Ethereum is attempting to stabilize after recovering from its June lows, but the broader trend has yet to shift decisively in favor of the bulls. While the daily chart still reflects a bearish market structure beneath key moving averages, the 4-hour timeframe shows improving short-term momentum as price presses against key resistance levels.
Meanwhile, on-chain data continues to provide a constructive backdrop, with exchange balances falling to fresh cycle lows.
Ethereum Price Analysis: The Daily Chart ETH is trading around $1.92K after rebounding from the $1.6K demand zone, where buyers stepped in aggressively following the sharp June selloff. The recovery has carried price back above a major confluence resistance formed by the long-term descending trendline and the 100-day moving average near $1.9K.
Despite the bounce, Ethereum remains below both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, with the 200-day MA still trending lower near the $2.1K region. As long as the asset remains beneath these dynamic resistance levels, the broader market structure continues to favor sellers.
The first key resistance lies at $2.1K, where the mentioned 200-day moving average intersects with a major supply zone. A successful breakout above this cluster could expose the next resistance zone around $2.4K, which previously acted as a major distribution area.
On the downside, the immediate support is located around $1.85K, followed by the stronger demand zone at $1.6K. Losing the $1.85K area and dropping back inside the descending channel would invalidate the recent recovery attempt and likely reopen the path toward the $1.6K demand zone and potentially lower.
ETH/USDT 4-Hour Chart The lower timeframe presents a more constructive picture. ETH has spent the past several sessions consolidating above the $1.85K support zone while gradually compressing beneath a descending trendline that has capped the price since the late-July high.
This structure resembles a short-term falling wedge or descending channel breakout attempt, with buyers repeatedly defending higher lows despite continued selling pressure from trendline resistance.
A decisive breakout above the descending trendline could trigger a move toward the psychological $2K level and the larger ascending channel’s upper boundary. Clearing those levels would strengthen the case for a continuation toward the daily resistance cluster near $2.2K and even $2.4K.
However, failure to break the trendline could lead to a breakdown of the $1.85K support, and if that zone gives way, ETH may revisit the broader demand area around $1.75K before buyers attempt another recovery.
On-Chain Analysis The Exchange Supply Ratio continues to trend lower, reaching approximately 0.127, the lowest reading shown on the chart. This persistent decline indicates that a smaller proportion of Ethereum’s circulating supply is being held on centralized exchanges.
Historically, falling exchange balances suggest investors are moving coins into self-custody or long-term storage rather than preparing them for immediate sale. While this metric does not guarantee higher prices in the short term, it generally reflects declining spot sell-side pressure and improves the medium-term supply dynamics.
The combination of shrinking exchange reserves and ETH holding above a key support zone creates a constructive backdrop. Nevertheless, price confirmation remains essential. A sustained move above the descending trendline and the $2.2K resistance cluster would be needed to align the improving on-chain picture with a confirmed bullish technical reversal.
Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.
Bitcoin and Ethereum whales build positions into weaknessLarge cryptocurrency holders are quietly accumulating $BTC, $ETH, and $XRP even as prices remain well below their 2025 highs, according to fresh on-chain data from @cryptoquant_com.
Bitcoin whale holdings, excluding exchanges and mining pools, rose to about 3.06 million BTC from 2.87 million BTC in December 2025, with accumulation accelerating after Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 in June. During the first days of August, Bitcoin traded at $63,935, remaining above its realized price of $52,900.
Ethereum wallets holding 10,000 to 100,000 ETH collectively held a record 19.6 million ETH, while wallets holding more than 100,000 ETH added roughly 1.8 million ETH since mid-2025. The scale of that absorption points to deliberate positioning rather than opportunistic trading.
In XRP markets, average spot order sizes remained in CryptoQuant's "big whale" category as the token traded between $1 and $1.20. The neutral reading of the 90-day taker cumulative volume delta indicator suggests that the process responds to a passive absorption of volume rather than aggressive market buying.
A familiar pattern, but caution remains"Rising whale balances into price weakness is the clearest smart-money tell," CryptoQuant said, adding that the accumulation pattern has historically preceded market bottoms while cautioning that the market remains exposed to further downside.
Rising whale balances during price weakness can reduce available supply and concentrate ownership among larger holders, the blockchain analytics company said in its latest Smart Money report.
Separately, 10x Research said Bitcoin could confirm a bear-market bottom with a monthly close above $63,000. Separate CryptoQuant analysis published earlier this month placed the asset's potential bear market bottom near $55,000, aligning with the asset's realized price, which has historically served as a major support level during past downturns.
The data paints a picture of institutional-scale buyers absorbing available supply across multiple assets, a behavior that has preceded recoveries in previous cycles. Whether this cycle follows the same script remains an open question, particularly with macro conditions still uncertain.
Sources:
CoinTelegraph: Bitcoin Whales Signal Possible Bear Market Bottom
KuCoin: CryptoQuant Reports Whale Accumulation in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP
CoinMarketCap: Bitcoin Whale Deposits Hit Decade High as Bear Market Deepens
Large Bitcoin holders continued increasing their balances during the market decline. Retail and short-term investors supplied much of the selling pressure. Bitcoin faces a decisive test near $65,000 after rebounding from $62,500. Ethereum broke above $1,900, but still needs to clear resistance near $1,925. Bitcoin and Ethereum ownership is becoming increasingly concentrated among large holders as retail investors sell into the downturn, according to CryptoQuant data and the latest market charts.
BTC whales continued adding below $60,000 and maintained positive 30-day balance growth as prices recovered toward $65,000, while large Ethereum holders approached historically elevated accumulation levels.
The divergence suggests that the decline is redistributing supply toward better-capitalized investors, although it does not yet confirm that either market has established a durable bottom.
Whale balances rise while Bitcoin remains under pressure Bitcoin whale holdings increased steadily during the first seven months of 2026 even as the asset fell from above $100,000 toward the low-$60,000 range.
CryptoQuant’s entity-adjusted chart, which excludes known exchange and mining pool wallets, shows total whale balances rising from around 2.9 million BTC at the start of the year to approximately 3.08 million BTC by late July.
CryptoQuant chart showing Bitcoin whale balances rising while prices fall and retail investors sell. The 30-day percentage change moved back into positive territory during May and remained above zero through much of June and July. That suggests large holders were adding Bitcoin on a net basis while the broader market remained weak.
The timing matters. Whale accumulation accelerated as BTC traded below $60,000, indicating that larger entities viewed the decline as an opportunity to increase exposure rather than a reason to exit.
Retail and short-term holders behaved differently. Their selling added liquid supply to the market precisely when prices were already under pressure, allowing larger buyers to accumulate without producing an immediate recovery.
Investor group Observed behavior Immediate market effect Interpretation risk Bitcoin whales Aggregate balances continued rising Absorbs part of the supply sold during weakness Holdings may be hedged through derivatives Retail and short-term holders Reduced exposure during the decline Adds immediately available market supply Wallet size does not reveal every investor motive Ethereum large holders Accumulation approached elevated levels May reduce liquid ETH available for trading Large wallets can include custodians or pooled assets The pattern is constructive for long-term supply conditions because coins transferred into stronger hands may be less likely to return to exchanges during short-term volatility.
It remains insufficient evidence of a market reversal.
Why whale buying can coexist with falling prices Onchain accumulation and weak price action measure different parts of the market.
Wallet balances track where assets are moving over time. Price, by contrast, reflects the balance between buyers and sellers at the margin. A whale can buy steadily while the market continues falling if the total volume of available supply remains larger than its demand.
Several forces can produce that outcome.
Large buyers divide orders across time: Executing a full position immediately can push prices higher and increase the average acquisition cost. Retail selling is more price-sensitive: Smaller investors often use market orders, stop-loss instructions or leverage, which can accelerate selling during sharp declines. Forced liquidations create additional supply: Leveraged positions may close automatically as collateral values fall, regardless of the investor’s long-term view. Spot ownership may be hedged: A fund can accumulate BTC or ETH while using futures or options to reduce directional exposure. The final point limits how confidently whale balances can be interpreted. A large spot position does not necessarily represent an unhedged bet on higher prices.
Custody creates another complication. One blockchain address may represent a single investor, a fund, an exchange-related service or assets belonging to multiple clients. CryptoQuant adjusts its data to remove known exchange and mining pool addresses, but onchain classification remains an analytical estimate rather than an audited ownership record.
Accumulation reflects a transfer of supply, not a confirmed bottom The strongest conclusion supported by the data is that ownership is shifting.
Short-term and retail investors appear to be selling assets that larger holders are willing to absorb. This reduces some of the supply available at depressed prices, but it does not establish how much additional selling remains.
A more convincing bottoming signal would combine several developments:
Whale balances continue rising. Exchange deposits decline. Short-term holders realize fewer losses. Spot trading demand strengthens without relying on leverage. Bitcoin and Ethereum reclaim previous resistance as support. Without that combination, the market is showing redistribution rather than a completed reversal.
The distinction matters because whales often accumulate before the final low. Their larger capital base allows them to tolerate drawdowns that would force smaller investors to exit.
Bitcoin recovery stalls near the $65,000 threshold Bitcoin rebounded from approximately $62,500 on August 3 to $64,757 by late August 5, according to the four-hour Coinbase chart.
TradingView four-hour Bitcoin chart showing BTC recovering toward $65,000 with positive momentum. The move produced a sequence of higher short-term lows and carried BTC back toward the $64,750 to $65,000 resistance zone. Sellers had previously appeared around this area, making it the first meaningful test of whether the latest advance represents more than a temporary relief move.
Momentum strengthened during the rebound. The faster indicator line moved above its signal line, while the histogram remained positive and expanded alongside the price advance.
That configuration favors buyers in the immediate term, but momentum alone does not confirm a breakout. Bitcoin must close convincingly above $65,000 and hold the level during a retest to improve the short-term structure.
Bitcoin level Technical role What the market would signal $65,000 Immediate resistance A confirmed close above would strengthen the recovery $64,000 First nearby support Holding the level would preserve the higher-low sequence $63,500 Secondary support A return here would weaken short-term momentum $62,500 Recent swing low A break below would invalidate the current rebound structure A break above $65,000 would shift attention toward the previous reaction area between roughly $65,300 and $65,600. Failure at resistance would leave $64,000 as the first support to monitor, followed by $63,500.
The move remains a short-term recovery within a broader decline. It should not be described as a full trend reversal unless Bitcoin begins reclaiming higher resistance zones and sustaining stronger spot demand.
Ethereum breaks above $1,900 as momentum accelerates Ethereum produced the stronger immediate move of the two assets.
ETH rose from approximately $1,870 to above $1,910 during the final full four-hour candle on August 5, briefly reaching around $1,924 before settling near $1,913.
TradingView four-hour Ethereum chart showing ETH breaking above $1,900 and testing resistance near $1,925. The advance carried Ethereum above the consolidation range that had contained price between approximately $1,840 and $1,880. That breakout improved the short-term structure and placed ETH directly below a more important resistance area.
The next barrier sits between $1,920 and $1,925. Price encountered selling in that region several times during late July, making it a more significant test than the recently cleared $1,880 level.
Momentum expanded with the move. The faster indicator line accelerated above the slower line, while the positive histogram widened sharply. That confirms that the breakout was accompanied by stronger buying pressure rather than a gradual drift through resistance.
Confirmation still matters. Ethereum needs to hold above $1,880 during any pullback for the breakout structure to remain intact.
Asset Chart price Immediate resistance Nearest support Bitcoin $64,757 $65,000 $64,000 Ethereum $1,913 $1,920 to $1,925 $1,880 A close above $1,925 would expose the late-July trading area between approximately $1,940 and $1,960. A move back below $1,880 would place Ethereum inside its previous range and weaken the breakout signal.
Ethereum accumulation may tighten liquid supply Large-holder accumulation has additional implications for Ethereum because ETH can be moved into staking rather than remaining available on exchanges.
Coins deposited into validators or long-term custody do not disappear from circulation, but they become less immediately available for trading. If large entities continue accumulating while staking participation rises, the liquid portion of ETH supply may contract.
That can increase sensitivity to changes in demand. When fewer coins are available near current prices, even a moderate increase in buying can produce a larger market reaction.
The reverse also applies. Concentration among large holders can amplify selling pressure if those entities begin moving assets back to exchanges.
Large Ethereum addresses also require careful interpretation. They may belong to institutions, staking providers, custodians, liquid staking protocols or other pooled structures rather than individual investors.
Retail capitulation can strengthen whales without lifting prices Retail selling has a disproportionate short-term impact because it often occurs through liquid markets and at moments of poor liquidity.
Smaller investors may sell to protect remaining capital, meet margin requirements or exit positions purchased at higher prices. Many use exchanges where their orders immediately affect the available order book.
Whales operate differently. They can divide purchases across multiple venues, use over-the-counter desks and wait for forced sellers to provide liquidity.
That creates an uneven transfer. Retail investors sell because price has already weakened, while whales buy because lower prices improve their expected long-term return.
The transfer can continue for weeks without generating a durable rally.
What would confirm the whale accumulation thesis The next phase of the market will depend on whether onchain accumulation begins producing visible changes in liquidity and price structure.
For Bitcoin, the strongest confirmation would be continued whale balance growth combined with lower exchange inflows and a sustained break above $65,000. That would indicate that larger holders are not simply accumulating coins before redistributing them into strength.
Ethereum needs to maintain the breakout above $1,880 and clear the $1,925 resistance zone. Continued large-holder buying alongside reduced exchange balances would strengthen the case that liquid supply is tightening.
Investors should watch three signals over the coming sessions:
Whale transfers to exchanges Short-term holder realized losses Spot trading volume during resistance tests A rise in whale exchange deposits while prices approach resistance would weaken the accumulation thesis because it would suggest that some of the recently acquired supply is becoming available for sale.
Ethereum price today: $1,910Bearish dominance has risen across ETH perpetuals following a decline in the Net Taker Volume and Taker Buy Sell Ratio.On the spot side, whales have increased accumulation over the past two days.ETH has to clear the 100-day EMA and $1,961 resistance bands to reclaim the $2,000 psychological level.Sentiment across Ethereum (ETH) derivatives has slightly slipped into negative territory over the past week.
The Ethereum Net Taker Volume, which measures the difference between the buying and selling volume of investors executing market orders in perpetual futures contracts, flipped negative over the past week after nearly a month in positive territory. The move signifies that the perpetual markets have tilted toward net selling.
ETH Net Taker Volume. Source: CryptoQuantHistorically, negative values in the metric spur bearish positioning and price declines in ETH. The top altcoin declined by 52% and 33% after the metric flipped negative in January and May, respectively.
Similarly, the Taker Buy Sell Ratio, which measures the proportion of aggressive buying relative to aggressive selling volumes in perpetual markets, has moved toward selling dominance. Its 14-day moving average tilted toward bearish territory for the first time in two weeks, with a reading of 0.992 at the time of writing.
Its seven-day moving average declined to 0.974 on Monday, its lowest level since June 6, before recovering slightly to 0.994 at the time of writing.
ETH Taker Buy Sell Ratio. Source: CryptoQuantOn the spot side, whales have been scooping up ETH over the past two days. On Tuesday, a whale wallet 0x2e80 withdrew 19,000 ETH from Gemini and deployed it into staking contracts, according to smart money tracker Lookonchain. The wallet has withdrawn 112,000 ETH from Gemini and deployed it into staking contracts over the past three weeks.
Another notable whale wallet 0x2684 likely bought 3,960 ETH on Wednesday. The wallet has acquired 79,216 ETH at an average price of $1,777 since June 30, Lookonchain stated.
Meanwhile, US spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw $53.7 million in net inflows on Tuesday, per SoSoValue data.
Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH has to clear the 100-day EMA and $1,961 resistance to reclaim $2,000Ethereum has seen $49.8 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, driven by $40.7 million in short liquidations, according to Coinglass data.
ETH bounced near the tight 20-day and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) range between $1,874 and $1,854 and is testing the 100-day EMA resistance near $1,927.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) near 57 and the Stochastic around 61 are both hinting at positive but not overextended momentum.
On the upside, a clear break above the 100-day EMA at $1,927 would open the way toward the next resistance at $1,961, ahead of more distant hurdles at $2,172 and $2,431.
ETH/USDT daily chartOn the downside, initial support is seen at the 20-day and 50-day EMAs. A deeper pullback below these levels would expose the horizontal support zone at $1,809, with further cushions at $1,701 and $1,507 if bearish pressure accelerates.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
PANews, August 6 – According to The Block, Julio Moreno, Head of Research at CryptoQuant, said that large cryptocurrency holders are accumulating Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, indicating that the bear market may have entered its final stage, but the bottom has not yet been confirmed and prices could still fall further. Moreno noted that when prices are near or below the realized price, whales are increasing their holdings, reducing downward pressure. Bitcoin whale balances (excluding exchange and mining pool addresses) have risen from 2.87 million BTC in December 2025 to around 3.06 million BTC, but remain below the 2025 bull market peak of 3.23 million BTC. On the Ethereum side, addresses holding 10,000 to 100,000 ETH kept accumulating to a record 19.6 million ETH, while the cohort holding 1,000 to 10,000 ETH fell from 15.6 million to 12.9 million ETH. XRP whales are quietly positioning by absorbing rather than actively buying. Bitcoin’s current price is about $64,640, above its realized price of $52,900; XRP is around $1.1, above its realized price of $0.75; Ethereum is around $1,900, below its realized price of $2,450. Moreno said the risk-reward ratio has declined significantly, but valuations still leave room for one more round of downside.
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.
The "Big Short" Michael Burry's latest portfolio adjustment: increases holdings in Flutter, while selling DraftKings
Michael Burry, the real-life inspiration for "The Big Short", disclosed his latest portfolio adjustments via his Substack account today: he has sold his long position in DraftKings (DKNG) and increased his long position in Flutter (FLUT).
6 minutes ago
Some Hong Kong-listed AI stocks advanced, with MINIMAX-W surging over 15%.
According to Bitget market data, some Hong Kong-listed artificial intelligence stocks are advancing, with MINIMAX-W surging over 15%, Zhipu rising more than 9%, Shenghong Technology gaining over 7%, and Cambridge Technology up more than 3%. Earlier reports stated that the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange have added MINIMAX-W to their Hong Kong Stock Connect eligible securities, effective August 6.
6 minutes ago
JPMorgan Chase: Retail investor influence in tech stock trading may increase after a brutal sell-off.
According to JPMorgan's preliminary assessment of data on equity long-short hedge funds in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sector, tech stock trading, after the brutal July selloff, may be becoming more reliant on retail investors, with volatility set to intensify. JPMorgan strategists including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and others noted that data from Pivotal Path shows these hedge funds lost over 10% in July. This drawdown does not yet include the Situational Awareness fund, which was forced to sell most of its public equity portfolio last week following the sharp selloff in semiconductor and tech stocks. Panigirtzoglou believes this indicates that other equity long-short hedge funds focused on tech stocks may also have faced forced liquidations in semiconductor and memory chip stocks.
6 minutes ago
A crypto whale transferred 20,100 SPCXB tokens to Binance, incurring an unrealized loss of $720,000.
According to YuEmber monitoring, a crypto whale withdrew 20,100 SPCXB (SPCX stock token) from Binance in early July, and transferred all of the tokens, valued at approximately $2.3 million, back to the exchange early this morning, posting an unrealized loss of $720,000.
6 minutes ago
Four new addresses have built positions totaling 1,540 BTC, worth approximately $99.4 million.
According to Lookonchain's monitoring, four newly created wallets received a total of 1,540 Bitcoin (worth approximately $99.4 million) from Galaxy Digital and BitGo platforms over the past three hours.
6 minutes ago
Google's AI division undergoes power restructuring, four veteran executives depart en masse, its stock closes down over 4%.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis announced early this morning that he is stepping down from day-to-day management roles, transitioning to DeepMind Chairman and taking on the role of Alphabet Chief Scientist. He will continue to oversee long-term AI research and lead drug discovery firm Isomorphic Labs. Gemini’s development and delivery will be fully handled by former DeepMind Chief Technology Officer Koray Kavukcuoglu, who will report directly to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. On the same day, legendary engineer Jeff Dean announced his departure from Google, taking with him Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le to co-found a company named Discovery Loop. The team aims to leverage AI to automate the full scientific research workflow: from question formulation, experiment design, execution to result evaluation. Google participated in the company’s seed round investment, will act as its cloud provider, and provide first-year computing power support. For this top research team that has decided to launch their own venture, Google chose not to force retention, instead maintaining capital, cloud service and research collaboration partnerships. According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the market reacted swiftly to the news. Alphabet’s stock price dropped more than 5% intraday, closing down 4.03% at the regular session close. It rose 0.57% in after-hours trading, trading at $364.49.
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.
The "Big Short" Michael Burry's latest portfolio adjustment: increases holdings in Flutter, while selling DraftKings
Michael Burry, the real-life inspiration for "The Big Short", disclosed his latest portfolio adjustments via his Substack account today: he has sold his long position in DraftKings (DKNG) and increased his long position in Flutter (FLUT).
6 minutes ago
Some Hong Kong-listed AI stocks advanced, with MINIMAX-W surging over 15%.
According to Bitget market data, some Hong Kong-listed artificial intelligence stocks are advancing, with MINIMAX-W surging over 15%, Zhipu rising more than 9%, Shenghong Technology gaining over 7%, and Cambridge Technology up more than 3%. Earlier reports stated that the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange have added MINIMAX-W to their Hong Kong Stock Connect eligible securities, effective August 6.
6 minutes ago
JPMorgan Chase: Retail investor influence in tech stock trading may increase after a brutal sell-off.
According to JPMorgan's preliminary assessment of data on equity long-short hedge funds in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sector, tech stock trading, after the brutal July selloff, may be becoming more reliant on retail investors, with volatility set to intensify. JPMorgan strategists including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and others noted that data from Pivotal Path shows these hedge funds lost over 10% in July. This drawdown does not yet include the Situational Awareness fund, which was forced to sell most of its public equity portfolio last week following the sharp selloff in semiconductor and tech stocks. Panigirtzoglou believes this indicates that other equity long-short hedge funds focused on tech stocks may also have faced forced liquidations in semiconductor and memory chip stocks.
6 minutes ago
A crypto whale transferred 20,100 SPCXB tokens to Binance, incurring an unrealized loss of $720,000.
According to YuEmber monitoring, a crypto whale withdrew 20,100 SPCXB (SPCX stock token) from Binance in early July, and transferred all of the tokens, valued at approximately $2.3 million, back to the exchange early this morning, posting an unrealized loss of $720,000.
6 minutes ago
Four new addresses have built positions totaling 1,540 BTC, worth approximately $99.4 million.
According to Lookonchain's monitoring, four newly created wallets received a total of 1,540 Bitcoin (worth approximately $99.4 million) from Galaxy Digital and BitGo platforms over the past three hours.
6 minutes ago
Google's AI division undergoes power restructuring, four veteran executives depart en masse, its stock closes down over 4%.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis announced early this morning that he is stepping down from day-to-day management roles, transitioning to DeepMind Chairman and taking on the role of Alphabet Chief Scientist. He will continue to oversee long-term AI research and lead drug discovery firm Isomorphic Labs. Gemini’s development and delivery will be fully handled by former DeepMind Chief Technology Officer Koray Kavukcuoglu, who will report directly to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. On the same day, legendary engineer Jeff Dean announced his departure from Google, taking with him Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le to co-found a company named Discovery Loop. The team aims to leverage AI to automate the full scientific research workflow: from question formulation, experiment design, execution to result evaluation. Google participated in the company’s seed round investment, will act as its cloud provider, and provide first-year computing power support. For this top research team that has decided to launch their own venture, Google chose not to force retention, instead maintaining capital, cloud service and research collaboration partnerships. According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the market reacted swiftly to the news. Alphabet’s stock price dropped more than 5% intraday, closing down 4.03% at the regular session close. It rose 0.57% in after-hours trading, trading at $364.49.
The "Big Short" Michael Burry's latest portfolio adjustment: increases holdings in Flutter, while selling DraftKings
Michael Burry, the real-life inspiration for "The Big Short", disclosed his latest portfolio adjustments via his Substack account today: he has sold his long position in DraftKings (DKNG) and increased his long position in Flutter (FLUT).
6 minutes ago
Some Hong Kong-listed AI stocks advanced, with MINIMAX-W surging over 15%.
According to Bitget market data, some Hong Kong-listed artificial intelligence stocks are advancing, with MINIMAX-W surging over 15%, Zhipu rising more than 9%, Shenghong Technology gaining over 7%, and Cambridge Technology up more than 3%. Earlier reports stated that the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange have added MINIMAX-W to their Hong Kong Stock Connect eligible securities, effective August 6.
6 minutes ago
JPMorgan Chase: Retail investor influence in tech stock trading may increase after a brutal sell-off.
According to JPMorgan's preliminary assessment of data on equity long-short hedge funds in the technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sector, tech stock trading, after the brutal July selloff, may be becoming more reliant on retail investors, with volatility set to intensify. JPMorgan strategists including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and others noted that data from Pivotal Path shows these hedge funds lost over 10% in July. This drawdown does not yet include the Situational Awareness fund, which was forced to sell most of its public equity portfolio last week following the sharp selloff in semiconductor and tech stocks. Panigirtzoglou believes this indicates that other equity long-short hedge funds focused on tech stocks may also have faced forced liquidations in semiconductor and memory chip stocks.
6 minutes ago
A crypto whale transferred 20,100 SPCXB tokens to Binance, incurring an unrealized loss of $720,000.
According to YuEmber monitoring, a crypto whale withdrew 20,100 SPCXB (SPCX stock token) from Binance in early July, and transferred all of the tokens, valued at approximately $2.3 million, back to the exchange early this morning, posting an unrealized loss of $720,000.
6 minutes ago
Four new addresses have built positions totaling 1,540 BTC, worth approximately $99.4 million.
According to Lookonchain's monitoring, four newly created wallets received a total of 1,540 Bitcoin (worth approximately $99.4 million) from Galaxy Digital and BitGo platforms over the past three hours.
6 minutes ago
Google's AI division undergoes power restructuring, four veteran executives depart en masse, its stock closes down over 4%.
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis announced early this morning that he is stepping down from day-to-day management roles, transitioning to DeepMind Chairman and taking on the role of Alphabet Chief Scientist. He will continue to oversee long-term AI research and lead drug discovery firm Isomorphic Labs. Gemini’s development and delivery will be fully handled by former DeepMind Chief Technology Officer Koray Kavukcuoglu, who will report directly to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. On the same day, legendary engineer Jeff Dean announced his departure from Google, taking with him Sanjay Ghemawat, Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le to co-found a company named Discovery Loop. The team aims to leverage AI to automate the full scientific research workflow: from question formulation, experiment design, execution to result evaluation. Google participated in the company’s seed round investment, will act as its cloud provider, and provide first-year computing power support. For this top research team that has decided to launch their own venture, Google chose not to force retention, instead maintaining capital, cloud service and research collaboration partnerships. According to market data from BIT (bit.com), the market reacted swiftly to the news. Alphabet’s stock price dropped more than 5% intraday, closing down 4.03% at the regular session close. It rose 0.57% in after-hours trading, trading at $364.49.
Major cryptocurrencies rallied over 1% on Wednesday, buoyed by continuing strength in the equity market.
Notable Statistics:
Coinglass data shows 69,958 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $216.18 million. SoSoValue data shows net inflows of $211.5 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Tuesday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $53.8 million. In the past 24 hours, top gainers include Pump.fun, Uniswap and Zcash. Notable Developments:
Trader Notes:
Crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez noted Bitcoin has flashed a bullish SuperTrend buy signal, a technical indicator that previously preceded a 16% rally from $57,700 to $68,900 after its last trigger on July 3.
Trader Crypto Bitlord believes Bitcoin is on the verge of a sharp upside breakout, pointing to an early move above key 4-hour resistance. He argues that the market is overdue for a large bullish “god candle” after an extended period without a strong vertical rally.
Swing and chart trader Jesse Olson maintains that Bitcoin remains in a bear market but believes the cycle is approaching a turning point.
Based on the model, October could mark the bottom, followed by a 45-month bull run that ultimately drives Bitcoin above $180,000.
Image: Shutterstock
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If you want to understand where the stablecoin economy actually lives, look at Ethereum. Circle’s USDC has grown into a $72 billion asset, and roughly 70% of that supply, around $49.5 billion, is issued natively on Ethereum.
The numbers behind the dominance Ethereum’s share of USDC issuance sits at approximately 68.8% of total supply. Solana, which is widely considered Ethereum’s most credible competitor for stablecoin activity, hosts around $7 billion in USDC. That is roughly one-seventh of what Ethereum handles.
USDC itself has grown considerably over the past year or so. The total supply has climbed from around $60 billion in early 2025 to over $72 billion today, driven by institutional adoption and the continued expansion of DeFi protocols that rely on dollar-denominated liquidity.
Circle first launched USDC on Ethereum in September 2018. The acceleration of multi-chain expansion came with the rollout of the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol, or CCTP, starting in 2023.
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What CCTP actually changes Before CCTP, moving USDC between blockchains meant using a bridge, which meant holding a wrapped or “bridged” version of the token, often called USDC.e on chains like Avalanche. Bridged tokens carry smart contract risk, are not directly redeemable with Circle, and create a fragmented liquidity picture.
CCTP burns the tokens on the source chain and mints fresh, native USDC on the destination chain. The user ends up with a token that is directly backed by Circle’s reserves, not a derivative of one.
Circle has now extended native USDC and CCTP support to 35 blockchains. Recent additions in 2026 include Cronos, Injective, Stellar, and World Chain.
Stellar’s inclusion is worth noting specifically. Stellar has historically been oriented toward cross-border payments and remittances rather than DeFi. Native USDC on Stellar signals that Circle is pursuing the broader payments infrastructure market, not just DeFi activity.
Why Ethereum’s lead is stickier than it looks Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem has years of accumulated liquidity in lending protocols, decentralized exchanges, and yield strategies, all denominated in USDC. Moving a large institutional position through a thin liquidity environment creates slippage. Moving it through Ethereum’s ecosystem, at scale, does not.
For investors and traders watching stablecoin market structure, the $72 billion USDC supply figure is less interesting than where it sits. Ethereum’s $49.5 billion slice of that pie is the foundation for the lending rates, swap depths, and yield opportunities that define DeFi economics.
As native USDC reaches more chains through CCTP, the use case for Tether’s USDT, which still leads overall stablecoin supply, becomes more contestable on newer networks. Chains that once defaulted to USDT because native USDC was unavailable now have a choice.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Stani Kulechov and Mike Silagadze headline two days of opposition to the tapered issuance burn, now renumbered EIP-8363. Ethereum core devs decide Thursday whether to consider it for Hegotá.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov and ether.fi chief executive Mike Silagadze have come out against the proposal to burn a rising share of Ethereum validator rewards, joining a list of DeFi founders, solo stakers and researchers who have spent two days arguing against it on X and on the Ethereum Magicians forum. Core developers take it up on Thursday.
The fight puts Ethereum's largest DeFi protocols and staking businesses against a group of researchers who want the issuance curve capped before the staked share of ETH goes any higher, and it is being conducted in a 48-hour window created by a fork deadline. The Ethereum Magicians thread has drawn about 40 posts in two days.
The proposal would remove the incentive to stake beyond half of all ETH by burning a fraction of validator rewards that climbs with the staking ratio, reaching 100% at a saturation balance of 60.25 million ETH. Applied in full at the fork, it would cut net consensus yield from about 2.6% to 1.2% at today's staking level, which is why the authors phase it in over 18 months. The original proposal was posted on Aug. 4, roughly 48 hours before the deadline to propose EIPs for Hegotá, the upgrade after Glamsterdam.
Ethereum has 41.5 million ETH staked, or 34.07% of supply, across 895,293 active validators, earning a 2.65% APR, according to validatorqueue.com. Another 2,488,005 ETH is waiting to get in, a 43-day queue. Liquid staking tokens hold 15.04 million ETH worth $28.2 billion, with Lido's stETH accounting for 62.7% of that, DefiLlama shows.
Save ETH StakingThe longest single critique in the debate is an Ethereum Magicians post filed under the handle EthWarrior. Kulechov claimed it as his own on Aug. 4, linking to it from his verified X account with the words "My thoughts on Ethereum staking yield axing" and the sign-off "tl;dr Save ETH staking."
The post reconstructs the proposal's own formulas and argues the mechanism produces the opposite of its stated goal. At an unchanged 39 million ETH staked, Kulechov calculates all-in validator income falling from 2.862% to 1.476%, a 48% cut.
"A zero-yield regime accelerates the capture it means to deter," he wrote. "It filters out everyone who stakes for economic return and leaves the field to entities that stake for structural, regulatory, or product reasons."
He also flagged a tax exposure created by the transition itself. The taper works by doubling BASE_REWARD_FACTOR to 128 and decaying it back to 64, which doubles the gross reward credited to a validator while burning about half of it. In jurisdictions that tax staking rewards on receipt, Kulechov argues, a home validator's taxable receipts double at the moment the proposal says nothing has changed for them.
He asked the authors for written tax opinions from the US, UK, Germany and Portugal, a solo-staker impact assessment, a hard floor on net yield, and a cascade model for the lending and liquid staking stack "built with Aave, Lido, Etherfi and other DeFi risk teams."
His closing line: "Ethereum's staking ratio is rising because staking works. That is what growth looks like, and we should not be engineering a mechanism that punishes it."
On Aug. 5 he broadened the argument to Ethereum's priorities. "Ethereum should not focus on gaming staking issuance and cutting staking rewards. That is not the problem Ethereum needs to solve," he wrote, naming privacy, scalability and security at the protocol level and stablecoins, DeFi and RWAs at the application layer.
Disappointing On Every LevelSilagadze's response, posted within hours of the announcement, ran to a dozen paragraphs and drew 90,000 views.
"This is so disappointing on every level," he wrote. "EIP released with 48 hours notice for comments. Realistically 4 months before it goes live. For a major network economics change with far reaching implications for all of DeFi. Every builder on Ethereum opposes this. Why is this a focus?"
He argued the change would push out solo stakers who are not subsidized by the Ethereum Foundation, leave staking to large centralized entities with zero cost of capital, and force a capital exodus at seven of the top 10 DeFi protocols. On the proposal's argument that liquid staking tokens displace ETH as money, he wrote that the reasoning "betrays a cash-accounting level of understanding of the economy, as if only M1 counts as real money."
Silagadze pre-empted the conflict-of-interest reading: "I say this as a builder on Ethereum, not as someone who stands to benefit from staking issuance. I don't have much at risk here. Almost all of @ether_fi revenue is now coming from vaults and payments, staking is a small (and shrinking) part of our business."
"Any nation state or large institution looking at this will justifiably have a dramatic loss of confidence in the governance and stability of Ethereum." On Aug. 5 he added that "the case for increasing ETH issuance is much stronger than the case for decreasing it."
Issuance Ain't ItLefteris Karapetsas, founder of portfolio tracker rotki, put it more briefly: "Ethereum has serious issues we need to handle. Both as a protocol and an ecosystem for users and developers. Issuance aint it." He later noted that the design is an added burn rather than a reduction in the reward itself, which he said could be read badly depending on tax jurisdiction.
DCinvestor, one of the more widely followed ETH holders on X, listed five objections, including that ETH issuance is already lower than Bitcoin's and than the annual supply of newly mined gold, and that "consistency and predictability in ETH's issuance policy is more important to creating market confidence around ETH... than perfectly optimizing issuance."
Marc Zeller of the Aave Chan Initiative, the primary delegate of the Aave DAO, went further and called on the affected protocols to refuse the upgrade outright. "It would be interesting to see @LidoFinance @ether_fi & @aave grow a spine and straight-up refuse EIP-8361," he wrote. "Realistically, we won't end up with a new Ethereum Classic as they will be forced to fold. This will take down the ivory tower and rebalance the power dynamics within Ethereum for the better with a forced reality check."
On the forum, the objections split between process and economics. Greg Koumoutsos opened the thread's second post by asking whether the intention was "to propose it for inclusion with less than 48 hours available for feedback," and later argued that urgency about a 50% staking ratio does not justify a full issuance-curve redesign in Hegotá. Andrew Macpherson challenged the anti-concentration case directly: "No large stake services provider will choose to limit their size to avoid moving down the emissions curve. Doing so would simply leak deposits to their competitors."
A developer posting as QEDK accepted the premise and rejected the instrument: "I can agree with the proposition that excessive staking is harmful to the system but I disagree with the symptomatic treatment of it." He argued that cutting the minimum activation balance to 16 ETH would do more for home staking than a yield cut.
Jesús Pérez Sánchez of Crypto Plaza Research, posting as 0xChainValue, published a three-part economic analysis arguing the mechanism hits the smallest operators hardest because an LST fee is proportional while a solo staker's costs are fixed. "The taper doubles the solo staker's effective fee and leaves the LST's exactly where it was," he wrote. A solo staker of more than four years, posting as mrt, said the change would likely push him to unstake and would make him consider selling.
Opponents Are LouderThe proposal has defenders. Several of them argued that the volume of the criticism tracks who has revenue at stake.
Dankrad Feist, the researcher behind Danksharding and a former Ethereum Foundation researcher now at Tempo, replied in the same thread: "I know plenty of people who support it. But opponents are louder and have more to lose."
Thibauld Favre, co-founder and chief technology officer of onchain equity platform Fairmint, backed the design. "I see lots of hate directed at this EIP but I haven't read any real strong arguments so far," he wrote. "Ethereum's monetary policy should not subsidize unbounded stake growth forever... I really think it is preferable to the status quo curve." Asked to justify the position, he gave five reasons, starting with: "Beyond a certain point extra stake adds very little real security while increasing centralization risk."
On the forum, a poster using the name Mister Plum supported acting while conceding the fight ahead. "Just as traditional businesses lobby to preserve the status quo on taxes and regulations, we should expect strong and loud pushback against any proposal concerning the issuance curve. Because this does directly hurt Lido, Rocketpool, Aave, ETFs, etc."
At least one critic moved. Goodroot, a long-time staker who opened by asking what evidence supports the claim that lower APR improves validator-set composition, wrote after de Tychey's reply that his view "went from 'where the bridge at' to 'there is a reasonable theoretical bridge, but the impact to validator comp remains uncertain,'" and asked the authors to stop framing solo-staker protection as an expected outcome. "I will not stop staking based on this proposal."
Vitalik Buterin has not posted on X since July 29 and has not commented on the proposal. Justin Drake, the sixth listed author, has not posted since June.
Nobody Gets RuggedJérôme de Tychey, one of the six authors and the most active defender in public, has answered most of the thread himself. Two of the six authors are from the Ethereum Foundation, he wrote on the forum, and he cannot speak for the EF's plans.
"Nobody needs to protect solo stakers from this EIP," he posted. "They need protecting from the current curve: ever-rising dilution, tax on nominal yield, and no off-switch pushing yields down anyway."
On the phase-in he wrote: "Nobody gets rugged. The yield reduction phases in over 18 months (effective base reward factor 128 → 64, decaying linearly), plus ~6 months of fork lead time — about 2 years to adjust. But from day one: no more incentive for stake growth beyond 50%."
Asked on the forum why 1.5% yield is considered too high, de Tychey argued that after correcting for 1.5% dilution "nothing remains," and that supply growth at 0.9% a year is heading toward 1%. Cutting it to the proposal's maximum of 0.5% would save close to $1 billion a year at $2,000 ETH, he wrote, adding that "more valuable ETH, even at the cost of a few basis points on the staking yield, is a far better outcome than the status quo."
He has also conceded ground. The EIP leaves execution-layer rewards untouched, where large operators have a measured edge, and the authors' own forum rebuttal calls that asymmetry "the strongest open objection in this section," pointing to MEV burn as the step that would address it.
From 8361 To 8363The proposal's number changed mid-argument. The authors self-assigned EIP-8361 in the pull request, and that number is still what most of the coverage and commentary uses. EIP editor Pooja Ranjan pointed out that 8361 was already allocated to a different proposal and asked the authors to stop referring to it that way. Editor abcoathup assigned EIP-8363 and updated the Ethereum Magicians thread title.
LDO And ETHFI SlideLiquid staking tokens took the hit. LDO fell 14.8% between the Aug. 4 and Aug. 5 daily marks, from $0.329 to $0.280, and ETHFI fell 11.6%, from $0.403 to $0.356, according to CoinGecko. ETH was roughly flat across the same window.
Both have since recovered part of the drop. LDO trades at $0.2975, up 6% on the day, and ETHFI at $0.3677. ETH is at $1,917, up 2.3%. AAVE is at $90.26, little changed. Lido's LDO is still down about 9% from where it traded before the proposal was posted, and its market capitalization has fallen from $275 million to $249 million over that period.
Thursday's CallDe Tychey has opened a pull request to add the proposal to EIP-8081, the Hegotá meta EIP, and has asked for three minutes on All Core Devs — Consensus call #184 at 14:00 UTC on Thursday, Aug. 6, to present it alongside pintail, the lead author.
Proposed for Inclusion is the weakest of Ethereum's upgrade stages and does not commit client teams to anything. Thursday is the deadline for PRs proposing EIPs for Hegotá. Other proposals queued for the same call include Barnabé Monnot's quick slots EIP-8198, hanniabu's EIP-8359 and EIP-8333.
Lido DAO price rebounded more than 5% on Thursday as holders voted on the NEST automated buyback system, although concerns over Ethereum’s proposed staking changes kept LDO under pressure.
Summary
Lido DAO price rose 5.2% in 24 hours after briefly falling to $0.2757. The token remains down 16.7% over seven days but has gained about 5% monthly. Lido DAO’s NEST vote runs until Aug. 8 at 2:00 p.m. UTC. Ethereum’s proposed EIP-8361 raised concerns about Lido’s future staking revenue. Lido DAO price rebounds after 16% weekly decline According to data from crypto.news, Lido DAO (LDO) price traded near $0.293 at the time of writing. The token moved between $0.2757 and $0.3048 over the previous 24 hours before recovering about 5.2%.
Despite the rebound, LDO remained down approximately 16.7% over the past week. It underperformed the broader cryptocurrency market, which gained about 1.3% over the same period.
The monthly performance was more positive. LDO remained about 5.1% higher over 30 days after rallying during July. The token had gained roughly 65% at one point last month before encountering resistance around $0.40.
Trading volume reached about $62.2 million over 24 hours. However, volume was 11% lower than the previous day, suggesting that participation eased after the initial sell-off.
Ethereum staking proposal pressures LDO LDO’s weekly decline accelerated as the Ethereum community debated EIP-8361, a proposal called the Tapered Issuance Burn.
The proposal would burn a growing portion of validator issuance rewards as the share of ETH committed to staking increases. Issuance-based rewards could eventually approach zero if approximately 50% of Ethereum’s supply becomes staked.
EIP-8361 remains a draft and has not been approved for implementation. However, traders appear to be pricing in its possible effect on liquid-staking providers.
Lower Ethereum staking rewards could make products such as Lido’s stETH less attractive. Reduced demand could affect the protocol’s total value locked, fees and DAO revenue.
Critics participating in the Ethereum Magicians discussion warned that lower rewards could force higher-cost solo validators out before large providers that can spread expenses across thousands of validators. The proposal’s authors argue that ending issuance incentives beyond a 50% staking ratio would limit ETH issuance and reduce the risk of excessive staking concentration.
NEST vote links Lido revenue with LDO Lido DAO opened the final on-chain vote for its NEST automated buyback and liquidity system on Aug. 5. The main voting phase will close on Aug. 8 at 2:00 p.m. UTC.
NEST, short for Network Economic Support Tokenomics, would allocate part of Lido’s eligible revenue surplus to LDO purchases and DAO-owned liquidity.
The proposed mechanism uses a $40 million annual staking-revenue baseline. When daily revenue exceeds the equivalent baseline, 50% of the eligible surplus can enter NEST, subject to a $50,000 daily limit and a rolling annual cap of $10 million.
Under the initial LP configuration, half of the eligible budget would purchase LDO through CoW Swap. The other half would be converted into wstETH and paired with the acquired LDO in a Curve liquidity pool.
Lido DAO would retain ownership of the resulting liquidity-provider tokens. The purchased LDO would not be burned.
A previous Snapshot vote approving the final NEST design passed with 52.37 million LDO, or 94.5% of participating tokens, in support.
LDO price remains below key resistance The daily chart shows that LDO recovered after briefly falling to $0.2751. The resulting lower wick indicates that buyers entered near the $0.275–$0.280 support area.
Lido Dao price daily chart — Aug. 5 | Source: crypto.news However, price remains slightly below the lower Bollinger Band at $0.2946. The Bollinger midpoint at $0.3577 is well above the current price, while the upper band sits near $0.4208.
Daily RSI has fallen to 37.57 and remains below its signal average of 53.56. The reading shows that bearish momentum has weakened the July uptrend, although LDO has not yet reached deeply oversold territory.
A close below $0.275 could expose $0.250 and the June low near $0.235. Conversely, reclaiming $0.305 would mark the first recovery signal. LDO would then face resistance around $0.320–$0.330 and the Bollinger midpoint near $0.358.
The NEST vote provides a potential token-value mechanism, but its future buying capacity depends on Lido producing sufficient staking revenue. That leaves EIP-8361 and the wider Ethereum staking debate as key risks for LDO holders.
Bitcoin (BTC) hovers near $64,000 at the time of writing on Wednesday, buoyed by a marginal improvement in crypto sentiment amid growing optimism that the United States (US) and Iran could potentially reach an agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz this week.
Ethereum (ETH) mirrors Bitcoin’s neutral-to-bullish outlook, trading toward $1,900. However, Ripple (XRP) showcases structural weakness, falling for three straight days to trade around $1.07.
Trump eyes potential deal with IranUS President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that negotiations with Iran are “moving along very nicely,” while adding that more information would be released in 48 hours.
“Could happen. Tomorrow or the next day. A lot of progress has been made,” Trump said while responding to an inquiry about an Axios report that the US is aiming to announce an agreement with Iran over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to ABC News.
Meanwhile, the crypto market sentiment has improved but only marginally to 28 in Fear territory on Wednesday, from 25 in the Extreme Fear region the day before, according to the Fear & Greed Index. This shows that investors are watching the developments in the Middle East, and that an agreement to reopen the Hormuz Strait could boost risk appetite.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: AlternativeTechnical analysis: Bitcoin rebound builds on support Bitcoin trades near $64,000 with a bearish near-term bias, as price holds beneath the key Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). The pair is capped by the 50-day EMA at $64,656 and a downward resistance trendline whose break level sits near $64,578, while the 100-day and 200-day EMAs at $67,132 and $72,676 reinforce a broader topside supply zone.
Momentum remains soft, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovering around the neutral 50 mark and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) in negative territory, hinting that rallies are still vulnerable to selling pressure.
BTC/USDT daily chartImmediate resistance is seen first at the downward trendline break level around $64,578, followed closely by the 50-day EMA at $64,656, forming a nearby supply cluster. Further up, the 100-day EMA at $67,132 and the 200-day EMA near $72,676 mark successive barriers that would need to be reclaimed to alleviate the prevailing bearish tone and open the way for a more sustained recovery. Any dips toward recent lows would likely rely on intraday demand rather than well-defined daily chart floors.
Altcoins technical outlook: Ethereum builds momentum as XRP slides Ethereum trades at $1,871 and holds above the 50-day EMA at $1,852 while the ascending trendline support near $1,849 keeps a modestly constructive short-term tone. The RSI around 52 suggests neutral to slightly positive momentum, while the negative MACD reading hints that upside traction remains fragile as long as price stays under the higher daily EMAs.
ETH/USDT daily chartInitial resistance lies at the 100-day EMA near $1,927, with a more significant barrier at the 200-day EMA at $2,147, where a sustained break would be needed to strengthen the broader bullish outlook. On the downside, immediate support is seen around the 50-day EMA at $1,852, reinforced by the rising trendline support near $1,849. A daily close below this confluence would expose the pair to a deeper pullback and undermine the current constructive bias.
XRP, on the other hand, trades around $1.07, maintaining a bearish stance as the price holds well below the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day EMAs clustered from roughly $1.12 to $1.40. The persistent rejection from the broader downtrend resistance line keeps the pair entrenched in a medium-term decline, while the RSI at 43 leans mildly bearish without yet signaling oversold conditions.
The MACD indicator has slipped marginally into negative territory, hinting that downside momentum remains in control even though selling pressure is not accelerating aggressively.
XRP/USDT daily chartInitial resistance lies at the 50-day EMA around $1.12, with further barriers at the 100-day EMA near $1.20 and the 200-day EMA close to $1.40, where the broader downtrend line also exerts structural pressure. On the downside, the lack of clearly defined structural levels on the daily chart leaves the immediate focus on psychological levels at $1.05 and $1.00.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Cryptocurrency prices FAQs Token launches influence demand and adoption among market participants. Listings on crypto exchanges deepen the liquidity for an asset and add new participants to an asset’s network. This is typically bullish for a digital asset.
A hack is an event in which an attacker captures a large volume of the asset from a DeFi bridge or hot wallet of an exchange or any other crypto platform via exploits, bugs or other methods. The exploiter then transfers these tokens out of the exchange platforms to ultimately sell or swap the assets for other cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. Such events often involve an en masse panic triggering a sell-off in the affected assets.
Macroeconomic events like the US Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates influence crypto assets mainly through the direct impact they have on the US Dollar. An increase in interest rate typically negatively influences Bitcoin and altcoin prices, and vice versa. If the US Dollar index declines, risk assets and associated leverage for trading gets cheaper, in turn driving crypto prices higher.
Halvings are typically considered bullish events as they slash the block reward in half for miners, constricting the supply of the asset. At consistent demand if the supply reduces, the asset’s price climbs.
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF vacuumed up $170 million of the $211 million in net inflows that U.S. spot Bitcoin funds recorded on August 4, leaving competitors to split the rest. Data from SoSoValue, tracked by the original report, shows IBIT dominated once again. On the same day, spot Ethereum ETFs pulled in $53.7 million, with BlackRock’s ETHA collecting $42.5 million of that total. The concentration underscores how the world’s largest asset manager has become the gravitational center of crypto ETF flows.
The numbers arrived during a stretch of uneven price action, yet the direction of capital suggests institutional allocators are not backing away. Whether these inflows represent dip-buying or a steady drip of long-term positioning, the pattern of BlackRock pulling in the vast majority of new money has held for months. It reflects both the firm’s distribution machinery and the comfort that registered investment advisors and family offices find in the BlackRock wrapper.
BlackRock’s ETF Grip Tightens IBIT’s $170 million haul on August 4 was roughly 80% of all net inflows across spot Bitcoin ETFs. The remaining $41 million scattered across competing products signals that while demand exists, it is not evenly distributed. This level of concentration carries implications for market structure. In a fragmented issuer landscape, BlackRock effectively sets the price discovery tempo for a significant chunk of institutional flows. That gives the firm outsize influence over how new Bitcoin exposure enters the regulated market.
For traders watching flow data for directional signals, BlackRock’s dominance means IBIT activity alone can often tell the story of net institutional conviction on any given day. A $170 million single-day inflow is not a record, but it fits a pattern where flows cluster around moments of perceived relative value, even when headlines are noisy.
Ethereum ETFs Gain Traction Spot Ethereum ETFs haven’t yet matched the scale of their Bitcoin counterparts, but the $53.7 million inflow on August 4 was a respectable showing. BlackRock again led with ETHA, suggesting the same institutional preference extends across asset classes. While Ethereum products have seen more muted launches, the network’s underlying fundamentals remain strong. Developer activity on Ethereum consistently ranks near the top of weekly tallies, alongside Solana and BNB Chain, as shown in Top 10 Blockchains by Developer Activity This Week.
The Ethereum flow data also arrives as tokenized real-world assets cross $20 billion on-chain and major firms make billion-dollar infrastructure bets, a trend examined in Weekly Tokenization Roundup: Bullish Buys Equiniti for $4.2B, Ondo Settles With JPMorgan, RWA Crosses $20B. The concurrent demand for both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs fits a broader picture where regulated wrappers are absorbing capital that once might have flowed directly into spot markets or private funds.
Market Structure and Regulatory Overhang ETF flows have become a real-time sentiment gauge, but they also introduce new structural dependencies. Heavy concentration in a single issuer creates a potential choke point if operational or regulatory issues arise. BlackRock’s track record mitigates that concern, but the market is still young enough that risk managers are paying attention.
Regulation remains the wildcard. The crypto industry is watching Washington closely, where a landmark crypto bill is facing last-minute pushback from the banking sector days before a Senate vote. The outcome of that legislative fight, covered in Banks Are Trying to Kill the Biggest Crypto Bill in US History Four Days Before the Senate Vote, could reshape the framework under which spot ETFs operate. Clarity or conflict will feed directly into flow patterns.
What remains uncertain is whether these inflow days signal a durable shift or episodic positioning. The macro backdrop—particularly interest rate expectations and equity market direction—will determine if the August 4 numbers become a trend or just a data point. For now, BlackRock is capturing the bulk of the institutional crypto allocation, and no competitor appears close to changing that.
AUTHOR
Brenda is a writer with three years of experience specializing in cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. She graduated from the University of Mombasa with a degree in Psychology. She has worked at Cryptopolitan and Blockchain Reporter.
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.
Unitree Robotics' online IPO new share subscription has an allotment rate of only 0.03%; holding over 16 million yuan in relevant positions is roughly required to secure one lot.
Estimated in line with Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) STAR Market conventions, the online subscription winning rate for Unitree Technology’s August 10 initial public offering (IPO) is likely around 0.03%, roughly one-tenth of the rate for previously hot stock Changxin Technology, which had a 0.47% winning rate. Of the approximately 40.4464 million shares planned for public offering, only about 6.47 million will be allocated to the initial online subscription tranche. Per the rule that one subscription lot is assigned for every RMB 5,000 in SSE market value, investors holding over RMB 16 million in SSE positions would roughly need that amount to secure one winning lot. Unitree founder Wang Xingxing holds a 31.29% stake. External shareholders include Meituan-affiliated entities (9.65%), Sequoia China (7.11%), Matrix Partners China (5.45%), Xiaomi-backed Shunwei Capital (4.425%), CITIC Securities (4.49%), Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance, which hold stakes of 0.673%, 0.596%, and 0.596% respectively. Beijing Robot Industry Development Investment Fund holds 3.83%, Shenzhen Venture Capital-related entities hold around 2.55%, and China Internet Investment Fund holds 2.11%. Unitree posted 1.699 billion yuan in revenue and 591 million yuan in non-recurring net profit for 2025.
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Unitree Robotics' estimated profit per successful IPO subscription is nearly 200,000 yuan, with IPO subscription opening on August 10.
On Trade.xyz, Unitree’s pre-IPO perpetual contract is quoted at $68.2, equivalent to approximately 460 yuan. This translates to a post-listing market cap of around $27.9 billion, or roughly 190.6 billion yuan. Based on the IPO prospectus, the target offering valuation is about 42 billion yuan, which is expected to deliver a 4.5x return for new investors after the stock opens for trading. Unitree plans to issue approximately 40.45 million shares for its Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market IPO, accounting for 10% of the total share capital post-issuance. The IPO prospectus sets a target offering valuation of 42 billion yuan; the 40.45 million shares correspond to an offering market cap of 4.2 billion yuan, with an estimated share price of around 104 yuan (the final price will be determined via bookbuilding and may be adjusted). Each lot consists of 500 shares, with an estimated subscription payment of about 52,000 yuan per successful lot. Calculated based on Trade.xyz’s pricing, the opening would yield a 4.5x return, meaning each 500-share lot is worth 234,000 yuan, translating to a profit of approximately 182,000 yuan after deducting subscription payments.
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MicroStrategy officially announced its ambition: aiming to become the world's most valuable company, with Michael Saylor urging "Think ₿igger"
Strategy has released a video titled "Strategy's Ambition is to be the World's Largest Company In terms of market cap", stating its goal to become the world's largest company by market cap by holding the most capital (BTC), issuing the strongest credit (STRC), and creating the best equity (MSTR). Founder Michael Saylor remarked, "Think ?igger." Strategy plans to issue STRC to support its digital credit business, which will help generate higher-quality MSTR equity. This equity, in turn, will enhance the company’s ability to accumulate more BTC, forming a triple flywheel that continuously increases the number of BTC per share. Its core targets include achieving a 30% BTC annualized rate of return (ARR), selling digital credit equivalent to 10-20% of its BTC reserves annually, and doubling its Bitcoin Per Share (BPS) metric within 7 years through its digital credit operations.
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Strategy has expressed its ambition to become the world's largest company by market capitalization.
Strategy has released a video titled "Strategy's Ambition is to be the World's Largest Company In Terms of Market Cap", outlining its goal to become the world’s largest firm by market capitalization through three core pillars: holding the most capital (Bitcoin, BTC), issuing the strongest credit instrument (STRC), and creating the best equity (MSTR). Founder Michael Saylor emphasized: "Think ?igger." The company plans to issue STRC to back its digital credit business, which will help generate stronger MSTR equity—enhancing Strategy’s ability to accumulate more BTC and ultimately drive a continuous increase in the number of bitcoins per share.
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Coinbase Releases Q2 Solana Validator Performance Report: Its APY outperformed the overall network by 14 basis points, and its block skip rate was only one-quarter of the network average.
Coinbase released its Q2 2026 Solana Validator Performance Report, disclosing key metrics for its Solana staking operations. As of the end of Q2, Coinbase staked a total of 41.63 million SOL across 23 validators in 7 countries, accounting for 9.72% of the network’s total staked SOL. In terms of yield performance, Coinbase’s validators posted an annualized yield of 6.52%, outperforming the network average of 6.38% by roughly 14 basis points. Its reliability metrics were even more impressive: the block skip rate stood at just 0.035%, approximately a quarter of the network average of 0.136%, meaning it missed around 75% fewer blocks than the average validator. Coinbase attributed this strong performance to its use of only Solana Foundation-audited client software and its avoidance of aggressive MEV timing strategies that harm end users. On the infrastructure and security front, Coinbase disclosed several technical details: its client strategy covers four options—Harmonic, Jito, JitoBAM, and Firedancer—all 100% audited by the Solana Foundation; for security, it has deployed a dual-signature protection mechanism and near-zero downtime deployment protocols. Looking ahead, the entire validator cluster has been integrated into the DoubleZero network, with a session uptime of approximately 99.9%, and is prepared for the Alpenglow mainnet upgrade in the second half of the year.
8 minutes ago
Coinbase will suspend trading of six trading pairs, including LSETH-ETH and MINA-EUR.
Coinbase has announced it will suspend trading for six non-U.S. dollar trading pairs on August 6. The affected pairs are LSETH-ETH, MINA-EUR, GRT-GBP, MASK-GBP, CHZ-USDT, and CRO-USDT. The platform stated that the suspension only impacts these non-USD denominated trading pairs, adding that eligible Coinbase Advanced Trade users in supported regions can still trade these assets via USD order books.
The Ethereum Foundation has awarded funding through its Trillion Dollar Security (1TS) initiative to the Freedom of the Press Foundation to expand development of WEBCAT, an open-source front-end verification tool designed to protect users from compromised websites.
According to a Wednesday statement, the grant will support bringing the technology directly into Ethereum wallets and decentralized applications, allowing wallets to verify that an application’s code matches a developer-signed version.
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The foundation said the project addresses a major security weakness affecting browser-based applications. Although HTTPS secures website connections, it cannot detect whether malicious code has been injected into a site’s front end.
Such attacks can alter transaction details, replace recipient addresses, or manipulate what users are asked to sign. According to the foundation, WEBCAT prevents this by validating website code against signed release manifests and blocking pages that fail verification.
The grant also covers research into compatibility with Chromium-based browsers, assistance for developers implementing the technology, an independent security review, and development of a new Ethereum Request for Comments (ERC) standard for wallet integrations.
The foundation said WEBCAT complements its ongoing Clear Signing work by combining transaction transparency with front-end code verification.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
A group of Ethereum researchers has put forward a draft proposal designed to reshape the network’s staking economics by progressively destroying a share of the rewards paid to validators. Known as the Tapered Issuance Burn and provisionally designated EIP-8361, the idea aims to remove the incentive for ever-higher levels of staking once roughly half of all ether is locked in the consensus layer.
Under the current system, validators continue to receive a positive yield from new ether issuance no matter how large the total staked amount becomes.
Even if every available ETH were committed to staking, a residual return of around 1.5 percent would still exist.
Researchers argue that this permanent floor encourages continuous growth in staked assets, concentrating control among large custodians, exchanges and liquid-staking providers while gradually squeezing out independent operators.
They warn that such concentration weakens the social accountability that helps keep major participants honest and reduces the overall resilience of the network.
The proposed remedy is straightforward in concept yet carefully engineered.
After the protocol calculates the usual rewards for duties such as attestations, block proposals and sync-committee participation, it would deduct a rising fraction of those idealized rewards and permanently remove the deducted ether from circulation.
The fraction burned increases with the total amount of ether staked, following a mathematical curve that reaches 100 percent once the active stake hits a saturation balance of approximately 60.25 million ETH.
At that point—roughly 50 percent of the present circulating supply—net consensus-layer issuance for properly performing validators falls to zero.
Validators would still earn transaction priority fees and maximal extractable value, but the inflationary component of their income would disappear.
The 50 percent threshold is presented not as a rigid target but as a ceiling on the issuance incentive.
Beyond that level the protocol would no longer subsidize additional staking, allowing market forces—liquidity preferences, operational costs, slashing risk and regulatory considerations—to determine the equilibrium staking ratio.
Modelling by the authors indicates that issuance would peak near 0.5 percent of total supply per year when staking sits around 20 percent, then decline steadily toward zero as the saturation point approaches.
To avoid an abrupt shock, the change would be phased in over an 18-month transition period.
During this window a temporary increase in the base reward factor would keep initial yields close to current levels, giving participants time to adjust.
Once the transition ends, the full burn schedule would apply.
Supporters contend that the mechanism would strengthen ether’s long-term scarcity, reduce dilution of existing holders and preserve a healthier balance between institutional and individual participation.
Critics, however, have already voiced concerns that lower yields could disrupt liquid-staking tokens, DeFi protocols and smaller validators, potentially accelerating rather than slowing concentration in the short term.
The draft, co-authored by researchers including Justin Drake of the Ethereum Foundation, pintail, Jérôme de Tychey, dapplion, pa7x1 and Ladislaus von Daniels, remains under community review.
It arrives only days before the inclusion deadline for the next major network upgrade, leaving limited time for consensus to form. Whether the proposal ultimately advances will depend on further technical scrutiny and broader stakeholder discussion across the Ethereum ecosystem.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) is preparing to restructure the share structure of its flagship spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund through a one-for-three reverse share split. The adjustment, approved by the fund’s sponsor, is scheduled to take effect in early October and aims to recalibrate the product’s trading dynamics without altering investors’ overall economic exposure.
The iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, which trades under the ticker ETHA, will consolidate every three existing shares into a single share.
The record date is set for October 5, with the split becoming effective at the open of trading on Nasdaq on October 6.
As a result, the fund’s net asset value per share is expected to roughly triple, while the total value of any investor’s holdings and the overall assets of the trust remain unchanged.
Fractional shares will not be distributed; any remainders will be redeemed for cash deposited into shareholders’ brokerage accounts, a process that could have tax implications depending on individual circumstances.
At the time of the announcement, ETHA shares were changing hands near $14, reflecting a decline of roughly 40 percent year-to-date that has tracked the performance of ether itself.
The reverse split is projected to lift the per-share price into the low-to-mid $40 range, all else equal.
Market observers note that a higher share price can help compress the relative size of the bid-ask spread.
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas observed that the change should reduce the cost to trade from around seven basis points to roughly two basis points, describing the current spread as a friction that issuers typically seek to minimize.
BlackRock did not provide an explicit rationale in its regulatory filing.
Industry participants view the move as a routine administrative step designed to improve secondary-market liquidity and trading efficiency rather than a signal about the underlying asset.
Similar reverse splits have been employed by other crypto-related products in the past when share prices drifted lower.
ETHA remains the largest spot ether ETF by a significant margin, with assets under management exceeding $5 billion.
The fund launched in mid-2024 as a non-staking product that seeks to track the price of ether.
BlackRock has since expanded its digital-asset lineup, including a staked version of an ether trust that began trading earlier in 2026. Grayscale’s competing ether fund ranks second in size within the category.
For existing holders, the process is largely automatic. Brokerages and the Depository Trust Company will adjust positions on shareholders’ behalf.
The total market value of an investor’s stake will stay the same immediately after the split, though the number of shares owned will decrease proportionally.
The trust’s aggregate holdings of ether and its overall net assets will be unaffected.Reverse share splits are a standard tool in the ETF industry when share prices fall to levels that make percentage spreads relatively wide.
By raising the unit price, issuers often achieve tighter spreads and lower effective trading costs for both retail and institutional participants.
In this case, the adjustment arrives amid a challenging year for ether prices, yet the product continues to command substantial scale relative to peers.
Investors should note that the corporate action does not change the fund’s investment objective, fee structure, or exposure to the performance of ether.
Those with questions about tax treatment of any fractional-share cash settlements are advised to consult their tax advisors. The split is expected to be reflected in trading beginning October 6, after which ETHA shares will trade on a post-split basis under the same ticker.
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Ethereum (ETH) is trading around $1800 as of August 5th. The price is stuck below a descending trendline, adding a new variable to the market outlook alongside the ongoing discussions surrounding EIP-8361. Ethereum remains below the $1900 level, facing resistance between $1887 and $1918. A break above this resistance could bring the price closer to the psychological $2000 level.
Technical Analysis and Price Movements Ethereum’s daily chart shows the price trading below the 20-day simple moving average (SMA) at $1,887.53. The 100-day SMA forms another resistance at $1,918.22, while the 200-day SMA is at a higher level at $2,074.86.
This configuration leaves Ethereum below three of the four major moving averages. However, the price is still above the 50-day SMA at $1,788.07, continuing the recovery that began after the drop around $1,500 in June.
The 4-hour chart shows Ethereum approaching the breakout zone between $1,875 and $1,885. A close above these levels could create an opportunity for buyers to retest the $1,900 level. However, momentum remains weak, and a clear uptrend has not yet formed.
EIP-8361 and Its Impact on the Market EIP-8361, a draft proposal discussed among Ethereum developers, aims to reduce consensus layer issuances as the staked ETH rate increases. This proposal envisions burning an increasingly larger portion of validator rewards. It suggests burning all newly issued consensus rewards once a 50% staking rate is reached. However, this proposal has not yet been approved, and differing opinions exist within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Analyst Michaël van de Poppe stated that the $1,800 level is a critical support and that a break above $2,000 could make the $2,300 and $2,500 levels accessible. However, Ethereum’s ability to regain the $2,000 level seems to depend more on market demand and institutional flows than on EIP-8361.
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Large cryptocurrency holders are accumulating Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) as valuations approach levels associated with the final stage of a bear market, according to CryptoQuant.
Rising whale balances during price weakness can reduce available supply and concentrate ownership among larger holders, the blockchain analytics company said in its latest Smart Money report seen by Cointelegraph.
Bitcoin whale holdings, excluding exchanges and mining pools, rose to about 3.06 million BTC from 2.87 million BTC in December 2025, with accumulation accelerating after Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 in June.
Source: CryptoQuant
Ethereum wallets holding 10,000 to 100,000 ETH collectively held a record 19.6 million ETH, while wallets holding more than 100,000 ETH added roughly 1.8 million ETH since mid-2025.
In XRP markets, average spot order sizes remained in CryptoQuant’s “big whale” category as the token traded between $1 and $1.20. However, neutral 90-day taker cumulative volume delta suggested passive absorption rather than aggressive buying, the report said.
Valuations point to late-stage bear marketCryptoQuant also pointed to realized price, an estimate of the market’s average onchain cost basis, as evidence that the market may be approaching a bottom.
Bitcoin traded at $63,935 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko, above its realized price of $52,900. Ether traded at $1,858, below its realized price of about $2,450. XRP traded at roughly $1.10 compared with a realized price of about $0.75.
“Rising whale balances into price weakness is the clearest smart-money tell,” CryptoQuant said, adding that the accumulation pattern has historically preceded market bottoms while cautioning that the market remains exposed to further downside.
CryptoQuant’s analysis comes as other researchers have also identified potential bottoming indicators.
On Monday, 10x Research said Bitcoin could confirm a bear-market bottom with a monthly close above $63,000. K33 said in a July 7 report that Bitcoin has historically reached cycle lows within weeks after more than half of its circulating supply was held at a loss.
Magazine: Do the Coldcard attacks mean all hardware wallets are now insecure?
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.
Six Ethereum researchers, including Justin Drake, want to burn validator rewards as more ETH gets staked Net issuance would fall to zero once staked ETH reaches roughly half the supply Applied at today’s staking level, the change would cut annual yields by more than half Solo stakers and DeFi founders warn it could push validator control toward large operators Six Ethereum researchers submitted a draft on August 4 that would gradually burn the rewards paid to validators, aiming to stop the network’s staking ratio from climbing past roughly half of all circulating ETH. The proposal is numbered EIP-8361 and named Tapered Issuance Burn, and it lists Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake among its six authors. It was submitted close to a proposal deadline for the next scheduled upgrade, and that proximity fed a sense among some developers that a change this large was being pushed through too fast.
How the burn scales with the amount of staked ETH Ethereum pays validators new ETH for securing the chain, and that reward already shrinks slowly as more validators join. EIP-8361 adds a second mechanism on top. As the staked share rises, the protocol would deduct and destroy a growing slice of each validator’s consensus reward every epoch, starting small and increasing in a straight line with the ratio. The bite reaches validators long before any ceiling comes into view. About 33% of all ETH sits staked today, close to 40 million coins, and running the formula at that level pulls the annual yield from around 2.6% down to roughly 1.1%. Half the base yield gone on day one, before the ratio moves at all.
Staking ratio Staked ETH What the burn does Net issuance to validators ~20% ~24M small deduction peaks near 0.5% of supply/yr ~33% (today) ~40M ~55% of the reward yield ~1.1% (from ~2.6%) ~50% (the cap) ~60.25M 100% zero issuance Issuance peaks near 20% staked, then the rising burn pulls net yield toward zero as staking approaches the cap.
Only half a validator’s income is in the firing line The burn reaches one part of a validator’s pay and leaves the rest alone. Consensus-layer rewards, the ETH earned for attestations and for proposing blocks, are what get taxed away and destroyed. Anything earned on the execution layer flows through in full, no matter where the staking ratio sits. The point the authors keep returning to is Ethereum’s issuance curve, which pays a yield of around 1.5% even in a world where every last coin is staked. That floor never switches off, and they treat it as a standing invitation to keep piling ETH into whatever makes staking easiest, from large exchanges and spot ETFs to liquid staking providers like Lido. Concentration there hands a shrinking set of operators outsized sway over how the chain gets validated.
🔥 Burned (consensus layer)
Attestation rewards
Block proposal rewards
✅ Kept in full (execution layer)
Priority fees and transaction tips
MEV earnings
Where the objections are landing Mike Silagadze, chief executive of Ether.Fi, argues that trimming base rewards hits the smallest validators hardest. A home staker running one node leans on that consensus reward, while a large institutional operator carries lower per-validator costs and pulls revenue from other services, so a blunt cut could speed up the exact consolidation the proposal claims to fight. Aave founder Stani Kulechov raised a different problem. Staking yields prop up a stack of DeFi activity built on liquid staking tokens, and Kulechov warned that collapsing the yield would drain institutional appetite for ETH and could flip some looped strategies from profitable into loss-making. Then there is the timing. The draft appeared just before an August 6 deadline for proposing EIPs for the Hegotá upgrade, and several core developers called the window far too short for a change of this weight. That deadline is only for putting proposals forward rather than approving them, and no request to add EIP-8361 to Hegotá had actually been opened, so part of the “rushed” objection rests on how the deadline was read.
Ethereum should not focus on gaming staking issuance and cutting staking rewards. That is not the problem Ethereum needs to solve.
Ethereum is still an unfinished product when it comes to serving the financial system. At the protocol level, the priorities are privacy,…
— Stani (@StaniKulechov) August 5, 2026
What has to happen before any ETH gets burned EIP-8361 sits at Draft stage, the earliest point in the process. The authors say a working version already runs in the Prysm consensus client, but no client team has committed to shipping it, and given the pushback and the deadline it brushed against, the draft looks likely to miss the Hegotá cycle while reviewers work through it. A version that did clear review would still arrive slowly. The authors pair an estimated six-month lead time before a fork with an eighteen-month window to phase the reductions in, so nothing in the current draft touches validator rewards this year.
Ethereum price holds its July range while the debate runs ETH/USDT, 4-hour chart. Analysis by Alexander Stefanov / @alexandertradenews. Ethereum is trading around $1,875 on the 4-hour chart, holding just above the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement at $1,870.68. That level comes from the recovery leg that began at the July bottom near $1,512 and topped out at $1,981, and price has spent three weeks working the upper portion of that move rather than giving much back. The $1,981 high has turned buyers away three times, on the mid-July spike, at a lower high around July 22, and again into the final week of the month, which leaves a fairly clear ceiling overhead.
Underneath, the 0.382 retracement at $1,802 marks the floor of the consolidation, and price has not closed back below it since reclaiming it in mid-July. What stands out is where buyers keep defending, closer to $1,840 than to that floor, so demand is stepping in earlier than it strictly needs to. RSI reads 52 against its 48 signal line, and there was no bearish divergence at the highs, so the rejections up there look like supply at an obvious level rather than fading strength.
The setup is a defined range with $1,870 acting as the magnet in the middle. A sustained close above $1,981 opens room toward the prior highs. A loss of the $1,840 shelf followed by a break beneath $1,802 flips the structure and puts the lower half of the retracement back in play. Between those two lines, continued chop is the base case until the market picks a side.
The number the community now has to argue over Price action will not decide EIP-8361. Researchers have pitched capping or lowering issuance in earlier rounds, and each attempt stalled on the same tension between paying enough to keep the chain secure and paying so much that stake concentrates in a few large operators. What differs this time is the specificity. EIP-8361 attaches a hard figure, roughly 60.25 million ETH, to the point where the reward switches off, and that number gives the debate a concrete line to defend or attack whatever becomes of this particular draft.
5 August 2026 | 18:09 Ethereum has spent six sessions testing resistance near $1,870. With futures leverage still elevated, a break above $1,920 or below $1,850 could trigger a sharper move.
Key Takeaways ETH has tested $1,870 for six straight sessions. Losing $1,850 would expose support near $1,780. Funding shows no strong premium on either side. Elevated leverage increases liquidation risk after a break. Ethereum traded near $1,870 on August 5, next to the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement.
Ethereum Still Has Not Closed Above $1,870 Price has moved above the Fibonacci level during individual sessions, but those attempts have not established support above it. A daily close followed by a successful retest would provide stronger evidence that buyers can defend the breakout.
Ethereum daily price chart – Source: TradingViw Until then, $1,850 remains the first important support. The level has repeatedly stopped declines during the past two weeks and now forms the lower boundary of the range.
The 100-Day SMA Remains the Key Confirmation Clearing $1,870 would leave another barrier immediately above. Ethereum’s 100-day simple moving average stood near $1,920, less than 3% above the current price.
A simple moving average tracks the average closing price over a specified period. Traders often use the 100-day SMA to assess whether the intermediate trend is improving or weakening.
A close above the average followed by a successful retest would strengthen Ethereum’s short-term structure and bring the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement near $1,990 into focus. That area rejected ETH on July 27 after price approached $1,980.
Funding Is Neutral, but Futures Leverage Remains High A recent CryptoQuant analysis showed Binance’s ETH funding rate close to zero.
Funding rates are periodic payments exchanged between long and short traders in perpetual futures markets. Positive funding means long positions pay shorts, while negative funding reverses the payment.
A reading near zero shows that neither side is paying a substantial premium to keep positions open. It does not reveal the exact distribution of long and short exposure or whether spot-market buying is supporting the price.
Leverage nevertheless remains elevated. Binance’s ETH Estimated Leverage Ratio stood near 0.65 in the CryptoQuant chart.
The metric compares derivatives open interest with the amount of ETH held in the exchange’s reserves. A higher ratio indicates more futures exposure relative to those reserves, increasing the market’s sensitivity to liquidations when price moves quickly.
Leverage Could Amplify the Range Break The elevated ratio points to greater liquidation risk once ETH moves beyond the current range.
A daily close above $1,920 could pressure short positions and add buying as traders close bearish exposure. That would strengthen the possibility of a move toward resistance near $1,990.
A rejection followed by a loss of $1,850 would instead put leveraged long positions under pressure. The next support would sit near the 50-day SMA at $1,790, followed by the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement around $1,730.
Funding provides no strong directional signal, leaving both sides exposed if the range breaks decisively.
Falling Volume Raises the Bar for Confirmation Recent daily candles have narrowed, while trading volume has declined from the levels seen during the June sell-off and the first stage of the rebound.
The daily RSI stood near 52, placing momentum close to the middle of its range rather than showing a strong overbought or oversold condition.
A breakout can still develop on lower volume, but a daily close accompanied by stronger activity would carry more weight than another temporary move above $1,870.
Ethereum Remains Between $1,850 and $1,920 A close above the 100-day SMA followed by a successful retest would bring $1,990 back into focus. A loss of $1,850 would instead expose the 50-day SMA near $1,790 and increase the risk of a deeper pullback toward $1,730.
Until one of those boundaries breaks, ETH remains in consolidation. Funding offers no strong directional bias, but elevated leverage could make the next confirmed move sharper than the recent price action.
Methodology: This analysis is based on the ETH/USD daily chart dated August 5, 2026. Fibonacci retracement levels, moving averages, volume and RSI readings were taken from the chart and rounded where appropriate. Funding-rate and Estimated Leverage Ratio data are based on the cited CryptoQuant analysis and Binance derivatives metrics. Technical levels may vary slightly between exchanges and data providers. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Technical analysis describes possible market scenarios rather than guaranteed outcomes. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile, and readers should verify current market data and conduct their own research before making financial decisions. Author
Alexander Zdravkov is a market analyst and crypto journalist with interests in economics, broader financial markets and digital assets. His journey into crypto began more than four years ago, driven by a fascination with the rapid evolution of blockchain technology and the transformative potential of decentralized finance. He began analyzing market cycles and identifying emerging trends before they reach the mainstream. He holds a degree in International Relations - a background that helped shape his broader perspective on global economics, geopolitics, and the interconnected nature of modern financial markets. Whether covering the latest developments in the crypto sector or exploring broader macroeconomic themes, Alexander focuses on giving readers context rather than simply repeating headlines. During his career, he has authored more than 5,000 articles covering cryptocurrencies, traditional finance, and global market developments. His work spans everything from Bitcoin and altcoins to macroeconomic trends influencing risk assets worldwide.
Ethereum (ETH) price is up by 0.88% today, August 5, to trade at $1,876 at the time of writing. These slight gains come as several Ethereum developers submit an EIP proposal seeking to abolish validator rewards if the total amount of staked ETH exceeds 50% of the coin’s supply. The proposal has now attracted backlash from some community members who are questioning the priorities of the team behind the proposal.
Ethereum EIP-8361 Proposal Attracts Community Backlash An earlier report by CoinGape revealed that several Ethereum developers tabled a proposal that will gradually reduce the amount of rewards that validators receive.
The proposal says that once 50% of the entire Ethereum supply is staked, validators will no longer receive rewards, with Jerome de Tychey, one of the developers who submitted the proposal, saying that this will remove congestion from the staking entry queue.
However, the founder of Aave, Stani Kulechov, has bashed the proposal, saying that it is “hurtful for Ethereum” and it could make ETH less attractive to institutional buyers who prefer to hold ETH over other assets because of staking rewards.
“This just makes ETH less viable as an asset and restricts its potential. I hope this proposal doesn’t move fwd, otherwise we see lot of people moving their interest in other networks,” Kulechov said.
The CEO of EtherFi, Mike Silagadze, also opined that the reasoning behind this proposal does not make any sense because it could kill the DeFi ecosystem on Ethereum that relies on staking and reduce decentralization on the blockchain.
Ethereum Price Prediction as Bulls Defend 50-day SMA Support The price of Ethereum is trading above the 50-day SMA of $1,852. This move suggests that the short term outlook on ETH is bullish.
But ETH has yet to close above resistance at this 50-day SMA. It needs to close above this 50-day SMA for three straight days to suggest that the uptrend will continue.
If Ethereum defends this support at $1,852, it will need to move above the 100-day SMA of $1,925 and the 200-day SMA of $2,155 to confirm that the long-term Ethereum price prediction is bullish.
ETH/USDT: 1-day Chart The RSI reading of 52 suggests that the momentum is neutral, with neither bears nor bulls having the upper hand. The short volume histogram bars also suggest that both buy-side and sell-side volumes are weak, and this is forcing ETH to trade in a narrow range between $1,800 and $1,900.
ETH ETF Inflows Resume on Easing Geopolitical Tensions Data from SoSoValue shows that Ethereum ETFs had $53 million in inflows on August 4. This was the highest inflows posted by this ETF since July 22.
ETH ETF Inflows The rising inflows come as President Trump reveals that the US and Iran are making very good progress in their talks to negotiate an end to the war.
The easing tensions have also boosted gains across the broader crypto market, with Bitcoin price holding $64,000 while the total crypto market cap is up by 0.50% to $2.2 trillion.
Lido DAO [LDO] declined 16.31% over the past 24 hours at press time, after Ethereum’s [ETH] proposed EIP-8361 revived concerns over the future of liquid staking. The proposal aimed to reduce staking yields from around 2.6% to 1.2% as network staking participation increased.
That shift threatened the appeal of liquid staking products such as stETH, prompting investors to reassess Lido’s long-term growth outlook. Trading activity reflected the reaction, with 24-hour volume surging by more than 230% as participants rapidly adjusted their positions.
Although the proposal had not reached implementation, the market priced in its potential impact on Lido’s total value locked and protocol revenue. As a result, the token faced aggressive selling pressure while uncertainty surrounding Ethereum’s staking economics continued to dominate sentiment.
Exchange inflows returns despite LDO selloff On-chain data revealed a positive spot netflow of approximately $214.13K, indicating that more LDO moved onto exchanges than left them. Exchange inflows often accompany periods when holders prepare tokens for potential selling, making the latest reading consistent with the broader decline.
Unlike previous sessions that reflected stronger withdrawal activity, the latest shift pointed toward increasing exchange availability during heightened volatility. Trading volume also climbed sharply, reinforcing the idea that market participants actively repositioned rather than remaining on the sidelines.
However, the inflow remained relatively modest compared with the spike in trading activity, suggesting that exchange deposits alone did not account for the full extent of the decline. Even so, the change reflected a cautious market that responded directly to Ethereum’s proposed staking overhaul.
Source: CoinGlass Leverage builds as traders increase exposure Derivatives activity strengthened despite LDO’s sharp correction, with Open Interest (OI) rising 14.26% to approximately $67.18 million as of writing. The increase showed that traders continued opening fresh leveraged positions instead of reducing market exposure after the selloff.
Rising OI during a falling market often reflects growing participation rather than conviction in one direction because both bullish and bearish positions can expand simultaneously.
In LDO’s case, the higher derivatives exposure suggests that traders expected volatility to remain elevated following the proposal’s release. The divergence between weakening spot performance and expanding futures participation highlighted growing speculative interest around the token.
If additional leverage continues entering the market without a corresponding recovery in spot demand, price swings would likely remain elevated over the coming sessions.
Source: CoinGlass Can LDO bulls reclaim control? LDO rebounded after testing the $0.2757 support level, with buyers responding inside a clearly defined fair value gap extending toward the $0.3000 resistance zone. The recovery interrupted the sharp decline, although the price remained beneath the broken $0.3596 resistance, leaving the broader structure under pressure.
Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index fell to 36.90 at the time of writing, placing it close to oversold territory after dropping well below its moving average near 53.51. The indicator suggested that selling pressure had intensified before buyers stepped in around support.
Even though the rebound improved short-term conditions, RSI had not yet confirmed a bullish reversal. If buyers reclaim the Fair Value Gap (FVG) and close above $0.3000, recovery could extend toward $0.3596. Failure to defend $0.2757 would likely expose $0.2385 as the next major support.
Source: TradingView Final Summary LDO found support, but exchange inflows and weak RSI kept recovery prospects uncertain. Rising Open Interest showed traders increased exposure even as bearish pressure persisted.
A new proposal sparking debate within the Ethereum community foresees a significant reduction in staking rewards. Under Ethereum Improvement Proposal 8361 (EIP-8361), the plan is to reduce validator yields from 2.6% to 1.2%. This represents a reduction of approximately 54% and will be implemented gradually over 18 months. The aim of the proposal is to reduce the supply by burning a portion of validator rewards as the total amount of ETH staked increases.
Impacts on DeFi This proposal would require repricing Ethereum’s liquid staking, leveraged cycles, and lending markets, all built on staking yield. If WETH borrowing costs remain high, these cycles could unravel, making leveraged ETH borrowing unprofitable. Aave founder Stani Kulechov noted that such a cut could weaken institutional ETH demand and solo staking. Mike Silagadze of Ether.fi argued that the proposal threatens staking-related DeFi and confidence in Ethereum’s ability to set its own monetary policy.
The Future of Staking Cycles The proposal could impact cycles where users stake more ETH by using liquid staking tokens as collateral and borrowing WETH. With today’s 2.6% yield and a WETH borrowing rate of around 1.5%, the unleveraged spread is positive at 1.1%. However, this spread becomes negative when the yield drops to 1.2%, making it costly for users when leverage is applied. Kulechov noted that this could reduce demand for ETH borrowing and lead to lower lending rates on platforms like Aave, Morpho, and Spark.
DeFi Protocols and Staking Returns Silagadze predicts that yields on liquid staking tokens, such as Lido’s stETH and Rocket Pool’s rETH, will also decline. Restaking tokens may have to rely more heavily on incentive and point programs to maintain their advantages. Platforms like Pendle may repricing ETH yields by trading them directly. Automated ETH vaults may have to reduce their leverage or take on more risk to defend their strategies. Solo stakers will face lower rewards with fixed operating costs.
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Unitree Robotics' online IPO new share subscription has an allotment rate of only 0.03%; holding over 16 million yuan in relevant positions is roughly required to secure one lot.
Estimated in line with Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) STAR Market conventions, the online subscription winning rate for Unitree Technology’s August 10 initial public offering (IPO) is likely around 0.03%, roughly one-tenth of the rate for previously hot stock Changxin Technology, which had a 0.47% winning rate. Of the approximately 40.4464 million shares planned for public offering, only about 6.47 million will be allocated to the initial online subscription tranche. Per the rule that one subscription lot is assigned for every RMB 5,000 in SSE market value, investors holding over RMB 16 million in SSE positions would roughly need that amount to secure one winning lot. Unitree founder Wang Xingxing holds a 31.29% stake. External shareholders include Meituan-affiliated entities (9.65%), Sequoia China (7.11%), Matrix Partners China (5.45%), Xiaomi-backed Shunwei Capital (4.425%), CITIC Securities (4.49%), Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance, which hold stakes of 0.673%, 0.596%, and 0.596% respectively. Beijing Robot Industry Development Investment Fund holds 3.83%, Shenzhen Venture Capital-related entities hold around 2.55%, and China Internet Investment Fund holds 2.11%. Unitree posted 1.699 billion yuan in revenue and 591 million yuan in non-recurring net profit for 2025.
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Unitree Robotics' estimated profit per successful IPO subscription is nearly 200,000 yuan, with IPO subscription opening on August 10.
On Trade.xyz, Unitree’s pre-IPO perpetual contract is quoted at $68.2, equivalent to approximately 460 yuan. This translates to a post-listing market cap of around $27.9 billion, or roughly 190.6 billion yuan. Based on the IPO prospectus, the target offering valuation is about 42 billion yuan, which is expected to deliver a 4.5x return for new investors after the stock opens for trading. Unitree plans to issue approximately 40.45 million shares for its Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market IPO, accounting for 10% of the total share capital post-issuance. The IPO prospectus sets a target offering valuation of 42 billion yuan; the 40.45 million shares correspond to an offering market cap of 4.2 billion yuan, with an estimated share price of around 104 yuan (the final price will be determined via bookbuilding and may be adjusted). Each lot consists of 500 shares, with an estimated subscription payment of about 52,000 yuan per successful lot. Calculated based on Trade.xyz’s pricing, the opening would yield a 4.5x return, meaning each 500-share lot is worth 234,000 yuan, translating to a profit of approximately 182,000 yuan after deducting subscription payments.
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MicroStrategy officially announced its ambition: aiming to become the world's most valuable company, with Michael Saylor urging "Think ₿igger"
Strategy has released a video titled "Strategy's Ambition is to be the World's Largest Company In terms of market cap", stating its goal to become the world's largest company by market cap by holding the most capital (BTC), issuing the strongest credit (STRC), and creating the best equity (MSTR). Founder Michael Saylor remarked, "Think ?igger." Strategy plans to issue STRC to support its digital credit business, which will help generate higher-quality MSTR equity. This equity, in turn, will enhance the company’s ability to accumulate more BTC, forming a triple flywheel that continuously increases the number of BTC per share. Its core targets include achieving a 30% BTC annualized rate of return (ARR), selling digital credit equivalent to 10-20% of its BTC reserves annually, and doubling its Bitcoin Per Share (BPS) metric within 7 years through its digital credit operations.
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Strategy has expressed its ambition to become the world's largest company by market capitalization.
Strategy has released a video titled "Strategy's Ambition is to be the World's Largest Company In Terms of Market Cap", outlining its goal to become the world’s largest firm by market capitalization through three core pillars: holding the most capital (Bitcoin, BTC), issuing the strongest credit instrument (STRC), and creating the best equity (MSTR). Founder Michael Saylor emphasized: "Think ?igger." The company plans to issue STRC to back its digital credit business, which will help generate stronger MSTR equity—enhancing Strategy’s ability to accumulate more BTC and ultimately drive a continuous increase in the number of bitcoins per share.
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Coinbase Releases Q2 Solana Validator Performance Report: Its APY outperformed the overall network by 14 basis points, and its block skip rate was only one-quarter of the network average.
Coinbase released its Q2 2026 Solana Validator Performance Report, disclosing key metrics for its Solana staking operations. As of the end of Q2, Coinbase staked a total of 41.63 million SOL across 23 validators in 7 countries, accounting for 9.72% of the network’s total staked SOL. In terms of yield performance, Coinbase’s validators posted an annualized yield of 6.52%, outperforming the network average of 6.38% by roughly 14 basis points. Its reliability metrics were even more impressive: the block skip rate stood at just 0.035%, approximately a quarter of the network average of 0.136%, meaning it missed around 75% fewer blocks than the average validator. Coinbase attributed this strong performance to its use of only Solana Foundation-audited client software and its avoidance of aggressive MEV timing strategies that harm end users. On the infrastructure and security front, Coinbase disclosed several technical details: its client strategy covers four options—Harmonic, Jito, JitoBAM, and Firedancer—all 100% audited by the Solana Foundation; for security, it has deployed a dual-signature protection mechanism and near-zero downtime deployment protocols. Looking ahead, the entire validator cluster has been integrated into the DoubleZero network, with a session uptime of approximately 99.9%, and is prepared for the Alpenglow mainnet upgrade in the second half of the year.
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Coinbase will suspend trading of six trading pairs, including LSETH-ETH and MINA-EUR.
Coinbase has announced it will suspend trading for six non-U.S. dollar trading pairs on August 6. The affected pairs are LSETH-ETH, MINA-EUR, GRT-GBP, MASK-GBP, CHZ-USDT, and CRO-USDT. The platform stated that the suspension only impacts these non-USD denominated trading pairs, adding that eligible Coinbase Advanced Trade users in supported regions can still trade these assets via USD order books.
Some builders fear lower staking rewards could weaken DeFi activity by making staking-based strategies less attractive.
A group of Ethereum contributors has proposed EIP-8361 as a way to reduce staking incentives to ensure that no more than 50% of the supply is locked up by validators.
That proposal has triggered a heated debate over whether Ethereum should prioritize lower issuance or maintain staking incentives for network participation and DeFi activity.
EIP-8361 Targets Rising Staking Levels On August 4, Ethereum developer Jerome de Tychey announced the submission of EIP-8361, titled “Tapered Issuance Burn,” alongside contributors including Pintail, Dapplion, Pa7x1, Ladislaus0x, and Justin Drake.
In a series of posts on X, de Tychey argued that Ethereum’s current staking model has no point where incentives naturally slow down. He also noted that the staking ratio passed one-third of the ETH supply in April 2026 and continues to rise.
“The incentive to stake never switches off. Where does it stop? It doesn’t,” he wrote.
According to him, the current reward curve could lead to more than 70 million ETH being staked by January 2028, representing more than 55% of supply. He said the validator entry queue is already operating at maximum churn, adding around 1.75 million ETH per month under current conditions.
The proposal would change the situation by burning part of validator rewards as staking participation rises. The burn rate would gradually increase until it reaches 100% when around half of the ETH supply is staked. Under the proposal, staking yield would eventually fall to zero at a 50% staking ratio.
According to de Tychey, the goal is to eliminate the “artificial yield floor” and let the market decide on staking rewards depending on risk. In his view, staking that is too high may lead to security issues since it will push smaller validators out while concentrating ETH among large custodians and staking providers.
You may also like: Base Passes Solana in Curated Capital Milestone (Flash News) XRP Gains Access to Institutional DeFi Lending Through FXRP on Ethereum Bitmine Buys Another 10,399 ETH, Treasury Nears 5.8 Million Coins The proposal would not change validator duties or execution-layer income. De Tychey said the change requires only one new permanent constant and a consensus-layer adjustment, with Prysm already having a draft implementation of around 300 lines of code.
Community Reacts The reaction from Ethereum users and builders has been divided. Lawyer Gabriel Shapiro criticized the proposal, calling it ‘a huge distraction” from efforts that could increase demand for ETH.
Aave founder Stani Kulechov stated that rather than decreasing staking rewards, Ethereum should concentrate on privacy, scaling, security, stablecoins, decentralized finance, and real-world assets. Ether.fi’s Mike Silagadze, on his part, opposed the proposal on the basis that lowering rewards could hurt solo stakers and reduce activity across DeFi applications that rely on staking-based strategies.
A CryptoQuant report from July pointed to record staking levels, with around 40 million ETH locked by validators. The firm noted that long-term holders were continuing to stake ETH even as market sentiment remained weak.
Supporters of EIP-8361 argue that reducing issuance could protect ETH holders from dilution and prevent liquid tokens from becoming the dominant form of ETH exposure. One of them, MilliΞ wrote that if everyone stakes, the effective yield approaches zero because everyone owns the same share of supply.
A section of DeFi players across the Ethereum [ETH] ecosystem has opposed the recent inflation proposal. The new proposal aims to remove staking rewards if staked ETH surpasses half of its overall circulating supply.
According to researcher Justin Drake and the team, the proposal (EIP-8361) would help solo stakers and make ETH a store of value by making it deflationary. However, Stani Kulechov, CEO of Aave, a top lending protocol, rejected the inflation plan.
DeFi leaders oppose ETH’s staking rewards cap For Kulechov, the proposal would derail institutional adoption and affect the solo stakers with “unpredictable yield.” Additionally, it would hurt DeFi borrowing strategies.
Could be good for DeFi but not for ETH in DeFi. This just makes ETH less viable as an asset and restricts its potential. I hope this proposal doesn’t move forward; otherwise, we see lot of people moving their interest in other networks
Source: X Similarly, Mike Sligadze, CEO of EtherFi, echoed the same concerns and wondered how the negligible inflation cut will boost ETH value at the expense of the DeFi ecosystem.
Seven of the top 10 DeFi protocols will face a capital exodus. Why? Is the idea that a 0.8% reduction in issuance is somehow going to help ETH price? People who stake ETH don’t sell it.
For Fidelity’s Director of Research, Lorenzo Valente, Aave, Morpho, Pendle, Ethena and more that depend on ETH credit markets would be affected.
Besides, Sligadze disputed the claims about liquid staking tokens (LST) eating ETH value. According to him, LSTs act as intermediates to about a quarter of staked ETH and can’t displace the altcoin as money. He concluded,
This is bad for decentralization, this is bad for Ethereum adoption, and this is bad for the credibility of the network to roll things out this way.
The problem with ETH inflation For some moderate conservatives such as Ryan Berckmans, the issuance reduction is crucial and much needed, but cutting it down to zero does not make sense.
Source: X In May, Grayscale supported capping staking rewards to boost ETH value in May. But it did not propose any preferred mechanism to go about it.
Currently, ETH issuance stands at 0.8% per year, and stakers earn 2.62% for their staked ETH. Amid a muted market, staking demand has hit record levels of 41.4 million ETH, or 34.4% of total supply (120M).
But since the Decun upgrade in early 2024, ETH’s burn rate has slowed, and the issuance rate has climbed higher (black line, net supply change), making ETH less attractive as a store of value (SoV).
Source: Grayscale However, with major players like Bitmine putting over $10 billion on the line for ETH staking, at least building consensus on key inflation is important before making them public. There is a high chance the proposal will stall with the broader DeFi opposition against it.
Final Summary Aave CEO and other DeFi leaders opposed the ETH inflation proposal to remove staking rewards Critics claimed that it would kill ETH credit markets and drive stakers to other chains
Velo taps Zebec for branded card rollout@Veloprotocol has named @Zebec_HQ as the exclusive infrastructure partner for its new branded card experience. The deal connects Velo's PayFi settlement layer directly to the Zebec Card network, giving users a path to convert on-chain holdings into purchasing power at merchant terminals around the world.
The integration supports native funding through $USDT and $USDC across @BNBCHAIN, @Ethereum, and @TRONDAO, keeping the entry point flexible for users already active on those chains. Two card tiers are on offer: Silver and Carbon. Both support multi-currency balances in $USD, $EUR, and $GBP, and the cards work with Apple Pay and Google Pay out of the box.
Zebec's card infrastructure and Velo's settlement ambitions Zebec Cards allow users to spend cryptocurrencies in fiat environments via physical or virtual debit cards linked to user wallets. When a purchase is made, the selected cryptocurrency is converted to fiat in real time through liquidity providers, with the transaction then processed over the Mastercard network. The cards operate in 97 countries and already include Apple Pay and Google Pay support across their card tiers.
Velo, for its part, is building an alternative payments system that merges regulated fiat infrastructure with blockchain-based liquidity to create a unified PayFi network enabling instant settlement and single-system transaction flow. The protocol's roadmap includes the launch of virtual crypto debit cards and direct fiat off-ramps in Q2 2026, followed by cross-chain functionality and merchant payment tools in Q3 2026.
The partnership positions both projects squarely in the growing PayFi sector, where the core proposition is giving on-chain asset holders a direct, low-friction route into everyday spending without manually off-ramping funds in advance.
Sources:
Velo Protocol: 2026 PayFi Strategic Product Roadmap
Gate Learn: What Is Zebec Protocol (ZBCN)?
Zebec Network Official Site
A draft EIP from six researchers including Justin Drake would burn a growing share of validator rewards, cancelling consensus issuance once half of all ETH is staked.
Posted August 5, 2026 at 5:56 am EST.
Six Ethereum researchers and developers published a draft improvement proposal on Tuesday that would burn a rising share of validator rewards, removing the protocol’s issuance incentive to stake more than half of all ETH. The authors are lead writer pintail, Ethereum France President Jérôme de Tychey, Ethereum core developer dapplion, pa7x1, researchers Ladislaus von Daniels and Justin Drake.
At each epoch boundary, every validator is charged a fraction of the idealized reward for each duty it was assigned, whether attestation, block proposal, or sync committee work, and that ETH is destroyed. The fraction scales with total stake and reaches 100% at a fixed 60,250,000 ETH, roughly half the current supply, at which point a performing validator’s consensus issuance nets to zero. Execution-layer income is untouched, so fees and MEV keep flowing.
This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.
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For holders, the proposal is a trade between dilution and yield. Issuance would peak near a 19.8% staking ratio and fall after it rather than climbing without limit, capping the dilution paid by unstaked ETH. Stakers absorb the cost: applied in full at today’s ratio, the burn would cut net consensus yield from about 2.6% to 1.2%, which is why the authors phase it in by temporarily doubling the base reward factor to 128 and decaying it back to today’s 64 over roughly 18 months. The curve’s shape applies from the first epoch after activation, so growth beyond 50% stops being rewarded immediately.
DeFi’s response has been hostile. Aave founder Stani Kulechov wrote that the proposal “doesn’t achieve the outcome it tries to achieve and is actually hurtful for Ethereum.” ether.fi CEO Silagadze said the change would push out solo stakers who are not subsidized and leave staking to large centralized operators with no cost of capital.
Timing is the other objection. The draft landed two days before the August 6 deadline for submitting EIPs to the Hegota upgrade.
Related Listen: Zcash, Ethereum, Aztec, Canton and More: Which Chain Will Win the Privacy Race?
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
Whale 0x2684 Pushes Total Deployment Past $230MA cryptocurrency whale tracked under the address 0x2684 has purchased an additional 3,960 $ETH for approximately $7.4M, its latest move in a sustained accumulation campaign that began on June 30. The transaction pushes the entity's total capital deployment to roughly $230.21M across Ethereum and Wrapped Bitcoin.
On-chain data shows the wallet now holds 79,216 $ETH acquired at an average price of $1,777, alongside 1,400 $WBTC at an average cost of $63,887. The combined position spans both of the two largest cryptocurrency networks through a single Ethereum address, with the $WBTC holdings representing Bitcoin exposure via its ERC-20 equivalent.
A Pattern of Consistent BuyingThe scale and consistency of the purchases have drawn significant attention from on-chain analysts. The wallet, identified at address 0x2684, drew attention from on-chain tracking accounts after building positions across both Wrapped Bitcoin and Ether in a short timeframe, with no prior transaction history before this accumulation period, suggesting it was created specifically for this capital deployment.
Large withdrawals from centralized exchanges are widely interpreted by analysts as a signal of long-term holding intent. When assets are moved to self-custodial wallets, they are less likely to be sold in the short term, reducing available exchange supply.
The positions were earlier reported to be showing an estimated $10 million in unrealized profit, according to on-chain data. As buying has continued since that report, the total position size and any associated gains have grown further.
Movements of this size from individual wallets are routinely tracked by on-chain monitoring services because they can reflect institutional-scale positioning or large individual holders adjusting exposure. The identity behind the address remains unknown, and the wallet could belong to an institutional investor, a high-net-worth individual, or a fund rebalancing its portfolio.
Sources:
The Crypto Basic: Crypto Whale Accumulates $184M in WBTC and Ether
Coincu: New Address Builds $41.5M in WBTC and ETH Positions
Ainvest: 0x2684 Withdraws $100M in ETH and WBTC From Binance
BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) will undergo a one-for-three reverse share split effective October 6, according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Trust's sponsor, iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, approved the split on July 31. Every three ETHA shares outstanding as of the October 5 record date will be consolidated into one, raising the fund's per-share net asset value without changing the total value of any shareholder's holdings or the Trust's aggregate assets. No fractional shares will be issued; any fractional remainder will be redeemed and paid out in cash to the shareholder's brokerage account, a step the filing notes may carry tax consequences.
The filing does not explain BlackRock's rationale. Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas offered one on X, noting the adjustment should cut trading costs, from roughly seven basis points to about two. A lower share price widens the relative size of the bid-ask spread on a percentage basis, and pushing the price higher via a reverse split is a standard way issuers shrink that gap.
BlackRock has announced a 1 for 3 reverse split for $ETHA so the price will go from $14 to $42 in Oct.. this will lower cost to trade from 7bps to 2bps ish. Gotta love how ETF issuers consider a 7bp spread a PROBLEM and is adjusting to cut it to 2bps, meanwhile the crypto… pic.twitter.com/ifcoj7DATh
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 4, 2026 ETHA has fallen alongside Ether itself. The ETF was trading near $14 this week, down roughly 40% year-to-date, tracking Ether's own decline. Despite the drop, ETHA remains the largest spot Ether ETF by assets; Grayscale's ether funds rank next.
Reverse splits aren't new to crypto ETFs. Grayscale completed similar splits on its Bitcoin Mini Trust and Ethereum Mini Trust in November 2024, lifting per-share NAV by 5x and 10x respectively. BlackRock's ratio is more modest, consistent with a share price that, even after a steep decline, hasn't fallen as far as those funds' had.
The split is cosmetic rather than structural, but it comes at a moment when ETHA's flows have drawn more attention than its share mechanics. The fund has been a focal point of redemptions as institutional enthusiasm for Ether has cooled this year. BlackRock also runs the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, which began trading in March, giving the firm two ways to capture ETH ETF demand if it recovers. For now, the October adjustment changes how ETHA trades, not what it holds.
Reality and The Network Firm have upgraded their partnership, with plans to deliver daily audit reports on U.S. stock tokens.
According to official announcements, Reality, Bitget’s licensed real-world asset (RWA) issuance platform, has announced a deepened partnership with U.S. audit firm The Network Firm. Under the upgraded collaboration, The Network Firm will deliver daily Proof of Reserves (PoR) audit reports for U.S. stock rTokens issued by Reality, adhering to attestation standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The audits are designed to confirm that every issued rToken matches the corresponding stock or ETF asset held in the custody account. The underlying stocks and ETFs remain custodied by Alpaca Securities LLC, a U.S. broker-dealer registered with FINRA and protected by SIPC, establishing a transparent, tripartite independent framework for issuance, verification, and custody. Reality’s U.S. stock rTokens now support 634 tokenized stocks and ETFs, and are deeply integrated into the Bitget ecosystem, usable in core scenarios including unified account margin, staking, and lending. Prior data indicates that the assets under management (AUM) of Bitget’s stock rTokens surpassed $100 million within one month of launch.
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Iran: No agreement on the Strait of Hormuz can be reached if the US continues its interference.
According to announcements from Iranian authorities and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on August 5, a source revealed that the primary reason Iran and Oman have failed to reach an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz is US intervention and threats from US President Donald Trump. It is understood that as long as the US continues to interfere and issue military threats against Iran, the relevant agreement will not be reached.
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Predict.fun has launched a prediction market for the Shanghai Composite Index’s ups and downs, with the probability of a closing gain currently standing at 50%.
Data from prediction market platform Predict.fun shows that Predict has launched a prediction market for the question: "Will the SSE Composite Index rise or fall on August 6, 2026?" As of press time, the market assigns a 50% probability to the SSE Composite Index closing higher. Notably, expectations between bullish and bearish participants are nearly balanced, indicating that there remains substantial market divergence.
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Analysis: Over 60% of the top 100 tokens by market cap have become "dead" within five years, and the mortality rate is projected to reach 84.7% in 10 years.
CryptoRank released a report analyzing 1,539 tokens that once ranked in the top 100 of the cryptocurrency market by capitalization, finding that 71.9% of them have been classified as "operationally dead". The study defines a "dead" token as one that has been delisted from major trading platforms and recorded daily trading volumes below $10,000 for over 90 consecutive days. Data indicates that roughly 62% of top 100 tokens become inactive within five years, with their mortality rate projected to hit 84.7% after a decade, while the median lifespan of such tokens is just 2 years and 4 months.
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Analysis: USDT's market cap decline has reached an historically extreme level, and BTC's rebound is facing liquidity contraction pressure.
CryptoQuant analyst Moreno noted in a post that USDT liquidity is experiencing one of the most severe contraction phases in its history. The 60-day change in USDT’s market capitalization has fallen by approximately $40 billion, approaching its most negative level on record. Meanwhile, the liquidity contraction is accelerating: USDT supply has shrunk by around $870 million over the past 11 days, signaling this is not merely a lagged effect from prior redemptions. Stablecoins serve as the crypto market’s most direct source of available liquidity. Sustained USDT expansion typically coincides with stronger Bitcoin (BTC) price performance, while prolonged contraction phases often align with weak demand, market pullbacks, and declining risk appetite. That said, the correlation between USDT flows and BTC prices does not confirm a direct causal relationship—both may be jointly driven by risk aversion, with redemption pressure and spot sell-offs occurring simultaneously. The current BTC decline is not an isolated event; it is unfolding against the backdrop of shrinking liquidity from one of the crypto market’s primary sources, which also explains why recent market rebounds have failed to sustain. To improve the market environment, we need to see USDT’s 60-day market cap change stabilize, a slowdown in daily supply contraction, and a return to an expansion phase.
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.
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) move toward the key technical levels on Wednesday, which could determine the next directional bias. BTC is near the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), ETH trades sideways while XRP is showing signs of stabilization.
Bitcoin could extend gains if it closes above the 50-day EMABitcoin price trades at $64,419 on Wednesday, approaching the key resistance level at the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $64,654, where a close above this level suggests further gains. However, BTC configuration suggests the broader trend remains under pressure as it holds below the 100-day and 200-day EMAs, at $67,080 and $72,650, respectively.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) around 52 hints at only modest directional conviction, and the negative Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) reading reinforces a still-fragile bullish case.
On the topside, immediate resistance is located at the 50-day EMA near $64,654, followed by the 100-day EMA at $67,080 and then the 200-day EMA around $72,650, with a more distant barrier emerging at the prior horizontal resistance level of $84,410.
On the downside, initial support is seen at the horizontal line around $64,004, and a clear break beneath this floor would likely open the door to a deeper corrective phase as moving-average sellers retain control while BTC trades below all key EMAs.
Ethereum trades sideways between the 50-day and 100-day EMAsEthereum price trades at $1,875 on Wednesday, holding a neutral to mildly constructive stance as it trades above the 50-day EMA at $1,852, but it remains capped by the 100-day EMA at $1,925 and the higher 200-day EMA at $2,134.
The RSI around 52 suggests balanced momentum after recent consolidation, while the MACD remains in negative territory, hinting that upside attempts could still face supply near overhead averages.
On the topside, initial resistance is located at the 100-day EMA at $1,925, followed by the psychological and chart hurdle at $2,000, with the 200-day EMA at $2,134 reinforcing a broader cap if buyers extend the advance.
On the downside, immediate support is provided by the 50-day EMA at $1,852; a daily close below this level would expose the more distant horizontal support zone near $1,385.
XRP’s momentum indicators show fading bearish strengthXRP trades at $1.075 on Wednesday, maintaining a bearish near-term bias as price holds below the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day EMAs at $1.117, $1.198, and $1.388, respectively, keeping the broader trend capped despite the recent stabilization above the $1.070 handle.
The RSI at 45 sits just below the neutral 50 line, hinting at subdued buying interest, while the MACD remains marginally negative, suggesting that downside pressure is not yet fully exhausted.
On the topside, initial resistance is at the 50-day EMA at $1.117, with further hurdles at the 100-day EMA near $1.198 and the horizontal barrier at $1.300; beyond that, the 200-day EMA at $1.388 and the more distant $1.900 level define a broader supply zone.
On the downside, the first notable support emerges at the horizontal level around $1.000, where buyers would be expected to defend the psychological parity area to prevent a deeper retracement.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Cryptocurrency metrics FAQs The developer or creator of each cryptocurrency decides on the total number of tokens that can be minted or issued. Only a certain number of these assets can be minted by mining, staking or other mechanisms. This is defined by the algorithm of the underlying blockchain technology. On the other hand, circulating supply can also be decreased via actions such as burning tokens, or mistakenly sending assets to addresses of other incompatible blockchains.
Market capitalization is the result of multiplying the circulating supply of a certain asset by the asset’s current market value.
Trading volume refers to the total number of tokens for a specific asset that has been transacted or exchanged between buyers and sellers within set trading hours, for example, 24 hours. It is used to gauge market sentiment, this metric combines all volumes on centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges. Increasing trading volume often denotes the demand for a certain asset as more people are buying and selling the cryptocurrency.
Funding rates are a concept designed to encourage traders to take positions and ensure perpetual contract prices match spot markets. It defines a mechanism by exchanges to ensure that future prices and index prices periodic payments regularly converge. When the funding rate is positive, the price of the perpetual contract is higher than the mark price. This means traders who are bullish and have opened long positions pay traders who are in short positions. On the other hand, a negative funding rate means perpetual prices are below the mark price, and hence traders with short positions pay traders who have opened long positions.
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.
A group of six Ethereum researchers has submitted a draft proposal that would fundamentally reshape how the network rewards validators, reigniting one of the most contentious debates in the Ethereum community.
What the Proposal Does The authors include Jérôme de Tychey, Justin Drake, dapplion, pintail, pa7x1, and Ladislaus von Daniels. The draft, provisionally labeled EIP-8363 and described as the "Tapered Issuance Burn," would increasingly burn a portion of validators' consensus rewards once the amount of staked $ETH approaches a preset threshold.
The proposal would burn part of the rewards earned by validators for attestations, block proposals, and sync committee participation, with the burn rate rising as Ethereum's staking ratio increases, eventually reaching 100% when approximately 60.25 million ETH is actively staked, a level representing about half of the current ETH supply.
Annual issuance would peak at around 0.5% of the ETH supply when staking reaches roughly 20%, before declining to zero as staking approaches the proposed 50% threshold. The proposal emphasises a slow implementation, with yield reductions phasing in over approximately 18 months, alongside an estimated six-month fork lead time, giving validators nearly two years to adjust.
The authors frame unchecked issuance as a structural problem. They argue that Ethereum's current issuance curve continues to incentivise staking even as the percentage of ETH locked in validators rises, noting that the staking ratio surpassed one-third of total ETH supply in April and continues to increase monthly. The developers warn that if the current trend continues, more than 70 million ETH could be staked by January 2028, representing more than 55% of total supply under their worst-case projection.
Criticism and What Comes Next Critics, including DeFi and solo-staking advocates, warn the reward taper could push out solo validators earlier than larger staking entities. Others argue the proposal could reduce DeFi borrowing and yield tied to staking rewards. Opponents also fear the plan could dent institutional demand for $ETH and rattle staking yield markets.
In May, Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl said limiting staking incentives would be "positive for the price of Ether over time," framing the idea as part of improving Ethereum's long-run economic profile.
The proposal has drawn concerns over whether enough time exists for community review, especially given its proximity to an Aug. 6 deadline related to other Hegotá-focused EIP pull requests. EIP-8363 remains an early draft and has not been approved, scheduled, or included in the Hegotá upgrade.
Sources:
The Defiant: New Ethereum Proposal Would Burn Validator Rewards
FXStreet: Aave Founder Revolts Against Ethereum Staking Cap Proposal
CoinGape: Ethereum Developers Submit EIP-8361 Tapered Issuance Burn
BlackRock Sets October Date for ETHA Reverse SplitBlackRock will carry out a one-for-three reverse share split on its iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) on October 6, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The move is a structural adjustment to the fund rather than a change in its investment mandate or underlying holdings.
The split will consolidate every three ETHA shares into one, increasing the fund's per-share net asset value without changing the value of investors' holdings or the fund's assets. Investors will see their holdings adjusted automatically, with no action required on their part.
Lower Trading Costs the Key GoalAlthough BlackRock has not formally explained the rationale, the primary benefit is expected to come from reduced trading costs. The move is expected to push the share price from roughly $14 up to around $42, while narrowing the trading spread from about 7 basis points to roughly 2 basis points.
Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas highlighted the significance of that reduction. "This will lower cost to trade from 7bps to 2bps-ish," Balchunas said, adding: "Gotta love how ETF issuers consider a 7bp spread a PROBLEM and is adjusting to cut it to 2bps."
Reverse splits are common in the ETF industry, often used to align share prices with peer funds or to meet exchange listing requirements. Industry participants view the reverse split as a step to improve the ETF's trading structure rather than an event that would directly affect Ethereum's price.
ETHA is the dominant product in the spot Ethereum ETF market. The fund's total assets under management exceed $5 billion, and BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust has been supplying the overwhelming majority of demand across the spot Ethereum ETF complex. BlackRock also issues the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, which began trading in March 2026.
Sources
The Block: BlackRock's spot Ethereum ETF to undergo 1-for-3 reverse share split in October
Investing.com: Ethereum's Narrow Rally Depends Heavily on BlackRock and Treasury Demand
Ethereum (ETH) continues to trade within a bullish structure, consolidating below a key resistance zone while market participants closely watch for a potential breakout. The ongoing accumulation by large holders, known as whales, and significant staking activity are reducing available supply on exchanges, reinforcing long-term optimism among traders and investors.
Momentum slows as ETH trades in a narrow rangeETH is currently priced at $1,865.96, supported by a 24-hour trading volume of $7.53 billion and a total market capitalization of $225.18 billion. Despite relative price stability over the past day, market analysts suggest that whale activity and the structural formation of higher lows indicate a possible bullish reversal ahead.
Daan Crypto Trades, a well-followed crypto analyst, stated that Ethereum has maintained a bullish structure since June. However, the move upward has lost momentum as ETH continues to consolidate within a narrow band, keeping traders cautious. Buyers have managed to preserve higher lows, but resistance has proved resilient, confining ETH to a range where a decisive breakout remains elusive.
ETH has held its bullish market structure since June, but the rally slowed as the cryptocurrency stayed locked within tight support and resistance. Traders anticipate a major breakout to signal the next clear market direction.
Over the past several weeks, ETH has remained between key levels of $1,850 and $1,950. Analysts see a breakout above $1,950 as an opportunity for the price to advance toward $2,100. Conversely, a drop below $1,850 could expose ETH to a further decline toward $1,750. These technical levels are expected to play a crucial role in shaping how the broader Ethereum market evolves in the coming period.
Price LevelSignificance$1,850Key support$1,950Key resistance$2,100Next bullish target$1,750Potential support if $1,850 breaksWhale accumulation and staking activity amplify market confidenceRecent blockchain data from Nazoku shows notable whale activity contributing to ETH’s current dynamics. The Ethereum wallet 0x2e80 carried out a transfer of 19,000 ETH, worth around $35.44 million, from the Gemini exchange before allocating the full amount to staking. This move signals strong conviction in the longer-term prospects of Ethereum, as large holders shift funds away from exchanges and into staking protocols.
In total, whales have withdrawn 112,000 ETH, valued at approximately $208 million, from exchanges over a three-week span, with these assets subsequently staked. Such scale in staking activity contributes to reduced liquid supply on trading platforms and is often viewed as a positive signal for the cryptocurrency’s future outlook.
Mini dictionary: Nazoku, a blockchain analytics firm known for on-chain transaction monitoring, provides data and insights related to large movements and wallet activity in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The withdrawal and staking of over 100,000 ETH in recent weeks have underlined the long-term belief of larger investors in Ethereum’s prospects and contribute to reducing available supply on exchanges.
Such transactions highlight sustained confidence in Ethereum’s future, with whales demonstrating a clear shift toward long-term holding strategies. Observers note that large-scale staking is expected to maintain or potentially increase upward pressure on price, as lower supply available for trading makes it more challenging for sellers to push the price down.
Market remains cautious amid price consolidationDespite optimism from increased staking and whale accumulation, Ethereum’s price has largely moved in neutral territory, reflecting a broader cautious stance across the digital asset market. This subdued behavior mirrors the trend observed with Bitcoin, which also remains in a period of low volatility.
The immediate direction of ETH will likely depend on whether buyers can break through the established resistance level and sustain upward momentum. If so, continued buy-side interest and lower exchange supply may fuel further gains and attract additional market participants.
On the other hand, failure to clear resistance could leave ETH trading within its current range, at least in the short term. Market analysts anticipate that increased volume and persistent staking activity may eventually tilt the balance in favor of a new rally.
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.
New Ethereum proposal would cut issuance to zero if staked ETH reaches $112 billion. (Ethereum)Summary
A new proposal from six prominent Ethereum researchers would gradually burn an increasing share of validator rewards as more ETH is staked, reaching a full burn at about 60.25 million ETH, or roughly half the supply.The change aims to cap staking by making additional stake less profitable, amid concerns that ever-rising yields push ETH into large exchanges and staking providers, undermining decentralization and security.The plan, which would phase in over about two years and only burn newly issued ETH while leaving transaction fees and tips intact, has split developers and DeFi participants and may miss inclusion in the upcoming Hegotá upgrade.Ethereum researchers and developers have proposed gradually burning more validator rewards as staking rises.
The burn would hit 100% once roughly 60.25 million ETH (about half the total supply) is staked, driving net issuance to zero and potentially strengthening ETH’s long-term scarcity and valuation by limiting further dilution of existing holders.
Staking is how Ethereum secures itself. Holders lock up ETH and run software that validates transactions, and the network pays them for it by creating new ETH. Those participants are validators, and that newly created ETH is the reward. Burning means destroying coins permanently rather than paying them out.
Every 6.4 minutes, at the close of what Ethereum calls an epoch, a fraction of each validator's rewards is deducted and destroyed rather than redirected elsewhere, with that fraction rising linearly to 100% as staking approaches the saturation point.
Validators would still be paid the same way for doing the same work, and they keep all the transaction fees and tips they earn from building blocks. Only the newly created ETH gets burned. The deduction from validator rewards arrives slowly, phasing in over 18 months, with about six months before that while the upgrade ships, so roughly two years to adjust.
The current curve never switches off. The proposed one hits zero at 50%. (Shaurya Malwa/CoinDesk)Six researchers signed the proposal, including Justin Drake of the Ethereum Foundation. It landed days before the deadline for smaller changes to be considered for Hegotá, Ethereum's next network upgrade.
The problem, as the authors see it, is that staking never stops paying. Even if every ETH were staked, the yield would still sit near 1.5%, so there is always a reason to add more.
Jérôme de Tychey, one of the proposal's authors, projects more than 70 million ETH staked by January 2028 if nothing changes. Past a certain level, the proposal states, extra stake makes Ethereum less secure rather than more, because the ETH ends up held by exchanges and staking providers instead of its owners, while small individual stakers get squeezed out.
About 41 million ETH is staked today, or close to 34% of supply. Another 2.5 million sits in the queue waiting to be activated, trackers show, a wait of six weeks or more, and nobody is queuing to leave.
Ethereum is 16 points from the level the proposal treats as a ceiling. (Shaurya Malwa/CoinDesk)Ethereum limits how fast validators can join or leave, so both directions form a line. The cap exists so a large bloc can't enter or exit fast enough to destabilize the network. Entry queue is ETH waiting to start staking, exit queue is ETH waiting to stop. Currently about 57,600 ETH a day can activate.
The proposal has divided Ethereum market developers and participants.
Aave Labs chief executive Stani Kulechov said in a blog post that moving staking rewards toward zero would make ETH borrowing strategies mostly unviable. Much of the ETH borrowed on Aave is used to buy more staked ETH, data shows, a trade that only works while staking yields more than the loan costs.
Mike Silagadze, founder of liquid staking protocol ether.fi, objected to the process as much as the substance.
"EIP released with 48 hours notice for comments," he wrote on X, calling it "a major network economics change with far reaching implications for all of DeFi." He added the change would "self evidently push out solo stakers who aren't subsidized by the EF or others" and leave staking to "large centralized entities with zero cost of capital," and that "seven of the top 10 DeFi protocols" would face a capital exodus.
Silagadze was blunter on the proposal’s impact on prices. "People who stake ETH don't sell it," he wrote, arguing the proposal "will halt any new ETH getting staked" and could push tens of billions of dollars of ETH back into circulation.
The bigger question is whether this proposal will even make it into the Hegotá upgrade, planned upgrade for the second half of 2026, focusing on structural cleanup, censorship resistance, and state size reduction.
The fundamental change to Ethereum’s monetary policy – tapering and eventually zeroing consensus-layer staking rewards once 50% of supply is staked – is arriving just days before the Aug. 6 inclusion deadline for Hegotá. It comes with only a roughly 300-line draft implementation and no consensus among the validators and stakers whose yields it would cut.
That combination makes it far more likely to miss Hegotá and slip to a later fork than to ship in this one. The authors themselves note that every month of delay lets the staking ratio climb by about another 1.5 percentage points.
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The Evolution of the Crypto CEX Landscape: A Case Study on Binance
The Evolution of the Crypto CEX Landscape: A Case Study on Binance
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
Jun 29, 2026
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
Why it matters:
Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.
Since the transition to proof of stake in 2022, the reward mechanisms for validators have taken a central role in discussions around the network. A new proposal today rekindles this debate by suggesting a progressive reduction of rewards paid to staking participants. The project aims to modify economic incentives while limiting the creation of new tokens. Ethereum thus finds itself at the heart of a reflection that already divides the actors of its ecosystem.
In Brief A proposal plans to burn an increasing share of validator rewards based on the level of ETH staking. The new mechanism could reduce the net consensus yield from around 2.6% to 1.2% at the current staking rate. The reform aims to limit new ETH issuance and reduce dilution for holders who do not participate in staking. The project is under public consultation on Ethereum Magicians and already sparks mixed opinions within the ecosystem. A Proposal That Would Gradually Change Ethereum Validator Rewards A group of six researchers presented a project proposal aiming to review the workings of staking rewards. Among them are Jérôme de Tychey, Ladislaus von Daniels, and Justin Drake, a member of the Ethereum Foundation. Their goal is to burn an increasing share of rewards already granted to validators, depending on the total amount of ETH staked. This new approach seeks to correct a system where the incentive to deposit more funds never disappears.
Specifically, the deduction would increase as the staking ratio progresses. When this ratio reaches about half of the total Ether supply, the reward reduction would reach 100%. Since the September 2022 merge, the execution layer no longer creates new tokens, and validators receive about 1,700 ETH per day, a volume that varies according to the amount staked. The authors also propose an 18-month phased transition to avoid a too abrupt adjustment. Ethereum would thus adopt a gradual change rather than an immediate modification.
Why This Reform Already Sparks Mixed Reactions According to the authors, an immediate application of the new mechanism would reduce the net consensus yield from about 2.6% to 1.2% with the current staking rate. Such a decrease could encourage some validators to withdraw their funds. At the same time, this change would modify the economic balance of the network and the different products linked to staking. Ethereum would then see its incentives evolve significantly.
Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, expressed his reservations on X. He believes that a reward cap set to 0% beyond 50% staking would make yields less predictable. According to him, this situation could reduce interest from institutional investors, who generally favor regular income streams. The debate thus concerns both the network’s economic security and its attractiveness to different user profiles.
A Response to the Increase in Staking and Concerns About Centralization The ETH staking rate reached a historic high of 33.33% on July 28, 2026. The current system does not provide any limit to this progression. Today, the yield only decreases according to the square root of the number of validators and maintains a floor close to 1.5%, regardless of the total volume of ETH locked. This dynamic fuels discussions about Ethereum’s future evolution.
The authors believe their proposal would limit the issuance of new ETH while reducing dilution for holders who do not participate in staking. The topic also arises as Bitmine Immersion Technologies has increased its holdings. After adding 150,120 ETH on August 4, the company now holds about 5.8 million ETH, nearly 4.8% of the circulating supply, a concentration that fuels concerns around centralization.
At the same time, a reduction in rewards could lessen the appeal of liquid staking protocols and investment products backed by staked ETH. These protocols currently represent $34.9 billion, including $17.6 billion for Lido.
Ethereum will now have to review this proposal during the public consultation open on the Ethereum Magicians forum, where it has already received one negative opinion and two favorable ones. Upcoming feedback from client teams and stakers should clarify whether this reform can evolve into a future improvement of the blockchain protocol.
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Ghiles A.
Journaliste et rédacteur web passionné par l’univers des cryptomonnaies et des technologies Web3. J’y traite les dernières tendances et actualités afin de proposer un contenu de haute qualité à un large public du secteur.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest banking group, made a sharp pivot in its crypto-linked ETF portfolio during the second quarter of 2026, nearly tripling its exposure to BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) while dramatically cutting its position in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
A Near-Tripling in Staked Ethereum The bank reported holding 349,600 shares of ETHB worth $7.1 million as of June 30, up from 116,200 shares valued at $3.15 million at the end of March. The moves were disclosed in a Form 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
ETHB is a relatively new product. BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF began trading on Nasdaq in March 2026, holding spot ether and staking a portion of its holdings to combine price exposure with staking rewards. Between 70% and 95% of the portfolio's ether holdings are staked under normal conditions, with rewards converted to cash and distributed to shareholders as monthly dividends.
Bitcoin Exposure Cut, ARK Position Retained The bank cut its IBIT shareholding by about 94%, to 40,723 shares from 646,809 shares. The shift signals a more selective approach to digital asset exposure rather than a wholesale exit from the asset class.
Intesa retained 3.47 million shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) worth $67.6 million, its largest crypto-linked holding in the filing, with the share count down about 4% from the first quarter. Bitcoin slid 14% in the quarter and U.S. spot ETFs saw net outflows of $4.89 billion, while ether slumped 25% with a net $715 million of ETF outflows.
Intesa also kept its Grayscale XRP Trust ETF (GXRP) position unchanged at 712,319 shares, nearly doubled its BitGo stake to 323,000 shares, and reduced its Coinbase position to 7,000 shares. The filing does not disclose the bank's full options structure or net exposure, leaving the overall strategy only partly visible.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Intesa Sanpaolo Slashed IBIT Stake by 94% in Q2, Tripled Ether ETF Holding
CoinTelegraph: Italy's Largest Bank Triples Staked Ether ETF Holdings, Cuts IBIT
BlackRock: iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB)
South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced on Aug. 5 that it will list Grvt’s GRVT token against the Korean won, Bitcoin and Tether.
Summary
GRVT rose 23% before Upbit’s scheduled opening of three spot markets in South Korea Wednesday. Trading is scheduled for 17:00 KST across Korean won, Bitcoin, and Tether pairs on Wednesday. Upbit will support Ethereum deposits only, using the published GRVT contract address for verification purposes. Buy orders face five-minute restrictions, while only limit orders remain available initially for two hours. GRVT has a fixed one-billion supply, with 110 million tokens circulating, according to CoinGecko today. Trading is scheduled to begin at 17:00 Korea Standard Time. Deposits and withdrawals were expected to open through Ethereum within two hours of the notice.
The new markets had not opened when this report was prepared. CoinGecko showed GRVT near $0.3235, up about 23.3% over 24 hours, with trading volume above $164 million. Because the token was already trading on other exchanges, the entire gain cannot be attributed to completed Upbit orders.
Upbit gives GRVT access to three spot markets Upbit will open GRVT/KRW, GRVT/BTC and GRVT/USDT markets. The won pair gives South Korean customers a direct route into GRVT without first converting their funds into Bitcoin or a stablecoin. The exchange warned that the scheduled opening “may be delayed” if deposits do not provide enough liquidity.
The exchange will accept transfers only through Ethereum. It published the contract address as 0xAD29F2723fcdBcF665F210F25E06f97477e417cF and warned that unsupported network deposits may require a lengthy return process. Upbit also stressed that Grvt Token, or GRVT, is different from Gravity, which trades under the ticker G.
For its opening restrictions, Upbit cited a previous closing price of 374.05 won and 0.2622 USDT. It displayed more recent reference prices of 385.68 won and 0.2632 USDT at 13:30 KST. These were reference figures rather than guaranteed execution prices.
GRVT price rises before the scheduled opening GRVT traded between approximately $0.259 and $0.338 over 24 hours. Its market capitalization stood near $37 million, based on an estimated circulating supply of 110 million tokens. CoinGecko placed its fully diluted valuation near $323 million, using the project’s one billion maximum supply.
The token was already available on exchanges including OKX, Bitget, Bybit and Bithumb. Upbit’s addition therefore expands GRVT’s Korean market access and potential liquidity rather than marking its first centralized exchange listing.
The announcement followed other recent Korean listings. Upbit opened HOME trading against the won and USDT on Aug. 4. In related coverage, the exchange added CFX across KRW, BTC and USDT markets on July 31.
Opening controls will limit early GRVT orders Upbit will block buy orders for about five minutes after trading begins. During the same period, sell orders priced more than 10% below the previous closing price will be restricted. Only limit orders will be accepted for approximately two hours.
The restrictions reduce the order types available while the three new books establish liquidity. Upbit has applied similar staged controls to other recent listings, including CFX and HOME.
Users must also comply with South Korea’s travel rule requirements. Deposits from providers outside Upbit’s approved virtual asset service provider list may not be credited. Transfers from personal wallets require completed ownership verification. Large deposits with unclear origins may trigger requests for information about the source of funds.
The 17:00 KST launch remains the next test Grvt describes itself as a self-custodial trading and asset management platform operating on a dedicated Layer 2 built with ZKsync technology. It combines perpetual futures, spot trading and yield products around one account balance.
The project says GRVT has a fixed supply of one billion tokens. It plans to use the token for fee benefits, product access and other platform services. These are project-defined uses and do not guarantee investment returns.
The next verified event is the scheduled 17:00 KST opening. Traders will watch initial liquidity, price differences between Korean and international markets and whether the increase in volume continues after Upbit orders begin. A delay remains possible if the exchange determines that available liquidity is insufficient.
5 August 2026 | 10:49 Ethereum researchers are considering a new reward-burn mechanism that would let validator issuance decline at high staking levels, aiming to reduce dilution and weaken incentives for excessive concentration.
Key Takeaways Draft requires approval and a future hard fork. Burn reaches 100% at 60.25 million ETH. Issuance peaks near 20% staking participation. Largest operators face weaker incentives to expand. Idealised deductions preserve validator performance incentives. Lower issuance may reduce unstaked holders’ dilution. Under draft EIP-8363, called Tapered Issuance Burn, a growing share of validator rewards would be burned as staking participation rises.
At 60.25 million ETH in active stake—a saturation balance designed to represent approximately half of ETH’s supply at activation, the burn would offset 100% of the idealised consensus rewards covered by the mechanism.
The proposal remains a Core EIP draft rather than an approved Ethereum upgrade. It would require a hard fork because it changes Ethereum’s consensus-layer state transition, although no changes to the execution layer or existing smart contracts would be needed. Its technical and economic details may still change, and discussion is continuing on the Ethereum Magicians forum.
The Proposal Would Let Yield Limit Staking Growth Ethereum’s current issuance curve reduces the return earned by individual validators as more ETH enters staking. However, it never completely removes the financial incentive to add more stake.
According to the proposal, the existing curve retains a yield floor of roughly 1.5% even at extremely high participation. The market can therefore reach an equilibrium only if the return demanded by the next potential validator remains above that floor.
That required return may continue falling as institutional custodians, liquid-staking protocols and professional infrastructure providers reduce the operational, liquidity and technical costs that previously discouraged holders from staking. The trend is already visible in proposed institutional products: Morgan Stanley’s planned Ether trust intends to stake between 50% and 80% of its ETH through external providers if the product launches.
Unstaked holders are also diluted when the protocol creates new ETH for validators. As staking becomes easier, accepting that dilution may become less attractive than moving ETH into a staking service or yield-bearing derivative.
EIP-8363 would allow net consensus yield to keep declining rather than stopping at a protocol-defined minimum. After rewards are calculated through the existing system, a growing portion would be deducted and burned.
Annual consensus issuance would stop rising continuously with the staking ratio. It would peak when approximately 19.8% of ETH is staked and decline as participation moved beyond that level.
60.25 Million ETH Is Not a Staking Cap The saturation balance is an economic reference point rather than a hard limit. The proposal would not reject new validators, force existing participants to exit or prevent more than 60.25 million ETH from entering staking.
At that balance, the consensus issuance earned by a correctly performing validator from the duties covered by the mechanism would be fully offset by the burn. Validators could still receive execution-layer income from priority fees and maximal extractable value, or MEV.
The proposed burn rises with staking participation and reaches 100% at the 60.25 million ETH saturation balance. Source: Draft EIP-8363. The authors do not expect the market to reach saturation under ordinary conditions. Validators generally require a positive return to compensate for infrastructure, maintenance, downtime, liquidity restrictions and slashing exposure.
As net yield declines, some participants would stop entering while others could exit. The expected equilibrium would therefore sit below 50%, where the remaining return matches the compensation demanded by the next validator.
High Staking Can Increase Concentration Risks More stake raises the nominal value exposed to slashing during an attack, but the proposal argues that the additional security benefit becomes progressively smaller as staking participation rises.
A high staking ratio can also move more ETH into exchanges, custodians, liquid-staking protocols and institutional products because many holders cannot or do not want to operate validators directly. Validator power may consequently become concentrated among a limited number of professional operators.
Concentration creates an operational risk beyond the issuance debate. If more than one-third of validators go offline together, Ethereum loses finality until the required two-thirds majority is restored. That makes the network’s 33.3% threshold especially important when validators cluster around the same clients, hosting providers or jurisdictions.
The authors are particularly concerned that a dominant provider could become systemically difficult to slash. If a large operator suffered a major slashing event, its customers could have enough financial and political influence to seek intervention rather than accept the losses.
High participation could also weaken Ethereum’s ability to coordinate against a colluding validator group. Social slashing depends on the wider economy supporting an alternative chain, which becomes harder when a large percentage of ETH is controlled through custodians and staking intermediaries.
The Curve Turns Scale Against Large Operators The current issuance system continually rewards expansion: an operator that adds validators increases its share of active stake while total issuance also grows with network participation. There is no operator size or staking ratio at which another validator reduces that operator’s consensus income. The tapered burn would change that relationship because, once issuance peaks near a 20% staking ratio, an expanding operator would claim a larger share of a shrinking reward pool.
For the largest operators, the decline in the total reward pool could eventually outweigh the benefit of controlling more validators. The EIP calculates that an operator holding half of all active stake would stop increasing its consensus income through expansion once approximately 31% of the ETH supply is staked.
Smaller operators would reach the same turning point closer to the 50% saturation balance. The mechanism would therefore weaken consensus-layer economies of scale sooner for entities that already control the largest share of stake.
The mechanism would not eliminate every advantage enjoyed by large operators because it would not affect MEV or priority-fee income.
Solo Stakers Face a Different Tax Equation The proposal’s authors argue that the existing curve creates a separate disadvantage for solo validators. Dilution reduces the real return earned by every staker, while individuals in jurisdictions that tax staking rewards as income may still owe tax on their full nominal rewards.
Some institutional investors and holders using accumulating exchange-traded products, non-rebasing liquid-staking tokens or wrapped tokens may not face the same immediate tax burden. Solo participants could therefore reach negative dilution-adjusted returns sooner, encouraging them to close validators or move their ETH into an intermediary and potentially increasing concentration.
By limiting issuance growth, EIP-8363 attempts to reduce that disadvantage. It would not change tax law or remove the operational benefits enjoyed by professional providers, but it could lower the dilution component that affects solo stakers earlier.
Critics See the Opposite Risk for Solo Stakers Not everyone accepts the proposal’s argument that lower issuance would reduce the disadvantages faced by solo stakers. Mike Silagadze, co-founder and CEO of ether.fi, argues that the mechanism could produce the opposite result.
In an August 4 post, Silagadze criticised what he described as a 48-hour comment window for a major change to Ethereum’s network economics. He argued that lower rewards could push independent validators out while leaving large centralised operators with lower capital and operating costs in a stronger position.
This is so disappointing on every level.
EIP released with 48 hours notice for comments. Realistically 4 months before it goes live. For a major network economics change with far reaching implications for all of DeFi.
Every builder on Ethereum opposes this. Why is this a focus?… https://t.co/qQbCui8aju
— Mike Silagadze🛡 (@MikeSilagadze) August 4, 2026
Silagadze also warned that declining staking returns could drive capital away from DeFi protocols built around staking and potentially encourage large amounts of ETH to be withdrawn. In his view, that could increase the amount of ETH available to enter the market rather than support its price through lower issuance.
Silagadze’s predictions remain unproven, but they expose the key question facing the proposal: whether lower rewards would weaken large staking operators or leave independent validators unable to compete with them.
Why the Burn Uses Idealised Rewards The deduction would be based on the reward attached to an assigned duty, regardless of whether the validator completed it successfully. An offline validator would therefore pay the burn alongside the normal penalty for failing to participate, preventing operators from avoiding the deduction by switching off.
If Ethereum instead burned only part of the reward actually earned, the financial difference between completing and missing a duty would shrink as the burn increased. At a burn fraction represented by b, the marginal reward for correct performance would fall to 1-b of its current level.
EIP-8363 avoids that problem by calculating the deduction from what a perfectly performing validator would have earned under the network’s actual participation conditions. Correct performance therefore retains the same advantage over failure.
The mechanism includes an exception for an inactivity leak, Ethereum’s recovery mode when the chain has failed to finalise for more than four epochs. Because attestation rewards are withheld during an inactivity leak, EIP-8363 would suspend the attestation portion of the burn, while proposer and sync committee deductions could continue where the corresponding rewards are still paid.
Lower Dilution Could Support ETH as Neutral Money By reducing net issuance, EIP-8363 would lessen the pressure to stake merely to preserve a holder’s share of the ETH supply. The proposal’s authors argue that this could support ETH’s role as neutral collateral, a settlement asset and a unit of account.
At high staking participation, liquid-staking tokens and other yield-bearing derivatives can become more attractive than unstaked ETH for savings, collateral and payments. Applications adopting them also inherit the smart-contract, governance and counterparty risks associated with their issuers.
Greater use of competing derivatives could fragment liquidity and increase the influence of the organisations that issue and govern them. Lower dilution would allow unstaked ETH to compete without requiring holders and applications to adopt an intermediated substitute.
The Transition Would Take About 18 Months Applying the permanent burn curve immediately would sharply reduce returns at the staking ratio used in the draft’s calculations.
At the roughly 34% staking level shown by ValidatorQueue, the draft’s model indicates that an immediate transition could cut net consensus yield from around 2.6% to 1.2%. A sudden decline of that size could trigger a substantial validator exit.
To reduce the shock, the effective base reward factor would begin at 128, twice its current value of 64, and gradually return to 64 over 123,300 epochs, or approximately 18 months.
The temporary increase would scale rewards, penalties and the burn together, allowing net yield to begin near its existing level before moving toward the permanent curve.
The reduction would occur through 65 small steps, with each level lasting approximately 1,927 epochs, or 8.6 days.
The transition would give validators approximately 18 months to reassess their costs and exit through the normal process before the permanent reward curve took full effect.
MEV Remains but Issuance Still Dominates Yield Execution-layer income from priority fees and maximal extractable value, or MEV, would remain outside EIP-8363. As consensus issuance declined, these rewards would account for a larger share of validator income.
According to the EIP authors’ calculation, payments to proposers recorded through MEV-Boost relays totalled approximately 72,600 ETH across 2.42 million blocks during the year ending July 31, 2026. That equals an average of roughly 0.030 ETH per block.
The authors then applied the same average to approximately 190,000 locally built blocks. They describe this as an upper-bound assumption because locally built blocks generally receive lower execution-layer rewards. The calculation places total execution-layer rewards below 78,300 ETH for the period.
Using approximately 40 million staked ETH as the calculation base, the proposal estimates that these execution-layer rewards represented a return of no more than 0.20%. Consensus issuance was substantially larger at approximately 1.054 million ETH annually, equivalent to a return of around 2.62%.
Based on those estimates, consensus issuance accounted for at least 93% of total staking yield. Even if the staking ratio settled at 40% under the proposed curve, the authors calculate that issuance would still represent at least 80% of validator yield.
MEV would nevertheless continue rewarding operator expansion because expected execution-layer income grows with an operator’s share of block proposals. EIP-8363 does not directly remove that incentive, which is why the draft presents MEV burn research as a complementary approach that could reduce validator income and shift equilibrium toward a lower staking ratio.
Lower Issuance Would Not Guarantee Deflation EIP-8363 would reduce net consensus issuance and permanently destroy ETH deducted from validators, but it would not automatically cause the total supply to decline.
The mechanism would complement the fee burn introduced by EIP-1559. EIP-1559 removes Ethereum’s base transaction fee from circulation, while EIP-8363 would burn part of the ETH calculated as consensus-layer rewards.
If staking settled below the saturation balance, validators would continue receiving positive consensus issuance. Whether Ethereum became inflationary or deflationary would depend on whether transaction-fee burning exceeded that remaining issuance.
Supply could therefore continue growing during periods of low network activity and contract when transaction demand was stronger. The proposal aims to limit consensus issuance, not guarantee permanent deflation.
The Proposal Still Has to Pass Review The authors have completed a draft implementation for the Prysm consensus client, although formal test vectors had not yet been included in the reviewed draft. Client code demonstrates technical progress but does not determine whether the EIP will enter a future hard fork.
The outcome would depend not only on technical review but also on validator operating costs, tax treatment, MEV income, liquidity preferences and the return investors demand for staking risk. Rather than selecting a fixed staking target, EIP-8363 attempts to remove the permanent yield floor and let those market conditions determine where participation settles.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal or tax advice. EIP-8363 remains a draft proposal and has not been approved for inclusion in an Ethereum upgrade. Its design, parameters, calculations and implementation may change during technical and community review. Methodology: This article is based primarily on the draft EIP-8363 specification, its Ethereum EIPs pull request and the related Ethereum Magicians discussion. Supporting information comes from official Ethereum and Flashbots documentation, the draft Prysm implementation, published MEV burn research, current staking data, public information on proposed institutional staking products and statements from industry participants, including ether.fi co-founder Mike Silagadze. Issuance, staking-yield and execution-layer reward estimates are attributed to the EIP authors and were not independently reconstructed from on-chain data. Author
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
