BitMEX will permanently close its cryptocurrency derivatives exchange after its parent company, HDR Global, approved a wind-down plan stemming from a strategic review. The move ends more than 11 years of operations, during which BitMEX pioneered the 100x leveraged perpetual swap and said it went more than a decade without losing customer funds in a successful hack. The company said the decision reflects shifting business priorities and broader changes across the crypto industry. New account registrations have been halted with immediate effect. Existing users can still access accounts to manage positions and withdraw assets until the scheduled shutdown. Trading services will be scaled back in phases ahead of the final closure. From August 26 at 04:00 UTC, users will no longer be able to open new positions and will only be permitted to reduce or close existing trades. BitMEX also plans to gradually force-close open positions to support an orderly market exit, and any positions still open at the official closure time will be closed automatically. Low-liquidity contracts may be settled early, with impacted users to be notified in advance through the firm's standard communication channels. BitMEX said users remain responsible for managing positions ahead of the stated deadlines. BitMEX also introduced fees for accounts that keep assets on the platform after closure. KYC-verified accounts with remaining balances will be charged a monthly fee of $50 or an annual fee equal to 1% of holdings, whichever is higher. The exchange said it may raise these fees after providing prior notice. The company cautioned that the shutdown announcement could spur phishing attempts. It said there is no "priority withdrawal" service and warned that elevated withdrawal volumes may trigger additional security reviews and longer processing times on certain blockchain networks. BitMEX urged customers to close positions and withdraw funds promptly as the wind-down proceeds.

A wave of attacks hit three crypto protocols within a 24-hour span, pushing combined losses above $35.5 million. The incidents played out across three chains and involved different tactics, but the common thread was familiar: cross-chain bridges remain one of DeFi's most vulnerable pressure points. The biggest loss was recorded by AFX, an Arbitrum-based protocol that saw about $24.15 million in USDC taken in a bridge exploit on July 22. On BNB Chain, BSquaredNetwork lost $3.86 million worth of B2 tokens. Ethereum-based Verus suffered a further $7.55 million hit via its cross-chain bridge on July 23, compounding an earlier exploit of roughly $11.58 million in May 2026. AFX: bridge exploited, funds bridged and swapped Attackers siphoned $24.15 million in USDC from AFX's bridge infrastructure on Arbitrum. The funds were then moved to Ethereum and swapped into about 12,467.5 ETH. BSquaredNetwork: token dump triggers price shock BSquaredNetwork's loss was smaller in dollar terms but had immediate market consequences. The stolen $3.86 million in B2 tokens were swapped for more than 5,000 WBNB and later converted into roughly 1,128 ETH. The selling pressure drove B2 down more than 15%. Verus: repeat bridge losses raise alarm Verus's $7.55 million loss would be serious on its own. It becomes more concerning given the same bridge was exploited for approximately $11.58 million in May 2026. In roughly two months, Verus has lost more than $19 million, pointing to what appear to be related security gaps. PeckShield was among the first blockchain security firms to flag the incidents on-chain. A harsh quarter for crypto security The attacks arrive amid a broader deterioration in crypto security metrics. TRM Labs data shows the first half of 2026 logged a record 207 security incidents. Q2 alone accounted for $764 million stolen across 67 incidents, with operational weaknesses cited as a key attack surface. Bridge risks have been a longstanding concern. Vitalik Buterin warned as early as 2022 that multichain systems carry different trust assumptions than single-chain applications. What investors should take away BSquaredNetwork's 15%+ drop illustrates how quickly a security breach can translate into market damage. A cluster of exploits in a single day tends to curb risk appetite across DeFi. The $764 million stolen in Q2 2026 represents capital effectively removed from the ecosystem—money that would otherwise support development, liquidity, and lending activity. Verus offers a clear lesson for investors: a protocol that suffers a hack and fails to fully address root vulnerabilities before being exploited again is sending a signal about its security posture. One incident can be misfortune. A second is information.

AFX Trade, a decentralized perpetuals exchange for crypto and stocks, said it was exploited via its Arbitrum custody bridge, resulting in an estimated $24.15 million loss in USD Coin (USDC). On-chain activity shows the attacker swiftly moved the funds off Arbitrum (ARB) to Ethereum (ETH), a step that complicates recovery once assets leave the originating network. The stolen USDC was then swapped for 12,467.44 ETH, valued at roughly $24.16 million, and consolidated into a single Ethereum wallet. After the consolidation, no further large withdrawals were observed. The attacker's Ethereum address is now public, allowing investigators and blockchain analysts to track any attempts to move or cash out the assets. AFX said it traced the loss to a specific Ethereum account and immediately halted bridge activity while triggering its incident-response plan. Working with blockchain security partners, the exchange is monitoring for any additional movement of the stolen tokens. Steven Goldfeder, cofounder of Offchain Labs—the team behind Arbitrum—said the exploit targeted AFX's custody bridge, not Arbitrum's native bridge or the broader network. AFX added that the suspicious transactions originated from a third-party protocol, underscoring that Arbitrum's core infrastructure was not affected. SlowMist reported that the funds remain in the attacker's wallet, enabling the Crypto Defense Alliance (CDA) and multiple exchanges to watch for future transfers. Zellic, which previously audited the bridge code, has joined the investigation to analyze the attack vector. AFX also said it has extended a white-hat settlement offer while continuing to trace funds and publish verified updates. The incident adds to a recurring theme in cross-chain security: while Arbitrum's native bridge has not been breached, connected third-party bridge infrastructure can become a point of failure. Similar episodes, including Ostium and Allbridge Core, highlight how attackers increasingly focus on adjacent protocols rather than the underlying networks. Final Summary: AFX Trade lost $24.15 million after attackers exploited a third-party custody bridge and moved funds from Arbitrum to Ethereum. The episode reinforces ongoing risks in third-party bridge security as cross-chain infrastructure expands.

Odaily Planet Daily reports that Bernstein said in a research note released Thursday that its transaction tracker for the Bitcoin mining sector logged at least one new AI-related deal each week in July. Bernstein estimates the combined contracted capacity at more than 7.5 gigawatts, implying about $150 billion in value based on multi-year agreements. Bernstein noted that political pushback against new U.S. data centers is intensifying, leaving access to power as the most tangible bottleneck for the AI industry. In that context, third-party compute capacity supplied by Bitcoin miners should continue to command strategic value. Mining equities jumped into double-digit gains on Monday after a series of large AI infrastructure announcements. Hut 8 disclosed a 15-year lease agreement worth $9.8 billion for its AI data center campus. IREN reported a $2.8 billion cloud services contract with AI developers. Earlier in July, MARA Holdings said it plans to acquire a Texas site with up to 2 gigawatts of capacity to expand its AI and digital infrastructure operations. TeraWulf previously signed a 20-year data center lease with AI startup Anthropic, which said the agreement could generate roughly $19 billion in contract revenue. (Cointelegraph)

July 23—Market data show WTI crude rose as much as 5% intraday and was last at $91.25 a barrel. Brent gained 3.5% to $93.83 a barrel. As of early today, U.S. forces carried out a 12th consecutive night of strikes against Iran, hitting targets linked to Iran's maritime combat capabilities, missile and drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, and air-defense assets. PolyBeats tracking shows that on prediction market Polymarket, traders are pricing a 34% chance that WTI settles above $110 a barrel this month, a 10% chance of a close above $120, and a 4% chance of finishing above $130.

The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield has climbed to 5.18%, its highest level since April 2006. Back then, U.S. national debt stood at $8.35 trillion. It has since surged to $39.6 trillion—nearly five times larger. With borrowing costs rising, the U.S. faces mounting pressure from rates it can scarcely sustain today, not to mention the potentially higher rates it may soon have to pay.

Huoxing Finance reported that on July 23, market data showed BitMEX's platform token BMEX plunging 92% after the exchange said it will officially cease operations on Sept. 23. BMEX was last quoted at about $0.005, with a market capitalization near $480,000. BitMEX has provided little additional guidance on the token and has not announced any compensation or special arrangements. In its shutdown notice, the company said only that all staked BMEX has been immediately unstaked and returned directly to holders' accounts. In a prior statement, BitMEX described BMEX as a utility-only platform token rather than equity, debt, or any asset with promised returns. The disclaimer said BMEX is intended solely for on-platform use, including fee discounts, staking rewards and similar functions, and does not constitute an investment or carry any obligation for refunds or exchanges.

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, founded by Arthur Hayes, said it will permanently wind down operations on Sept. 23 at 04:00 UTC after completing a strategic review. The platform has stopped accepting new user registrations and is urging existing clients to close open positions and withdraw funds before the deadline. At its peak, BitMEX handled $16 billion in daily trading volume and more than $1 trillion annually. Hayes and his co-founders stepped down in 2020 after facing U.S. criminal charges.

JPMorgan says the AI rally is starting to fracture, and the next few weeks could determine whether the market is seeing a normal rotation or the early signs of a more serious unwind. In a recent note, JPMorgan strategist Jason Hunter pointed to a widening gap between AI chip and infrastructure names and the large "hyperscalers" spending heavily to build out AI capacity. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is up 87% year to date through early July 2026. Over the same stretch, Meta shares are down 5% and Microsoft is down 18%, with Microsoft logging its worst monthly decline since 2000 in June. Hunter also drew a parallel to the late 1990s, when hardware and infrastructure stocks surged while the companies footing the bill for that infrastructure began to falter. Spending expectations remain enormous. Four hyperscalers—Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet—are projected to spend a combined $725 billion on AI-related capital expenditures in 2026. In a separate estimate, JPMorgan put 2026 capex for five major hyperscalers at about $697 billion. For the summer, Hunter urged investors to focus on the stock charts of individual hyperscalers. The message is simple: if Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet can stabilize and show signs of recovery before autumn, the broader market is more likely to stay intact. Morgan Stanley struck a somewhat more constructive tone in early July 2026, suggesting a shift may already be underway from semiconductor momentum toward hyperscalers. Crypto traders may want to watch this dynamic closely even though JPMorgan's note did not address digital assets. A sharp correction in AI equities could spill over into broader risk appetite, which often matters for crypto. In particular, hyperscaler earnings guidance over the next few weeks could prove pivotal. If the market is rotating toward hyperscalers rather than breaking down, it would signal that the AI theme is still intact—with investors simply changing where they want exposure.