Here's what happened in crypto today on July 12, 2026
Here's what happened crypto on Saturday: Michael Saylor and Adam Back slammed the BIP-110 proposal to curb Ordinals, Bonzo Lend lost about $9 million in a Hedera oracle exploit, the DOJ moved to dismiss charges against alleged BitClub fraudster Matthew Goettsche, and Empery Digital shares rose after selling 1,400 Bitcoin to fund an AI data center.
Key Takeaways
- Strategy chairman Michael Saylor and Blockstream CEO Adam Back doubled down against BIP-110, a proposed temporary fork to limit non-monetary Bitcoin transactions.
- Bonzo Lend lost roughly $9 million after an attacker manipulated SAUCE collateral prices through a flaw in Supra's oracle verifier on Hedera.
- The US Department of Justice is reportedly seeking to drop charges against BitClub Network founder Matthew Goettsche in a $722 million fraud case.
- Empery Digital sold 1,400 BTC for about $87.1 million and saw shares rise as investors backed its pivot toward AI infrastructure.
Why are Michael Saylor and Adam Back rejecting BIP-110?
Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor and Blockstream CEO Adam Back have renewed opposition to Bitcoin Improvement Proposal-110, a temporary fork introduced in December 2025 to stop Ordinals inscriptions and other arbitrary data from spamming the network.
While both critics dislike Ordinals activity, they argue the cure is worse than the disease. Saylor wrote on X Saturday that there are "110 things more dangerous to Bitcoin than spam," warning BIP-110 could invalidate ordinary transactions. Back called the effort a "quest to police other people," saying it conflicts with Bitcoin's permissionless ethos.
The dispute echoes the Blocksize Wars of 2015-2017. In the latest signaling period, only about 1% of blocks showed support, even as daily Ordinals inscriptions have fallen below 10,000 from more than 400,000 at their August 2023 peak.
How did Bonzo Lend lose $9 million on Hedera?
Hedera-based lending protocol Bonzo Lend lost about $9 million after an attacker exploited a pricing flaw tied to SAUCE collateral, according to Cointelegraph's daily roundup.
Bonzo said the attacker deposited 250 SAUCE worth only a few dollars, then submitted a price update that inflated the token's value by roughly 12 orders of magnitude. The wallet borrowed 6.63 million USDC and 34.5 million wrapped HBAR from the pool.
Bonzo blamed a flaw in Supra's on-chain oracle verifier, which accepted a manipulated SAUCE price with a zeroed signature. Supra acknowledged the issue and deployed a fix. Bonzo stressed the incident was not a vulnerability in its smart contracts or Hedera's core network.
Why did Empery Digital sell Bitcoin—and did markets approve?
Empery Digital shares rose Friday after the firm disclosed it sold nearly half its Bitcoin holdings to fund an AI data center project and pay down debt.
Empery sold 1,400 BTC at an average of $62,200 per coin, raising roughly $87.1 million over two months. Proceeds funded a 25% stake in a Hunt Properties-affiliated AI data center venture, while $10 million went toward outstanding debt. Shares popped 4.2% to $3.95 before closing up 1.58% at $3.86.
The move follows pressure from near-10% shareholder Tice P. Brown, who demanded the company abandon its Bitcoin-buying strategy. Empery trimmed holdings 48% to 1,514 BTC. Even Strategy sold 3,588 BTC worth $216 million earlier this month.
Is the DOJ dropping its BitClub fraud case?
The Department of Justice is reportedly moving to drop charges against Matthew Goettsche, founder of BitClub Network, a purported mining platform accused of defrauding investors of $722 million between 2014 and 2019.
Court filings show Goettsche's attorneys told a New Jersey judge the parties reached an agreement in principle but need time to finalize terms. Bloomberg Law reported the deputy attorney general's office ordered prosecutors to dismiss the case with prejudice.
Goettsche was set to face trial in October. Three former colleagues have already pleaded guilty. The potential reversal follows an April 2025 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche directing the DOJ to end its regulation-by-prosecution approach. For more daily coverage, see our Fintech and Crypto Alerts hub.