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Chinese miner Jiang Zhuoer sold his entire Bitcoin position at USD 77,226, while Blockstream separately rejected a ransom demand tied to the Liquid Network theft. Blockstream says about 3,400 BTC was returned, leaving roughly 598.5 BTC outstanding from the transfer of about 4,000 BTC.
Jiang, founder of the BTC.TOP mining pool, said he liquidated 100% of his Bitcoin holdings at USD 77,226. The sale marked a full exit from his BTC position. A day earlier, Jiang said stronger U.S. Producer Price Index data raised the probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike to 70%. He also expected the next CPI reading to hurt markets.
Jiang said he could open a short position if market conditions fit his strategy. Will he follow through if inflation data further hardens expectations for Fed policy?
The sale contrasts with Jiang's recent bullish comments. He said he was 90% certain the bear market ended and expected Ethereum to outperform Bitcoin. Jiang also said he planned to use remaining reserve funds to buy ETH. The supplied information does not state whether he completed that purchase.
Blockstream said it rejected a ransom demand linked to Bitcoin that the actors moved from the Liquid Network without authorization. The company says the actors have returned about 3,400 BTC. Around 598.5 BTC remains outstanding. Blockstream said it would not pay for the return of the Bitcoin or shift recovery costs to users.
Earlier communications described the actors as white hats. Blockstream later rejected that description after the group withheld funds while demanding payment for their return.
Blockstream said it engaged in good faith to recover user funds. It argued that paying a ransom would create an unacceptable precedent for open-source Bitcoin infrastructure.
If the remaining funds do not return, Blockstream plans to pursue lawful recovery channels. Those efforts could involve law enforcement, exchanges, service providers, and forensic specialists. The company also pointed to Bitcoin's public transaction history. It said investigators can use blockchain records to trace transferred assets and support recovery efforts.
Read More: Bitcoin Market Outlook: 7 Signals Crypto Investors Should Watch
A citizen journalist challenged Blockstream's framing of the dispute as a defense of Bitcoin principles. The commentator argued that Liquid should remain separate from Bitcoin's base network.
The commentator described Liquid as a federated sidechain with an institutional structure. The post also focused on Elements accepting unbacked L-BTC while federation reserves released BTC.
The writer characterized the incident as a sidechain solvency problem after a patch-and-deploy failure. That description came from the commentator and not from Blockstream. The same post called for greater accountability over the technical failure. It also acknowledged that the return of 3,400 BTC reduced the potential impact on users.
The commentator referred to the actors as former white hats who later became criminals. The supplied information does not present that label as a legal determination. Blockstream thanked developers and security teams that helped identify and patch weaknesses across related systems. It also said those teams assisted affected users during the incident.
Jiang Zhuoer exited Bitcoin at USD 77,226 after warning that U.S. inflation data could harden Fed policy expectations. Separately, Blockstream rejected a ransom tied to the Liquid Network theft after recovering about 3,400 BTC. Roughly 598.5 BTC remains outstanding as the company considers lawful recovery channels.
