Luc Jose A.

Hardware wallets are among the safest solutions for storing bitcoins offline. However, this certainty has just been shaken. A critical flaw discovered in the Coldcard ecosystem allowed the theft of 116 million dollars, revealing a software vulnerability that went unnoticed for five years. The case questions the reliability of self-custody tools, as digital sovereignty emerges as a pillar of the Bitcoin ecosystem. The losses, mostly concentrated in Canada, further emphasize the scale of this incident.

The US Solana ETFs display a very rare phenomenon: no capital movement. For several sessions, investors have recorded neither subscription nor withdrawal across all these products, an unusual situation in a market where flows evolve almost daily. This immobility raises questions: does it indicate a waning of institutional demand or simply reflect the specific functioning of these financial vehicles? To answer, one must distinguish the flows officially recorded by issuers from the activity that continues to be observed in the secondary market.

While volatility continues to dominate the crypto market, the largest investors follow a contrary path. According to the latest "Smart Money" report from CryptoQuant, the most influential wallets are massively accumulating bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, despite a climate marked by uncertainty. This buying strategy comes at a time when several valuation indicators return to levels historically associated with the ends of bear markets. Behind these movements lies a deep trend: an increasing concentration of assets in the hands of institutional investors.

While stock indices keep breaking records and gold returns to its highest levels in six weeks, bitcoin remains stuck around $64,000. This contrast is surprising, as capital flows towards traditional assets, while the crypto market struggles to regain real momentum. Behind this gap is a historic rush of Asian demand for the precious metal and intact appetite for US stocks. This divergence raises questions: are liquidity temporarily abandoning cryptos?

On August 3rd, a wallet that had been completely inactive for seven months transferred 16,400 bitcoins, nearly 1.04 billion dollars, reigniting speculation about the intentions of its holder. Indeed, this movement occurs while bitcoin is trading around 62,800 dollars, far from its all-time high of 126,198 dollars reached in October 2025. In a market where large fortunes quickly influence liquidity and investor sentiment, such an operation never goes unnoticed.

Has bitcoin really hit its bottom, or is the market about to undergo a new wave of capitulation? While investors hope to see the correction lose steam, Michael Terpin, a historic figure in the crypto ecosystem and author of Bitcoin Supercycle, cools expectations. According to him, the purge is far from over: BTC could still retreat to $40,000 to $50,000 before starting a new bullish cycle. A projection based on his model of the "Four Seasons of Bitcoin," built around the rhythm of halvings.

The crypto market could lose its main political catalyst in the United States. A few days before the Senate's parliamentary recess, the adoption of the CLARITY Act is slipping away, reigniting fears of a regulatory vacuum. For Bernstein analysts, this deadlock risks triggering an immediate correction in bitcoin and altcoins. Behind this short-term threat, however, lies a more nuanced scenario, where a legislative setback today could still reshuffle the cards for the crypto industry in the coming months.

The race for crypto treasuries is accelerating among listed companies, where each acquisition becomes a leverage for valuation and a signal sent to the markets. In this battle, Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) has just scored a new point. On August 3, the company revealed a weekly report combining a new accumulation of Ether (ETH) and a large share buyback program. An aggressive strategy that confirms the rise of ETH treasuries and revives the debate on the place of the second-largest crypto in corporate finance.

The slowdown in the crypto market does not indicate a drying up of capital. It reveals their redeployment. They now fuel another investment cycle. While bitcoin struggles to move away from 63,037 dollars, the giants of Tech and finance concentrate their capital on infrastructures related to artificial intelligence and energy, to the detriment of cryptos.

Cold storage, long presented as the ultimate bulwark against hacking, has just suffered one of its biggest setbacks. A critical software vulnerability affecting Coldcard wallets enabled the theft of tens of millions of dollars in bitcoin, reviving questions about the limits of self-custody. This case breaks out as the market comes off a July up 7.36%, under pressure from massive institutional withdrawals and approaching two major protocol upgrades expected in August.

After a second quarter marked by historic capital outflows, American crypto ETFs are finally regaining ground. In July, these financial products recorded a positive net balance, sign of renewed interest from institutional investors. Much more than a simple market indicator, these flows offer insight into Wall Street's appetite for cryptos. Their evolution allows measuring the confidence of major asset managers and the crypto market's ability to regain sustainable momentum.

FTX has not finished making history in crypto. Nearly four years after the bankruptcy that shook the industry, the platform reaches a new milestone in repaying its former clients. Billions of dollars continue to return to the hands of creditors, with consequences far beyond the judicial framework. This massive redistribution of capital could revive market activity and measure, for the first time on a large scale, the real impact of a crypto bankruptcy on the entire ecosystem.

For years, a rule seemed immutable: when bitcoin soared, altcoins followed in its wake. This mechanism, which shaped several bullish cycles, now shows signs of exhaustion. Capital no longer spreads across the entire market but converges towards a handful of favored assets. Thus, the latest Wintermute report reveals this break. The massive influx of institutional investors is reshaping liquidity flows and questions the idea of a generalized altseason.