Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The token hit a 5-month-peak yesterday and the team behind it started selling immediately, according to on-chain data.

The cryptocurrency market received a massive push over the past several days, with bitcoin gaining $15,000 in less than 48 hours, while the altcoins followed suit with big gains.

Many meme coins did the same, including Official Trump (TRUMP) – one of the tokens linked to the First Family. However, as it has happened numerous times in the past, the team behind the asset has seemingly taken advantage just to sell more portions of it.

TRUMP Team Sells Again? Citing on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence, Lookonchain reported hours ago that the TRUMP team sent another 2.62 million coins to OKX. In terms of USD value, the transfer was worth roughly $6.2 million.

Although this doesn’t necessarily mean that the team has sold, sending tokens to exchanges, especially given their track record and the recent price pumps, hints heavily that they have offloaded more of the asset.

The #Trump team transferred out another 2.62M $TRUMP($6.21M) an hour ago.

The 2.62M $TRUMP ($6.21M) was then deposited into #OKX.https://t.co/gayhdrY7fy pic.twitter.com/PmHRbAmksb

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 23, 2026

The asset saw the light of day just 48 hours before Donald Trump was inaugurated as US President in January 2025. It flew to an all-time high of over $73 in minutes before it started correcting heavily.

Since then, reports have emerged after every rebound that the team behind it has sold some portions of it, even though the POTUS has denied profiting from the token. Nevertheless, several US Senators urged the SEC to investigate the meme coin, arguing that it may have facilitated fraud or unlawful enrichment at the expense of retail investors.

You may also like: US Senators Urge SEC to Probe Trump Meme Coin Over Billions in Investor Losses POTUS to Headline Gala for Top TRUMP Holders as Price Soars 50% After ATL Pump and Dump As mentioned above, TRUMP skyrocketed yesterday by double- and even triple-digit percentages and re-entered the top 100 alts by market cap. It stood below $1.50 when its rally began and topped $3.60 at its peak, which became its highest price tag since March.

However, it was rejected there and slumped to $2.40 as of press time, which represents a 33% dump from its local peak after the sales reports emerged.

Nevertheless, it remains within the top 100 alts as its own market cap sits at around $600 million. On the other hand, its demise since the January 19 ATH is more than evident, as it trades 97% away from that peak. Its all-time low came last week at $1.37.

TRUMP Token on CoinGecko Tags:

XRP’s entry into the US Federal Reserve’s instant payment service, FedNow, is taking shape through an established technology provider, Volante Technologies. Crypto researcher SMQKE claimed that Volante’s confirmed Ripple integration may allow participating institutions to utilize XRP for settlement as they connect to FedNow.

Volante bridges Ripple and FedNowVolante acts as an intermediary between financial institutions and major payments networks, including FedNow and The Clearing House’s RTP network. The company’s platform enables banks and payment providers to access multiple networks efficiently, simplifying transactions across otherwise separate rails.

Volante has confirmed that its platform can offer XRP as a settlement option via its direct integration with Ripple’s network. Since October 2015, Volante has maintained this capability, further expanding it in 2016 by incorporating Ripple’s solution into its payments development platform, VolPay Foundation.

Financial institutions using Volante already have the infrastructure to facilitate XRP settlements, putting them in a strategic position as FedNow adoption increases. SMQKE emphasized the significance of Volante’s multi-network approach combined with Ripple integration, as it potentially gives institutions access to XRP-conducted settlements while connecting to FedNow.

Volante’s multi-network status and active Ripple integration put XRP within reach for any institution linking to FedNow through service providers.

Service providers lead connectivityThe 2023 Faster Payments Barometer, which surveyed organizations on their FedNow and RTP connectivity strategies, found that 47% of respondents preferred third-party service providers for connecting. Only 32% planned to link directly to each network.

Deepak Gupta, SVP and Global Head of Payments-as-a-Service at Volante, referenced the 2023 Barometer and explained that third-party providers can “quickly connect institutions to multiple networks,” confirming Volante’s key market role.

This trend is reinforced by the emphasis on interoperability across the payments landscape. According to the same survey, 92% of respondents considered interoperability across systems important. Volante’s model directly addresses this need, especially as it now includes XRP as a supported settlement asset.

The interoperability focus revealed in the 2023 Barometer aligns with Volante’s offering, as its platform supports seamless connections across multiple payment systems and integrates alternative settlement methods like XRP.

Infrastructure enables instant settlementVolante’s integration with Ripple has been active for years, and a Twitter exchange in June 2020 confirmed the platform can use XRP as a settlement mechanism. In partnership with Ripple, Volante enhanced its capabilities to simplify bank connections to Ripple’s real-time cross-border payments network.

This longstanding integration means that institutions routing FedNow or RTP transactions through Volante already have access to XRP settlement, without any additional technical barriers.

Because the payments landscape can shift dramatically with regulatory decisions or new altcoin listings, market participants have started opting for consolidated, privacy-first tools. Modern solutions like CryptoAppsy provide real-time charts, smart alerts, coin-specific news, and macroeconomic data, all in a single dashboard without requiring account setup. This approach helps investors monitor both infrastructure developments and rapid price movements without needing several apps.

SMQKE pointed out that XRP’s connection to FedNow through Volante is neither hypothetical nor pending. The technical link is confirmed and operational, providing immediate access for financial institutions seeking faster and more diverse settlement options.

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.

TLDR:  Circle Payments Network hit a $14.7B annualized run rate, rising 76% quarter over quarter by Q2-end. USDC circulation reached $73.3B at Q2-end, while quarterly onchain transaction volume surged 151% to $14.8T. Visa’s stablecoin settlement pilot reached a $7B annualized run rate after expanding across nine blockchains. Circle’s network enrolled 175 institutions, while Nium extended payouts to 190+ countries and 100 currencies. Stablecoins are moving beyond crypto trading and into the infrastructure that powers payments, treasury operations, collateral, savings, and cross-border finance. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said during the company’s Aug. 19 earnings AMA that digital dollars now show product-market fit across several financial activities.

In digital asset markets, stablecoins already function as cash, collateral, and settlement assets across platforms operating around the clock. However, their role is expanding as large companies increasingly use digital dollars for treasury management, internal transfers, and working capital.

Circle CEO: What Real-World Financial Problems Can Stablecoins Solve First?

On August 19, 2026, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire @jerallaire said during the earnings call AMA that stablecoins are moving from the digital asset market into real-world finance, where they are already… pic.twitter.com/6lFMN6Xefc

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 23, 2026

Allaire also pointed to rising demand across emerging and global markets, where households and businesses use digital dollars as savings instruments. For some users, those assets provide an alternative to traditional dollar bank accounts while supporting commerce, investment, and international payments.

Tokenization is widening that reach further as equities, commodities, and other traditional assets begin moving onto blockchain-based trading infrastructure.

Cross-Border Settlement Emerges as a Core Use Case Against that backdrop, cross-border payments are becoming one of the clearest areas where stablecoins are entering mainstream financial operations. Allaire said financial institutions can use digital dollars as the settlement leg between counterparties, reducing reliance on conventional banking settlement windows.

Recipients can also retain the stable asset instead of converting immediately into local currency, adding another use case beyond simple transfers. Circle Payments Network reflects that shift, reaching $14.7 billion in annualized transaction volume based on trailing 30-day activity at quarter-end.

That figure increased 76% quarter over quarter, while enrolled financial institutions rose 29% to 175. Nium has also connected the network with payout infrastructure covering more than 190 countries and 100 currencies.

The wider payments sector is developing similar infrastructure. Visa said its stablecoin settlement pilot reached a $7 billion annualized run rate after expanding support to nine blockchains.

Visa had already introduced USDC settlement for participating U.S. issuers and acquirers, giving institutions access to seven-day settlement. That expansion addresses a costly gap in traditional remittances.

World Bank data showed the average cost of sending $200 globally stood at 6.36%, more than twice the United Nations’ 3% target.

USDC Growth Deepens Circle’s Institutional Finance Reach Beyond payments, Circle’s operating figures show how quickly its role across broader financial infrastructure has expanded. USDC circulation reached $73.3 billion at the end of the second quarter, representing 19% year-over-year growth.

At the same time, quarterly on-chain transaction volume climbed 151% to $14.8 trillion, while Circle generated $701 million in revenue and reserve income. Alongside that growth, institutional adoption also widened, extending USDC’s presence across traditional financial services.

BNY added direct USDC minting and redemption to its digital asset custody platform, while Standard Chartered launched integrated USDC access. Marex completed a stablecoin-powered initial-margin transaction in regulated derivatives clearing, allowing USDC to operate as collateral within traditional markets.

Allaire also identified AI agents and retail merchant payments as emerging channels for further usage. Circle’s Agent Stack now includes more than 900 paid services, while 99.3% of x402 agent-payment volume settles in USDC.

The company is also preparing Arc, its stablecoin-focused blockchain, for a Sept. 16 mainnet launch with more than 100 institutional and ecosystem builders. Taken together, the data shows stablecoins moving from crypto market plumbing toward broader payment and settlement rails used across global finance.

Cover image via depositphotos.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.

The price of Zcash (ZEC) has exceeded $814 for the first time in eight years, fully recovering from its June decline to $250 caused by a vulnerability in the Orchard pool. The coin's surge and increase in market capitalization to $13.74 billion were driven by the upcoming listing of the first spot Zcash fund, the Zcash ETF, prompting the community to discuss whether Zcash could eventually "flip" XRP by market capitalization.

Grayscale Investments has already submitted the final documents to the SEC. Trading in the fund under the ticker ZCSH is expected to begin on NYSE Arca on August 25, 2026. The fund holds up to 393,000 ZEC worth more than $260 million, with Coinbase serving as custodian.

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Zcash's surge ahead of its NYSE listing has brought financial privacy back into the spotlight. Mert Mumtaz, CEO of infrastructure company Helius, reiterated his earlier call to "encrypt the money" and publicly pledged to lobby for privacy coins until Zcash regains its status as a top-three asset by market capitalization.

Zcash weekly price chart showing a surge to an 8-year high of $816.81 alongside a supportive post by Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz. Source: TradingViewThe executive emphasized that transaction protection is a basic human right in digital finance, effectively calling the technology the "second amendment of the internet."

Is an XRP "flip" realistic?Following statements from industry leaders, the expert community has begun actively discussing theoretical scenarios in which Zcash and XRP could reach comparable market shares.

The choice of the Ripple-associated token as the main benchmark for a potential "flip" is driven by its status. Historically established among the world's five largest cryptocurrencies, XRP represents the main barrier on the path to the top of the market, behind only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins.

In addition, both coins now compete in the same traditional finance arena: XRP already has ETF structures trading in the United States, and Zcash is now joining it.

In numerical terms, the difference looks as follows:

XRP has a market capitalization of $93.45 billion at a price of $1.49 per token, driven by the enormous number of coins in circulation.Zcash currently has a market capitalization of $13.74 billion.Due to Zcash's strictly limited supply, if it hypothetically reached XRP's current market capitalization, one ZEC would be worth $5,537.93, representing a 680% increase from current levels. You Might Also Like

Access to the traditional stock market through an ETF listed on NYSE Arca, together with preparations for quantum-resistant network upgrades, has shifted medium-term expectations among major market participants toward $2,500 and above.

Nevertheless, analysts view the scenario in which Zcash could fully "flip" XRP exclusively as a long-term mathematical benchmark. The true depth of institutional demand for Zcash will be determined by ZCSH's trading volumes during the first few days after its listing.

The last week has proven extremely strong for XRP as the asset regained momentum across both its spot and ETF markets, following its recent price rally.

Over the period, XRP saw its price suddenly flip bullish after seeing stronger demand from investors, causing its ETF market to post its best weekly performance since May.

Nearly $40 million fresh capital Per data provided by SosoValue, XRP ETFs saw steady inflows on nearly all days of the week as they attracted a total of $39.78 million in net inflows last week.

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While this is coming after multiple weeks of recording little to no fresh capital, the inflows seen last week mark a major recovery from a prolonged period of relatively muted demand.

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The largest share of the fresh capital flowed in on August 21st, when XRP rallied by over 20% within a 24-hour period and the XRP ETFs also recorded $18.38 million in net inflows during the same day.

This resurgence in demand for XRP ETFs triggered an increase in their cumulative net inflows, causing them to rise to a massive $1.55 billion milestone since they launched late last year.

Bitwise continues to buy XRPWhile the major XRP ETF recovery came amid a broader crypto market resurgence, XRP's price rallied by nearly 60% over the period, drawing attention to the leading altcoin.

Amid the bullish momentum, institutional investors continued to increasingly demand the XRP product through Bitwise as the firm led all XRP funds on all their positive trading days.

While Bitwise also led the latest inflow with a fresh capital intake of $16.89 million, the Bitwise XRP ETF now boasts about $443.46 million in net assets.

Chainlink (LINK) is experiencing a renewed surge in price momentum as institutional purchases and increased demand for its network infrastructure drive optimism among traders. Buyers have defended recent gains and reinforced recovery, setting the stage for a potentially larger rally if key resistance levels are overcome.

LINK price and key resistance levelsAt the latest reading, LINK traded at $12.06, reflecting a 12.03% increase over the past 24 hours. Chainlink’s 24-hour trading volume stood at $1.04 billion, and its market capitalization reached $9.03 billion. The coin’s price action has caught the market’s attention, with the $12.50 resistance zone now viewed as a critical threshold for a broader shift in trend dynamics.

Continued upward movement hinges on whether LINK can break and consolidate above this level. A decisive push past $12.50 may reinforce positive sentiment, with traders targeting the $20 mark next. If momentum continues to build, the price could even approach $28.

Market participants are closely watching the $12.50 resistance for signs of a sustained reversal, as a breakout at this level could open the door to higher price targets amid renewed institutional interest.

Institutional accumulation through Bitwise ETFInstitutional demand has played a major role in recent LINK strength. Bitwise Asset Management, a firm known for launching multiple cryptocurrency ETFs, has continued to accumulate LINK for its Chainlink product. In a recent transaction, the Bitwise Chainlink ETF acquired 163,379 LINK tokens worth approximately $1.85 million.

Over the span of one week, Bitwise amassed around 727,170 LINK tokens, representing a total value of $5.515 million. The ETF achieved an average entry price of $7.585 per token. With LINK now trading close to $12.06, Bitwise is already sitting on over 50% in unrealized gains from its latest purchases.

MetricBitwise Chainlink ETFTotal LINK purchased (1 week)727,170 tokensTotal value$5.515 millionAverage entry price$7.585Current LINK price$12.06Unrealized gain50%+Chainlink’s ETF activity from Bitwise has caught the attention of both retail and institutional investors, suggesting that further accumulation could fuel continued bullish momentum.

Bitwise Asset Management is a US-based investment manager specializing in index and thematic products focused on the digital asset market.

Mini dictionary: Bitwise Asset Management, an investment firm specializing in cryptocurrency index funds and thematic ETFs for institutional and retail investors.

Technical outlook and market expectationsThe short-term outlook for LINK now depends on its ability to breach and hold above the $12.50 resistance zone. If this level is reclaimed with strong demand and increased trading volume, technical analysts believe a move toward $20 could materialize, and further gains to $28 may come into view with sustained momentum.

Broader interest in blockchain oracle solutions and real-world asset (RWA) networks is also supporting Chainlink’s long-term narrative. The project is recognized for providing decentralized data oracles, which are essential for securely connecting smart contracts to off-chain information.

Mini dictionary: Oracle, a service enabling blockchains and smart contracts to access real-world data such as asset prices, events, and off-chain information in a secure and decentralized manner.

Market observers are expected to focus on upcoming ETF flows and any technical breakthroughs, as they may offer additional confirmation of Chainlink’s trend development in the sessions ahead.

The next major test for LINK lies at $12.50, with bullish momentum likely to intensify if this barrier is cleared and trading volume remains high.

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.

Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of Aave, announced on August 22 that total deposits on the Aave protocol have crossed $30 billion, a milestone that arrives with a pointed three-word editorial: “liquidity is back.”

The figure represents a 30% increase in deposits for the third quarter of the year.

What the numbers say To understand the $30B deposit figure, it helps to separate two metrics that often get conflated. Total deposits on Aave count every asset supplied to the protocol, including capital that has been borrowed against and redeployed. DeFiLlama’s Total Value Locked reading, which sat around $17.6B as of mid-August, uses a different methodology, netting out borrowed amounts and applying its own chain coverage and asset inclusion criteria.

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Active loans on the protocol are running at roughly $10B, which means a meaningful portion of that deposited capital is already doing work inside the ecosystem.

Aave V4, the protocol’s latest architecture upgrade, saw deposits climb from around $50M when the deployment launched in early May to over $400M by mid-August.

Lifetime deposits on Aave have now totaled $3.46 trillion since the protocol launched, a figure that puts its $30B current snapshot in perspective.

Where Aave sits historically Aave has been here before, and higher. Net deposits surpassed $50B during mid-2025, and TVL readings exceeded $40B in early 2026. The current $30B sits below those peaks, which means the “liquidity is back” framing from Kulechov carries some nuance: the protocol is recovering from a drawdown, not setting an all-time high.

The protocol itself has a longer history than many DeFi participants remember. Aave began life as ETHLend in 2017, a peer-to-peer lending platform built on Ethereum. It rebranded to Aave in 2018 and pivoted to a liquidity pool model. The fact that it remains the leading decentralized lending protocol by deposits and overall activity in 2026 is a product of that early architectural decision and years of incremental iteration.

Governance over the protocol is managed through the AAVE token, which gives holders the ability to vote on protocol parameters, risk configurations, and treasury allocations.

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

The cryptocurrency and privacy-focused financial world is experiencing eventful times. Valor Group Founder Dev and Mert Mumtaz, a well-known figure in the crypto ecosystem, participated in The Rollup program on the crypto broadcasting platform, sharing the latest developments on the Zcash (ZEC) network and a critical roadmap for the project’s future. The discussions highlighted the network’s scalability, security updates, and measures taken against quantum threats.

The recent Ironwood update implemented on the Zcash network is considered one of the project’s most important milestones. Speaking at the event, Mert recalled that during internal red teaming and AI-powered security audits, a potential vulnerability was identified in the Orchard pool that could have allowed the creation of counterfeit notes. Through extensive work and official verification, it was proven that the code mathematically matched the specifications perfectly. With the seamless transfer of funds from the Orchard pool to the new Ironwood pool, the risk of counterfeit coin minting on the network has been completely eliminated, and community concerns have been addressed.

Dev, who shared important technical details about Zcash’s future vision, emphasized that Valor Group’s main goal is to achieve a transaction volume on the scale of a credit card for Zcash. He stated that they aim to process more than 50,000 transactions per second at sub-second speeds while maintaining a full proof-of-work mechanism, and that the main obstacle to scaling is not the nodes themselves, but the wallet scanning processes. It was noted that thanks to new wallet architectures and optimizations, synchronization delays in the user experience will become a thing of the past.

The upcoming Tachion update promises to make Zcash fully protected against quantum computing threats. The update will integrate recursive zero-knowledge proofs into the network. This is reported to reduce transaction sizes by more than five times, eliminate node processing overhead, and resolve state growth issues. With Tachion, the network is claimed to achieve not just “quantum recoverable” but a truly “quantum-proof” privacy structure.

*This is not investment advice.

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Investor Stanley Druckenmiller has signaled a notable shift toward digital assets through recent disclosures from his Duquesne Family Office. Regulatory filings for the second quarter of 2026 reveal new stakes totaling approximately $87.8 million in two crypto-related companies: Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ: BTDR) and Hyperliquid Strategies (NASDAQ: PURR).

According to the Form 13F submitted in August 2026 covering holdings as of June 30, Duquesne acquired about 4.1 million shares of Bitdeer Technologies Group.

The position was valued at more than $64.7 million, reflecting an average purchase price near $12.26 per share.

Bitdeer operates as a high-performance computing firm that produces cryptocurrency mining equipment and runs data centers both in the United States and abroad.

The stake ranks among the larger additions within Druckenmiller’s growing focus on artificial intelligence and digital asset infrastructure.Bitdeer has shown operational progress, including reduced quarter-over-quarter losses in its latest results.

The company also secured a long-term artificial intelligence agreement valued at $4.7 billion for 121 megawatts of capacity at its Tydal campus in Norway and has begun construction of a US facility in Nevada expected to manufacture thousands of mining units monthly.

In parallel, the family office established a position of roughly 2.9 million shares in Hyperliquid Strategies (PURR), valued at approximately $23.1 million.

This Nasdaq-listed entity functions as a digital-asset treasury vehicle centered on the HYPE token, the native asset of the Hyperliquid decentralized exchange. Hyperliquid specializes in perpetual futures and other on-chain trading activity.

By holding shares in Hyperliquid Strategies, investors gain regulated equity exposure to the HYPE ecosystem—including accumulation, staking, and yield strategies—without directly purchasing the token itself.

The investment arrives amid heightened attention on Hyperliquid.

The platform’s token recently reached new highs following comments from President Donald Trump indicating that Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) efforts were underway to bring the exchange into compliance for U.S. operations.

Shares of Hyperliquid Strategies also advanced on the news.These moves form part of a broader portfolio reallocation.

Duquesne’s reported US equity holdings expanded to about $5.21 billion across roughly 95 positions during the quarter.

The office initiated or expanded exposure to several bitcoin mining and related infrastructure names while exiting certain traditional semiconductor holdings.

Other large institutions, including Jane Street, Citadel, BlackRock, and State Street, similarly increased positions in Bitdeer or Hyperliquid Strategies during the same period.

Druckenmiller, long respected for macroeconomic insight and concentrated bets, has occasionally engaged with digital assets in the past.

The latest filings underscore interest in both the physical infrastructure supporting blockchain networks and regulated vehicles that offer institutional access to emerging tokens.

Bitdeer provides dual exposure to cryptocurrency mining and high-performance computing capacity that can serve artificial intelligence workloads.

Hyperliquid Strategies offers a structured pathway into one of the more active decentralized trading platforms.

Market observers note that 13F reports capture only publicly traded equity holdings and do not disclose any direct token positions the office may or may not hold.

Still, the disclosed stakes represent a clear allocation of capital toward the digital-asset sector at a time of evolving regulatory clarity and institutional participation.

As crypto markets continue to mature, the involvement of established investors such as Druckenmiller may further encourage traditional capital to explore infrastructure and treasury-style opportunities within the space. The full extent of any ongoing strategy will become clearer with subsequent filings.

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Cover image via U.Today 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.

Ripple stablecoin product lead Lauren Berta has highlighted an upcoming XRP Ledger feature that could matter greatly for the RLUSD stablecoin: permission delegation.

Version 3.3.0 of xrpld, the reference server implementation of the XRP Ledger protocol, released earlier this month, introduced XLS-75—'PermissionDelegationV1_1: Granular account Permission Delegation.'

The Permission Delegation amendment is currently up for validator voting on the XRP Ledger, and according to Berta, has the potential to unlock an important capability for institutions issuing regulated assets on XRPL.

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Permission Delegation is currently up for validator voting on the XRP Ledger, and it has the potential to unlock an important capability for institutions issuing regulated assets on XRPL.
Here's why that matters for $RLUSD and every regulated token on the ledger. 🧵

— Lauren (@rootveg444) August 21, 2026 In a lengthy threaded post, Berta explains why permission delegation matters for RLUSD and every regulated token on the ledger. Currently, an XRPL token issuer account controls key functions like minting, freezing, clawback, or trust line authorization. For regulated issuers, those responsibilities often sit across different teams such as compliance, operations, security, and others.

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The Permission Delegation feature is designed to reflect this reality as it allows issuers to delegate specific actions to separate accounts while keeping the issuer account secure. Berta cited an instance where the compliance team gets freeze and clawback, Ops gets mint and burn, and a KYC provider gets trust line authorization, while each team uses its own keys.

Berta noted that this separation of duties is how stablecoin issuers operate on other chains, with different teams being responsible for different functions. The Ripple stablecoin product lead added that Permission Delegation will enable this same operational structure for RLUSD on the XRP Ledger, natively at the protocol level, which is entirely distinct from multisig.

Multisig vs Permission DelegationWhile multisig requires parties to approve a transaction, delegation authorizes an account to perform a specific action on another's behalf.

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"One splits approval authority. The other splits responsibilities," Berta added, noting that multisig and permission delegation solve different problems. Importantly, delegation does not mean giving up control.

Permission delegation remains essential as stablecoin issuers, RWA tokenizers, and asset managers bringing regulated instruments onchain need ways to separate the teams moving assets, enforcing compliance, and managing security.

While permission delegation is currently in validator voting, in parallel, the RLUSD team is building and testing the functionality on devnet in preparation for its activation.  

In a notable milestone, Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin total circulating supply has topped $2 billion. 

Altcoins

22 August 2026 | 16:02 Ethereum’s flash push above $2,500 ran out of steam, dragging the asset back below the crucial $2,465 handle, though it still retains a 30% weekly gain, according to CoinMarketCap data.

With spot demand wrestling against heavy derivatives exposure, the next directional cue depends entirely on whether bulls can recapture that old ceiling.

Make no mistake, this price action goes far deeper than a simple technical rejection. U.S. spot ETF absorption and surging on-chain velocity are clashing with bloated futures leverage, setting up an explosive environment if $2,465 fails to hold.

Ethereum price chart – Source: TradingView What sits behind ETH at $2,430 $692.6M: Net inflows into U.S. spot Ether ETFs over five consecutive trading sessions. +61.25%: Weekly expansion in Ethereum DEX volume. $80.22B: Total ETH futures turnover recorded over a 24-hour window. $6.32B: Corresponding ETH spot market turnover over the same period. $2,465: The former resistance ceiling ETH must now flip back into support. The breakout demands a reclaim On the Coinbase daily chart, ETH stretched as high as $2,530, cleanly clearing the $2,465 Fibonacci level (1.0). The failure to stick the landing left ETH slipping back to $2,430 by the time of writing.

That swift rejection puts a spotlight on $2,465. Closing a daily candle back above that threshold would signal genuine market acceptance at higher valuations; failing here locks it in as firm overhead resistance.

If sellers stay in control, downside tests wait at the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement near $2,270. A deeper flush exposes $2,100, followed by a heavier confluence zone around $2,000 and $1,986, where the 200-day moving average intersects the 0.5 Fibonacci marker.

ETF buyers showed up ahead of the test Farside Investors’ ETF tracking data reveals a healthy institutional appetite, logging five straight days of net inflows into U.S. spot Ether products from August 17 to August 21. Total absorption hit $692.6 million, capped by a massive $184 million single-day injection on August 21.

BlackRock’s ETHA drove the lions share, pulling in $536.8 million across the window. This steady cash accumulation separates the move from a transient retail squeeze, proving real capital is entering regulated investment vehicles.

To be clear, spot inflows don’t dictate every intraday price swing or guarantee $2,465 will hold. But they confirm the breakout attempt was backed by authentic capital rather than pure perpetual swap leverage.

Derivatives are still out-muscling spot The derivatives complex remains the primary source of market friction. CoinGlass figures show ETH futures turnover reached a staggering $80.22 billion over 24 hours, dwarfing the $6.32 billion spot volume by a factor of roughly 12.7.

With open interest hovering at $31.80 billion alongside $286.75 million in daily liquidations, the market is primed for violent moves in either direction. Ideally, ETH will reclaim $2,465 while open interest stabilizes rather than compounding. Traders tracking risk exposure can monitor CoinGlass’s ETH funding-rate metrics for signs of overheating.

On-chain activity climbs, but stablecoin liquidity flatlines Fundamental network activity paints a constructive picture. According to DefiLlama, weekly Ethereum DEX volume surged 61.25% to $8.28 billion, while on-chain perpetual volume climbed 53.51% to $10.38 billion.

Yet a closer look at the data reveals a notable divergence: Ethereum’s stablecoin market capitalization barely budged over the same period, sitting flat at $147.05 billion (down 0.05%).

Higher token prices naturally inflate dollar-denominated DeFi TVL, but flat stablecoin supply signals that a massive wave of fresh fiat liquidity hasn’t actually washed onto the chain yet. Trading velocity is up; the underlying cash pool is staying steady.

The verdict rests below $2,500 Ethereum proved it has the firepower to breach $2,500, but sustainable rallies require more than a fleeting spike. The healthier path forward involves reclaiming $2,465, establishing a calm retest base, and letting derivatives leverage cool off while ETF bids continue.

If price breaks below $2,270 while open interest stays bloated, that $2,530 wick will look less like a breakout and more like a classic liquidity sweep that ran too far, too fast.

The underlying cash bid is real, underscored by strong ETF inflows and surging decentralized exchange volume. Now, the chart has to prove whether that momentum can turn $2,465 into a permanent floor.

Methodology: Price structure, Fibonacci levels, moving averages, volume and RSI are taken from the Coinbase ETH/USD daily chart created on August 22, 2026, at 12:46 UTC. ETF-flow, derivatives and on-chain metrics were reviewed on August 22, 2026 and change continuously. The article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

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Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.

The XRP Ledger has overtaken Stellar in the stablecoin race with further growth in Ripple USD (RLUSD). This change spotlights with the increasing activity of stablecoins on XRP and the growing demand for Ripple’s stablecoin.

XRP Ledger Outpaces Stellar In Terms of Stablecoin Supply According to DeFiLlama, XRP Ledger has a total stablecoin supply of $1.092 billion, ranking it 12th in the blockchain networks. Number-one ranked Steller is ranked 13th with $968.67 million. XRPL’s supply has increased by 14.29%, while the supply of Stellar has declined by 5.87%.

Over the past week, XRPL’s stablecoin supply increased about 13%. During the same period, Stellar’s decline was 6.5%. Not only that, XRP price exploded 20% and outshined XLM price during the recent crypto market rally.

https://twitter.com/i/status/2091049963728089363

The vast majority of XRP Ledger’s supply of stablecoins comes from RLUSD. According to the data, it makes up 90.49% of the total network. This puts RLUSD supply on XRPL at above $988 million.

In the case of supply, Ethereum still leads XRPL by a notable margin in terms of their RLUSD supply. In the past, XRP Ledger had outpaced Ethereum in RLUSD supply but the latter has since returned as the leader. As of the time of this writing, there are approximately $1.08 billion worth of RLUSD on Ethereum and $988.36 million worth of XRPL on the XRPL.

RLUSD Takes The Spotlight Again RLUSD has also surpassed the $2 billion market cap milestone. This puts it just a little further away from PayPal USD, which has a market value of approximately $2.87 billion. For context, RLUSD was founded by Ripple in December 2024. Hence, XRP Ledger validator Vet declared it “the fastest growing stablecoin regulated under the NYDFS.”

The stablecoin’s growth is occurring as Ripple advances on institutional credit markets. Ripple is also involved in a new endeavor to provide RLUSD loans to fintech and payments companies on XRPL with Clearpool and Cicada Partners.

Cicada will recruit borrowers and set up the parameters of the loan. Clearpool is building out the lending platform. Ripple will be funding the development.

This protocol is still being developed. XRP is still used for transaction fees and account balances on the XRPL. RLUSD is created to be used and liquidated in the ecosystem with dollars.

Aave V4 has surpassed $600 million in total deposits, marking a new historical peak for the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol. This milestone reflects renewed capital flows into crypto lending and signals increasing institutional participation in decentralized finance.

Institutional interest and on-chain capital inflowThe latest surge in deposits is driven by heightened demand for stablecoins and tokenized treasuries, as more traditional financial players move funds on-chain. Reports from DefiLlama indicate that Aave V4’s $600 million figure represents aggregate deposits across both Ethereum’s mainnet and several Layer 2 (L2) networks.

Market observers attribute this growth to rising stablecoin yields, which continue to outpace returns from many conventional deposit products. The transition from Aave V3 to V4 has also accelerated as users seek unified liquidity pools and improved risk management modules introduced in the newest version.

Aave V4’s rapid accumulation of $600 million showcases both confident institutional adoption and a strong migration from previous versions, bolstered by the platform’s streamlined liquidity architecture and granular risk controls.

The increase in borrowing demand is notable, with higher utilization ratios observed for USDC, USDT, and GHO stablecoins. With V4 audits nearing completion and advanced cross-chain features poised for release, Aave appears well positioned to capture additional liquidity in the coming months.

Technical upgrades and competitive landscapeAave is a leading decentralized lending protocol that enables users to borrow and lend cryptocurrencies without the need for intermediaries. The protocol’s upgrade to V4 introduces a modular system designed for interoperability across networks, and it seeks to establish itself as core infrastructure for institutional DeFi participants.

Developers focused on building lending, repo, and structured financial products across Ethereum, Base, and Polygon networks are expected to benefit from the modular architecture. This competition has intensified with platforms like Compound and Morpho, as rivals work to match Aave’s capital efficiency and innovative liquidity tools.

Mini dictionary: GHO — GHO is a decentralized, overcollateralized stablecoin native to the Aave protocol, designed to maintain a stable value pegged to the US dollar and can be minted by users supplying collateral to the platform.

ProtocolTotal DepositsKey FeaturesAave V4$600 millionUnified liquidity, granular risk control, cross-chain supportCompound$2.6 billion*Algorithmic interest, no unified liquidityMorpho$1.7 billion*P2P optimization, flexible rates*Estimated as of the latest data from DefiLlama.

Positive outlook as audits and integrations progressThe increase in Aave V4 deposits aligns with recent trends in decentralized finance, including tokenized treasuries crossing $15 billion and surging stablecoin settlement volumes. The protocol has pursued collaborations with ETF custodial service providers and real-world asset (RWA) firms, attracting further institutional capital.

Aave’s latest developments are expected to pave the way for more governance decisions this year, especially relating to the addition of new assets and cross-chain liquidity support. The completion of the ongoing V4 audits is anticipated as a catalyst for further development and adoption.

Institutions exploring digital credit lines have pointed to Aave V4’s risk controls and enhanced liquidity as foundational tools, reinforcing the protocol’s role in the evolving DeFi infrastructure for treasury management.

As traditional and crypto-native funds continue to seek higher yields, Aave’s expanded feature set is expected to strengthen the platform’s position among both retail and institutional users.

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.

Solana (SOL) saw a successful mainnet upgrade on Friday morning that cuts the network's target slot time to 350 milliseconds (ms), down 50 ms from its former target of 400 ms. A slot is the short period of time in which a designated validator can produce a block of transactions of Solana's blockchain. 

The change was the first step under SIMD-0525, a Solana upgrade proposal merged on May 14 that outlines a path to eventually cutting the target slot time to just 200 ms, half its longtime value. 

"Shorter slots reduce confirmation and finalization latency for users," the proposal explains. "Any consensus or commitment threshold measured in slots takes less wall-clock time as slot time decreases."

The change also shortens Solana's epochs, which each contain 432,000 slots, meaning an epoch that used to take about 48 hours should now only take about 42 hours. Validators, which remain in charge for four slots at a time, will now change turns every 1.4 seconds, down from 1.6 seconds. 

Solana developers plan to make three further 50 ms cuts until the slot time reaches its final target of 200 ms. Each stage will be switched on separately, and the rollout can be paused if too many validators fail to produce blocks in their assigned slots, according to the Solana Foundation's upgrade overview. 

In a point-in-time check conducted for this article, a 1,000-slot period shortly before the change took 415 seconds, compared with 368 seconds for a 1,000-slot period later in epoch 1020.

While shorter slots reduce transaction latency, the change does not mean Solana's network can automatically process more work each second, as validators handle slots more often but each slot carries less work. Shorter slots also limit how long one validator can delay or rearrange transactions before the next validator's turn, the proposal's authors argue. 

Seven-day moving average of vote and non-vote transactions on Solana over the past year, per The Block's data. The change comes as non-voting transactions on the network, meaning transactions that have a purpose beyond supporting the network, have seen a notable rise since the start of the year according to The Block's data. 

Solana, co-founded by Anatoly Yakovenko, has in the past separately increased the amount of work that can fit into each block. The Block reported in July 2025 that developers had proposed raising the network's compute limit, which limits the amount of work the network can do to process transactions, to 100 million compute units. The change was merged and adopted into the main network on July 29. 

The network has also recently added another major validator client, written in a different language than the Rust-based Agave (and its popular fork, Jito-Agave). Jump Crypto’s Firedancer client, written in the C programming language, went live in December, improving client diversity and network resilience. 

Though slot times are now on their way down to 200 ms, full finality, or how long it takes the network to treat a block as irreversible, still takes much longer: Solana’s Alpenglow overhaul, still in development, aims to eventually cut finality to about 150 ms from roughly 12.8 seconds today.

The next planned mainnet target for slot times is 300 ms, though Solana developers have not yet set a target activation date for the change. The developers plan to monitor the network's performance with its current 350 ms slots before proceeding to cut the target time further.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Bitcoin staking through Stacks is set to go live in about 19 days. The PoX-5 hardfork, scheduled to activate on the Stacks mainnet around July 29, 2026, will lay the technical groundwork for BTC holders to earn yield directly on their holdings without giving up custody of their coins.

How Bitcoin staking on Stacks actually works The system relies on Stacks’ Proof of Transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism, which has been operational since 2021. Under the new staking framework, participants lock BTC on Bitcoin’s layer 1 alongside STX tokens to form what Stacks calls “bonds.” Those bonds generate BTC rewards at an initial annual percentage yield of roughly 3%.

The BTC stays on Bitcoin’s base layer under your own custody, while the STX component ties the staking activity into the Stacks network’s economics. Neither asset needs to be wrapped, bridged to another chain, or deposited into a smart contract controlled by someone else.

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Previous iterations of this concept have already shown meaningful traction. Dual Stacking with sBTC, an earlier offering from the Stacks ecosystem, attracted over $100 million in user participation and facilitated substantial BTC payouts.

The rollout timeline and what comes next The July 29 hardfork is just the first domino. After PoX-5 activates, the next major milestone is the inaugural Genesis Bond event, scheduled for late August 2026. That event will mark the practical launch of the staking system, giving users their first opportunity to form bonds and begin earning rewards.

Stacks has been running the upgrade through public testnet phases and conducting thorough audits ahead of the mainnet activation. September 2026 carries additional milestones for Q3, though the Genesis Bond event in August represents the moment when the system transitions from theoretical to functional for real users with real capital.

Institutional interest and market positioning Institutional integrations are already underway, with partners like Fireblocks and UTXO Management involved from early phases of the rollout. Fireblocks is one of the most widely used institutional custody and settlement platforms in crypto. UTXO Management is a digital asset investment firm focused on the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The requirement to hold STX alongside BTC creates an interesting dynamic for Stacks’ native token. Every participant who wants to stake Bitcoin through this system also needs exposure to STX. The over $100 million that flowed into the earlier Dual Stacking program suggests there is genuine appetite for Bitcoin yield products within the Stacks community.

Competing yield products on Bitcoin typically involve either lending platforms, which carry counterparty risk, or wrapped Bitcoin on other chains, which introduces bridge risk. Stacks’ self-custodial approach sidesteps both of those concerns. The roughly 3% initial yield is lower than what some DeFi lending protocols offer on wrapped BTC, but comes with a fundamentally different risk profile.

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

XRP recorded a significant price increase on Thursday, surging over 17% to reach an intraday peak of $1.43. The spike coincided with Ripple’s official support for the PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which advances core upgrades anticipated in the forthcoming XRPL version 3.3.0. However, the proposed feature still requires broader consensus among network validators before it can be implemented.

Validator Voting and Amendment ProgressOut of 35 validators listed in the Unique Node List, only 7 have voted in favor of the PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment so far. Ripple added its vote to the tally, but as a single validator, it cannot control the amendment process. For the change to be enacted on the XRPL, more than 80% of validators must support it for two consecutive weeks. If this threshold is not met or support drops below 80%, the voting period restarts from zero and validators retain the option to reverse their votes at any stage.

The PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment allows account owners to authorize another account for specific transaction types, enhancing the flexibility and usability of XRPL accounts. This delegated authority is limited in scope and does not extend to all payments or changes in account settings, preserving owner control and security.

Implications and Additional ProposalsRole-based permission systems, similar to the proposed amendment, are widely used by financial organizations to restrict data access and operational control among employees and service providers. By giving precise permissions to distinct accounts, organizations can enhance security without compromising efficiency.

Jazzi Cooper, RippleX head of product, emphasized the importance of establishing appropriate controls for regulated firms engaging with public ledgers. She explained that token issuance is a necessity for on-chain activities, and consistent standards are crucial. The PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment adheres to the XLS-75 standard and replaces a previous version that was disabled due to a critical software bug, which this update now addresses and corrects.

Node operators are urged to upgrade and run software with approved amendments to maintain network compatibility. Running outdated software may result in amendment blocks if the node cannot process updated protocol rules.

Jazzi Cooper highlighted the need for regulated organizations to have adequate controls when issuing tokenized assets on public ledgers, pointing out that the PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment responds to this requirement while upholding XRPL’s security framework.

Other XRPL Upgrades and Market DynamicsRipple also signaled support for two additional amendment proposals: Single Asset Vault (XLS-65) and Lending Protocol (XLS-66). These received support from 40% and more than 37% of validators, respectively, which remains below the 80% supermajority threshold needed for activation.

The Single Asset Vault feature offers a mechanism to aggregate a singular asset, such as XRP, RLUSD, or similar ledger tokens, enabling shareholders to hold proportional ownership within the vault. Meanwhile, the Lending Protocol proposes fixed-term credit issuance and pooled liquidity, supported by off-chain credit evaluations. Security reviews of the lending protocol code, including a re-audit by Halborn in June, flagged no major or high-severity vulnerabilities.

Validator approval solely enables such features on-chain and does not alter any regulatory requirements for XRP, RLUSD, securities, or lending. These developments underscore the incremental expansion of functionality on XRPL.

Market Activity and Tokenization TrendsFollowing a recent low at $1.22, XRP surged roughly 40% over the past week, driven by higher spot prices and active short-covering. Trading volume in spot markets soared 156% during the rally, reflecting increased investor participation. ETF flows also intensified: net inflows into US spot XRP ETFs totaled $13.24 million on Thursday, with Bitwise adding $9.9 million and Franklin Templeton $3.34 million. Open interest in XRP futures expanded to $3.44 billion, gaining 17% in the last 24 hours. CME, Binance, and Hyperliquid exchanges saw respective increases in open interest of 35%, 15%, and 29%.

These blockchain innovations are part of a broader trend in financial markets. While traditional systems depend on multiple intermediaries, a shift toward Web3 is revolutionizing asset handling. Wall Street firms and investors now leverage platforms like 1stepSwap to directly hold shares of major US companies, gold, and silver in their crypto wallets. These platforms tokenize Real-World Assets (RWAs) and use smart routing to identify optimal market prices in seconds, effectively eliminating the need for middlemen.

The PermissionDelegationV1_1 amendment will enable XRPL account owners to delegate authority for certain transaction types, providing greater flexibility and closer alignment with institutional security standards.

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 largest whale wallets holding over 1000 ETH trimmed off 1.7M coins in the last three months. 

According to Santiment, this whale cohort’s overall holdings dropped from 58.64M ETH to 56.91M ETH between May and August. This translated to a 2.9% fall. Notably, the mega whale holdings across exchanges and staking contracts also slipped from 7.07M ETH to 6.54M ETH. 

Source: Santiment Interestingly, the wallet category holding 1 to 10 ETH surged to over 4.5% of the circulating supply over the same period. This suggested that retail was actively accumulating during the Q2 drawdown. 

Will staking and ETF demand push ETH above $3K? Here, it’s worth noting that staked ETH jumped from 39M coins to a record 42.3M coins, or a 35% staking ratio. In other words, demand from staking and retail players was steady despite the headwinds in Q2. 

Source: Beacon chain The staking demand has been crucial in easing the sell-off driven by the U.S Spot ETH ETF in Q2. That said, since July, the Spot ETH ETF complex has become a net buyer.

This week alone, the products have hauled in record inflows of over 34K ETH. The last time such ETF demand was seen was last October, just before the flash crash. 

Source: Glassnode Collectively, this has sent ETH’s price soaring by 26% this week to $2.5K. Effectively, it has reversed all Q2 losses after dipping to $1.5K in June. Reclaiming $2.5K might just set the pace for the next leg of the recovery. 

In fact, sophisticated players across the Options market have been positioning themselves for a similar scenario.

In the last 24 hours, the top traded volume was calls (bullish bets) eyeing $2500 for the end-of-August expiry. For the middle and the end of September Option expiries, bullish bets were concentrated at $2900 and $3000. 

Source: Deribit Perhaps the most notable positioning was at $2000, which had the highest put volume (bearish bets). This meant that institutional players expected $2000 to be the new ETH floor price with a potential upside move towards $2.5K or $3K by late August or September. 

However, there is only a 12.5% chance of ETH hitting $3K by next month. If the bets are validated, that would mark a 2x move (100% rally) from the June low of $1.5K. 

Final Summary Large whale wallets with over 1000 ETH have trimmed their exposure by 2.9% since May. Institutional players have been betting that ETH’s recovery could 2x to $3K by September.

Uruguay seemed like the perfect place for cryptocurrency giant Tether to launch a bitcoin mining operation.

The company, which has issued nearly two thirds of all stablecoins in circulation, picked this still largely agricultural corner of South America that has in recent years become a hub for global fintech firms, helped by its reputation for political stability and favorable tax conditions.

In 2023, Tether said it would build two mining ​sites in Uruguay, part of a spending spree it said would bring economic development, new energy infrastructure and jobs to the country.

But amid a dispute over the amount of energy that would be supplied for its thirsty bitcoin mining, the plans unraveled and the ‌mining sites were abandoned, a Reuters review of documents and interviews with multiple people reveals. Little was left to show for a project that one person with direct knowledge estimated likely cost around $120 million.

Tether did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

The aborted Uruguay investment offers a rare window into the often opaque operations of Tether, as it seeks to expand and reinvest its vast profits into industries as varied as brain implants and soccer.

It also demonstrates how the basic economics of bitcoin mining — turning cheap energy into crypto profits — may no longer be adding up, after crypto prices dropped and as energy prices rise.

Tether’s ability to quickly dip in and out of Uruguay is typical of the “hypermobile” nature of bitcoin mining ​activity, which does not tend to create substantial long-term jobs or benefits for the host country, said Pete Howson, an assistant professor at Northumbria University.

“This plug-and-play infrastructure is very easy to do — literally pulling the plug and then move it to somewhere else,” he said.

'THE PERFECT PLATFORM'
In May ​2023, Tether announced the launch of bitcoin mining operations in Uruguay, without disclosing an investment value. It called Uruguay the “perfect platform," citing its abundant renewable energy and robust grid.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and chairman Giancarlo Devasini are frequent ⁠visitors to Uruguay's booming beach resort of Punta del Este — dubbed the Monaco of South America — where they host private gatherings, industry sources told Reuters, and American billionaire Peter Thiel is building a $10 million residential compound nearby.

At the time, Tether said the plan involved “investing resources into energy production," without providing details.

Bitcoin mining, an energy-intensive ​process in which computers solve complex computational puzzles to be rewarded in bitcoin, is a core part of Tether’s investment plans. Ardoino told an industry conference last year the company has invested more than $2 billion in energy production and bitcoin mining.

A former Tether contractor who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because they ​are not allowed to speak to the media said Uruguay had been intended as a “first step” for Tether’s bitcoin mining plans across South America.

Tether invested roughly $60 million in each of two mining sites in the department of Florida, totaling roughly $120 million, the former contractor said, citing their own assessments of how much the company had spent.

The project, a sizable deal for a country where annual foreign direct investment is around $2 billion, was aimed at using Uruguay as a testing ground before moving to bigger markets such as Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, the person said. Tether has since announced investments in bitcoin mining and platforms in Brazil.

Based in El Salvador with just a few hundred employees globally, Tether controls around $183 billion-worth of stablecoin. Some ​policymakers worry that stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to official currencies, risk endangering financial stability by increasing the linkages between crypto and mainstream finance.

Tether says its stablecoin is backed by an equivalent amount in real-world assets. Those assets have made it a top 20 holder of U.S. Treasuries — earning the company billions in ​profits now used to build a portfolio of investments it says is worth around $20 billion.

Most of those 100-plus investments are not disclosed, but those it has include data centers, video-sharing platform Rumble, which hosts U.S. President Donald Trump's Truth Social, and a brain-chip implants business, plus a stake in Italy’s Juventus football club.

SUPPLY DISAGREEMENT
A promotional video posted by ‌Tether on X in ⁠February 2024 of its nascent Uruguay operations showed rows of small buildings, with fans on top and computing hardware inside. Farmland surrounds the site, characteristic of the rural department of Florida, with wind turbines in the background.

Road signs around the buildings play on crypto jargon, such as “Memepool Avenue” and “Halving Street”, according to the video, which was verified by Reuters.

Initially well run, the site's operations generated income, the two former Tether contractors said.

Then the project began to unravel over a fundamental disagreement about electricity supply with state utility UTE, the two former contractors and a source at UTE said.

Tether believed a clause in its contract with UTE represented a minimum level of power supply that could later be increased — but UTE viewed the contracted amount as a maximum allocation that could not be exceeded, one of the former contractors said.

Sources at UTE also said the disagreement was over how much electricity Tether’s local legal entity Microfin was entitled to.

The dispute had begun by November 2024, according ​to an internal briefing UTE compiled in 2025 for its own staff ​that Reuters reviewed.

Insufficient power was a serious problem. As demand at the ⁠mining plants rose, Tether was short of supply, leaving the site without sufficient electricity for days at a time, the former contractor said.

Tether and Microfin did not respond to requests for comment on the UTE contract.

The first ex-contractor and a third source said the dispute had been compounded by a shift in Uruguay’s political landscape. A left‑leaning government took office in March 2025 and appointed new directors at UTE. The firm took a harder line on allowing Tether to renegotiate ​the energy supply contract, the contractor said.

Two months after the new government took office, Microfin stopped paying its electricity bills and then told UTE in June 2025 it would terminate its contracts, the UTE document shows.

Both sides ​sought to salvage the deal by agreeing to ⁠a revised contract, the UTE briefing notes show. The utility’s board approved a memorandum of understanding and revised contract texts, but Tether representatives did not attend the signing, according to the minutes in the briefing.

With the memorandum unsigned and unpaid bills, UTE cut power to the mining sites on July 25, according to the UTE document.

Tether told Uruguay’s labor authorities on November 25 that it would cease operations and lay off most staff, local newspaper El Observador reported.

Microfin settled its outstanding debts in December, UTE told Reuters.

SWITCH TO AI
The Uruguayan deal collapsed as Tether has sought to position bitcoin mining as a key part of its global investment portfolio.

But bitcoin mining has become less profitable, ⁠analysts say, hit by ​a pre-programmed reduction in the bitcoin rewards available — called the “halving” — in April 2024, as well as a sharp drop in bitcoin’s price from a peak in 2025.

To stay afloat, bitcoin miners have ​tried strategies including buying more efficient hardware, seeking cheaper energy, or using their computer power for AI and high-performance computing instead, said Tanay Ved, senior research analyst at Talos.

Crypto mining expert Nicolas Ribeiro described the industry as “extremely dynamic,” with operators opening, closing and relocating constantly.

Uruguay’s strengths — a reliable power grid and strong internet connectivity — are better suited to data centers for AI because mining hinges ​almost entirely on access to cheap electricity, Ribeiro added. Uruguay is a leader in renewable energy, but its power costs are relatively high.

“Uruguay isn’t viable for mining — that’s the reality,” he said.

6 hours ago

According to HTX market data, ZEC briefly surged past $833 this morning, hitting a new all-time high. It has rallied 67% in the past seven days, 230% in 180 days, and 1970% over the past year. Recent key catalysts include: - Grayscale filed its Fourth S-3 amendment to advance the conversion of Zcash Trust into a spot ETF (proposed ticker: ZCSH), and disclosed that a DCG subsidiary is in non-binding discussions to inject approximately 200,000 ZEC (valued at around $110 million at the time). - Cypherpunk Technologies, backed by the Winklevoss twins, launched the world’s largest ZEC mining machine cluster, controlling roughly 18% of the network’s total hash rate while continuing to increase its holdings of ZEC treasury. - Ironwood’s network upgrade (NU6.3) has gone live, fixing a previous vulnerability in the Orchard privacy pool, enhancing the security and verifiability of the shielded pool, and facilitating fund migration and restoring ecosystem confidence. Against the backdrop of rising privacy narratives and market short squeezes, ZEC has emerged as one of the top-performing privacy coins in this cycle, with its price still in a high-volatility range.

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Uniswap’s UNI token burn hit a new daily record on August 21, with approximately 150,000 tokens worth $590,000 permanently removed from circulation.

The milestone eclipsed previous records of 134,000 UNI burned on June 5 and 106,000 UNI on July 30. Both of those earlier spikes were tied to elevated fee generation under Uniswap’s UNIfication framework.

How the burn machine works Uniswap’s fee switch, activated in December 2025, routes a portion of trading fees into smart contracts that automatically buy UNI on the open market and then burn it.

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The fee switch was part of the broader UNIfication proposal, which passed in late 2025. That proposal also included a one-time burn of 100 million UNI from the protocol’s treasury.

Recent developments in August include the redirection of creator fees into the burn mechanism and ongoing extensions of the fee switch across both v3 and v4 pools. Annualized burn rates have climbed to upwards of 16.5 million UNI in recent 30-day rolling periods.

From governance token to deflationary asset For most of its existence, UNI was a governance token for the largest decentralized exchange by volume that didn’t entitle holders to any share of the protocol’s fees. The fee switch changed that by linking trading activity directly to token burns: more trading volume generates more fees, which buys and burns more UNI, which reduces supply.

The one-time treasury burn of 100 million UNI was dramatic, but it’s the daily burns that matter more for long-term supply dynamics. A single bonfire gets attention. A furnace that runs every day changes the math.

What this means for UNI and DeFi governance tokens If annualized burn rates remain in the range of 16.5 million UNI or higher, the deflationary pressure becomes difficult to ignore.

The risk is that trading volumes are cyclical. DeFi activity ebbs and flows with broader market sentiment, and a sustained downturn would slow fee generation and, consequently, the burn rate.

The extension of the fee switch to more pool types and the inclusion of creator fees in the burn mechanism suggest the protocol isn’t done expanding the system. Each new fee source that gets piped into the burn contract increases the ceiling for future daily records.

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

AVAX One interim CEO Pete Wylie has said $33 million in non-cash charges accounted for most of the company’s $35.1 million second-quarter loss as staking helped revenue rise to $2.8 million.

Summary

AVAX One’s adjusted net loss was $2.2 million after excluding $33 million in non-cash charges. Staking generated $2.1 million as quarterly revenue rose from approximately $500,000 to $2.8 million. The company held 14.09 million AVAX and equivalents, with roughly 95% actively staked. Wylie said AVAX One favors established yield partners and maintains a conservative approach to debt. AVAX One interim CEO Pete Wylie told crypto.news that the reported loss did not capture the operating performance of the company’s staking, mining and digital infrastructure businesses.

“The $35.1 million number can be attention-grabbing, but it does not tell the full story,” Wylie said.

“It includes about $33 million of what are called non-cash charges, most of that being an unrealized markdown based on current prices for the AVAX we continue to hold and accumulate.”

After removing the non-cash items, AVAX One reported an adjusted net loss of $2.2 million for the quarter. Wylie said the adjusted figure provided a clearer view of the operating business, although the company’s reported results remain closely tied to AVAX’s market value.

AVAX One’s loss was driven by digital-asset markdowns According to AVAX One’s Aug. 13 earnings release, the company recorded a $29.8 million unrealized loss from changes in the market value of its digital assets. A further $2.6 million impairment came from its liquid-staking tokens, while share-based compensation and depreciation contributed approximately $600,000.

Operating expenses reached $36.2 million, up from $1.8 million during the same quarter of 2025. Excluding the $33 million in non-cash charges, AVAX One calculated adjusted operating expenses of $3.2 million.

Net loss reached $4.41 per diluted share, compared with an $8.1 million loss, or $335.88 per diluted share, one year earlier. On the company’s adjusted basis, the latest loss was $0.27 per diluted share.

Although an unrealized loss does not require an immediate cash payment, AVAX One’s results show how a declining token price can reduce the recorded value of its treasury. Wylie acknowledged that volatility is built into the strategy but said staking rewards continue to accrue in AVAX regardless of the token’s dollar price.

“We earn revenue in ‘nominal’ form, AVAX tokens, and though the current value is lower than we expected for this period, if the token price rebounds, we get the benefit as our earned rewards tokens increase in value, even though we recognized initial revenue at a lower price,” he said.

Quarterly revenue rose to $2.8 million from approximately $500,000 a year earlier. Staking supplied about $2.1 million, or 75% of the total, while Bitcoin mining produced approximately $700,000.

As of Aug. 13, the company held 14,091,424 AVAX tokens and equivalents. Approximately 95% of the holdings were staked at an annualized yield of about 5.4%, according to the earnings release.

Around 800,000 AVAX had been deployed into Treehouse. An AVAX One SEC filing describes Treehouse’s tAVAX as a liquid-staking receipt backed by BENQI’s sAVAX, with an AVAX redemption process that can take approximately 14 days.

The filing also lists smart-contract vulnerabilities, extreme market volatility, governance attacks and bridge failures among the risks associated with decentralized finance positions. AVAX One said it would typically absorb losses arising from an adverse event.

Liquidity and debt shape the treasury strategy Wylie said AVAX One allocates capital according to where management believes each dollar can create the most shareholder value. Depending on market prices and available opportunities, the company can buy AVAX, repurchase its shares, or fund selected infrastructure projects.

“Staking is the foundation of our Avalanche treasury strategy. Our Bitcoin mining operations contribute operating cash flow and provide a gateway for opportunities in the AI and high-performance computing space, an area we are actively exploring.”

During the second quarter, AVAX One repurchased approximately 144,755 common shares under its authorized $40 million buyback program. The company said it had repurchased approximately 417,537 shares since November 2025 on a split-adjusted basis.

Reported liquidity stood at approximately $21.2 million on June 30, down from $27.6 million at the end of 2025. The latest amount included $11.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, $5.4 million in restricted cash, and a $4.3 million escrow receivable.

Given AVAX’s volatility, Wylie said the company remains cautious about its capital structure, particularly debt. After the quarter closed, AVAX One retired and restructured approximately $6.8 million of convertible debt.

The August restructuring fully repaid debentures held by two institutional investors and reduced the principal owed to another investor. AVAX One also agreed to increase a covenant covering the minimum cash and Bitcoin it must maintain from $100,000 to $3.5 million.

For U.S. investors, AVAX One offers public-market exposure to an Avalanche treasury through its Nasdaq-listed AVX shares. The structure also means shareholders face risks from both the company’s operations and changes in the value of AVAX recorded in its U.S. financial reports.

Wylie took over as interim CEO while retaining his chief operating officer role after Jolie Kahn left the company in July. As previously reported by crypto.news, the board retained ZRG Partners to search for a permanent chief executive while weak AVAX prices pressured the company’s treasury strategy.

AVAX One favors explainable yield over higher returns With most of its AVAX working through staking, the company monitors yield and operating costs as it tries to increase the number of tokens held per share, according to Wylie.

“Our yield partnerships are with established, proven companies. We’d rather earn a yield we can explain than a higher one that seems too good to be true, because it probably is.”

AVAX One’s staking rewards accrue in tokens, leaving their dollar value exposed to changes in AVAX prices. Wylie said management focuses on keeping the assets productive while controlling operating expenses so the treasury can continue accumulating AVAX.

Avalanche’s Helicon upgrade could provide more flexibility if its staking changes progress from testnet to mainnet. Helicon is live on the Fuji testnet and includes proposals to reduce the minimum primary-network validator commitment from 336 hours, or 14 days, to 48 hours.

Another proposal introduces automatic staking renewal, allowing validators to set a cycle period and an auto-compounding ratio. Avalanche’s documentation says the feature applies to primary-network validators, not Avalanche L1 validators or legacy subnet validators.

Wylie said shorter commitments could improve liquidity and reduce the barrier for institutions. Since the changes remain under testing, AVAX One has not yet gained its proposed benefits in its mainnet staking operations.

Avalanche adoption supports Wylie’s treasury conviction Wylie tied the company’s long-term confidence to institutional activity across Avalanche, pointing to recent deployments involving tokenized securities, lending and stablecoin settlement.

In July, Japan’s Progmat completed the migration of ¥452 billion in issued securities and underlying assets from Corda 5 to a dedicated Avalanche L1. Progmat said the transfer covered all active projects on its platform without disrupting participating financial institutions.

According to Progmat, its platform handles 45 of Japan’s 89 publicly disclosed security-token projects and accounts for 64.6% of the country’s market by issuance value. Internal tests cited by the company found that rights-transfer processing became three to five times faster after the migration.

Aave also deployed V4 on Avalanche on July 15, its first launch of the architecture outside Ethereum. Aave’s documentation says the deployment uses a core liquidity hub with main, foreign-exchange, and AVAX-linked lending sections.

Stablecoin payments supplied another institutional test. Hyundai Card completed a $20,000 remittance pilot between Hyundai Motor entities in the United States and Mexico using USDT on Avalanche. The company said the settlement took about seven minutes.

BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, issued through Securitize, had also accumulated more than $900 million on Avalanche by July after adding approximately $436 million in one week. BUIDL invests mainly in U.S. Treasury bills, cash, and repurchase agreements, while access remains subject to investor eligibility and transfer controls.

Visa added Avalanche to its supported stablecoin settlement networks in 2025. An April 2026 company announcement said Visa’s nine-network stablecoin settlement pilot had reached a $7 billion annualized run rate, although Visa did not provide an Avalanche-specific share of that volume.

Outside its treasury operations, AVAX One is preparing an AI inference pilot at its Redwater facility in Alberta. The project is testing whether approximately 100 kilowatts of excess Bitcoin-mining capacity can support AI workloads, with the company working alongside infrastructure developer BlueFlare on additional AI and high-performance computing opportunities.

US Treasury repurchase operations unexpectedly pushed Bitcoin’s price up 25%, triggering $4 billion in short-position liquidations.

After the U.S. Treasury expanded its long-term U.S. Treasury bond repurchase operations, the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield fell from a 19-year high of 5.34% to around 5.19%, while Bitcoin rose roughly 25% in several days, briefly topping $79,000. Around $4 billion in cryptocurrency short positions were liquidated during this period, further amplifying the rally. The U.S. Treasury had earlier announced it would raise the size of its longest-dated Treasury repurchase operations from $2 billion per operation to $4 billion. Analysts noted that this operation is not equivalent to the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing (QE); its main function is to improve the liquidity of older bonds and optimize the debt structure, but the market views it as a policy support signal for long-term U.S. Treasury yields. Analysts believe the key driver of Bitcoin’s recent rally is not the repurchase operation itself, but the market’s prior over-concentration of short positions. As long-term U.S. Treasury yields fell, short sellers were forced to cover their positions, triggering a powerful short squeeze. Meanwhile, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw a net inflow of around $650 million this week, and Trump once again urged Congress to advance the CLARITY Act, further boosting market risk appetite. Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, said the key now is whether Bitcoin can hold its 200-day moving average around $69,000 and turn it from resistance into support. Market participants also warned that if the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield re-breaks above 4.7% and the 30-year yield approaches 5.3%, Bitcoin’s current breakout could face renewed tests. Bitcoin has now broken above its 200-day moving average and continues to rise; the next phase of the market will focus on whether it can sustain its rally in a high-yield environment.

6 minutes ago

Strategy's Bitcoin holdings have generated an unrealized profit of $1.7187 billion.

Strategy currently holds 840,447 Bitcoin, with a total cost of $63.36 billion and an average entry price of $75,385. At Bitcoin’s current price of $77,430, the company’s Bitcoin holdings now have an unrealized profit of $1.7187 billion.

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The Sandbox confirms SAND cross-chain bridge vulnerability; Base and BSC networks affected, cross-chain functionality suspended.

The Sandbox officials announced that the team has confirmed and fully contained the recent SAND cross-chain bridge vulnerability incident, which involved the Base and BNB Smart Chain (BSC) networks. The incident’s impact is limited, with the number of tokens involved accounting for less than 0.01% of SAND’s total supply. SAND on Ethereum and Polygon remains unaffected; user wallets were not compromised, and no action is required for affected token holders or liquidity providers. Attackers minted unbacked SAND tokens on Base and BSC networks via the vulnerability, per disclosures. Currently, The Sandbox has shut down SAND cross-chain functionality on both networks. SAND on Base and BSC has been isolated and is temporarily non-transferable or non-exchangeable. The Sandbox reminds users not to buy, sell, or trade SAND on Base and BSC, as liquidity on these networks has been impacted. The team has completed a pre-incident snapshot, is developing a compensation plan for affected liquidity pool (LP) users, and continues to investigate the full scope of the vulnerability. A full incident report and technical post-mortem will be released later.

6 minutes ago

A crypto whale opened a 4x long position worth $10.7 million on HYPE, with a liquidation price of $64.47.

According to monitoring by TradingBeats (formerly Hyperinsight), a crypto whale recently deposited approximately $4 million in USDC into Hyperliquid and opened a long position on HYPE. The wallet address established a 134,930 HYPE long position with 4x leverage, valued at around $10.7 million. Its entry price was $81.64, liquidation price stands at $64.47, and the current unrealized loss amounts to $315,000. The whale’s address is 0xa9d1c0fe2aa58038bac208ad390f69e7ce0c29a2.

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Tesla has set the date for the press conference of its self-driving electric Cybercab.

Tesla has announced on social platforms that it will hold the Cybercab launch event on September 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas, United States. The automaker’s self-driving electric Cybercab officially entered production in North America this April, and the vehicle is AI-powered, with no steering wheel, pedals, or rearview mirrors.

6 minutes ago

Tencent's chip division head Gao Jianlin has resigned to found a startup, targeting the high-performance AI CPU track in the RISC-V space.

According to MaxForAI's disclosure, Gao Jianlin, a core lead in Tencent's chip research and development, recently left the tech giant to launch a startup focused on high-performance AI servers and Agentic AI, with plans to develop high-performance CPUs based on the RISC-V architecture. Gao is widely regarded as one of the early core drivers of Tencent's in-house chip ecosystem. Public records show he formed Tencent's FPGA hardware team in 2013, began laying the groundwork for AI chip R&D in 2018, established Penglai Lab in 2020, and spearheaded the development and data center deployment of multiple AI chips for Tencent. Unlike the currently fiercely competitive AI GPU market, Gao's new venture will center on CPUs. Gao believes that as Agentic AI advances rapidly, AI inference processes will involve model calls, tool execution, searches, database interactions, and extensive task scheduling, making CPUs take on a more critical scheduling and control role in AI systems. Reportedly, Gao was already involved in RISC-V-related R&D during his tenure at Tencent, contributing to multiple technical areas including chip architecture, verification, and backend development. His new company plans to build high-performance server CPUs based on the open RISC-V instruction set to enter the AI infrastructure market. To date, the startup's name, financing details, and specific product launch timeline have not been made public. The market is closely watching whether it will emerge as another key player in China's AI chip space targeting server CPUs and agent infrastructure.

6 minutes ago

World Liberty Financial investors including Eric Trump have agreed to limit their influence over the management of the company’s proposed national trust bank as it moves through the federal approval process.

Trump, World Liberty cofounder Zak Folkman and Emirati businessman Hamad Khalfan Ali Matar Alshamsi signed agreements known as passivity commitments on behalf of their respective companies, according to documents disclosed alongside the bank’s preliminary approval last week.

The agreements commit the investors to avoiding influence over the bank’s management. World Liberty said the arrangements are intended to ensure certain stakeholders do not exercise control over the operations of World Liberty Trust Company.

The commitments have attracted attention because of World Liberty’s connections to President Donald Trump’s family and foreign investors.

Similar arrangements have previously been used by major institutional investors. Vanguard Group has pledged not to influence banks held in its investment portfolios, while China’s sovereign wealth fund entered a passivity agreement when acquiring a stake in Morgan Stanley.

World Liberty said it intends to operate under continued federal oversight.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary approval last week. The charter still requires final approval.

If approved, the trust bank would be able to issue and redeem World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin, manage its reserves and provide digital asset custody services. It would not operate as a traditional commercial bank.

The proposed charter has faced political scrutiny because of the Trump family’s financial interests in World Liberty. 

Senate Democrats including Elizabeth Warren have introduced legislation that would prevent regulators from approving bank charters for companies owned or controlled by a president or members of their immediate family.

World Liberty has said Trump and his family do not serve as officers, directors or employees of the company. The White House has rejected claims that the president’s financial interests create a conflict of interest.

The bank application also includes organizers and directors connected to the Witkoff family, including Zach Witkoff, Scott Alper and Robert Witkoff.

World Liberty’s ownership structure has also drawn scrutiny. Before Trump’s inauguration, the company agreed to sell a 49% stake to a firm backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the brother of the United Arab Emirates president, for $500 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Securing a charter would allow World Liberty to bring issuance and reserve management for USD1 in-house. The stablecoin has a market capitalization of nearly $4 billion, making it one of the world’s largest dollar-backed stablecoins.

The OCC has taken a more receptive stance toward crypto banking applications under Comptroller Jonathan Gould. Ripple, Paxos, and Fidelity Digital Assets received conditional trust bank approvals in 2025, while Coinbase received similar approval earlier this year.

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

https://www.blocmates.com/articles/a-complete-guide-to-hyperliquid

Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange, reported significant growth in fee revenue for August, marking a 31% increase compared to the previous year. This surge is attributed to higher volume, an increase in active users, and an expanded market share. The exchange’s native asset, HYPE, has seen a notable upward movement, reflecting positive market sentiment and increased on-chain activity. The latest data suggests that HYPE’s price hovers around $73.53.

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In the prediction market, the odds for Hyperliquid reaching $100 by the end of 2026 have increased, suggesting a more optimistic outlook from market participants. The current pricing shows a 42.5% chance of Hyperliquid reaching the $100 mark by December 31, up from 16% a week ago. This change is supported by the recent financial results, which appear consistent with the scenario where Hyperliquid continues its upward trajectory.

Key Takeaways Market activity suggests that participants view Hyperliquid’s recent performance as supportive of a YES outcome for reaching $100 by year-end. The 31% year-over-year increase in fee revenue appears consistent with positive sentiment towards Hyperliquid’s growth prospects. HYPE’s price increase and market dynamics may indicate strengthened confidence among participants in the decentralized perpetuals sector. What to Watch Watch for upcoming developments, such as potential announcements of partnerships or new integrations that could further influence Hyperliquid’s competitive position. Additionally, any shifts in market share or changes in user engagement metrics could impact the prediction market’s current outlook. The evolving sentiment around Hyperliquid’s performance will be crucial in determining future price movements and market expectations.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 42.5% — — View market → January 1 2027 3.6% — — View market → January 1 2027 2.9% — — View market → January 1 2027 82% — — View market → January 1 2027 5.7% — — View market → January 1 2027 3.1% — — View market → January 1 2027 54.5% — — View market →

Bitcoin is surging again. The cryptocurrency climbed above $78,200 on Friday for the first time since May. But it wasn’t the only crypto asset posting big gains. Hyperliquid, the decentralized perpetual futures exchange, reached a record $75, leaving its HYPE token up over 195% so far this year, according to CoinGecko.

Hyperliquid’s gains have drawn market share that might otherwise have flowed into Bitcoin, according to Ish Asad, a research analyst at crypto index fund manager Bitwise Investments.

“If Hyperliquid and perpetual futures weren’t so popular, people would just be buying spot Bitcoin,” Asad told Fortune.

Hyperliquid, which lets users trade through self-custody wallets rather than a traditional centralized exchange, has emerged as a major force in crypto derivatives trading over the past year. During the first quarter of 2026, the platform processed more than $633 billion in combined spot and perpetual futures volume, over six times its total during the second quarter of 2024, according to investment manager VanEck.

Its growing success has “sucked away volume” from direct purchases of smaller crypto tokens. Perpetual futures let traders speculate on a cryptocurrency’s price, often with leverage, without buying or holding the token itself, making the platform attractive to active traders.

“All the crypto trading happens on Hyperliquid now, so most of the other crypto assets are getting less buying pressure,” Asad added. 

Hyperliquid’s most recent price jump came two days after President Donald Trump said his administration was working to bring the platform to the U.S.

“I understand that [Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair] Mike [Selig] is also working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal fashion, working very hard on that,” Trump said at a White House event. 

Behind the rally Despite Hyperliquid drawing some capital away from direct Bitcoin purchases, the cryptocurrency still gained nearly 25% over the past week. Macro factors, including the Treasury Department’s recent bond-buyback announcement, helped set the rally in motion, but Asad said liquidations drove Bitcoin’s most recent surge.

On Tuesday, as Bitcoin traded around $64,000, traders liquidated $1.3 billion in short positions in a single day. Another $1 billion in Bitcoin shorts were liquidated over the following 48 hours, bringing the week’s total to $4.5 billion, according to Bitwise.

Political developments also helped support the rally. At a meeting with crypto industry leaders this week, Trump urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act, a bill that would establish a long-awaited market structure framework for digital assets. On Thursday, Selig said he had directed the CFTC to begin developing clearer crypto rules if Congress does not pass the legislation before the end of the year.

In the meantime, worries over U.S. debt surpassing $40 trillion and a weakening U.S. dollar have renewed investor interest in alternative assets such as gold and Bitcoin.