30K+ on X? Your Orbit profile could be getting a new badge. 🎖️ KOL Verification is now open on OKX Orbit. To be eligible: 1. Have a registered OKX Orbit account 2. Have 30,000+ followers on your connected X account 3. Follow the OKX Orbit Community Guidelines and relevant platform rules No application needed. Once your account meets the requirements, it will automatically enter the review process. Reviews are typically completed within 7 calendar days. Once verified, you’ll receive the 「KOL」 badge on your Orbit profile. The badge currently remains valid unless the account violates OKX Orbit Community Guidelines or other applicable rules, in which case verification may be removed. Note: The 「KOL」 badge only confirms that the account has passed social media follower verification. It does not represent an endorsement by OKX Orbit of the creator, their content, opinions, or investment views.

Yesterday we asked: rally or squeeze? The market just gave its first answer. $BTC topped $75,000 on OKX spot within 24 hours, extending Wednesday’s breakout. More than $3 billion in crypto shorts were liquidated over 24 hours, per Coinglass. Flows strengthened too. Spot BTC ETFs logged three straight days of inflows, with Wednesday bringing: · $517M net inflows, the biggest single day since early May · IBIT $284.7M · ARKB + FBTC about $140M combined Analysts read the move as longer-horizon institutional positioning, not retail FOMO. On-chain, wallets holding 10 to 10,000 BTC added 20,000+ BTC since July 29, worth about $1.2B at the time. But exchange supply is rebuilding: around 28,000 BTC returned by mid-August, reversing roughly 84% of the prior six-week drain. That weakens the supply-squeeze case, even if exchange deposits do not automatically mean selling. Policy added fuel. At Wednesday’s White House meeting, Trump said government purchases of “sizable” amounts of BTC “has been talked about” and again pushed Congress on the CLARITY Act. Estimates put US holdings near 328,000 BTC, almost all from seizures, with no publicly documented open-market purchase. Regulators are moving too: · SEC proposed its crypto offering framework · CFTC Chair Selig directed staff to explore market rules if Congress keeps stalling Positioning is still the question. Futures OI has rebounded toward the top of its recent range, while funding remains positive without spiking. On July 31, the $60,000 put was Deribit’s largest strike at $1.17B in notional OI. Traders had built heavy downside protection and got a breakout instead. ETH is up close to 5%, with ADA and SOL following. Jackson Hole is less than a week away. Whales accumulated early, ETFs accelerated and policy is turning. But exchange supply is rebuilding and conviction above $75K still needs proving. Squeeze fuel burns out fast. Real demand does not. #BTCRallyOrSqueeze

Infrastructure is only proven when real users show up and stay. Last month's OKX World Cup prediction campaign, the first live market built on Exchange OS on X Layer, drew 433,590 participants across the full tournament, from the opening match all the way to the final. That is a real audience trading on it, not a testnet. The same infrastructure that carried them is now open for builders to launch their own markets on. Build with us: https://form.typeform.com/to/gCWfCxuu

We'll be listing @KiiChainio on Boost. Registrations open on August 19, 8 AM UTC: https://web3.okx.com/ul/u3pZvB Claims go live on August 20, 10 AM UTC.

Bitcoin ripped about 7% on Wednesday and briefly touched $69,750, its highest since early June and biggest single day percentage gain since March. Coinglass put 24 hour short liquidations near $1.37 billion, over $1 billion inside an hour. The clearest macro catalyst was Treasury debt management, not Fed policy. Treasury will at least double its long end liquidity support buybacks, lifting the per operation cap to at least $4 billion on 10 to 30 year paper, Sept 9 through Nov 4. The 30 year yield fell about 9bp to roughly 5.19%. Lower long end yields mean less opportunity cost for holding an asset that pays none. The Fed was pulling the other way. July's 9 to 3 vote, with Logan, Hammack and Kashkari dissenting for a hike, was known in July, its first three way same direction dissent since 2016. Wednesday's minutes added the debate: AI related price pressures alongside tariffs and energy. Flows tell a messier story: · Spot BTC ETFs bled $390 million Aug 10 to 14, FBTC leading at $153 million · Then $297 million in Aug 17 and $189 million Aug 18 · Wintermute flagged miner selling and ETF redemptions as a supply drag So this was a positioning led move rather than proof of durable demand. Shorts were crowded, a macro headline hit, the squeeze did the rest. The bigger story came a day earlier. On Aug 18 the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, its first crypto offering framework. Emphasis on proposed: 60 day comments, nothing in force. As drafted, two registration exemptions, $5 million over four years or $75 million per 12 months plus financial statements and reporting. The centerpiece is a conditional safe harbor. It is not automatic. The issuer must permanently cease all essential managerial efforts, make no new promises, and file a public certification. Preemption reaches only transactions the rule covers. BTC opened the year near $87,500. August is a recovery inside a wider drawdown. Two stories, 24 hours apart. Which one still matters a year from now, the price move or the SEC framework? #BTCBreaks69000 #TreasuryUpsBuybacks #FOMC9To3Split

Bitcoin custody is moving into core banking infrastructure. On Aug 18, Citi unveiled Custody+, a custody suite built for compressed settlement cycles and continuous markets. Native digital asset custody is expected later this year, starting with BTC on a common architecture for traditional and digital assets. Citi had previously identified the US as a planned launch market. Crypto’s 24/7 settlement model is now influencing how traditional custody infrastructure is rebuilt. Institutions could hold BTC itself through a bank instead of gaining price exposure through an ETF, while using familiar reporting, compliance and risk processes. The scale matters. As of Q3 2025, Citi Investor Services reported about $31.4T in assets under custody and administration and more than 1.3M custody transactions daily. The timing is partly regulatory. Banks had been permitted to custody crypto, but earlier accounting and supervisory requirements created significant friction. SEC SAB 122 and OCC changes in 2025 helped reduce key accounting and supervisory barriers. This is not a standalone move. Citi says it already offers custody for stablecoin reserves and crypto ETFs. Its tokenized-deposit platform is live in five locations, with hundreds of clients moving close to $1B a day. But outsourcing key management does not eliminate risk. It changes where that risk sits. Native BTC custody is not live yet, and Citi has not detailed its fees, asset-segregation model, insurance or underlying wallet infrastructure. This announcement concerns custody for client assets, not a disclosed BTC purchase for Citi’s own balance sheet. Bank custody could lower barriers to direct institutional ownership while raising questions about custody concentration among a smaller group of regulated providers. If your bank offered native BTC custody without requiring you to manage a seed phrase, would you use it or stay with self-custody? #CitiToCustodyBTC

Running one market cleanly is one thing. Running hundreds at once, without a single outage, is the harder problem. OKX's World Cup prediction campaign last month was the first live market on Exchange OS, the open trading infrastructure built on X Layer, and it held 100% uptime across 104 matches and 335 markets, with as many as 43 running at the same time. Zero downtime, opening match to final. That reliability is the foundation builders get to launch on. Build with us: https://form.typeform.com/to/gCWfCxuu

Long-term US borrowing costs just broke a 19-year ceiling. The 30-year Treasury yield climbed above 5.3%, its highest since 2007. Last week’s $25B auction cleared at 5.216%, the highest 30-year auction yield since 2001. This is bigger than the next Fed decision. The curve is bear-steepening, with shorter-dated yields relatively steadier while the long end sells off. That points to a repricing of long-term inflation, Treasury supply, real rates and the extra return investors demand to lock up money for three decades. As of August 17, the 30-year real yield stood at 3.06%, its highest since 2008. That raises the hurdle for non-yielding assets and tightens long-term financial conditions even if the Fed leaves its policy rate unchanged. The impact spreads across markets: · Bonds: higher yields mean lower prices and greater duration risk · Economy: mortgage rates and long-term corporate financing costs can stay elevated without another Fed hike · Gold: $XAU and $XAUT have shown resilience despite the higher real-yield hurdle · Crypto: BTC can face a tougher liquidity backdrop, while debt and the long-term fiscal outlook remain part of the market’s broader BTC narrative The driver matters. A rise led by stronger growth and real yields can pressure gold and high-beta assets. A rise led by inflation, supply or fiscal risk can produce a different response, with bonds, gold and BTC reacting differently. Does 5.3% mark a lasting shift in long-term borrowing costs, or a temporary repricing of inflation and fiscal risk? #30YYieldHits2007High

The wait is over. The season is on. 600K USDT in Rewards. Soccer. NFL. Formula 1. Tennis. Esports. Back your instincts with free points. Earn rewards weekly. Now live in eligible markets. 👉 https://www.okx.com/learn/outcomes-league-season-2

🚀 We are launching Flash Earn Lite with GRVT | Aug 20 – 26, 2026 Pre-subscription Opens: Aug 17, 2026 07:00 UTC Campaign Period: Aug 20 – 26, 2026 07:00 UTC Total Rewards: 1,150,000 GRVT in airdrop rewards 📢 Flash Earn is now bigger — two sides live under one hub: Stake to Earn (stake tokens for airdrops) and Trade to Earn (trade to share rewards). Join either, or rub both. 4 Subscription Pools: • OKB pool — 115,000 GRVT • GRVT pool — 57,500 GRVT • BTC pool — 575,000 GRVT • USDT pool — 402,500 GRVT Learn More: https://www.okx.com/help/okx-flash-earn-lite-grvt-is-now-live-subscribe-okb-grvt-btc-or-usdt-to-share-1-150-000-grvt Join Now: https://okx.com/ul/m6WLXT