The European Central Bank is pushing back against privacy criticisms surrounding its planned digital euro, arguing that the system’s technical design would restrict what the Eurosystem can see about individual payments. In an interview published on Monday, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said the central bank would not be able to identify people making or receiving digital euro transactions.

Cipollone’s remarks come as lawmakers, privacy advocates and crypto community figures continue to warn that government-issued digital currencies could enable expanded financial surveillance—even if particular design choices are intended to limit visibility. The debate has also intensified in the United States, where policymakers have moved to block federal CBDC development.

Key takeaways

• ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone says the Eurosystem would not be able to identify users making or receiving digital euro payments.
• Cipollone argues that transaction identifiers would be designed so that only banks involved in transfers can identify users, including for anti-money laundering checks.
• Offline digital euro payments are described as limiting available payment details to the payer and payee.
• While privacy safeguards are a focal point, the ECB also frames the digital euro as a way to reduce Europe’s reliance on non-European payment infrastructure.

ECB privacy design: limited visibility by the central bank

In an Aug. 10 interview published by the ECB, Cipollone outlined how the digital euro could be structured to reduce direct surveillance by the central bank. He said the “Eurosystem would not be able to identify the users making or receiving payments.”

Instead, Cipollone’s position is that identity resolution would sit with the financial intermediaries that carry out the transactions. According to his description, only the banks involved in payment flows would be able to identify users, including for anti-money laundering purposes, while the Eurosystem itself would not be able to directly link specific individuals to digital euro payments.

The ECB official also pointed to offline capabilities as another privacy boundary. He said offline digital euro transactions would make payment details available only to the payer and payee—an approach intended to limit third-party access in scenarios where payments do not rely on continuous connectivity.

Why privacy concerns remain central

Despite the ECB’s attempt to address privacy fears at the design level, the project still faces scrutiny from multiple quarters. The underlying concern is that central bank-issued digital money, even with constraints, could change the nature and scale of visibility into financial activity compared with cash.

The ECB’s assurances are likely to be tested against the real-world implementation choices that follow design specifications. Critics have argued that institutional oversight—whether through intermediaries, reconciliation processes, or compliance workflows—could still produce surveillance outcomes that users may find difficult to fully anticipate from technical descriptions alone.

Digital euro as payment sovereignty project

Privacy is not the only pillar of the ECB’s digital euro messaging. The institution has also pitched the initiative as a response to strategic vulnerabilities in Europe’s payments stack.

Earlier in the year, Cipollone argued in a public lecture in Latvia that Europe’s reliance on non-European payment providers creates “strategic vulnerability.” According to his remarks, two-thirds of euro-area card transactions are governed by non-European companies. The digital euro, he suggested, could reduce this dependence by supporting European-controlled payment infrastructure.

This broader framing matters because it places the digital euro at the intersection of consumer protection debates and industrial policy. Even if privacy safeguards are strong on paper, the political and operational rationale for the program could shape the compromises lawmakers accept as negotiations continue.

Legislative progress and the timeline being discussed

Regulatory momentum in Europe has continued alongside the privacy debate. The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee backed its position on digital euro legislation in June. Later, in July, lawmakers cleared the proposal for negotiations with the Council.

The ECB has also indicated that a digital euro could be issued as early as 2029, assuming the necessary legislation is adopted and the project completes remaining technical and operational steps.

U.S. policy contrasts: restrictions on CBDC development

The privacy dispute around the digital euro echoes a parallel debate in the United States, where lawmakers have moved to limit CBDC efforts. Earlier coverage has noted that President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 prohibiting federal agencies from developing or promoting a CBDC, citing concerns including financial stability, individual privacy and US sovereignty.

On the legislative side, House lawmakers have also advanced proposals aimed at constraining a potential US CBDC. One such initiative, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, seeks to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC.

While the European and US approaches differ in institutions and legal frameworks, the policy contrast underscores a shared theme: whether digital versions of money should be treated primarily as an infrastructure upgrade—or as a systemic governance risk that could increase surveillance and compliance reach.

As the ECB moves closer to implementation, the key question for users and investors will be how the promised privacy boundaries translate into concrete technical specifications and compliance workflows, especially for online and offline transaction modes. The next milestones to watch are the outcomes of Europe’s ongoing legislative negotiations and the operational details that will determine how much control the Eurosystem, banks, and other parties actually have over transaction information.

Flowra has launched its Open Orderflow Auction for Solana, introducing an open block-building system that allows registered searchers to compete for transaction inclusion while giving validators greater control over blockspace and MEV revenue.

Flowra has launched its Open Orderflow Auction for the Solana ecosystem, introducing a competitive block-building framework aimed at opening the network’s MEV market to broader participation.

The framework is designed to open block building to competitive bidding, improve price discovery in Solana’s MEV market, and help validators capture more revenue. Registered searchers can compete for transaction inclusion through a transparent auction instead of relying on closed orderflow channels. Flowra said the Open Orderflow Auction is now available to validators and searchers, while it continues onboarding institutional-grade validators ahead of a broader rollout.

Open Orderflow Auction targets Solana MEV competition

Flowra said the auction changes how transaction inclusion can be offered to searchers. Rather than routing orderflow through closed channels, registered participants can bid openly for access to blockspace. The company expects that model to create clearer competition around transaction inclusion and allow validators to receive more of the value generated by MEV.

Solana validators process transactions and participate in network consensus. Flowra’s framework focuses on that validator layer by introducing a new method for constructing blocks and allocating blockspace. The company says its aim is to improve transaction transparency, value distribution, and incentive alignment among validators, users, and builders.

Early validator testing shows higher block activity

Flowra reported early results from testing its setup on a single validator. According to the company, the Flowra-enabled validator increased compute units per block by 20.6%. The validator moved from 84% to 101% of the network average during the test. Flowra also reported higher block fees than comparable validator software.

The company said the same setup achieved 100% block production and 99.999% block engine uptime. Those figures come from Flowra’s early testing and relate to one validator. The company is using the results as it expands onboarding for its Open Orderflow Auction across institutional-grade validators in the Solana ecosystem.

Programmable block policy adds validator controls

Alongside the auction, Flowra introduced Programmable Block Policy. The feature allows validators to define transaction inclusion policies at the block-building layer. Flowra said this can give validators more operational flexibility, including the ability to address regulatory or institutional compliance requirements without changing the underlying Solana protocol.

Flowra recently announced a collaboration with compliance infrastructure provider Honeypot. The companies plan to bring sanctions and risk screening to the block-building layer. Flowra presented the policy system as a way for validators to control how blocks are constructed while retaining verifiability and auditability.

Flowra draws from Ethereum block-building model

Flowra said its architecture takes inspiration from the competitive block-building model that emerged on Ethereum. Ethereum.org describes proposer-builder separation as a structure in which block builders submit bids and validators can select the most profitable offer. Flowra believes Solana’s high-throughput, low-latency design can support a similar market-based approach.

“Solana’s performance has made it one of the industry’s leading blockchain networks, but its MEV market remains largely concentrated,” Flowra CEO Harry Hwang said. “By opening block building to transparent competition, we’re creating a more efficient market for blockspace while giving validators greater control over how their blocks are constructed with full verifiability and auditability.”

Flowra develops validator and order flow infrastructure for Solana. Its products include validator infrastructure, delegation programs, and MEV-related technologies. The company’s broader goal is to support a more open, efficient, and scalable foundation for blockchain networks while improving how value is distributed among network participants. The auction is available to validators and searchers participating across the Solana ecosystem as the network expands further.

A crypto trader claimed yesterday an update for the FOMO app caused $6 million in crypto losses.

In a social media post, they cited an example of someone allegedly losing 662 SOL, worth about $62,000, after opening the iOS app called FOMO.

FOMO co-founder Prashan Dharmasena rejected the claim, countering, “It’s crazy that people can just come on this app and blatantly lie,” adding that the account in question has no transaction signed by FOMO’s fee payer.

Sticking to his story, Dharmasena repeated his defense to at least two other accusers.

The source of the original accusation is Derivatives_Ape, an X account built around Solana trading commentary, but that account isn’t the alleged victim. Instead, the post claims a “friend” suffered the loss.

According to forensic researcher ZachXBT, Derivatives_Ape, is a co-founder of Zkasino who “stole $30 million of investor funds.”

Although ZachXBT named the account as Zkasino co-founder Elham Nourzai, the handle seemed to be controlled by another Zkasino co-founder, Ildar Elham.

Bitcoin is entering the last week of August near its strongest levels since early May, as a bear-market recovery appears to be testing major technical levels and drawing fresh attention from both traders and ETF investors. After a rally that pushed the market to $79,550, BTC/USD finished the week around $77,727 on Bitstamp, according to TradingView data—an outcome traders are now watching for follow-through rather than a quick rebound.

The shift matters because it coincides with improving on-chain profitability by several wallet cohorts, a renewed return of capital to US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products, and a busy US macro calendar that could influence risk appetite. Still, analysts caution that resistance overhead—especially around the $80,000 area—may determine whether this strength becomes a durable trend or another temporary relief move.

Key takeaways

• Bitcoin closed a weekly candle above its 50-week exponential moving average for the first time since early November 2025, reclaiming a long-watched bear-market level.
• On-chain data highlighted by CryptoQuant shows “new money” breaking into net profitability, but it also places a key breakeven region around $73,000.
• Spot Bitcoin ETF netflows totaled $1.9 billion over the prior week, the strongest weekly inflow since October 2025, per Farside Investors.
• Macro focus turns to the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium and the release of US PCE inflation data ahead of Wednesday’s print.

Bitcoin reclaims the 50-week EMA—now comes the “hold” test

Last week’s move was notable not just for its size, but for what it reclaimed. BTC reached $79,550 during the rally, its highest level since early May. The week ended with BTC/USD at $77,727 on Bitstamp, which signaled a reclaim of the 50-week exponential moving average—currently near $77,752—based on TradingView charts.

This 50-week EMA has historically been treated as a pivotal line during bear markets, and the last time Bitcoin achieved a weekly close above it was in early November 2025. In earlier cycles, traders have noted that price often retests the 50-week EMA before the market either confirms a transition to a stronger regime or slips back into deeper declines.

That backdrop is why some analysts are framing last week’s breakout as conditional. Crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital previously warned that the 50-week EMA alone was not the full challenge; he pointed to the broader $80,000 area as the next hurdle for bulls. In his ongoing X commentary, he argued that bear-market relief rallies in the past have tended to retrace sharply in the week following a strong breakout—making the coming sessions critical to whether the market can sustain the new highs.

Rekt Capital also shared charts suggesting the formation of “macro lower highs,” implying recent strength could still fit within a larger downtrend structure until Bitcoin convincingly changes that pattern.

Profitability shifts on-chain, but downside “margin” may be thin

Technical reclaim is one side of the story; on-chain profitability is the other. The rally improved conditions for multiple wallet cohorts. A key reference point highlighted by CoinGlass data is that August is shaping up as Bitcoin’s best performing month since 2017, with the asset up roughly 22% month-to-date as of the time of writing.

CryptoQuant’s analysis tied this rebound to changes in realized cost bases by age cohort. CryptoQuant pointed to the “aggregate cost basis” for short-term holders—defined as wallets holding UTXOs for less than 155 days—at about $68,700. On that basis, CryptoQuant estimated STHs are now net profitable by just over 11%.

The same read-through showed long-term holder profitability moving from near breakeven to about +18.5%, while “new money” profitability rose from approximately -1.4% to +12.7%. More importantly for risk assessment, CryptoQuant calculated that “new money” now has a breakeven level around $73,000—above both the STH and LTH cost bases.

That creates a narrower cushion. CryptoQuant said the “68K–73K region” is now the key area to watch: holding above it would suggest the profitability reset is becoming structurally more durable, while losing it could quickly push a meaningful portion of the recent buyer base back into loss territory.

For traders, the takeaway is practical: if the market’s technical strength is translating into sustained demand, the on-chain distribution should stabilize above the key breakeven band. If it doesn’t, the risk is that the next pullback becomes sharper because fewer holders are positioned to absorb selling without realizing losses.

Jackson Hole, PCE inflation, and Treasury market moves set the tone

Beyond charts and chain data, Bitcoin’s near-term direction is likely to remain sensitive to US policy signals. All eyes this week are on the Federal Reserve and chair Kevin Warsh as the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium gets underway. The event will feature central bankers from more than 70 countries and includes Warsh’s first keynote speech as Fed chair, alongside his first public appearance since the July Federal Open Market Committee press conference.

Markets have been weighing how Warsh approaches interest-rate guidance—particularly after data has supported some softening in the expected policy path. However, traders are also keeping one eye on inflation risk stemming from geopolitical drivers, including oil-price volatility tied to the US-Iran conflict.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 63.1% odds that rates remain at 3.50%–3.75% after the September FOMC meeting, reflecting broad expectations that the near-term path may not involve immediate tightening.

There’s also a more complex angle: Warsh’s role appears tied to Treasury market considerations as policymakers seek to reduce the Fed’s involvement in day-to-day market functioning. In recent remarks reported by CNBC, strategist Thierry Wizman warned that signaling a persistently “dovish” stance could complicate Treasury goals by pushing inflation expectations higher, potentially undermining stability in nominal long-term yields.

Alongside Jackson Hole, the macro schedule includes the release of the July Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation index on Wednesday. The PCE is widely treated as the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, and in June it showed a first month-on-month decline since 2020, adding weight to the focus on the new print. Consensus expectations for Wednesday’s report call for a 0.1% monthly increase, with the year-on-year rate cooling to 3.6% from 3.7% in June.

Importantly, investors are not entering this data week from a calm baseline. The previous week’s market narrative was shaped by a US Treasury decision to at least double the size of its debt buyback operations to $4 billion per operation. That move contributed to a short squeeze in crypto, with liquidations reported at $3.1 billion over two days as Bitcoin moved higher.

Some market commentary suggested the Treasury action may have echoed broader “yield curve control” expectations—an idea long discussed by crypto commentators in the context of liquidity regimes and the relationship between government financing costs and broader asset markets.

ETF flows rebound sharply — but investors are watching for follow-through

One of the clearest signals of renewed demand has come from US spot Bitcoin ETFs. According to Farside Investors data compiled via its BTC ETF tracker, the ETF cohort pulled in $1.9 billion over the prior five trading days—the strongest weekly total since October 2025, when Bitcoin reached its latest all-time highs around $126,200.

Activity was particularly strong during the week’s later sessions as BTC/USD extended gains beyond $70,000. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recorded net inflows of more than $500 million on Thursday, according to the report citing Bloomberg’s coverage.

OKX SG CEO Gracie Lin, speaking to Bloomberg, said the key pattern was that there were net inflows on every trading day the previous week, suggesting renewed investor interest. She also cautioned that after a strong rally, some profit-taking would not be surprising.

The contrast versus recent history is stark. Two months earlier, June saw highly unusual outflows, with more than $4.5 billion leaving spot Bitcoin ETFs—described as unprecedented in the coverage. By the end of last week, August inflows stood at $2.38 billion, a new year-to-date record.

For market participants, ETF flows are often used as a signal of whether “spot” demand is expanding or merely cycling with volatility. The immediate question now is whether this inflow momentum can persist as Bitcoin tests resistance and as macro catalysts (Jackson Hole and PCE data) land.

Looking ahead, the next few trading sessions should clarify whether Bitcoin’s weekly reclaim of the 50-week EMA translates into sustained demand: traders will likely weigh price acceptance above the $80,000 resistance zone, while on-chain investors should watch whether the $68,000–$73,000 breakeven band holds. With Jackson Hole and the July PCE report approaching, volatility risk may remain elevated, but the ETF flow trend could determine whether this strength is gaining real traction.