In today's crypto news, Ethereum's potential for significant growth in the stablecoin sector has been highlighted by JPMorgan analysts. With Ethereum hosting most stablecoins, either directly or indirectly through Layer-2 networks, the network stands to benefit from the expected rapid expansion of this sector. This growth is predicted to outpace the overall crypto market, with the stablecoin sector potentially reaching a market value of $500 billion by 2028. This development could have significant implications for legal and financial professionals working in the Web3 space, as the increased activity on Ethereum's network could impact the asset's price due to the removal of transaction fees from circulation, thereby increasing its scarcity.
In other news, Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk has suspended customer withdrawals following suspicious transfers amounting to nearly $50 million. This incident underscores the increasing sophistication of hackers in the crypto space, highlighting the need for robust security measures and regulatory oversight.
Meanwhile, the crypto market is experiencing significant activity, with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high and Ethereum ETF inflows seeing the second-largest inflows ever recorded. This suggests a resurgence of interest in these digital assets, providing further opportunities for institutional investors.
Finally, the founder of Tron, Justin Sun, has filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg for allegedly disclosing his private financial information. This case could set a precedent for privacy rights in the crypto space, emphasizing the need for clear guidelines on the disclosure of sensitive financial information.
In summary, these developments underscore the importance of regulatory compliance, robust security measures, and strategic investment decisions in the rapidly evolving crypto market.
The following article summaries have been sourced from Decrypt, CryptoSlate, NewsBTC, and Crypto Briefing. Each summary includes a direct link to the original source.
JPMorgan analysts have highlighted Ethereum's potential for significant growth in the stablecoin sector, according to a recent note. The analysts believe that Ethereum provides a direct avenue to benefit from the expected rapid expansion of stablecoins, as the Ethereum network hosts most of these assets, either directly or indirectly through Layer-2 networks. This comes despite recent questions about the value of Layer-2 networks. The analysts also noted that the growth of stablecoins is outpacing the overall crypto market.
Ethereum's dominance in the stablecoin sector is significant, with $138 billion worth of stablecoins issued on the network, accounting for 51% of the $270 billion sector. JPMorgan analysts predict that the sector could reach a market value of $500 billion by 2028, a conservative estimate compared to UK bank Standard Chartered's prediction of $750 billion by the end of 2026. The increased activity on Ethereum's network can impact the asset's price due to the removal of transaction fees from circulation, thereby increasing its scarcity. This dynamic has, at times, counterbalanced Ethereum issued through staking. The analysts also pointed to the passage of the GENIUS Act as a catalyst for increased activity in decentralized finance, NFTs, and spot markets, particularly in the US.
Turkish cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk has suspended customer withdrawals following suspicious transfers amounting to nearly $50 million. The exchange is currently conducting a detailed investigation into these transactions. This comes after blockchain security firms flagged the unusual movement of funds from the platform. BtcTurk has assured its users that their assets are safe, stating that the majority of user assets are securely held in their cold wallets and will not be affected by the current situation.
This is not the first time BtcTurk has faced such an issue. In 2024, the exchange lost $54 million to hackers, primarily in Avalanche (AVAX) tokens, marking one of the biggest hacks of that year. The recent suspicious transfers, as noted by blockchain security firm Peckshield, were mostly in Ethereum (ETH), but also included transactions in AVAX, Arbitrum (ARB), and other tokens. This incident underscores the increasing sophistication of hackers in the crypto space, with 2025 already witnessing significant crypto losses, including a $1.4 billion theft from digital asset exchange Bybit in February.
The crypto market is experiencing significant activity, with Bitcoin (BTC) hitting a new all-time high before experiencing a pullback. Ethereum (ETH) ETF inflows have seen the second-largest inflows ever recorded, indicating a strong interest in the altcoin. Google searches for altcoins have reached their highest level since 2021, suggesting a resurgence of interest in these digital assets. Notably, Murano plans to purchase $500 million worth of BTC.
In other news, Eric Trump has stated that banking discrimination led him to explore cryptocurrencies. Stargate is seeking alternative buy-outs to LayerZero, while Google has lifted its ban on non-custodial crypto wallets. An Estonian banker's lost wallet now contains more than $1 billion in ETH. MetaMask is expected to announce a stablecoin this week. Meanwhile, Coinbase has lost $300,000 in a minor extracted value (MEV) exploit, and Justin Sun is suing Bloomberg over forthcoming stories. In international news, Indonesia has canceled the launch of its digital payment tracker, and Vietnam is establishing a state crypto exchange. Matt Huang is set to lead Stripe's L1.
Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg for allegedly disclosing his private financial information in its Billionaires Index profile. Sun claims that Bloomberg intended to publish highly confidential details about his crypto holdings, which he argues would cause significant and irreparable harm both financially and personally due to the sensitive nature of the data. Sun asserts that he provided Bloomberg with some information about his crypto portfolio solely for verification purposes and under the condition that it would not be published without his consent.
Bloomberg has responded to the lawsuit, stating that it will challenge both the lawsuit and the temporary restraining order (TRO) that Sun requested. The media outlet argues that the TRO is irrelevant as the article had already been published before it received a cease-and-desist letter from Sun's legal team. Bloomberg further claimed that blocking publication would infringe on its First Amendment rights. According to Bloomberg's report, Sun's net worth is estimated to be $12.4 billion, with most of his wealth tied to digital assets, including more than 60 billion TRX tokens, 17,000 Bitcoin, 224,000 Ethereum, and 700,000 Tether USD (USDT).
Ethereum's staking network is currently facing significant withdrawal pressure, with the validator exit queue experiencing its longest wait time in months. As of August 14, stakers are having to wait an average of 12 days before they can fully withdraw their funds, a significant increase from the usual less than a day turnaround time. As of the time of reporting, approximately 698,575 ETH, equivalent to roughly $3.28 billion, are queued for withdrawal. In contrast, only about 105,000 ETH, valued at approximately $472 million, are currently entering the network.
DeFi analyst Ignas has pointed out that the recent surge in withdrawals is primarily concentrated among the top three liquid staking token (LST) providers, namely Lido, EtherFi, and Coinbase. These platforms enable users to stake ETH while maintaining liquidity through derivative tokens. Ignas attributes the increase in withdrawals from these platforms to the unwinding of leveraged ETH positions in order to capture higher yields. Other factors potentially influencing this trend include a widening stETH/ETH depeg, large positions being taken in anticipation of upcoming ETH staking ETFs, and long-term stakers taking advantage of Ethereum’s recent price rally to withdraw funds from the staking program and realize gains.
BtcTurk, a prominent Turkish crypto exchange, has fallen victim to a major cyberattack, resulting in the loss of approximately $48 million in digital assets. The stolen funds were reportedly moved across various networks, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, Mantle, and Polygon, with the majority being transferred to just two addresses. The exchange confirmed the hack, stating that only hot wallets were affected and assuring users that most assets, stored in cold wallets, remain safe. The incident has not affected customer holdings, and trading operations, including Turkish Lira transactions, continue as usual.
This is not the first time BtcTurk has been targeted; a similar incident occurred roughly a year ago, resulting in losses exceeding $55 million. In both instances, only a portion of the cryptocurrencies in hot wallets were affected, while cold wallet holdings remained untouched. This latest incident adds to the growing number of attacks on centralized crypto trading platforms this year, with notable exchanges such as Bybit and India-based CoinDCX also experiencing significant losses.
The price of XRP has broken out of a 7-year double bottom pattern, signaling a potential start to a significant long-term rally. Analysts predict that a successful retest of this long-standing chart pattern could trigger a massive surge towards $36, mirroring the bull rally seen during the 2014-2017 cycle. Crypto analyst Gert van Lagen highlighted this rare and potentially explosive technical event, noting that XRP has successfully broken out of a massive 7-year double bottom formation, a pattern that typically indicates a long-term reversal from bearish to bullish market conditions.
Based on Lagen's analysis, XRP has breached the neckline of this double bottom pattern after years of accumulation. This was followed by a textbook retest that confirmed the breakout. This retest, occurring at a critical price point, has historically acted as the final validation before a sustained rally. Lagen compared the current cycle with the 2014-2017 phase, suggesting that XRP's price action could be repeating similar strong bullish patterns that emerged during that period. The chart suggests that XRP is poised to clear its former all-time high of $3.84, potentially removing one of the most significant technical barriers in its history.
In a separate analysis, a crypto analyst identified as 'Shibo' compared XRP's current market behavior to Ethereum's historic breakout in 2017. His side-by-side chart shows an almost identical technical progression involving an extended consolidation phase forming a base, followed by a decisive breakout at a clearly defined resistance level. In Ethereum's case, this move triggered an extraordinary rally from sub-$20 levels to more than $1,400 in under twelve months. Shibo argues that XRP is now positioned in the same "breakout zone" that the ETH price occupied before its parabolic surge. Based on this chart historical pattern, Shibo has forecasted a rather ambitious price target for XRP, predicting a massive surge to $589, representing an increase of 18,084%.
Bitcoin's price volatility has reached a two-year low, according to data from CryptoQuant. The cryptocurrency recently hit a new all-time high of $124,500, but quickly fell back to $121,500, causing mixed reactions among market analysts. Some view the drop as a sign of decreasing momentum, while others interpret it as a healthy pause before another potential surge. The 30-day Price High & Low metric, which tracks the range between Bitcoin's rolling 30-day high and low, indicates a balance between supply and demand. Liquidity has been clustering above local highs near $120K and below recent lows around $113K, creating a coiled-spring effect in the price structure.
Historically, such periods of volatility compression often precede significant range expansions. The market is now speculating whether Bitcoin will continue its long-term bull trend or enter a deeper correction if selling pressure increases. With the market near record highs and volatility at multi-year lows, traders are preparing for what could be the next decisive move in Bitcoin's 2025 rally. Top analyst Axel Adler notes that the range between BTC’s rolling 30-day high and low has narrowed significantly, indicating volatility contraction. This pattern typically reflects a balance between supply and demand and a period of low realized volatility.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $121,596, down slightly by 0.14% after hitting $122,609 earlier. This comes after BTC briefly broke above the key $123,217 resistance level, approaching the $124,000 psychological barrier before pulling back. This zone remains the most significant obstacle for bulls, as it has capped upward moves multiple times. Price action shows BTC maintaining a bullish structure above its major moving averages, signaling continued medium-term strength. The repeated tests of the $123K area suggest that market liquidity is heavily concentrated here. A decisive breakout and sustained close above $124K would likely trigger momentum buying and open the door to new all-time highs. Conversely, a failure to reclaim $123K could lead to renewed selling pressure, with initial support at $120K and deeper support near the $117K–$118K range.
Bitcoin experienced a significant drop on Thursday following the US Treasury's announcement that it will not be making new purchases to add to a planned Bitcoin reserve. Prices had initially rallied to an intraday high of around $124,120, but later fell to approximately $118,550. This market volatility led to forced liquidations in parts of the crypto futures market. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified the government's position, stating that future additions to the Bitcoin reserve would come from confiscated assets, not new purchases.
Bessent's comments contrasted with a previous move by President Donald Trump, who had issued an executive order calling for budget-neutral plans to increase strategic Bitcoin holdings. The market's reaction to the Treasury's stance resulted in a significant sell-off, erasing much of Thursday's gains. Traders attributed this sudden shift to the clarity provided by the Treasury's policy, as investors had been factoring in a potential government buyback program into their optimism. Bessent also linked some balance-sheet plans to rising tariff collections, suggesting that annual tariff receipts could exceed a previous projection of $300 billion, which could help fund other asset strategies.
Block, led by Jack Dorsey, has introduced Proto Rig, a unique modular Bitcoin mining system designed to address the industry's operational challenges. The system is positioned as a durable, repairable, and upgradeable alternative to the current "disposable" mining machines. Thomas Templeton, Block's hardware lead, described Proto Rig as a "paradigm shift" away from single-use hardware. The rig is designed for easy repairs, in-place upgrades, and compatibility with existing infrastructure. It delivers 1.5 times the power per rack-foot compared to traditional mining hardware, potentially doubling the hardware's lifespan from three to five years to a decade, while reducing upgrade costs by around 20% per cycle.
In addition to Proto Rig, Block is also launching Proto Fleet, a free, open-source software platform for managing and optimizing mining operations. The software consolidates power scaling, diagnostics, monitoring, and maintenance into a single platform, catering to miners of all fleet sizes. Through Proto Rig and Proto Fleet, Block aims to democratize access to mining hardware and tools, furthering its mission to decentralize Bitcoin mining and enhance network resilience. Templeton highlighted the efficiency of the system from chip to repair time, upgrades to uptime, and setup to software, noting that it becomes cheaper and more powerful with every upgrade cycle.
Google has secured the option to acquire an 8% stake in American Bitcoin miner TeraWulf via a $1.8 billion backstop deal. The agreement is part of a larger project involving TeraWulf and AI cloud platform Fluidstack, which is backed by Google. Under the terms of the deal, TeraWulf will provide more than 200 megawatts (MW) of critical IT load at its Lake Mariner data center campus in Western New York, a facility specifically designed for liquid-cooled AI workloads.
The total value of the contract could reach $8.7 billion if two five-year extension options are exercised. Google's backing of $1.8 billion will support Fluidstack’s lease obligations related to project financing. In return, Google will receive warrants to acquire approximately 41 million shares of TeraWulf common stock, which equates to an 8% pro forma equity stake. The first phase of the project, providing around 40 MW, is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026, with full deployment of over 200 MW planned by the end of the same year. The total cost of the project is estimated at $8-10 million per MW of critical IT load.
The US Treasury has no plans to purchase new cryptocurrency assets for its strategic reserve, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Instead, the government will rely on Bitcoin obtained from confiscated assets. Speaking on 'Mornings with Maria,' Bessent confirmed that there are no plans to sell any of the government-held Bitcoin, which is currently valued between $15 billion and $20 billion.
Bessent's comments were in response to questions about the US's gold holdings. He indicated that while there are no plans to revalue the gold, it will be kept as a store of value for the American people. The Treasury Secretary also mentioned that the government is moving into the 21st century with a Bitcoin strategic reserve, which will be built up using confiscated assets. Following Bessent's remarks, Bitcoin's value fell below $118,000.
