🔈🔈 CRYPTO MARKET NEWS UPDATE – AUGUST 18, 2026
💥 BTC is currently trading around $64,300, as the crypto market sees fresh developments across blockchain security, exchanges and global crypto regulation.
💎 Top News Today:
✔️ Harmony prepares blockchain rollback: Harmony plans to roll back Shard 0 and Shard 1 to before last week’s exploit after confirming that more than 3 trillion ONE tokens were forged. All blocks and transactions after the rollback point will be discarded.
✔️ BitMart faces mounting user concerns: Calls are growing for BitMart founder Sheldon Xia to disclose the exchange’s wallets, assets, liabilities and a repayment plan for affected users. BitMart has announced that trading will end on August 26, with operations scheduled to cease in January 2027.
✔️ Austria issues first published MiCA penalty: Austria’s financial regulator has fined Bitpanda €70,000, marking the country’s first published legally binding penalty under the EU’s MiCA framework. The violations involved white paper and marketing disclosures.
✔️ U.S. Treasury moves forward with GENIUS Act: The Treasury has opened a public-comment process for rules implementing the GENIUS Act, the U.S. legislation establishing a federal framework for payment stablecoins.
✔️ White House crypto meeting set for August 19: Crypto and prediction-market executives are expected to gather at the White House, with President Donald Trump expected to attend. Coinbase and Ripple executives are among those linked to the meeting.
📌 Today’s Focus:
Security and regulation remain at the center of the crypto market. Harmony’s planned rollback following the massive ONE token exploit highlights the continuing risks facing blockchain networks, while BitMart’s situation and new MiCA enforcement show that exchange oversight is becoming increasingly strict. Meanwhile, the U.S. is moving ahead with implementation of its new stablecoin framework.
💥 BTC is currently trading around $64,300, as the crypto market sees fresh developments across blockchain security, exchanges and global crypto regulation.
💎 Top News Today:
✔️ Harmony prepares blockchain rollback: Harmony plans to roll back Shard 0 and Shard 1 to before last week’s exploit after confirming that more than 3 trillion ONE tokens were forged. All blocks and transactions after the rollback point will be discarded.
✔️ BitMart faces mounting user concerns: Calls are growing for BitMart founder Sheldon Xia to disclose the exchange’s wallets, assets, liabilities and a repayment plan for affected users. BitMart has announced that trading will end on August 26, with operations scheduled to cease in January 2027.
✔️ Austria issues first published MiCA penalty: Austria’s financial regulator has fined Bitpanda €70,000, marking the country’s first published legally binding penalty under the EU’s MiCA framework. The violations involved white paper and marketing disclosures.
✔️ U.S. Treasury moves forward with GENIUS Act: The Treasury has opened a public-comment process for rules implementing the GENIUS Act, the U.S. legislation establishing a federal framework for payment stablecoins.
✔️ White House crypto meeting set for August 19: Crypto and prediction-market executives are expected to gather at the White House, with President Donald Trump expected to attend. Coinbase and Ripple executives are among those linked to the meeting.
📌 Today’s Focus:
Security and regulation remain at the center of the crypto market. Harmony’s planned rollback following the massive ONE token exploit highlights the continuing risks facing blockchain networks, while BitMart’s situation and new MiCA enforcement show that exchange oversight is becoming increasingly strict. Meanwhile, the U.S. is moving ahead with implementation of its new stablecoin framework.