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The Algorand protocol engineering team has been cooking up a feast lately, and the Algorand 5.0 upgrade brings a wide variety of new capabilities and raises many of the protocol’s long-standing limits. In this four-part series, we’ll explore some of the most important ones through an extended metaphor using the core components of cooking: salt, fat, acid, and heat. Rather than cooking tasty food, though, we’re enhancing the flavor of the applications that can be built on Algorand.

Part 1 of the series (Salt) is below; stay tuned for parts 2-4 in the coming days. Part 1: Salt - Cryptographic capabilities Post-Quantum Signatures The single biggest addition to Algorand in this 5.0 upgrade is a framework enabling native post-quantum (PQ) signature schemes for transactions, beginning with the addition of Falcon-1024.

While it has been possible since late 2025 to create LogicSig smart contract accounts that will only authorize transactions after verifying a Falcon signature, the way this was achieved required combining multiple transactions together, which impeded DeFi composability with protocols that require using several transaction slots in the atomic group for their own calls. Smart contract accounts are also not the typical approach preferred by most Algorand wallets.

A better approach is to add first-class support for transactions to carry post-quantum signatures, and that’s what we’ve added now:

pqsig: { sch: [2]byte, slt: uint8, pk: []byte, sig: []byte }

The new pqsig framework is a transaction signature envelope that allows arbitrary schemes to be added to the protocol in the future. Here we can indicate the scheme being used, and the first one we support is Falcon-1024, a lattice-based scheme that is suitable for long-lived accounts. In the future, support for additional schemes will be explored. Falcon-512 is already on Algorand’s roadmap as a variant of Falcon with smaller public key and signature sizes that can be suitable in situations where lightness is useful, and security requirements are somewhat less demanding.

Salt to taste Note that this signature object includes slt, an important salt value that is used to ensure that the Algorand address derived from a PQ public key does not correspond to a valid point on Curve Ed25519. If a PQ account address does not lie on the curve, then there is simply no corresponding Ed25519 private key that could ever be found by an attacker with a quantum computer. As a result, PQ accounts can only ever spend by signing with their PQ key.

Generally speaking, the Algorand technical community will consider the canonical salt to be the lowest value that results in an address that is off of Curve Ed25519. This will be the default approach used in our SDKs when handling accounts, in the algod REST API when submitting transactions, and in other tooling.

That said, the protocol itself will not enforce this canonical salting approach, and signatures will verify successfully even if a different salt has been used by a wallet to generate an account.

Astute readers will notice that the salt is only one byte, which provides 256 tries with roughly 50-50 odds each to find a point that isn’t on the Edwards curve. The probability of using all of those tries and failing to find a good address is extremely small, and if that should occur, a new PQ keypair should be generated.

Crypto-agile signing interfaces Alongside this protocol upgrade, we have introduced upgrades in our SDKs around handling and signing for Algorand accounts. This includes support for PQ signature schemes, support for hierarchical-deterministic (HD) accounts, support for integrating with key management systems (KMS), and more secure secret handling.

Throughout the libraries, you will find flexible interfaces for signing transactions that can be wired up to any signer, with the default approach being that this signing occurs somewhere secure rather than handling raw key material directly in the library.

The goal is to make it easier for developers to build secure, production-ready applications and avoid building infrastructure or even helper scripts that involve the use of secrets in cleartext that can fall victim to malware attacks against servers and developer machines.

These new interfaces also open the door to supporting more signature schemes in the future without requiring developers to update their SDK code to leverage new and different approaches to signing transactions.

Stay tuned for Part 2 in this series: “Fat: Fatter apps and transactions,” coming later this week. What do you want to build on Algorand 5.0? Join our Discord server to meet other developers building PQ solutions, fat apps, box families, and more.

Disclaimer: The content provided in this blog is for informational and educational purposes only. The information is provided by the Algorand Foundation and while we strive to keep it accurate and current, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability of the blog or the information contained in it for any purpose. Nothing in this blog is legal, financial, tax, or investment advice, nor an endorsement, guarantee, or investment recommendation. Technical descriptions are provided as of the date of publication and may change. Any statements about future plans, features, integrations, protocol or consensus upgrades, fees, or timelines are forward-looking and subject to change, including subject to community adoption, and are not commitments. You should conduct your own research and consult a qualified professional before acting on any information here; any reliance you place on it is strictly at your own risk. All third-party names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and their mention does not imply affiliation or endorsement.

Pakistan's Sovereign Messenger Enters Testing PhaseInternet Computer (@DFINITY) is accelerating the rollout of Pakistan's sovereign national messenger app, with the project now in active testing with a select group of users. According to ICP's Chief Business Officer, Pierre (@PierreSamaties), the application is "making great progress" and already supports built-in audio and video calls.

The messenger sits at the centre of a broader partnership between the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) and the DFINITY Foundation, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed in February 2026.

On-Chain Security and OpenChat ExpertiseThe technology underpinning the messenger uses a tamper-proof, always-on architecture to integrate on-chain identity and end-to-end encryption directly into native iOS and Android apps.

To guarantee scalability for a national user base, the development team is drawing on years of experience with @OpenChat, a decentralised messaging platform built on the Internet Computer.

The messenger's progress marks a significant step in the broader push to deploy blockchain-based infrastructure at the nation-state level, with Pakistan positioning itself as an early mover in sovereign digital communications.

Sources:
DFINITY Foundation: Pakistan Digital Authority Partnership Announcement
Business Wire: Pakistan Digital Authority and DFINITY Partner for Sovereign Cloud Infrastructure

TLDR: Pump Foundation holds nearly $2 billion in treasury assets, mostly in stablecoins, no SOL held. Baton Corporation develops pump.fun and receives about $100 million yearly for operations. Pump.fun has generated over $1 billion in total revenue since its January 2024 platform launch. With 13.5 million active wallets, pump.fun now drives about 40% of Solana’s network activity. Pump Foundation currently holds close to $2 billion in treasury assets, according to Pump fun co-founder Noah Tweedale.

Tweedale shared the figure during an interview with Crypto Insider published on August 8, 2026. The foundation operates separately from Baton Corporation, the UK-based company that develops the platform.

Baton receives roughly $100 million annually to cover development, technology, and other operating costs. The treasury holds no SOL and instead consists mainly of stablecoins and other assets.

Foundation Structure and Revenue Sources Pump Foundation’s funds come primarily from its initial coin offering and ongoing platform revenue. This separation keeps foundation assets distinct from the operational budget used by Baton Corporation. Baton handles the technical side of the business, building and maintaining the trading platform.

The foundation’s treasury composition reflects a conservative approach to asset management. Holding stablecoins rather than SOL reduces exposure to token price swings. This structure allows the foundation to fund long-term initiatives without relying on volatile crypto holdings.

Tweedale also addressed the team behind Pump fun during the conversation. The team maintains a young average age of 25 years old. Despite its size, the group manages a treasury approaching $2 billion alongside a sizable annual budget.

The co-founder acknowledged past communication gaps with investors and the wider community. He stated the team plans to increase transparency going forward. Regular updates are expected to become part of the foundation’s ongoing strategy.

Platform Growth and Future Expansion Pump fun launched in January 2024 and has since generated over $1 billion in revenue. The platform now engages 13.5 million active wallets across its ecosystem. That activity accounts for roughly 40% of total network usage on Solana.

The platform started as a basic meme coin launchpad before evolving further. It has since become a mobile-first social trading platform built for everyday users.

Traders can now deposit funds and place trades directly from their phones. This shift removed many of the technical barriers that once limited crypto trading access.

Looking ahead, the team is expanding its mobile app, web interface, and a professional trading terminal. New initiatives include GoDo.fun, a bounty-based feature, and a boost mode for coin launches. Both additions aim to support faster platform growth going forward.

A pump.fun stablecoin is also under consideration by the team. Such a token would let traders denominate trades in US dollars instead of SOL.

The platform already supports cross-chain assets from BNB, ETH, and Base networks, giving users broader access beyond the Solana ecosystem alone.

Solana’s tokenized fund market cap grew by $12.5 million over just seven days, underscoring the blockchain’s rapidly expanding role as a hub for real-world assets moving on-chain. That weekly figure is a slice of a much larger story: over the past 30 days, Solana led all tracked chains with a $201.2 million increase in tokenized fund market capitalization.

In a total addressable market of roughly $34.7 billion across multiple chains, Solana now holds an estimated $1.9 billion in tokenized fund market cap. That’s still a fraction of Ethereum’s dominance, but the growth rate tells a different story entirely.

From niche to institutional playground Solana’s non-stablecoin real-world asset ecosystem value has surged to historic levels, reaching between $3.4 billion and $3.9 billion during mid-2026 according to Token Terminal data. The drivers behind that number read like a traditional finance product catalog: tokenized credit funds, equities, ETFs, and money market instruments.

BlackRock and Securitize are among the notable names actively launching products on Solana’s network.

The tokenized credit fund sector alone tells a compelling story. Solana achieved the most substantial year-to-date growth among tracked chains in that category, contributing to a cumulative market cap of $664.3 million within tokenized credit funds.

Tokenized equities have become another pillar of Solana’s RWA strategy. Recent data shows that 97% of on-chain tokenized equities spot volume settled on Solana, with daily trading volumes exceeding $680 million.

Why Solana keeps winning institutional mandates The technical case for Solana in the tokenized fund space comes down to speed and cost. Sub-second settlement finality means that when an institution tokenizes a Treasury bill or equity product, the transaction clears faster than it takes to refresh a Bloomberg terminal.

Compare that to traditional settlement cycles. Even after the SEC’s push to T+1 settlement in US equity markets, the process still involves intermediaries, reconciliation, and overnight batch processing. Solana’s architecture collapses that entire pipeline into something approaching real-time.

Low transaction costs matter equally. Tokenizing a money market fund on a chain where gas fees routinely spike into double digits per transaction creates friction that defeats the purpose. Solana’s fee structure, typically measured in fractions of a cent, makes micro-transactions and frequent rebalancing economically viable for fund managers.

The competitive landscape and what to watch Several dynamics are worth monitoring. First, the concentration of tokenized equity volume on Solana at 97% creates both opportunity and risk.

Second, the institutional players entering Solana’s ecosystem bring credibility but also expectations. BlackRock and Securitize don’t build on experimental infrastructure. Their presence signals confidence in Solana’s reliability, but it also raises the stakes for network uptime and security. Solana’s historical struggles with outages remain a concern for institutions accustomed to five-nines availability.

Third, the regulatory environment for tokenized securities remains fluid. How the SEC and global regulators ultimately classify and oversee tokenized funds will shape which blockchains capture the most institutional capital.

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

Optimism’s Token House just voted to redirect roughly $49 million worth of OP tokens, and the beneficiary is not the user base. A January 2026 governance proposal passed with approximately 84% support, rerouting half of the Superchain’s net revenue toward recurring OP token buybacks over a 12-month pilot period.

The Superchain, Optimism’s network of OP Stack-based chains, generates net revenue from sequencer fees and related activity. Under the newly approved plan, 50% of that revenue gets funneled into systematic OP token buybacks on a recurring basis across the pilot year.

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The vote cleared through the Token House, Optimism’s primary governance chamber where OP holders weigh in on financial policies and treasury allocation. Getting 84% approval in a governance vote is not trivial. Most contested DeFi governance proposals scrape by with slim majorities. That said, governance participation rates in on-chain systems tend to skew toward larger holders, which means the 84% figure reflects who showed up to vote, not necessarily the sentiment of every OP holder.

Optimism has historically leaned on direct token distributions as a tool for community building. Airdrops, retroactive public goods funding, and user incentive programs have been central to how the protocol attracted and retained participants. This vote marks a deliberate turn away from that playbook, deploying revenue instead to reduce circulating supply.

It also raises a subtler governance question. The team that cast the deciding vote here was funded by the Optimism Foundation itself. When a protocol-affiliated entity holds enough voting power to tip a proposal that redirects tens of millions away from users, the independence of the outcome becomes worth examining, regardless of how the final tally looks.

Optimism’s governance structure will face scrutiny as the buyback program runs. Token House votes on treasury allocation have historically been a place where large holders and affiliated entities can punch above their weight. If the 12-month pilot delivers on price stability without visibly harming developer activity, the model will likely get extended.

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

An Ethereum user reportedly lost 1,010 ETH after following an old Tornado Cash bookmark that allegedly redirected to a malicious frontend controlled by phishing attackers.

Summary

An Ethereum address received 810 ETH through nine transfers on August 18, onchain records confirm. Community reports claimed 1,010 ETH was stolen after a user visited a suspected phishing frontend. The cited wallet retained approximately 810 ETH, worth about $1.86 million when records were checked. Claims that attackers stole nearly 4,000 ETH over twelve months remain independently unverified by researchers. Tornado Cash’s website was accessible when checked, leaving the alleged domain takeover without official confirmation. Community accounts said the incident unfolded over approximately 12 hours. They alleged that attackers obtained the victim’s Tornado Cash deposit credentials and withdrew the funds before transferring them to several addresses.

Onchain records provide partial confirmation. The cited wallet received 810 ETH through nine transactions on Aug. 18. Eight transfers carried 100 ETH each, while the final transfer carried 10 ETH.

The transactions occurred between 5:56 a.m. and 6:05 a.m. UTC. The address retained approximately 810 ETH, valued by Etherscan at about $1.86 million when checked on Aug. 20.

Ethereum records confirm 810 ETH, not the full claim The verified transactions leave a 200 ETH gap between the 1,010 ETH loss reported by community users and the 810 ETH held by the cited wallet. The remaining amount may have reached another address, but no additional destination was included in the supplied evidence.

User Loses Over 1,000 ETH in Phishing Attack After Using Tornado Cash’s Expired Official Domain

According to community users, a user clicked an old link left in a related bookmark and was redirected to a phishing site through the expired official domain tornado. cash, which had… pic.twitter.com/8j7eQl3qX2

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 20, 2026 No public statement from Tornado Cash, an established blockchain security firm or the reported victim had independently confirmed the full amount when this article was prepared.

Community accounts claimed the victim tracked a total loss of 1,010 Ethereum, but the provided address independently confirms only 810 Ethereum.

The cited wallet had recorded nine transactions and no outgoing transfer at the time of review. Its balance therefore supports the claim that most of the reported funds remained under the suspected attacker’s control.

At Ether’s price of approximately $2,295, the confirmed 810 Ethereum was worth about $1.86 million. The reported 1,010 Ethereum loss would be worth roughly $2.32 million at the same price.

Tornado Cash domain takeover remains unconfirmed Reports blamed the theft on the tornado.cash domain, claiming it expired after the project’s team failed to renew it during the disruption caused by U.S. sanctions. According to the accounts, an attacker subsequently registered the address and installed a fake user interface.

That account could not be fully verified. The domain was accessible and displayed a Tornado Cash interface when checked. No authoritative domain record, official Tornado Cash warning or named security researcher was found confirming that the address had expired and changed ownership.

Claims that the official domain was captured by an attacker therefore remain unconfirmed and should not be presented as an established cause.

A website loading correctly at the time of checking does not prove it was safe at an earlier time. Attackers can remove malicious code, redirect only selected visitors or restore a legitimate interface after collecting credentials.

Tornado Cash has faced previous frontend security problems. In 2024, researcher Gas404 found that malicious JavaScript had been inserted into an open source interface and could expose private deposit notes. Checkmarx later documented the supply chain compromise, although no evidence currently connects that episode with the latest transactions.

Deposit notes can give attackers control of funds Tornado Cash uses private deposit notes to let users withdraw assets from its pools. Anyone who obtains a valid note can generally initiate the corresponding withdrawal, making the note comparable to a private credential.

A fake frontend can capture this information when a user attempts to make a deposit or withdrawal. The attacker can then use the stolen note before the legitimate owner does.

The attack differs from approval phishing, where a victim signs a malicious transaction that authorizes a drainer contract. In related coverage, crypto.news explained how wallet drainers exploit deceptive signatures to gain access to tokens and nonfungible assets.

Old bookmarks present another risk because users often assume previously trusted links remain safe. Expired or transferred domains preserve their familiar names, search rankings and backlinks, making malicious replacements harder to identify.

As crypto.news recently reported, fake websites continue draining Ethereum wallets after users approve transactions or enter sensitive information. The safest approach is to verify domains through several current project channels before connecting a wallet.

Nearly 4,000 ETH claim needs more evidence Community reports also alleged that the same attackers stole almost 4,000 ETH through similar methods over the previous 12 months. No list of related addresses or attribution analysis accompanied that figure.

Without linked wallets, transaction hashes or a report from a security firm, the 4,000 ETH estimate cannot be independently verified. Blockchain transfers show where funds moved, but they do not automatically establish who controlled each address or which phishing campaign generated them.

The immediate priority is monitoring the confirmed 810 ETH. Transfers to exchanges could create an opportunity for platforms to identify or freeze assets, subject to their procedures and applicable law.

The victim should preserve browser history, bookmarked URLs, wallet logs and transaction records before reporting the incident to wallet providers, exchanges and law enforcement. Users who interacted with the same frontend should stop using it, move unaffected assets and revoke suspicious token approvals.

The available evidence supports a large Ethereum transfer into a newly active wallet. It does not yet prove the full 1,010 ETH loss, the alleged takeover of the official domain or the claimed 4,000 ETH campaign.

Planned deployment will provide fully onchain access to Anchored's 1:1 backed tokenized stocks on Uniswap, using UniswapX to connect tokenized stock liquidity with the world's largest decentralized exchange ecosystem.

ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, /PRNewswire/ -- Anchored, the digital operating layer for global capital markets, today announced plans to launch its tokenized stocks on Arbitrum with Uniswap, using UniswapX as an initial route for fully onchain access. The deployment will bring Anchored's 1:1 backed tokenized stock products into one of the most active blockchain networks and make them accessible through the largest decentralized exchange.

Anchored tokenized stocks are designed to provide exposure to underlying stocks through onchain issuance, redemption, and USDC settlement workflows. By launching with Uniswap on Arbitrum, Anchored aims to make tokenized stocks available through infrastructure that users, wallets, liquidity providers, and market makers already understand. UniswapX adds an RFQ and solver-based execution layer designed to improve routing and price discovery, helping connect Anchored's tokenized stock products with broader onchain liquidity.

"Tokenized stocks are an important step in bringing more real-world assets onchain, and UniswapX helps make them easier to access," said Ken Ng, Head of Ecosystem at Uniswap Labs. "Anchored's planned launch on Arbitrum shows how issuers can plug tokenized assets into Uniswap liquidity from day one."

The Arbitrum deployment is expected to support fast and low cost settlement while giving exchanges, wallets, protocols, and market makers a practical route to integrate tokenized stocks into existing onchain flows. It also positions Anchored tokenized stocks for broader DeFi composability, including future integrations across wallets, liquidity venues, and partner distribution channels.

"Tokenized stocks need credible issuance, reliable liquidity, and scalable distribution," said Andy Deacon, Head of Fintech Partnerships at Offchain. "Anchored's planned deployment on Arbitrum through UniswapX is an important step for us toward bringing real-world assets into the Arbitrum ecosystem."

The launch is part of Anchored's broader strategy to make capital-market assets available through interoperable, and programmable infrastructure. Tokenized stocks are Anchored's live first product, with the company also building toward tokenized funds, IPO access, and Digital Market Offering infrastructure for pre-IPO and private assets.

"Launching on Arbitrum with Uniswap gives Anchored a powerful route to make tokenized stocks fully onchain and accessible through the largest decentralized exchange ecosystem," said Wenny Cai, CEO at Anchored. "The opportunity is not only to issue tokenized stocks, but to make them usable through the venues where liquidity, settlement, and user access already exist."

The teams are coordinating toward a target launch date of 21 August 2026, subject to final technical readiness, liquidity arrangements, partner review, and applicable compliance approvals. Additional details on supported assets, market maker participation, user access, and launch availability will be shared closer to launch.

About Anchored

Anchored is the digital operating layer for global capital markets. The company builds programmable infrastructure that connects assets, liquidity, compliance, distribution and settlement across traditional finance and onchain markets. Anchored's product platform spans tokenized stocks, tokenized funds and tokenized private market assets.

About Arbitrum

Arbitrum is the finance-native blockchain platform providing infrastructure for applications, tokenization, and dedicated blockchain environments. Arbitrum hosts one of the largest financial ecosystems on Ethereum, with deep liquidity and predictable execution at scale. It powers the programmable economy, where markets, transactions, and business processes run automatically in software. For businesses launching dedicated environments, Arbitrum provides configurable execution, fee models, compliance, and governance, so organizations can define how their systems operate while remaining connected to shared liquidity and a global settlement layer.

About Uniswap

Uniswap is the largest decentralized trading venue having processed over $4.5T in volume with zero hacks. It is trusted by institutions like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Anchorage. Uniswap Labs is a core contributor to the Uniswap Protocol and builds products that make it easy to access and build on Uniswap including the Uniswap Web App, Wallet, and Trading API.

For more information, please visit:
Website | X/Twitter | LinkedIn

Media contact

Anchored: Toni Morales / [email protected]  

Arbitrum / Offchain Labs: [email protected]  

Uniswap: Bridgett Frey / [email protected]

SOURCE Anchored Finance

New funding will support Beldex’s next phase of privacy infrastructure, developer tools, AI and security research, and ecosystem growth.

Beldex, a privacy focused blockchain ecosystem, has raised $8 million in a new funding round to accelerate the development of its privacy infrastructure for Web3 and AI.

The round includes participation from NTC, Nxgen, Digital Consensus Fund, and EAK Ventures, led by Sigma Capital. 

The funding comes as Beldex expands beyond its established privacy ecosystem toward infrastructure that developers can use to build private and confidential applications. The company plans to invest across developer tooling, confidential applications, protocol security, AI infrastructure and ecosystem adoption.

Afanddy Bin Hushni, Chairman of Beldex said, “Privacy is becoming an infrastructure requirement, not a feature that can be added at the end. This funding gives us the capacity to move faster across the layers where sensitive information is created and exchanged, including transactions, communication, network activity, identity, and increasingly AI. Our focus is to turn that stack into practical infrastructure that developers, applications, and users can adopt without compromising usability.” 

Building on a Live Privacy Ecosystem
Beldex has built a suite of privacy focused products around its Layer 1 network.

The ecosystem includes the Beldex Wallet for private transactions, BChat for encrypted messaging, BelNet for decentralized private networking, Beldex Browser for private browsing and Beldex Name Service (BNS) for human readable names across wallets, messaging and private web applications.

The next phase is focused on making these privacy capabilities easier for developers to use.

Part of the new funding will support the development of the Beldex Extension Wallet, SDKs, account based addresses and other developer tools designed to simplify how applications interact with the Beldex ecosystem.

Beldex is also working on confidential assets and an EVM compatible sidechain, with the aim of giving developers familiar with Ethereum tooling an environment for building applications with privacy capabilities.

Vineet Budki, Managing Director & CEO at Sigma Capital said, “What stood out to me about Beldex is its long-term conviction. While privacy was often treated as a niche, Beldex spent years building it into the infrastructure itself. AI agents and Web3 applications demand greater privacy today, and we believe Beldex is exceptionally well positioned for the next era of Web3. That conviction is why we chose to lead this round.”

Building Privacy Infrastructure for AI
A key focus of the new funding will be privacy infrastructure for AI. As autonomous agents increasingly handle payments, credentials, communications and personal data, Beldex is exploring how its privacy stack can protect these interactions.

Key areas include privacy-preserving agent identities through BNS, encrypted AI-powered communication via BChat, confidential payments, secure AI execution, and research into Fully Homomorphic Encryption and secure memory to protect sensitive data during processing.

Expanding Interoperability and Security
The funding will also support Beldex’s work on interoperability and network security.

The Beldex network supports cross-chain connectivity with Binance Smart Chain and plans to expand interoperability with other blockchain ecosystems. Beldex is also researching a TSS and DKG based cross chain architecture designed to distribute signing authority across multiple participants while also continuing research into quantum safe technologies for transactions and messaging as part of its longer term security roadmap.

Looking Ahead 
Beldex will use the new funding to move several initiatives from research and development toward usable infrastructure.

Near term priorities include the Beldex Extension Wallet, SDKs, VRF consensus, account based addresses, confidential assets and an EVM compatible sidechain testnet.

Alongside these initiatives, the team will continue research and development across AI privacy infrastructure, FHE, private smart contracts, interoperability and quantum safe technologies.

The broader goal is to make privacy easier to build across transactions, communication, identity, applications and AI.

About Beldex
Beldex is a privacy-focused decentralized ecosystem building infrastructure for Web3 and AI. Its ecosystem includes BChat for encrypted messaging, BelNet for decentralized private networking, Beldex Browser for private web access, and BNS for decentralized naming.

Powered by a Proof-of-Stake masternode network, Beldex continues to develop privacy-enhancing technologies including private agentic AI, confidential assets (private tokens), privacy-first EVM infrastructure, zero-knowledge systems, and quantum-safe cryptography.

Website: https://www.beldex.io/
X: https://x.com/beldexcoin
Telegram: https://t.me/official_beldex

OrdinalsBot, the first inscription service in the Bitcoin (BTC) Ordinals ecosystem, has announced its shutdown. The project will sell its brand, intellectual property, and full technology stack.

It opened about a month after the Ordinals protocol went live in early 2023. The project said that sustaining the business is not viable.

OrdinalsBot Puts Brand, IP, and 90 Code Repositories Up for SaleThe team announced the decision in a post on X. OrdinalsBot said it had explored measures, including restructuring and a business pivot, but ultimately determined that continuing operations was no longer viable.

“Unfortunately, the Ordinals market has contracted sharply over the past year…In these 3 years, we have achieved many great things and met amazing, like-minded people looking to bring new use cases to the mother chain and create a robust fee market,” the post read.

Rather than allow the business and its technology to gradually lose value, the company has opted to sell its entire asset portfolio through an open, competitive bidding process. The package includes the OrdinalsBot brand, intellectual property, domains, social media accounts, Discord community, and GitHub presence.

It also includes more than three years of research and development spread across more than 90 code repositories. According to the company, the assets could give a prospective buyer an established foundation for building on Bitcoin without having to develop the underlying infrastructure from scratch.

OrdinalsBot said it has already informed investors about the wind-down and has begun receiving acquisition bids. 

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Shutdowns Pile Up Across Crypto in 2026OrdinalsBot joins a long queue. More than 120 crypto projects shut down, filed for bankruptcy, or went dark so far this year, according to RootData.

The closures span wallets, exchanges, NFT platforms, and DeFi tools, pointing to a broader shakeout across the industry. Crypto exchanges BitMEX and BitMart both announced shutdowns last month.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) portfolio tracker Zapper closed in August. OrdinalsBot differs in one respect. Its founders are trying to sell the pieces rather than switch off the servers.

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Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States drew $517.19 million in net inflows on Wednesday, marking the strongest single-day surge since May 4. The increase came as Bitcoin’s price surpassed $69,000 for the first time in two months, underscoring a notable resurgence in institutional investor activity.

BlackRock’s IBIT dominates ETF inflowsBlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for $284.7 million of the total inflow, maintaining a significant lead over competitors. ARK 21Shares’ ARKB followed with $77.7 million, while Fidelity’s FBTC captured $62.4 million during the same session. Eight out of twelve registered funds posted positive inflows, reflecting broad participation and renewed confidence in regulated crypto investment vehicles.

SoSoValue data indicated that this was the largest daily intake for U.S. spot Bitcoin funds in over three months, helping push their combined net assets to $84.31 billion. This total equals around 6.08% of Bitcoin’s overall market capitalization. Cumulative ETF inflows now stand at $52.79 billion, with IBIT alone responsible for more than half of Wednesday’s intake.

The distribution of inflows across multiple funds, rather than being concentrated in a single product, has been described by analysts as a positive signal of institutional demand within the sector. Recent analysis by VanEck revealed that the 30-day net inflow reached $663 million, recovering much of the $2.4 billion in outflows experienced the previous month. Wednesday’s allocation represented nearly 78% of that 30-day total, altering the prevailing narrative on demand for U.S. crypto ETFs.

Prior months had been characterized by withdrawals throughout May and June, with client flows turning more erratic through July and early August. The renewed inflows indicate that institutional investors are returning when liquidity improves. Rachael Lucas, representing BTC Markets, described the purchases as a move geared toward longer-term positioning by investors operating under formal compliance structures rather than short-lived retail speculation.

VanEck’s recent analysis pointed out that almost 78% of the prior 30-day ETF inflow was matched in a single day, signaling a swift change in institutional sentiment following a drawn-out period of withdrawals.

Treasury actions and regulatory shifts support risk appetiteThe ETF inflows coincided with a rally that accelerated after the U.S. Treasury announced it would double the cap on its long-end bond buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. This program, targeting 10-to-30 year maturities, will run from September 9 through November 4, the end of the refunding quarter. The Treasury cited robust market offers as a reason for the increase and intends to review sizing after November.

Bond yields declined on the announcement, the dollar weakened, and risk assets rallied. Jeff Mei of BTSE suggested that the Treasury’s policy shift sparked renewed risk appetite, fueling both ETF inflows and the cryptocurrency’s price strength.

On the regulatory front, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled proposals introducing new exemptions for crypto investment contracts. The updates would allow offerings up to $5 million over four years or up to $75 million per year, accompanied by additional disclosure requirements. Market analysts noted that these measures may further support institutional participation.

Technical and structural shifts shape Bitcoin’s outlookTechnically, Bitcoin’s price reached $69,892 before trading around $69,514, near its 200-day trend zone and at the midpoint of its broader $60,000 to $80,000 range. Analyst Daan Crypto Trades observed that Bitcoin generated a new higher high while testing its critical 200-day moving average and exponential moving average. This region remains closely watched for signs of whether upward momentum could carry BTC past $70,000 in the coming sessions.

Daan Crypto Trades explained that Bitcoin’s trend remains upward after retracing much of June’s sharp decline, but the asset is now positioned in the center of its established range, and several key technical levels remain in play.

Expectations are for continued volatility as the market navigates ongoing resistance. Sustained closes above the moving average area would offer a stronger technical signal for further gains.

Against this backdrop, a significant transformation is underway as Wall Street increasingly shifts toward Web3. Investors have begun using platforms such as 1stepSwap to directly hold tokenized shares of leading U.S. companies, as well as gold and silver, in their crypto wallets. By tokenizing real-world assets and automatically searching for the best available prices, these platforms eliminate intermediaries and enable near-instant execution.

The combination of ETF inflows, government policy actions, regulatory adaptation, and technological innovation is shaping a new landscape for crypto and traditional asset markets alike.

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.

Binance has seen the sharpest percentage drop in XRP reserves, while Upbit and Bithumb continue to hold the bulk of tracked supply.

XRP’s struggle near $1 continues even as its peers display modest gains this week. The crypto asset went down almost 10% over the past month before it rebounded significantly on Wednesday evening.

Despite the weakness, much more XRP is being withdrawn than deposited across major platforms.

Reserves Slide According to the latest analysis shared by CryptoQuant, XRP reserves across Upbit, Binance, and Bithumb have fallen by roughly 240 million from their late-May and early-June levels, as of August 19. South Korean giant Upbit held 6.40 billion XRP, down from 6.51 billion on May 30, which is a decline of about 110 million, or 1.7%.

The figures for Bithumb fell to 1.82 billion from 1.85 billion on June 2, a decrease of roughly 30 million, or 1.6%. Meanwhile, Binance recorded the largest percentage decline, with its reserves for the token dropping to 2.62 billion from 2.72 billion over the same period, which translates to a reduction of approximately 100 million XRP, or 3.7%.

Combined reserves across the three exchanges decreased from about 11.08 billion to 10.84 billion, representing a decline of roughly 2.2%. Despite the overall reduction, Upbit remains the largest holder of the crypto asset among the three exchanges. In fact, Upbit and Bithumb together hold about 8.22 billion XRP and account for nearly 76% of the reserves tracked across the three platforms.

The falling exchange reserves come as wallet activity across major exchanges turns more focused on withdrawals. As recently reported by CryptoPotato, Coinbase recorded a seven-day net wallet count of -14,300 as of August 18. The exchange accounted for 47.3% of the total absolute imbalance, its highest share since July 2024.

Binance posted a net wallet count of -3,270, while Crypto.com recorded -2,680. Both exchanges moved into negative territory on July 18, almost a week after Coinbase. Binance’s share of the overall imbalance also rose from nearly zero on July 16 to around 10%. Upbit, however, saw its share fall to about 12% from 40% in June.

You may also like: Important Ripple News and XRP Price Update: August 19 XRP Wallet Activity Turns Withdrawal-Heavy Across Exchanges: What It Means for Price? Ripple’s (XRP) $1 Breakdown Could Get Worse Before It Gets Better Whale Activity The asset’s weak price performance has not stopped large transactions from picking up on the XRP Ledger. Data shared by crypto analyst Ali Martinez revealed that transactions worth more than $1 million jumped 280% in a single day and reached nearly 40, compared with around 10 during each of the previous two days.

The spike came shortly after wallets holding between 10 million and 100 million XRP accumulated about 72 million tokens in one day.

Network activity has also picked up, as the ledger recorded nearly 50,000 active addresses over a 24-hour period last week. Despite the rise in activity, social sentiment around XRP fell to a three-month low.

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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 American mutual fund Kinetics Internet Portfolio, which has $275 million in assets and is part of Kinetics Portfolios Trust, has acquired a direct equity stake in Ripple Labs Inc.

The investment was disclosed in the fund's quarterly Form NPORT-P report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the document, the fund owns Class A common shares (Class A Common Shares) issued by Ripple.

SEC Form NPORT-P filing confirming Ripple Labs equity ownership by Kinetics Portfolios Trust. Source: SEC.govThe distinctive aspect of the transaction is that the institutional investor invested directly in the company — through Ripple shares — rather than in the 

volatile XRP cryptocurrency.

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The position is estimated at approximately $150,000, making it small in size relative to a $275 million fund. The filing reflects the portfolio's holdings as of June 30, 2026, but due to regulatory reporting delays, the information became public only in August.

IPO and Washington factors: What is making funds rush to buy Ripple sharesThe fund's purchase coincided with a noticeable softening in Ripple management's rhetoric regarding a potential public listing. Speaking at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2026, CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company now takes a "more neutral" view of the idea of an IPO.

Previously, Ripple's senior management, including President Monica Long, had categorically denied having such plans, citing the company's strong balance sheet and the absence of a clear timeline.

Because Ripple Labs remains a private company, the fund acquired the securities through specialized over-the-counter pre-IPO platforms for accredited investors. The transaction comes amid Ripple's own large-scale $750 million tender offer to repurchase its shares, which valued the company at $50 billion.

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At the same time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a proposed new regulatory framework, known as "Regulation Crypto Assets," for public comment, while the U.S. administration is holding direct closed-door meetings with Ripple executives at the White House.

Against the backdrop of these regulatory changes and the confirmation of Ripple's multibillion-dollar valuation, institutional investors are rushing to gain exposure to the company through the private market rather than waiting for an official IPO.

Reading Treasury’s newly proposed GENIUS Act rules on Bits + Bips, Austin Campbell said Coinbase’s US platform “might have to delist Tether,” pointing to Europe’s MiCA delistings as the template.

Original Image Credits: Official White House Photo by Abe McNatt

Posted August 18, 2026 at 4:26 pm EST.

Austin Campbell, founder of Zero Knowledge Group, said on the Bits + Bips podcast that Treasury’s newly proposed rules for the GENIUS Act could leave US exchanges unable to offer Tether‘s USDT, forcing platforms such as Coinbase to delist it for American users.

“There may be a de minimis, but I’m starting to think Coinbase’s US platform might have to delist Tether,” Campbell said on the Aug. 17 show, hours after the Treasury Department released the proposal. “And by the way, Europe has already been doing this.”

The rule is Treasury’s notice of proposed rulemaking for Section 3 of the GENIUS Act, which governs who may issue, offer and sell payment stablecoins in the United States.

Beginning Jan. 18, 2027, a digital asset service provider, the category that covers exchanges, generally may not offer or make available a foreign-issued stablecoin unless the issuer can and will comply with US lawful orders and any reciprocal arrangement between Treasury and the issuer’s home country.

“You cannot offer, sell, or make available a foreign-issued payment stablecoin in the US unless that issuer can and will comply with lawful orders and reciprocal arrangements,” Campbell said on the podcast, summarizing the core prohibition. “So basically, Tether can be used offshore, but not here.”

The European precedent Campbell’s read has a recent template. Under the EU’s MiCA regime, EU-regulated exchanges faced the same binary, carry a compliant stablecoin or lose their own license, and USDT lost its listings. Coinbase removed USDT for users in the European Economic Area effective March 31, 2025, with Crypto.com and Binance following the same quarter.

“I will remind people that’s not new, and we’re not going first,” Campbell said on the show. “The European Union with MiCA basically said, ‘If you’re not registered, goodbye.'”

USDT has about $183 billion in circulation, roughly 59% of the stablecoin market. It has not pursued the kind of registration MiCA required, and its answer to the US framework is more layered than a straight refusal.

Tether’s two-track answer The company has split its strategy. It kept USDT as an offshore, dollar-pegged token and launched a separate, US-domestic stablecoin, USAT, in January 2026, built to comply with the GENIUS Act, issued through Anchorage Digital Bank and run by Bo Hines, the former head of the White House’s crypto council.

Co-host Chris Perkins, head of Franklin Crypto, pointed to that split on the show. “They also have USAT onshore being led by Bo Hines,” Perkins said. “I don’t think that they’re just ignoring Genius. I think they have a plan.”

That plan is what makes Campbell’s scenario coherent rather than hypothetical. If USDT stays foreign and unregistered while USAT carries Tether’s compliant US business, USDT is exactly the sort of foreign-issued stablecoin the proposed rule is written to reach.

Caveats The rule is a proposal, not final. Treasury has opened a roughly 60-day comment window, and the foreign-issuer restriction does not take effect until Jan. 18, 2027.

A path also stays open: Treasury can deem a foreign issuer’s home regime “comparable” to the US framework and let it register, though no country has such a determination yet. And the proposal is silent on stablecoin yield, the issue tangled up in the separate CLARITY Act fight.

Related Listen: In an AI Agent World, Do Money Markets Win Over Stablecoins? – Bits + Bips

AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.

The Kelp DAO bridge exploit did not just steal $292 million. It triggered the largest infrastructure migration in DeFi history, and the math shows LayerZero may never recover the lost ground.

Summary

Publicly announced migrations from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP have reached approximately $15 billion in total value, led by BitGo moving $7.4 billion in WBTC, Mantle shifting its $2.5 billion Super Portal, and Lombard transferring over $1 billion in bitcoin-backed assets. The April 18, 2026 Kelp DAO bridge exploit drained 116,500 rsETH worth $292 million through a forged cross-chain message that exploited a single-verifier configuration, with the attack later attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. LayerZero’s Decentralized Verifier Network model allows applications to select as few as one verifier to validate cross-chain messages, while Chainlink CCIP requires a minimum of 16 independent node operators per lane plus a separate Risk Management Network. Wyoming’s Stable Token Commission became the first U.S. public entity to abandon LayerZero, selecting Chainlink CCIP as the exclusive multi-year infrastructure for the Frontier Stable Token on August 18, 2026. LayerZero’s ZRO token has fallen to a market capitalization of roughly $302 million, down from an all-time high near $7.47, as Nethermind became the latest infrastructure provider to exit its verifier role and join Chainlink as a node operator. On April 18, 2026, an attacker forged a cross-chain message on a LayerZero-powered bridge and walked away with 116,500 rsETH. The tokens were worth $292 million. Within hours, the stolen assets had been deposited on Aave as collateral to borrow $190 million in WETH, spreading stress across lending markets and freezing rsETH pools on both Aave V3 and V4. It was the largest DeFi exploit of the year. But the money was only the beginning of what LayerZero lost.

Four months later, the damage ledger reads differently. BitGo, the custodian behind the largest bitcoin-backed token in decentralized finance, has moved $7.4 billion in WBTC to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol. Kraken, Mantle, Lombard, Solv Protocol, Virtuals, Re, and the state of Wyoming have followed. The cumulative value of announced migrations now approaches $15 billion. Nethermind, one of LayerZero’s own verifier network operators, has ended its role and joined Chainlink as a node operator. The question is no longer whether cross-chain infrastructure is becoming a winner-take-all market. The question is whether LayerZero can stop the bleeding.

The exploit that broke trust The Kelp DAO attack was not a smart contract hack. It was a sophisticated assault on off-chain infrastructure that began six weeks before the theft, when an attacker socially engineered a LayerZero Labs developer on March 6, 2026, harvesting session keys and pivoting into LayerZero’s RPC cloud environment. From that position, the attacker poisoned internal RPC nodes and launched a DDoS attack against external nodes, feeding false data to a single verifier that was the only checkpoint standing between the attacker and $292 million.

The critical vulnerability was a configuration choice. Kelp DAO’s rsETH bridge ran with a 1-of-1 DVN setup, meaning a single Decentralized Verifier Network node operated by LayerZero Labs was the sole validator of cross-chain messages. No second verifier existed to disagree. When the attacker compromised the data feeding that lone verifier, the Ethereum contract released funds based on a token burn that never happened on the source chain.

BREAKING: Curve Finance halts LayerZero infrastructure out of precaution after rsETH LayerZero hack, affecting CRV bridging on multiple chains and crvUSD fast bridge pic.twitter.com/UwNvfxBew9

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) April 19, 2026 Mandiant, CrowdStrike, and independent security researchers all attributed the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, specifically the TraderTraitor cluster. The attackers routed approximately $175 million in ETH through privacy rails, while Arbitrum managed to lock $71 million in ETH linked to the exploit.

The damage did not stop at Kelp DAO. The attacker deposited 89,567 rsETH on Aave V3 as collateral and borrowed $190 million in WETH against assets that were now backed by nothing. Aave was forced to freeze rsETH markets on both V3 and V4 to prevent further contagion. The liquidation of the attacker’s positions took weeks, with Aave completing the final rsETH liquidations only after the token’s price had been severely disrupted. DeFi United launched a recovery plan for affected holders, but the full scope of secondary losses across lending markets, liquidity pools, and derivative positions linked to rsETH has never been comprehensively tallied.

What followed was a blame war. LayerZero initially pointed to Kelp DAO for choosing the risky 1-of-1 configuration. Kelp DAO fired back that the single-verifier setup was LayerZero’s own default. For three weeks, LayerZero prioritized a technical post-mortem over clear communication, an approach its own leadership later admitted fell short. On May 9, LayerZero publicly acknowledged it “made a mistake” by allowing its own verifier network to secure high-value assets in a risky configuration.

By then, the exodus had already begun.

The migration ledger The departures did not arrive as a wave. They arrived as a cascade, each one making the next more likely.

Kelp DAO itself moved first, shifting rsETH to Chainlink CCIP while the dispute with LayerZero was still active. Solv Protocol followed in early May, moving more than $700 million in tokenized bitcoin infrastructure. Kraken announced on May 14 that Chainlink CCIP would become the exclusive bridge infrastructure for kBTC and all future wrapped assets. The next day, Lombard migrated over $1 billion in bitcoin-backed assets, including LBTC and BTC.b.

By mid-May, the total had crossed $4 billion. Then it accelerated.

Virtuals Protocol migrated $700 million in VIRTUAL tokens to enable cross-chain payments for AI agents. Re selected Chainlink CCIP as the exclusive bridge for reUSD, backed by $475 million in protocol TVL. Yuzu Money transferred $54.5 million. On July 9, Mantle announced the migration of its Super Portal, co-developed with Bybit, covering $2.5 billion in MNT tokens. The portal was temporarily suspended during the migration window of July 9 to 15.

Then came the largest single departure. On August 4, BitGo announced it would move WBTC, the biggest bitcoin-backed token in DeFi, from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP. The migration covers $7.4 billion in assets and makes Chainlink CCIP the default infrastructure for all future assets BitGo issues. That single announcement nearly doubled the cumulative migration total.

On August 18, Wyoming’s Stable Token Commission finalized its migration, making the Frontier Stable Token the first state-issued stablecoin in the United States to run exclusively on Chainlink CCIP under a multi-year contract. Wyoming cited concerns about LayerZero’s “disclosure practices and operational security.”

The running tally now approaches $15 billion across at least ten named protocols and one sovereign state entity.

The architecture gap that made it possible The exodus is not simply about one exploit. It reflects a structural difference in how LayerZero and Chainlink CCIP approach cross-chain security, and the Kelp DAO hack made that difference impossible to ignore.

LayerZero V2 uses a modular architecture centered on Ultra Light Nodes and configurable Decentralized Verifier Networks. Each application chooses its own set of DVNs and specifies a threshold for how many must agree before a cross-chain message is validated. The design is flexible. It is also, as the Kelp exploit proved, flexible enough to be fatal. A 1-of-1 setup is cheap but means a single compromised verifier can authorize fraudulent transactions. Costs scale with the number of required verifiers, creating a direct tradeoff between security and expense.

Chainlink CCIP takes a different approach. Every cross-chain lane is secured by a minimum of 16 independent, Chainlink-operated node operators. A separate Risk Management Network monitors for anomalous activity and enforces value-based rate limits on each lane, acting as a circuit breaker that caps potential losses even if the primary validation layer is compromised. The system is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and ISO 27001 certified.

The practical difference is who bears the security burden. Under LayerZero’s model, each application team must understand verifier economics, select trustworthy DVNs, and set thresholds that balance cost against risk. Under CCIP, the baseline security is embedded in the protocol itself. As BitGo’s announcement made clear, the new setup lets the issuer retain direct control over token contracts, transfer limits, and cross-chain settings without needing to manage a verifier stack.

LayerZero has responded by removing support for 1-of-1 DVN configurations and announcing plans to move most routes toward stricter 5-of-5 verifier setups. Whether that is enough to reverse the migration trend is an open question. The 5-of-5 model increases costs for applications and still leaves the selection of verifiers in the hands of each deployer, a responsibility many teams have now decided they would prefer not to carry.

The math on LayerZero’s revenue loss This is the arithmetic nobody has published, and it tells a story more damaging than any headline.

LayerZero currently takes a 0% protocol fee on cross-chain messaging. All messaging fees flow to the DVNs and Executors that secure and deliver messages. Revenue for the broader LayerZero ecosystem comes from three potential lines: messaging fees if the fee switch is activated, Stargate swap fees, and fees from the Zero L1. ZRO buybacks are funded by a Stargate ecosystem allocation routed to the LayerZero Foundation.

The fee switch has not been activated. The LayerZero Foundation runs an immutable voting contract that enforces a public on-chain referendum every six months, and token holders have not yet voted to turn it on.

Here is what the math looks like. LayerZero accounts for an estimated 57% of all cross-chain volume, with over $100 billion in cumulative value transferred across its rails. The Chainlink CCIP migration wave represents roughly $15 billion in bridge TVL that has either migrated or is in the process of migrating. That is not transaction volume. That is the base layer of assets that generate recurring cross-chain messaging fees every time they move between chains.

Consider the arithmetic protocol by protocol. BitGo’s $7.4 billion in WBTC is the single largest wrapped asset in DeFi. Every time WBTC moves between Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, or any other supported chain, it generates a cross-chain message. Under LayerZero, that message produced fees for DVN operators and Executors. Under Chainlink CCIP, those same fees flow to Chainlink node operators. Mantle’s $2.5 billion in MNT tokens bridges regularly between Mantle L2 and Ethereum mainnet. Lombard’s $1 billion in LBTC and BTC.b moves between Corn, Berachain, Rootstock, and other networks. Solv’s $700 million in SolvBTC bridges across four chains. Virtuals’ $700 million in VIRTUAL tokens crosses between Base and other networks to power AI agent payments.

Add Kelp DAO’s rsETH, Re’s $475 million reUSD, Kraken’s $330 million in kBTC and future wrapped assets, and Yuzu Money’s $54.5 million. The aggregate is not a static number. It is a flow generator. Each dollar of bridge TVL produces messaging revenue proportional to how frequently it moves between chains. Wrapped bitcoin products, which rebalance and settle constantly, are among the highest-frequency bridge users in DeFi.

The lost fee revenue accrues not to LayerZero today, since the fee switch is off, but to the future value of ever activating it. Every migration shrinks the denominator of what a fee switch would be worth. Every departure makes it harder to argue that ZRO holders should vote to activate fees, because the remaining transaction base may not justify the cost to users.

ZRO’s market capitalization has fallen to roughly $302 million, down from an all-time high near $7.47 per token. The top 100 wallets control 87.39% of supply. A June 2026 unlock released 25.71 million ZRO worth approximately $23 million, adding sell pressure to an already declining token. The price has dropped 38.87% in the past month alone.

The uncomfortable conclusion: LayerZero’s revenue potential is being hollowed out before the revenue engine is even switched on. The migrations are not just a loss of current activity. They are a structural reduction in the protocol’s future earning capacity.

When verifiers walk The Nethermind departure on August 19 adds a dimension that goes beyond TVL. Nethermind is not a token project moving its assets to a different bridge. It is an Ethereum core engineering firm that was operating a DVN node for LayerZero, validating cross-chain messages as part of the security infrastructure itself.

Nethermind ended its LayerZero verifier role after what it described as an “extensive infrastructure review” and joined Chainlink as a node operator and strategic technology provider. The company did not publish the review or identify a specific LayerZero flaw. It did not disclose the migration’s cost or timeline. What it did do was move from being part of LayerZero’s security layer to being part of Chainlink’s.

JUST IN: S&P Global’s stablecoin stability assessments (SSAs) are now available onchain through Chainlink DataLink, bringing $1.2T+ in indexed assets to DeFi pic.twitter.com/tl1hxOcqXn

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) April 11, 2026 The significance is structural. LayerZero’s security model depends on a diverse, high-quality set of DVN operators. When one of those operators not only leaves but joins the competing protocol, it signals something about the relative attractiveness of operating infrastructure for each network. If the Nethermind departure prompts other DVN operators to reassess their positions, LayerZero faces a potential reinforcing loop: fewer high-quality verifiers make the network less attractive to applications, which reduces fee revenue for remaining verifiers, which makes the network less attractive to verifiers.

LayerZero’s move toward 5-of-5 verifier requirements could intensify this dynamic. More required verifiers means more operators must be recruited and retained per lane, at a time when at least one prominent operator has concluded the opportunity lies elsewhere.

A state government takes a side Wyoming’s decision deserves its own examination because it represents something new in the cross-chain debate: a sovereign entity making an infrastructure choice based on operational security rather than token economics.

The Frontier Stable Token launched in January 2026 as the first fiat-backed, fully reserved stable token issued by a U.S. public entity, backed by U.S. dollars and short-term Treasuries. The Commission supports FRNT across eight networks: Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Hedera, Optimism, Polygon, and Solana.

The original cross-chain infrastructure was LayerZero. The migration to Chainlink CCIP, finalized on August 18, was driven by what the Commission called concerns about LayerZero’s “disclosure practices and operational security.” The contract is exclusive and multi-year. LayerZero has been fully deprecated. The Commission said it conducted a full assessment of its cross-chain provider and concluded that the operational security standards did not meet the requirements of a public financial instrument.

FRNT is not a large-cap token. Its significance lies in what it represents: a government-issued financial instrument choosing one cross-chain protocol over another on the basis of security review, not developer preference or token incentives. The Commission’s eight-network deployment across Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Hedera, Optimism, Polygon, and Solana means Chainlink CCIP now secures a sovereign stablecoin across a wider network footprint than most private-sector tokens manage.

This matters because government adoption of cross-chain infrastructure creates a different kind of lock-in than protocol adoption. When BitGo migrates, it can theoretically migrate again. When a state government signs a multi-year exclusive contract, it creates a precedent that other public entities may follow. If federal stablecoin legislation advances and other states issue their own stable tokens, the Wyoming precedent positions Chainlink CCIP as the default choice for government-grade cross-chain infrastructure.

The LINK token rose approximately 3% to trade near $9.67 on the announcement. The market read it as confirmation of a trend rather than a one-off event.

Winner-take-all dynamics in cross-chain infrastructure Cross-chain messaging has network effects that tilt toward consolidation. The more assets and protocols that use a given infrastructure, the more liquidity flows through its lanes, the more node operators are incentivized to secure it, and the more attractive it becomes to the next migrating protocol. The reverse also holds: as assets leave a network, remaining participants bear a proportionally larger share of security costs while enjoying fewer network benefits.

LayerZero’s position entering 2026 was dominant. It accounted for an estimated 57% of all cross-chain volume, peaking at 76% in Q2 2025. Over $100 billion in cumulative value had crossed its rails. The Kelp DAO exploit did not break LayerZero’s code. It broke the market’s confidence in LayerZero’s security model, specifically the principle that applications should be responsible for configuring their own verification thresholds.

Chainlink’s response has been to offer a model where security is not optional and not configurable downward. Sixteen node operators per lane, a separate monitoring network, rate limits, SOC 2 compliance. It is more expensive per message. It is also the model that $15 billion in assets have now chosen.

The question for the second half of 2026 is whether this becomes self-reinforcing. If LayerZero’s 5-of-5 verifier mandate increases costs to levels comparable with CCIP, applications face a choice between two similarly priced systems, one of which has been accumulating institutional migration momentum for four months. If the fee switch referendum fails because the remaining transaction base no longer justifies activation, ZRO’s value proposition weakens further, potentially driving additional departures.

There is also the matter of developer mindshare. LayerZero’s OFT standard embeds protocol-specific code into token contracts, creating what critics call vendor lock-in. Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Token standard, by contrast, is designed to let issuers retain full ownership of their token contracts and swap providers without redeploying. For teams that have already experienced one forced migration, the standard that makes the next migration easier holds obvious appeal.

Cross-chain infrastructure may not be a natural monopoly. But the $15 billion exodus suggests it has strong winner-take-most characteristics, and the current trajectory favors the protocol that made security non-negotiable.

What to watch LayerZero’s next fee switch referendum. If token holders vote against activation because the remaining transaction base cannot justify the cost to users, it will confirm the revenue hollowing thesis and likely accelerate departures.

DVN operator retention. Whether additional verifier network operators follow Nethermind to Chainlink will signal whether LayerZero’s 5-of-5 mandate can attract enough high-quality validators to function as designed.

Federal stablecoin legislation and state token adoption. If other U.S. states issue stable tokens and follow Wyoming’s precedent of selecting Chainlink CCIP, cross-chain infrastructure becomes a regulated-market standard rather than a protocol-level choice.

Kelp DAO recovery fund outcomes. Aave has completed liquidation of the attacker’s final rsETH positions, but DeFi United’s recovery plan for affected holders will test whether the ecosystem can absorb a $292 million loss without lasting contagion.

LayerZero monthly active transaction volume. The raw number of cross-chain messages processed per month, compared with pre-exodus baselines, will be the clearest measure of whether the migration wave has stabilized or is still accelerating.

Is LayerZero still safe to use after the Kelp DAO exploit? LayerZero has removed support for 1-of-1 DVN configurations and is moving toward stricter 5-of-5 verifier setups. The protocol’s code was not broken in the exploit. The vulnerability was a configuration choice that allowed a single verifier to validate high-value transactions. Applications using multiple independent verifiers face a meaningfully different risk profile than Kelp DAO’s original setup.

How much total value has migrated from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP? Publicly announced migrations total approximately $15 billion as of mid-August 2026. The largest single migration is BitGo’s $7.4 billion WBTC, followed by Mantle’s $2.5 billion Super Portal and Lombard’s $1 billion in bitcoin-backed assets. Smaller migrations from Solv, Virtuals, Re, Kraken, and Yuzu Money account for the remainder.

What is the difference between LayerZero’s DVN model and Chainlink CCIP’s security? LayerZero allows each application to choose its own set of Decentralized Verifier Network operators and set a threshold for how many must agree. Chainlink CCIP requires a minimum of 16 independent node operators per lane and adds a separate Risk Management Network that monitors for anomalies and enforces rate limits. The core difference is whether security configuration is the responsibility of the application or the protocol.

Who was behind the Kelp DAO exploit? Mandiant, CrowdStrike, and independent security researchers attributed the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, specifically the TraderTraitor cluster. The breach began on March 6, 2026, when an attacker socially engineered a LayerZero Labs developer to harvest session keys and gain access to the RPC cloud environment.

Why did Wyoming choose Chainlink CCIP for the Frontier Stable Token? The Wyoming Stable Token Commission cited concerns about LayerZero’s disclosure practices and operational security. The Commission selected Chainlink CCIP as the exclusive, multi-year cross-chain infrastructure for FRNT, fully retiring LayerZero. FRNT is the first fiat-backed stable token issued by a U.S. public entity.

What happens to LayerZero’s revenue if migrations continue? LayerZero currently takes 0% on messaging fees, with all fees flowing to DVNs and Executors. Revenue potential depends on activating a fee switch through a token holder referendum. Each migration reduces the transaction base that would generate fees if the switch is activated, structurally reducing the future value of ZRO.

Has LayerZero lost its dominant market share in cross-chain messaging? LayerZero accounted for an estimated 57% of all cross-chain volume entering 2026, peaking at 76% in Q2 2025. The $15 billion in migrations represents a significant reduction in the asset base generating cross-chain messages through LayerZero, though exact market share figures for mid-2026 have not been published.

Could the migration trend reverse? LayerZero’s move to 5-of-5 verifier requirements and the deprecation of insecure configurations address the specific vulnerability exploited in the Kelp DAO attack. However, reversing the trend would require migrated protocols to switch back, which involves smart contract upgrades, governance votes, and reputational risk for teams that publicly cited security as their reason for leaving. Multi-year exclusive contracts, like Wyoming’s, make reversal structurally impossible for some participants. This is educational analysis, not investment advice.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Crypto assets are volatile and carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Published Aug. 20, 2026.

Table of contents

Coinbase has announced that users in Brazil can now buy and sell USDC directly against the Brazilian real on Coinbase Advanced. In its Aug. 19 announcement, the company said the change removes a step in the trading flow and reduces BRL USDC onramping costs by 85%.

The rollout concerns direct BRL-to-USDC access on Coinbase Advanced. Coinbase presented the launch as part of its expansion in Brazil, which it described as a significant crypto market.

What is changing Rather than requiring an intermediate trade or conversion route, eligible users can trade USDC directly in BRL on the Advanced platform. The company said the design is intended to lower friction and costs for users seeking dollar-denominated stablecoin liquidity.

Coinbase’s 85% figure is its own claim about the reduction in USDC onramping costs via BRL on Coinbase Advanced. The release does not provide a universal fee schedule in the announcement, so actual costs can depend on the applicable account, product and transaction conditions.

Stablecoin context The company linked the product change to its broader view of stablecoins as payment and settlement infrastructure. Those wider market statements are Coinbase’s characterization, not independently verified transaction results from this launch.

The announcement is a product-access update, not a change to the USDC protocol or a new stablecoin issuance. Users should consult Coinbase’s in-product disclosures and regional terms for availability and applicable charges. The company did not announce a change to USDC redemption mechanics in the post.

AUTHOR

Jide Idowu is a skilled freelance writer with expertise in blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, and digital finance. Known for his ability to break down complex topics into clear, engaging content, Jide crafts articles, blog posts, and analyses that resonate with both beginners and seasoned professionals. His work spans a wide range of subjects, from emerging crypto trends to in-depth explorations of blockchain innovations. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for educating readers, Jide is a reliable voice in the rapidly evolving world of digital assets.

https://coinpedia.org/price-analysis/jito-surges-as-solanas-market-layer-goes-live-can-jto-price-extend-its-rally-beyond-1

The holders of JitoSOL have achieved the necessary governance quorum, enabling the Jito Stake Pool to cast a decisive YES vote on three active Solana governance proposals. This development involves approximately 10 million SOL being used to influence protocol governance, marking a significant step for JitoSOL holders in participating in Solana’s decision-making processes. The quorum was reached under the JIP-30 trigger mechanism, which allows the stake pool to reflect the collective vote of JitoSOL holders once the threshold is met, thereby integrating liquid staking token holders into Solana’s governance framework.

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The move appears to reflect a growing trend of liquid staking tokens playing a crucial role in blockchain governance. By involving JitoSOL holders in decision-making, the initiative could enhance engagement and confidence in the Solana ecosystem. The market response to this development suggests a positive outlook, potentially impacting Solana’s market dynamics and price trajectory.

Key Takeaways The move appears to integrate JitoSOL holders into Solana’s governance, suggesting increased community involvement. JitoSOL’s governance mechanism indicates strong support for the current Solana proposals, potentially impacting market sentiment. The development could indicate a shift in the governance role of liquid staking tokens within the Solana ecosystem. What to Watch The effects of this governance decision on Solana’s market dynamics will be crucial in the coming days. Observers should monitor Solana’s price movements and any subsequent governance outcomes. Additionally, further integration of liquid staking tokens into other blockchain governance frameworks could indicate a broader trend, potentially influencing market confidence and participation.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h September 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → September 1 2026 0.9% — — View market → September 1 2026 1% — — View market → September 1 2026 1.8% — — View market → September 1 2026 16.1% — — View market → September 1 2026 60.9% — — View market → September 1 2026 7% — — View market → September 1 2026 1.7% — — View market → September 1 2026 0.3% — — View market → September 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → September 1 2026 0.7% — — View market →

Shibarium metrics surge even as SHIB price lagsShiba Inu's $SHIB token is trading at approximately $0.00000443, up around 7% over the past month but still a long way from the all-time highs set in October 2021. Price alone, however, is not the full story right now. The more notable movement is happening on Shibarium, the Layer 2 network built to scale the Shiba Inu ecosystem.

Over the past 30 days, on-chain fees on Shibarium have risen 79.5%, reaching $22.10. More strikingly, total value locked (TVL) on the protocol has jumped 298% over the same period, including a 287% increase in just one week, bringing TVL to $97,453. The figures come from DeFiLlama, one of the primary trackers for decentralised finance data across blockchain networks.

Context matters: a small but accelerating baseThe absolute numbers remain modest. For context, a recent report from The Crypto Basic noted that Shibarium's TVL stood at $25,273 as recently as August 10 , which makes the move to nearly $97,500 within days a meaningful percentage gain even if the overall pool is still small. Separate data from Coin-Turk, published August 15, put Shibarium's TVL at $102,324 , broadly consistent with the upward trend shown in DeFiLlama's figures.

Activity on the transaction side has also picked up. On August 9, Shibarium processed around 4,480 transactions, a 507% jump from the lows recorded just days earlier , with blockchain trackers flagging it as a one-month high. Data from Shibariumscan shows the Layer 2 network has now processed 1.56 billion transactions since launching in August 2023, across roughly 269.93 million recorded addresses.

Analysts caution against reading too much into short-term spikes. Single-day surges can be inflated by bots, high-frequency wallets, or temporary programmes that dry up as quickly as they appear. The percentage gains on TVL and fees are also amplified by the small starting base. Still, the direction of travel across multiple metrics, fees, TVL, and transaction counts, points to rising engagement with the Shibarium ecosystem over recent weeks, even if the network remains a fraction of the size of leading Layer 2 platforms.

Shibarium uses BONE as its gas token, tying network activity directly to BONE demand for transaction fees. SHIB itself does not function as the gas currency, meaning the token's utility is more indirect, linked to broader ecosystem participation and any burn dynamics that follow from network usage.

Whether the current momentum can be sustained remains to be seen, but the data suggests on-chain activity and capital flowing into Shibarium are growing at a faster pace than the token price alone would imply.

Sources:
DeFiLlama: Shibarium chain data
The Crypto Basic: Shibarium transactions surge 507%
Coin-Turk: Shibarium DEX volume and TVL, August 2026

Crypto exchange UEX.US has announced the listing of Shiba Inu (SHIB), giving users another avenue to trade and access financial services tied to the meme coin.

According to the exchange, users can now trade Shiba Inu against USDT and other major assets. In addition, they can purchase the token through PayPal, bank wire transfers, or card payments.

Moreover, UEX.US has introduced a 4.5% APY Savings Rewards rate for SHIB from the first day. The platform also allows users to borrow up to 90% of their SHIB holdings without selling their tokens.

The listing expands SHIB’s reach among exchange users and adds another trading venue for the asset. Notably, the announcement comes about a week after Australian-based exchange FrameEx listed SHIB, after which the token briefly climbed to $0.00001004.

SHIB Shows Signs of a Modest Recovery Meanwhile, SHIB is showing signs of recovery after finding support around $0.0000043 earlier this week. It is currently trading at $0.000004461, while several market indicators pointed to improving sentiment.

For instance, Santiment’s Social Dominance metric has recovered since August 16, reaching 0.016% at press time. This increase suggests that SHIB-related discussions are gaining prominence across cryptocurrency conversations.

Shiba Inu Social Dominance Chart Derivatives data also offers a more constructive outlook. CoinGlass data showed SHIB’s long-to-short ratio at 1.01. Since the ratio sits slightly above one, long positions marginally outnumber short positions, indicating that traders are becoming more optimistic about SHIB’s near-term direction.

Furthermore, SHIB’s funding rate turned positive on Tuesday and climbed to 0.0087% on Wednesday. Positive funding generally means traders holding long positions are paying those holding shorts, signaling stronger demand for bullish exposure. 

SHIB funding rates chart  $0.0000043 Support Remains Critical From a technical perspective, SHIB’s ability to hold above $0.0000043 could determine whether its latest recovery develops into a stronger rebound.

The token retested this support zone yesterday and attracted buyers around the level. It subsequently moved back above $0.0000044, suggesting that selling pressure may be easing. If SHIB continues to hold $0.0000043, its next potential target is the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), currently around $0.0000046.

Momentum indicators also provide some encouragement. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) stood near the neutral 50 level at 46, indicating that bearish momentum is weakening without yet confirming a strong bullish reversal. Meanwhile, the MACD’s declining red histogram bars point to fading downside momentum. 

SHIB/USDT daily chart However, the recovery remains vulnerable. A daily close below $0.0000043 could invalidate the immediate bullish setup and expose SHIB to further losses towards the psychological $0.0000040 level. 

DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

Most crypto projects talk about bridging the digital and physical worlds. Virtuals Protocol is trying to do it with actual robots.

The project’s Eastworlds initiative, which launched in late February 2026, operates as a robotics accelerator and deployment lab designed to do something deceptively simple: put humanoid robots into real environments, collect the data they generate, and funnel it back into an AI training pipeline. The twist is that this entire data economy is anchored to the $VIRTUAL token.

What Eastworlds actually does At its core, Eastworlds is a neodeployment lab. It takes robotics teams that have promising technology stuck in the demo phase and gives them the infrastructure to operate in the real world. Selected teams get access to advanced hardware, including Unitree G1 humanoid robot units, along with teleoperation workflows and operational support lasting up to one month.

The real product, though, isn’t the robots themselves. It’s the data.

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Every time a robot manipulates an object, navigates a space, or executes a locomotion task, Eastworlds captures that interaction as training data for autonomous policies. The initiative has documented more than 500,000 individual tasks and currently generates approximately 200 hours of humanoid teleoperation data per week. That volume positions Eastworlds as one of the more significant sources of operational robotics data outside of China, where much of the world’s humanoid robot development is concentrated.

The data flywheel and the token Virtuals Protocol has structured Eastworlds around what it calls a “data flywheel.” Deployed robots generate training data. That data improves autonomous policies. Better policies make robots more capable in the field. More capable robots generate higher-quality data.

Where $VIRTUAL fits into this loop is as the economic layer. The Virtuals Protocol ecosystem revolves around tokenized AI agents, and the data harvested through Eastworlds feeds directly into training those agents.

Entry into the Eastworlds program requires teams to meet a minimum fully diluted valuation of $5 million for a week of participation. The target industries include logistics, manufacturing, and service sectors.

Why this approach is different Eastworlds takes a platform approach. By providing hardware, environments, and operational support to multiple external teams, it can generate data across a wider range of tasks, environments, and use cases than any single company could manage alone.

The centralized decision-making around team onboarding and scheduling, managed entirely by the Eastworlds team, keeps the operation streamlined. That’s a practical necessity when you’re coordinating expensive hardware and limited facility time, but it also means Virtuals Protocol maintains tight control over who gets access and what kind of data flows into the ecosystem.

What to watch For traders and investors in the $VIRTUAL ecosystem, the key metric to track is whether the data flywheel actually accelerates. Generating 200 hours of teleoperation data weekly is a solid starting point, but the value proposition hinges on that data translating into measurably better autonomous policies that attract more teams, which in turn generate more data.

The competitive landscape is also worth monitoring. Major robotics companies like Tesla, Figure, and Agility Robotics are all pursuing their own data collection strategies through proprietary deployments. Eastworlds’ advantage is its open-platform model, but its disadvantage is scale.

The $5 million valuation floor for participating teams also raises questions about how quickly Eastworlds can expand its roster.

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

Coinbase has added more than 290 perpetual contract markets to the Base App through Hyperliquid, giving eligible users access to leverage of up to 50 times.

Summary

More than 290 perpetual markets are available through the Base App. Hyperliquid executes the trades while users remain inside their existing wallets. Leverage reaches 50x on supported markets, raising the risk of liquidation. Users in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada cannot access the product. According to an Aug. 19 report, Coinbase said that the integration covers Bitcoin, Ethereum, and contracts tied to stocks and commodities, although the leverage limit varies by market.

Coinbase brings Hyperliquid trading into Base App Rather than operating a separate derivatives venue inside the Base App, Coinbase is routing perpetual contract orders to Hyperliquid for execution. Users can open and manage positions without leaving their existing wallets, according to the company.

Coinbase Head of Engineering Chintan Turakhia described Hyperliquid as one of the highest-performance on-chain perpetual trading protocols, pointing to its liquidity and execution speed as reasons for the integration.

“Because we support multiple chains and ecosystems, this integration lets our users tap into its deep liquidity and speed without ever leaving their existing wallet,” Turakhia said in a statement.

The arrangement keeps the trading interface inside the Base App while relying on Hyperliquid’s infrastructure to process orders. Coinbase did not disclose whether it receives a share of trading fees, pays Hyperliquid for order execution, or applies additional charges to trades placed through the app.

Perpetual contracts let traders take long or short positions on an asset without buying the underlying instrument. Unlike dated futures, the contracts have no fixed expiry, while funding payments between long and short traders help keep their prices close to the referenced market.

Alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, the available markets include contracts linked to equities and commodities. Coinbase did not provide a complete list of the supported markets in its announcement, and leverage can fall below the advertised 50x maximum depending on the asset.

The stock-linked products provide price exposure through derivatives rather than ownership of company shares. Traders therefore do not receive voting rights, dividends or other rights normally attached to the underlying stock.

A June report on pre-IPO perpetuals examined Coinbase’s contracts tied to private companies, including SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Such products rely on constructed reference prices because privately held companies do not have continuously traded public shares.

Up to 50x leverage raises liquidation risk Using 50x leverage allows a trader to control a position worth 50 times the capital committed as margin. The same structure can amplify losses, with relatively small price changes capable of exhausting the funds supporting a position.

Coinbase said positions may be liquidated when losses pass the applicable maintenance threshold. Hyperliquid’s execution system can close a position if the trader no longer has enough collateral to keep it open, although the precise liquidation level depends on the market, position size, and leverage selected.

Turakhia said perpetual contracts account for about 75% of current cryptocurrency trading volume, describing the product as the most requested addition among frequent Base App users.

“Perps are where the volume is—roughly 75% of all crypto trading today is perps, not spot,” he said.

Coinbase did not identify the dataset or measurement period behind the 75% figure. Trading-volume estimates can differ depending on whether a calculation includes centralized exchanges, decentralized protocols, dated futures, options, and exchanges that do not publish independently verified figures.

Hyperliquid has developed into one of the largest on-chain venues for perpetual contracts. A May review of the protocol cited industry trackers showing that it processed more monthly perpetual volume than several competing decentralized platforms combined.

For Base App users, the integration removes the need to open a separate Hyperliquid interface before entering a position. Coinbase, however, has not said whether the Base App will offer every Hyperliquid order type or provide the same trading controls available through Hyperliquid’s native platform.

US users remain blocked from Base App perpetuals Coinbase said the new perpetual product is unavailable in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and other jurisdictions that restrict leveraged cryptocurrency derivatives.

American customers therefore cannot use the Base App integration to trade Hyperliquid perpetuals. Coinbase offers separate futures products in the United States through Coinbase Financial Markets, a futures commission merchant registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a member of the National Futures Association.

According to Coinbase’s risk disclosures, its regulated U.S. futures service can liquidate positions if a customer’s margin ratio reaches 100%. The company also warns that leveraged futures may produce losses exceeding the amount initially deposited.

Funds placed in a U.S. Coinbase Financial Markets futures account fall under CFTC customer-protection rules, including segregation requirements. Coinbase states that ordinary spot balances held by Coinbase Inc. do not receive the same protection.

Hyperliquid perpetuals inside the Base App are separate from the regulated U.S. futures service. Coinbase has not announced a timetable for seeking American access to the new integration or identified a U.S.-regulated entity that would offer the contracts.

The geographic limits also exclude UK users from the product, even though Coinbase has recently expanded other services in the country. In August, the exchange began rolling out access to almost 4,000 U.S. stocks for eligible UK customers, with trading available 24 hours a day on weekdays.

Base App has returned its focus to financial products The Hyperliquid integration follows a change in Base App’s product priorities after its earlier focus on social feeds, creators, and creator tokens failed to produce the user growth its developers expected.

As crypto.news reported in July, Base creator Jesse Pollak said the network had fallen behind in prediction markets and perpetual futures while concentrating on social products.

Pollak wrote that demand for the social features had “disintegrated completely” and called the creator-led approach the “wrong bet.” He subsequently stepped back from leading the Base App to concentrate on the development of the Base blockchain, while Coinbase resumed control of the application.

Trading, payments, stablecoins, and AI agents have since taken a more prominent role in the app’s development. Coinbase has also pursued an “Everything Exchange” model that combines crypto markets with stocks, derivatives, prediction markets, and other financial products.

In July, coverage of prediction markets showed that Coinbase had described the category as one of its fastest-growing products. The company’s first-quarter 2026 shareholder materials said retail derivatives had passed $200 million in annualized revenue, while derivatives volume over the previous 12 months had risen 169% year over year.

Base already offered perpetual trading through Avantis and prediction markets through Limitless, but Pollak acknowledged in July that both products trailed larger competitors. Dune Analytics data cited at the time showed that Limitless accounted for about 0.5% of monthly prediction-market notional volume.

Stellar's RWA Market Hits $3.25 Billion@StellarOrg ($XLM) now hosts 70 tokenized real-world assets held across 18,917 addresses, according to data from RWAxyz. The total value of those assets has reached $3.25 billion, a milestone that puts Stellar firmly among the leading networks for regulated asset tokenization.

Spiko leads the issuer rankings, accounting for 41.63% of total value at $1.5 billion. Spiko's offerings include EUTBL, USTBL, and UKTBL, each a regulated tokenized money market fund backed by treasury bills from the Eurozone, United States, and United Kingdom respectively. Franklin Templeton ranks second at $570.6 million. Franklin Templeton is the issuer of BENJI, the first regulated money market fund on a blockchain, originally launched on Stellar in April 2021. Ondo sits third at $534.5 million. Ondo Finance's USDY is a tokenized note backed by short-term US Treasuries.

Despite the growth in total asset value, RWA transfer volume fell 57% over the same 30-day period, suggesting that while capital is accumulating on the network, day-to-day trading and settlement activity has slowed in the near term.

Stablecoins Tell a Different StoryStablecoin activity on Stellar moved sharply in the opposite direction. Thirty-day transfer volume rose 40.77% to $7.59 billion, and stablecoin market cap climbed 20.25% to $394.88 million across 694,000 holders, per RWAxyz data.

The divergence between softer RWA transfer volumes and surging stablecoin flows points to two distinct user bases on the network: institutional issuers accumulating longer-dated tokenized instruments, and a larger base of users actively transacting in dollar-pegged assets.

The Stellar Development Foundation's Q2 2026 report showed tokenized RWAs had reached $3.05 billion, doubling in a single quarter, while the broader RWA market grew roughly 50% over the same stretch, meaning Stellar expanded about four times faster than the industry average. The $3.25 billion figure reported by RWAxyz reflects continued growth since that period.

Stellar's architecture was designed with institutional asset issuance in mind. The network includes built-in compliance tools, including controlled access accounts and clawback capabilities that regulated institutions require. Among major RWA networks, Stellar holds around 13% market share, behind Ethereum but ahead of Polygon, Solana, and others.

Sources:
Messari: State of Stellar Q1 2026
Bitget News: Stellar network's real-world assets market cap surpasses $3B
CoinDesk: Franklin Templeton Brings Tokenized Treasury Fund to Europe on Stellar

11 minutes ago

U.S. President Donald Trump met with executives from crypto and fintech firms including Coinbase, Ripple, Robinhood, Gemini, and Chainlink at the White House’s Roosevelt Room on Wednesday local time, delivering a speech in support of cryptocurrencies. Trump said his administration has “completely ended the war on cryptocurrencies,” noting the industry is thriving, and the U.S. must retain its “undisputed leadership” in areas such as Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, prediction markets, and artificial intelligence, while committing to becoming the “world’s crypto capital.” He added that the U.S. government has discussed accumulating “significant quantities” of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, claiming crypto assets “have greatly eased pressure on the U.S. dollar.” Meanwhile, he urged Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) promptly, arguing this would keep the U.S. ahead of China and other countries. Trump also noted that the SEC Chair is working to bring Hyperliquid to the U.S. market in a compliant manner, and highlighted policy achievements including the signed Genius Act (stablecoin legislation), strategic Bitcoin reserves, and the ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

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Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave, announced a governance proposal to bring the Neuberger Securitize High Income Tokenized Fund, known as HINC, onto Aave Horizon as supply-only collateral. Neuberger Berman, the asset manager behind the fund, oversees roughly $230 billion in assets under management.

What HINC brings to the table HINC is a high-yield fixed-income strategy fund that invests primarily in high-yield corporate bonds, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and bank loans. The fund requires a minimum investment of $100,000, which signals this isn’t aimed at retail participants. It’s built for qualified, institutional users who want exposure to below-investment-grade credit products while tapping into onchain borrowing.

If the Aave governance proposal passes, HINC holders would be able to borrow stablecoins including USDC, GHO, and RLUSD against their fund positions. That’s a meaningful expansion of what’s available as collateral on Aave Horizon, which until now has focused more on treasuries and investment-grade instruments.

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Securitize handles the tokenization and infrastructure for HINC. The firm has previously worked with VanEck on its VBILL tokenized treasury fund.

Neuberger Berman itself serves as subadvisor on the fund. The firm is part of a larger group managing approximately $567 billion as of March 2026.

Why Aave Horizon matters Aave Horizon is an institutional-grade lending protocol built on Ethereum, specifically designed for qualified users to borrow stablecoins against tokenized real-world assets. The platform already has hundreds of millions in market size. The onboarding of HINC would be Aave Horizon’s first below-investment-grade credit asset, moving the platform beyond the safer, more conservative corner of fixed income and into territory where yields are higher but so are the risks.

HINC’s multi-chain integration adds another layer to the story. The fund is structured to operate across Avalanche, Ethereum, Solana, and Sui, which gives institutional participants flexibility in choosing their preferred blockchain infrastructure.

The bigger picture for tokenized RWAs The supply-only designation for HINC is worth noting. Collateral marked as supply-only can be deposited to earn yield or posted as collateral for borrowing, but it cannot itself be borrowed by other users. That constraint limits certain forms of leverage and rehypothecation, which is a sensible guardrail for a fund investing in below-investment-grade instruments.

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

Solana has taken its first step on the path to 200ms slot times, pushing the first reduction from 400ms to 350ms on mainnet. When complete, Solana will theoretically be capable of processing twice as many blocks as previously, doubling network scalability.

The reduction is set to take effect from epoch 1020, scheduled for August 21, 2026. Meanwhile, Anza CEO Brennan Watt claims the Solana testnet has already succeeded in reaching 200ms slots.

Combined with Solana’s recent block limit increase, experts like Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz argue these developments facilitate a 4x performance increase for the network, with critical improvements like Alpenglow still expected later this year.

350ms Slot Times Pushed to Mainnet Anza, the Research and Development firm spearheading Solana’s development, has activated the first of four incremental improvements to network scalability, dropping slot times from 400ms to 350ms.

While the feature has been activated onchain, the drop will not become effective until Epoch 1020, currently expected on August 21.

As part of an extended rollout to Agave v4.2, Anza’s validator client software, slot times on the network will drop to 200ms, effectively doubling the speed at which Solana produces blocks. 

Beyond improving Solana’s performance, the reduction also functions as a censorship resistance measure by shortening the time in which leaders hold a monopoly over block production.

Solana Testnet Hits 182ms Slot Time Fortunately for the Solana mainnet, testnet implementation of slot time reductions have progressed smoothly. Anza CEO Brennan Watt asserts that testnet slot times have been pushed as low as 182ms. 

Testnet block explorer data confirms that the average slot time over the past hour is 193ms, suggesting that all staggered reductions have been successful. Based on testnet data, consequent reductions have been activated every 2 epochs.

While it is unconfirmed that mainnet rollout will follow the same cadence, the same implementation schedule would see 200ms slot times operational on mainnet by epoch 1026, or roughly the 1st of September.

However, mainnet rollout may be slightly slower. Solana’s validators have collectively agreed not to progress to the next reduction if the network’s skip rate is too high.

Slot Time Reduction + Block Limit Increase = 4x Performance Improvement?  While making a significant impact on network scalability, Solana’s slot time improvements are only one piece of a much larger plan to increase bandwidth and reduce latency across crypto’s most performant chain.

In a recent podcast appearance, Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz claimed that Solana’s upcoming slot time reduction, when combined with block limit increases, will make four times more performant in the immediate term.

Beyond faster slots and higher block capacity, Solana is also set to embrace further performance enhancements in its next major network upgrade, Alpenglow. Designed by Anza, Alpenglow promises to reimagine Solana’s consensus mechanism, bringing transaction finality down to 150ms and reducing validator voting costs to ~1.6 $SOL per epoch, down from around 2.4 $SOL per epoch.

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Jupiter’s dominance of Solana’s DEX aggregator market has reached a new low. According to Blockworks data, Jupiter accounted for 48% of Solana DEX aggregator volume on August 18, marking the first time its daily share has fallen below 50% since launch. OKX captured 37%, while DFlow and Titan accounted for 13% and 2%, respectively.

The latest figures extend a decline that has accelerated over the past several months. In early April, Jupiter controlled about 90% of weekly aggregator volume. By Aug. 1, that figure had fallen to 71%, representing a roughly 20% decline in 4 months.

OKX and DFlow have captured much of the share Jupiter has lost. OKX held 13% of daily volume on Aug. 1, while DFlow accounted for 11%.

Jupiter Continues Expanding As Revenue Declines Jupiter’s declining aggregator share comes as the company continues to expand its broader DeFi ecosystem.

Jupiter Lend has steadily gained ground against competitors such as Kamino in recent weeks. Its Gacha product also attracted more than $27 million in user spending within 3 weeks of its launch.

On Aug. 10, Jupiter launched Lend v2, which introduced Smart Collateral and Smart Debt. The optional features allow deposited and borrowed assets to also provide DEX liquidity, giving users the potential to earn lending yield alongside trading fees and, where applicable, staking rewards.

The additional yield depends on actual trading activity through the associated liquidity pools, linking Lend v2's performance partly to Jupiter’s routing activity.

Jupiter’s falling market share also comes against a backdrop of declining revenue. DefiLlama data indicates that Jupiter generated about $2.24 million in revenue so far in August. That figure puts the platform on pace for another relatively weak month if the current trend continues.

The decline looks more significant when compared with Jupiter’s 2024 and 2025 performance.

Monthly revenue surged throughout 2024 and peaked at over $28 million in late 2024. Several months in 2025 also generated more than $10 million, with some approaching or exceeding $20 million.

Revenue has since fallen considerably. Recent monthly figures have fallen to their lowest levels in roughly two years, highlighting the pressure facing its core business as trading activity and aggregator share change.

OKX Gains While Titan Fades OKX has emerged as Jupiter’s most significant challenger in the aggregator market. Incentivized trading campaigns may have contributed to its rising share.

Titan, meanwhile, has fallen from being Solana’s second-largest aggregator to just 2% of daily volume according to Blockworks data. Titan operates as a meta-aggregator, meaning its quotes can include routing through other aggregators. That structure can cause some of its flow to appear in competing venues.

Despite weaker overall onchain activity during the crypto bear market, DEX aggregators remain important to Solana traders even as DEX aggregator share of spot volume has dropped to its lowest level in months.

Jupiter’s fall below 50% therefore marks more than a change in one platform’s market share. It signals a more competitive Solana trading market, with OKX and DFlow increasingly challenging the dominance Jupiter held for years.

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