Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Bitcoin ETFs Just Had Their Biggest Day Since May—BlackRock Took 83% of It

In briefU.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $606.29 million on August 20, their largest single-day haul since May 1 and a fourth straight day of inflows.BlackRocks IBIT accounted for $502.99 million of that—about 83%, up from 55% the day before, while VanEcks HODL posted an outflow.Ethereum funds added $221 million, XRP $13 million, and Solana $15 million, with every listed asset drawing money.　　U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $606.29 million on Thursday, their biggest single-day haul since May 1, according to SoSoValue. That beats Wednesdays $517.19 million and extends the inflow streak to four sessions.　　The four-day run—$297.56 million Monday, $189.30 million Tuesday, then Wednesday and Thursday—comes to roughly $1.61 billion in all. August now stands at $2.07 billion, the best month of 2026, beating Aprils $1.97 billion, with seven trading sessions left to close the gap.　　One fund took almost all of it　　Bitcoin ETFs are financial instruments that give investors exposure to an asset without directly owning it. In the case of Bitcoin ETFs, the issuer of the fund holds the coin, and the investor owns a 1:1 equivalent, gaining exposure to the price of Bitcoin in real time.　　Myriad: Bitcoin price next move？ Click to make your prediction.　　These funds have been

08-22Industry

Solana Company rejects SOL inflation and fee plans

Solana Company has backed Solanas proposed constitution while opposing two economic plans that could cut token issuance by 18.9 million SOL and raise daily token burns as voting opens on Aug. 22.　　SummarySolana Company will support SGP-0001 and vote against SGP-0002 and SGP-0003.SGP-0002 could reduce projected SOL emissions by 18.9 million tokens over six years.The Nasdaq-listed company said changing staking and fee rules could discourage institutions.Successful governance votes would guide policy but would not automatically activate either proposal.　　The company said in an Aug. 21 press release that it will vote for SGP-0001, known as the Solana Constitution, while opposing SGP-0002, the Double Disinflation Rate proposal, and SGP-0003, the Resource and Inclusion Fee proposal.　　On-chain voting for the first three Solana Governance Proposals is expected to begin on Aug. 22. Solana Company, which trades on Nasdaq under the HSDT ticker, operates institutional validator infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region and earns staking revenue from its SOL treasury.　　Its support for SGP-0001 rests on the proposed constitutions voting structure. Under the system, staking participants receive transparent votes weighted by their stake, while token holders retain the power to override votes cast by the operators managing their delegated SOL.　　According to the company, the structure gives financial institutions

08-22Industry

Behind 22% LINK Rally: What Chris Barrett Meant by 'You Can't Spell Chainlink Without AI'

Chainlinks native token (LINK) is ending the week with a strong 22.05% gain, reaching $11.45 on TradingView. Positive capital momentum has been building over the past seven days amid hearings before a CFTC advisory committee and the commercial rollout of the projects new AI platform.　　LINK price chart and Chris Barretts post on X. Source: TradingView　　Commenting on these developments, the companys communications director, Chris Barrett, quipped on social media today: “You cant spell Chainlink without AI.” The play on words directly refers to the projects infrastructure expansion into the autonomous machine sector.　　Inside Chainlinks move into AI and U.S. regulation　　The developers are targeting practical demand as AI systems and robots operating 24/7 cannot rely on the traditional banking system because of its delays and limited operating hours.　　Launched in mid-August under the mission “The Onchain Engine for the Agentic Economy”, the Chainlink for Agents platform addresses the problem of machine payments by serving as a verified data layer for AI agents settling transactions in stablecoins through the CCIP protocol.　　The practical value of these rails is confirmed by the speed of their commercial adoption: Robinhood and BitGo have already begun integrating the AI layer.　　At the same time, Chainlinks leadership is building a regulatory foundation

08-21Industry

Solana cuts blockchain slot time to 350 milliseconds

Solana reduced its slot time to 350 milliseconds, marking the first such reduction since the inception of the network, according to the Solana Foundations vice president of technology, Jacob Creech.　　“Were in a new era of 350ms. Next stop, 300ms,” Creech said in a Friday X post.　　Average slot times on Solana stood at 360ms at press time, down from the networks original 400ms target, according to the Solana slot time explorer.　　In June, the Solana Foundation shared plans to reduce slot times from 400ms to 200ms, arguing that it would improve latency and accelerate confirmations on the blockchain network. Three further 50ms reductions are planned.　　All four stages are targeted for mainnet activation in Agave v4.2, a validator client developed by Anza, though the schedule is tentative.　　SIMD-0525, the proposal establishing the shorter slot times, was approved and merged on May 14.　　Magazine: Efforts to bulletproof Ethereum are paying off in user metrics

08-21Industry

Binance says employees questioned in UAE cleared and released

Binance employees detained in the United Arab Emirates were cleared and released after providing statements about third-party fund flows through a company client money account, a spokesperson for the exchange told Cointelegraph.　　The New York Times reported Thursday that two Binance employees were detained after being stopped at airports in the UAE amid police inquiries into possible financial crimes involving the exchange.　　The employees were not the targets or subjects of what Binance described as “routine inquiries.”　　“Cryptocurrency and the mechanics of institutional client money accounts remain emerging concepts in many jurisdictions; we are working constructively with Dubai Police and authorities across other Emirates to establish clear, appropriate coordination procedures,” the spokesperson said.　　In 2024, Nigerian authorities detained Tigran Gambaryan, then Binances head of financial crime compliance, for eight months while he faced money laundering charges.　　By October 2024, the Nigerian government had dopped all charges against Gambaryan.　　Magazine: How the EUs crypto tax rules are expected to work for users and platforms

08-21Industry

Standard Chartered says Bitcoin could retest $126K before year-end

Bitcoin has climbed about 24% over the past week to around $76,844, prompting Standard Chartered to say its $100,000 year-end forecast may now be too low as the cryptocurrency moves closer to its $126,000 all-time high.　　SummaryBitcoin has risen about 24% over the past week to around $76,844.Standard Chartered says its $100,000 year-end Bitcoin forecast may now be too low.Geoff Kendrick sees a potential move toward the $126,000 record after Oct. 6.Short liquidations and recovering spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have supported the rally.　　According to Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartereds global head of digital asset research, the latest Bitcoin rally has been driven mainly by short liquidations, while recovering inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds could provide another source of demand if the advance continues.　　Kendrick said in a Friday note shared with crypto media that low open interest across the market also leaves room for investors to rebuild positions as Bitcoin rises. A combination of forced buying from short sellers and returning ETF demand has helped BTC recover rapidly after spending much of the past two months around the $60,000 to $65,000 range.　　“For the first time this year there is now a risk my end year forecast (of USD100k) is too low,”

08-21Industry

Bitcoin Climbs Higher as $1.2 Billion in Shorts Liquidated

In briefBitcoin climbed 7.9% over 24 hours to around $77,137—up 23.2% on the week—after touching an intraday high of $79,320.The rally triggered a short squeeze, with CoinGlass logging about $1.5 billion in total crypto liquidations across 178,777 traders in 24 hours—roughly $1.21 billion of it in shorts.The surge follows a week of bullish Washington sentiment, including Trump backing the Clarity Act and signaling regulators are working to bring Hyperliquid onshore..　　Bitcoin extended its rally on Friday, punishing traders who had bet against it and wiping out more than a billion dollars in bearish positions.　　The largest cryptocurrency changed hands around $77,137, up 7.9% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data, after touching an intraday high of $79,320. The move capped a strong week that left Bitcoin up 23.2% over seven days, even as it remained down roughly 31.8% from a year ago.　　Myriad: Bitcoin next price move？ Click to make your prediction.　　The surge steamrolled leveraged short sellers. CoinGlass data showed about $1.5 billion in total crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours across 178,777 traders, with short positions accounting for roughly $1.21 billion of that sum.　　Bitcoin alone drove about $17.25 million in liquidations on the one-hour heatmap, and the single largest

08-21Industry

Michael Saylor Returns to Profit as Bitcoin Reclaims $79,000

Bitcoin veteran and vocal advocate Michael Saylor is finally back in profits as his unmatched resilience and Bitcoin conviction begin to pay off following the ongoing market rally.　　Merchant Services s Bitcoin position　　Known for his aggressive Bitcoin purchases, Michael Saylor had continued to stack up on Bitcoin even during periods of extreme volatility, until recently, when he began to boost his companys cash reserves instead.　　Following his consistent purchases, Saylors Bitcoin treasury portfolio now stands at 840,447 BTC, which was worth about $63.61 billion per its cost basis at around $75,000.　　While Bitcoin is seeing a notable shift in market sentiment, the leading crypto asset has surged massively by over 10% over the last day to reclaim its multi-month high of $79,000.　　Strategy reclaims 2.4% of its BTC gains　　With Bitcoin now trading near the crucial $80,000 mark, Michael Saylors Strategy is back in profit as its total Bitcoin holdings are now worth about $65.24 billion.　　Merchant Services s Bitcoin holdings, the firm has yet to recover all its profits as its realized losses still sit around $103.58 million.

08-21Industry

Solana cuts slot time to 350ms for first time since network launch

Solana has reduced its target slot time from 400 milliseconds to 350ms for the first time since the network launched, starting a four-stage plan that could eventually bring slots down to 200ms.　　SummarySolana has reduced its target slot time from 400ms to 350ms for the first time since the network launched.The change is the first stage of SIMD-0525, which plans further reductions to 300ms, 250ms and 200ms.Shorter slots are designed to reduce confirmation latency while network resource limits are adjusted proportionally.The remaining stages are targeted for Agave v4.2, although the activation schedule remains tentative.　　Solana Foundation vice president of technology Jacob Creech announced the change on Aug. 21, saying the network had entered “a new era of 350ms” before adding, “Next stop, 300ms.”　　Solana has officially reduced its slot time for the first time since its inception　　Were in a new era of 350ms　　Next stop, 300ms pic.twitter.com/GItTzfL6vB　　— Jacob Creech (@jacobvcreech) August 21, 2026　　Average slot times were running at around 360ms at the time of writing, according to Solana‘s slot time explorer, compared with the network’s original 400ms target.　　The change is the first step under SIMD-0525, a Solana improvement proposal that introduces four progressively shorter slot configurations at 350ms, 300ms, 250ms and 200ms. The proposal

08-21Industry

Morning Minute: CFTC Will Give Crypto Clarity If Congress Wont

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt.　　GM!　　Todays top news:Crypto majors are up another 5-10% with BTC leading; BTC at $77.4kThe BTC ETFs saw $606M in inflows and ETH had $219M, new local highsOver $1.2B in crypto shorts liquidated in past 24 hours, nearly $5B in 2 daysCFTC Chair says he‘ll write the crypto rules himself if Congress won’tPump Fun posts 2 biggest back-to-back revenue days since January, PUMP +25%　　????️ CFTC Chair Says He‘ll Write Crypto Rules Himself If Congress Won’t　　The Clarity Act has been stuck in the Senate since lawmakers left for August recess without a procedural vote, still short of the roughly six Democratic votes it needs to clear 60. On Thursday, CFTC Chair Michael Selig told a room full of crypto executives that if the bill stays stuck, his agency will build the framework without them.　　“If Clarity continues to stall because of Democrat obstruction, the CFTC will utilize its existing authorities to begin establishing a regime for crypto asset markets,” Selig said at the inaugural meeting of the agency‘s Innovation Advisory Committee. He’s already started. Staff have been directed

08-21Industry

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