Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Crypto Price Analysis Sep-04: ETH, XRP, ADA, BNB, and HYPE

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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.

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A significant amount of Bitcoin linked to the 2026 Coldcard hardware wallet theft has surfaced after being dormant, as blockchain analytics provider Bitquery tracked the movement of 20.5 BTC through THORChain into Ethereum. This marks a notable development in the ongoing investigation into the high-profile crypto theft.

Coldcard theft funds make active cross-chain moveThe transfer began on September 2, when 20.49703196 BTC left a previously identified address associated with what Bitquery describes as “Wave 3” of the Coldcard incident. After passing through two fresh intermediary Bitcoin addresses—both emptied during the process—the funds started a complex journey involving cross-chain swaps.

Bitquery classified the source address as “reported,” indicating it is tied to the known case but falls short of their most-verified category. The identities of those controlling the funds remain unknown, leaving investigators without clear suspects.

The activity shifted the investigation from long-inactive stolen Bitcoin to an active cross-chain trail, as Bitquery tracked the coins moving from Bitcoin to Ethereum networks for the first time since the theft occurred.

Researchers have stated that, until this movement, most of the stolen Bitcoin had remained untouched for an extended period, further obscuring the origins and intentions of the individuals involved.

Traced Bitcoin funneled through THORChain swapsTHORChain, a decentralized cross-chain protocol enabling the swap of crypto assets between various blockchain networks, processed a series of 34 swaps on September 2 and 3. These operations transferred 20.45 BTC into the Ethereum network.

Bitquery’s full tracking registers a total of 20.69 BTC swapped across 36 operations, including two earlier swaps on August 2 worth 0.24 BTC in total. The bulk of the assets—20.15 BTC—found their way to a single Ethereum address via 26 swaps, while another 0.3 BTC ended up at a second address through eight additional swaps. Two further swaps from August directed funds to a third Ethereum address.

Records show THORChain swap memos specified the primary destination address for the September flows. When checked at 16:15 UTC on September 3, the main recipient Ethereum address contained approximately 649.5 ETH and had not shown any outgoing transactions. By 17:25 UTC, new activity reduced the balance by around 5 ETH, marking the first outbound transaction since receiving the funds.

Mini dictionary: THORChain is a decentralized liquidity protocol that allows users to swap assets across different blockchains without relying on centralized exchanges, providing cross-chain interoperability.

Swap DateTotal BTC SwappedNumber of SwapsMain Ethereum Address ETH ChangeSeptember 2-320.45 BTC34649.5 ETH to 644.5 ETHAugust 20.24 BTC2Separate addressMajority of stolen Bitcoin remains untouchedDespite the recent activity, most of the Bitcoin stolen in the Coldcard breach remains unmoved. At block 965,339, investigators reported that 1,402.59 BTC were still sitting in addresses identified as connected to the theft. Of these, 1,396.33 BTC had never left their original theft addresses, reinforcing the opacity around the ultimate disposition of the majority of stolen assets.

Blockchain datasets partition the Coldcard heist into several “waves” by block data. Waves 1 through 3 are tracked separately from a fourth wave involving 64.90373764 BTC. Bitquery and researchers at Galaxy Research caution that blockchain evidence alone cannot determine whether the thefts share a single perpetrator or group.

Galaxy Research, a digital asset and blockchain analytics firm, estimates the total loss from the Coldcard hardware wallet theft at over 1,700 BTC. The status of the main Ethereum address tied to September’s swaps remains under surveillance, with a balance of about 644.5 ETH, while the vast majority of the stolen Bitcoin remains classified as dormant.

Researchers including Galaxy Research maintain they cannot confirm whether individual or collective responsibility lies behind every wave of the Coldcard wallet theft, underscoring continued uncertainty for investigators.

An attacker drained roughly $1.73 million from Notional Finance’s legacy escrow contract early Friday, exploiting a coding flaw that made an enormous fabricated debt register as zero.

The stolen DAI and USDC became about 689 ether (ETH). The funds then went through Tornado Cash, a service that breaks the trail between wallets. Notional has said nothing publicly.

How the Notional Finance Exploit WorkedNotional Finance is a fixed-rate lending protocol on Ethereum. Its first version recorded future cash obligations as tokens called fCash. The system screened borrowers for collateral before letting them add debt.

That screening converted debt into ether terms through a raw uint128 conversion. Two mints summed to exactly two raised to the power of 128. That is the single value the conversion flattens to zero, QuillAudits found.

A checked conversion would have rejected the figure instead of quietly dropping its digits. Notional used the safer method elsewhere in the same file, according to the write-up.

The account then read as debt free. Etherscan records show the setup landed at 11:58 p.m. UTC Thursday and the withdrawal three minutes later.

That second transaction moved 69,257 DAI and 1,658,524 USDC out of the escrow. The attacker also tipped block builder Titan 0.07 ETH to route the trade privately.

Security firm PeckShield relayed a warning from on-chain monitor Specter. The escrow now holds about $60,600 in leftover tokens.

#PeckShieldAlert Specter has reported that the Notional Finance escrow contract may have been exploited, resulting in $1.7M in ethereum:0x6b175474e89094c44da98b954eedeac495271d0f and $USDC lost.
The exploiter has swapped the stolen funds into 689.2 $ETH and deposited them into… pic.twitter.com/Wd5Dc3MWtL

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 4, 2026 Dormant V1 Contracts Still Held Real MoneyNotional wound down its third version after the November 2025 Balancer exploit cascaded into its vaults. The V1 contracts stayed live and funded, and nobody swept them.

Independently audited protocols still account for most crypto hack losses, so an old review offered no cover here. June brought a close parallel, when an attacker drained legacy Solana pools at Raydium.

Notional’s NOTE token trades near $0.0065, up 3.5% over 24 hours, on a market value close to $400,700.

Notional Finance (NOTE) Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoNotional had issued no statement, loss figure, or post-mortem at publication. Whether the drained cash belonged to users, the treasury, or a third party remains unconfirmed.

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XRP, Ethereum, and Tron each displayed distinct price movements as technical developments and network statistics caught the attention of both traders and institutional observers. Market sentiment shifted following a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) study that explored a new use case for the XRP Ledger in official data verification, while Ethereum and Tron encountered significant technical and on-chain milestones.

BIS study highlights XRP Ledger’s institutional potentialThe Bank for International Settlements, an international financial institution that supports central banks in maintaining financial stability, published Working Paper No. 1374, entitled ‘Blockchain-based approach for verifiable official statistics.’ Released on September 2, the research examined whether summary values and cryptographic fingerprints of official datasets could be securely anchored on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Researchers developed and tested a prototype system that created hashes of financial and economic data before merging them as necessary and recording only the summary value on XRPL. The study did not involve storing source datasets directly on the blockchain. Instead, the prototype ran on the XRPL Devnet instead of the main public network. Test results indicated verification times of one to two seconds, with publication delays typically between three to five seconds.

The research emphasized that BIS did not launch an institutional partnership with Ripple, nor does it plan to migrate central bank infrastructure to XRPL. The initiative represents a technical proof of concept, showcasing XRPL’s potential beyond payments as a data verification mechanism for institutional purposes. By using XRPL as a public verification layer, the study offered the network added credibility within the financial sector.

XRP’s gain of about 3% followed BIS’s experimental use of the XRPL Devnet to verify official statistics, underscoring the platform’s evolving institutional relevance.

Following the study, XRP traded at $1.39, up roughly 2.7% on the daily candle, after rebounding from a recent correction. The token remains just above its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $1.35, which currently serves as a pivotal technical reference point.

Earlier in the period, XRP soared to nearly $1.70 after an initial breakout before retracing amid profit-taking. As sellers repeatedly tested the 200-day average without breaking it, momentum indicators such as the relative strength index (RSI) stabilized near 62, reflecting a return from previous overbought conditions.

Analysts argue that maintaining price action above $1.35 could clear the path for another rally toward $1.45–$1.50. Conversely, a decisive move below the 200-day EMA may undermine the bullish structure, highlighting the next support around $1.29.

Ethereum eyes golden cross as bullish trend emergesEthereum, the leading smart contract platform, experienced a significant technical breakout that transformed its chart structure. ETH was recently trading at about $2,420, supported by the convergence of its 50-day EMA at $2,063 and 100-day EMA at $2,059. The narrowing gap signals a potential pre-golden cross setup, which traders commonly associate with sustained uptrends.

Heavy volume accompanied Ethereum’s surge above the $1,900–$1,920 resistance area, pushing the price well past its critical 200-day EMA at $2,169. This move ended a period of long-term resistance.

ETH approached $2,550 before undergoing a controlled pullback. Despite the retracement, Ethereum’s price remains over 10% above its 200-day moving average. The daily RSI, now at 63, eased from earlier overbought levels, which some market participants see as a healthy consolidation.

ETH’s break above $2,169 marked a significant reversal of recent weakness, with the 200-day EMA now providing a solid technical foundation for further gains if bulls maintain momentum.

The $2,500–$2,550 area continues to pose a resistance zone. A close above this level may push ETH toward fresh highs at $2,600 or $2,700. On the downside, maintaining support between $2,360 and $2,400 is critical for preserving Ethereum’s bullish recovery. A further slide toward the 200-day EMA at $2,170 could reduce short-term momentum but would not eliminate the asset’s overall upward bias.

TokenCurrent PriceKey Support LevelKey Resistance LevelRSIXRP$1.39$1.35 (200-day EMA)$1.45–$1.5062ETH$2,420$2,360–$2,400$2,500–$2,55063TRX$0.328$0.324 (200-day EMA)$0.334, then $0.340–$0.35043Tron’s $28 billion TVL contrasts with price actionTron has emerged as a leading blockchain ecosystem, recently surpassing $28 billion in total value locked (TVL) across its network. TVL, which tracks the value of crypto assets deposited in protocols, highlights the scale of DeFi and stablecoin activity on a given blockchain.

Tron’s stablecoin economy, especially its handling of USDT transfers, underpins a large portion of its TVL and cements the network’s role as a preferred option for fast, cost-effective settlements. This differentiates Tron from many competing Layer-1 networks, which often see greater price volatility but smaller TVL figures.

Despite this achievement, TRX, the native token of Tron, did not immediately reflect the milestone in its price. TRX recently retreated to $0.328 after failing to overcome the $0.345–$0.350 resistance zone and is currently trading below several moving averages clustered in the $0.330–$0.334 range.

The 200-day EMA at $0.324 remains a critical technical support. TRX briefly dipped below this level during a recent sell-off but managed to recover. Sustaining this support could prolong the bullish structure established earlier this year.

Technical momentum weakened further as the RSI slid to 43, indicating a loss of short-term buyer control. A rise above $0.334 could restore upside potential, while a decline below $0.324 may expose the $0.315–$0.320 range and reduce recent gains.

Despite resilient network fundamentals such as robust TVL, TRX’s path to sustained price appreciation will likely depend on defending its key technical levels.

Mini dictionary: Total Value Locked (TVL) refers to the total amount of assets deposited in all protocols on a blockchain, serving as a key metric for network activity and capital deployment.

Ten AI coding agents ran the same 12 Solidity challenges human developers faced at Devcon. Only OpenAI’s Codex cleared the course, and the cheapest near-finisher was an open-weight Chinese model.

Austin Griffith, Builder Enablement at the Ethereum Foundation, on Uneasy Money

Posted September 3, 2026 at 7:31 pm EST.

Ten AI coding agents ran the same twelve Solidity challenges on Thursday, a course originally built for human developers at Ethereum’s Devcon conferences. Only one model finished it.

Austin Griffith, who works on developer onboarding and tooling at the Ethereum Foundation and founded the developer collective BuidlGuidl, ran the race at 11 a.m. ET, a day after previewing it on Unchained’s Uneasy Money podcast. Each agent got an isolated instance and its own wallet, and a capture counted only when the mint landed onchain.

OpenAI’s Codex, running GPT-5.5, took all three finishing places. More thinking did not help: the medium reasoning setting cleared all twelve flags fastest, in 40 minutes and 7 seconds, while the extra-high setting came in last of the three at 50:26 and burned nearly a third more tokens to get there.

The result likely to travel furthest is fourth place. DeepSeek V4 Pro, an open-weight Chinese model, captured eleven of twelve flags for $1.45 in compute. Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.8 managed ten and cost $7.61, more than five times as much for one fewer flag. The other open-weight Chinese models fell well short: GLM 5.3 took six, and Kimi K3 and Qwen two apiece.

BuidlGuidl labels each entrant by harness, model and reasoning effort together, published the system prompts and every human intervention alongside the standings, and states plainly that the exercise is “a transparent single-run evaluation, not a universal model ranking.”

Why he ran it Griffith’s argument, made on the show, is that nobody can currently answer the simplest question about a new model release. “We need good evals. People should be running evals all the time,” he said on the podcast, adding that “you should have your own eval suite, and you should be able to run it.”

The course was not written for machines. “This eval suite was the capture the flag that we ran for humans” at Devcon in Bangkok and Buenos Aires, Griffith said on the show, and the challenges are obscure enough, he argued, that the answers are unlikely to sit in any model’s training data. That the strongest agents cleared them anyway is the finding, and it comes with a caveat the organizers put on the page themselves: one run, one course, one day.

Related Listen: Austin Griffith on the $1 AI Audit and the Case for Founders Over DAOs: Uneasy Money

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.

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.

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Hargreaves Lansdown opened access to nine Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded notes on Sept. 3, bringing regulated cryptocurrency exposure to eligible users of the United Kingdom’s largest retail investment platform.

Summary

Hargreaves Lansdown added nine Bitcoin and Ether ETNs for eligible users through Advanced Investing service. Approximately two million platform clients may access products after successfully completing required investor protection checks. Investors must self-certify, pass an appropriateness assessment, and complete a 24-hour cooling-off period before access. The FCA reopened eligible crypto ETNs to retail investors in October 2025 under safeguards nationally. Crypto ETNs track asset prices without giving investors direct ownership of Bitcoin or Ether themselves. The products come from BlackRock’s iShares, WisdomTree, 21Shares, Invesco, CoinShares and Bitwise, according to a Financial Times report. The issuers charge annual product fees ranging from 0% to 0.35%.

UK’s Largest Investment Platform Hargreaves Lansdown Opens Bitcoin and Ether ETNs to 2 Million Investors

According to the FT, the UK’s largest investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown (HL), will open crypto ETN trading to its approximately 2 million investors from September 3,… pic.twitter.com/a37mVTK3ex

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 3, 2026 Hargreaves Lansdown serves approximately two million investors. However, the crypto ETNs are only available through its Advanced Investing service and are not automatically accessible to every customer.

Hargreaves Lansdown adds crypto after long delay The launch comes almost 11 months after the Financial Conduct Authority ended its four-year restriction on retail access to qualifying crypto ETNs. Other major British investment platforms had already introduced the products.

Hargreaves Lansdown initially adopted a more cautious position. In October 2025, the platform told investors that “Bitcoin is not an asset class,” while acknowledging that some customers might still want speculative exposure.

Doug Abbott, Hargreaves Lansdown’s chief product officer, said the platform delayed its launch to ensure client testing and safeguards were properly designed. He said customers should understand the products and encounter the “right level of friction” before investing.

The company’s current crypto ETN page warns that the instruments are volatile and high risk. It says investors could lose all the money they commit.

Investors face eligibility checks and a waiting period Customers must first self-certify as advanced investors. They must then complete an online appropriateness assessment designed to test whether they understand the products and associated risks.

Eligible customers must also complete a 24-hour cooling-off period before viewing the available ETNs. They need either a Fund and Share Account or a self-invested personal pension to buy, hold or sell the instruments.

Hargreaves Lansdown charges a 0.35% annual platform fee for holding crypto ETNs, capped at £12.50 per month. Dealing charges range from £3.95 to £6.95, depending on the customer’s trading frequency. These charges are separate from each product’s management fee.

The notes trade during London Stock Exchange market hours. They do not provide continuous 24-hour trading like cryptocurrency exchanges.

Crypto ETNs provide exposure without direct ownership Crypto ETNs are listed financial instruments designed to follow the price of an underlying digital asset. Investors purchase a note issued by a financial institution rather than buying Bitcoin or Ether directly.

The issuer arranges custody of the underlying cryptocurrency. Customers therefore do not control private keys, manage wallets or withdraw the digital assets represented by their investment.

This structure introduces risks that differ from direct cryptocurrency ownership. Investors depend on the issuer, custodian, trading venue and investment platform. Product fees and market spreads may also cause returns to differ from movements in the underlying asset.

Crypto.news previously reported that BlackRock listed its Bitcoin product on the London Stock Exchange after the retail restrictions changed. The listing was among several products introduced as regulated providers prepared for wider individual access.

FCA rules restrict how platforms offer crypto ETNs The FCA lifted its retail prohibition on qualifying crypto ETNs on Oct. 8, 2025. Products must appear on the regulator’s Official List and trade through a recognized U.K. investment exchange.

The regulator classifies the products as restricted mass-market investments. Its official guidance requires appropriateness assessments, customer categorization, cooling-off periods and prominent risk warnings.

Platforms cannot offer incentives encouraging customers to invest. They must also identify an appropriate target market and take reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable consumer harm.

As crypto.news reported when the policy was announced, the FCA reopened retail access while keeping crypto derivatives prohibited. The regulator said investors would not receive the same protections available for conventional regulated investments.

Demand remains an open question Hargreaves Lansdown said it had received a consistent level of customer enquiries about crypto ETNs, particularly from experienced investors. That interest has not yet established how many eligible clients will invest.

Other platforms have described British retail uptake as modest. Restrictions preventing newly purchased crypto ETNs from being held in conventional stocks-and-shares ISAs may also limit demand.

The launch nevertheless gives Hargreaves Lansdown customers a regulated route to Bitcoin and Ether price exposure without opening an exchange account. Future adoption will depend on investor demand, cryptocurrency prices and whether the available product range expands.

8h05 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Ariela R.

Summarize this article with:

The Ethereum crypto ecosystem has just recorded a new peak in its recent history. Since September 3, 2026, the demand for blobs (these cheap data spaces used by rollups) has reached levels never seen before. This performance attests to a growing adoption of layer 2 solutions. But not only that! It also validates Ethereum’s scalability strategy while reviving a less visible problem: funding its developers.

In brief Ethereum has set a new record for usage of its blobs, at 6.7 per block on a daily average. Demand now exceeds the peaks observed at the end of 2025, driven by rollups. The crypto network operates at only 40-50% of its current target of 14 blobs per block. Four capacity increases have taken place since Dencun; a fifth is under consideration. Funding for client teams remains a bottleneck according to Protocol Guild. Why does Ethereum reach 6.7 blobs per block? On September 3, Trent Van Epps, former member of the Ethereum Foundation and organizer of Protocol Guild, reported a moving average of 5.9 blobs per block over three days. The daily average even reached 6.7, which is well above the previous peaks from late 2025.

In Ethereum’s technical jargon, a blob refers to a cheap temporary storage space introduced by the Dencun upgrade (EIP-4844 standard) in 2024. Rollups are Layer 2 (L2) crypto networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, or Base. They deposit their batches of transactions there before having them validated by Ethereum’s main chain.

The principle is simple: the higher the number of blobs used per block, the greater the activity transiting through Ethereum’s data availability layer.

This record therefore means that Layer 2s publish more batches of transactions in Ethereum’s data layer. Each blob contains 4,096 elements of 32 bytes, about 128 KB. At 6.7 units, the theoretical volume thus approaches 858 KB per block.

How did Ethereum multiply its capacity by 2.3? After a dip observed in spring 2026, blob usage on Ethereum has resumed rising. Even better! It now exceeds the previous peaks recorded at the end of 2025.

In reality, Ethereum’s blob capacity has steadily increased through successive steps since Dencun’s launch:

3/6 blobs (target/maximum) at Dencun launch in 2024; 6/9 blobs with the Pectra update; 10/15 blobs with the BPO1 step; 14/21 blobs with BPO2, effective January 2026 (the current level on Ethereum). The Ethereum crypto network thus has 2.3 times more targeted capacity than before Fusaka. “Blobs offer rollups a less costly way to publish data on Ethereum,” explains the official documentation. EIP-4844 data disappears from nodes after 4,096 epochs, about 18 days. This lightens storage while maintaining verifiability during the useful period.

Ethereum blobs usage reaches a record 6.7 per block. Source: hildobby, Dune Analytics However, the Ethereum crypto network is still far from saturation. Indeed, current activity only represents 40 to 50% of the current target. This target is set at 14 blobs per block. The ceiling of 21 constitutes the technical limit per block. This margin still protects rollup transaction fees from structural spiraling.

Explanation: Ethereum is busy but not yet full.

What is at stake in the next capacity increase on the crypto blockchain? The question now stirring Ethereum crypto developers is the timeline for a fifth increase targeting 21/32 blobs. For some, more blobs mean lower transaction fees for rollups and their users. The downside? Increased bandwidth load for Ethereum node operators.

Evolution of usage, target, and ceiling of Ethereum blobs. Source: Ambrosia and Mizrach, 2026, CC BY 4.0 license. For others, the bottleneck may especially become human. According to Trent Van Epps, for example, funding for client teams running Ethereum remains insufficient relative to the network’s size. In June, Ethereum core development required about 30 million dollars annually. Protocol Guild reportedly distributed nearly 40 million dollars in four years, yet that alone was not enough. Expanding data availability thus depends as much on human resources as on code.

That’s not all! This debate also fits within the perspective of Glamsterdam. This is the next major upgrade of the crypto network, which aims to raise Ethereum’s global gas limit.

In any case, this record of blob usage on Ethereum confirms the growing adoption of rollups. The next catalyst to watch: the outcome of the debate on an increase to 21/32 blobs.

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Ariela R.

My name is Ariela, and I am 31 years old. I have been working in the field of web writing for 7 years now. I only discovered trading and cryptocurrency a few years ago, but it is a universe that greatly interests me. The topics covered on the platform allow me to learn more. A singer in my spare time, I also cultivate a great passion for music and reading (and animals!)

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.

GPT-6 Astra Claims Top Spot in Perplexity’s Research Agent Rankings: 13.5% More Performant Than Fable 5.1, 6.1% Cheaper

From Beating AI Express: Perplexity used its proprietary agent benchmark WANDR to test GPT-6 Astra, which scored 0.682 — the highest mark of any model tested to date. The average cost per task came to $11.98. Compared to Claude Fable 5.1, Astra’s score is 13.5% higher, while its cost is 6.1% lower; versus Opus 5, the score is 27% higher, with a cost increase of only 3.3%. WANDR is tailored to evaluate "broad and deep" research tasks, featuring 500 real-world research assignments that require agents to not just find partial answers, but to identify all eligible entities, verify each entity’s information and identity, and attach verifiable sources to every result. Typical tasks include competitor research, due diligence, literature retrieval, market analysis, and talent search. Prior to this, Fable 5.1 held the top spot with a score of 0.601 and $12.76 per task, while Opus 5 scored 0.537 at $11.60 per task. Astra’s performance has notably lifted the benchmark score, and this gain was not driven by inflated costs.

10 minutes ago

An address purchased MEME at a low point, netting $964,000 in profit.

On-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa) monitored that address 0xf7b…3fe48 invested $1,138 to buy MEME when its price was approximately $0.0001112. The address has now accumulated a profit of around $964,000, with a return rate of 83,677%. It still holds 88.5% of its initial position and currently ranks second on the MEME profit leaderboard.

10 minutes ago

OKX's Flash Earn Lite launches the DOS "Stake to Earn" program, allowing users to split 650,000 DOS in rewards.

According to official announcements, OKX’s Flash Earn Lite will launch the DOS "Stake to Earn" program from 15:00 UTC+8 on September 10, 2026 to 15:00 UTC+8 on September 15, 2026. During the event, users who lock BTC, OKB, or DOS to subscribe will share the 650,000 DOS airdrop reward pool. Early subscription is open starting from 15:00 UTC+8 on September 5, 2026, with rewards calculated from the official event start. Additionally, starting with this event, users can directly use assets from their flexible Simple Earn wallets to subscribe to Flash Earn’s Stake to Earn programs. Participation is available via the event link or by selecting "Flash Earn" at the top of the OKX App’s Explore page.

10 minutes ago

A trader spent $2,972 to buy MEME, reaping a 713x return.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, a trader created address 0xc740 21 days ago and has only traded 8 tokens since. The address purchased a MEME token earlier today, booking over $2.1 million in profit in under 12 hours, a 713x return. The address spent $2,972 to acquire 16.11 million MEME tokens, then sold 750,000 tokens for $85,300, and currently holds 15.36 million MEME tokens worth roughly $2.03 million.

10 minutes ago

Rising AI attack risks prompt OpenAI to allocate $1 billion to shore up defenses for its critical infrastructure.

Beating AI News (from Insight) – OpenAI has launched "Daybreak for Frontline Defenders", a $1 billion initiative to provide AI-powered cybersecurity defense for critical infrastructure. Rather than direct grants to organizations, the funding will be delivered as Daybreak model access, training, and technical support. The initial rollout targets U.S. water utilities, power grids, local governments, community banks, nonprofits, and open-source projects, with deployment planned over the next six months. Daybreak helps these entities identify vulnerabilities, analyze anomalies, validate risks, and test patches. OpenAI stated that approximately 2,000 organizations and workspaces are already using the tool, with plans to integrate more than 35 additional enterprise products and services. The initiative was announced alongside GPT-6 Astra, OpenAI’s first model to meet critical cybersecurity capability thresholds. When paired with supporting tools, Astra can already locate unknown vulnerabilities and research new exploitation methods without step-by-step human guidance. OpenAI forecasts that AI-driven cyberattacks will grow more widespread and sophisticated in the coming months.

10 minutes ago

Binance Alpha lists Cluster Protocol (CP), with an airdrop threshold of 235 points.

Binance Alpha has launched Cluster Protocol (CP). Users holding at least 235 Alpha points can claim an airdrop of 860 CP tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. The score threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every five minutes as long as the event remains ongoing.

10 minutes ago

Kalshi prediction market has expanded its perpetual futures (perps) offerings to include BNB, Cardano (ADA), and AAVE. The platform shows perpetual contracts for AI altcoins such as Worldcoin (WLD) and Venice Token (VVV) are also live for trading after approval from the US CFTC.

BNB, ADA, WLD, AAVE & Venice Token Perps Trading Goes Live on Kalshi Kalshi has added BNB, ADA, AAVE, WLD, and VVV to its line of US CFTC-regulated perpetual contracts. The products debuted under the trademark “American Perpetuals,” which aims to offer CFTC-regulated perpetual futures contracts for trading in the United States.

Notably, the prediction market platform filed for these perpetual futures with the CFTC last week. The max leverage varies by crypto asset, such as 4.5x for BNB and 1.9x for Venice Token.

Kalshi now offers perpetuals trading for Bitcoin and 17 altcoins such as ETH, XRP, SOL, HYPE, and Zcash. Notably, the perpetuals are CFTC-regulated, don’t have an expiration date, and settle in USD.

As CoinGape reported earlier, Kalshi last launched Zcash (ZEC), Near Protocol (NEAR), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) perps. However, approvals for XLM, DOT, and HBAR are still pending with the US CFTC.

The approvals came despite CME Group’s lawsuit against the US CFTC and Chairman Mike Selig, alleging these contracts are swaps. This week, the CFTC filed a motion to dismiss the CME lawsuit, arguing the exchange lacks standing on its competitive-injury claims.

BNB, ADA, WLD, AAVE and Venice Token Perps. Source: Kalshi

Prices Rebound amid More Perpetual Futures Approval by CFTC BNB price jumped more than 5% to $729 amid broader crypto market recovery. The price is currently trading around $723, with a massive 83% rise in trading volume in the last 24 hours.

ADA price has skyrocketed almost 10% to $0.222 as RealFi sets October 1 mainnet launch. Cardano price outlook shows further upside to $0.28.

Meanwhile, AAVE, WLD, and VVV prices also jumped higher as the US Treasury bought back $12.5 billion of debt in its latest Treasury buyback operation.

If you’re looking to explore prediction markets amid the dip in the crypto market, check out these best crypto prediction markets of 2026.

DeGods founder spends $1,491 to buy MEME, earning an 810x return.

Per Lookonchain monitoring, DeGods founder Frank (@frankdegods) spent $1,491 to buy 11 million MEME tokens 11 hours ago; the holding is now worth over $1.2 million, delivering an 810x return.

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AMC’s after-hours trading gains on US stocks widened to over 20%

According to market data from BIT (bit.com), U.S. cinema chain AMC’s after-hours trading gain has expanded to over 20%, with its current price standing at $3.07.

2 minutes ago

AMC CEO responds to Robinhood CEO: Demands an end to AMC stock token trading, plans to seek legal action to halt it.

AMC CEO Adam Aron responded to Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, saying Tenev’s concerns about AMC’s stock tokens are “almost existential for the company.” He questioned why Robinhood, a U.S.-based firm, is able to issue products that purportedly represent AMC stock but fail to comply with U.S. securities laws via an offshore entity based in Jersey. Aron noted that AMC spends millions of dollars annually to adhere to U.S. securities regulations, adding that Robinhood’s so-called “synthetic equity market” could decouple stock token trading from the financing arrangements of listed companies. Traditional stockholders hold rights such as voting, but Aron argued that stock tokens do not represent actual equity, meaning investors cannot access corresponding shareholder rights. Aron demanded that Tenev and Robinhood voluntarily halt AMC stock token trading; otherwise, AMC has retained external securities lawyers to explore measures to force Robinhood to cease such activity. He also said he will submit inquiries to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding Robinhood’s practices. Earlier reports stated that Aron released a statement this morning revealing Robinhood is advancing a tokenized real-world asset and stock token project involving AMC and more than 190 other companies. Aron clarified that AMC has no connection to the project, does not endorse the practices involved, and will immediately retain external securities lawyers to review the matter. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev responded that there is no need for concern.

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Japanese and South Korean stock markets closed higher across the board, with SK Hynix rising more than 3%.

According to Bitget data, the Nikkei 225 index closed 806.46 points higher on Friday, September 4, rising 1.26% to 65,020.94 points. South Korea’s KOSPI index also closed up 107.73 points, or 1.64%, at 6,687.21 points on the same day, with SK Hynix gaining over 3% and Samsung Electronics rising 2.2%.

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Meme crypto project MEME briefly broke through $110 million in market capitalization, setting a new all-time high.

According to GMGN data, the stock-meme project MEME on Robinhood Chain has been surging, with its market cap briefly breaking through $110 million to hit a new all-time high before pulling back to $95 million. It has surged over 1,000% in 24 hours, with trading volume reaching $59.1 million. MEME leverages stock trading platform Robinhood, pairing with tokenized U.S. stock AMC Entertainment (the U.S. theater chain with ticker AMC) as its liquidity pool, using the MEME/AMC trading pair to provide liquidity. AMC’s CEO stated in a post this morning that Robinhood is advancing a tokenized real-world asset and stock token project involving AMC and over 190 other companies. He noted AMC has no connection to the project, does not endorse the practice, and will immediately request external securities lawyers to review the matter. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev responded that there is no need for concern. BlockBeats Note: Stock Meme is an emerging concept that combines traditional meme coins with tokenized U.S. stocks: instead of pairing with USDT or ETH, meme coins are directly paired with on-chain U.S. stock tokens (e.g., NVDA, TSLA, AAPL, etc.). This model retains meme coins’ high volatility and community-driven speculative nature while tapping into the popularity and narrative of real stocks. A portion of transaction fees often flows back to the community treasury to accumulate corresponding U.S. stock tokens, forming a dual-driven model of "sentiment speculation + real asset anchoring". Prices are highly volatile; invest with caution.

2 minutes ago

Bank of Korea: South Korea's memory chip production capacity advantage is expected to further expand.

The Bank of Korea stated that thanks to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix’s active expansion of domestic production facilities, South Korea’s leading edge in storage chip production capacity is expected to further expand. The central bank projects that new chip factories set to commence operations by 2028 will boost South Korea’s monthly wafer production capacity by approximately 600,000 units.

2 minutes ago

The crypto industry today is almost unrecognizable from 7 years ago, both in size and scale. Just for decentralized exchanges (DEX), trading volume grew roughly 9,260x from 2019 to a record $4.7 trillion in 2025.  In 2026, however, activity moderated to $1.63 trillion year-to-date. 

It’s not down to one chain or sector. Liquidity is now distributed across more blockchains, venue types, protocols, and execution environments, without one clearly replacing the others.

SwapSpace recently published its State of Crypto Swaps 2026 report, which shows the massive extent of this growth. One of the clearest findings comes from its own platform data. Over 90.12% of its users interacted with more than one blockchain network in 2026. 

At the same time, survey respondents did not identify DEXs, CEXs, or aggregators as universally offering the best rates.

The findings clearly show that the market today offers more execution options, and no single venue, network, or liquidity source dominates every transaction. 

DEX Trading Volume Hit a Record High in 2025. Source: SwapSpace
90% of SwapSpace Users Are Multichain
SwapSpace is a crypto exchange aggregator that lets users compare rates across different swap services and exchange different crypto through a single interface. So, the platform has a notable vantage point of how users today interact across different chains.

Among SwapSpace users, multichain activity is not marginal. Between 2022 and 2026, the share of users interacting with more than one network ranged from 72.50% to 93.66%. 

It reached its lowest point at 72.50% in 2024, before rising to 90.12% in 2026. Even at the low point of the observed period, nearly three-quarters of users interacted with more than one blockchain.

These figures provide a platform-level view of how users operate in a market where assets and liquidity are spread across multiple networks.

The broader DEX market shows a similar redistribution of activity. According to DeFiLlama data cited in the SwapSpace report, Ethereum accounted for 46.2% of global DEX volume in 2021, while BNB Chain represented another 39.6%.

By 2025, Ethereum’s share was 19.3% and BNB Chain’s 15.3%, while Solana accounted for 33.3% and other chains collectively represented 32.1%. 

Global DEX volume share by blockchain, 2021 vs. 2025. Source: DeFiLlama, cited in SwapSpace’s State of Crypto Swaps 2026.
SwapSpace’s internal activity data shows a similar lack of a permanent leader. Ethereum led platform activity from 2020 through 2024, Solana moved into first place in 2025, and BNB Chain led in 2026. 

Taken together, the data shows that multichain activity is taking place in a market where liquidity leadership continues to shift between ecosystems. 

Leading networks by share of SwapSpace activity, 2019, 2025 and 2026. Source: SwapSpace internal data. 
Fragmentation Does Not Stop at the Blockchain Level
The multichain picture captures only one layer of fragmentation. Liquidity is also distributed within individual blockchain ecosystems. The report cites DeFiLlama tracking of around 1,950 protocols on Ethereum, more than 1,200 on BNB Chain, and more than 1,000 each on Arbitrum and Base.

Those protocols can contain different pools, assets, and execution mechanisms. A user operating on Ethereum, for example, is not necessarily accessing one unified liquidity environment.

That creates two layers of complexity: liquidity is distributed between blockchain ecosystems and again between protocols and pools within them.

The distinction matters because the number of possible execution paths can expand even without adding another network. A transaction may involve not only choosing a chain, but also navigating several potential sources of liquidity within that chain.

In that sense, describing the market as simply “multichain” understates how fragmented the execution layer itself has become.

DEX Growth Has Produced a Hybrid Market
DEX trading has grown sharply, but it has not replaced centralized exchanges.

After reaching a record $4.7 trillion in 2025, DEX activity remains significant in 2026, even as the broader crypto market has cooled. Centralized exchanges still handle most spot trading, while DEXs are gaining ground in areas such as perpetual futures.

The result is a more hybrid market. Traders now move between centralized and decentralized venues depending on liquidity, asset availability, transaction size, and market conditions. Crypto trading is becoming more fragmented rather than shifting toward one dominant model.

Best Rate Still Matters — But It Is Not the Only Variable
Price remains central to how users evaluate swaps. Based on the report’s latent class analysis, SwapSpace estimates that 61.86% of survey respondents valued best rate, compared with 52.51% for multichain access and 39.91% for support for rare tokens.

The differences become clearer across user segments. Among crypto-native power users, 97% valued multichain access, 91% best rate, and 87% rare-token support. Traders and business users placed the greatest emphasis on best rate at 88%, while 61% valued multichain access and 52% rare-token support. Mainstream generalists were more balanced, with 76% valuing both best rate and multichain access.

Exchange feature preferences by user segment, 2025. Source: SwapSpace survey.
The figures suggest that price remains important, but users can evaluate a transaction through several variables at once. The quoted rate may matter alongside access to a particular network or asset.

The same ambiguity appears when respondents are asked which venue type offers the best rates in their experience. Answers were distributed across DEXs, CEXs, aggregators, and “depends on the situation,” with no single category emerging as an overwhelming choice.

SwapSpace’s provider data adds another layer of context. Among users who completed at least two exchanges, 70% selected a different liquidity provider for their next transaction, while 30% returned to the same one.

The findings suggest that “best” can be transaction-specific rather than a permanent property of one venue or provider.

Swaps are Serving More Than Trading
The survey also shows that crypto swaps take place in different contexts.

Receiving funds and personal payments were the most common reported crypto use cases among respondents, followed by short-term and long-term trading, while business payments ranked lower.

When respondents were asked which additional platform capabilities they valued, payments for goods and services ranked highest, followed by cashback and automatic swaps. Fiat withdrawal, Telegram functionality, and lending and borrowing ranked lower.

Transaction triggers were similarly varied. Sudden price movements and portfolio rebalancing were the leading triggers for swaps, while news and emergency needs also appeared and influencer signals ranked last.

These findings mean that the same exchange infrastructure can support different objectives, from responding to price movements and managing a portfolio to receiving funds or making payments.

That also means execution requirements are not necessarily identical across transactions. A trader reacting to a sudden market move may prioritize different conditions from someone exchanging assets as part of a payment.

Most users switch between different exchanges for their next swap
Intent-Based Execution Moves Complexity Behind the Interface
One emerging response to this fragmented environment is intent-based execution.

Instead of choosing an exchange, blockchain, or trading route, users simply state what they want to achieve. Competing systems then find a way to complete the trade.

Platforms such as UniswapX, 1inch Fusion, and NEAR Intents already use versions of this model. As crypto liquidity spreads across more venues and networks, this approach could make trading easier by moving routing decisions into the background.

The market can stay fragmented while the user experience becomes much simpler. But that means more of the complexity has to be handled behind the scenes. 

How platforms handle that complexity may differ. Intent-based execution is one approach, but not the only one. Ultimately, what matters is whether users can access the networks and liquidity they need without having to navigate the underlying complexity themselves. 

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.

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In brief Spot Ethereum ETFs posted $48.08 million in net outflows Wednesday, ending a 12-day inflow streak that had pulled in $1.62 billion. Spot XRP ETFs recorded $7.2 million in outflows, snapping an 11-session run that brought in roughly $170 million and pushed cumulative inflows to $1.68 billion. Bitcoin ETFs rebounded with $101.15 million in net inflows, a day after posting $236.5 million in outflows, their largest single-day exit since July 31. US spot Ethereum and XRP ETFs broke their winning streaks on Wednesday. Bitcoin funds went the other way, pulling in $101.15 million in fresh money, per SoSoValue and Decrypt data.

ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, are funds that trade like stocks and let investors buy exposure to a cryptocurrency's price through a regular brokerage account instead of holding the coin itself. Crypto ETFs have been extremely popular among investors, and market observers keep a close eye on the money going in and out of these funds as a key indicator of current sentiment.

Bitcoin ETF Net Flows. Image: DecryptEthereum ETFs had logged 12 straight days of net inflows, meaning more money came into the funds than left them every single day for two and a half weeks. That streak gathered $1.62 billion before ending Wednesday with $48.08 million walking out the door.

BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) led the exodus with $53.4 million in outflows. Fidelity's FETH lost $26.2 million, and Grayscale's Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) shed $23.5 million. BlackRock's staked Ethereum ETF, ETHB—a fund that locks up its Ethereum to earn network rewards and passes some of that yield to shareholders—absorbed part of the damage with $52.9 million in inflows.

Ethereum ETF Net Flows. Image: DecryptXRP told a similar story on a smaller scale. Its 11-session streak had brought in about $170 million, lifting cumulative inflows to $1.68 billion, before Wednesday's $7.2 million outflow. The withdrawal came almost entirely from Bitwise's XRP fund, while the four other XRP products, issued by Franklin, Canary, 21Shares and Grayscale, recorded no flows either way.

Bitcoin moved in the opposite direction. Wednesday's $101.15 million inflow reversed Tuesday's $236.5 million outflow, the category's largest single-day exit since July 31, when BlackRock's IBIT alone accounted for 85% of the damage. This time IBIT led the comeback, pulling in $115.45 million on its own, more than the day's entire net total, while Grayscale's original GBTC fund still lost $56.21 million.

The whiplash caps a volatile stretch. Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $3.52 billion in August, their best month of 2026, a run that included a $606 million single-day haul in mid-August, the biggest since May. Total net assets across the category now sit at $97.22 billion, with cumulative inflows near $54.7 billion since the funds launched in January 2024.

XRP ETF Net Flows. Image: DecryptSeptember has a habit of testing that momentum. Bitcoin has closed the month lower in eight of the past 13 years, a pattern Decrypt has tracked as Red September, and this year's version arrives with the Federal Reserve's rate decision landing September 15 to 16, the first hike debate since the central bank's 2022-2023 tightening cycle

Why the money picked BitcoinWednesday's split wasn't just Ethereum and XRP losing steam. Solana ETFs also posted a $6.13 million outflow the same day, meaning three of the four major crypto ETF categories retreated while only Bitcoin advanced. That's a narrower signal than "crypto is cooling"—it looks more like capital consolidating into Bitcoin specifically rather than spreading across digital assets broadly, a pattern that also showed up during last month's institutional buying spree.

In the most overly simplistic explanation, Bitcoin is the bigger, thus safer asset in the ecosystem.

Myriad: Bitcoin's next price move? Click to make your prediction.Another thing to consider comes with simple market expectation. Ethereum and XRP had each just run their longest inflow streaks in months, 12 and 11 sessions respectively, so a pause to lock in gains was overdue on both. Bitcoin, by contrast, was coming off Tuesday's outflow and had room to bounce.

The rest is macro nerves. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish Jackson Hole remarks pushed September rate-hike odds above 60% on the CME's FedWatch tool, and when crypto investors get defensive, Bitcoin is typically the first asset they buy back into and the last one they exit, since it carries the deepest liquidity and the longest institutional track record of any crypto ETF on the market. XRP and Ethereum, both newer and thinner by comparison, tend to see that caution show up as outflows first.

The simplest explanation tends to be the right one.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

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Ethereum reclaimed the $2,400 level but faces mounting uncertainties driven by sliding ETF demand and weakening technical momentum, raising concerns over the sustainability of recent gains.

Mixed ETF Flows and Institutional AppetiteETH was trading at $2,405.5 on September 3, rising 1.18% in the past 24 hours, with a daily trading volume of $14.37 billion and a market capitalization near $293.32 billion. Despite this modest rebound, investor sentiment remains cautious after a recent reversal in ETF flows.

Data showed that spot Ethereum ETFs in the US recorded $48 million in outflows on September 2, erasing what had been a streak of 12 consecutive sessions with net inflows totaling $1.62 billion. This shift in flows has caught the attention of both traders and market analysts.

ETF flows have become a critical gauge of institutional involvement in Ethereum. Sustained inflows offer potential support for upward price movement, while persistent outflows can signal waning confidence or profit-taking by large investors.

Significant outflows from ETH spot ETFs have prompted concerns that institutional appetite for Ethereum may be softening, with continued redemptions posing risks to price stability above key support levels.

Key Technical Levels in FocusAnalyst Ted highlighted the crucial importance of the $2,350 threshold, stating that a weekly close below this point would strengthen bearish sentiment and could trigger a further drop toward $2,200, implying a substantial correction from current price levels.

Technically, Ethereum is trading just above the midpoint of its Bollinger Bands at $2,325, which offers temporary support. However, both the Bollinger Bands and other leading indicators suggest a mixed outlook. The upper and lower bands, set at approximately $2,771 and $1,879 respectively, point to elevated price volatility.

The MACD indicator currently stands at 121.6, below its signal line at 136.8, with the histogram at -15.2, suggesting reduced upward momentum and an ongoing risk of further downside pressure.

Bulls must keep prices above $2,350 to preserve the ongoing recovery trend. Should ETH fall below this critical level on a weekly close, the focus will shift to the next key area of support at $2,200. Persistent ETF outflows and weakening technicals make defending these levels even more important.

Broader Shifts in Tokenized AssetsBeyond price and on-chain signals, the broader investment landscape is also undergoing significant changes. While technical indicators such as the RSI and MACD help traders navigate volatile markets, major institutional players are increasingly exploring Web3 platforms. Wall Street participants are moving to protocols like 1stepSwap to hold traditional assets such as US equities, gold, and silver directly within crypto wallets. By tokenizing real-world assets and providing rapid access to competitive pricing, these platforms aim to bypass traditional intermediaries and streamline investment processes.

For Ethereum, the convergence of shifting ETF flows, critical technical support tests, and evolving investment models creates a landscape full of both risk and opportunity.

The interplay between ETF movements and ongoing technical signals continues to drive uncertainty for Ethereum, putting added focus on whether bulls can keep the price above important support zones in the face of bearish momentum.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies pulled off something rare in August: a 46.5% stock gain driven by a methodical pivot from Bitcoin mining infrastructure to becoming one of the largest public holders of Ethereum on the planet.

BMNR shares climbed from around $18 to above $26 over the course of the month, driven by a combination of aggressive ETH accumulation, a massive share buyback program, and staking revenues that are starting to look like a legitimate business model rather than a crypto side hustle.

The numbers behind the move By early August, Bitmine’s total asset holdings exceeded $11 billion. By the end of the month, that figure had swelled to approximately $14.9 billion, a nearly 35% increase in a matter of weeks.

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The centerpiece of that portfolio: roughly 5.8 million ETH as of early August, representing about 4.8% of Ethereum’s entire circulating supply. The company continued adding tens of thousands of ETH on a weekly basis throughout the month, pushing total holdings even higher.

About 87% of the company’s ETH holdings are actively staked, generating projected annualized revenues between $250 million and $330 million. On the capital return side, Bitmine has repurchased more than 19 million shares since July 1, 2026, as part of a $4 billion buyback program. Chairman Tom Lee framed the initiative as a response to the stock trading at a persistent discount to its net asset value.

From mining rigs to Ethereum vaults Bitmine’s origin story is rooted in Bitcoin mining, specifically immersion cooling technology for mining hardware. The pivot to an Ethereum-centric treasury model represents one of the more dramatic corporate transformations in the digital asset space.

Bitmine isn’t the first public company to build a crypto treasury. MicroStrategy famously pioneered the Bitcoin treasury model years ago, accumulating tens of billions of dollars worth of BTC and inspiring a wave of imitators. But Bitmine’s Ethereum-first approach is a meaningful departure from that playbook, reflecting a bet that ETH’s staking yield and role in decentralized finance give it a different value proposition than Bitcoin’s “digital gold” narrative.

What the pivot signals for the broader market The staking revenue angle is particularly notable. A projection of $250 million to $330 million in annualized revenue from staking alone gives traditional finance investors something they can model in a spreadsheet.

By repurchasing shares when the stock trades below net asset value, Bitmine is essentially telling the market: we think our ETH is worth more than you’re giving us credit for.

Weekly gains of up to 26% during August also suggest the stock is attracting momentum-driven traders alongside fundamental investors.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

According to Reuters, global banking giant Standard Chartered announced the launch of its Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading service for its corporate clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The bank thus became the first global bank to offer direct cryptocurrency spot trading to institutional clients in the Gulf country.

The new service is offered through Standard Chartered’s operations at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The bank aims to expand institutional investors’ access to the cryptocurrency market through traditional financial infrastructure.

Standard Chartered’s move to the UAE stands out as part of its strategy to expand its activities in the digital asset space. The bank had already begun offering spot trading services for BTC and ETH to institutional clients in the UK in 2025.

Solana Accounts for One-Fifth of Stablecoin Transactions! While Standard Chartered UAE drew attention with its BTC and ETH moves, the bank’s Head of Digital Asset Research, Geoff Kendrick, made statements about Solana.

Speaking on Solana’s official podcast, “House of Sol,” Kendrick highlighted Solana’s strong position in the stablecoin market.

Kendrick stated that approximately $7 trillion worth of transactions are processed monthly via stablecoins, and the Solana network handles about one-fifth of these transactions.

According to Kendrick, this ratio highlights not only the network’s role in decentralized finance and cryptocurrency trading, but also its growth in payment and stablecoin-based use cases.

Kendrick also noted that Solana’s low transaction costs and high transaction capacity are among the key factors that enable the network to stand out in stablecoin and micro-payment applications.

*This is not investment advice.

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TLDR: Ethereum saw accelerated August activity across Layer-2 upgrades, institutional adoption and ecosystem development. BlackRock expanded tokenization on Ethereum while Gnosis and Whitechain pursued Layer-2 transitions. Privacy tools and wallet infrastructure advanced through new applications, security features and post-quantum technology. DeFi growth continued as Aave, Morpho and Uniswap reached new deposit and trading milestones. Ethereum development activity accelerated through August as builders across the ecosystem shipped new upgrades, launched fresh protocols, and expanded institutional integrations.

Layer-2 networks advanced their infrastructure, decentralized finance protocols recorded fresh deposit milestones, and privacy-focused applications gained new momentum.

The developments touched governance, tokenization, wallet security, and onchain gaming across the wider Ethereum landscape.

Institutional and Layer-2 Expansion Gain Momentum Ethereum’s Layer-2 ecosystem saw structural changes this month. GnosisDAO approved a vote to move Gnosis Chain from an independent Layer-1 network to a ZK-proven Ethereum Layer-2 rollup.

The shift introduces synchronous composability, allowing applications on Gnosis and Ethereum to interact within a single transaction.

Institutional interest in Ethereum also expanded. BlackRock introduced its Select Treasury Based Liquidity Fund with a tokenized share class deployed on Ethereum mainnet.

The asset manager additionally began tokenizing share classes tied to its $311 billion European money market fund series on the network.

Ethereum is for shipping.

Here are 35 things the Ethereum ecosystem launched, upgraded, and announced through August.

1/ GnosisDAO approved a vote to transition @gnosischain from its own L1 to a ZK-proven Ethereum L2 rollup with synchronous composability, so apps on Gnosis and…

— Ethereum (@ethereum) September 3, 2026

Arbitrum activated its ArbOS Elara upgrade, bringing more responsive transaction fees to Arbitrum One. The update also increased Stylus smart contract capacity fourfold and added new features for chains built on the Arbitrum stack.

Elsewhere, Whitechain, the network connected to the WhiteBit exchange ecosystem, announced plans to transition from an independent Layer-1 into an Ethereum Layer-2 built on the OP Stack.

Ethereum client teams also introduced the Platåberget testnet to prepare implementations ahead of the Glamsterdam network upgrade.

Privacy Tools and Wallet Infrastructure Advance Privacy-focused development remained active across the Ethereum ecosystem in August. Aztec Network launched Alpha v5, a protocol upgrade that reduced private transaction proving times. The release also brought an initial group of privacy-preserving applications onto the network.

Privacy Boost introduced a new frontend application enabling users to send private transfers directly from connected wallets.

Separately, Privacy Pools launched onchain payroll support, letting employers issue recurring wage payments while keeping salary amounts and recipient addresses private.

Wallet security also advanced through new releases. MetaMask launched its Agent Wallet, an agentic tool built with spending limits, allowlists, and configurable risk profiles.

Freedom Factory opened presales for PQ1, an air-gapped hardware wallet that signs transactions using post-quantum cryptography through an Ethereum smart account.

Privacy-focused wallet Cloaked reported reaching $650,000 in deposits and $1 million in transaction volume during its first 90 days of operation.

Web3Privacy also released an updated Ethereum Privacy Ecosystem Mapping for 2026, documenting the network’s growing privacy tooling landscape.

DeFi Growth and Ecosystem Programs Continue Decentralized finance activity on Ethereum showed continued expansion during the month. Aave v4 surpassed $525 million in deposits on Ethereum mainnet.

Morpho reported crossing $880 million in total deposits on Robinhood Chain within less than two months of going live, while also reaching $5.75 billion in deposits on Base.

Uniswap processed more than $1 billion in stock token volume on Robinhood Chain, contributing to over $20 billion in total volume since the platform’s July launch.

The exchange also launched v4 Permissioned Pools, a hook standard enabling allowlisted swaps for regulated assets while keeping the base protocol permissionless.

Coinbase launched tokenized stocks on Base for non-U.S. users, backed one-to-one by a regulated custodian and held in self-custody wallets.

Base separately opened applications for its Base Batches 004 accelerator program, supporting ten early-stage teams building on the network.

Ether.fi expanded its crypto neobank offering with tokenized stocks and portfolio-backed loans facilitated through Aave.

The Ethereum Foundation also launched an autoresearch challenge focused on post-quantum security, built alongside zkSecurity and EigenLabs, placing a machine-verified security problem on a public leaderboard for open contribution.

ARK Invest researcher Lorenzo Valente made noteworthy assessments regarding Ethereum, Solana, and Hyperliquid.

Lorenzo Valente, posting from account X, compared the value capture models of Ethereum, Solana, and Hyperliquid through three different fast-food chains.

At this point, Valente argued that ETH, SOL, and HYPE should not be considered as different versions of the same Layer 1 (L1) business model, but rather as having entirely different value capture structures, comparing them to McDonald’s, Chipotle, and In-N-Out, respectively.

Ethereum: The Most Successful Franchise System! Valente argued that Ethereum has established the most successful franchise system in the crypto market through its Layer 2 networks, but collects very little rent or fees at the payment layer.

Instead of directly operating its own Layer 2 (L2) networks, Ethereum allows independent teams like Arbitrum, Base, and OP Mainnet to develop their own networks. However, Ethereum charges limited fees compared to this massive franchise ecosystem it has created.

Solana: She Keeps the Entire Operation Under Her Own Roof! An ARK Invest researcher noted that, unlike Ethereum, Solana has built its own vertically integrated system and holds higher fees and MEV (maximum extractable value).

This gives Solana a stronger direct value capture mechanism compared to Ethereum. However, in return, the network has to operate the entire infrastructure itself and bear the technical and operational risks that may arise.

According to Valente, Solana’s advantage is its ability to keep a significant portion of economic activity and income under its own umbrella; its disadvantage is that this structure creates a higher degree of vertical integration and systemic risk.

Hyperliquid: The Shortest Value Capture Chain In Valente’s comparison, Hyperliquid is equivalent to In-N-Out. According to the renowned expert, Hyperliquid has the shortest value-capture chain thanks to its tight vertical integration, lack of VC funding, and fee-financed HYPE buybacks.

Hyperliquid’s model has no external capital, and almost all of the fees flow into a relief fund used to buy back HYPE.

According to Valente, this structure significantly shortens the gap between the fee paid by the user and the economic value obtained by token holders. Therefore, he believes that Hyperliquid has the most direct value capture mechanism among the three models.

*This is not investment advice.

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Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is back above $80,000 after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he is willing to hold rates steady at the Sep. 15 meeting.

Waller Backs September Rate Hold as Inflation CoolsAs Benzinga reported Thursday, Waller told Reuters that he supports holding rates provided August inflation does not surprise to the upside. 

“If there is continued progress toward our 2% goal, then I am willing to support holding the policy rate at its current level,” Waller said, adding that a hot inflation print would put a hike back on the table.

His case rests on the three-month core inflation run rate falling from 4.76% in February to 3.05% through July, a pace he called encouraging despite annual PCE still running at 3.3%.

Trending

Fed futures currently price in a 51% chance of a September hike according to CME FedWatch, making August CPI the swing input for markets.

Bitcoin Jumps 5% and Challenges $82,207 ResistanceA rate hold removes one of the most immediate headwinds for risk assets. BTC surged 5% to $80,600 Thursday, pushing into the resistance band that has capped price since May. 

Moreover, RSI at 71.27 confirms genuine momentum behind the move with the 20-day EMA at $75,164 sitting well below as fresh support.

Key levels for BTC: $82,207 — 1.0 Fib resistance, close above opens path to $97,278 $76,983 — 0.786 Fib, first support on any pullback Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) are up 4% and 8%, respectively, on the news.

XRP is breaking decisively out of the descending triangle that compressed price for two weeks after August’s spike to $1.70. 

RSI at 72.46 matches the sharpest reading since the initial August 19 breakout, with the EMA cluster at $1.37 now flipping to support below.

Key levels for XRP: $1.50 — next psychological resistance $1.37 — EMA cluster, breakout retest support Read Next

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The cryptocurrency market broadly and subtly recovers on Thursday, led by Bitcoin’s (BTC) rise near $78,000. This follows persistent declines from the August peak near $81,500. Altcoins, including Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP), mirror BTC’s neutral-to-bullish outlook, trending higher above $2,400 and $1.37, respectively.

Appetite for risk assets remains relatively elevated, as reflected in the Fear & Greed Index. Market sentiment rose to 65 in the Greed territory on Thursday,  up marginally from 63 the previous day. Steady, positive market sentiment provides a much-needed tailwind to sustain price increases.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: AlternativeBitcoin attracts ETF inflows as Ethereum and XRP see outflowsBitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) saw inflows totaling $101 million on Wednesday. This followed $236 million in outflows recorded on Tuesday. Meanwhile, cumulative inflows edged up slightly to $54.71 billion, from $54.61 billion over the same period. Total assets under management average $97.22 billion.

Bitcoin ETF flows | Source: SoSoValueEthereum spot ETFs turned bearish on Wednesday, with outflows amounting to $48 million. The pullback comes after 12 straight days of inflows. Cumulative inflows currently stand at $13 billion, with net assets under management at $15 billion.

Ethereum ETF flows | Source: SoSoValueUS-listed spot XRP ETFs similarly saw outflows totaling $7 billion on Wednesday, breaking 11 consecutive days of inflows, according to SoSoValue. Cumulative inflows are holding steady at $1.68 billion, with net assets under management at $1.42 billion.

XRP ETF flows | Source: SoSoValueIf Ethereum and XRP continue to experience outflows, supply could weigh on price action, reducing the odds of sustained recovery. For now, positive market sentiment could cushion the tokens and prevent a sharp sell-off.

Technical analysis: Bitcoin rebounds as bulls returnBitcoin trades near $78,000, extending its advance well above the main Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), which now underpin a bullish near-term bias and suggest a firmly supported trend after the recent breakout.

At the same time, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 67 shows strong but not yet overbought momentum. By contrast, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator prints in negative territory, suggesting bullish pressure remains strong but is losing steam after the sharp run-up.

BTC/USDT daily chartImmediate support is at the current pivot zone around $78,000, with a deeper corrective slide likely to target the 200-day EMA at $72,458 first. Below that, the 50-day EMA at $70,601 and the 100-day EMA at $69,406 form a broader demand cluster that should attract buyers on a more pronounced pullback while the broader trend remains constructive.

Altcoins technical outlook: Ethereum and XRP defend key support Ethereum trades at $2,404, holding a clear bullish bias as price consolidates well above the short-, medium- and long-term EMAs, all reinforcing a supportive underlying trend despite the latest pullback from recent highs.

Momentum remains constructive, with the RSI around 62, suggesting positive but not extreme buying pressure, while the MACD shows the line below its signal and retreating, hinting at a cooling phase rather than a full-fledged reversal.

ETH/USDT daily chartImmediate support lies at the current pivotal area around $2,400, followed by the 200-day EMA at $2,172, the 50-day EMA at $2,137 and the 100-day EMA at $2,060. As long as ETH holds above these clustered EMA supports, dips are likely to attract buying interest, keeping the broader path of least resistance pointed higher and leaving room for the pair to resume its advance once the current momentum consolidation runs its course.

As for XRP, the spot price hovers above $1.37 as bulls gain ground from support tested on Wednesday near $1.30. The pair also holds above major moving averages including the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day EMAs, which collectively suggest a constructive bullish bias in the near term.

The RSI near 60 hints at still-positive but moderated upside pressure after the recent overbought readings, while the MACD has slipped below its signal line and turned slightly negative, suggesting waning momentum rather than a full reversal at this stage.

XRP/USDT daily chartOn the downside, initial support is at the 200-day EMA around $1.35, with a deeper floor near the confluence of the 50-day and 100-day EMAs in the $1.22 region should a larger pullback unfold. With no nearby overhead indicator-defined resistance on the daily chart, price action around $1.37 itself functions as a short-term pivot, and a sustained hold above the 200-day EMA would keep the bullish bias intact, while a daily close below that level would open the door for a test of the mid-$1.20s support cluster.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)

Crypto ETF FAQs An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle or an index that tracks the price of an underlying asset. ETFs can not only track a single asset, but a group of assets and sectors. For example, a Bitcoin ETF tracks Bitcoin’s price. ETF is a tool used by investors to gain exposure to a certain asset.

Yes. The first Bitcoin futures ETF in the US was approved by the US Securities & Exchange Commission in October 2021. A total of seven Bitcoin futures ETFs have been approved, with more than 20 still waiting for the regulator’s permission. The SEC says that the cryptocurrency industry is new and subject to manipulation, which is why it has been delaying crypto-related futures ETFs for the last few years.

Yes. The SEC approved in January 2024 the listing and trading of several Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds, opening the door to institutional capital and mainstream investors to trade the main crypto currency. The decision was hailed by the industry as a game changer.

The main advantage of crypto ETFs is the possibility of gaining exposure to a cryptocurrency without ownership, reducing the risk and cost of holding the asset. Other pros are a lower learning curve and higher security for investors since ETFs take charge of securing the underlying asset holdings. As for the main drawbacks, the main one is that as an investor you can’t have direct ownership of the asset, or, as they say in crypto, “not your keys, not your coins.” Other disadvantages are higher costs associated with holding crypto since ETFs charge fees for active management. Finally, even though investing in ETFs reduces the risk of holding an asset, price swings in the underlying cryptocurrency are likely to be reflected in the investment vehicle too.

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