Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Aptos has rolled out Confidential APT on its mainnet, giving users the ability to encrypt their token balances and transfer amounts without hiding who’s transacting. It’s a deliberate design choice: privacy where it matters for business, transparency where regulators demand it.
The feature, now integrated into the Petra Wallet, operates as a 1:1 wrapped version of APT. Users opt in to shield their balances from public view while their wallet addresses remain fully visible on-chain.
How it works under the hood Confidential APT leans on two cryptographic heavyweights: zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption. Zero-knowledge proofs let one party prove a statement is true without revealing the underlying data. Homomorphic encryption goes a step further, allowing computations on encrypted data without ever decrypting it.
Together, these techniques mean the Aptos network can verify that a transfer is valid, that the sender has sufficient funds, and that no tokens are being conjured from thin air. All without anyone on-chain seeing the actual numbers involved.
At launch, only the native APT token is eligible for confidential transactions. The underlying standard, however, was built to extend to other tokens pending future governance votes.
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The compliance play Aptos is explicitly pitching Confidential APT at compliance-heavy use cases: payroll processing, corporate treasury management, and business-to-business settlements.
Consider the payroll scenario. A company paying employees on-chain currently broadcasts every salary to anyone with a block explorer. Confidential APT lets the payment go through with cryptographic proof of validity while keeping the dollar amount between employer and employee.
The same logic applies to B2B settlements, where companies have obvious reasons to keep transaction sizes private from competitors monitoring on-chain activity. Treasury operations face similar exposure risks when large movements signal strategy to the market before leadership is ready to disclose.
For users who don’t want or need privacy, nothing changes. The feature is entirely opt-in, meaning the default transparent experience remains untouched.
Governance approval and early traction Confidential APT didn’t appear overnight. The feature was activated following Proposal #188, which went through governance voting around April 24-25, 2026. The proposal received near-unanimous support from the community.
The official wallet integration announcements came on August 4, 2026, when the Petra Wallet confirmed support for confidential transactions. By mid-August 2026, roughly 15,000 APT had already moved into confidential pools.
Aptos itself has been building momentum on the infrastructure side. The mainnet originally launched in October 2022, and by April 2026, daily transaction volumes had surpassed 8 million.
Extending the privacy standard to other tokens, stablecoins being the obvious next candidate, would require a separate governance proposal and community vote.
What this means for the broader market Privacy in crypto has always been politically charged. Tornado Cash sanctions, Monero delistings, and ongoing regulatory scrutiny of mixing services have made the topic radioactive for many projects. Aptos is betting it can thread the needle by offering selective privacy that satisfies business needs without triggering the alarm bells that fully private transactions set off.
The fact that addresses remain visible provides a strong defense, since law enforcement can still trace the flow of funds between wallets even if individual amounts are encrypted.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
The crypto market will welcome tokens worth roughly $325.6 million in the second week of September 2026. Major projects, including Aptos (APT), Linea (LINEA), and Cheelee (CHEEL), will release new token supplies.
These unlocks could introduce market volatility and influence short-term price movements. So, here’s a breakdown of what to watch.
1. Aptos (APT)
Unlock Date: September 11
Number of Tokens to be Unlocked: 11.31 million APT
Released Supply: 1.74 billion APT
Total supply: 2.09 billion APT (Y2035)
Aptos is a Layer-1 blockchain platform designed for scalability, security, and efficiency in decentralized applications (dApps) and Web3 ecosystems. It utilizes the Move programming language to enable high-throughput transactions and smart contract execution.
Aptos will release 11.31 million tokens on September 11. The tokens are worth $7.09 million. It represents 0.65% of the released supply.
APT Crypto Token Unlock in September. Source: TokenomistThe team will award 3.96 million APT to core contributors. The community and investors will get 3.21 million and 2.81 million tokens, respectively. Additionally, Aptos will allocate 1.33 million tokens to the foundation.
2. Linea (LINEA)
Unlock Date: September 10
Number of Tokens to be Unlocked: 960.13 million LINEA
Released Supply: 31.92 billion LINEA
Total supply: 72.01 billion LINEA
Linea is a zkEVM Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum (ETH). The network provides fast, low-cost transactions while maintaining compatibility with Ethereum tools and security.
The network will unlock 960.13 million tokens, valued at approximately $2.75 million, on September 10. The upcoming unlock represents 3% of the released supply
LINEA Crypto Token Unlock in September. Source: TokenomistLinea will keep 480.07 million tokens for Linea Consortium (long-term alignment), and 480.07 million LINEA for Linea Consortium (Ignition).
3. Cheelee (CHEEL)
Unlock Date: September 13
Number of Tokens to be Unlocked: 6.42 million CHEEL
Released Supply: 813.4 million CHEEL
Total supply: 1 billion CHEEL
Cheelee is a SocialFi hybrid platform that rewards users with LEE tokens for watching short videos. It blends familiar social media mechanics with blockchain-based incentives. The platform utilizes its token, CHEEL, for governance, content promotion, and advertising.
The team will release 6.42 million tokens on September 13. The tokens are worth around $2.24 million and represent 0.79% of the current released supply.
CHEEL Crypto Token Unlock in September. Source: TokenomistCheelee will keep 3.4 million tokens for the reserve fund. Furthermore, it will assign 2.78 million tokens to the team. Advisors will get around 208,330 altcoins. Lastly, the team will direct 27,780 tokens to a private round.
In addition to these, other prominent unlocks that investors can look out for in the second week of September include peaq (PEAQ), Babylon (BABY), Movement (MOVE), and more.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
BitGo has integrated its institutional self-custody wallets with DecibelTrade, a decentralized exchange running on the Aptos network. The September 3 announcement means eligible clients can connect directly to the DEX through WalletConnect, trading spot and perpetual contracts without ever needing to transfer assets to a separate wallet.
How the integration actually works The connection runs through WalletConnect, a protocol that lets wallets communicate with decentralized applications without exposing private keys. BitGo’s multi-party computation (MPC) wallets, which split cryptographic keys across multiple parties to prevent single points of failure, plug directly into DecibelTrade’s trading interface.
BitGo’s existing security protocols, including address whitelisting and multi-party approvals, remain active throughout the process. Every transaction still routes through the same approval workflows the firm already uses.
At launch, the integration supports trading on Ethereum and Solana networks. Trades settle on Aptos, where DecibelTrade operates using a central limit order book (CLOB) model with sub-second transaction finality. A CLOB works like a traditional stock exchange order book, matching buyers and sellers at specific prices, which should feel more familiar to institutional traders accustomed to traditional market structure.
BitGo’s broader DeFi push BitGo rolled out WalletConnect support in February 2026, initially enabling DeFi activities across EVM-compatible chains and Solana. The DecibelTrade integration represents the next step: establishing a direct pipeline to a specific, institutional-grade trading venue.
DecibelTrade launched on the Aptos mainnet in 2026. Aptos was built by former Meta engineers using the Move programming language.
What this means for institutional DeFi adoption Previously, an institution wanting to trade on a DEX would typically need to withdraw assets from custody, send them to a hot wallet, execute trades, and then move everything back. With this integration, assets never leave BitGo’s infrastructure, approval chains stay intact, and audit trails remain continuous.
The initial network support covers Ethereum and Solana, with expansion to additional networks planned as the platform grows. The announcement has not yet prompted notable price reactions in the cryptocurrency market.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Aptos [APT] surged by more than 10% in the past 24 hours, at press time, with daily trading volume surpassing $109 million.
Apart from the technical breakout, the altcoin’s gains were being fueled by a continuous supply crunch since its fee switch. Here is how reduced supply influenced the rally:
Decoding Aptos token burns after the 10x fee increase In the past seven days, RWA net flows have driven Aptos’s network activity. In fact, Aptos ranked second with $145 million, closely behind Ethereum [ETH] at $149 million.
Additionally, the number of transactions and active addresses showed participants were returning to the chain. On the 3rd of September, Active Addresses were 57,047, while transactions surged beyond 16 million.
Source: DefiLlama From the activity data, the chain continues to accrue revenue, with average transaction fees standing at $0.0005 since the 10x fee increase.
These fees are used to buy back APT and burn them, reducing the circulating supply. That is, 1523K APT were permanently burned in the last 30 days, a total of 1.7 million tokens since mainnet. Hence, the annualized burn rate is 1.8 million tokens, as per Aptos’s post on X.
Can APT’s price hold its gains? On the charts, APT broke out for the second time from a descending trend channel. The altcoin had traded back into the pattern on the 25th of August after losing support at $0.576. It reversed at the mid-level of the channel, where it made a double bottom at $0.523.
Currently, APT is surging toward equalling August’s peak above $0.71. The RSI Divergence is supporting the projection, as it indicates bulls are still buying.
Source: APT/USDT on TradingView However, the Net Volume shows that about 340K APT were sold in the most recent session. This data hinted at weakening buyer momentum, even though the RSI was overbought.
Thus, a challenge existed at $0.65, which was a short-term resistance below $0.71.
What to expect from APT’s upcoming token unlocks? Meanwhile, stronger bearish signals from routine unlocks could add to the mid-selling pressure.
As per Tokenomist, about 11.31 million APT worth $6.88 million would be added to the circulating supply in a week’s time. This amount was equivalent to 0.65% of the released supply.
Source: Tokenomist Therefore, Aptos faces downside risk from the looming unlock, as this massive release dwarfs the small supply burned in a month.
Final Summary Aptos surged by over 10% as the altcoin priced in the burning of more than 152.9K APT tokens. APT broke out of the channel for the second time, but bulls are facing selling pressure in a week’s time.
@BitGo has extended its institutional custody infrastructure to the @Aptos network, announcing WalletConnect-powered connectivity for self-custody clients with @DecibelTrade, a decentralized exchange built on Aptos.
Custody Meets On-Chain Trading The move closes a longstanding gap in institutional crypto infrastructure.
Controls Remain Intact
The announcement fits into a broader push by @BitGo to bring institutional clients into DeFi without sacrificing compliance.
The Decibel integration follows earlier steps by BitGo to deepen its presence on Aptos.
Sources:
BitGo Supports Connectivity to Decibel (Business Wire via StockTitan)
BitGo Adds WalletConnect Support for Decibel Exchange Access (Investing.com)
BitGo Custody Support for Aptos Digital Asset Standard (BitGo Blog)
Switchboard has halted oracle operations on several networks, including SUI and Aptos, after detecting a potential security compromise.
The precautionary halt also affects IOTA and Movement, according to the validated incident materials. The key detail is scope: Switchboard’s oracle services were halted on affected chains, not the chains themselves.
That distinction matters.
This should not be framed as SUI, Aptos, IOTA, or Movement halting block production. It is an oracle infrastructure incident, and the impact depends on which applications rely on Switchboard feeds or services.
Still, oracle halts can be serious because DeFi applications depend on accurate, timely data to function safely.
For more details, visit the official Status platform.
TL;DR Switchboard halted oracle operations on SUI, Aptos, IOTA, and Movement. The move followed a potential security compromise. The affected chains did not necessarily halt; the issue concerns oracle infrastructure. Why Oracle Incidents Matter Oracles are critical infrastructure.
They bring external data into blockchain applications. Lending markets need prices. Perpetuals platforms need market data. Structured products need reference rates. DeFi protocols depend on oracles to decide liquidations, collateral values, and trading conditions.
If an oracle is compromised, stale, or unreliable, applications can become dangerous quickly.
That is why shutting down operations can be the safer move. A temporary halt may be disruptive, but bad data can cause far worse damage.
Switchboard’s response appears to fit that risk-management logic.
A Precautionary Halt Is Not A Confirmed Exploit The language matters.
A potential compromise is not automatically the same as a confirmed exploit. Until the provider publishes full incident details, the safer wording is that operations were halted as a precaution after a possible security issue.
That protects readers from assuming funds were lost, chains were hacked, or every dependent application failed.
The incident may still be serious, but it needs to be described accurately.
Security coverage should clarify what is known, what is not known, and which systems are affected.
SUI And Aptos Depend On Reliable Data Layers SUI and Aptos are both high-performance chains with growing DeFi ecosystems.
For these networks, oracle reliability matters because applications need trusted data to support lending, swaps, collateral, derivatives, and structured products. If oracle services are paused, some protocols may need to pause markets, adjust risk parameters, or rely on fallback systems.
That can affect users even if the base chain keeps running normally.
The same applies to IOTA and Movement if applications there rely on Switchboard services.
Multi-Chain Oracle Risk Cuts Across Ecosystems One important lesson is that infrastructure incidents can span multiple chains.
A protocol like Switchboard may serve several ecosystems at once. That creates efficiency, but it also means a security concern can affect many networks simultaneously.
This is a broader DeFi risk.
Projects often think in chain-specific terms, but shared infrastructure can become a cross-chain dependency. Oracles, bridges, RPC providers, indexers, wallets, and middleware can all create shared points of failure.
Switchboard’s halt is a reminder of that.
The Next Signals To Watch Users and developers will be watching for a full incident explanation.
The important questions are straightforward: what was compromised, what services were affected, whether any data was manipulated, whether any protocols took losses, and when operations will resume.
Until then, applications using Switchboard feeds may need to remain cautious.
For the wider market, the incident shows why oracle security remains one of DeFi’s most important issues.
Blockchains can keep producing blocks, but applications still need reliable data. When the data layer stops, the application layer can feel it immediately.
This article is based on Switchboard status materials and public incident information.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
@circle has activated Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2 (CCTP V2) on Aptos, upgrading the burn-and-mint standard that moves native $USDC between blockchains. The deployment, confirmed on Wednesday by @AptosLabs, replaces the V1 integration that was already live on the $APT network and brings Aptos in line with the broader V2 rollout across more than a dozen chains.
What CCTP V2 adds to Aptos The upgrade delivers two headline capabilities. Alongside that, Practical use cases include
The Aptos deployment retains the same developer surface as other V2 chains and includes relay support, targeting treasury management, liquidity movement, and trading applications.
Context: V1 phase-out and wider rollout The Aptos activation marks a step toward completing that expansion.
The Aptos integration expands the network's access to that infrastructure as Circle pushes V2 toward becoming the sole standard for native USDC movement across supported chains.
Sources:
Circle: Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol overview
Circle: CCTP V1 deprecation and V2 canonical designation
CoinDesk: Circle upgrades Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol
From Mainnet to Mobile and Now Desktop@PetraWallet users on desktop can now hold and send encrypted $APT balances directly from the wallet's browser extension, with transaction amounts hidden on-chain while sender and receiver addresses remain publicly visible. The move extends a rollout that has been building across platforms throughout 2026.
Aptos Proposal 188 executed on April 24, enabling APT confidentiality on mainnet. Aptos announced access through Petra and its Confidential Assets web interface on June 17, followed by a broader Petra mobile rollout in July. The browser extension marks the latest step in that expansion.
Confidential APT is an opt-in feature inside Aptos's fungible-asset framework. A user moves public APT into a protocol pool, registers an encryption key, and receives an encrypted balance. Transfers within that confidential domain update encrypted claims rather than moving the underlying APT out of the pool.
How the Privacy Layer WorksThe feature uses zero-knowledge proofs and Twisted ElGamal encryption to hide wallet balances and transfer amounts while keeping addresses publicly visible on-chain. Confidential APT maintains a 1:1 peg with standard APT and functions natively on the network.
@Aptos frames the feature as opt-in and built for compliant use. Governance-controlled auditor keys enable authorized access to transaction data for compliance and investigative purposes, with the implementation targeting enterprise use cases including confidential payroll, treasury operations, and trading activities.
As of an August 16 snapshot, APT confidentiality was enabled, allowlisting was active, the emergency pause was off, and the public confidential pool held approximately 15,116 APT. The desktop extension brings the feature to a wider slice of the Aptos user base, with Petra, developed by Aptos Labs, remaining the most widely used wallet and often treated as the official entry point to the ecosystem.
Sources
CertiK: Aptos Confidential APT, Verifiable Encrypted Transfers on Mainnet
Everstake: Aptos in 2026, Latest News and DeFi Updates
MoneyCheck: Aptos Rolls Out Privacy-Enhanced Token With Compliance Framework
Aptos (APT), a Layer-1 blockchain platform, is showing potential signs of a bullish reversal as its price structure strengthens and on-chain activity continues to rise. Market participants have noted increased buyer interest, leading to a shift in price momentum and growing ecosystem participation.
Technical outlook and key levelsAt the time of reporting, Aptos is trading at $0.5732, reflecting a 2.37% gain in the last 24 hours. Trading volume for the period stands at $55.32 million, while the project holds a total market capitalization of $491.91 million. Analysts view the recent price movement and sustained network growth as factors supporting a possible trend reversal in the near term.
Technical analyst Crypto With Gopal has pointed out the emergence of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern on the one-hour chart, a setup historically associated with bullish reversals. The pattern features a developed left shoulder and head, with the right shoulder still forming.
Analysis indicates that a decisive breakout above the resistance zone, located between $0.58 and $0.59, could confirm this reversal pattern. Clearing this neckline resistance would signal renewed bullish momentum and open the way for further advances toward $0.60.
Maintaining support at $0.55 remains a pivotal factor for this technical setup. If the price manages to remain above this level, buyers may get another opportunity to test the neckline resistance. Should the $0.55 level fail to hold, however, the bullish scenario could be invalidated, possibly triggering a fresh wave of selling.
Crypto With Gopal emphasized the importance of the current price range, stating that sustaining prices between $0.55 and $0.60 is critical for the reversal thesis to remain intact.
Network growth and milestone achievementsOn the network activity front, data from Chainspect shows that Aptos has now processed over 4.8 billion transactions. This achievement positions the platform within 200 million transactions of reaching the significant 5 billion milestone, reflecting increasing adoption and robust usage within the ecosystem.
Rising transaction counts highlight expanding participation in decentralized applications running on Aptos, as well as broader user engagement across the network. The approach toward the 5 billion transaction mark strengthens the narrative of Aptos’ growth, even as competition within the Layer-1 sector intensifies.
A move above the $0.58–$0.59 resistance could complement this network growth, providing both momentum and renewed market confidence. Conversely, failure to hold the $0.55 support may weaken the technical reversal and encourage further selling pressure.
If buyers preserve momentum and surpass the neckline, bulls may target the $0.60 level in the short term, backed by persistent network activity and rising adoption figures. The ongoing increase in on-chain transactions is viewed as a positive indicator for sentiment among Aptos supporters.
Mini dictionary: Chainspect, an on-chain data analytics platform, provides real-time blockchain network statistics and actionable metrics for digital asset markets.
Key LevelSignificance$0.55Critical support; must hold for bullish reversal to sustain$0.58–$0.59Neckline resistance; breakout confirms reversal pattern$0.60Immediate upside target if breakout occursIndustry observers caution that while technical indicators and rapid transaction growth support a bullish narrative, crypto assets remain highly volatile. Price projections are inherently uncertain and subject to market conditions.
Aptos approaches 5 billion total transactions, a milestone that illustrates expanding ecosystem participation and a growing user base competing with other Layer-1 platforms.
MEXC Ventures, Main Sponsor of Alpha Arena S03, announced the conclusion of the Alpha Arena Bali Final, held on August 21 during Coinfest Asia 2026. Arumando, representing Japan, won the championship, followed by Murasaki Trades from the Philippines and Coin6097 from South Korea, who placed second and third, respectively. MEXC CEO Vugar presented the awards to the three winners following the final.
The final brought together 20 traders in a live DEMO trading competition with a $100,000 prize pool. The event marked the conclusion of Alpha Arena’s first APAC edition, taking the competition from regional online qualifications to an in-person final in Bali.
Outcome Uncertain Until the Final Seconds
The Bali Final featured group stages followed by a final elimination round in a live DEMO environment. Timed challenges, heartbeat monitoring, and randomized Mystery Cards introduced changing conditions throughout the competition. As the live leaderboard shifted, traders adjusted their strategies in real time.
Rankings shifted repeatedly during the final. In one of the clearest reversals, a trader who had held first place for much of the competition was overtaken in the final 30 seconds, keeping the outcome uncertain until the end.
Bali Final Reaches More Than 10,000 Viewers
More than 200 spectators filled Hall 1, while live commentary and a visible leaderboard made each stage of the DEMO competition easier to follow. Combined, the onsite audience and livestream reached more than 10,000 people.
Following the prize presentation, nearly 300 industry participants gathered at Coinfest’s Sunset Deck for the Winner’s Celebration Afterparty. The gathering brought competitors and the wider community together to celebrate the conclusion of the Bali Final and connect after the competition.
A New Stage for Trading Talent in APAC
Speaking at the close of the event, MEXC CEO Vugar congratulated the finalists. “To stand out among so many talented traders across 12 countries is no small achievement,” he said. He added that MEXC Ventures supports Alpha Arena as part of its goal to discover talent, explore new ideas, and create more opportunities for participants to develop.
By supporting the Bali Final as Main Sponsor, MEXC Ventures aims to increase the visibility of regional trading talent and encourage wider community participation. Following previous editions in Amsterdam and Berlin, the Bali Final marked Alpha Arena’s first step into APAC, giving traders a regional stage to demonstrate their capabilities before a live audience.
About MEXC Ventures
MEXC Ventures is a comprehensive fund under MEXC dedicated to driving innovation in the cryptocurrency sector through investments in L1/L2 ecosystems, strategic investments, M&A, and incubation. Upholding the principle of “Empowering Growth Through Synergy”, MEXC Ventures is committed to supporting innovative ideas and active builders in crypto. As an
investor and supporter of TON and Aptos, MEXC Ventures looks forward to being at the forefront of TON and Aptos innovations and to actively partnering with builders to drive the ecosystem forward.
For more information, visit the MEXC Ventures Website.
Aptos has activated Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol V2, upgrading its USDC infrastructure from a system that took minutes to one that settles in seconds. The integration, which went live on August 26, connects Aptos to roughly nine other blockchains, including Ethereum and Solana, through more than 90 capital-efficient transfer routes.
How CCTP V2 works on Aptos At its core, CCTP V2 uses a burn-and-mint mechanism. When a user sends USDC from one chain to Aptos, the tokens are burned on the source chain and minted as native USDC on Aptos. No wrapped tokens, no IOUs sitting in a bridge contract. The USDC that shows up on Aptos is the real thing, issued directly by Circle.
Perhaps the more consequential feature is what Circle calls “programmable hooks.” These allow developers to attach automated on-chain actions to incoming USDC transfers. Think of it like setting up a rule: when USDC arrives, immediately deposit it into a lending protocol, or swap it into another asset, or route it to a treasury wallet. The transfer and the action happen in a single flow rather than requiring the recipient to manually execute a second transaction.
The path from bridged tokens to native USDC Aptos didn’t always have native USDC. Before Circle’s direct support, the network relied on lzUSDC, a bridged version of the stablecoin routed through LayerZero. At launch, over $120M in lzUSDC was circulating on the network.
Native USDC arrived on Aptos mainnet on January 30, 2025. Circle launched CCTP V2 across its supported networks on March 11, 2025, and by November 2025, V2 had become the canonical protocol version. The older V1 began its phase-out on July 31, 2026.
What this means for Aptos and the broader DeFi landscape For developers building on Aptos, programmable hooks open up design space that didn’t previously exist. Automated liquidity rebalancing across chains, instant collateral deposits for lending protocols triggered by incoming transfers, and treasury management tools that move funds without human intervention all become possible without custom bridge infrastructure.
No significant market reaction has accompanied the integration, which tracks with the nature of the upgrade. Infrastructure improvements rarely move token prices on their own.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Switchboard, the multi-chain oracle protocol that feeds price data to decentralized applications across several blockchains, shut down operations on its Move-based deployments after discovering what it described as a potential security compromise. The affected networks include Aptos, Sui, IOTA, and Movement.
The halt, communicated during the transition from August 28 to 29, represents one of the more serious oracle-level incidents in recent memory. And the damage on at least one network was anything but theoretical.
What happened on IOTA An attacker exploited a compromised oracle key to manipulate the IOTA price feed, temporarily setting the token’s price to $10 million.
With the feed showing a wildly inflated IOTA price, the attacker was able to mint approximately 4.94 million VUSD through the Virtue CDP protocol. CDP, or collateralized debt position, protocols let users lock up assets and borrow stablecoins against them. When the oracle says your collateral is worth $10 million per token, the protocol happily lets you borrow accordingly.
The fallout hit 45 users directly through liquidations. Exchange addresses were frozen in response to the chaos, and the Virtue CDP protocol itself was halted.
Scope of the shutdown Switchboard’s decision to halt all Move-based implementations suggests the vulnerability may be architectural rather than network-specific. Move is the programming language originally developed at Meta (then Facebook) for the Diem project, and it now underpins Aptos, Sui, and their derivative ecosystems including Movement and IOTA’s newer infrastructure.
The protocol said it was actively collaborating with relevant security agencies to investigate the breach.
Notably, Switchboard’s Solana deployment was not affected. The protocol’s Solana-based infrastructure runs on different code, which apparently wasn’t vulnerable to the same exploit vector. Still, Switchboard advised even Solana users to temporarily seek alternative oracle options during the investigation.
Why oracle compromises are uniquely dangerous Oracles occupy one of the most critical positions in the DeFi stack. They’re the bridge between real-world data (token prices, interest rates, asset values) and on-chain smart contracts that execute financial transactions based on that data.
The DeFi ecosystem has seen oracle-related exploits before. Mango Markets on Solana suffered a $114 million exploit in 2022 when an attacker manipulated the platform’s oracle price.
What makes the Switchboard incident particularly concerning is that the compromise appears to have occurred at the key level rather than through market manipulation. The attacker didn’t need to execute complex trading strategies to move a price. They simply gained access to a key that controlled the feed and rewrote the data directly.
What this means for affected ecosystems For Aptos, Sui, and Movement, the shutdown is disruptive even if no exploits have been confirmed on those networks. Any DeFi protocol relying on Switchboard for price feeds is effectively flying blind until service resumes, unable to process liquidations, update collateral ratios, or execute any price-dependent function.
Protocols that integrated redundant oracle sources from providers like Pyth, Chainlink, or Redstone alongside Switchboard can continue operating. Those that didn’t are learning an expensive lesson about single points of failure.
Switchboard’s initial statements suggest that user funds have remained intact beyond the IOTA incident, but that assessment could evolve as the investigation deepens.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
TLDR: Switchboard halted Move-based oracle operations on Aptos, Sui, IOTA and Movement after a potential compromise. An IOTA oracle incident allegedly pushed a price feed to $10M, enabling about 4.94M VUSD to be minted. The IOTA incident reportedly liquidated 45 users as investigators examined the potential compromise. Switchboard said no similar issue was reported on Solana, but users were advised to migrate temporarily. Switchboard has halted oracle operations across Aptos, Sui, IOTA, and Movement after contributors identified a potential compromise involving its Move-based deployments. The coordinated shutdown affects applications using its data feeds for prices, collateral valuations, liquidations, and other automated decentralized finance functions.
🚨ALERT: Oracle network @switchboardxyz has halted operations on Aptos, Sui, IOTA and Movement after identifying a potential compromise affecting its Move based implementations.
No similar issue has been identified on @Solana, but users are being advised to temporarily migrate… pic.twitter.com/mfc68xd0ty
— SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) August 29, 2026
The blockchains themselves remain operational as the suspension applies only to the Oracle Network deployments running on those ecosystems. Contributors coordinated with affected teams and security organizations while investigators examine the incident and determine whether additional applications were exposed.
IOTA’s $10M Oracle Feed Incident Raises DeFi Risk The investigation follows an IOTA incident involving an allegedly compromised oracle key that reportedly pushed an asset price feed to $10 million. That manipulated valuation was then reportedly used against Virtue, an IOTA-based collateralized debt position protocol.
According to the reported incident details, the attacker minted approximately 4.94 million VUSD using collateral whose apparent value had been inflated by the corrupted feed. The event also reportedly triggered liquidations affecting 45 users.
Basically, Virtue allows users to mint VUSD after depositing assets including IOTA and stIOTA as collateral. Therefore, accurate external pricing remains essential for maintaining collateral ratios and determining when positions should be liquidated.
However, when an oracle reports an extreme price, smart contracts can treat relatively small collateral deposits as assets worth far more than their market value. That distortion can consequently affect borrowing limits, debt creation, and automated liquidations before the incorrect data is removed.
Nevertheless, Switchboard has not publicly confirmed that the reported IOTA event explains the entire potential compromise. Its initial disclosure did not identify a root cause, attacker, confirmed losses, or affected application count.
A technical postmortem has also not been published. As a result, the available information does not establish whether the issue originated from contract code, signing credentials, infrastructure, or another component.
Switchboard Halts Move Deployments as Solana Shows No Similar Issue The four suspended deployments share Move-based smart-contract infrastructure, making that common architecture central to the investigation. Move was originally developed at Facebook for the Diem blockchain project.
It later became fundamental to Aptos and Sui, while IOTA adopted the Move Virtual Machine through its Rebased upgrade. That architecture reached mainnet in May 2025 and introduced a programmable Move-based Layer 1.
Still, the shared programming environment does not establish that Move contains the vulnerability. The known issue is limited to Switchboard’s potentially compromised Move implementations across the affected networks.
Meanwhile, no similar reports have emerged involving the provider’s Solana implementation. Nevertheless, users were advised to temporarily migrate to alternative oracle solutions while the investigation continues.
The incident therefore highlights how oracle failures can spread quickly through DeFi systems as applications depend on external prices for automated decisions. Multiple providers, deviation limits, circuit breakers, and emergency pauses can limit exposure when feeds behave unexpectedly.
For developers and users, the central questions now concern the precise attack vector, the number of affected applications, and restoration timelines. Until investigators publish their findings, the halted Move deployments will remain the clearest containment measure taken across Aptos, Sui, IOTA, and Movement.
Aptos Hits 11.7 Million Daily Transactions@Aptos has recorded a new all-time high of 11.7 million transactions in a single day, a 6.5% increase over the previous record set just 24 hours earlier. The back-to-back peaks signal that demand on the network is not a one-off spike but part of a sustained upward trend in on-chain activity.
The milestone fits into a broader pattern of accelerating growth in 2026. The 11.7 million figure reported on August 21 represents another step above that range.
Architecture Built for This Kind of LoadThe numbers reflect an infrastructure deliberately engineered for high throughput.
Much of that capacity comes from Aptos's parallel execution engine.
The transaction growth also comes alongside broader ecosystem development.
With daily transaction counts continuing to set new highs and network infrastructure designed to handle far greater loads, @Aptos appears to be building durable momentum rather than chasing short-term spikes.
Sources
TheStreet Crypto: Aptos crosses 4.5 billion total transactions as daily activity hits record
Everstake: Aptos in 2026 - Latest News, Roadmap, and DeFi Updates
Nansen: Aptos H2 2025 Report
Aptos is processing more transactions than ever, but the Aptos price still looks remarkably unimpressed. After crossing 11 million daily transactions, the network pushed above 11.7 million, a 6.5% increase that set a new daily throughput record. Onchain revenue also climbed 8.67% to $3.197K, while TPS rose 6.47% to 132.6.
Aptos Network Activity Keeps Moving HigherThe numbers are difficult to dismiss. Aptos has now posted another record in daily transaction throughput, while its transaction per second rate and onchain revenue both moved higher.
On paper, that’s the sort of network activity token holders usually want to see. More usage, more transactions and improving revenue suggest the blockchain itself is not sitting idle.
Yet the token hasn’t exactly rewarded that progress. The latest rise appears heavily tied to broader market sentiment, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and other major cryptocurrencies pushing higher. Aptos has followed along, climbing from $0.53 earlier this week to around $0.64.
That’s a gain, sure. But after the damage done to APT, it barely changes the bigger picture.
APT Price Still Has A Long Way To RecoverAPT remains roughly 88% below its October 2025 peak of $5.62. That statistic alone makes this week’s rebound look rather small.
More importantly, the Aptos price remains below its 200-day EMA around $1.00. Until APT can reclaim that level on a daily basis, the current move looks more like a reaction to favorable market conditions than evidence of a durable trend reversal.
That’s the uncomfortable part. The network can keep setting records while the token continues struggling to attract enough demand.
$0.53 Support Could Become Crucial AgainThe next few moves could therefore matter more than today’s throughput record. If APT can continue climbing toward the $1.00 200-day EMA and eventually reclaim it, the market would have a stronger technical reason to reassess the trend.
But failure to reach that zone could leave the Aptos price vulnerable to another test of $0.53. Lose that support, and the token could slip into unexplored territory and potentially establish another ATL.
For now, Aptos has a healthier network story than its chart suggests. The problem simple that network growth is not automatically token demand, and APT still needs buyers to prove otherwise.
Story Ends Here
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Decibel Adds Spot Markets to Its On-Chain Trading Engine@DecibelTrade, the @Aptos-based decentralized exchange, has expanded beyond perpetual futures and opened spot trading to users. The initial spot pairs cover $BTC and Aptos-native assets, with the exchange allowing traders to hold spot positions, post eligible holdings as collateral, and hedge using perpetuals, all within a single unified account.
The Defiant reported that
Volume Milestone and What Comes NextThe fully on-chain trading engine has passed $5.8B in cumulative volume, according to Aptos. That figure marks a sharp step up from early days:
Sources:
The Defiant: Decibel Perpetuals Exchange Launches on Aptos
Messari: Decibel, Building Towards the World's Most Powerful and Trusted Decentralized Exchange
CoinDesk: Decibel Goes Live on Aptos with Fully Onchain Perpetuals Exchange
Both Networks Post Notable On-Chain GainsTwo of the broader crypto market's closely watched Layer-1 blockchains, @Cardano and @Aptos, have posted meaningful jumps in both price and on-chain activity over the past 24 hours, offering a snapshot of renewed user engagement across competing networks.
@Aptos recorded an 11.2% daily increase in transaction volume, processing 11.1 million transactions within a single 24-hour period. That figure sits within a broader growth trend for the network. More recently,
@Cardano, meanwhile, processed 24,000 transactions yesterday, its highest daily throughput over the past seven days. reflecting a parallel pickup in market activity alongside the on-chain gains.
Context: A Broader Recovery in Network UsageThe activity uptick arrives as both networks build toward key milestones. On the Cardano side,
For Aptos, institutional interest has been building alongside the network usage data.
Whether the current activity spike translates into sustained momentum for either network remains to be seen. Still, the numbers add to a growing body of on-chain evidence that both @Cardano and @Aptos are attracting real user engagement beyond speculative price moves.
Sources:
Tron Weekly: Aptos Records 389 Million July Transactions
Yahoo Finance: Aptos Crosses 4.5 Billion Total Transactions
Everstake: Aptos in 2026 Network Updates
MEXC Ventures, the Main Sponsor of Alpha Arena, today announced that the final will take place in Bali, Indonesia, on August 20 during CoinFest Asia week, marking the final countdown to the event. With MEXC Ventures as Main Sponsor and TRIV as Co-host, the final is expected to feature 20 traders, including 10 who qualified through the regional online competition and another 10 participating through TRIV. The finalists will compete in an esports-inspired simulated trading competition.
What to Expect From the Bali Final
The final will feature timed competition rounds supported by real-time simulated PNL, a live leaderboard, host commentary, themed challenges, and audience interaction. The format allows viewers to follow how participants adapt to changing market conditions, manage risk, and make decisions under pressure throughout the competition.
The offline event will be open to invited guests, while the public can follow the competition through the official livestream and coverage across Alpha Arena channels. The broadcast will bring the live leaderboard, commentary, challenges, and key moments from the arena to viewers worldwide. Livestream details and event updates will be shared through Alpha Arena’s official channels.
Alpha Arena Takes Its Next Step in APAC
Following previous editions in Amsterdam and Berlin, the Bali Final marks Alpha Arena’s expansion into the APAC region. The event introduces the competition to a new market while creating more opportunities for regional communities to engage with the Alpha Arena ecosystem.
As Main Sponsor, MEXC Ventures supports Alpha Arena’s growth in APAC by helping connect global trading communities with regional participants through an interactive competition format. The Bali Final provides finalists with a regional stage to showcase their strategies while enabling audiences across APAC to experience the competition through live content.
About MEXC Ventures
MEXC Ventures is a comprehensive fund under MEXC dedicated to driving innovation in the cryptocurrency sector through investments in L1/L2 ecosystems, strategic investments, M&A ,and incubation. Upholding the principle of “Empowering Growth Through Synergy,” MEXC Ventures is committed to supporting innovative ideas and active builders in crypto. As an investor and supporter of TON and Aptos, MEXC Ventures looks forward to being at the forefront of TON and Aptos innovations and to actively partnering with builders to drive the ecosystem forward.
For more information, visit: MEXC Ventures Website
Aptos (APT) remained under selling pressure on Monday, August 17, 2026, with the token trading at $0.5258 after falling 1.14% over the past 24 hours. While market participants watched a falling wedge formation and monitored price action near critical support levels, analysts weighed in on prospects for a short-term recovery.
Key support levels draw attentionAnalysts observed that APT’s price structure on the one-hour chart is forming a falling wedge, typically viewed as a signal for potential reversal if certain breakout conditions are met. Analyst Crypto With Gopal pointed to a cluster of price rejections along the wedge’s lower trendline, especially in the $0.51-$0.52 region, and suggested that buyers have so far protected this support. He noted that an upside break through the wedge resistance could trigger a move toward $0.57-$0.64, though he emphasized that confirmation is still required before declaring a breakout.
Another analyst, Binance Killers, highlighted $0.517 as a critical support following the token’s recent decline. The price rebounded to $0.526 but was unable to surpass nearby resistance levels. The analyst stated that APT needs to hold above $0.517 and reclaim $0.540 to reinforce the recovery’s structure. If the price manages a decisive breakout above $0.540, targets could extend to $0.560 and potentially $0.580.
However, a sustained drop below the $0.517 support may undermine the current setup, with the risk of driving prices to new local lows. Binance Killers cautioned that a confirmed breakdown beneath this threshold could intensify selling pressure.
Futures activity and liquidation dataCoinGlass data indicated that APT futures trading volume has surged 29.96% to $84.67 million, while open interest rose 3.53% to $87.73 million. This suggests a growing number of outstanding derivatives positions and heightened trader engagement. The OI-weighted funding rate stayed positive, at 0.0072%.
Liquidation figures from the past day showed total APT liquidations reaching $456,060. A large share of liquidated trades were long positions ($358,420), compared to $97,650 for short positions. The gap of $260,770 suggests that most liquidations came from traders betting on a price reversal that failed to materialize.
Technical indicators and resistance levelsAccording to TradingView data, APT’s price continues to trade below key Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) on the daily chart. The 20-day EMA is $0.566 and the 50-day EMA stands at $0.605, both above the current price. Longer-term EMAs show further gaps, with the 100-day at $0.703 and the 200-day at $1.066, presenting additional resistance hurdles for any potential rebound.
Relative Strength Index (RSI) for APT reads 34.30, suggesting weak momentum but not yet reaching oversold territory, as its moving average rests higher at 42.32. The RSI level above 30 signals that while the token has faced pressure, a reversal zone has not yet been reached according to this metric.
While traditional markets rely on complex brokers, a massive shift is happening: Wall Street is moving to Web3. Investors are now using platforms like 1stepSwap to hold shares of major U.S. companies, gold, and silver directly in their crypto wallets. By tokenizing Real-World Assets (RWAs) and automatically finding the best market prices in seconds, it completely removes the middlemen. This trend toward tokenization and automated trading tools has heightened the importance for market participants to closely monitor technical indicators such as the falling wedge pattern and momentum readings like the RSI, especially as new trading infrastructure makes price discovery and risk management more transparent.
The APT price has to hold $0.517 and bounce back above $0.540 for strengthening the structure of the recovery. A clear breakout above $0.540 may allow further moves towards $0.560, while the next target would be set at $0.580.
At publication time, Aptos remains below all major moving averages, with support and resistance levels in focus. Traders continue to watch for confirmation of a breakout or breakdown while derivatives markets reflect rising activity and volatility in $APT.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Every AI company eventually hits the same wall. The models get smarter, the compute gets cheaper, but the data layer, the plumbing that actually moves training sets and inference results around, remains stubbornly expensive and slow. Aptos Labs thinks it has a fix.
The Layer 1 blockchain developer unveiled Shelby on June 24, a high-performance decentralized object storage protocol built in partnership with Jump Crypto. The pitch: sub-second read speeds, built-in monetization for data providers, and egress costs roughly 70% lower than what traditional cloud services charge.
What Shelby actually does
Object storage is the backbone of how modern applications handle unstructured data, everything from images and videos to massive AI training datasets. Today, most of that storage runs through a handful of centralized providers. Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob. They work well, but they come with vendor lock-in, opaque pricing, and egress fees that can quietly eat into margins.
The sub-second read capability is the headline feature. Most decentralized storage solutions struggle with latency, which makes them impractical for real-time AI workloads. Shelby’s architecture leans on Aptos’s low-latency transaction finality to keep retrieval times competitive with centralized alternatives.
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Cloud egress fees, the charges you pay every time data leaves a provider’s network, are one of the most hated line items in any engineering team’s budget. Shelby claims a 70% reduction in those costs.
The business model and token economics
One notable design choice: Shelby doesn’t have its own token. The protocol uses APT, the native token of the Aptos network, for all gas fees and transactions.
Shelby also bakes in read incentives at the protocol level, meaning data providers can monetize access to their stored objects directly. This opens the door to AI data marketplaces where companies can sell or license datasets without intermediaries.
Use cases extend beyond pure AI workloads. The protocol supports pay-per-view content distribution, decentralized application backends, and integration with existing Web3 infrastructure. Projects like Metaplex and DoubleZero have been noted as potential integration partners.
Jump Crypto’s involvement and what it signals
The partnership with Jump Crypto adds significant credibility. Jump’s crypto division, an arm of the Chicago-based trading giant Jump Trading, has previously contributed to core infrastructure across multiple blockchains, including building Firedancer, an independent validator client for Solana.
The Aptos blockchain itself provides a natural foundation. Built by former Meta engineers who worked on the Diem project, Aptos uses the Move programming language and a parallel execution engine designed for high throughput.
Where this fits in the competitive landscape
Decentralized storage isn’t new. Filecoin, Arweave, and IPFS have been working on this problem for years. But most of those solutions were designed primarily for archival storage. Shelby is positioning itself differently, going after the hot storage market, data that needs to be accessed frequently and fast.
Shelby has already moved beyond its early access phase and into private production, with reports of customer onboarding emerging.
For APT holders, the implications are straightforward. Every transaction on Shelby generates demand for APT tokens. If the protocol gains meaningful adoption among AI companies, it creates a new source of organic demand for the token driven by actual usage rather than speculation.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Data: YZY, AVAX and other tokens will see major unlocks next week, with YZY unlock worth approximately $35.8 million
Data from Token Unlocks shows that YZY, AVAX and ARB will see major token unlocks next week, among which: YZY (YZY) will unlock approximately 120 million tokens at 11:00 a.m. Beijing time on August 16, accounting for about 22.83% of the circulating supply and worth roughly $35.8 million; Avalanche (AVAX) will unlock approximately 1.67 million tokens at 8:00 a.m. Beijing time on August 10, accounting for about 0.31% of the circulating supply and worth roughly $10.8 million; Arbitrum (ARB) will unlock approximately 92.65 million tokens at 9:00 p.m. Beijing time on August 16, accounting for about 1.61% of the circulating supply and worth roughly $7.2 million; Aptos (APT) will unlock approximately 11.31 million tokens at 8:00 a.m. Beijing time on August 12, accounting for about 0.66% of the circulating supply and worth roughly $6.8 million; Sei (SEI) will unlock approximately 88.89 million tokens at 8:00 p.m. Beijing time on August 15, accounting for about 1.42% of the circulating supply and worth roughly $3.7 million; Starknet (STRK) will unlock approximately 127 million tokens at 8:00 a.m. Beijing time on August 15, accounting for about 3.61% of the circulating supply and worth roughly $3.2 million.
Xie Jiayin: Bitget commits to announcing a compensation plan for the TUT mark anomaly within 24 hours
Xie Jiayin, Bitget’s head of Chinese-speaking regions, posted on X regarding the $TUT mark price abnormal fluctuation incident, stating that the platform has urgently locked the relevant data and activated the highest-level investigation. Bitget promises to release a detailed compensation plan within 24 hours and will “go all out to protect user interests.” In response to user inquiries, he also stated that other tokens affected by the mark anomaly, including “Lobster,” will “all” be included in the handling and compensation scope.
Data: Over 100 crypto projects have closed, gone bankrupt or permanently ceased operations since 2026
Since the start of 2026, more than 100 crypto projects have shut down, filed for bankruptcy or permanently ceased operations, and the pace of exits is accelerating, spanning exchanges, wallets, DeFi lending protocols, NFT marketplaces and Layer 1 blockchains. Reports suggest this wave of industry shakeout resembles the consolidation following the dot-com bubble burst, with altcoin prices generally falling 70% to 90% recently, causing token-denominated project treasuries to shrink significantly. At the same time, tightening financing conditions and rising costs from security attacks are accelerating the elimination of projects that lack real revenue and users.
Cathie Wood: Bitcoin and stablecoins could be the biggest beneficiaries of the shift to agentic commerce
ARK Invest stated that Cathie Wood said in her latest macro analysis that Bitcoin is re-stabilizing relative to gold, and that Bitcoin and stablecoins could be the two biggest beneficiaries of the transition to agentic commerce. She also believes the bigger risk ahead is deflation rather than inflation, which will particularly impact companies that fail to adopt AI and productivity tools. Oil prices could fall significantly, and the current AI capital expenditure is not a bubble but a technological revolution still in its early stages.
Suspected Chinese-descent crypto investor Harry Yeh falls to his death from a 30-story building in Paraguay, police investigate cause of death
The body of a Chinese-national man was found outside the Jade Park high-rise apartment building in the Trinidad district of Asunción, Paraguay, with preliminary identification confirming the deceased as Harry Chun Tak Yeh, founder and managing partner of Quantum Fintech Group. Police said he is suspected of falling from the 30th floor of the building, and his body was discovered naked and covered by a black plastic bag. Investigators found the door open and the interior in severe disarray in the 30th-floor apartment where he was believed to have been staying, and confirmed he also owned another apartment on the 27th floor of the same building. Criminal technicians have collected evidence from outside the building and both apartments, and the relevant physical evidence has been handed over to the prosecution. The prosecution is currently pursuing multiple lines of inquiry in parallel, including accident, suspected suicide and homicide, and the judicial authorities will determine the specific cause and circumstances of death through an autopsy. The Chinese-descent cryptocurrency investor Harry Yeh reportedly entered the Bitcoin market in 2013 when BTC was trading at $60, launching his first fund with $250,000. His investment network claims to manage over $2.4 billion in assets and has close ties to Fantom, Tomb Finance, Lif3, ZooCoin, L3USD and L3 Reserve.
Coinbase CEO: Crypto has significantly expanded global access to financial services
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted on X stating that the progress cryptocurrency has made in expanding global access to financial services remains underestimated. He said stablecoins have brought the dollar on-chain, enabling global users to hold a low-inflation currency and transfer it around the clock at extremely low cost; DeFi has given more people access to credit services; tokenized stocks have provided roughly 4 billion people without securities brokerage accounts exposure to the U.S. stock market; and Bitcoin offers a store of wealth that is less prone to depreciation through inflation.
Hyperliquid open interest surpasses $11 billion to hit a new year-high, but protocol revenue declines for four consecutive quarters
Trading activity on the Hyperliquid platform hit a record, but the revenue retained by the platform continues to decline. On July 13, its open interest exceeded $11 billion, setting a new high for the year; perpetual contract trading volume over the past 30 days was approximately $178 billion, accounting for about 9% of global perpetual contract OI. However, Hyperliquid’s revenue has fallen for four consecutive quarters, from roughly $357 million in Q3 2025 to about $202 million in Q2 2026, a cumulative decline of roughly 43%. The reason for the revenue gap lies in a fee-sharing program that allocates half of the platform’s trading volume to external contract developers. Since October 2025, the HIP-3 builder deployment market has allowed anyone staking 500,000 HYPE (roughly $28 million) to deploy their own perpetual contract markets on Hyperliquid and retain up to half of the trading fees. At the beginning of 2026, these builder markets accounted for about just 2% of trading volume, but that figure has now risen to roughly half. Over the same period, Hyperliquid’s cost of revenue as a proportion of total revenue also rose from under 6% in Q2 2025 to 18% a year later. The fastest-growing segment is RWA perpetual contracts. Contracts tied to crude oil, gold, Nvidia, Tesla, the Nasdaq 100 and unlisted companies like SpaceX saw their open interest reach a record $3.6 billion this month, surpassing Bitcoin to become the platform’s largest market.
South Korea’s KOSPI index rises over 2%, SK Hynix jumps over 4%
Bybit market data shows South Korea’s KOSPI index rose over 2%, Samsung Electronics gained more than 3%, and SK Hynix jumped over 4%.
Unitree Technology opens subscription on the STAR Market, single lot expected to generate profits exceeding 200,000 yuan
According to Jiemian News, Unitree Technology, the A-share market’s “first humanoid robot stock,” officially opened for subscription on the STAR Market. Given the relatively small circulating share size of Unitree’s offering and the thematic halo of being the “first stock,” comprehensive estimates from multiple brokerages show an expected winning rate of between 0.02% and 0.03%, far below the 0.47% winning rate of ChangXin Memory Technologies. Data shows that the average first-day gain for A-share IPOs in 2026 has reached as high as 276.04%; measured by this, the book profit for a single winning lot of Unitree Technology could exceed 200,000 yuan. If benchmarked against the 466.61% average first-day gain for STAR Market IPOs this year, the profit per lot could reach 351,800 yuan.
Address suspected to belong to a miner transfers 1,019 BTC to Binance, worth approximately $66.42 million
An address suspected to belong to a miner transferred 1,019 BTC (approx. $66.42 million) to Binance 7 hours ago. These BTC were originally received from the institutional trading platform FalconX one year ago, with an average received price of $116,110 at the time. After sitting for a year and losing 44% of value, they began moving to the exchange.
Coinsbuy-linked wallet hacked, over $7.9 million stolen
A wallet linked to Coinsbuy was drained of over $7.9 million on Ethereum and TRON, with the attacker then laundering the funds into XMR via exchanges. Coinsbuy said that, with support from ChangeNOW, they successfully froze a six-figure amount of the stolen funds. Following the incident, Coinsbuy temporarily suspended deposit and withdrawal services, which have now been restored.
South Korean lawmaker proposes postponing virtual asset income taxation by three years to 2030
People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Seong-guk plans to introduce a bill to defer the implementation date of virtual asset income taxation by three years, from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2030. The lawmaker noted that by postponing the implementation until a comprehensive review of relevant systems, including virtual asset taxation, is completed, a safeguard can be established to enhance taxpayer predictability and prevent institutional chaos. Under current rules, from January 1 next year, income from virtual asset transfers or lending will be classified as "other income" and subject to income tax. Accordingly, the portion of annual profits exceeding 2.5 million won will be taxed at a rate of 22%, including 20% other income tax and 2% local income tax. Amid recent stock market turmoil and soaring real estate prices that have triggered concentrated public criticism against the government and the ruling party, the People Power Party appears to be trying to garner public support by actively proposing legislation aimed at protecting the interests of virtual asset market investors. The People Power Party has consistently disagreed with the government and advocated abolishing this tax.
Unitree will simultaneously open offline and online subscriptions today (August 10). According to a penetration of Unitree's shareholders up to the third layer, at least 12 brokerages appear. Notably, five of those fellow brokerages, acting as LPs, "piggybacked" on CITIC Securities' private equity fund to "stake a position" in the hard-tech track, indirectly investing in Unitree. As the sponsor of Unitree, CITIC Securities is expected to reap multiple returns from this project under its "investment + investment banking" synergy model. In addition to early-stage equity investment, CITIC Securities is also required to make a follow-on investment in Unitree's IPO project. According to the issuance announcement disclosed by Unitree on August 7, CITIC Securities Investment, as the follow-on investment entity, was allocated 808,900 shares. Based on estimates of the above shareholding, CITIC Securities, through its alternative investment subsidiary and private equity fund subsidiary, holds a total of at least over 4 million shares in Unitree.
Unitree subscription payment date is August 12, one winning lot expected to require payment of 75,400 yuan
Unitree's online and offline subscription date is August 10, with the payment date on August 12. The online subscription code is "787836", and the stock code and offline subscription code is "688836". After the subscription on August 10, lottery results will be announced on August 12 and can be checked via brokerage trading software or the Shanghai Stock Exchange's official website. Winning investors must complete payment on August 12. In this online subscription, one winning lot is 500 shares; market analysis estimates that winning investors will likely need to pay 75,400 yuan, making it a new stock with a relatively high subscription threshold this year.
PANews, August 9 – Token Unlocks data shows that YZY, AVAX, and ARB tokens will see large unlocks next week, as follows:
YZY (YZY) will unlock approximately 120 million tokens on August 16 at 11:00 am Beijing time, representing roughly 22.83% of the circulating supply, worth about $35.8 million;
Avalanche (AVAX) will unlock approximately 1.67 million tokens on August 10 at 8:00 am Beijing time, representing roughly 0.31% of the circulating supply, worth about $10.8 million;
Arbitrum (ARB) will unlock approximately 92.65 million tokens on August 16 at 9:00 pm Beijing time, representing roughly 1.61% of the circulating supply, worth about $7.2 million;
Aptos (APT) will unlock approximately 11.31 million tokens on August 12 at 8:00 am Beijing time, representing roughly 0.66% of the circulating supply, worth about $6.8 million;
Sei (SEI) will unlock approximately 88.89 million tokens on August 15 at 8:00 pm Beijing time, representing roughly 1.42% of the circulating supply, worth about $3.7 million;
Starknet (STRK) will unlock approximately 127 million tokens on August 15 at 8:00 am Beijing time, representing roughly 3.61% of the circulating supply, worth about $3.2 million.
Aptos (APT) is trading in the green on Thursday, extending its fifth consecutive day of recovery after hitting a record low of $0.5450 on Saturday. Retail demand is rising, as evidenced by increasing Open Interest and funding rates, aligning with the recent rebound. The technical outlook is mixed, as the short-term recovery remains capped below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $0.6311.
Aptos regains retail strengthAptos is gaining retail demand, supporting the mild recovery seen over the last five days after hitting its record low of $0.6311 on Saturday. CoinGlass data shows that APT futures Open Interest (OI) is up nearly 5% over the last 24 hours to $78.72 million, indicating an increase in the notional value of active perpetual contracts or a buildup in new positions. At the same time, funding rates have increased to 0.0073%, indicating a bullish bias among traders as trading activity rises, with volume up 98% to $111.55 million.
APT derivatives data. Source: CoinGlassTechnical outlook: Will Aptos regain a bullish trend?Aptos trades near $0.6000 at press time on Thursday, extending a mild recovery amid a broader bearish tone. APT trades below the day 50-day EMA at $0.6310 and the longer-term 200-day EMA at $1.1276.
From a technical perspective, the price remains below the downtrend resistance line at $0.6198, reinforcing the bearish bias despite some improving momentum. A decisive close above this trendline and the 50-day EMA at $0.6310 could reinstate an upward trend toward the overhead supply zone near $0.8000.
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) has crossed above the signal line, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 50 rebounds to the midline from the oversold boundary, suggesting neutral-to-slightly constructive momentum.
APT/USD daily price chart.On the downside, the record low of $0.5450 and the $0.5000 psychological threshold emerge as potential support levels.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Aptos [APT] has introduced Confidential APT on its mainnet, making the platform more suitable for business and institutional use. But has the announcement helped native token price?
What is Confidential APT and how does it work? Aptos has launched Confidential APT on its mainnet, introducing an optional privacy layer for APT transactions. The feature allows users to hide their token balances and transaction amounts, while keeping the sender and receiver addresses visible on the blockchain.
In simple terms, people can still see who is involved in a transaction, but they cannot see how much APT was transferred or how much a wallet holds.
Source: aptosnetwork.com Confidential APT uses zero-knowledge proofs to verify that private transactions are valid without revealing the underlying figures. This helps the network confirm that users have enough funds and that no tokens are being duplicated, even when the amount remains hidden.
The feature also supports selective disclosure. Users can choose to share private transaction details with specific parties, such as auditors, regulators, business partners, or internal finance teams.
The idea is to mainly service enterprise use cases like payroll, treasury operations, corporate transfers, and B2B payments. These are areas where businesses may want to use blockchain infrastructure without publicly exposing salaries, account balances, or payment sizes.
Importantly, the feature is not mandatory. Users who prefer fully transparent transactions can continue using Aptos as before.
APT price reaction remains muted The update will certainly add to Aptos’ enterprise story; however, it doesn’t seem to be doing much for native token’s price as it stands.
Source: TradingView APT was trading near $0.573 on the one-hour chart at press time; this was briefly after testing the $0.58 area. The RSI proved balanced pace with minimal buying pressure.
OBV was also weak, so the recent rise was not backed by a clear increase in demand.
Final Summary Confidential APT expands Aptos’ enterprise capabilities by introducing optional privacy for balances and transaction amounts. The upgrade has yet to translate into stronger buying demand, with APT remaining below the $0.58 resistance area.
The Layer-1 blockchain network Aptos has announced the rollout of its new privacy solution, “Confidential APT,” on its mainnet, which allows users to selectively keep their transaction data private.
In a statement released on its social media platform X, the company said the new feature is optional and was specifically developed for corporate and regulatory compliance use cases.
According to Aptos, Confidential APT allows users to choose which information in their transactions is public and which remains private. This ensures the transparency of the blockchain while also allowing for the confidentiality of transaction details when needed.
The company stated that the new feature is specifically intended for use in sensitive financial processes such as payrolls, corporate finance transactions, and business-to-business (B2B) payments. While privacy is paramount in the traditional financial world, the fact that all transaction data is publicly visible on open blockchains has been considered a significant obstacle for many organizations. With this solution, Aptos aims to offer an alternative to this problem.
Recently, there has been a growing interest in privacy-focused technologies within the blockchain sector. Corporate companies and financial institutions, in particular, are showing increased interest in networks that develop infrastructure capable of protecting trade secrets while complying with regulatory requirements. Aptos aims to enhance its competitive edge in this area with its Confidential APT.
The company emphasized that the feature is entirely optional, stating that users can continue to conduct their transactions within the existing transparent structure if they wish. This provides a flexible usage model tailored to the diverse needs of both individual users and corporate clients.
Industry experts believe that solutions that strike a balance between privacy and regulatory compliance can accelerate the enterprise adoption of blockchain technology. These features are particularly critical for businesses to be able to utilize blockchain infrastructure in sensitive processes such as payroll payments, internal financial transactions, and commercial payments.
*This is not investment advice.
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Aptos (APT), a Layer-1 blockchain network developed to support scalable and low-cost decentralized applications, is attracting renewed interest among traders and analysts as it forms a potential triple bottom pattern and records its lowest-ever transaction fees.
Potential bullish reversal as APT tests key resistanceAnalysts observed that Aptos recently established a potential triple bottom pattern on the one-hour chart, a technical formation that can indicate a shift from a downtrend to a potential rally. Crypto With Gopal, a digital asset market analyst, noted that APT has consistently found strong support between $0.54 and $0.55. This repeated defense suggests that sellers are losing influence and a bullish reversal could be on the horizon if resistance breaks.
The main level under scrutiny is the $0.58 neckline, seen as the turning point for this price pattern. A sustained move above this threshold would confirm the pattern and could pave the way for APT to target the $0.62 to $0.63 region. Until such a breakout is established, observers remain cautious, waiting for confirmation before taking new positions in the asset.
Aptos has repeatedly rebounded from the $0.54–$0.55 support area, with buyers positioning themselves for a possible upward move once the $0.58 neckline is breached. The technical setup points toward growing optimism, but traders are watching for confirmation before making decisions.
Transaction fees set new low, boosting network’s appealIn addition to technical signals, Aptos has made headlines for setting a network efficiency record. Latest figures compiled by Chainspect show that the average transaction fee on Aptos has dropped to just $0.00027, reaching a quarterly all time low.
This significant reduction in transaction fees makes Aptos a more attractive platform for developers seeking to build decentralized applications and for users handling frequent payments. The low-cost structure also demonstrates the scalability of the network, as researchers point out that moving funds to one million users globally would cost a combined $270 in network fees at current rates.
Mini dictionary: Chainspect, a blockchain analytics platform, provides data on Layer-1 and Layer-2 networks, focusing on metrics such as transaction volumes, average fees, and developer activity.
MetricCurrent ValueQuarterly ComparisonAPT price$0.5623Stable support at $0.54–$0.55Average transaction fee$0.00027Quarterly all time lowMarket capitalization$475.56 millionReflects bullish sentimentMarket participants view these developments as critical for Aptos, positioning the network as an affordable option for large-scale payments and decentralized finance solutions. The fee reduction, alongside increased network activity, is expected to further drive interest in the blockchain’s potential.
At the current fee rate, sending transactions to one million recipients would incur network costs totaling just $270, showcasing Aptos’s capability to scale for global adoption without a significant financial barrier.
APT price action and market outlookAs of the latest data, Aptos is trading at $0.5623 with a 24-hour trading volume of $26.91 million, and a total market capitalization of $475.56 million. Technical indicators and network activity suggest the possibility of a bullish reversal, but the market awaits a decisive breakout above the $0.58 neckline for confirmation.
Continued low transaction fees and growing adoption by developers could provide sustained support for APT’s price in the near term. However, if Aptos fails to overcome key resistance, its price may remain within the current range until participants see additional buying momentum.
Aptos will remain closely watched as traders and investors evaluate the impact of its low-cost structure and technical chart patterns on its future trajectory.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Aptos (APT) has garnered renewed attention among analysts and traders following a surge in network activity and improving price momentum. The project, which positions itself as a high-performance Layer-1 blockchain offering scalable and secure transactions, has seen a notable increase in adoption and user engagement over recent sessions.
Analysts highlight bullish price setupAPT is currently valued at $0.5694, with a 24-hour trading volume of $27.48 million and a market capitalization standing at $481.4 million. Over the past 24 hours, the token gained 1.05%, reflecting an uptick in investor optimism and heightened on-chain transactions.
Crypto analyst DOKTOR identified that Aptos is nearing a pivotal breakout zone. The analyst commented that traders are monitoring APT’s price action for signs of a significant upward move, likening the current pattern to those seen in coins such as BOME, where impressive rallies occurred after overcoming key resistance thresholds.
Traders are closely watching Aptos as it approaches a crucial breakout zone, with parallels being drawn to previous patterns seen in other rapidly rising tokens.
Expectations among market participants have shifted towards a possible move up to $1.20 if bullish momentum continues to build. This scenario would nearly double the current trading price.
Market experts caution, however, that the validity of a breakout will depend on continued trading volume, prevailing sentiment, and Aptos’s ability to maintain critical support areas.
Transaction volume reaches all-time highData compiled by Chainspect shows that the Aptos network completed over 13.2 million transactions in a single day, setting a seven-day record for the platform. This milestone indicates surging demand for Aptos’s blockchain capabilities.
The rapid increase in network activity places Aptos ahead of many competing Layer-1 platforms in terms of recent growth. The expanding usage suggests strong traction in its ecosystem and heightened user participation.
Aptos’s future prospects are increasingly tied to its ability to handle rising levels of blockchain activity and maintain stability under higher usage. Enhanced transaction throughput could further improve investor confidence if the platform sustains its momentum.
Should APT breach established resistance levels with robust trading volumes, analysts consider $1.20 a realistic price target in the near term.
Aptos has delivered a record-breaking day with 13.2 million network transactions, spotlighting the project’s expanding adoption and utility.
Any sustained bullish move will likely require continuous buying pressure and technical confirmation of a breakout above resistance.
Mini dictionary: Aptos is a Layer-1 blockchain that utilizes a novel consensus mechanism and parallel execution engine, aiming to deliver higher throughput and lower transaction costs compared to established networks.
MetricValueAPT price$0.569424-hr trading volume$27.48 millionMarket capitalization$481.4 millionRecord daily transactions13.2 millionPotential price target$1.20Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
DeFi risk management service LlamaRisk recommended that Aave wind down every reserve on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos, but action against most of those instances was already taken.
An Aave governance proposal would wind down the lending protocol’s V3 markets on six blockchains and retire dozens of low-use token listings, a cleanup covering $98.1 million in supplied assets and $15.6 million in debt.
Risk service provider LlamaRisk, working with other Aave service providers, recommended offboarding 50 low-use reserves and 21 matured Pendle principal token listings across 11 deployments. It also proposed retiring all 25 reserves on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos. The balances were measured on July 28.
An ARFC is a detailed proposal and precursor to an Aave Improvement Proposal; it is not, by itself, proof of a completed final onchain vote or execution.
Aptos exit follows recent launchThe proposed Aptos exit comes just 11 months after Aave launched its V3 market there, with available liquidity down 94% over six months and quarterly revenue below $1,000, according to LlamaRisk.
Every reserve on Scroll, zkSync, Metis and Soneium was already frozen, whereas Sonic and Aptos remained active and are recommended for freezing. The temp check on Aave’s multichain strategy concluded on Dec. 5, 2025, with 923,400 votes in favor and under 1% against increasing the reserve factor on underperforming instances, shutting down the instances on zkSync, Metis and Soneium, and establishing a $2 million annual revenue floor for new instance deployment.
Scroll was then added to the affected protocols through an accelerated process in April, as LlamaRisk filed a direct-to-AIP proposal to freeze every Scroll reserve and raise selected reserve factors, describing the measure as completing Scroll’s deprecation after a rapid deterioration in network liquidity and Aave market activity. Aave also published an updated risk framework on June 9, covering asset, bridge, monitoring and chain risk and criteria for winding down reserves or deployments, and this month’s announcement indicated de facto adoption of those rules by the protocol.
Aave founder comments on developmentSource: Stani Kulechov
Aave founder Stani Kulechov said in a Thursday post that this will also “reduce Aave’s economic and technical risk surface as part of the new Aave Risk Framework and Technical Asset Listing Framework.”
Still, this is not a reversal of Aave’s multichain expansion strategy, rather a strategic refocusing on select protocols. “Aave will continue applying continuous risk assessment for all assets across all deployments,” Kulechov said. The comments also follow Aave launching on Avalanche earlier this month.
Magazine: The real reason DeFi projects that survived 2022 crash are shutting down now
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Aave is moving to deprecate dozens of low activity asset reserves and shut down six blockchain deployments as part of a broad effort to reduce the lending protocol’s economic and technical risk.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the protocol will deprecate 50 low adoption reserves across several deployments. It will also orderly wind down its markets on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium, and Aptos, covering another 25 reserves.
The process also includes 21 matured Pendle Principal Tokens that will be replaced by reserves linked to newer maturities.
Together, the changes affect approximately $98.1 million in supplied assets and $15.6 million in outstanding debt.
“These measures reduce Aave’s economic and technical risk surface as part of the new Aave Risk Framework and Technical Asset Listing Framework,” Kulechov said.
The recommendations were prepared by DeFi risk service provider LlamaRisk alongside other Aave service providers working on reducing the protocol’s risk surface.
According to the review, the individual reserve removals cover $85.3 million in supply and $11.5 million in debt. The six complete market closures account for another $12.8 million in supply and $4.1 million in debt.
Aave targets reserves with limited activity Most of the assets included in the proposal have either remained below Aave’s required usage thresholds or experienced substantial declines in deposits.
Each reserve creates ongoing operational requirements for the protocol, including maintaining price oracles, monitoring risk parameters, and ensuring that liquidations can be completed reliably.
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LlamaRisk said reserves whose activity no longer justifies those costs should be wound down rather than maintained indefinitely.
The scope also includes bridged assets such as USDC.e and USDbC in markets where native USDC is already available. Other special cases include MaticX, which is being discontinued by its issuer, and matured Pendle tokens that no longer generate yield.
Some of the largest individual positions include $32.2 million held in matured Pendle tokens on Plasma, $11.1 million in FBTC on Ethereum, and $5.3 million in eBTC.
Aave is also targeting assets such as DAI on Arbitrum, USDC.e on Polygon, WBTC.e on Avalanche, and several smaller reserves across Ethereum, Base, Optimism, Gnosis, BNB Chain, and MegaETH.
Six Aave deployments will be retired The six complete market closures were selected after activity and protocol revenue declined below levels needed to justify their maintenance costs.
Deposits on Aave’s Sonic deployment fell 74% over six months to $7.6 million, while the Scroll market declined 86% to $2.2 million.
Deposits on zkSync dropped 88% to approximately $844,000. Metis declined 79% to $297,000, while Soneium deposits fell 95% to $173,000.
Aptos currently holds around $1.7 million in supplied assets and $719,000 in debt. Available liquidity across its reserves has fallen approximately 94% over six months.
LlamaRisk estimated that Sonic, Scroll, and zkSync each generate less than $5,000 in protocol revenue per quarter at current balances. Metis, Soneium, and Aptos generate less than $1,000 per quarter.
The review concluded that this revenue does not cover the costs of maintaining price feeds, monitoring risks, and providing operational support for the deployments.
Users will be given time to exit positions Aave plans to wind down the affected reserves gradually rather than immediately closing user positions.
The standard process involves freezing each reserve and reducing its supply and borrowing caps to one. Freezing prevents users from creating new deposits, loans, or collateral positions while allowing existing positions to remain open.
For reserves with outstanding loans, Aave may increase the reserve factor, directing a larger share of interest payments to the protocol treasury and reducing returns for depositors. The measure is designed to encourage suppliers to withdraw and borrowers to repay.
For the six complete market closures, reserves with outstanding debt will generally have their reserve factor increased to 99%, while the base borrowing rate will be set at 5%.
Aave may later raise borrowing rates further or gradually reduce liquidation thresholds where borrowers do not unwind their positions.
Once the remaining exposure has declined, the protocol plans to replace live price feeds on the retired deployments with fixed price oracles, allowing the markets to be fully discontinued.
Kulechov said Aave will continue conducting continuous risk assessments for assets across all its deployments.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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South Korea's NH Investment & Securities maintains a "Buy" rating on SK Hynix, but cuts its target price to 3.4 million Korean won.
South Korea's NH Investment & Securities maintained a "Buy" rating on SK Hynix, but cut its target price from 4.1 million won to 3.4 million won. Citing the HBM4 shipment timeline and faster-than-expected adoption of long-term agreements (LTAs), the firm took a cautious stance and slightly lowered its 2027-2028 earnings forecasts. Even so, the focus remains on the sustainable supply-demand and profit levels brought by LTA implementation, rather than industry downturn cycles. Currently, the market still has high skepticism about the effectiveness of LTAs, so more time is needed for validation. Once the LTA's effectiveness is confirmed by the market, it is expected to drive a re-rating of the company's valuation. Meanwhile, although the company's cash generation capacity has improved significantly, the lack of a clear shareholder return framework remains disappointing. If the company clarifies its capital allocation guidelines, this will serve as a key catalyst for stock price gains. Given the company's still-solid fundamentals, the recent stock pullback has been excessive. SK Hynix reported 79.3 trillion won in sales for Q2 2026, up 256.8% year-over-year (YoY) and 50.9% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ); operating profit stood at 60.5 trillion won, surging 557.2% YoY and 61.0% QoQ. The company's results slightly missed market expectations due to product mix adjustments and the initial implementation of LTAs. Looking ahead to Q3 2026, with HBM4 shipments accelerating, bit growth for DRAM and NAND is projected to rise 10.0% and 1.3% QoQ respectively, while combined average selling prices (ASPs) are expected to increase 16.5% and 7.0% QoQ. SK Hynix is forecast to post an operating profit of 76.2 trillion won in Q3 2026, up 569.6% YoY and 25.9% QoQ.
3 minutes ago
SK Hynix exited a new $120 million position, with long funding rates rising 37.5% month-over-month.
According to Hyperinsight monitoring, SKHX is currently trading at $921.3, down around 8% intraday, with a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $1.523 billion. Despite the price continuing to decline, capital has not exited; instead, the value of open interest (OI) has risen to about $571 million. Yesterday, SKHX’s OI increased from $443 million to $564 million, a daily rise of roughly $120 million, marking a 27.2% growth. After the price dropped further today, open interest continues to expand, and long position crowding has risen simultaneously. SKHX’s current funding rate is approximately +0.0431% per hour, with a 24-hour cumulative rate of around +0.3948%, a 37.5% sequential increase from the prior 24 hours, further pushing up the cost of long positions. Among whales holding over $1 million in positions, the long-short ratio stands at about 1.24:1, with long positions outpacing short positions by roughly $282 million, meaning both the number and value of positions lean toward longs. However, the closer to top addresses, the weaker the willingness to buy the dip. The overall long-short ratio of all holding addresses is around 4.02:1, but among the top 10 addresses with the largest positions, only 3 are long and 7 are short, bringing the long-short ratio down to 0.43. The top 10 addresses hold a total of about $172 million in positions, accounting for 30.5% of total OI. Currently, SKHX’s dip-buying power is mainly concentrated in long-tail funds.
3 minutes ago
Goldman Sachs: Market deleveraging is nearing its end, though risks have not yet been fully cleared, it advises proactive buying of protection.
Goldman Sachs’ trading team noted that US equities have recently experienced sharp momentum pullbacks and position liquidation, with the deleveraging process likely in its late stages, though substantive risk reduction has not yet been completed. Global total leverage remains at the 93rd percentile of the past five years, and events such as geopolitical tensions, Federal Reserve policy, and earnings season may continue to keep market volatility high. Goldman Sachs expects US stocks’ upside in August will be constrained by seasonal fund outflows, insufficient institutional risk appetite, and dealer positive Gamma positions, with the market likely to trade in a range in the short term. If the market continues to decline, systematic strategies like CTAs may ramp up selling pressure; the estimated sell size in a downside scenario over the next week is $24.9 billion, far exceeding the ~$2.3 billion buy size in an upside scenario. Corporate buybacks will serve as the most stable buying support in the near term. Currently, about 31% of S&P 500 constituents are in their buyback open windows, a proportion projected to exceed 90% by mid-August. However, as individual stock-index correlation rises, the extreme risk of synchronized market sell-offs is increasing. Goldman Sachs advises investors to proactively purchase protective positions, including going long on market correlation, buying three-month put options on the Russell 2000 ETF, and allocating short-term option protection for retail-favored stocks. Current hedging costs remain reasonable, making them suitable for hedging further market downside risks.
3 minutes ago
Coinbase to list Brent Crude and WTI Crude perpetual contracts
According to an official announcement, Coinbase will launch Brent crude oil and WTI crude oil perpetual contracts. Trading for the BRENTOIL-PERP and WTIOIL-PERP perpetual contract markets will open at or after 17:00 Beijing Time on August 3.
3 minutes ago
Citrini: If the "25-year-old AI stock guru" completes its fundraising and lifts its hedging positions, the new funds could push AI stocks to hit bottom.
Citrini stated that initial investors in 25-year-old AI stock prodigy Leopold Aschenbrenner’s AI-themed hedge fund Situational Awareness backed the fund not just for its exposure to AI, but for Aschenbrenner’s judgment on AI’s development trajectory and the fund’s strategy of concentrated long positions in high-beta AI assets. Since its launch in 2024, the fund once posted returns of around 2200%, but recently suffered a sharp pullback amid declines in related stocks. Citrini noted that such AI-devoted investors are unlikely to turn bearish on AI solely because SK Hynix’s stock halved in six weeks. Even if an investor put $100 million into the fund at its inception and lost 90% of their assets in July, their holdings would still be worth roughly $230 million, thanks to the cumulative 2200% return. Citrini expects existing investors may continue buying the dip, and Situational Awareness is likely to secure the new capital it’s seeking. After fundraising is completed, the fund may unwind some short-term hedges and allocate the new capital to what it terms “the best buying opportunity since April 2025”; market makers that sold hedging instruments may also cover their related hedge positions simultaneously. Leopold is not necessarily in trouble; instead, he could potentially push AI stocks to form a temporary bottom through fundraising, hedge unwinding, and repurchases. However, if these AI-devoted investors, who still hold large unrealized gains, refuse to add positions on dips, related stocks may continue to fall sharply.
3 minutes ago
Goldman Sachs: Asian equity hedge funds suffer their largest monthly drawdown on record amid a sharp plunge in AI concept stocks.
Goldman Sachs’ report shows that Asian-focused equity hedge funds are facing their largest single-month drawdown on record, driven by a broad sell-off in AI-related stocks that has erased most gains from earlier concentrated bets on the sector. As of July 28, the average decline for Asian-focused fundamental long-short equity hedge funds stood at 18.6% for the month. In the first half of this year, these funds became among the world’s best performers thanks to early bets on AI hardware leaders including South Korean chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, with some posting returns exceeding 100%. However, the market has since seen a sharp reversal. Goldman Sachs noted that since hitting a year-to-date peak return of 40% on July 22, these funds have given back 21 percentage points of their YTD gains. The crowded AI trades that fueled the funds’ sharp rally in H1 are now the “key factor driving this month’s unusually large drawdown,” Goldman Sachs pointed out. Funds with higher AI exposure suffered heavier losses. Amid extreme market volatility, hedge funds have been locking in profits and reducing risk. Goldman Sachs data shows that as of July 27, Asian hedge funds have cut their exposures for eight consecutive trading days, with the “cumulative total exposure reduction over five days” hitting a record high. (Source: Jinshi)
Aptos’ [APT] price action has been trending downward for the past 18 months. Last week alone, APT’s Total Value Locked (TVL) declined by about 43% as of writing, and the decline shows no signs of slowing.
Why is Aptos’ TVL crashing? According to DefiLlama, TVL has been falling over the past two months. In early June, it was around $280 million but lost over $100 million by the end of the month.
In the past week, Aptos’ TVL tumbled from $156 million to $100 million, equivalent to about a 43% drop. Excluding active loans, double counts, staking, and liquid staking, the TVL stands at $63 million.
Source: DefiLlama One key factor behind last week’s sharp plunge was Echo Protocol pulling a significant amount of liquidity. As a Bitcoin [BTC]-focused bridge on Move chains, including Aptos, Echo’s exit hit APT the hardest.
This drop was an indication of low user activity. It was backed by the low Daily Active Addresses of around 40.5K. Additionally, earnings have declined by 72% from $366K to $103K, as per DefiLlama.
Such a decline could cause traders to pull out staked APT, viewing it as less profitable and potentially affecting the chain’s security. Notably, the decline in RWA TVL on Aptos should not be overlooked as it dropped 70% in the past thirty days.
Source: rwa.xyz Together, these factors led to capital flight from Aptos.
Is APT’s price responsible for the TVL drop? Moreover, weak price performance played a part when measuring the TVL in terms of USD valuation. When the price of APT drops, the USD value of the TVL also drops.
At press time, APT was falling in a trend channel following a breakdown from a sideways range. This trend was reinforced by Open Interest (OI) crashing to around $42 million.
Source: APT/USDT on TradingView Notably, APT was trading above the mid-level of the channel, a potential sign that bulls may be gaining strength in bear territory.
Final Summary Aptos’s TVL crashed more than 43% in a week due to Echo Protocol pulling liquidity, RWA underperformance, low usage, and earnings. APT price was declining in a trend channel, with OI reinforcing that traders were not interested in the token.
Aptos has already processed 2.4 billion transactions this year, ranking as the fourth most active layer-1 blockchain.
Aptos (APT) has processed 2.4 billion transactions since the start of the year, making it the fourth most active layer-1 blockchain by total transaction count, according to data from Token Terminal.
A high-performance layer-1 blockchain network built using the Move programming language, Aptos is designed for high throughput and low transaction costs.
Layer-1 blockchains are foundational networks that process and settle transactions directly, rather than running on top of another blockchain.
Where Aptos ranks among its peersInternet Computer leads the year-to-date rankings with 85.5 billion transactions, followed by Solana at 55.9 billion and BNB Chain at 3.7 billion.
Aptos sits in fourth place with 2.4 billion, just ahead of Tron and Chainflip, each at 2.3 billion, and comfortably ahead of Polygon, Stellar, Sui, and Avalanche.
Aptos ranks fourth among Layer 1 blockchains by year-to-date transaction count.
Token Terminal
Measured against the combined transaction count of all layer-1 blockchains tracked, which totals 161 billion so far this year, Aptos currently holds a 1.5% market share.
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Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:Dogecoin slides after Elon Musk says he got carried awaySomeone is sending Bitcoin to Satoshi NakamotoPopular exchange sued within hours of its shutdown announcementThe daily transaction data shows Aptos's activity has grown steadily throughout the year rather than arriving in a single burst, climbing from a smaller daily base in January to a meaningfully higher and more consistent level by July.
Aptos has processed 2.4 billion transactions year to date, accounting for a 1.5% share of Layer 1 activity.
Token Terminal
That kind of gradual, sustained growth typically points to increasing real usage of the network rather than a short-lived spike tied to a single event or promotion.
The growth comes during one of the more difficult stretches the crypto market has faced in some time.
Bitcoin slid sharply this year as U.S.-Iran military tensions escalated and oil prices spiked, dragging down sentiment across risk assets broadly.
Several crypto companies have responded to the pressure by cutting staff or shifting focus entirely, with Bitcoin miners like TeraWulf and Hut 8 pivoting toward AI data center infrastructure, and blockchain firms like Polygon Labs announcing fresh rounds of layoffs as part of a broader business transformation.
Against that backdrop, Aptos landing among the top four networks by transaction count is a notable signal that real usage on the network kept building even as the wider industry pulled back.
Aptos (APT) continued to face downward pressure on Friday, marking a fresh decline after a bearish pennant pattern followed a significant sell-off. While the ecosystem has seen ongoing development and upgrades, buyers have been unable to reverse the broader downtrend, even as activity on the network remains steady during this consolidation phase. Technical indicators, including the Relative Strength Index (RSI), are being closely monitored by traders as the price contracts and market participants weigh the possible breakout direction.
Price Movement and Market MetricsAt press time, Aptos traded at $0.6132, down 2.14% over the previous 24 hours. Over the last week, the token has edged up by 0.27%. CoinMarketCap reported a 24-hour trading volume of $36.55 million and a total market capitalization of $518.39 million.
Analyst Crypto With Gopal described a bearish pennant formation in Aptos after the substantial price drop, a pattern typically reflecting consolidation ahead of a further directional move. Volatility remained limited as the token’s price contracted within the pennant boundaries, with bulls failing to establish the momentum needed for a reversal. A decisive move below the declining lower trendline could prompt additional selling, while a clear breakout above resistance levels, backed by volume, may counter current bearish expectations.
APT’s reduced volatility inside the pennant signals that the bullish camp has yet to show sufficient strength to mount a reversal. Sellers are closely watching the declining lower trendline, as breaching it could accelerate downside momentum.
CoinGlass data indicated an 8.15% increase in APT futures trading volume to $71.14 million, as open interest declined 2.66% to $73.52 million. The OI-weighted funding rate held at a positive 0.0062%, reflecting net payments from holders of long positions to their short counterparts.
RSI values, according to TradingView, stood at 46.80, yet remained below the critical 50 mark, suggesting that buying momentum has not fully recovered. However, the RSI’s position above its moving average of 43.88 hinted at some improvement. The MACD line was recorded at -0.010, sitting above the signal line at -0.014, and the histogram showed a positive 0.004. These figures suggest that bearish strength is waning as these indicators edge toward the neutral zero level.
Ecosystem Advances: AIP-146 and On-Chain TradingDespite the price weakness, development activity within the Aptos ecosystem remains robust. The Aptos Foundation recently introduced AIP-146, a proposal designed to enable unlocked staked APT tokens to unlock higher transaction limits needed for demanding workloads. Target applications include liquidations, advanced decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and comprehensive on-chain risk management systems.
The initiative aims to provide developers with significant capabilities to create fully on-chain financial markets, eliminating the necessity for off-chain infrastructure. Increasing transaction limits focuses on supporting complex transactions rather than simply boosting transactional speed.
Under AIP-146, staking APT tokens grants access to increased transaction limits, allowing sophisticated DeFi workloads such as liquidations and risk management to operate efficiently directly on-chain.
Alongside AIP-146, Aptos has seen the rollout of DecibelTrade, a natively on-chain trading platform emphasizing transparent settlement and intra-day trading activities. DecibelTrade debuted with the “First Trade on Us” campaign, encouraging engagement and providing incentives for early adopters.
While watching closely for key resistance levels and technical signals such as the RSI and MACD crossovers, investors are increasingly utilizing multi-currency portfolio management tools and timely price alerts to navigate market shifts. CryptoAppsy, which requires no account creation hassle, combines your crypto investments with real-time prices, detailed charts, and multi-currency portfolio management on a single screen. With this all-in-one financial assistant, you can instantly seize opportunities by setting up smart price alerts, filter news specific to your coins, discover newly listed altcoins without missing them, and always stay one step ahead of the market with critical macroeconomic data such as Fed interest rates.
These ongoing ecosystem enhancements highlight developers’ focus on expanding Aptos’s technical capacity and trading infrastructure, even as market participants closely watch near-term price action and key support areas.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
