The official crypto token of Pudgy Penguins had a tough month, consistent with a broader decline in NFT markets and digital collectibles.
Bitcoin’s sell-off accelerates as macroeconomic challenges prompt stock and crypto traders to cut risk.
XRP’s slow push into institutional finance just picked up another backer.
Data-focused blockchain firm Flare announced on Friday that Everything Blockchain Inc. (OTC: EBZT), a U.S.-listed company, has signed a memorandum of understanding to adopt its XRP finance (XRPFi) framework for corporate treasury yield.
The move comes months after Nasdaq-listed VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ: VVPR) committed $100 million in XRP to Flare’s ecosystem, making EBZT only the second public company to do so.
The agreements mark early steps in Flare’s effort to turn XRP — historically a non-yielding asset — into a productive instrument for institutions.
At the center of the framework is Flare’s “FAssets” system, a trustless bridge that gives smart contract functionality to tokens like XRP and bitcoin. Combined with Firelight, Flare’s restaking layer, the setup lets companies convert XRP into FXRP and allocate it across decentralized lending, staking and liquidity protocols.
“XRP, now a roughly $150 billion asset, has been a cornerstone of digital finance for more than a decade, yet institutions have had few ways to make it productive,” said Hugo Philion, Flare’s co-founder and CEO.
“Flare changes that by enabling a compliant, on-chain, non-custodial yield framework designed for corporate treasuries. With VivoPower and now Everything Blockchain, public companies are validating that XRPFi is not just a concept but an emerging institutional standard,” he added.
EBZT framed its decision as part of a broader shift in how public companies treat blockchain assets.
“This is about unlocking the true financial utility of digital assets like XRP, not just as speculative holdings, but as yield-bearing instruments that can compound over time,” said Arthur Rozenberg, the company’s CEO. “Flare gives us the rails to do this in a way that meets the governance, security, and auditability standards required of public companies.”
For now, the XRPFi push remains small in dollar terms relative to bitcoin or ether-based treasury pilots.
But two listed companies publicly adopting the model in under a year gives XRP a new narrative: less about speculation, more about yield, and potentially a step toward more mainstream corporate balance sheets.
Stellar’s native token XLM came under heavy institutional selling pressure in the latest trading session, falling from $0.39 to $0.36 between August 28 at 3:00 p.m. and August 29 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Market data shows more than 41.89 million XLM changed hands, with volumes surging as large holders reduced exposure.
Despite the pressure, Stellar’s enterprise push remains intact. The Stellar Development Foundation reported the network is approaching 10 million registered accounts, boosted by daily growth of 5,000–6,000 new corporate wallets. Strategic partnerships with MoneyGram International and Circle Internet Financial continue to drive adoption of Stellar’s payment rails in cross-border finance.
Analysts highlighted sharp intraday swings on August 29, when XLM dropped 1.38% between 1:26 p.m. and 2:06 p.m., before institutional buyers reentered the market. The token recovered 1.27% during the 15-minute window that followed, closing the session at $0.361 after briefly touching $0.357.
A spokesperson close to Stellar’s corporate strategy stressed that the market turbulence was sentiment-driven rather than a reflection of business fundamentals. The late-session bounce suggested some large buyers viewed the decline as a buying opportunity, underscoring confidence in Stellar’s long-term role in blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
Grayscale filed S-1s for Polkadot and Cardano ETFs, expanding its altcoin lineup after earlier 19b-4 filings with Nasdaq and NYSE Arca.
The post Grayscale files for Polkadot and Cardano ETFs following earlier 19b-4 moves appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
The lawsuit's dismissal may bolster investor confidence in the company's Bitcoin strategy, despite past unrealized losses and market volatility.
The post Strategy investors dismiss lawsuit against the company over $6B Bitcoin unrealized loss appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Ethereum’s price action has witnessed surprise bullish upside in the past months and has outperformed Bitcoin in recent weeks. Behind the scenes, the leading altcoin has also witnessed a buyer unlike any other this year, and that buyer is BitMine.
The publicly traded firm has gone on an unprecedented spending spree, scooping up Ethereum at a pace that has seen its Ethereum reserves swell into the billions, making BitMine the largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm in the world.
BitMine’s buying spree is not just opportunistic but is part of a calculated mission. Under the leadership of Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat and now BitMine’s chairman, the Bitcoin mining company has set its sights on acquiring 5% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, an ambition Lee has branded the alchemy of 5%. That figure translates to a target of roughly $27 billion in ETH, which would make BitMine the biggest ETH holder.
BitMine’s accumulation of Ethereum has been nothing short of staggering. It began on June 30, 2025, with a private raise of $250 million, followed by another $500 million on July 14, which pushed its holdings beyond 163,000 ETH. By early August, BitMine had already passed 1.15 million ETH after a continued buying streak. At the time, its holdings were worth close to $5 billion, which made it the largest publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm.
The buildup of BitMine’s accumulation only grew aggressive from there. By August 18, its stash had broken past 1.5 million ETH and stood at 1.52 million ETH, valued at around $6.6 billion. According to a press release by BitMine Immersion Technologies, the company was holding 1,713,899 ETH on August 24. The firm said its most recent purchases took its Ethereum balance up by more than 190,500 tokens from 1.52 million. Additionally, its portfolio includes 192 BTC and unencumbered cash of $562 million.
Investor interest has surged alongside the company’s expansion. The firm’s transition from Bitcoin to Ethereum treasury saw its NAV per share climb from $22.84 in July to $39.84 in the last week of August.
BitMine has become to Ethereum what MicroStrategy has long been to Bitcoin. Its Ethereum accumulation strategy has seen it become the second-largest crypto treasury firm, having overtaken MARA holdings in August.
Although BitMine has become the undisputed leader in corporate Ethereum ownership, the crown for the largest crypto treasury overall belongs to MicroStrategy, which recently rebranded as Strategy. MicroStrategy currently holds 632,457 BTC worth over $46.5 billion and is in a league of its own when it comes to corporate crypto exposure.
Nonetheless, BitMine’s rise has changed the balance of power. Its $8.8 billion Ethereum-plus-cash treasury makes it the second-largest corporate crypto holder globally, ahead of miners like Marathon Digital, XXI, and other firms adopting crypto treasuries.
FinCEN on Thursday put banks and other financial firms on notice about a sprawling set of Chinese crypto and money laundering networks, saying they play a major role in moving illicit funds tied to Mexico-based drug cartels and other crimes.
According to the Treasury agency, the warning comes with both an Advisory and a Financial Trend Analysis that outline how the networks work and where banks should look for trouble.
FinCEN reviewed 137,153 Bank Secrecy Act reports filed between January 2020 and December 2024, linked to suspected activity by these networks.
Those filings covered about $312 billion in suspicious transactions. Banks also flagged 17,389 reports tied to the real estate sector, representing more than $53.7 billion in suspected activity.
The agency says those figures show the problem is widespread and touches many parts of the US financial system.
FinCEN has issued an Advisory and Financial Trend Analysis raising the alarm on Chinese money laundering networks, which pose a significant threat to the U.S. financial system.https://t.co/QejJmzQaYw
— Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) (@FinCENnews) August 28, 2025
Reports have disclosed a practical arrangement: Mexico-based cartels need to get rid of large amounts of US dollars they cannot easily move through Mexican banks, while some Chinese citizens want dollars to get money out of China.
That gap creates a market. Networks buy illicit dollars from cartels and sell them to buyers in China, often using social media posts, personal networks, or informal channels.
Trade-based schemes, mirror transactions, and money laundering mule operations are commonly used to cover the tracks.
FinCEN’s analysis ties these networks to more than drug money. Financial institutions filed 1,675 reports that may involve human trafficking or human smuggling.
Another 43 reports, totaling about $766 million, referenced 83 adult and senior day care centers with New York addresses.
There were 108 reports tied to suspected health care fraud, elder abuse, or questionable gaming activity.
These numbers suggest the networks help move proceeds from a range of criminal schemes, not just narcotics.
Insiders, Fake Documents, And Complex DealsInvestigators flagged cases where insiders at financial firms appeared to help or where networks used counterfeit Chinese passports to open accounts. Layered transactions and shell companies were used to hide the source of funds.
Some participants may be unwitting. In many cases, the same methods that hide dollar flows also make it hard for banks to spot the crime until it is advanced.
Is Crypto The Villain?Crypto has traditionally been labeled as the bad guy in money laundering discussions, yet the statistics say otherwise.
With $312 billion in suspicious transactions reported through banks and mainstream institutions, the magnitude of dirty money within mainstream finance far outweighs what moves through cryptocurrencies.
Critics argue that the spotlight on crypto is unnecessary when greater danger lurks in plain sight within the banking system.
Featured image from ABA Bankiing Journal, chart from TradingView
Tether abandoned plans to freeze its dollar-pegged USDT tokens on several older blockchains and is choosing instead to classify them as “unsupported,” according to an Aug. 29 statement.
The change applies to networks such as Bitcoin Cash, Kusama, EOS, and Algorand, among others. Users will still be able to move tokens across wallets, but Tether will no longer issue or redeem USDT on those platforms.
The shift came after weeks of community pushback over the company’s original plan, which would have locked tokens in place and left them non-transferable.
In June, Tether had outlined a transition that would begin Sept. 1, 2025, with all USDT on the affected blockchains frozen and excluded from redemptions.
The move was framed as a way to streamline operations by cutting off support for networks that accounted for a negligible share of the stablecoin’s activity. Under that plan, tokens would have remained visible on-chain but effectively stranded without any movement or redemption path.
Following sustained criticism from developers and users on smaller ecosystems like EOS and Algorand, Tether retreated from a hard freeze. The firm said the revised approach “aligns with its broader strategy” while avoiding reputational damage.
The compromise allows Tether to wind down low-volume chains without provoking backlash from users who would have been locked out of their assets.
The announcement came just one day after Tether disclosed plans to issue a native USDT on Bitcoin using the RGB protocol.
Unlike wrapped tokens that rely on custodial bridges, RGB integrates directly with Bitcoin’s scripting and client-side validation, making USDT part of the Bitcoin ecosystem’s security model.
USDT remains most heavily concentrated on Ethereum and Tron, each with more than $80 billion in circulation, alongside smaller footprints on Solana and a few other networks.
The decision to drop support for legacy chains signals tightening resources on platforms with higher adoption while staking new ground on Bitcoin.
The post Tether abandons plan to freeze USDT on legacy crypto networks, classifies them ‘unsupported’ appeared first on CryptoSlate.
BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum (ETH) Trust ETF (ETHA) recorded $1.244 billion in weekly inflows from Aug. 18-22, ranking second among all 4,400-plus ETFs tracked during the period.
NovaDius Wealth president Nate Geraci noted in an Aug. 29 post via X that only Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF outperformed ETHA’s with $1.711 billion in weekly flows.
He also highlighted the significance of ETHA appearing among “heavy hitters” in weekly inflow rankings, demonstrating institutional appetite for Ethereum exposure.
Further, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart reported on Aug. 29 that Ethereum ETFs have accumulated nearly $10 billion in inflows since July, marking substantial momentum for the asset class.
Before this surge, Ethereum ETFs had recorded negative $400 million year-to-date flows, amounting to approximately $2.5 billion, according to Farside Investors’ data.
Market conditions indicate that capital is rotating from Bitcoin to Ethereum throughout August. While Bitcoin ETFs registered $800 million in outflows through Aug. 28, Ethereum ETFs accumulated $4 billion in inflows during the same period, per Farside Investors tracking.
The inflow disparity reflects evolving institutional preferences as investors diversify cryptocurrency allocations beyond Bitcoin.
Additionally, retail participation accelerated in tandem with institutional interest. DeFiLlama data shows that Ethereum achieved a monthly spot trading volume record of $135 billion as of Aug. 29, surpassing the previous high of $117.6 billion from May 2021.
The institutional adoption is not limited to exposure through ETFs, as corporate Ethereum adoption accelerated significantly during the summer months.
Strategic ETH Reserve data reveals corporate Ethereum treasuries increased from $2.3 billion to $19.1 billion between June 1 and Aug. 29.
In token terms, corporate reserves expanded from 916,268 ETH to 4,438,352 ETH over the same period, representing approximately 3.7% of total ETH supply.
The treasury accumulation pattern, combined with the increasing number of institutions adding ETH, suggests institutional recognition of Ethereum as a treasury asset.
ETHA’s performance demonstrates the integration of Ethereum into mainstream investment flows, with crypto products competing directly against established equity and bond ETFs for investor capital.
The post BlackRock Ethereum ETF captures second-highest weekly inflows among over 4,400 ETFs appeared first on CryptoSlate.
An Indian court has sentenced a former legislative assembly member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to life in prison for his involvement in a high-profile bitcoin extortion plot.
Nalin Kotadiya and thirteen other individuals were convicted for the 2018 kidnapping of a Surat businessman and extorting 200 bitcoins from him.
A local court in Ahmedabad delivered today’s verdict, concluding the high-profile case that dates back to 2018.
Fourteen people, including former BJP legislative assembly member Nalin Kotadiya and ex-Indian Police Service officer Jagdish Patel, were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. One individual was acquitted.
This landmark ruling concludes an extensive trial that exposed a corruption trail involving high-profile individuals in Gujarat.
The case began with the kidnapping of Shailesh Bhatt, a businessman and cryptocurrency trader from Surat.
According to reports, individuals pretending to be from India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lured him to a meeting in Gandhinagar.
Instead, he was abducted from a gas station. A team of police officers using official government vehicles then took Bhatt to a farmhouse.
The accused seized 200 Bitcoins, valued at approximately ₹12 crore at the time, and demanded a ransom of ₹32 crore.
The investigation further revealed that Bhatt had previously stolen Bitcoins worth ₹150 crore from another Surat resident named Dhawal Mawani. Upon learning this, the accused—including Nalin Kotadiya—conspired to rob Bhatt.
Bhatt set off the investigation when he submitted a formal complaint to the Indian Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
As the investigation deepened, the CID arrested ten police officers, including Anant Patel and Surat-based lawyer Ketan Patel.
Their interrogations soon revealed the names of Jagdish Patel and Kotadiya. Kotadiya went into hiding, and a non-bailable warrant was issued before his eventual arrest.
The scope of the conspiracy widened further with the involvement of a genuine CBI Inspector, Sunil Nair. Nair reportedly demanded a bribe from Bhatt and threatened to initiate an investigation against him.
The court’s decision ultimately marked a major step against corruption and criminal activity involving police officials, politicians, and cryptocurrency.
The post Former Indian Politician Convicted in Bitcoin Extortion Case appeared first on BeInCrypto.
The real-world asset (RWA) sector has cooled, with RWA tokens down 3.7% over the past month, underperforming narratives like liquid staking and GameFi. Still, the long-term growth story remains intact.
Yet, despite the correction, a handful of RWA altcoins to watch in September are flashing strong fundamentals and price setups.
Chainlink remains the most recognized RWA altcoin, and the recent announcement of a US Department of Commerce partnership to bring government macroeconomic data on-chain only reinforces its credibility.
On-chain data shows whales and top addresses positioned early. Whale balances rose 29.52% in August, bringing holdings to 5.03 million LINK. That means whales added roughly 1.15 million LINK, worth nearly $27 million at today’s price of $23.47.
The top 100 addresses now hold 646.8 million LINK, up 0.47%, with an addition of approximately 3 million LINK, equivalent to around $70 million. Exchange balances dropped by 4.19%, a bullish outflow trend that reduces sell pressure.
For token TA and market updates: Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.
Despite a slow week, LINK remains in an uptrend, posting gains worth over 30% month-on-month. While bears pressed it down by 5.9% this week, bulls have largely maintained control. Every time the bears have tried to take control of the LINK price action, bulls have intervened, as shown by the Bull-Bear Power (BBP) indicator.
The Bull Bear Power (BBP) indicator measures whether buyers (bulls) or sellers (bears) are driving momentum.
A clean breakout above $25.80 would open a move toward $27.62, and beyond that, Fibonacci extension targets suggest a path as high as $43.04.
Failure to hold $22.86, however, could invite deeper pullbacks, but current whale and exchange flows argue for continued resilience. With whales stacking, LINK ETF talks surfacing, and a government-linked partnership validating fundamentals, Chainlink is a leading RWA coin to watch in September.
Ondo is one of the fastest-growing names in the RWA token space. It bridges real-world assets like US Treasuries and corporate bonds into tokenized form for on-chain investors.
Whales have been quietly adding through late August. The 100 million to 1 billion ONDO cohort grew holdings from 981.38 million ONDO on August 24 to 989.53 million ONDO at press time. That is an accumulation of 8.15 million ONDO, worth about $7.4 million at current prices of roughly $0.91.
Technically, ONDO is showing a bullish divergence. Since August 19, the price has made lower lows, but the RSI has printed higher lows. This divergence hints at waning bearish pressure and a potential reversal. ONDO is up 13.2% over the past three months, showing the broader trend is still intact despite short-term weakness.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) tracks the speed of price moves to show whether an asset is overbought or oversold. Higher values mean stronger buying, while lower values indicate heavier selling.
Immediate resistance sits near $0.93. A breakout above $0.9786 would validate the bullish divergence and open targets at $1.14.
Maple Finance is a credit marketplace focused on institutional lending, and its native Syrup (SYRUP) token has been gaining steady traction as one of the RWA coins to watch.
Performance has been notable. Over the past three months, Syrup has gained 39.9%. In the last month, it is up 4.2%, while seven-day gains stand at 14%. The consistency of these numbers reflects that Syrup has not disappointed despite market volatility.
On-chain data supports this strength. Top 100 addresses increased holdings by 16.79%, adding about 160 million SYRUP, worth approximately $72 million at the current price of $0.45.
Exchange balances dropped by 23.51%, or around 69 million tokens (about $31 million), reflecting a supply squeeze. Whales did trim positions by nearly 59%, but this impact has been outweighed by accumulation from larger cohorts and steady outflows from exchanges.
SYRUP price action also remains constructive. A sustained hold above $0.42 keeps bulls in control. A breakout above $0.53 could fuel momentum toward $0.62–$0.77 in September. With bulls being in control, courtesy of the green Bull-Bear Power indicator candles, a move on the upside looks likely.
However, if Syrup falls below $0.38, the bullish setup would be invalidated, and sellers would take over. Given its steady accumulation and resilience during volatile weeks, Maple Finance and its Syrup token have earned their spot as one of the top RWA altcoins to watch in September.
The post Top 3 Real World Asset (RWA) Altcoins to Watch in September appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Shiba Inu’s price action in recent days has been largely subdued, and many traders would argue it has had the most disappointing meme performance lately. The price has been range-bound between $0.00001345 and $0.00001190 for much of August, showing low volatility as traders wait for a decisive move.
Nonetheless, a new technical analysis suggests that SHIB may be approaching the end of its consolidation cycle. According to analyst Kamran Asghar, the weekly chart is showing signs of preparing for a major expansion phase that could unlock a rally of more than 650%.
The weekly candlestick timeframe chart shared by Kamran Asghar shows that Shiba Inu has repeatedly followed a cycle of prolonged accumulation phases before launching into massive expansions. Looking back as far as July 2021, SHIB experienced a 1,154% rally after a lengthy consolidation period.
Interestingly, this pattern repeated again in early 2024 when the price surged by over 501% after another extended accumulation stage. Both cycles were characterized by weeks of sideways action, followed by sudden vertical rallies that took SHIB to new highs in a short span of time.
The current setup has strong similarities to these earlier phases. For one, the Shiba Inu has been locked in a tight accumulation range for several months since the beginning of 2025. This accumulation range has been characterized by low volatility between the upper end of $0.000020 and the lower end of $0.000010 for most of the year. Now, given the precedent of the last two breakouts, Shiba Inu’s ongoing consolidation may already be nearing its end.
If history repeats, the next move could cause another Shiba Inu price explosion on the weekly candlestick timeframe. According to the analyst’s projection, the massive expansion would see the Shiba Inu price increase by 650%, which would see it reach a target of $0.00009.
This level coincides with the chart’s projection for a new all-time high, as it would see Shiba Inu break above the peak of $0.00008616 that has held since 2021. The projection is based on measuring past expansions and overlaying an average of the two on the current price structure.
Although the projected 650% increase is less than the 1,150% rally witnessed by Shiba Inu in the 2021 rally, the volume needed in this case would be far greater.
As such, the most important factor that will determine whether this breakout will occur is demand volume. In both prior expansions, Shiba Inu ’s rallies were caused by sudden surges in demand that pushed the price out of its accumulation box with high conviction. Without this surge in volume liquidity, Shiba Inu’s price action may continue drifting sideways within the consolidation range.
At the time of writing, Shiba Inu is trading at $0.00001236, down by 3.8% in the past 24 hours.
Ethereum has become the backbone of innovation in the digital asset space, serving as the foundation on which nearly every transformative trend in crypto is built. As adoption accelerates and new technologies converge, Ethereum’s role as the essential infrastructure is powering the future of global digital assets.
In the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape, one concept remains clear that every major trend eventually finds its foundation on Ethereum. According to SharpLink Gaming’s post on X, ETH is not just another digital asset, but rather the reserve asset of the on-chain economy, which is a cornerstone that underpins the digital financial system of the future.
By strategically holding and compounding ETH on behalf of our stockholders, SharpLink is not simply investing in a token, but investing in the future of finance itself. This conviction reflects the company’s belief that Ethereum’s network effects will only strengthen, making ETH the backbone of digital markets for years to come.
Being the reserve asset of the on-chain economy, ETH might attract significant usage, which is likely to bolster its price in the near future. Analyst Daan Crypto Trades has revealed that Ethereum recently swept past its 2021 all-time high but faced a rejection.
This is a normal occurrence in crypto markets, as all-time high breaks are often messy, involving significant shakeouts. Many traders attempt to position themselves ahead of a breakout, anticipating the next phase of price discovery. However, this move often results in those trading long positions being flushed out, forcing the participants to exit the market in frustration.
Daan emphasizes the importance of weekly closes above the prior all-time high. Such closes are critical, as they provide stronger confirmation that a genuine breakout is underway, which signals a sustainable move rather than a temporary spike. Until then, volatility and temporary pullbacks are part of the market’s behavior during price discovery.
Ethereum may be facing bearish pressure, but Ted has noted that the altcoin is on track to reach $10,000 in this cycle. However, before the surge to that milestone kicks off, a short-term correction may be imminent. Historically, September has often acted as a pause or pullback month in the crypto market, creating ideal opportunities for accumulation.
Ted sees this as a strategic moment for investors to position themselves ahead of a potential major surge in Q4 2025. However, the scenario could shift dramatically if Ethereum experiences a green September. Such strength would signal overwhelming momentum and potentially trigger a series of consecutive bullish moves in the months ahead, with the $10,000 target in sight.