Asia’s biggest crypto hubs are locked in a tax-cut arms race, while Ripple will help Korea’s Jeonbuk Bank move money across borders.

KOREA

South Korea’s Jeonbuk Bank has partnered with blockchain payments company Ripple to deploy its cross-border payment system for business customers.

The service targets businesses including import-export companies, technology startups and online content creators. 

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A judge stayed the CFTC’s civil case against a soldier who allegedly used nonpublic information for a Polymarket bet, but the regulator is trying to weigh in on the criminal case.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a soldier who allegedly made more than $400,000 using nonpublic information to trade event contracts on prediction market platform Polymarket, is pushing back against attempts by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to weigh in on his criminal case.

In a Monday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Van Dyke’s lawyers opposed the CFTC’s efforts to file an amicus brief relating to claims in his case. The letter referred to the commodities regulator’s counsel filing a notice requesting permission from the court to provide its views on many of Van Dyke’s defense claims, including that event contracts on platforms like Polymarket were not “swaps” under the purview of the CFTC.

“The CFTC is no sheep ‘friend of the Court’ here,” said defense attorneys. “It is a regulatory wolf, with its own case against Mr. Van Dyke that it refuses to pursue itself. Rather, like a true coursing predator, the CTFC seeks to advance its own interests through the back door of an amicus brief instead of facing its own case against Mr. Van Dyke head on. This Court should not countenance the CFTC’s litigation gambits.”

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The proposed deal would make Gemini the exclusive venue for crypto event contracts offered through Apex’s FCM, expanding its prediction-market reach to brokerage clients.

Crypto exchange Gemini and Apex Fintech Solutions have signed a non-binding letter of intent that would make Gemini Titan the exclusive regulated venue for crypto event contracts offered by brokerage firms through Apex’s Futures Commission Merchant (FCM).

Under the proposed arrangement, participating brokerages would use Gemini for execution and clearing, giving Gemini a new distribution channel for its prediction-market business.

Apex provides trading and clearing infrastructure to hundreds of financial firms serving tens of millions of investors, according to the company. Gemini, meanwhile, has been building out its regulated prediction-market business since receiving approval by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to operate a designated contract market in December 2025 and clear derivatives in-house in April.

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USDC supply increased by roughly $2 billion in seven days, with Bernstein citing higher transaction activity and several factors that could support further growth.

Analysts at Bernstein are bullish on stablecoin issuer Circle, arguing that a new growth cycle for its USDC stablecoin could provide a significant boost for the company over the next 12 months.

In a research note published Monday, Bernstein said USDC (USDC) is showing signs of what it called “digital dollar reflation” after its supply increased by roughly $2 billion in seven days, reversing a six-month stretch of stagnant or declining growth. The firm maintained an Outperform rating on Circle (CRCL) and a $140 price target, implying roughly 60% upside from current levels. Circle shares have risen roughly 40% over the past month.

Bernstein said the next phase of stablecoin growth could be driven by several factors, including renewed momentum in crypto markets, greater regulatory clarity in the United States, tokenized capital markets and growing adoption of stablecoins for payments. The analysts also pointed to early signs of stablecoin use in payments made by artificial intelligence agents.

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Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, Web3 and crypto regulation.

Today in crypto, Strive added $81.5 million in Bitcoin as its shares jumped, Strategy raised about $2 billion but held off on further BTC purchases and Pakistan opened its crypto licensing portal with a Sept. 5 deadline for existing providers.

Strive bought 1,110 Bitcoin for roughly $81.5 million last week, lifting its holdings above 21,000 BTC as its Nasdaq-listed shares rose more than 8% on Monday.

The company acquired the Bitcoin between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21 at an average price of $73,409 per BTC, including fees and expenses, according to a regulatory filing. The purchases brought Strive’s total holdings to 21,356 BTC, making it the seventh-largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holder, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET.

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With just over two months until the US general election, Stand With Crypto announced its pick for politicians in its efforts to “elect the most pro-crypto Congress in history.”

Stand With Crypto, an advocacy organization launched by Coinbase in 2023, endorsed 32 candidates for House of Representatives seats ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections based on their digital asset policy views. 

In a Monday notice, Stand With Crypto said its slate of 32 candidates for the 2026 midterm elections was part of efforts to influence digital asset policy in the federal government. The organization said it had endorsed politicians who were “proven digital asset policy champions,” also targeting competitive races “where Stand With Crypto advocate numbers are most likely to influence outcomes.”

“Crypto Voters have become a durable, motivated voting bloc, which has the potential to swing key congressional races in the midterms,” said Stand With Crypto executive director Mason Lynaugh, adding:

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Coinbase’s B20 equities bring stocks including Apple and Nvidia onchain, allowing eligible non-US users to trade them 24/7 and use them across DeFi.

Coinbase’s tokenized US stocks went live on Base Monday, alongside a Chainlink integration providing price data to support their use across decentralized finance applications.

Chainlink Data Feeds will provide continuous pricing for Coinbase’s tokenized stocks, including Nvidia, Apple, Meta and Alphabet. The data allows DeFi protocols to integrate the assets into lending markets, decentralized exchanges and structured products, including as collateral for borrowing.

According to Chainlink’s documentation, the feeds value each token using the underlying stock price and a Coinbase-supplied multiplier that accounts for dividends and corporate actions.

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As BTC tops $80,000 for the first time since May, price analysis warns that the market still needs to sustain higher levels to challenge the bear-market thesis.

Bitcoin (BTC) passed $80,000 after Monday’s Wall Street open as bulls built on last week’s snap BTC price rally.

Key points:

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD passing the $80,000 for the first time since May 15, up another 3% on the day before pulling back following the European close.

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Strive’s Nasdaq-traded shares surged more than 11% as the Bitcoin treasury company said it paid an average of $73,409 per BTC, pushing its holdings to 21,356 Bitcoin.

Strive purchased 1,110 Bitcoin for about $81.5 million last week, bringing its total holdings to 21,356 BTC. According to a Monday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company paid an average of $73,409 per Bitcoin (BTC), including fees and expenses, for purchases made between Aug. 17 and Aug. 21.

Strive’s cash and cash equivalents rose by $17.1 million to $171.9 million over the period, while its Class A shares outstanding increased by 3.65 million to 79.89 million. Bitcoin was trading near $79,000 on Monday, about 8% above the average price Strive paid for its latest purchase.

The purchase lifted Strive to the seventh-largest publicly traded corporate BTC holder, behind Bullish and ahead of SpaceX, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET data. Its Nasdaq-traded ASST shares were up more than 11% in Monday morning trading, poised to extend their roughly 36% year-to-date gains, according to Yahoo Finance data.

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Following a similar lawsuit filed by the Digital Chamber in July, two digital asset advocacy groups challenged Illinois’ 0.2% crypto tax on constitutional and due process grounds.

The Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) and Blockchain Association (BA) filed a lawsuit against Illinois officials regarding the state’s 0.2% tax on cryptocurrency, expected to be enforced starting in January 2027. 

In a lawsuit filed Friday in the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit for Sangamon County, lawyers for the two crypto advocacy groups challenged Illinois’ digital asset tax on the grounds it violated the US Constitution, the state’s constitution, federal and state due process laws and the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the measure into law as a “privilege tax” in June as part of the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget, requiring crypto users to be taxed as applied to transaction volume rather than income.

On the due process claim, CCI and BA argued that the tax was “unconstitutionally vague” by placing the burden on residents and brokers “under the threat of serious civil and criminal penalties” to determine what and how such assets were taxed. Notably, the crypto organizations’ arguments under the US Constitution were based on alleged violations of the Commerce Clause covering interstate commerce, claiming that the state tax “creat[ed] the specter of duplicative taxation.”

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Ether’s breakout above $2,500 has put the spotlight back on corporate ETH treasuries, with Bitmine now nearing its long-stated accumulation target.

Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies continued its accumulation of Ether last week, adding to its holdings as the cryptocurrency staged a sharp breakout following a prolonged downturn.

The company disclosed Monday that it purchased 32,447 Ether (ETH) last week, bringing its total holdings to 5,847,611 ETH, or roughly 4.8% of Ethereum’s circulating supply. Bitmine has acquired ETH every week since launching its Ethereum treasury strategy on June 30, 2025, extending its buying streak to roughly 14 months.

The company’s NYSE-traded shares were up about 8.7% to open the week, poised to extend their almost 28% gains over the past six months.

Bitmine is now 97% of the way toward its stated goal of owning 5% of the ETH supply. It has also staked 5.07 million ETH, representing about 87% of its holdings, and reported combined crypto, cash, securities and other investments of $14.9 billion.

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Przemysław Kral reportedly faces a fraud charge and is cooperating with Polish prosecutors as estimated customer losses reach $650 million.

Przemysław Kral, the head of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto, has reportedly been charged with participating in an alleged large-scale fraud and has begun cooperating with Polish prosecutors.

Kral is seeking a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony that could include details about Zondacrypto’s funding of right-wing politicians, Polish outlet Onet reported Monday.

According to Onet, prosecutors estimate Zondacrypto customers lost at least 2.4 billion Polish zlotys ($650 million). Investigators said the exchange used only part of customer funds to buy crypto, while the rest was transferred to private accounts controlled by Zondacrypto managers.

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Bitget CEO Gracy Chen doesn’t believe the current Bitcoin rally is sustainable, and she aims to buy more BTC around the $50K mark later in 2026 or early next year.

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen isn’t convinced that Bitcoin’s recent rally to $79,000 marks the end of the bear market.

She is keeping a significant portion of her portfolio in stablecoins and watching for a drop of more than $25,000 from current prices as a potential level to buy back into Bitcoin. “I would say $50K is the number that I’m looking at for my personal Bitcoin buyback sort of price,” Chen tells the Trade Secrets show.

That being said, Chen isn’t claiming to have any special insight into where Bitcoin’s notoriously unpredictable price is headed. She also thinks its possible Bitcoin could end the year $20,000 higher.

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Strategy held off on new Bitcoin buying, maintaining holdings at 840,447 BTC as it launched a $1.59 billion cash pool after raising $2 billion from MSTR stock sales.

Strategy, the world’s largest public company holding Bitcoin, raised about $2 billion through common stock sales last week while making no new Bitcoin purchases.

The Bitcoin treasury company sold 18.26 million MSTR shares between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23 through its at-the-market (ATM) offering program, according to a Monday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Strategy repurchased about 1.43 million of its STRC preferred shares for $136.4 million, added $300 million to its US dollar reserve and directed the remaining proceeds to a newly launched US dollar cash account. The company reported $5.1 billion in its reserve and $1.59 billion in the new cash account as of Sunday, bringing its total cash across the two pools to $6.69 billion.

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Fasset raised $68 million in a Series C led by SBI Group as the companies plan a digital bank in Malaysia and to expand stablecoin payments.

Stablecoin neobanking platform Fasset has raised $68 million in a Series C funding round led by Japan’s SBI Group at a $1 billion valuation.

The financing follows Fasset’s $51 million Series B in May and brings the company’s total funding raised in 2026 to $119 million, Fasset said Monday.

SBI Holdings said Monday in a separate statement that it made an additional investment in Fasset after first investing in the company in May. The Japanese financial group did not disclose the size of its latest investment.

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Bitcoin closed a weekly candle above its 50-week EMA for the first time since late 2025 as markets prepared for the Jackson Hole symposium.

Bitcoin (BTC) starts the final week of August near its highest levels since mid-May as its bear-market recovery reaches a critical stage.

Key points:

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Piero Cipollone said the Eurosystem would not identify digital euro users as central bank digital currencies face privacy concerns worldwide.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is defending the privacy design of its planned central bank digital currency (CBDC).

In an Aug. 10 interview published Monday, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said the digital euro’s design would limit the amount of transaction information available to the central bank.

“The Eurosystem would not be able to identify the users making or receiving payments,” Cipollone said.

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Germany expands its lead in EU MiCA authorizations with 79 crypto asset service providers, ahead of France and the Netherlands.

Germany widened its lead in the number of providers licensed under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), with six of its cooperative banks added in the latest register update.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its MiCA register on Friday, bringing the number of authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs) to 331.

Compared with an update from Aug. 12, the six additions were all German cooperative banks: Raiffeisenbank Aidlingen, Ihre Volksbank, VR-Bank Mittelfranken Mitte, Volksbank Euskirchen, VR Bank Ried-Überwald and Volksbank Backnang.

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US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.92 billion last week, their strongest weekly inflow since October 2025, as Bitcoin briefly climbed above $78,000 on Friday.

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows surged last week after months of uneven flows, with investors pouring nearly $2 billion into the products amid a surge in Bitcoin’s price.

Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.92 billion in net inflows during the week ending Friday, marking their strongest weekly performance in nearly 10 months, according to SoSoValue data.

ETF analyst Nate Geraci said Sunday that spot Ether ETFs also attracted about $700 million. He added that Bitcoin and Ether funds each posted their strongest weekly inflows since October 2025.

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Participating banks will test post-quantum wallets and onchain transfers while regulators from Abu Dhabi, Bhutan and Malta initially observe.

Banks and financial regulators across Europe, the Middle East and Asia have joined a pilot testing quantum-resistant infrastructure for digital asset wallets and onchain transfers. 

The Responsible Fintech Institute (RFI) and crypto custody infrastructure provider Safeheron announced the initiative on Monday. 

The pilot uses a multiparty computation protocol supporting ML-DSA-65, a post-quantum digital signature standard published by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, on a quantum-resistant NEAR testnet.

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Existing virtual asset providers must apply for an NOC by Sept. 5 or cease operations under Pakistan’s new regulatory framework.

Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has opened its licensing portal after notifying regulations governing crypto exchanges and other virtual asset service providers (VASPs) operating in the country. 

Companies providing virtual asset services on or before March 5 must submit an application for a no-objection certificate (NOC) by Sept. 5 or cease operations, according to the PVARA licensing website. Operating after the deadline without submitting an application will constitute an offense, PVARA said in a Saturday press release published by the Associated Press of Pakistan.

“The licensing window is officially open, creating a clear pathway for businesses to enter Pakistan’s regulated virtual asset market, with defined standards for consumer protection, governance, compliance and market integrity,” PVARA said on LinkedIn. 

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Term permanently closed its Meta Vaults after an attack reportedly removed nearly all of their Ethereum deposits.

Decentralized lending protocol Term Finance lost an estimated $8.5 million after an attacker exploited governance control of its strategy vaults, according to blockchain security firms. 

On Sunday, PeckShield said the attacker drained about 2,843 Ether (ETH), valued at $6.87 million at the time, and 1.68 million USDC, which was exchanged for approximately 1.68 million Dai (DAI). CertiK made a similar estimate, placing the total loss at around $8.5 million. 

The reported loss represented about 68% of the $12.45 million held in Term’s vault product before the attack, including nearly all of its approximately $8.8 million in Ethereum deposits, according to DefiLlama data. 

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The US may face a debt crisis within three years according to Ray Dalio, and debt-related issues helped fuel a rally in Bitcoin that could mark the beginning of a new cycle.

Confidence has returned to crypto markets after Bitcoin saw a sudden rally to gain more than 23% this week to trade around $77,559 at the time of writing. It was the best weekly percentage gain (23.5%) since March 2023 and the largest weekly gain measured in US dollars. The price briefly topped $79,000 on Friday.

Charting platform Barchart highlighted on Thursday that Bitcoin’s (BTC) price had crossed above its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2025.

The 200-day moving average is widely used to gauge longer-term market trends, with moves above the indicator viewed as a sign of bullish momentum. Many now believe/hope the cycle has finally flipped positive.

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A Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland study finds crypto investors hold sharply different views on returns and risk, while information about Bitcoin’s past gains can increase both desired allocations and actual crypto purchases.

A new Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland working paper offers a provocative explanation for why cryptocurrency behaves so differently from traditional financial assets: Americans who buy crypto don’t simply have different demographics or risk appetites, they have radically different beliefs about digital assets’ future returns.

The finding could help explain both crypto’s persistent volatility and the way rallies can attract new buyers, potentially creating a feedback loop in which rising prices reinforce bullish expectations and pull more investors into the market.

Using repeated surveys of as many as 25,000 US households per wave, researchers Michael Weber, Bernardo Candia, Olivier Coibion and Yuriy Gorodnichenko found that expectations about crypto returns explain more of the variation in who owns cryptocurrency than a broad range of demographic characteristics. 

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Brussels is reviewing whether crypto lending should fall under MiCA, but DeFi lending vaults are making it harder to determine who, exactly, should be regulated.

MiCA left crypto lending outside its original rulebook — but now Brussels is considering whether to bring it in.

On May 20, 2026, the European Commission asked stakeholders to weigh in on areas left outside the original Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. These include issues around decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto lending and borrowing.

One area of contention involves lending vaults, which can channel billions of dollars into onchain credit markets without looking like conventional lending. Their legal status currently depends on non binding interpretations that they fall outside of MiCA and EU fund rules.

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Gracy Chen says macroeconomic uncertainty could keep Bitcoin within $10,000 to $20,000 of current levels, while US government purchases remain unlikely within the next two years.

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen expects Bitcoin to remain broadly around current levels through the end of the year despite its recent surge, citing interest rates and broader macroeconomic conditions as key factors shaping the cryptocurrency’s outlook.

Speaking on Cointelegraph’s Trade Secrets podcast, Chen said predicting whether Bitcoin (BTC) will finish the year above or below $70,000 is difficult, pointing to the possibility of higher interest rates as one factor that could pressure prices.

Cointelegraph host interviews Bitget CEO Gracy Chen. Source: Trade Secrets

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The hedge fund founder with an estimated net worth of $15 billion recommended that investors overweight Bitcoin and gold rather than bonds.

The founder of the Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, Ray Dalio, called on investors to put money into gold and “a bit of Bitcoin” in response to a looming debt crisis.

In a Friday LinkedIn post, Dalio said having between 10% to 15% of one’s portfolio in gold could help reduce risk. He advocated for gold and Bitcoin (BTC) as assets to be overweight compared to debt assets like bonds, citing risks from “internal political and external geopolitical conflicts.”

“My guess, which I suppose will be a bad one, is that [a US debt crisis] will come in three years, give or take two, if the course we’re on is not changed,” said Dalio. 

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The CFTC ordered a trading ban for former Alameda and FTX executives, and US prosecutors opposed a motion from a US soldier accused of profiting from the removal of Nicolas Maduro.

Update (Aug. 21, 9:50 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include information about the criminal case against Edward Zimbardi.

On Tuesday, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) entered consent orders related to a 2022 enforcement action against former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and crypto exchange FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang.

The orders imposed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) required that Ellison and Wang receive a five-year trading ban related to their roles in the crypto exchange’s collapse. The CFTC also ordered that the Alameda CEO receive a 10-year registration ban, while Wang received an eight-year registration ban.

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Bitcoin volatility eased after BTC hit its highest level since mid-May, while gold joined the cryptocurrency in approaching three-month highs.

Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated above $77,000 after Friday’s Wall Street open as gold joined the crypto rally to hit 14-week highs.

Key points:

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD cooling after reaching its highest levels since May 15, still up nearly 6% on the day.

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The RISE program would use the Canton Network to combine and distribute state-administered benefits across three US states beginning in 2027.

Digital Asset, the creator of the Canton Network, and former US House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Idea Foundation plan to pilot a blockchain-based system for distributing state-administered benefits across three US states using the Canton Network.

The RISE program is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2027 and would combine multiple benefits into monthly or twice-monthly payments, with spending rules applied to categories including food, child care and cash.

According to Friday’s announcement, the system would automatically adjust benefit levels as household income changes and allow participating agencies to track payments, balances, spending and compliance data through Canton. Digital Asset said Canton would coordinate the rules, permissions and transactions used to distribute benefits while limiting access to sensitive information.

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