Crypto
Cryptocurrency won’t go mainstream until US solves its problems, says Chainalysis CEO
Cryptocurrency may not become a fully mainstream financial instrument until concrete regulations for the highly volatile industry are drawn up and enforced by authorities in the US, the chief executive of blockchain company Chainalysis has said.
While acknowledging that current cryptocurrency frameworks are “actually pretty good and functional”, the $2.33 trillion industry’s other issues need to be addressed, especially when it comes to protecting investors and consumers, Michael Gronager told The National.
The US, the world’s biggest economy that is also considered the most important financial market as the Federal Reserve sets the global tone for interest rates – should take the lead on this, he said.
“In finance, everyone looks towards to the US first trying to figure out what’s going on, and then whether the regulation has already been created in other places first … it’ll be changed to adapt the US framework once it’s figured out,” Mr Gronager said.
“We’ve seen that in the past; we’ll see that again with crypto. So, we are kind of waiting for the US to solve some of these things and that’s where things stand today.”
The US granted the cryptocurrency sector a major victory in January when it finally approved the country’s first spot Bitcoin ETFs, clearing the way for trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the Cboe Global Markets and the Nasdaq Composite, and making Bitcoin more accessible to retail traders.
ETFs “definitely boosted the sentiment of crypto”, Mr Gronager said.
In addition, US authorities have been vigilant in clamping down on the sector, running after irregularities and illicit activity within the ranks.
Their actions have claimed some of the biggest names, including Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of FTX who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud, and former Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao, who in November pled guilty to charges related to money laundering and was handed a four-month prison sentence on April 30.
“The FTX case was so unique; it was less tied to crypto and more tied to a traditional fall because everything happened behind closed doors, and was related to how that company was run by the people behind it,” Mr Gronager said.
“The lesson learned by the industry and regulators is that if it’s a non-regulated business in your jurisdiction and you don’t have any ways to think that your funds would be good, they’re probably not good,” he added, also noting the collapses of Three Arrows and Celsius Network in 2022.
The fates of those companies, coupled with job losses at the time, triggered the so-called cryptocurrency winter, a period in which the sector cooled down, dragging Bitcoin to below its key $20,000 psychological level in June 2022 and wiping out about $2 trillion from the digital asset industry’s market capitalisation.
“Celsius and Three Arrows were the symptoms of a way too hot finance market. And the newest kids in finance were the crypto exchanges and some crypto projects – they were definitely the ones who overleveraged completely,” Mr Gronager said.
“And some of them did it in an illegal way. And that was basically what we saw there. We also saw established venture capital firms over-leveraging their investments and getting in big trouble, but most of them actually survived it.”
For the broader finance industry, Mr Gronager believes there is a “solid and pretty good framework” that tackles money laundering and terrorist financing.
Applied to the cryptocurrency sector, the $4.3 billion settlement between Binance and the US Department of Justice last November is an indication that authorities have taken a stance and this is being taken very seriously.
“We had all the big banks … each getting billion-dollar fines; now you’re seeing the same in the crypto space and that raises the bar, ensures compliance will be high priority, and a good understanding and responsibility of the industry,” Mr Gronager said.
Among the most notable fines imposed on financial institutions for compliance failures are JP Morgan Chase’s $2.6 billion settlement in the aftermath of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme in 2014 and Credit Suisse’s $5.28 billion payment in 2017 for misconduct on sales of residential mortgage-backed securities.
“There’s now a price on not doing compliance or making mistakes.”
Regulations are key to establishing trust in the cryptocurrency industry, and governments should play an active role in ensuring this, said Mr Gronager, who counts the UAE as among “the top three to five in terms of the global landscape” of finance and cryptocurrency, as well.
He said the Emirates has had “a good way of working with the [crypto] industry, ensuring that there’s adequate regulation”, at par with other global financial centres such as New York, London and Singapore.
The total value of cryptocurrency transactions in the UAE from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024 hit $39.2 billion, data provided by Chainalysis to The National shows.
Institutional investors, those who invest more than $1 million, made up the biggest chunk of UAE transactions with 59 per cent, while professional investors ($10,000 to $1 million) were at 39 per cent and retail investors (up to $10,000) were at 2 per cent, the data showed.
“The UAE, in general, is very advanced and sophisticated in [cryptocurrency] use cases and is probably one of the few markets where decentralised finance is more relevant than centralised exchanges, demonstrating that the level of sophistication is pretty high,” Mr Gronager said.
Updated: May 16, 2024, 3:00 AM
Crypto
Top 100 Bitcoin Treasuries Now Hold 1.26M BTC
Key Takeaways
- Top 100 institutional bitcoin holders now control nearly 1.26 million BTC, although Strategy alone accounts for more than two-thirds of that total.
- Mining firms, technology companies, private enterprises, and treasury vehicles are using bitcoin to diversify reserves, hedge inflation risk, and signal long-term conviction.
- The data shows broad institutional participation, but holdings remain highly concentrated among crypto-native firms and one dominant corporate buyer.
Bitcoin Treasuries Are Turning Scarcity Into Strategy
Institutional bitcoin accumulation has grown dramatically, with the top 100 holders now controlling 1,258,090 BTC as of June 8, 2026, according to a chart published on X by HODL15Capital. This group includes public companies, private firms, mining operators, and treasury-focused entities, reflecting specialized corporate allocations alongside one dominant buyer.
At the top of the list, Strategy holds exactly 845,256 BTC, far surpassing every other entity. Twentyone Capital follows with 43,514 BTC, and Japan’s Metaplanet holds 40,177 BTC, showing that institutional BTC accumulation is global and spans multiple industries. Marathon Digital contributes 35,303 BTC.
The size of Strategy’s lead reveals how uneven the race has become. One company controls more bitcoin than the rest of the top 100 combined, turning corporate treasury policy into a marketwide talking point. For investors, that concentration makes Strategy one of the clearest equity-market proxies for BTC exposure.
Other major names on the chart include Coinbase, Riot Platforms, Tesla, Spacex, Cleanspark, Block, Galaxy Digital, American Bitcoin Corp., and Hut 8. That lineup makes the trend easy to understand: bitcoin is no longer only a crypto-sector balance sheet bet. It now reaches miners, exchanges, technology firms, private companies, and treasury vehicles.
The BTC Concentration Across Sectors and Borders
The global spread of BTC holders is as notable as the headline total. Metaplanet’s top ranking shows adoption is no longer U.S.-centric, with participants from Japan, Canada, Europe, and Asia signaling worldwide corporate and institutional demand for bitcoin.
The supply angle is what makes the chart matter beyond crypto circles. The top 100 holders control more than 6% of bitcoin’s maximum 21 million supply, giving a singular corporate buyer a highly visible role in market liquidity. For shareholders, that creates both upside potential and sharper exposure to crypto-driven swings.
Overall, the chart illustrates a highly centralized institutional concentration of bitcoin reserves. The focus is no longer just who holds the most, but how BTC has become a balance sheet battleground, with companies using treasury positions to signal conviction, attract investors, and position themselves in a more bitcoin-integrated financial landscape.
Crypto
About 1 in 5 Americans have used crypto; Republicans’ use has ticked up
Even after years of buzz, the use of cryptocurrency has remained fairly stable in the United States. Today, about one-in-five U.S. adults (19%) say they’ve invested in or used a cryptocurrency – about on par with the 16% who said this in 2021.
But for the first time, there is a partisan gap in use. Republicans’ crypto use has ticked up from 16% in 2021 to 22% today, and they are now more likely than Democrats to say they’ve used it, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January 2026.
Crypto has become part of the national political conversation in recent years. The Trump administration has set out to make America the “crypto capital of the world,” including steps to allow crypto firms to become banks.
Who uses cryptocurrency?
Some of the biggest demographic differences in cryptocurrency use are by gender, age and income.
Men under 50 stand out for being crypto users; Republicans are more likely to use it than Democrats
% of U.S. adults who say they have ever invested in, traded or used a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin or ether
* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.
Note: White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Men under 50 stand out for being crypto users; Republicans are more likely to use it than Democrats
% of U.S. adults who say they have ever invested in, traded or used a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin or ether
| Demographic | % | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. adults | U.S. Adults | 19 |
| Men | Gender | 27 |
| Women | Gender | 11 |
| Ages 18-29 | Age | 26 |
| 30-49 | Age | 28 |
| 50+ | Age | 10 |
| Men 18-29 | Male and Age | 38 |
| 30-49 | Male and Age | 40 |
| 50+ | Male and Age | 14 |
| Women 18-29 | Female and Age | 15 |
| 30-49 | Female and Age | 17 |
| 50+ | Female and Age | 6 |
| White | Race/Ethnicity | 18 |
| Hispanic | Race/Ethnicity | 19 |
| Black | Race/Ethnicity | 20 |
| Asian* | Race/Ethnicity | 25 |
| Upper income | Income | 27 |
| Middle income | Income | 20 |
| Lower income | Income | 16 |
| Rep/Lean Rep | Party | 22 |
| Dem/Lean Dem | Party | 17 |
* Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only.
Note: White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings.
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 20-26, 2026.
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
By gender and age
As was true in past surveys, young men stand out for their use of crypto:
- 38% of men ages 18 to 29 say they have ever invested in, traded or used cryptocurrency, compared with 15% of women in the same age range.
- 40% of men ages 30 to 49 have done this, compared with 17% of women in this age group.
Crypto use among men and women ages 30 to 49 has gone up since 2021. And men 50 and older are also more likely to have ever used crypto today than in 2021.
By income
About one-in-four adults in upper-income households (27%) have invested in or used crypto, up from 23% in 2024 and 17% in 2021.
By comparison, 20% of middle-income Americans have used crypto, up slightly from 17% in 2021. Use has not changed among lower-income Americans (16% this year vs. 15% in 2021).
By party
Republicans are now more likely than Democrats to have invested in, traded or used crypto (22% vs. 17%). Before this year, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were as likely as Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they’d done so. But GOP crypto use has grown from 16% in 2021 to 22% now, while Democrats’ use has held steady at 17%.
By race and ethnicity
A quarter of Asian adults say they have ever invested in, traded or used crypto – which is similar to Black and Hispanic adults. White adults remain less likely to be crypto users than Asian adults but are on par with Black and Hispanic adults for the first time. This is partially due to crypto use among White Americans ticking up from 13% in 2021 to 18% today.
For more about Americans and cryptocurrency, read our 2024 analysis, which has information on:
Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.
Crypto
Bitcoin Surges 5% to $64K, Settles Near $62.5K as Trump Says Netanyahu Must Accept Iran Deal
Key Takeaways
Trump Says the Deal Is ‘Almost Complete’
The rally followed remarks in which Trump framed the agreement as a near-certainty and signaled he would push it through with or without Israel’s full cooperation. Speaking about Netanyahu, the president said the Israeli leader will have “no choice” but to sign because, in his telling, he “calls the shots.”
Trump described the deal as “almost complete” and said he expected an announcement at the start of the new business week, with traders treating the language as a firmer commitment than the ceasefire speculation that has come and gone for months, and risk assets reacted within hours.
Analysts first flagged the price reaction, noting bitcoin’s 5% jump to $64,000 came directly on the back of the comments, indicating that the market read the statement less as a rumor and more as a direct signal that Washington intends to close the matter regardless of how Jerusalem responds.
A Bounce off the 2026 Low
The surge marked a sharp turn from the prior week as Bitcoin touched an intraday low near $59,100 on June 5, its weakest level since February (during what Bitcoin.com News described as the worst week of 2026 for the asset). At the lows, more than half of all BTC sat in unrealized loss, a condition that has historically lined up with major market bottoms.
Short-term chart readings had already pointed to an oversold market primed for a snapback, leaving the rally needing only a catalyst. The geopolitical headline supplied it. Even after the move, bitcoin remained roughly $18,000 below the $82,000 record it set in mid-May, underscoring how much ground the recent decline erased.
The recovery offered relief to leveraged traders after a brutal stretch of forced selling earlier in the month. Hundreds of thousands of positions were wiped out as the price slid, and a swift reversal of that kind often triggers a wave of short liquidations that amplifies the upside.
Geopolitics Back in the Driver’s Seat
Bitcoin’s sensitivity to Middle East headlines has been one of 2026’s defining patterns given that earlier in the year, the digital currency’s topped $77,000 as Trump weighed his options on Iran, while prediction-market wagers on a peace deal swelled into the hundreds of millions of dollars. De-escalation signals have repeatedly lifted risk appetite, and threats of conflict have pulled it back down.
Crypto tends to trade as a high-beta risk asset in these episodes, selling off harder than equities when fear spikes and rallying faster when it eases. That makes bitcoin an unusually sensitive barometer of how traders price the odds of war or peace, even when the headlines have no direct link to digital assets.
The same tensions had been a drag in recent weeks as higher oil prices tied to the standoff have fed inflation concerns and complicated the Federal Reserve’s rate path, with some officials declining to rule out further hikes and expected cuts being pushed back. That backdrop helped drag crypto lower before Sunday’s rebound.
Analysts caution that headline-driven rallies can fade quickly and only a confirmed agreement could sustain the move. Collapse in talks or a fresh exchange of fire risks sending the price back toward its recent floor. The Fed’s stance remains a second swing factor that could cap any extended recovery.
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