Mallucryptologist

ZKB, Switzerland's Fourth-Largest Bank, Opens 24/7 Bitcoin & Ethereum Trading Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB), Switzerland's fourth-largest bank, has launched 24/7 trading and secure storage for Bitcoin and Ethereum through its eBanking and Mobile Banking platforms. Partnering with Crypto Finance AG, ZKB handles secure storage of private keys, eliminating the need for customers to manage their own wallets. The bank also offers a B2B solution for other Swiss banks to provide crypto trading and custody services. Cryptoslate

Bitcoin Slides Below $57,000 as "Sell-on-Rise" Sentiment Persists Bitcoin has fallen below $57,000, reversing Wednesday's gains as investors sell risk assets due to concerns about the U.S. economy. The cryptocurrency peaked above $65,000 on August 25th but has been steadily declining since, with short-lived rallies followed by further selling. This "sell-on-rise" pattern reflects a lack of market confidence. Other major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, XRP, and TON, have also experienced a similar pullback. Coindesk

Trump Family's DeFi Project: A Stablecoin Revolution to Cement US Dollar Dominance? World Liberty Financial (WLFI), backed by Donald Trump's sons, has partnered with Aave to develop a platform promoting US-pegged stablecoins. This initiative aims to strengthen the US dollar's global dominance amid competition from other currencies. The project aims to use stablecoins to maintain America's financial leadership. WLFI clarifies that their project is not a competing fork of Aave, but a collaborative effort. Cryptoslate

Polygon's POL Token Launch Amidst Market Downturn: A New Era for Scaling Ethereum? Polygon has rebranded its native token from MATIC to POL, ushering in Polygon 2.0. MATIC holders on the Polygon PoS chain are automatically upgraded, with others able to upgrade manually. POL serves as the gas and staking token for the PoS chain and aims to support all chains, including the AggLayer. Despite initial expectations, POL's value has declined by around 10% following a broader market slump. POL boasts a sustainable growth model with a 2% annual emissions rate. Cryptoslate

Trump's DeFi Venture Leans on Aave, Ethereum, Not Bitcoin Former President Trump's new DeFi venture, World Liberty Financial, uses Aave and Ethereum for a "credit account system." Advised by lawyer Alex Golubitsky, it's a "lightweight feeder" into Aave, not a fork. The project aims to engage Trump supporters with DeFi. News of the venture briefly boosted Aave's token value, but it has since retraced. Cryptoslate

Trump-Backed Crypto Project: Insiders Poised for Massive 70% Token Grab World Liberty Financial, promoted by Donald Trump and his sons, promises to empower the public with finance. However, a draft white paper reveals that 70% of governance tokens will be held by insiders, including founders and team members. This significantly exceeds typical distributions in other crypto projects, raising concerns about decentralization. The remaining 30% will be distributed via public sale, with some proceeds going to insiders. Coindesk

Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Predicts US Banks Will Hold Bitcoin Within 5 Years Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick predicts Bitcoin will become mainstream within five years, held by US banks. He acknowledges current regulatory hurdles, including capital requirements for holding Bitcoin. However, he believes regulatory changes, particularly a CFTC designation of Bitcoin as a financial asset, will pave the way for banks to fully embrace Bitcoin, driving its value surge. Cryptoslate

Riot Platforms Pushes for Bitfarms Takeover, Targeting Board Control Riot Platforms, holding a nearly 20% stake in Bitfarms, seeks to acquire the company. In an open letter, Riot lowered its board seat request to two independent directors and criticized Bitfarms' acquisition of Stronghold, calling it "punitively dilutive." Riot urges Bitfarms to refrain from financing transactions before an October meeting, suggesting alternative options. Cryptoslate

Ethereum Network Revenue Plunges 99% Amid Layer-2 Growth Ethereum's network revenue has plummeted 99% since March 2024, falling from $35 million to $200,000 daily. This decline is attributed to the rise of L2 networks and the Dencun upgrade, which reduced L2 transaction fees. L2s like Coinbase's Base are thriving, generating $2 million in revenue, while Ethereum's mainnet revenue suffers. Experts worry about a "death spiral" as lower fees attract users to L2s, further decreasing Ethereum's revenue. Cryptoslate

Ethereum's Ethervista: A Secure Memecoin Launchpad Aiming to Outshine Pump.fun Ethervista, a new Ethereum DEX, is challenging Pump.fun (Solana) with a 5-day liquidity lock for creators, preventing rug pulls and promoting long-term projects. The platform rewards creators with liquidity and fees, encouraging sustainable growth. Ethervista has seen significant community traction in its first 24 hours. Cryptoslate

FBI Sounds Alarm: North Korea Targets Crypto ETFs, Steals $3 Billion in Crypto The FBI warns of sophisticated North Korean hacking campaigns targeting crypto employees, DeFi apps, and ETF companies. The group, Lazarus, uses social engineering to trick employees into deploying malware that steals crypto. Even cybersecurity experts are vulnerable. Recorded Future estimates Lazarus stole $3 billion in crypto between 2017 and 2023. Cryptoslate

Ethereum ETFs Struggle Post-Grayscale Unlock, But Inflows Signal Hope US-traded spot Ethereum ETFs faced $476 million in outflows during their first month, attributed to the Grayscale ETHE unlock and Bitcoin's first-mover advantage. Analysts, however, remain optimistic, predicting inflows will catch up as the unlock period ends. Cryptoslate

Terraform Labs Moves $62.81M in BTC, Final Wind-Down Steps Commence Terraform Labs, winding down after a SEC settlement, transferred 1,075 BTC (~$62.81 million) to a new address, leaving only $2 million in altcoins (CVX, GOHM). This follows the company's August 27 announcement of its final Terra blockchain upgrade, marking the end of its operations. Cryptoslate

Trump's Crypto Project Linked to $2M DeFi Hack, Former Pick-Up Artist Involved Donald Trump and his sons are launching a new cryptocurrency project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which bears striking resemblance to the recently hacked Dough Finance, losing $2 million. Four team members from Dough Finance, including one who founded "Date Hotter Girls LLC," are involved. WLFI will include a non-transferable governance token, and the project boasts involvement from financiers and e-commerce influencers. Coindesk

21Shares Launches Wrapped Bitcoin (21BTC) on Ethereum, Challenging WBTC 21Shares launched its Wrapped Bitcoin product (21BTC) on Ethereum, claiming superior security compared to existing options. 21BTC is backed by Bitcoin held in cold storage, eliminating bridge dependence. Flow Traders provides liquidity and seamless integration. 21Shares aims to offer institutional-grade security and operational excellence in the wrapped asset market, differentiating itself through secure custody practices. Cryptoslate

Bitcoin Could Plunge 20% After Fed Rate Cut: Analysts Warn of Deeper Correction Bitfinex analysts predict a potential 15%-20% drop in Bitcoin's price following a September rate cut, citing concerns of a recession. A smaller 25-basis point cut could lead to long-term price appreciation, while a larger 50-basis point cut might trigger a short-lived spike, followed by a correction due to recession fears. Despite the potential for a bearish scenario, the analysts see a buying opportunity in September. Coindesk

Ripple's XRP Surges 4% as Partnerships Fuel Asian Expansion Ripple expands in Asia, partnering with Futureverse and Yonsei University in South Korea and Japan. The collaborations focus on XRP Ledger programmability and enterprise solutions, including Ripple Custody, KYC-verified DeFi access via Ottó blockchain, and secure digital asset storage. Ripple CEO highlights increased use of their solutions by crypto-native companies like Futureverse. Following the news, XRP token rose 4% in the past 24 hours to $0.5687. Cryptoslate

DeFi Giants Aave and Sky Join Forces to Boost Sector Growth Aave and Sky (formerly MakerDAO) have joined forces to launch Sky Aave Force, bridging the gap between DeFi and traditional finance. The initiative aims to enhance accessibility, adoption, and collaboration within the DeFi ecosystem. Aave, a leading DeFi protocol, will integrate Sky's USDS and sUSDS stablecoins into its Aave V3 platform, combining their strengths to foster sector growth and create a more robust and interconnected financial landscape. Cryptoslate

ZKsync Developer Matter Labs Cuts 16% of Staff Amid Layer-2 Restructuring Matter Labs, developer of Ethereum scaling solution ZKsync, laid off 16% of its workforce. CEO Alex Gluchowski cited a shift in the layer-2 landscape towards more specialized solutions as the reason for the restructuring. Matter Labs will focus on application-specific and community-specific L2s, competing for market share in the crowded layer-2 space. Their Elastic Chain interoperability layer aims to address fragmentation. Coindesk

Crypto Startups Surge: $634 Million VC Funding in August, Infrastructure Dominates Venture capital investment in crypto startups soared to $634 million in August, up 15% from July. Blockchain infrastructure projects led the way, with PIP Labs raising $80 million and Bridge securing $58 million. DeFi projects also saw strong interest, with Morpho Labs raising $50 million. These investments highlight the ongoing growth and innovation within the crypto ecosystem. Cryptoslate