Week 28 (2026) · BTC Weekly

Balanced · Trusted · Concise

Circle received final OCC approval on July 10 to establish a national trust bank — placing USDC custody operations under direct federal banking supervision — while Strategy disclosed its largest Bitcoin sale since 2022, liquidating 3,588 BTC below cost to service preferred dividend obligations for the first time in the company's history.

1 · Banking

Circle Crossed Into the Regulated Banking System — Securing a National Trust Bank Charter Under Direct OCC Supervision

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted final approval on July 10 to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., a national trust bank that will operate under the name Circle National Trust. Circle submitted its charter application on June 30, 2025, received conditional OCC approval in December 2025, and completed the full licensing process in just over twelve months. The bank will initially provide fiduciary digital asset custody services for Circle and its affiliates; the OCC-approved business plan provides for future expansion into institutional custody for a limited class of customers — including banks and regulated derivatives organizations — with USDC reserve management listed as a planned future capability. Circle shares rose 11 percent in premarket trading on the announcement.

A national trust charter places Circle's custody and reserve infrastructure under the OCC's direct supervisory framework — the same regulatory standing held by trust subsidiaries of major U.S. banks — removing the need to route USDC reserve management and digital asset custody through third-party bank relationships.

(Bloomberg, Circle)

2 · Institutional

Strategy Sold Bitcoin to Pay Preferred Dividends — the First Time Its Treasury Has Liquidated BTC to Service Fixed Cash Obligations

Between June 29 and July 5, Strategy sold 3,588 bitcoin in two tranches — 1,363 BTC at an average of $59,256 per coin and 2,225 BTC at an average of $60,773 per coin — raising approximately $216 million in gross proceeds, as disclosed in a Form 8-K filed July 6. The funds covered second-quarter dividends across four preferred securities (STRF, STRE, STRK, and STRD) and the full June payment on a fifth instrument (STRC). Strategy's cumulative average purchase price stands at approximately $66,385 per coin, placing both tranches below cost basis. As of July 5 the company held 843,775 bitcoin in treasury and $2.55 billion in cash, with the disclosure marking the company's largest single Bitcoin liquidation since a 2022 tax-loss transaction.

Strategy's five preferred instruments carry fixed quarterly cash obligations that operating income has not covered, creating a recurring sell requirement that will persist at each dividend payment date as long as preferred dividend obligations exceed non-Bitcoin operating cash flow.

(Strategy, CoinDesk)

3 · Mining

CleanSpark Reached Its 50 EH/s Mid-Year Target — Every Exahash Built on Self-Operated Infrastructure

CleanSpark's June 2026 operational update, released July 10, confirmed a peak operational hashrate of 50 exahashes per second — the mid-year capacity goal the company set at the start of the year, and the first such milestone reached by a publicly traded miner operating exclusively through self-owned sites rather than co-location or hosting contracts. The company produced 614 bitcoin during June at an average operating hashrate of 42.6 EH/s, drawing on 808 megawatts of utilized power capacity. After selling 429 BTC and acquiring 244 through delta-neutral trades, total treasury holdings stood at 13,924 BTC as of month end — every coin produced at the company's own facilities, with no open-market purchases. CLSK shares rose 6 percent on the release date.

Reaching 50 EH/s through self-owned infrastructure, rather than hosting or co-location agreements, eliminates the counterparty exposure that has pressured smaller operators since the April 2024 halving and positions CleanSpark to capture a larger share of block rewards as hashrate consolidation continues.

(CleanSpark, Barchart)

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