Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Testnet Numbers Tell the StoryActivity on @SuiNetwork's Hashi testnet has been brisk since it went live on July 22, with cumulative $BTC deposits surpassing 1.1 million and withdrawals topping 165,000 in just three weeks. The protocol now accounts for over 50% of $BTC Signet transactions over the past 14 days, with more than 25 institutional participants actively stress-testing the system.

The pace points to early appetite for bringing native bitcoin into DeFi without wrapping or bridging the asset, a model that has drawn renewed interest after repeated bridge exploits drained hundreds of millions from other chains.

How Hashi Works and Who Is Backing ItUnlike conventional wrapped-asset bridges, Hashi does not move $BTC off the Bitcoin network. Users deposit native bitcoin, Sui validators confirm the transaction, and the protocol mints hBTC, a representative token usable as programmable collateral for institutional lending and stablecoin borrowing. Deposits are secured through a 2-of-2 multisig arrangement combining Hashi's multi-party computation (MPC) validators with a separate Guardian Layer, a configurable risk-management system designed to slow or block suspicious withdrawals. Loan terms and collateral positions are recorded onchain, giving lenders direct visibility into how much bitcoin backs any given position.

More than 25 institutional partners are testing lending and credit applications on the testnet, including custody provider BitGo, trading firms Cumberland and FalconX, hardware wallet maker Ledger, infrastructure provider Blockdaemon, exchange Bullish, and Sui-native lending platforms Navi and Scallop. Wave Digital Assets has committed to a three-year plan to tokenize bitcoin-yield-bearing bonds on Sui once Hashi reaches mainnet.

On the compliance side, attorneys at Fenwick, an AmLaw 100 firm widely recognised in digital assets, concluded that locking $BTC through Hashi and receiving hBTC should not constitute a taxable event under U.S. federal income tax law, removing a key friction point for institutional adoption.

Hashi's Guardian Layer must still clear security reviews before any mainnet transition begins, and no launch date has been announced. The early testnet figures arrive at a difficult moment for the broader BTCFi sector, with layer-2 BTCFi total value locked falling roughly 74% from its 2025 highs to around 91,000 BTC by mid-2026.

Sources:
Bitcoin.com: Sui's Hashi Bridge Tops 1.1 Million Bitcoin Deposits in 3 Weeks
Sui Blog: Hashi Testnet Is Live
TechTimes: Bitcoin Collateral Reaches DeFi Without Wrapping

10h05 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Ghiles A.

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The digital asset market is going through a more uncertain phase as companies linked to bitcoin adjust their reserves. Strategy now has $4.8 billion in cash, offering several options. Michael Saylor believes this financial cushion can support purchases, share buybacks or debt reduction. At the same time, the company also wants to be able to sell its digital assets if conditions change. This flexibility becomes central as the MSTR stock falls sharply.

In Brief Strategy has $4.8 billion in cash to enhance its financial flexibility. The company could buy back its MSTR shares if they suffer a steep discount. Strategy wants to keep enough cash to buy bitcoin, repurchase shares or reduce its debt. Michael Saylor states the company must be able to sell bitcoin as much as to buy depending on market conditions. Strategy Keeps Several Options Open With Its Cash Strategy does not prioritize buying back its own shares immediately. Michael Saylor has, however, indicated that “the company could intervene if MSTR showed a steep discount compared to its net asset value.” The stock has lost about 38% since the start of the year and 73% over twelve months. This decline notably accompanies the fall of bitcoin and regular issuances of common shares.

For now, management is focusing its efforts on preferred shares, particularly STRC. In an interview with CoinDesk, CEO Phong Le also defends the new issuances of MSTR despite dilution concerns. According to him, “This method can benefit shareholders when the price exceeds the asset value associated with each share.” Strategy can then use the raised funds to acquire more bitcoin.

The logic therefore depends on the gap between the share price and the value of the assets held. When this gap remains favorable, new issuances can increase the amount of assets associated with each share. Conversely, a steep discount could make buybacks more interesting. This approach gives the company several levers to manage its capital.

$4.8 Billion to Maintain Maneuvering Room The recent drop in STRC has also changed cash management. Phong Phong Le now emphasizes the importance of having enough liquidity to cover dividends related to STRC preferred shares. The company currently holds $4.8 billion and plans to keep substantial reserves. This position should allow it to act according to bitcoin market developments.

Michael Saylor described several uses for this cash. The company could buy bitcoin or repurchase MSTR shares or preferred shares, but also reduce its debt. This reserve is therefore not solely for funding a new bitcoin acquisition. It also constitutes a financial management tool against different market phases.

This flexibility also concerns the digital assets held by the company. Saylor believes that “strategy must be able to sell bitcoin as much as to buy.” The market price then plays a role in the pace of decisions. When the price clearly exceeds its 200-week average, the company could retain more of the raised funds.

A Strategy Tied to Bitcoin Market Cycles Conversely, a bitcoin near or below its 200-week moving average could represent a more favorable buying area. This reference thus provides a framework for future decisions without imposing a fixed timetable. Strategy, therefore, maintains an approach that depends on market levels and its financial needs. The cash provides more time to adapt this policy.

STRC follows a different logic than MSTR. This preferred share mainly aims to provide income through dividends while maintaining a price close to $100. Saylor explained the company could sell more shares above this level. It could also support the price by buybacks if it falls below this zone.

Finally, the company does not plan to acquire profitable operational companies to generate additional liquidity. Michael Saylor considers that such diversification would complicate the company’s evaluation for investors. He also recommends MSTR holders to have a horizon of at least four years, preferably seven to ten years. This vision reflects a desire to go through several market periods rather than respond to movements.

The next step will therefore depend on the evolution of the BTC price, cash reserves, and financing needs. With $4.8 billion available, Strategy keeps multiple choices, from purchases to buybacks. Its ability to sell is also integrated into this strategy, depending on the conditions observed on the market.

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Ghiles A.

Journaliste et rédacteur web passionné par l’univers des cryptomonnaies et des technologies Web3. J’y traite les dernières tendances et actualités afin de proposer un contenu de haute qualité à un large public du secteur.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Short seller James Chanos described Strategy and Bitcoin as an “$80 billion actionable spread” on Aug. 18, reviving debate over the valuation of Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin treasury company.

Summary

Strategy held 840,447 bitcoin after recent sales, below the 847,363 coin peak disclosed in June. At $64,188 per Bitcoin, Strategy’s remaining holdings were worth approximately $53.95 billion on Tuesday morning. MSTR’s market capitalization was about $34.4 billion, but direct comparison ignores senior financing claims entirely. Chanos previously closed his short MSTR, long Bitcoin trade in November 2025 after spread compression. Strategy’s dashboard placed its mNAV near 1.04, indicating only a narrow enterprise value premium Tuesday. Chanos called the relationship one of the largest “pure arbitrage opportunities” he had seen. His earlier trade involved shorting Strategy’s MSTR shares while taking a long position in Bitcoin.

The latest claim requires context. Strategy no longer holds the 847,363 BTC cited in some reports. Recent company disclosures place its balance at 840,447 BTC following several sales during July and August.

At Bitcoin’s Tuesday price of approximately $64,188, those holdings were worth about $53.95 billion. MSTR had a market capitalization of roughly $34.4 billion, while its shares gained close to 5% to $97.68.

Strategy shares price chart, source: Google Finance The $19.5 billion difference between those two figures is not a direct arbitrage profit. It excludes debt, preferred stock, cash, software operations, taxes and the costs required to maintain a hedged position.

Chanos’s $80 billion figure is not a simple market gap Chanos did not publish a complete calculation showing how he reached the “$80 billion actionable spread.” The figure therefore remains his characterization of the opportunity rather than a directly verifiable difference between two market prices.

One of the greatest pure arbitrage situations, ever. An $80B actionable spread. $MSTR #Bitcoin

— James Chanos (@RealJimChanos) August 18, 2026 Strategy’s own dashboard placed its modified net asset value multiple, or mNAV, near 1.04 on Tuesday. That measure compares enterprise value with the value of its Bitcoin after accounting for parts of the capital structure.

An mNAV of 1.04 indicates a premium of approximately 4%, based on the company’s methodology. It does not show MSTR trading at the wide premium that supported Chanos’s original trade in 2025.

Comparing common equity market capitalization directly with Bitcoin holdings produces a discount because common shareholders rank behind creditors and preferred shareholders. Strategy has issued several preferred securities carrying dividend obligations and also has outstanding debt.

The company’s software operation, dollar reserve and other assets must also be included. As a result, buying MSTR does not provide the same economic exposure as holding an equivalent dollar amount of Bitcoin.

Strategy’s Bitcoin balance has declined from its peak A June 29 SEC filing showed that Strategy held 847,363 BTC at the end of June. The company had spent $64.1 billion acquiring the coins at an average price of $75,651.

Strategy subsequently sold Bitcoin under a board authorized monetization program. The program allows sales to fund its dollar reserve, interest expenses, preferred dividends and security repurchases.

As previously reported, the company sold 1,690 BTC and used the proceeds for preferred share repurchases during the week ending Aug. 9.

Those sales reduced the balance to 840,447 BTC. The remaining tokens carried an aggregate acquisition cost of approximately $63.36 billion and an average cost of $75,385 per coin.

At Tuesday’s Bitcoin price, the position was approximately $9.4 billion below its disclosed purchase cost. That is an unrealized accounting difference rather than a realized loss unless the coins are sold.

The same filing series showed that the company raised cash by issuing additional MSTR shares. Common stock issuance increases liquidity but also expands the number of shares participating in the Bitcoin exposure.

MSTR and Bitcoin carry different financial risks Direct Bitcoin ownership exposes an investor mainly to changes in Bitcoin’s market price and the security of their custody arrangement. MSTR adds corporate financing and management risks.

Strategy has issued STRC, STRF, STRD and STRK preferred shares. These securities sit ahead of common shareholders and carry dividend rates ranging from 8% to 12%, subject to their respective terms.

The company has also established a dollar reserve to meet preferred dividends and interest obligations. In related coverage, the reserve reached $4.65 billion after further common stock sales.

Strategy’s board authorized up to $1.25 billion of additional Bitcoin sales to help fund that reserve. It also approved separate $1 billion repurchase programs for preferred securities and MSTR common stock.

These layers prevent the trade from being risk free. A short seller must borrow MSTR shares, pay borrowing costs and manage the possibility that the stock rises faster than Bitcoin.

The long side also requires financing. If Bitcoin falls while MSTR rises because of short covering, new financing or changing investor demand, both parts of the trade can lose money temporarily.

Chanos previously exited after the premium contracted Chanos began constructing his earlier position in late 2024, when MSTR traded at a large premium to the value of Strategy’s Bitcoin. The premium exceeded three times the Bitcoin value at points during November 2024.

He publicly described the trade in 2025 as long Bitcoin and short MSTR. Chanos argued that investors were paying too much for Bitcoin exposure available directly or through lower cost exchange traded products.

As Reuters reported, Strategy’s market value stood around 1.74 times its Bitcoin holdings when Chanos renewed his criticism in June 2025.

The gap later narrowed. Chanos said his firm closed the hedged position on Nov. 7, 2025, after the trade gained more than 50%. He described the remaining opportunity as too small to justify keeping the position open.

His latest statement does not confirm that he has reopened the trade. It also does not disclose position size, entry prices, borrowing costs or the instruments that would be used.

Future SEC filings will show whether Strategy continues selling Bitcoin, issuing MSTR shares or repurchasing preferred securities. Those decisions, together with Bitcoin’s price and changes in financing costs, will determine whether the company trades at a premium or discount to its adjusted asset value.

XRP continues to face bearish pressure, with recent analyst commentary highlighting a potential accumulation zone as the cryptocurrency looks for direction. Institutional activity, particularly from Strive Financial Group, is bringing additional attention to XRP-linked exchange-traded funds, which could have lasting effects on the asset’s adoption narrative.

XRP price outlook and analyst predictionsAt press time, XRP is trading at $0.99. The 24-hour trading volume has reached $855 million, while the market capitalization stands at $62.68 billion. Despite signs of price stability in the last day, both XRP’s technical structure and the expansion of related ETFs could support a stronger move in the future.

Crypto analyst Crypto Patel has highlighted that the recent decline in XRP price serves as a warning echoed during the 2025 rally, when he cautioned investors as bullish momentum weakened above $3.

Following this warning, XRP experienced a steep correction, losing approximately 73% from its cycle peak and falling below $1 for the first time in nearly two years. The move below this psychological threshold has raised concerns about the underlying market structure.

Crypto Patel has identified the $0.85 to $0.65 range as a strategic accumulation point. He stated that a reversal is unlikely before another 20% to 40% decline in price, suggesting patience for long-term accumulation targets. Crypto Patel favors gradual accumulation near higher time frame demand zones instead of attempting to call the exact market bottom. His price targets remain $3, $5, $7, and $10 in future major rallies.

XRP’s drop of nearly 73% from its cycle top has brought the price below $1 for the first time in almost two years, creating substantial challenges for its market structure. The $0.85–$0.65 region could offer a meaningful accumulation opportunity, although a significant rebound may require a further pullback.

Institutional exposure to XRP ETFsData provided by BankXRP reveals that Strive Financial Group has publicly disclosed its exposure to XRP-based ETFs in an updated 13F regulatory filing. The filing lists investments in the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF as well as the XRP ETF offered by Canary.

Strive Financial Group is a US-based asset management firm known for its engagement with alternative investment vehicles and emerging financial products.

This increased activity from Strive highlights the broader trend of institutions gaining exposure to regulated XRP products. While the 13F filing confirms holdings during the reporting period, it does not guarantee current positions or indicate a bullish stance. However, such disclosures do reflect growing interest in regulated digital asset instruments.

Industry commentators note that the presence of institutional players like Strive may help support long-term adoption, even if immediate market impact remains uncertain.

Mini dictionary: 13F filing, a quarterly report required by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for certain institutional investment managers, disclosing their equity holdings.

As investors monitor these developments, the next significant price move for XRP will likely hinge on buyers’ ability to maintain key support levels. If selling pressure dominates, XRP could see further losses. On the other hand, a reversal and subsequent breakout may set the stage for a move toward previously mentioned price targets.

Price LevelAnalyst PerspectiveMarket Cap24h Volume$0.99Current price, neutral zone$62.68 billion$855 million$0.85–$0.65Identified accumulation range––$3 / $5 / $7 / $10Long-term price targets––Market conditions and future outlookDespite optimism from institutional moves and ETF developments, XRP remains within a neutral trading range. While the broader cryptocurrency market has shown signs of improvement, analysts expect that only a firm shift in trend or a successful defense of critical support levels can prompt a sustainable rally in XRP.

Should buyer interest intensify at current levels, the cryptocurrency could consolidate and attempt higher moves. Otherwise, a lack of support could result in additional downward momentum, keeping the asset in a cautious stance.

Broader institutional interest in XRP-linked ETFs may lay the groundwork for future adoption, but a decisive turnaround in price action is necessary before a sustained rally can be expected.

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.

XRP traded slightly below $1 on Tuesday, Aug. 18, as rising whale transactions and derivatives activity failed to produce a sustained price recovery.

Summary

XRP traded near $0.996 Tuesday, losing 0.4% daily and 1.2% over seven days overall recently. Price remained below $1, leaving the former support level as immediate resistance for recovering buyers. Large XRP Ledger transactions above $1 million reportedly increased 280%, but transfer direction remains unclear. Binance open interest increased while spot price weakened, raising liquidation risks without confirming market direction. The tx bridge remains halted after attackers stole 198,715.88 XRP through faulty deposit verification software. The token changed hands near $0.996, down 0.4% over 24 hours and 1.2% over seven days, according to market data. XRP’s market capitalization stood near $62.4 billion, ranking it sixth among cryptocurrencies.

XRP traded between approximately $0.989 and $1.01 during the latest 24 hour period. It remained 9.1% lower over 30 days and about 66.7% below its level one year earlier.

The token briefly recovered above $1 on Monday after opening near $0.994. However, buyers failed to maintain the rebound, returning the price below the psychological threshold on Tuesday.

XRP price remains fragile below $1 The XRP/USDT daily chart shows a broader downtrend from the July 2025 high of $3.65. The decline has produced lower highs and pushed XRP into a narrow consolidation range around $1.

The $1 level has acted as support for much of the decline. Trading below it changes the immediate structure because recovering buyers must now reclaim the same level before challenging higher resistance.

An initial recovery would need to clear $1 to $1.05. Above that area, liquidity may sit between $1.16 and $1.18, although reaching those levels would require stronger volume and momentum.

Immediate support sits around $0.988, matching Tuesday’s intraday low. A daily close below that level would expose $0.95, followed by the wider area between $0.85 and $0.90.

The price recently steadied near $1 while large transfers to Binance declined. That reduction in exchange inflows did not produce a confirmed reversal.

Whale transactions rise without confirming accumulation Crypto analyst Ali Martinez reported that XRP Ledger transactions worth more than $1 million increased 280% within 24 hours. The total reportedly rose above 38 large transactions.

Martinez described the activity as evidence that “whales are back.” However, transaction counts alone do not establish whether large holders are buying, selling or moving tokens between wallets.

Large transactions can include exchange deposits, withdrawals, internal transfers and custody reorganizations. Identifying accumulation requires destination analysis, balance changes and exchange flow data.

The price remained below $1 during the transaction increase. That lack of an immediate price response weakens any claim that the activity was entirely driven by buying.

Separate CryptoQuant data showed that whale transfers to Binance had fallen to their lowest level since 2021. The three month average reportedly declined to approximately $61 million.

Lower exchange inflows can reduce potential selling pressure, but they do not guarantee demand. Tokens may also move through exchanges or addresses not covered by the dataset.

Exchange withdrawals and leverage send mixed signals CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha reported that Coinbase’s seven day net wallet count fell to minus 14,300 on Aug. 17. Binance and Crypto.com also recorded more withdrawing wallets than depositing wallets.

The figures measure wallet counts rather than the amount of XRP withdrawn. One large deposit can outweigh many small withdrawals, making the indicator unsuitable as a direct measure of net token flows.

Coinbase reportedly represented 47.3% of the absolute wallet imbalance across the exchanges tracked by the analyst. That share shows where the activity was concentrated but does not reveal whether the withdrawn tokens entered self custody or another trading venue.

XRP derivatives activity also increased. CryptoQuant analysis showed Binance open interest rising about 28.6% between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17.

Open interest measures outstanding derivatives positions and does not distinguish longs from shorts. Rising leverage while the spot price remains weak can increase the size of liquidations when the market eventually breaks from its range.

In related coverage, derivatives positioning rebuilt while aggressive selling remained dominant. Funding rates, cumulative volume delta and long to short ratios remain necessary for assessing directional positioning.

Technical indicators remain bearish The Awesome Oscillator stood near minus 0.0630 on the daily chart. The negative reading shows bearish momentum remains active, although it is less extreme than during previous stages of the selloff.

The bull and bear power indicator was also negative at approximately minus 0.0377. This points to limited buying pressure and supports the current bearish consolidation structure.

XRP price chart, source: crypto.news Neither indicator confirms that XRP has reached a bottom. Momentum could improve if the price reclaims $1 and the oscillator moves toward positive territory.

Claims of targets between $15 and $17 would require gains exceeding 1,400% from the current price. Such forecasts remain speculative and are not supported by the present daily momentum readings.

The same applies to forecasts calling for a decline into the $0.65 to $0.85 range. Those levels are possible technical scenarios rather than confirmed destinations.

Bridge remains halted following verification exploit The tx project said attackers stole 198,715.88 XRP from its bridge reserve on Aug. 9. The bridge connected the tx blockchain with the XRP Ledger.

According to the project’s update, its software accepted transactions that had not delivered XRP to the correct bridge address. Relayers then approved unbacked balances that attackers redeemed for genuine XRP.

The vulnerability affected the bridge’s verification logic, not the XRP Ledger itself. The bridge remains halted while the team reviews remedies and security changes.

As crypto.news reported, the stolen XRP was converted and routed through privacy infrastructure, complicating recovery efforts. The project also filed a complaint with the FBI.

Separately, a South Korean regional bank adopted Ripple’s payments service on Aug. 18. The announcement did not say XRP would be used for those transfers, so the agreement should not be treated as direct demand for the token.

XRP must reclaim $1 on a daily closing basis to reduce immediate downside pressure. A break above $1.05 would improve the short term setup, while another rejection could return attention to $0.95 and $0.90.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

The Ethereum Foundation has warned that wallets, indexers and gas estimators could break as Glamsterdam changes the 21,000-gas assumption for some ETH transfers, with the upgrade due to activate on the Platåberget testnet on Aug. 20.

Summary

Ethereum has warned that Glamsterdam could break wallets, indexers and gas estimators that rely on fixed gas assumptions. EIP 8037 will add a separate state gas charge for operations that create new state. A basic ETH transfer to an existing account will still cost 21,000 gas, while transfers to new accounts will cost more. Developers have been urged to test their software on the Platåberget testnet before Glamsterdam moves to Sepolia and Hoodi. The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol DevOps team said on Aug. 17 that any tool relying on a hardcoded maximum gas limit “will break,” naming wallets, indexers and gas estimators among the software likely to be affected. The team urged application and infrastructure developers to test their systems on Platåberget, a public testnet designed to stay online for several months.

Forkcast data shows Platåberget launched on Aug. 13, giving developers an early environment for Glamsterdam before the upgrade moves to Sepolia and Hoodi. The Glamsterdam fork is scheduled to activate on Platåberget on Aug. 20, according to the foundation, with public validator and builder deposits available as part of the testing process.

Glamsterdam could break hardcoded gas assumptions Under the planned gas repricing package, the foundation said software can no longer safely assume that Ethereum has a single fixed gas ceiling or that common operations will continue to cost the same amount in every case. The changes are designed around a roughly 200 million gas floor and alter the price of individual operations as well as assumptions tied to the block gas limit.

For application developers, the immediate issue is software that sets fixed boundaries when estimating transaction costs. The Protocol DevOps team said such systems need to be reviewed before Glamsterdam reaches mainnet because the repricing touches wallets, indexers and gas estimators across the network.

The warning follows June 17 Glamsterdam upgrade coverage from crypto.news, which reported that Ethereum developers were already testing the full set of planned EIPs on development networks. At the time, Ethereum Foundation developer Parithosh Jayanthi said the upgrade would change the cost of actions on Ethereum, with high-level computation becoming cheaper while state becomes more expensive.

During the same testing phase, Jayanthi said developers had made “massive progress” but noted that no fixed mainnet timeline had been set. Deployment would depend on the results of testing and whether Ethereum client teams were ready to support the new rules.

EIP-8037 changes how new state is priced A central part of the warning concerns EIP-8037, which introduces a separate state-gas dimension for operations that create new state. The foundation said creating an account, deploying code or writing a new storage slot will be metered at a fixed cost per state byte and charged at runtime.

Because of that change, a basic ETH transfer will not always carry the same gas cost. Sending ETH to an account that already exists will continue to cost 21,000 gas, with the amount broken into the base transaction cost, cold account access and the value-transfer cost. Sending funds to an address that does not yet exist will also incur a state-gas charge tied to creating the new account.

Developers should therefore revisit applications that treat 21,000 gas as sufficient for every ETH transfer, the Protocol DevOps team said. Gas estimators built around only one gas dimension may also return incorrect estimates once new state is metered separately.

EIP-8037 had already moved close to its final form by May. A May 11 protocol development report said the proposal had reached final-draft status and was being parameterised on a Glamsterdam development network. At the time, its cost-per-state-byte model was designed around limiting annual state growth to roughly 60 GiB at a 300 million gas block limit.

Under the parameters reported in May, new account creation could become roughly 8.5 times more expensive, while contract deployment costs could rise about tenfold. Separate metering for code deposits was designed to keep large contracts deployable, including code-heavy decentralised finance applications.

The state-gas model also changes where Ethereum accounts for the cost of permanent state. The foundation said account creation, new storage slots and deployed code will incur charges based on the amount of new state created, making applications that frequently add permanent data particularly important targets for testing before mainnet deployment.

Ethereum Glamsterdam upgrade also changes block production Gas repricing is only one part of Glamsterdam. The foundation said the fork also includes enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS, which changes how blocks are built, proposed and validated inside Ethereum’s core protocol.

Under ePBS, the split between the block-building process and the proposer role is incorporated into the protocol, alongside a new builder API flow and payload-timeliness checks. Infrastructure tied to Ethereum’s block-production and validation pipeline should expect to be affected, according to the foundation.

With Platåberget open for public participation, the Protocol DevOps team has encouraged solo stakers, distributed validator technology projects, custom software operators and large staking providers to test their infrastructure. The testnet allows users to deposit new validators and experiment with validator and builder-deposit workflows before the same changes move to longer-lived networks.

Block-Level Access Lists form another major component of the fork. The foundation said the lists will record state locations accessed during execution and post-transaction state changes, with BAL data stored separately from the block body and exchanged between execution-layer peers through the eth/71 networking protocol.

Earlier June reporting said the access-list design gives Ethereum clients advance information about which accounts and smart-contract data a block will use. The system can allow nodes to preload required data and process transactions in parallel when transactions do not access the same state, according to Ethereum.org.

Glamsterdam will also increase size limits for deployed contracts and initialisation code. The foundation said the maximum deployed contract size will rise from 24 KiB to 64 KiB, while the maximum initcode size will increase from 48 KiB to 128 KiB. Forward-compatible consensus data structures are also included in the planned fork.

Platåberget gives developers a longer testing window Unlike the shorter development networks used during earlier Glamsterdam work, Platåberget is intended to remain available for several months. The Protocol DevOps team said the longer lifespan should give developers time to test post-Glamsterdam behaviour and identify failures before the changes reach Sepolia and Hoodi.

Its validator set is relatively small but open to public participation. For the initial testing period, the foundation has listed container images for consensus clients including Lighthouse, Lodestar, Nimbus, Prysm, Teku and Grandine, alongside execution clients including Besu, Geth, Erigon, Nethermind, Reth, NimbusEL and Ethrex. Tagged client releases remain optional while development teams prepare their own builds.

After feedback from Platåberget has been incorporated into specifications and client software, a non-finality devnet is expected to follow within the month to test difficult consensus scenarios, according to the foundation. Sepolia and Hoodi are due to receive Glamsterdam after the development networks remain stable, while Ethereum mainnet activation will follow successful upgrades on the long-lived testnets.

Development on Ethereum’s next scheduled fork is also proceeding separately. An Aug. 16 Hegotá planning report said developers were considering 66 proposals for the 2027 upgrade, although Fork Choice enforced Inclusion Lists was the only EIP formally scheduled for inclusion at the time.

Several proposals under review for Hegotá concern future gas and state pricing as Ethereum increases Layer 1 capacity. EIP-8368, for example, would recalibrate state-creation pricing if the block gas limit rises beyond the reference level used by Glamsterdam, while developers have discussed preparing Ethereum for a possible path towards a 600 million gas limit.

BNB Chain’s real-world asset holder count jumped from 400,000 to 524,000 in just three days, a growth spurt the network’s official account described as “absolute acceleration.” The 31% increase between August 14 and August 17 represents one of the sharpest short-term surges in tokenized asset adoption on any major blockchain this year.

To put that in perspective, adding 124,000 holders in 72 hours means the network was onboarding roughly 1,700 new RWA participants every hour for three straight days.

From milestone to milestone in days The latest spike didn’t come out of nowhere. BNB Chain crossed the 300,000 RWA holder threshold around August 6-8, then blew past 400,000 less than a week later. In other words, the network added more than 200,000 holders in under two weeks.

Data tracked by RWA.xyz, the primary analytics platform for tokenized real-world assets across chains, underpins these figures. The platform has been consistently monitoring BNB Chain’s RWA metrics throughout 2026.

Year-to-date, BNB Chain’s RWA holder growth rate sits at a staggering +567.4%, based on mid-May reporting. For context, a 567% increase means that for every holder the network had at the start of the year, it now has roughly 6.7.

What’s actually being tokenized The term “real-world assets” covers a broad category, and on BNB Chain, the portfolio includes tokenized treasuries, equities, and other traditional financial instruments that have been brought on-chain. BNB Chain has positioned itself as an ecosystem focused on compliant asset issuance and liquidity trading. The value locked in tokenized assets on BNB Chain reached billions of dollars in earlier quarters of 2026, establishing a foundation that the current holder growth is building on.

The broader tokenized asset market has been expanding rapidly across multiple chains, but BNB Chain’s growth rate has outpaced most competitors. That competitive edge stems partly from lower transaction costs relative to Ethereum and partly from a deliberate infrastructure push to court RWA issuers.

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

Zcash (ZEC) posted a 2.8% gain over the last 24 hours, trading near $509 on August 18 and building on a 3.4% increase for the week. This uptrend coincides with a sharp acceleration in user migration to Ironwood, the network’s new shielded pool.

Ironwood migration and vulnerability response bolster ZECRecent data from CoinGecko showed ZEC advancing from approximately $495 earlier in the day, briefly touching $520 before consolidating above $500. Zcash holders moved around $260 million in ZEC into Ironwood, which has now overtaken the previous Sapling pool in total value.

Ironwood went live on July 28 at block height 3,428,143 following the discovery of a critical vulnerability in the protocol’s Orchard shielded pool. Security researcher Taylor Hornby identified the flaw on May 29, prompting the Zcash Open Development Lab to coordinate a patch by June 2.

The vulnerability could have made it possible for a malicious actor to mint unauthorized ZEC tokens within the Orchard pool undetected. While Shielded Labs assessed the risk of exploitation as low, the inherent privacy of the pool prevented users from independently verifying that counterfeit tokens had never been issued.

Ironwood was developed to close this loophole by blocking new deposits and internal transfers in the Orchard pool. Funds can now only exit through Zcash’s established turnstile system, which caps withdrawals at the amount legitimately deposited, allowing users to independently verify ZEC’s circulating supply.

The Ironwood pool features an updated Orchard circuit, and this upgrade included further security measures such as independent audits, formal verification, and the introduction of quantum-recoverable notes under ZIP 2005.

After the announcement of the Orchard bug, ZEC experienced a sharp price drop of more than 50%. When Ironwood launched in late July, ZEC traded around $475, but recent recovery has pushed its price back above $500.

ZEC price analysisOn the daily ZEC/USDT chart, ZEC traded close to $509, with the Volume Profile indicating heavy historical trading activity in the $400 to $420 range. This area has served as a significant support level during recent swings. In late June, ZEC rebounded from about $400, surging to a July high near $570, and subsequent pullbacks have consistently held above this key zone.

The daily Supertrend indicator currently positions support at $447, meaning ZEC maintains its bullish daily structure so long as the price remains above this level. To extend gains, ZEC must clear resistance in the $516 to $520 range, after which the July resistance band from $560 to $580 may come into play.

Failure to defend the $500 threshold could see ZEC return to test $480, with further downside risk extending to the $400 to $420 high-volume area below the daily Supertrend support.

Short-term momentum mixedOn the 4-hour chart, ZEC changed hands around $509, with session VWAP at $511.59 and the upper band near $513.11. The token remains just below the VWAP, indicating buyers have not yet reclaimed control above the average session price. Short-term momentum has begun to soften following the latest upswing.

Stochastic RSI on the 4-hour timeframe showed the %K line near 77.85 and the %D line close to 87.50. The %K has slipped below the %D after both reached overbought territory, signaling a possible pullback.

ZEC would need to decisively reclaim the $511 to $513 VWAP area and break through $520 for another upward push. Sustaining these gains could target $540 and revisit resistance between $560 and $580, echoing the July advance. However, dropping below $500 would undermine the immediate bullish scenario and raise the prospects of declines toward $480 and the prominent support region below.

In a fast-moving market, where a single Fed decision or a large altcoin listing can rapidly shift sentiment, traders are seeking ways to streamline their workflow. Smart investors increasingly turn to privacy-focused tools like CryptoAppsy to consolidate charts, news, and portfolio trackers, offering real-time analytics, price alerts, and macro data—all without requiring an account.

The latest gains partly reverse last week’s retreat from above $500, positioning ZEC for another test of range resistance while market participants monitor key technical levels and the sustained impact of Ironwood’s security enhancements.

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.

Bank of America (BofA) has expanded its exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Wall Street giant also trimmed its holdings in Strategy (MSTR), American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), and other crypto stocks.

Bank of America Holds Almost $94 Million in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP ETFs The Wall Street giant, with a $1.55 trillion investment portfolio, has increased its investments in multiple crypto ETFs in Q2 2026, according to a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bank of America holds $94 million in net exposure in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP ETFs.

Bank of America raised its holdings in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) by 77% in the quarter. It now holds over 1.72 million IBIT shares, up from 972,590 shares earlier.

It also has investments of more than $10 million in Bitwise’s BITB, $2.24 million in Grayscale Bitcoin Mini ETF, and $1.32 million in FBTC. The bank also holds exposure to GBTC, VanEck’s HODL, and Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bull 2X ETF (BTCU).

Moreover, Bank of America (BofA) has also expanded its BlackRock Ethereum ETF (ETHA) exposure by 2,838%. It now holds 1.98 million shares in ETHA, up from 67,492 shares.

In addition, Bank of America increased its XRP ETF holdings slightly in Q2, after keeping exposure the same as in the last quarter. The Wall Street giant holds 13,260 shares of the Volatility Shares XRP ETF (XRPI).

In contrast, the bank has sold the remaining 10,296 shares of Volatility Shares Solana ETF from its investment portfolio. It has fully exited Solana ETFs after selling 700 Volatility Shares 2x Solana ETF shares last quarter.

These holdings align with broader trends as many institutions build positions in spot crypto products. Notably, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley revealed XRP holdings via ETFs amid tradFi’s push into tokenization, treasury management, and real-time payments.

Bank Trims Strategy (MSTR) Stock Exposure Bank of America (BofA) also revealed 1.17 million MSTR stock holdings worth almost $102 million, down 70% from 3.96 million stocks. BofA trimmed MSTR exposure as the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury started selling BTC holdings to pay dividends and build cash reserves.

The Wall Street giant also sold 3,800 Strike (STRK) perpetual preferred shares. The bank even adjusted positions in Strategy convertible senior notes.

The bank sold all 85,508 shares in Trump family’s American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC), while increasing Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) stock holdings by 78% to almost $22 million. It also increased stock holdings in Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (PURR) by 167% to 635,407 shares.

Bank of America has also invested in Circle, Coinbase, and Bitcoin mining crypto companies including MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and CleanSpark shares.

For retail investors looking to follow Wall Street’s lead safely, utilizing fully compliant US crypto exchanges like Coinbase ensures adherence to rigorous security and domestic regulatory frameworks.

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Today, money moves faster than ever before, especially with stablecoins — digital assets designed to maintain stable value against, in most cases, a backing asset. Over roughly the past decade, stablecoins backed by US dollars (and equivalents) have taken center stage among other fiat-pegged stablecoins, benefiting from more liquidity, transaction volume, and opportunities for stress testing. Stablecoins pegged to other local currencies, like euros, in comparison have broadly experienced a slower adoption curve and shallower liquidity.

For years, users looking to transact in euro-pegged stablecoins often had to use dollar stablecoins to on/offramp or as intermediary assets when trading, accept shallower euro-denominated onchain liquidity, or rely on bridges that weren’t built for long-term trust. What’s been missing for institutions, enterprises, and builders are euro-pegged digital assets that people can actually use day to day: easy to access, widely supported, and consistently redeemable at par.

That’s what EURC is built to be. And it’s why EURC has now surpassed €400 million in circulation, a milestone for euro liquidity in the onchain economy.

Over the past year, EURC’s supply increased by more than 100%, as the market moved from experimentation to real usage across exchanges, payment flows, and institutional workflows that demand reliability and compliance. EURC is now the most widely distributed and widely used euro stablecoin, supported across major blockchains, exchanges, and payment networks. It’s also built to evolve and grow with demand for digital asset use cases — like settlement, FX, and treasury use cases — that demand compliance, auditability, and 24/7 reliability. The result is a euro-pegged stablecoin with distribution, utility, and reliability that’s gaining ground through ongoing performance as the leading euro stablecoin.

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Expanding liquidity across the ecosystemEURC launched on Ethereum in June of 2022, bringing Circle’s fully reserved stablecoin model to euro-denominated markets. Starting in 2023, EURC expanded natively across major blockchains, including Avalanche, Stellar, Solana, and Base — strategically aligning with ecosystems where liquidity and developer activity were strong.

By the end of 2024, EURC was live on five chains and had grown to approximately €80 million in circulation. That number more than doubled in the first half of 2025 and continued climbing throughout the year.

Distribution also scaled through centralized venues. EURC was listed on major exchanges including Bitpanda, Bitstamp, Bybit, Coinbase, and Kraken. This exchange support deepened liquidity for both EURC/EUR and EURC/USD trading pairs, reducing euro-to-dollar conversion friction and establishing EURC as a top-tier euro stablecoin.

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Integrating into the financial stackDistribution may drive awareness but utility drives retention. EURC’s growth accelerated as it became embedded into real financial workflows, where speed, transparency, and reliability matter. 

Multiple leading onramp and offramp providers like Mercuryo, MoonPay, Ramp, and Transak enabled users to access digital assets directly with euros. This bypassed the inefficiency of intermediary dollar conversions.

EURC also became integrated into institutional custody and settlement platforms, including Cobo, Copper, and Fireblocks. These integrations, particularly following the rollout of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, enabled regulated firms to use EURC for treasury, settlement, and payments.

In 2024 and 2025, Visa and Mastercard both expanded their respective euro stablecoin settlement capabilities to include EURC. This unlocked real-world use cases for cross-border payments, card-linked flows, and euro-native settlement.

Together, these integrations helped translate EURC’s promise into tangible value: faster reconciliation, around-the-clock liquidity access, and programmable money infrastructure that meets enterprise requirements.

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Operating transparently EURC’s continued growth is also closely tied to rising regulatory clarity and Circle’s operational discipline.

In December of 2024, MiCA became fully applicable across the EU, establishing requirements for euro stablecoins around reserve backing, governance, disclosures, and redemption rights. MiCA didn’t necessarily create inherent demand for euro stablecoins, but it cleared the path for serious institutional and enterprise adoption.

Circle designed EURC to operate as an e-money token (EMT) under MiCA — issued by Circle’s e-money institution in France, supervised by the ACPR, and held to a full-reserve standard. Reserve assets are fully segregated from Circle’s corporate funds and attested monthly by independent third parties. Since launch, authorized users with Circle Mint accounts have maintained the ability to redeem EURC 1:1 for euros directly via Circle Mint, while others can do so on secondary markets like crypto exchanges. This combination of regulatory alignment and operational transparency helped unlock institutional confidence in 2025, shifting EURC from a promising product to a trusted tool.

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EURC in context: A category taking shapeStablecoins have become a core component of the onchain economy, with total global supply approximately $300 billion as of January 1, 2026. While dollar stablecoins continue to dominate in absolute terms, euro stablecoins are now the second-largest segment. The euro stablecoin market grew from approximately €400 million as of June 1, 2025 to roughly €650 million by June 1, 2026. Within this growing category, EURC remained the leading euro-denominated stablecoin — playing a key role in euro stablecoin circulation, infrastructure support, and regulatory readiness. 

EURC’s market share reflects years of groundwork: multichain expansion, deep exchange liquidity, and close alignment with institutional and policy expectations.

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The opportunity is still massive Despite this momentum, the addressable market remains largely untapped. Euro-area M2 supply exceeded €16 trillion as of late 2025, while euro stablecoins represent just a fraction of a percent.

The structural advantages of stablecoins (e.g., real-time settlement, programmability, and lower operational friction) map directly to financial use cases already core to European commerce. As infrastructure matures and regulation provides guardrails, the path is clearing for broader enterprise and institutional participation.

Learn more about EURC and how to build with euro-denominated programmable money on Circle’s EURC page.

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EURC is issued by regulated affiliates of Circle. See Circle’s list of regulatory authorizations.

Two organizations deeply embedded in the Hyperliquid ecosystem have told the SEC to ditch a 20-year-old equity trading rule and start thinking about what “best execution” actually means when trades settle on a blockchain instead of the NYSE.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) and Douro Labs submitted a joint comment letter on August 17 backing the SEC’s June 11 proposal to rescind Rule 611 of Regulation NMS. The rule, originally adopted in 2005, requires trading venues to route orders to whichever exchange displays the best price, a concept known as the “trade-through” rule. Both organizations argue the rule is a relic of an era when stock exchanges were the only game in town.

What Rule 611 does and why crypto wants it gone Rule 611 was designed to protect investors by ensuring their orders got the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) price across all registered exchanges. In practice, it means a broker can’t execute your trade at a worse price if a better one exists somewhere else in the system. Onchain markets don’t operate like centralized exchanges. There’s no consolidated quote system, no closing bell, and no neat hierarchy of registered venues. Trading happens 24/7 across permissionless protocols where liquidity can appear and vanish within a single block.

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The SEC itself acknowledged in its June proposal that the trade-through rule “complicates execution and increases costs.” The proposal would also impact related provisions governing locked and crossed market prohibitions under Regulation NMS.

Best execution, but make it onchain Repealing Rule 611 is only half of what HPC and Douro Labs are asking for. The other half is principles-based best-execution guidance designed specifically for onchain markets. Onchain trading introduces complications that didn’t exist when those rules were written. Network fees (gas costs) eat into execution quality. Maximal extractable value, or MEV, lets validators and sophisticated actors reorder transactions to profit at a trader’s expense. And because many decentralized venues don’t display conventional quotes, there’s no obvious benchmark to measure “best” against.

Douro Labs, which is closely associated with the Pyth Network oracle, previously submitted comments to the SEC on February 20, proposing that execution certainty, privacy, and total costs should all factor into the assessment of best execution. The joint letter extends that thinking, suggesting that independent, transparent pricing feeds could replace conventional market quotes as the relevant benchmark for onchain venues.

Who’s behind the push HPC launched on February 18 in Washington, D.C., funded by a $28 million donation in HYPE tokens. Its stated mission is to influence regulatory frameworks for decentralized markets, with a particular focus on onchain perpetual derivatives, the product category where Hyperliquid has built its reputation.

Douro Labs brings a complementary angle. As the team behind the Pyth Network, it has a direct interest in how regulators treat onchain data feeds. If the SEC eventually requires some form of best-execution reporting for decentralized venues, the infrastructure that provides those reference prices becomes critical plumbing, not unlike the role that SIP (Securities Information Processor) feeds play in traditional equities today.

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

New data from Galaxy Research shows that $115 million in bitcoin has been lost in the Coldcard theft. 

Writing on X Sunday, Galaxy Research said that it had spoken with over 200 victims to support them and gather intelligence on the attackers. 

The figures are based on the price of bitcoin at the time of the attack. 

Coldcard losses have exceeded $115M (based on the price when coins were stolen)

Galaxy Research has spoken with 200+ victims to support them and gather intelligence on the attackers

This thread contains additional charts and info 👇 pic.twitter.com/H2K141mugF

— Galaxy Research (@glxyresearch) August 16, 2026 Hackers started taking bitcoin stored using Coinkite’s popular Coldcard hardware wallet on July 31. 

Canadian company Coinkite said that a firmware bug in Coldcard Mk3 devices — starting with version 4.0.1 in March 2021 — caused seed generation to fall back to a weak software Pseudorandom Number Generator instead of the hardware true random number generator, allowing hackers to essentially guess investor seedphrases. 

The number has slowly risen as the criminals have targeted more recent devices while Coinkite and other Bitcoiners have urged Coldcard users to immediately move their funds. 

Galaxy Research last week said that it estimates at least 15 separate attackers were exploiting the bug independently. 

Previous research from Galaxy found that the typical stolen coin had sat untouched for 3.5 years, and a striking 88% of pilfered funds were at least a year old. 

The firm is still confirming how much is stolen, and has said that total losses could exceed $130 million. 

Since the attack, cautious investors have been moving their coins to other storage solutions — including exchanges.

Coinkite said in a statement this week that the bug in its software “silently went unnoticed” and “its potential impact grew with every release” of its products. 

Days after the first hack, the company urged investors to update their software or move their funds off the popular hardware wallet. 

Mathew Di Salvo

Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.

Embodied AI Meets Decentralized LiquidityRavn Robotics has officially launched its $RAVN token on @Ripple's $XRP Ledger, bringing a new category of real-world asset to the network: embodied AI software built for autonomous machines. The company's focus sits squarely at the intelligence layer,

The $RAVN token is structured as more than a standard utility instrument. meaning holders gain exposure to the company's performance through a blockchain-native format rather than conventional equity channels. The launch integrates AI-driven perception and real-time coordination capabilities for autonomous drones and unmanned systems directly into the $XRP ecosystem.

A Growing Ledger for Real-World AssetsThe Ravn launch arrives as the XRP Ledger cements its position as a leading venue for tokenized real-world assets. Institutional momentum has been building steadily, with

On the infrastructure side, Ripple has also been expanding its builder ecosystem:

Ravn Robotics represents a less conventional entry into this space, pairing the physical-world utility of autonomous systems with on-chain liquidity. Whether the model gains traction will depend on how the market values tokenized access to an early-stage robotics and AI company. But the launch signals a broadening of the asset types finding a home on the XRP Ledger, well beyond traditional finance.

Sources
Dexlocate: RAVN XRP Token Overview
24/7 Wall St.: XRP Ledger Tokenizes $3 Billion in Real-World Assets
Ripple: Supporting Innovation on the XRP Ledger in 2026

The supply of Ethereum [ETH] was reduced when a whale removed 5,300 ETH valued at $9.98 million from Kraken. The transaction prolonged the accumulation activity of the wallet while shifting another large ETH position off an exchange.

Historically, such withdrawals decrease ready exchange balances whenever holders keep their assets out of trading platforms. Notably, the 9.98 million transfer was consistent with a larger demand signal and not a single transfer. 

However, the withdrawals alone did not ensure an immediate price reaction since the accumulated ETH might be inactive over a long period of time. 

Spot buyers reinforce the demand argument Spot Taker CVD had turned buyer-dominant after spending some time in the neutral territory throughout the three-month period, further strengthening Ethereum’s accumulation narrative. Buyer dominance meant that takers had crossed the spread more aggressively to buy ETH than sellers had to leave.

Importantly, this activity was complementary to the whale withdrawal since both measures were directed towards demand, rather than exchange-side distribution. 

Exchange withdrawals usually limit tradable holdings, as aggressive purchases by takers compete with liquidity already available in the spot markets. Therefore, continued buyer dominance could amplify the effect of shrinking accessible supply during stronger trading periods. 

However, the market still needed sufficient demand to take in sellers close to established resistance. Prolonged taker control would definitely enhance the likelihood of accumulation translating into significant price growth.

Source: CryptoQuant Record staking constrains the ETH supply  Ethereum’s staking total climbed beyond 41 million ETH, reaching a record while absorbing more than one-third of Ethereum’s circulating supply. The staking data placed the share of staked ETH around 33.8%, following a persistent climb throughout July.

In contrast to normal wallet accumulation, staking directly pledged large amounts of holdings towards network participation as opposed to direct market trading. Therefore, the staking surge introduced structural weight to the supply terms produced by huge withdrawals of exchanges. 

Meanwhile, whale accumulation added another source of reduced exchange accessibility. These forces did not necessarily lead to an increase in prices, as the demand still dictated the impact of scarcity on valuation. 

Source: ValidatorQueue Will buyers finally break Ethereum above 1,950? At the time of analysis, Ethereum [ETH] was trading at approximately $1,901 following several attempts to consolidate in the 1,850-1,950 range.

Price was close to the upper half of the range, with buyers being closer to resistance than the bottom. Notably, +DI reached 25.18, exceeding the 16.54 -DI reading and giving buyers the directional advantage as of writing. 

However, ADX was close to 18.50, which means that directional strength was not strong enough to have a convincing trend expansion. Besides, RSI provided another positive indication at 54.59, which is above its 52.79 average and neutral zone.

Ultimately, the underlying supply dynamics are increasingly having an impact on this technical structure. The fact that whales are pulling out of exchanges and adding to staking contracts indicates a constrained circulating supply. 

The condition may increase upside moves in case demand remains strong. In a case where this supply squeeze is coupled with a confirmed breakout above 1,950, price discovery may occur at a faster pace than the current momentum readings suggest.

Eventually, the likelihood of Ethereum challenging the 2,100-2,200 area will increase. On the other hand, should whale distribution return or inflows revert to exchanges, the increased supply may limit upside efforts and support the current range, postponing any significant breakout.

Source: TradingView Final Summary Whale withdrawals and record staking continue reducing ETH available across the liquid market. Buyer-dominant taker activity could strengthen ETH’s chances of breaking above $1,950.

Stellar RWA Value Hits All-Time HighReal-world asset (RWA) value on the Stellar (@StellarOrg) network reached $3.22 billion, according to rwa.xyz tracking data, marking the highest level ever recorded on the platform. The figure represents an 8.4% gain over the prior 30 days, continuing a run that has seen the network hit three separate billion-dollar milestones in a single calendar year.

@Spiko_finance leads all platforms on the network at $1.5 billion in tokenized assets. It is followed by Franklin Templeton (@FTDA_US), @Ondo, and Realiz.

Stablecoin Growth Outpaces RWA MetricsWhile RWA figures hit a new record, stablecoin activity on Stellar is expanding even faster. Stablecoin market cap rose 57.6% to $503.5 million over the same 30-day window, and monthly transfer volume climbed 21.7% to $6.6 billion.

RWA transfer activity cooled compared to the prior month, even as the number of holders approached 19,000, pointing to a broadening holder base even as short-term transaction volumes moderated.

Sources:
Stellar Development Foundation: Q2 2026 Network Report
Crypto Briefing: Stellar Network RWA Market Cap Surpasses $3B
Sentora Research: Stellar, The Blockchain Wall Street Was Quietly Waiting For

3 min read

Compound Finance has placed a $52 million bet and leadership renewal on its pivot to institutional DeFi. (Miguel Parera/Unsplash)Summary

Compound Finance overhauled its leadership and approved a record $52 million budget as it seeks to revive growth after its total value locked fell to $1.2 billion from a $12 billion peak in 2021.The protocol is pivoting toward institutional clients by developing real-world asset offerings, partner integrations and credit infrastructure designed to meet traditional finance compliance and technical standards.Industry executives say the new leadership team and sizable budget align with a broader shift in DeFi toward serving financial institutions, after the sector’s overall assets declined amid market weakness and security exploits.Compound Finance, one of the oldest decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols, replaced its leadership team and approved a $52 million budget on Monday to attract new capital after the value of assets locked on the platform tumbled to $1.2 billion from a peak of $12 billion in September 2021.

The company said it will now focus on attracting institutional users and will offer real-world assets, partner integration and credit infrastructure for traditional financial markets.

Compound pioneered decentralized lending when it started up in 2018, popularizing the concept of earning yield on crypto deposits without intermediaries. It said it has processed roughly $480 billion in deposits and borrowing volume since its inception. Over the past few years, it has lost ground to competitors such as Aave, which holds more than 11 times its TVL with $14.8 billion, DeFiLlama data shows.

As an industry, DeFi is operating from a weakened base. TVL across the sector has fallen by more than a third since the start of the year to roughly $70 billion, driven by a broad correction in the crypto market, compressed yields and a run of protocol exploits, including the $292 million KelpDAO hack in April. Still, the sector is forecast to reach $2.7 trillion by 2030, with tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) among the fastest-growing segments, according to a Standard Chartered projection.

"Now is a great time for initiatives like these, where real capital goes toward both the structural work and the bringing in of bright minds from the institutional sphere who can explain it to a risk committee in their own language,” said Gal Stern, chief business development officer at deBridge, over Telegram. “That combination is what brings institutional confidence back."

The new team includes Chief Operating Officer Christopher Donovan, who previously held the same role at the Near Foundation. Steven Liu, who scaled Maple Finance from $500 million to $5 billion in assets, joins as chief product officer and the former CEO of Coinbase Custody, Aaron Schnarch, becomes an executive director. Other appointees join from Anchorage Digital, HSBC, Broadridge Financial and Maple Finance, the company said.

"DeFi is a remarkable innovation; however, it has achieved limited institutional adoption," Schnarch said in a statement. "Current product offerings fall short of meeting the traditional finance bar, especially as it pertains to compliance and technical requirements."

The move is a logical response to the shift in DeFi's user base, according to Ran Hammer, chief business officer at Orbs.

"Retail participation is a fraction of what it was, and the chain has quietly become a venue for settlement, execution and interaction between financial institutions," Hammer said. “Since DeFi summer, the space has turned into something completely different, essentially a new financial layer for institutions. So bringing in leadership that speaks that language is exactly the right direction."

The size of the allocated budget, the largest approved by Compound's decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), may help underline its commitment.

"The $52 million and a bench with that much institutional experience is a serious move, and it should improve its execution," said Himanshu Sahay, co-founder and chief technology officer of crypto lending firm Arch Lending, but institutions will want more than credentials. They "aren't underwriting teams, they’re underwriting structures."

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PANews reported on August 18, citing Protos, that the latest disclosure for 21Shares’ Polkadot ETF (TDOT) shows that in the second quarter of 2026, when the fund sold DOT tokens to pay staking yield, every $1 of distribution income was accompanied by about $4.52 in realized losses.

According to regulatory filings, TDOT sold 98,505 DOT in the second quarter, generating about $107,500 in cash to pay staking yield to shareholders. However, due to a sharp decline in DOT’s price, these sales recognized about $485,600 in losses.

Data shows DOT fell about 34% in the second quarter of 2026, and its cumulative decline over the 12 months ended June 30 reached 76%. Because TDOT shareholders receive distributions denominated in U.S. dollars rather than directly receiving DOT staking rewards, the fund needs to sell DOT to convert into cash payments, thereby locking in losses in a low-price environment. In the second quarter, TDOT paid cumulative distributions of about $0.14698 per share, but over the same period the fund’s share price fell from $14.95 to $9.86, a decline of about 34%. Staking yield did not offset the losses caused by the decline in asset prices.

By comparison, other crypto staking funds realized significantly smaller losses in the second quarter. Among them, the Invesco Galaxy Solana fund realized about $0.89 in losses for every $1 of yield paid, while Solana, Sui, and Ethereum staking funds recorded corresponding losses of about $0.74, $0.31, and $0.25, respectively. In addition, TDOT incurred further losses in the second quarter from investor redemptions and management fee payments, bringing total realized losses to about $2.5 million.

Polkadot was once expected to build the “blockchain internet,” using a parachain architecture to achieve cross-chain interoperability and high-throughput execution. But its ecosystem total value locked (TVL) is now less than $100 million, and DOT’s price has fallen about 97% from its all-time high, while market attention continues to decline. At the same time, Grayscale withdrew its Polkadot ETF registration application in August, further reflecting pressure on demand for DOT-related investment products.

Data from the @dfinity dashboard on August 17 showed a sharp spike in Internet Computer's Cycle Burn Rate, climbing to roughly 0.30 TCYCLES per second. That compares with a recent baseline of 0.03 to 0.05 TCYCLES per second, representing a 6 to 10 times increase from normal operating levels.

The trigger was a deliberate load test run by Toko App, an NFT application built on the Internet Computer ($ICP) network, designed to stress-test the protocol's fleet management capabilities. The test was expected to run for most of the day.

What a Higher Burn Rate Actually MeansThe spike is more than a technical footnote. On the Internet Computer, cycles are consumed whenever canisters, the protocol's smart contract units, execute programs, store data, or process messages. A higher burn rate therefore signals real computation being performed on the network, not speculative activity.

Crucially, generating cycles requires burning $ICP tokens through the Cycles Minting Canister process. ICP is burned when it is converted into cycles, which are used to pay for on-chain compute, storage, and bandwidth on the Internet Computer. Those tokens are permanently removed from circulation, creating a direct deflationary effect on supply.

As the ecosystem expands and more developers join, the cycle burn rate accelerates, which could push the token into a deflationary phase and drive further upward price pressure as ICP supply diminishes.

The Mission 70 ConnectionThe timing matters because of Mission 70, @dfinity's flagship tokenomics initiative for 2026. The Internet Computer's Network Nervous System has approved Mission 70, a set of changes to voting and node-provider rewards designed to cut ICP inflation by at least 70% by the end of 2026.

The plan involves a dual approach of reducing token supply and increasing demand. On the supply side, DFINITY intends to cut governance voting rewards and node provider incentives, aiming for a 44% reduction in token issuance. On the demand side, the foundation is betting on AI adoption and on-chain usage to consume $ICP tokens as cycles, fostering a deflationary effect.

Events like the Toko App load test illustrate how the demand side of that equation can work in practice. Even a temporary increase in network activity translates directly into accelerated token burns, reinforcing the deflationary mechanics that Mission 70 is designed to embed structurally.

Whether burn rates at this elevated level persist beyond isolated tests remains to be seen. But the metric itself is one of the clearest real-time indicators of genuine network demand on the Internet Computer.

Sources:
Internet Computer Network Dashboard, @dfinity
Mission 70 White Paper, Dominic Williams, DFINITY Foundation
ICP Extends Rally as Mission 70 White Paper Targets 70% Inflation Cut, Yahoo Finance

https://uphold.com/en-us/blog/crypto-basics/what-is-stacks

Stacks, a Bitcoin Layer-2 project, announced the launch of its Genesis Bond, a self-custodial Bitcoin yield mechanism, set to go live in 24 days. This new product aims to offer institutional investors a way to earn yield on Bitcoin while maintaining custody of their assets on Bitcoin Layer 1. The yield is generated through Stacks’ existing Proof of Transfer system, which has already distributed over 4,200 BTC to stakers since its inception. The announcement highlights a growing institutional interest in Bitcoin staking applications, potentially marking a significant development in the cryptocurrency’s use case for institutional stakeholders.

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Key Takeaways Markets appear to interpret the Genesis Bond launch as a positive development for Bitcoin, suggesting increased institutional interest. The self-custodial feature of the Genesis Bond indicates a focus on security and control for Bitcoin holders. The new product could indicate a broader acceptance of Bitcoin-denominated yield mechanisms within institutional finance. What to Watch Observers should monitor the impact of this launch on Bitcoin’s price, particularly if institutional participation materializes as expected. Key indicators include potential announcements from major financial institutions regarding their involvement with the Genesis Bond. Additionally, any regulatory responses from entities like the SEC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission could influence market sentiment and the broader acceptance of Bitcoin yield products.

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Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 17 2026 99.9% — — View market → August 17 2026 99.9% — — View market → August 17 2026 99.9% — — View market → August 17 2026 99.9% — — View market → August 17 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 17 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 17 2026 13% — — View market → August 17 2026 99.9% — — View market → August 17 2026 0.1% — — View market →

NAVI Prime targets capital isolation in DeFi lending@Navi_protocol has unveiled NAVI Prime, a modular lending protocol built on @SuiNetwork, designed for what the team describes as high-conviction capital isolation. The launch marks a deliberate departure from the unified liquidity pool model that has defined much of DeFi lending to date.

Rather than pooling all assets into a single shared market, NAVI Prime creates individual lending markets, each with its own collateral rules and risk parameters. The core idea is straightforward: by separating markets, losses or volatility in one pool cannot spill over into another. Quality assets can therefore reach higher capital efficiency without being dragged down by the risk profile of lower-grade collateral sitting in the same pool.

Building on Sui's modular infrastructure @Navi_protocol is a decentralized lending and liquidity infrastructure protocol built natively on the Sui blockchain, with a strong focus on unlocking capital efficiency for digital assets. The choice of @SuiNetwork as the foundation for NAVI Prime is consistent with NAVI's broader strategy. The Sui blockchain is known for its high throughput and low latency, making it a practical foundation for a protocol that aims to offer efficient and dynamic lending services.

As the first native liquidity protocol on the Sui blockchain, NAVI leverages Sui's high throughput and the Move programming language for security, with a modular architecture in which smart contracts are built as interchangeable components for flexibility. NAVI Prime extends that philosophy by applying modularity not just at the contract level, but at the market structure level as well.

Isolation mode allows riskier assets to be listed without exposing the main protocol to bad debt , a principle that sits at the heart of the NAVI Prime design. By giving each market its own collateral methodology, the protocol aims to let blue-chip assets operate at tighter, more efficient parameters while still accommodating newer or more volatile tokens in separate, ring-fenced environments.

The announcement positions NAVI Prime as an infrastructure play for more sophisticated capital allocators looking for precision risk management within the Sui DeFi ecosystem, rather than a one-size-fits-all lending pool.

Sources:
CoinMarketCap: What Is NAVI Protocol (NAVX) And How Does It Work?
NAVI Protocol Official Documentation
Backpack Exchange: NAVI Protocol Overview

10h05 ▪ 4 min read ▪ by Ghiles A.

Summarize this article with:

Tokenized stocks accelerate their progress in the crypto market. In one month, holders more than doubled, while transfers jumped nearly 180%. This evolution also accompanies a rise in active addresses and distributed value. Behind this dynamic, several players compete for a central place. Ondo maintains the top position, ahead of Kraken’s xStocks and Binance’s bStocks. RWA.xyz data shows a clear expansion in activity in this segment.

In Brief Tokenized stock holders exceeded 1.31 million, more than doubling in one month. Monthly transfer volume jumped 179%, reaching $23.13 billion. Ondo dominates with $872 million distributed, ahead of Kraken’s $557.8 million and Binance’s $521.8 million. SpaceX tokenized stocks via bStocks reached $67.9 million since listing. Tokenized Stocks Scale Up The number of holders of the tokenized stock market reached 1.31 million over the last month. The monthly transfer volume increased by 179%, reaching $23.13 billion. Monthly active addresses also rose by 34.62%, to nearly 572,000. This increase reflects broader activity around blockchain-represented securities.

The distributed value also follows a positive trajectory, at $2.38 billion. It rose by 5.9% over one month, according to the same data. Tokenized stocks thus gain presence among related products and real-world assets.

Ondo Maintains the Lead Ahead of Kraken and Binance Ondo currently leads the ranking with about $872 million in distributed value. Kraken’s xStocks follows with $557.8 million, ahead of Binance’s bStocks at $521.8 million. Launched in June, bStocks is about $36 million behind its competitor. Tokenized stocks thus become a field where offerings evolve rapidly.

RWA.xyz also ranks Securitize among the main individual assets, with $145.2 million distributed. Strategy PP Variable xStock reaches $135.6 million, while Ondo’s Circle stocks display $99.7 million.

RWA.xyz shows the strong growth of the tokenized stocks market, with 1.31 million holders and a monthly volume of $23.13 billion. Source: RWA.xyz
Pre-IPO Products Accelerate the Momentum The rise of tokenized stocks comes after the arrival of several crypto platforms in private markets. Earlier this year, several players offered products linked to SpaceX before its June 12 IPO. Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, Bitget, and Blockchain.com launched various offerings. These ranged from tokenized pre-IPO exposure to perpetual futures and substitute tokens.

However, not all pre-IPO operations met initial expectations. One Binance campaign notably raised $557 million before SpaceX’s IPO. Binance, Bybit, and Bitget Wallet later canceled their campaigns after allocation difficulties. xStocks did not secure enough underlying shares to satisfy demand, leading to subscriber reimbursements. Despite this episode, SpaceX’s tokenized stocks via bStocks have continued to progress since the listing.

The momentum might now depend on the evolution of volumes and user numbers. Recent data shows rapid growth in this market. This trend fits into a broader tokenization of real-world assets. Standard Chartered estimates this market could reach $4 trillion by the end of 2028. The coming months will therefore measure if this growth maintains its current pace across global markets.

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Ghiles A.

Journaliste et rédacteur web passionné par l’univers des cryptomonnaies et des technologies Web3. J’y traite les dernières tendances et actualités afin de proposer un contenu de haute qualité à un large public du secteur.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Duquesne Family Office has disclosed a $23 million position in Hyperliquid Strategies Inc., giving Stanley Druckenmiller’s investment office indirect exposure to HYPE through the Nasdaq-listed digital asset treasury company.

Summary

Duquesne Family Office disclosed a new $23 million stake in Hyperliquid Strategies. The Nasdaq listed company holds millions of HYPE tokens as part of its digital asset treasury strategy. Duquesne’s former partner Kevin Warsh became Federal Reserve chairman in May 2026. Warsh disclosed more than $100 million in assets before his confirmation. The SEC filing for the second quarter of 2026 showed Duquesne held shares of Hyperliquid Strategies, which trades under the ticker PURR, as of June 30, with the position appearing in the family office’s portfolio for the first time.

The disclosure adds Duquesne to the institutional investors gaining exposure to Hyperliquid through publicly traded shares instead of purchasing the protocol’s HYPE token directly. Hyperliquid Strategies operates as a digital asset treasury company built around accumulating and managing HYPE.

Fintel data based on the filing also lists PURR as a new Duquesne position, accounting for roughly 0.44% of the investment manager’s reported portfolio.

Duquesne adds Hyperliquid Strategies to its portfolio Hyperliquid Strategies has built one of the largest corporate HYPE holdings since establishing its digital asset treasury business.

As crypto.news previously reported in February, the Nasdaq-listed company purchased another 5 million HYPE for about $129.5 million at an average price of $25.90 per token. The acquisition increased its holdings at the time to 17.6 million HYPE while leaving the company with about $125 million in cash.

Its holdings later increased substantially. Artemis data cited in a June treasury report showed Hyperliquid Strategies controlled about 23.7 million HYPE and was sitting on more than $1.1 billion in unrealized gains at the time.

The report found HYPE-focused treasury companies were among the few major digital asset treasury groups still carrying sizeable paper profits during the June market downturn. Bitcoin, Ether and Solana treasury companies, by comparison, were recording substantial unrealized losses as prices fell.

Duquesne’s $23 million PURR holding gives the family office exposure to that treasury structure through a regulated U.S. equity. The 13F does not show whether the firm bought the shares in a single transaction or accumulated them at different points during the quarter, since the filing only reports holdings as of June 30.

Form 13F reports are required from institutional investment managers that exercise investment discretion over at least $100 million in certain securities. The disclosures provide a quarterly snapshot of reportable holdings but do not show positions purchased or sold after the reporting date.

Hyperliquid Strategies has accumulated millions of HYPE Institutional interest in Hyperliquid Strategies came as HYPE recorded large price swings during the second quarter.

HYPE reached a record of about $73.7 on June 1 after gaining more than 70% over the preceding month. At the time, Hyperliquid Strategies was already one of the largest publicly identified corporate holders of the token.

Demand for HYPE had also expanded through regulated investment and derivatives products. In June, Kalshi launched CFTC-regulated HYPE perpetual futures for U.S. traders, after which HYPE futures open interest rose to $2.48 billion and briefly surpassed XRP open interest, according to a June 11 report.

Institutional exposure has not been limited to listed treasury companies. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said in May that HYPE had gained 77% since the start of 2026 while Hyperliquid processed about $170 billion in monthly trading volume.

Bitwise also said it would direct 10% of management fees collected from its BHYP Hyperliquid exchange-traded fund toward purchasing and holding HYPE on its own balance sheet, as detailed in May.

Hyperliquid’s token model sends a large share of protocol trading fees toward HYPE purchases through its Assistance Fund. The mechanism has provided another source of demand alongside corporate treasury purchases and investment products.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh previously worked with Duquesne Duquesne’s newly disclosed PURR investment also comes with a connection to Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, who worked with the family office before returning to the central bank.

The Federal Reserve’s official biography says Warsh served as a partner at Duquesne Family Office after leaving the Fed’s Board of Governors in 2011. Warsh had previously served as a governor from 2006 to 2011 and returned to the central bank as chairman on May 22, 2026.

Before his confirmation, financial disclosures filed as part of the nomination process provided more detail about his relationship with Stanley Druckenmiller’s investment office.

Warsh disclosed assets worth well over $100 million, according to his April financial disclosure, although government ethics forms report investments in ranges and do not always provide precise valuations.

Two positions in the Juggernaut Fund LP were each listed at more than $50 million. The disclosure did not identify the underlying investments because of pre-existing confidentiality agreements, while Warsh committed to divesting the positions if confirmed.

The same filing showed that Warsh had received $10.2 million in consulting fees from Druckenmiller’s investment office during the period covered by the disclosure. His overall consulting income exceeded $13 million across several financial firms.

Warsh also agreed to dispose of assets required under Federal Reserve ethics rules before assuming the chairmanship. Fed investment rules introduced in 2022 place restrictions on the securities that senior officials and their immediate families may hold, including crypto-related assets.

After completing the confirmation process, Warsh took office as Federal Reserve chairman on May 22 for a four-year term ending May 21, 2030. He also became chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee and holds a separate term as a member of the Board of Governors through January 31, 2040.

Analysis

The limited-purpose bank charter lets World Liberty Trust Company issue and redeem USD1 in-house, displacing BitGo — and immediately triggers Warren's 'Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act.'

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has granted preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter to World Liberty Trust Company, N.A., an affiliate of the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial. The approval, issued August 14 under OCC Corporate Decision #1385, follows an application filed January 7 and authorizes the entity to directly issue and redeem the USD1 stablecoin.

The charter is surgically narrow. World Liberty Trust Company can manage and hold customer assets, settle payments, and custody the reserves backing USD1 — but it cannot take deposits, make loans, or operate as a federally insured depository. It is not a bank under the Bank Holding Company Act, and it is not seeking a Federal Reserve master account. What it gets is the federal imprimatur of OCC supervision without the capital and liquidity requirements of a full commercial bank. The USD1 stablecoin, previously issued through BitGo Bank & Trust, will move under the new entity’s proprietary umbrella.

CoinDesk and Reuters reported the approval. The OCC imposed conditions including a $20 million minimum capital requirement, a qualified internal audit manager, and satisfaction of all preopening requirements before the bank can open. The OCC retains the right to modify, suspend, or rescind the conditional approval.

The ownership structure is what makes this charter a political event. World Liberty Financial is approximately 38% owned by an entity tied to Donald Trump Jr. and other Trump family members. The trust company’s president is Zach Witkoff, son of Steve Witkoff, who serves as a presidential special envoy. Senator Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, called the approval “the most brazen act of self-dealing our financial system has ever seen,” adding that “President Trump is now the first President in history to approve, operate, and supervise his own bank.”

On August 15, Warren introduced the “Ending Presidential Corruption in Banking Act” with nine co-sponsors, including Senators Van Hollen, Alsobrooks, Murphy, Sanders, Blumenthal, Reed, Kim, Duckworth, and Gallego. The bill would prohibit the Fed, OCC, and FDIC from approving banking applications involving a president, vice president, members of Congress, or their immediate families.

World Liberty’s response frames the charter as a hedge against future political risk rather than a product of current political access. Spokesman David Wachsman told Newsweek the firm is “running towards regulation and continuous oversight.” The company maintains the charter ensures “robust and permanent OCC regulatory supervision that will outlast the Trump administration” — an argument that uses the permanence of federal oversight as a shield against the perception of political favoritism.

The structural question is whether a limited-purpose trust charter can serve as a stablecoin regulatory template. The model concentrates on custody, reserve management, and redemption mechanics while explicitly excluding the systemic risks of deposit-taking. For stablecoin issuers navigating the GENIUS Act’s emerging framework, a trust charter offers a path to federal legitimacy without the overhead of full banking regulation. Circle has pursued a different route — a national trust bank subsidiary through the OCC’s standard process — but the outcome here suggests the trust charter model may be more accessible than previously assumed.

The catch is that this particular trust charter is inseparable from its political context. Whether the “regulatory moat” it creates for USD1 is a genuine institutionalization of stablecoin infrastructure or a one-time artifact of political proximity depends on whether the model survives the legislative response now gathering around it.

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Goldman Sachs just made its Bitcoin bet a lot harder to ignore. The bank added $386 million worth of Strategy Inc. shares to its portfolio, bringing its total position in the company formerly known as MicroStrategy to $558 million.

How Goldman is playing the Bitcoin trade Goldman’s approach here is worth understanding. The bank has not gone out and bought Bitcoin directly. Instead, it has accumulated roughly 2.33 million shares of Strategy Inc., the NASDAQ-listed company that Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has spent years turning into a publicly traded Bitcoin holding vehicle.

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Goldman added approximately 237,874 shares in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, according to 13F filings. Those filings, mandatory disclosures that large institutional investors submit to the SEC each quarter, revealed the scale of the bank’s accumulating conviction.

Strategy funds its Bitcoin purchases primarily through equity offerings and convertible notes, a capital-raising playbook it has run since 2020. When Goldman buys Strategy shares, it is effectively financing that machine, and betting that the machine keeps working.

Why Strategy, why now Strategy completed a rebranding from MicroStrategy in February 2025, a move that was equal parts marketing and mission statement. The new name strips away any pretense that this is a software company with a side interest in crypto. It is a Bitcoin treasury company, full stop.

Strategy holds more Bitcoin than any other corporation on earth, a title it has defended aggressively through continued purchases. For institutions that want Bitcoin exposure without the custody headaches, regulatory uncertainty around direct holdings, or internal risk committee drama, Strategy stock is the path of least resistance.

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

Binance has launched an $800,000 XRP reward campaign for eligible RLUSD holders, creating another incentive to use Ripple’s stablecoin on the exchange. At the same time, XRP Ledger activity has picked up, with Santiment recording its highest daily active-address count in more than two months.

How the RLUSD XRP Rewards WorkBinance’s campaign ran from July 17 through August 14, with XRP rewards distributed every Friday. Users needed to maintain at least 0.01 RLUSD in eligible Binance Earn or Margin accounts and record at least $500 in average daily Margin or Futures trading volume.

RLUSD held in Flexible Savings, or used as collateral in Cross Margin, Isolated Margin or Portfolio Margin accounts, could qualify. Users also had to complete KYC and live in an eligible jurisdiction.

The reward calculation used the lowest RLUSD balance recorded through hourly snapshots each day. Binance then applied the weekly effective APR to the seven-day average qualifying balance.

XRP Rewards Fell as the Campaign ProgressedThe headline reward pool was $800,000 worth of XRP, divided across four weekly distributions. The effective APR changed considerably during the campaign:

July 24: 22.25%July 31: 8.22%August 7: 8.08%August 14: 7.69%This decline shows why the headline APR should not be treated as a fixed return. Binance states that the rate can change each week depending on qualifying balances and other campaign factors.

RLUSD obtained through borrowing also faced restrictions. Binance applied a 60% haircut to the leveraged portion, while borrowed RLUSD recorded as a liability did not count toward the qualifying balance.

XRP Ledger Activity Sends a Different SignalWhile XRP sentiment has weakened, blockchain activity has moved in the opposite direction. Santiment reported 49,929 active XRP addresses within 24 hours, the highest level in more than two months.

😠 XRP negativity surged throughout this week as prices have failed to rally (so far). Crowd commentary is now at a 3-month bearish extreme across X, Reddit, Telegram, and other crypto channels.

⚡ The XRP Ledger, on the other hand, is not so quiet. $XRP just saw 49,929 active… pic.twitter.com/CmXxOHSYt0

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) August 14, 2026 The increase comes after XRP market value fell below $1, with retail commentary reaching a three-month bearish extreme across social platforms, according to Santiment.

This creates an interesting contrast, while market sentiment is weak, participation on the XRP Ledger is rising.

Story Ends Here

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