Ripple has announced that South Korea’s Yonsei University is the latest to become a partner in its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) program. This new collaboration with the popular South Korean academic institution brings Ripple’s global UBRI partnerships to 58, with 12 of them located in the Asia Pacific region.
Yonsei University will engage in a multi-year effort to drive research in blockchain technology, focusing on areas like artificial intelligence, finance, information systems, and management.
According to the official press release, the grant will finance the setup of an XRP Ledger (XRPL) validator at Yonsei University. XRPL validators are essential for reviewing transaction proposals from a designated set of trusted validators, referred to as the

There has been a shift in the Ethereum market, as rising exchange reserves signal a potential new distribution phase coinciding with growing concerns over a death cross.
This is evidenced by CryptoQuant’s Ethereum Exchange Reserve metric, which tracks the amount of ETH held in exchange wallets.
Ethereum in Jeopardy
When the metric rises, it often suggests that traders are moving their ETH onto exchanges, preparing to sell, which can increase supply pressure and contribute to a downtrend. This was seen between June and August, when the metric consistently trended upwards, coinciding with a significant bearish shift in Ethereum’s price.
The situation has become more complex following the death cross, a technical pattern where the 100-day moving average drops below the

Alongside a lackluster market, there has been a significant decline in whale activity across most major crypto assets.
According to the latest analysis by Santiment, Bitcoin and Ethereum are seeing noticeable drops in $100k+ transactions.
Whale Activity Plummets
During the highly active period of March 13-19, Bitcoin saw 115.1k transactions valued at over $100k each, reflecting intense activity from large holders.
However, by 21-27 August, this number had nearly halved to just 60.2k transactions, indicating a significant slowdown. Ethereum mirrored this trend, with its whale transactions dropping from 115.1k to a mere 31.8k over the same period.
Similar trends are also seen across other top assets, such as XRP, Toncoin, and Cardano.
While this reduction in high-value

High centralization can lead to increased influence by a few entities, potentially undermining the decentralized ethos that crypto strives to uphold. However, centralization continues to be a major bone of contention in space.
As such, popular project tokens – Polygon (MATIC) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) – have emerged as the leading examples of high concentration of holdings among top wallets.
Centralization Concerns in MATIC and SHIB
According to the data shared by Santiment, Polygon’s top ten wallets collectively control an astonishing 69.4% of its total market capitalization, making it the most centralized among major altcoins. Similarly, Shiba Inu’s top ten wallets hold 61.2% of its market cap.
This significant concentration raises critical questions about the impact on

Bitcoin appears to be struggling to position itself above $60,000. The world’s largest crypto asset by market cap is yet to recover from the fall earlier this week. As a result, its weekly losses compared to the surge last Friday stand at about 10%.
However, its reserves on exchanges hitting new lows for the year paints a bullish picture.
Bitcoin’s Dwindling Exchange Reserves
As per CryptoQuant’s observation, bitcoin’s decrease in reserves suggests reduced selling pressure, which could pave the way for a bullish market if demand continues to rise. A significant factor contributing to this decline is the growing trend of self-custody, the report noted. This means that more investors are opting to store their BTC in cold wallets, ensuring greater control over their assets.

Polygon (MATIC) has been experiencing a decline in network activity since the broader crypto market retrace began in March.
However, recent data shared by the crypto analytic platform Santiment indicates a potential shift in this trend.
Bullish Reversal for Polygon (MATIC)?
Polygon’s native token, MATIC, has lost over 17% of its value in the past month alone as it traded mostly below $0.52. Subsequent declines dragged the asset to the press time price of $0.43, but this could be an opportunity for buyers to amass it at a low valuation.
In its latest post on X, Santiment observed there had been a notable rise in dormant token transactions on August 28th, coinciding with the second-largest number of Polygon addresses interacting with the network this year.
In fact, a total

The realized capitalization of Bitcoin long-term holders (LTH) surpassed $10 billion this week for the first time ever. This highlighted the growing confidence among investors who hold the asset for extended periods, typically more than 155 days.
The LTH metric is particularly crucial because it reflects the conviction of these holders in Bitcoin’s long-term potential, as they are less likely to sell during short-term market fluctuations.
$10 Billion Milestone
The latest surge in realized capitalization essentially signified a broader trend of increasing maturity in the Bitcoin market, where more capital is being held by those who believe in the asset’s enduring value, according to CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha’s analysis.
Another analyst, Alex Adler, weighed on the

The Tether network quietly achieved a 5-month high in new wallet creation, surpassing 31.3K addresses in a single day, and the highest since March 2024.
This surge has coincided with rising network growth in Multi Collateral Dai, indicating a broader trend across stablecoins.
According to Santiment’s analysis, 732 new DAI wallets were created, representing the fourth-highest figure since March 2024. Interestingly, the timing of these new wallets, emerging after a market recovery and without a significant decline in Bitcoin or Ethereum wallet activity, suggests that fresh capital might be entering the crypto market.
This could signal renewed trader confidence, with investors positioning themselves for potential future gains.
“Since these new wallets are being created after

Litecoin’s value has plummeted by 36% since peaking on April 1st. The crypto asset hasn’t been generating much buzz on social forums either, as per latest data.
Meanwhile, a certain cohort of small LTC holders have been quietly exiting the market. However, this has ignited interest in a potential bullish reversal shortly.
According to Santiment’s findings, there has been a sudden liquidation of 45.2k net wallets holding between 0.1-1 LTC which suggests that small traders are losing confidence and capitulating on Litecoin.
This exodus of small-scale holders, often dubbed “small fish,” could be a significant indicator of a potential bullish turnaround, as such behavior historically precedes price rebounds in established assets like Litecoin.
The crypto analytic platform

Digital asset investment products attracted $533 million in inflows last week, the biggest in over a month, following Jerome Powell’s hint at the Jackson Hole Symposium that an interest rate cut might occur in September.
While trading volumes were lower than in recent weeks, these products still totaled $9 billion for the past seven days.
According to CoinShares’ latest edition of Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report, Bitcoin dominated the market, drawing in $543 million in inflows. A major portion of this figure was found to have occurred on Friday after Powell’s dovish remarks, which essentially highlighted Bitcoin’s sensitivity to interest rate expectations.
Short-Bitcoin ETFs also saw $1.7 million in weekly inflows, as per the European digital asset investment firm’s

Stablecoins have reached an all-time high market cap of $169.57 billion following nearly a year of uninterrupted growth.
Leading assets such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC have seen a significant resurgence this year, in addition to a newcomer.
Stablecoin Market Cap Surge
Data compiled by DefiLlama revealed that this is the highest market cap for stablecoins, surpassing the previous peak of $167 billion established in March 2022, which later declined to $135 billion by year’s end.
Weighing on the latest milestone, crypto analyst Patrick Scott said that this new peak indicates a fresh influx of capital into the crypto market, suggesting renewed interest and confidence in the space.
“And just like that, we’re at a new all-time high. The total stablecoin market cap,

Binance announced that it has prevented over $2.4 billion in losses from potential scams and fraudulent activities that could have impacted more than 1.2 million users from January to July 2024 owing to its risk management measures.
According to the official press release shared with CryptoPotato, Binance employs an internal risk engine that provides 24/7 real-time monitoring using a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and manual reviews.
Binance’s Internal Risk Engine
This system enables the crypto exchange to accurately detect and address suspicious transactions promptly, protecting users across various sectors such as P2P trading, payments, and crypto network withdrawals. The risk engine integrates multiple layers of controls to manage and mitigate risk

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has contested Hex founder Richard Heart’s attempt to dismiss its $1 billion securities fraud lawsuit, asserting its jurisdiction over the case.
In its opposition brief, filed in a New York federal court on August 22 but dated July 8, the SEC contended that Heart’s motion to dismiss fails to address the well-supported allegations in the complaint and ignores relevant legal standards.
Heart had previously argued in his dismissal motion that the regulator lacks authority because he resided abroad and had no presence in the US during the relevant period.
SEC Alleges Misuse of Funds and Challenges Heart’s Defense
According to the official SEC document, from December 2019 to November 2020, Heart marketed Hex as a crypto asset security,

Former Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has been transferred from FCI Lompoc II to the RRM Long Beach halfway house in California, sparking confusion among X users who mistakenly believed he had been released.
Despite the change in his location, CZ remains incarcerated.
The RRM Long Beach facility, categorized as a ‘residential reentry management (RRM) field office,’ is designed to assist inmates nearing their release but does not equate to a full release. InmateAID – which is a Federal inmate communications provider – describes this facility as one with voluntary compliance requirements rather than a high-security environment, though strict house rules must be followed.
The misinterpretation of CZ’s transfer has been compounded by a previous mix-up about his release date.

The Dencun upgrade in March 2024 was a significant milestone for Ethereum, but it also brought about unforeseen challenges, particularly for Layer 2 networks.
Christine Kim, a researcher at Galaxy, highlighted that this upgrade inadvertently led to an increase in transaction failures across these networks.
Ethereum’s Layer 2 Networks Face Challenges
Kim’s August 21 analysis, titled “150 Days After Dencun,” revealed that since the fee-reducing upgrade, there has been a notable rise in failed transactions and bot activity on Layer 2 networks.
The report highlighted that after the activation of EIP-4844, Ethereum L2’s daily transactions more than doubled, growing by 6.65 million within 150 days. However, this increase in transaction activity has also been accompanied by a

Binance plans to hire 1,000 new employees this year, with a substantial focus on compliance roles. A large portion of these hires is specifically aimed at expanding the company’s compliance team from its current 500 members to 700 by the end of 2024.
CEO Richard Teng, who is currently in the US for discussions with monitors and officials, shared these hiring targets in an interview with Bloomberg News in New York on Wednesday.
Focus on Compliance
Bloomberg’s report revealed that Binance is estimated to allocate over $200 million this year solely for regulatory compliance, including expenditures related to the US plea agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other agencies.
The 55-year-old exec disclosed plans that Binance has seen a surge in requests from law

McDonald’s Instagram page was reportedly hacked on August 21, leading to a significant scam involving a Solana-based meme coin.
The perpetrators exploited the fast-food chain’s social media account to promote a fraudulent token named “Grimace,” referencing one of McDonald’s fictional characters featured in its advertisements.
Bubblemaps’ findings reveal that the hacker acquired 75% of the Grimace token’s total supply using the Solana meme coin deployer pump.fun. The attacker leveraged multiple addresses to purchase the token simultaneously and then distributed the accumulated supply across approximately 100 different wallets.
The hackers reportedly siphoned over $700,000 in Solana during the scheme. Screenshots from X revealed that the McDonald’s Instagram page was altered

Terraform Labs (TFL) – the bankrupt cryptocurrency firm co-founded by Do Kwon – is set to face a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization hearing on September 19.
The hearing will be crucial in shaping the company’s future as it navigates the aftermath of the Terra ecosystem’s dramatic collapse in 2022, which triggered extensive legal and financial challenges.
Fallout from TerraUSD and LUNA Collapse
The court’s ruling will essentially decide if Terraform Labs can successfully restructure and potentially recover from bankruptcy or if it will be compelled to liquidate its assets and shut down operations permanently.
Terraform Labs is the company behind the Terra blockchain, which is known for its ill-fated algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA. On May 9, 2022, UST began

The TON blockchain recorded yet another milestone as the number of active addresses on the project’s Masterchain has surged to an all-time high of 946 daily.
According to CryptoQuant’s latest analysis, this marks a more than sevenfold increase since July 2021, highlighting the growing popularity and adoption of the network.
New Milestone for TON
While 946 active addresses might initially seem modest, it’s crucial to understand that the TON architecture is designed with multiple “workchains” that handle the bulk of data, leaving the Masterchain primarily responsible for message routing and transaction coordination.
This increase in active addresses has several implications, as per the analyst’s findings. Firstly, their growth indicates a surge in network activity, with more

TeraWulf’s second-quarter earnings report, released earlier in August, demonstrated mixed performance.
While the company produced less BTC than in the same period in 2023, its revenue increased modestly compared to the estimated figures.
TeraWulf’s Q2 Results
The report revealed that TeraWulf mined 699 BTC across its Lake Mariner and Nautilus Cryptomine facilities, a 21% decrease from the same period last year.
The firm’s revenue for the quarter, on the other hand, was $35.6 million, marginally exceeding the estimated $35.4 million. Despite this, TeraWulf posted a loss of $0.03 per share, worse than the estimated $0.02 loss per share.
It also witnessed a dramatic 243% rise in the cost of mining Bitcoin, with expenses climbing from $6,688 per Bitcoin in Q2 2023 to $22,954

Police are actively searching for four Chinese nationals believed to have broken into a luxury home in Pathum Thani, one of the central provinces of Thailand, and forced the resident to transfer $2 million (70 million baht) in crypto assets.
The break-in took place around 2 AM on Wednesday in Tambon Ban Mai in the Muang district.
Crypto Heist
According to police reports, six residents, including three men and three women, occupied the house at the time of the incident. Ke Jibao, a 35-year-old Chinese businessman, reported that he and his wife were asleep when the four masked suspects, armed with guns and knives, entered the property.
The intruders reportedly restrained Ke, his wife, and a maid, tying their hands and feet. They then coerced him into contacting a relative in

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has determined that the cryptocurrency trading platform ezBtc and its founder, David Smillie, defrauded investors of approximately $9.5 million, equivalent to 13 million Canadian dollars, in crypto assets.
The BCSC’s investigation uncovered that ezBtc and Smillie engaged in misleading and deceptive practices, misappropriating funds intended for customer accounts.
Crypto Funds Diverted for Gambling
According to the official press release shared by the Canadian regulatory agency, ezBtc began accepting customer deposits in December 2016 and ceased operations permanently around September 2019. During this period, customers deposited over 2,300 BTC and more than 600 ETH into their ezBtc accounts.
Despite claims that all crypto

Texas-based Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific has announced the pricing of its increased offering of $400 million in 3.00% convertible senior notes due in 2029. The initial size of the offering was $350 million, which has been upsized due to favorable market conditions.
Scheduled to settle on August 19, 2024, the notes will be issued privately to qualified institutional buyers. The initial buyers will be granted an option to acquire an additional $60 million in notes.
Core Scientific Launches $400M Senior Notes Offering
According to the official press release, these unsecured notes, accruing interest semi-annually, will mature on September 1, 2029, unless previously converted, redeemed, or repurchased.
“Core Scientific will settle conversions by paying or delivering,

As the market navigates the largest downturn of this cycle, investor sentiment in the digital asset market remains uncertain.
Beneath the surface, however, Glassnode has found that there are clear signs of a resurgence in HODLing and accumulation.
Signs of Accumulation
Glassnode’s analysis of the on-chain investor response to these volatile market conditions indicates a growing inclination towards HODLing. Since bitcoin’s price reached an all-time high in March, the market experienced a prolonged phase of supply distribution involving wallets of varying sizes.
Over the past few weeks, however, this trend has started to reverse, notably among the largest wallets, often linked to ETFs. This cohort of investors seems to be transitioning back to a phase of accumulation.
BTC

Coinbase submitted its third comment letter highlighting significant flaws in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) cost-benefit analysis of the proposed rule. The letter argued that the agency has failed to assess the rule’s economic impact on efficiency, competition, and capital formation.
Despite acknowledging a lack of critical information on decentralized exchange (DEX) operations and compliance costs, Coinbase said the SEC has proposed vague benefits that may not materialize, especially if DEXs are driven out of the US market.
SEC Rulemaking Under Fire
The author of the letter and Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, stated that the SEC should withdraw the proposal and redo it after conducting thorough research.
The crypto exchange’s letter also

Ethereum has seen the greatest advantage from the recent market downturn as investors appeared to have viewed the price weakness as a buying opportunity.
In fact, data suggests that Ethereum has managed to attract $155 million in inflows over the past week. According to CoinShares, the latest round of inflows boosted its year-to-date total inflows to $862 million, the highest since 2021, primarily fueled by the recent introduction of US spot-based ETFs.
Inflows Rebound
Besides Ethereum, the positive sentiment is evident for other crypto assets as well. Bitcoin, for one, saw a significant increase in inflows toward the end despite initial outflows at the start of the week, bringing the weekly total to $13 million.
On the other hand, short Bitcoin ETPs recorded their largest

Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings has announced plans for a $250 million offering of convertible senior notes due in 2031. The latest private offering is targeted at “qualified institutional buyers.”
The firm aims to use the proceeds for the acquisition of Bitcoin as well as corporate growth.
The company also has the option to increase the offering by an additional $37.5 million, depending on market conditions. These notes, which will be unsecured and senior obligations of the company, are set to mature in 2031 with interest payments starting in 2025.
Expanding Bitcoin Holdings
According to the official press release, Marathon intends to use the proceeds from this offering to acquire additional Bitcoin and for other corporate purposes, such as strategic

Toronto-based Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms reported a total revenue of $42 million, marking a 16% decline quarter-over-quarter.
This decrease is attributed to the reduction in block rewards resulting from the BTC halving event on April 19, 2024.
Q2 Financial Result
Bitfarms reported a net loss of $27 million, or $0.07 per share, which includes a $1 million non-cash expense for revaluing warrant liabilities from financing activities in 2021 and 2023. This compares to a net loss of $6 million, or $0.02 per share, in Q1 2024, which included a $9 million non-cash gain from revaluing warrant liabilities.
According to the official press release, the company generated 614 BTC in the second quarter of 2024 with an average direct production cost of $30,600 per BTC, up from

Binance’s venture capital and incubation arm – Binance Labs – announced investing in the Solana-based restaking network, Solayer.
Solayer plans to deploy the new capital infusion from Binance Labs to grow its team, onboard additional protocols into its ecosystem, and solidify its role as a crucial part of the Solana blockchain.
According to the official press release, the team will also prioritize researching ways to mitigate Solana’s network congestion through the use of restaking infrastructure.
Solayer is preparing to launch a full system soon, which will enable stakers to use SOL to secure Solana, while dApps will be able to secure network bandwidth and transaction throughput. Additionally, the platform will target general asset restaking to secure external AVS

Binance has announced that its security team has successfully recovered or frozen more than $73 million in user funds from external hacks as of July 31 this year.
This latest figure exceeds the roughly $55 million recovered in all of 2023.
Binance’s 2024 Security Efforts
As per the official press release shared with CryptoPotato, Binance asserted working closely with the public sector to ensure affected users receive the necessary assistance.  About 80% of these recoveries and freezes are linked to external hacks, exploits, and thefts, while the remaining 20% involve scams that occur outside the Binance platform.
Jimmy Su, Chief Security Officer at Binance, said,
“Binance has cultivated a crypto user-focused culture that defines every aspect of our operations. This