BSC News

Pi Network's $PI token received a short-term price boost this week after Fabric Foundation (@FabricFND) announced that @PiCoreTeam had joined RoboPay as a payment partner. The news landed on August 4 and quickly generated enthusiasm across the Pi community.
What Is RoboPay?
RoboPay is an on-chain system built by the non-profit Fabric Foundation to let AI agents discover, hire, and pay robots autonomously. The Pi partnership extends that payment rail to tens of millions of existing PI holders.
The partnership announcement described a fundamental shift in how humans interact with robotics, where users will be able to purchase outcomes rather than own robots, with physical intelligence becoming an on-demand service that is discoverable, programmable, and instantly payable through a shared economic network.
Practical use cases, once live, include requesting delivery robots for groceries, dispatching security robots to patrol properties, scheduling industrial inspection robots, and interacting with humanoid assistants in retail and hospitality.
Price Reaction and Broader Context
The $PI token rose roughly 4% in the immediate aftermath of the announcement, with the asset up nearly 10% over the past week. However, the token remains down approximately 22% over the past 30 days, a reminder that broader headwinds are still in play.
August alone is set to see approximately 127.96 million PI tokens unlock, with larger monthly unlocks scheduled through November, increasing the amount of available tokens in circulation. That persistent supply pressure has weighed on price throughout 2026.
The RoboPay partnership is not the only near-term catalyst in focus. The Pi Core Team has started deploying Protocol 26 across the Pi Mainnet, with node operators given until August 11 to update their software or risk losing their Mainnet connection. Anticipation around Protocol 27, described as the final upgrade, has also been cited as a driver behind PI's recent weekly gain.
For now, the RoboPay integration offers $PI a concrete real-world utility angle, though whether it translates into sustained price support will depend on actual adoption and the network's ability to absorb ongoing token unlocks.
Sources:
Coinpedia: Pi Network Joins RoboPay as Payment Partner
CryptoPotato: Pi Network News and PI Token Update, August 5
Coin Edition: Can Protocol 26 and RoboPay Push PI Above $0.10?

Lummis Confident on Senate Floor Vote
Senator @SenLummis has expressed confidence that the Senate will hold a floor vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before the August legislative recess, potentially bringing to a close 11 months of high-stakes bipartisan negotiations over a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets.
Negotiations on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, better known as the CLARITY Act, are set to conclude as the Senate pushes to hold a floor vote before the August 2026 recess. If the bill fails to move forward before lawmakers leave town, there is little room in the calendar for another push before the midterms, which could shift control of Congress and send the legislation back to the starting line.
The bill passed the House in July 2025 with a 294-134 bipartisan vote, and the Senate Banking Committee approved it by a 15-9 vote on May 14, 2026. The CLARITY Act needs 60 Senate votes to clear the upper chamber, requiring at least seven Democratic votes to reach that threshold.
300-Page Revision and What It Covers
The current revision of the bill runs to roughly 300 pages and incorporates extensive Democratic amendments designed to harden consumer protections and strengthen federal anti-money laundering standards as they apply to the broader digital asset market, including the $300 billion-plus stablecoin sector.
A 309-page bill text released in May contains a compromise prohibiting interest or yield on idle stablecoin balances while permitting activity-based rewards, and adds new provisions including a DeFi trading protocol framework, an insolvency safe harbor for digital commodity transactions, and strengthened illicit finance measures.
Bipartisan negotiations are coming down to the wire, with Republicans and crypto-friendly Democrats yet to reach final agreement on key sticking points such as ethics rules for government officials and illicit finance provisions.
By contrast with the GENIUS Act, which focused narrowly on stablecoins, the Clarity Act would cover a much broader swath of the industry, including $BTC and $ETH. Securing jurisdictional finality on those assets is widely seen as a prerequisite for deeper institutional integration of digital assets into mainstream financial markets.
Sources:
Clarity Act negotiations reach critical point as Senate races toward August recess (Crypto Briefing)
Crypto bill faces make-or-break moment ahead of August recess (The Hill)
US Crypto Policy Tracker: Legislative Developments (Latham & Watkins)

@OndoFinance has officially integrated tokenized gold and silver as collateral on its perpetual futures platform, @OndoPerps, opening a new use case for precious-metal real-world assets (RWAs) in on-chain derivatives trading.
Putting Idle Metal to Work
The update lets traders post tokenized gold and silver holdings directly as margin to back leveraged positions. Previously, accessing high-leverage exposure typically meant selling those holdings outright or parking capital in stablecoins. By using tokenized asset holdings directly as collateral for perpetual futures positions, traders no longer need to maintain separate capital reserves across multiple platforms. The move extends a collateral model that @OndoPerps originally built around tokenized equities and stablecoins to cover precious metals.
Ondo Perps launched in July 2026 as the first perpetual futures platform for equities and commodities to support tokenized holdings and stablecoins as collateral, combining 24/7 trading with up to 20x leverage and liquidity the firm says is comparable to conventional futures and options markets. The platform claims the fastest execution speed of any permissionless perps exchange, with order routing, margin updates, and liquidations processed in real time while maintaining decentralization guarantees.
Rapid Volume Growth
The gold and silver collateral update arrives as @OndoPerps continues to scale quickly. The platform has now surpassed $6.5 billion in cumulative trading volume. According to data from DeFiLlama, Ondo Perps generated more than $320 million in trading volume over a single 24-hour period, with seven-day volume reaching $1.497 billion. The milestone came less than one month after Ondo Perps went live on July 7, making it one of the fastest-growing platforms focused on real-world asset perpetual futures.
By late July, it ranked fourth among all perpetual decentralized exchanges by tokenized equity volume, ahead of Lighter and AsterDEX. The integration of gold and silver as productive collateral is designed to deepen that momentum by giving commodity RWA holders a reason to stay active on the platform rather than sitting on static positions.
The platform offers up to 20x leverage depending on the supported market and trading conditions, with all contracts available for permissionless trading 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, without expiry dates.
Sources:
Ondo Perps Launch Press Release, PR Newswire
Ondo Perps Breaks Past $300M in 24-Hour Volume, TheStreet Crypto
Introducing Ondo Perps, Ondo Finance Official Blog

Senate Faces Last Chance on Crypto Market Structure
The U.S. Senate is entering a critical 48-hour window to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before lawmakers depart for summer recess. For the crypto industry, this is the final realistic shot at landmark legislation in the 2026 session.
Three weeks before the Senate's August 10 recess deadline, the Clarity Act sat on the calendar with no floor vote scheduled. The bill had already cleared the House, survived a contentious committee markup, and picked up a fresh Republican draft on July 22, but had yet to reach the Senate floor.
The legislation's path through Congress has been long. The House passed the Clarity Act 294-134 on July 17, 2025. On the Senate side, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act passed out of the Banking Committee by a 15 to 9 bipartisan vote in May 2026. On June 1, 2026, the bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders, making it formally eligible for full Senate floor consideration.
What the Bill Would Do, and What Is Blocking It
The stakes for the industry are significant. If enacted, the bill would divide jurisdiction over certain digital assets between the CFTC and the SEC, with the CFTC receiving exclusive jurisdiction over spot markets in digital commodities. It classifies tokens as securities (SEC-regulated), digital commodities (CFTC-regulated), or stablecoins (jointly regulated).
The latest Republican draft also includes ethics provisions. It would bar the president, vice president, members of Congress, federal judges, senior officials, and their spouses from issuing or sponsoring a digital asset in exchange for consideration while in office. However, the prohibition sunsets on January 20, 2029, and is not retroactive. Democrats who wanted divestment or permanent rules have not signed off, and whether a temporary, forward-only ban can secure enough votes remains the open question.
The consequences of failure are far-reaching. Senator Cynthia Lummis has warned that failure to pass the bill before the November 2026 midterms would mean waiting until at least 2030, as a new Congress would need to restart the legislative process. Any Senate floor vote effectively needs to happen before August 2026, when campaigning begins in earnest and the Senate's calendar closes for controversial votes.
While Congress deliberates, regulators have not stood still. On March 17, 2026, the SEC and CFTC issued a landmark joint interpretation establishing the agencies' first formal classification framework for crypto assets under federal securities and commodities law. That guidance, however, falls short of the statutory certainty that only an act of Congress can provide.
Sources:
CNBC: Senate crypto bill would ban federal officials from issuing digital assets
ABA Banking Journal: Senate Banking Committee advances Clarity Act
Skadden: CLARITY Act potential U.S. tax implications for digital asset market participants

MoonPay and TRON DAO Partner to Remove Gas Fee Friction
@MoonPay and @TRONDAO have officially launched a strategic partnership aimed at eliminating one of the most persistent friction points in retail crypto: the requirement to hold a native token just to pay network fees. Under the arrangement, users can now complete transactions on the TRON network without holding $TRX to pay network fees, using MoonPay's Trade infrastructure to abstract those costs away entirely.
Traditionally, users transacting on TRON were required to maintain a balance of $TRX, the network's native utility token, to cover network fees even when sending or swapping stablecoins. Through MoonPay's Trade infrastructure, gas fees are abstracted and incorporated into the overall transaction, allowing users to transact with just the assets they already hold.
The integration simplifies onboarding for both new and existing users by removing one of the most common points of friction in on-chain transactions. The practical impact is significant: anyone holding $USDT on the TRON blockchain can now send funds without first acquiring $TRX as a prerequisite step.
Trust Wallet Goes First as Scale of Opportunity Comes Into Focus
Trust Wallet is the first launch partner to support the integration, making gasless transfers immediately accessible within its interface. The partnership arrives at a moment when TRON's stablecoin dominance underscores the scale of the opportunity. TRON has hosted the largest circulating supply of USD Tether (USDT), which currently exceeds $90 billion. The network itself has also reached meaningful adoption milestones: as of August 2026, the TRON blockchain has recorded over 396 million total user accounts, more than 15 billion total transactions, and over $26 billion in total value locked.
The gasless functionality builds on a deepening relationship between the two firms. TRON DAO and MoonPay first announced a strategic partnership focused on enabling TRX purchases for U.S. users, marking the first phase of a broader collaboration aimed at improving on-ramps to decentralised finance. A subsequent phase saw MoonPay launch a TRON wallet, giving users a seamless way to buy, sell, send, and store digital assets on the TRON network, including $TRX and $USDT, without leaving the MoonPay app.
The latest announcement takes that progression further, shifting the focus from access to usability. For the millions of retail participants who use $USDT on TRON primarily as a payment or transfer tool, the removal of the $TRX gas requirement represents a material reduction in complexity and cost.
Sources
MoonPay Brings Gasless Transactions to TRON, Simplifying Stablecoin Payments (OpenPR / Press Release)
MoonPay Brings Gasless Transactions to TRON (Manila Times / GlobeNewswire)
TRON DAO Taps MoonPay to Expand Access to Decentralised Finance (Fintech Global)

Mastercard Deepens Stablecoin Push with Borderless.xyz Pilot
@Mastercard has initiated a strategic pilot with stablecoin liquidity network Borderless.xyz, integrating its Crypto Credential framework directly into global stablecoin payment flows. The move marks another step in the payments giant's effort to become a central compliance and settlement layer for digital dollar transactions.
Mastercard Crypto Credential functions as a compliance and identity layer for blockchain transactions, providing standardized assurance signals to verify participants on-chain. In the new pilot, firms including Infinia and Walapay will use those signals to automate compliance and risk workflows across a network of 15 licensed providers in 100 countries.
The collaboration with Borderless.xyz has been building since the company joined Mastercard's Start Path blockchain and digital assets accelerator in September 2025, with its progression to launch partner in six months marking a deepening relationship as Mastercard builds products at the intersection of stablecoins and global payments.
A Broader Compliance-First Infrastructure Play
Borderless.xyz's stablecoin orchestration network connects wallet platforms to locally licensed providers who handle compliance and settlement in each market. Within the Crypto Partner Program, the firm is collaborating with Mastercard on ways to connect its global network of stablecoin providers to Mastercard's payments infrastructure, which reaches consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.
Mastercard's Crypto Partner Program brings together more than 85 companies, including Binance, Circle, PayPal, Ripple, Fireblocks, Solana, and Polygon, to collaborate on cross-border transfers, B2B payments, and global payouts using on-chain infrastructure. The Borderless.xyz pilot slots into that wider push by applying Crypto Credential's verification layer to live stablecoin payment corridors rather than keeping it confined to card-based flows.
Regulators and incumbents like Mastercard are emphasizing bank-grade controls such as AML, sanctions screening, and fraud monitoring, giving established financial players an edge over crypto-native firms, as the competitive battle in stablecoins shifts from decentralization and growth to trusted infrastructure and regulatory compliance.
Through solutions like the Mastercard Multi-Token Network and Mastercard Crypto Credential, the company says it is building the compliance-first network that stablecoins need to scale safely.
Sources
Mastercard Taps Borderless.xyz for Crypto Partner Program, PR Newswire
Mastercard Stablecoin Utility and Scale, Mastercard Global
Mastercard Snags Crypto License as Stablecoin Race Becomes Compliance War, PYMNTS

A New Infrastructure Layer for Digital Securities in Hong Kong
@Chainlink, FORMS HK, @ApexGroup, and CSpro have officially launched the Tokenized Securities Framework (TSF) inside Hong Kong's Blockchain Valley Cyberport ecosystem. The initiative establishes a standardized digital infrastructure covering the full lifecycle of Tokenized Securities Offerings (TSOs), from regulated issuance and distribution through to final settlement.
The move adds to a growing cluster of institutional-grade tokenization projects taking shape within Hong Kong's Cyberport program. The Cyberport Blockchain and Digital Asset Pilot Subsidy Scheme is a government-backed effort to encourage Web3 experimentation, providing funding and a regulatory sandbox for projects intended to serve as templates for broader adoption.
ERC-3643 Puts Compliance at the Token Level
Central to the TSF is its adoption of the ERC-3643 token standard. ERC-3643 is designed to bring regulatory compliance and control to blockchain-based securities, ensuring that only eligible investors can hold and transfer tokens. Rather than applying compliance rules as an external layer, the standard embeds identity verification, transfer restrictions, and compliance logic directly into the token itself, making it well suited to regulated assets like securities and private funds.
The standard was formally accepted as an Ethereum Improvement Proposal in 2023, making it the only officially ratified Ethereum standard specifically designed for security tokens. Its institutional reach has since expanded significantly. Governance of the standard now sits with the ERC-3643 Association, a non-profit body whose members include institutions such as DTCC, Apex Group, and Invesco. The standard's momentum has also drawn regulatory attention in the United States: in July 2025, representatives from Chainlink Labs and the ERC-3643 Association met in person with the SEC Crypto Task Force in Washington, D.C. to discuss its role in enabling compliant tokenization of securities.
For Hong Kong, the TSF represents a practical application of these compliance mechanisms within the city's existing legal framework. By embedding permissioned participation directly at the asset layer, the framework aims to give issuers, distributors, and investors a regulated path to participate in digital securities markets without stepping outside current regional requirements.
The collaboration between @Chainlink, FORMS HK, @ApexGroup, and CSpro reflects a broader pattern of established financial services firms teaming with blockchain infrastructure providers to move tokenization from pilot stage into production-ready systems.
Sources:
CryptoSlate: Chainlink and partners automate tokenized funds in Hong Kong
Chainalysis: Introduction to ERC-3643 Tokens
ERC-3643 Association: Standard presented to SEC Crypto Task Force

Binance Files $472.8 Million Suit in Hong Kong
Binance affiliates are suing the founders of Hong Kong-based crypto payments firm @RedotPay for allegedly diverting hundreds of thousands of customers to a competing product in a "fraudulent scheme," claiming nearly half a billion dollars in losses.
The Binance Holdings-affiliated entities Nest Trading Ltd., Distributed Technologies Ltd. and Chaintecs Consulting Singapore Pte filed a petition in Hong Kong alleging that RedotPay co-founders Gao Zhangpeng, Chan Wa Choi and Yao Chao violated the terms of an agreement signed last year, according to a court document obtained by Bloomberg News.
Under the original March 2025 agreement, RedotPay was granted access to @Binance's user base, and Binance customers could use RedotPay only for crypto-to-fiat conversion, in-app transfers, or the purchase of RedotPay-branded goods.
How the Alleged Diversion Worked
The dispute centres on RedotPay's alleged failure to segregate Binance Pay funds, allowing them to be used for prohibited activities like card top-ups, contrary to their agreement. According to the filing, Binance discovered in March 2026 that the RedotPay group had been allowing and encouraging Binance Pay funds to be used without segregation for card top-ups on the RedotPay Card. The exchange puts the number of migrated users at more than 470,000 and, valuing each at $925 in lifetime revenue, is asking the court for $472.8 million.
Binance also alleges the arrangement funnelled roughly $304 million in user funds from Binance Pay into RedotPay's ecosystem.
The legal action comes months after Binance severed ties with the company, terminating all Binance Pay functionalities on RedotPay effective April 3, 2026. RedotPay has denied the allegations.
RedotPay had positioned itself as a significant player in the stablecoin payments space ahead of the dispute. The company says it now serves more than 6 million users globally, processes over $10 billion in annualized payment volume, and generates more than $150 million in annualized revenue. Founded in 2023, RedotPay offers stablecoin-based cards, wallets, and payout services aimed at cutting the cost and settlement time of cross-border payments, particularly in emerging markets.
Sources:
Bloomberg: Binance Claims RedotPay Diverted Users in $470 Million Lawsuit
Crypto Times: Binance Sues RedotPay for $472M
Crypto Briefing: Binance Claims RedotPay Diverted Users in $470M Lawsuit

Two Linked Proposals Reshape SOL's Supply Outlook
@Solana's governance process has reached a pivotal moment. Two interconnected proposals targeting $SOL deflation and supply burns have cleared the first stage of on-chain governance and now enter a formal community discussion phase, the final step before a binding validator vote.
The initiative is bundled under SGP-0003, a Solana Governance Proposal that combines two Solana Improvement Documents: SIMD-0553 and SIMD-0550, which must be read together to understand the full supply thesis. SIMD-0553 is the burn engine; SIMD-0550 is the disinflation lever.
SIMD-0553 introduces a resource-based fee system that adjusts transaction costs based on the network resources consumed. If approved, the change could increase daily SOL burns from roughly 650 SOL, valued at about $47,000, to between 7,500 and 9,000 SOL per day. SIMD-0550, meanwhile, doubles the annual disinflation rate to 30%, pulling Solana's 1.5% terminal inflation floor forward to 2029 from 2032 and removing about 18.9 million SOL of emissions over six years.
The framework has been publicly championed by @Mert, who called on validators and token holders to signal support quickly. Solana's formal on-chain governance system gives validators and their delegators a recorded, stake-weighted vote on the network's direction. Proposals must first gain support from 15% of active stake, then pass by a two-thirds supermajority of voting stake.
Momentum Builds, But the Math Stays Sober
As of Tuesday morning, the proposal had support from 63 million SOL, or just over 14.4% of the network's staked supply, leaving about 3 million SOL needed to reach the threshold before the August 18 deadline. Supporters include prominent validators such as Helius, Jupiter, Staking Facilities, Drift, OtterSec, and Solana Compass.
Proponents argue the changes will better align SOL economics with rising network activity. The proposals themselves, however, note that even the boosted burn figures remain modest compared with daily issuance under current conditions. Solana currently issues around 60,000 SOL per day through inflation. Even the projected terminal burn of 7,500 to 9,000 SOL per day would initially remain far below that amount. The near-term result is more likely to be slower supply growth than outright deflation.
If the proposal reaches the required support threshold, it will advance to the discussion phase before a formal validator vote. Missing the August 18 signaling deadline would require the proposals to be resubmitted, resetting the process entirely.
Sources:
CoinDesk: A new Solana proposal would take daily SOL burns from $47,000 to $650,000
Decrypt: Solana Proposal Would Increase Daily SOL Burns More Than 10-Fold
Crypto Times: Solana Seeks 14x Burn Increase Alongside Accelerated Supply Reduction

Whale 0x2684 Pushes Total Deployment Past $230M
A cryptocurrency whale tracked under the address 0x2684 has purchased an additional 3,960 $ETH for approximately $7.4M, its latest move in a sustained accumulation campaign that began on June 30. The transaction pushes the entity's total capital deployment to roughly $230.21M across Ethereum and Wrapped Bitcoin.
On-chain data shows the wallet now holds 79,216 $ETH acquired at an average price of $1,777, alongside 1,400 $WBTC at an average cost of $63,887. The combined position spans both of the two largest cryptocurrency networks through a single Ethereum address, with the $WBTC holdings representing Bitcoin exposure via its ERC-20 equivalent.
A Pattern of Consistent Buying
The scale and consistency of the purchases have drawn significant attention from on-chain analysts. The wallet, identified at address 0x2684, drew attention from on-chain tracking accounts after building positions across both Wrapped Bitcoin and Ether in a short timeframe, with no prior transaction history before this accumulation period, suggesting it was created specifically for this capital deployment.
Large withdrawals from centralized exchanges are widely interpreted by analysts as a signal of long-term holding intent. When assets are moved to self-custodial wallets, they are less likely to be sold in the short term, reducing available exchange supply.
The positions were earlier reported to be showing an estimated $10 million in unrealized profit, according to on-chain data. As buying has continued since that report, the total position size and any associated gains have grown further.
Movements of this size from individual wallets are routinely tracked by on-chain monitoring services because they can reflect institutional-scale positioning or large individual holders adjusting exposure. The identity behind the address remains unknown, and the wallet could belong to an institutional investor, a high-net-worth individual, or a fund rebalancing its portfolio.
Sources:
The Crypto Basic: Crypto Whale Accumulates $184M in WBTC and Ether
Coincu: New Address Builds $41.5M in WBTC and ETH Positions
Ainvest: 0x2684 Withdraws $100M in ETH and WBTC From Binance

BNB Chain Targets Its Growing AI Agent Ecosystem
@BNBChain has launched a strategic hackathon called "Build the Era," with one clear objective: create the definitive marketplace for its rapidly expanding network of on-chain AI agents. The initiative comes as the chain cements its position as the leading home for AI agents built on the ERC-8004 standard.
According to BNB Chain's own data, BNB Smart Chain now hosts more than 200,000 ERC-8004 agents as of mid-July 2026, representing roughly 60% of all such agents registered across 26 networks and more than every other network combined. The Defiant reported earlier this year that BNB Chain had already surpassed Ethereum as the blockchain hosting the largest number of AI agents under the ERC-8004 standard, a figure that has continued climbing significantly since.
ERC-8004 is an on-chain identity standard that gives autonomous AI agents a verifiable, portable identity across platforms, allowing them to register identities, build reputation, and transact with each other without human intermediaries. Despite this growth, the sheer volume of registered agents has created a practical problem: discoverability. With hundreds of thousands of agents active on-chain, there is currently no unified platform for developers and users to find, evaluate, and hire them. That is the gap "Build the Era" aims to close.
Over $40,000 in Prizes and a Path to Official Adoption
The hackathon offers more than $40,000 in initial prize liquidity, with sponsors including @TermiX_A, @PancakeSwap, @alt_layer, @binance Pay, and @AltanaNetwork. Crucially, the winning submission is not just in line for a cash prize. The top platform is slated for official adoption as a standalone "BNB Agent Studio" product, giving the winner a direct route into the core BNB Chain ecosystem alongside incubation support from ecosystem partners.
The move is consistent with a broader pattern from @BNBChain, which has used a series of developer incentive programs throughout 2026 to accelerate AI-native infrastructure on its network. By turning the marketplace problem into a competitive build challenge, the chain is effectively crowdsourcing one of its most pressing infrastructure gaps while simultaneously rewarding the builders who solve it.
For @PancakeSwap and the other prize sponsors, the hackathon represents a direct stake in shaping how AI agents are discovered and deployed across the $BNB ecosystem going forward.
Sources:
BNB Chain Blog: AI Agent Landscape, Agents, Tools, and Payments
The Defiant: BNB Chain Overtakes Ethereum by Number of AI Agents
Chainwire: BNB Chain Announces Support for ERC-8004

@inter_link is preparing to introduce a reverse auction buyback mechanism for its $ITL token, adding a community-driven layer to what has become one of the most widely used tools in crypto treasury management.
Crypto buybacks are initiatives where blockchain platforms or token issuers repurchase their own tokens from the open market, typically designed to reduce circulating supply, stabilize prices, and enhance investor confidence. Most programs execute those purchases at a fixed or market rate. InterLink's approach works differently.
How the Reverse Auction Works
Rather than setting a fixed purchase price, InterLink's treasury will solicit offers from $ITL holders directly. Each participant specifies how many tokens they wish to sell and at what asking price. The treasury then selects the most cost-effective offers within its available budget, a process that mirrors competitive bidding and lets supply and demand set the clearing price organically.
To keep the process clean, sellers must make a deposit of 0.1 $ITL to the official treasury wallet before submitting an offer. They then provide the transaction hash of that deposit alongside their BEP20 USDT wallet address. Accepted sellers are paid out in USDT. The small deposit requirement serves a practical purpose: it makes spam and fake offers economically unattractive, reducing noise in the process without creating a meaningful barrier for genuine participants.
Auction-based buybacks allow projects to repurchase tokens at competitive rates, helping ensure fair pricing. InterLink's reverse format takes that principle further by letting the community, rather than the project team alone, determine what a fair price looks like at any given moment.
Broader Implications for the InterLink Ecosystem
The mechanism is not intended as a one-time event. According to InterLink, other organizations, decentralized applications, and projects within the InterLink Network may adopt the same model over time, potentially making the reverse auction buyback a recurring and scalable feature of the broader ecosystem.
InterLink operates a dual-token model, with ITLG serving as the main governance and utility token and ITL designated for external payments, liquidity, and treasury purposes. As of early 2026, InterLink Network had surpassed 5 million verified human users, positioning it as one of the largest real-identity Web3 networks. The buyback program adds another layer to what the project describes as a community-first tokenomics strategy.
InterLink Labs can use its treasury to buy $ITL from the market, with purchased tokens potentially burned or redistributed to community contributors.
Sources:
KuCoin: Interlink Network (ITLG) Token Outlook
OKX: Benefits and Risks of Buyback Cryptocurrency Projects
CoinGecko: InterLink Token ($ITL)

Uniswap Prepares to Launch pools.trade on Robinhood Chain
@Uniswap is moving closer to activating its dedicated launchpad on Robinhood Chain. The platform, known as pools.trade, has been flagged as "coming soon" on its official site, with a countdown pointing to a rollout scheduled for 4:00 p.m. UTC on August 5.
pools.trade is designed to facilitate the creation and issuance of tokens directly on Robinhood Chain. If it becomes a more native Uniswap launchpad, it could bring together the pieces Uniswap already has: its own launch and price-discovery mechanisms, v4 pools, the Launches feed for distribution, and the Uniswap interface for trading.
Robinhood Chain went live on July 1, 2026 as an Arbitrum Orbit L2 that settles on Ethereum. Uniswap Protocol and UniswapX are live alongside support in Uniswap Web App, Wallet, and API, with Robinhood serving nearly 28 million customers.
A Growing Launchpad Ecosystem
The timing of pools.trade's launch comes as activity on Robinhood Chain has surged. More than 340,000 new tokens launched on Uniswap via Robinhood Chain launchpads in July 2026, generating $3.6 billion in trading volume. Uniswap has also introduced a Launches beta tab in its web app, aggregating tokens from launchpads using Uniswap as their trading infrastructure, including Bankr, Pons, and Long.
The platform's integration with Uniswap's v4 protocol, which introduced features like hooks and custom liquidity pools, could offer unique advantages over competitors. The token issuance space has seen increased competition, with platforms like Pump.fun and others offering simplified token creation tools on various blockchains.
Robinhood Chain had accumulated approximately $431 million in total value locked, nearly $400 million in stablecoin market capitalization, and close to $9 billion in cumulative decentralized exchange volume within three weeks of launch. More than 80% of decentralized exchange activity still comes from memecoin trading despite the network's long-term focus on tokenized assets.
Sources:
Uniswap to Launch Token Issuance Platform pools.trade on Robinhood Chain - CryptoNews
Uniswap rolls out Launches tab starting with Robinhood Chain - Crypto Briefing
Inside Uniswap's Land Grab on Robinhood Chain - Yahoo Finance

A Mainnet Date and a Powerhouse Validator Set
@Circle has confirmed September 16 as the mainnet launch date for Arc, its enterprise-grade Layer-1 blockchain, following the company's Q2 financial report. The announcement marks a firm deadline for a project that has been in active development since its public testnet went live in October 2025. The Arc testnet has already processed 244.1 million transactions as of May 2026.
The network launches with an unusually heavyweight set of validators. @BlackRock, @The_DTCC, @ICE_Markets, @Mastercard, and @Visa are all confirmed participants at genesis, effectively linking some of the world's largest clearing houses and payment networks into a single shared ledger from day one. Circle had previously announced partners including BlackRock and Visa on the Arc public testnet.
Arc is billed as an "Economic Operating System" designed to support stablecoin-native applications. It is built as an institutional-grade public Layer-1 blockchain, compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), with native USDC integration, sub-second transaction finality, and stablecoin-denominated gas fees.
Federal Banking Charter Adds Regulatory Weight
The mainnet launch is backed by a significant regulatory development. Circle has received final approval from the OCC to open a trust bank division, called Circle National Trust, for digital asset custody. The charter places Circle's dollar-backed stablecoin, USDC, under federal oversight and permits the company to manage digital asset custody.
OCC approval of a national trust bank charter represents a major U.S. regulatory milestone and strengthens the infrastructure of USDC through federally regulated custody, with reserve management planned as a future capability. Circle submitted its application to the OCC on June 30, 2025, and received conditional approval in December 2025.
The charter allows Circle National Trust to operate nationally under direct OCC supervision, eliminating the state-by-state money transmitter licensing regime that stablecoin issuers have navigated until now. Taken together, the confirmed mainnet date and federal banking charter represent a significant step toward positioning Arc as core infrastructure for institutional settlement.
Sources:
Circle: Arc Public Testnet Launch (Official Press Release)
BusinessWire: Circle Receives Final OCC Approval to Establish National Trust Bank
American Banker: Circle Granted Trust Bank Charter from OCC

Ben Broca is doing something that would have seemed far-fetched just a few years ago. The 40-year-old founder, working out of his Sausalito living room, launched an AI tools business last December that has already pulled in 10,000 paying customers and is on track to hit $10 million in revenue this year. He has not hired a single employee.
Artificial intelligence tools answer Broca's emails, help write and debug code, field requests from customers, sign up new subscribers, and grant refunds when issues arise. He has also raised $30 million from investors and says he is saving millions in salaries he would otherwise be paying staff.
Broca relishes the ability to make whatever decisions he wants on his own. "I think compromises make lukewarm results," he said.
A Broader Shift in How Businesses Are Built
Broca is not alone. Artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to build a business without building a team. As AI takes over coding, customer support, marketing, and administration, a growing number of solo founders are scaling startups to millions in revenue with few or no employees.
An analysis by payments company Stripe shows there are thousands of solo operators on its platform generating over $1 million in revenue, with their ranks doubling between 2023 and 2025. The number of solo operators crossing the $10 million threshold nearly tripled in that same span.
Stripe's chief economist, Ernie Tedeschi, noted that in the past, people without business contacts or particular savvy might not have known how to get their ideas off the ground. "Now, AI can be a built-in business partner," he said.
AI Is Reshaping the Economics of Starting Up
AI-influenced journeys now represent about four times the share of new Stripe sign-ups they used to, and businesses that joined the platform after 2023 are hitting $1 million in cumulative revenue within a year at a rate roughly 30% higher than the 2023 cohort and about three times the 2019 cohort.
Stripe's own data shows that in 2025, solo founders in the top decile generated 61 times the revenue of the median solo founder in their first six months. Four years ago, that multiplier stood at around 34 times. The gap between the best-performing solo operators and everyone else is widening rapidly.
While the trend is lowering barriers to entrepreneurship, it is also reshaping hiring and raising questions about the future of work and how businesses will grow in the AI era.
Sources
The Rise of Million-Dollar Companies With Just One Employee, Kanebridge News
Solo Founding Is at an All-Time High: Top Performers Have These Traits in Common, Stripe
The Age of the Solopreneur, Stripe Economics

A convincing clone of Ripple's official website is circulating online, designed to drain the wallets of long-term $XRP holders. The fraudulent page replicates Ripple's branding, color scheme, and typography in close detail, and uses a loyalty angle to lower victims' guard, promising a reward for HODLers who never sold their tokens.
How the Scam Works
The fake site presents a "Get Early Access" button aimed at committed XRP holders. Clicking it triggers a crypto drainer, a malicious script that, once a wallet is connected, executes an outbound transaction before the user realizes what has happened. Users are directed to a fraudulent site where connecting a non-custodial wallet triggers a malicious script that executes a single authorized transaction to empty holdings. The authorization step is the trap: once signed, the transaction is irreversible on-chain.
XRP Ledger chief architect David Schwartz (@JoelKatz) called out the site publicly on X, posting a blunt warning: "IT'S A SCAM!" Ripple does not run free XRP giveaways, and posts claiming otherwise on behalf of the company or its executives should be treated as scams. Ripple will never ask you to send XRP.
Part of a Broader Scam Wave Targeting XRP Holders
The fake Ripple site is not an isolated incident. Scammers have deployed sophisticated phishing campaigns that bypass email authentication checks, while over 50 fake Ripple executive accounts were reported on Instagram and Telegram in Q1 2026. Fresh security warnings have targeted XRP users amid an ongoing scam wave, with fake sites cloning Flare Network, XORA, and other XRP-adjacent brands.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that as much as $17 billion was stolen globally through crypto scams in 2025, the highest level ever recorded. Impersonation scams posted 1,400% year-over-year growth, driven in large part by AI tools that make fraudulent content faster to produce and harder to detect.
Schwartz's verified presence remains limited to his @JoelKatz handle on X. Fake Schwartz accounts have appeared on Telegram, Instagram, and other platforms. Holders are urged to verify all announcements through official channels, avoid clicking unsolicited links, and never connect a wallet to a site promoted through social media posts or direct messages.
Sources:
Ripple: How to Identify Crypto Scams
CryptoNews: Ripple CTO David Schwartz Warned of AI-Cloned Executives
CoinDesk: Chainalysis Report on AI and Impersonation Scams

Ethereum's native decentralized exchange (DEX) spot trading volume fell to $29 billion in July 2026, according to CryptoRank data. That marks a 76% decline from the all-time high of $122 billion set in August 2025, with monthly volume sliding back to levels last seen in October 2023.
A Steady, Sustained Decline
The drop has not been a sudden crash. Trading activity on Ethereum's DEX ecosystem has declined by an average of 12.5% each month, pointing to a slow but persistent bleed rather than a one-off shock. The broader on-chain market has also weakened: total DEX spot volume across all chains fell 26% in July to $130.77 billion from $177.55 billion in June, the lowest monthly total since September 2024.
Ethereum's relative position within that shrinking pool has also worsened. Trailing 30-day rankings placed Solana at roughly $49.86 billion, BNB Chain at $31.04 billion, Ethereum at $28.84 billion, and Base at $22.38 billion in spot DEX volume. The network that was once the undisputed home of on-chain trading now sits in third place, squeezed by faster and cheaper alternatives.
Competition is intensifying from newer entrants too. Robinhood Chain ranked third among all networks by 24-hour DEX volume, trailing only Solana and BNB Smart Chain, while passing Ethereum just two weeks after its July 1 launch, according to DefiLlama data.
Context: A Broader Cooling, Not Just an Ethereum Problem
Some of the pressure on Ethereum is part of a wider market slowdown. Spot, futures, and perpetual DEX volumes fell to two-year lows in Q2 2026, making it the weakest quarter for crypto trading in two years. K33 Research attributed July's overall slump to a seasonal summer lull rather than a structural decline.
Even so, the Ethereum-specific data paints a more troubling picture. Ethereum's stablecoin market capitalisation declined by about $4.8 billion from the start of July to roughly $149.129 billion. Stablecoin liquidity is a key input for DEX activity, and its contraction compounds the volume decline. Meanwhile, CoinGlass data shows ETH closing Q4 2025 down 28.28%, Q1 2026 down 29.26%, and Q2 2026 down 24.77%, a run of three consecutive red quarters that has no precedent in the asset's history.
Whether July's numbers reflect a temporary seasonal lull or a deeper structural shift away from Ethereum as the primary on-chain trading venue remains an open question. For now, the data points to a network quietly losing ground in one of the metrics that matters most to DeFi.
Sources:
The Defiant: DEX Spot Volume Hit a Record 24% of CEX Volume in July
CryptoRank: Crypto Exchange Q2 2026 Recap
Crypto Briefing: DEX Spot Volume Hits Record 24% of CEX Volume in July 2026

Network Metrics Hit Multi-Month Highs
Bitcoin network activity surged sharply in the seven days ending August 4, according to on-chain analytics firm Santiment. Active $BTC addresses climbed to 712,000, a three-month high, while whale transactions above $100,000 reached 61,800, a five-month high. Santiment pointed directly to the unfolding Coldcard crisis as the driving force behind both metrics.
Reports tie the late-July sweeps to weak Coldcard-generated keys, with losses estimated above 2,055 $BTC and $130 million, as affected users rushed to move funds, consolidate wallets, and reduce exposure.
What Went Wrong With Coldcard
The vulnerability was introduced in Coldcard firmware 4.0.0 in March 2021, causing devices to skip their hardware randomness generator and fall back to predictable software-based key generation seeded by non-secret chip data. The flaw, which affected firmware versions 4.0.1 through 4.1.9, caused the wallets to generate recovery seeds with approximately 40 bits of entropy instead of the intended 128 bits. In practical terms, that made private keys reproducible offline without any physical access to the device.
The attack began on July 30, 2026, when an unknown attacker started draining Bitcoin from Coldcard hardware wallets. During the first wave, 594 BTC, worth approximately $38 million, vanished from around 500 wallets in just 25 minutes. Three distinct waves of attacks ultimately swept 1,367 bitcoin, nearly $89 million at recent prices, from 4,585 addresses, with the latest wave targeting smaller balances and using more complex, harder-to-trace transaction patterns.
A firmware update fixes the seed-generation process going forward, but it does not rewrite the words that already control a user's Bitcoin. If the device used weak randomness when it generated the seed, updating the firmware later does not make the old key stronger. Users must update the device, generate a completely new seed on the patched firmware, and transfer all Bitcoin from the old addresses to addresses derived from the new seed.
The episode has reignited broader questions about self-custody risk. According to blockchain security firm Blockaid, most losses in the first half of 2026 came not from smart contract hacks but from compromised keys and operational security failures. Over the coming weeks, fear could pressure retail selling, but sustained whale accumulation and security-driven coin migration may also tighten liquid supply if stronger holders keep absorbing the panic.
Sources:
Santiment: Bitcoin Active Addresses and Whale Transactions Surge on Coldcard FUD
CoinDesk: Bitcoin Cold-Wallet Attack Spreads to 4,500 Addresses
CoinDesk: Major Bitcoin Wallet Flaw Drains 594 BTC in 25-Minute Sweep

CASHCAT Leads Robinhood Chain Memecoin Rally
Cash Cat (CASHCAT), the native memecoin of Robinhood Chain, has surged 25% in the last 24 hours and 113% over the past week, with on-chain data pointing to notable whale accumulation behind the move. Daily trading volume crossed $23 million, up 1.10% on the day, even as the token continues to trade well below its all-time high.
The rally lifted Robinhood Chain's total memecoin market cap by 8% to $210 million. CASHCAT is a memecoin native to Robinhood Chain, the Ethereum Layer 2 that Robinhood launched on July 1, 2026. It has no product or utility and carries no affiliation with Robinhood Markets, which has not owned, endorsed, or listed the token.
The name is a callback to the early days of Robinhood, when CEO Vlad Tenev and co-founder Baiju Bhatt first called their company CashCat, according to a New Yorker profile. Like many popular meme tokens, its value depends on community participation, media attention, and market sentiment rather than conventional utility or its own products.
Whale Interest and Broader Chain Context
At its all-time high, CASHCAT surged more than 2,100% in a week, hit a peak above $0.17, reached a market capitalization around $156 million, and on its best day generated roughly $98 million of 24-hour trading volume. The token has since pulled back sharply from those levels, and the current rally represents a partial recovery from that correction.
Despite Robinhood's pitch of a regulated venue for tokenized real-world assets, those assets account for only about $12.8 million on the chain, while memecoins like CASHCAT and stablecoins dominate activity and market value. Daily transactions on the chain peaked at over 3.6 million, and at one point it outpaced Base, processing 10.4 million daily transactions versus Base's 6.4 million.
As with any memecoin, the risks are significant. There is continued competition among new meme tokens on Robinhood Chain, and long-term interest is often difficult to sustain, as projects compete for the same pool of speculative capital driven largely by social sentiment and investor psychology. Traders should approach CASHCAT with caution given its history of extreme price swings in both directions.
Sources:
Fortune: Memecoin traders flock to Robinhood blockchain
CoinDesk: Robinhood's blockchain finds early success thanks to memecoins
Crypto.news: What is CASHCAT, Robinhood Chain's memecoin

A survey conducted by Russian media holding Rambler&Co and reported by state news agency TASS has laid bare a striking disconnect between Russia's push toward crypto legalization and the attitudes of ordinary citizens.
Low Awareness, Lower Enthusiasm
Some 54% of respondents admitted they know little or nothing about how cryptocurrencies work, highlighting limited public awareness despite ongoing regulatory developments. The survey also showed that only 6% of respondents said they had practical experience with digital assets.
Around 69% of participants said they do not expect any real use cases for cryptocurrency even after it is permitted in Russia. Approximately 52% of respondents admitted they are not using digital assets now and do not understand how legalization will affect their lives. Of those who did identify potential uses, 8% said they plan to spend crypto on purchases from abroad, 6% intend to use it for long-term savings and diversification, and 4% want to employ it in business activities, according to TASS, citing the Rambler&Co poll.
Despite the general skepticism, 22% of respondents said it is better to regulate cryptocurrencies, around 20% said they had been anticipating a market with clear rules, and 6% became interested following passage of the digital currency bill. Many of these cite regulatory clarity and risk protection as the key conditions for engaging with crypto.
Regulation Moves Ahead Regardless
After missing the original July 1 deadline, the main provisions of Russia's new crypto framework are now expected to enter into force on September 1, 2026, with additional texts scheduled to take effect in 2027. For the first time, ordinary Russians will be granted legal access to cryptocurrencies like $BTC, albeit limited to the most liquid coins and capped at less than $4,000 a year for non-qualified investors. Before trading, both retail and qualified investors must pass a mandatory knowledge test.
The survey results arrive at an awkward moment for Russian policymakers. Russia ranked third globally in retail crypto activity in Q1 2026, with an estimated $48 billion in volume, according to TRM Labs. Yet the Rambler&Co data suggests that activity is concentrated among a relatively small segment of the population, with most Russians watching from the sidelines. The gap between on-chain volumes and grassroots understanding is one the new legal framework will need to bridge if Moscow's legalization effort is to gain meaningful public traction.
Sources:
Russia Crypto Adoption Remains Low Despite Legalization Push – CoinPedia
Nearly 70% of Russians See No Use for Crypto Under Moscow's New Terms – Cryptopolitan
Q1 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index – TRM Labs