The Ethereum Foundation has warned that wallets, indexers and gas estimators could break as Glamsterdam changes the 21,000-gas assumption for some ETH transfers, with the upgrade due to activate on the Platåberget testnet on Aug. 20.
Summary
Ethereum has warned that Glamsterdam could break wallets, indexers and gas estimators that rely on fixed gas assumptions. EIP 8037 will add a separate state gas charge for operations that create new state. A basic ETH transfer to an existing account will still cost 21,000 gas, while transfers to new accounts will cost more. Developers have been urged to test their software on the Platåberget testnet before Glamsterdam moves to Sepolia and Hoodi. The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol DevOps team said on Aug. 17 that any tool relying on a hardcoded maximum gas limit “will break,” naming wallets, indexers and gas estimators among the software likely to be affected. The team urged application and infrastructure developers to test their systems on Platåberget, a public testnet designed to stay online for several months.
Forkcast data shows Platåberget launched on Aug. 13, giving developers an early environment for Glamsterdam before the upgrade moves to Sepolia and Hoodi. The Glamsterdam fork is scheduled to activate on Platåberget on Aug. 20, according to the foundation, with public validator and builder deposits available as part of the testing process.
Glamsterdam could break hardcoded gas assumptions Under the planned gas repricing package, the foundation said software can no longer safely assume that Ethereum has a single fixed gas ceiling or that common operations will continue to cost the same amount in every case. The changes are designed around a roughly 200 million gas floor and alter the price of individual operations as well as assumptions tied to the block gas limit.
For application developers, the immediate issue is software that sets fixed boundaries when estimating transaction costs. The Protocol DevOps team said such systems need to be reviewed before Glamsterdam reaches mainnet because the repricing touches wallets, indexers and gas estimators across the network.
The warning follows June 17 Glamsterdam upgrade coverage from crypto.news, which reported that Ethereum developers were already testing the full set of planned EIPs on development networks. At the time, Ethereum Foundation developer Parithosh Jayanthi said the upgrade would change the cost of actions on Ethereum, with high-level computation becoming cheaper while state becomes more expensive.
During the same testing phase, Jayanthi said developers had made “massive progress” but noted that no fixed mainnet timeline had been set. Deployment would depend on the results of testing and whether Ethereum client teams were ready to support the new rules.
EIP-8037 changes how new state is priced A central part of the warning concerns EIP-8037, which introduces a separate state-gas dimension for operations that create new state. The foundation said creating an account, deploying code or writing a new storage slot will be metered at a fixed cost per state byte and charged at runtime.
Because of that change, a basic ETH transfer will not always carry the same gas cost. Sending ETH to an account that already exists will continue to cost 21,000 gas, with the amount broken into the base transaction cost, cold account access and the value-transfer cost. Sending funds to an address that does not yet exist will also incur a state-gas charge tied to creating the new account.
Developers should therefore revisit applications that treat 21,000 gas as sufficient for every ETH transfer, the Protocol DevOps team said. Gas estimators built around only one gas dimension may also return incorrect estimates once new state is metered separately.
EIP-8037 had already moved close to its final form by May. A May 11 protocol development report said the proposal had reached final-draft status and was being parameterised on a Glamsterdam development network. At the time, its cost-per-state-byte model was designed around limiting annual state growth to roughly 60 GiB at a 300 million gas block limit.
Under the parameters reported in May, new account creation could become roughly 8.5 times more expensive, while contract deployment costs could rise about tenfold. Separate metering for code deposits was designed to keep large contracts deployable, including code-heavy decentralised finance applications.
The state-gas model also changes where Ethereum accounts for the cost of permanent state. The foundation said account creation, new storage slots and deployed code will incur charges based on the amount of new state created, making applications that frequently add permanent data particularly important targets for testing before mainnet deployment.
Ethereum Glamsterdam upgrade also changes block production Gas repricing is only one part of Glamsterdam. The foundation said the fork also includes enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS, which changes how blocks are built, proposed and validated inside Ethereum’s core protocol.
Under ePBS, the split between the block-building process and the proposer role is incorporated into the protocol, alongside a new builder API flow and payload-timeliness checks. Infrastructure tied to Ethereum’s block-production and validation pipeline should expect to be affected, according to the foundation.
With Platåberget open for public participation, the Protocol DevOps team has encouraged solo stakers, distributed validator technology projects, custom software operators and large staking providers to test their infrastructure. The testnet allows users to deposit new validators and experiment with validator and builder-deposit workflows before the same changes move to longer-lived networks.
Block-Level Access Lists form another major component of the fork. The foundation said the lists will record state locations accessed during execution and post-transaction state changes, with BAL data stored separately from the block body and exchanged between execution-layer peers through the eth/71 networking protocol.
Earlier June reporting said the access-list design gives Ethereum clients advance information about which accounts and smart-contract data a block will use. The system can allow nodes to preload required data and process transactions in parallel when transactions do not access the same state, according to Ethereum.org.
Glamsterdam will also increase size limits for deployed contracts and initialisation code. The foundation said the maximum deployed contract size will rise from 24 KiB to 64 KiB, while the maximum initcode size will increase from 48 KiB to 128 KiB. Forward-compatible consensus data structures are also included in the planned fork.
Platåberget gives developers a longer testing window Unlike the shorter development networks used during earlier Glamsterdam work, Platåberget is intended to remain available for several months. The Protocol DevOps team said the longer lifespan should give developers time to test post-Glamsterdam behaviour and identify failures before the changes reach Sepolia and Hoodi.
Its validator set is relatively small but open to public participation. For the initial testing period, the foundation has listed container images for consensus clients including Lighthouse, Lodestar, Nimbus, Prysm, Teku and Grandine, alongside execution clients including Besu, Geth, Erigon, Nethermind, Reth, NimbusEL and Ethrex. Tagged client releases remain optional while development teams prepare their own builds.
After feedback from Platåberget has been incorporated into specifications and client software, a non-finality devnet is expected to follow within the month to test difficult consensus scenarios, according to the foundation. Sepolia and Hoodi are due to receive Glamsterdam after the development networks remain stable, while Ethereum mainnet activation will follow successful upgrades on the long-lived testnets.
Development on Ethereum’s next scheduled fork is also proceeding separately. An Aug. 16 Hegotá planning report said developers were considering 66 proposals for the 2027 upgrade, although Fork Choice enforced Inclusion Lists was the only EIP formally scheduled for inclusion at the time.
Several proposals under review for Hegotá concern future gas and state pricing as Ethereum increases Layer 1 capacity. EIP-8368, for example, would recalibrate state-creation pricing if the block gas limit rises beyond the reference level used by Glamsterdam, while developers have discussed preparing Ethereum for a possible path towards a 600 million gas limit.
Ethereum’s next major upgrade is entering the stage where a long wish list must become a realistic engineering plan. Developers are reviewing 66 proposals for Hegotá, with several draft changes aimed at making advanced wallets and privacy applications less dependent on external relayers.
Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter said on August 16 that core developer calls will narrow the list to proposals that can receive implementations, development networks, testnets, and a realistic chance of shipping in 2027.
Frame Transactions Could Change Wallet Design The central proposal is EIP-8141, Frame Transactions. It would split a transaction into frames that validate authorization, approve gas payment, and execute user actions. Instead of forcing every account through one signature and fee-payment model, an account could define those functions with code.
The draft describes benefits including native key rotation, atomic batching, alternative fee payment without centralized relayers, and a migration path away from current elliptic-curve authentication. These features could let wallets sponsor gas or change authentication methods without moving users to a new address.
Companion EIPs Target Privacy Bottlenecks EIP-8250 proposes keyed nonces for frame transactions. Privacy systems often route many users through a shared sender so on-chain activity is not tied to one public address. A single linear nonce can turn that design into a bottleneck because one delayed transaction blocks those behind it. Independent nonce domains would reduce that constraint.
EIP-8272 would allow frame transactions to reference verified recent roots without reading arbitrary mutable storage during validation. Privacy applications could use that mechanism to prove a spend against a recent commitment-tree root while keeping validation predictable for the public mempool.
These proposals would not make ordinary Ethereum transfers private. Standard ETH transfers would remain publicly visible, while applications would still be responsible for generating and verifying the cryptographic proofs that hide their data.
Scoping Is Not Approval All three transaction proposals remain drafts. Inclusion in the Hegotá discussion does not guarantee implementation or activation. Developers must assess security trade-offs, client complexity, testing capacity, and whether the package can be delivered on schedule.
Only FOCIL, a forced-inclusion mechanism designed to reduce censorship by individual block builders, has cleared the approval threshold described in the current scoping discussion. The rest of the list will be reduced over coming core developer meetings.
The debate matters beyond protocol specialists because Ethereum supports much of the activity tracked across decentralized trading markets. Better transaction abstraction could improve wallet safety and privacy-app infrastructure, but Hegotá’s final scope will show how much complexity developers are willing to place in the base protocol.
AUTHOR
Tokoni Uti is a Lagos-based writer with several years of experience. Her work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Free Press and the San Diego Free press among others. She is a graduate of Bowen University.
Ethereum is preparing a major shift. After years dominated by the quest for scalability, native privacy is now at the heart of the network’s roadmap. Toni Wahrstätter, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, revealed the priorities studied for Hegotá, an update scheduled for 2027. Private transactions, resistance to censorship, and architectural choices will now have to be balanced, while Glamsterdam is still expected by the end of 2026. Behind these technical decisions lies a strategic question: how far can Ethereum protect its users without compromising its scaling?
In brief The Ethereum Foundation tightens its technical priorities for the next major network update. The EIP-8141 (Frames) and EIP-8272 package will allow privacy funds to pay their own gas fees directly. The EIP-7906 (Assertions) offers the ability to program strict conditions on transaction execution. The FOCIL mechanism (EIP-7805), already confirmed, will guarantee the inclusion of private transactions at the protocol level. Teams favor strict execution to deliver Glamsterdam by the end of 2026 and Hegotá in 2027, postponing the majority of the 66 proposals under consideration. Ethereum: Private Transaction Architecture Redesigned for the Hegotá Hard Fork Among Toni Wahrstätter’s statements is a proposal for a deep restructuring of the transaction format of the world’s second-largest blockchain. The Protocol Architecture team advocates giving absolute priority to EIP-8141, known as “Frame Transactions”, paired with EIP-8272. These mechanisms directly target the weak spot of current anonymization applications: reliance on intermediaries for paying gas fees, which often compromise anonymity by tracing the origin of funds.
By also integrating “Transaction Assertions” (EIP-7906), which allow programming safeguards on what a transaction is authorized to execute once submitted to the network, the Ethereum Foundation sets the foundations of a new interaction standard. As summarized by Toni Wahrstätter on X: “with Frames, these mechanisms enable privacy funds to pay their own transaction fees, thus eliminating the need for intermediaries”.
The contribution of this technical combination lies in the outright removal of third-party relays, until now essential to hide users’ payment addresses during their interactions with privacy smart contracts. By describing Frames as a “much more expressive transaction format”, researchers aim not simply to add a privacy module, but to rebuild the basic transactional experience of the entire ecosystem.
Currently, of the 66 proposals under study for the Hegotá hard fork, this dedicated package for autonomous transactions is pushed as the strategic priority to reconcile the base layer with the sector’s privacy requirements. This evolution would allow wallets to retain granular control over order execution, thus avoiding the inadvertent exposure of wallet data on the public ledger.
This priority technical package revolves around three complementary improvement proposals :
EIP-8141 (Frame Transactions) : introduces a more expressive transaction format offering wallets greater control over execution terms ; EIP-8272 (Keyed Nonces and Recent Roots) : allows privacy funds to pay their own fees directly without relying on an external intermediary ; EIP-7906 (Transaction Assertions) : offers the ability to program prerequisites and strict restrictions on the feasibility of a transaction after submission. The Guarantee of Protocol-Level Inclusion Against Censorship Risk Alongside the redesign of fee payment, Hegotá’s architecture incorporates an essential defensive component with EIP-7805, known as “Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists” (FOCIL). To date, FOCIL is the only proposal officially confirmed and locked within the 2027 update.
This mechanism forces validators to include a list of eligible transactions under penalty of having their blocks rejected by the blockchain’s consensus rules. The coupling of this protocol-level inclusion requirement with “Frame Transactions” creates an unprecedented defensive synergy for privacy. Toni Wahrstätter explicitly stated: “with FOCIL support, confidential transactions also benefit from inclusion guarantees directly at the protocol level”.
This shift in priorities fits into a broader framework dictated by Vitalik Buterin’s long-term vision, who has strengthened his requirements for native privacy, quantum resistance, and base layer simplification. Developers plan to manage state growth by preparing the network for a gas limit increase to thresholds between 500 and 600 million, while testing data separation of block access lists from execution payload and optional zkEVM proofs deployment on mainnet.
However, the feasibility of this roadmap relies on rigorous delivery schedule discipline. In a message to the community, Toni Wahrstätter emphasized the need for drastic choices: “an update cannot be just a wish list drafted by the community or lead developers about what Ethereum should become in the long run. We must instead decide what Ethereum must become by the next step and determine what must wait”.
In a context of increasing global regulatory demands, these technical trade-offs lay the foundations of a fundamental compromise for decentralized finance. The combined integration of FOCIL and Frames offers a structural response to filtering threats at block builders, while avoiding weakening the base layer’s security. If this trajectory holds by 2027, Ethereum could succeed in reconciling operational compliance and large-scale privacy preservation.
Massive Scaling, Quantum Resistance, and Schedule Trade-offs up to 2029 Beyond anonymity and block validation issues, Ethereum’s overall roadmap includes a profound restructuring of its economic and cryptographic equations. Researchers plan to adapt resource pricing and storage costs in response to rising gas, while initiating the transition to post-quantum algorithms.
As early as February, Vitalik Buterin emphasized the necessity of spreading this structural transformation until 2029 to isolate consensus from future quantum computing capabilities. Exploratory work on optional zkEVM proofs on the main network aims to validate execution without burdening validator nodes.
On the execution front, developers refuse to engage the network in uncontrollable projects that could paralyze the deployment schedule. Toni Wahrstätter recalled the strict timing constraints the teams face: “we have been working on Glamsterdam for 256 days now, aiming to deploy this update by the end of the year. Hegotá must be deployed in 2027, and it is precisely this schedule that makes the upcoming decisions so critical”.
The researcher also warned the community: “we cannot do everything at once and still hope to meet deployment deadlines”, confirming that the majority of the 66 competing proposals will have to wait for later cycles.
This ongoing arbitration for Hegotá reveals the maturity of a protocol that rejects technical disproportionality in favor of controlled industrial execution. By setting a clear course as the Glamsterdam project approaches its decisive stages, the Ethereum Foundation demonstrates that privacy and resilience must no longer be treated as superficial add-ons, but as fundamental consensus properties. If teams manage to integrate this package without delaying the planned 2027 deployment, Ethereum could definitively neutralize censorship risks while offering institutional players the essential privacy guarantees for deploying their capital.
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Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
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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.
Ethereum is showing signs of continued weakness as it lingers below key resistance levels, even as Bitcoin posts moderate gains.
BitMine Immersion Technologies has extended its weekly Ethereum acquisition streak, purchasing 9,926 ETH last week. This series of acquisitions, which began in June 2025, has grown the company’s Ethereum treasury to 5.815 million tokens.
Alongside these digital asset purchases, BitMine repurchased 1.7 million of its own BMNR shares. Since the start of July, cumulative buybacks have reached 20.8 million shares within the frame of a $4 billion stock-buyback program previously approved by the company.
BitMine has also staked about 5.067 million ETH, accounting for 87% of its total Ethereum holdings. The company estimates that these staked assets generate an annualized revenue of $250 million through staking rewards.
The BitMine treasury also contains 210 Bitcoin, $73 million in Eightco Holdings shares, a $180 million stake in Beast Industries, and $78 million distributed between cash and marketable securities.
BitMine Chairman Thomas Lee predicts that Ethereum could outperform Bitcoin during the next market cycle, citing the blockchain’s potential role in asset tokenization and the growth of agentic artificial intelligence impacting financial markets.
Thomas Lee highlighted that the ETH/BTC ratio recently broke above a year-long downtrend, which he associates with phases when Ethereum has previously outpaced Bitcoin’s performance during bullish periods. He referenced past cycles, including the initial coin offering surge in 2017 and 2018, the non-fungible token boom of 2020 and 2021, and the stablecoin wave in 2025, to illustrate Ethereum’s track record of driving new blockchain adoption trends.
Lee added that the next expansion could be supported by the adoption of blockchain technology by Wall Street institutions and the increasing use of blockchain networks by autonomous artificial intelligence agents completing programmatic transactions.
Ethereum’s smart contract architecture positions it well for these developments, enabling the tokenization of real-world assets, deployment of stablecoins, and creation of decentralized applications and programmable payments.
A broader transformation is underway in financial markets. As Wall Street moves toward Web3 infrastructure, investors are beginning to use platforms such as 1stepSwap to hold shares of large U.S. companies, gold, and silver directly within their crypto wallets. The tokenization of real-world assets and aggregation of optimal prices by such platforms is eliminating traditional intermediaries, accelerating asset settlement and accessibility.
Current market trends and ETF flowsDespite BitMine’s ongoing accumulation, institutional demand for Ethereum slightly decreased last week. Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds in the United States recorded $2.26 million in net outflows, reversing a five-week streak of positive flows, according to data from SoSoValue.
This trend proved temporary, as the ETFs saw an inflow of $4.95 million on Monday, indicating a return of demand and investor interest at the start of the week.
Ethereum price analysis: Eye on $1,918 and beyondEthereum is currently trading above its 20-day and 50-day exponential moving averages, located at approximately $1,885 and $1,868. These levels act as key support for the asset, while the 100-day EMA, set at $1,918, continues to cap price recovery attempts.
Market indicators point toward a cautiously optimistic outlook for Ethereum. The Relative Strength Index hovers near 54, and the Stochastic oscillator is around 63, reflecting increasing buying activity but not yet reaching overbought territory.
A decisive move above the 100-day EMA would bring horizontal resistance at $1,961 into play. Persistent buying momentum above this barrier could fuel a further rally toward the $2,172 and $2,431 levels.
If Ethereum faces another rejection at $1,918, it may revisit its 20-day and 50-day moving averages near $1,885 and $1,868 respectively. A break below these support zones could target deeper levels at $1,809, with potential downside extending to $1,701 and $1,507 in the event of heavier selling.
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.
Ethereum Foundation core developer Sina Mahmoodi announced today that he is formally leaving the organization after over seven years with EF. He joined the Ethereum Foundation immediately after graduating from university in 2019, contributing to projects including EthereumJS (the TypeScript/JavaScript implementation of Ethereum’s execution layer), eWASM (Ethereum’s WebAssembly project), and most notably Geth (Go-Ethereum, one of Ethereum’s most core execution layer clients). Mahmoodi stated that he feels extremely fortunate to have worked alongside some of the smartest and most dedicated people on work he truly believes is meaningful, adding that he is particularly proud of his work on Geth, which has supported Ethereum through various challenging times and become critical infrastructure for its vast ecosystem. His belief in Ethereum remains unchanged: it is an open, global settlement layer that does not rely on any single government, company, or power center, and is worthy of continued development.
TLDR BitMine added 9,926 ETH last week, raising its total holdings to 5,815,164 tokens. BMNR stock rose 3.68% to close at $18.73 on Monday, then gained further in after hours trading. The company has staked 5,067,309 ETH, about 87% of its total holdings, generating a 2.61% yield. BitMine repurchased 1.7 million shares last week, bringing total buybacks since July to more than 20.8 million shares. The company’s Ethereum stack now equals 4.8% of ETH’s total supply, closing in on its 5% target. BitMine Immersion Technologies added 9,926 Ethereum tokens over the week ending August 16, according to a company disclosure. The purchase brought its total holdings to 5,815,164 ETH, valued at roughly 11 billion dollars.
The company’s stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $18.73 on Monday. That marked a gain of 3.68% for the day. Shares added another 0.37% in after hours trading.
Trading volume came in near 30.95 million shares. That was slightly below the average volume of 32.51 million shares. The stock has traded between $12.80 and $65.60 over the past year.
Staking Generates Steady Yield BitMine has staked 5,067,309 ETH, which makes up about 87% of its total holdings. Those staked tokens were worth close to 9.6 billion dollars at the company’s reference price.
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BitMine provided its latest holdings update for August 17, 2026
$11.4 billion in total crypto + "moonshots": – 5,815,164 ETH at $1,893 per $ETH (per @coinbase) – 209 Bitcoin (BTC)
– $180 million stake in Beast Industries @MrBeast
– $73 million stake in Eightco…
— Bitmine (NYSE-BMNR) $ETH $BMNP (@BitMNR) August 17, 2026
The staking program produced a seven day yield of 2.61%. Based on that rate, BitMine projects annualized staking revenue of 250 million dollars.
That figure is a projection rather than a guaranteed return. Staking rewards can shift based on network activity and validator participation.
BitMine also continued its stock buyback program during the same week. The company repurchased 1.7 million shares, bringing total repurchases since July 1 to more than 20.8 million shares.
The board approved a buyback program worth up to 4 billion dollars back in April. Chairman Thomas Lee described the ongoing repurchases as the largest ever carried out by a crypto treasury company.
Closing In On The 5% Target BitMine calls its goal of owning 5% of all ETH the “Alchemy of 5%.” Based on an estimated supply of 120.7 million tokens, that target equals about 6.035 million ETH.
The company’s current holdings put it at roughly 96% of that goal. About 219,836 more tokens would be needed to reach the full target.
BitMine has purchased ETH every week since starting its treasury strategy on June 30, 2025. That streak has now lasted about 14 months without a break.
The company’s total portfolio, including crypto, cash and other holdings, was valued at 11.4 billion dollars. That includes 210 Bitcoin, 78 million dollars in cash, and stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings.
BitMine’s Ethereum treasury is currently the largest in the world. It ranks as the second largest crypto treasury overall, behind Strategy Inc, which holds 840,447 Bitcoin worth close to 58 billion dollars.
Lee has linked the company’s strategy to the ETH to BTC price ratio, which sits at 0.02994. He has pointed to rising use of Ethereum for tokenization and AI applications as a reason for the company’s continued buying.
BitMine has not set a public deadline for reaching its 5% supply target. Its next weekly update will show whether the buying streak continues.
Leading cryptocurrencies rose on Monday as investors weighed developments related to Iran and the possibility of a White House meeting with cryptocurrency and prediction-market executives.
Crypto Market Gains MomentumBitcoin fell sharply overnight after breaking $65,500 in early trading. Trading volume for the apex cryptocurrency jumped 43% over the last 24 hours.
Ethereum remained volatile around the $1,700 mark, as buying and selling pressure from bulls and bears created significant swings
Cryptocurrency-related stocks also rose, with Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BMNR) closing up 4.99% and 3.68%, respectively.
President Donald Trump is reportedly expected to host top cryptocurrency, prediction market and finance executives at the White House this week.
Over $210 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with $175 million in bearish short positions alone wiped out, according to Coinglass data.
Bitcoin’s open interest spiked 3% over the last 24 hours to $49.06 billion. Meanwhile, retail and whale derivatives traders on Binance lowered their BTC long exposure, although overall sentiment remains bullish.
Top Gainers (24 Hours)
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.18 trillion, following a marginal increase 0.58% over the last 24 hours.
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Stocks End LowerStocks began the new trading week in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272.63 points, or 0.51%, to close at 53,459.78. The S&P 500 dipped 0.52% to close at 7,745.06, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed down 0.32% at 26,644.91.
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The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the U.S. and Iran on June 17 expired on Monday as negotiations between the two sides continued to stall.
President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran wants to make a deal, but won’t agree to the kind of deal he thinks is “necessary.”
Institutional Demand TaperingOn-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant highlighted that Bitcoin’s Coinbase Premium Index has been negative for over three months.
The Coinbase Premium Index measures the percentage difference between Bitcoin’s price on Coinbase and its price on global exchanges. It tracks U.S. institutional buying versus global retail demand.
“Looking at current data, CPI sits at -0.10 — deep in negative territory. Until this index crosses back above zero, a high-momentum uptrend in BTC is unlikely,” CryptoQuant said.
Michaël van de Poppe, a widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader, identified $65,000 as near-term resistance for potential profit-taking, while maintaining a bullish outlook that the bottom is in and price would head toward $73,000 in the longer term.
The analyst said they’d also consider buying BTC below $64,000 in the coming days.
PANews reported on August 18 that, according to SoSoValue data, crypto market sectors were mixed, with Bitcoin (BTC) up 1.57%, breaking through $64,000; Ethereum (ETH) up 0.42%, breaking through $1,900. The DeFi sector stood out, rising 1.06% in 24 hours, with Compound (COMP) up 8.92%, Morpho Token (MORPHO) up 5.30%, and Hyperliquid (HYPE) up 1.41%.
In other sectors, the Layer1 sector rose 0.47% in 24 hours, with Zcash (ZEC) up 4.15%; the Layer2 sector rose 0.46%, with Polygon(ex-MATIC) (POL) up 6.29%; the Meme sector rose 0.18%, with PIPPIN (PIPPIN) surging 16.38%; the PayFi sector rose 0.01%, with SafePal (SFP) up 2.45%.
In addition, the CeFi sector fell 0.13%, with OKB down 5.06%; the AI sector fell 3.42%, with Worldcoin (WLD) down 7.54% and Velvet (VELVET) sharply down 43.90%.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Key Highlights Bitcoin hovers near the $64,000 level and continues serving as crypto’s primary benchmark Ethereum dropped under $1,900 while U.S. ETF products attracted $103.9 million in weekly inflows Solana upgraded its block capacity to 100 million compute units and currently trades around $75 Chainlink climbed toward the $10 mark after announcing fresh integrations and launching its agent platform Hyperliquid delivered approximately 154% returns during the initial six months of 2026 As cryptocurrency markets experience a mid-2026 correction, investors are evaluating which digital assets maintain compelling long-term prospects. Below are five projects currently capturing attention.
Bitcoin Bitcoin is currently changing hands around the $64,000 mark. Diminished market liquidity combined with widespread uncertainty has contributed to recent price declines.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Bitcoin maintains the most extensive network infrastructure, dominant brand awareness, and strongest institutional support among all cryptocurrency assets.
While it may not deliver the dramatic gains associated with smaller-cap projects, it presents significantly lower protocol-specific risk. Bitcoin continues functioning as the standard against which the entire crypto sector is evaluated.
Ethereum Ethereum dipped beneath the $1,900 threshold during the recent market downturn. However, institutional demand remained resilient despite the price decline.
During the week concluding July 24, U.S.-listed Ethereum ETF products recorded $103.9 million in net inflows. This figure represented the strongest single-week performance among all cryptocurrency ETFs during that timeframe.
Ethereum serves as the backbone for decentralized finance protocols, stablecoin infrastructure, NFT marketplaces, and thousands of decentralized applications. Sustained developer engagement and powerful network effects maintain its position among the most-watched assets for long-term portfolios.
Solana Solana expanded its block capacity to accommodate 100 million compute units. The blockchain directly challenges Ethereum through superior transaction speeds and minimal fees.
Solana’s ecosystem continues expanding across payment solutions, asset tokenization initiatives, and cross-chain infrastructure. As of mid-August, Solana was trading in the vicinity of $75, substantially below its historical peak levels.
This disconnect between present valuations and previous all-time highs represents what certain investors view as an attractive accumulation zone.
Chainlink Chainlink bridges blockchain networks with off-chain data sources and facilitates asset transfers between disparate protocols. It functions as critical infrastructure underpinning the asset tokenization sector.
Chainlink pushed toward $10 during mid-August following additional CCIP integration announcements and the beta release of Chainlink for Agents.
Should tokenized real-world assets evolve into a substantial component of global financial markets, Chainlink stands positioned as an essential infrastructure provider enabling that transformation.
Hyperliquid Hyperliquid represents the highest-risk opportunity among these five assets. This decentralized perpetual futures trading venue witnessed its native token appreciate approximately 154% throughout the first half of 2026.
Such exceptional performance creates elevated expectations going forward. Upcoming token unlock schedules and evolving regulatory frameworks constitute meaningful risks that warrant careful consideration.
Hyperliquid has demonstrated that decentralized trading infrastructure can effectively compete against centralized platforms. Its accelerated adoption trajectory makes it a noteworthy project despite elevated risk characteristics.
Bank of America (BofA) has expanded its exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Wall Street giant also trimmed its holdings in Strategy (MSTR), American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), and other crypto stocks.
Bank of America Holds Almost $94 Million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP ETFs The Wall Street giant, with a $1.55 trillion investment portfolio, has increased its investments in multiple crypto ETFs in Q2 2026, according to a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bank of America holds $94 million in net exposure in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP ETFs.
Bank of America raised its holdings in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) by 77% in the quarter. It now holds over 1.72 million IBIT shares, up from 972,590 shares earlier.
It also has investments of more than $10 million in Bitwise’s BITB, $2.24 million in Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF, and $1.32 million in FBTC. The bank also holds exposure to GBTC, VanEck’s HODL, and Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bull 2X ETF (BTCU).
Moreover, Bank of America (BofA) has also expanded its BlackRock Ethereum ETF (ETHA) exposure by 2,838%. It now holds 1.98 million shares in ETHA, up from 67,492 shares.
In addition, Bank of America increased its XRP ETF holdings slightly in Q2, after keeping exposure the same as in the last quarter. The Wall Street giant holds 13,260 shares of the Volatility Shares XRP ETF (XRPI).
In contrast, the bank has sold the remaining 10,296 shares of Volatility Shares Solana ETF from its investment portfolio. It has fully exited Solana ETFs after selling 700 Volatility Shares 2x Solana ETF shares last quarter.
These holdings align with broader trends as many institutions build positions in spot crypto products. Notably, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley revealed XRP holdings via ETFs amid tradFi’s push into tokenization, treasury management, and real-time payments.
Bank Trims Strategy (MSTR) Stock Exposure Bank of America (BofA) also revealed 1.17 million MSTR stock holdings worth almost $102 million, down 70% from 3.96 million stocks. BofA trimmed MSTR exposure as the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury started selling BTC holdings to pay dividends and build cash reserves.
The Wall Street giant also sold 3,800 Strike (STRK) perpetual preferred shares. The bank even adjusted positions in Strategy convertible senior notes.
The bank sold all 85,508 shares in Trump family’s American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), while increasing Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) stock holdings by 78% to almost $22 million. It also increased stock holdings in Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (PURR) by 167% to 635,407 shares.
Bank of America has also invested in Circle, Coinbase, and Bitcoin mining crypto companies including MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark shares.
For retail investors looking to follow Wall Street’s lead safely, utilizing fully compliant US crypto exchanges like Coinbase ensures adherence to rigorous security and domestic regulatory frameworks.
Major cryptocurrencies have come under renewed focus as the market correction deepens in mid-2026. While price volatility remains high, investors continue to evaluate the long-term potential of leading projects, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Chainlink, and Hyperliquid drawing significant interest.
Bitcoin maintains benchmark statusBitcoin is trading near $64,000, reaffirming its role as the premier benchmark for the broader crypto sector. Reduced market liquidity and ongoing economic uncertainty have contributed to its recent decline, though the asset retains the largest network, highest brand recognition, and most robust institutional backing in the industry.
While returns may not match those of smaller-cap digital assets, Bitcoin offers comparatively lower protocol-related risks. For many participants, it remains the standard by which all other cryptocurrencies are measured.
Bitcoin continues to set the pace for the entire crypto sector, offering unmatched network security and institutional support, though investors should be aware that current volatility may persist.
Institutional activity sustains EthereumEthereum dropped below $1,900 during the latest downturn, but institutional appetite held steady. US-listed Ethereum ETFs registered $103.9 million in net inflows for the week ending July 24, marking the strongest performance among crypto ETFs at that time.
Ethereum is widely recognized as the backbone for decentralized finance, stablecoin platforms, NFT trading venues, and a significant number of decentralized applications. Continued developer activity and significant network effects keep Ethereum among the top contenders for long-term investment strategies.
AssetPrice (approx.)Recent ETF flow (week ending July 24)Bitcoin (BTC)$64,000Not specifiedEthereum (ETH)$1,900$103.9 million (inflow)Solana technology upgrade and outlookSolana recently expanded its block capacity to 100 million compute units, further enhancing its capability to process transactions quickly and with low fees. The network directly competes with Ethereum in speed and cost efficiency, and its expanding ecosystem includes payment, asset tokenization, and cross-chain solutions.
Trading around $75 in mid-August, Solana remains significantly below its all-time highs, leading some investors to view current valuations as an opportunity to build positions.
Mini dictionary: Compute units, a measure of computational power Solana allocates to each block, determine the blockchain’s capacity to process smart contracts and transactions efficiently.
Chainlink’s expanding integrationsChainlink moved toward the $10 level following updates about new CCIP integrations and the beta launch of its agent platform. As a key provider of blockchain oracle solutions, Chainlink connects decentralized networks with real-world data, supporting secure asset tokenization between blockchains.
Analysts note that if tokenized real-world assets grow within global finance, Chainlink could become critical infrastructure for these flows.
Mini dictionary: CCIP, or Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, is a Chainlink-powered system that enables secure movement of assets and data across multiple blockchain networks.
Hyperliquid delivers strong returns, but risk remains elevatedHyperliquid experienced gains of approximately 154% in the first six months of 2026. As a decentralized perpetual futures trading platform, Hyperliquid has attracted attention for significantly outperforming major crypto assets.
Despite rapid expansion, the project faces heightened risk from upcoming token unlocks and potential changes in regulatory policy. Analysts recommend caution and thorough risk assessment for those considering exposure.
Mini dictionary: Hyperliquid, launched in 2023, is a decentralized platform enabling perpetual futures trading, offering on-chain derivatives without an intermediary.
Hyperliquid’s accelerated growth highlights the potential of decentralized trading venues to compete against established centralized exchanges, though elevated volatility and regulatory headwinds remain prominent challenges for participants.
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.
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.
BitMine Immersion Technologies scales up on Ethereum. By bringing its holdings to 4.8 % of the global ETH supply, the company led by Tom Lee no longer limits itself to an accumulation strategy. It also strengthens its exposure to the very operation of the network through staking. This concentration now places its acquisitions and infrastructure at the heart of questions about available supply, staking yields, and Ethereum governance. Thus, this rise could have a lasting impact on the economic balance of the second largest crypto.
In brief Bitmine now holds 4.8% of Ethereum’s money supply (5.82 million ETH) totaling a war chest of 11.4 billion dollars. Nearly 87% of its reserves (5.1 million ETH) are locked in staking via its proprietary MAVAN infrastructure. This lock-up generates an annual yield of 2.61%, projecting 250 million dollars in recurring revenue. The firm supports its stock price with a large share buyback program worth 4 billion dollars, attracting Wall Street giants. A crypto reserve of 11.4 billion dollars to establish Bitmine on Wall Street BitMine Immersion Technologies has just entered a new systemic dimension in the crypto ecosystem thanks to its institutional treasury. Indeed, data in the latest financial statement published on August 16 indicates that the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BMNR holds a total reserve of 11.4 billion dollars.
Thus, thanks to its accumulation strategy, the company now owns 5,815,164 ETH. This overall number represents about 4.8% of the total circulating Ethereum money supply, estimated at 120.7 million tokens. In recent weeks, the company’s acquisition effort has maintained a steady pace. It should be noted that BitMine has already withdrawn an additional 9,926 ETH from the market at the reference price of 1,893 dollars on the Coinbase platform.
The company’s financial strength is based on a carefully planned stock market engineering designed to maintain the value of its shares against the underlying assets. Alongside its crypto market purchases, BitMine’s management repurchased 1.7 million of its own BMNR shares last week, bringing the total buybacks to over 20.8 million shares since the launch of this 4 billion dollar program last July.
Such a complex capital structure allowed the company to join the prestigious Russell 1000 index in June this year, while attracting major figures from traditional finance and the institutional ecosystem.
Like its main Ethereum reserve, the consolidated balance sheet of BitMine relies on a carefully diversified asset allocation :
210 bitcoins (BTC) held in long-term strategic reserve ; 78 million dollars maintained as cash and marketable securities ; 180 million dollars invested as direct participation in the company Beast Industries ; 73 million dollars held in the capital of firm Eightco Holdings, listed on NASDAQ under the symbol ORBS. The bet on institutional staking to generate 250 million dollars of annual revenue Beyond the passive holding of assets, it should be noted that BitMine’s real operational means relies on the direct monetization of Ethereum’s consensus through locking its cryptos. Indeed, the firm deployed its entire reserve on its own infrastructure nicknamed Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN). Thus, 5,067,309 ETH are truly enrolled in the company’s staking network, for a total locked value of 9.6 billion dollars.
This operation has allowed for a steady annual yield while definitively removing exchangeable liquidity from the market. Analyzing this economic model during the data update, Tom Lee stated: “staking revenues are now projected at 250 million dollars on an annualized basis. And these 5.1 million ETH represent 87% of the 5.82 million ETH held by BitMine”.
The firm’s management plans to make this secure validation infrastructure available to other institutional investors and third-party custodians after MAVAN network activation, which is a decisive phase. With a net annual yield over seven days recorded at 2.61%, the transformation of this crypto into a bond capable of generating cash flows profoundly changes the risk perception by the American stock market. The creation of 250 million dollars in regular annual revenue coming exclusively from block rewards confers unprecedented financial autonomy to the firm.
An unprecedented concentration that shakes the principle of network decentralization The seizing of nearly one twentieth of Ethereum’s money supply by a single American commercial entity profoundly alters the macroeconomic balance of the sector. By locking up 87% of its reserves on locked validators, BitMine causes a drying up of the available supply on exchange platforms.
This situation creates a structural buying pressure on the order book, conducive to long-term price appreciation, but significantly reduces the overall liquidity available to other network users.
This growing hegemony triggers a major philosophical and technical challenge regarding Proof-of-Stake governance. The concentration of more than 5 million staked ETH under the aegis of the MAVAN infrastructure subjects the world’s second largest blockchain to the regulatory and judicial constraints imposed on companies listed in the United States. While this institutional shift validates the asset with traditional markets, Ethereum’s ability to preserve its censorship resistance will now depend on its capacity to maintain a balance against these American financial giants.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
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.
Stablecoin credit protocol @CapApp has gone live on @LayerZero_Core's OVault, enabling users to deposit cUSD and stake into yield-bearing stcUSD from any supported chain without manually bridging assets. The integration covers Ethereum, Tempo, MegaETH, and Katana.
How OVault Removes the Bridging Burden In practice, that means a user on any supported network can interact with Cap's vault directly.
For Cap users, the result is a unified staking position regardless of which network they start from.
Cap's Yield Model and What stcUSD Represents
If a borrowing position becomes undercollateralized,
The OVault integration is designed to broaden that base further by making stcUSD yield accessible to users across a wider set of networks with minimal friction.
Sources:
LayerZero: Introducing OVault
LayerZero OVault Documentation
OAK Research: Cap Money Protocol Overview
In brief Ethereum Foundation researchers want Frame Transactions and FOCIL prioritized for the Hegotá upgrade. Frame Transactions and related proposals could let privacy pools pay their own fees without relying on third parties. Developers are considering 66 proposals for the 2027 upgrade, with FOCIL currently the only confirmed addition. Ethereum developers are considering changes that could let privacy pools pay their own transaction fees, reducing their reliance on third-party services that can expose wallet activity.
In a post on X on Monday, Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter said the Protocol Architecture team wants to prioritize two proposals for Hegotá, the major Ethereum upgrade scheduled for 2027: Frame Transactions (EIP-8141), which would give wallets more control over how transactions are executed, and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists, or FOCIL (EIP-7805), which would make it harder to censor eligible transactions.
Myriad: Ethereum next price move? Click to make your prediction."Together with Frames, these enable privacy pools where the pool itself can pay fees, removing the need for intermediaries," Wahrstätter wrote. "Add FOCIL support and privacy transactions also gain protocol-level inclusion guarantees."
Frame Transactions would work with Keyed Nonces and Recent Roots (EIP-8272) to let privacy pools pay their own fees without an intermediary. Wahrstätter described frames as a “much more expressive transaction format” and a key building block for Ethereum’s next-generation transaction experience.
The package also includes Transaction Assertions (EIP-7906), which would let wallets set conditions on what a transaction can do after it is submitted.
FOCIL is currently the only proposal confirmed for Hegotá. The Frame Transactions package is among 66 proposals under consideration for the 2027 upgrade.
"A fork can't be a wishlist by the community or core devs jamming on what Ethereum should eventually become," Wahrstätter wrote in an earlier post on Saturday. "Instead, we have to decide what Ethereum should become next, and what has to wait."
The posts come as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has pushed for major changes to the network, including greater privacy, quantum-resistant security, and less reliance on layer-2 networks.
In February, Buterin outlined plans to replace cryptography vulnerable to quantum computers, while Ethereum researchers proposed a roadmap for faster transactions, native privacy, and quantum-resistant security through 2029.
Earlier this month, Buterin said privacy and quantum resistance had become greater priorities for Ethereum, alongside simplifying and scaling the network.
Other proposals under consideration focus on scaling, including changes to how Ethereum prices transactions and state growth as the network's gas limit rises toward 500 million to 600 million. Developers are also considering separating block-access-list data from the execution payload and testing optional zkEVM proofs on mainnet.
Hegotá will follow Glamsterdam, which developers aim to ship by the end of 2026, with Wahrstätter cautioning that developers “can’t do everything at once and still expect to ship on time.”
“Today, we're 256 days into Glamsterdam and want to ship it by the end of this year,” Wahrstätter wrote. “Hegotá will need to ship in 2027, and that's what makes the next few decisions so important.”
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
In brief Ethereum Foundation researchers want Frame Transactions and FOCIL prioritized for the Hegotá upgrade. Frame Transactions and related proposals could let privacy pools pay their own fees without relying on third parties. Developers are considering 66 proposals for the 2027 upgrade, with FOCIL currently the only confirmed addition. Ethereum developers are considering changes that could let privacy pools pay their own transaction fees, reducing their reliance on third-party services that can expose wallet activity.
In a post on X on Monday, Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter said the Protocol Architecture team wants to prioritize two proposals for Hegotá, the major Ethereum upgrade scheduled for 2027: Frame Transactions (EIP-8141), which would give wallets more control over how transactions are executed, and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists, or FOCIL (EIP-7805), which would make it harder to censor eligible transactions.
Myriad: Ethereum next price move? Click to make your prediction."Together with Frames, these enable privacy pools where the pool itself can pay fees, removing the need for intermediaries," Wahrstätter wrote. "Add FOCIL support and privacy transactions also gain protocol-level inclusion guarantees."
Frame Transactions would work with Keyed Nonces and Recent Roots (EIP-8272) to let privacy pools pay their own fees without an intermediary. Wahrstätter described frames as a “much more expressive transaction format” and a key building block for Ethereum’s next-generation transaction experience.
The package also includes Transaction Assertions (EIP-7906), which would let wallets set conditions on what a transaction can do after it is submitted.
FOCIL is currently the only proposal confirmed for Hegotá. The Frame Transactions package is among 66 proposals under consideration for the 2027 upgrade.
"A fork can't be a wishlist by the community or core devs jamming on what Ethereum should eventually become," Wahrstätter wrote in an earlier post on Saturday. "Instead, we have to decide what Ethereum should become next, and what has to wait."
The posts come as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has pushed for major changes to the network, including greater privacy, quantum-resistant security, and less reliance on layer-2 networks.
In February, Buterin outlined plans to replace cryptography vulnerable to quantum computers, while Ethereum researchers proposed a roadmap for faster transactions, native privacy, and quantum-resistant security through 2029.
Earlier this month, Buterin said privacy and quantum resistance had become greater priorities for Ethereum, alongside simplifying and scaling the network.
Other proposals under consideration focus on scaling, including changes to how Ethereum prices transactions and state growth as the network's gas limit rises toward 500 million to 600 million. Developers are also considering separating block-access-list data from the execution payload and testing optional zkEVM proofs on mainnet.
Hegotá will follow Glamsterdam, which developers aim to ship by the end of 2026, with Wahrstätter cautioning that developers “can’t do everything at once and still expect to ship on time.”
“Today, we're 256 days into Glamsterdam and want to ship it by the end of this year,” Wahrstätter wrote. “Hegotá will need to ship in 2027, and that's what makes the next few decisions so important.”
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Ethereum’s core developers are laying the groundwork for what could be the network’s most meaningful privacy overhaul to date. A collection of proposals targeting the Hegotá network upgrade, planned for 2027, aims to bake privacy functionality directly into Ethereum’s base layer rather than leaving it to fragmented third-party solutions.
The centerpiece is EIP-8141, dubbed “Frame Transactions,” which would enable gas fee abstraction from pooled funds. In plain terms: privacy pools could pay their own transaction fees without needing an outside relay or intermediary to submit the transaction on a user’s behalf. That matters because every time an external party touches a transaction, it creates a metadata trail that can be used to de-anonymize the sender.
What’s on the table EIP-8141 doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s part of a broader package of 66 Ethereum Improvement Proposals under evaluation for Hegotá, several of which are specifically designed to strengthen on-chain privacy.
EIP-8182 would introduce a native shared shielded pool for anonymous ETH and ERC-20 token transfers. Users could prove the legitimacy of their funds to regulators without revealing every transaction to the public.
EIP-8250 tackles a more subtle problem: transaction correlation. It proposes “keyed nonces” that allow users to run parallel private transaction sequences. Without this, an observer could potentially link multiple private transactions together by analyzing nonce patterns, essentially connecting dots that were supposed to stay separate.
Then there’s EIP-7805, known as FOCIL (Focused Inclusion Lists). This one targets censorship resistance by enforcing inclusion lists that make it harder for block builders to selectively exclude certain transactions. It’s worth noting that FOCIL is currently the only proposal confirmed for inclusion in Hegotá. The rest are still being assessed by developers as of mid-August 2026.
Why protocol-level privacy changes the game Ethereum’s privacy story has historically been one of bolted-on solutions. Tools like Tornado Cash demonstrated both the demand for transaction privacy and the regulatory minefield surrounding it. The protocol itself offered no native way to shield transfers, forcing users toward application-layer workarounds that often came with their own security risks, usability headaches, or legal complications.
Privacy Pools, a compliant selective-disclosure protocol that Vitalik Buterin has publicly championed, stands to benefit directly from these changes. The protocol allows users to prove their funds aren’t connected to illicit activity without revealing their entire transaction history. Frame Transactions would remove one of Privacy Pools’ current friction points: the need for relayers to submit transactions, which adds cost, complexity, and potential metadata leakage.
The timing follows the Glamsterdam upgrade expected in Q4 2026, which focuses on different aspects of the network’s roadmap. Hegotá would then arrive in 2027, giving developers roughly a year between major upgrades to implement and test these privacy features.
The key variable is execution. Only FOCIL has been confirmed for Hegotá so far, and the remaining proposals face months of technical review, security auditing, and community debate. Whether EIP-8141 and its companion proposals survive that gauntlet will determine if 2027 becomes the year Ethereum finally treats privacy as a first-class citizen rather than an afterthought.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Ethereum’s Protocol Architecture team is seeking to prioritize two specific proposals for the upcoming Hegotá upgrade, scheduled for 2027. According to Toni Wahrstätter, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, these proposals include Frame Transactions (EIP-8141) and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL, EIP-7805), both aimed at enhancing wallet capabilities and network censorship resistance.
Focus on Frame Transactions and FOCILIn a post published on X, Toni Wahrstätter stated that Frame Transactions would give wallets greater authority over how they execute transactions on the Ethereum network. This package also involves Transaction Assertions (EIP-7906), which would allow wallets to specify post-submission conditions for their transactions, creating new possibilities for user-defined controls.
FOCIL, designed to make it more difficult to censor transactions that meet eligibility criteria, stands as the only proposal currently confirmed for inclusion in the Hegotá upgrade. The Frame Transactions suite remains under review along with dozens of others under consideration.
Developers are currently reviewing a total of 66 proposals for the Hegotá release. While FOCIL has secured its spot, others are still under discussion.
A fork can’t be a wishlist by the community or core devs jamming on what Ethereum should eventually become. Instead, we have to decide what Ethereum should become next, and what has to wait.
Mini dictionary: FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists) is a protocol proposal that mandates eligible transactions are included in blocks, making it harder for validators to censor them.
Scaling and Technical ImprovementsApart from Frame Transactions and FOCIL, developers are evaluating other suggestions primarily centered on scaling. These include modifications to how Ethereum prices transactions and manages state growth as the network’s gas limit approaches a range of 500 million to 600 million. Such adjustments aim to address concerns about network congestion and long-term sustainability.
Further options under review involve separating block-access-list data from the main execution payload, as well as trialing optional zkEVM proofs on the mainnet. The inclusion of zkEVM proofs could introduce new efficiencies and security guarantees for Ethereum’s smart contract execution process.
The deliberation process highlights the need to balance ambition with practical constraints. Developers intend to proceed selectively to ensure the network remains on track for its scheduled upgrades.
Proposal NameEIP NumberStatusMain PurposeFrame TransactionsEIP-8141Under reviewEnhanced wallet control over transactionsFOCILEIP-7805Confirmed for HegotáIncreased protection against transaction censorshipTransaction AssertionsEIP-7906Under reviewPost-submission transaction conditionsUpgrade Timeline and PrioritiesHegotá will follow the Glamsterdam upgrade, which Ethereum developers plan to deliver by the end of 2026. Wahrstätter noted that the development team has already spent 256 days working on Glamsterdam and remains focused on shipping it by year’s end.
Wahrstätter pointed out that making critical decisions on feature inclusion is essential, as the team cannot implement every proposed change and still meet deadlines. He emphasized that careful selection will determine the focus of Ethereum’s next phase.
Today, we’re 256 days into Glamsterdam and want to ship it by the end of this year. Hegotá will need to ship in 2027, and that’s what makes the next few decisions so important.
The Hegotá release, set for 2027, is expected to usher in new technical standards and workflow improvements for the Ethereum network, but final details will be shaped by developer consensus and ongoing research.
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.
Fake World Assets (@token_works), the Ethereum-based NFT gacha protocol that briefly ranked as the network's largest gas consumer in late July, is expanding into new territory with a launchpad feature called FWAir, designed to bring entirely new NFT collections onto the platform.
Under the model, creators set a price per NFT and supporters back each one with that amount of $ETH. Collections that reach their funding target launch directly into the FWA pool, while backers receive refunds if the target is missed.
A protocol with momentum behind itThe announcement comes after a rapid rise for the underlying protocol.
Artist onboarding and first launch Artist onboarding will begin through a direct approval process, keeping early access selective as the team tests the new format.
FWAir marks a meaningful shift for the protocol. Rather than relying solely on existing NFT holders depositing assets into the pool, it opens a path for new collections to enter the ecosystem from day one, funded by the community rather than through a traditional mint.
, but the FWAir launchpad gives TokenWorks a new growth lever as it looks to deepen the range of assets available in the pool.
Sources:
Bitcoin Ethereum News: Fake World Assets Opens Its Gacha Pool to New NFT Collections
CoinTelegraph: How Fake World Assets Became Crypto's Latest Craze
The Defiant: NFT Gacha Protocol Fake World Assets Trails Only Sky in Ethereum Daily Revenue
Cover image via www.youtube.com Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
Wall Street permabull Tom Lee expects Ethereum to significantly outperform Bitcoin in the coming years.
The Fundstrat co-founder believes that the next major catalyst for ETH could be substantially larger than the forces that drove previous crypto cycles.
The Fundstrat founder and BitMine chairman views the Ethereum-to-Bitcoin (ETH/BTC) ratio as an important signal for the broader cryptocurrency market.
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In a recent post, Lee said the "tailwind" for ETH over the next few years could exceed those seen during the initial coin offering (ICO) and non-fungible token (NFT) booms.
At press time, the ratio stood at 0.02994 and was moving above a long-term downtrend that had constrained Ethereum against Bitcoin over the past several years.
"We are encouraged to see the ETH/BTC ratio at 0.02994 and rising," Lee said in BitMine’s latest update. Markets are beginning to recognize the growing use of Ethereum for tokenization and agentic-AI applications, the analyst posits.
The 2017-2018 cycle was dominated by initial coin offerings. The 2020-2021 cycle brought an explosion in NFTs and decentralized applications. More recently, the stablecoin expansion has provided another major source of activity on Ethereum and other smart-contract networks.
According to Lee, the ETH/BTC ratio will rise as Wall Street tokenizes assets on blockchain networks and as agentic AI begins using blockchains.
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Earlier this month, he argued that Ethereum could become the "future settlement layer of finance."
Tokenized stocks, bonds, funds and other real-world assets could create demand for Ethereum-based infrastructure. At the same time, AI agents interacting with blockchain systems could introduce another class of users and transactions.
BitMine's growing ETH holdings BitMine reported on Aug. 17 that it held 5.8 million ETH (4.8% of Ethereum's total supply of 120.7 million ETH).
The company valued the position at roughly $11 billion using an ETH price of $1,893.
BitMine added another 9,926 ETH during the preceding week.
Ethereum price rose nearly 2% on Aug. 17 as ETH reclaimed $1,900, while improving daily momentum and nearby short-liquidation clusters put the $2,000 level back in focus.
Summary
Ethereum price rose 1.95% to $1,912 after buyers defended the $1,870 area. ETH closed above its 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day moving averages. Tom Lee responded positively to the analysis placing ETH 3.5% below its daily cloud. Michaël van de Poppe sees $2,800 as possible if ETH clears $2,000. Ethereum price moves back above $1,900 According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum (ETH) price traded at $1,912 at press time, up 1.95% on the day after moving between an intraday low of $1,872 and a high of $1,915. Buyers entered near the session low and carried ETH through the psychological $1,900 level.
The recovery extended a consolidation phase that has developed since ETH rebounded from its late-June low near $1,530. Price has since formed a series of higher lows, although repeated selling around $1,930–$1,960 has prevented a wider breakout.
ETH’s daily candle closed above several closely watched averages. The 20-day simple moving average stood at $1,889, while the 100-day and 50-day averages were positioned at $1,869 and $1,845, respectively. Holding above those lines would preserve the improving short-term structure.
Ethereum price daily chart — Aug. 17 | Source: crypto.news The daily relative strength index rose to 56.5, above its signal average of 53. An RSI above 50 shows that buying momentum has strengthened, but the reading remains well below overbought territory.
Longer-term pressure has not disappeared. Ethereum remains below its declining 200-day moving average at $2,009, making the area around $2,000–$2,010 a more important test than the initial move through $1,900.
Tom Lee watches Ethereum’s daily cloud Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine chairman Tom Lee reposted an analysis from MacroCRG that placed ETH about 3.5% below its daily Ichimoku Cloud. The analyst described a move above that layer as a legitimate breakout because Ethereum has not traded decisively above it since Oct. 9, 2025.
“Would be good to see,” Lee wrote in response.
The original technical assessment came from MacroCRG rather than Lee. His comment only expressed support for the prospect of a breakout and did not include a price forecast.
At ETH’s current price, a 3.5% advance would take the token close to $1,980. The calculation places the cloud breakout area just below the $2,000 psychological barrier and the 200-day moving average visible near $2,009 on the supplied daily chart.
A daily move into that region would therefore confront three forms of resistance within a narrow range: the Ichimoku Cloud, the $2,000 round-number level, and the 200-day average. ETH would need to hold above the zone, rather than briefly trade through it, to establish a stronger daily reversal.
Liquidation clusters build on both sides of ETH The one-week CoinGlass liquidation heatmap shows the closest concentrated leverage above Ethereum around $1,925. A stronger pool appears between roughly $1,945 and $1,950, with additional liquidity extending toward $1,960.
Ethereum liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass A move through $1,925 could force some bearish positions to close, adding market purchases to the existing demand. Clearing the larger $1,945–$1,950 band could then accelerate a test of the upper-$1,900 region.
The map also shows a major cluster around $1,910, but ETH had already moved through much of that area by the end of the chart. Remaining overhead liquidity near $1,925 now represents the closest possible target.
Downside exposure is concentrated near $1,860, with a wider and denser band between approximately $1,835 and $1,855. If ETH loses $1,870, the lower pools could draw the price toward that region and trigger long liquidations.
Liquidation heatmaps identify areas where leveraged positions may face forced closure, but they do not determine which zone price will reach first.
Analysts identify $1,870 as the key downside level Analyst Michaël van de Poppe said Ethereum’s daily chart was improving as the asset continued to form higher highs and higher lows. Based on that construction, he considered an upside break more likely than an immediate loss of support.
To be honest, the daily chart of $ETH starts to look better day after day.
This is generally how I'm viewing the current market on $ETH.
▫️ There are many liquidity levels beneath us on the long side, meaning that it's very likely that we'll drop fast if $ETH loses $1,870. What… pic.twitter.com/j20KCgIyba
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) August 17, 2026 Van de Poppe nevertheless warned that ETH could fall quickly if it loses $1,870 because substantial long-side liquidity sits below the market. He identified $1,700 as a possible downside target before a rebound if that breakdown occurs.
His bullish scenario requires a clear move through $2,000. Van de Poppe said ETH may not spend much time near that level once it breaks, potentially producing a sharp advance similar to moves observed earlier in 2025.
The analyst identified $2,200 as a possible temporary stopping point before a broader run toward $2,800. Those targets remain conditional on Ethereum first breaking and holding above $2,000.
$2,000 remains the deciding level for Ethereum The immediate market structure favors buyers while ETH remains above its cluster of daily moving averages. Support sits at $1,889, followed by $1,870 and the $1,845–$1,860 region shown across the daily chart and liquidation map.
On the upside, bulls first need to clear leveraged resistance near $1,925 and $1,950. The larger technical decision would come around $1,980–$2,010, where MacroCRG’s cloud estimate, the psychological $2,000 mark, and the 200-day average converge.
US-listed spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds recorded a modest net outflow of $2.26 million during the Aug. 10–14 trading week, according to SoSoValue data. BlackRock’s ETHA posted $16.39 million in weekly withdrawals, indicating that the latest price recovery has yet to receive clear support from US ETF demand.
A daily close above $2,010 would improve Ethereum’s longer-term structure and open the path toward the levels cited by van de Poppe. Failure to hold $1,870 would weaken the setup and expose the liquidation-heavy zone below $1,860.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Ethereum researchers have proposed prioritizing two transaction changes for the 2027 Hegotá upgrade that could let privacy pools pay network fees without third-party intermediaries.
Summary
Frame Transactions would give wallets more control over transaction validation, execution, and fee payment. FOCIL would make it harder for block builders to exclude eligible privacy transactions. 66 proposals remain under consideration, while FOCIL is the only confirmed Hegotá feature. Ethereum developers are targeting 2027 for Hegotá after the Glamsterdam upgrade ships in 2026. Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter said in an Aug. 17 X post that the Protocol Architecture team wants developers to prioritize Frame Transactions, listed as EIP-8141, and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists, known as FOCIL or EIP-7805.
Hegotá is taking shape, and we’ve published the Protocol Architecture team’s view on what should go into the fork:
Check it out here:https://t.co/W1lfX3GZC3
The short version: FOCIL is the right headliner, and we think Frame Transactions should join it as the headliner on the…
— Toni Wahrstätter ⟠ (@nero_eth) August 17, 2026 Ethereum privacy pools could pay their own fees Frame Transactions would introduce a programmable transaction format that gives wallets more control over validation, execution, and gas payments. Wahrstätter described frames as a “much more expressive transaction format” and a key part of Ethereum’s planned transaction experience.
Under the proposal, transaction logic would be divided into programmable frames instead of relying on Ethereum’s current fixed transaction structure. Wallets and applications could use the format for gas sponsorship, alternative signature systems, key rotation, and other forms of account abstraction.
For privacy pools, the fee-payment feature could remove the need for a separate relayer to submit a transaction and pay its gas. Relayers can create another point where transaction details, wallet behavior, or network information may become visible to an outside service.
“Together with Frames, these enable privacy pools where the pool itself can pay fees, removing the need for intermediaries,” Wahrstätter said. “Add FOCIL support, and privacy transactions also gain protocol-level inclusion guarantees.”
Frame Transactions would work with Keyed Nonces and Recent Roots, listed as EIP-8272. Keyed Nonces would let an account maintain separate transaction sequences, while Recent Roots would allow a transaction to refer to a recent Ethereum state without relying on one fixed block reference.
The proposed package also includes Transaction Assertions, or EIP-7906. According to Wahrstätter, assertions would let wallets define conditions that must remain true when a transaction is processed, giving users a way to limit what can happen after they sign and submit it.
Earlier crypto.news coverage found that EIP-8141 remains under consideration rather than scheduled for Hegotá. Ethereum client teams are also comparing it with EIP-8130, another account-abstraction proposal, before deciding which design should move into implementation and testing.
FOCIL would protect eligible transactions from censorship FOCIL is the only Ethereum Improvement Proposal currently scheduled for Hegotá. The design would allow a committee of validators to publish lists of transactions that block builders are expected to include.
Attesters could reject a proposed block if its builder improperly left out eligible transactions from an inclusion list. Ethereum developers have presented the system as a way to protect transaction access as block production becomes more specialized and concentrated among large builders.
Privacy transactions could benefit because users would not have to depend entirely on a block builder’s willingness to include them. FOCIL would not make transactions private on its own, but it would add a protocol process for resisting selective exclusion.
Wahrstätter has argued that combining FOCIL with Frame Transactions, Keyed Nonces, and Recent Roots would give privacy pools both independent fee payment and stronger inclusion protection. His proposal represents a researcher’s preferred package, not a final decision by Ethereum’s core developers.
Hegotá currently has 66 proposals under discussion, covering account abstraction, censorship resistance, transaction pricing, state growth, validator economics, and network scaling. The number does not mean all 66 features will ship, as most have not entered implementation, development networks, or public testnets.
“A fork can’t be a wishlist by the community or core devs jamming on what Ethereum should eventually become,” Wahrstätter wrote in an earlier post. Developers instead need to decide which changes Ethereum should adopt next and which ones require more time, he added.
US scrutiny has kept crypto privacy tools in focus For US users, the proposals concern how Ethereum processes private transactions rather than changing federal rules governing money transmission, sanctions, or illicit finance. American treatment of crypto privacy software has remained contested across Treasury actions and criminal cases involving mixing services.
The US Treasury removed economic sanctions against Tornado Cash in March 2025 after reviewing the legal and policy questions raised by applying sanctions to technology-based financial activity. Treasury said at the time that it remained concerned about North Korean hackers and other illicit actors using digital assets.
In a separate criminal case, a Manhattan jury convicted Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm in August 2025 of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Jurors did not reach verdicts on the money-laundering and sanctions charges, according to the reported split verdict.
The US Justice Department said Tornado Cash had transmitted more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds, including funds connected to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Storm’s defense maintained that the protocol operated through autonomous open-source software and that its developers did not control individual transactions.
Ethereum’s proposed privacy pool design differs at the protocol level because Wahrstätter’s post deals with fee payment and transaction inclusion, not the legal structure or compliance systems of a specific application. Neither EIP-8141 nor EIP-7805 defines how privacy applications would handle US sanctions screening, money-transmission rules, or other compliance requirements.
Hegotá follows Ethereum’s 2026 Glamsterdam upgrade Hegotá is scheduled to follow Glamsterdam, the Ethereum upgrade developers want to release before the end of 2026. A June upgrade report said Glamsterdam centers on Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation and Block-Level Access Lists, alongside changes to the way Ethereum prices network resources.
Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation would bring the division between block proposers and builders into Ethereum’s protocol. Block-Level Access Lists would show which accounts and contract data a block needs, allowing clients to prepare data before execution and process some transactions in parallel.
Hegotá candidates extend that work into privacy, censorship resistance, account abstraction, and state management. Scaling proposals under review include EIP-8368, which would adjust state-creation costs if Ethereum raises its gas limit beyond the level used for Glamsterdam.
Developers are also studying separate access-list data, higher gas limits approaching 500 million to 600 million, and optional zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine proofs on the main network. Each proposal must compete for engineering resources, client support, testing time, and space within the 2027 release schedule.
Privacy and quantum resistance also sit inside Ethereum’s multi-year technical plans. A July roadmap analysis reported that Vitalik Buterin’s Lean Ethereum plan calls for new cryptography, proof-based verification, redesigned storage, and native protocol privacy over the next three to four years.
Execution client teams are due to submit their Hegotá preference lists by Sept. 10. Before then, developers plan to compare EIP-8141 with EIP-8130 during an Aug. 25 breakout meeting, with a decision on the competing account-abstraction designs targeted for the Aug. 27 All Core Developers Execution call.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies has added another 9,926 ETH to its treasury during the week ending August 16, bringing its total Ethereum stash to 5,815,164 ETH. That pile of tokens is worth roughly $11 billion at current prices, and it represents approximately 4.8% of Ethereum’s entire circulating supply of around 120.7 million tokens.
The Alchemy of 5% Bitmine has been on a relentless buying spree since launching its accumulation strategy on June 30, 2025. The company has dubbed its target the “Alchemy of 5%,” referring to its goal of controlling 5% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply. With holdings at 4.8%, the finish line is visible.
The latest purchase was made at prices ranging from $1,893 to $1,904 per ETH. At those levels, the 9,926 tokens cost the company somewhere in the neighborhood of $18.8 million to $18.9 million.
What makes Bitmine’s approach distinct from a simple buy-and-hold strategy is the operational layer built on top of it. The company runs MAVAN, which stands for Made in America Validator Network, a staking platform where over 80-85% of its Ethereum holdings are reportedly staked. Staking generates yield by locking up tokens to help secure the Ethereum network, turning a dormant treasury asset into a productive one.
Market reaction and technical signals BMNR shares climbed approximately 4% following the acquisition announcement. The stock, listed on the NYSE, has become a proxy for institutional Ethereum exposure, similar to how MicroStrategy became a leveraged Bitcoin bet for equity investors who couldn’t or wouldn’t hold the token directly.
Tom Lee, the company’s chairman, pointed to a technical development in the crypto market that he views as bullish. The ETH/BTC ratio has recently broken above 0.02994, crossing above a long-term downward trendline.
Bitmine also counts some notable institutional backers. ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood is among the prominent investors with exposure to the company.
What a 5% holder means for Ethereum With over 80% of those tokens staked, a huge chunk of supply is effectively removed from active circulation. That reduces the available float for trading, which can amplify price movements in both directions.
There’s also the validator concentration question. When a single entity stakes a significant percentage of Ethereum’s total supply, it raises governance and decentralization concerns. Ethereum’s proof-of-stake mechanism relies on a distributed set of validators to maintain network security and censorship resistance.
The company’s consistent weekly purchase cadence since June 2025 suggests this isn’t a one-time allocation but a systematic strategy with internal targets and timelines. Reaching the 5% threshold would make Bitmine the single largest known holder of Ethereum by a wide margin.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Coinbase’s Layer 2 blockchain has quietly assembled one of the most concentrated lending ecosystems in DeFi. Base now holds approximately $3.28 billion in lending total value locked, a figure that puts it in direct competition with Ethereum mainnet for dominance in onchain credit markets.
The engine behind this surge is Morpho, whose deployment on Base has reached roughly $3.3 billion in TVL. That’s not a rounding error away from Ethereum’s own Morpho deployment. It’s effectively a mirror image, built on a chain that didn’t exist three years ago.
The USDC gravity well USDC accounts for 84.89% of Base’s stablecoin market cap. On Base, it’s essentially a one-currency economy.
That concentration has created a specific kind of lending market. Curated USDC vaults on Base hold about $1.62 billion in TVL, representing 22.5% of the global curated vault market. Only Ethereum commands a larger share.
The term “curated” matters here. Unlike traditional lending pools where anyone can deposit anything, curated vaults are managed by risk curators, entities like Steakhouse Financial, who set parameters around collateral types, loan-to-value ratios, and liquidation thresholds.
Coinbase’s DeFi Earn as the on-ramp A significant portion of Base’s lending growth traces back to a single product: Coinbase’s DeFi Earn, powered by Morpho and Steakhouse Financial.
The integration has driven nearly $500 million in USDC deposits into Morpho vaults on Base. On the other side of those deposits sits over $1.3 billion in USDC borrowing, collateralized primarily by cbBTC, Coinbase’s wrapped Bitcoin product.
A Morpho blog post from August 6 cited $5 billion in total onchain finance activity tied to Base, crediting Coinbase’s integrations as a primary accelerant for onchain credit markets. That figure encompasses more than just lending, but it underscores the scale of financial activity flowing through what is still a relatively young chain.
For Coinbase, the strategic logic is straightforward. DeFi Earn converts passive exchange users into active DeFi participants without requiring them to understand smart contract interactions, bridging mechanics, or vault selection. The complexity gets abstracted away, and the deposits flow into Base’s lending markets.
How Base got here Base launched in August 2023 as an Ethereum Layer 2 built on the OP Stack, the same technology underpinning Optimism. Morpho’s model, which separates lending markets into isolated, permissionless pools rather than monolithic protocols like Aave or Compound, aligned well with Base’s lower transaction costs. Operations that would cost several dollars in gas on Ethereum mainnet run for fractions of a cent on Base.
That cost advantage matters enormously for lending. Liquidations need to happen quickly and cheaply to keep markets solvent. A user with $1,000 in USDC can meaningfully participate in Base lending in ways that Ethereum mainnet gas fees would make impractical.
What the USDC concentration means Base’s near-total reliance on USDC is both a strength and a vulnerability. On the upside, USDC’s regulatory clarity and Circle’s reserve transparency reduce the kinds of counterparty risks that have blown up other DeFi ecosystems.
The flip side is concentration risk. If Circle ever restricted USDC activity on Base, or if regulatory changes affected USDC’s status, the chain’s lending markets would face a liquidity shock with limited alternatives to absorb the impact.
The $1.62 billion in curated vault TVL on Base represents 22.5% of the global market for these products, meaning roughly three-quarters of curated vault activity still lives elsewhere, predominantly on Ethereum. Base is competitive, not dominant.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
The supply of Ethereum [ETH] was reduced when a whale removed 5,300 ETH valued at $9.98 million from Kraken. The transaction prolonged the accumulation activity of the wallet while shifting another large ETH position off an exchange.
Historically, such withdrawals decrease ready exchange balances whenever holders keep their assets out of trading platforms. Notably, the 9.98 million transfer was consistent with a larger demand signal and not a single transfer.
However, the withdrawals alone did not ensure an immediate price reaction since the accumulated ETH might be inactive over a long period of time.
Spot buyers reinforce the demand argument Spot Taker CVD had turned buyer-dominant after spending some time in the neutral territory throughout the three-month period, further strengthening Ethereum’s accumulation narrative. Buyer dominance meant that takers had crossed the spread more aggressively to buy ETH than sellers had to leave.
Importantly, this activity was complementary to the whale withdrawal since both measures were directed towards demand, rather than exchange-side distribution.
Exchange withdrawals usually limit tradable holdings, as aggressive purchases by takers compete with liquidity already available in the spot markets. Therefore, continued buyer dominance could amplify the effect of shrinking accessible supply during stronger trading periods.
However, the market still needed sufficient demand to take in sellers close to established resistance. Prolonged taker control would definitely enhance the likelihood of accumulation translating into significant price growth.
Source: CryptoQuant Record staking constrains the ETH supply Ethereum’s staking total climbed beyond 41 million ETH, reaching a record while absorbing more than one-third of Ethereum’s circulating supply. The staking data placed the share of staked ETH around 33.8%, following a persistent climb throughout July.
In contrast to normal wallet accumulation, staking directly pledged large amounts of holdings towards network participation as opposed to direct market trading. Therefore, the staking surge introduced structural weight to the supply terms produced by huge withdrawals of exchanges.
Meanwhile, whale accumulation added another source of reduced exchange accessibility. These forces did not necessarily lead to an increase in prices, as the demand still dictated the impact of scarcity on valuation.
Source: ValidatorQueue Will buyers finally break Ethereum above 1,950? At the time of analysis, Ethereum [ETH] was trading at approximately $1,901 following several attempts to consolidate in the 1,850-1,950 range.
Price was close to the upper half of the range, with buyers being closer to resistance than the bottom. Notably, +DI reached 25.18, exceeding the 16.54 -DI reading and giving buyers the directional advantage as of writing.
However, ADX was close to 18.50, which means that directional strength was not strong enough to have a convincing trend expansion. Besides, RSI provided another positive indication at 54.59, which is above its 52.79 average and neutral zone.
Ultimately, the underlying supply dynamics are increasingly having an impact on this technical structure. The fact that whales are pulling out of exchanges and adding to staking contracts indicates a constrained circulating supply.
The condition may increase upside moves in case demand remains strong. In a case where this supply squeeze is coupled with a confirmed breakout above 1,950, price discovery may occur at a faster pace than the current momentum readings suggest.
Eventually, the likelihood of Ethereum challenging the 2,100-2,200 area will increase. On the other hand, should whale distribution return or inflows revert to exchanges, the increased supply may limit upside efforts and support the current range, postponing any significant breakout.
Source: TradingView Final Summary Whale withdrawals and record staking continue reducing ETH available across the liquid market. Buyer-dominant taker activity could strengthen ETH’s chances of breaking above $1,950.
Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe, evaluating the recent technical outlook for Ethereum (ETH), stated that the bullish scenario is becoming increasingly stronger. According to the analyst, the high lows and high highs formed on ETH’s daily chart highlight the possibility of an upward breakout.
Van de Poppe noted that Ethereum’s daily chart “is starting to look better day by day,” and highlighted the $1,870 and $2,000 levels in the current market structure.
According to the analyst, if ETH loses the $1,870 level, the decline could be quite rapid due to the high liquidity zones below the price. In such a scenario, it is possible for ETH to fall below $1,700 and then recover.
However, Van de Poppe believes that the current technical structure supports an upward movement rather than a downward one. Noting the continued formation of higher lows and higher highs in the Ethereum price, the analyst therefore sees a higher probability of an upward breakout.
$2,000 is a Critical Threshold for Ethereum According to Van de Poppe, if Ethereum clearly surpasses the $2,000 level, the upward movement could become quite sharp. The analyst stated that after such a breakout, he doesn’t expect ETH to linger at significant resistance levels for long, and a surge similar to some of the rapid price movements seen in 2025 could occur.
Van de Poppe noted that ETH might encounter short-term resistance around $2,200 during its rise, adding that this could be an intermediate level within a larger move.
The analyst’s main upside target is the $2,800 level. Accordingly, a strong break above $2,000 could bring Ethereum’s price first to the $2,200 level and then to the $2,800 region.
On the other hand, the $1,870 level stands out as a critical support in a downward scenario. Van de Poppe warns investors that if this level is lost, a rapid liquidity movement towards below $1,700 could occur.
*This is not investment advice.
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Ethereum (ETH) treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) predicts that tokenization and agentic-AI could push the top altcoin to outperform Bitcoin (BTC) in the coming cycle.
BitMine maintains ETH buying streak, calls for outperformanceBitMine continued its stock buybacks coupled with mild ETH acquisitions last week.
The company reported repurchasing 1.7 million shares of its common stock, BMNR, bringing its total repurchases since July 1 to 20.8 million shares. The move comes under its previously authorized $4 billion share buyback program.
BitMine also acquired 9,926 ETH last week, continuing its weekly purchasing streak of the top altcoin, which began in June 2025. The latest acquisition has lifted the company's Ethereum holdings to 5.815 million ETH.
BitMine's Chairman Thomas Lee noted that rising tokenization and the agentic-AI trend have helped the ETH/BTC ratio move above its one-year downtrend.
"This ETH/BTC ratio has moved up during crypto bull cycles, driven by increasing use of Ethereum relative to Bitcoin," said Lee in a Monday statement. "These prior cycles were fueled by ICOs (2017-2018), NFTs (2020-2021), and stablecoins (2025). In this upcoming crypto cycle, we see the ETH/BTC ratio rising, driven by Wall Street tokenizing on the blockchain and by agentic-AI using blockchains."
ETH/BTC daily chartThe company reported that it has staked 87% of its holdings, 5.067 million ETH, with an annualized staking revenue of $250 million. BitMine also holds 210 BTC, $73 million in Eightco Holdings shares (ORBS), a $180 million stake in Beast Industries and $78 million in cash and marketable securities.
Meanwhile, US spot ETH ETFs saw $2.26 million in net outflows last week, breaking a five-week inflow streak, per SoSoValue data.
Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH retests major 100-day EMA resistanceEthereum recorded $29.7 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, led by $19 million in short liquidations, according to Coinglass data.
On the daily chart, ETH holds a constructive short-term tone as it trades slightly above the 20- and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), now clustered as support near $1,885 and $1,868, while remaining capped by the 100-day EMA at $1,918.
Momentum metrics back the mild bullish bias, with the Relative Strength Index hovering around 56 and the Stochastic oscillator near 63, both suggesting positive but not overstretched buying pressure as price consolidates just under the medium-term average.
On the topside, immediate resistance is located at the 100-day EMA, which has rejected every upward move since mid-July. A break higher exposes the horizontal barrier at $1,961, ahead of more distant resistance levels at $2,172 and $2,431.
ETH/USDT daily chartOn the downside, initial support is aligned with the nearby 20-day and 50-day EMAs, followed by a stronger horizontal floor at $1,809. Below that, deeper supports emerge at $1,701 and $1,507 if selling pressure accelerates.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Treasury’s new stablecoin rules would decide which dollar tokens can legally reach US buyers. Chains already running on a licensed dollar hold the edge, and six altcoins sit closest to it.
Nothing is final yet, and Treasury opened a 60-day comment period. The hard deadlines land in January 2027 and July 2028.
How Treasury’s New Stablecoin Rules Sort the ChainsCongress passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act in July 2025. The idea is simple. A dollar token needs a US license to reach American users.
Two dates carry the weight. Unlicensed issuance inside the country ends on January 18, 2027. Then from July 18, 2028, platforms generally cannot sell payment stablecoins to US persons. Only licensed issuers pass.
No issuer holds that license yet, because licensing opens in 2027. However, the queue has already formed.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approved five trust bank charters last December on a conditional basis. Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Fidelity Digital Assets, and BitGo made that list. Circle then went further and won final approval in July.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the goal as certainty.
“Treasury welcomes input from stakeholders as we work to provide the regulatory certainty businesses need to innovate and grow in America…” read an excerpt in the Monday announcement, citing Bessent.
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This is the third time Treasury has asked the industry to weigh in. It opened a second comment window last September.
.@POTUS and Congress delivered the GENIUS Act, establishing a landmark framework and clear rules of the road for payment stablecoins, and Treasury is moving quickly to implement that framework. @USTreasury welcomes input from stakeholders as we work to provide the regulatory…
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 17, 2026
Europe Already Ran This ExperimentThe US is not first. Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules set a similar test, and the result is on record.
Binance told European users on March 3, 2025 that eight tokens would go. USDT also led that list. Margin pairs were delisted on March 27 and converted to USDC automatically.
Spot pairs then followed on March 31. In its announcement, Binance pointed users toward USDC.
That is the pattern the GENIUS Act now sets up for America, only on a far larger base.
6 Altcoins That Could Benefit From the ProposalStablecoins hold about $300 billion across all chains, according to DefiLlama.
Total Stablecoin Market Cap. Source: DefiLlamaThe ranking below uses one measure. It is the share of each chain’s stablecoin supply that already sits with a licensed issuer.
Hyperliquid (HYPE)
Hyperliquid carries $6.18 billion in stablecoins. USD Coin (USDC), issued by Circle, makes up 97.8% of it. No other major chain leans so hard on a single licensed issuer. HYPE trades at $59.34, up 3.9%. It is also the only altcoin here in profit over 12 months, at 26.3%.
Arbitrum (ARB)
USDC covers 63.5% of Arbitrum’s $3.5 billion stablecoin base. Foreign-issued tokens face the tighter test, so that mix helps. ARB trades at $0.0749, up 1.2%.
Polygon (POL)
Polygon holds $3.03 billion in stablecoins, with USDC at 53.3%. A slim majority therefore sits with a chartered issuer. POL changed hands at $0.0781 after a 3.8% gain.
Solana (SOL)
Solana’s $15.33 billion base ranks third among all chains. USDC leads it at 43.5%, ahead of Tether (USDT). SOL trades at $75.84, up 0.9%.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum hosts $146.57 billion in stablecoins, nearly half the global total. However, USDT holds 50.4% of that. The rest, about $73 billion, is the deepest non-Tether pool anywhere. Meanwhile, ETH price near $1,900 reflects a 1.4% gain to $1,904.24.
XRP
Ripple issues Ripple USD (RLUSD) and holds one of those conditional charters. More than half a billion dollars of RLUSD supply moved to XRPL. That network passed Ethereum as RLUSD’s main settlement venue in June. XRP trades at $1.002, up 0.3%.
6 Altcoins That Could Benefit From Treasury’s New Stablecoin RulesTron Holds the Largest Bet the Other WayTron carries $92.04 billion in stablecoins, second only to Ethereum. USDT makes up 97.9% of that. The chain therefore has almost no licensed alternative.
BeInCrypto reported in March that Tron’s USDT balance had passed Ethereum’s. TRX trades at $0.3313, up 0.1%.
Tether is not sitting still, however. It launched a US token called USAT in January through Anchorage Digital Bank. The company says USDT is working toward GENIUS Act compliance.
None of this promises a rally. Every altcoin listed except HYPE is down 58% to 86% over the past year. Monday’s moves also stayed under 4%. The comment file closes 60 days after Federal Register publication. That is where the real fight happens.
Tom Lee, one of the most bullish figures in the cryptocurrency market regarding Ethereum, has once again hinted at a rally.
BitMine Chairman Tom Lee stated that a significant breakout is approaching in Ethereum’s (ETH) technical outlook, reiterating his bullish outlook for ETH.
According to the technical analysis highlighted by Lee, the Ethereum price is only about 3.5% away from breaking above the upper boundary of the Ichimoku Cloud on the daily chart. If ETH surpasses this level, it will mark the first breakout above the Ichimoku Cloud since October 9, 2025.
Ethereum is trading at around $1,906, with the upper boundary of the cloud, which technical analysts are monitoring as a significant resistance zone, also near the current price.
Breaking above the upper band of the Ichimoku Cloud is considered a significant signal in technical analysis, indicating a weakening of the current trend or the potential start of a new uptrend. Therefore, a sustained breakout could pave the way for Ethereum to move towards higher price levels.
Tom Lee Continues to Be Bullish on Ethereum Tom Lee maintains his previously expressed optimistic view on Ethereum. In his assessment in July, Lee stated that he expected the ETH/BTC pair to strengthen in the second half of 2026.
Lee’s long-term thesis for ETH is based on the strengthening of ETH’s position as a monetary asset, the growth in stablecoin adoption, and the increasing prevalence of tokenization of traditional assets on the blockchain.
*This is not investment advice.
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BitMart chief executive Sheldon Lee dismissed accusations circulating on X as fabricated rumors on Monday, hours after a public campaign gave him until August 19 to explain where customer money went.
BitMart announced an orderly wind-down of its trading platform in July. Many users still report blocked withdrawals, and former employees say last month’s salaries remain unpaid.
Why BitMart Users Want Proof of ReservesA Chinese-language account posting as BitMart 币市 published a five-point accountability demand on Monday. It asks Lee and business partner Yi Li to disclose wallets, assets, liabilities, and usable reserves that a third party can verify.
The account also questions who ordered the withdrawal limits. Moreover, it asks when management first knew the platform could no longer process requests normally.
Strain showed up on-chain almost immediately. Ethereum withdrawals surged to a 2026 high within days of the notice, while BMX crashed 46% as the announcement landed.
The July 26 notice stopped deposits and new Bitmart registrations at once. It also switched futures accounts to reduce-only mode, which lets traders close positions but not open fresh ones.
Staff pay sits at the center of the complaint. Rank-and-file employees never decided how company funds were managed, the account argues, so they should not absorb the cost of that decision.
“Let the fund flows be traced clearly. Let users know where their money is. Let employees get back the pay they deserve.”
Legal Threats Replace a Repayment PlanLee skipped the demands point by point. Instead, he said the company had gathered evidence and would file a police report and send a lawyer’s letter to X requesting technical forensics.
Sheldon. Source: XHe added that employee assets carry no priority over client assets. Meanwhile, the reply offered no reserve figures, no liability total, and no repayment timeline.
The campaign wants a repayment plan with an order of priority, a start date, and an independent audit. So far, BitMart has published none of that.
On-chain investigator ZachXBT pushed back within minutes.
“If you actually have the liquidity then simply return the funds to everyone instead of posting vague statements?”
The official notice sets August 26 as the final trading day and the recommended cutoff for withdrawal requests. Login access runs until January 31, 2027.
BitMart is one of several venues to exit this year. Analysts read closures as a healthy reset, though staff cuts at Luno pointed to wider stress. European regulators, meanwhile, opened a custody review under MiCA after an earlier exchange collapse.
Wednesday’s deadline now sets the next test. Verifiable reserve data would answer the question quickly, while another statement without numbers likely will not.
Crypto trader DonAlt, recognized for his previously accurate 700% forecast of XRP price moves, has outlined a $10,000 technical target for Ethereum but personally plans to close his position significantly earlier, at $3,000.
Trading strategy and psychological factorsDuring a recent discussion on X, DonAlt shared insights into his current Ethereum strategy. He explained that he initiated a long ETH position near $1,900 on August 13, despite this level acting as resistance within a consolidating market.
DonAlt acknowledged that such a move diverges from standard technical analysis, yet psychological considerations played a key role. He stressed the discomfort of sitting out of the market compared to holding an imperfect entry, stating it weighed on his decision-making process.
While opening a position at resistance counters textbook analysis, the psychological challenge of holding no position pushed me to act, even if the price was not ideal.
He mentioned that if ETH dropped to $1,700, located within his so-called “green” support zone, he would look to further increase his position size.
Profit targets and market disciplineResponding to questions from his followers, DonAlt broke down his targets into three key levels. He identified $4,000 as his formal goal and assigned an ambitious $10,000 macro target to ETH. However, he underlined his intent to take profit much sooner in practice, specifically if Ethereum climbs to $3,000.
This conservative approach, as he noted, is a direct response to past experiences. DonAlt is known for his XRP forecast during the 2024–2025 bull run, successfully calling the move from $0.50 to $3.50. Although his maximum XRP projection was $6.90 at that time, XRP reversed before reaching it, leading him to now favor securing gains rather than risking missed opportunities from unfulfilled targets.
Despite envisioning a scenario where ETH could reach five digits, risk management and past market lessons prompt me to secure a 57% gain at $3,000 rather than try for an elusive high.
Tools for navigating volatile crypto marketsWith ongoing market swings influenced by regulatory decisions and coin listings, traders continually seek ways to improve their timing and execution. Market volatility means that swift changes—such as a sudden Fed announcement or a new altcoin’s introduction on a major exchange—can cause rapid price shifts. In this environment, many investors face losses by having to switch between multiple apps for charts, updated news, and managing portfolios.
Smart traders are opting for solutions like CryptoAppsy, which consolidates real-time charts, price alerts, coin-specific headlines, and macroeconomic data into a single dashboard. This privacy-oriented platform does not require account setup, making it easier for users to stay informed and responsive to market developments on one screen.
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.
Ethereum’s next big upgrade has 66 proposals, including a major privacy fix. (Unsplash)Summary
Ethereum developers are weighing whether to include Frame Transactions in the 2027 Hegotá upgrade, a change that would let users customize how transactions are approved, executed and paid for.Together with two related proposals, Keyed Nonces and EIP-8272, Frame Transactions aims to reduce the outside infrastructure needed for private payments on the blockchain, while leaving ordinary ether (ETH) transfers as transparent as they are today.Only one change has been approved so far — a censorship-related measure called FOCIL — and core developers will decide in coming meetings which of the remaining 66 will advance.Ethereum developers are deciding whether the blockchain’s next major upgrade, Hegotá, should make it easier to build private transactions without relying on middlemen.
As with other blockchains, all Ethereum addresses are permanent and hold a running balance, so anyone can read an address’s full history and see what it holds. That presents a problem for payroll, treasury operations or anyone who would rather not publish their finances.
Dealing with that has been left to applications built on top of Ethereum. A package now under consideration would move part of the job into the network itself.
The centerpiece is Frame Transactions, or Ethereum Improvement Proposal 8141 (EIP-8141), which would let an account define how a transaction is approved, executed and paid for, rather than forcing every user through the same setup.
For an ordinary user, that could mean a wallet where someone else covers the fee, several actions are bundled into one payment, or the cryptography approving a transaction changes without moving to a new account.
Toni Wahrstätter, an Ethereum Foundation researcher and a co-author of the proposal, set out the case for it in an X post as developers began narrowing Hegotá's scope.
Ethereum's next year's upgrade, Hegotá, is being scoped right now.
66 proposals are on the table and over the next few core dev calls, this list will be narrowed down to the EIPs that get implementations, devnets, testnets, and a realistic chance of shipping in 2027. What…
— Toni Wahrstätter ⟠ (@nero_eth) August 16, 2026 Private payment systems on Ethereum can already hide information using cryptographic proofs, but getting those transactions onto the blockchain still takes extra infrastructure, and some designs route users through relayers, outside services that submit the transaction on their behalf.
Frame Transactions is one of 66 proposals on the table for Hegotá, expected to follow this year's Glamsterdam release and ship in 2027, and developers will now consider what they can realistically build, test and release on time.
Two accompanying proposals handle what breaks when many people transact privately through the same account. Keyed Nonces, or EIP-8250, would let transactions use separate counters instead of queueing behind a single one, so a delayed transaction no longer holds up everything behind it.
Separately, EIP-8272 would let a transaction prove itself against a recent cryptographic record without depending on information that might change while it waits.
Together, the three would remove some of the outside infrastructure privacy applications currently need.
Ethereum itself would not become private, however. Sending ETH between two normal addresses would stay as visible as it is today. The hiding is still done by the applications, which would simply need less outside machinery to do it.
Frame Transactions is not guaranteed to ship. While it has been marked as considered for Hegotá, that falls short of approval, to progress.
Only one change has been approved so far, and it relates to censorship. Currently, the company or operator assembling a block decides which waiting transactions go into it, and can leave some out. The approved change, called FOCIL, lets a group of network operators compile a list of transactions that must be included, taking that decision away from any single builder.
Other proposals would speed up how quickly blocks are produced, alter what validators earn for securing the network, and prepare Ethereum for cryptography that can withstand quantum computers.
The deadline for new proposals passed on Aug. 6. What survives from here gets decided over the next few core developer meetings.
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Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Jun 30, 2026
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
Why it matters:
Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.
TLDR Ethereum developers are reviewing 66 proposals for the planned Hegotá upgrade, expected in 2027. EIP-8141, or Frame Transactions, could give accounts more control over transaction approval, execution, and fee payment. The proposal could help privacy-focused applications reduce their reliance on outside relayers and other middlemen. EIP-8250 and EIP-8272 would support private transaction systems by improving transaction ordering and verification. Hegotá would not make normal Ethereum transfers private. Regular ETH transactions would remain publicly visible. Ethereum developers are reviewing 66 proposals for Hegotá, the network’s next major upgrade, targeting a 2027 release. One proposal could help developers build private transactions without outside relayers or middlemen.
Ethereum's next year's upgrade, Hegotá, is being scoped right now.
66 proposals are on the table and over the next few core dev calls, this list will be narrowed down to the EIPs that get implementations, devnets, testnets, and a realistic chance of shipping in 2027. What…
— Toni Wahrstätter ⟠ (@nero_eth) August 16, 2026
The package centers on EIP-8141, or Frame Transactions. It would give accounts more control over how transactions receive approval, execute, and pay fees. Developers are deciding which proposals fit Hegotá’s final scope.
Developers are weighing how much account flexibility can move into Ethereum without changing transfers.
Ethereum addresses remain public, letting anyone inspect balances and transaction histories. That visibility creates problems for payroll, treasury operations, and users seeking privacy.
Ethereum Privacy Plan Takes Shape EIP-8141 could allow wallets to support fee sponsorship, bundled actions, and different approval methods without forcing users to move funds to a new account. Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter has argued that the proposal could reduce extra infrastructure used by privacy-focused applications.
Private payment tools already use cryptographic proofs to hide transaction details. However, some systems still depend on relayers to submit transactions. Frame Transactions would not make normal ETH transfers private, but it could give privacy apps more support from the Ethereum network.
EIP-8250, known as Keyed Nonces, would let transactions use separate counters. That setup could stop one delayed transaction from holding up other transactions linked to the same account.
EIP-8272 would allow a transaction to verify itself against a recent cryptographic record. The design aims to avoid problems that arise when required information changes while a transaction waits for processing. Together, the three proposals could reduce the outside systems privacy apps need.
Hegotá Scope Remains Under Review Frame Transactions has entered consideration for Hegotá, but developers have not approved it. The upgrade will follow Glamsterdam, and core developers must decide which ideas they can build, test, and release on schedule.
Developers have approved only FOCIL so far. The change would let a group of network operators create a list of transactions that block builders must include. Other Hegotá proposals cover faster blocks, validator rewards, and preparations for quantum-resistant cryptography. The Aug. 6 deadline for new proposals has passed, and developers will now narrow the list during upcoming core meetings.
BitMine, the largest Ethereum treasury company, added 9,926 ETH to its holdings last week, bringing its total ETH position to approximately 5.815 million. Its current portfolio also includes 210 BTC, equity in Eightco Holdings valued at $73 million, and shares in Beast Industries worth $180 million. To date, BitMine has staked 5,067,309 ETH, with a value of roughly $9.6 billion.
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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, whose statements and actions are closely followed by the market, made important remarks about Ethereum and Bitcoin.
At this point, Vitalik Buterin stated that they are exploring a hybrid model on Ethereum that combines the advantages of different blockchain governance approaches to increase scalability.
Buterin stated that Ethereum aims to combine the strengths of UTXO-type state, dynamic state, and models in between, rather than adopting only a single state management model in the future.
In this context, Buterin, drawing attention to the UXTO model used by Bitcoin, stated, “The Bitcoin camp deserves great praise for pioneering a significant portion of these kinds of ideas through Utreexo and others.”
Looking at current models, in Ethereum, ETH or ERC-20 token transactions increase the storage load on nodes by creating records in the network’s persistent state. In contrast, in Bitcoin’s UTXO model, spent records are removed from the system and new UTXOs are created. Thus, since there is no need to maintain old records, the storage load on validators is reduced.
However, Buterin added that his statement does not mean Ethereum will completely switch to the UTXO model. He stated that this approach is currently being evaluated as part of research and protocol design, and that it would be incorrect to interpret this statement as Ethereum abandoning its current account model anytime soon.
However, according to experts, if Ethereum’s efforts in this direction come to fruition, the goal is to achieve higher transaction capacity while keeping node operating costs under control and preserving its decentralized features.
*This is not investment advice.
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Ethereum remains confined within a narrow trading range, with price volatility continuing to decline. Despite the subdued movement, the ability of ETH to maintain key support levels—combined with a spike in network activity—has sustained optimism for a potential recovery rally. According to data from Brave New Coin, Ethereum is currently trading close to $1,905, holding steady after rebounding from recent lows.
Volatility compression signals potential breakoutEthereum’s price action has entered a notable period of consolidation, with sideways movement and shrinking volatility raising expectations of an imminent breakout. Daan Crypto Trades, a popular market analyst, noted that it is rare for ETH to remain in such a compressed state for an extended period without eventually making a significant move.
Technical analysis suggests that holding the $1,800 to $1,850 support area is essential for maintaining the current recovery outlook. An upward breakout above $1,950 to $2,000 could pave the way for gains toward the $2,300 to $2,500 range. Conversely, a drop below current support would weaken bullish momentum, bringing the risk of a retreat toward $1,700 to $1,750.
Support LevelResistance LevelUpside TargetDownside Risk$1,800-$1,850$1,950-$2,000$2,300-$2,500$1,700-$1,750Recent consolidation in ETH’s price has compressed volatility to some of its lowest levels in recent months, keeping traders on alert for a decisive move.
On-chain activity supports bullish outlookEthereum’s network fundamentals have shown clear signs of improvement during the sideways market. On-chain analyst Ali Charts pointed out that new daily ETH addresses surged from about 121,210 on August 8 to 212,560, reflecting robust network participation and signaling underlying demand.
Historically, rising network activity has preceded longer-term price recoveries, although ETH still needs technical confirmation to establish a sustained rally.
New daily ETH addresses have climbed sharply, reinforcing the view that renewed network growth could support price strength if key technical levels are cleared.
Mini dictionary: Ali Charts, a widely followed cryptocurrency market analyst, is known for his blockchain data insights and technical analysis shared across social media platforms.
Bulls defend key zones, eye $2,500 targetCastillo Trading, another well-followed technical analyst, described the current ETH structure as offering a favorable risk-to-reward profile. Ethereum has held firmly above the critical $1,800 to $1,850 support, stabilizing its short-term trend. The next test lies at the $2,000 resistance, with traders watching to see if ETH can reclaim this level and push toward previous range highs near $2,400 to $2,500.
Maintaining momentum above the demand zone would reinforce the recovery scenario. If ETH loses this support, however, attention may shift to lower support bands.
Long-term prediction: $12,000 potential aheadCrypto market commentator Ted Pillows outlined a bullish longer-term thesis tied to global liquidity trends. He noted that if Ethereum tracks the growth of the global M2 money supply, price could eventually exceed $12,000. His analysis emphasizes the importance of ETH holding a rising trendline and reclaiming key resistances such as $2,500 to $2,800 before a substantial rally can unfold.
Still, confirmation of a sustained breakout remains needed before higher valuations can be targeted in the next growth phase.
Mini dictionary: M2 money supply refers to a broad measure of the money supply that includes cash, checking deposits, and easily convertible near money, reflecting overall liquidity in the economy.
Cautious outlook remains as ETH approaches decision pointEthereum is moving toward a critical phase after several weeks of muted trading. The primary levels to watch include immediate support at $1,800 to $1,850 and major resistance at $1,950 to $2,000. The first upward target is $2,300, with additional resistance expected between $2,500 and $2,800.
A convincing breakout above resistance, supported by rising trading volumes, may signal that buyers are regaining control. Until then, ETH is expected to trade within its current consolidation range, with both upward and downward scenarios in play.
At present, Ethereum is priced near $1,882, edging down by 0.14% over the last 24 hours. Analysts point out that a decisive move above the $1,950 to $2,000 range would refocus attention on the $2,500 recovery target. However, a rejection at key resistance or a slip below support may delay recovery prospects and trigger a move to lower levels. The coming weeks are set to determine whether Ethereum can break out to the upside or continues its consolidation pattern.
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.
Ethereum price climbed nearly 2% on Aug. 17, rebounding from the $1,872 area as buyers defended short-term support and pushed ETH above $1,900.
Summary
Ethereum price rose to an intraday high near $1,912 after opening around $1,876. A whale transferred 32,400 ETH, worth $61.46 million, into Ethereum’s staking contract. 4-hour momentum improved, but the daily chart still places ETH below its 200-day moving average. Liquidity clusters at $1,925 and $1,950 could shape Ethereum’s next move. Ethereum price action today According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum (ETH) price traded at approximately $1,908 at the time of writing, up 1.7% on the day. The token had moved between an intraday low of $1,872 and a high of $1,912, according to the Binance daily chart.
The recovery accelerated after ETH reclaimed the $1,890 area, which had limited price advances during the previous three sessions. Buyers then pushed the token through $1,900, although the move had not produced a confirmed break from its wider August range.
Ethereum has traded mostly between $1,850 and $1,960 since late July. Several attempts to clear the upper end of that range have failed, while pullbacks toward $1,850–$1,870 have continued to attract buyers.
The Aug. 17 bounce therefore represents another test of the range ceiling rather than a confirmed return to a broader uptrend. ETH remains roughly 47% below its price one year ago despite recovering from its June low near $1,530.
Whale staking and network research support sentiment On-chain activity added to the positive tone after an unknown address transferred 32,400 ETH to the Beacon deposit contract, according to Whale Alert monitoring cited by Foresight News. The transaction was worth about $61.46 million, while Arkham data suggested that the address may be associated with Bitpanda.
Depositing ETH into the staking contract reduces the amount immediately available for spot trading, but one transaction alone does not prove that the owner bought the tokens during Monday’s rebound. Staked ETH can also return to circulation after passing through Ethereum’s withdrawal process.
Network development news provided another sentiment catalyst. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin pointed to Bitcoin’s Utreexo model as Ethereum researchers examine native UTXOs and recursive STARK proofs.
As crypto.news reported, the proposed approach could allow nodes to verify relevant data without storing the network’s entire state locally. The work remains a research direction rather than a scheduled Ethereum upgrade, but it addresses concerns about the cost and hardware requirements of running nodes.
Ethereum indicators favor buyers above $1,900 Ethereum’s 4-hour chart shows that short-term momentum has shifted in favor of buyers. ETH moved above the Bollinger Band midpoint at $1,884 and briefly crossed the upper band near $1,902.
Ethereum price 4-hour chart — Aug. 17 | Source: crypto.news A move above the upper band reflects stronger momentum, although it can also lead to a short-term pullback if buyers fail to hold the breakout. The immediate support area now sits between the $1,884 midpoint and the lower band near $1,868.
The 4-hour relative strength index rose to 63.66 from a signal average of 50.58. The reading remains below the overbought threshold of 70, leaving room for another advance, but it also shows that momentum has strengthened quickly from neutral levels.
The daily chart presents a more cautious picture. ETH is trading above its 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day simple moving averages, located near $1,889, $1,845, and $1,869, respectively. Holding above that group would preserve the recovery structure that has developed since June.
Ethereum price daily chart — Aug. 17 | Source: crypto.news However, the 200-day moving average remains much higher at approximately $2,009. Ethereum would need to clear that level before its longer-term chart shifts more convincingly in favor of buyers.
The daily Chaikin Money Flow reading stood at minus 0.04. A negative reading indicates that selling pressure still slightly exceeds buying pressure, meaning the price rebound has not yet received strong confirmation from capital flows.
Liquidation heatmap puts $1,925 in focus CoinGlass’ one-week Ethereum liquidation heatmap shows a large concentration of leveraged positions around $1,920–$1,930. The brightest liquidity band sits near $1,925, making it the nearest potential target if ETH maintains its position above $1,900.
Ethereum liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass A move through that area could force short sellers to close positions, adding market orders to the advance. Another visible liquidity cluster sits near $1,945–$1,950, which aligns with the upper boundary of Ethereum’s recent trading range.
Liquidity is also concentrated below the market. The strongest downside bands appear around $1,860 and $1,850. Losing the 4-hour support near $1,868 could draw ETH toward those levels as leveraged long positions face pressure.
Analyst Ted Pillows said Ethereum’s uptrend remains intact but identified $1,960 as the level required for stronger upside momentum. His chart placed the main breakout zone between approximately $1,945 and $1,960.
A confirmed close above $1,960 would open the path toward $2,030, followed by a wider resistance area around $2,190. The first target also sits close to the declining 200-day moving average, which could limit the initial breakout.
Pillows placed structural support around $1,820. A break below that level would weaken the series of higher lows formed since June and could expose the lower support near $1,713.
US macro conditions remain a risk for ETH Ethereum’s recovery comes as US investors assess whether inflation data will allow the Federal Reserve to loosen monetary policy. Higher Treasury yields and a firm dollar can reduce demand for risk assets because investors receive more attractive returns from government debt.
Regulatory uncertainty also remains relevant. Citigroup cut its 12-month Ethereum forecast to $3,175 in March, citing stalled progress on US crypto market-structure legislation and weaker user activity. The bank said stablecoin and tokenization growth could support Ethereum usage, but warned that the window for passing legislation before the 2026 midterm elections was narrowing.
For now, Ethereum must hold above $1,884 and convert $1,925 into support to extend Monday’s rebound. A break above $1,960 would strengthen the bullish case, while rejection followed by a loss of $1,868 would put the $1,850 liquidity zone back in play.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies reported buying another 9,926 ETH over the past week, taking its total Ethereum holdings to about 5.8 million ETH. The company now controls 4.8% of ETH’s total supply and is nearing its goal of owning 5%.
Bitmine’s crypto and related holdings total $11.4 billion, including 210 BTC, $78 million in cash and marketable securities, and stakes in Beast Industries and Eightco Holdings.
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Commenting on Ethereum’s outlook, Thomas “Tom” Lee, Chairman of Bitmine, pointed to the rising ETH/BTC ratio as a sign that tokenization and agentic AI could drive greater use of the network in the next crypto cycle.
“We expect easing financial conditions to be a tailwind for crypto,” Lee noted.
“This ETH/BTC ratio has moved up during crypto bull cycles, driven by increasing use of Ethereum relative to Bitcoin,” he explained. “These prior cycles were fueled by ICOs (2017-2018), NFTs (2020-2021), and stablecoins (2025). In this upcoming crypto cycle, we see the ETH/BTC ratio rising, driven by Wall Street tokenizing on the blockchain and by agentic-AI using blockchains.”
The company has staked over 5 million ETH worth about $9.6 billion through MAVAN and other staking partners. Bitmine said its own staking operations produced a 2.61% seven-day yield, putting projected annualized staking revenue at $250 million.
Separately, the leading Ethereum treasury repurchased 1.7 million common shares in the past week and more than 20.8 million shares since July under its $4 billion buyback authorization.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Bitmine bought another 9,926 ETH last week, bringing its holdings to 5.815 million ETH worth about $11 billion.The Tom Lee-led company now owns about 4.8% of Ethereum’s total supply, nearing its stated goal of 5%.Lee expects tokenization, AI-agent applications and easing financial conditions to support demand for Ethereum and the broader crypto market.Ethereum treasury company Bitmine Immersion added more of the token to its balance sheet, bringing its total holdings up to 5.815 million tokens.
In an announcement Monday, the company led by Chairman Tom Lee said it bought another 9,926 ETH last week, continuing its streak of weekly buys that began in June 2025 when the company launched.
Bitmine, which trades under the ticker BMNR, now holds 4.8% of ETH’s total supply with its tokens worth about $11 billion at the current price of $1,904.
Lee said the ETH/BTC ratio has broken above a years-long downward trend, which he sees as a sign that investors are starting to price in growing demand for Ethereum from tokenization and AI-agent applications.
On the macro front, he expects “easing financial conditions to be a tailwind for crypto,” he said in a statement.
ETH is up about 1.6% over the past 24 hours while BMNR is trading more than 2% higher today.
The company also bought an additional 1.7 million shares of its own stock last week, now owning 20.8 million shares under a previously authorized $4 billion buyback program.
