Today in crypto, 35 publicly traded companies now hold at least 1,000 BTC each, a sudden dip in the price of Bitcoin has contributed to $700 million in liquidations over the last 24 hours, and an Ethereum developer became the first defense witness to testify in Roman Storm’s trial after prosecutors rested their case.
35 companies now hold at least 1,000 Bitcoin as corporate adoption booms
Corporate adoption of Bitcoin is accelerating, with 35 publicly traded companies now holding at least 1,000 BTC each, signaling growing institutional interest in the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Demand for Bitcoin (BTC) is soaring among public companies four months after US President Donald Trump’s executive order outlined the creation of a federal Bitcoin reserve for the world’s largest economy.
According to Chris Kuiper, vice president of research at Fidelity Digital Assets, at least 35 public companies have now surpassed 1,000 BTC in holdings on their balance sheets, worth more than $116 billion at the time of writing, up from 24 companies at the end of Q1.
The growing Bitcoin-holding companies signal a “notable increase in Bitcoin exposure,” said Kuiper in a Thursday X post. “Bitcoin purchases became more widely distributed across public companies rather than concentrated among a few large buyers,” he added.
Fidelity’s data was published shortly after Bitcoin flipped Amazon’s $2.3 trillion market capitalization to become the world’s fifth-largest asset by total valuation, Cointelegraph reported on July 14.
Following the new wave of institutional buying, over 278 public entities are now holding Bitcoin, up from 124 just weeks ago, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET.
The US leads all countries with 94 public entities holding Bitcoin, followed by Canada with 40 and the UK with 19 public BTC holding entities.
Bitcoin tumbles below $116,000 in bloodbath for crypto longs
More than half a billion in long positions were liquidated across the crypto market on Friday as the price of Bitcoin slipped below $116,000 amid a broader market tumble.
According to CoinGlass data, $585.86 million in long positions were liquidated, with Bitcoin (BTC) accounting for $140.06 million of that total as it dropped 2.63% to $115,356.
Ether (ETH) followed with $104.76 million in long liquidations, falling 1.33% to $3,598 over the same period.
The sudden market downturn led to the liquidation of 213,729 traders over the period, catching many off guard amid recent bullish sentiment. Across the board, a total of $731.93 million was wiped out of the market in short and long positions.
ETH core developer testifies in Roman Storm defense as gov’t rests case
Prosecutors in the criminal trial of Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm rested their case on Thursday, opening the door for defense counsel to call an Ethereum core developer as its first witness.
According to reporting by Inner City Press on Thursday from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Ethereum core developer Preston Van Loon testified in Storm’s defense case, which is expected to last about a week. The developer reportedly described Tornado Cash as a “privacy tool for Ethereum” and said he had used the mixing service four times to send a combined 43 Ether (ETH) in 2019 or 2020, citing safety concerns.
“If [hackers] know the scope of my assets I can become a target,” said Van Loon, according to reporting from the courtroom.
Prosecutors’ cross-examination of Van Loon was largely confined to questions about any personal connections to Storm and whether he used a “normal crypto platform like Coinbase.” Storm’s lawyers reportedly said on Wednesday that they planned to call “two or three doctors” to testify, and possibly someone from Chainalysis.
Van Loon’s testimony marked the ninth day of Storm’s criminal trial, in which he faces charges of money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, and conspiracy to violate US sanctions related to his role at Tornado Cash.
