around a quarterly loss dominated by AVAX-linked items.
Nasdaq also closed one of the two compliance matters reported earlier this month. The exchange closed the $35 million market-value-of-listed-securities matter after AVAT reported $83.8 million of stockholders' equity.
Nasdaq Rule 5550(b)(2) permits compliance through an alternative threshold of at least $2.5 million of equity.
The Aug. 7 notice gave AVAT an initial compliance period through Feb. 2, 2027. The newer filing addresses only the market-value matter and provides no closure update for the bid-price issue.
The week brought AVAT partial Nasdaq relief and a new capital-allocation signal. Quarterly results still show that management wants the stock to better reflect its strategy, while AVAT's earnings and balance sheet remain heavily exposed to AVAX.
The post Avalanche Treasury doubles down on its strategy to build shareholder value after a $44 million hit appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/avalanche-treasury-doubles-down-on-its-strategy-to-build-shareholder-value-after-a-44-million-hit/
Bitcoin is trapped between $75,000 and $80,000 ahead of a massive Friday derivatives settlement
Bitcoin is trading between $80,000 and $78,000, and faces two option strikes that could shape dealer hedging into Friday.
Reported call exposure at $75,000 and $80,000 creates a test of whether those positions dampen Bitcoin’s next move or add force to a break.
Roughly 81,700 Bitcoin options representing about $6.4 billion in notional are scheduled to settle on Deribit at 08:00 UTC on Aug. 28.
A refresh of Deribit’s BTC options data placed its Bitcoin reference price near $78,514. Applied to 81,700 one-Bitcoin contracts, that gives about $6.415 billion in notional.
The $75,000 call strike carried about $236 million in reported notional, while the $80,000 call strike held about $157 million. Those are call-side open-interest concentrations, worth a combined $393 million or 6.1% of the reported $6.44 billion expiry.
Deribit data shows 81,700 Bitcoin options contracts expiring Aug. 28, with more than $500 million concentrated near the $75,000 and $80,000 call strikes. The Bitcoin hedge path can split two ways Options dealers adjust hedges as Bitcoin moves and an option’s sensitivity to the underlying price changes. Near expiry, those adjustments can become more responsive around heavily populated strikes.
Dealers positioned one way may trade against a move and help keep price near a strike. A different net position may require trades that reinforce a break and accelerate it.
Related Reading Bitcoin price faces midweek squeeze that will decide whether $60,000 holds Dealer-side positioning needed to calculate net gamma remains less visible, leaving pinning and acceleration as conditional scenarios. The 0.83 put-to-call ratio similarly shows that calls outnumber puts in this expiry.
Traders also use calls in spreads, covered positions, and volatility strategies, so the ratio describes inventory more clearly than sentiment.
The official Deribit schedule fixes monthly expiry at 08:00 UTC on the last Friday of the month. With Bitcoin between the highlighted strikes during the research window, $80,000 is the nearest pressure point and $75,000 is the lower concentration.
A decisive move through one could demand faster hedge changes. Friday’s settlement ends the shared deadline and removes or rolls the expiring positions, making the price response around those two levels the cleaner signal.
The post Bitcoin is trapped between $75,000 and $80,000 ahead of a massive Friday derivatives settlement appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoin-is-trapped-between-75000-and-80000-ahead-of-a-massive-friday-derivatives-settlement/
Bitcoin is trading between $80,000 and $78,000, and faces two option strikes that could shape dealer hedging into Friday.
Reported call exposure at $75,000 and $80,000 creates a test of whether those positions dampen Bitcoin’s next move or add force to a break.
Roughly 81,700 Bitcoin options representing about $6.4 billion in notional are scheduled to settle on Deribit at 08:00 UTC on Aug. 28.
A refresh of Deribit’s BTC options data placed its Bitcoin reference price near $78,514. Applied to 81,700 one-Bitcoin contracts, that gives about $6.415 billion in notional.
The $75,000 call strike carried about $236 million in reported notional, while the $80,000 call strike held about $157 million. Those are call-side open-interest concentrations, worth a combined $393 million or 6.1% of the reported $6.44 billion expiry.
Deribit data shows 81,700 Bitcoin options contracts expiring Aug. 28, with more than $500 million concentrated near the $75,000 and $80,000 call strikes. The Bitcoin hedge path can split two ways Options dealers adjust hedges as Bitcoin moves and an option’s sensitivity to the underlying price changes. Near expiry, those adjustments can become more responsive around heavily populated strikes.
Dealers positioned one way may trade against a move and help keep price near a strike. A different net position may require trades that reinforce a break and accelerate it.
Related Reading Bitcoin price faces midweek squeeze that will decide whether $60,000 holds Dealer-side positioning needed to calculate net gamma remains less visible, leaving pinning and acceleration as conditional scenarios. The 0.83 put-to-call ratio similarly shows that calls outnumber puts in this expiry.
Traders also use calls in spreads, covered positions, and volatility strategies, so the ratio describes inventory more clearly than sentiment.
The official Deribit schedule fixes monthly expiry at 08:00 UTC on the last Friday of the month. With Bitcoin between the highlighted strikes during the research window, $80,000 is the nearest pressure point and $75,000 is the lower concentration.
A decisive move through one could demand faster hedge changes. Friday’s settlement ends the shared deadline and removes or rolls the expiring positions, making the price response around those two levels the cleaner signal.
The post Bitcoin is trapped between $75,000 and $80,000 ahead of a massive Friday derivatives settlement appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoin-is-trapped-between-75000-and-80000-ahead-of-a-massive-friday-derivatives-settlement/
Solana takes its first step toward sub-second speed by cutting block confirmation times across the network
Solana’s mainnet is producing blocks faster after its first staged slot-time reduction moved the network’s target from 400 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds.
Faster slots shorten block-level feedback and confirmation thresholds measured in slots, while throughput depends on a separate set of limits.
The Solana Foundation confirmed the mainnet change after the feature gate activated at slot 440,208,000, the first slot of epoch 1019. A feature gate is the switch validators use to coordinate a protocol change, and under the one-epoch delay required by SIMD-0525, the new timing applied when epoch 1020 began on Aug. 21.
A slot is the window in which a designated validator can produce a block, while an epoch is a fixed period of 432,000 slots.
Trillium, a Solana validator-telemetry provider, measured a slot-weighted mean of 365.4ms across 431,505 timed slots in post-change epoch 1021. Its view of pre-change epoch 1015 recorded a 420.7ms mean.
The same dataset recorded 331 skipped slots in epoch 1021, or 0.077%, compared with 1,890 skips and 0.438% in epoch 1015. The lower post-change reading offers an early stability signal across those two epochs, though the comparison cannot establish that the timing cut caused the change.
What faster slots change Shortening the slot window reduces the wall-clock time for confirmation thresholds measured in slots. It also cuts the four-slot leader window from a nominal 1.6 seconds at 400ms to 1.4 seconds at 350ms, narrowing the period one block producer controls.
The proposal keeps four slots per leader and 432,000 slots per epoch. It scales per-slot compute, account-write, vote, data, and shred limits down with each shorter target. Blocks arrive more frequently and carry smaller budgets, leaving approximate work capacity per second broadly unchanged.
Related Reading Solana is slashing per-block compute limits so its new 350ms speed boost doesn't overload the network The 365.4ms telemetry reading measures observed spacing between slots, and it also supports faster block-level feedback, while finality remains a separate metric.
Solana’s official upgrade roadmap calls for distinct steps to 300ms, 250ms, and eventually 200ms. Each feature gate carries a one-epoch delay so validators can apply the timing and reduced shred limits together.
Solana’s one-epoch delay cut mean slot spacing to 365.4 ms in epoch 1021, with 331 skipped slots and a 0.077% skip rate. The 300ms stage remained pending as of Aug. 26. Solana Compass reported that Anza CEO and SIMD author Brennan Watt said it was intended to become effective at epoch 1024, around Aug. 28.
Solana’s roadmap says the network can pause between stages if skipped-block rates climb, making the 350ms stage a live test of how much validator timing can tighten before the path to 200ms continues.
The post Solana takes its first step toward sub-second speed by cutting block confirmation times across the network appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/solana-cuts-slot-time-to-350ms-as-early-telemetry-tests-its-path-to-200ms/
Solana’s mainnet is producing blocks faster after its first staged slot-time reduction moved the network’s target from 400 milliseconds to 350 milliseconds.
Faster slots shorten block-level feedback and confirmation thresholds measured in slots, while throughput depends on a separate set of limits.
The Solana Foundation confirmed the mainnet change after the feature gate activated at slot 440,208,000, the first slot of epoch 1019. A feature gate is the switch validators use to coordinate a protocol change, and under the one-epoch delay required by SIMD-0525, the new timing applied when epoch 1020 began on Aug. 21.
A slot is the window in which a designated validator can produce a block, while an epoch is a fixed period of 432,000 slots.
Trillium, a Solana validator-telemetry provider, measured a slot-weighted mean of 365.4ms across 431,505 timed slots in post-change epoch 1021. Its view of pre-change epoch 1015 recorded a 420.7ms mean.
The same dataset recorded 331 skipped slots in epoch 1021, or 0.077%, compared with 1,890 skips and 0.438% in epoch 1015. The lower post-change reading offers an early stability signal across those two epochs, though the comparison cannot establish that the timing cut caused the change.
What faster slots change Shortening the slot window reduces the wall-clock time for confirmation thresholds measured in slots. It also cuts the four-slot leader window from a nominal 1.6 seconds at 400ms to 1.4 seconds at 350ms, narrowing the period one block producer controls.
The proposal keeps four slots per leader and 432,000 slots per epoch. It scales per-slot compute, account-write, vote, data, and shred limits down with each shorter target. Blocks arrive more frequently and carry smaller budgets, leaving approximate work capacity per second broadly unchanged.
Related Reading Solana is slashing per-block compute limits so its new 350ms speed boost doesn't overload the network The 365.4ms telemetry reading measures observed spacing between slots, and it also supports faster block-level feedback, while finality remains a separate metric.
Solana’s official upgrade roadmap calls for distinct steps to 300ms, 250ms, and eventually 200ms. Each feature gate carries a one-epoch delay so validators can apply the timing and reduced shred limits together.
Solana’s one-epoch delay cut mean slot spacing to 365.4 ms in epoch 1021, with 331 skipped slots and a 0.077% skip rate. The 300ms stage remained pending as of Aug. 26. Solana Compass reported that Anza CEO and SIMD author Brennan Watt said it was intended to become effective at epoch 1024, around Aug. 28.
Solana’s roadmap says the network can pause between stages if skipped-block rates climb, making the 350ms stage a live test of how much validator timing can tighten before the path to 200ms continues.
The post Solana takes its first step toward sub-second speed by cutting block confirmation times across the network appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/solana-cuts-slot-time-to-350ms-as-early-telemetry-tests-its-path-to-200ms/
Cardano and Solana just exposed crypto governance’s biggest weakness
Cardano and Solana are testing two competing approaches to on-chain governance, with one exposing the cost of voter absence and the other shifting more power to default representatives who may have their own economic interests.
Cardano’s constitutional committee renewal requires separate approval from delegated representatives, or DReps, and stake pool operators. Solana instead allows validators to cast governance votes using the active stake delegated to them unless individual stakers override that choice.
The distinction is becoming visible in simultaneous votes on both networks.
Cardano faces the more immediate risk. An Aug. 26 snapshot showed support for its committee renewal below the required thresholds among both DReps and stake pool operators, creating the possibility that four committee terms expire without replacements.
Solana reduces that kind of participation bottleneck by making validators default voting agents. But its current governance vote shows the tradeoff: stakers who do nothing effectively allow validators to exercise governance weight associated with their delegated stake, even when those validators may have financial interests affected by the proposal.
Both systems therefore confront the same underlying problem from different directions. Cardano leaves inactive voters silent. Solana lets an existing delegate speak for them.
Cardano’s governance risk is already measurable A DRepTalk snapshot accessed Aug. 26 showed Cardano’s Update Constitutional Committee 2026 proposal with 43% DRep support, below the required 67%, while stake pool operator support stood at 15.1% against a 51% threshold.
Each group must independently clear its requirement. Stronger participation by one cannot offset a shortfall in the other.
The vote carries a fixed consequence because four committee terms expire at epoch 799, while the maximum allowable term length means replacements must be enacted in epoch 653. Published material identifies Sept. 1 as the relevant deadline.
If the proposal fails, Cardano would be left with three active constitutional committee members, below the reported five-member minimum required for committee-dependent governance actions.
Related Reading Cardano has two weeks to avoid a governance freeze as 4 committee seats expire That would not stop block production or freeze the entire network. It would, however, leave the committee unable to ratify actions that require its approval until governance restores sufficient membership.
Intersect has warned that such a disruption could affect the timing of the Dijkstra upgrade, though that does not automatically cause a delay.
Cardano’s design makes the cost of inaction explicit. Its governance system requires two separate constituencies to express enough support, preserving each group's independence while also creating two opportunities for insufficient participation to block continuity.
Solana reduces turnout risk, then inherits an agency problem Solana’s model lowers the participation burden by allowing validators to vote with the stake already delegated to them.
Eligible stakers can override a validator’s choice for an individual stake account. When they do, that stake is removed from the validator’s effective tally and applied directly to the staker’s own selection.
That mechanism was active during SGP-0002, a proposal seeking support for faster SOL disinflation.
An Aug. 26 Validator Info snapshot showed 83.66 million SOL voting For, 12.01 million Against, and 8.32 million Abstain. Among decisive votes, support stood at 87.45%.
Direct delegator overrides were visible but small compared with the roughly 104 million SOL represented in the tally. Validator Info listed 308 delegator voters, with only a fraction of the overall voting weight directly reassigned.
The override mechanism is therefore being used. The current vote does not yet show whether large numbers of passive delegators would intervene when they disagree with their validator.
Cardano and Solana are testing two competing approaches to on-chain governance, with one exposing the cost of voter absence and the other shifting more power to default representatives who may have their own economic interests.
Cardano’s constitutional committee renewal requires separate approval from delegated representatives, or DReps, and stake pool operators. Solana instead allows validators to cast governance votes using the active stake delegated to them unless individual stakers override that choice.
The distinction is becoming visible in simultaneous votes on both networks.
Cardano faces the more immediate risk. An Aug. 26 snapshot showed support for its committee renewal below the required thresholds among both DReps and stake pool operators, creating the possibility that four committee terms expire without replacements.
Solana reduces that kind of participation bottleneck by making validators default voting agents. But its current governance vote shows the tradeoff: stakers who do nothing effectively allow validators to exercise governance weight associated with their delegated stake, even when those validators may have financial interests affected by the proposal.
Both systems therefore confront the same underlying problem from different directions. Cardano leaves inactive voters silent. Solana lets an existing delegate speak for them.
Cardano’s governance risk is already measurable A DRepTalk snapshot accessed Aug. 26 showed Cardano’s Update Constitutional Committee 2026 proposal with 43% DRep support, below the required 67%, while stake pool operator support stood at 15.1% against a 51% threshold.
Each group must independently clear its requirement. Stronger participation by one cannot offset a shortfall in the other.
The vote carries a fixed consequence because four committee terms expire at epoch 799, while the maximum allowable term length means replacements must be enacted in epoch 653. Published material identifies Sept. 1 as the relevant deadline.
If the proposal fails, Cardano would be left with three active constitutional committee members, below the reported five-member minimum required for committee-dependent governance actions.
Related Reading Cardano has two weeks to avoid a governance freeze as 4 committee seats expire That would not stop block production or freeze the entire network. It would, however, leave the committee unable to ratify actions that require its approval until governance restores sufficient membership.
Intersect has warned that such a disruption could affect the timing of the Dijkstra upgrade, though that does not automatically cause a delay.
Cardano’s design makes the cost of inaction explicit. Its governance system requires two separate constituencies to express enough support, preserving each group's independence while also creating two opportunities for insufficient participation to block continuity.
Solana reduces turnout risk, then inherits an agency problem Solana’s model lowers the participation burden by allowing validators to vote with the stake already delegated to them.
Eligible stakers can override a validator’s choice for an individual stake account. When they do, that stake is removed from the validator’s effective tally and applied directly to the staker’s own selection.
That mechanism was active during SGP-0002, a proposal seeking support for faster SOL disinflation.
An Aug. 26 Validator Info snapshot showed 83.66 million SOL voting For, 12.01 million Against, and 8.32 million Abstain. Among decisive votes, support stood at 87.45%.
Direct delegator overrides were visible but small compared with the roughly 104 million SOL represented in the tally. Validator Info listed 308 delegator voters, with only a fraction of the overall voting weight directly reassigned.
The override mechanism is therefore being used. The current vote does not yet show whether large numbers of passive delegators would intervene when they disagree with their validator.
That question becomes more significant when validators have an economic stake in the policy under consideration.
Solana Company, a publicly traded SOL treasury firm, said it opposed SGP-0002 on timing and policy-stability grounds. Its second-quarter filing showed $2.512 million in staking revenue out of $2.526 million in total revenue, meaning staking accounted for about 99.4% of quarterly revenue.
The proposed policy would accelerate annual disinflation from 15% to 30%, reducing projected issuance by about 18.9 million SOL over six years and bringing the network to its 1.5% terminal inflation floor in roughly 2.8 years instead of 5.7 years.
Those facts establish an economic exposure, but they do not prove misconduct or that financial incentives determined the company’s vote. Stakers also retain the ability to override validator choices.
Solana’s rule conflict adds another layer of uncertainty The Solana vote is complicated further by conflicting public descriptions of what constitutes passage.
The Solana governance FAQ says one-third of network stake must participate and two-thirds of participating stake must vote For. The governance proposal repository instead says there is no quorum requirement and that For must receive two-thirds of For plus Against, excluding Abstain.
Under the repository rule, the observed vote clears the support threshold. Under the FAQ and Validator Info display, participation remained below the one-third line.
That leaves the same tally open to two different interpretations and makes the result difficult to assess until the applicable rule is reconciled.
Even a favorable result would not immediately change SOL issuance. SGP-0002 would establish policy direction, while the underlying SIMD-0550 proposal would still need to move through implementation before any consensus-affecting change could be activated.
Both systems relocate the cost of voter apathy The current votes show that delegation changes the form of participation risk rather than removing it.
Cardano bears the cost directly when voters fail to show up. Its immediate danger is concrete: two constituencies remain below required thresholds ahead of a fixed deadline, with committee capacity at stake.
Solana reduces that risk by allowing validators to represent passive holders, but the model shifts more responsibility toward oversight. Delegators must monitor the agents voting with their stake and intervene when their preferences diverge.
Cardano therefore faces a clearer near-term governance threat, while Solana raises a longer-term question about representation and incentive alignment.
The next results will sharpen that contrast. Cardano must determine whether DReps and stake pool operators can mobilize before the committee deadline, while Solana still needs to establish which voting rule governs SGP-0002 and how much weight delegator overrides ultimately carry.
Both systems arrive at the same unresolved question from opposite directions: whether on-chain governance can remain effective when most tokenholders prefer not to participate.
The post Cardano and Solana just exposed crypto governance’s biggest weakness appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/cardano-and-solana-just-exposed-crypto-governances-biggest-weakness/
Solana Company, a publicly traded SOL treasury firm, said it opposed SGP-0002 on timing and policy-stability grounds. Its second-quarter filing showed $2.512 million in staking revenue out of $2.526 million in total revenue, meaning staking accounted for about 99.4% of quarterly revenue.
The proposed policy would accelerate annual disinflation from 15% to 30%, reducing projected issuance by about 18.9 million SOL over six years and bringing the network to its 1.5% terminal inflation floor in roughly 2.8 years instead of 5.7 years.
Those facts establish an economic exposure, but they do not prove misconduct or that financial incentives determined the company’s vote. Stakers also retain the ability to override validator choices.
Solana’s rule conflict adds another layer of uncertainty The Solana vote is complicated further by conflicting public descriptions of what constitutes passage.
The Solana governance FAQ says one-third of network stake must participate and two-thirds of participating stake must vote For. The governance proposal repository instead says there is no quorum requirement and that For must receive two-thirds of For plus Against, excluding Abstain.
Under the repository rule, the observed vote clears the support threshold. Under the FAQ and Validator Info display, participation remained below the one-third line.
That leaves the same tally open to two different interpretations and makes the result difficult to assess until the applicable rule is reconciled.
Even a favorable result would not immediately change SOL issuance. SGP-0002 would establish policy direction, while the underlying SIMD-0550 proposal would still need to move through implementation before any consensus-affecting change could be activated.
Both systems relocate the cost of voter apathy The current votes show that delegation changes the form of participation risk rather than removing it.
Cardano bears the cost directly when voters fail to show up. Its immediate danger is concrete: two constituencies remain below required thresholds ahead of a fixed deadline, with committee capacity at stake.
Solana reduces that risk by allowing validators to represent passive holders, but the model shifts more responsibility toward oversight. Delegators must monitor the agents voting with their stake and intervene when their preferences diverge.
Cardano therefore faces a clearer near-term governance threat, while Solana raises a longer-term question about representation and incentive alignment.
The next results will sharpen that contrast. Cardano must determine whether DReps and stake pool operators can mobilize before the committee deadline, while Solana still needs to establish which voting rule governs SGP-0002 and how much weight delegator overrides ultimately carry.
Both systems arrive at the same unresolved question from opposite directions: whether on-chain governance can remain effective when most tokenholders prefer not to participate.
The post Cardano and Solana just exposed crypto governance’s biggest weakness appeared first on CryptoSlate.
https://cryptoslate.com/cardano-and-solana-just-exposed-crypto-governances-biggest-weakness/