Crypto World
Crypto payments remain negligible among euro-area merchants
Crypto assets are still effectively absent from everyday commerce across the euro area, according to a new European Central Bank (ECB) survey of how businesses accept different payment methods. Even as digital payments expand, the ECB finds that only a small fraction of merchants take crypto—whether directly or via payment arrangements they describe as accepting crypto assets or stablecoins.
The ECB reports that just 0.2% of companies selling goods and services online accept crypto assets. For in-person payments, cash remains dominant: 92% of companies with physical points of sale accept it, while crypto and stablecoins together remain under 1% acceptance in both 2024 and 2026.
Key takeaways
- Crypto acceptance is minimal: the ECB survey shows 0.2% of euro area businesses accept crypto for online sales.
- Stablecoins are not catching on at physical checkout: crypto assets and stablecoins remain below 1% acceptance at physical points of sale in 2024 and 2026.
- Mobile payments are the main growth area: acceptance of mobile payment methods at physical locations rises to 68% in 2026 from 36% in 2024.
- Merchants prioritize customer demand and security: consumer preference is the top decision factor, while merchants that reject cash most often cite weak demand and cash handling frictions.
- Survey design leaves room for interpretation: the ECB does not clarify whether payments settled in traditional currency via crypto payment services should count as “crypto acceptance.”
Digital payments advance, but crypto stays sidelined
While crypto remains a marginal payment option, the ECB’s broader findings show a clear shift toward cashless methods at physical locations. Mobile payments recorded the biggest change: acceptance jumped to 68% in 2026 from 36% in 2024.
Among the mobile methods most commonly accepted are instant payments and digital wallets, including services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. This matters because it suggests the euro area’s payment digitization is progressing through mainstream rails that consumers and merchants already understand—rather than through direct crypto settlement.
Cash’s position also changes only slightly over time. The ECB reports cash acceptance at physical points of sale edging up to 92% in 2026 from 90% in 2024. Physical card acceptance rises to 88% from 87% over the same period, reinforcing the idea that the “cashless” transition is largely coming from cards and mobile wallets rather than from crypto.
Online sales show crypto acceptance at near-zero levels
The ECB’s survey highlights an even starker picture for online payments. Across the euro area, only 0.2% of companies selling goods and services online accept crypto assets, indicating that merchants are not treating crypto as a mainstream ecommerce payment choice.
These results come from a survey of 8,205 businesses across the 21 euro area countries. The telephone interviews were carried out by Ipsos from Feb. 23 to April 10, covering merchants in categories including retail, restaurants and cafes, hotels, and arts, entertainment and recreation.
At the same time, the ECB’s findings include evidence that other payment instruments are not uniformly gaining ground. For example, bank check acceptance fell to 27% in 2026 from 36% in 2024—underscoring that “digital progress” does not simply lift every alternative method, but rather changes acceptance patterns unevenly.
Why merchants choose—or refuse—specific payment methods
The survey also sheds light on the decision criteria merchants use when selecting which payment instruments to accept. Consumer preference is cited as the most important factor, named by 26% of respondents. Security comes next at 22%, while ease of handling is third at 15%.
For businesses that do not accept cash, demand and logistics are central concerns. Weak customer demand is cited by 36%, difficulties depositing or withdrawing cash by 35%, and security risks by 29%.
Importantly, the data points to sharp country-level differences in attitudes about cash. The ECB reports that 51% of cash-accepting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cyprus say they may stop accepting cash, compared with 23% in Greece and 18% in Bulgaria. That divergence suggests that merchants’ expectations about payment preferences vary widely across the region, even when broad trends—like rising mobile usage—move in a similar direction.
What “accepting crypto” means—and what remains unclear
The ECB survey asked companies whether they accept crypto assets or stablecoins, using examples including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether’s USDt (USDT). However, the report’s description leaves a key practical question open for interpretation.
Some crypto payment services allow merchants to receive settlement in traditional currency even when customers pay with crypto. The survey, as presented in the article, does not specify whether merchants should count such transactions as “crypto acceptance.” That matters because it affects how comparable merchant responses are: a business might technically participate in crypto payments while experiencing those payments as fiat settlement rather than as direct crypto receipt.
According to the conversation captured in the source coverage, Cointelegraph asked the ECB whether converted crypto payments could go unreported by merchants and whether regulatory uncertainty could influence how businesses answer. The ECB responded that it “prefer[s] not to speculate.”
On the regulatory question—whether euro area merchants are permitted to accept crypto under EU rules—the ECB did not take on the role of rule-maker. The ECB instead pointed to the European Commission and national lawmakers, noting that it does not set payment regulation.
Digital euro work continues as ECB studies payment behavior
The release arrives while the ECB is also advancing work on a digital euro, a central bank digital currency intended to complement cash and preserve the euro’s role. In that context, the new findings offer a useful baseline for policymakers: even as digital payments accelerate, merchants are not pivoting toward crypto or stablecoin acceptance at the checkout.
For investors and builders watching the payment sector, the main signal is not just that crypto adoption is low today—it’s that the merchant channel for payments appears to be consolidating around mainstream digital instruments (cards and mobile wallets) rather than crypto settlement. What changes next will likely depend on how payment providers improve merchant onboarding, how regulators clarify rules, and whether consumer demand grows for crypto payments in ways merchants can reliably monetize.
Anthropic has disclosed an internal artificial intelligence (AI) model called Model 2 that outperforms Claude Mythos 5 on many tasks. The company said it has no plans to release it publicly.
The disclosure appears in Anthropic’s August 2026 risk report, the second filing of its kind. The same document raised the company’s rating for catastrophic misalignment risk.
Model 2 Outperforms Mythos 5 on Internal Tasks
Model 2 belongs to the Mythos class, Anthropic’s highest capability tier. The report describes it as a noticeable improvement on Mythos 5 for many tasks relevant to internal work.
The gain falls short of the earlier leap from Claude Opus 4.6 to Mythos Preview. Model 2 proves stronger in some areas and weaker in others.
Anthropic has not run its full suite of predeployment assessments on the model. Confidence in its capability profile is therefore lower than for released systems.
Both Model 2 and Mythos 5 rank among the most heavily used models inside the company. Engineers apply them to coding, data generation and agentic tasks.
Claude now authors a large majority of the code merged into Anthropic’s production codebases. AI assistance has significantly accelerated internal research, though not yet by a factor of two.
Anthropic Raises its Misalignment Risk rating to low
The company lifted its assessment of catastrophic misalignment risk from very low to low. It attributed the change to uncertainty around recent cybersecurity evaluation disclosures.
Anthropic said it has observed models willing to take misaligned actions while completing difficult tasks. One public case involved a Mythos 5 agent that faked identities during testing.
Risk from automated AI research and development stayed at low. Confidence in that rating fell because the most concrete task based evaluations have saturated.
Chemical and biological risk also remained low, with substantial uncertainty attached. Anthropic said it now operates as though current models could significantly assist relevant threat actors.
Polymarket Puts an Anthropic IPO Above $1.8 Trillion at 65%
Prediction market Polymarket prices a first day close above $1.8 trillion near 65%. That bracket has drawn about $150,000 of the market’s roughly $303,000 in volume.
Traders assign roughly 5% to no listing arriving before the end of 2027. The market resolves on Anthropic’s market capitalization at its first day closing price.
Anthropic filed a confidential draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 1. A Series H round had valued the company near $965 billion.
Annualized revenue has since passed $47 billion. Some analysts have floated a $2 trillion debut. Others read the wider mega-IPO supply wave as a test of market appetite.
Anthropic has withheld frontier systems before. The Mythos 5 public launch arrived only after months of restricted access, and Model 2 now sits further back again.
The report sets no timeline for revisiting that status. Whether the company reopens the question before a listing stays unresolved.
The post Anthropic’s Model 2 Beats Mythos 5, But the Public Will Not Get It appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Ireland has introduced its first national anti-money laundering strategy through 2030, placing enhanced checks on private-wallet transfers and overseas crypto firms among its main digital-asset controls.
Summary
- Ireland’s first national AML strategy will guide financial crime policy through 2030.
- Crypto firms must apply enhanced checks to certain transfers involving self-hosted wallets.
- Ireland ended its 12-month MiCA transition period in December 2025.
- Gambling regulators must develop crypto source-of-funds standards by the second quarter of 2027.
Ireland’s crypto strategy increases transfer checks
Ireland’s Department of Finance said on Thursday that the national AML strategy will coordinate the country’s response to money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing until 2030.
For crypto firms, the plan completes Ireland’s implementation of the remaining provisions under the European Union’s Transfer of Funds Regulation. The measures require crypto-asset service providers to conduct enhanced checks on transfers involving self-hosted wallets and apply stricter due diligence when working with crypto businesses based outside the EU.
Under the regulation, information about a transfer’s originator and beneficiary must accompany the transaction when a regulated provider is involved. Required details can include names, distributed-ledger addresses, crypto account numbers, and unique transaction identifiers.
Transfers to or from self-hosted addresses remain permitted, although the provider handling the transaction must collect information about both parties. For transfers exceeding €1,000, the firm must take steps to assess whether its customer owns or controls the self-hosted address.
A receiving provider must also establish procedures for detecting missing or incomplete information. Depending on the risk, it may request further details, suspend the transfer, return the assets, or reject the transaction.
The requirements apply to the regulated intermediary rather than the software or hardware used to hold the assets. Someone controlling crypto through a private wallet does not become a regulated service provider merely by holding or transferring the tokens.
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris said criminal groups were using new technologies, crypto assets, and complex international financial networks to hide illicit profits.
“Ireland will not be a safe place to launder criminal proceeds,” Harris said.
Harris added that the strategy would help protect the country’s economy and international reputation while supporting cooperation among regulators, law enforcement bodies, and private companies.
MiCA authorization has left firms less transition time
Ireland’s implementation falls alongside the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, which established a common licensing system for crypto-asset service providers across the EU.
Although MiCA permitted member states to give previously registered firms as much as 18 months to move into the new framework, Ireland selected a 12-month grandfathering period. According to the European Securities and Markets Authority, the Irish transition ended on Dec. 30, 2025.
Existing firms therefore had to secure full MiCA authorization or stop offering regulated services in Ireland before the last EU transition periods ended in July 2026. Licensed companies can use a MiCA authorization issued in one member state to provide covered services across the bloc, subject to the regulation’s passporting process.
MiCA and the transfer regulation perform separate roles. MiCA controls the authorization, conduct, and supervision of crypto businesses, while the transfer rules determine what information regulated providers must collect and exchange when moving assets.
The government’s latest strategy follows a June risk assessment that classified crypto assets as a “very significant” money laundering and terrorist-financing risk. As crypto.news reported at the time, the assessment cited digital-asset fraud, related prosecutions, sanctions evasion, and uneven international regulation among Ireland’s concerns.
Central Bank of Ireland data cited in that review showed that about 10% of the population had invested in crypto as of December. The assessment also examined potential tax-evasion and corruption risks, along with activity passing through less-regulated parts of decentralized finance.
Enforcement has already reached large service providers operating in the country. In November 2025, the Central Bank fined Coinbase Europe about €21.5 million, or roughly $24 million at the time, over failures connected to its transaction-monitoring system and the delayed reporting of those deficiencies.
Gambling operators will receive a crypto source-of-funds standard
A 30-point implementation plan released with the June assessment assigned another crypto measure to the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland.
By the second quarter of 2027, the authority must establish an industry standard for accepting crypto-related activity as a source of funds. Operators will need due diligence procedures for checking whether money linked to digital assets comes from a legitimate source.
The measure addresses the point where crypto proceeds enter regulated gambling services rather than prohibiting gamblers from owning digital assets. Its scheduled standard will form part of the authority’s checks on customer funds and financial-crime exposure.
Additional EU restrictions will begin applying in July 2027 under the bloc’s Anti-Money Laundering Regulation. The law prohibits crypto-asset service providers from offering or maintaining anonymous crypto accounts, including accounts designed to hide transactions further through anonymity-enhancing coins.
Self-hosted wallets are not covered by the account prohibition when a hardware or software provider has no access to or control over the assets. Regulated firms that interact with such addresses will still have to follow transfer-information, ownership-assessment, and risk-management requirements.
The EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority in Frankfurt will oversee high-risk financial entities and coordinate national supervisors once the regulation applies. National authorities will continue handling much of the direct supervision, while the EU authority will support consistent enforcement across member states.
Separately, EU policymakers are expected to consider changes to MiCA in 2027. A recently reported review of MiCA may examine foreign stablecoin issuers, tokenized deposits, payment instruments, decentralized finance, and cross-border supervision.
U.S. crypto firms face a different travel-rule threshold
For U.S. companies sending assets to an Irish or other EU-regulated platform, the receiving provider’s information requests may affect whether a transfer is processed. EU rules allow providers to suspend, return, or reject transactions when required originator or beneficiary details are missing.
The U.S. applies its own travel rule under the Bank Secrecy Act. According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, covered financial institutions must collect, retain, and transmit specified information for fund transfers and transmittals exceeding $3,000.
FinCEN’s 2019 guidance states that convertible virtual currency transfers may qualify as transmittals of funds, making money transmitters subject to the rule when the threshold and other regulatory conditions are met. The EU framework, however, applies transfer-information requirements whenever a crypto-asset service provider participates, while the €1,000 level triggers added ownership or control checks for certain self-hosted wallet transfers.
The global standard behind both systems comes from the Financial Action Task Force. FATF requires covered virtual-asset providers to obtain and transmit originator and beneficiary information, although each jurisdiction implements the recommendation through its own laws.
In July, FATF reported that 132 of 143 surveyed jurisdictions, or nearly 93%, had not applied its standards to any qualifying DeFi arrangement. The organization said DeFi falls within its virtual-asset rules when a person or legal entity exercises control or sufficient influence through administrative rights, concentrated governance power, upgrade authority, development control, or economic benefits.
BNB Chain has scheduled its Pasteur hard fork for Aug. 25, introducing three changes intended to strengthen cross-chain transfers, tighten validator controls, and raise tested transaction capacity from 1,237 to 2,324 transactions per second.
Summary
- Pasteur will activate on BNB Smart Chain at 2:30 a.m. UTC on Aug. 25.
- Node operators must install BSC software version v1.7.7 before the upgrade.
- Two changes address cross-chain security, validator permissions, and governance voting.
- Internal tests raised transaction capacity from 1,237 to 2,324 TPS.
BNB Chain said in an Aug. 14 announcement that Pasteur will go live on BNB Smart Chain at 2:30 a.m. UTC on Aug. 25 after running on its test network since July 21.
Node operators must install BSC software version v1.7.7 before the activation time. The network also instructed operators to remove an outdated setting called EnableBAL from their configuration files because the updated software will not start if it remains in place.
Pasteur includes three proposals: BEP-682, BEP-695, and BEP-675. The first two address security and validator permissions, while the third changes how transactions are processed when new blocks are prepared.
Pasteur will strengthen BNB Chain bridge checks
BEP-682 changes how BNB Smart Chain confirms transfers arriving from another blockchain. Before accepting the assets, BSC checks whether enough validators from the sending network have approved the transfer.
BNB Chain said the current process does not prevent the same validator from appearing several times in the approval list. A carefully prepared request could therefore count one validator’s approval more than once, allowing a transfer to pass with fewer separate approvals than the rules require.
Pasteur will reject repeated validator entries. According to the network, cross-chain transfers will then need approval from the proper number of separate validators before BSC accepts them.
The proposal addresses a specific weakness in BNB Chain’s transfer checks, although the network did not say the issue had been used to steal funds.
Cross-chain security has received added attention after attacks on several third-party bridges. In July, a Cardano-to-BNB Chain bridge operated by Wanchain reportedly lost about 515 million NIGHT tokens, valued at roughly $9 million at the time.
Security firm BlockSec said the reported attack may have involved a weakness in the messages sent to validators for approval. Midnight Foundation later said the incident affected Wanchain’s third-party bridge and did not involve the Midnight Network itself.
Separately, crypto.news reported in August that cross-chain bridge attacks had caused more than $4 billion in losses since 2021. The report identified stolen validator keys and poor transfer checks as among the weaknesses used in major incidents.
BNB Chain has not connected Pasteur to the Wanchain attack or any other recent exploit. Its announcement presents BEP-682 as a direct correction to the approval system used for transfers entering BSC.
Old validator keys will lose access
A second proposal, BEP-695, changes what happens when validators replace the digital keys they use to manage their duties on the network.
Changing keys is a routine security measure, but BNB Chain said an old key could continue to hold management rights after its replacement. Pasteur will remove those rights once a validator starts using a new key.
Pending penalties will also remain attached to the validator after a key change. According to the network, a validator facing removal for breaking network rules will no longer be able to avoid the process simply by replacing its key.
The same proposal closes a separate gap in BSC governance. Blacklisted addresses are already prevented from voting directly, but BNB Chain said they could still take part by signing a vote away from the blockchain and asking another account to submit it.
After Pasteur, the restriction will also cover votes submitted through signed messages. BNB Chain said the change will prevent blacklisted addresses from using an indirect route to participate in governance decisions.
Network operators have faced similar update requirements during earlier BSC upgrades. Before the Osaka/Mendel hard fork in April, BNB Chain issued a mandatory software notice telling operators to install version v1.7.2 and remove old settings to prevent their nodes from falling out of sync.
Osaka/Mendel introduced nine network proposals covering transaction limits, stability, and the process used to confirm transactions. The upgrade followed Fermi, which reduced BSC’s block time to 0.45 seconds in January.
Pasteur will keep that block time unchanged. Instead of making blocks arrive faster, the latest upgrade is designed to place more transactions inside each one.
Internal tests raised capacity to 2,324 TPS
BNB Chain said block builders and validators currently repeat some of the same work when preparing a block of transactions.
A builder first processes the transactions and sends the completed block to a validator. The validator then processes the same transactions again before approving the block, leaving less time to add as many transactions as the network can support.
BEP-675 will allow a builder to send a block that it has already processed. The validator can check that the block follows network rules, approve it, and complete a deeper review afterward.
During tests on QANet, an internal environment designed to resemble BSC’s main network, the time validators spent on the immediate check fell from 125 milliseconds to 15 milliseconds.
Transaction capacity rose from 1,237 TPS to 2,324 TPS while the block time remained at 450 milliseconds. BNB Chain also kept the maximum amount of computing work allowed in each block unchanged during the test.
Average use of each block’s available capacity increased from 46.35% to 84.15%. According to the network, the test suggests BSC could handle busier periods by using more of the space already available rather than increasing block speed.
BNB Chain cautioned that the figures came from controlled tests and do not represent confirmed results on the live network. The new block-building method will not begin automatically when Pasteur activates because builders will receive additional time to prepare their systems.
Regular users and most application developers will not need to take any action. Node operators and block builders are the groups responsible for completing the software changes.
U.S. investors have exposure through a listed BNB fund
The upgrade also has relevance for American investors who hold BNB through a regulated investment product. Securities and Exchange Commission records show that shares of the VanEck BNB ETF are registered for trading on Nasdaq under the ticker VBNB.
The fund’s registration statement became effective on May 27. Its stated purpose is to track the price of BNB, minus the fund’s operating expenses.
According to an Aug. 7 SEC filing, VanEck Digital Assets appointed BitGo Bank & Trust as a second company responsible for safeguarding the fund’s BNB holdings. BitGo is a nationally chartered bank supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The agreement allows BitGo to hold BNB for the fund and process deposits or withdrawals between the fund’s account and public blockchain addresses. VanEck’s filing states that the fund retains ownership of the tokens and that BitGo must keep them separate from assets belonging to its other customers.
BitGo cannot lend, pledge, or reuse the BNB unless the fund gives permission or the law requires it. The custody agreement was signed on Aug. 5 and disclosed to the SEC two days later.
This Friday, we examine Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid in greater detail.
Ethereum (ETH)
This week, Ethereum hugged the key support at $1,800 with a minor loss of 2%. While this puts sellers in a more favorable position, they will need to break the support if they want to take the initiative.
The current ETH price action shows significant weakness after forming a lower high just below $2,000. Buyers were not able to claim that level as support; this is why bears are returning.
Looking ahead, Ethereum will likely test $1,800 again. If that level fails to hold, this cryptocurrency may revisit the support at $1,500, where buyers finally returned in early July.
Ripple (XRP)
XRP has had a difficult week, struggling to hold above $1. The price also fell by nearly 3% and is inches away from turning $1 into a key resistance. All it takes is one more push by sellers.
If $1 becomes resistance, this will only prolong the current downtrend, which started in August 2025. Since this is also a major psychological level, any loss of support will be costly and see buyers retreat much lower, with the next key support level at $0.80.
Looking ahead, this cryptocurrency has a very low chance of reversing its current downtrend, especially after the price fell from two identical pennants. This only reconfirmed that bears are in total control over the price.
Cardano (ADA)
Cardano started the month well, but now sellers have returned and pushed the price 10% lower this week alone. That’s bad news for bulls, which may have retreated already to the key support at 15 cents.
Should this corrective move continue, then a re-test of $0.15 is very likely. That level has to hold if ADA hopes to avoid new lows. Any weakness there could suddenly see the price spike much lower.
Looking ahead, it appears Cardano could also end up consolidating above the key support if buyers manage to stabilize the price in this area. A consolidation period would be healthy after its prolonged downtrend that started in 2025.
Binance Coin (BNB)
Binance Coin closed the week 3% higher after confirming support at $580. If sellers don’t return here, then BNB has a good chance to continue higher and towards the key resistance at $690.
At the time of this post, this cryptocurrency is trading around $610. As long as the price is above $600, buyers will have an advantage in terms of momentum. However, the buy volume remains low.
Looking ahead, BNB could be forming a large rounded bottom around current levels. That will be confirmed if the price moves above $630. If so, a test of $690 becomes more likely in the future.
Hype (HYPE)
HYPE remained flat on the weekly timeframe and was rejected at the $58 resistance. If nothing changes in the days to come, then the price could revisit the key support at $52.
So far, this cryptocurrency has been making lower lows and lower highs since its all-time high at $76 back in June. Considering its significant rally in the first part of the year, the current correction could also last a while.
Looking ahead, the most decisive level on the chart is found at $52. This key support has stopped sellers from making new lows, but it could be retested again soon, which could be interpreted as bearish. Best to be patient here and follow the price.
The post Crypto Price Analysis August-14: ETH, XRP, ADA, BNB, and HYPE appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Shares of Five Below (FIVE) are almost at a buy point, after an analyst upgraded the stock to a buy rating, calling it the next TJX Cos. (TJX) of value retailing. Jefferies analyst Randal Konik raised Five Below to buy from neutral, and gave the price target a hefty increase to 350 from 210. The stock climbed 2% to 242.82…
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Binance Research says Gen Z traders on the exchange are steadily shifting a larger share of their equity-related activity toward exchange-traded funds (ETFs), while direct stock trading is taking up less of the cohort’s overall flow. The trend stands out across Binance’s coverage of direct equities, tokenized stocks, and traditional finance perpetuals.
In early August, Binance Research reported that ETFs made up 25% of Gen Z trading volume within its analysis group. The same study found that ETFs accounted for 21.9% of Gen Z net equity inflows in July, up from 18.5% in June, as the share routed to individual stocks fell to 74.2% from 77%.
Key takeaways
- ETF demand is rising: Gen Z’s ETF share of trading volume reached 25% in early August, and ETF net inflows climbed to 21.9% in July.
- Direct stocks lose share: the portion of Gen Z net equity inflows going to individual stocks dropped to 74.2% from 77%.
- Gen Z trades less often: in TradFi perpetuals, Gen Z averaged 13 monthly trades versus 17 for Millennials and 16.5 for Gen X.
- Fewer sell orders among Gen Z: 22% of Gen Z direct-equity accounts had never placed a sell order, compared with 19% for Gen X and 9% for Baby Boomers.
- Limited appetite for leverage: 88.2% of Gen Z TradFi perpetual accounts recorded no activity in leveraged or inverse ETFs.
Gen Z’s ETF shift: what the Binance Research data shows
The Binance Research analysis compared Gen Z accounts with older working-age generations (Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers) across several measures, including trading frequency, net inflows, and the use of leverage. The study looks at activity spanning direct equities, tokenized stocks, and traditional finance perpetuals.
Within that framework, the ETF share of Gen Z activity increased in a stepwise pattern. Binance Research pointed to July as a key month: ETF net inflows for Gen Z rose to 21.9%, up from 18.5% in June. Over the same period, the allocation to individual stocks declined, falling to 74.2% from 77%.
While the figures describe allocation, they also hint at how younger participants may be approaching equity exposure on exchange venues that offer both spot-like instruments and ETF wrappers. For investors, that matters because a growing preference for ETFs can mean broader diversification and potentially different risk profiles compared with concentrated single-stock positioning.
Trading behavior differences: frequency, “buy-only” accounts, and leverage use
Binance Research also reported behavioral differences in how often Gen Z engages with these products. Across all three categories examined, Gen Z traded less frequently than other working-age cohorts. In TradFi perpetuals, Gen Z averaged 13 monthly trades—below Millennials at 17 and Gen X at 16.5.
The study further found a notable skew in sell-order behavior among younger users. For Gen Z direct-equity accounts, 22% had never placed a sell order. By comparison, 19% of Gen X accounts and 9% of Baby Boomer accounts showed the same “buy-only” pattern. Millennials, meanwhile, had the highest share of buy-only accounts at 30%.
Among the Gen Z buy-only accounts, Binance Research cited cumulative purchases that included Broadcom and Tesla, as well as the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF—suggesting that even when participants primarily buy, their preference can extend to ETF exposure rather than only individual stocks.
On leverage, Gen Z also appeared more cautious in Binance Research’s view. The share of Gen Z TradFi perpetual accounts with no activity in leveraged and inverse ETFs was 88.2%. That compares with 84.5% for Millennials and 85.9% for Gen X.
Tokenized stocks: bStocks briefly passes xStocks as the market keeps expanding
Separately from the generational ETF flow data, Binance-related tokenized equities saw a brief ranking change this week. Binance’s bStocks temporarily overtook Kraken’s xStocks as the second-largest tokenized stock issuer, according to Token Terminal.
As of Tuesday, Token Terminal data showed bStocks at $610.6 million in tokenized stock value, versus xStocks at $601.2 million. By Friday, the positions reversed: xStocks were at $610.7 million while bStocks stood at $579.6 million. In that snapshot, xStocks represented 22.3% of the roughly $2.7 billion tokenized stock market, while bStocks accounted for 21.2%.
Ondo Finance remained the largest issuer in that period, with $971.8 million in tokenized stock value. Token Terminal also tracked broader growth across the sector, with RWA.xyz reporting distributed value for its tokenized stocks page at $2.43 billion as of Friday—about 5% higher over the previous 30 days.
For market observers, the rapid flip between bStocks and xStocks underscores how quickly tokenized equity rankings can change in a still-expanding segment—especially when issuance is relatively concentrated among a few providers. It also reinforces why investors tracking tokenized assets often monitor issuer shares as a proxy for where capital is flowing within the broader regulated-assets trend.
What to watch next: early-stage data limits and evolving allocation
Binance Research cautioned that its direct-equities product only reached meaningful scale in June, creating a relatively short window to draw longer-term conclusions. Even so, the direction of travel—more ETF allocation among Gen Z and reduced share for individual stocks in inflows—offers a signal worth monitoring as the data window expands.
Investors and traders should watch whether the ETF share in Gen Z activity continues to rise beyond early August and whether tokenized stock issuance rankings stabilize or remain volatile as additional capital enters the market.
Crypto World
Bitcoin Hits 10-Day Low Despite Positive CPI Data as Strategy Keeps Selling: Weekly Crypto Recap
The end of the week is here, which means that we will take a look at what happened in the past seven days, from the good, the bad, and the ugly price movements.
Let’s begin from this time last Friday when bitcoin was actually fighting for the $65,000 level despite the latest setback in the CLARITY Act saga and the lack of an actual deal between the US and Iran, although such was promised by the POTUS. The weekend was significantly less eventful, as BTC failed to make a move but remained sideways at around $65,000.
The actual breakout attempt came on Monday morning, but it was quickly halted at $65,400 again. The subsequent leg down drove the asset to $63,800. After another rebound to $64,400, the bears stepped up again and pushed it south to $63,200. The same pattern repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday as BTC was stopped at $64,400 and slipped back down to its starting point despite the rather positive CPI data for July.
It kept charting lower highs, and the latest rebound attempt was stopped even before the previous ones. Bitcoin tapped $64,000 yesterday, but the rejection drove it to under $63,000 almost immediately. Although it rebounded slightly, the bears are back in control now, driving it to a 10-day low of $62,500 as of press time.
Its weekly losses are close to 4% now. Its market capitalization has slumped to $1.255 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts has taken a major hit and is down to 56.1%. This is because several alts are actually in the green weekly, such as SOL, BNB, TRX, XMR, CC, and LINK.
ETH is down by a more modest 2.8%, while XRP slipped below $1.00 earlier this week for the first time in 21 months and is now fighting to reclaim that psychological support.
Market Data
Market Cap: $2.245T | 24H Vol: $47B | BTC Dominance: 56.1%
BTC: $62,550 (-3.5%) | ETH: $1,865 (-2.8%) | XRP: $1.00 (-3.2%)
This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss
Strategy Dumps Another 1,690 BTC in Ongoing Bitcoin Sell-Off. As the title of the Market Update suggests, Strategy continues to offload some of its BTC holdings. In the latest selling spree, the largest corporate holder of any cryptocurrency disposed of another 1,690 BTC for $108.6 million. The good news is that CEO Phong Le has reassured that the firm plans to resume its bitcoin purchases by the end of the year.
Only 90 Bitcoin Wallets Hold 10K+ BTC: And That Number Just Hit a 6-Month High. The number of large BTC wallets is increasing, which indicates a potential bullish trend amid cooling institutional demand. Such addresses hit a six-month high, as 90 hold over 10,000 units.
Ripple’s (XRP) Summer Slump Isn’t Stopping Large Wallets From Growing. The same trend is observed within the broader Ripple ecosystem, as the number of large wallets has increased by 32 over the past three months. This comes despite the asset’s massive price slide that drove it to a 21-month low earlier this week.
Trezor Provider ShipMonk Breach Exposed Order Data for 13,689 Hardware Wallet Customers. Trezor confirmed that a data breach at its logistics partner, ShipMonk, which stores its products and ships orders to customers, has exposed personal information and increased phishing attack risks for almost 13,000 customers.
Tether Clears First Full Audit as KPMG Issues Unqualified Opinion on 2025 Statements. For the first time in its long history, the company behind the largest stablecoin received an unqualified audit opinion from KPMG for all of its financial holdings. The Big 4 member verified Tether’s gold reserves through physical inspection.
‘Crypto Is Dead’ Talk Is Rising; Could Peak Fear Be a Contrarian Signal? Amid the ongoing price collapse of BTC and countless alts, the online chatter about the industry’s demise has been on the rise. Analysts, though, suggested that this could be a contrarian signal as large investors are accumulating ahead of a potential market recovery.
Charts
This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.
The post Bitcoin Hits 10-Day Low Despite Positive CPI Data as Strategy Keeps Selling: Weekly Crypto Recap appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Crypto World
World Liberty Wins Bank Charter From Trump-Appointed Regulator for $4 Billion Stablecoin
President Donald Trump’s family is set to own a federally chartered bank. A regulator he appointed conditionally cleared World Liberty Trust Company, issuer of the $4 billion USD1 stablecoin.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published its national trust charter decision Friday. Final approval would let the firm issue USD1 itself and hold the dollar assets backing it.
Trump’s Own Appointee Cleared the World Liberty Bank Charter
Trump appointed Comptroller Jonathan Gould to run the OCC last year. World Liberty Trust filed its application in early January, and congressional Democrats spent the months since warning that approval would create a conflict of interest.
The agency answered that criticism inside the letter itself. Career staff handled the review, the OCC said, and Gould met his statutory duties and ethical obligations. Nonpolitical examiners will supervise the bank once it opens.
The regulator’s structure matters here. The OCC sits inside the Treasury Department and has no bipartisan board to check a single appointee. Democrats pressed Gould at a February hearing to release the unredacted filing. The public version left out capital structure and business plan specifics.
The financial stakes explain the pressure. Reuters put Trump family earnings from USD1 at roughly $50 million through June 2026. World Liberty Financial had routed more than $1.6 billion to the president and his sons as of April, a figure consistent with his 2025 crypto earnings disclosure.
Leadership keeps the venture inside Trump’s circle. Zach Witkoff, chief executive of World Liberty Financial and son of special envoy Steve Witkoff, would chair the bank. Robert Witkoff and Scott Alper, who runs the Witkoff family real estate business, are proposed directors.
What the Charter Gives the $4 Billion USD1 Stablecoin
USD1 trades near $1 with a market capitalization of about $4.02 billion, ranking 23rd across all crypto assets. Partner BitGo currently mints the token and safeguards its reserves.
The charter pulls both functions in-house. World Liberty would issue and redeem USD1, custody the dollars and Treasury money market funds behind it, and settle payments for institutional clients under one federal license.
Trust charters stop short of full banking, with no retail deposits or lending. The OCC also imposed conditions, including a $20 million capital floor, advance notice of major business plan changes, and a qualified internal audit manager.
Rivals reached this point first. Circle won final OCC bank approval in July, while Ripple and Crypto.com hold conditional trust charter approvals. Major lenders have weighed legal action over charters that grant crypto firms federal standing without full bank supervision.
Nothing changes for USD1 holders until the conditions are satisfied and final approval lands. The open question is whether Congress ever sees the parts of the application the public never got.
The post World Liberty Wins Bank Charter From Trump-Appointed Regulator for $4 Billion Stablecoin appeared first on BeInCrypto.
XAO DAO is preparing a series of governance changes for the XRP Ledger over the next two to three months, according to Fabio Marzella, the organization’s co-founder.
The planned changes would let members delegate voting power, adjust quorum rules, and access community mini-grants, as the DAO looks to make participation easier and more representative, at a moment when several XRPL projects have already scaled back or shut down.
XAO DAO Targets Broader Participation
Marzella said the first change would introduce wallet delegation, allowing members to hand their voting power to others when they lack the time or expertise to vote on individual proposals.
The DAO is also reviewing its quorum requirements, including how inactive wallets count toward proposal thresholds. The stated aim is to prevent inactive participation from blocking decisions while keeping governance tied to the active community.
Community mini grants are another planned addition. Under the proposal, members would be able to submit smaller initiatives and seek funding for projects that contribute to the XRPL ecosystem.
“These aren’t changes for the sake of change,” Marzella wrote. He said the broader goal is to create a DAO where the community has “the ability to act” rather than simply having a vote.
The timing comes as questions around developer support have grown within the XRPL community. On August 13, Marzella said the shutdown of Gen3’s retail platforms showed that funding developers alone does not solve the problem of building lasting businesses.
Gen3, an XRPL infrastructure team, said on August 12 it would spin down two of its retail products, aigent.run and AxiomProtocol, citing weak user demand and rising infrastructure costs. Gen3 said the platforms will stay live for another month, until September 13, so users can withdraw remaining funds, and that it will keep running its core XRPL infrastructure and take part in the ledger’s amendment process.
Marzella pointed to the Gen3 news as evidence of a bigger problem, arguing that funding developers only solves half the issue if there’s no path from a funded project to a sustainable business. Builder Handy Andy, replying in the same thread, described colleagues quietly calculating how much longer they can keep funding their own work without support, calling it “the last roll of the dice” for some.
Activity Is Up
The reshuffle comes as XRP closed near a 21-month low this week, and Santiment data shows daily active addresses averaging 35,700 in August, up from 26,400 in July, even though the number of new wallets has stayed almost flat.
That distinction may matter for XAO DAO’s participation plans. More activity among existing users does not automatically mean a larger pool of people taking part in governance.
As it stands, Marzella has not provided a final timetable or detailed voting mechanics for the proposed changes, instead promising that more information will follow as each initiative progresses, leaving the community to see how delegation, quorum changes and mini grants are eventually implemented.
The post XRP Ledger’s XAO DAO Plans Major Governance Upgrades to Boost Community Participation appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Robert Kiyosaki connected his personal trajectory to his mentor’s predictions and to the future of Bitcoin and AI in a recent, highly symbolic post.
The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad frames transformation as both a technological and a deeply personal matter.
The Mentor Behind His Turning Point
A futurist is someone dedicated to anticipating long-term technological and social trends. Kiyosaki studied for three summers with R. Buckminster Fuller, one of the most influential of the last century.
Fuller was an architect, systems theorist, and inventor best known for the geodesic dome. His work centered on doing more with fewer resources, a principle applied to housing and global resource distribution.
Kiyosaki met him after years in the rock merchandising business. That venture was profitable, though the author describes a persistent sense that the work lacked meaning beyond revenue.
Those summers changed his direction entirely. He calls Fuller the friendly genius of the planet and locates his life’s turning point in that period.
The core idea was philosophical rather than financial. Fuller held that nobody belongs to themselves but to the universe, and that purpose gets fulfilled by committing one’s existence to the benefit of others.
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That principle shaped everything afterward. Kiyosaki spent the following decades teaching millions about financial freedom, framing education as the service he owed.
According to Kiyosaki, Fuller also anticipated shifts as disruptive as those driven by Bitcoin and artificial intelligence today. The futurist argued that accelerating innovation would restructure how societies organize wealth and work.
Whether Fuller specifically foresaw either technology is impossible to verify. He died in 1983, decades before Bitcoin existed, so the connection remains Kiyosaki’s interpretation rather than documented prophecy.
What Robert Kiyosaki Says About Bitcoin and AI
Current conditions add relevance to the message. Bitcoin trades near $62,773, roughly 50% below the record high above $126,000 reached in October 2025, according to BeInCrypto data.
The author maintains his position despite that decline. He defends the asset as a hedge against money printing and US debt, holding positions since 2012. His projections remain ambitious. Kiyosaki has forecast prices reaching $750,000 following what he calls a financial reset.
Artificial intelligence forms the second pillar of his argument. Massive infrastructure investment drives growth, generates extraordinary wealth, and threatens to replace routine jobs.
His reading of that phenomenon is blunt. Thinking as an employee leads to being replaced by AI, while thinking like an entrepreneur enables people to use it.
Some analysts draw a connection between the two themes. Accelerated wealth creation and potential credit stress from data-center debt could push capital toward scarce assets.
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Those projections deserve caution, however. They represent hypotheses about future correlations rather than demonstrated relationships between AI spending and Bitcoin prices.
The transformation Kiyosaki describes extends well beyond finance. His argument points toward finding purpose in service to others amid profound technological change.
The post Robert Kiyosaki Links Bitcoin and AI to an Old Prediction: Who Made It? appeared first on BeInCrypto.
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