The Daily: Nasdaq scrutinizes companies raising funds to buy crypto, $53M dormant BTC wallet wakes up, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter,  The Daily , which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Thursday! Bitcoin ETFs are back to soaking up supply, notching two straight days of $300 million inflows, dwarfing miner issuance. Meanwhile, Ethereum ETFs continue to bleed despite record validator demand, and U.S. rate-cut odds spike to nearly 94% on weak jobs data.

In today's newsletter, Nasdaq tightens scrutiny of companies raising cash to buy crypto, a dormant bitcoin wallet holding $53 million in BTC wakes up for the first time in nearly 13 years, bitcoin held by public companies passes 1 million BTC, and more.

Let's get started.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It's a great read — and just like The Daily, it's free to subscribe !

Nasdaq tightens scrutiny of companies raising cash to buy crypto

Nasdaq is tightening oversight of companies raising funds to buy crypto , requiring shareholder votes for some deals and pushing for expanded disclosures, The Information reported.

• The exchange may suspend or delist firms that fail to comply, according to anonymous insiders cited by the publication, sparking a sharp selloff in several digital asset treasuries (DATs) after the news.
• Some 154 U.S.-listed companies have announced plans to raise nearly $100 billion for crypto treasury initiatives since January, a surge from the $34 billion raised by 10 companies before 2025, according to Architect Partners data.
• Stricter rules could slow deals and add uncertainty as firms scramble to secure capital during favorable market windows.
• Most issuers are Nasdaq-listed, with Strategy and BitMine standing as the two largest digital asset treasury companies, accumulating bitcoin and ether, respectively.

From $4,400 to $53 million: Dormant bitcoin wallet wakes up for first time in nearly 13 years

A dormant bitcoin wallet holding around 479 BTC, now worth $53 million, woke up for the first time in almost 13 years on Thursday morning.

• The address executed five outbound transactions totaling 81.25 BTC ($9 million) over several hours, according to data from blockchain explorer Mempool.
• The owner last sent coins out of the address in November 2012, when bitcoin was trading for just $11 and the wallet's balance was worth just $4,400, monitoring platform Whale Alert first noted on X.
• Funds were shifted from a legacy "16fXT" address to more modern native SegWit "bc1q" addresses, though the wallet's owner and the reason for the transfers remain unknown.
• At current prices of around $110,000, the bitcoin transferred has risen 10,000x in value since 2012.
• The original wallet still retains about 398 BTC ($44 million), as OG bitcoin whales continue ramping up activity amid a series of new all-time highs for the foremost cryptocurrency this year.

Bitcoin held by public companies passes 1 million BTC

Public companies now collectively hold more than 1 million BTC worth around $110 billion, according to BitcoinTreasuries data, with 169 entities currently making up the ranks.

• Michael Saylor's Strategy pioneered the bitcoin treasury play, inspiring firms like Metaplanet, Semler Scientific, Trump Media, and GameStop to follow suit.
• "Despite today's milestone, a number of indicators suggest institutional bitcoin adoption remains in its infancy," BitcoinTreasuries President Pete Rizzo said.
• "For context, most major bitcoin treasury firms have only started to deploy strategies aimed at long-term accumulation, meaning a large portion of raised capital remains yet to be deployed."

Stripe and Paradigm introduce payments-focused blockchain Tempo

Stripe and Paradigm unveiled Tempo on Thursday, a payments-focused blockchain positioned as a high-scale Layer 1 network for real-world financial services applications.

• Currently in private testnet, Tempo follows Stripe's $1.1 billion purchase of stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge and its more recent acquisition of crypto wallet startup Privy.
• Early partners testing Tempo include Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, DoorDash, Nubank, OpenAI, Revolut, and Shopify, according to Stripe CEO Patrick Collison.
• Paradigm co-founder and Managing Partner Matt Huang leads Tempo's team, as previously reported , which aims to serve as a purpose-built infrastructure for stablecoins, payments, and tokenized deposits.

Hackers use Ethereum smart contracts to conceal malware in code libraries

Hackers hid malware in two npm packages by embedding command-and-control instructions inside Ethereum smart contracts — a first-of-its-kind tactic flagged by ReversingLabs.

• The malicious packages, "colortoolsv2" and "mimelib2," fetched payload locations from onchain contracts, complicating detection before being taken down.
• Researchers tied the scheme to a broader campaign using fake crypto-themed GitHub repositories to trick developers into adding compromised dependencies.

In the next 24 hours

• Eurozone GDP data are due at 5 a.m. ET on Friday. U.S. nonfarm payrolls follow at 8:30 a.m.
• Immutable, Moca Network, and Ethena are set for token unlocks .
• Taipei Blockchain Week and ETHWarsaw continue. The Bitcoin Indonesia Conference gets underway.

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