Invest ideasNews
5 Feb 2026, 14:00
Bitcoin Treasuries An ‘Explosion Waiting To Happen,’ Capriole Founder Warns
The Capriole Investments founder has explained how the unwinding of Bitcoin treasuries could make LUNA and FTX crashes look like ‘child’s play.’ Bitcoin Treasury Company Count Has Climbed To 200 In a new post on X, Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards has talked about the situation of the Bitcoin Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firms, companies that have added BTC to their balance sheet. The DAT model was popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), who has been a relentless buyer of Bitcoin in recent years. 2025 particularly saw DAT strategies gain traction, with companies not only looking at Bitcoin as a treasury asset, but also other coins like Ethereum and Solana. Following this boom, BTC treasury companies now number in the hundreds. Edwards has given a warning about these firms, however, saying, “The DAT model is a leverage explosion waiting to happen.” The analyst has compared the growth in DATs to the trajectory followed by investment trusts in the 1920s, noting that the only difference between the two is that trusts bought stocks, while DATs are buying Bitcoin. “There is no sustainable business model for generating yield on a fixed supply asset, which incentivizes leverage when mNAVs collapse,” explained Edwards. The stock buying boom in 1920s from the investment trusts helped fuel a market bubble that ultimately burst toward the end of that decade. Below is a chart shared by the analyst that compares the trajectories followed by investment trusts and Bitcoin DATs. From the graph, it’s visible that investment trusts initially followed gradual growth, but then in the 1920s, their growth gained acceleration. Something similar has happened with DATs, just on a much smaller timeframe. At the end of 1929, there were around 600 investment trusts, while today, Bitcoin DATs number at about 200. Thus, BTC DATs are still behind in count. “How big can the DAT bubble grow? That’s the million dollar question,” said the Capriole founder, noting that the trust bubble went on for nearly a decade. The cryptocurrency market has been facing a downturn recently, and, since the treasury boom occurred in 2025 and companies bought at bull run prices, DATs have come under pressure. Even Strategy with its history of buying at varied prices has seen its massive 713,502 BTC holdings dip into the red. “Today Bitcoin treasuries hold 12% of all Bitcoin, the unwind will make Luna & FTX look like child’s play,” said Edwards. Both the events referenced by the analyst were major crashes from the 2022 bear market. The former was triggered by the depegging of the stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) , while the latter occurred as cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed. BTC Price At the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $74,500, down 16% in the last seven days.
5 Feb 2026, 14:00
Kazakhstan plans ‘crypto city’ project backed by China
Kazakhstan intends to build the Central Asian region’s first “crypto city” with support recently secured in China, local officials unveiled. The project is centered on establishing a special zone for blockchain business where even cryptocurrency payments will be possible. Kazakhstan gears up for mega ‘CryptoCity’ project The mining hotspot of Kazakhstan plans to create a new hub for the country’s growing crypto economy that will be the first of its kind in the region as well. The ambitious initiative will be implemented in the newly established city of Alatau, a strategic project of the government in Astana, which wants to turn the place into an international venue. The latter was formed under a presidential decree issued in early 2024, by merging over a dozen former villages and settlements, with a total population now exceeding 50,000 people, into a new urban area in the Almaty region. The city is situated along the main Almaty-Qonaev highway, a link in the Western Europe – Western China transport corridor, and should become a major economic and logistics hub. Kazakh officials plan to grant it the status of a free economic zone, which will give foreign visitors and investors a number of benefits, including visa-free access to the 880 square kilometer district and unrestricted purchases of real estate. Crypto hub at Eurasian route to be created with Chinese help The authorities in Astana have some big plans for the new city of Alatau and intend to make it a future-oriented hub for business and innovation, the Kazakhstani news outlet Kursiv wrote in a report on Thursday. During a visit to China, a Kazakhstani delegation managed to conclude agreements worth billions of U.S. dollars with a number of global companies. Among them, a construction firm that participated in the building of the Shenzhen technopolis, the article highlighted. Commenting on the project, a representative of the local administration emphasized that Alatau will not be a simple digital city and elaborated: “Our goal is to create a ‘crypto city.’ This concept goes beyond the typical smart city. Blockchain and cryptocurrency will be integrated into all areas of urban life – management, finance, services, data storage, and exchange. All of this will be open, secure, and convenient.” “This isn’t just an opportunity to pay with Bitcoin, but a city with its own economic and social system built on decentralized principles,” the municipal government official insisted. Kazakhstan takes another step towards crypto adoption The initiative to establish a special place for crypto operations was presented by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Astana International Forum last May. At the time, the head of state was quoted by local media as stating: “We plan to create an innovative pilot zone, ‘CryptoCity,’ in which cryptocurrencies can be used to purchase goods, services and for other purposes.” In November, the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) announced it wants to integrate crypto exchange tools into bank terminals to facilitate cryptocurrency payments. The following month, the regulator said it had launched a pilot project. By all indications, these payments will be made through conversion to fiat as officials have made it clear the Kazakhstani tenge will remain the only legal tender in most of the country’s jurisdiction. More recently, the monetary authority unveiled it will allow crypto traders to top-up their exchange accounts using QR codes at point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Also in November, Tokayev approved legislation lifting some restrictions on crypto mining and expanding the legal circulation of cryptocurrencies beyond the narrow framework of a fintech hub in the capital city called the Astana International Financial Center ( AIFC ). At the end of 2025, Kazakh lawmakers passed provisions permitting the establishment of crypto exchanges outside the AIFC, which will be licensed by the NBK. According to official estimates, quoted by Kursiv, only 5% of Kazakhstani investors are using the platforms registered as residents there. Then, in January 2026, the president signed another two laws, concerning the banking and the financial sectors, which liberalize the crypto market, too. The Kazakhstani news outlet noted that the new urban center of Alatau, including the planned crypto city, are expected to generate up to $50 billion for the Central Asian nation over the next 30 years, provided the project reaches its full potential.
5 Feb 2026, 14:00
ARKB: Overlooked Fund Could Be Better Than IBIT
Summary ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF offers direct, low-fee Bitcoin exposure with strong liquidity and robust custody via Coinbase cold storage. ARKB is currently overlooked compared to peers, despite a lower 0.21% expense ratio and similar structural safety to IBIT and FBTC. Bitcoin has triggered a bearish head and shoulders pattern, targeting $34.3k and suggesting significant downside risk until October 2026. A recovery above ARKB’s January low ($27.4) would signal a safer entry, potentially enabling a rebound and mitigating collapse risk. Bitcoin is tempting value buyers as it briefly traded below $70k this week. This article looks at why it is still dangerous, what could mitigate that risk, and why the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ( ARKB ) is an option for exposure. What is ARKB? ARKB was launched in January 2024 by Cathie Wood's ARK Invest and 21Shares US LLC. It is a simple ETF designed to provide direct exposure to Bitcoin, and it tracks the price nearly perfectly. There is practically no difference in the performance of ARKB, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ETF ( FBTC ). Data by YCharts One major attraction is its low expense fee of 0.21%, which beats IBIT and FBTC which both charge 0.25%. Let's be honest, a 0.04% difference is not a major consideration in an asset that can move 100% in a year, but it's good to know the fees are low. Liquidity is also excellent with an average 3M daily dollar volume of $168.25M. ARKB has been slightly shunned by the market, as its AUM is only $2.72B while IBIT has grown to $56B. This was helped by the fee waiver in IBIT and FBTC in the period after launch, which halved the fee, but seems unmerited now that it actually has a lower expense fee. Data by YCharts ARKB uses Coinbase as a custodian and keeps Bitcoin holdings in cold storage. It's about as safe as it gets, and IBIT uses the exact same method. FBTC is slightly different as Fidelity is a self-custodian. Bitcoin Drivers Whether to own and hold ARKB obviously depends on your outlook on Bitcoin. Sentiment in the crypto space has soured since October 2025 and there now seems an even mix between dip buyers looking for a bargain and those who think Bitcoin is in the midst of one of its prolonged bear markets, which have shaved 80% off prices in the past. It's hard to pinpoint an exact fundamental driver of the decline. Some can be tracked back to the popularity of memecoins in 2025 which indicated too much euphoria and liquidity in the crypto space. The likes of MelaniaCoin losing over $1B in value in a matter of days hurt sentiment and wiped out a lot of retail traders. Furthermore, the rise in gold and silver in 2025 attracted the kind of momentum traders that would usually be trading bitcoin and had the same underlying attraction as alternatives to fiat currency. That sucked liquidity out of the crypto space. There's also a lack of practical uses for Bitcoin. I don't think it will ever become an alternative currency that will be widely used for transactions, and it doesn't seem to hedge inflation as seen by its decline in 2022. That's not to say it is not an attractive investment - I see it as an essential store of value away from central banks, debt, currency debasement, and faltering fiat currency. But it's hard to put an exact value on that. Sentiment and liquidity seem to be central to major price swings. There's also an interesting theory that it is just part of a natural cycle, and amazingly, the October 6th top was called back in 2023. CryptoRank This CryptoRank article highlighted the above prediction on October 7th (the day after the top) and said, Prophecy Predicts Bear Market Low In 364 Days It sounds far-fetched, but so far it has played out: we may have to wait until October 5th, 2026, for the bear market bottom. Mark your diaries. Bitcoin Outlook The drop in February has triggered a large head and shoulders pattern. This has a target of $34.3k, which would give Bitcoin a decline of 74%. T TradingView The decline in 2021-2022 was 78%, and the one before that in 2017-2018 was 84%. You could say crypto is more stable now, and institutional backing, easier access, and institutional backing should all add support, but it is already down 45% in generally bullish conditions in broader markets ( SPY ). If there is a risk off correction across all assets, Bitcoin could easily drop further. With this backdrop, it seems overly risky to take a large position in ARKB right now. However, that risk would be mitigated if there is a reversal and sign of strength. The latest drop in February may be too much, too soon, and sentiment can shift very quickly. The chart below shows a chart of ARKB and how prices gapped lower in February, triggering the head and shoulder pattern shown above. TradingView If prices can recover back over the January low around $27.4, it would create a strong reversal pattern and take ARKB back from the brink of collapse. I'm not sure it will necessarily lead to a new leg of the bull market and direct new highs, but there should be a decent recovery, and most importantly, it would be a safer way to buy. Conclusions ARKB seems to be overlooked as a way to gain Bitcoin exposure, but its structure, fees, and liquidity are excellent, and I think it is just as good or better than its main ETF competitors. That said, it is a dangerous time to buy ARKB. Bitcoin accelerated its collapse in February and has triggered a large head and shoulders pattern. This has a target of $34.3k, and if the usual cycle plays out again, this will reach for a bottom around October 5th, 2026. Alternatively, a recovery back over the January low would create a strong reversal and significantly decrease the risk of a direct collapse. Whether it will lead to new highs or not is unclear, but I think Bitcoin could retrace to around $100k.
5 Feb 2026, 14:00
EU at risk of falling behind the U.S. in tokenization rules, digital asset firms warn
The EU must fix its pilot regime now or watch capital markets shift permanently to the U.S., a group of blockchain firms warned policymakers on Thursday.
5 Feb 2026, 14:00
Multiliquid, Metalayer launch instant redemption backstop for RWAs on Solana
The new facility allows institutions to redeem tokenized real-world assets into stablecoins instantly, addressing a key liquidity bottleneck in onchain markets.
5 Feb 2026, 14:00
XRP DeFi opens to institutions as Hex Trust adds custodial FXRP access
Custodian Hex Trust will let clients mint and redeem FXRP and stake FLR through its platform, giving institutions a way to put XRP to work.
