Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Ethereums next big upgrade has 66 proposals, including a major privacy fix

SummaryEthereum developers are weighing whether to include Frame Transactions in the 2027 Hegotá upgrade, a change that would let users customize how transactions are approved, executed and paid for.Together with two related proposals, Keyed Nonces and EIP-8272, Frame Transactions aims to reduce the outside infrastructure needed for private payments on the blockchain, while leaving ordinary ether (ETH) transfers as transparent as they are today.Only one change has been approved so far — a censorship-related measure called FOCIL — and core developers will decide in coming meetings which of the remaining 66 will advance.　　Ethereum developers are deciding whether the blockchains next major upgrade, Hegotá, should make it easier to build private transactions without relying on middlemen.　　As with other blockchains, all Ethereum addresses are permanent and hold a running balance, so anyone can read an addresss full history and see what it holds. That presents a problem for payroll, treasury operations or anyone who would rather not publish their finances.　　Dealing with that has been left to applications built on top of Ethereum. A package now under consideration would move part of the job into the network itself.　　The centerpiece is Frame Transactions, or Ethereum Improvement Proposal 8141 (EIP-8141), which would let an account

08-17Industry

Israels largest crypto broker Bits of Gold hit by data breach affecting 200,000 customers

SummaryCryptocurrency broker Bits of Gold said hackers accessed personal data for about 200,000 customers via a breach at a third-party data analytics provider.The stolen information includes names, national ID numbers, emails, phone numbers, IP addresses, bank account details and public wallet addresses, but not funds, passwords, private keys or scanned IDs.The incident is part of a broader wave of crypto-related data breaches, following recent exposures at SafePal and Trezor linked to compromises at their external vendors.　　Cryptocurrency broker Bits of Gold said personal data belonging to roughly 200,000 customers was stolen by hackers, the company reported.　　The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company reported the security breach on Sunday, saying a hacker gained unauthorized access to a third-party data analytics network and,gained access to customers names, national ID numbers, emails, phone numbers, IP addresses, bank account details, and public wallet addresses.　　“Upon detection of the incident, we blocked access and disconnected the system from the information sources, so this access ended,” the company stated.　　Bits of Gold said no funds, private keys, passwords, CVV codes, or scanned ID documents were exposed. The broker said its initial findings indicate the attack was part of a broader global incident that hit other companies simultaneously.　　It is the third data

08-17Industry

Tudor Investment adds 109,446 shares to BlackRock Bitcoin ETF stake

Tudor Investment has increased its BlackRock Bitcoin ETF stake by 18.9% in the second quarter, ending a year-long run of reductions while cutting most of its reported call-option exposure to the fund.　　SummaryTudor Investment increased its BlackRock Bitcoin ETF stake by 18.9% in the second quarter.The hedge fund added 109,446 IBIT shares, taking its total holding to 688,529 shares worth about $22.9 million.Tudor cut its reported IBIT call options by about 85% while its put position remained roughly unchanged.The purchase ended a year-long run of reductions from Tudors late 2024 peak of more than 8 million IBIT shares.　　The Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted on Aug. 14 showed that the macro hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Tudor Jones held 688,529 shares of BlackRocks iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, as of June 30, up from 579,083 shares at the end of March.　　Tudor added 109,446 shares during the quarter, taking the reported value of the position to about $22.9 million. The purchase reversed the direction of its IBIT holdings after the firm spent much of 2025 reducing a position that had once exceeded 8 million shares.　　At the end of 2024, Tudor held more than 8 million IBIT shares worth roughly $427 million.

08-17Industry

XRP Futures Activity on Binance Prints Bullish Signal With 29% Surge

XRP is still struggling to recover from its recent price correction that caused its price to retest its multi-year low at $0.98, but its derivatives market on Binance is providing a different signal.　　While the high price volatility has drawn attention towards XRP, the latest data from crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant shows that XRPs derivatives market on Binance has seen a sharp increase in activity this month.　　Currencies s behind XRPs 29% OI surge？　　The data further showed that XRP open interest on Binance had climbed from about $181 million on August 3 to $232.7 million on August 17.　　As such, the Binance XRP OI saw a sharp increase of 28.6% over the last two weeks, bringing the XRP futures market to its highest level since June 2026.　　While this has come during a period of heightened volatility and consistent price declines, it appears the sharp OI surge is being driven largely by intense bearish positioning by traders rather than renewed bullish demand.　　Not a bullish signal？　　The analyst further provided extended data of XRPs seven-day open interest trend, showing that XRPs open interest change on Binance moved from about -$40 million on July 29 to +$38.9 million on August 17. This further proves that fresh positions

08-17Industry

Dutch prosecutors sell Knakens seized crypto for €2.2M after exchange goes bankrupt

Dutch prosecutors have sold cryptocurrency seized from bankrupt trading platform Knaken for €2.2 million ($2.5 million), leaving the proceeds as the only money currently available in an estate facing customer claims estimated at €10 million to €12 million.　　Dutch regional broadcaster Rijnmond reported that court-appointed trustee Carl Hamm has contacted about 6,300 former customers and warned them to temper expectations as he works through the failed platforms finances.　　The sale follows Knakens July bankruptcy, which crypto.news previously reported was ordered by a Rotterdam court on July 16 after the Dutch Public Prosecution Service sought to have the company wound up in the public interest. Prosecutors had alleged that roughly €7 million in customer funds could not be accounted for, while the court found the company did not have enough assets to repay users in full.　　Knaken had already stopped operating in early June, cutting customers off from the app through which they had bought, traded and stored cryptocurrency.　　Knaken customers face a large gap between claims and available cash　　Hamm estimated that customers put between €10 million and €12 million into Knaken, compared with the €2.2 million now held by the bankruptcy estate following the crypto sale.　　Explaining how customer positions were structured, the trustee said

08-17Industry

Shiba Inu Alert: Fake Migration Scams Target Shibarium Users

Shiba Inu users have received a fresh warning as fake token migration narratives emerge in the community.　　In this regard, longtime Shiba Inu community member and Shiba Eternity game advisor Mazrael stated in an X post that scammers have been promoting fake migration information through Telegram channels.　　Mazrael claimed that an account identified as someonesmart has been promoting a Telegram group connected to fake migration claims. The individual, obviously a scammer, posted their Telegram group details in the Bone ShibaSwap Telegram group after sharing it on the Shibarium Telegram group.　　“someonesmart has now also put their TG with a fake migration they put on the ShibariumTech TG in the Bone ShibaSwap TG (after muting our official channels and banning devs in the TG),” Mazrael wrote. “They have nothing to do with ShibaSwap or Shibarium,” he added.　　In this light, Shiba Inu users are urged to use legitimate tokens in the Shiba Inu ecosystem, including SHIB, BONE, LEASH, and TREAT, as well as official channels.　　Track Market Trends　　Mazrael reiterates that “No migration is taking place,” adding, “If you want to stake your BONE on Shibarium or use your real tokens on ShibaSwap, you use the real tokens.”　　Those staking BONE on Shibarium should not be persuaded to

08-17Industry

Bitcoin tracks equity bounce, but $390 million ETF outflow week keeps bulls on back foot

SummaryU.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded four days of outflows last week, shedding a net $390 million, their largest weekly withdrawal in six weeks. Solana ETFs bucked the trend with their strongest weekly inflows since May.Galaxy Digitals head of research, Alex Thorn, cut his odds on the Clarity Act becoming law in 2026 to roughly 10%, down from 75% in May.Bitcoin has rising 0.77% since midnight UTC, while Nasdaq 100 index futures have gained 0.5% to their highest level since July 2.CoinMarketCaps Fear and Greed index sits at 38/100, a “fear” reading, and the Altcoin Season Index is at 46, showing altcoin strength recovering from the Aug. 7 low of 36.　　Bitcoin steadied above $63,000 on Monday, clawing back a fraction of last weeks losses with a 0.8% gain since midnight UTC.　　Without an obvious catalyst, the largest cryptocurrency appears to be tracking U.S. equities. Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 0.5% to their highest point since July 2.　　Any positive reading will need to take into account last weeks net $390 million outflow from spot exchange-traded funds, including the first three-day stretch since the end of July. That was the largest weekly withdrawal from U.S. spot bitcoin products in six weeks.　　Ether ETFs flows

08-17Industry

Harmony plans chain rollback as forged ONE spreads across network

Harmony has proposed rolling back its blockchain to two Aug. 11 checkpoints, a recovery plan that would discard more than 109,000 regular transactions as the network removes ONE created through a forged mint.　　SummaryHarmony plans to roll back its blockchain to two checkpoints from Aug. 11 following a forged ONE mint.More than 109,000 regular transactions and 315 staking transactions would be discarded under the recovery plan.One forged mint wallet moved 2.385 trillion ONE through 477 successful transfers in 106 seconds.Harmony said exchanges, bridges and law enforcement are assisting with the investigation.　　According to Harmonys latest incident update on X, validators would retain shard 0 block 92,730,034 and shard 1 block 94,978,278, both recorded at 11:25:37 p.m. UTC on Aug. 11, before restarting the network from replacement databases built around those checkpoints.　　https://t.co/EKDqnqTuDk　　— Harmony ???? (@harmonyprotocol) August 17, 2026　　Under the plan, new blocks would begin at heights 92,730,035 on shard 0 and 94,978,279 on shard 1. Harmony said client version v2026.1.2 has been configured to reject the abnormal block hashes linked to the incident, preventing validators from accepting the affected chain history after the restart.　　The first confirmed forged mint reached shard 0 at block 92,730,036, according to the network. Block 92,730,035 contained no regular

08-17Industry

Paul Tudor Jones' Firm Buys Back Into BlackRock Bitcoin ETF After a Year of Selling

In briefTudor Investment increased its stake in BlackRocks IBIT to 688,529 shares (~$22.9 million) as of June 30, an 18.9% jump from the prior quarter, reversing a year of selling, per its latest 13F filing.The firm also cut its reported IBIT call options by about 85% while keeping puts roughly flat, suggesting a move from leveraged positions toward straightforward spot exposure—though the stake remains far below its late-2024 peak of over 8 million shares.The buying, from a longtime Bitcoin-as-inflation-hedge advocate, lands amid renewed institutional ETF interest.　　Tudor Investment, the macro hedge fund founded by billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, added to its stake in BlackRocks spot Bitcoin ETF last quarter, reversing a year-long stretch of selling.　　The Connecticut firm held 688,529 shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, valued at about $22.9 million as of June 30, according to a 13F filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 14.　　Myriad: Bitcoins next move？ Click to make your prediction.　　That marks an 18.9% jump from the 579,083 shares it reported at the end of March, a net addition of 109,446 shares.　　The increase is modest in the context of Tudors roughly $100 billion-plus in assets, amounting to a fraction of a percent of

08-17Industry

Bitcoin miner HIVE inks five-year $350 million AI cloud contract, adds $70 million in annualized revenue

Quick TakeHIVEs BUZZ HPC signed a five-year, $350 million GPU cloud agreement with an unnamed investment-grade enterprise customer.The deal adds roughly $70 million in annualized revenue and is HIVEs second large GPU cluster deal in two months.　　Bitcoin miner HIVE Digital Technologies (HIVE) has signed a five-year GPU cloud services agreement worth about $350 million through its BUZZ High Performance Computing subsidiary, expanding its AI business with a second big deal in two months.　　HIVE did not name the counterparty, describing it only as an investment-grade enterprise customer.　　The contract adds roughly $70 million in annualized revenue and brings BUZZ HPCs total annualized revenue to about $180 million, split between $35 million realized today and $145 million contracted to come online through the fourth quarter of 2026, HIVE said.　　BUZZ HPC will build a dedicated cluster of 2,016 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs in GB300 NVL72 rack-scale systems, wired with Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking and VAST Data storage, based on NVIDIAs reference architecture.　　The system is expected to go live later this year at the Bell AI Fabric facility in Merritt, British Columbia, which runs on renewable hydroelectric power and closed-loop liquid cooling.　　Capital expenditure for the deployment is about $185 million. The buildout is supported by a

08-17Industry

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