Weekly: Volatility in the Crypto Market, Several Blockchains Halted, Activity on Robinhood Chain, and a Lawsuit Against Tether

The Incrypted editorial team has prepared a new edition of our weekly digest covering the key developments across Web3 and AI. In it, we break down the crypto market rally, a series of blockchain outages, activity on the Robinhood Chain network, and more. 

Top News

Bitcoin News

• How did the asset’s price move?

At the start of the week, the leading cryptocurrency saw a pullback. On September 1–2, the rate fell, driven by a new escalation in the Middle East. At the same time, Brent futures briefly reached $96.7, the S&P 500 declined, and the yield on 10-year US Treasuries rose to 4.8%. 

On September 3, the crypto market posted positive momentum. Bitcoin briefly climbed to $82,300, while daily liquidations hit $538.6 million, with short positions dominating. A likely catalyst was a statement by Fed Governor Christopher Waller signaling readiness to support keeping rates unchanged, after which the probability of a September hike fell from 63.2% to 50.4%.

As of writing, bitcoin is trading at $79,922:

• August recap

Bitcoin closed August up 24.95%, marking its best monthly performance since November 2024. The most notable jump came mid-month following Donald Trump’s meeting with crypto industry representatives and the US Treasury’s decision to double long-term bond buybacks starting September 9.

• Expert opinions

The Bitcoin Cycle Momentum indicator returned to positive territory after eight months of bearish performance, which CryptoQuant views as a potential signal that a reversal may be approaching. At the same time, analysts expect it to rise to 20–30 to confirm the trend, while apparent demand for bitcoin has turned negative again, and short-term holders continue to lock in significant profits.

Analyst Darkfost noted that bitcoin’s more than 30% rise in August has not yet been accompanied by a comparable recovery in trading activity. Volumes on Binance, Gate, and Bybit remain about 70% below October 2025 levels, so the expert believes that to confirm a sustainable market recovery, price growth must be accompanied by increased liquidity.

Bitwise’s head of research in Europe, André Dragosch, said that the three-month correlation between bitcoin and gold has reached its highest level in nearly six years. During the recent move, bitcoin gained 22.4% over the week, while gold rose by about 5%, as the leading cryptocurrency’s correlation with the stock market fell to a one-year low — which, in the expert’s view, strengthens the case for bitcoin as a hedge against currency debasement.

Fidelity analysts suggested that bitcoin may be nearing the end of the current bear market, pointing to four-year cycles, shifting volatility, and continued growth in digital asset adoption. A historical model indicates a possible bottom in November 2026, but the firm emphasized that it could have formed as early as July or appear later.

River forecast that bitcoin could rise to $250,000-$840,000 over the next three to five years if its share in investment portfolios continues to increase. Analysts estimate that potential inflows of $1.3 trillion-$5.3 trillion could lift the asset’s market capitalization to $5.5 trillion-$17.5 trillion, and for long-term investors, the company considers an allocation to bitcoin of at least 10% to be reasonable.

• A Brit recovered 61 BTC after more than 12 years

A UK resident recovered 61 BTC that he believed were lost after the Intersango crypto exchange shut down more than a decade ago. The man bought the coins in 2011 for about £2.94, and after contacting lawyers in January 2026, he was able to recover the full amount by the end of May — at that time, the assets were valued at £3.33 million.

• Strategy opposed excluding crypto treasuries from MSCI indices

Strategy spoke out against MSCI’s proposal to change the criteria for including “non-operating” companies in the Global Investable Market Indexes, calling the initiative an attempt to remove companies with crypto treasuries from the indexes. Strategy also said that a potential exclusion would not have a material impact on the organization itself, since funds tracking these indexes hold only 3.1% of its shares.

• Strategy’s CEO explained the bitcoin sale ahead of its rally

Strategy CEO Phong Le called the company’s decision to sell 3,328 BTC in early August for about $64,000 the right move, despite the subsequent rise in the leading cryptocurrency. According to him, the sale was necessary to fund part of the dividend payouts, and at the end of the month Strategy resumed buying and purchased 4,603 BTC at an average price of $80,318.

Altcoin Sector News

• How did asset prices change?

Overall, Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, showed a similar trend over the week compared with bitcoin. The asset also saw a dip on September 1–2, but on the 3rd it climbed to $2,529 and at that point held above $2,500 for some time.

As of writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,500:

For most other altcoins, the week was also positive. Notable among them were privacy-focused coins Monero and Zcash. 

• Ethereum ended August up more than 32%

Ethereum closed August up 32.53%, beating bitcoin’s 24.95%. The most notable jump came in the middle of the month. The drivers behind the rally were the same as for bitcoin — regulatory progress and U.S. Treasury bond buybacks. 

• VET, Monero, and Uniswap led weekly gains among the top 100

VeChain topped the ranking of the most profitable crypto assets in the top 100 for August 24–30, gaining 23.83%. Monero added 23.64%, Uniswap — 19.31%, and the top 10 also included SPX6900, Rain, Solana, Mantle, Lighter, PancakeSwap, and Stacks.

• Zcash rose above $1,000 and entered the top 10 cryptocurrencies

Zcash surged above $1,000 and entered the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, which exceeded $17 billion. Over the week, ZEC gained more than 30%, and futures position liquidations over 24 hours topped $36 million; trader Garrett Jin lost more than $18.5 million on a short.

Industry Regulation

• G20 countries discussed regulation of digital assets

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors recognized the transformational role of digital assets in driving economic growth and agreed to advance regulatory frameworks that should support both innovation and financial stability. Participants also called for more effective implementation of FATF standards for virtual assets and voiced concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies in fraud schemes and money laundering.

• Thailand’s SEC approved the Travel Rule for crypto companies

Thailand’s SEC approved the Travel Rule for digital asset operators, requiring them to collect and transmit information about the senders and recipients of crypto transactions, verify counterparties, and verify control over non-custodial wallets. The requirements will take effect on February 27, 2027, and transaction-related data will need to be retained for at least five years.

• CFTC asked to dismiss CME’s lawsuit against crypto perpetual futures

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) asked a federal court to dismiss CME Group’s lawsuit against allowing crypto perpetual futures in the U.S., saying the exchange failed to prove harm from competition with Kalshi and can launch similar products itself. The dispute arose after the regulator allowed Kalshi’s BTCPERP to be classified as a futures contract, while CME insists such instruments should be treated as swaps.

Illegal Activity and Cybersecurity Incidents

• 15 wallets made $312,000 amid a suspected GOLD rug pull

Lookonchain analysts reported a suspected rug pull involving the GOLD token on the Solana network. Fifteen wallets linked to the team sold 224.5 million GOLD for about $330,000, netting roughly $312,000 in profit. Before the sell-off, these addresses, together with the developer, controlled 82.45% of the token supply, with interest fueled by an alleged connection to the Trump Organization. Representatives of Trump Coins later denied any involvement in the project.

• Tectonic lost about $75 million due to TONIC price manipulation

The DeFi protocol Tectonic was hit by an attack worth about $75 million, during which the attacker pumped TONIC’s price by roughly 100x in 20 minutes and used the tokens as inflated collateral to take out loans. The attacker moved about $6 million from Cronos to Ethereum, while another roughly $60 million remained on the Cronos network.

• Fogo halted the network after 400 million FOGO was stolen

The Fogo team suspended the blockchain after detecting unauthorized activity and reports that the Fogo Foundation had been compromised, allowing an attacker to obtain 400 million FOGO worth about $3 million. The network was halted as a precaution to prevent further movement of the affected assets.

• Injective was down for nearly four hours amid a possible hack

The Injective network stopped processing blocks for 3 hours and 42 minutes amid a possible attack with damages of up to $4.9 million. According to onchain analysts, the attacker may have exploited binary options mechanics and trading between their own subaccounts to make the protocol account for more funds to be repaid than actually remained in the system.

• Tether was sued over the freezing of 42.4 million USDT

Two entrepreneurs from Thailand filed a lawsuit against Tether in federal court in New York, challenging the freeze of about 42.4 million USDT across ten Ethereum addresses. The plaintiffs claim the company blocked the assets after an informal request from Homeland Security Investigations, when authorities still did not have a warrant, court order, or subpoena.

• X is investigating mass password reset requests amid X Money expansion

Social network X is investigating a wave of unauthorized password reset requests after users reported multiple emails and verification codes. The company suggested attackers may be trying to gain access to accounts amid the expansion of X Money, but said it has not yet found any signs of its own systems being compromised.

• The US and Europe disrupted the Sality botnet used to steal crypto

Authorities in the US and Europe disrupted the P2P Sality botnet, which has been used since 2003 to spread malware, carry out cyberattacks, and steal crypto. More than 11 million unique IP addresses were linked to the network’s infrastructure, and at its peak, the operator could simultaneously control up to 1 million infected devices.

• Ukraine shut down a network of fake investment platforms used to steal crypto

Ukrainian law enforcement shut down a network of fake investment platforms through which criminals stole cryptocurrencies using an embedded drainer. Investigators identified 62 victims from more than 20 countries, and more than 46 Ukrainian citizens may have been involved in organizing the scheme.

AI Sector

• OpenAI and 155 other companies called for stronger AI cybersecurity

OpenAI and 155 other organizations urged businesses and governments to urgently strengthen cybersecurity amid AI’s growing capabilities. Participants in the initiative expect attacks to become more sophisticated in the coming months and propose using AI more actively to find vulnerabilities, limiting access rights, updating legacy systems, and expanding the sharing of threat intelligence.

• US authorities sold Anthropic shares seized from SBF associates

US federal authorities sold Anthropic shares seized from former Alameda Research and FTX executives Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh. The shares were reportedly sold to the company’s existing investors in 2025, but the buyers, deal price, and the amount of proceeds received by the government were not disclosed; experts estimate the stake was worth $250 million to $1.1 billion at the time of sale.

• Gal Gadot backed the use of AI in filmmaking

Gal Gadot backed the use of AI in filmmaking, provided that actors’ performances and likenesses are protected. On the film Bitcoin, the technology was used to create sets and lighting, while the actress insisted on a ban on using AI to alter or reproduce her performance.

• OpenAI recognized Astra as its first model with critical cyber capabilities

OpenAI recognized Astra as the first of its models to reach a critical capability threshold in cybersecurity. In tests, the system independently found previously unknown vulnerabilities, built exploit chains, and discovered two V8 zero-day vulnerabilities, prompting the company to strengthen safeguards and limit initial access to the most advanced features.

• OpenAI is building an automatic AI “kill switch”

OpenAI is developing mechanisms to automatically halt AI when dangerous behavior is detected, following the Hugging Face hack incident. The company also plans to step up model monitoring and isolation, while US lawmakers demanded details of the incident and are simultaneously considering the AI Kill Switch Act.

• Google unveiled Gemini 3.8 Flash and Flash Cyber

Google unveiled the Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber models for agentic tasks and cybersecurity, respectively. Flash is geared toward coding and autonomous workflows, while Flash Cyber is available to vetted specialists and, in tests, showed over 70% success in identifying vulnerabilities in Google’s internal codebases.

Durov Announced the Launch of Gram Wallet in Telegram

Pavel Durov announced the launch of the non-custodial Gram Wallet built on The Open Network directly within Telegram. For now, the wallet is available to a limited number of users, but over the next few weeks, access is expected to expand to the messenger’s audience of more than 1 billion people.

Hyperliquid Plans to Enter the US Market via Kraken’s Parent Company

Hyperliquid Labs is in talks with Kraken’s parent company — Payward — about entering the US market. It is believed that clients will be able to trade perpetual crypto futures via Bitnomial, a platform controlled by Payward, and that a corresponding infrastructure proposal has allegedly already been submitted to the CFTC.

Kraken Postponed Its IPO Until at Least Q2 2027

Kraken’s parent company, Payward, postponed its IPO until at least Q2 2027 amid unfavorable market conditions. This is already the second delay to the listing in 2026: the company previously paused its plans due to the crypto market downturn, weak trading volumes, and pressure on company valuations.

Farmmi Shares Surged 320% Amid the JINQIAN Pump

Shares of China’s Farmmi jumped by more than 320% at one point amid hype around the Money Mushroom (JINQIAN) memecoin on Robinhood Chain. The token’s market cap reached around $60 million, and FAMI trading volume on Nasdaq rose by roughly 150 times, although the FAMI token used in the crypto pair is not an official Robinhood Stock Token and has no direct connection to the company’s real shares.

PONS Token Rose 360% Over the Week

PONS surged more than 360% in seven days amid a sharp spike in activity on Robinhood Chain, with its market cap topping $500 million. The launchpad of the same name generated a record $5.95 million in fees over 24 hours and processed about $400 million in trading volume, capturing more than 63% of the network’s launchpad market.

AMC and Robinhood scandal sparks MEME boom

AMC CEO Adam Aron criticized Robinhood over tokenized AMC shares, stressing that the company has nothing to do with their issuance. Against the backdrop of the dispute, a tokenized AMC-linked memecoin called MEME appeared on Robinhood Chain, with its FDV jumping 206,400% in 24 hours to $131.7 million on $41.5 million in trading volume.

Nvidia to buy Hugging Face for nearly $13 billion

Nvidia reached an agreement to acquire the Hugging Face platform for $12.93 billion. After the deal, the service — with more than 18 million users — will retain its open-platform status, while Nvidia plans to scale its infrastructure and broaden access to AI technologies for developers and companies.

Other News

Other developments this week included:

• The CFTC fined a former White House staffer more than $172,500 for trading on Kalshi
• The NEAR blockchain switched to Confidential by Default mode
• Crypto companies spent a record $640 million on buybacks of their own tokens
• Trump’s son’s fund will invest up to $300 million in Polymarket
• Ethena launched a neobank on Avalanche with cashback and a savings yield
• The issuance of catastrophe bonds on blockchain was scheduled for 2027
• Revolut took the first step toward a banking license in the US.

What’s New at Incrypted?

Articles and Interviews

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We prepared a review of Gemini 3.8 Flash — the third update to Google’s Flash lineup in just six weeks. We looked at the model’s improvements, pricing, and the cyber version, Flash Cyber, and tested its ability to build a 3D game from a single prompt.

Gemini 3.8 Flash: What’s New in Google’s Third Model in a Month and a Half and How to Build a 3D Game

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Arthur Hayes released a new essay, Atención, on the problems of Europe’s financial system and their potential impact on global liquidity and the crypto market. We prepared a concise recap of the key points and the author’s trading strategy.

The editorial team tested 001k.exchange and prepared a review of the service for crypto and fiat transactions. We explain what services the platform offers, how the exchange process works, and what to pay attention to when using it.

001k.exchange Review: Financial Transactions with Crypto and Fiat

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We compiled 15 AI tools for marketing and SMM — from text and design generation to video, analytics, and automation. We compared their features, limitations, and current pricing plans to make it easier to choose the right tool for specific tasks.

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The editorial team explored how Order Flow helps assess buyer and seller activity in intraday futures trading. We explained how to read order flow and volume, factor in the news backdrop, and apply the insights in practice.

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We compared six popular antidetect browsers and broke down how they differ and what tasks they’re best suited for. We also covered their use in the crypto industry and the option to pay for subscriptions with digital assets.

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In Addition:

• We’ve put together key investments in the blockchain and crypto asset space for August 2026 in one article.
• We regularly update the Incrypted crypto calendar, where you’ll find plenty of interesting events and announcements.

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