Today’s crypto highlights include the upcoming conclusion of Roman Storm’s trial, a significant increase in corporate Bitcoin holdings, and a sharp Bitcoin price drop leading to massive market liquidations.
Tornado Cash co-founder, Roman Storm, is expected to wind up his defense next week. His legal team will likely conclude their case, moving the trial to the jury stage, as reported by Inner City Press. Details of whether Storm will testify in his defense remain uncertain. The trial, now on its tenth day, involves charges of money laundering, unlicensed money transmission, and violation of US sanctions. The defense started arguing their case with Ethereum’s core developer, Preston Van Loon, as one of the witnesses.
On another note, corporate adoption of Bitcoin is on the rise. Currently, 35 publicly traded companies hold a minimum of 1,000 BTC each. This trend is a clear indication of increasing institutional interest in the leading cryptocurrency. A recent executive order by the former US President, Donald Trump, which proposed a federal Bitcoin reserve, seems to have boosted Bitcoin demand. As per Chris Kuiper from Fidelity Digital Assets, Bitcoin’s exposure has notably increased among public companies. Over 278 public entities now possess Bitcoin, with the US, Canada, and the UK leading the way.
However, the crypto market experienced a major blow with Bitcoin’s price dropping below $116,000. This decline led to the liquidation of long positions worth more than half a billion dollars. Bitcoin accounted for $140.06 million of the total liquidations, while Ether followed with $104.76 million. The unexpected downturn resulted in the liquidation of 213,729 traders, wiping out $731.93 million from the market.
