Crypto Liquidations Top $800M as Bitcoin Falters

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🔥 $800M liquidated in latest BTC shakeout

• 🎭 LIBRA villain scores $12M from YZY launch

• 📈 Hyperliquid trading surges past Robinhood

• 💸 Pantera cooks up $1.25B Solana war chest

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Crypto Liquidations Top $800 Million as Bitcoin Falters

Another bout of volatility in crypto markets resulted in a big trader shakeout on Monday, with liquidations crossing the $810 million mark over the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin slipped below the $110,000 mark just after 9:30 p.m., slipping 3% in the last day. Ether saw a deeper selloff, dropping more than 7% over the same period to an intraday low of $4,316.

Dr. Sean Dawson, head of research at onchain options platform Derive.xyz, attributed the move to “overleveraged positioning, particularly following ETH’s recent run-up.”

Dawson also pointed out that short-dated volatility has spiked sharply across the board, which “reflects rising trader anxiety ahead of key macroeconomic catalysts.”

“Bitcoin has spent less than ~3 days at this price level. It's healthy to revisit and spend some time here,” said Joe Consorti, head of growth at Bitcoin infrastructure firm Theya.

“We're entering the weakest month for BTC seasonally, which is followed by its (historically) two best months. Go outside, touch grass, breathe, enjoy life.”

Lastly, Dawson highlighted that traders “appear to be bracing for potential retests of $4K for ETH and $100K for BTC,” and that “the path ahead could be bumpier than many were positioned for.”

Tune in today at 4pm ET / 1pm PT as Laura sits down with VCs Peter Hans (Hack VC) and Jon Charbonneau (DBA) to discuss the hottest trends and biggest news in crypto: digital asset treasuries, stablecoins, Hyperliquid, and more. 

Watch on X or YouTube.

LIBRA Facilitator Sniped $12M of Kanye West’s YZY Token: Bubblemaps

Infamous crypto personality Hayden Davis, known for his role in facilitating the LIBRA token, reportedly sniped $12 million worth of Kanye West’s memecoin YZY.

New onchain evidence from Bubblemaps shows a cluster of wallet addresses that were funded by centralized exchanges a day before the launch were linked to Davis.

Bubblemaps traced them to him through a combination of funding transactions, shared deposits and CCTP transfers, which refers to transfers of crypto assets between different wallets owned by the same entity.

A day before YZY’s launch, Davis and fellow LIBRA promoter Ben Chow regained access to $57 million worth of USDC after a judge unfroze the assets, ruling that there was insufficient proof of “irreparable harm” on their part against LIBRA victims.

“We can’t confirm if Hayden had insider info or a direct link to the YZY team, but these 14 snipers: Made $12M in profits, bought as early as 1:54 AM UTC, one minute after the announcement,” said Bubblemaps on X.

Hyperliquid Surpasses Robinhood in Trading Volume for Three Months Straight

Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid has surpassed popular U.S. brokerage Robinhood in monthly trading volume for the third consecutive month as of July 2025.

Hyperliquid recorded $330.8 billion in combined spot and perpetual trading volume, outperforming Robinhood's $237.8 billion, marking a 39.1% lead, as per data from DeFiLlama and Robinhood’s latest attestation.

Despite the significant edge in trading volume, Hyperliquid’s user base is a far smaller 520,000 compared to Robinhood’s 26.5 million funded accounts, according to data shared by Artemis CEO Jon Ma.

Hyperliquid is a high-performance decentralized exchange (DEX) built on its own custom layer 1 blockchain, capable of processing up to 200,000 orders per second.

Despite a core team of only 11 people, the DEX has over $6.2 billion in user assets and commands 75% of the market share for decentralized perpetual exchanges.

Pantera Capital Targets $1.25 Billion Raise for Solana Treasury Firm: Report

Crypto-focused venture firm Pantera Capital is reportedly planning to raise $1.25 billion to create a dedicated Solana treasury or investment firm by acquiring a Nasdaq-listed company and converting it into a Solana treasury vehicle.

According to The Information, Pantera plans to start with a $500 million raise, followed by an additional $750 million through warrants.

The report follows Pantera’s own disclosure earlier this month that it had deployed $300 million in digital asset treasuries (DAT) across various tokens and geographies.

Pantera also joined forces with ParaFi Capital to back medical device firm Sharps Tech in its initiative to build a Solana treasury. Sharps, which plans to raise $400 million for this initiative, saw its stock price rally 96% to an intraday high of $14.53 on Monday after its announcement.

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• 📉 The World Federation of Exchanges urged U.S., European, and global regulators to impose securities rules on tokenized stocks, warning that blockchain-based share mimics lack investor protections, mislead buyers, and risk damaging listed companies’ reputations.

• 🎲 Prediction market Kalshi hired well-known crypto voice John Wang as head of crypto to expand onchain betting options, aiming to capture users from rivals like Polymarket as regulation eases and demand for event wagering grows.

• 💳 Gemini teamed up with Ripple to launch an XRP rewards credit card and expanded use of Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin for U.S. trading pairs, moves that come as the exchange readies for a U.S. IPO.

• ⚽ A frenzy of fake Cristiano Ronaldo memecoins briefly drove one token’s value to $143 million before it collapsed 98% in minutes, with analysts blaming an organized influencer-led scheme exploiting rumors of a CR7 launch.

• 🟡 B Strategy, backed by Binance founders CZ and Yi He, unveiled plans for a $1 billion U.S.-listed vehicle to hold BNB and fund ecosystem growth, pitching itself as a “Berkshire Hathaway” for Binance’s token.

• 🐋 BitMine boosted its Ethereum stash past 1.7 million tokens worth nearly $8 billion after buying 190,000 ETH in a week, while still holding $562 million in cash to keep the accumulation going despite market volatility.

• 💊 Medical device maker Sharps Technology announced a $400 million stock sale to build one of the largest Solana treasuries, positioning its shares as a Solana proxy while adding crypto-native leaders Alice and James Zhang to its board.

• 🏢 Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) bought 3,000 bitcoin worth $357 million by issuing common stock again, reversing a short-lived policy meant to restrict equity sales.

• 🔄 ETHZilla unveiled a $250 million share buyback plan while disclosing it had amassed over 102,000 ETH valued at $489 million, with plans to stake coins through its proprietary protocol for extra yield.

• 💶 French chipmaker Sequans filed to raise $200 million through U.S.-listed shares to boost its bitcoin treasury, adding to its 3,000 BTC stash with a long-term target of 100,000 coins by 2030.

• 🏛️ Bitpanda said it was preparing for a public listing but ruled out London due to weak liquidity, instead eyeing New York or Frankfurt as more attractive venues amid friendlier U.S. crypto rules.

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