Binance & Bybit See $2.3B in Stablecoin Outflows Over 30 Days
Stablecoin reserves on two of the largest exchanges have dropped sharply, pointing to shrinking liquidity as BTC remains stuck near key support.
Darkfost points to declining exchange stablecoin reserves as a sign that fresh liquidity simply isn't entering the market, a trend that's been consistent since the start of the year, with outflows persistently outpacing inflows.
👉 x.com/Darkfost_Coc/status/2078931060440625525?s=20
Stablecoin reserves on two of the largest exchanges have dropped sharply, pointing to shrinking liquidity as BTC remains stuck near key support.
According to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, Binance's stablecoin reserves fell by roughly $1.55 billion over the past 30 days, while Bybit saw approximately $786 million in outflows, bringing the combined decline to nearly $2.3 billion across both platforms. The exact destination of these funds remains unconfirmed, though possible factors include MiCA-related user migration in Europe, weaker fresh capital inflows, and stablecoins moving into self-custody or onchain yield products.
Darkfost points to declining exchange stablecoin reserves as a sign that fresh liquidity simply isn't entering the market, a trend that's been consistent since the start of the year, with outflows persistently outpacing inflows.
👉 x.com/Darkfost_Coc/status/2078931060440625525?s=20
Treasuries & ETFs Board. Crypto Accumulation and Capital Flows
BTC ETFs: +$75.5M
ETH ETFs: +$105M
This week (July 13-20, 2026):
- BitMine (BMNR): Bought 7,430 ETH (~$13.9M). Total now ~5.77M ETH.
- Strategy (MSTR): Strategy has increased its USD Reserve by $225 million. Holds steady at 843,775 BTC.
- Strive (ASST): Bought 18 BTC (~$1.2M). Total now ~19,900 BTC.
Others: Mostly flat, no big moves reported.
Overall: Pause in big buying after strong prior months. Companies building cash instead.
BTC ETFs: +$75.5M
ETH ETFs: +$105M
This week (July 13-20, 2026):
- BitMine (BMNR): Bought 7,430 ETH (~$13.9M). Total now ~5.77M ETH.
- Strategy (MSTR): Strategy has increased its USD Reserve by $225 million. Holds steady at 843,775 BTC.
- Strive (ASST): Bought 18 BTC (~$1.2M). Total now ~19,900 BTC.
Others: Mostly flat, no big moves reported.
Overall: Pause in big buying after strong prior months. Companies building cash instead.
MetaMask Catches North Korea-Linked Consultant in Core Code Work
Consensys, the firm behind the MetaMask wallet, unknowingly hired a software developer with alleged ties to North Korea, who spent roughly a month working on core platform code before being terminated.
Consensys general counsel Matt Corva confirmed the company discovered the threat shortly after the consultant was introduced, immediately cut off access, and launched an investigation that found no misappropriated assets or data, no malicious code deployed, and no impact to user security. Consensys notified law enforcement and has since reviewed its practices around outsourced engineering work.
The incident fits a broader pattern: North Korean operatives have increasingly infiltrated crypto and software firms by posing as remote engineers, given that developer access can extend beyond source code to transaction-signing infrastructure, a direct pipeline for moving stolen assets across chains.
TRM Labs estimates North Korea-linked activity accounts for nearly 66% of all funds stolen in crypto hacks, including last year's $1.5B Bybit hack, one of the largest crypto heists on record.
👉 dropsitenews.com/p/consensys-metamask-crypto-wallet-hired-north-korean-hacker
Consensys, the firm behind the MetaMask wallet, unknowingly hired a software developer with alleged ties to North Korea, who spent roughly a month working on core platform code before being terminated.
The individual used the alias "Tyler Knapp" and GitHub handle "imyugioh", was brought on as a consultant through an existing third-party service provider relationship. He contributed to core MetaMask code, including components for crypto-to-fiat conversion via third-party payment providers and parts of the mobile wallet platform. His contributions began March 9 and stopped abruptly in April 2026, coinciding with the termination of his access.
Consensys general counsel Matt Corva confirmed the company discovered the threat shortly after the consultant was introduced, immediately cut off access, and launched an investigation that found no misappropriated assets or data, no malicious code deployed, and no impact to user security. Consensys notified law enforcement and has since reviewed its practices around outsourced engineering work.
Notably, the same GitHub identity had prior contributions to several other crypto projects, including Ankr, Blueberry Protocol, DEPO, Pickle Finance, and Harmony.
The incident fits a broader pattern: North Korean operatives have increasingly infiltrated crypto and software firms by posing as remote engineers, given that developer access can extend beyond source code to transaction-signing infrastructure, a direct pipeline for moving stolen assets across chains.
TRM Labs estimates North Korea-linked activity accounts for nearly 66% of all funds stolen in crypto hacks, including last year's $1.5B Bybit hack, one of the largest crypto heists on record.
👉 dropsitenews.com/p/consensys-metamask-crypto-wallet-hired-north-korean-hacker
FBI Arrests Man Accused of Using Steam Games to Drain Crypto Wallets
U.S. prosecutors have charged a Florida man with distributing malware-laden video games on Steam as part of a scheme that allegedly infected thousands of victims and drained their crypto wallets.
The games were designed to look and function like legitimate titles, but once installed, the embedded malware harvested passwords and personal data and targeted victims' crypto wallets.
Prosecutors allege the scheme infected roughly 8,000 victims and compromised around 80 crypto wallets, resulting in at least $220,000 in stolen crypto.
The games were reportedly marketed through Discord, LinkedIn, and Telegram. The FBI first flagged the investigation publicly in March, calling on victims who had downloaded the affected games to come forward with evidence.
👉 techcrunch.com/2026/07/17/fbi-arrests-man-accused-of-using-steam-games-to-drain-crypto
U.S. prosecutors have charged a Florida man with distributing malware-laden video games on Steam as part of a scheme that allegedly infected thousands of victims and drained their crypto wallets.
According to a criminal complaint, the FBI arrested 21-year-old Zyaire Wilkins on Tuesday, accusing him and several unnamed co-conspirators of publishing malicious games, including BlockBlasters, Dashverse, Lampy, Lunara, and PirateFi, on Steam over the past two years.
The games were designed to look and function like legitimate titles, but once installed, the embedded malware harvested passwords and personal data and targeted victims' crypto wallets.
Prosecutors allege the scheme infected roughly 8,000 victims and compromised around 80 crypto wallets, resulting in at least $220,000 in stolen crypto.
The games were reportedly marketed through Discord, LinkedIn, and Telegram. The FBI first flagged the investigation publicly in March, calling on victims who had downloaded the affected games to come forward with evidence.
👉 techcrunch.com/2026/07/17/fbi-arrests-man-accused-of-using-steam-games-to-drain-crypto
Databricks Hits $188B Valuation in Latest Funding Round
Databricks announced a new funding round Thursday valuing the company at $188 billion, led by Coatue. The valuation jump caps an aggressive 18-month run: $10B raised at a $62B valuation in Dec 2024, $1B at $100B in Sep 2025, $5B at $134B in Feb 2026, and now this latest round at $188B.
The new capital will fuel Databricks' AI strategy, with the company doubling down on three core products: Unity AI Gateway, its multi-AI governance tool for managing enterprise AI costs; Genie, an AI coworker that turns business data into trusted answers and actions; and Lakebase, a serverless Postgres database built for AI agents.
Databricks says its platform is now used by more than 20,000 organizations, including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, and Unilever, along with 70% of the Fortune 500.
👉 techcrunch.com/2026/07/17/databricks-hits-188b-valuation-extending-its-run
Databricks announced a new funding round Thursday valuing the company at $188 billion, led by Coatue. The valuation jump caps an aggressive 18-month run: $10B raised at a $62B valuation in Dec 2024, $1B at $100B in Sep 2025, $5B at $134B in Feb 2026, and now this latest round at $188B.
Founded in 2013 as a big-data analytics platform, Databricks has repositioned as core AI infrastructure, rolling out products like Lakebase, Unity, and Omnigent on top of its existing enterprise data holdings.
The new capital will fuel Databricks' AI strategy, with the company doubling down on three core products: Unity AI Gateway, its multi-AI governance tool for managing enterprise AI costs; Genie, an AI coworker that turns business data into trusted answers and actions; and Lakebase, a serverless Postgres database built for AI agents.
Databricks says its platform is now used by more than 20,000 organizations, including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, and Unilever, along with 70% of the Fortune 500.
👉 techcrunch.com/2026/07/17/databricks-hits-188b-valuation-extending-its-run
Radiant Prime One-Pager. Institutional Market-Neutral Alpha for Digital Assets
Radiant Prime turns market noise into structured yield. A delta-neutral, multi-factor engine runs 200+ research signals across liquid crypto markets — forecasting risk, hedging exposure and executing 24/7 on millisecond-latency infrastructure.
The system combines quantitative research, portfolio-level hedging, constrained optimization, automated execution and continuous risk control across liquid digital-asset markets.
Radiant Prime turns market noise into structured yield. A delta-neutral, multi-factor engine runs 200+ research signals across liquid crypto markets — forecasting risk, hedging exposure and executing 24/7 on millisecond-latency infrastructure.
The system combines quantitative research, portfolio-level hedging, constrained optimization, automated execution and continuous risk control across liquid digital-asset markets.
12 Startups Building Prediction Market Infrastructure
Everyone's trading on Polymarket. The real bet is who's building underneath it. 12 startups are quietly building prediction-market infrastructure — data, terminals, matching engines, credit. All of the early-stage.
👉 cryptodiffer.com/feed/other/prediction-market-infrastructure-12-startups
Everyone's trading on Polymarket. The real bet is who's building underneath it. 12 startups are quietly building prediction-market infrastructure — data, terminals, matching engines, credit. All of the early-stage.
👉 cryptodiffer.com/feed/other/prediction-market-infrastructure-12-startups
GRVT Pushes TGE to July 30 as Multi-Exchange Launch Takes Shape
GRVT has moved its native token launch date from July 21 to July 30, opting to delay in favor of a coordinated debut across multiple major exchanges rather than a single-venue listing.
The move comes as GRVT continues to post strong fundamentals: a top-5 perpetuals DEX with roughly $36B over 30 days, a community allocation expanded to 28%, and one of only three perp DEXs to grow open interest in 2026, up 12% year-to-date.
👉 x.com/grvt_io/status/2078040560284344528?s=20
GRVT has moved its native token launch date from July 21 to July 30, opting to delay in favor of a coordinated debut across multiple major exchanges rather than a single-venue listing.
The team says the shift comes down to timing: GRVT is launching simultaneously on several major exchanges, with the lineup still growing. Initial listings have already been confirmed since the last announcement, and more are in final stages. Listings follow coordinated timelines and can only be confirmed once agreements are fully executed, which is why the full exchange list hasn't been revealed yet.
The move comes as GRVT continues to post strong fundamentals: a top-5 perpetuals DEX with roughly $36B over 30 days, a community allocation expanded to 28%, and one of only three perp DEXs to grow open interest in 2026, up 12% year-to-date.
👉 x.com/grvt_io/status/2078040560284344528?s=20
Wanchain’s Cardano Bridge Drained of 515M NIGHT (~$9M)
Wanchain’s Cardano bridge was drained of ~515M NIGHT — roughly $9M — from its treasury, in an exploit flagged by BlockSec’s Phalcon. NIGHT is the token of Midnight, the privacy chain from Cardano’s Input Output.
👉 x.com/Phalcon_xyz/status/2079443108027421183
Wanchain’s Cardano bridge was drained of ~515M NIGHT — roughly $9M — from its treasury, in an exploit flagged by BlockSec’s Phalcon. NIGHT is the token of Midnight, the privacy chain from Cardano’s Input Output.
The root cause was a signature-reuse flaw: the TreasuryCheck validator hashed 14 raw-concatenated fields with no delimiters, so a legit BSC signature authorizing ~3,110 NIGHT was replayed on Cardano to extract 203M NIGHT — a ~65,000x inflation. NIGHT crashed over 30% intraday to a record low near $0.016. Phalcon says CBOR-encoded field boundaries would have blocked this field-splitting signature reuse.
👉 x.com/Phalcon_xyz/status/2079443108027421183
Hashflow’s Website Goes Down, Raising Red Flags
Hashflow’s website is currently unreachable, and its HFT token sits near an all-time low of ~$0.0076 — months after Binance put the token under a delisting-risk monitoring tag.
👉 x.com/tigzorr/status/2079342939851894797
Hashflow’s website is currently unreachable, and its HFT token sits near an all-time low of ~$0.0076 — months after Binance put the token under a delisting-risk monitoring tag.
Community members warn that a Discord link tied to Hashflow’s socials leads to a fake server and a wallet-draining phishing page mimicking collab.land, and claim the founders’ LinkedIn profiles were deleted. None of this is confirmed by the team or by security firms.
Until there’s an official statement, treat it as high-risk: do not connect your wallet to any “Hashflow” verification link, and revoke approvals to old Hashflow contracts.
👉 x.com/tigzorr/status/2079342939851894797
Bybit Acquires NOBI to Enter Indonesian Market
Bybit has acquired a majority stake in Indonesian crypto exchange NOBI, rebranding it as Bybit Indonesia and launching a locally regulated platform under OJK supervision.
👉 prnewswire.com/news-releases/bybit-to-launch-indonesia-platform-following-majority-acquisition-of-nobi-302827728.html
Bybit has acquired a majority stake in Indonesian crypto exchange NOBI, rebranding it as Bybit Indonesia and launching a locally regulated platform under OJK supervision.
The world’s #2 exchange by volume enters a market of 21M+ registered crypto users, rolling out in phases from 500+ trading pairs. It is led by ex-NOBI executives Lawrence Samantha (CEO) and Dionisius Evan (COO). The deal fits Bybit’s regulatory-first playbook of entering new markets through licensed local entities — Indonesia saw roughly $26.85B in crypto transactions in 2025.
👉 prnewswire.com/news-releases/bybit-to-launch-indonesia-platform-following-majority-acquisition-of-nobi-302827728.html
Samsung Electronics has Launched Robotics Division
Samsung Electronics has set up a dedicated robotics division reporting straight to its CEO, aiming to make humanoid robots and AI a core growth engine.
👉 reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samsung-electronics-creates-robotics-division-key-part-growth-strategy-2026-07-21/
Samsung Electronics has set up a dedicated robotics division reporting straight to its CEO, aiming to make humanoid robots and AI a core growth engine.
The new RX (“Robotics eXperience”) unit will run Samsung’s mid- to long-term robotics strategy. It is led by EVP Lee Dongkun, who previously headed robotics strategy at Hyundai Motor Group, including its direction of Boston Dynamics. Samsung will deploy humanoids first in its factories, then move into home and retail, with agentic AI reshaping its plants by 2030. Its new “Shallow-π” tech cuts robot-control compute to a third.
👉 reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samsung-electronics-creates-robotics-division-key-part-growth-strategy-2026-07-21/
Fluidstack has Closed an $830M Series A Funding
Fluidstack has closed an $830M Series A at a $7.5B valuation, led by Situational Awareness — the AGI-focused fund from ex-OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner. The company builds compute infrastructure for the world’s leading AI labs, aiming to be the fastest on the planet at deploying hundreds of gigawatts of compute.
👉 x.com/fluidstack/status/2079250004510728559
Fluidstack has closed an $830M Series A at a $7.5B valuation, led by Situational Awareness — the AGI-focused fund from ex-OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner. The company builds compute infrastructure for the world’s leading AI labs, aiming to be the fastest on the planet at deploying hundreds of gigawatts of compute.
Fluidstack said the raise came “with participation from world-leading investors” but named only the lead. Bloomberg earlier reported the round’s backers include Stripe’s Collison brothers, ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and AI investor Daniel Gross, with Google also weighing a stake; Goldman Sachs advised on the deal.
👉 x.com/fluidstack/status/2079250004510728559
The "buy crypto, become a treasury company" strategy is deep underwater
20 of 22 digital-asset treasuries are sitting on unrealized losses, about $30B combined at today's prices. Strategy (−$9.8B) and Bitmine (−$8.9B) carry 61% of the pain alone.
The only two names in profit? Both hold HYPE, not BTC or ETH.
20 of 22 digital-asset treasuries are sitting on unrealized losses, about $30B combined at today's prices. Strategy (−$9.8B) and Bitmine (−$8.9B) carry 61% of the pain alone.
The only two names in profit? Both hold HYPE, not BTC or ETH.
Falcon Finance Launches Falcon Card for Real-World Crypto Spending
Falcon Finance has launched Falcon Card, allowing users to spend USDf directly for everyday purchases. Users can mint USDf using eligible collateral, including stablecoins, major cryptocurrencies, tokenized gold, and supported tokenized stocks.
Falcon Card extends the utility of USDf beyond DeFi into everyday payments, adding a spending layer to the protocol's collateral infrastructure.
👉 x.com/falconfinance/status/2079189626691223709?s=20
Falcon Finance has launched Falcon Card, allowing users to spend USDf directly for everyday purchases. Users can mint USDf using eligible collateral, including stablecoins, major cryptocurrencies, tokenized gold, and supported tokenized stocks.
The card is available to verified users in 90+ jurisdictions, with no annual subscription fee (FX charges may apply). Supported collateral includes XAUt, Ondo tokenized stocks, and xStocks, while eligible card activity also earns rewards through Falcon Miles Season 2.
Falcon Card extends the utility of USDf beyond DeFi into everyday payments, adding a spending layer to the protocol's collateral infrastructure.
👉 x.com/falconfinance/status/2079189626691223709?s=20
Anthropic Offers Up to $50K in Claude Credits for Rare Disease Research
Anthropic has opened the first thematic call of its AI for Science program, giving researchers up to $50,000 in Claude credits over six months to work on rare genetic diseases.
👉 anthropic.com/news/rare-disease-research-grants
Anthropic has opened the first thematic call of its AI for Science program, giving researchers up to $50,000 in Claude credits over six months to work on rare genetic diseases.
The call runs two tracks: one for scientists doing basic research — with the Monarch Initiative as an early partner — and one for early-stage biotechs racing to compress drug-development timelines. Some 400M people live with one of 7,000+ rare diseases, yet each is studied in isolation. Applications are open through August 2, 2026, with credits usable on Claude Opus and other models approved for biology work.
👉 anthropic.com/news/rare-disease-research-grants
Jack Mallers Steps Down as CEO of Twenty One Capital, Raphael Zagury Takes Over
Jack Mallers has stepped down as CEO of Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI), effective immediately, to focus full-time on Strike, the Bitcoin payments company he founded. Board member Raphael Zagury, CEO of Elektron Energy, has been named as his successor.
Twenty One holds roughly 43,514 BTC (~$2.8B), making it the second-largest public Bitcoin treasury, and is backed by Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank.
The transition marks a strategic pivot for Twenty One, which now says it will prioritize cash-flow generation and disciplined capital allocation, building out an institutional-grade operating company around its Bitcoin balance sheet rather than being judged on holdings alone.
👉 x.com/jackmallers/status/2079543739815497742?s=20
Jack Mallers has stepped down as CEO of Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI), effective immediately, to focus full-time on Strike, the Bitcoin payments company he founded. Board member Raphael Zagury, CEO of Elektron Energy, has been named as his successor.
The leadership change comes alongside the collapse of a proposed three-way merger between Twenty One Capital, Strike, and Elektron Energy, first floated by Tether in April. Strike will remain an independent company, while a potential two-way combination between Twenty One and Elektron remains under preliminary evaluation.
Twenty One holds roughly 43,514 BTC (~$2.8B), making it the second-largest public Bitcoin treasury, and is backed by Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank.
The transition marks a strategic pivot for Twenty One, which now says it will prioritize cash-flow generation and disciplined capital allocation, building out an institutional-grade operating company around its Bitcoin balance sheet rather than being judged on holdings alone.
👉 x.com/jackmallers/status/2079543739815497742?s=20
COTI Unveils Nightfall Enterprise ZK Privacy Layer on Testnet
COTI has launched the testnet for COTI Nightfall, an Ethereum Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Roll-up joining the COTI ecosystem as an enterprise-grade privacy layer.
The latest iteration, Nightfall 4, supports private transfers across ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, and ERC-3525 token standards, with decentralized permissioning and KYC-gating built in for regulated environments.
Rather than replacing COTI's existing Garbled Circuits (GC) mainnet, Nightfall adds a second privacy layer, creating a dual-mainnet stack:
The COTI token will be native to both chains, bridged 1:1, with a fixed max supply and no new token minting, unifying fees, staking, governance, and privacy services across both networks.
👉 x.com/COTInetwork/status/2079579127368098166?s=20
COTI has launched the testnet for COTI Nightfall, an Ethereum Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Roll-up joining the COTI ecosystem as an enterprise-grade privacy layer.
Nightfall was originally built by Ernst & Young in 2019 and released to the public domain, later upgrading to a full ZK Roll-up architecture in 2025 for near-instant finality.
The latest iteration, Nightfall 4, supports private transfers across ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, and ERC-3525 token standards, with decentralized permissioning and KYC-gating built in for regulated environments.
Rather than replacing COTI's existing Garbled Circuits (GC) mainnet, Nightfall adds a second privacy layer, creating a dual-mainnet stack:
1️⃣ GC Mainnet — fast, low-cost, scalable; built for DeFi, payments, identity, and AI applications
2️⃣ Nightfall ZK — enterprise-grade, compliance-ready privacy for institutional workflows, tokenized RWAs, and regulated payments
The COTI token will be native to both chains, bridged 1:1, with a fixed max supply and no new token minting, unifying fees, staking, governance, and privacy services across both networks.
👉 x.com/COTInetwork/status/2079579127368098166?s=20
Augustus Raises $180M Series B at $1B Valuation
Augustus has secured $180 million in a Series B round, reaching a $1 billion valuation, to expand its mission of providing financial institutions worldwide with programmable access to U.S. dollar accounts and payment rails.
The funding follows Augustus' recent conditional OCC approval for a U.S. national bank charter, supporting its vision of building a Global Dollar Bank powered by its AI-native banking platform, Marble.
👉 bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/tiger-global-leads-round-for-1-billion-bank-startup-augustus
Augustus has secured $180 million in a Series B round, reaching a $1 billion valuation, to expand its mission of providing financial institutions worldwide with programmable access to U.S. dollar accounts and payment rails.
The round was led by Tiger Global, with participation from QED Investors, Hummingbird VC, Brevan Howard Digital, existing backers, and founders of Ramp, Deel, Nubank, and Circle.
The funding follows Augustus' recent conditional OCC approval for a U.S. national bank charter, supporting its vision of building a Global Dollar Bank powered by its AI-native banking platform, Marble.
👉 bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/tiger-global-leads-round-for-1-billion-bank-startup-augustus
Rhinofi Shuts Down Retail Services as Company Winds Down Consumer Offering
Rhinofi is discontinuing its retail offering at the end of July 2026, cutting off bridge access and transaction history for individual users. Anyone with funds, liquidity positions, or balances on the platform should withdraw before the deadline.
B2B clients remain unaffected and can keep using Rhinofi's Stablecoin Activation Stack by contacting the team directly.
The shutdown marks a notable exit for a bridge widely used during past airdrop farming seasons, reflecting a broader pullback among airdrop-linked infrastructure amid the current bear market.
👉 app.rhino.fi/pools
Rhinofi is discontinuing its retail offering at the end of July 2026, cutting off bridge access and transaction history for individual users. Anyone with funds, liquidity positions, or balances on the platform should withdraw before the deadline.
B2B clients remain unaffected and can keep using Rhinofi's Stablecoin Activation Stack by contacting the team directly.
The shutdown marks a notable exit for a bridge widely used during past airdrop farming seasons, reflecting a broader pullback among airdrop-linked infrastructure amid the current bear market.
👉 app.rhino.fi/pools
