Solana is targeting September 9 for Transaction v1, a new format that raises the maximum serialized transaction size from 1,232 bytes to 4,096 bytes.

The increase gives developers about 3.3 times more transaction space. Solana’s official roadmap says the additional capacity can accommodate zero-knowledge proofs, large multisignature operations, batches and some onchain signature schemes.

Large operations previously had to be divided into several transactions when their instructions, signatures and account information exceeded the 1,232-byte ceiling. That process added complexity because one transaction could succeed while another step failed.

Transaction v1 could let developers combine more of those instructions into one atomic operation. Either every instruction succeeds or the entire transaction fails. The model could benefit trading routes, confidential transfers, cross-chain operations and applications processing complex cryptographic proofs.

The upgrade does not raise Solana’s limit of 64 referenced accounts per transaction. Applications can include more data and instructions, but they cannot automatically interact with more accounts.

Existing Solana transactions will remain valid

Transaction v1 is optional. Wallets and applications can continue sending legacy and v0 transactions under the existing 1,232-byte limit. Users do not need to migrate tokens, exchange SOL or complete a claim before activation.

Developers must deliberately adopt the new format to access its larger capacity. The Solana documentation identifies three supported formats: legacy, v0 and v1. Each format organizes account addresses and resource limits differently.

The v0 format uses Address Lookup Tables, or ALTs, to represent account addresses through compressed one-byte indexes. V1 removes ALTs and places complete 32-byte account addresses directly inside the transaction.

This creates a trade-off. V1 provides a larger overall envelope, but applications that rely heavily on lookup tables may spend more bytes representing the same accounts. Solana’s technical analysis found that 90% of sampled transactions would add fewer than 1,400 bytes when converted from v0 to v1.

Infrastructure providers must update their software

The main compatibility risk applies to services that read blocks and transactions. Remote procedure call providers must set their maximum supported transaction version to one. Otherwise, requests could fail when they encounter a v1 transaction.

Indexers, explorers and analytics services must also change how they retrieve resource limits. Legacy and v0 transactions place compute limits and priority-fee settings inside ComputeBudget instructions. V1 stores them in a dedicated transaction configuration.

Outdated services could therefore display incorrect information. For example, an explorer might show a zero priority fee even though the user paid one. Fee sponsors and applications that check transaction limits must read the new configuration rather than scan old-style instructions.

Applications sending v1 transactions must explicitly set compute-unit and loaded-data limits because both default to zero. Developers should test transaction construction, signing and decoding before moving production traffic to the format.

September 9 remains a targeted activation date

Solana Foundation Vice President of Technology Jacob Creech identified September 9 as the planned mainnet date. As crypto.news previously reported, the upgrade is included in Anza’s Agave 4.2 rollout.

However, the official roadmap still labels the mainnet feature as “not activated.” It also says Anza’s release schedule is “tentative and subject to change.” Testnet and devnet have already activated the feature, according to the latest Foundation status page.

The size increase comes from SIMD-0296, while SIMD-0385 defines the v1 format. Jacob Creech and Andrew Fitzgerald co-authored both proposals.

The 4,096-byte ceiling was selected partly because four kilobytes matches a common memory-page size used by validator hardware. Larger transactions will also consume additional bandwidth, although the upgrade introduces no separate fee charged per byte.

Transaction v1 remains separate from Solana’s rent reductions, shorter slot targets and Alpenglow consensus redesign. In related coverage, crypto.news reported that Alpenglow targets approximately 150-millisecond finality, with October remaining a development target rather than a guaranteed activation date.

Ethereum developers have committed EIP-8141, known as Frame Transactions, to the network’s 2027 Hegotá upgrade, putting native account abstraction on the path to becoming part of Ethereum’s standard transaction system.

Core developers moved EIP-8141 from Considered for Inclusion to Scheduled for Inclusion during the Aug. 27 All Core Developers Execution call, according to the Hegotá Meta EIP. The change gives Frames a formal place in the planned upgrade, though the proposal remains a draft and its technical details can still change before deployment.

Bitcoin remains near $79,033 as its latest pullback keeps traders focused on critical price levels. The cryptocurrency slipped from $80,530 after reaching a recent local high near $82,262. However, analyst Michael van de Poppe expects Bitcoin to avoid a deep correction despite the recent weakness.

Bitcoin Price Holds Above Key Support

Bitcoin traded around $79,033 at press time, extending a consolidation phase around the $80,000 area. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency has struggled to regain the momentum that pushed it toward $82,262 last week. However, the latest decline has not yet changed the broader technical structure identified by van de Poppe.

The recent move followed stronger-than-expected US employment data, which pressured market sentiment across risk assets. Consequently, Bitcoin retreated from its recent high as traders reassessed expectations for US monetary policy. Still, strong spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have provided additional support for the market.

Van de Poppe has maintained a positive longer-term outlook despite Bitcoin’s short-term price weakness. He considers the current consolidation a normal phase that could precede another upward move. Furthermore, he has identified levels below $74,000 as potential areas where buying activity could increase.

$82,850 Resistance Could Set Bitcoin’s Next Direction

The $82,850 level now represents an important resistance area for Bitcoin’s immediate price structure. A sustained move above that level could strengthen bullish momentum and open the path toward higher prices. Therefore, traders may use the resistance zone as an important reference during the next market move.

Bitcoin also faces several support levels that could determine the depth of any further decline. The key levels include $75,545 and $73,674, which could provide short-term support during renewed selling pressure. If Bitcoin loses those areas, the price could move toward $71,000 or potentially approach $70,000.

However, a decline below $74,000 could also create a potential buying opportunity, according to van de Poppe’s market assessment. That view suggests the analyst considers moderate weakness part of the broader Bitcoin market cycle. At the same time, Bitcoin must recover key resistance levels before confirming another strong upward move.

US Inflation Data Could Influence BTC’s Next Move

Macroeconomic conditions could play a major role in Bitcoin’s direction as markets prepare for fresh US inflation figures. The upcoming Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index reports could provide new signals about inflationary pressure. Consequently, the data could affect expectations surrounding the Federal Reserve’s future interest-rate decisions.

Higher-than-expected inflation could strengthen expectations for tighter monetary policy and increase pressure on risk-sensitive assets. Bitcoin often responds to shifts in liquidity conditions, interest-rate expectations, and broader market sentiment. Therefore, stronger inflation figures could limit Bitcoin’s ability to reclaim its recent highs.

Meanwhile, September rate-hike expectations have increased, with prediction markets placing the probability near 50%. This shift reflects uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s policy path following recent economic data. As a result, Bitcoin could remain range-bound until traders receive clearer signals from inflation and monetary policy.

Bitcoin’s current structure therefore centers on the $82,850 resistance and the $75,545 to $73,674 support zone. A breakout above resistance could revive bullish momentum, while a breakdown below support could expose lower targets. For now, BTC remains near $79,033 as technical levels and US economic data shape its next major move.

Strive has signaled another possible Bitcoin purchase after raising its holdings to 23,156 BTC, while its Nasdaq-listed ASST shares have climbed above $27 to a new yearly high.

Strive Bitcoin purchase hint follows $143 million deal

Matt Cole, Strive’s chairman and CEO, posted the company’s Bitcoin portfolio tracker on X with the message, “Wall-breaking season at Strive,” raising expectations that another acquisition could be disclosed shortly.

Hunter Biden has prepared to launch a 1 billion-supply meme coin called LAPTOP on Coinbase-developed Base on Sept. 9, with part of the token allocation set aside for people who lost money trading President Donald Trump’s TRUMP meme coin.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 7 that Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, is part of the founding team behind the project, which takes its name from the laptop controversy that became a major political issue during the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

LAPTOP will use a token distribution model that reserves 30% of the total supply for its founding team. According to the Journal, the allocation will remain locked for six months before gradually becoming available over a two-year period.

Another 20% has been designated for two rounds of airdrops, with eligibility extending to people who previously lost money on TRUMP. Hunter Biden’s Substack subscribers, friends and people on a mailing list maintained by video journalist Andrew Callaghan are expected to qualify as well.

LAPTOP meme coin will target TRUMP holders with airdrop

The decision to allocate tokens to TRUMP investors places the new project directly alongside the political meme coin market that developed after Donald Trump entered the sector.

TRUMP launched shortly before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 and initially recorded a sharp price rally before losing most of its value.

In July, crypto.news reported that nearly 989,000 wallets that purchased TRUMP had accumulated a combined $3.81 billion in realized and unrealized losses through the end of June, citing blockchain data from Nansen. Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure showed a $636 million payout connected to the meme coin and at least $1.4 billion in crypto-related income.

The losses remained concentrated among retail holders even after TRUMP staged another rally in August. The token jumped approximately 93% between Aug. 13 and Aug. 23, moving from a record low of $1.37 to $3.60 before falling after team-linked wallets transferred $6.2 million worth of tokens to OKX.

Nearly 988,905 wallets remained underwater by a combined $3.81 billion during the period, while Trump-affiliated entities controlled 80% of TRUMP’s 1 billion-token supply under a vesting schedule running through January 2028, according to on-chain data reviewed in August.

LAPTOP’s planned airdrop would therefore direct part of its supply toward a large existing group of meme coin traders who have recorded losses on the president’s token.

Founders will control 30% of the LAPTOP supply

Beyond the 30% founder allocation and 20% airdrop pool, the LAPTOP project has earmarked another 20% of the supply for charitable donations, liquidity and distributions to exchange partners and market makers, the Journal reported.

Part of that allocation will cover accounting, legal, administrative and compliance expenses associated with the token foundation.

The remaining portion of the token structure is tied to an unusual burn system built around 30 predetermined events. Up to 30% of LAPTOP’s supply could be permanently destroyed if specified conditions occur within their assigned time limits.

One trigger would be a Democratic victory in the 2028 U.S. presidential election. Other conditions include Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high and LAPTOP’s fully diluted valuation exceeding that of TRUMP.

Tokens connected to conditions that are not met would be donated proportionally to charities instead of being destroyed, according to the Journal.

The structure links LAPTOP’s supply directly to political and crypto market events, including the performance of the token it is positioning itself against.

Political meme coins have previously shown large price swings around events involving the Trump family. TRUMP lost 55% within minutes after Melania Trump announced her MELANIA token in January 2025, erasing billions of dollars from its market capitalization as traders moved between the two assets.

By February 2026, TRUMP and MELANIA had fallen by more than 90% from their respective peaks, while estimates cited at the time placed retail losses across the Trump-branded tokens at more than $4 billion.

Hunter Biden has stepped up his crypto commentary

The LAPTOP launch follows a period in which Hunter Biden has taken a more public role through podcasts, news appearances and his Substack publication.

His recent commentary has extended into cryptocurrency, including the Trump family’s digital asset businesses and the controversy surrounding World Liberty Financial and crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun.

Trump-linked crypto ventures have faced continued scrutiny over the money generated for entities associated with the president and losses recorded by investors.

Public Citizen estimated in August that investors across five Trump-linked products were at least $4.7 billion underwater, including roughly $3.2 billion attributed to TRUMP holders and at least $1 billion connected to World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token.

The watchdog’s figures included both realized and unrealized losses. It estimated that Trump generated approximately $1.4 billion in crypto-related income during 2025, while the top 1% of profitable TRUMP wallets captured around $2.7 billion, or roughly 80% of all gains. The Public Citizen analysis called for Congress to add presidential divestment requirements to U.S. crypto legislation.

Political scrutiny surrounding TRUMP has reached the regulatory debate in Washington as well. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal asked Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins in August to investigate the token, citing investor losses and Trump’s reported earnings from the project.

Their request arrived while lawmakers were negotiating ethics provisions connected to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The SEC had previously taken the position that meme coins generally do not qualify as securities under existing federal securities laws, leaving much of the sector outside its traditional enforcement framework.

The debate over TRUMP and crypto ethics has continued as lawmakers consider restrictions on government officials benefiting financially from digital asset ventures.

LAPTOP is scheduled to begin trading on Base on Sept. 9, with its 1 billion-token supply divided among the founding team, airdrop recipients, charitable and operational uses, and the event-linked burn mechanism.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has cited an 86-tonne reallocation of Dutch gold reserves to argue that crypto networks can move value across borders faster than physical reserve systems.

Dutch gold transfer changed where reserves were held

De Nederlandsche Bank said it reallocated about 86 tonnes of gold between March and August 2026 to make its reserves easier to trade and strengthen its preparations for a possible crisis.

Most of the operation did not involve shipping the same bars across the Atlantic. According to the central bank’s announcement, DNB sold approximately 59 tonnes in New York before buying the same amount of market-standard gold in London.

DNB also used physical transfers for part of the operation. More than 27 tonnes were moved from the United States and Canada to its cash center in Zeist, while a similar amount of market-standard gold was transported from Zeist to London.

By combining sales, purchases, and physical transport, the central bank said it reduced the operational risks associated with relying on one transfer method. The approach also allowed DNB to avoid remelting bars that did not meet the standards required for direct trading in London.

No gold was added to or removed from the Dutch reserve during the process. Instead, the operation changed where the metal was held and improved the quality of the portion available for international transactions.

Following the reallocation, the Bank of England holds 32.1% of the Netherlands’ gold, up from 18.1%. DNB’s Zeist facility retains 30.8%, while New York and Ottawa each account for 18.5%.

Before the move, New York held 31.3%, and Ottawa held 19.7% of the reserve. DNB said London offers better access to the international gold market, particularly when financial conditions become volatile.

Brad Garlinghouse says crypto removes location barriers

Responding to the operation in an X post, Garlinghouse focused on how DNB transferred much of the reserve’s economic value without moving the same bars from New York to London.

The Ripple executive described global value transfer as an “ideal use case” for crypto, arguing that blockchain networks can settle transactions quickly and securely without requiring an asset to change physical locations. His comparison centered on the custody, transport, and trading arrangements needed when central banks reposition bullion.

“Why does financial value still depend on these location-centric processes?” Garlinghouse asked.

His argument did not mean that the Dutch central bank had used cryptocurrency or blockchain technology during the operation. DNB relied on established bullion markets, central-bank custody arrangements, and physical vault infrastructure to reorganize the reserve.

Garlinghouse instead used the transaction to contrast two different forms of settlement. Gold requires recognized vaults, approved bars, secure transport, and access to liquid trading centers, while a crypto asset can move between blockchain addresses without being transported as a physical object.

According to Garlinghouse, the total value of the crypto market has grown from approximately $1.5 billion in 2013 to around $2.7 trillion. He presented that increase as evidence that blockchain-based assets and transfer networks have developed into a large financial market within little more than a decade.

Ripple has built much of its business around institutional payments and settlement. In July, crypto.news reported on Ripple’s European expansion, noting that Ripple Payments had processed more than $100 billion across over 60 markets.

A separate June report examined how Ripple has moved from presenting itself as a direct replacement for bank infrastructure toward working alongside SWIFT. Banks can retain established messaging systems while using blockchain-based products for selected settlement and tokenization functions.

Germany’s gold transfer shows the physical burden

Garlinghouse also referred to Germany’s earlier repatriation of 674 tonnes of gold from Paris and New York to Frankfurt. The Bundesbank began the operation in 2013 and completed it in 2017, three years before its original deadline.

The total consisted of 374 tonnes from Paris and 300 tonnes from New York. Germany moved the metal in stages, bringing 37 tonnes to Frankfurt in 2013, 120 tonnes in 2014, 210 tonnes in 2015, 216 tonnes in 2016, and the final 91 tonnes in 2017.

Bundesbank specialists checked the authenticity, purity, and weight of the bars when they arrived in Frankfurt. After the program ended, Germany held 50.6% of its gold domestically, while the Federal Reserve Bank of New York stored 36.6% and the Bank of England held 12.8%.

The Bundesbank said its storage plan served two functions: maintaining confidence by keeping half of the reserve in Germany and preserving access to trading centers where gold could be exchanged for foreign currency quickly.

For U.S. readers, both the German and Dutch cases show the continuing role of New York in the international bullion system. Foreign central banks store gold at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York because the location supports custody and transactions with other official institutions, although moving or reallocating bullion still requires operational coordination.

Gold infrastructure remains central to reserve policy

Despite Garlinghouse’s comparison, DNB said the gold reallocation was designed to improve the resilience of its existing reserve system rather than replace bullion with a digital asset.

DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen said the central bank does not expect that it will have to use its gold during a crisis. Even so, he said DNB must remain prepared for severe conditions and ensure that part of the reserve can be traded when needed.

The central bank also said experience with both physical transfers and market-based reallocations would be useful if another move became necessary. During a future disruption, transport constraints or trading conditions could prevent DNB from using one of the two methods.

The gold operation arrives as regulated institutions continue adding digital-asset services without abandoning existing financial infrastructure. In July, Germany’s DZ Bank began rolling out crypto trading through participating cooperative banks, giving retail customers access through their existing banking relationships.

The service supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Cardano, with Boerse Stuttgart Digital handling custody. Participation remains optional for individual cooperative banks, although hundreds of institutions were expected to introduce the service over time.

CZ says Bitcoin still faces established gold systems

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao has also compared Bitcoin with gold, although his assessment gave more weight to the infrastructure already built around the precious metal.

Speaking during a Bitcoin Asia fireside chat, Zhao said Bitcoin could eventually become more important than gold if governments begin treating it as a strategic reserve asset. He also acknowledged that gold benefits from mature systems for custody, valuation, and central-bank reserve management.

Gold’s place in official reserves has developed over many years, giving governments established rules and institutions for storing, auditing and trading the metal. Zhao said replacing that system could take time, particularly among large economies that already hold extensive bullion reserves.

National Bitcoin adoption has nevertheless entered official policy discussions in several countries. Zhao has advised governments on digital assets, including reserve-related initiatives, while continuing to argue that state adoption could influence Bitcoin’s long-term standing against gold.