Cryptocurrency
Goldman Sachs Backs Coinbase and Robinhood Amid Bitcoin Rally
Bitcoin’s 26% weekly surge to $81,000 has revived institutional optimism, prompting Goldman Sachs to maintain bullish buy ratings on Coinbase and Robinhood. While trading volumes across the sector saw a sharp decline throughout the summer, the bank is betting that market recovery and new financial products will drive revenue.
Bitwise Debuts Automated Token Portfolios Using Coinbase Stock Tokens
Bitwise has introduced three automated token portfolios, or ATPs, allowing non-U.S. investors to mirror professional investment models directly within their own non-custodial wallets. By leveraging Coinbase’s recently launched tokenized U.S. stocks, the firm aims to combine institutional-grade asset allocation with the autonomy of onchain self-custody.
World Liberty Defends USD1 Stablecoin Growth Amid Scrutiny
World Liberty Financial is pushing back against claims that its $4 billion USD1 stablecoin owes its rapid expansion to political connections. CEO Zach Witkoff asserts that the asset’s growth is driven by institutional demand rather than the company’s ties to President Donald Trump’s administration.
Mantle Bridges Real-World Asset Yields to DeFi via Non-Custodial Vault
Mantle has transitioned its real-world asset yield product from centralized exchange Bybit to a non-custodial DeFi environment. The new vault, now live on the Fluxion network, allows users to deposit USDC or USDT0 to access sUSDS-based yields without relinquishing control of their private keys to a third-party custodian.
Bitcoin Climbs to $81,000 as Jackson Hole Approaches
As Bitcoin tests the $81,000 threshold, market participants are bracing for Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s inaugural address at the 2026 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. With the agenda shifting toward digital finance and regulatory frameworks, investors are weighing the risks of policy-driven volatility against ongoing accumulation strategies.
Crypto funds urged to drop Fed forecasting for systematic strategies
As Bitcoin surges toward $80,000, institutional managers are being advised to abandon the high-stakes game of predicting Federal Reserve policy. Moon Pursuit Capital argues that in a market defined by thin liquidity, building portfolios resilient to shifting macro conditions is a more reliable path than betting on central bank rhetoric.
Asian crypto traders pivot to traditional stock futures
Asian investors are increasingly abandoning traditional brokerage houses for 24/7 crypto platforms, driving a 3,308% surge in MEXC’s daily stock futures volume during the second quarter of 2026. This shift underscores a broader migration of capital from digital assets toward tokenized equities and precious metals.
Inside Binance: How CZ and Yi He adopted Simpsons-themed aliases
Within the high-stakes environment of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance co-founders Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and Yi He maintained a peculiar internal ritual. According to former employees, the pair routinely utilized codenames inspired by pop culture’s most famous yellow family, appearing in internal communications as Homer and Marge Simpson.
Grayscale Launches Zcash ETF, Pledging Fee Revenue to Network Growth
Investors now have direct exposure to Zcash through the newly launched ZCSH exchange-traded fund on NYSE Arca. The product, a conversion of Grayscale’s existing Zcash Trust, arrived Tuesday with a 2.5% annual sponsor fee, a portion of which the firm intends to reinvest into the privacy-focused ecosystem.
Operation Lighthouse tracks 7,700 suspect accounts in CSAM crackdown
Operation Lighthouse, a multi-day investigative sprint hosted at the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance in New York, has generated 14,300 leads after tracing 29,120 cryptocurrency addresses linked to over 100 platforms distributing child sexual abuse material, resulting in the identification of 7,700 suspect accounts across 125 countries.
Kinetiq Unveils Elysium L2 Network to Expand Hyperliquid Ecosystem
Kinetiq introduced Elysium on Aug. 24, a new layer-2 network designed to bolster transaction capacity within the Hyperliquid ecosystem. By utilizing HYPE as its native gas token, the project aims to streamline cross-network movement while addressing the scalability constraints currently faced by HyperEVM users during periods of high market activity.
Thailand Drafts Rules for Bitcoin and Ether ETFs
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to formalize its crypto investment landscape, unveiling draft regulations for locally listed spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds. The proposal mandates that these funds maintain an 80% minimum exposure to their underlying digital assets while prioritizing domestic custody solutions for investor protection.
USDC Dominates Autonomous AI Payments via x402 Protocol
Nearly every payment processed through the x402 agent-payment protocol now moves through USDC, according to Circle’s latest quarterly data. As autonomous AI agents proliferate, the stablecoin has emerged as the preferred unit of account for machine-to-machine transactions, accounting for 99.3% of volume within the specific x402 ecosystem.
Visa and Nium Launch Stablecoin Settlement Pilot in Singapore
Visa has joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s BLOOM initiative, tapping cross-border payments provider Nium to test stablecoin settlement. The project aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and blockchain by enabling seven-day settlement cycles for U.S. dollar and euro-backed stablecoins, bypassing the limitations of standard banking hours.
Most Stolen Coldcard Bitcoin Remains Untouched After $114M Exploit
More than 87% of the Bitcoin drained in the Coldcard wallet exploit remains stagnant, with 1,561 BTC sitting in attacker-controlled wallets. While researchers have traced 1,789 BTC to the breach, the lack of movement on the majority of funds provides an ongoing trail for law enforcement and compliance monitoring.
Monad Proposes Decoupling Wallet Addresses from Authentication Keys
Monad researchers have introduced a protocol upgrade designed to separate a blockchain address from the cryptographic keys that control it, enabling users to rotate credentials, implement social recovery, and adopt quantum-resistant security without the need to migrate assets to a new wallet.
Metaplanet Shifts 1,000 BTC to Coinbase Prime Amid Treasury Scrutiny
Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that Japanese firm Metaplanet transferred 1,000 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $79.77 million, to Coinbase Prime on August 25. While the movement prompted immediate market speculation regarding a potential sell-off, the transaction remains unconfirmed as a divestment by either the company or the exchange.
Stablecoin Card Spending Projects $50B Annual Volume by 2028
Cumulative spending via stablecoin-linked cards has surpassed $10.9 billion, a milestone prompting RedotPay to forecast that annual transaction volumes will quadruple to $50 billion within four years. The surge reflects a shift from experimental niche use toward mainstream adoption for daily financial needs across global markets.
Fortune Protocol Aggregates Polymarket Data into Unified Interface
Fortune Protocol has integrated Polymarket liquidity into its Fortune Markets platform, creating a centralized hub for prediction market participants. By connecting Polymarket alongside the existing Predict.fun integration, the project aims to streamline how traders compare liquidity, volume, and implied probabilities across disparate event-based platforms.
Ethereum Developers Propose Quantum-Resilient Validator Contract
Ethereum researchers have introduced a draft proposal for a flexible validator deposit contract, marking a potential shift away from current BLS signature systems. By enabling variable-length public keys and metadata, the design creates a foundation for future cryptographic upgrades aimed at defending the network against potential quantum computing threats.
Binance Expands TradFi Perpetual Portfolio With Five New Listings
Binance Futures launched five USDT-margined perpetual contracts on August 25, offering traders up to 20x leverage on U.S.-listed equities and semiconductor-focused ETFs. The move expands synthetic exposure to assets like Trump Media and Moderna, though the derivatives grant no actual ownership or voting rights in the underlying companies.
Franklin Templeton brings tokenized US government fund to HashKey
Franklin Templeton is expanding its footprint in Asia by listing its tokenized U.S. government money market fund, grBENJI, on the HashKey Exchange. The move grants professional investors in Hong Kong direct access to the fund through HashKey’s regulated Earn channel, leveraging blockchain infrastructure to manage U.S. government debt and cash assets.
Gemini Opens XRP Ledger Transfers for Singapore Users
Singapore-based Gemini customers can now move XRP directly via the XRP Ledger for deposits and withdrawals, moving beyond the exchange's closed-loop custody system. Co-founder Tyler Winklevoss confirmed the rollout on August 25, marking a strategic deepening of the platform's utility within one of its primary global markets.
Las Vegas businessman convicted in $24 million crypto Ponzi scheme
A federal jury has found Las Vegas entrepreneur Brent Kovar guilty of orchestrating a $24 million fraud, concluding a nine-day trial that exposed a web of fabricated cryptocurrency mining claims. Prosecutors successfully argued that Kovar used new investor funds to bankroll his personal lifestyle and pay off earlier participants.
U.S. Widens Iran Sanctions Net to Target Crypto Brokers
The U.S. Treasury Department has expanded its sanctions authority to encompass Iran’s entire digital asset sector, aiming to close loopholes that allow the regime to bypass global banking restrictions. The move grants officials the power to penalize any foreign entity or individual facilitating crypto transactions linked to Iranian interests.
India to Trial Tokenized Corporate Bonds via Digital Rupee
India is set to pilot its first tokenized corporate bond issuance next month, utilizing the state-owned financier REC to test blockchain-based settlement. The initiative, involving the Reserve Bank of India and market regulators, aims to determine if distributed ledger technology can replace traditional, slower electronic book-building systems for debt.
Block Bits Capital founder convicted in $1M crypto scheme
Japheth Dillman, co-founder of the investment firm Block Bits Capital, has been found guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy by a federal jury in San Francisco. Prosecutors proved that Dillman swindled more than 20 investors out of nearly $1 million by selling them on a non-existent automated trading tool.
Protesters target Ripple co-founder over police surveillance funding
Demonstrators gathered outside the San Francisco home of Ripple executive chairman Chris Larsen on August 21, challenging his financial backing of police surveillance technology. The protest, organized by the Sunrise Movement, marks a growing push to redirect public safety spending away from private-sector camera networks and toward social services.
BNB Chain Activates Pasteur Upgrade to Tighten Bridge Security
At 02:30 UTC on August 25, the BNB Smart Chain mainnet successfully executed the Pasteur hard fork. The upgrade introduces a suite of technical refinements aimed at closing security gaps in cross-chain bridge verification, validator key management, and block construction efficiency without altering the network's 450-millisecond block interval.
CFTC Enters Criminal Case Against Soldier in Polymarket Insider Probe
A federal judge has granted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission permission to file an amicus brief in the criminal prosecution of U.S. Army soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke. The regulator seeks to argue that specific geopolitical prediction contracts qualify as swaps, a move the defense characterizes as regulatory overreach.