Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | August 28, 2024

Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Bitcoin and Ethereum Market Updates

• Bitcoin's Volatility Intensifies with a Drop Below $60,000
• Ethereum Faces Bearish Pressure Amid Large Whale Sell-Offs

ETF Market Updates

• U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs Face $127M Net Outflow

Legal and Regulatory Developments

• Telegram CEO Faces French Court Over Alleged Platform Misuse

Blockchain and DeFi Innovations

• Sony Launches Minato Testnet and Spark Incubator
• Mezo Launches stBTC Token for Bitcoin Layer 2 DeFi Integration
• Tron Blockchain Reduces Gas Fees by 50% to Boost Transactions
• Solayer Labs Closes $12M Funding for Solana Restaking Protocol

Crypto Exchanges and Platforms

• Hamster Kombat Token to Debut on Binance and Bybit
• BNB Chain Bridge Fosters Cross-Chain Interoperability
• Aave Periphery Contract Hacked, $56K Stolen from Tip Jar
• WazirX Enters Moratorium After $234M Hack, CoinSwitch Pursues Legal Action

Token and Memecoin Updates

• PHIL Memecoin Surpasses $100M Market Cap Post-Launch
• Aethir and Auros Team Up to Enhance ATH Token Transparency

Stablecoin and Governance Issues

• MakerDAO Clarifies USDS Stablecoin Freeze Function Amid Criticism

Fraud and Security Concerns

• Haru Invest CEO Faces Embezzlement Charges Amidst Fraud Trial

NFT Market Developments

• NFT Marketplaces Blur and Tensor Decline After OpenSea SEC Notice
• Magic Eden Unveils Mint Terminal to Simplify NFT Minting

Bitcoin's Volatility Intensifies with a Drop Below $60,000

Bitcoin's volatility has intensified, with prices dipping below $60,000 multiple times in 2024, reflecting a fierce battle between bulls and bears. Today, Bitcoin dropped nearly 6% to $58,800 amid broader market declines and skepticism about Fed policy. Despite a recent test of the $58,000 support, Bitcoin aims for $61,500 as traders eye potential gains. Simultaneously, Tether and Dai wallet creations have surged, signaling new capital entering the market. The recent drop also saw $110 million in liquidations and $127 million in ETF outflows.

Ethereum Faces Bearish Pressure Amid Large Whale Sell-Offs

Ethereum (ETH) faced significant bearish pressure, exacerbated by large-scale sell-offs from whales like Jump Trading and Wintermute. ETH's price dropped to around $2,425 before recovering to $2,500, still marking a 3% decline. Prominent players, including the Ethereum Foundation and Amber Group, liquidated substantial ETH holdings, with losses reaching nearly $4 million for some whales. Wintermute alone transferred $43.41 million worth of ETH to Binance, raising concerns of further price drops.

U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs Face $127M Net Outflow

US spot bitcoin ETFs experienced a net outflow of $127 million, ending an eight-day streak of positive flows. The outflows were led by Ark & 21Shares' ARKB with negative flows of $101.97 million. Ether ETFs also reported their ninth consecutive day of net outflows, totaling $3.45 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs also saw a $3.45M outflow yesterday, marking a consecutive 9 days of negative flows.

Telegram CEO Faces French Court Over Alleged Platform Misuse

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was moved from custody to a French court for questioning regarding Telegram’s alleged role in allowing illegal content on its platform. French authorities have accused Telegram of insufficient moderation, leading to its use by criminal groups. The arrest has sparked criticism from figures like Edward Snowden and Elon Musk. The TON blockchain, associated with Telegram, faced an outage linked to the Dogs memecoin but has since resumed normal operations.

Sony Launches Minato Testnet and Spark Incubator

Sony Block Solutions Labs launched the "Minato" testnet for Soneium, its forthcoming Ethereum Layer 2, fostering early communities and gathering valuable feedback. Additionally, Soneium unveiled Spark, an incubator offering up to $100,000 in investment for DeFi, NFT, gaming, and social projects. The program aims to onboard 30 projects into its first cohort and has support from strategic partners and venture capital firms.

Mezo Launches stBTC Token for Bitcoin Layer 2 DeFi Integration

Mezo, a Bitcoin Layer 2 network by Thesis, has launched the stBTC token, allowing users to earn while maintaining exposure to Bitcoin. Users can mint stBTC by depositing WBTC or tBTC on Mezo. It aims to enhance Bitcoin's DeFi integration, with staking rewards increasing the token's value, combatting economically trapped deposits. Mezo has garnered significant user engagement and funding. 

Tron Blockchain Reduces Gas Fees by 50% to Boost Transactions

The Tron blockchain has reduced SunPump gas fees by 50%, promoting increased market share and daily transactions. SunPump increased competitiveness and highlighted the rise of meme coins on Tron. Justin Sun aimed for 20 million daily transactions and emphasized Tron's competitive edge. However, skepticism lingers due to Sun's controversial reputation and concerns about SunPump's ability to outperform Pump.fun.

Solayer Labs Closes $12M Funding for Solana Restaking Protocol

Solayer Labs, the company behind Solana's restaking protocol Solayer, recently closed a $12 million funding round led by Polychain Capital and HackVC. With a focus on enhancing scalability and security on Solana, Solayer aims to emulate EigenLayer's shared economic security approach. The protocol has achieved a TVL of $190 million with 100 unique deposit addresses.  

Hamster Kombat Token to Debut on Binance and Bybit

Hamster Kombat, a popular P2E game, is set to debut its token on Binance, Bybit, and Gate.io on September 26, 2024, with anticipation for a large airdrop around September 23, 2024. The listing price is expected to range between $0.001 and $0.1, dependent on user engagement, airdrop impact, and market sentiment.

BNB Chain Bridge Fosters Cross-Chain Interoperability

BNB Chain's official crypto bridge, the BNB Chain Bridge, fosters cross-chain interoperability and liquidity. It connects to various chains and Layer 2 networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Avalanche. The bridge integrates state channel-based technology from Celer, robust interoperability framework from deBridge, and cross-chain liquidity solutions from Stargate, enhancing overall transaction efficiency. 

Aave Periphery Contract Hacked, $56K Stolen from Tip Jar

Aave's periphery contract was hacked, resulting in a $56,000 theft from a "tip jar." The attack, identified across multiple networks, exploited the ParaSwapRepayAdapter contract. Despite reassurances from Aave's leadership, the incident reignited previous security concerns and friction with other DeFi entities. No user funds were reportedly at risk during the attack.  

WazirX Enters Moratorium After $234M Hack, CoinSwitch Pursues Legal Action

WazirX is under a 30-day moratorium due to a $234 million hack, allowing time to draft a restructuring plan. CoinSwitch intends to pursue legal action to recover approximately $9.6 million in digital assets from WazirX. WazirX plans to distribute the hack's impact among users and collaborate with stakeholders, while CoinSwitch maintains a 1:1 ratio for user holdings.  

PHIL Memecoin Surpasses $100M Market Cap Post-Launch

A memecoin named PHIL, linked to Ethereum's Genesis block, swiftly amassed a market capitalization exceeding $100 million post-launch. With a max supply of 1 billion tokens, over 1,000 holders include top holders with significant quantities. Trading on Uniswap, PHIL saw meteoric volume growth and significant profits for early investors.  

Aethir and Auros Team Up to Enhance ATH Token Transparency

Aethir and Auros have teamed up to enhance ATH token transparency and efficiency. Aethir's $36 million annual revenue will be seamlessly converted into ATH tokens for computing services using Auros' algorithmic trading expertise. The partnership aims to provide clear insights into how ATH tokens power the ecosystem, ensuring trust and streamlined integration for enterprise clients. 

MakerDAO Clarifies USDS Stablecoin Freeze Function Amid Criticism

In response to backlash over the freeze function of the USDS stablecoin, MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen clarified that the function at the stablecoin's launch was a protocol upgrade, with potential implementation of a freeze function in the future subject to governance decisions to mitigate risk factors. This aims to address concerns regarding the protocol's decentralization.  

Haru Invest CEO Faces Embezzlement Charges Amidst Fraud Trial

Hugo Hyungsoo Lee, CEO of Haru Invest, faced an attack during a fraud trial amid embezzlement charges and is under police investigation. Allegations suggest mismanagement of $826 million belonging to 16,000 users, claiming risk-free investment techniques for high yields. South Korea's new crypto regulations are geared towards real-time monitoring, ensuring exchanges comply with legal obligations.