Blockonomi

Key Points
Nearly 39,798 SafePal customers had their personal information exposed due to an authorization vulnerability in an order-tracking plugin
Compromised data includes customer names, contact information, delivery addresses, and transaction details
Wallet security remains intact—no private keys, seed phrases, or cryptocurrency funds were compromised
SafePal has removed over 30 fraudulent websites created following the security incident
The wallet provider is implementing stricter data retention policies and engaging external security auditors
On August 16, SafePal, a cryptocurrency wallet service provider, announced that a security vulnerability in its order-tracking system resulted in unauthorized access to personal information of roughly 39,798 users.
Dear community,
While your SafePal wallet, seed phrase, and private keys are secure; we identified a flaw in the order-tracking plug-in that led to unauthorized access to information of a subset of customers.
The issue has been fixed with additional security measures…
— SafePal – Crypto Wallet (@SafePal) August 16, 2026
The security incident stemmed from an authorization vulnerability within a plugin designed for order tracking. This defect permitted, under specific circumstances, unauthorized individuals to view order information belonging to other customers.
The compromised data pertains to transactions processed between March 2, 2025, and April 11, 2026. Information exposed in the breach includes customer names, email contacts, telephone numbers, delivery addresses, and order specifics.
SafePal emphasized that critical security elements including seed phrases, private keys, wallet access passwords, payment card credentials, banking details, and government identification documents remained protected and were not part of the data exposure.
Additionally, the company stated that no evidence suggests any cryptocurrency wallets or user funds were directly accessed or compromised as a result of this security incident.
How the Security Incident Unfolded
According to SafePal, the first indication of trouble came in early May when the company received a phishing complaint that aligned with the eventual problem, though it was initially handled as a single incident. A comprehensive security audit was subsequently initiated, and by July the company had begun overhauling its order-management infrastructure.
The underlying issue—the authorization flaw within the plugin—was identified during the July security review. User complaints on Reddit and Trustpilot regarding phishing attacks containing accurate personal information surfaced as early as July 3 and 4, several weeks prior to SafePal’s official public statement.
An additional technical error caused an automated data-deletion routine to malfunction from September 2025 through April 2026. While SafePal clarified this configuration issue did not enable the unauthorized data access, it resulted in customer records being retained beyond their intended storage period.
Ongoing Phishing Threats Targeting Affected Customers
The primary concern for impacted users is the heightened risk of targeted phishing campaigns. With access to genuine customer names, addresses, and purchase information, malicious actors can create highly persuasive fraud attempts.
SafePal cautioned that cybercriminals may impersonate company representatives offering bogus firmware upgrades, reimbursements, or device replacements to trick users into revealing their wallet access credentials.
The company has successfully identified and removed more than 30 fake websites and phishing operations. SafePal continues active surveillance for additional fraudulent domains.
SafePal has directly contacted affected customers via email and created a verification tool enabling users to determine if their purchase was impacted by entering their order reference number and shipping location.
Users who may have already provided a seed phrase or private key to a questionable website should immediately consider that wallet compromised, establish a new wallet, and transfer any remaining cryptocurrency assets.
SafePal is engaging an independent cybersecurity firm to verify the effectiveness of its remediation efforts and perform a comprehensive security assessment. The company has also implemented a new 90-day retention policy for personal data within the affected system.
This security incident is part of a concerning pattern affecting hardware wallet manufacturers. A third-party shipping contractor breach recently exposed customer information for approximately 14,000 Trezor users. Earlier in the year, competitor Ledger also informed customers about a data exposure originating from its third-party e-commerce platform.
Across all these incidents, the affected companies maintained that wallet functionality and private cryptographic keys were never compromised.
The post SafePal Security Incident: Plugin Vulnerability Compromises Data of 40,000 Users appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights
Ethereum is hovering around $1,880, range-bound with critical support established at $1,850
Clearing $1,920 resistance could trigger a rally toward $2,000, with $2,400 representing the next significant milestone
Seller exhaustion metrics for Ethereum have reached their lowest point in nearly a decade
New Ethereum addresses per day jumped from 121,210 to 212,560 in the week spanning August 8-16
Some analysts maintain bearish outlooks, projecting potential decline to $1,210 by November without breaking key resistance levels
Ethereum continues to trade in the $1,880 vicinity with approximately $4.89 billion changing hands daily. The second-largest cryptocurrency has been locked in horizontal price action for several weeks, confined between established support below and resistance overhead.
Ethereum (ETH) Price
Market analyst Ted observes that ETH has successfully defended the $1,850 support zone, which bullish traders are using as a launching pad for potential upside movement. Maintaining this floor keeps the advantage with buyers.
The immediate barrier to upward movement lies at $1,920. A decisive breach of this level, accompanied by substantial trading volume, would likely propel ETH toward the psychological $2,000 mark. Rejection at this resistance could result in a retreat to $1,750.
According to analyst Altstreet Bets, Ethereum might bypass the previously anticipated pullback to $1,750 before resuming its uptrend. He interprets the ongoing consolidation between $1,850 and $1,900 as constructive accumulation, positioning ETH for a potential surge toward $2,300–$2,400 once overhead resistance yields.
Cryptocurrency chartist James Easton drew attention to Ethereum’s seller exhaustion metric plunging to levels not witnessed since 2015. While this indicates that persistent selling momentum may be weakening, it doesn’t necessarily confirm that a definitive market bottom has formed.
On-Chain Activity Accelerates
Data from Ali Charts reveals that daily new Ethereum addresses expanded from 121,210 on August 8 to 212,560 by August 16. This represents an approximate 75% increase in fresh network participation within just over one week.
ETHEREUM NETWORK GROWTH ACCELERATES
New daily $ETH addresses have surged from 121,210 on August 8 to 212,560 today.
Network growth is one of the strongest on-chain indicators of user adoption, and sustained increases have historically preceded major price rallies. https://t.co/1Mk3vzKLl4 pic.twitter.com/o7nimJv6qs
— Ali Charts (@alicharts) August 16, 2026
The expansion in network activity indicates heightened engagement across decentralized finance protocols, decentralized applications, and other infrastructure built on Ethereum. Market participants are monitoring whether this uptick translates into sustained investment flows and corresponding price appreciation.
Ali Charts also highlights $1,580 as the crucial long-term support zone. Having already rebounded approximately 26% from that level, Ali identifies $3,000 as the next major upside objective should the current technical framework remain intact.
Downside Scenarios Remain in Play
Bullish sentiment isn’t universal. Analyst CryptoBullet contends that Ethereum remains trapped within a larger bearish cycle and could potentially decline to $1,210 by November. He emphasizes the 21-week exponential moving average as critical resistance that ETH has failed to reclaim.
Trader Daan Crypto Trades highlighted on X that Ethereum’s volatility has contracted to extreme lows. He notes that it’s exceptionally unusual for ETH to trade sideways for more than a month without a subsequent explosive move, implying a significant directional breakout is imminent.
$ETH Volatility completely died off.
Big move coming soon here I assume. Very rarely you see ETH not moving for days after already trading sideways for over a month and not see a big move follow afterwards. pic.twitter.com/umZE87X1Ow
— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) August 16, 2026
ETH is currently trading at $1,883, showing a 0.14% decline over the past 24 hours, with its market capitalization standing at $226.67 billion.
The post Ethereum (ETH) Network Activity Doubles While Price Consolidates Above $1,850 appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights
BTC maintained a position close to $63,000 throughout Sunday, fluctuating within a $62,805 to $63,369 corridor
Michael Saylor, Strategy’s Chairman, characterized Bitcoin as “digital monetary energy” via social media
Market observer Ted Pillows anticipates volatile weekend trading patterns until BTC surpasses the $65,000 threshold
Critical price zones under scrutiny: $62,200 as downside support and $63,400 as upside barrier
UBS dramatically expanded call-option positions in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by more than 2,400% during Q2
Throughout Sunday’s trading session, Bitcoin maintained its position slightly below the $63,000 mark, registering a modest 0.4% decline to settle at $62,907. The cryptocurrency remained confined within a narrow trading corridor as market participants closely monitored crucial technical thresholds.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price
In a social media statement, Michael Saylor, Chairman of Strategy, characterized Bitcoin as “digital monetary energy.” His analysis framed money as a technological solution designed to preserve value generated from human effort, temporal investment, and resource allocation. According to Saylor’s perspective, Bitcoin represents an evolution beyond traditional gold and government-issued currencies through its mathematically limited supply and distributed architecture.
https://t.co/QMVtmKPGn2
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) August 15, 2026
Saylor emphasized that Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism creates a connection between digital assets and tangible energy expenditure, compelling miners to dedicate substantial computational resources for network validation. Current mining statistics indicate approximately 20.07 million tokens have entered circulation from Bitcoin’s hard-capped maximum of 21 million, leaving roughly 929,465 units yet to be produced.
The protocol’s built-in halving schedule will progressively decelerate new token issuance. Projections suggest the 2028 halving event will reduce daily mining output from 450 to 225 Bitcoin.
Technical Outlook from Market Observers
Market analyst Ted Pillows shared his perspective via X, noting Bitcoin’s consolidation around the $63,000 level and forecasting continued erratic price behavior throughout the weekend period. His analysis suggests the lateral trading pattern will persist until Bitcoin achieves a decisive breach beyond $65,000.
$BTC is hovering around the $63,000 level.
The weekend is here, so I'm expecting more choppy price action.
Until Bitcoin breaks above the $65,000 level, the sideways price action will continue. pic.twitter.com/Ut8qRQbuqZ
— Ted (@TedPillows) August 16, 2026
Technical strategist Kaz presented a near-term projection where Bitcoin might descend toward the $62,200 zone to capture available liquidity before mounting a recovery. He indicated his preference for establishing long positions should this downward probe materialize, viewing it as a tactical move rather than a signal of broader market weakness.
For upward movement, Kaz highlighted a concentration of comparable peak values near $64,500 as the initial objective for bullish momentum. A daily order-block formation spanning $64,800 to $65,400 constitutes more substantial resistance where he would evaluate short-position opportunities.
Critical Resistance Thresholds
Trading expert Michaël van de Poppe pinpointed $63,400 as the pivotal barrier BTC needs to overcome to facilitate advancement toward the $64,500–$64,600 range. His assessment indicates that breaching this level would bolster the argument for sustained upward momentum.
The chart of $BTC looks quite clear.
Resistance zone of $63,400 is pushing back a potential breakout upwards. If that breakout upwards happens, I'm seeing a strong move to $64,600+ and likely a breakout upwards.
The first area, of personal interest, of looking for longs… pic.twitter.com/qKqeRh6Z3n
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) August 15, 2026
Should Bitcoin struggle to penetrate that resistance barrier, van de Poppe has identified the $62,250–$62,300 region as a probable target for liquidity capture. He views the $60,500–$61,000 zone as a more cautious area for establishing long positions if price experiences deeper retracement.
Regarding institutional activity, UBS substantially amplified its call-option exposure connected to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, increasing positions more than 24-fold during the second quarter to represent 1.95 million underlying shares. Simultaneously, the financial institution boosted its direct IBIT holdings by 12%, reaching 407,890 shares.
Bitcoin’s immediate trajectory depends on its ability to defend the $62,200 support foundation or successfully penetrate the $63,400 resistance ceiling.
The post Bitcoin (BTC) Consolidates Around $63K While Saylor Touts ‘Digital Monetary Energy’ Concept appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Takeaways
Cybercriminals leveraged a macOS Screen Sharing vulnerability to secure root-level privileges and deploy Monero mining malware on exposed Mac systems
The Netherlands’ National Cyber Security Centre verified active attacks targeting systems with port 5900 accessible online
Apple released security patches on August 6 in macOS Tahoe 26.6.1, Sequoia 15.7.9, and Sonoma 14.8.9
CISA elevated the severity rating to 9.8 critical from its initial 7.1 assessment
Traditional mitigation methods like password resets are ineffective; only Apple’s security update resolves the vulnerability
Cybercriminals successfully weaponized a security weakness in Apple’s macOS Screen Sharing functionality to commandeer internet-connected Mac computers and deploy them for Monero cryptocurrency mining operations. The Dutch National Cyber Security Centre validated these attacks in a revised security bulletin issued on August 12.
ALERT: Critical Apple Screen Sharing flaw exploited to hijack Macs and mine Monero.
The Netherlands’ cyber agency confirms that attackers gained full control of internet-exposed Macs through a simple flaw in Apple’s Screen Sharing feature and installed Monero miners.
Apple… pic.twitter.com/g2VZJGGSaS
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 17, 2026
Across all documented incidents, threat actors successfully acquired root-level system privileges and deployed Monero mining applications on hijacked devices. The Dutch cybersecurity authority declined to specify the total number of compromised Macs or identify potential threat actors.
Apple addressed the security gap, designated as CVE-2026-65400, with patches released on August 6. The remediation was distributed through macOS Tahoe 26.6.1, Sequoia 15.7.9, and Sonoma 14.8.9.
The vulnerability stems from flawed state management within the Secure Remote Password authentication mechanism employed by macOS Screen Sharing. Cybersecurity firm Huntress discovered that malicious actors could manipulate the system into recognizing an unauthorized connection as pre-authenticated, thereby granting complete elevated access.
Since the exploitation occurs prior to conventional authentication procedures, typical security measures prove ineffective. Resetting Screen Sharing credentials, deactivating VNC authentication, or eliminating user profiles will not prevent unauthorized access.
Thousands of Mac Systems at Risk
Huntress security researcher Ryan Dowd conducted a Censys scan that identified tens of thousands of potentially susceptible endpoints. This figure represents internet-exposed Macs, not verified compromises.
The threat level is particularly elevated for cloud-hosted bare-metal Mac infrastructure, such as Mac minis leased from hosting providers. Certain hosting platforms automatically activate Screen Sharing on freshly provisioned machines, creating exposure windows when Apple’s August 6 security updates remain unapplied.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency originally assigned the vulnerability a 7.1 severity score when Apple distributed the patch. CISA subsequently escalated the rating to 9.8 critical on August 14, acknowledging that exploitation requires neither elevated privileges nor user interaction.
The Case for Monero in Cryptojacking
Monero remains a preferred choice for cryptojacking operations. The cryptocurrency supports mining with standard computing hardware, contrasting with Bitcoin, which demands specialized equipment. Its privacy-focused architecture additionally complicates transaction tracing efforts.
Individual machine profitability remains modest. The complete Monero network generates approximately 432 XMR daily, representing roughly $179,000 distributed across the entire mining ecosystem.
Monero was trading between $414 and $415 during reporting, showing gains of approximately 1% to 3.7% across 24 hours and roughly 5% over the preceding week.
The Dutch NCSC verified active exploitation but withheld specifics regarding mining infrastructure, pool addresses, or attacker wallet identifiers. Ongoing security research may illuminate the attack campaign’s scope before Apple’s remediation became available.
Mac users with Screen Sharing functionality enabled should deploy Apple’s latest security patches without delay.
The post Critical macOS Security Flaw Exploited for Monero Cryptocurrency Mining appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Cardano targets Q4 2026 for Dijkstra Phase 1, introducing Linear Leios and new ledger features.
Dijkstra Phase 1 will increase throughput through supplementary Endorser Blocks and certification.
Ouroboros Peras is planned for Q2 2027 to accelerate settlement through stake-pool voting.
Both phases require testnet deployments and governance approval before mainnet activation.

Cardano plans a two-phase Dijkstra upgrade, with the first stage targeting Q4 2026 code completion and the second planned for Q2 2027.
The rollout will introduce Ouroboros Linear Leios and later activate Ouroboros Peras. Phase 1 will also bring nested transactions, guard scripts, account-address improvements, and other ledger changes.
Phase 2 will focus on faster settlement through a stake-pool voting layer. Both stages require testing and on-chain governance approval before mainnet activation.
Cardano Sets Q4 2026 Target for Dijkstra Phase 1
Cardano’s first Dijkstra phase will establish a new ledger era under Protocol Version 12. The upgrade will activate Ouroboros Linear Leios while preparing the network for Peras.
Code completion is targeted for Q4 2026, although the date does not represent final mainnet activation.
Linear Leios will increase throughput through supplementary Endorser Blocks alongside existing Praos Ranking Blocks.
These Endorser Blocks reference additional transactions that the network can process after certification. As a result, Cardano can increase transaction capacity without relying on larger blocks or faster slots.
Cardano Plans Two-Phase Dijkstra Upgrade With Leios and Peras
Cardano has outlined a two-phase rollout for its upcoming Dijkstra era. Phase 1, targeting Q4 2026 code completion, will activate Ouroboros Linear Leios (CIP-164) to increase throughput through supplementary Endorser… pic.twitter.com/eBGNwaNG9M
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 16, 2026
A stake-based committee will certify Endorser Blocks through aggregated signatures. The certification requires a 75% quorum of active stake before endorsed transactions enter the ledger.
If no certified Endorser Block exists, Ranking Blocks continue processing transactions through the standard Praos approach.
Phase 1 will also introduce the structural changes required for Peras. These include codec extensions and protocol parameters that cannot be added during an intra-era hard fork. Therefore, the Dijkstra era provides the foundation needed for Peras activation during the second phase.
Dijkstra Adds New Transaction and Ledger Features
The first phase will introduce several changes beyond Linear Leios. Nested transactions will allow transactions to contain child transactions with independent witnesses and execution contexts. This provides additional flexibility for on-chain applications and more expressive transaction structures.
Dijkstra will also introduce guard scripts capable of observing transaction validity without executing as part of spending or minting. The change supports transaction guards and serves as a dependency for the PlutusV4 script context.
Account-address improvements will establish ledger-level definitions for account-style addresses. Meanwhile, the upgrade will remove the isValid field from transactions and introduce non-segregated block body serialization. These changes support the updated ledger and transaction structures.
Cardano will also simplify staking reward withdrawals by removing the DRep delegation requirement. In addition, pledge leverage-based staking rewards will introduce a leverage parameter. However, its default setting preserves current reward behavior until governance chooses another value.
Peras Activation Planned for Cardano in Q2 2027
The second Dijkstra phase is targeted for Q2 2027 and will activate Ouroboros Peras. Unlike Phase 1, this change will use an intra-era hard fork within Dijkstra. No new ledger era will therefore be required for the activation.
Peras will add a voting overlay to the existing Ouroboros Praos chain selection mechanism. Stake-pool committees will vote on recent chain tips, allowing sufficiently supported tips to reach settlement sooner. The protocol will not change how blocks are produced.
Both Dijkstra phases will follow Preview and Pre-production testnet deployments. Phase 1 includes operator testing, Endorser Block propagation checks, integration validation, and throughput benchmarking. Phase 2 will include testing focused on voting and settlement latency.
Mainnet activation will require governance ratification involving DReps, stake pool operators, and the Constitutional Committee.
The published Q4 2026 and Q2 2027 targets remain estimates for code completion and readiness. Actual hard fork dates will depend on testing, governance, and network readiness.
The post Cardano Sets Two-Phase Dijkstra Upgrade With Leios in 2026 and Peras in 2027 appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Ethereum address errors were linked to 65,340 high-risk cases and almost $574.8 million in losses across Ethereum and BNB Chain.
Contract account misuse involved 49,344 cases, with 22,738.41 ETH and 8,681.41 BNB sent to addresses lacking expected code.
Exposed private keys contributed to 15,996 account misuse cases involving 104,224.53 ETH and another 9,045.29 BNB across both blockchains.
Researchers identified 17,270 EIP-7702 cases where malicious delegation helped attackers control exposed accounts and redirect deposits.
An academic study links Ethereum address errors and similar BNB Chain mistakes to nearly $574.8 million in losses. Researchers identified 65,340 high-risk cases involving contract addresses, exposed accounts, and cross-chain reuse. Many transactions completed successfully, although users sent assets to the wrong destination or an unsafe account.
This makes the problem harder to spot than a failed transfer. The research team includes scholars from Sun Yat-sen, Zhejiang, Peking, and other universities. Their work traces crypto address misuse across Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain. It also shows how EIP-7702 can help attackers seize exposed accounts and redirect incoming funds automatically.
Ethereum Address Errors Expose Cross-Chain Transfer Risks
The researchers divide the problem into Contract Account Misuse and Externally Owned Account Misuse. Contract Account Misuse occurs when someone assumes a contract exists at a familiar address. That assumption can fail when the user switches networks. The same hexadecimal address may hold working code on a testnet but nothing on mainnet.
The study documented 49,344 separate contract misuse cases involving 22,738.41 ETH and 8,681.41 BNB. These Ethereum address errors appeared routine. A transfer can receive confirmation even when the intended contract function never runs. The network simply treats the call as a basic payment to an address without code.
A shared Uniswap V2 router address illustrates the danger. Developers used it on Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet, and related Stack Exchange posts attracted more than 102,000 views. Yet the address lacked contract code on Ethereum mainnet. Users still submitted function calls and attached ETH. The chain accepted those transactions as simple transfers, leaving the assets trapped.
Attackers watched addresses affected by crypto address misuse. The team identified 469 contract cases involving deliberate cross-chain address reuse. Attackers deployed malicious contracts at destinations where users had previously sent funds by mistake. Those incidents caused losses of 3,446.37 ETH and 431.79 BNB. The method turns an earlier mistake into an active theft opportunity.
These findings show why Ethereum address errors require chain-specific checks. A recognizable address alone does not confirm the expected contract exists. Users must verify both the selected network and the deployed bytecode before signing a transaction.
Exposed Keys and EIP-7702 Expand the Threat to Users
Ethereum address errors also include Externally Owned Account Misuse. The study identified 15,996 cases tied to private keys exposed online. Developers sometimes publish keys in repositories, tutorials, or question-and-answer posts. Attackers can monitor those accounts and remove deposits as soon as funds arrive.
These exposed accounts received 104,224.53 ETH, while related BNB Chain losses reached 9,045.29 BNB. Researchers examined more than 10 million candidate addresses and 16 million exposed private keys. They then reviewed roughly 2.5 million transactions across Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain. Manual validation placed the detection system’s overall precision at 99.11%.
EIP-7702 expands the danger surrounding Ethereum address errors. The upgrade allows an externally owned account to delegate execution to smart contract code. Researchers found another 17,270 cases where attackers used this mechanism against exposed accounts. Malicious delegation enabled automatic control and redirected later deposits without repeated manual action.
The losses sit beside broader security damage recorded during 2026. Blockaid reported $1.1 billion stolen through 212 incidents during the first half. Three separate attacks each caused more than $35 million in losses on one late-July day. Unlike visible hacks, crypto address misuse can look like an ordinary confirmed transaction.
The researchers urge users to obtain addresses from official project documentation. Test accounts and production wallets should also remain separate. Wallets could flag addresses without contract code on the current chain. They could also warn when known exposed keys control a destination. Such checks would target Ethereum address errors before users approve irreversible transfers.
The post New Study Links Ethereum Address Errors to $575M in Lost Crypto appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
CZ will abandon his public wallet after meme coin spam made it difficult to locate and manage BNB holdings.
The wallet received over $1 million in unsolicited tokens after Zhao publicly identified the address in 2025.
Zhao burned 400 million third-party tokens worth about $1.6 million during a July 2026 wallet cleanup.
CZ plans to donate $960,000 in BNB and BinanceLife tokens to Giggle Academy before abandoning the wallet.
Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is retiring a public crypto wallet after unsolicited token deposits made the address increasingly difficult to manage. Zhao said on August 16 that he encountered the problem while testing Trust Wallet and struggling to locate his BNB balance.
The wallet had accumulated so many unwanted assets that routine navigation became difficult, turning simple account management into a recurring public event. Attempts to remove tokens created another problem as every burn transaction attracted fresh attention from traders and the wider crypto community.
CZ Says He Will Stop Using Public Wallet Address After Donating Remaining BNB and 币安人生 Tokens
CZ said he plans to donate the BNB and 币安人生 tokens held in the wallet address he used while testing Trust Wallet to Giggle Academy, then stop using the address entirely,… pic.twitter.com/k2oQbwQKxL
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 16, 2026
Zhao concluded that the wallet could not be permanently cleaned because additional tokens continued arriving after earlier cleanup efforts. Instead, he plans to transfer assets he wants to preserve and then stop using the address.
The remaining BNB and BinanceLife tokens bought with BNB will be donated to Giggle Academy before the wallet is abandoned. Odaily valued the planned donation at approximately $960,000, giving the retirement decision a charitable endpoint.
Public CZ Wallet Became a Target for Unwanted Crypto Transfers
The issue began after Zhao publicly identified the address in February 2025 following a donation of 150 BNB. That transfer was worth about $100,000, but public visibility quickly made the address a destination for unsolicited crypto deposits.
More than $1 million in tokens was later sent to the wallet, prompting Zhao to say he would not keep those assets personally. By July 2026, Zhao said the wallet held tens of thousands of separate tokens.
During one cleanup, he sent 400 million third-party tokens, worth roughly $1.6 million, to the standard 0x…dEaD burn address. Meanwhile, Arkham data placed spam assets destroyed from Zhao-linked wallets above $6.24 million during the previous year.
The problem stems from the permissionless nature of blockchains, which allows anyone to send tokens to a public address without the owner’s approval. For high-profile figures, however, those transfers can create confusion as holding, moving, or destroying unwanted assets remains publicly visible on-chain.
As a result, even routine wallet maintenance can be interpreted as a market signal, repeatedly drawing attention to otherwise unrelated tokens. Meme coin spam therefore became more than simple clutter, as ordinary cleanup transactions continued to generate speculation and market discussion.
Giggle Academy to Receive $960K in Remaining Assets
Zhao’s chosen exit is to move legitimate holdings out, donate selected assets, and leave the address inactive. Giggle Academy, which he founded, operates as a free online education platform for children using gamification, artificial intelligence, and multilingual learning resources.
Zhao said in July that the nonprofit generally converts most donated crypto into BNB around month-end before selling BNB when operational funds are needed. BinanceLife, another donated asset, traded near $0.504 on August 16 and was up about 5.7% in 24 hours.
Its market capitalization stood near $500 million, while Binance describes the BNB Chain token as community-driven and primarily influenced by market sentiment. Zhao described the retired wallet as an “effective” burn address, although abandoning an address differs technically from sending assets to an inaccessible burn wallet.
Future Meme coin spam sent there would remain visible, but it would no longer prompt wallet cleanup or public reaction. By pairing the retirement with a $960,000 donation to Giggle Academy, Zhao is closing a year-long wallet problem with a defined final transfer.
The post CZ Abandons Public Wallet After Meme Coin Spam, Donates $960K to Giggle Academy appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Global bond yields are climbing, with the Bloomberg Global Long Bond Index yielding about 4.2%, its highest level since July 2008.
Traders price roughly 400 basis points of interest rate hikes across seven major markets, while two-thirds of 32 tracked swap markets signal increases.
South Korea leads the tightening outlook with more than 100 basis points priced, while Japan, Canada, Britain, and the euro area outpace US expectations.
Higher government borrowing costs make refinancing more expensive, weaken bond diversification, and increase valuation pressure on richly priced equities.
Global bond yields have climbed to levels last seen during the 2008 financial crisis, raising pressure across fixed-income markets. The Bloomberg Global Long Bond Index yield now sits near 4.2%, its highest reading since July 2008. Investors are pricing tighter monetary policy across the world, rather than focusing only on the Federal Reserve.
Two-thirds of 32 swap markets tracked by Bloomberg now signal interest rate hikes during the coming year. Rising oil prices, heavy public spending, and strong artificial intelligence investment are keeping inflation risks elevated. Governments consequently face costlier refinancing while bondholders confront further price losses in many markets.
Global Bond Yields Reflect a Broader Interest Rate Reset
Market pricing clearly shows the pressure extends far beyond Washington. Traders expect borrowing costs to rise faster in Japan, Canada, Britain, and the euro area. South Korea leads the tracked swap markets, with more than 100 basis points of tightening priced over 12 months. Across seven major markets, expected increases total about 400 basis points.
Several forces are driving the change. The Iran conflict has lifted oil prices, feeding transport, production, and household energy costs. Fiscal spending supports demand while requiring governments to sell more debt. Meanwhile, investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure is strengthening growth and expanding corporate financing needs.
The OECD projects G20 inflation at 4% in 2026, up from 3.4% in 2025. It expects global growth to slow from 3.4% last year to 2.8% this year. Its baseline assumes energy disruptions ease and most policy rates stay broadly stable. In its prolonged-disruption scenario, rates rise 50 to 75 basis points across many economies.
Those pressures leave global bond yields sensitive to energy developments and government funding plans. When global bond yields rise, prices fall, hurting holders of longer-dated debt. Longer maturities carry greater duration risk, so their prices react more sharply to changes in expected rates.
Global bond yields raise the cost of issuing replacement debt. Refinancing risks matter more as public debt ratios exceed crisis-era levels in many economies. The OECD expects its aggregate debt-to-GDP ratio to reach approximately 113% by 2027. Large borrowing needs can keep government borrowing costs elevated even if central banks pause.
Why Higher Borrowing Costs Threaten Portfolio Diversification
The shift challenges the role government bonds play in portfolios. Investors hold sovereign debt to offset equity losses during growth shocks. Yet inflation-driven tightening can push stock and bond prices lower together. That weakens the protection expected from a traditional stock-and-bond allocation.
Fidelity International portfolio manager George Efstathopoulos has kept government debt exposure low. His holdings include Treasury inflation-protected securities and Brazilian bonds. He argues persistent inflation, fiscal stimulus, energy dependence, and geopolitical shocks reduce bonds’ diversification value.
Equity markets face pressure from global bond yields. Higher discount rates reduce the present value of future corporate earnings. That effect can hit richly valued growth shares hard. Tighter conditions can slow borrowing, investment, and dealmaking across the economy.
Cash grows more competitive as policy rates and short-term yields rise. Columbia Threadneedle portfolio manager Ed Al-Hussainy says higher cash returns give investors choices. Governments and companies must therefore offer stronger yields to attract buyers. That competition can lift financing costs for public and private borrowers.
Currency trades face added volatility. Rising global bond yields can shift international rate differentials and redirect capital flows between currencies. Tightening in Japan, Europe, or Canada could strengthen currencies and disrupt positions built around American rate dominance.
The risk depends on inflation persistence and the scale of interest rate hikes. Lower energy prices could ease pressure, while prolonged supply disruption could deepen it. Bond markets must also absorb government issuance and expanding AI-related corporate debt. Each additional supply wave tests investor demand at yields already near multi-year highs.
The post Global Bond Yields Reach 2008 High as Rate Risks Spread Worldwide appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Vitalik credits Bitcoin’s UTXO design as Ethereum explores a hybrid state model targeting 1,000x scaling.
Native UTXOs could cut permanent payment-state usage by 99.8%, reducing one billion entries to about 300 MB.
Ethereum’s state grows about 100 GB yearly, making state efficiency a key constraint on 1,000x scaling.
Recursive STARKs could add about 2 MB/s bandwidth with eight peers and 500ms aggregation as activity scales.
Ethereum is increasingly borrowing ideas from Bitcoin as researchers confront one of blockchain’s hardest scaling problems: keeping state growth manageable as network activity expands. In an Aug. 16 post, Vitalik Buterin credited Bitcoin developers for pioneering concepts now influencing Ethereum research, specifically highlighting the Utreexo project.
Bitcoiners deserve a lot of credit for pioneering many of these ideas (see Utreexo).
But yes, this is what the current proposed Ethereum scaling strategy looks like in action.
We want Ethereum to have the best of UTXO-style state, dynamic state, and everything in between,…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 16, 2026
Rather than replacing Ethereum’s account system, the emerging strategy would combine UTXO-style structures with dynamic state and other approaches. The objective is to scale activity substantially while preserving decentralization, censorship resistance, and practical node operation.
Ethereum Turns to Bitcoin’s UTXO Model for 1,000x Scaling
The shift forms part of a broader research roadmap targeting roughly 1,000x long-term scaling across execution, data availability, and state management. Buterin wrote in February that execution could eventually scale about 1,000x through ZK-EVMs.
Meanwhile, PeerDAS and blobs could provide roughly 500x data scaling. However, State presents a different challenge as Ethereum’s active state is already expanding by approximately 100 GB annually.
As persistent accounts and storage entries accumulate, nodes must handle an increasingly large amount of information, potentially raising the cost of operating the network. To address that problem, a July proposal from Ethereum researcher Toni Wahrstätter introduced native UTXOs as one possible solution.
Under Ethereum’s current account model, receiving ETH or tokens can create persistent state. By contrast, a UTXO-style payment functions as a one-time object that can later be consumed when spent.
According to the proposal, native UTXOs could reduce permanent state requirements by roughly 99.8% for payment workloads that do not need persistent storage. Rather than keeping each complete payment object in active state, Ethereum could preserve its creation information in historical logs and retain only a compact marker indicating whether it was spent.
The potential reduction becomes clearer at scale. At one billion entries, the proposal estimates that permanent UTXO state could require roughly 300 MB, compared with between 100 GB and 150 GB for equivalent account or storage entries.
That gap helps explain why Bitcoin-inspired architecture has become increasingly relevant to Ethereum’s scaling research. Still, the proposed model would be hybrid rather than replacing Ethereum’s existing account structure entirely.
Smart contracts and applications requiring dynamic storage could continue using conventional accounts. Meanwhile, simpler transfers could move into lighter state classes, reducing the amount of permanent information nodes must retain.
Bitcoin’s Utreexo project provides another reference point for this approach. Instead of requiring every node to store the full UTXO dataset, Utreexo uses a compact Merkle-tree accumulator alongside cryptographic inclusion proofs.
As a result, Bitcoin Optech estimates that the design can reduce local state requirements to only a few kilobytes while still allowing nodes to perform full transaction validation.
Native UTXOs Could Slash Ethereum Payment State by 99.8%
Ethereum researchers are also examining how native UTXOs could work alongside Buterin’s proposed recursive-STARK mempool. Under that system, mempool nodes would periodically combine transaction-validity proofs into recursive STARKs.
Individual proofs could reach roughly 128 kB, yet aggregation would prevent bandwidth requirements from rising proportionally with transaction activity. One example estimates about 2 MB per second of additional bandwidth for a node maintaining eight peers with 500-millisecond aggregation intervals.
A later research discussion connected this design with native UTXOs. Large numbers of independent spends could potentially be proven recursively before being represented by a substantially smaller aggregate proof.
However, the architecture remains experimental rather than an upcoming network change. The native UTXO proposal partly depends on EIP-8141 Frame Transactions, which remains classified as a draft.
The research nevertheless shows how Ethereum’s scaling strategy is broadening. Bitcoin-inspired state structures are now being studied alongside zero-knowledge proofs to reduce node burdens while supporting substantially higher activity.
The post Vitalik Credits Bitcoin as Ethereum Eyes UTXO Model for 1,000x Scaling appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Bitcoin trades near $63,038, about 19% below the $77,500 level seen when David Tait’s zero call emerged.
Citi cut its 12-month Bitcoin target to $82,000 from $112,000, while its bearish case now sits at $53,000.
Standard Chartered and TD Cowen both cut 2026 Bitcoin targets to $100,000 from $150,000 and $140,000.
Gold topped $4,400 an ounce as central-bank Q2 purchases rose 62% year over year to a net 289 tonnes.
Bitcoin’s fall toward $63,000 has revived scrutiny of one of 2026’s most extreme cryptocurrency forecasts. World Gold Council CEO David Tait said in May that he believed Bitcoin would eventually fall to zero.
CONTROVERSIAL TAKE: The World Gold Council CEO Personally Believes Bitcoin Is Headed To $0
That’s a VERY different view from the growing institutional adoption we’re seeing around $BTC.
Is Bitcoin Really Going To Zero… Or Will This Prediction Age Very Badly? pic.twitter.com/5SqdnWNKoT
— Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) August 16, 2026
At the time, Bitcoin traded near $77,500, placing the latest price around 19% below levels seen when his comments circulated. The decline gives his broader criticism fresh relevance, although the asset remains far from a literal collapse to zero.
World Gold Council’s Zero Call Meets Bitcoin’s $63K Reality
Tait’s argument was not based on a formal valuation model. Instead, he described the zero call as a trader’s instinct and questioned Bitcoin’s effectiveness as a hedge.
He said he had expected the asset to offset exposure to riskier investments. However, he argued that it had not consistently performed that role during market stress.
That criticism has become more significant as digital assets move deeper into traditional finance. A 2025 study found Bitcoin’s correlation with the S&P 500 increased after U.S. spot ETFs launched.
Meanwhile, its relationship with gold remained near zero. The finding suggested the asset was behaving more like a risk-sensitive financial instrument than a direct bullion substitute.
Gold, on the contrary, has strengthened during the same period. Spot bullion traded above $4,400 an ounce this week, while central banks bought a net 289 tonnes during Q2.
World Gold Council data showed those purchases increased 62% from a year earlier. First-half gold demand reached 2,522 tonnes, carrying a record value of $380 billion.
The contrast does not validate Tait’s zero forecast. Still, it highlights the different market behavior he emphasized when comparing digital assets with traditional defensive holdings.
Wall Street Cuts Bitcoin Targets as $63K Holds
The current price also challenges earlier institutional forecasts. Citi cut its 12-month Bitcoin target to $82,000 from $112,000 in July.
The bank cited negative ETF flows, softer investor demand and slower progress on U.S. crypto legislation. Its bearish scenario placed the asset at $53,000.
Standard Chartered also lowered expectations, targeting about $100,000 by the end of 2026 after previously projecting $150,000. Similarly, TD Cowen reduced its year-end target to $100,000 from $140,000.
Those revisions put the current market between two very different extremes. Tait’s zero call remains distant, while several aggressive six-figure projections have already been scaled back.
Institutional access has also remained available despite weaker prices. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust still offers regulated exposure, although its NAV return was down 27.57% year to date.
As of August 13, the fund’s performance reflected the wider downturn. More recently, Bitcoin has traded largely between $62,000 and $66,000 for several weeks.
ETF buying has competed with selling from miners and corporate holders. That balance has kept the market compressed near levels well below earlier cycle forecasts.
At roughly $63,038, Bitcoin therefore serves as a reality check for both sides. The asset is down materially since May, but nowhere near confirming a zero-price outcome.
For now, the strongest conclusion is numerical rather than ideological. The market has weakened enough to challenge bullish targets, yet not remotely enough to validate Tait’s most extreme prediction.
The post World Gold Council’s Bitcoin ‘Zero’ Call Faces a $63K Reality Check appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Payward’s Q2 adjusted revenue rose 17% year over year to $508M even as platform volume fell 18% to $310B.
Adjusted EBITDA dropped to $23M from about $80M a year earlier, cutting Payward’s margin to roughly 4.5%.
Kraken funded accounts climbed 42% year over year to 6.6M, while assets held on the platform stayed near $40B.
Asset-based and other revenue reached 60% of Q2 revenue, up from 55% a year earlier as Payward diversified.
Kraken parent Payward posted $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter of 2026, even as platform transaction volume fell 18% year over year. Revenue rose 17% from roughly $433 million in Q2 2025 and was almost unchanged from the $507 million recorded during the first quarter.
However, profitability weakened sharply as adjusted EBITDA dropped to $23 million from about $80 million a year earlier. That left the Q2 adjusted EBITDA margin near 4.5%, compared with roughly 18% during the same period in 2025.
Kraken Parent Payward Reports $508M Q2 Revenue as Adjusted EBITDA Falls to $23M
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, reported Q2 adjusted revenue of $508 million, up 17% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA fell to $23 million from about $80 million a year earlier. Total… pic.twitter.com/hOcOt5zCmP
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 16, 2026
Sequentially, EBITDA improved from $18 million in Q1, showing a modest quarterly recovery despite the much larger year-over-year decline. The figures show a business generating more revenue from a broader product mix while lower trading activity and expansion costs continue pressuring earnings.
Payward Revenue Rises 17% as Q2 Trading Volume Falls 18%
While revenue increased, total platform transaction volume declined to $310 billion during Q2. That represented an 18% year-over-year drop and a roughly 13% decline from $357 billion in the first quarter.
Despite the weaker trading environment, Kraken said its crypto spot market share increased for a third consecutive quarter. At the same time, activity across traditional futures, equities and tokenized equities expanded, while futures Daily Average Revenue Trades rose 8% year over year.
Customer growth also remained strong despite the decline in transaction volume. Funded accounts reached 6.6 million, representing a 42% increase from a year earlier and rising from 6.1 million at the end of Q1.
Meanwhile, assets held on the platform remained near $40 billion despite weaker market conditions and lower trading activity. Payward also reported $65 billion in “Real Assets on Platform,” which measures customer flows while holding asset prices constant.
That figure increased 48% year over year. As a result, the data showed that underlying customer asset flows continued growing even as market prices softened and trading intensity declined.
Kraken Expands Revenue Mix as Funded Accounts Reach 6.6M
The quarter also showed a clear change in where revenue is coming from. Asset-based and other revenue represented 60% of total revenue in Q2, compared with 55% one year earlier.
That means most revenue now comes from assets and services rather than transaction-based activity. Payward has expanded beyond spot crypto trading through derivatives, equities, tokenized assets, payments and financial infrastructure.
The company acquired NinjaTrader in 2025 and completed its acquisition of Bitnomial on May 1, 2026. That deal added a CFTC-regulated U.S. derivatives stack covering brokerage, exchange and clearing infrastructure.
The group has also expanded xStocks and developed Payward Services for trading, payments and tokenized-asset infrastructure. Its DeFi Earn Bitcoin Vault had attracted approximately $400 million in deposits by the time of the Q2 update.
Meanwhile, Payward’s public-listing plans remained delayed after its confidential U.S. IPO filing in November 2025. The company had been valued at $20 billion before reports in March said the listing was put on hold.
For Q2, the central contrast was clear: revenue and funded accounts grew, while platform trading volume and EBITDA remained well below last year’s levels.
The post Kraken Parent Payward Revenue Hits $508M as Q2 Trading Volume Falls 18% appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Grayscale sees Ethereum supply growth falling to 0.4% by 2031, below gold’s estimated 1.8% annual rate.
Solana supply growth could slow to 1.1% by 2031 if SIMD-0550 and SIMD-0553 secure governance approval.
EIP-8363 could cut Ethereum net consensus yield from 2.6% to 1.2% near the current 33% staking ratio.
Solana’s faster disinflation model could reduce emissions by 18.9 million SOL over the next six years.
Ethereum and Solana could enter a markedly tighter supply era by 2031 if proposed tokenomics reforms move from draft status into active network policy. Grayscale Research estimates annual supply growth could fall to about 0.4% for Ether and 1.1% for SOL under its modeled assumptions.
Ethereum and Solana could get much scarcer over time, per Grayscale.
$ETH supply growth: ~0.4% by 2031
$SOL supply growth: ~1.1%
Both could fall below gold’s ~1.8% supply growth. pic.twitter.com/PUJFaOzuki
— CryptosRus (@CryptosR_Us) August 16, 2026
Those rates would sit below the roughly 1.8% annual expansion of above-ground gold stocks, according to the World Gold Council figure cited by Grayscale. However, the projections depend on immediate implementation, steady network activity, and an Ethereum staking ratio remaining near one-third of circulating supply.
Ethereum and Solana Could Undercut Gold’s Supply Growth
The Ethereum proposal is registered as EIP-8363, “Tapered Issuance Burn,” although Grayscale’s chart uses its earlier EIP-8361 designation. The proposal would burn a larger share of validator consensus rewards as more ETH becomes staked across the network.
Around 42 million ETH, equal to roughly 34% of supply, is currently staked, while staking APR stands near 2.6%. Under EIP-8363, the reward burn would increase with staking participation and reach 100% once the staking ratio reaches 50%.
Applying the permanent curve immediately at roughly 33% staking would reduce net consensus yield from about 2.6% to 1.2%. Therefore, the proposal includes an 18-month transition intended to reduce the abrupt impact on validator economics.
Lower issuance would also reduce dilution for holders who do not stake their ETH. Still, the proposal remains a draft, so Grayscale’s 0.4% estimate describes a modeled outcome rather than approved monetary policy.
Tokenomics Reforms Would Cut Issuance and Staking Yields
A similar effort to tighten token supply is taking shape on Solana, where two proposals target issuance through different mechanisms. First, SIMD-0550 would double annual disinflation from 15% to 30%, accelerating the network’s path toward lower supply growth.
That change would move SOL toward its existing 1.5% terminal inflation rate by the first half of 2029 instead of 2032. Helius estimates the proposal would reduce emissions by 18.9 million SOL over six years.
The same modeling shows nominal staking yields falling from 5.84% today to 4.34% after one year and 2.25% after three years. Meanwhile, SIMD-0553 would redesign transaction fees and increase the amount of SOL permanently removed from circulation.
The draft would replace Solana’s flat 5,000-lamport signature fee with a 2,500-lamport inclusion fee paid to block leaders. In addition, it would introduce a separate resource-based fee that would be burned entirely, further increasing the amount of SOL removed from circulation.
Currently, Solana burns about 648 SOL daily while issuing roughly 60,000 SOL each day. However, under the proposed terminal resource-fee rate, estimates cited by Solana Compass suggest daily burns could rise substantially to between 7,500 and 9,000 SOL.
Together, these changes could materially alter Solana’s supply trajectory. Both proposals are already in formal governance, with voting scheduled to close on August 18. If approved, their combined effect could push annual supply growth toward Grayscale’s estimated 1.1% by 2031.
Even so, the comparison with gold reflects a measurable change in issuance rather than a guaranteed price outcome. Ultimately, supply growth remains only one factor, alongside network activity, fee generation, staking participation, and validator economics.
The post Ethereum and Solana Supply Growth Could Fall Below Gold by 2031, Grayscale Says appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Algorand v5.0.0 reached 90% node support, clearing the upgrade for activation after its cooldown period.
Native Falcon-1024 accounts give Algorand protocol-level support for post-quantum signatures.
AVM v13 expands smart contracts with larger sizes, new opcodes and cross-app box storage support.
A new per-byte fee model targets larger transactions while keeping standard transfer fees unchanged.
Algorand v5.0.0 has reached 90% node support, clearing the upgrade for activation after its cooldown period.
The protocol change marks Algorand’s largest upgrade since staking rewards launched in January 2025. It introduces native post-quantum accounts alongside expanded smart contract capabilities and a flexible fee model.
The upgrade also moves Algorand closer to a protocol designed to adapt as cryptographic standards evolve.
Algorand v5.0.0 Brings Post-Quantum Accounts to Mainnet
The Algorand team confirmed the 90% support threshold in a post on X. The upgrade will activate once the required cooldown period ends, with mainnet deployment expected soon.
Algorand v5.0.0 has reached 90% support and will now activate after the cooldown period.
This is the biggest upgrade since staking rewards, bringing native post-quantum accounts, more powerful smart contracts, and a more flexible fee model.
Thank you to all the node runners. pic.twitter.com/7hpxpfvJ3b
— Algorand (@Algorand) August 15, 2026
Algorand v5.0.0 introduces native Falcon-1024 accounts for post-quantum signatures. The change moves quantum-resistant account support directly into the protocol rather than limiting it to application-level tools.
The upgrade also introduces AVM v13, expanding smart contract sizes and adding new functionality. New opcodes include poseidon2, while cross-application box storage support expands how applications can manage data.
Algorand has already developed post-quantum infrastructure through earlier network upgrades and account implementations. According to X user Marco Salzmann, v5.0.0 shifts that effort toward broader cryptographic agility across the protocol.
Algorand Upgrade Expands Smart Contracts and Fee Model
The new release adds a per-byte fee model for larger transactions and computationally heavier operations. Standard transfers will not face the same fee changes under the new structure.
The model gives Algorand more flexibility when transactions require greater storage or computational resources. It also creates a mechanism for fees to reflect transaction size without changing ordinary transfer costs.
Algorand community member Alex, known as france.algo on X, said thousands of node runners upgraded within days. His post described v5.0.0 as one of the network’s largest protocol upgrades.
Algorand v5.0 has now passed!
One of the biggest protocol upgrades yet, set to hit mainnet in about a week!
Huge shoutout to the @Algorand protocol team + THOUSANDS of node runners who upgraded in just a few days!
Awesome to see, $ALGO has the BEST community!! pic.twitter.com/yueNMgp6Cj
— Ⱥlex | france.algo (@algerstmehn) August 16, 2026
Salzmann also outlined a broader roadmap involving hybrid accounts, post-quantum multisig and additional Falcon research. The roadmap includes further work on post-quantum verifiable random functions and consensus mechanisms.
The post Algorand v5.0.0 Clears 90% Support as Post-Quantum Upgrade Nears Mainnet appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights
The chip giant unveiled an initiative to channel up to $500 billion toward AI infrastructure through partnerships with Apollo, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and three other major institutions.
Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight rating with a $288 price target, identifying Nvidia as its preferred semiconductor investment.
Morgan Stanley projects that a 35% revenue-sharing arrangement beyond breakeven levels could boost Nvidia’s fiscal 2029 earnings per share by over 10%.
The company delivered first-quarter revenue of $81.61 billion, representing an 85.2% year-over-year surge and surpassing the $78.42 billion consensus forecast.
Wall Street maintains a “Buy” consensus with an average price target of $305.94; shares opened Friday trading at $225.16.
The semiconductor leader has unveiled an ambitious strategy to facilitate as much as $500 billion in AI infrastructure financing. Through collaboration with six major financial institutions, the company aims to establish independent platforms dedicated to funding AI computing facilities.
NVDA opened at $225.16 on Friday, with a 52-week range of $164.07 to $236.54. The company carries a market cap of $5.45 trillion.
The partnership roster features Apollo, BlackRock, Brookfield, and Goldman Sachs. Each participating institution will evaluate financing opportunities independently. Nvidia has indicated it may contribute residual backing of up to 25% for specific projects.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley characterized the third-party framework as strategically advantageous. It alleviates worries about demand generation through self-financing while creating fresh revenue-sharing possibilities for the semiconductor manufacturer.
According to Morgan Stanley’s calculations, securing a 35% revenue split on profits exceeding breakeven thresholds could potentially lift Nvidia’s earnings per share for fiscal 2029 by more than 10%. This projection hinges on GPU pricing dynamics and deployment velocity.
Morgan Stanley kept its Overweight rating and $288 price target. It named Nvidia its top semiconductor pick.
Widespread Analyst Optimism
Major financial institutions have rallied behind the stock. JPMorgan elevated its price target from $265 to $280 while maintaining an Overweight stance. Bank of America lifted its forecast from $320 to $350 with a Buy rating. Benchmark established a $335 target, increased from $250. Truist adjusted its projection upward to $307 from $287.
The Street consensus stands at “Buy” with an average price target of $305.94. Among analysts monitored by MarketBeat, 48 maintain Buy ratings, three hold Strong Buy designations, and two recommend Hold.
UBS has expressed optimism ahead of the upcoming earnings release, projecting that Nvidia could exceed its fiscal second-quarter revenue guidance of $91 billion by multiple billion dollars as GB300 demand accelerates.
The company’s most recent quarterly results revealed first-quarter revenue reaching $81.61 billion, climbing 85.2% compared to the prior year. Earnings per share registered at $1.87, topping the $1.76 Street estimate. Management also greenlit an $80 billion stock buyback authorization and increased the quarterly dividend to $0.25 from $0.01.
Potential Headwinds Remain
Skepticism persists in certain quarters. Detractors including Michael Burry have highlighted concerns about circular financing dynamics if purchasers depend substantially on debt to acquire Nvidia’s hardware.
Morgan Stanley also acknowledged inherent risks, noting increased credit exposure and potentially elevated leverage throughout the AI infrastructure landscape. The $500 billion figure represents potential capital deployment rather than guaranteed commitments.
Additional concerns include supply chain limitations, electrical power infrastructure constraints, and the possibility that Chinese AI developers pivot toward Huawei technology instead of American-manufactured GPUs.
Institutional investors control 65.27% of NVDA shares. CoreCap Advisors expanded its stake by 1.6% during the second quarter, elevating its position to 243,104 shares with an approximate value of $48.6 million.
Wall Street forecasts indicate Nvidia will generate full-year earnings per share of $8.79 for the current fiscal period.
The post Nvidia (NVDA) Stock Surges as $500B AI Infrastructure Initiative Wins Analyst Support appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR:
Anthropies targets Claude’s keyed text watermark by changing wording through an unmarked rewriting model.
The project also removes C2PA credentials, Git attribution trailers and other Claude-related metadata.
Anthropies says watermark detection indicates Claude contact but cannot independently establish who authored text.
Hoskinson’s repository links AI watermarking with wider questions about ownership, attribution and digital provenance.
Charles Hoskinson has launched Anthropies, a tool targeting watermarking and attribution markers attached to Claude outputs. The project aims to remove Claude’s keyed text watermark through rewriting with models that do not carry the same mark.
Anthropies also targets C2PA image credentials and Claude-related Git attribution trailers. The launch frames AI provenance as a growing issue around ownership, authorship and digital content.
Anthropies Targets Claude AI Watermarks and Metadata
According to the Anthropies repository, Claude can apply three separate markers across text, images and software projects. The text watermark changes token selection without adding visible characters to generated content.
The repository says a secret key determines how Claude selects between similarly suitable words during generation. Anthropies describes this watermark as difficult to remove without changing the underlying wording.
The project also addresses C2PA credentials attached to supported image files. Those credentials contain signed metadata indicating that Claude processed an asset. The repository says re-encoding or stripping metadata can remove that credential from the file.
A third marker appears through Claude Code’s Git commit trailers.
The repository says Claude Code can add a “Co-Authored-By” entry identifying Claude in commit history. GitHub can then parse that trailer and display Claude as a contributor.
I'm creating a new skill that can be used with most LLMs to strip out the Anthropic watermark. I call it Anthropies (Anthropic Herpies). I've also included a legal argument about how watermarks and the co-authored by Claude can cause issues down the road https://t.co/6eNx4br1BZ
— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) August 16, 2026
How Anthropies Removes Claude Attribution
Anthropies provides a command-line interface alongside an agent skill called /purge-anthropies. Its cleaning function removes attribution banners, Git trailers and invisible Unicode characters. Its humanization function instead changes prose structure through a separate rewriting model.
The repository specifically advises users against rewriting Claude output with Claude itself. It says doing so could preserve or reapply the same watermarking mechanism.
Instead, Anthropies recommends an unmarked model for the structure-changing rewrite process.
The project also presents detection limits for Claude’s text watermark. Its documentation reports stronger detection rates on longer passages, while shorter text remains harder to identify. It also stresses that detection indicates system contact rather than proving authorship.
Hoskinson’s repository connects the technical system to broader questions about AI ownership and attribution. However, those legal sections represent the project’s argument rather than an established court ruling on Anthropies. The repository itself states that its legal discussion constitutes argument rather than legal advice.
The post Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson Takes Aim at Claude Watermarks With New Anthropies Tool appeared first on Blockonomi.

TLDR
Kalshi faces potential fines of $120,000 daily from Nevada gaming authorities over disputed geofencing implementation
State investigators completed nine transactions on Kalshi’s platform the day following a court-mandated geofencing implementation deadline
The platform claims it engaged a state-sanctioned verification provider and alleges investigators falsified location data to circumvent security measures
Kalshi confronts concurrent legal challenges from New York authorities, Baltimore, and the CFTC
The central legal question revolves around whether prediction markets constitute federally overseen financial instruments or state-regulated wagering activities
The prediction market operator Kalshi has mounted a vigorous defense against Nevada gaming authorities following the state’s pursuit of $120,000 in daily penalties related to allegations that the platform inadequately restricted Nevada residents from accessing specific trading contracts.
Nevada informed Kalshi it faces penalties for not complying with a geofencing order.
Kalshi has issued a letter in response saying it did comply and calling Nevada’s action an abuse of power.
Just your average Saturday in prediction-market land. pic.twitter.com/ZWsyixUETf
— Ben Horney (@BenHorney) August 15, 2026
According to Kalshi, the company fulfilled all compliance obligations. The platform contracted with GeoComply, a geographic verification service provider that has received approval from Nevada’s gaming oversight body, and maintained regular communication with state officials during implementation.
However, Nevada’s investigative team reported successfully executing nine transactions through Kalshi’s mobile application while connected to Nevada cellular networks. These trades occurred just one day following the court-imposed deadline for complete geofencing implementation.
Kalshi’s legal team has launched an aggressive counterargument. They contend that state investigators provided false residential information to circumvent the platform’s restriction mechanisms, and that at minimum one investigator discovered an alternative method to evade the system entirely. The company asserts these investigative tactics violated federal statutes.
Kalshi’s Version of Events
Rick Heaslip, Kalshi’s Chief Regulatory Officer, shared on X that the organization exceeded standard requirements in addressing the geofencing mandate. He stated the technical issue was resolved in a matter of hours, yet Nevada authorities proceeded with court action regardless.
Heaslip characterized the regulatory body as operating under “the bidding of casinos” instead of safeguarding consumer interests, describing the proposed sanctions as a “vindictive waste of taxpayer dollars.”
The geofencing mandate originated from a Nevada judge’s April decision. That judicial order established a preliminary injunction preventing Kalshi from providing particular contracts within state boundaries without first securing gaming authorization.
No court has determined that Kalshi violated any statutes. The proposed penalties and underlying allegations remain under active litigation.
Multiple State Jurisdictions Join Legal Battle
Nevada represents only one jurisdiction pursuing action against Kalshi. Baltimore initiated litigation targeting both Kalshi and Polymarket concerning sports-oriented prediction contracts. Municipal attorneys contend these contracts function identically to wagers placed via digital sportsbooks and must comply with state gaming regulations.
New York initiated proceedings against Kalshi on July 31. Governor Kathy Hochul alongside Attorney General Letitia James filed legal action alleging Kalshi operates an unauthorized gambling enterprise. The state demands Kalshi cease New York operations and seeks financial restitution plus additional remedies.
The New York City Council has additionally initiated an independent examination of prediction market platform marketing practices. This probe encompasses Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase, and Gemini Titan.
On August 11, the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission intervened, exercising emergency powers to direct Kalshi to maintain operations consistent with the Commodity Exchange Act’s fundamental requirements.
Kalshi currently defends itself across numerous legal battlegrounds, with state governments categorizing its operations as gambling activities while federal authorities treat it as a regulated financial marketplace.
The post Kalshi Claims Nevada Officials Violated Federal Law While Imposing $120K Daily Penalties appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights
Shares of AMD surged 6.19% on Friday, finishing the session at $512.93
The company successfully completed a $4.75 billion debt offering, marking its largest investment-grade bond issuance to date
BofA Securities increased its server CPU market projection for 2030 to more than $210 billion, designating AMD as its preferred stock pick
Company leadership forecasts server revenue expansion exceeding 80% during the latter half of 2026
Analyst community maintains a Strong Buy rating with a consensus price objective of $647.04
Advanced Micro Devices experienced a notable rally on Friday, with shares advancing 6.19% to settle at $512.93, fueled by a pair of significant developments that emerged nearly simultaneously.
The semiconductor manufacturer successfully executed a $4.75 billion bond offering, representing its most substantial investment-grade debt transaction in company history. Structured across four separate maturity tranches, the offering attracted robust institutional demand, enabling AMD to price its longest-maturity securities below initial market expectations. This pricing dynamic reflects solid investor sentiment regarding the company’s strategic trajectory.
The capital raised from this offering is earmarked to support AMD’s artificial intelligence hardware expansion initiatives and substantial capital expenditure requirements.
BofA Securities Elevates Server CPU Outlook
Vivek Arya, an analyst at Bank of America Securities, revised the firm’s server CPU total addressable market estimate for 2030 upward from approximately $170 billion to beyond $210 billion. AMD received designation as the bank’s premier investment choice within the semiconductor space.
Arya’s investment rationale focuses on the emergence of “agentic AI,” which he believes is transforming data center infrastructure toward a more equitable CPU-to-GPU configuration. This represents a departure from the GPU-centric deployments that characterized recent infrastructure builds, positioning AMD favorably due to its superior processing speeds and elevated core configurations.
The analyst highlighted both cloud infrastructure providers and enterprise server markets as key expansion opportunities for AMD moving forward.
Artificial Intelligence Partnerships and Product Pipeline
AMD’s Technology Leadership Forum further bolstered investor optimism. Company executives provided guidance indicating server revenue expansion surpassing 80% in the second half of 2026 and no less than 70% throughout 2027. The company’s comprehensive AI data center segment is anticipated to expand by more than 100% in the upcoming year.
Regarding product developments, AMD is scheduled to commence deliveries of its Helios AI rack systems in September. Major technology companies including Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic have all executed multi-gigawatt computing agreements. Anthropic independently committed to as much as 2 GW of MI450-series computing capacity.
The company further revealed Day 0 compatibility for the Qwen3.8 27B artificial intelligence model across its Ryzen AI Max+ platform and Radeon AI PRO product line, a strategic initiative designed to strengthen its positioning among AI development communities.
Financial results released on August 4th demonstrated AMD delivered earnings per share of $1.66, surpassing the consensus projection of $1.62. Total revenue reached $11.54 billion, representing 50.1% year-over-year growth and exceeding analyst expectations of $11.31 billion.
Institutional investors currently control 71.34% of AMD’s outstanding shares. Baird maintains a $1,250 price objective on the stock, while Goldman Sachs recently elevated its target to $640.
The consensus Wall Street price target currently stands at $647.04, suggesting approximately 31% appreciation potential from Friday’s closing price. Regarding potential concerns, company insiders have divested $74.7 million in shares during the previous 90-day period, and AMD’s valuation metrics remain stretched with a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.23.
The post AMD (AMD) Stock Surges 6% Following Massive Bond Offering and BofA’s Bullish Outlook appeared first on Blockonomi.

Key Highlights
PATH shares have climbed 25.5% from July 31, finishing Friday’s session at $16.01
First quarter fiscal 2027 revenue increased 17% from the prior year to $418 million
UiPath delivered GAAP operating income of $28 million, achieving profitability for the first time
The stock currently trades 20.8% higher than the $13.25 analyst consensus target
Second quarter outlook indicates a 4.9% sequential revenue decrease to $397.5 million at the midpoint
Shares of UiPath (PATH) finished Friday’s trading at $16.01, representing a 6.4% weekly gain and a remarkable 25.5% advance since the end of July. The stock’s current level now exceeds price targets set by major firms including UBS, BMO Capital, DA Davidson, and Bank of America.
This significant upward movement followed UiPath’s first quarter fiscal 2027 earnings release, which demonstrated tangible financial improvement. The automation software company’s revenue expanded 17% on a year-over-year basis to reach $418 million. Annual recurring revenue grew 12% to $1.901 billion. Most notably, the company achieved GAAP operating income of $28 million, representing its inaugural profitable quarter under generally accepted accounting principles.
The company added $49 million in net new ARR during the quarter, a meaningful improvement from the $27 million recorded in the comparable period of the previous year.
Chief Executive Officer Daniel Dines indicated that the company’s “agentic products are moving from pilot to production,” highlighting the strategic emphasis on AI-powered automation as a central element of future expansion.
Analyst Community Maintains Conservative Stance
Notwithstanding the strong share price performance, Wall Street analysts have maintained their reserved outlook on the stock. The consensus rating from 16 analysts remains at Neutral, with an average price target of $13.25. This suggests a potential downside of approximately 17% from Friday’s closing price.
UBS maintains a Hold recommendation with a $12 price objective. BMO Capital and DA Davidson similarly rate the shares as Hold with targets ranging from $12 to $13. Bank of America has assigned a Sell rating alongside a $13 target.
PATH is currently trading 34.5% above its 50-day moving average and 25.7% above its 200-day moving average. The 52-week high stands at $19.84, meaning shares remain approximately 19% below that level.
Thursday marked the stock’s largest single-session gain, rising 9.3% to reach $16.68 before experiencing a modest retreat on Friday. Friday’s trading volume totaled approximately 52.1 million shares, below the three-month daily average of 64.4 million.
Second Quarter Forecast Shows Sequential Decline
UiPath provided second quarter fiscal 2027 revenue guidance in the range of $395 million to $400 million. The $397.5 million midpoint represents a 4.9% sequential decline from the first quarter, though it marks a 9.8% increase compared to the second quarter of last year.
The company expects non-GAAP operating income of $75 million for the second quarter, a decrease from the $92 million achieved in the first quarter.
Management projects ARR will climb to $1.932 billion by the conclusion of the second quarter, representing a 1.6% sequential gain.
UiPath’s strong gross margin profile provides flexibility to continue investing in AI innovation and go-to-market activities while maintaining a debt-free balance sheet.
Customer attrition among smaller accounts represents a potential headwind. The majority of customer departures are concentrated in this segment, creating uncertainty around the pace of future net new ARR expansion.
Chief Accounting Officer Hitesh Ramani divested 50,000 PATH shares during Thursday and Friday’s sessions for approximately $831,250 in total proceeds. These transactions occurred under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan established in March, indicating they were predetermined rather than opportunistic sales. Ramani continues to hold 235,052 shares in direct ownership.
The company is scheduled to announce its next quarterly results on September 3 following the market close.
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Key Highlights
Berkshire Hathaway expanded its Alphabet stake by 48 million shares during Q2, representing an 83% surge that elevated the position to $37.8 billion and made it the portfolio’s third-largest holding.
Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office established a completely new Alphabet position in Q2, separate from Berkshire’s moves.
The two legendary investors also coincidentally purchased Delta Air Lines and D.R. Horton shares during the identical timeframe.
Alphabet delivered Q2 earnings of $9.11 per share against revenue of $119.8 billion, reflecting 24.2% annual growth.
GOOG shares changed hands at $343.54, supported by analyst consensus “Buy” recommendations and a mean price objective of $415.55.
Warren Buffett and Stanley Druckenmiller represent opposite ends of the investment spectrum. Buffett embodies the disciplined, long-term value investor from Omaha. Druckenmiller operates as a nimble macro strategist famous for his legendary bet against the British pound. Yet during Q2 2026, these two titans executed identical moves: they both accumulated Alphabet shares.
GOOG shares were priced at $343.54 heading into Friday’s session, operating within a 52-week trading band spanning $197.46 to $404.47. The technology behemoth commands a market valuation of $4.20 trillion alongside a price-to-earnings multiple of 17.25. Wall Street analysts maintain a collective “Buy” recommendation with a consensus price objective of $415.55.
Berkshire Hathaway accumulated approximately 48 million additional Alphabet shares throughout Q2, representing an 83% expansion. This acquisition pushed its total GOOG/GOOGL holdings to roughly 106 million shares valued at $37.8 billion, constituting 10.2% of the conglomerate’s stock portfolio. Alphabet now ranks as Berkshire’s third-largest equity investment, trailing only Apple at $70 billion and American Express at $51.9 billion.
Approximately 60% of these additional shares originated from Berkshire’s $10 billion private placement transaction with Alphabet completed in June, specifically designated for artificial intelligence infrastructure investments. The balance of roughly $7 billion represented secondary market acquisitions.
Buffett clarified to CNBC during a June interview that the Alphabet investment was his personal initiative, noting that Berkshire began establishing the position during Q3 2025. While he’s delegated routine portfolio management to CEO Greg Abel, Buffett confirmed they continue collaborating on significant capital allocation decisions.
Druckenmiller’s Separate Decision
Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Family Office, which manages $5.21 billion exclusively for his personal wealth, disclosed its Q2 13F filing revealing a completely fresh Alphabet investment. The regulatory document additionally unveiled new positions in Advanced Micro Devices and Fox, while Amazon holdings surged by over 1,000% and United Airlines stakes nearly tripled.
Druckenmiller completely eliminated positions in Broadcom, Intel, and Micron Technology during this identical quarter. These transactions showcase his characteristic approach as a focused sector rotator capable of executing swift portfolio adjustments without facing redemption constraints.
Both legendary investors also separately purchased Delta Air Lines and D.R. Horton shares during Q2. Berkshire expanded its Delta stake by 44% to reach 57.3 million shares. Druckenmiller launched a 603,000-share Delta position alongside a $48 million investment in D.R. Horton.
Solid Operating Performance Validates the Investments
Alphabet’s Q2 financial performance provided substantial justification for both investment decisions. The technology giant announced earnings of $9.11 per share, significantly exceeding the $2.87 analyst consensus forecast. Revenue reached $119.8 billion, surpassing projections of $116.53 billion while expanding 24.2% compared to the prior year.
Net profit margin registered at 54.77% with return on equity achieving 51.32%.
Alphabet additionally announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share, scheduled for September 14 distribution to shareholders registered as of September 7.
Among institutional investors, Jennison Associates reduced its holdings by 2.1% during Q2, divesting 303,257 shares while maintaining 14.01 million shares worth approximately $4.95 billion. Multiple other fund managers including Barclays, Franklin Resources, and Magellan similarly documented position reductions.
BMO Capital Markets elevated its price target to $465 accompanied by an “outperform” designation. Barclays maintained an “overweight” rating with a $425 objective. JPMorgan established a $420 target alongside an “overweight” recommendation.
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Key Highlights
Alibaba’s Qwen AI platform has achieved more than 3 billion total downloads worldwide, surpassing both Meta and Google in the process.
Hugging Face data shows Qwen accumulated 2.045 billion downloads in 2026, while Google reached 418 million and Meta hit 227 million.
The platform features more than 460 open-source models and has inspired over 300,000 derivative creations.
On Hugging Face, developers have built 151,448 Qwen-based models, representing 2.6 times the volume of Meta-based derivatives.
BABA shares rose 1.35% following the announcement, while META declined 0.86% and GOOG fell 0.12%.
Alibaba’s Qwen artificial intelligence model collection has achieved a remarkable milestone, exceeding 3 billion total downloads globally and establishing itself as the most widely downloaded open AI model worldwide, based on data released by Hugging Face on August 14.
BABA shares advanced 1.35% following the announcement. Meanwhile, META declined 0.86% and GOOG decreased 0.12%.
According to Hugging Face metrics, Qwen accumulated approximately 2.045 billion downloads throughout 2026. By comparison, Google’s models registered 418 million downloads, while Meta’s platforms garnered 227 million.
These Hugging Face statistics exclude activity from China’s ModelScope platform, indicating the actual global footprint extends well beyond the published figures.
Alibaba has made available over 460 Qwen models through open-source channels. This extensive collection has catalyzed the development of more than 300,000 derivative models created by external developers worldwide.
Within the Hugging Face ecosystem alone, developers have generated 151,448 derivative models based on Qwen technology. This volume represents 2.6 times the quantity of Meta-derived models and 4.7 times the number of Llama-related repositories.
Building a Virtuous Growth Cycle
The download figures only capture one dimension of the story. As more developers adopt Qwen, the number of derivative models multiplies, which in turn attracts additional users. This self-reinforcing dynamic represents a strategic advantage that Alibaba has been cultivating steadily.
The tech giant has strategically distributed Qwen through its cloud infrastructure to business clients across Southeast Asia and Africa, securing distribution channels that many competitors lack.
Hugging Face’s analysis characterized Qwen as “one of the largest foundations of the open AI ecosystem” and noted it has “become part of the default workflow for developers deciding what models to fine-tune and deploy.”
Qwen stands among DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax as Chinese AI developers narrowing the performance gap with proprietary US models from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Scale Advantage Emerging from Chinese Labs
The Hugging Face analysis identified another significant pattern: Chinese research laboratories are deploying larger-scale models compared to their American counterparts.
Throughout 2026, the largest Chinese open models ranged between 754 billion and 2.78 trillion parameters monthly. Meanwhile, the largest US open models remained under 130 billion parameters for most of that timeframe.
While parameter count doesn’t directly correlate with performance or efficiency, particularly with mixture-of-experts designs, the magnitude differential is noteworthy.
Chinese developers have additionally embraced permissive licensing frameworks. Among the 178 Chinese models exceeding 20 billion parameters documented in the analysis, 59% utilized Apache 2.0 licensing and 22% employed MIT licenses. Notably, none imposed non-commercial usage restrictions.
American technology companies are responding to this competitive pressure. Both Meta and Nvidia have unveiled new open AI models in recent weeks as the battle for developer adoption intensifies.
Alibaba’s achievement of surpassing 3 billion Qwen downloads signals a meaningful evolution in developer preferences and platform selection.
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