Today's news highlights:
1. Next week's macro outlook: Don't be too aggressive about rate cuts, and don't panic about PCE.
2. Alleged WLFI Wallet team members deny the proposal associating Aave with the acquisition of 7% of the total WLFI tokens.
3. Aave founder Stani.eth responded again: The proposal created by the WLFI team has been voted on and passed in Aave DAO.
4. Stargate DAO has approved LayerZero's acquisition of Stargate (STG).
5. WLFI public offering participants hold 4.63% of the total, with TGE unlocking 20% valued at $264 million.
6. Binance Alpha will launch Alttown (TOWN) on August 26.
7. Bitmine increased its ETH holdings by approximately $45 million, now holding about $7 billion in ETH.
8. More than 10,000 investors hold over 1 billion KRW in assets across the five major exchanges in South Korea, averaging about $1.59 million per person.
Macro
European Central Bank: No final decision has been made regarding the operation of the digital euro on public chains like Ethereum.
According to Caijing, in response to previous reports stating that European officials are now considering operating a digital euro on public blockchains such as Ethereum or Solana, instead of the previously anticipated private blockchain due to privacy concerns, the European Central Bank responded that since the US stablecoin legislation was passed, EU officials have been re-evaluating the digital euro plan, considering different technologies—both centralized and decentralized—as well as distributed ledger technology, and no final decision has been made yet.
Next week's macro outlook: Don't be too aggressive about rate cuts, and don't panic about PCE.
Throughout most of this month, Wall Street traders have flocked to the stock and bond markets, betting that the Federal Reserve is finally ready to start cutting rates again. The only thing they were waiting for was the green light from Fed Chair Powell to maintain this rally. They got their wish on Friday when Powell took a dovish stance in a highly anticipated speech, triggering the largest cross-market rally since April. The cryptocurrency market surged, with Ethereum prices reaching new highs not seen in nearly four years. Gold rose by 1%. Here are the key points the market will focus on in the new week:
On Tuesday at 03:15, 2026 FOMC voting member and Dallas Fed Chair Logan will deliver a speech and participate in a panel discussion at the 100th anniversary of the Central Bank of Mexico;
On Tuesday at 07:15, FOMC permanent voting member and New York Fed Chair Williams will deliver a keynote speech at the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Central Bank of Mexico;
On Tuesday at 22:00, the US August Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index and the US August Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index;
At 00:45 on Thursday, 2027 FOMC voting member and Richmond Fed Chair Barkin will give a speech;
Thursday 20:30, revision of the US second quarter real GDP annualized quarter rate;
At 06:00 on Friday, Fed Governor Waller will speak on monetary policy;
Friday 20:30, US July Core PCE Price Index Year-on-Year, US July Personal Spending Month-on-Month, US July Core PCE Price Index Month-on-Month.
Looking at the US dollar index, as labor market data has become a major focus for the Federal Reserve, and market participants almost fully expect a rate cut next month, the downward pressure on the dollar is likely to persist. Unless future employment reports significantly alter the outlook, the dollar index is expected to remain under pressure, especially against currencies supported by more hawkish central banks. For investors, a rate cut may be just around the corner, but the subsequent easing path is far from smooth, and the uncertainty of policy outlook is becoming a new focus.
Viewpoint
Guotai Junan: The Fed may begin rate cuts in September, expecting at most two rate cuts this year.
According to Zhiyuan Finance, Guotai Junan Securities released a research report stating that Powell's speech at the 2025 Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Annual Meeting has clear dovish signals, indicating that the risk of a downturn in employment is greater than the risk of inflation rising, which may provide forward-looking guidance for a new round of preemptive rate cuts. The revision of the US monetary policy framework also points to a more adaptable and flexible monetary policy to the current environment. The Fed may begin rate cuts in September, but due to preemptive tone and inflation effects, the pace is unlikely to be too fast, expecting at most two rate cuts this year.
Santiment: The surge in Fed rate discussions may pose a dangerous signal for the crypto market.
Santiment reported on Saturday that discussions surrounding the highly anticipated Fed's September interest rate decision have surged on social media, which could be a warning signal for cryptocurrencies. 'Historically, a surge in discussions around a single bullish narrative may indicate that the market is overly optimistic and could signal a local top.' Santiment stated that mentions of keywords related to the Fed and rate cuts on social media have surged to the highest level in 11 months.
Project dynamics
Hyperliquid launched the WLFI-USD pre-issue contract.
Hyperliquid announced on platform X that the WLFI-USD pre-issue contract has been launched, supporting 3x leverage for long or short the yet-to-be-released WLFI token.
Binance Alpha has launched DORA, where users holding at least 200 Alpha points can claim 140 DORA tokens as an airdrop.
According to the official page, Binance Alpha has launched DORA. Users holding at least 200 Binance Alpha points can claim 140 DORA tokens as an airdrop. First come, first served. If the event has not ended, the score threshold will automatically decrease by 15 points every hour. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha points. Users must confirm the claim within 24 hours on the Alpha event page, otherwise it will be considered as giving up the airdrop.
OKX is about to launch WLFI pre-market perpetual contract trading.
OKX released an announcement about the official launch of the WLFI (World Liberty Financial) pre-market perpetual contract, with WLFI/USDT pre-market trading opening at 21:00 (UTC+8) on August 23, 2025.
Aave will receive 7% of the total supply of WLFI tokens and 20% of the protocol fees generated by WLFI Aave v3.
According to on-chain analyst Ai, based on the WLFI proposal, Aave as its lending ecosystem partner will receive 7% of the total supply of tokens, which is currently valued at $2.79 billion, while AAVE's FDV is currently only $5.9 billion.
According to a previously released proposal, AaveDAO will receive 20% of the protocol fees generated by the WLFI Aave v3 instance, and will receive about 7% of the total supply of WLFI tokens for participation in future WLFI governance processes, liquidity mining, and promoting the decentralization of the WLFI platform.
Alleged WLFI Wallet team members deny the proposal associating Aave with the acquisition of 7% of the total WLFI tokens.
Alleged WLFI Wallet team member Dylan_0x (@0xDylan_) posted on platform X denying the proposal associating Aave with the acquisition of 7% of the total WLFI tokens.
Crypto KOL @Luyaoyuan1 commented on this event: 'I previously believed that Aave had this 7% and 20% protocol revenue to trade AAVE, but in the weeks before the WLFI announcement, I saw the weakness of AAVE/ETH and the lag in Aave's growth. Rumors suggested that if WLFI does not fork, they do not intend to give AAVE the 7% tokens. It's not surprising as there are precedents; SPK defaulted on 10% revenue and ended up giving just 1%, eventually fizzling out. WLFI stated that during the public offering, everything would be unlocked, but now it has changed to partial unlocking. AAVE is now a project that has been deceived multiple times. If there is a default, support AAVE in suing WLFI.'
Currently, there are no public channels to verify the specific identity information of Dylan_0x (@0xDylan_). Investors should be cautious and protect their assets.
Aave founder Stani.eth responded that the related agreements of the WLFI proposal are still valid.
According to the WLFI proposal, Aave, as its lending ecosystem partner, will receive 7% of the total supply of tokens. A community user posted on platform X inquiring whether the relevant agreement is valid, to which Aave founder Stani.eth replied, 'Yep' and stated that the community rumors are 'the art of the deal.'
Aave founder Stani.eth responded again: The proposal created by the WLFI team has been voted on and passed in Aave DAO.
Aave founder Stani.eth posted again on platform X responding to 'WLFI team claims that Aave will receive 7% of the total supply of tokens is not true.' He published the relevant proposal link and stated: 'The proposal created by the WLFI team has been voted on and passed in Aave DAO' and 'ratified by WLFI as well.'
According to previous reports, alleged WLFI Wallet team members denied the proposal associating Aave with the acquisition of 7% of the total WLFI tokens.
Stargate DAO has approved LayerZero's acquisition of Stargate (STG).
LayerZero tweeted that Stargate DAO has approved LayerZero's acquisition of Stargate (STG). StargateDAO members voted 95% in favor of this acquisition. STG holders can convert their tokens to ZRO on Monday.
According to previous news, the LayerZero Foundation proposed to acquire the Stargate cross-chain bridge and its token STG for $110 million.
Binance: Users must hold at least 200 Binance Alpha points to claim 800 FST tokens as an airdrop.
According to Binance's official announcement, FreeStyle Classic (FST) Alpha trading will start at 17:00 (UTC+8) on August 24. After trading starts, users holding at least 200 Binance Alpha points can claim 800 FST tokens as an airdrop. First come, first served. If the event has not ended, the score threshold will automatically decrease by 15 points every hour. Claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha points. Users must confirm the claim within 24 hours on the Alpha event page, otherwise it will be considered as giving up the airdrop.
Binance Alpha will launch Alttown (TOWN) on August 26.
According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha will launch Alttown (TOWN) on August 26. Eligible users can go to the Alpha event page to use Binance Alpha points to claim the airdrop after Alpha trading opens. Specific details will be announced separately.
Important data
XRP's market value surpassed $180 billion, overtaking Pinduoduo.
Market data shows XRP has surpassed $3, reaching $3.05, with a 24-hour increase of 6.41%. According to the latest data from 8 MarketCap, its market capitalization has now exceeded $180 billion, reaching $181.41 billion, surpassing Pinduoduo and Deutsche Telekom, ranking 107th globally in asset market value, while Pinduoduo currently has a market value of $184.05 billion.
BlackRock's Ethereum ETF holdings market value surpassed $15 billion.
According to official data from BlackRock, the Ethereum exchange-traded fund iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) has reached an ETH holding of 3,541,277.77120 pieces, with a market value that has surpassed $15 billion, reaching $15,072,067,734.78 as of August 21. Historical data shows that BlackRock's Ethereum ETF holdings market value surpassed $10 billion on July 23 this year, indicating that this indicator has grown by about 50% in the past month.
Five new wallets purchased 19,332 ETH in the past two days, valued at approximately $92 million.
According to Lookonchain, in the past two days, five newly created wallets have accumulated 19,332 ETH ($92 million).
This week, NFT transaction volume fell by 25.78% to $134 million, with both buyers and sellers increasing by over 25%.
CryptoSlam data shows that this week, NFT market transaction volume decreased by 25.78%, to $134 million. The number of NFT buyers increased by 25.74%, reaching 450,096; the number of sellers increased by 25.91%, reaching 321,107. The number of NFT transactions increased by 6.26%, reaching 1,652,284.
Ethereum network transaction volume reached $60.7 million, but declined by 41.63% compared to the previous week. BNB Chain network transaction volume reached $20.6 million, an increase of 10.63%. Polygon network transaction volume reached $16.1 million, an increase of 37.86%. Mythos Chain network transaction volume reached $9.7 million, an increase of 3.17%. Solana network transaction volume reached $7.5 million, a decrease of 13.63%.
This week's high-value sales include:
CryptoPunks #1082 sold for 80 ETH ($350,969).
CryptoPunks #2596 sold for 72.99 ETH ($315,628).
CryptoPunks #5477 sold for 66 ETH ($285,187).
CryptoPunks #3704 sold for 63 ETH ($271,922).
CryptoPunks #8864 sold for 56.5 ETH ($269,994).
A user lost $1.54 million due to signing EIP-7702 phishing batch transactions.
According to Scam Sniffer, a user lost approximately $1.54 million due to signing EIP-7702 phishing batch transactions. The phishing batch transactions signed by the victim included multiple token transfers and NFT approval operations.
WLFI public offering participants hold 4.63% of the total, with TGE unlocking 20% valued at $264 million.
According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, the data of the $WLFI top 10 holders is as follows (only for public offering participants, strategic round/advisors/partners are not included):
TOP10 addresses have accumulated an investment of $73.08 million, holding a total of 4.63% of the tokens, totaling 4.64 billion pieces;
100% of the addresses participated in the first public offering round, with one address also adding investment in the second round;
The top holding address moonmanifest.eth holds over 1 billion tokens, leading the way;
Based on the current contract price of $0.2843, the 20% of tokens unlocked at TGE are valued at $264 million.
More than 10,000 investors hold over 1 billion KRW in assets across the five major exchanges in South Korea, averaging about $1.59 million per person.
According to Yonhap News, as of August 5, in the five major KRW exchanges in South Korea, the number of investors holding virtual assets exceeding 1 billion KRW (approximately $710,000) reached 10,810, with an average asset value of 2.229 billion KRW (approximately $1.59 million). This data far exceeds the average holdings of 10,866,371 users across the five major exchanges (10.27 million KRW) by 200 times. Among the group of individuals holding more than 1 billion KRW in virtual assets, 76% (8,242 people) are Upbit users. In terms of age groups, the largest number of individuals holding more than 1 billion KRW in virtual assets are those in their 50s (3,994 people), followed by those in their 40s (3,086 people), those over 60 (2,426 people), and those in their 30s (1,167 people). The number of individuals in their 20s is only 137, the least among all age groups, but their average holding is as high as 2.68871 billion KRW, significantly higher than other age groups.
Data: USDe's supply has reached $12 billion, setting a new historical high.
Ethena Labs tweeted that the total supply of USDe has reached $12 billion, setting a new historical high.
According to previous reports, the market value of USDe surpassed $10 billion, taking about 500 days.
Institutional holdings
ETHZilla plans to increase the fundraising scale of its share issuance to $10 billion to support continued ETH purchases.
Strategic ETH Reserve posted on platform X that Nasdaq-listed Ethereum treasury company ETHZilla (formerly 180 Life Sciences Corp.) disclosed that it has revised the previously signed securities sale agreement, involving supplement documents to the prospectus and the issuance of common stock in the accompanying prospectus. According to the revised sales agreement terms, the company will be able to raise up to $10,000,000.00 by issuing and selling common stock shares to support its continued purchase of ETH.
UK blockchain technology company Vault Ventures increased its Ethereum holdings to 771 ETH.
According to Strategic ETH Reserve, UK-listed blockchain technology company Vault Ventures has announced that it has incorporated Ethereum into its treasury reserve assets. As of now, its Ethereum holdings have increased to 771 ETH, making it the first UK-listed company to hold Ethereum in its treasury. The company previously invested £750,000 (approximately $1.028 million) to purchase 403.373 ETH and £150,000 (approximately $205,000) to purchase 1.85606 BTC in June this year.
Bitmine increased its ETH holdings by approximately $45 million, now holding about $7 billion in ETH.
According to Arkham, Ethereum treasury company Bitmine accumulated 9,613 ETH, valued at about $45 million. Currently, it holds approximately $7 billion in ETH.
