Welcome to Thursday's edition. We're seeing an interesting blend of traditional and digital approaches as crypto meets the real-world. The NFL All Day's initiative to enhance fan engagement through NFT collectibles and in-person activations is a prime example of this. By leveraging the Flow blockchain, the platform is creating a bridge between the physical and digital worlds, offering fans unique experiences and collectibles. This strategy could inspire other sports franchises and entertainment industries to explore similar avenues, potentially leading to a broader adoption of blockchain technology.
Meanwhile, the tokenization of Pokémon cards on the Solana blockchain is another intriguing development. The world's highest-grossing media franchise is leveraging blockchain technology to provide fans with a unique collecting experience. The benefits of tokenization, such as ease of storage and authenticity verification, combined with Collector Crypt's unique offerings, could potentially revolutionize the collectibles industry.
On the regulatory front, Nasdaq's new rules requiring shareholder approval for crypto purchases by listed companies is a significant development. This move could potentially slow down the pace of corporate crypto acquisitions, but it also highlights the growing need for regulatory clarity in the crypto space.
In terms of market trends, Ethereum's increasing popularity among institutional investors is noteworthy. As large investors continue to accumulate ETH, the cryptocurrency's outlook remains bullish. However, it's also important to remain cautious and avoid speculation. The crypto market is known for its volatility, and while Ethereum's prospects look promising, investors should always conduct thorough research and consider their risk tolerance before making investment decisions.
Lastly, the rise in AI-generated code, as seen with Coinbase, is a fascinating trend. While this approach can increase efficiency, it also raises questions about potential vulnerabilities and the need for human oversight. As AI continues to play a larger role in the tech industry, companies will need to strike a balance between leveraging AI's capabilities and ensuring security and reliability.
As always, it's essential for legal and financial professionals in the Web3 space to stay informed about these developments. By understanding the latest trends and regulatory shifts, they can better navigate the complex and rapidly evolving crypto landscape.
The following article summaries have been sourced from Decrypt, CryptoSlate, NewsBTC, and Crypto Briefing. Each summary includes a direct link to the original source.
NFL All Day, the officially licensed NFT collectibles platform, is enhancing its collector experience with the addition of autographed moments and in-person activations. The platform, built by Dapper Labs on the Flow blockchain, will feature digital autographs from key rookies paired with video highlights. The autographed collectibles will be available in multiple Rookie Debut packs at various price points, starting as low as $9. The platform is also partnering with four NFL teams - the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans - to provide in-stadium activations, offering fans free digital collectibles.
In addition to collecting, NFL All Day is introducing three new free-to-play games - Playbook, One and Done, and Pick’Em - to test users' knowledge of NFL player performance and football. Prizes for these games include NFL All Day credit, digital card packs, exclusive NFT moments, and real-world experiences such as on-field cabana suite tickets to a Rams game with travel and accommodations included. Despite a significant drop in sales of NFL All Day collectibles in 2023, the platform saw a nearly five-fold increase in sales in August, just ahead of the new NFL season.
The tokenization of Pokémon cards is experiencing a significant surge in demand, driven by the introduction of Collector Crypt’s Solana token CARDS and a wave of gacha-style “pack” NFTs that can be redeemed for physical cards. The process involves users purchasing digital packs, each revealing an NFT linked to a specific graded card. Users can hold the NFT, trade it, or redeem the physical card. Collector Crypt also offers to repurchase the NFT for 90% of the card’s resale value, providing a quasi-floor and faster liquidity. The CARDS token has been well received by the market, with its fully diluted valuation (FDV) reaching $450M at its peak.
The tokenization of Pokémon cards is significant due to the franchise's status as the world's highest-grossing media franchise. The benefits of tokenization include ease of storage, authenticity verification, and global 24/7 liquidity. Collector Crypt has added unique benefits, such as their 90% buyback program and a commitment to reinvest 100% of their fees into ecosystem development. The combination of these factors, along with the rising popularity of Pokémon cards, makes them an attractive investment. The CARDS token is still in its early stages and has much to prove, but its initial success indicates a promising future.
In other crypto news, the Federal Reserve announced it will host a Payments Innovation Conference examining stablecoins, tokenized assets, AI, and DeFi. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong expressed his desire for half of Coinbase’s code to be AI-written by October. The Bitcoin ETFs saw $300M in net inflows on Wednesday, bringing their past seven-session total to $1.07B. The CFTC officially approved Polymarket to operate in the U.S., and US Bank resumed bitcoin custody with ETF integrations for institutions.
Ethereum's outlook is increasingly bullish as large investors, known as whales, have been ramping up their accumulation of the cryptocurrency. According to data from on-chain analysis platform Santiment, whales holding between 1,000 to 100,000 ETH tokens have increased their holdings by 14% in the past five months. This uptick in interest comes amid a surge of institutional interest in Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The accumulation by whales aligns with $9.9 billion in netflows to the Ethereum chain over the past three months and $6.7 billion in stablecoin inflows in the past week.
Ethereum's year-to-date returns and ETF inflows have both outpaced Bitcoin's, indicating a shift in the narrative. Ethereum's price is up 0.9% in the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $4,422. The robustness of Ethereum's DeFi and network activity is attracting investors and capital, with experts suggesting a bright future ahead for the cryptocurrency. Ethereum’s role has strengthened, with a clear trend of activity moving back from L2s to the Mainnet, especially in DeFi. Exchange-traded funds are playing a key role in Ethereum’s bullish feedback loop, reflected in ETH ETF netflows since August. Ethereum’s inflows tower over Bitcoin’s, with $3.87 billion in August and $1.08 billion last week, compared to Bitcoin’s outflows of $751.12 million in August and inflows of $440.71 million last week.
Despite short-term macroeconomic risks, Ethereum is seen as one of the most compelling opportunities into the year-end. Tom Lee, BitMine chairman and Fundstrat’s Chief Investment Officer, expects a breakout from the ongoing base to trigger a massive upside for Ethereum. The broader optimism and positive sentiment surrounding Ethereum are largely driven by accumulation from the digital asset treasury. The macro environment supports this bullish outlook, with anticipation of a Federal Reserve rate cut in September strengthening risk-on sentiment, creating favorable conditions for digital assets.
Hackers have been found using Ethereum smart contracts to hide malware within seemingly harmless npm packages, according to a report by ReversingLabs. The packages, named colortoolsv2 and mimelib2, were discovered in July and have since been removed. They were promoted through a network of GitHub repositories that posed as trading bots, using fake stars, inflated commit histories, and sock-puppet maintainers to steer developers towards the malicious dependency chain. Although the download numbers were low, the method of attack is significant, as it targets opportunistic developers.
This tactic is not new, as it echoes a broader campaign that researchers tracked in late 2024 across hundreds of npm typosquats. In that wave, packages executed install or preinstall scripts that queried an Ethereum contract, retrieved a base URL, and then downloaded OS-specific payloads. ReversingLabs sees the 2025 packages as a continuation in technique rather than scale, with the twist that the smart contract hosts the URL for the next stage, not the payload. The GitHub distribution work, which includes bogus stargazers and chore commits, aims to pass casual due diligence and leverage automated dependency updates within clones of the fake repos.
To protect against such attacks, developers are advised to prevent lifecycle scripts from running during install and CI. The Node.js security best practices page suggests the same approach, along with pinning versions via lockfiles and stricter review of maintainers and metadata. Blocking outbound traffic to the IOCs above and alerting on build logs that initialize ethers.js to query getString(address) provide practical detections that align with the chain-based C2 design. Despite the removal of the packages, the pattern remains, and on-chain indirection now sits alongside typosquats and bogus repos as a repeatable way to reach developer machines.
Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, recently revealed that around 40% of the company's daily code output is generated by artificial intelligence (AI), a figure he predicts will exceed 50% by October 2025. This level of AI usage puts Coinbase ahead of tech giants like Microsoft and Google, which have approximately 30% of their code machine-generated. Armstrong emphasized that AI-generated code is not used universally across the exchange and that human oversight and reviews remain crucial. He also noted that Coinbase engineers were instructed to adopt AI development tools, with those resistant to the change being dismissed, indicating the central role AI now plays in Coinbase's engineering strategy.
However, Armstrong's announcement has elicited mixed reactions from the crypto and tech communities. Some security specialists have expressed concerns about the potential vulnerabilities that could arise from entrusting such a significant portion of mission-critical code to AI. Larry Lyu, founder of Dango decentralized exchange, and Adam Cochran, partner at venture firm Cinneamhain Ventures, were among those who voiced their apprehensions. They pointed out that AI codes could generate bugs and miss relevant context, which could be costly for a platform like Coinbase that holds over $420 billion worth of digital assets for its users. On the other hand, industry leaders like Richard Wu, co-founder of Tensor, defended Coinbase's approach, arguing that critics underestimate the maturity of AI-coding processes. He suggested that with rigorous practices such as code reviews, automated testing, and linting, up to 90% of high-quality code could be AI-generated within five years.
Cardano's sentiment has hit a five-month low, even as the ADA token has rebounded by around 5% from its late-August lows, according to on-chain analytics firm Santiment. The firm noted that Cardano's usually optimistic retail crowd has become increasingly bearish, with the lowest sentiment recorded in five months. Santiment explained this shift in sentiment in contrarian terms, stating that prices typically move in the opposite direction of crowd expectations. When small traders sell off their assets out of frustration, it is usually the key stakeholders who accumulate and drive up prices again.
The firm's sentiment chart shows three distinct phases over the past month: an early-August "greed" spike, a mid-August "fear" pocket, and the most recent bearish reading, coinciding with ADA's 5% bounce. Independent market analyst Quantum Ascend linked the bounce to a clearly defined higher-time-frame structure. The analyst's chart places the 0.382 retracement near $0.821, which has acted as the first support and the immediate "decision point." The same mapping highlights the 0.309 retracement around $0.762 and the 0.236 near $0.702 as deeper pullback areas inside the macro structure. At the time of the report, ADA was trading at $0.8177.
Historical data suggests a bullish trend for the XRP price this month, with the altcoin potentially recording significant gains. The average monthly returns indicate that XRP could even see double-digit gains. Cryptorank data shows that XRP has historically recorded an average monthly return of 13.8% in September, suggesting that the altcoin could again record positive returns this time, particularly as it aims to reclaim the psychological $3 level. It's noteworthy that the altcoin has ended the last three Septembers in the green.
In September 2022, XRP recorded a gain of 46.2%, its largest in the past 4 years, and an increase of nearly 8% in September 2023. The altcoin has so far recorded a gain of nearly 3% this month and appears on track to replicate its historical positive performance in September. There are bullish fundamentals that could trigger a run for the XRP price, including the projected 25 basis points rate cut that the Fed is expected to make at the September 17 FOMC meeting. A Fed rate cut is bullish for altcoins, including XRP, as it could lead to increased risk-on sentiment among investors and cause more liquidity to flow into these assets.
Crypto analyst Egrag Crypto predicted that the XRP price could rally to around $3.40. He noted that with the altcoin currently trading at around $2.877, all eyes are on how it will perform around this level. If XRP closes above $3.077, the analyst stated that it could increase the chance of breaching the $3.40 mark. Interestingly, the analyst suggested that the XRP price could rally by over 200% and reach $6.12 if it successfully breaches the $3.40 mark. At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $2.85, up in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin's market base is currently in a neutral-bearish state, according to top analyst Axel Adler. This is due to the sustained selling pressure and uncertainty that has led to a consolidation of the price around the $110,000 level. Despite the market's weakness, there are no clear indications of a deeper correction. Historically, retracements within ongoing bull markets have often served as resets rather than trend reversals. However, the current pressure on Bitcoin has sparked debate about its short-term direction. The ability to maintain above current levels is becoming increasingly crucial, as failure to do so could tilt sentiment further towards the bears.
Adler describes the current environment as lacking the conviction necessary for a decisive bullish push. The market is characterized by both price and derivative flows sitting below 50, indicating weakness across critical indicators. While short-term rebounds are possible, the market lacks the conviction required for a sustained uptrend. Unless there is a significant shift in flows, price rallies will likely remain capped and quickly fade as selling pressure reemerges. Adler suggests that for a true change in market structure, two key thresholds need to be met: Flow >55 and Price Index >50. Until these conditions are met, the market faces a heightened risk of repeated retests of support zones.
Bitcoin continues to consolidate around the $110K–$111K zone, showing resilience despite weeks of sharp selling pressure. Despite the pullback from the $123K all-time high, the structure remains intact above the 200-day moving average near $101K, which has consistently served as a long-term support. The current price action shows a market in balance: bulls are defending demand, but bears maintain pressure as rallies face rejection around the $112K level. The fate of Bitcoin now hinges on whether buyers can stabilize flows and absorb the ongoing selling pressure.
Nasdaq has introduced new regulations requiring companies to obtain shareholder approval before issuing new shares to fund cryptocurrency purchases. This move is aimed at ensuring investors are informed about the company's strategy and is a response to the increasing number of firms holding crypto on their balance sheets. The new rules are designed to maintain market integrity and protect investors. However, the requirement for shareholder approval could potentially slow down transactions and introduce uncertainty into the market's crypto expansion. Non-compliant companies risk having their trading suspended or being delisted.
According to crypto advisory firm Architect Partners, 124 US-listed companies have announced plans to raise over $133 billion for crypto purchases this year. Of these, 94 are listed on Nasdaq, compared to 17 on the New York Stock Exchange. This trend has been influenced by the strategy of Michael Saylor’s firm, which has acquired $71 billion worth of Bitcoin over the past five years. The rush to accumulate tokens has intensified as companies strive to become the primary stock for specific digital assets. This latest move by Nasdaq follows recent announcements by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) permitting registered US exchanges to list and facilitate the trading of certain spot crypto assets.
Nasdaq-listed company, Webus International Limited, has announced a strategic partnership with Air China Limited, one of China's leading state-owned airlines. The collaboration aims to provide airport transfers and premium chauffeur services to members of Air China's PhoenixMiles loyalty program through Webus' travel service brand, Wetour. The company, which recently secured up to $100 million in funding through a senior equity line of credit, also plans to integrate XRP payments into Wetour’s overseas platform.
Webus' integration of XRP payments is designed to offer travelers faster settlement, tokenized rewards, and blockchain-enabled vouchers tied to their membership benefits, all subject to regulatory compliance. Air China's PhoenixMiles program has over 60 million members worldwide who can earn and redeem miles across Air China, its affiliated carriers, and Star Alliance partners. Webus CEO, Nan Zheng, expressed that this collaboration not only expands Wetour's global service footprint but also accelerates their vision of building a Ripple-integrated travel ecosystem.
Gloria AI has launched its News Terminal V1, an AI-powered platform that provides real-time news intelligence for the crypto, macro, and AI markets. The platform scans thousands of sources, filters for relevance, and delivers structured updates to traders, content creators, AI agents, and media firms. It is designed to integrate with both human and autonomous workflows via API, WebSocket, messaging bots, and protocols like Virtuals ACP and Coinbase’s x402. This allows for real-time responses to market-moving insights. The platform has been used by Crypto Briefing’s newsroom for several months, and its feed is now being opened to the wider market.
The company has also expanded its reach by integrating with other AI agent platforms in the Virtuals ecosystem. This includes powering Ethy Agent’s execution layer and joining Santa Virtuals’ swarm to provide Questflow and others with contextual signals. In July, Kosher Capital integrated Gloria, bringing real-time macro and crypto feeds to all of its agents. Velvet Capital’s AI Framework, which serves over 100,000 users, has also incorporated Gloria to guide trading strategies with live news data. Gloria's native token, $GLORIA, has recovered from early August lows and is currently in a potential accumulation phase, trading at a fully diluted valuation of about $1.8 million.
