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If the CLARITY Act under discussion in the U.S. Senate does not sufficiently limit stablecoin rewards, deposits could flow out of regional banks and reduce their lending capacity, Nate Franzen, head of agricultural finance at First Dakota National Bank, argued in a CoinDesk opinion piece. Citing an estimate from the American Bankers Association, Franzen said as much as $4.7 billion of roughly $47 billion in deposits at South Dakota regional banks could shift into stablecoins, cutting lending capacity by up to $3.7 billion. Franzen added exchanges or wallet providers offering rewards akin to interest could allow stablecoins to replace bank deposits and weaken local lending, and called for tighter regulation.

U.S. initial jobless claims totaled 203,000 last week, below market expectations of 208,000. Weekly jobless claims are one indicator the Federal Reserve uses to gauge labor market conditions when setting interest rates. A reading above forecasts can signal rising layoffs and a cooling labor market, potentially supporting the case for a rate cut, while a reading below estimates can point to labor market resilience and give the Fed room to keep rates unchanged or raise them while focusing on curbing inflation.

JAN3 CEO Samson Mow argued the term "Bitcoin Signing Device" should be used instead of "Bitcoin hardware wallet." Mow said Bitcoin is not stored inside a device but exists on the blockchain, while the device uses keys generated from a seed to sign transactions. He said the device should not be framed as a long-term storage tool and described securely backing up the seed as the more important issue. He added that while some have pointed out sales fell when Trezor and others tried a similar name change in 2016, the industry and users now have a better understanding and the idea should be tried again. Mow also said devices differ in how they generate and store keys, but their common function is signing.

Core Lightning developers have identified multiple serious vulnerabilities in Bitcoin Lightning Network payment software after reviewing a large batch of AI-generated security reports, CoinDesk reported. The team strongly urged node operators who cannot apply updates immediately to restart in --offline mode, which blocks routing connections, rather than shutting nodes down entirely. Specific details on the vulnerabilities and their potential impact will remain undisclosed for two weeks to prevent attackers from reverse-engineering the patched code and exploiting the flaws. CoinDesk reported a signed patch release is expected once developer verification is complete, and users should update promptly.

Lido said it will revise the fee structure for its EarnETH vault from a 1% assets-under-management fee and a 10% performance fee to a model that charges up to 0.5% of AUM and a 20% performance fee. Under the revised structure, the initial fees will be set at 0.2% of AUM and a 15% performance fee. The change means the fixed management fee paid during periods of weaker returns will decline, while the share of fees tied to actual performance will increase. The fees currently in effect are displayed on the EarnETH vault page.

CoinGecko analyzed 245 security incidents at crypto platforms between January 2025 and July 2026 and found that $3.63 billion was stolen. More than 72.5% of total losses came from the 10 largest attacks, while losses tied to infrastructure and supply-chain vulnerabilities alone exceeded $1.8 billion. Among centralized exchanges, private key compromise was the most common vulnerability, according to the analysis. In dApps, smart contract attacks led to $546 million in losses. Losses also stemmed from oracle and market manipulation or internal mechanism failures, with Bitget, Binance, and Hyperliquid cited as examples. CoinGecko said 147 of the total incidents occurred at platforms that had undergone external security audits in advance, accounting for 88.44% of the total amount stolen. However, many of the attacks on audited platforms occurred in areas beyond the usual scope of audits, including external infrastructure and code added after the audit. Incidents caused by smart contract flaws that were within audit scope accounted for about 11%, with related losses totaling $396 million.

DeFi lending protocol Moonwell said it is investigating an issue in the Base-based MAMO Core market and has cut borrowing caps across all Core markets on Base to one wei to halt new lending and prevent further damage. Moonwell also lowered the supply caps for MAMO and WELL to one wei, while leaving supply caps for other assets unchanged. The move follows an earlier attack that caused about $6 million in losses through suspected MAMO price manipulation.

Ripple Prime, Ripple’s institutional brokerage unit, has officially launched its Delta One business, marking the company’s entry into stock trading, Bloomberg reported. The offering will allow institutional investors to execute total return swaps tied to U.S. stocks, major indices and digital assets, with Ripple aiming to provide a unified trading channel spanning equities, indices and digital assets.

Polymarket’s U.S. unit has filed a self-certification with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the listing of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana price event contracts, CoinGape reported. Through QCEX, the operator of Polymarket US that it acquired, the company self-certified a new set of rules for crypto price event contracts under federal regulations. Unless a separate stay is imposed, U.S. users could begin trading as early as Aug. 28, according to the report.

A call spread is drawing attention as a way to position for further Bitcoin gains while limiting losses with BTC at $80,000, CoinDesk reported. The strategy involves buying a call option with a lower strike price and selling one with a higher strike price, capping both maximum losses and potential profits. Deribit CCO Jean-David Pekelny said call spreads look attractive for September bullish bets ahead of variables including Fed policy and inflation data. 10x Research founder Markus Thielen suggested buying BTC while selling a $90,000 September call option, and as an alternative proposed a call spread that buys an $85,000 September call and sells a $95,000 September call. Still, BTC has shown seasonal weakness in September, posting an average return of -3% for the month since 2013.

PenguinSwap, a DeFi platform built on the Creditcoin mainnet, has officially launched its new token distribution service, PenguinSwap Launchpad, Creditcoin said on Aug. 27. The first project on the platform, the MINI token sale, sold out and had raised about $1.22 million by the end of the sale. Following MINI, PenguinSwap is preparing token sales for additional projects including Dungeoncoin and Attestcoin, as it moves to expand liquidity supply across the Creditcoin ecosystem.

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said the peak of the current Bitcoin bull cycle may depend largely on institutional capital inflows from outside the United States and wider adoption of spot ETFs. Ju said the United States has so far led institutional adoption of Bitcoin, while institutional investment and spot ETF investment are likely to expand more fully in other countries going forward. Ju added that South Korea still has no spot Bitcoin ETF, retail investors cannot buy overseas ETFs, and companies have difficulty even opening exchange accounts. If those restrictions are lifted and infrastructure tied to stablecoin liquidity and real-world assets grows, more institutions are likely to hold BTC, Ju said. Ju added that this cycle’s top may come when a South Korean regional bank employee recommends a spot Bitcoin ETF to a grandmother as a savings product.

Bitcoin could face strong selling pressure in the $80,000-$82,000 range, according to a CoinDesk analysis. Citing Glassnode, CoinDesk said about 8% of total BTC supply last moved in that price band, with roughly 5% concentrated at $80,000 alone. Investors who bought BTC in that range may sell once the price returns to break-even, which could cap further gains. The average cost basis for investors in U.S. spot BTC ETFs is also around $80,000-$82,000, CoinDesk said.

BlackRock’s cryptocurrency portfolio grew by more than $15 billion in August as Bitcoin and Ethereum climbed, Finbold reported, citing blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence. The portfolio’s value rose 28.3%, or $15.11 billion, to $68.48 billion as of today from $53.36 billion on Aug. 1. The value of IBIT holdings increased to $60.35 billion from $47.69 billion, while ETHA holdings rose to $8.12 billion from $5.67 billion.

Unstoppable Domains has withdrawn its planned $2 million ICANN application to register 14 domain extensions, including .crypto and .bitcoin, under the standard Domain Name System, CoinDesk reported. The move was driven mainly by review fees of $227,000 per application and weaker demand in the Web3 market. The withdrawn domains will remain usable only on-chain for functions such as transferring crypto wallet addresses, according to the report. They will not support direct access through the address bars of standard web browsers such as Chrome and Safari via DNS.

First-generation blockchain project Lisk, which launched in 2016 with the goal of building a JavaScript-based dApp ecosystem, will stop operating its chain on Oct. 31 after 10 years and shift its business toward enterprise treasury management and payment solutions, Crypto Briefing reported. Any LSK tokens left on the Lisk chain after that date will become permanently inaccessible. Users holding or staking LSK on the existing chain need to bridge their assets to Ethereum through Superbridge or Lisk Bridge. The foundation will burn 100 million LSK, equal to 25% of total supply, reducing the maximum supply to 300 million from 400 million. The token will also be reclassified as a loyalty token providing usage rewards and benefits within the enterprise platform.

South Korean exchange Upbit announced it will temporarily suspend MON deposits and withdrawals starting at 11:00 a.m. UTC on Sept. 2 due to Monad's hard fork.

Solana validators are voting on governance proposals SGP-0002 and SGP-0003 to slow the pace of new SOL issuance and increase the amount of transaction fees burned, BeInCrypto reported, citing analysis from 21Shares. 21Shares estimated the two proposals, if implemented, would reduce SOL issuance by about $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion over the next six years. Under SGP-0002, the annual pace of inflation reduction would double, while SGP-0003 would burn part of transaction fees. If both are adopted, staking yields could also fall to about half their current level within two years.

South Korean exchange Upbit announced on its website it will suspend deposits and withdrawals involving crypto exchange HTX, which has been designated under European Union sanctions, starting today. Upbit said it will also restrict the registration of withdrawal addresses related to HTX to prevent money laundering risks tied to criminal fund inflows and outflows and to protect customer assets. HTX had already been included on a UK sanctions list in May, and measures including withdrawal restrictions were applied at the time.

Securities token platform Bitfinex Securities has raised $50 million through metal producer Alkemya’s nickel-based security token, ALKN, Cointelegraph reported. It marks Bitfinex’s largest fundraising to date. ALKN represents equity in Luxembourg-based Alkemya Metacore, which holds high-purity nickel wire valued at about $1.64 billion.

Binance’s spot trading volume is currently running at about 10% of perpetual futures volume, indicating trading remains heavily concentrated in derivatives, Alphractal founder Joao Wedson said in a CryptoQuant contribution. Wedson said about $10 in perpetual futures is traded for every $1 in spot volume. He added the ratio has stayed mostly low this year, and spot trading did not rise as much as perpetual futures even during periods when Bitcoin (BTC) showed strength. A higher share of spot trading could signal stronger demand for outright asset purchases, while a derivatives-heavy market is more influenced by leverage and positioning. He said the current setup should not in itself be seen as a bearish signal, and whether spot trading’s share increases could become a key sign of changing market demand.

South Korean exchange Bithumb announced it will temporarily suspend withdrawals of ThunderCore (TT) at 4:00 a.m. UTC on Aug. 28 to support the token’s network transition.

Spot CVD is an order-book analysis chart for the BTC/USDT spot trading pair. The upper panel shows the volume heatmap, while the lower panel represents cumulative volume delta, or CVD. - The volume heatmap tracks trading volume at each price level. The background color becomes brighter when the price stays in a specific range for an extended period or makes a large move. Brighter zones may act as support or resistance. - The CVD indicator in the lower panel reflects buy and sell orders by order size, and the line for each color rises as buy orders increase. The yellow line represents orders between $100 and $1,000, while the brown line is based on large orders between $1 million and $10 million, among others.

An attacker is estimated to have artificially inflated the price of MAMO on DeFi lending protocol Moonwell and then used it as collateral to borrow about $10 million in assets, according to CJ_Blockchain on X. CJ_Blockchain said the attacker bought about $7 million worth of MAMO to drive up its price, deposited it on Moonwell as collateral, and borrowed cbBTC, USDC, WETH and wstETH. The attacker then sold the remaining MAMO for about $3.2 million, taking an estimated $3.8 million loss on the MAMO trades themselves, but is estimated to have extracted about $6 million overall when the borrowed assets are included.

Social media mentions of ZEC surged ahead of Grayscale’s spot ETF launch and then quickly fell back, according to on-chain analytics platform Santiment. ZEC rose about 65% from around $509 on Aug. 18 to about $852 on Aug. 23. Social media mentions climbed to 232 on Aug. 22, roughly six times the August average, but dropped back to typical levels on Aug. 25, when ETF trading began.