<h2>Patch testing, validator coordination and token volatility shape the network’s recovery</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>MANTRA halted its Layer 1 blockchain after identifying a security incident tied to its Cosmos EVM module and said two wallet addresses were affected.</li><li>MANTRA said user funds were not exploited and prepared a patched software release for testing before a coordinated mainnet restart.</li><li>The network halt coincided with a sharp selloff in MANTRA’s native token and a surge in trading activity.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/mantra-dao-om">MANTRA</a> halted its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-1">Layer 1</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> on Aug. 21, 2026, after a security incident tied to its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/cosmos-atom">Cosmos</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine">EVM</a> module, freezing block production, transactions and public network access while developers investigated the issue. MANTRA said two&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> addresses were affected and the immediate threat was contained. The MANTRA price fell about 18.5% from its 24-hour peak to a new all-time low of $0.004126 as the shutdown disrupted normal network activity.MANTRA initially said, “We’re aware of an incident affecting MANTRA Chain and have halted the chain as a precaution while we investigate.” The project subsequently said it had identified the root cause and isolated the incident to the Cosmos EVM module. The incident was characterized as an attempted exploit targeting a software weakness, with the vulnerability linked to a software dependency used by the blockchain rather than definitively identified as originating in MANTRA’s core code.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2090736752663339313.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2090736752663339313_f1c90c4d28.webp"></figure>MANTRA&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/MANTRA_Chain/status/2090736752663339313?s=20">said</a> the shutdown itself did not compromise customer assets and repeated, “No user funds were exploited.” The halt disabled transactions and transfers, staking operations and bridges, while deposits and withdrawals through affected exchanges were also interrupted. All network endpoints were frozen during the response, leaving tokens already held on centralized trading venues available for trading while normal on-chain transfers, deposits, withdrawals and cross-market arbitrage were restricted.Before beginning the recovery process, MANTRA took a full snapshot of the blockchain state. Developers then prepared patched software release v8.4.0 to address the vulnerability and began testing it on the DuKong testnet. MANTRA said a coordinated mainnet upgrade and restart could take place later that day if testing completed successfully and independent validators were ready to resume operations. Validators were instructed to keep their mainnet nodes offline until MANTRA formally announced the restart.MANTRA also said it was working with external security partners to examine the incident and assess additional risks. A full post-mortem was planned after network restoration. The information available at the time established that two wallet addresses and the Cosmos EVM module were affected, but the technical reconstruction of the exploit path and the complete remediation process remained subject to the promised post-mortem.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>MANTRA price falls as trading activity surges</h2>The MANTRA price decline extended beyond the immediate record low, with several market snapshots capturing different stages of the selloff and partial recovery. Because those figures were recorded at different points, they show a changing market rather than a single simultaneous price reading.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Market measure</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Recorded figure</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Context</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Detailed price move</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$0.005060 to $0.0044</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Partial recovery left the token about 10% lower for the day.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Rounded price move</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About $0.0050 to $0.0041</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">The rounded decline was described as more than 18%.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Later trading level</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About $0.0046</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About 82% below the March 4, 2026 high of $0.02627.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Further recovery snapshot</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About $0.004714</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">A later recorded price during the rebound.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Trading volume</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About $24 million</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Volume increased by nearly 600%.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The native asset was formerly known as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/mantra-dao-om">OM</a> but now trades under the MANTRA ticker after a 1:4 non-dilutive redenomination and ticker change completed in March 2026. Holders received four MANTRA tokens for each former OM token, with the conversion designed to leave their aggregate value unchanged at the time of redenomination.The Aug. 21 selloff followed a much larger token collapse on April 14, 2025, when OM fell from above $6 to below $1 in less than one hour, wiping out roughly 90% of its market value. Liquidations exceeded $70 million during that episode. CEO John Patrick Mullin blamed the collapse on what he called “reckless forced closures” by centralized exchanges.The fallout continued into January 2026, when MANTRA announced staff reductions across several teams. MANTRA said rapid expansion during 2024 and early 2025 had left its cost base too high following a difficult market period and the effects surrounding the token collapse. Mullin had also pledged to burn 300 million OM after the April crash, with the burn completed later that month.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Security incident lands amid MANTRA’s RWA expansion</h2>The Aug. 21 shutdown carries additional importance for MANTRA because the blockchain positions itself as infrastructure for real-world asset tokenization, including the movement of funds, bonds and other tokenized financial instruments. The project has built that strategy around institutional participation and has raised capital and established partnerships intended to expand its RWA operations.<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Launchedin2025tofinanceRWAprojectsoverthenextfouryears.</tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Alternativefundfigure<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">108.8 million </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">RWA-related figure</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Amount or period</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Details</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">MANTRA Ecosystem Fund</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">108.9million</td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">A separate stated figure for the ecosystem fund.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Earlier fundraising</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$11 million</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Previously raised by MANTRA.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Partners and investors associated with the RWA strategy include Nomura’s Laser Digital, Brevan Howard Digital, Shorooq and Amber Group, along with other investment firms. MANTRA also secured a strategic investment from Laser Digital aimed at expanding its real-world asset operations across the Middle East and Asia.The security incident came three days after MANTRA launched a major EVM interface upgrade on Aug. 18, 2026. That upgrade was identified as another element developers could examine during their investigation, but no causal link between the interface upgrade and the Aug. 21 incident was established.MANTRA warned users during the shutdown to avoid people offering recovery assistance or directing them to unofficial token websites. The network remained paused while the patched software underwent testing, with the restart dependent on successful testing and validator coordination rather than an immediate return to normal block production.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

A blocky robot installs patch software on MANTRA infrastructure

MANTRA Halts Blockchain After Cosmos EVM Security Incident

<h2>Trump presses Congress while regulators develop an alternative market-structure path</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the agency is preparing crypto market-structure rules under existing authority if Congress fails to pass the CLARITY Act.</li><li>President Donald Trump privately appeared “bullish” on the legislation after meeting crypto and traditional-finance executives at the White House.</li><li>Ethics provisions, stablecoin rewards, illicit-finance concerns and the Senate vote threshold remain obstacles to passage.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Commodity&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contract">Futures</a> Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaselig10">said</a> the agency is preparing to establish a regulatory regime for crypto asset markets if Congress fails to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, while President Donald Trump is pressing lawmakers and industry executives to help move the legislation through the Senate. Selig said the CFTC would allow the bill time for a vote before moving swiftly on rules already being explored under the agency’s existing authority.Selig laid out the fallback strategy on Aug. 20, 2026, during prepared remarks for the inaugural meeting of the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee. He said the agency would continue working on crypto regulation even without congressional action and had already directed staff toward several initiatives, including market-structure rules, leveraged and margined crypto trading and protections for&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> developers.“We’re going to give CLARITY its breathing room for a vote, but if the Democrats cannot support a bipartisan work product, which reflects compromises from both sides of the aisle, and ultimately send a fair version of the bill to the President’s desk, then rest assured, I will direct CFTC staff to move swiftly to propose these new rules for the industry,” Selig said.Selig said a Senate failure would prompt the CFTC to develop a “crypto asset market” regulatory category resembling the agency’s existing framework for designated contract markets, or DCMs. “To achieve this, I’ve directed the CFTC staff to begin exploring rules to codify a CFTC market structure for crypto assets using the agency’s existing authorities,” he said.The CFTC chair also framed the fallback plan in explicitly political terms. “If Clarity continues to stall because of Democrat obstruction, the CFTC will utilize its existing authorities to begin establishing a regime for crypto asset markets,” Selig said. “We will heed President [Donald] Trump’s call to codify a future-proof digital asset market structure that cannot be undone by the crypto haters.”Selig said staff had separately been directed to enable registered and non-registered entities to offer “crypto asset trading on a leveraged or margined basis.” He also instructed the agency to work with developers on regulations allowing them to “offer their protocols in a legal and compliant manner in the United States, future-proofing developer protections once and for all.”Despite preparing an agency-led alternative, Selig said legislation remained the more durable route. “Passing Clarity is the surest way that we can prevent another Gary Gensler from running a rogue campaign of lawfare against the individuals and companies in this room today,” he said, referring to the former Securities and Exchange Commission chair.SEC Chair Paul Atkins likewise emphasized legislation during a White House event with Trump. “The most important priority is for Congress to send the Clarity Act to your desk for your signature,” Atkins said. He has argued that legislation would provide greater permanence for crypto policy than regulatory action alone.The SEC was also advancing its own rulemaking. The securities regulator proposed its first major crypto rule that week, known as Regulation Crypto Assets, aimed at allowing crypto startups and fundraising with fewer regulatory hurdles. The proposal could provide a safe-harbor policy shielding certain tokens from treatment as “investment contracts” and offer some exemptions for issuers.The CFTC and SEC had previously issued a joint policy position defining different categories of digital assets and the regulatory buckets into which they should fall. That position was not adopted as a formal rule.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Senate passage still faces unresolved disputes</h2>The CLARITY Act’s next major congressional test is scheduled for Sept. 15, when the Senate is expected to hold its first procedural vote on the legislation. The measure needs 60 votes to advance and would have to return to the House of Representatives before reaching Trump for final approval or a veto.One assessment of the legislative calendar described a final three-week Senate window for the bill to secure the necessary support.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">Blockchain</a> Association CEO Summer Mersinger separately referred to a five-week stretch between the filing of cloture and the eventual Senate vote as a critical period for the industry.Several disputes remain unresolved. Lawmakers have been negotiating over&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> rewards and illicit-finance provisions, while questions surrounding Trump’s crypto interests have become a major ethics issue. His crypto wealth was described as having grown to hundreds of millions of dollars through interests linked to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/world-liberty-financial-worldlibertyfinancial-com-wlfi">World Liberty Financial</a> and his memecoin.Trump agreed in July to an ethics provision barring public officials, government employees and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring digital assets. Enforcement under that version would rest with the Justice Department rather than state attorneys general, and the provision would expire in January 2029. Democrats criticized the language as insufficient.Trump is also weighing a bipartisan proposal from Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Their version would allow state attorneys general to enforce a prohibition on public officials and their spouses issuing or sponsoring digital assets. Whether the White House accepts that compromise has become one of the major outstanding questions around the legislation.Trump said a “lot of Democrats” supported CLARITY, but the available information did not establish that enough senators had committed to passage.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Trump seeks industry feedback at White House</h2>Trump’s legislative push intensified after a White House event on Aug. 19, 2026, followed by a smaller private Oval Office meeting with crypto and traditional-finance executives. During the public event, Trump called for a “fair version” of the CLARITY Act and said regulators were working to onshore&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/hyperliquid">Hyperliquid</a>.Trump also presented the legislation as part of a broader competitive strategy, urging Congress to act to keep the United States “ahead of China.”A source familiar with the private Oval Office meeting said Trump was “bullish” about getting CLARITY done as the administration worked on a strategy to move the legislation through Congress.Executives present at the preceding press conference included Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a> CEO Arjun Sethi, ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> CEO Brian Armstrong and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">Ripple</a> CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The full attendance list for the subsequent Oval Office session was not established.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">Chainlink</a> co-founder Sergey Nazarov attended the private meeting and characterized it as productive. “The main discussion was really around Clarity and around just soliciting some basic feedback,” Nazarov said.Nazarov said the conversation focused on the remaining legislative work and the senators whose support would be needed after lawmakers returned from recess. “What are the remaining open points? Who are the senators that need to come along? What’s the plan for when we get back from recess?” he said.Nazarov said ethics was not discussed during the Oval Office session despite the issue’s importance to Senate negotiations. A strategic bitcoin reserve was raised, he said, though no next steps were provided during the discussion.Trump’s existing reserve plan called primarily for using bitcoin already held by the U.S. government through criminal or civil forfeitures, alongside a separate digital asset stockpile.Nazarov said the mix of traditional financial-market companies and crypto businesses at the White House was itself notable. “I think it’s notable that it wasn’t just startups and it wasn’t just institutions and it wasn’t just fintechs,” he said. “It was all the different groups together that matter.”Mersinger said she was not part of the private Oval Office meeting, which she said consisted mostly of company CEOs, but pointed to the presence of Nasdaq and ICE alongside newer crypto markets at the broader event.“So I thought it was a good kind of representation of where things are headed, where blockchain technology is really going to kind of be the underpinning of our markets going forward,” Mersinger said.She also said the event increased momentum around the legislation. “It kind of brought additional energy to the industry that I think it needed going into this five-week stretch between when cloture is filed and when we are going to have a vote in the Senate,” Mersinger said.Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Kim also expressed optimism after the White House gathering. “What I’m seeing from my vantage point is a lot of important work being done,” Kim said. “People remain committed.”Garlinghouse offered a similar public assessment. “This President’s incredible commitment to innovation and leadership around digital assets in the US has been profound,” he said in a post on X. “The future is bright.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>CFTC expands work beyond crypto market structure</h2>Garlinghouse also addressed the Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, contrasting the current regulatory environment with the SEC’s previous approach.“Ripple had the unfortunate reality of being at the center of the bullseye of the SEC’s lawfare in the previous administration,” Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse said. “It suffices to say, my headline for today is: What a difference leadership makes.”Garlinghouse said the earlier approach had pushed Ripple to hire and expand outside the United States. “I think we all can agree that the technologies represented at the tables here can make moving money faster, more efficient, and more accessible,” he said. “But we have to have clarity to unlock that potential responsibly.”Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler repeatedly came up during the committee meeting as industry participants discussed the previous regulatory environment and the need for more durable rules.Selig currently holds an unusually concentrated leadership position at the CFTC. He is the only Senate-confirmed commissioner serving on a commission designed to have five bipartisan members and has been solely responsible for directing the agency’s agenda since December.Selig appeared at the committee meeting alongside Innovation Advisory Committee Chair Walt Lukken and Designated Federal Officer Michael Passalacqua. The committee also addressed artificial intelligence and prediction markets.Prediction markets have become another major part of Selig’s agenda. The CFTC has asserted “exclusive jurisdiction” over the sector on the grounds that event contracts offered by the platforms qualify as “swaps.”Selig has led litigation against state governments challenging that position, saying the CFTC intends to “defend our exclusive jurisdiction in court.” The disputes have involved companies including Kalshi and Polymarket.The agency has already begun proposing prediction-market rules, and Selig said additional proposals are planned “to modernize the corporate rules and listing rules governing DCMs that list event contracts and institute consumer protection requirements.”This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot adjusts CLARITY Act mechanism ahead of key vote

CFTC Prepares Crypto Rules as CLARITY Act Faces Senate Test

<h2>GIP-153 Sets Path for ZK-Proven Rollup With Ethereum Settlement</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>GnosisDAO approved GIP-153, directing Gnosis Chain to transition from a standalone Layer 1 toward a ZK-proven Ethereum Economic Zone rollup.</li><li>The planned network would settle on Ethereum while preserving existing applications, balances and xDAI gas.</li><li>The vote establishes a governance mandate rather than a completed migration, with substantial technical work still required.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>GnosisDAO approved GIP-153 on Aug. 20, 2026, giving&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/gnosis-gno">Gnosis</a> Chain a governance mandate to move from its standalone&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-1">Layer 1</a> architecture toward a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/zksync-zk">ZK</a>-proven&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> Economic Zone, or EEZ, rollup that settles on Ethereum. The change would eventually retire Gnosis Chain’s independent validator set and make the network a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-2">Layer 2</a> relying on Ethereum validators for settlement and security. The approval sets the network’s direction but does not mean the technical migration has already taken place.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">GIP-153 vote metric</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Result</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">GNO in favor</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">123,158 GNO</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">GNO against</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">115 GNO</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">GNO abstaining</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">151 GNO</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Voters</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">54</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Total turnout</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">123,425 GNO</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Quorum</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">75,000 GNO</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Gnosis Chain&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/gnosis_/status/2090066285510217779">disclosed</a> the voting figures in an X post. The proposal passed with the overwhelming majority of voting power supporting the transition, while the approved plan remains a directional governance decision rather than an immediate deployment. Completing the change requires engineering and testing work as well as decisions around sequencer and prover design, bridge considerations, user migration planning, security review and ecosystem coordination.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2090066285510217779_20260821_072643_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2090066285510217779_20260821_072643_via_10015_io_519ef5488e.webp"></figure>The target genesis window is late 2026 or early 2027, subject to the required EEZ technology being ready. Preparations also include technical design, implementation milestones, test environments, ecosystem communication and final launch planning. Until that work is completed, Gnosis Chain continues to operate under its existing architecture despite the governance approval.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Ethereum Settlement Would Replace Gnosis Chain’s Independent Validator Model</h2>Gnosis Chain has operated as its own&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> while remaining closely aligned with Ethereum tooling and values. Under GIP-153, Ethereum would instead become its settlement layer. The planned structure would allow Gnosis Chain to rely on Ethereum’s validator network, liquidity base, developer ecosystem and institutional credibility while keeping transaction execution within the Layer 2 environment rather than moving all activity directly onto Ethereum mainnet.The transition is also designed to preserve familiar parts of the Gnosis Chain user experience. Gas would continue to be paid in xDAI rather than&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a>, and Gnosis Chain is expected to retain its existing applications, account balances and xDAI gas token when it becomes the first production deployment of the EEZ architecture. The proposal therefore changes the network’s settlement and interoperability model without resetting its existing application environment.The EEZ was developed by Gnosis and ZisK with funding from the Ethereum Foundation as a framework for Ethereum-aligned rollups. Its stated objective is to reduce fragmentation across Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem by allowing smart contracts on participating networks to execute synchronously without depending on conventional cross-chain bridges.The proposal would allow Gnosis Chain-native smart contracts to call Ethereum and use the resulting state or output within the same transaction. That would give applications access to Ethereum mainnet assets and liquidity in an environment the proposal calls “optimized” for consumers. The proposal says that capability is not currently available on existing Layer 2 networks.Ethereum scaling has increased transaction capacity by distributing activity across numerous networks, but the EEZ initiative targets the resulting separation of liquidity, infrastructure, applications and users across different blockchains. Its architecture is intended to make participating networks interact more directly while reducing the number of cross-chain operations that depend on bridge infrastructure.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>GNO Staking Structure Would Change With the Migration</h2>The proposal would also unlock approximately 350,000 staked GNO as Gnosis Chain moves away from its independent validator architecture. Releasing those tokens could change staking incentives and give holders greater flexibility while altering how GNO functions within the future network structure.The material supporting the proposal raises several possible directions for GNO’s role, including becoming more governance-centered or taking on a different economic function within the Ethereum-aligned system. It does not state that the unlocked tokens would be sold, and the unlocking itself should not be treated as evidence of planned market disposal.Ethereum’s broader scaling ecosystem already secures substantial value. L2Beat data cited alongside the proposal showed the following figures:<div class="raw-html-embed"><tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Broadertrackedscalingnetworks<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">Rollups,validiums,optimiumsandothernetworks<tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;">34.88 billion </tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"></tdstyle="border:1pxsolid#fff;padding:8px;color:#fff;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Scaling category</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Networks or scope</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Total value secured</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ethereum rollups</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">22 rollups</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">27.82billion</td></tr><tr></tr> </tbody> </table></div>The EEZ design also addresses concerns raised about centralized sequencers and trusted bridging systems in some Layer 2 architectures. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote in a Feb. 3 X post, “The original vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense, and we need a new path.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Standard Chartered Sees Reduced Bridge Dependence as an EEZ Benefit</h2>Geoffrey Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said the EEZ could reduce reliance on blockchain bridges while increasing activity across Ethereum. Kendrick wrote in a May 28 report, “The EEZ will have the benefit of reducing the need for bridges (where hacks tend to occur) and increasing the usability of assets in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine">EVM</a> chains.”Kendrick also said the EEZ could improve composability between assets by allowing smart contracts on different participating networks to interact within the same transaction. Addressing bridge dependence and improving asset usability could have a broader ecosystem effect, he said: “Both of these are likely to lead to greater activity in the Ethereum ecosystem.”Gnosis Chain would serve as the first production implementation of that model if the transition is completed. The network would move from operating as an independent blockchain toward functioning as a specialized extension of Ethereum’s settlement layer, while retaining Gnosis-specific application infrastructure and xDAI-based transaction fees.Execution will determine how that transition works in practice. Rollup infrastructure remains competitive, and the implementation will be judged on reliability, transaction fees, liquidity, developer tooling and bridge safety as GnosisDAO moves from an approved governance direction to technical deployment.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Faceless block robot unlocking a Gnosis vault to reveal Ethereum rollup settlement.

GnosisDAO Approves Gnosis Chain Shift to Ethereum Economic Zone

<h2>Late governance vote redirects user allocation toward institutional and ecosystem growth</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Optimism governance approved the transfer of a future user-airdrop allocation into a Foundation-administered Strategic Ecosystem Fund.</li><li>Test in Prod, an Optimism Collective core development team, cast the decisive late vote that moved the proposal from losing to passing.</li><li>Supporters framed the fund as an enterprise-growth war chest, while critics questioned oversight, tokenholder value and the redesignation of tokens intended for users.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/optimism-op">Optimism</a> governance on Aug. 20, 2026,&nbsp;<a href="https://vote.optimism.io/proposals/71046981157786379776549698790429169615693449771144448151464817786433292182423">approved</a> a proposal to redirect 546.9 million&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/optimism-op">OP</a> tokens previously reserved for future user&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/airdrop">airdrops</a> into a Strategic Ecosystem Fund administered by the Optimism Foundation, shifting the allocation toward partnerships, institutional adoption, network incentives and growth across OP&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">Mainnet</a> and OP Enterprise.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot 2026-08-21 011654.png" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/Screenshot_2026_08_21_011654_37417ffd5f.png"></figure>The reallocated tokens represent 12.7% of OP's total supply. At the price cited around the vote, the position was valued at about $49.7 million to $50 million. The Strategic Ecosystem Fund is intended to support partnerships with chains, protocols and institutions, increase activity and liquidity on OP Mainnet, and expand OP Enterprise.Optimism said it has no additional airdrops planned after distributing 269.1 million OP across five previous rounds. The project said airdrops were better suited to an earlier stage focused on broad user acquisition than its current institutional strategy, making the governance decision a shift away from the previous user-distribution model rather than a delay of another scheduled round.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Test in Prod casts decisive vote with minutes remaining</h2>The proposal passed after delegate.testinprod-io.eth, or Test in Prod, cast an 8.486 million OP vote in favor with 16 minutes and 52 seconds remaining. The vote raised support from 45.77% to 61.84%, turning a proposal that had been losing into an approved measure.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Governance metric</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Result</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Final OP voting in favor</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">17.974 million OP</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Final OP voting against</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">10.931 million OP</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Final approval without Test in Prod's position</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">46.47%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Without Test in Prod's position, the proposal would still have met quorum but would have failed, leaving the tokens in the user allocation. Test in Prod's governance profile identifies it as a core development team of the Optimism Collective. A 2025 Security Council nomination also described the team as “fully funded by the Collective.”Test in Prod secured a new 12-month term on the Optimism Security Council in June 2026. Voting power for the proposal was snapshotted on Aug. 13, 2026, at block 155,526,433, meaning OP acquired or delegated after that snapshot could not affect the result.Supporters argued that Optimism needed access to substantial capital to compete for enterprise opportunities without exposing sensitive commercial negotiations through deal-by-deal public governance. Test in Prod said enterprise bidding requires confidentiality and wrote, “We're in an uphill battle, the enterprise market is expensive, and the window is now.”Test in Prod also wrote, “We think we need the war chest today, and we should be careful about handing information to competitors.” The team asked the Optimism Foundation to provide aggregate disclosures covering deployments and outcomes after capital had been used.The Optimism Foundation proposed reporting cumulative deployments from the Strategic Ecosystem Fund through its annual budget report rather than submitting each prospective partnership or expenditure to separate public governance approval.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Critics question oversight and tokenholder value</h2>L2BEAT, an&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> scaling research platform, opposed the proposal and raised concerns about the fund's open-ended authority, the connection between spending and OP tokenholder value, and the absence of a retrospective assessment showing whether previous partnership spending had generated sufficient results.Polynya, a pseudonymous rollup researcher, and other participants&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/cp0xdotcom/status/2088270207408054639">argued</a> that the proposal rewrote an allocation originally designated for users without providing enough deal-specific oversight. Delegates also questioned how the Optimism Foundation would measure returns from the new fund and argued that the tokens had effectively been promised to users.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2089318818665431268.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2089318818665431268_df9d703426.webp"></figure>Supporters countered that reserving the remaining allocation for a distribution program Optimism no longer intended to continue would leave capital unused while the network competed for institutional partnerships, liquidity programs, chain integrations and enterprise deployments.Social media users also flagged what they described as other Optimism Team&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/wallet-address">address</a> clusters participating in the vote and raised questions about coordinated activity. The information available did not establish that coordination occurred. It also did not establish that the Optimism Foundation instructed Test in Prod how to vote.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>OP rebounds as governance redirects large allocation</h2>OP traded around $0.09 on Thursday, gaining roughly 11% over the preceding 24 hours during a broader crypto-market rally while remaining more than 93% below its all-time high.At the latter valuation, the redirected allocation was equivalent to nearly one-quarter of OP's&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-cap">market capitalization</a>. The remaining airdrop allocation was also more than twice the amount Optimism had already distributed through its previous rounds.Optimism operates OP Mainnet and develops the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/kraken-bob-swell-expand-optimism-superchain">OP Stack</a>, a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> framework used by Base, Unichain,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a>'s Ink and Sony's Soneium. According to Optimism, more than 30 OP Stack chains currently contribute revenue to the project.Optimism's institutional strategy had already extended into payments infrastructure before the governance vote. In July 2026, the project signed a memorandum of understanding with Viva Republica, operator of the South Korea-based mobile money-transfer application Toss, for a three-month proof of concept testing Korean won-based&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> infrastructure for institutional payments.The approved Strategic Ecosystem Fund moves Optimism's remaining future-airdrop allocation under Foundation administration for use across institutional partnerships, ecosystem incentives and network expansion, while leaving the Foundation's annual budget reporting as the proposed mechanism for disclosing cumulative deployments and results.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Optimism governance reallocates token allocation toward institutional ecosystem expansion.

Optimism Approves 546.9M OP Shift From Future Airdrops

[PENTEST] recheck 1787245627

[AUTHORIZED PENTEST] v3 admin XSS + CMS self-exfil. DELETE.
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[PENTEST] cleanup — DELETE

[PENTEST] cleanup2 — DELETE

Crypto robot breaking out of trading range following market liquidation

Bitcoin Breaks Six-Week Range as $3.35 Billion Liquidation Wave Hits Crypto

<h2>Tokyo Treasury Firm Deploys 2,100 Bitcoin and Cash to Acquire Nasdaq-Listed Entity</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Metaplanet agreed on August 18, 2026, to contribute 2,100 Bitcoin and $2.5 million in cash to acquire a 95.7% common stock stake in Super League Enterprise.</li><li>Super League Enterprise will be renamed "Superplanet" and seek to trade on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol SUPA, with Metaplanet maintaining a five-year lock-up.</li><li>The deal establishes a dual-market capital-raising structure across Japan and the United States to expand a single, non-transferable Bitcoin reserve position.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Tokyo-listed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> treasury company Metaplanet agreed on August 18, 2026, to contribute 2,100 Bitcoin and $2.5 million in cash to Nasdaq-listed Super League Enterprise in a deal valued at roughly $134.6 million, securing approximately 95.7% of Super League's common stock under its base capitalization structure alongside board control.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2089691728022479075_20260820_090740_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2089691728022479075_20260820_090740_via_10015_io_3c4e26eace.webp"></figure>Under the terms disclosed in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1621672/000143774926028340/slgg20260812_pre14a.htm">SEC filing</a>, Super League Enterprise will become a Metaplanet subsidiary, undergo a name change to "Superplanet," and attempt to list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SUPA once the transaction closes in the fourth quarter of 2026. Metaplanet will receive 44.86 million Super League shares priced at $3.00 each, plus preferred stock and warrants, while committing to a five-year lock-up on its equity position in the renamed entity.Existing common shareholders of Super League will retain roughly 4.3% of the company, a holding subject to further dilution on a fully diluted basis if third parties exercise outstanding pre-funded warrants. The agreement carries a closing deadline of December 31, 2026, though Metaplanet holds termination rights if the transaction remains unclosed by that date, alongside an option to extend the deadline to March 31, 2027.Simon Gerovich, CEO of Metaplanet, stated: "The strategy now runs on two engines. Superplanet raises in America. Metaplanet raises in Japan. Both feed a single Bitcoin position that never leaves the group. When Superplanet raises capital without adding common shares, Bitcoin per share rises there and at Metaplanet at the same time. Two markets, two currencies, two investor bases, one balance sheet compounding."<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Since April, a small team inside Metaplanet has been working on something we could not talk about. Today it is public. Metaplanet is taking a controlling stake in Super League Enterprise (Nasdaq: SLE). At closing it will be renamed Superplanet, our U.S. Bitcoin treasury… <a href="https://t.co/70vjsjrwUN">pic.twitter.com/70vjsjrwUN</a>— Simon Gerovich (@gerovich) <a href="https://x.com/gerovich/status/2089691997150069140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Strategic Financing and Capital Options</h2>The transaction equips Metaplanet with 10-year warrants to buy up to 381 million additional Superplanet shares at exercise prices between $3 and $33.50 per share. A full cash exercise of these warrants at their initial pricing could theoretically yield approximately $3.38 billion for Superplanet, though this capital is not guaranteed at closing and remains subject to future exercise decisions, adjustment provisions, and cashless-exercise mechanisms.Metaplanet also holds an uncommitted, optional 24-month right to invest up to $210 million into Superplanet through nonconvertible&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/perpetual-futures">perpetual</a> preferred shares. These preferred shares rank ahead of common stock and pay quarterly dividends at three-month Term SOFR plus 4%. Superplanet is separately considering utilizing its Bitcoin balance to back future perpetual preferred securities offerings to generate capital for extra Bitcoin acquisitions, though no such offering has been approved.Existing Super League shareholders absorb immediate dilution under this sequence, whereas the larger expansion pool remains dependent on Metaplanet's future deployment choices regarding warrants and preferred shares.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Structural Context and Treasury Position</h2>Analysts at Benchmark noted that this deal differs structurally from typical corporate Bitcoin treasury moves over the past two years, which relied on discounted shell-and-PIPE structures. As reported by The Block, this transaction utilizes existing balance-sheet Bitcoin rather than discounted third-party capital, affecting structural durability for investors monitoring corporate treasury trends.Metaplanet retains roughly 43,000&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> on its balance sheet following the 2,100 BTC outlay, preserving its rank as the third-largest corporate Bitcoin treasury holder globally. The deal comes after Metaplanet utilized 83% of a $500 million credit line to construct its 43,000 BTC position, turning to external investors after a sub-1.0 mNAV environment halted common-share issuances in the second quarter of 2026. The company subsequently introduced its BitBonds program to support continued growth.Financially, Metaplanet reported a 133.7% year-over-year revenue increase in the first half of 2026, while operating profit rose 136.3% during the same period. This corporate growth coincided with broader Japanese regulatory updates, as Japan's Financial Services Agency completed a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> framework overhaul that permitted foreign-issued&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> within domestic payment rails.Market pricing data from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coin360-dex">COIN360</a> indicates that as of 09:28 UTC on August 19, 2026, the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin price</a> was trading at $64,329.46 on the weekly chart, down 0.54% at that snapshot. The Bitcoin price rebounded from a late July 2026 low near $59,500 to move back above $63,500. Technical metrics on the weekly chart showed the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/moving-average-convergence-divergence">MACD</a> histogram turning positive after a negative period through July, with momentum remaining in early stages relative to prior peak levels near 2,000.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQs</h2>What ownership stake does Metaplanet acquire in Super League Enterprise?&nbsp;Metaplanet receives approximately 95.7% of Super League's common stock under the base capitalization structure, leaving existing shareholders 4.3%.What will Super League Enterprise be renamed after closing?&nbsp;The company will be named Superplanet and will seek to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SUPA.How does this deal differ from past Bitcoin treasury structures?&nbsp;Analysts at Benchmark noted it uses Metaplanet's existing balance-sheet Bitcoin rather than third-party capital raised through discounted PIPE structures.What is Metaplanet's total Bitcoin treasury holding after this transaction?&nbsp;Metaplanet retains approximately 43,000 BTC, preserving its position as the world's third-largest corporate Bitcoin treasury holder.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Metaplanet uses Bitcoin treasury to acquire Super League stock deal.

Metaplanet Secures Majority Control of Super League Enterprise in $134.6M Deal 

<h2>Messaging Platform Seeks Web Addresses for 1 Billion Users in ICANN 2026 Expansion Round</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Telegram applied for the .gram domain in ICANN's 2026 expansion to give its 1 billion users custom web addresses.</li><li>The approval process faces over 1,600 competing applications, with final domain strings scheduled for publishing by mid-October 2026.</li><li>The GRAM token traded near $1.32 with a $3.65 billion market capitalization, down 84% from its June 2024 peak.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Telegram has formally applied to operate the .gram top-level domain (TLD) as part of ICANN's 2026 new generic top-level domain (gTLD) expansion round. The move aims to allow Telegram's more than one billion users to convert their messaging handles into personal web addresses formatted as "yourname.gram."The application window for ICANN's 2026 new gTLD expansion closed on August 12, 2026, after remaining open for 15 weeks. ICANN received more than 1,600 primary new gTLD applications during this period, alongside roughly 1,100 backup string requests submitted as contingency options if a primary string is contested or rejected. This marks the first new gTLD application window ICANN has opened since 2012.Telegram founder Pavel Durov&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/durov/status/2089770867576172804">confirmed</a> the plan, stating that if the .gram bid achieves approval, users can claim matching addresses and publish interactive websites hosted directly by Telegram. Durov noted that users will be able to generate these interactive web pages using a single AI prompt. Unlike corporate domains operated by companies such as Google and Amazon for internal branding, Telegram's stated goal is distributing domain addresses directly to individual users.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2089770867576172804_20260820_083622_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2089770867576172804_20260820_083622_via_10015_io_8c0368f349.webp"></figure><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>ICANN Evaluation Process and GRAM Token Market Performance</h2>ICANN is scheduled to publish the list of cleared and approved domain strings by mid-October 2026. Approved applications must subsequently pass a formal evaluation phase, potential third-party objections, contention resolution, and final contracting before going live. Due to this multi-stage process, a working .gram&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/wallet-address">address</a> is improbable before 2027. Approval for the .gram string remains pending, and key operational details—such as whether addresses will be free or if every account will automatically receive one—remain unconfirmed.On the market side, according to data tracked on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coin360-dex">COIN360</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/gram-gram">GRAM</a> token price traded near $1.32 following the announcement. Data from COIN360 indicates the token's total coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-cap">market cap</a> stood at approximately $3.65 billion. The GRAM price reflects an 84% drop from its all-time high of $8.25 reached in June 2024, as well as a 35% decline over the trailing 90-day period leading into the domain announcement.<figure class="image"><img alt="chart (1).webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/chart_1_efc6725e85.webp"></figure>Alongside the top-level domain application, Telegram is expanding its crypto product suite. The company is developing a native, non-custodial&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a>, rolling out additional wallet functionality, and maintaining an ongoing role in the validator infrastructure of the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> network formerly associated with&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/toncoin-ton">Toncoin</a>. If approved by ICANN, the .gram initiative would create a single system linking messaging usernames, personal websites, and crypto assets under one identity layer.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQs</h2>What is Telegram's primary objective with the .gram domain application?&nbsp;Telegram aims to let its one billion users turn their app handles into personal, AI-generated web addresses.When will ICANN publish the initial list of approved domains?&nbsp;ICANN is expected to publish the cleared list of domain strings by mid-October 2026.What is the earliest expected public availability date for .gram web addresses?&nbsp;A public launch is improbable before 2027 due to ICANN's multi-stage evaluation and contracting pipeline.How has the GRAM token performed relative to its record valuation?&nbsp;The GRAM price at $1.32 sits roughly 84% below its June 2024 high of $8.25.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot holds Telegram .gram domain application near coin market cap

Telegram Bids for .gram Top-Level Domain to Link Usernames and Websites

<h2>Crypto Prime Broker and Synthetic Dollar Protocol Partner on Secured Credit Vehicle</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>FalconX and Ethena have launched a $1 billion overcollateralized warehouse lending facility backed by USDe reserves.</li><li>The structure uses a bankruptcy-remote special purpose vehicle to fund institutional loans for trading, corporate treasury management, and payments.</li><li>Ethena aims to diversify its reserve yield away from perpetual-futures funding rates into secured institutional credit.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>FalconX and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethena-ena">Ethena</a> have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/falconx-partners-with-ethena-on-1-billion-warehouse-financing-facility-to-expand-institutional-lending-capacity-302855199.html">opened</a> a $1 billion secured, overcollateralized warehouse lending facility that puts assets backing the synthetic dollar&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethena-usde-usde">USDe</a> to work in institutional credit. Both companies characterized the deal as one of the largest deployments of onchain capital into secured institutional credit to date.FalconX serves as the originator, servicer, and collateral manager of the facility, handling loan origination for institutional borrowers. Ethena acts as the primary lender in a revolving credit arrangement, supplying capital that flows through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) specifically designed to be bankruptcy-remote.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Structure, Controls, and Risk Governance</h2>The borrowing entity is a FalconX subsidiary named FalconX International Lending Opportunities SPC. This entity is structured so its assets remain segregated and protected even if FalconX itself were to go bankrupt. FalconX International Lending Opportunities SPC uses Ethena's capital to purchase crypto loans originated by FalconX, then pledges those loans back to Ethena as collateral to give Ethena first-priority claim to recover its money if problems arise.All loan collateral is held by qualified third-party custodians rather than by FalconX or Ethena directly. Ethena receives daily loan-level reporting on each loan in the facility and maintains visibility into exactly which crypto wallets hold the backing assets. Loans issued through the facility will be overcollateralized, requiring borrowers to post assets worth more than the value of the loan itself to create a buffer for liquidating collateral if its value declines toward the outstanding loan balance. Commercial terms including interest rates, maximum loan sizes, and required collateralization ratios were not disclosed.Risk advisory firm LlamaRisk stated that strong collateral rules are the best protection for USDe's capital in this arrangement. LlamaRisk warned that if crypto prices fall,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/liquidation">liquidation</a> rights need to allow the lender to sell collateral quickly without being slowed down by legal delays such as lawsuits or formal notice requirements. The warning follows prior collapses in the crypto lending sector tied to slow or obstructed liquidation processes during market downturns.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Commercial Strategy and Market Metrics</h2>The facility will finance loans for institutional use cases including trading strategies, corporate treasury management, and payments, offering FalconX a new pool of capital for its institutional clients. For Ethena, the deal creates a new, non-basis-trade yield source generated from the reserves backing USDe.USDe maintains its dollar peg by pairing crypto collateral with short&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contract">futures</a> positions in a basis trade, differing structurally from fiat-backed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> like&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/usd-coin-usdc">USDC</a> that hold cash and cash equivalents. The facility aims to diversify Ethena away from its historical reliance on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/perpetual-futures">perpetual</a>-futures funding rates, which can compress or turn negative when demand for leveraged crypto exposure declines."Secured institutional lending is one of the largest and most durable sources of return in finance, and onchain capital has barely touched it," said Ethena Labs founder Guy Young.FalconX began supporting USDe across its trading, derivatives, and custody services in September 2025. Ethena previously partnered with Anchorage Digital, Maple Institutional, and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> Asset Management on separate lending deals in March and April. In June, Coinbase Ventures purchased Ethena's native token (<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethena-ena">ENA</a>) and partnered on savings products, while BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) added USDe to its Aladdin portfolio management system. Both FalconX and Ethena expect the lending program to grow as institutional borrowing demand increases.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQs</h2>What is the total size of the new lending facility?The secured warehouse lending facility is structured at $1 billion using capital from reserves backing the synthetic dollar USDe.Who manages the assets and loan origination?FalconX acts as originator, servicer, and collateral manager, while borrowing occurs through its subsidiary, FalconX International Lending Opportunities SPC.Where is the collateral for the loans stored?All loan collateral is held by qualified third-party custodians, giving Ethena daily reporting and direct visibility into&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> locations.Why is Ethena expanding into institutional lending?Ethena seeks to diversify yield away from perpetual-futures funding rates into a potentially steadier stream from institutional credit markets.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

FalconX and Ethena launch $1 billion institutional crypto lending facility

FalconX and Ethena Launch $1 Billion Institutional Lending Facility Backed by USDe

<h2>Trump Floats Government Bitcoin Purchase as Senate Crypto Bill Regains Momentum</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Bitcoin briefly reached $70,000 on Aug. 19, 2026, its first return to that level since early June, as Treasury liquidity measures and forced short covering accelerated the rally.</li><li>More than $1 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated within an hour as Bitcoin, major cryptocurrencies and crypto-linked stocks surged.</li><li>President Donald Trump urged Congress to advance crypto market-structure legislation and said a sizable government Bitcoin purchase had been discussed.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> briefly returned to $70,000 on Aug. 19, 2026, after a Treasury liquidity announcement, a large short squeeze and fresh U.S. crypto-policy developments combined to push the asset sharply higher.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> reached as high as $70,022 while&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/binance">Binance</a> touched $70,000, ending an approximately 11-week, or 78-day, stretch below the threshold. The previous comparable level was dated June 2 in one account and June 1 in another because the underlying market snapshots differed.Bitcoin quickly moved back below the round-number level after the test. That was Bitcoin's largest one-day gain since March 4 and its strongest daily green candle in more than five months.<figure class="image"><img alt="chart.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/chart_4789ebf62e.webp"></figure>The rebound unfolded rapidly. Bitcoin had traded below $64,000 only two days earlier and had been near $62,000 in early July. Even after the jump, Bitcoin remained 44% below its $126,080 record high from October 2025. The broader 2026 performance gap with gold also remained substantial, with gold up 33% while Bitcoin was down 46% over the period cited.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Treasury Buybacks Push Yields Lower and Improve Liquidity</h2>The first major catalyst came from the U.S. Treasury, which said it would at least double its long-duration bond buybacks from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation beginning Sept. 9, 2026. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was identified with the expanded program, which traders viewed as a potential liquidity backstop for the more than $30 trillion Treasury market.The announcement pushed long-end yields lower and weakened the dollar. The 30-year Treasury yield had reached 5.337%, its highest level since 2007, before falling as the liquidity outlook shifted. Lower yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as Bitcoin, while a softer dollar makes dollar-denominated assets less expensive for buyers using other currencies. The combination had already been labeled “QE Lite” in the market commentary cited in the source material.Those financial-condition changes preceded the most aggressive phase of the crypto rally. Bitcoin broke through levels that had constrained it through much of the summer, while forced buying from short liquidations began to add momentum to the move.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Short Liquidations Accelerate Bitcoin's Rally</h2><a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/liquidation">Liquidation</a> data showed a sharp rise in losses for traders positioned for additional declines. One intraday snapshot recorded $1.23 billion in crypto short liquidations within a single hour.One&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/hyperliquid">Hyperliquid</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/altcoin-trader">trader</a> lost an entire 1,800&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> short position valued at about $117 million. The forced closures added buying pressure because short positions had to be unwound as prices rose, accelerating a rally that had begun with changing Treasury-market conditions.Crypto-linked equities followed the move. Strategy gained nearly 12%, Coinbase rose 9%, and Circle and BitMine each advanced roughly 9% to 10% during the session.Major cryptocurrencies also posted broad gains in one contemporaneous market snapshot.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Asset or Index</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Move</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitcoin</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">+7.01%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ether</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">+17.22%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">XRP</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">+10.06%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Solana</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">+10.63%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">CD20</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">+9.39%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Ether's percentage advance was more than twice Bitcoin's in that snapshot, showing that the move extended beyond the Bitcoin short squeeze into other large digital assets.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Trump Pushes CLARITY Act and Discusses Bitcoin Purchases</h2>Washington added another catalyst later in the session. President Donald Trump addressed crypto and technology executives at a White House gathering on Aug. 19 and urged Congress to advance U.S. crypto market-structure legislation.Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/08/19/trump-pushes-congress-to-move-on-clarity-act-during-white-house-crypto-event">said</a> lawmakers needed to “take the next step” and approve a “fair version” of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Coinbase,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/table">Gemini</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">Ripple</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">Chainlink</a> Labs were among the crypto companies represented at the event. Trump also urged lawmakers to pass the CLARITY Act and said the United States should remain the “undisputed leader” in digital assets.Legislative developments were already giving traders a concrete timetable. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said at the SALT conference on Aug. 18 that the CLARITY Act had a good chance of advancing in September. A procedural Senate vote was scheduled for Sept. 15, with lawmakers still working through disagreements involving crypto rewards, decentralized finance and ethics provisions.A separate SEC proposal aimed at easing registration requirements for some digital-asset offerings also coincided with the rally, adding another U.S. regulatory development to a session already dominated by Treasury liquidity and market-structure headlines.Trump also raised the possibility of active U.S. government Bitcoin accumulation. Asked about a sizable government purchase, Trump said: “It's been talked about. It's been very, very good for the dollar. If you came in with recommendations, I would certainly listen.”The distinction is material because the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve created in March 2025 was built from government-seized Bitcoin rather than open-market purchases. A new government acquisition would therefore differ from retaining Bitcoin already held through seizures.Trump's remarks did not constitute an announced purchase. His statement established that a sizable acquisition had been discussed and that he would consider recommendations, while the source material contained no completed government transaction.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Fed Minutes Leave Inflation Risk Intact</h2>Federal Reserve minutes from the July meeting provided a more mixed backdrop. Most officials supported leaving rates unchanged, while several favored an increase and many believed tighter policy could become necessary if inflation failed to cool.Three officials were identified as known dissenters favoring a hike. The minutes said inflation “remained elevated,” but the release did not reveal a stronger hawkish push beyond those dissents. Market-implied odds of a September rate hike fell to 34%, while the dollar weakened.Most Federal Reserve officials expected inflation to ease through the end of 2026 as the effects of tariffs and earlier energy-price increases faded. Officials nevertheless continued to see inflation risks as tilted to the upside, leaving the possibility of tighter monetary policy hanging over Bitcoin's breakout.The Fed minutes therefore did not provide the same direct support as the Treasury buyback announcement. They instead avoided introducing a larger hawkish surprise while other catalysts were already driving crypto prices higher.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Prediction Markets Reverse After Traders Lean Bearish</h2>Prediction markets showed how heavily traders had leaned toward additional Bitcoin weakness before the rally. One market asked whether Bitcoin would next reach $84,000 or fall to $55,000 and had put roughly 70% probability on the bearish outcome only days earlier.By Wednesday afternoon, the probabilities had nearly converged, with the $55,000 outcome at 51.9% and the $84,000 outcome at 48.1%.Other markets had also entered the session cautiously.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Market</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Threshold</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Probability</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">2026&nbsp;Bitcoin price market</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Touch $55,000 before year-end</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">56%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">2026 Bitcoin price market</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Reach $75,000</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">51%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">August Bitcoin market</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Clear $67,500</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">54%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">August Bitcoin market</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Reach $70,000</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">31%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Bitcoin exceeded both August thresholds during the Wednesday rally. Short-term prediction markets moved sharply after the squeeze, while the year-end markets showed less movement. Prediction markets had also been setting trading-volume records as more traders used them to hedge market positions.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Technical Breakout Puts Higher Resistance Levels in Focus</h2>The rally also carried Bitcoin through a technical level that had been closely watched since the June lows. Market technician Aksel Kibar had identified an inverse head-and-shoulders formation with a neckline near $66,600.A confirmed break of that neckline pointed to a possible move toward $76,000. Bitcoin's rally through the upper-$60,000s moved price decisively above the neckline and activated the technical breakout described in the source material.A separate chart framework placed the next immediate resistance at $70,284, the lower edge of a resistance band. A daily close above that level would open room toward $73,245, while a decline below $68,000 would return Bitcoin to the range that had constrained it since June.Those levels place the Aug. 19 move between two different technical horizons: the $70,284-to-$73,245 region represents the nearest resistance zone, while the larger inverse head-and-shoulders setup carries the broader $76,000 objective.The speed of the rally remained a relevant feature of the move because a substantial portion of buying came from forced short liquidations. The source material characterized the advance as a roughly 7%-to-9% daily move accompanied by more than $1 billion in short liquidations within an hour, leaving Bitcoin's ability to hold newly reclaimed levels as the next test of the breakout.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Massive short liquidations driving a fast Bitcoin market breakout squeeze

Bitcoin Reclaims $70,000 as Treasury Buybacks and Short Squeeze Lift Market

<h2>Historical returns still argue against treating the readings as a confirmed market bottom</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>VanEck says Bitcoin is showing broad capitulation conditions and may be approaching an accumulation phase, but it has not declared a final bottom.</li><li>Comparable signal clusters historically failed to outperform Bitcoin’s normal returns over shorter horizons.</li><li>Miner stress is severe while fund inflows have improved, leaving the market between capitulation and a fuller recovery in demand.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> is displaying many of the stress conditions that marked the later stages of previous selloffs, with VanEck’s Bitcoin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/capitulation">Capitulation</a> Check&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vaneck.com/us/en/blogs/digital-assets/matthew-sigel-vaneck-mid-august-2026-bitcoin-chaincheck/">showing</a> 8 of 12 indicators in capitulation zones as of Aug. 19, 2026. VanEck said the readings suggest Bitcoin may be nearing or entering an accumulation phase, but its historical data does not establish that the market has already reached a final bottom.VanEck said every indicator in its framework had entered a capitulation zone at least once during the previous three months, showing broader stress than the current snapshot alone.The signals track conditions that become extreme during heavy selling, including Bitcoin’s decline from its peak, miner economics and the share of holders sitting on losses. VanEck generally counts a signal as triggered when its reading falls into the extreme 15th percentile or lower of its own historical distribution.Price drawdown is treated differently. VanEck activates that indicator once Bitcoin falls more than 35% from its peak rather than requiring it to reach the same historical percentile threshold. The&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin price</a> was about 49% below its all-time high, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coin360-dex">COIN360</a>, but that decline ranked only around the 35th percentile of Bitcoin’s historical drawdowns. VanEck said applying the regular percentile rule to drawdown “would put us at 7 of 12 rather than 8 of 12.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Historical Capitulation Signals Offer Little Short-Term Edge</h2>VanEck’s historical comparison shows why the current readings are not equivalent to a short-term buy signal. Periods in which between eight and 12 indicators were flashing produced weaker average returns over shorter horizons than Bitcoin’s broader historical record, with the relative advantage appearing only over a one-year period.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Horizon</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Average return after capitulation readings</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Broader historical average</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">90 days</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">12.8%</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">15.2%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">180 days</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">32%</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">36.3%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>VanEck’s historical record therefore gives “no edge inside of six months” from buying solely because a large cluster of capitulation indicators is active. The framework is more useful for identifying roughly where Bitcoin sits within a broader cycle than for identifying a precise near-term entry point.Bitcoin had recovered above $64,000 on Aug. 19 after spending roughly the previous month stabilizing from a June 30 low near $58,500, which VanEck said may ultimately prove to have marked the cycle low. The Bitcoin price was near $64,300 during Asian evening trading, according to COIN360, and had largely remained between about $62,300 and $66,500 since the late-June recovery.That stabilization occurred alongside unusually subdued market movement. Thirty-day realized volatility had fallen to 27.2% annualized compared with a long-run average near 80%, leaving Bitcoin far less volatile than its historical norm even as the asset remained deeply below its record high.VanEck also expects the current downturn to produce a shallower trough than earlier major Bitcoin bear markets. Past cycle bottoms followed much deeper peak-to-trough losses, while the current market has a larger institutional investor base and spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products that were not present in earlier cycles.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Previous major Bitcoin troughs</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Peak-to-trough drawdown</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Earlier trough</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">94%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Earlier trough</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">85%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Earlier trough</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">84%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Earlier trough</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">78%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Those earlier downturns also unfolded when institutional ownership was smaller and before the current spot ETF market. They were accompanied by major industry failures including&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/celsius-cel">Celsius</a>, Three Arrows Capital and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ftx-token-ftt">FTX</a>, while no comparable collapse has accompanied the current correction.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Cycle Timing Points Toward a Possible Accumulation Window</h2>VanEck examined four completed Bitcoin cycles dating from 2011 and found that peak-to-trough declines lasted an average of 11 months. Excluding the substantially smaller 2011 market, that average increased to 12.7 months.<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn.coin360.com/Screenshot_2026_08_19_211729_2066791ca9.png" alt="Screenshot 2026-08-19 211729.png"></figure>Bitcoin entered the 10th month of its decline from the October 2025 peak during August. Based on those historical durations, VanEck placed a potential next accumulation phase between September and November 2026, while declining to choose a specific date inside that period.Miner conditions provide some of the clearest evidence that capitulation pressure has reached unusually severe levels. Daily Bitcoin mining revenue was down 46% year over year, while mining difficulty had fallen 18.3% from its November 2025 peak as unprofitable machines were switched off. That difficulty decline was the steepest since China’s mining ban in 2021.Fund flows have been moving in the opposite direction. U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products took in about $663 million over the previous 30 days after approximately $2.4 billion of outflows during the preceding month. A separate August-to-date measurement showed more than $950 million of net inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.The two figures cover different periods and measure distinct windows rather than competing estimates. Despite the recovery in fund demand, trading remained thin, with 30-day Bitcoin spot volume down 27% and sitting in the 10th percentile of its historical distribution.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Bitfinex Says Broader Capital Rotation Is Still Missing</h2><a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/bitfinex">Bitfinex</a> said two of three conditions it considers necessary for another Bitcoin rally were already present: lower expected interest rates and already-loose financial conditions. The remaining condition is a broader flow of capital from equities, technology and AI markets into crypto.Bitfinex pointed to negative corporate Bitcoin treasury activity and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> supply remaining below its May record as signs that fresh crypto demand had not fully broadened. The exchange warned that thin market conditions mean relatively small changes in capital flows could produce an outsized move.That leaves the current setup with simultaneous evidence of capitulation and improving institutional flows, while broader market participation remains subdued. VanEck’s framework indicates that much of the selling stress associated with previous cycle lows has already appeared, while Bitfinex’s assessment identifies capital rotation as a remaining condition for a stronger advance.SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci separately told CNBC that he expects Bitcoin to return above $100,000, a level it has not closed above since November 2025. Scaramucci tied the six-digit target to the next Bitcoin halving, which was described as scheduled to occur in less than two years.VanEck’s nearer-term conclusion remains more cautious. Its capitulation framework points toward a historically mature downturn and a possible transition toward accumulation, while its own return data shows that similar signal clusters have not historically provided superior performance over a quarter or half-year.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Voxel Robot Operating a Bitcoin Control Console

Bitcoin Flashes 8 of 12 Capitulation Signals as VanEck Sees Accumulation Nearing

<h2>Exchange revenue falls while regulators expand gambling enforcement</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>South Korea blocked domestic access to Polymarket after regulators concluded its prediction markets constitute illegal gambling.</li><li>Bithumb and Upbit parent Dunamu each reported roughly 49% year-over-year revenue declines during the first half of 2026.</li><li>Regulators rejected Polymarket’s argument that its peer-to-peer, non-custodial structure placed it outside domestic gambling rules.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>South Korea blocked domestic access to Polymarket as regulators classified its prediction-market activity as illegal gambling, while Bithumb and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/upbit">Upbit</a> parent Dunamu separately reported steep first-half earnings declines tied to weaker liquidity and investor sentiment across the global digital-asset market. The developments were reported on Aug. 18, 2026, combining growing regulatory pressure on crypto-based prediction markets with deteriorating financial performance at two major South Korean crypto exchanges.Bithumb’s operating revenue fell sharply from the comparable period a year earlier, while operating profit declined even faster and the exchange recorded a net loss. Dunamu reported a similar contraction in revenue and profitability. Dunamu attributed its performance to weaker conditions across the global digital-asset market rather than identifying a company-specific cause.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Company</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Metric</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">First half of 2026</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Prior-year period</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Year-over-year change</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bithumb</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Operating revenue</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">168.8 billion won ($120 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">329.2 billion won ($233 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down almost 49%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bithumb</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Operating profit</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">14.9 billion won ($11 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">90.1 billion won ($64 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down 83%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bithumb</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Net result</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Loss of 108.7 billion won ($77 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">—</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">—</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Dunamu</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Operating revenue</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">408.1 billion won ($289 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">801.9 billion won ($568 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down 49%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Dunamu</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Operating profit</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">111.5 billion won ($79 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">549.1 billion won ($389 million)</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Down almost 80%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The reported figures translate into a decline of 160.4 billion won in Bithumb’s operating revenue and a 75.2 billion won reduction in operating profit from the prior-year period. Dunamu’s operating revenue fell by 393.8 billion won, while its operating profit declined by 437.6 billion won. Based on the reported first-half figures, Dunamu generated about 2.4 times Bithumb’s operating revenue and roughly 7.5 times its operating profit.Dunamu said the downturn reflected conditions across the broader market. “The recent decline in performance is attributed to a contraction in liquidity across the global digital asset market, which has led to a weakening of investor sentiment.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Regulators reject Polymarket’s peer-to-peer defense</h2>South Korean authorities separately&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chosun.com/english/industry-en/2026/08/18/INPSY65OKBFOTOMKCPOC6XEDXI/">ordered</a> Polymarket blocked after determining that the platform facilitates gambling and the operation of gambling venues under the Criminal Act, along with comparable activity covered by the National Sports Promotion Act. The regulatory action followed a review that began in July after requests from the National Police Agency and the National Gambling Control Commission.Police had also opened a separate investigation into local Polymarket users over suspected illegal gambling. The commission concluded that Polymarket’s yes-or-no contracts encourage speculative behavior because users’ gains and losses depend on events beyond their control.Polymarket allows users to trade contracts based on whether real-world events occur, including elections, sports results, economic data and weather. Polymarket said it had removed Korean-language services, does not support payments in South Korean won and uses non-custodial peer-to-peer transactions and smart contracts.Regulators rejected those arguments. The commission determined that Polymarket’s operator still manages market creation and trading rules while providing crypto deposit, withdrawal and settlement systems and charging fees. The decision treated the platform’s operating structure and economic activity as subject to domestic law despite its use of smart contracts and non-custodial transactions.The commission said: “Technical features or service methods cannot exempt a platform from domestic legal compliance. Since Polymarket provides a real illegal gambling environment to domestic users, access blocking is unavoidable to protect them.”<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>South Korea joins broader restrictions on Polymarket</h2>South Korea became one of more than 30 jurisdictions that have restricted Polymarket over gambling concerns. France had ordered internet service providers to block access to the platform, while Spain, Indonesia, Argentina and Ukraine were also identified among jurisdictions imposing restrictions.Dmitry Nikolaievskyi, chief legal officer at the Project Office for the Development of Ukraine's Digital Economy at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, said there “isn’t a legal way for it to return” in Ukraine.Polymarket listed 39 countries as fully restricted from accessing the platform when the information was released. South Korea had not yet appeared on that list despite the domestic blocking decision.Polymarket did not immediately provide further comment after the South Korean action beyond its arguments concerning Korean-language services, won payments, non-custodial peer-to-peer transactions and smart contracts.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot Regulator: Markets Divided

South Korea Blocks Polymarket as Major Crypto Exchanges Report Sharp Earnings Declines

SEC Classification Conveyor Facility

SEC Proposes Crypto Offering Rules as CLARITY Act Faces September Test

<h2>Bank links digital assets with real-time custody, settlement and tokenized financial infrastructure</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Citi plans to add Bitcoin custody to Custody+, allowing institutional clients to hold crypto and traditional assets through the same framework.</li><li>Custody+ combines custody with settlement, foreign exchange and cash management as Citi expands infrastructure toward continuously operating markets.</li><li>Citi is pairing the custody rollout with tokenized deposits, tokenized securities and broader real-time processing across its institutional platform.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Citi plans to begin offering institutional&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> custody later in 2026 through Custody+, a new service suite that brings digital assets into the same infrastructure used to safeguard traditional securities. Citigroup&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260818137877/en/Citi-Unveils-Custody-A-Suite-of-Near--and-Real-time-Custody-Solutions-to-Meet-Always-On-Industry-Demand">announced</a> the initiative on August 18, 2026, with Bitcoin set to become the first crypto asset supported by the custody service.Citi said the planned service is being built on its common digital asset architecture. “Citi expects to go live with digital asset custody later this year, starting with the custody of bitcoin. This is being built on Citi’s common digital asset architecture and we will offer a one-stop custody experience.” The bank added: “Clients will access traditional and crypto custody capabilities within the same framework for an integrated experience.”Custody+ is designed to make custody, settlement, foreign exchange and cash management faster. Adding Bitcoin would allow eligible institutional clients to keep the asset with the same bank that holds their stocks and bonds rather than maintaining a separate crypto custody arrangement. Institutional custody places responsibility for safeguarding private keys and approving asset movements with the third-party custodian, while self-custody leaves those functions with the asset owner.Amit Agarwal, head of custody at Citi Investor Services, said the service reflects a longer infrastructure build. “Custody+ is the product of a multi-year commitment to building infrastructure that matches the speed of our clients’ strategies,” Agarwal said in a statement.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Citi builds custody around real-time processing</h2>Citi’s existing custody operation has a broad institutional footprint, while its processing infrastructure already handles a large portion of activity in real time.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Metric</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Citi figure</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Markets served by Citi custody</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">More than 100 markets</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Markets with Citi’s own custody network</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">62 markets</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Total event volume processed in real time</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">More than 80%</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">U.S. voluntary events processed within two hours</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">96%</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Citi uses its Single Event Processing system to handle custody transactions continuously across domestic and global markets. U.S. voluntary events covered by the processing metric include tender offers and optional dividend elections. The broader platform also combines settlement, foreign exchange, liquidity, tax services and market data within the same operating system.Citi’s digital asset strategy is built around enabling money and securities to move beyond traditional market hours, including on a 24/7 basis. Custody+ extends that model into digital-asset safekeeping while preserving a common institutional framework for crypto and conventional securities.Citi Token Services already supports another part of that strategy. The bank said: “Through Citi Token Services, we are enabling the near-instantaneous movement of tokenized deposits on a 24/7 basis across select Citi markets.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Tokenized securities expand alongside Bitcoin custody</h2>Citi has also been applying&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> infrastructure to conventional securities. A separate June 2026 launch introduced tokenized depositary receipts that allow eligible investors to hold blockchain-based securities representing shares in private companies.Citi provides custody for those securities, while SIX operates the underlying platform. SIX is the Swiss financial-market infrastructure group that operates the SIX Swiss Exchange. The model debuted with Kaleido shares and initially limited participation to accredited investors outside the United States, allowing eligible clients to hold private-market exposure through regulated onchain infrastructure alongside traditional securities.Citi’s base-case projection points to a substantially larger market for tokenized financial assets. The bank estimates tokenized securities and real-world assets could grow from approximately $17 billion to $5.5 trillion by 2030.Regulatory policy is also moving toward clearer treatment of digital-asset custody and tokenized securities. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the agency’s 2026 regulatory agenda seeks rules for onchain trading and custody while maintaining investor-protection safeguards.The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has separately confirmed that national banks may hold certain crypto assets for limited purposes including network fees or platform testing under its crypto asset guidance.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin price</a> data captured alongside the custody announcement showed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> at $64,100.72, with a positive price change of $496.78 at that point. The market figures were contemporaneous data accompanying the article and were separate from Citi’s Custody+ announcement.The planned Bitcoin service remains a forthcoming component of Custody+. Citi said digital-asset custody is expected to go live later this year, beginning with Bitcoin, while the broader platform already connects custody operations with settlement, foreign exchange, cash management, liquidity and real-time processing.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Futuristic Custody Vault Operations

Citi Plans Bitcoin Custody Through New Custody+ Institutional Platform

Crypto account freeze risk grows from unsolicited HTX-linked dust transfers

Justin Sun Rejects HTX Transfer Claims as Account Reviews Ease

<h2>FCA licensing push coincides with questions over past law-enforcement disclosures</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Binance is reportedly preparing to seek FCA authorization to relaunch certain regulated services for UK residents.</li><li>Separately, customer information Binance supplied to Russian authorities was later used in a terrorism-financing case involving donations to Ukrainian groups.</li><li>Binance says it complies with lawful law-enforcement requests subject to applicable legal, privacy and regulatory requirements.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/review/binance">Binance</a> is reportedly preparing to seek authorization from the UK Financial Conduct Authority as part of a potential return to regulated services for UK residents, even as the exchange faces scrutiny over customer data it previously supplied to Russian investigators. Both developments surfaced on Aug. 17, 2026, putting Binance’s current licensing strategy alongside questions about the consequences of its earlier law-enforcement cooperation.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/08/15/crypto-giant-accused-of-moving-money-for-iran-seeks-uk-come/">Telegraph</a> reported that Binance plans to apply for a UK license as the country prepares to implement new digital-asset rules. The move could allow the exchange to relaunch certain services for residents in 2027, after years of regulatory restrictions affecting its UK business.Binance has not confirmed that an application will be filed. A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange “does not comment on speculation surrounding potential licence applications.” Binance also did not respond to questions about its existing UK operations.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Binance prepares for new UK authorization regime</h2>Binance Markets Limited, the exchange’s UK arm, has faced regulatory restrictions since June 2021, when the FCA said the entity was “not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK.” Binance later announced in 2023 that it would stop onboarding new UK users in response to the regulator’s financial-promotion rules.The FCA announced its new crypto regulatory framework in June 2026. Companies will be able to submit authorization applications beginning in September, with the filing window remaining open until Feb. 28, 2027. The regulatory regime is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 25, 2027.David Geale, executive director of payments and digital finance at the FCA, said the framework would hold crypto companies to “similar standards” as other UK financial service providers.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Russian case centers on more than $700 in Ukraine-related transfers</h2>Separate reporting by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/binance-gave-moscow-client-details-used-charge-russian-over-ukraine-donations-2026-08-17/">Reuters</a> said Binance provided Russian authorities with customer records that were later used to charge Yuri Belenkiy, a Russian IT specialist, with financing terrorism over donations to Ukrainian groups.Reuters, citing law-enforcement documents, said Binance identified Belenkiy as the source of transfers worth more than $700. The exchange also allegedly supplied his date of birth,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/wallet-address">address</a>, phone number and passport number, along with copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residency permit.Russian authorities detained Belenkiy in September 2025, and he remained jailed awaiting trial when the information was published.Russia’s Investigative Committee alleged that Belenkiy made the payments between January 2023 and March 2024 after an appeal by exiled Kremlin critic Arkady Babchenko. Investigators said the funds were intended for the Ukrainian military and a group associated with the Azov Brigade, which Moscow classifies as a terrorist organization.Investigators reportedly requested Belenkiy’s transaction history and received two responses from&nbsp;case@binanceholdings.ru. Binance’s website had directed Russian and Belarusian law-enforcement agencies to that address.Binance’s current law-enforcement guidelines state that the exchange requires a valid court order, police order or warrant before providing user information in a criminal investigation.Binance told Reuters that it cooperates with lawful law-enforcement requests subject to applicable legal, privacy and regulatory requirements. The exchange declined to discuss Belenkiy’s case or whether the disclosure may have breached European data-protection rules.Documents detailing the case were obtained by The First Department, an organization that supports defendants in Russian political cases, from one of Belenkiy’s relatives.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Data disclosure predates and overlaps Binance’s Russia exit</h2>Binance sold its Russian business to CommEX in September 2023, saying continued operations in Russia did not fit its compliance strategy. Binance said at the time that it would retain no revenue-sharing arrangement with CommEX and no option to repurchase the business.The timing of Belenkiy’s alleged payments spans both sides of that sale. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the transactions began before Binance’s announced exit and continued after the Russian business was sold.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQ</h2>Is Binance already licensed to relaunch regulated UK services?No. Binance is reportedly planning to apply under the FCA’s new authorization regime.When does the FCA application window close?Feb. 28, 2027.Who accused Yuri Belenkiy of financing terrorism?Russia’s Investigative Committee.What does Binance say about law-enforcement requests?It says it complies with lawful requests subject to applicable legal, privacy and regulatory requirements.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Dystopian Conveyor of Finance and Records

Binance Eyes UK Relaunch as Russian Client-Data Case Draws Scrutiny

<h2>FOCIL is confirmed as developers weigh privacy, faster blocks, account abstraction and Layer-1 scaling</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Ethereum developers are narrowing Hegotá’s scope after receiving 66 proposals for the network upgrade targeted for 2027.</li><li>FOCIL, a censorship-resistance measure, is the only proposal confirmed so far, while Frame Transactions and related changes could expand native account abstraction and privacy tooling.</li><li>A development group has urged Ethereum to focus Hegotá on four priorities: FOCIL, shorter block-slot times, native account abstraction and Layer-1 scaling.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> developers are&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/nero_eth/status/2088855221371891768">narrowing</a> the scope of the Hegotá upgrade, targeted for 2027, after considering 66 Ethereum Improvement Proposals covering transaction censorship,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> design, privacy infrastructure, block speed, validator economics, Layer-1 scaling and quantum-resistant cryptography. FOCIL, or Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists, is the only change approved so far, while developers are evaluating which remaining proposals can advance through implementation and testing.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet-2088855221371891768.webp" src="https://cdn.coin360.com/tweet_2088855221371891768_49913604fc.webp"></figure>The deadline for new proposals passed on Aug. 6, 2026. Ethereum client teams are expected to rank competing EIPs by Sept. 10, a step intended to determine which proposals receive enough support to progress and which are deferred beyond Hegotá. The surviving candidates would still need implementations, devnets and testnets before gaining a realistic path to deployment.Toni Wahrstätter, an Ethereum Foundation researcher and co-author of EIP-8141, described that filtering process on Aug. 16. “66 proposals are on the table and over the next few core dev calls, this list will be narrowed down to the EIPs that get implementations, devnets, testnets, and a realistic chance of shipping in 2027,” Wahrstätter said.The latest Hegotá details were released on Aug. 17. One development group has urged Ethereum to avoid packing too many changes into the upgrade and instead center the release on FOCIL, shorter block-slot times, native account abstraction and Layer-1 scaling. Its message was: “Just avoid another overloaded hard fork and deliver upgrades that users and applications can actually feel.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FOCIL would strengthen transaction-inclusion guarantees</h2>FOCIL is designed to reduce the ability of a single block builder or validator to selectively exclude transactions. Under Ethereum’s current model, the operator assembling a block decides which waiting transactions are included and can leave individual transactions out. FOCIL would allow a group of network operators to compile a list of transactions that must be included, distributing that authority rather than leaving the decision with one builder.The proposal gives Hegotá a confirmed censorship-resistance component while the rest of the upgrade remains under review. Developers are also considering shorter block-slot times, which could reduce the interval between&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blocks">blocks</a> and improve transaction responsiveness, though faster slots would also increase technical demands on network participants.Other candidates extend beyond the four-priority framework. Proposals under consideration include changes that could alter validator rewards for securing Ethereum and prepare the network for cryptography designed to withstand quantum computers. Those ideas remain candidates rather than approved Hegotá features.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Frame Transactions could expand Ethereum account flexibility</h2>Native account abstraction is another major area under consideration. The centerpiece of that work is Frame Transactions, or EIP-8141, which would allow an Ethereum account to define how a transaction is approved, executed and paid for instead of forcing each account through the same transaction structure.For users, Frame Transactions could allow another party to cover transaction fees, bundle several actions into one payment or change the cryptography used to authorize transactions without requiring funds to move to a new account. Those capabilities could make wallets more flexible than Ethereum’s current externally owned account model.The proposal also has implications for privacy applications. Ethereum addresses are permanent, maintain running balances and expose their transaction histories and holdings. That transparency can create problems for uses such as payroll and treasury operations where users may not want their finances publicly visible.Hegotá would not make ordinary&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> transfers private. Instead, the proposals under consideration would move more of the infrastructure needed by privacy applications into Ethereum itself. Private-payment systems can already use cryptographic proofs to conceal information, but some rely on external relayers to submit transactions to the network.Frame Transactions is being considered alongside EIP-8250, known as Keyed Nonces, and EIP-8272. Together, the proposals are intended to reduce the external infrastructure needed for private payments while leaving standard ether transfers transparent.Keyed Nonces would allow transactions to use separate nonce counters instead of requiring every transaction from an account to advance through a single sequential counter. That structure could prevent one delayed transaction from blocking unrelated transactions queued behind it, particularly when multiple users or operations share an account structure.EIP-8272 addresses a separate transaction race condition by allowing a transaction to verify itself against a recent cryptographic record rather than relying on information that could change before the transaction enters a block. The change is intended to make transactions more resilient when their validity depends on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> state that may move while they remain pending.The native account-abstraction discussion also reaches existing modular smart-account work. Etherspot highlighted ERC-8286 on Aug. 17 while asking how modular smart accounts would function if Ethereum moved toward native account abstraction.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Layer-1 scaling remains a central design tradeoff</h2>Layer-1 scaling is another major priority under discussion as Ethereum developers consider how much additional activity the base chain should handle directly. Ethereum has leaned heavily on rollups for cheaper, higher-volume activity, while pressure remains for the main chain to increase its own capacity.The challenge is to raise base-layer capacity without making nodes substantially harder to operate. Increasing storage, bandwidth or hardware requirements too aggressively could make network participation more demanding, putting scaling goals in tension with decentralization.Longer-term research cited alongside that discussion includes&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>-inspired Utreexo-style data structures and recursive STARKs. Both approaches are being examined as ways to increase scalability while containing storage and hardware requirements, but they remain research directions rather than confirmed Hegotá features.The Hegotá process is therefore still focused on selecting scope rather than finalizing implementation. FOCIL has secured inclusion, while the remaining candidates must compete for development capacity and advance through Ethereum’s implementation and testing process before they can ship.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Ethereum Factory Assembly Line

Ethereum Hegotá Upgrade Narrows 66 Proposals for 2027 Release

<h2>Network would erase post-attack transactions and restart both shards from clean checkpoints</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Harmony plans to roll back both shards to a pre-exploit state after determining that an attacker forged 3.01 trillion ONE.</li><li>The recovery would erase legitimate transactions alongside malicious activity because forged tokens had already spread through wallets and services.</li><li>Harmony traced the exploit to reusable cross-shard receipts and chose a fixed rollback over burns, blacklisting, selective replay or token migration.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/harmony-one">Harmony</a> plans to roll back its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blockchain">blockchain</a> to its last clean state before an&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/harmony-one-unauthorized-mint-emergency-patch">unauthorized ONE mint</a>, erasing all subsequent&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/blocks">blocks</a> and transactions after determining that an attacker forged 3.01 trillion&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/harmony-one">ONE</a>. The&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-1">Layer 1</a> network said the exploit stemmed from a cross-shard receipt-verification flaw that allowed valid receipts to be reused, creating new ONE without a corresponding debit elsewhere.The network disclosed the detailed recovery plan on Aug. 17, 2026. Harmony intends to restore both chains in its sharded network to their state at Aug. 11, 2026, 23:25:37 UTC, before the first confirmed forged mint. Legitimate user transfers, purchases, sales and other transactions confirmed after the cutoff would be removed together with the malicious activity.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Recovery item</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Shard 0</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Shard 1</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Rollback checkpoint</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Block 92,730,034</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Block 94,978,278</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">New block production begins</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Height 92,730,035</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Height 94,978,279</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Harmony selected that recovery point because the first forged tokens appeared in the next relevant Shard 0 block, numbered 92,730,036. The recovery would use replacement databases rather than simply moving the existing chain head backward. Harmony's upgraded client, v2026.1.2, is designed to reject block hashes associated with the exploit, while the team warned that a simpler built-in revert could leave unwanted state behind and contribute to another failure.Harmony said an independent security firm reviewed the exploit and agreed with the rollback approach. The network considered a targeted burn first, but the forged ONE had already moved into exchanges, trading pools and smart contracts. Harmony determined that destroying those tokens where they currently sat could remove assets belonging to innocent users who had subsequently received or interacted with them.A&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> blacklist was rejected because it would leave the illegitimate supply in the network. Selectively replaying legitimate transactions was deemed “unworkable” because blockchain state had already changed, while a full token migration was rejected because Harmony concluded it would cause excessive disruption across the user base.“Of the options we studied, one fixed rollback window is the fairest and most secure,” Harmony said. “It applies one rule to everyone, removes the forged state, and carries the lowest risk of another attack or consensus failure.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Initial mint estimate expanded dramatically</h2>Harmony first confirmed the exploit on Aug. 12 after an independent researcher initially identified roughly 4 billion ONE created through empty blocks. That figure, described at the time as about 26% of the token's supply, later proved to represent only the first detected wave of unauthorized issuance.Harmony's subsequent reconstruction&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/harmonyprotocol/status/2088078119269978281">found</a> that the attacker had actually forged the much larger total across six minting transactions into four exploiter wallets. One wallet moved nearly 2.4 trillion ONE in under two minutes, an amount valued at almost $3 billion using pre-attack prices.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Exploit movement metric</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Recorded amount</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Transfer attempts</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">534</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">ONE per attempted transfer</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">5 billion</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Transfer burst duration</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">106 seconds</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Successful transfers</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">477</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">ONE moved through successful transfers</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">2,385,000,000,000 ONE</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Harmony said it traced nearly all of the forged tokens to wallets or services, although substantial amounts had passed through decentralized trading pools and bridges. The network said it was working with exchanges, crypto bridges and law-enforcement authorities to preserve records, track the flow of assets and identify the people responsible.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Receipt reuse allowed ONE to be created without matching debits</h2>The exploit centered on how Harmony verified cross-shard receipts. Valid receipts could be processed more than once, allowing a receiving shard to repeatedly credit ONE without the corresponding value being debited elsewhere. The unauthorized issuance occurred inside empty, zero-gas blocks, according to Harmony's account of the incident.On-chain expert “Juiceberg,” who first noticed the exploit, estimated that the attacker was reusing cross-shard receipts to create tokens from the verification flaw. Harmony's Aug. 13 update also said a second pre-staking quorum bug may have been involved, leaving that issue as a possible contributing element rather than the confirmed primary minting mechanism.Harmony patched the cross-shard receipt vulnerability when the attack was discovered. The software fix addressed the minting flaw itself, while the proposed rollback is intended to remove the forged supply and blockchain state already produced before remediation.ONE price fell sharply after the unauthorized mint became public. For&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> references,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coin360-dex">COIN360</a> data showed ONE price around $0.0008 after a roughly 37% to 40% decline, with the coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-cap">market cap</a> at approximately $11.5 million. A later ONE price reference placed the token near $0.0007.Harmony has dealt with earlier supply and security incidents. A staking-system bug in December 2023 accidentally created 146.28 million ONE and forced a network update. Separately, Harmony's Horizon bridge lost about $100 million in a June 2022 theft that the FBI attributed to North Korea's Lazarus Group.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQ</h2>Why did Harmony choose a rollback instead of burning the forged ONE?Forged tokens had reached exchanges, pools and smart contracts, creating risks for innocent holders.Why was a blacklist rejected?Harmony said blacklisting wallets would leave the forged supply embedded in the network.What made selective transaction replay impractical?Harmony called it “unworkable” because blockchain state had already changed.Who first identified the exploit mechanism?On-chain expert “Juiceberg” linked it to repeated processing of cross-shard receipts.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Harmony rollback rewinds sharded network after massive forged ONE exploit

Harmony Plans Rollback After Exploit Forged 3.01 Trillion ONE

<h2>Proposed rules would define when stablecoin issuance and sales fall under U.S. jurisdiction</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>The U.S. Treasury Department has opened rulemaking on Section 3 of the GENIUS Act, focusing on when payment stablecoins are issued, offered or sold in the United States.</li><li>The proposal is not a final rule and carries a 60-day public-comment period beginning with publication in the Federal Register.</li><li>The framework will shape licensing requirements for U.S. issuers and market-access conditions for foreign-issued payment stablecoins.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>The U.S. Treasury Department on Aug. 17, 2026,&nbsp;<a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0605">issued</a> a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement Section 3 of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, seeking public input on when payment&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> should be treated as issued, offered or sold in the United States. The proposal is not a final rule and centers on the jurisdictional definitions that will determine when issuers need federal or state licenses and when digital-asset service providers are considered to be serving U.S. customers.Treasury's notice opens a public-comment period lasting 60 days from publication in the Federal Register. Comments will be published on Regulations.gov. Treasury is seeking feedback from&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoin</a> issuers, exchanges, banks, technology providers, other industry participants and members of the public as it develops rules governing how the law applies across domestic and cross-border stablecoin activity.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the GENIUS Act as “a landmark framework and clear rules of the road for payment stablecoins” and said Treasury was moving quickly to implement it. Bessent said the department wants input as it works to provide regulatory certainty that allows businesses to “innovate and grow in America,” while strengthening the global role of the U.S. dollar.Bessent also said President Donald Trump and Congress delivered the framework and that Treasury wants to “provide the regulatory certainty businesses need to innovate and grow in America, cement the role of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency, and keep America the crypto capital of the world.”<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Treasury targets two jurisdictional definitions</h2>The proposed rule focuses on two legal questions: what it means to issue a payment stablecoin in the United States and what it means to offer or sell one to a person in the country. Those definitions will determine when an issuer becomes subject to the GENIUS Act's licensing requirements and when an exchange or other digital-asset service provider falls within the U.S. framework.The issue also reaches companies operating outside the country. A platform may be based abroad while still being considered to offer payment stablecoins to U.S. customers. Treasury's jurisdictional approach will therefore be particularly relevant for businesses whose headquarters, issuing entities, infrastructure and users are spread across multiple jurisdictions.Treasury expects the consultation to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/wallet-address">address</a> practical questions including how platforms determine a user's location, how stablecoins are distributed and how foreign issuers can comply with lawful U.S. orders. The responses received during the consultation will help shape the final boundaries for issuers and products seeking to serve U.S. customers once the GENIUS Act's restrictions take effect.The notice does not create new reserve requirements, approve individual stablecoin issuers or direct exchanges to remove specific stablecoins. Its immediate focus is whether issuance or distribution activity falls within U.S. jurisdiction, rather than changing the economic requirements governing individual payment stablecoins.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Licensing and foreign stablecoin restrictions arrive in stages</h2>President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act in July 2025, creating a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins and marking the first significant crypto-related legislation to become U.S. law. Treasury later issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking the following September, preceding the more developed proposal now open for public input.The statutory requirements arrive on two separate implementation dates:<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Date</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Requirement</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Affected activity</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Jan. 18, 2027</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Companies generally may not issue payment stablecoins in the U.S. without the appropriate federal or state license.</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Domestic issuance and access to foreign-issued payment stablecoins.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">July 18, 2028</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Platforms generally may offer payment stablecoins to U.S. customers only when the assets are issued by a licensed entity.</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Broader U.S. distribution and market access.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Foreign-issued payment stablecoins face an additional condition under the earlier stage. Digital-asset service providers generally will not be permitted to make those tokens available unless the foreign issuer can comply with lawful U.S. orders and an applicable reciprocal arrangement exists between the United States and the issuer's home jurisdiction.The framework means Treasury's definitions will affect not only issuers but also exchanges and other intermediaries that distribute payment stablecoins. The central regulatory question is whether a company's activities amount to U.S. issuance or an offer or sale to a U.S. person, including when the business itself operates offshore.<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tether-usdt">USDT</a> is among the foreign-issued stablecoins facing questions over future U.S. market access under the coming regime. The proposed rule itself, however, does not order USDT or any other specific stablecoin to be removed from exchanges.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Public input will shape the final rule</h2>Treasury's current proposal follows the earlier information-gathering stage and moves implementation toward a formal rule. The department is asking affected businesses and the public to address how its jurisdictional tests should work in practice before those definitions become final.For issuers, the rule will establish when operational arrangements amount to issuing a payment stablecoin in the United States and therefore trigger a licensing requirement. For exchanges and other digital-asset service providers, it will help determine when offering a token through an offshore platform is still considered an offer or sale to a U.S. customer.Foreign issuers also face separate questions around compliance with U.S. legal orders and reciprocal regulatory arrangements. Those conditions, together with the broader licensed-issuer requirement, will determine which foreign-issued payment stablecoins can continue to reach U.S. users under the GENIUS Act framework.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQ</h2>Is Treasury's proposal already a final GENIUS Act rule?No. It is a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking open for public comment.What does Treasury want to define?When payment stablecoins are issued in the U.S. or offered or sold to U.S. persons.Who can submit comments?Issuers, exchanges, banks, technology providers, industry participants and the public.Does the proposal immediately require stablecoin delistings?No. It does not direct exchanges to remove specific stablecoins.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Treasury robot processes stablecoin rules comments through formal consultation machinery

Treasury Opens GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rulemaking With 60-Day Comment Period

<h2>Treasury companies take different paths as capital management and accumulation strategies diverge</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Strategy sold common shares without buying or selling bitcoin, directing proceeds toward its cash reserve, preferred-stock dividends and securities repurchases.</li><li>BitMine added 9,926 ETH, lifting its holdings to 5.815 million ETH, or about 4.8% of Ethereum’s total supply.</li><li>Strive bought 79 BTC for roughly $5 million, increasing its corporate bitcoin treasury to 20,246 BTC valued at about $1.273 billion.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>Strategy kept its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> holdings unchanged while raising cash through common-stock sales during the week ended Aug. 16, 2026, while BitMine Immersion continued its weekly&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> purchases and moved closer to its stated goal of owning 5% of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> supply. The developments, released Aug. 17, showed Strategy directing new capital toward dividends, securities repurchases and cash reserves as BitMine continued adding ETH and buying back its own shares.Strategy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1050446/000119312526353240/mstr-20260817.htm">disclosed</a> in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it sold 3,458,866 MSTR shares from Aug. 10 through Aug. 16 for approximately $333.7 million. Strategy made no Bitcoin purchases or sales over that period, leaving its position unchanged.&nbsp;Strategy held 840,447&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> following the reporting period. The position represented approximately 4% of Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million supply cap and was valued at about $53.4 billion at the Bitcoin market price cited with the disclosure. Strategy acquired the position for approximately $63.4 billion including fees and expenses, with an average acquisition price of $75,385 per Bitcoin, leaving roughly $10 billion in paper losses at prevailing prices.The company allocated the proceeds from its MSTR sales across three uses rather than deploying the money toward additional Bitcoin purchases.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Use of proceeds</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Amount</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">STRC preferred stock dividends</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$52.4 million</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">STRC repurchases under the Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$132.2 million</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Increase to Strategy’s U.S. dollar reserve</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">$149.1 million</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The reserve contribution increased Strategy’s U.S. dollar balance to approximately $4.8 billion. Combined spending on STRC dividends and STRC repurchases totaled $184.6 million. Strategy’s latest activity therefore centered on servicing and managing its broader capital structure while retaining its Bitcoin position.Bitcoin traded at approximately $63,539 shortly after the filing, up about 1% over the prior 24 hours, while MSTR shares were about 1.3% higher in pre-market trading.Strategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor did not publish his customary Strategy Bitcoin tracker chart over the preceding weekend. His regular Sunday posts had historically been used to signal upcoming acquisition announcements, although the pattern had become less consistent as Strategy alternated among Bitcoin purchases, sales and periods when holdings remained unchanged.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Strategy broadens its capital-management framework</h2>Strategy’s Digital Credit Capital Framework permits a wider range of balance-sheet actions alongside its Bitcoin holdings. The framework restricts use of the company’s U.S. dollar reserve to preferred-stock dividends and interest payments and includes an authorized $1 billion repurchase program for its digital credit securities, initially prioritizing STRC.Strategy has separately approved a $1 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/strategy-cash-bitmine-ethereum-treasury">common-stock repurchase program</a>. The company also expanded its&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/strategy-btc-capital-framework-buybacks">BTC Monetization Program</a> to permit up to $5 billion in Bitcoin sales to fund its reserve, dividends, interest payments and securities repurchases. Strategy did not use that Bitcoin-sale authority during the latest reporting period.The company also faces a potential change to its eligibility for major equity benchmarks. MSCI is considering a proposed methodology for identifying non-operating companies that could affect digital-asset treasury firms in its Global Investable Market Indexes.MSCI’s simulation using May 2026 data showed Strategy, Metaplanet and uranium investment company Yellow Cake would be deleted from the MSCI ACWI IMI under the proposal. Sharplink, Center Laboratories and Lydia Holding would instead be placed on a public watchlist.Bitcoin Treasuries data cited alongside the Strategy disclosure showed 196 public companies had adopted some form of Bitcoin acquisition model. Strategy remained far ahead of the next-largest corporate holders listed in that data.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Company</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Bitcoin holdings</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Twenty One</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">43,514 BTC</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Metaplanet</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">43,000 BTC</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">MARA</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">35,577 BTC</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">30,021 BTC</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Twenty One is&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tether-usdt">Tether</a>-backed, while Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company is backed by Adam Back and Cantor Fitzgerald. Shares across the corporate Bitcoin treasury group had fallen significantly from their summer 2025 peaks as market-cap-to-net-asset-value ratios contracted. MSTR remained nearly 80% below its peak, while Strategy reported an enterprise mNAV of 1.04.Norway’s sovereign wealth fund had also increased its indirect Bitcoin exposure to a record 11,549 BTC during the first half of 2026. Strategy accounted for approximately 86% of that exposure, with the fund’s Strategy position valued at roughly $622 million.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>BitMine continues weekly Ethereum purchases</h2>BitMine Immersion followed a different path during the same period,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitmine-immersion-technologies-bmnr-announces-eth-holdings-reach-5-82-million-tokens-and-total-crypto-and-total-cash-holdings-of-11-4-billion-302852583.html">adding</a> 9,926 ETH and increasing its total Ethereum holdings to 5.815 million tokens. The company, which trades under ticker BMNR, said the purchase extended a weekly buying streak that began when its Ethereum treasury strategy launched in June 2025.BitMine’s holdings represented approximately 4.8% of Ethereum’s total supply, placing the company close to its stated 5% target. At an&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH price</a> of approximately $1,904, the position was valued at about $11 billion.Chairman Tom Lee linked BitMine’s continued Ethereum accumulation to a change in the ETH/BTC ratio, which he said had broken above a years-long downward trend. Lee viewed the move as a sign that investors were beginning to price in increased demand for Ethereum from tokenization and AI-agent applications.Lee also tied his outlook to broader financial conditions, saying, “easing financial conditions to be a tailwind for crypto.”ETH was about 1.6% higher over the prior 24 hours when the BitMine figures were reported, while BMNR shares were trading more than 2% higher on the day.BitMine also repurchased another 1.7 million of its own shares during the week. Those purchases increased its holdings of BMNR stock to 20.8 million shares under a previously authorized $4 billion buyback program.Strategy’s approximately $53.4 billion Bitcoin position remained almost five times the dollar value of BitMine’s Ethereum treasury, while BitMine’s share of Ethereum’s current supply exceeded Strategy’s share of Bitcoin’s maximum supply. Strategy’s percentage is measured against Bitcoin’s hard 21 million-coin cap, while BitMine’s figure refers to Ethereum’s total current supply.The companies’ latest disclosures showed two different stages of corporate crypto treasury management. Strategy maintained its Bitcoin position while using equity proceeds for cash reserves, preferred-stock obligations and securities repurchases. BitMine remained in active accumulation mode, adding Ethereum while also deploying capital toward BMNR share repurchases.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Strive Adds Bitcoin as Strategy Holds Its Position</h2>Strive Inc. also continued expanding its bitcoin treasury, buying 79 BTC for roughly $5 million between Aug. 10 and Aug. 14, 2026. The Dallas-based public asset manager paid an average of about $63,231 per bitcoin, including fees and expenses, lifting its total holdings to 20,246 BTC. With bitcoin near $62,895, the position was valued at roughly $1.273 billion. CEO and Chairman Matt Cole disclosed the purchase on Aug. 17 and directed investors to the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Strive ranked roughly seventh among reported public-company bitcoin treasuries.Strive said it held about $154.8 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Aug. 14, compared with $154.9 million one week earlier. It also owned 505,000 shares of Strategy’s STRC preferred stock with a reported fair value of roughly $47.9 million. Strive describes its balance sheet as debt-free while using preferred securities, including SATA, and at-the-market common-stock sales to help finance bitcoin accumulation.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Zhibao receives 2,380 BTC directly through private placement</h2>Zhibao Technology joined the corporate Bitcoin treasury trend through a different funding structure, closing a $154.7 million private investment in public equity financed entirely with cryptocurrency. The Nasdaq-listed, Shanghai-based insurance-technology company said a syndicate of non-U.S. investors contributed 2,380 BTC directly to a company wallet instead of providing cash. The Bitcoin was valued at a reference price of $65,000 per coin based on market levels as of July 30.Investors received 442 million units priced at $0.35 each, with every unit combining one Class A ordinary share and a two-year warrant. About 396 million units were issued at closing, while the remainder requires shareholder approval. Director Botao Ma called the financing one of the most transformational moments in Zhibao’s decade-long history, saying it strengthens the company’s financial base and supports expansion of its AI-driven insurance products. Zhibao also plans to file a resale registration statement with the SEC within 45 days of the July 31 effective date covering shares and warrants issued in the transaction.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Crypto treasury strategies diverge between Strategy restraint and BitMine accumulation.

Strategy Holds BTC Steady as BitMine and Strive Keep Accumulating Crypto

<h2>Faster proof systems reopen the door to SHA and BLAKE</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Ethereum researcher Justin Drake said the Ethereum Foundation is moving away from Poseidon for future layer-1 designs after proof-system advances erased its earlier efficiency advantage.</li><li>The change is not tied to a known break in Poseidon and does not require changes to existing rollups, zkVMs or user wallets.</li><li>Ethereum’s post-quantum roadmap now points toward established hash functions, leanXMSS signatures and leanVM-based proof aggregation.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr>The&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> Foundation is abandoning&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/ethereum-perc-20-privacy-token-standard">Poseidon</a> for future Ethereum layer-1 designs and turning toward established hash families such as SHA or BLAKE, researcher Justin Drake said on Aug. 13, 2026, after advances in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/beam-chain-ethereum-upgrade">SNARK</a> technology changed the performance tradeoff that had favored specialized proof-friendly hashes.Drake&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/drakefjustin/status/2087905684180418733">said</a> the shift does not reflect a cryptographic break in Poseidon and did not issue a migration order. Poseidon had been considered for future post-quantum systems including leanVM, but those systems have not been deployed on Ethereum mainnet. The decision instead concerns the cryptographic foundations Ethereum may use in a future proof-driven layer 1.SNARKs are compact cryptographic proofs that confirm a computation was performed correctly without requiring every verifier to repeat the underlying work. Many SNARK systems operate over large prime fields, where the bitwise operations used by conventional hashes such as SHA-256 and Keccak historically imposed high proving costs. Poseidon was designed to reduce that burden by using arithmetic better suited to proof systems.That engineering tradeoff has shifted as newer proof systems have become more efficient at processing conventional hashes. Drake said researchers have effectively moved from designing SNARK-friendly hashes toward building hash-friendly SNARKs, reducing the need for specialized primitives such as Poseidon.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Binary-field proofs change the performance equation</h2>Newer binary-field proof systems work naturally with binary operations and therefore better match the bitwise structure of conventional hashes. Binius research is one example of that approach, while a Flock paper posted July 29, 2026 applied newer techniques to proving large batches of standard hash computations.The Flock authors reported the following proof-of-concept benchmark results:<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Benchmark</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Result</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Hardware / comparison</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">BLAKE3 compression evaluations</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About 82,000 per second</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">One M4 Max core</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">SHA-256 compressions</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About 42,000 per second</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">One M4 Max core</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Keccak permutations</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">About 30,000 per second</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">One M4 Max core</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">BLAKE3 compressions</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">More than 660,000 per second</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Ten cores</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">SHA-256 proving speed</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">More than nine times faster</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Compared with Binius64</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>Those benchmark figures measure internal hash operations in a proof-of-concept system rather than Ethereum transaction throughput. The results nevertheless illustrate why standard hashes can now be considered for proof-heavy infrastructure without carrying the same proving penalty that originally favored Poseidon.<a href="https://coin360.com/news/how-is-a-transaction-verified-on-a-cryptocurrency-network">SHA-256</a> is part of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Secure&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/hash">Hash</a> Standard. BLAKE2 has had a public informational specification since 2015, while the Flock implementation benchmarked the newer BLAKE3. Drake referred broadly to SHA or BLAKE as possible directions, without identifying a finalized replacement hash.Eigen Labs founder and CEO Sreeram Kannan said established hash-based systems have fewer known avenues of attack than other post-quantum approaches and could be deployed faster because they have already undergone years of scrutiny. Kannan also said joint work involving the Ethereum Foundation, Eigen Labs and zero-knowledge proof company Succinct increased proving speeds by 2.5 times.<a href="https://coin360.com/news/ethereum-roadmap-privacy-quantum-security">Ethereum’s security roadmap</a> separately identifies protocol simplification as a way to reduce the network’s attack surface. Faster proof systems give Ethereum greater flexibility to rely on conventional hash primitives with longer histories of public analysis instead of choosing a younger specialized hash mainly for proving efficiency.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>leanVM and Ethereum’s post-quantum timeline</h2>Ethereum’s broader post-quantum design contemplates replacing validator BLS signatures with hash-based leanXMSS signatures. leanVM would then be used to aggregate the much larger volume of signature data into compact proofs, allowing Ethereum to verify the underlying work without processing all of that cryptographic data directly.Drake’s personal strawmap places production-grade leanVM around 2027 and deployments across Ethereum’s consensus, data and execution layers in 2028. Those dates are preliminary. Ethereum’s official post-quantum roadmap separately gives a nonbinding target of about 2029 for core infrastructure and extends full execution-layer migration beyond that point.Ethereum’s quantum-resistance guidance currently tells users to leave their wallets unchanged. Drake’s announcement also calls for no changes to existing rollups or zkVMs and does not describe a deployed fork, meaning the Poseidon decision remains focused on future Ethereum architecture rather than a live-network migration.The change follows roughly eight years of work around specialized proof-friendly cryptography. The shift does not mean Poseidon failed; rather, advances in proof systems have weakened the performance constraint Poseidon was designed to solve, allowing Ethereum researchers to reconsider which hash functions best fit the network’s future post-quantum stack.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>FAQ</h2>Why is Ethereum moving away from Poseidon?New proof systems have reduced the performance advantage that previously made Poseidon attractive.Was Poseidon found to be broken?No. Drake reported no break in Poseidon.Does the change affect existing rollups or zkVMs?No changes to existing rollups or zkVMs were requested.What is leanVM meant to do?It would aggregate large volumes of cryptographic work into compact proofs for efficient verification.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

news-markets.webp

Ethereum Drops Poseidon From Future Post-Quantum Design

Norway Fund’s Indirect Bitcoin Exposure Hits Record 11,549 BTC

<h2>Staged August Cutoffs Target HTX, EXMO and Sanctions-Linked Services</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Binance is restricting direct and indirect transactions involving 16 crypto-related entities through a staged compliance rollout.</li><li>The largest cutoff takes effect August 23 and covers HTX, EXMO and nine other platforms or services.</li><li>Binance tied the action to “recent regulatory developments,” while the affected list aligns with EU and U.S. sanctions measures.</li></ul><hr>Trade smarter on Jupiter, Solana’s leading DEX built for fast execution and deep liquidity.&nbsp;Swap tokens at competitive rates, route across multiple liquidity sources automatically, and access perpetuals, DCA, and advanced trading tools — all in one place!<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://jup.ag/?ref=g33ohytogabt" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Trade on Jupiter!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/review/binance">Binance</a> is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/detail/af2be67dc03c4673b4f56c42db948253">expanding</a> restrictions on transactions involving 16 crypto-related entities through a staged August compliance action, with the largest group taking effect on August 23. The exchange said it will stop processing direct and indirect transactions involving the designated service providers and cited “recent regulatory developments” for the move, which applies across Binance’s user base rather than to accounts in a particular country or geographic region.The restrictions are being introduced through three cutoff dates rather than through a single enforcement event. Shelbit, formally Shelbit General Trading LLC, and Aban&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tether-usdt">Tether</a> Exchange were covered first. A7 Nigeria, A7 Africa and PilotFinance Ltd followed before the final and largest group.<div class="raw-html-embed"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> <thead> <tr> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Effective date</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Number of entities</th> <th style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; text-align: left; color: #fff;">Entities</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">August 7, 2026</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">2</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Shelbit; Aban Tether Exchange</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">August 13, 2026</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">3</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">A7 Nigeria; A7 Africa; PilotFinance Ltd</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">August 23, 2026</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">11</td> <td style="border: 1px solid #fff; padding: 8px; color: #fff;">Rapira; Aifory Pro; ABCeX; WhiteBird; NoOnecrypto; Tradex; Monease; BitPapa; Exnode / Exnode Pay;&nbsp;HTX;&nbsp;EXMO Ltd</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div>The final group includes Rapira; Aifory Pro, identified as Sooty Ltd; ABCeX, identified as Nueva Cryptologia S.A.S DE C.V.; WhiteBird; NoOnecrypto INC.; Tradex, identified as Brightum LLC; Monease Ltd; BitPapa; Exnode and Exnode Pay, identified as Arvix;&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/huobi-token-ht">HTX</a>, identified as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/huobi-token-ht">Huobi</a> Global SA; and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/exmo">EXMO</a> Ltd. HTX and EXMO stand out as two of the larger names affected by the restrictions, while HTX was identified as the largest name within the final group.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Binance Targets Counterparties, Not Individual Crypto Assets</h2>The restrictions apply to the service provider behind a transaction rather than to the cryptocurrency being transferred. Binance is therefore not delisting&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/tether-usdt">USDT</a> or other assets simply because those assets are available on the affected exchanges. Transfers tied to designated counterparties can instead be subject to sanctions screening regardless of which cryptocurrency is moving through the transaction.Binance’s controls also extend beyond individual&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> addresses. Deposits and withdrawals can be screened for connections to designated services even when funds move through intermediary addresses before reaching or leaving a listed platform. A transfer that previously moved through Binance as an ordinary deposit or withdrawal may therefore be held for review if the exchange identifies a connection to one of the affected counterparties.Binance said transactions attempted with a listed entity on or after its effective cutoff may be placed on hold for compliance review. The wallet associated with the transaction may also face restrictions while that review is underway, and activity involving a designated service may breach Binance’s terms of use.<hr>We’ve launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>Restrictions Track EU and U.S. Sanctions Actions</h2>The entities covered by the later two rollout stages align with crypto services named under the European Union’s 21st sanctions package against Russia, which was adopted in July 2026. The measures expanded transaction bans to certain crypto platforms outside the bloc that authorities said had facilitated sanctions circumvention.The EU measures formally bind firms within the bloc’s jurisdiction, while Binance’s announcement carried no comparable geographic limitation. Binance presented the restrictions to its entire user base, extending the exchange’s internal compliance treatment beyond accounts located in a specific jurisdiction.The remaining names, Shelbit and Aban Tether Exchange, were designated by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as part of an action against networks that the Treasury said served the Iranian regime. Binance did not cite a specific regulator when announcing its restrictions and instead referred broadly to regulatory developments.HTX had already been included in the EU’s wider sanctions push in July, when the exchange was named among crypto services facing transaction restrictions aimed at reducing channels that could be used to circumvent sanctions on Russia. Binance’s implementation means transfers linked to HTX can be subjected to the same counterparty screening applied to other covered entities.<div class="page-break" style="page-break-after:always;">&nbsp;</div><h2>HTX Disputes the Scope of the Restrictions</h2>HTX, formerly Huobi, has challenged the scope of the sanctions-linked treatment. HTX said the Panamanian-registered entity subject to sanctions is separate from its trading operations and said compliance remains a priority for its business.The sanctions measures are administrative actions rather than criminal convictions, and none of the named platforms had been convicted of an offense in connection with these actions.Several entities on Binance’s list had already faced sanctions scrutiny elsewhere. The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office designated 18 entities and individuals on May 26, 2026, including HTX, EXMO, BitPapa and Rapira, as part of an action it said targeted the A7 network. EXMO has announced that it is winding down.Binance has also pointed to changes in its own sanctions exposure as it defends its compliance record. The company said its sanctions exposure fell 96.8% between January 2024 and July 2025. Binance also said its compliance team has almost 1,500 employees, representing about one-quarter of its global workforce.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.