Bitcoin Drops Below $100K After U.S.–Iran Escalation, Then Slightly Recovers

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🌍 War jitters send BTC under $100K

• 💼 OKX considers Wall Street debut

• 🧾 FTX fights 3AC’s $1.5B cash grab

• 👀 Reddit wants to prove you’re human

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Bitcoin Dips Below $100K as U.S.–Iran Tensions Trigger $627M in Liquidations

The crypto market faced a sharp selloff over the weekend following U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, with bitcoin briefly plunging below $100,000 for the first time in over six weeks. 

As of 6:20 a.m. ET Monday, BTC had rebounded slightly to $101,484, recovering from an intraday low of $98,467. Ether followed a similar trajectory, trading at $2,247 after bottoming at $2,134.

The geopolitical shock rattled investor sentiment, sparking widespread liquidations. Over the past 24 hours, over 180,000 traders were liquidated, totaling $627.52 million in losses, mostly from overleveraged long positions per CoinGlass data.

Market observers pointed to heightened risk-off behavior, as Iran’s parliament called for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route. The crypto sector, particularly altcoins, bore the brunt of the selloff.

Commenting on the downturn, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes posted on X: “Do you hear that? … it’s the sound of the money printers revving up to do their patriotic duty. This weakness shall pass and $BTC will leave no doubt as to its safe haven status.”

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OKX Considers U.S. IPO Following Market Reentry: The Information

Crypto exchange OKX is considering a U.S. initial public offering, signaling growing interest in traditional equity markets among major digital asset firms, according to The Information. “We will absolutely consider an IPO in the future,” said Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique, adding that if the company moves forward, “it would likely be in the U.S.”

The statement stops short of confirming formal plans but reflects OKX’s intent to evaluate a listing as market conditions improve. The exchange reentered the U.S. in April after paying a $500 million fine to settle charges of operating without a license.

OKX ranks fifth among the world’s largest crypto exchanges, per data from CoinMarketCap. Its potential IPO would follow successful market debuts from firms like Circle and coincide with renewed enthusiasm for crypto stocks.

FTX Pushes Back Against 3AC’s $1.5 Billion Bankruptcy Claim

The legal battle between FTX and collapsed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) has intensified, as FTX’s bankruptcy estate moves to nullify a $1.5 billion claim it says is based on “fiction.” In a Friday court filing, FTX argued that 3AC misrepresented the value of its holdings and ignored the extensive margin debt tied to its trading activity.

FTX contends that at the time of its collapse, 3AC’s account balance was just $284 million, including hundreds of millions in borrowed funds, and that any subsequent losses stemmed from market volatility and 3AC’s own withdrawals.

According to FTX lawyers, internal records show that after margin calls went unanswered, FTX liquidated assets to prevent a negative balance. The estate now accuses 3AC of trying to recoup failed bets at the expense of other creditors. A hearing is set for August 12, while 3AC has until July 11 to respond to the objection.

Reddit Explores Iris-Scanning Tech to Verify Humanity Online

Reddit is in talks to adopt World ID, the digital identity system backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as part of a broader effort to verify users without compromising anonymity, according to Semafor.

The system, developed by Tools for Humanity, assigns users a World ID after scanning their irises with a biometric device called the Orb. The process creates a unique encrypted identity that proves a user is human without storing personal data.

Reddit’s potential integration would offer users a way to distinguish themselves from AI agents while remaining pseudonymous. “We will do our best to preserve both the humanness and anonymity of Reddit,” CEO Steve Huffman wrote last month.

• 🧑‍⚖️ Jupiter froze all DAO voting until 2026, citing governance dysfunction, while keeping staking rewards at 50 million JUP per quarter, as leadership seeks a less divisive framework.

• 🚫 Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky relinquished all claims to bankruptcy payouts, clearing a path for greater creditor compensation as the estate continues distributing over $2.5 billion.

• 🎭 TikTok denied Congressman Brad Sherman’s accusation that its Chinese owners spent $300 million on Trump’s memecoin as a bribe to delay a U.S. ban, calling the claim false and misleading.

• 🔐 DeFi players such as Uniswap, Morpho, and Maple launched Web3SOC, a new self-assessment and maturity framework aimed at making crypto projects more institution-ready through standardized compliance benchmarks.

• 🔫 Five people in France were charged over a violent New Year’s Eve abduction involving a crypto trader’s father, in a case emblematic of a rising wave of digital asset-related kidnappings.

• 🚨 CoinMarketCap was briefly compromised by a malicious pop-up exploit embedded in a homepage image, prompting wallet warnings before the platform removed the code and restored full operations.

• 🤠 Texas became the third U.S. state to adopt a Bitcoin reserve fund, with a new law allowing BTC-only holdings managed outside the treasury and protected from budget reallocations.

• 🏛️ Wyoming’s state-backed WYST stablecoin is scheduled to go live on August 20, though the commission has yet to finalize which of 11 blockchains it will use for launch.

• 🚀 Crypto startup Stackup, led by a former SpaceX manager, raised $4.2 million to help businesses manage onchain assets more safely using Ethereum’s account abstraction technology.

• 🟠 Nakamoto and KindlyMD increased their planned bitcoin treasury to $763 million after securing another $51.5 million in PIPE funding ahead of their merger approval.

• 🧬 Biotech firm Bridge Biotherapeutics secured $183.3 million from Parataxis to pivot into bitcoin treasury strategy, rebranding to Parataxis Korea and soaring over 20% on KOSDAQ.

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