Raphael Zagury, chief executive of Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI), said at the Bitcoin Asia 2026 conference in Hong Kong that Bitcoin is going through what he described as the first "hash-rate bear market" in its history. According to Zagury, the network’s total hash rate climbed to nearly 1.3 ZH/s at the end of last year and has continued to decline since then, marking the longest stretch on record in which hash rate failed to reclaim a prior peak. Zagury argued that mining company failures in previous cycles were driven more by their own capital structures and cost structures than by Bitcoin’s price or hash-price levels. In his view, a hash-rate downturn can benefit miners that remain in the market because their share of the network rises naturally as weaker participants exit. He also said that almost all publicly listed mining companies are leaving the sector. With Bitcoin trading at what he called compressed levels and the hash-rate setup turning more favorable, Zagury said large-scale mining is now in an advantageous position.

Crypto markets and adjacent tech news were both active on Aug. 21. Among the most-traded tokens on centralized exchanges, BTC, ETH, SOL and BNB all posted gains over the past 24 hours, while HYPE briefly rose above $73.4, according to OKX data, with a 24-hour increase of 26%. Separate ranking data from OKX and msx.com showed strong moves in spot tokens and crypto-linked equities, including a 60.15% jump in BTCT.M. On the corporate side, Bloomberg reported that Anthropic is preparing for an initial public offering that could match or exceed the record level set by SpaceX, with a public filing possible as soon as the end of August. The report said Anthropic raised capital in May at a $96.5 billion valuation, brought in $6.5 billion in financing, and had reached a $6.5 billion revenue run rate by the end of July. Bloomberg also said the company is working with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan and is weighing a super-voting share structure for CEO Dario Amodei. Other developments included ICE signaling openness to joining a new Polymarket funding round, the U.S. SEC proposing two fundraising exemption tracks for crypto projects, Riot Platforms signing AI data center leasing agreements worth about $9.8 billion in long-term revenue, and CZ saying a compliant U.S. entry by Hyperliquid would be positive for the broader industry.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is set to hold a public meeting on Aug. 14 to consider a proposed "Regulation Crypto" framework that would let some crypto projects raise capital without completing a full securities registration process. If advanced for public comment, it would become the SEC’s first formal, durable rulemaking effort aimed specifically at the crypto sector. The proposal would also outline a route for projects to exit SEC oversight once developers stop actively managing the network and the project becomes decentralized. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has previously said the exemption period could last as long as four years, though no fundraising cap was disclosed. On the litigation front, a federal judge in Connecticut ruled that Kalshi’s sports-event contracts are not swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, meaning the Commodity Futures Trading Commission did not obtain exclusive jurisdiction on that basis. The decision lands as Kalshi remains under pressure in New York, where the CFTC said it used “emergency powers” to require the prediction-market operator to continue operating after the company sought assistance following a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James. Elsewhere, the market snapshot showed broad declines among major tokens over the past 24 hours, while project, funding, security and AI headlines spanned Bitwise layoffs, a reported COLDCARD Mk3 wallet flaw, Hyperliquid and Robinhood Chain user metrics, and a string of new financings across crypto, AI and financial infrastructure.

Twenty One CEO Raphael Zagury told shareholders the company needs to become more than a Bitcoin treasury as investors question its valuation, pace of execution, and stock performance. The letter came after the company reported a Q2 2026 net loss of $413.5 million, a figure driven almost entirely by a non-cash fair-value change in its Bitcoin holdings. Twenty One holds 43,514 BTC, worth about $2.7 billion at a Bitcoin price of $63,464, making it the second-largest public Bitcoin treasury company, according to Bitcointreasuries.net. Zagury, who took over in July from Jack Mallers, said the company is already hiring for key operating roles and plans to build a conservatively leveraged Bitcoin-backed lending and credit business while supporting Bitcoin developers with no strings attached. The company was formed by Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank, though SoftBank is no longer involved, and it went public last year through a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners. Twenty One shares were down more than 1% over the past day on Tuesday and have fallen more than 50% year to date.

Tether-backed Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI), a bitcoin treasury company, reported a net loss of $413.5 million for the second quarter of 2026, largely driven by the falling value of its bitcoin holdings. About $401.5 million of that loss was attributed to the mark-to-market decline in the company's bitcoin assets. Twenty One Capital uses bitcoin as its core reserve asset, meaning fluctuations in the BTC price have a direct impact on its financial performance. In a statement accompanying the earnings, newly appointed CEO Raphael Zagury said the company cannot continue to exist merely as a "bitcoin treasury" and must transition into a broader financial services platform. He laid out three priorities for the next stage: expanding the business through acquisitions, boosting financing capacity with capital markets tools, and developing bitcoin-collateralized lending. The financial results were originally reported by The Block. Twenty One Capital is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker XXI.

Bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital (XXI) reported a net loss of $413.5 million for the second quarter, with the decline in the value of its Bitcoin holdings accounting for $401.5 million of the damage. The earnings figures were disclosed on August 11. The Tether-backed firm has a new chief executive, Raphael Zagury, who said the company now needs to become "more than just a Bitcoin treasury." Zagury laid out a development plan covering mergers and acquisitions, capital markets operations, and Bitcoin-collateralized lending. The quarterly result highlights how closely the firm's bottom line tracks moves in Bitcoin prices, given the size of its holdings. The loss came entirely from the markdown on its Bitcoin position, leaving the rest of the business flat for the quarter, according to the company's reporting. Zagury's stated direction points to a wider strategy beyond simply holding Bitcoin on the balance sheet. No timeline for the planned expansion was disclosed in the announcement.

Tether-backed bitcoin treasury company Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI) reported a $413.5 million net loss for the second quarter of 2026, driven mainly by the declining value of its bitcoin holdings. Around $401.5 million of that loss came from a fall in the book value of its bitcoin assets. With bitcoin at the core of the company's asset allocation, swings in BTC prices directly weigh on its financial results. Newly appointed CEO Raphael Zagury said Twenty One Capital can no longer function purely as a "bitcoin treasury company" and must move toward a broader financial services platform. Zagury outlined three priorities: expanding the business through acquisitions, improving financing capabilities with capital markets tools, and exploring bitcoin-collateralized lending. The report was first carried by The Block and relayed by ChainCatcher.

Crypto markets are heading into the week of Aug. 10 with U.S. inflation data at the center of near-term price action, according to CoinDesk’s weekly preview. The key release is July CPI, due Aug. 12, with economists looking for 3.4% year-over-year and 0.1% month-over-month. ING strategists Chris Turner and Francesco Pesole said a no-hike outcome from the Federal Reserve would support a friendlier cross-asset backdrop and could allow the dollar to soften into year-end, while a hotter CPI print would likely bring Treasury yields and the dollar back to the forefront of crypto trading. Beyond macro, the calendar includes the Aug. 14 deadline for second-quarter Form 13F filings by U.S. institutional investment managers, earnings from firms including Bitdeer, Bakkt, Securitize and Gemini Space Station, governance votes across Lido DAO, QuickSwap, Seamless DAO, Decentraland DAO, GnosisDAO and Lazy Summer DAO, plus several token unlocks. AI Financial Corporation also said roughly 6.9 billion WLFI tokens covered by original lock-up terms are expected to become fully transferable on Aug. 12.