UK Reform leader Nigel Farage will face an investigation that had been briefly paused following his resignation from Parliament after winning a by-election on Thursday with no major party candidates participating.As of Friday, the UK Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards website showed that Farage was currently under investigation for “failure to register an interest” related to the Reform leader receiving millions of dollars’ worth of donations and gifts from two figures tied to the crypto industry. The investigation was halted in July after Farage resigned as a member of Parliament, but resumed following his reelection as Clacton’s MP. The commission will probe cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne giving Farage $6.7 million as well as the Reform leader’s staff and security funded by George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster tied to a crypto casino. Under UK parliamentary rules, new members must register all current financial interests within a month of their election, as well as any benefits received in the 12 months prior. Farage initially called Cottrell’s donation a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit and later described both men’s contributions as “gifts” given “on an unconditional basis.”Related: Reform UK chair calls for probe into SBF-linked donation: ReportShould the investigation determine that Farage violated parliamentary rules, he faces a possible suspension from parliament, which could trigger another by-election. Cointelegraph reached out to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for comment on the probe but did not receive an immediate response.Source: Nigel FarageThe by-election triggered by Farage’s resignation in July saw the Reform leader winning with 63% of the vote, defeating satirical candidate Count Binface’s 27%. None of the other major parties participated in the race, which then-Labour leader and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a “desperate stunt” by Farage. Andy Burnham has since become prime minister.UK mulling permanent ban on crypto “gifts”?Amid Farage’s political scandal, Labour lawmakers reportedly proposed that a moratorium on crypto donations implemented in March be made permanent as part of measures to address the potential influence of foreign actors.According to the International Bar Association, unincorporated associations are allowed to give more than $675 directly to UK politicians, offering a loophole for companies with business in the country to be used as “conduits for foreign or dark money.”Magazine: Inside the fake crypto startup that fooled North Korean IT workersCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Israel’s Bank Leumi has partnered with Galaxy Digital to let customers trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL) through the bank’s investment platform, with the service expected to launch in early 2027.The companies said Friday that customers of Leumi and Pepper, its mobile banking arm, will be able to buy, hold and sell the three cryptocurrencies through a dedicated section of the Leumi Trade app. Leumi and Galaxy said the rollout would make Leumi the first Israeli bank to offer digital asset trading services to customers.Leumi will use GalaxyOne Institutional for trading and related services, while Galaxy’s custody infrastructure platform, formerly known as GK8, will support the bank’s digital asset infrastructure.According to Leumi, the bank serves millions of customers across its retail and business operations.The partnership comes after Galaxy reported an $85 million net loss in the second quarter, which it attributed largely to declining digital asset prices. Despite the loss, its digital assets business generated $66 million in adjusted gross profit, up 34% from the previous quarter.Galaxy Digital, founded and led by Mike Novogratz, began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker GLXY in May 2025. Its shares were trading at $21.38 on Friday morning, up about 2% on the day but down roughly 25% over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance data. Magazine: Solana’s fee overhaul increases burn and makes resource hogs payCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

A $116 million hardware wallet exploit has reopened one of Bitcoin’s oldest debates: Is holding your own keys worth the risk? Days later, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their strongest inflows since April, prompting Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas to wonder whether security scares could eventually push more investors away from self-custody and toward ETFs.Elsewhere, Strategy is preparing to resume Bitcoin purchases after a rare bout of selling, Riot Platforms is reportedly turning its mining infrastructure into a $9 billion AI deal, and Trump Media is rethinking its crypto treasury strategy after a $238 million quarterly loss.Strategy CEO says company will resume Bitcoin accumulation this yearStrategy CEO Phong Le said the company plans to resume Bitcoin accumulation later this year, seeking to reinforce its long-term strategy after a series of relatively small sales drew scrutiny over its once-firm “never sell” stance.Le told FOX Business that Strategy bought roughly 175,000 BTC and sold about 7,000 BTC this year — about 25 times more buying than selling. The company now holds more than 840,000 BTC, making it the largest institutional holder, but has sold Bitcoin on four occasions since May, most recently unloading 1,690 BTC to support preferred dividends, buybacks and its dollar reserve.Those sales have highlighted the competing demands facing Strategy as it balances its Bitcoin accumulation strategy with obligations to common and preferred shareholders. The treasury model has also come under pressure. According to Novaque Research, when companies trade below Bitcoin net asset value, raising capital becomes increasingly dilutive and the financing cycle harder to sustain.Phong Le appearing on FOX Business. Source: FOXBitcoin ETF demand rebounds as self-custody risks come into focusUS spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted roughly $1 billion in net inflows for the week, signaling renewed institutional demand even as Bitcoin’s price remains subdued and a major hardware wallet exploit puts fresh attention on the risks of self-custody.Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said it was the third-best week since October, a period he described as Bitcoin’s “silent IPO,” a term popularized by investor Jordi Visser. The theory holds that early investors have been selling into growing ETF and institutional demand, creating enough supply to keep Bitcoin subdued despite fresh capital entering the market.The rebound also followed a Coldcard hardware wallet exploit linked to faulty key generation that drained about $116 million in Bitcoin. Balchunas said the incident could ultimately bolster ETFs’ appeal among investors concerned about self-custody risks, pointing to post-hack inflows as a possible, though unproven, connection.He cautioned that correlation does not imply causation, but added that “long-term I can’t imagine there aren’t some who migrate over.”Source: Eric BalchunasAnthropic reportedly struck a $9 billion compute deal with Bitcoin miner RiotAnthropic reportedly struck a $9 billion deal with Riot Platforms for 191 megawatts of capacity from the Bitcoin miner’s Texas campus, highlighting how access to power is becoming increasingly valuable as AI data centers face capacity constraints.Riot said it secured a 20-year agreement to supply 191 megawatts from its Rockdale campus to a “leading frontier AI” company, which Bloomberg identified as Anthropic. The deal follows Anthropic’s $19 billion TeraWulf data center lease and adds Riot to a growing list of Bitcoin miners expanding into AI, including Bitdeer, CleanSpark, MARA Holdings, Core Scientific, Hut 8 and IREN.Riot shares fell 5.4% Monday before rising 21% overnight and are up roughly 50% year-to-date. The fourth-largest Bitcoin miner has a $7.33 billion market capitalization, while Bernstein said partnerships between AI companies and miners could help address the power crunch constraining data center expansion. Trump Media to revamp crypto treasury strategy after $238 million Q2 lossTrump Media said it will revamp its digital asset treasury strategy after unrealized losses on crypto and securities helped push the company to a $238 million second-quarter net loss, highlighting the balance-sheet risks of corporate crypto holdings.The company reported $190.4 million in unrealized losses across its digital assets, and pledged digital assets and equity securities in the second quarter. It held 9,477.16 Bitcoin as of June 30, down from 9,542.16 the prior quarter. In July, it sold $159.6 million in Bitcoin-related securities and used the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin, bringing its holdings to about 14,139 BTC worth $890.5 million by July 31.Trump Media warned that generating additional income from its Bitcoin holdings could expose it to counterparty risk, particularly if a partner should default or become insolvent. In some cases, the company could be unable to recover Bitcoin committed under unsecured arrangements. It also plans to direct more resources to Truth Social, Truth+ and other media operations as part of a broader shift in capital allocation.Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse on the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.

US investment banking giant Morgan Stanley reported larger crypto fund positions in the second quarter, led by an increase of more than 3 million shares in BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).Morgan Stanley’s reported holdings in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) increased by 23% to around 16.5 million shares from 13.4 million, according to its Q2 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.Morgan Stanley also reported 2.57 million shares of its own Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), worth about $43.3 million. The product began trading in April.The filing showed increases across several direct crypto fund positions in Q2, even as reported holdings declined in Coinbase and some other crypto-linked companies.Morgan Stanley grows Bitcoin and Ether ETF exposureDespite adding about 3.04 million IBIT shares, the position’s value fell about 18% to $549 million from $667 million as Bitcoin fell during the quarter.Morgan Stanley also sharply increased several smaller Bitcoin ETF positions, including the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), while its Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) holding rose nearly 38%.Bitcoin (BTC) price chart year-to-date. Source: CoinGeckoEther holdings grew as well, with Morgan Stanley increasing its iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) position by about 202% to 4.6 million shares and its Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF (ETH) position by about 26% to 5.1 million shares.Related: Italy’s biggest bank triples staked Ether ETF holdings while cutting IBIT sharesIn addition to initiating its MSBT position, Morgan Stanley added new exposure to the Grayscale Solana Staking ETF (GSOL) and Fidelity Solana Fund (FSOL), worth about $4.25 million and $2.26 million, respectively.Circle and Bitcoin miners gain groundMorgan Stanley made an even larger move in Circle Internet Group (CRCL), the company behind the USDC stablecoin, with reported holdings increasing from about 1.46 million shares to 8.32 million shares.The filing also showed substantial additions to several Bitcoin mining and infrastructure companies, including Cipher Digital (CIFR), Core Scientific (CORZ), Hut 8 (HUT) and Bitdeer Technologies (BTDR).Not every crypto-linked position grew. Morgan Stanley reported about 550,000 fewer Coinbase (COIN) shares, cut its CleanSpark (CLSK) position by more than 3.1 million shares and fully exited a roughly 8 million-share Bitfarms (BITF) position.Magazine: Bitcoin will never fall below $60K again: Nansen founder