BitMEX announced it will permanently shut down on September 23 and immediately faced a proposed class-action lawsuit over 622.66 BTC allegedly stolen through rigged liquidations. BitMart is also closing after nine years, sending its token down 58%. BlackRock, Coinbase, and five other institutions launched a $15 million consortium to protect Bitcoin from quantum computing threats. Morgan Stanley’s spot Solana ETF received approval to list on NYSE Arca. An AFX bridge on Arbitrum was drained for $24.15 million, pushing July’s total hack losses close to $100 million. Here is a clear look at the most important crypto and tech stories making headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BitMEX announced it will cease all operations<\/a> on September 23, and within the same news cycle, a proposed class-action lawsuit landed against the exchange over 622.66 BTC worth approximately $40.7 million that traders claim were lost to rigged liquidations and insider trading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BitMEX was once the largest crypto derivatives exchange in the world, processing billions in daily volume. Closing with a lawsuit over rigged liquidations is a fitting end to a story that has included regulatory fines, criminal charges against its founders, and years of declining relevance. The 622.66 BTC at the center of the lawsuit represents real losses from real traders who deserve answers before the doors close permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BitMart announced a phased shutdown<\/a> of its exchange after nine years of operation. The announcement sent its native BMX token down roughly 58% immediately after the news broke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two major crypto exchanges announcing shutdowns in the same week is not normal. BitMart had been operating since 2017 and survived the 2022 crash that wiped out much of the industry. A 58% single-day drop in BMX tells you the market had no warning this was coming. Users with funds on the platform need to act during the phased withdrawal window before it closes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A consolidated CLARITY Act draft<\/a> merging work from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees was released publicly, but no floor vote has been scheduled before Congress breaks for its August 10 recess deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CLARITY Act is the most significant crypto market structure legislation the US has attempted. Getting a merged draft out is genuine progress because the two committees had competing versions for months. But releasing a draft without scheduling a vote means the August recess deadline is likely to pass without a decision, which pushes the timeline into the fall at the earliest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BlackRock, Coinbase, Strategy, Block, Fidelity Digital Assets and others<\/a> announced the Bitcoin Security Consortium, committing a combined $15 million over three years to fund research into protecting Bitcoin against quantum computing threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quantum computing is not a near-term threat to Bitcoin today, but the institutions putting $15 million into this research understand that cryptographic upgrades take years to design, test, and deploy across a decentralized network. BlackRock manages trillions in assets including significant Bitcoin ETF exposure. They are not funding quantum research because the threat is hypothetical. They are funding it because waiting until the threat is immediate would be too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morgan Stanley’s spot Solana ETF, trading under the ticker MSOL, received NYSE Arca certification<\/a> to list and trade with a 0.14% annual fee. The fund plans to stake up to 100% of its SOL holdings, meaning it would earn staking rewards on top of management fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Solana ETF that stakes its entire holdings is a structurally different product from a Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin does not produce yield. SOL staking currently generates around 6 to 7% annually. If MSOL passes those rewards to investors, it becomes a yield-bearing crypto ETF product, which is something that has not existed in a regulated US wrapper before. The 0.14% fee is also among the lowest in the ETF space, which signals Morgan Stanley is competing aggressively on price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An AFX-powered bridge on the Arbitrum network<\/a> was exploited for approximately $24.15 million in USDC, pushing total crypto hack losses for July to roughly $97 million with days still remaining in the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cross-chain bridges remain the most consistently exploited infrastructure in crypto. This is the same category of attack that has produced some of the largest individual thefts in the industry’s history. $24.15 million drained in a single exploit, combined with the Verus bridge being hit for a second time in weeks, means July is shaping up as one of the more expensive months for infrastructure security in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Verus-Ethereum bridge was attacked again<\/a>, with attackers draining approximately $7.54 million and immediately converting the stolen funds to ETH. This is the second exploit of the same bridge within a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being exploited twice in the same month is not bad luck, it is a security failure. After the first attack, the bridge should have been paused, audited, and patched before resuming operations. The fact that attackers returned to the same target and successfully drained another $7.54 million suggests either the root vulnerability was not fully addressed or an entirely new attack vector was found in the same codebase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n US spot Bitcoin ETFs<\/a> ended a seven-day inflow run by posting more than $465 million in net outflows across two consecutive days, with BlackRock’s IBIT leading the redemptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n $465 million leaving Bitcoin ETFs in two days after a week of inflows illustrates how quickly institutional sentiment can reverse. BlackRock’s IBIT leading the outflows is significant because IBIT has the largest asset base and tends to move slower than smaller funds. When the biggest fund in the space starts seeing redemptions, it reflects something broader than individual portfolio rebalancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBitMart Is Shutting Down After Nine Years, Its Token Crashed 58%<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The CLARITY Act Draft Was Released but Has No Senate Vote Scheduled Before August Recess<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
BlackRock, Coinbase, and Five Other Institutions Launched a $15 Million Bitcoin Quantum Security Consortium<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Morgan Stanley’s Spot Solana ETF Received Approval to List on NYSE Arca with a 0.14% Fee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An AFX Bridge on Arbitrum Was Exploited for $24.15 Million, Pushing July Hack Losses Near $100 Million<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Verus-Ethereum Bridge Was Exploited for a Second Time, Losing $7.54 Million<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bitcoin ETFs Snapped a Seven-Day Inflow Streak with $465 Million in Outflows Over Two Days<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ripple Announced Partnerships with Mastercard, JPMorgan, OKX and Ondo Finance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n