Bitcoin mining pool operator Poolin Technology and two affiliated companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, with court records placing Poolin’s estimated liabilities between $100 million and $500 million.

Verita Global’s case information page shows that Poolin Technology PTE. LTD., Lonestar Taproot LLC and Lonestar Dream, Inc. filed voluntary petitions on July 22 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The three cases are being jointly administered under Poolin’s lead case, 26-18325, before Judge Eamonn J. O’Hagan.

Poolin’s filing lists estimated assets of between $1 million and $10 million and liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million. The petition estimates that the company has between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors and states that funds are expected to be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.

Court records give Lonestar Taproot case number 26-18326 and Lonestar Dream case number 26-18327. All three companies remain debtors in possession while the Chapter 11 process moves forward under the jointly administered case.

Poolin bankruptcy moves toward an asset sale

The debtors told the court that they entered Chapter 11 to carry out an orderly sale process intended to preserve value for creditors and other interested parties. Michael DuFrayne, the companies’ chief restructuring officer, said in a first-day declaration that the process would use Chapter 11 to pursue sales of the debtors’ assets.

On Aug. 17, the bankruptcy court approved bidding procedures covering substantially all of the debtors’ assets and authorized Poolin and its affiliates to designate a stalking horse bidder. The order also set procedures for an auction, the treatment of certain contracts and leases, and a hearing on the proposed sale.

Under the sale timetable, qualified bids are due Sept. 8, while an auction is scheduled for Sept. 10 if competing qualified bids are received. A court hearing on the proposed asset sale is scheduled for Sept. 18 at 11 a.m. ET before Judge O’Hagan in Trenton.

The bidding process covers assets held across Poolin and its two U.S. affiliates. Lonestar Dream had substantially completed the wind-down of operations at its mining sites by the bankruptcy filing, according to DuFrayne’s declaration, after discontinuing services for customer Elektron Energy and beginning the removal of Elektron equipment from the facilities.

A limited workforce was kept in place to protect the mining sites and equipment, support the asset sale and administer the bankruptcy proceedings. Lonestar Taproot, meanwhile, owns equipment and other property linked to the mining facilities, including power-related assets, buildings, improvements and substation infrastructure, according to the filing.

Lonestar Taproot previously operated as a partnership involving Lonestar Dream and mining hardware maker Bitmain between March 2022 and December 2023. Court filings state that Bitmain contributed about $34.4 million and received roughly $24.1 million when it withdrew after the partnership recorded significant losses.

Creditors are set to meet on Aug. 28

Poolin’s creditors are scheduled to meet on Aug. 28 at 9 a.m. ET through a remote Section 341 meeting. The date remains upcoming and has not yet taken place, according to the amended Chapter 11 notice filed on Aug. 5.

Creditors seeking to file proofs of claim can send originally executed forms to the Poolin Claims Processing Center operated by KCC dba Verita Global in El Segundo, California. The case page states that claims may be submitted through U.S. mail or another hand-delivery system, while fax and other electronic delivery methods are not accepted.

A general deadline for filing proofs of claim had not yet been established in the amended bankruptcy notice.

Archer & Greiner, P.C. is representing the debtors in the proceedings. Stephen M. Packman, Alexander J. Andrews, Doug Leney and Natasha Songonuga are listed among the attorneys handling the cases, while the court has also approved the retention of DuFrayne LLC as crisis manager and Michael DuFrayne as chief restructuring officer.

The bankruptcy court has also authorized Verita Global to serve as administrative adviser. Additional restructuring professionals include Oon & Bazul LLC as Singapore restructuring and insolvency counsel and McCarn, Weir & Sherwood P.C. for oil, gas and mineral matters.

Poolin previously faced a wallet liquidity crisis

Poolin’s financial problems became public several years before the Chapter 11 filing. In September 2022, crypto.news reported that Poolin suspended withdrawals from PoolinWallet after the company faced liquidity problems and a rise in withdrawal requests.

The company subsequently said it would issue six IOU tokens representing users’ BTC, ETH, USDT, LTC, ZEC and DOGE balances at a 1:1 ratio. Poolin said at the time that it was considering several ways to address the liquidity shortage, including seeking new investment, pursuing debt-to-equity transactions and selling assets.

Another report from September 2022 said Poolin had stopped withdrawals, flash trades and internal transfers through PoolinWallet while leaving routine mining operations and direct mining-pool payouts unaffected. The company also suspended certain swap services as it tried to preserve liquidity.

Financial pressure has remained a problem across parts of the Bitcoin mining industry in 2026. A July analysis found that public miners sold Bitcoin at a record pace during the first quarter, with more than 32,000 BTC sold as hashprice fell to post-halving lows.

The same report placed hashprice in the high-$20 range per petahash per day by mid-2026, below the roughly $35 level cited as the breakeven point for older mining machines.

Bankruptcy proceedings have also continued to surface elsewhere in the crypto infrastructure sector. In May, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin Depot filed for Chapter 11 after taking its crypto ATM network offline, with the company citing regulatory pressure and financial losses as it moved toward a shutdown.

Poolin’s bankruptcy docket has continued to develop since its July petition. On Aug. 17, the court entered the order approving the bidding procedures for substantially all of the debtors’ assets, allowing the companies to proceed toward the September bid deadline, possible auction, and sale hearing.

Tron founder Justin Sun secured a partial procedural victory in his lawsuit against World Liberty Financial on Aug. 20, according to his account of a California federal court hearing.

Sun said U.S. District Judge James Donato ruled that his individual claims would remain in public court. The judge reportedly declined World Liberty’s request to send every company related claim to arbitration.

The court instead instructed both parties to negotiate which claims brought by Justin Sun’s companies should remain in court. Other claims could still move into private arbitration.

Court records confirm that World Liberty filed a motion in June seeking to compel arbitration and pause the federal case. The publicly accessible docket had not displayed a written order reflecting the Aug. 20 hearing when reviewed.

Justin Sun’s individual claims will remain public

“All of my individual claims will remain in open court,” Sun said in a statement following the hearing. He described the decision as a victory for public access to the dispute.

Sun also said the judge rejected World Liberty’s argument that all claims involving his companies belonged in arbitration. Blue Anthem Ltd. and Black Anthem Ltd. joined Justin Sun as plaintiffs when the case was filed on April 21.

The ruling represents a partial procedural victory rather than a decision on Justin Sun’s allegations. It does not establish that World Liberty committed fraud, improperly seized tokens or breached an agreement. It also does not award Sun damages.

The parties must now complete the court ordered discussions over the company claims. The judge may need to intervene again if they cannot agree on which claims are covered by arbitration provisions.

The World Liberty lawsuit concerns frozen WLFI tokens

Sun invested $45 million in World Liberty during its early token sales, according to the complaint and reporting on the case. He later filed a federal lawsuit after his WLFI holdings were frozen.

The complaint alleges World Liberty used administrative controls in the WLFI smart contract to freeze Sun’s tokens and restrict his governance rights. Sun characterizes those controls as an undisclosed “backdoor” that permits the project to freeze, restrict or burn tokens.

Those assertions remain allegations. World Liberty denies wrongdoing and says its token sale documents authorized restrictions under certain circumstances. It has accused Sun linked entities of violating the applicable terms through token transfers and other alleged conduct.

World Liberty later responded with a defamation lawsuit in Florida. That complaint accuses Sun of spreading false statements and organizing a campaign intended to damage the company and WLFI token.

Sun disputes those accusations and has called the Florida case “a meritless PR stunt.” Neither court has issued a final ruling establishing the truth of the competing allegations.

What happens next in the World Liberty case

Sun and World Liberty must identify which claims belong in federal court and which may be subject to arbitration. Any agreement would likely be submitted to Judge Donato for approval or reflected in a later court filing.

If the parties disagree, they may submit competing positions for the judge to resolve. Justin Sun’s individual claims would continue before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California under his description of the oral ruling.

Earlier docket entries show that briefing on World Liberty’s separate dismissal request was paused pending further direction. The court could issue a new schedule after resolving the arbitration question.

Keeping claims in federal court generally makes filings and hearings publicly accessible. However, either party may still request that specific documents or commercially sensitive information be sealed. The judge would decide whether those requests meet the applicable legal standard.

No trial date or damages award has been announced. The next verified development should come through a written court order, a joint filing explaining the parties’ agreement or further submissions addressing the unresolved company claims.

Whale transactions surged 280% in 24 hours. Large holders added 380 million XRP in a single business week. But the price barely moved. What the accumulation pattern reveals about what comes next.

On chain data tells a clearer story than price charts, but only if you read it carefully.

During the week of Aug. 18, 2026, the XRP Ledger recorded a 280% surge in transactions exceeding $1 million. More than 38 large value transfers moved across the network in a single 24 hour window. Addresses in the 1 million to 10 million XRP tier added approximately 380 million tokens over the same week, pushing total whale holdings from roughly 16.05 billion to 16.36 billion.

The price did almost nothing. XRP hovered near $1 through most of the accumulation period, rising to $1.23 during the broader market rally on Aug. 20 before settling back. The gap between the intensity of whale buying and the stillness of the price is the data point that matters most. When large holders accumulate aggressively while the price remains flat, the market has not yet priced in whatever those holders expect to happen next.

The anatomy of the accumulation

Whale monitoring on the XRP Ledger typically tracks transfers at two thresholds: above $100,000 and above $1 million. The million dollar tier is the more meaningful signal because it filters out routine transactions and focuses on institutional players or very large individual holders.

The 280% surge in million dollar plus transactions during the week of Aug. 18 is not a marginal increase. It represents a shift in behavior by the largest holders on the network. The baseline for large value XRP transactions in July and early August 2026 averaged roughly 10 to 12 per day. The spike to 38 in a single 24 hour window indicates coordinated or at least directionally aligned positioning by multiple large accounts.

The accumulation was not limited to a single day. Over the full business week, addresses holding 1 million to 10 million XRP added approximately 380 million tokens. The aggregate holdings of this tier increased from roughly 16.05 billion on Aug. 16 to approximately 16.36 billion by Aug. 22. At the week’s average price of approximately $1.05, that represents roughly $400 million in additional exposure.

The buying was methodical. Daily accumulation rates for the whale tier ran above 10 million XRP per day starting on Aug. 11, a pace that began before the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium and continued through the market rally. The consistency matters. A single large purchase could be a one time event: an OTC desk filling a client order, a fund rebalancing, or a treasury operation. Seven consecutive days of accumulation above 10 million tokens per day is a pattern, not a transaction.

The addresses involved are not new. Wallet age analysis shows the majority of the accumulating addresses have been active on the XRP Ledger for more than 18 months. These are not speculative accounts created during a price spike. They are established holders adding to existing positions, which suggests conviction rather than opportunism.

What the whales are not doing

The accumulation data is significant, but the outflow data may be more telling.

Whale transfers to Binance, the largest exchange by trading volume for XRP, fell to their lowest level since 2021 during the same period. The three month average of whale deposits to Binance dropped to approximately $61 million, a fraction of the levels seen during previous price spikes.

In crypto markets, exchange inflows from large holders are typically interpreted as selling pressure. When whales move tokens to exchanges, they are either preparing to sell or positioning for derivatives trading. When exchange inflows decline while accumulation increases, the implication is that large holders are buying and holding, not buying and flipping.

The same pattern holds across other major exchanges. Whale deposits to OKX and Bybit also declined during the accumulation period, falling to levels not seen since early 2024. The reduction is not exchange specific. It is a behavioral shift across the entire whale cohort.

The derivatives market tells a complementary story. Open interest in XRP perpetual futures on Binance and OKX rose modestly during the accumulation period, but the funding rate remained neutral to slightly positive. This suggests the futures market is not driving the accumulation. The buying is happening on the spot market, in self custody wallets, outside the exchange ecosystem entirely. Spot accumulation without derivatives hedging is the highest conviction signal available in crypto markets. It means the buyers are not protecting against downside. They are sizing for upside.

The pattern is consistent with a pre event positioning strategy. Whales are building positions ahead of a known catalyst, specifically the CLARITY Act vote now scheduled for September, and they are doing so without sending tokens to exchanges where they could be sold into the rally. The absence of exchange deposits is the strongest evidence that the accumulation is intended to be held, not traded.

Hungary has repealed its mandatory crypto conversion validation system and removed two related criminal offenses that exposed users and service providers to prison terms of up to eight years.

The Hungarian Parliament passed Act XXXVIII of 2026 on the Repeal of Certain Statutory Provisions Concerning Crypto-Asset Conversion Services, removing a national validation requirement that had applied to crypto-to-fiat and crypto-to-crypto conversions.

Approved by Parliament on July 31 and effective from Aug. 7, the legislation removes the validation process and associated criminal penalties after the rules created a separate compliance requirement for crypto businesses operating in Hungary.

Under the previous system, covered crypto conversions had to pass through an authorized validation provider. Transactions completed without the required validation could qualify as unauthorized crypto transactions under Hungary’s criminal law.

András Gaál, an associate at law firm Schoenherr, said converting crypto assets without prior validation had constituted an unauthorized crypto transaction under Act C of 2012 on the Criminal Code.

Hungary removes crypto offenses tied to validation

Alongside the validation requirement, Parliament has removed two criminal offenses introduced under the previous framework.

The first offense, called “Abuse of crypto assets,” applied when a person exchanged crypto assets of significant value for money or other crypto assets through an unauthorized crypto-asset exchange service.

A violation could carry a prison sentence of up to two years, while the maximum penalty increased for transactions involving larger amounts. Under particularly serious circumstances, the offense could carry as much as five years in prison.

The second offense, “Unauthorized crypto-asset exchange service provision,” applied to providers conducting exchange activities of significant value while violating the country’s validation requirement.

Basic violations carried prison sentences of up to three years, while more serious cases could result in imprisonment of as much as eight years.

Hungary had introduced the criminal provisions as part of a crypto framework that came into force in 2025, creating uncertainty for exchanges and other service providers because firms serving Hungarian customers had to comply with a separate national validation process.

As previously reported by crypto.news, the rules that took effect in July 2025 required crypto exchanges to pass through a state-controlled validation process involving checks on the origin of funds, wallet ownership, customer identity and user profiles.

At the time, individuals using unauthorized crypto services could face prison terms depending on the value involved, while service providers processing particularly large transaction volumes faced sentences of up to eight years.

Local estimates cited at the time put the number of Hungarians involved in cryptocurrency activities at roughly 500,000.

The regulatory uncertainty also affected crypto companies operating in the country. Revolut suspended its crypto services in Hungary after the rules took effect, while some other firms considered moving operations to EU jurisdictions including Estonia and Lithuania.

Hungary reverses its 2025 crypto crackdown

The repeal completes a reversal that the Hungarian government had signaled earlier this year as it reconsidered the criminal provisions and the country’s separate validation regime.

On June 11, the government confirmed plans to remove the penalties after the 2025 restrictions disrupted domestic crypto trading and prompted platforms to reduce services.

The planned crypto rollback followed Hungary’s April parliamentary election, which brought the Tisza Party to power after 16 years of government under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Government spokeswoman Anita Kobol said at the time that Hungary intended to reverse measures introduced under the previous administration. Newly appointed Minister of Innovation and Technology Zoltán Tanács described the former framework as “excessive and politically driven.”

Hungarian authorities were also facing questions from the European Union over whether the country’s validation requirements were compatible with the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation.

The European Commission had opened an investigation into the Hungarian rules, according to Kobol, adding another regulatory issue for a system that required exchanges operating in Hungary to satisfy national requirements on top of the EU framework.

Transactions converting crypto into fiat currency or another crypto asset required a compliance certificate from a licensed local validator. Without the certificate, the transaction could be considered legally invalid.

Hungary also created a separate category of crypto conversion validation service providers overseen by the country’s Supervisory Authority of Regulated Activities.

Before issuing certificates, validators could be required to check the origin of crypto assets, identify wallet or device ownership, examine customer profiles and compare transaction information against external databases.

MiCA rules replace Hungary’s separate crypto checks

Katalin Horváth, a partner at CMS Budapest, said the Hungarian system was incompatible with the EU internal market and duplicated protections already established through MiCA.

MiCA provides a common licensing framework for crypto-asset service providers across the European Union and allows authorized companies to serve customers in other member states through passporting arrangements.

The repeal means companies operating under the European framework no longer need to route covered Hungarian conversions through the separate national validation system.

The timing also follows the end of the EU’s MiCA transition period on July 1, when crypto firms that had been operating through legacy national registrations faced new restrictions unless they secured authorization under the bloc’s regulatory framework.

Shortly after the deadline, the European Securities and Markets Authority added another 57 authorized firms to its register, bringing the total to 300 at the time.

The July 3 MiCA register expansion included Standard Chartered and FalconX, with approved providers gaining passporting rights across all 27 EU member states. Firms without the required authorization had to stop onboarding new customers and begin winding down covered regulated services.

Other companies have since secured authorization through individual EU regulators and used MiCA passporting to expand their regulated operations.

BitPay, for example, received authorization from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets in July through its Netherlands-based entity.

The company’s Dutch MiCA approval allows it to provide regulated crypto services across eligible EU markets, including cryptocurrency payments and stablecoin transactions.

The European licensing system has also moved beyond the initial authorization stage. ESMA began reviewing the operational resilience of MiCA-authorized crypto custodians in July, examining areas including custody controls, key management, incident response and third-party risks.

For companies serving Hungarian customers, Act XXXVIII of 2026 removes the additional domestic validation layer that had operated alongside the EU system.

Horváth said payment institutions, crypto-asset service providers and intermediaries that had routed covered conversions through authorized validators should now unwind those processes.

Trading activity on South Korea’s two largest crypto exchanges has jumped sharply, with Upbit volume rising 273% to about $1.84 billion as Bitcoin’s latest rally pulls local traders back toward digital assets.

According to CoinGecko data on Aug. 21, Upbit recorded its highest daily trading volume since mid-March, while XRP accounted for $418.9 million of transactions and ranked ahead of Bitcoin, USDT and Ether on the exchange.

Bithumb recorded a similar increase, with 24-hour volume climbing 132.9% to about $934.9 million. XRP also ranked as the most-traded cryptocurrency on South Korea’s second-largest exchange.

The pickup follows months of weaker activity across South Korea’s crypto market, where investors spent much of 2026 favoring domestic equities as the KOSPI reached record levels. Bitcoin’s latest rebound, however, has begun pulling some of that attention back toward crypto.

Upbit volume rebounds after months of weak Korean crypto trading

South Korean crypto activity had fallen sharply earlier this year as Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies remained under pressure while local stocks delivered stronger returns.

In May, crypto.news reported that local trading across Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax had dropped to only about 8% of KOSPI trading volume. The comparison covered data through May 26 and placed cryptocurrency turnover at less than one-tenth of activity in South Korea’s benchmark equity market.

That was a sharp reversal from late 2024, when domestic crypto exchanges at times generated trading volumes above the local stock market. Negative Bitcoin Korea Premium readings reported during May also showed weaker local demand compared with overseas markets.

The slowdown showed up in exchange earnings. Upbit and Bithumb both reported operating revenue declines of roughly 50% during the first half of 2026. Upbit’s net profit fell 74%, while Bithumb moved from a profit in the comparable period to a net loss.

Much of the competing demand came from South Korean equities. The KOSPI climbed to record highs as investors bought shares linked to the artificial intelligence memory boom, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Even after local stocks became more volatile from late June, Korean traders continued to focus heavily on the semiconductor trade, according to the report.

XRP has again taken the lead on Korean exchanges

XRP’s position at the top of both Upbit and Bithumb’s latest volume rankings continues a trading pattern seen several times this year.

During another surge in May, XRP led Upbit trading with more than $330 million in 24-hour volume. Bitcoin recorded about $217 million at the time, while Ether generated roughly $109 million.

The May increase came after Hana Financial Group announced that Hana Bank would acquire a 1 trillion won, or about $670 million, stake in Dunamu, Upbit’s operator.

Another May trading session saw XRP/KRW become Upbit’s busiest market with about $110.9 million in volume, again placing it ahead of Bitcoin and Ether. The repeated ranking has kept XRP closely tied to periods of heavier retail activity in South Korea.

Recent institutional interest in the country’s exchanges has continued despite weaker trading conditions. Three Samsung affiliates agreed to acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu for about $408 million in May.

Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card agreed to purchase around 1.39 million Dunamu shares from Kakao-linked entities. Samsung Securities was set to take a 2% stake, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card would each acquire 1%.

On the Bithumb side, Kiwoom Securities entered talks in June over a possible investment through newly issued shares. The size of the proposed transaction and the resulting ownership interest had not been finalized at the time.

Bitcoin rally is drawing attention back to crypto

The latest rise in Korean exchange volumes has coincided with a sharp Bitcoin rebound after the U.S. Treasury Department expanded its debt buyback program.

The Treasury said on Aug. 19 that it would increase the size of liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated nominal coupon securities by at least twofold. Markets initially treated the decision as supportive for liquidity, helping Bitcoin climb back above $69,000 for the first time since June before the rally extended further.

Bitcoin was up about 8.3% over the previous 24 hours and traded above $78,000 at the time of publication. The total cryptocurrency market had gained around 7.2% over the same period.

Min Jung, associate researcher at Presto Research, told crypto media that two days of stronger activity was not enough to establish that Korean investors had started a sustained move from stocks into crypto.

“While it’s too early to call this a rotation given it’s only been two days, we’d expect a much larger influx of capital into crypto if the rally holds,” Jung said.

With the KOSPI already recording a strong advance this year while cryptocurrencies lagged for months, Jung said investors were starting to consider where another catch-up trade might develop.

Korean retail capital tends to follow returns

Jung described South Korean retail investors earlier this week as “return-chasing” instead of “asset-loyal,” meaning capital can move quickly toward whichever market is delivering stronger performance.

A sustained crypto rally could therefore bring a more substantial amount of Korean capital back into digital assets, according to the researcher.

Jung also said such inflows could influence cryptocurrency prices outside South Korea because Korean trading flows have historically affected markets by more than their percentage share of global volume might imply.

The sequence, however, usually begins outside the country.

“Korean capital tends to follow a rally rather than start one,” Jung said, adding that global market momentum is more likely to attract Korean money first, after which the additional buying can amplify the move.

Fidelity Digital Assets identified six risks that could weaken the investment case connecting artificial intelligence agents with public blockchains.

Senior research analyst Max Wadington published the report on Aug. 19. Fidelity said AI could accelerate blockchain development and create demand for programmable financial infrastructure. However, increased agent activity may not produce lasting value for blockchain networks or their native tokens.

The six risks cover limited value from increased software production, weaker technical differentiation, competition from closed systems, low value capture from payments, growing security threats and regulatory constraints.

Fidelity presented them as possible outcomes rather than forecasts. The report’s central question is not simply whether AI agents will use blockchains. It is whether networks and applications can capture meaningful economic value from that activity.

AI agents may favor closed platforms over public blockchains

Fidelity described competition from closed systems as one of the largest risks to the crypto AI thesis. Technology companies, banks, payment networks and fintech platforms are building infrastructure that allows agents to transact through controlled environments.

These platforms may offer advantages in performance, costs, user experience and regulatory clarity. They already have broad merchant distribution, established identity systems and the ability to extend credit. Public blockchains cannot assume that their accessibility and programmable settlement will overcome those advantages.

“Even if AI drives a substantial increase in overall digital economic activity, there is no guarantee that public blockchains will capture a meaningful share of it,” Wadington wrote.

Fidelity expects agents could use several types of infrastructure. An agent might use a blockchain for a machine payment but rely on a bank or fintech platform for credit, identity checks and other services. The report calls this possible outcome “multi-fi.”

Such competition is already becoming visible. Google, Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, Coinbase and other companies are developing agent payment systems across card, bank and blockchain rails.

Payment growth may not raise native token value

Fidelity also questioned whether higher transaction counts would produce proportionate returns for native blockchain tokens. Agent payments could generate substantial volume while producing limited fee revenue for the underlying network.

Stablecoin issuers and payment service providers may capture more value than base blockchains. Fidelity said low fees and strong competition could make agent payments economically useful without making them a major source of tokenholder income.

Recent activity illustrates the distinction between adoption and revenue. As previously reported, AI agents completed 1.4 million payments for approximately $280 in network fees on the XRP Ledger. The activity demonstrated technical use but generated little fee income relative to its transaction count.

Fidelity found that trading produced 49 times more Ethereum base layer revenue per dollar of volume than payments during the previous 180 days. Trading can also generate maximal extractable value for validators.

The report therefore sees stronger economic potential in agents that manage capital. Automated trading, lending, borrowing and liquidity provision could create more fees than large numbers of small payments.

AI makes development faster but weakens differentiation

AI tools can help developers write, test and deploy blockchain applications faster. Fidelity cited research involving more than 100,000 GitHub developers that found coding agents increased commits by as much as 180% and production releases by 30%.

More software does not automatically create useful products, according to Fidelity. Applications still require distribution, liquidity, regulatory compliance and sustained user demand. Human oversight also remains necessary for security critical financial software.

Cheaper development could make blockchain features easier to reproduce. Networks may find it harder to distinguish themselves through technology when competitors can quickly copy or modify similar tools.

Fidelity said durable advantages could shift toward liquidity, distribution, security and trust. Established networks and applications may benefit because those qualities cannot be reproduced as easily as software features.

Security and regulation could reshape agent adoption

Fidelity said AI lowers the cost of building software while also making it cheaper to identify vulnerabilities and conduct attacks. The resulting pressure could turn security from a basic requirement into a central competitive advantage.

Evidence supports both sides of that assessment. In related coverage, researchers found that AI agents identified genuine vulnerabilities in Ethereum related software, including a flaw later disclosed as CVE-2026-34219. Human researchers still had to separate valid findings from convincing false positives.

Regulatory requirements create another barrier. Institutions may favor systems offering clear identity controls, permissioning and legal accountability. Fully permissionless networks could face difficulty connecting autonomous agents with regulated financial services.

The market is still testing these tradeoffs. Coinbase has enabled businesses to accept USDC payments from autonomous agents, while Stripe, Visa and other established payment companies are developing competing or complementary systems.

Fidelity said investors should watch where agents deploy capital, not just how many transactions they complete. Networks that combine liquidity, strong distribution, security and regulatory integration may be better positioned to convert AI activity into durable economic demand.

Binance has continued opening and verifying new European customer accounts more than seven weeks after the European Union’s July 1 MiCA licensing deadline, despite remaining absent from the bloc’s register of authorized crypto providers.

According to a Sandmark report shared with crypto.news, tests across several EU countries found that new users could still complete Binance’s registration and identity verification process after the deadline, with two accounts fully verified and able to receive crypto deposits.

The tests covered connections in Austria, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium, using both standard internet connections and virtual private networks. None displayed a warning telling applicants that Binance lacked authorization under the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation.

One account, created on Aug. 19 using a European identity document and residential address, was verified and subsequently funded with cryptocurrency. The account had not existed before July 1.

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, withdrew its Greek MiCA application in June after its licensing effort stalled. The company has maintained that it intends to stay in Europe and is pursuing authorization through another EU member state.

Binance accounts remain accessible after the MiCA deadline

The results come after Binance had told customers in several European countries that new registrations and deposits would stop from July 1 after it failed to secure MiCA authorization.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Binance informed users in Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Belgium and Sweden that several services would be restricted once the transition period expired. Earn products, which provide yields on deposited crypto, were also set to be suspended.

Customers were not required to withdraw their assets by July 1, however. Binance said funds would remain safe while it sought authorization elsewhere in the EU.

The latest tests found that some controls remain in place even though new account creation has not been completely blocked.

Using an Austrian IP address and a Spanish identity document, one applicant completed verification within minutes. No disclaimer appeared stating that Binance lacked MiCA approval, and crypto deposits remained available.

A separate registration from Spain used a Spanish internet connection without a VPN, along with local address and employment information. The applicant completed the sign-up process before Binance rejected the registration because the individual already had an account. The rejection did not cite EU residency or MiCA restrictions.

Access from the United States produced a different result. A U.S. connection immediately redirected the user to Binance.US. After a login to the international platform, deposits and trading were suspended, leaving only withdrawals available.

Binance said it does not comment on specific customers, accounts or individual onboarding cases. The company added that European service availability can vary based on the jurisdiction, transitional rules, the product involved and individual circumstances.

“Following the implementation of MiCA, we have taken steps to ensure that the availability of our products and services in Europe aligns with relevant legal and regulatory frameworks,” Binance said.

The exchange did not provide a specific explanation for why new European accounts could still complete verification after July 1. Binance said it remains committed to securing authorization and is “actively progressing” its application.

Belgian account was linked to Binance Poland

Another registration conducted through a Belgian connection without a VPN resulted in an active account in about ten minutes.

The onboarding process required a photograph of an identity card and a live facial check through a camera. The applicant was also asked to provide information about income, savings and professional status.

Under Binance’s terms, customers based in Belgium contract with Binance Poland Sp. z o.o., a Polish-registered virtual asset service provider.

Poland had no authorized providers on the ESMA register cited in the report, while neither Binance Poland nor another Binance entity appeared among approved providers.

Payment transfers for the Belgian account were handled by BPay Global B.S.C., Binance’s Bahrain-based payments affiliate. The funds were set to settle through an account at JSC Pave Bank in Tbilisi, Georgia.

An attempted transfer through SEPA, the EU’s euro bank-transfer system, prompted another series of checks from BPay. The transfer was not completed, leaving the additional checks that may have applied to a completed transaction unclear.

MiCA regulates the provision of crypto services to European customers, not simply whether an exchange’s website can be accessed from an EU country. The tests therefore examined whether new European customers could register, pass identity checks and fund accounts after July 1.

ESMA told unauthorized firms to stop new onboarding

The European Securities and Markets Authority had given firms explicit instructions before the transition period expired.

In a June 23 statement, ESMA said unauthorized providers should immediately stop onboarding new EU customers and restrict their remaining services to actions needed for clients to exit.

By July 1, unauthorized providers “must have implemented its wind-down plan,” the regulator said. National authorities were also instructed to check those plans and “take action against the unauthorized provision of crypto-asset services.”

Earlier in April, ESMA had said a company providing covered crypto services to EU customers without authorization would be in breach of EU law once the applicable transition ended.

The licensing gap remained large after the deadline. An Aug. 11 review of MiCA authorization found that 281 of 1,343 providers operating across the European Economic Area before the transition had obtained authorization, leaving 1,062 without approval.

Around the July deadline, ESMA added 57 firms to its register. Standard Chartered and FalconX were among the companies approved, while licensed providers gained the ability to use MiCA passporting rights to serve customers across EU member states.

A July 3 register update showed that the additions had taken the number of authorized providers to 300 at the time.

By Aug. 20, the register cited in the latest report contained 330 authorized providers. Binance was not among them.

ESMA separately maintains a register of companies identified as providing crypto services without authorization. That list contained 167 entries as of Aug. 20, including 164 supplied by Italy’s Consob and one each from regulators in the Netherlands and Slovakia. Binance was also absent from that list.

Binance had already restricted some European services

Binance’s current position follows several weeks of country-specific restrictions after the MiCA deadline.

French customers lost trading access in early July after Binance failed to obtain authorization. Spot and margin trading were among the affected services, while withdrawals remained available.

Binance also told affected EU customers at the start of July that their assets remained backed on a one-to-one basis and that previously communicated account options, including withdrawals where applicable, would continue.

The licensing problem had developed before the deadline. Binance formally applied for MiCA authorization only in Greece, while discussions had also taken place with regulators in other jurisdictions.

On June 24, Binance said it would seek another EU route if its Greek application failed to progress. The company withdrew that application the same day, shortly before the Hellenic Capital Market Commission was reportedly expected to reject it.

Restrictions were also visible during the latest account tests. The account created through Austria with a Spanish identity document could not deposit euros through a bank transfer after a third-party provider flagged an address mismatch, although Binance’s dashboard showed the address as verified. Cryptocurrency deposits were still permitted.

Regulators have meanwhile begun taking enforcement action under MiCA. On Aug. 14, Austria’s Financial Market Authority announced its first case under the framework, imposing a €70,000 fine on Vienna-based Bitpanda.

The FMA said Bitpanda failed to submit a crypto asset whitepaper at least 20 days before publication and distributed marketing materials without the required disclaimer stating that the regulator had not reviewed them.

ESMA was asked on Aug. 19 whether an unauthorized exchange allowing new EU customers to verify accounts and accept deposits after July 1 complied with its guidance, and whether it knew of other exchanges operating in the same manner. The regulator’s press office confirmed receipt of the questions and requested more time to respond, while Austria’s FMA declined to comment.

Solana has reduced its target slot time from 400 milliseconds to 350ms for the first time since the network launched, starting a four-stage plan that could eventually bring slots down to 200ms.

Solana Foundation vice president of technology Jacob Creech announced the change on Aug. 21, saying the network had entered “a new era of 350ms” before adding, “Next stop, 300ms.”

Bitcoin has climbed about 24% over the past week to around $76,844, prompting Standard Chartered to say its $100,000 year-end forecast may now be too low as the cryptocurrency moves closer to its $126,000 all-time high.

According to Geoff Kendrick, Standard Chartered’s global head of digital asset research, the latest Bitcoin rally has been driven mainly by short liquidations, while recovering inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds could provide another source of demand if the advance continues.

Kendrick said in a Friday note shared with crypto media that low open interest across the market also leaves room for investors to rebuild positions as Bitcoin rises. A combination of forced buying from short sellers and returning ETF demand has helped BTC recover rapidly after spending much of the past two months around the $60,000 to $65,000 range.

“For the first time this year there is now a risk my end year forecast (of USD100k) is too low,” Kendrick wrote.

Bitcoin was trading at $76,844 at the time of the report, up roughly 24% over seven days, according to CoinGecko data. At that level, BTC remained about 39% below Standard Chartered’s $100,000 forecast and roughly 64% below the $126,000 record high.

Bitcoin could challenge $126,000 after Oct. 6

Kendrick said Bitcoin could move toward its previous record before the end of the year, with the recovery potentially accelerating after Oct. 6.

The date corresponds closely with Bitcoin’s 2025 market peak, after which the cryptocurrency entered an extended decline that continued into 2026. Kendrick’s latest view places particular focus on whether BTC can maintain its recovery once the market moves beyond the anniversary of that high.

Standard Chartered has not formally replaced its $100,000 year-end forecast with a $126,000 target. Kendrick instead described the all-time high as a level Bitcoin may revisit if the current recovery gathers momentum, while acknowledging that the bank’s existing forecast could prove conservative.

The position is stronger than the bank’s assessment during the June selloff. On June 4, crypto.news reported that Standard Chartered had retained its $100,000 Bitcoin target even after BTC fell more than 15% in a week and briefly moved toward $61,000.

At the time, Kendrick said some of the forces behind the decline were beginning to ease. He also expected Strategy to resume Bitcoin purchases and noted that liquidations during the selloff had remained below levels recorded during some previous market crashes.

Only nine days later, the bank kept the same forecast after Bitcoin fell toward $59,000 and recovered to roughly $63,500. Kendrick described the move toward $59,000 as the “likely low” of the cycle and tied the decline to forced selling, weak ETF flows and liquidity stress.

Bitcoin has since risen more than $17,000 above that June low.

Spot Bitcoin ETF flows have started to recover

ETF demand has become one of the components Kendrick is watching as Bitcoin moves higher.

The analyst said inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have started recovering after weak institutional demand contributed to pressure earlier in the year. Stronger ETF flows would provide buying demand that does not depend solely on traders being forced out of short positions.

ETF activity had already started improving during Bitcoin’s July recovery. On July 3, spot Bitcoin ETF inflows ended a 10-day negative streak after U.S.-listed funds recorded $221.7 million in net inflows on July 2, according to SoSoValue data cited by crypto.news at the time.

Bitcoin was trading near $61,700 during that recovery and had only recently moved back above the sub-$60,000 area.

By July 21, BTC had returned above $65,000 as spot ETF inflows extended to five consecutive sessions. Bitcoin was trading around $65,245 at the time, up about 5% over seven days, while $70,000 remained an important resistance level.

The latest rally has since carried Bitcoin well beyond both $65,000 and $70,000.

Open interest remains another part of Kendrick’s assessment. Lower open interest means fewer leveraged positions are currently active compared with periods when speculative exposure is heavily concentrated, leaving capacity for traders to rebuild positions if confidence returns.

Kendrick said the current combination of low positioning and higher prices could therefore pull investors back into the market rather than immediately creating the type of crowded leverage that can make a rally more vulnerable to liquidation cascades.

Standard Chartered cut its Bitcoin target in February

The bank’s current $100,000 forecast followed a major downgrade earlier this year.

In a Feb. 12 report, Kendrick cut Standard Chartered’s year-end Bitcoin target from $150,000 to $100,000 and lowered its Ether forecast from $7,500 to $4,000.

At the time, he expected Bitcoin could decline toward $50,000 before recovering during the remainder of the year, while Ether could fall as low as $1,400.

A February report on the downgrade said Standard Chartered cited ETF outflows, weaker macroeconomic conditions, reduced expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts and changes in investor positioning among the factors behind its lower forecasts.

Bitcoin did not ultimately reach Kendrick’s $50,000 downside estimate. Its sharpest decline instead took the cryptocurrency toward the upper-$50,000 range before buyers returned.

Even as volatility continued during July, Standard Chartered declined to reduce the forecast again. On July 10, the bank reaffirmed its $100,000 call while Bitcoin traded above $64,000.

Kendrick said investor concerns surrounding Strategy’s changing Bitcoin treasury approach had been responsible for part of the market pressure, while Standard Chartered did not view those developments as enough to alter its longer-term price expectation.

Bitcoin has cleared July’s main resistance zones

Bitcoin had repeatedly struggled around $65,000 during the early stages of the recovery.

On July 16, BTC failed to hold above $65,000 after briefly reaching about $65,470 following softer U.S. inflation data. Whale selling and profit-taking from longer-term holders capped the move, while liquidations accelerated after the cryptocurrency slipped below the $64,400 area.

Bitcoin subsequently returned toward the same resistance zone several times before eventually breaking above it.

A July 21 rally carried BTC as high as $66,965 before sellers stepped in near $67,000. ETF inflows, progress around U.S. crypto legislation and short liquidations contributed to the advance, while higher oil prices linked to the U.S.-Iran conflict limited the move.

Those July price levels now sit more than $10,000 below Bitcoin’s latest market price.

Other industry observers have also started looking for evidence that the 2026 bear market has run its course. Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten said Bitcoin could form a bottom in October, according to the report, while 10x Research founder Markus Thielen said an August close above $63,000 could confirm a bear-market bottom.

Bitcoin has already moved well above that threshold before the end of August, though Thielen’s condition specifically depends on where the cryptocurrency finishes the month.

During the July downturn, BTC repeatedly traded around the same $62,000 to $65,000 region. On July 17, Bitcoin fell below $63,000 as renewed U.S.-Iran military action weighed on risk assets, while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs still recorded $79.15 million in net inflows during the previous session.

Kendrick’s latest assessment now places the bank’s focus above those former resistance levels, with Standard Chartered retaining its official $100,000 year-end forecast while its digital asset research head sees a possibility that Bitcoin could return to $126,000 before 2026 ends.