Warner Bros. Discovery would like you to focus on its second quarter 2026 streaming revenue — up 9 percent to $3.1 billion — because the box office was ugly.
Theatrical revenue dropped 46 percent from the comparable quarter last year as Supergirl and The Bride bombed. Making matters worse, their comps were to Q2 2025 hits A Minecraft Movie and Sinners.
WBD’s advertising revenue sunk 22 percent as Turner continues to feel the sting of no NBA. TV/streaming programming highlights in the June quarter included Euphoria, House of the Dragon, The Pitt, and the final season of Hacks.
Wall Street forecast Warner Bros. Discovery would record $9.21 billion in quarterly revenue. Another miss: WBD reported total revenues of $8.717 billion; net income was $100 million.
And yet, Paramount Skydance still wants it.
The process — and the drama — continues for David Ellison’s $111 billion takeover of WBD. There have been regular calls emanating from the U.S. and abroad to block the deal. It was originally supposed to be Netflix that bought the “WB” piece of “WBD,” but Ellison swooped in with an even bigger check and a promise to absorb the company in its entirety.
A coalition of a dozen states are attempting to block Paramount/WBD; the case will go to trial in March 2027. Meanwhile, beginning Oct. 1, 2026, Paramount Skydance must begin paying a ticking fee of $7 million per day to WBD shareholders. The ticking fee is only paid out if the deal closes.
Ellison believes the opposition is politically motivated and centers on his potential oversight of CNN’s editorial content. He already controls CBS News, which has undergone many changes since Ellison’s Skydance merged with Paramount Global.
“The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN. There has been speculation about my politics, my loyalties, my intentions,” he wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed. “Unfortunately, I can’t give anyone a view into my heart and mind, but I can share this: I have regularly voted for candidates of both parties; I hold some views that would be called conservative and others that would be called liberal, just like most Americans; and when it comes to our news operations, I do not aspire to lead these companies to bend their newsrooms to my views. I believe that news should be based on facts and truth.”
There were no updates provided on the pending deal within Warner Bros. Discovery’s earnings report.
Versant, the cable TV-focused spinoff from NBCUniversal that runs CNBC, MS NOW, USA, Golf Channel and other assets, reported lower second earnings on lower revenue and public company costs from its Comcast separation.
Now solo Versant reported revenue for the quarter to June 30 at $1.64 billion, down 3.8 percent from $1.7 billion in the same period of 2025. In that revenue mix, linear distribution was down 6.3 percent to $954 million, as Versant continues to rely on a declining pay TV business.
Advertising revenue at $423 million was down just under 1 percent from the year-earlier period when ad revenue dropped 13 percent. Platforms revenue grew 0.8 percent to $212 million, and content licensing revenue was unchanged at $43 million.
Net income attributable to Versant was down 30 percent at $211 million due to lower overall revenues and one-time costs following the separation from Comcast, including higher tax expenses after the divestiture of SportsEngine. The adjusted EBITDA fell 9 percent to $624 million.
Versant, as it looks to diversify away from traditional pay TV channels to focus more on streaming TV platforms and digital business lines, said it was raising both revenues and EBITDA guidance for the second half of the year. The full-year outlook for 2026 will see total revenue of between $6.2 billion and $6.45 billion, while the adjusted EBITDA will come in between $1.9 billion and $2.05 billion.
“Versant’s brands once again demonstrated strength, durability and scale, reaching more than 120 million viewers each month during the quarter while reinforcing our leadership across news, sports and entertainment,” said Mark Lazarus, Versant CEO, said in a statement ahead of a morning analyst call to also include CFO and COO Anand Kini.
Warner Bros. Discovery has a great story to tell about its streaming business –if only its other operations didn’t get in the way.
The parent of HBO, TNT and the Warner Bros. movie studio said net income in the second quarter fell significantly as growth at its new-tech streaming operations was more than offset by the continued erosion of its cable-TV networks and a weaker studio lineup than in the year-earlier period. TV ad sales fell 22% due to Warner’s loss of NBA games after the 2025 season, and TV distribution revenue fell due in part to a 10% decrease in the number of subscribers to its networks.
Total revenue fell 11% to $8.7 billion, compared with $9.8 billion in the year-earlier period. Net income attributable to the company fell to $149 million from $1.58 billion, partially the result of $1.1 billion of pre-tax acquisition-related amortization of intangibles, content fair value step-up, and restructuring expenses.
Warner is in a difficult spot. It needs to continue to manage its operations even though it has agreed to be purchased by Paramount Skydance. While the proposed deal has won approval in multiple countries, it has been held up in federal court by a coalition of 12 attorneys general who are making the case that the combination of the two media companies would create an entity that would be in violation of antitrust law in areas such as movie production and the operation of cable television properties. The case will not come to trial until next year.
Even so, Warner had some bright spots to show off. Streaming revenue rose above $3 billion for the first time, thanks to an increase of 10% that was aided by expansion of HBO Max in various markets around the globe. In a move that counters conditions at its TV networks, Warner said advertising and distribution revenue increased noticeably at its streaming venues, with distribution fees up 11% and ad revenue up 8%.
Revenue at the company’s studios was off 39% to $2.3 billion thanks to comparisons with the year-earlier period, which benefitted from the release of films such as “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners,” and “Final Destination Bloodlines.”
Cashu creator calle said the campaign logged 85 critical and 635 high-severity issues in its first 30 hours.
Contributors each prompt their own agents, which the group says produces a wider spread of hits than a single method would.
Privacy and coinjoin projects carried the highest share of serious findings, at 24%.
A volunteer group calling itself the Bitcoin Red Team has filed 4,962 security findings across 390 Bitcoin projects in roughly 30 hours, running what it describes as a “large-scale ecosystem audit” with AI agents doing much of the scanning.
Pseudonymous developer calle, who created the Bitcoin ecash protocol Cashu, published the campaign’s first situation report on Wednesday. It puts 85 findings at critical severity and 635 at high, together 14.5% of the corpus and an average of 1.85 serious issues per project, filed at 166 findings an hour. He said the team has grown to 16 people working around the clock; the report logs 17 contributors, 14 of them human and three automated.
Bitcoin Red Team update: we’ve grown to 16 globally distributed people working 24/7
We’re running a large-scale ecosystem security audit across bitcoin code bases.
27.5 hours in, we’ve filed 4,962 findings across 390 projects. 85 critical and 635 high severity issues.
Much of the work is still manual, “hand holding the AI,” calle wrote, though automated harnesses are improving, and 91% of findings arrived through automated scan intake. Letting everyone use their own preferred review method “has proven to be the most effective strategy,” he said, because contributors prompt their agents differently and turn up different bugs. Around 21% of findings have been dynamically reproduced with proof-of-concept code.
The severity spread varies sharply by category. Privacy and coinjoin tools returned the highest proportion of high-or-critical findings at 24%, followed by swaps and exchanges at 21% and payments and merchant tools at 17%. Cryptographic libraries and SDKs produced the largest raw volume at 1,101 findings, but only 10% cleared the high bar.
Maintainers are getting flooded
Only 19 projects, under 5% of those reviewed, have had findings disclosed upstream so far, and calle acknowledged the campaign is adding to a difficult moment for maintainers.
“We’re sincerely sorry if our reports added stress to your already stressful day,” he wrote, while arguing the findings should go out fast because project owners are best placed to validate them, validation is now nearly free with AI, and anyone else running the same tools will reach the same bugs. Eight findings have been retired as false positives.
The Coldcard backdrop
The campaign lands as Bitcoin’s security assumptions come under scrutiny. Coinkite’s Coldcard wallet lost users some $130 million after a March 2021 firmware build drew wallet seeds from a software fallback rather than the device’s hardware random number generator, leaving private keys guessable. In a post-mortem, the firm noted it was likely that “someone used AI to review previous versions of our firmware.”
Ledger chief technology officer Charles Guillemet told Decrypt on Tuesday that the incident showed AI was now being used to identify vulnerabilities in crypto code “at machine speed.” He added that “open source and reviewed are not the same thing,” noting the Coldcard flaw sat in public code for more than five years until an adversary reportedly used AI to find it. Defence, he argued, now has to move at the same speed as attackers—as groups like the Bitcoin Red Team are demonstrating.
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Bitcoin $BTC$64,597.62 has added around 0.9% in the past 24 hours to $64,700, while the broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) is up just 0.16%. Strength in equity markets, which have climbed to record highs, appears to leave the crypto sector unperturbed.
Crypto appears to be moving to the perceived safety of the biggest tokens, with bitcoin and ether $ETH$1,903.32 the only CD20 members in positive territory. Zaheer Ebtikar, the chief strategy officer at crypto neobank Plasma, told CoinDesk altcoins are struggling “without aggressive support from bitcoin momentum.”
Altcoin open interest has fallen about 15% over the past month while bitcoin has gained roughly 8%, Ebtikar said. CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season index fell one point from Wednesday to 42/100.
“Because Bitcoin has moved into capital markets plumbing with ETFs, basis trading, institutional hedging, and collateral, that flow doesn’t need a rally to justify itself. However, most of the altcoin market hasn’t made that transition yet,” Ebtikar said.
The divergence, according to Ebtikar, results from projects failing to clearly define how value accrues, making them unable to justify investors’ exposure to their tokens during market declines.
Versant Media said second-quarter net income fell by 30% as the new media company continued its efforts to add non-traditional assets to lend ballast to its linear media operations.
The owner of MS NOW, CNBC and USA said net income fell to $211 million from $302 million in the year-earlier quarter, a decline of $91 million. The company cited lower revenue, the costs of operating as a public company, interest expense following its separation from Comcast, and increased tax expense tied mostly to the divestiture of SportsEngine, an online sports management software company that was sold in May.
Versant, spun off from Comcast earlier this year, is focused on generating new revenue from digital and direct to consumer operations. In recent weeks, it has expanded Fandango into a broader consumer entertainment platform, and made progress on new subscription projects at both CNBC and MS NOW. “Together, we believe these initiatives build on the foundation of our portfolio, deepen consumer engagement, and position Versant for long-term growth,” said Mark Lazarus, the company’s CEO.
Revenue in the second quarter fell 3.8% to $1.64 billion. Distribution fees fell 6.3% in the second quarter, largely due to subscriber declines. Ad revenue was off 0.6%, compared with a decline of 13% in the year-earlier quarter, reflecting improvements in ratings at some of its networks. Revenue from platforms, which include many of Versant’s direct to consumer businesses, rose 0.8%, due to higher revenue at Fandango and GolfNow.
Versant said it was confident in its near-term future, raising revenue and cash-flow projections for the second half of the year.
$BNB price traded near $600 on Aug. 5 after breaking out of its July range, while rising derivatives activity and nearby liquidation clusters pointed to a possible test of $610.
$BNB price reclaims $592 after July breakout
According to data from crypto.news, $BNB ($BNB) price rose to approximately $600 on Wednesday, extending its recovery from a late-July range around $560 to $575. The daily chart shows that the token closed near $599.64 after reaching an intraday high of $605.50.
$BNB price daily chart — Aug. 5 | Source: crypto.news
The move carried $BNB above its 20-day and 50-day simple moving averages at $574.43 and $576.85, respectively. Reclaiming both averages supports the short-term bullish structure, although the asset has not yet reversed its wider downtrend.
The 100-day SMA at $605.88 now represents the first major test. This level sits close to Wednesday’s intraday high and could determine whether $BNB extends its rally toward $610 or enters another period of consolidation.
Longer-term resistance remains at the 200-day SMA near $636.13. $BNB would need to reclaim that level before the daily chart confirms a broader bullish trend reversal.
Chaikin Money Flow rose to 0.14 on the daily chart. A reading above zero indicates that buying pressure has exceeded selling pressure during the measured period, adding support to the latest recovery.
Derivatives traders add exposure as volume jumps
$BNB derivatives activity strengthened alongside the spot-price increase. CoinGlass data provided for the analysis showed that trading volume climbed 56.1% to $719.9 million, while open interest increased 4.05% to $985.79 million.
Rising price and open interest can indicate that traders are opening new positions rather than closing existing contracts. However, the data alone does not establish whether the new exposure is primarily long or short.
The increase also raises the possibility of stronger volatility around the $600 barrier. Leveraged positions may face forced closures if $BNB moves sharply through nearby liquidation zones.
Broader crypto-market conditions offered additional support. Bitcoin approached $64,000, while the total digital asset market capitalization reportedly rose 0.72% to $2.19 trillion.
European regulatory developments also improved the wider institutional backdrop. The latest MiCA register update added more authorized crypto-asset service providers, although the development does not provide a direct fundamental catalyst for $BNB or Binance.
$BNB price faces resistance between $602 and $606
The 4-hour chart places $BNB near the upper Bollinger Band after its latest advance. The upper band stands at $602, while the middle band has risen to $591.92.
$BNB price 4-hour chart — Aug. 5 | Source: crypto.news
Price briefly moved above the upper band before slipping back toward $599.50. That rejection shows that sellers remain active around $602 to $605.88, where the 4-hour Bollinger Band and daily 100-day SMA converge.
The 4-hour Relative Strength Index stood at 63.74, above its signal average at 61.04. Momentum remains bullish, but the reading is approaching the 70 threshold commonly associated with overbought conditions.
A 4-hour close above $605.88 could open the way toward $610. The next upside area sits between $612 and $616, where the three-day liquidation heatmap shows two of the strongest overhead liquidity concentrations.
Failure to break the resistance zone would place initial support at $592, followed by the 4-hour middle Bollinger Band near $591.92. A deeper retracement could target the lower band at $581.84.
Liquidation heatmap puts $612 and $592 in focus
The three-day CoinGlass liquidation heatmap shows liquidity concentrated on both sides of the current price. Above $BNB, prominent bands appear around $612 and $616, with additional leveraged positions extending toward $620.
$BNB liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass
These clusters can act as price magnets because a move into them may force short sellers to close positions. A break above $606 could therefore accelerate toward $612 as short liquidations add market buying.
The closest major downside cluster sits near $592. Another band appears around $587, followed by larger concentrations near $581 and $576.
Losing $592 would weaken the recent breakout and raise the probability of a move toward $582. That area also aligns with the lower 4-hour Bollinger Band and the base of the latest advance.
The heatmap does not predict which liquidity zone $BNB will reach first. It instead shows where leveraged positions may become vulnerable if price moves through those levels.
Analysts see $592 as the key trend level
Crypto commentator Satoshi Stacker described $BNB’s retest of its former diagonal resistance as successful. He identified $592 as one of the asset’s most important levels of 2026 and said holding above it would support the view that $BNB is entering an uptrend rather than posting a temporary recovery.
$BNB saw a clean retest of the diagonal level and confirmed it as support after the recent breakout.
Now, it is attempting to break above what has been one of the most important levels of 2026 at ~$592. Flipping this level would be a great sign that this is an uptrend and not… pic.twitter.com/cnkLzmi06G
— Satoshi Stacker (@StackerSatoshi) August 3, 2026
Another trader, Batman, pointed to $BNB’s breakout from consolidation and its recovery above the 50-day moving average. The analyst said the subsequent retest preserved the bullish setup.
The charts support a constructive short-term outlook while $BNB remains above $592. A confirmed break above $606 would bring $610, $612 and $616 into focus.
The bullish setup would weaken if $BNB closes back below $592. In that case, $582 becomes the main downside level, with $576 providing the next support if selling pressure increases.
For US traders, MiCA developments mainly offer a comparison with Europe’s unified licensing framework. $BNB’s short-term direction remains more closely tied to overall crypto liquidity, Binance-related developments and technical positioning than to European licensing updates.
JPYC Inc. raised 6 billion yen ($38 million) in an extension of its Series B funding round to accelerate the expansion of its yen-pegged stablecoin.
The investment brings the company’s total raised to $106 million across seven funding rounds since November 2021, according to venture capital data site Tracxn.
New investors in the latest round include AZ-COM Maruwa Holdings (9090), a major Japanese logistics company.
AZ-COM plans to settle payments in JPYC with its clients, including Amazon Japan. Its network of around 2,300 partners is made up of subcontractors, drivers and so on. The move marked the first large-scale corporate use of a stablecoin for daily business operations in Japan.
JPYC is one of the most prominent stablecoins pegged to the Japanese yen with a market cap of $55.5 million, according to data tracked by CoinGecko.
Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to the value of a traditional financial asset, usually a fiat currency. The market is overwhelmingly dominated by tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar. The yen stablecoin sector is growing, helped by adoption among some of Japan’s largest financial institutions, but remains negligible in the context of the USD-dominated market.
U.S. stocks are having their moment again, and bitcoin, as it has all year, is sitting this one out. The reasons why go beyond the obvious.
The S&P 500 has gained 3.12% this month, adding roughly $2.1 trillion in market cap and pushing its total value to a record $70.5 trillion, with its price at 7,723 points. The Nasdaq and Dow are buoyant too. Wall Street, by every measure, is in full risk-on mode.
Bitcoin isn’t following suit, even though, since the COVID crash of early 2020, it has tended to track stocks more often than not. The token is up just 2% this month, trading around $64,600, sitting exactly where it’s been gyrating for weeks.
Part of bitcoin’s underperformance stems from the fact that the equity rally is driven primarily by stock-specific narrative, particularly tied to AI, rather than by a broad macro risk-on impulse that would lift beta assets like $BTC in tandem.
“Partly because the equity rally is being driven by areas to which bitcoin has little direct exposure, particularly AI and semiconductor stocks,” said Adam Haeems, head of asset management at Tesseract Group, which manages more than $500 million in client assets.
Cryptocurrency asset management company Hashdex announced its decision to close and liquidate the Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (NYSE Arca: DEFI), which was traded in the US. With the completion of this decision, DEFI will be the first spot Bitcoin ETF to be shut down in the US.
According to documents the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the value of assets under management by the fund was approximately $14.7 million as of July 30, 2026. Hashdex’s total assets managed in other products offered to U.S. investors exceed $200 million.
Hashdex announced that the decision to liquidate was made after evaluating factors such as the fund’s size, transaction liquidity, operating expenses, investor demand, and the company’s broader product strategy. The liquidation plan stated that the fund’s net assets remaining low compared to operating expenses made it economically unfeasible for DEFI to continue operating in the long term.
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What Was the Content of the Hashdex Bitcoin ETF?
DEFI was a spot Bitcoin ETF designed to offer investors direct exposure to daily fluctuations in the Bitcoin price. The fund’s portfolio consisted solely of physically held Bitcoin and cash held for operational needs, share creation and repurchase transactions, fees, and other liabilities.
The fund did not hold any cryptocurrencies, stocks, or financial assets other than Bitcoin. DEFI’s primary goal was for the change in the net asset value of its shares, after deducting expenses, to reflect the daily price movements in the Nasdaq Bitcoin Reference Price–Settlement indicator.
Investors can sell their DEFI shares on the NYSE Arca until the close of trading on August 17, 2026. After that date, the fund will no longer accept new share creation orders from authorized participants. DEFI shares will be delisted from the exchange following the final trading day.
Hashdex will liquidate its portfolio by selling the Bitcoins remaining in the fund after August 17. Investors who did not sell their shares by the last trading day will receive a cash payment equivalent to the net asset value of their shares on the liquidation date. According to the company’s statement, payments are expected to be made around August 28, 2026.
The amount to be distributed to investors will be affected by the cost of selling the Bitcoins, transaction fees associated with closing the fund, and potential price fluctuations in Bitcoin during the liquidation process. Hashdex warned investors that price movements during this period could be significant.
