Cryptonews

Bitcoin Magazine VerifiedX and BitGo Sign MOU to Deliver Qualified Custody for vBTC, Expanding Institutional Access to Native Bitcoin Utility, and with Immediate Support for Non-Synthetic Canonical on Base VerifiedX today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BitGo to provide qualified custody support for vBTC, with immediate support for vBTC.b , the non-synthetic canonical Bitcoin asset issued through the VerifiedX Network and deployed on Base. The partnership represents a significant milestone in bringing institutional-grade custody, compliance, and security standards to programmable Bitcoin while preserving direct redemption to native Bitcoin. Under the agreement, institutions, asset managers, family offices, corporations, and professional allocators will be able to custody vBTC upon final integration and can now immediately custody vBTC.b through BitGo’s qualified custody infrastructure while accessing the utility of Bitcoin across decentralized...

Bitcoin Magazine Keel Infrastructure to Consolidate Three Bitcoin Sites Into One AI Campus Keel Infrastructure Corp. has secured a set of approvals that push its data center project in Sherbrooke, Québec, toward construction.  The City of Sherbrooke cleared the North American digital infrastructure and energy company to enter into an agreement with Hydro-Sherbrooke for the transfer and operation of 96 megawatts of existing capacity, along with a purchase agreement for the land where the campus will rise. The power agreement lets Keel consolidate three of its current Bitcoin mining sites in the province into a single 96 MW campus. The company did not request additional power, a choice that preserves the use of current electrical infrastructure and keeps the project in step with Québec’s energy priorities.  Keel won approval to recategorize the 96 MW from Bitcoin mining to high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, the workload class that draws ca...

Bitcoin Magazine CleanSpark Signs $6.6 Billion Data Center Lease as Bitcoin Miner Pivots to Compute CleanSpark, the Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner, said on July 14 that it has signed a 20-year infrastructure lease with an unnamed high-investment-grade global technology company at its campus in Sandersville, Georgia.  The deal marks the firm’s largest step from pure bitcoin mining toward high-performance computing for hyperscale clients. The lease covers data center infrastructure that will support 175 megawatts of critical IT load. CleanSpark expects the initial term to generate $6.6 billion in contracted revenue, a figure that would climb to $11.6 billion if the tenant exercises both extension options.  The company has recently announced that it would repurpose part of its electricity capacity and mining infrastructure to power AI data centers, aiming to diversify beyond bitcoin mining.  CleanSparks’ average annual net operating income from the a...

Bitcoin Magazine Bitcoin Price Jumps Above $64,000 as Cooler-Than-Expected Inflation Strengthens the Case for Rate Cuts Bitcoin price briefly climbed above $64,000 on Tuesday after the June Consumer Price Index came in softer than forecast, giving traders fresh reason to bet the Federal Reserve will step back from further tightening. The Labor Department reported that headline CPI fell 0.1% in June from the prior month, pulling the annual rate down to about 3.9% from 4.2% in May. A near 10% drop in gasoline prices drove much of the decline. Bitcoin price, which had spent the past week under pressure from leverage flushes and geopolitical risk, turned higher on the print and traded near $63,800, a gain of about 2% on the day. Softer inflation data eases the path toward rate cuts, and lower rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding an asset that pays no yield. As the reading crossed the wire, Treasury yields eased, the dollar gave back ground against major currencies, and...

Bitcoin Magazine White House Crypto Chief Patrick Witt to Begin Military Leave as Clarity Act Nears Senate Deadline Patrick Witt, the White House’s top crypto adviser, will begin a months-long leave of absence this month to report for training with the Georgia Army National Guard, according to a report from Crypto in America .  His departure arrives as the Senate works to advance the Clarity Act before its August recess. Witt, 37, is expected to conclude his White House work next Friday before reporting on July 27 to the Guard’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) program. Completion of the training qualifies him to serve as a JAG officer, a military attorney who advises on military justice and operational and administrative law. Witt and the White House did not respond to Crypto in America’s requests for comment. Witt took over as executive director of the White House crypto council last August, after Bo Hines left the post for a role at stablecoin iss...

Bitcoin Magazine Bitwise Sees a Bottom in Bitcoin’s Worst Vibes Yet: ‘Darkest Before the Dawn’  Bitcoin closed the second quarter of 2026 mired in its deepest and longest downturn since the last bear market, according to Bitwise Asset Management’s newly released Q3 2026 Crypto Market Review.  Yet the $9 billion crypto asset manager frames the pain as a setup rather than a collapse, arguing the industry has never been sturdier beneath the surface. Bitcoin fell 13.4% in Q2 and is down 32.9% for the year, dropping below $60,000 in June for the first time since 2024 and landing roughly 52% under its October peak of $126,080. That extends what Bitwise calls “crypto winter” to nine months and marks the third straight quarter of negative returns for the broader Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index, its longest losing streak since 2022.  Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan does not sugarcoat it, writing that “the vibes in crypt...

Bitcoin Magazine ‘Don’t Let China Win’: President Trump Presses Senate on Clarity Act in Final Stretch The Senate returns to Washington on July 13, with the clock running down on the most consequential piece of crypto legislation in years. Lawmakers now have roughly four weeks to schedule, debate, and pass the CLARITY Act before the August recess.  President Trump weighed in directly on Monday, posting on Truth Social that “in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham, a big supporter, the U.S. Senate should pass the Clarity Act” and warning that China and other countries “would like to take complete and total control of this major financial ‘happening,'” as well as A.I.  White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt amplified the urgency, noting the critical week coincides with the one-year anniversary of the GENIUS Act and cautioning, “We cannot afford to delay any longer.” This is a window many policy watchers see as the ...

Bitcoin Magazine Strategy (MSTR) Raises $467 Million in Cash, Leaves Stash of 843,775 Bitcoin Untouched Strategy (MSTR) sold about $466.7 million worth of its stock last week and put the proceeds toward cash rather than bitcoin, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The move lifted the company’s U.S. dollar reserve to $3 billion and marked another week without a purchase from the largest corporate holder of bitcoin. Between July 6 and July 12, the Michael Saylor–led firm sold 4,818,781 Class A common shares through its at-the-market equity program. It issued no preferred stock under its other ATM facilities during the period.  The company said the fresh cash pushed its dollar reserve up by some $450 million, and that it holds the reserve to cover dividend payments on its preferred stock and interest payments on its outstanding debt. Strategy neither bought nor sold bitcoin over the week. Its holdings stand at 843,7...

Bitcoin Magazine U.S. Representatives Urge Senate to Vote on CLARITY Act in July, Address Ethics Concerns Rep. French Hill wants a deadline.  One year after the House passed the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, the Arkansas Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee used a Fox Business interview with anchor Maria Bartiromo to press Senate leaders for a floor vote before the August recess. “I’ve encouraged Senate leadership to put it on the floor,” Hill said. “I think if you schedule a floor date here in the month of July, that will cause these final meetings, these final discussions to take place. You’ve got to have a deadline in Congress to get people to move and find consensus.”  Hill thanked Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Cynthia Lummis, John Boozman and Tim Scott for working toward a deal, and pointed to the 78 Democrats who backed the House measure a year ago. Hill’s central argument is that ...