Bitcoin Slides Under $73,000 as Liquidations Near $1 Billion

Bitcoin fell below $73,000 as nearly $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated, exposing heavy leverage across a market already weakened by ETF redemptions. BTC touched $72,712 and traded near $73,330, down 3.3%, while spot ETFs lost $1.02 billion across three sessions.

The selloff followed two prior weeks of $1 billion and $1.26 billion in Bitcoin ETF outflows, plus a $1.3 billion dark-pool IBIT trade. Analysts said the flows looked like directional risk reduction, not simple profit-taking, as institutional demand softened and liquidity thinned.

Geopolitical pressure deepened the drawdown as direct US-Iran clashes near the Strait of Hormuz threatened a fragile ceasefire and kept WTI crude near $92 a barrel. Prediction markets moved toward higher oil-risk expectations, with traders assigning a 58% chance of WTI reaching $120 next.

Thin Coinbase order books amplified the move, with macro headlines hitting a market already strained by outflows and negative Coinbase premium readings. Myriad users cut Bitcoin upside expectations, putting a 62% chance on $84,000 next while downside odds toward $55,000 climbed to 38%.

VanEck Launches 0.39% Spot BNB ETF on Nasdaq

VanEck launched the first US spot BNB ETF on Nasdaq, giving brokerage investors token exposure without direct custody. The VBNB fund charges a 0.39% sponsor fee and holds BNB in cold storage through Anchorage Digital Bank for investors seeking regulated access.

The launch expands altcoin ETF access after US spot Bitcoin and Ether funds reached $86.45 billion and $11.6 billion in net assets. VanEck cited BNB Chain’s 14 million daily transactions, 2.5 million active users, and $16 billion stablecoin base.

Google Engineer Charged $2.75 Million For Polymarket Bets

Federal prosecutors charged Google engineer Michele Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering over alleged Polymarket insider trading. Authorities said he used confidential Year in Search data to place about $2.75 million in Google-related contracts, winning roughly $1.2 million.

The CFTC filed a parallel civil case seeking penalties, disgorgement, trading bans, and restitution. Google said the employee accessed marketing material through an internal tool and breached company policy. Polymarket said blockchain trades are transparent and traceable, leaving footprints for investigators.

Kalshi Sues Tim Walz’s Minnesota Over August Ban

Kalshi sued Minnesota after Governor Tim Walz signed a law blocking prediction market activity across the state. The platform argues the measure violates the Supremacy Clause because federally regulated event contracts fall under CFTC jurisdiction rather than state gambling rules or sports betting enforcement.

The lawsuit follows separate action by the CFTC and Justice Department against Minnesota within 24 hours of the law’s signing. Kalshi says enforcement would harm its 50-state exchange model and force costly geofencing, while states argue sports contracts violate local gaming laws.

Data of the Day

An unknown entity sent 107 BTC, worth about $8.5 million, to a provably unspendable Bitcoin burn address. Galaxy Research said the coins came from five addresses that had held the BTC for over 12 years, after a roughly 12,700% price increase.

The burn raised theories ranging from tax-loss harvesting and illicit-fund destruction to a mistaken AI-agent transfer or cold-storage error. Bitcoin has no native burn function, so coins sent to addresses without known private keys remain visible but effectively unrecoverable forever.

More Breaking News

• Sui blockchain stalled for nearly two hours, its third notable outage since 2024, while core developers identified the issue and implemented a network fix.
• Hyperliquid’s SpaceX valuation perpetual plunged 45% in 30 minutes, liquidating $1.51 million across 405 users as thin liquidity failed traders during a retail-heavy selloff.
• CFTC and Gemini jointly asked to reverse a $5 million settlement, with the regulator saying its 2022 enforcement case should not have been filed.
• Tether’s USAT supply jumped 540% month-over-month to over 140 million tokens, with Anchorage’s attestation showing $141.2 million in reserves.
• Sequans abandoned its Bitcoin treasury strategy after less than a year, planning to liquidate 658 BTC while refocusing on its IoT semiconductor business.
• UniCredit warned Europe’s €100,000 deposit insurance may struggle with stablecoin-bank stress, unlike US crisis tools that protected large crypto reserve accounts.
• Nakamoto shares fell over 99% from their May 2025 peak despite a 1-for-40 reverse split meant to preserve Nasdaq compliance.

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