News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Cryptoslate, Pakistan’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has required cryptocurrency exchanges and related service providers already operating locally to enter a new licensing process by September 5, or otherwise cease related business operations. PVARA had previously opened the virtual asset service provider licensing application portal and issued the Virtual Asset Service Regulatory Rules on August 22. Under the regulations, service providers already conducting cryptocurrency business in Pakistan must submit an application for a "No Objection Certificate" (NOC). During the review period, they may continue to provide existing services as long as a complete application is submitted on time. Companies that fail to submit an application by September 5 must halt all regulated services; continuing operations will be considered non-compliant. PVARA clarified that this policy does not constitute a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies, but rather establishes a "comply or exit" regulatory framework applicable to exchanges, custodians, and other entities providing virtual asset services to users in Pakistan.
Odaily News – The Bank of Russia has announced that individuals who pass a financial and banking knowledge test and obtain a Qualifin Certificate issued by the National Finance Association (NFA) or an Investor Certificate from the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) may be recognized as qualified investors by brokers or management companies.The new rules will take effect on August 31. Previously, the Bank of Russia only recognized international certifications in fields such as financial analysis, investment advisory, asset management, and risk management.Under recently adopted cryptocurrency regulations, non-qualified investors are subject to an annual cap of 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,800) for purchasing cryptocurrencies through a single licensed intermediary, while qualified investors have a limit ten times higher. Bank of Russia Deputy Governor Mikhail Mamuta stated that the test focuses on enhancing investors' financial knowledge, enabling them to understand and manage associated risks before trading complex instruments. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News - CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost stated on the X platform that the altcoin market has recently shown clear signs of recovery, with market structure undergoing changes, and "Altseason" may have entered its early stages. Data shows that from August 19 to 22, the total market cap of altcoins increased by approximately $215 billion, surging over 24% in just 3 days, pushing the total altcoin market cap back above $1 trillion.Darkfost pointed out that mid- and small-cap altcoins have performed the strongest in this rally. Due to their lower circulating market caps, these assets are more sensitive to capital inflows, while also carrying higher two-way volatility risks.Data from the Binance platform further reinforces the signals of an altcoin market recovery. Since last November, approximately 80% to 85% of altcoins have remained below the 200-day moving average (200-DMA), but currently 56% of Binance-listed altcoins have climbed back above this key technical indicator, suggesting the market may be entering a new cyclical phase.Darkfost believes this trend reversal is linked to a series of positive cryptocurrency signals recently released by Trump. On August 19, Trump stated that the U.S. would "massively purchase Bitcoin" and urged Congress to push through the CLARITY Act, while claiming his administration had ended previous unfriendly policies toward the crypto industry. These remarks boosted market sentiment, and against a backdrop of low trading volume and reduced selling pressure, substantial capital began flowing into the altcoin market, driving gains across multiple sectors simultaneously.Darkfost noted that from a historical perspective, the current broad-based altcoin rally is typically viewed as an important signal of the early stage of altseason. However, he also cautioned that the market has entered overbought territory in the short term, and investors should be wary of periodic pullbacks. If the overall upward momentum continues, new investment opportunities may still emerge down the road.
Odaily News: Zach Pandl, Head of Research at digital asset management firm Grayscale, stated that Bitcoin's structural adoption trend continues, the current bear market has entered a deeper stage, and the macro outlook is generally favorable. These three factors may provide a basis for long-term investors to enter, though prices could still decline.Grayscale noted that Bitcoin's adoption growth is primarily driven by government deficits, the expanding application of blockchain technology in the financial services sector, and generational shifts in investor asset allocation. The current bear market has lasted 10 months, approaching the average and median duration of 11 to 12 months observed across the previous four cyclical bear markets.Macro risks mainly depend on real interest rates and Federal Reserve policy. The Federal Open Market Committee held the federal funds rate at 3.5% to 3.75% in July, and future rate hikes could push Bitcoin lower. Bitcoin briefly rose to $79,461 on August 21 before pulling back to around $77,000. (Bitcoin.com News)
Odaily News – HYPE reached an intraday high of $82 yesterday, rising 38% over the past week, with 24-hour trading volume exceeding $2 billion and a market cap of approximately $17.17 billion. Hyperliquid's 30-day trading volume surpassed $176 billion, with open interest exceeding $8 billion.On August 19, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is pushing to bring Hyperliquid into the U.S. market in a compliant and lawful manner. On August 20, a wallet associated with venture capital firm Multicoin Capital transferred 308,884 HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $19.8 million, to institutional custody and trading platform Coinbase Prime within seven hours.During the same period, the wallet also transferred 172,710 and 62,700 HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $10.15 million and $4.37 million, respectively. Since February 2026, Multicoin Capital has transferred over $100 million worth of HYPE to Coinbase Prime. Meanwhile, Hyperliquid has been using approximately 99% of its perpetual and spot market fee revenue to continuously buy back HYPE through the Assistance Fund. (Bitcoin.com News)
Coinbase Vice President of Product Dor Levi announced that August 21 will be his last working day at Coinbase, with his next steps yet to be disclosed. Levi joined Coinbase in 2025, where he oversaw Product Foundations and drove initiatives to address long-standing account restriction and freeze issues that have plagued users. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong had previously publicly commended his work; earlier this year, the company also noted that the handling speed for account restriction cases has increased by approximately 90% following an AI-driven restructuring of compliance processes.
The Head of Research at Galaxy posted on the X platform that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a draft of the "Reg Crypto Assets" regulations on August 18, proposing a dedicated securities regulatory framework for certain crypto asset issuances. The proposal would allow qualified issuers to sell tokens to the U.S. public and provide a formal exit mechanism for related investment contracts following project completion or termination.
Odaily News, Blockworks analyst Shaunda Devens stated on the X platform that Kraken may be testing Hyperliquid's HIP-3 (Builder-Deployed Perpetuals) new compliant deployment feature, potentially becoming one of the first centralized exchanges to explore this mechanism. BlockworksData shows that a deployer named "Kraken HIP-3 test DEX" has enabled permission management functionality (Star gating) on the Hyperliquid testnet and went live for testing on August 19. Currently, this test DEX has completed whitelist settings for 10 wallets, tested 3 of the 5 compliance control features, and registered a "Kraken Exchange Validator."Shaunda Devens noted that Hyperliquid has been continuously adding testnet features to support regulatory-compliant HIP-3 deployments, including whitelist management, canceling user orders, closing positions via reduce-only orders, and moving collateral. These capabilities are similar to the risk control mechanisms required by traditional financial institutions' compliant trading platforms.Although this is still in the testing phase, and any user could deploy a test DEX with a similar name, making it impossible to confirm it definitively belongs to Kraken, combined with Hyperliquid's recent expansion of xStocks functionality and Kraken's parent company Payward's involvement in related business initiatives, analysts believe Kraken may be testing HyperCore's new infrastructure targeting institutional and compliant markets.HIP-3 is a third-party deployed perpetual contract market framework introduced by Hyperliquid, allowing eligible developers to create independent perpetual trading markets on HyperCore's order book infrastructure. It is considered a key upgrade direction for Hyperliquid to expand into traditional assets and institutional trading scenarios. If large compliant exchanges like Kraken enter the HIP-3 ecosystem, it could further drive the integration of on-chain derivatives markets with traditional financial trading systems.
: Galaxy's Head of Research posted on X, stating that on August 18, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed the "Regulation Crypto Assets," abbreviated as Reg Crypto. The proposal aims to establish a legal pathway for certain tokens to be offered to the U.S. public and to set up a mechanism for terminating investment contracts. Its applicability is limited to crypto assets that are not themselves securities but were previously issued or sold as part of an investment contract; tokenized stocks, bonds, and arrangements bundling tokens with equity or other securities are not covered by the framework.The proposal sets out four stages: offering, disclosure, build-out, and exit. A one-time startup exemption allows issuers to raise up to $5 million over a maximum of four years; a higher-threshold exemption modeled on Regulation A permits raising $20 million or $75 million within 12 months. Such offerings must pass SEC qualification review and involve ongoing disclosure, with non-accredited investors capped at 10% of the higher of their annual income or net worth. Issuers are also required to disclose token supply and unlock schedules, minting and burning mechanisms, governance and smart contract permissions, source code, as well as project construction commitments and progress.Once an issuer completes or permanently ceases the relevant build-out obligations, makes no new construction commitments, and submits a transition report, the related investment contract will be deemed terminated, and the crypto asset will no longer be subject to securities laws under that investment contract. Issuers that did not use the above offering exemptions may also use this safe harbor. The SEC estimates that approximately 475 issuers per year would use the investment contract safe harbor, and about 130 issuers would use the two new exemptions. Offerings that qualify would not be considered restricted securities and could be resold immediately without contractual restrictions.The proposal also excludes covered initial offerings and certain secondary transactions from state registration and qualification requirements, but it does not address exchanges, brokers, dealers, or custody, nor is it a standalone innovative exemption for tokenized securities and on-chain transactions. The comment period is 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda all issued statements of support. The article was written by Alex Thorn.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Shinhan Asset Management announced on August 21, 2026, that it has signed a four-party memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Solana Foundation, a global blockchain network, the compliant tokenization issuance platform Etherfuse, and on-chain liquidity infrastructure provider Orca to jointly advance a full-process proof of concept (PoC) for the issuance and circulation of KRW-denominated tokenized funds. Referencing the model utilized by BlackRock's tokenized fund "BUIDL", the global asset management giant, the partnership aims to adapt this framework for KRW assets. The four parties will collaboratively verify KYC/AML compliance frameworks, blockchain operational models, security audit protocols, on-chain liquidity designs, and compliance with domestic and international regulatory requirements, including the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act.
Odaily News: The Hungarian Parliament has passed Bill No. XXXVIII of 2026, abolishing legal provisions related to crypto asset conversion services, including the verification requirements that European exchanges had to pass before legally operating in Hungary. The bill was voted through on July 31 and went into effect on August 7.The abolition also removes two crypto asset-related criminal charges: unauthorized trading of high-value crypto assets, which carried a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, and providing crypto asset exchange services in violation of verification obligations, which carried a maximum sentence of 8 years in prison. These provisions were said to duplicate the EU's MiCA framework. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to TechFlow research, Morgan Stanley's August 20 report noted that the U.S. Treasury will increase the size of its liquidity-supporting repo operations for the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year tenors from $2 billion per transaction to at least $4 billion, effective September 9. This marks the first adjustment to the repurchase volume outside of the quarterly refinancing window since the repo program launched in May 2024. The two tenors combined add $1.6 billion in notional amount, corresponding to approximately $19.3 million in DV01 (price change per one-basis-point move in rates), with a risk impact roughly double that of the November 2023 "supply surprise." Morgan Stanley stated that the Treasury's decision to expand repurchases ahead of schedule outside the quarterly refinancing window aims to signal close monitoring of long-end interest rate dynamics to the market, thereby buying time for the November refinancing window. The recent rise in the 10-year Treasury yield and curve steepening primarily reflect the market's repricing of energy prices and central bank policy trajectories, rather than concerns over deficits or supply. Morgan Stanley maintains its recommendation for a 7-year versus 30-year Treasury curve steepening trade, targeting a spread of 100 basis points (currently around 71 basis points). On the FX front, coordinated volatility in gold and the Swiss franc hit an annual peak on August 19; should the U.S. dollar policy narrative reassert itself, EUR/USD is likely to approach 1.2150.
According to The Defiant, Arbitrum officially activated the ArbOS 61 Elara upgrade on August 20, which was approved for deployment via an ArbitrumDAO governance vote. The core features of this upgrade include: introducing an optional protocol-level transaction filtering mechanism for Dedicated Chains, allowing chain owners to independently select external compliance service providers such as TRM Labs and Chainalysis to configure restricted address rules; the filter is disabled by default and does not affect existing Arbitrum One users; adding Priority Fee support, also disabled by default, with its activation on Arbitrum One still requiring a separate DAO constitutional vote; introducing the BaseFeeManager contract, which authorizes Offchain Labs to adjust the L2 minimum Gas fee within a DAO-approved range of 0.01 to 0.10 gwei over a two-year authorization period; additionally, the maximum code size limit for Stylus contracts has been increased from 24 KB to 96 KB, though this does not apply to Solidity contracts.
According to Bloomberg, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig said on August 20 that the cryptocurrency industry will receive market structure regulatory rules even if Congress fails to pass related landmark legislation. In an interview with Bloomberg Television ahead of the CFTC's inaugural Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, Selig noted, "Market structure is very important; we can achieve it through rulemaking, or we can achieve it through legislation."
Odaily News: On August 20 local time, the White House announced that U.S. President Trump has signed a memorandum proposing that by 2030, U.S. space transportation ranges and related facilities should be capable of supporting more than 1,000 launch and reentry missions annually. The memorandum states that the U.S. will expand and improve space launch and reentry infrastructure, requiring relevant agencies to promote the opening of federal launch sites to commercial users, encourage commercial investment, public-private partnerships, and joint infrastructure development, while accelerating facility permitting and environmental reviews. NASA has also been tasked with developing a commercial lunar logistics architecture, exploring commercial robotic Mars landings, and related architectures for commercial crewed round-trip missions to Mars. (CCTV News)
According to Yonhap News Agency, global virtual asset infrastructure company BitGo announced that its Korean entity, BitGo Korea, had its VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) registration application accepted by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on August 18, becoming the first overseas crypto corporate entity to directly complete VASP registration in Korea to date. Established in 2024, BitGo Korea chose to enter the market by directly complying with regulatory requirements this time, rather than adopting the common industry practice of acquiring existing VASP companies. Moving forward, it will officially launch virtual asset custody (Custody) and transfer services in Korea based on this foundation, focusing on expanding business to financial institutions and corporate clients.
Trump is expected to attend the White House crypto meeting on August 19, pushing for a final Senate vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, with the bill's ethical provisions remaining the key sticking point.
Odaily News: Edward Zimbardi, a 59-year-old Georgia resident, appeared in U.S. federal court facing 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Fiji authorities handed him over to U.S. custody on August 14, in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. State Department.Prosecutors allege that Zimbardi operated a project called "The Crypto Program" from June 2022 to August 2023, luring participants with promises of a fixed 25% monthly return on advertising packages, requiring them to transfer cryptocurrency into wallets he secretly controlled. The government claims that thousands of individuals collectively transferred over $165 million into these wallets. Prosecutors stated that Zimbardi did not purchase advertising but instead funneled more than $34 million into high-risk forex trading, using funds from new investors to pay earlier ones. His personal spending totaled at least $10 million, including purchasing property for his son, buying luxury cars, and making alimony payments.The U.S. Department of Justice stated that after the project collapsed in August 2023, Zimbardi left the country and settled in Fiji in July 2025 upon learning of the FBI investigation. The FBI is urging affected investors to come forward with information. (Decrypt)
According to TechFlow Research, Nomura Securities' initiation report on August 19 indicated that Unitree Robotics is the company with the highest shipment volume of humanoid robots globally, with pure humanoid robot shipments exceeding 5,500 units in 2025, far surpassing peers, and is one of the few embodied AI companies globally to achieve profitability. Nomura issued a Buy rating and a target price of 370 yuan, representing 145% upside potential compared to the current stock price of 151 yuan. The company's core moat is full-stack self-developed hardware, compressing the cost of outsourced components to 14% to 18% of total costs. The gross margin of main operations rose from 44% in 2022 to 60% in 2025, with adjusted net profit reaching 590 million yuan (net profit margin approximately 35%). Nomura predicts revenue from 2026 to 2028 will reach 2.69 billion, 5.4 billion, and 13.18 billion yuan respectively, with year-over-year growth of 58%, 101%, and 144%. The research report judges that Unitree's product iteration speed and full-matrix layout constitute a first-mover advantage, covering the complete tech stack of "Mobility + Manipulation + Interaction" from quadruped robots to humanoid robots. However, the US FCC restricted list poses the biggest policy risk. In July 2026, the FCC will include foreign-produced advanced robot equipment in the restricted list. Unitree's models currently on sale have been authorized to continue sales, but new models will be prohibited from entering the US market. Nomura believes this risk is structural, and compliance paths are almost infeasible. The target price corresponds to 145% upside potential, with catalysts including the implementation of self-developed world models and the volume ramp-up of new products such as R1/H2.
Odaily News: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins introduced the "Regulation Crypto Assets" proposal on August 18, covering issuance pathways, disclosure obligations, and safe harbor conditions. Atkins stated that tailored exemptions could attract crypto issuers and investment back to the United States while preserving core investor protections, and expressed support for Congress's push for the CLARITY Act. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce noted that the proposal was developed through public comment and staff engagement, with feedback from both industry supporters and critics shaping the framework's design. SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda pointed out that fixed thresholds and disclosure obligations could enhance issuers' compliance expectations; the proposal has not yet taken effect. (Bitcoin.com News)